Why did Katrina Steiner and Hanse Davion not cement their treaty with their own marriage instead of one between the Prince and the Archon’s daughter? They certainly seemed at- tracted enough when they met on Terra for the treaty. Some scandalous rumors even accused them of “private” meetings, during which they acted out their at- traction.
Of all the proposed explanations to this riddle, the one that stands up best is that they did not want any clash between them to threaten the alliance. By establishing a marriage between Hanse and Melissa, the two rulers were giving their alliance at least eight years to prove itself. If it should hold, then the marriage to a decidedly young Me- lissa in 3028, when she has reached her majority, would cement the alliance. Obviously, a marriage between Katrina and Hanse would not be likely to produce an heir to a united state, an heir Melissa would be capable of bearing. Also Prince Davion may have felt that marriage to a young woman inexperienced in the political arena would give him the upper hand in any policy arguments. Of course, this assumes that Melissa Steiner would meekly back down in an argument, an assumption definitely not borne out by the evidence we have—A.M.
PERIPHERY
For most of the past hundred years, the Davions have had little interest in what lay beyond their most distant worlds. For many years, they considered the Periphery to be merely a hideout for brigands and pirates. The pre- vailing logic decided that House Davion was already too large and unwieldy.
All this changed with Hanse Davion’s accession to the throne. He encourages an active interest in reexploring the Periphery to rediscover lost worlds and reestablish closer ties with the rem- nants of the Periphery republics. He wants to expand the Feder- ated Suns by absorbing worlds from the Periphery, “pushing back the curtain of ignorant night and waking worlds long thought dead with sleep.” This sudden interest in the dark Periphery is a puzzle even to those who are close to Davion.
One possible explanation is that Prince Hanse’s desire is based on hope of encountering potential major worlds rich in either resources or Star League artifacts. Yet, it seems unlikely that the crafty Hanse Davion would put so much effort into a wishful hope. He is too clever and intelligent to gamble purely on the luck of the draw.
Another theory is that he wishes to expand his realm’s bor- ders in order to outflank and encircle one of the neighboring realms. Certain facts also seem to make this theory unlikely. First of all, it would require generations to accomplish such a military strategy. Another fact overlooked is that the current explorations are expanding around the Outworlds Alliance, not toward the Capellan Confederation. Surely, Prince Davion is not attempting to encircle the Draconis Combine!
The third, and most plausible, theory is that Prince Hanse wishes to generate some economic activity in the blighted Outback of his realm. Even though he first made his plea for exploration a mere eight years ago, the effect of corporations and colonists moving into the Periphery border regions are al- ready being felt, as old markets closed because of the lack of consumers are now opening up again. These positive effects have even spurred some government officials to propose the creation of a Periphery March to better handle growth of the region. It is uncertain whether the Federated Suns will redraw its map anytime soon, however.
COMSTAR
ComStar relations with the Federated Suns tend to be a picture of extremes. As noted elsewhere in this book, our representatives are treated either as demi-gods on the poorer worlds, or as second-rate-magicians by in- habitants of the sophisticated richer planets. This has made for some unusual and difficult relations between our Blessed Order and the Federated Suns.
The greatest bone of contention between ComStar and the Federated Suns is the question of how much local participation to allow when it is necessary to repair or upgrade our facilities. The Davion government has taken a very hard line, saying that local labor should carry out at least half of the work done on ComStar facilities, with the rest handled by our own labor units. Of course, we find this unacceptable and Precentor Huthrin Vandvel has so informed the Davion government. Ignoring our decision, the Davion people stubbornly continue to press their labor demands.
Among several possible reasons why the Davions demand local participation in the servicing and maintenance of our com- munications centers, all bode ill for future relations between ComStar and the Federated Suns. Of course, the public reason behind Prince Davion’s demand is that he “wishes to stimulate the economic growth of his realm and to further the bonds that exist between House Davion and ComStar.”
It is entirely possible that he merely wants to spread some work to local construction companies so they can improve their corporate profiles. This would be most unlike Prince Hanse Davion, however. Seldom, if ever, do his public wishes match his hidden desires, and most everyone here on Terra feels that the Fox is up to no good. It is the general opinion that Hanse Davion wishes to observe and steal our most sacred technology. No doubt his much-vaunted local construction crew would be staffed heavily by members of Military Intelligence, the MIIO, and scien- tists from the NAIS masquerading as laborers. They would scru- tinize every centimeter of our facilities to discover any clue to how our communications equipment works. Despite the efficiency of our ROM agents in protecting our facilities, the confusion of repairing a facility would make it easy for some precious bit of technology to fall into the hands of any outsiders present.
Though this is the most serious and most public of our dis- putes with the Federated Suns, it is certainly not the only one. Privately, our officials have been exposed to an ever-increasing wall of bureaucracy apparently meant to separate us from the Davion family. It used to be that our precentors had almost un- limited access to members of the Davion family. Now we have to wait for days for an appointment, during which time we must fill out reams of forms and inquiries concerning the purpose of the meeting. Whether intentional or not, this has strained our rela- tions with the Davions and the government.