Chapter 408: Survey World M-17 3

The Black Crown docked at Helion Bastion Twelve without any trouble.

That alone made the arrival feel different from most of Aurelian’s earlier visits.

The first time he had come here, large parts of the bastion had still been dark, damaged, or controlled by systems that nobody fully understood.

Now the docking arms moved normally, cargo crews were already working in the nearby bays, and several locally crewed patrol ships were preparing to depart from the opposite side of the station.

Helion no longer looked like a place waiting to be rescued.

It was starting to look like somewhere people actually lived and worked.

Aurelian stepped off the boarding bridge with Astra beside him.

Rhoswen followed a few steps behind, while Yelena, Mirei, and Katsura came after her.

Meridian was waiting near the end of the docking area.

She looked almost exactly as she had the last time Aurelian saw her, except for the tablet in one hand and the tired expression of someone who had recently been forced to supervise too many repairs at once.

"You arrived early," she said.

"By twelve minutes."

"Early."

Aurelian looked past her toward the docking bay.

"How are the captured ships?"

"Five are in service. Three more should be ready within the week. The others are still being stripped or rebuilt."

"And Neris’s refit?"

Meridian gave him a look.

"You came here for a regional meeting."

"I know."

"Yet that was your second question."

"It is happening at Helion."

"That does not make it part of the meeting."

Yelena walked past them.

"Has the new transfer assembly arrived?"

Meridian immediately turned toward her.

"Yes, but the control system is worse than the drawings suggested."

"I told you we should replace it."

"You told me after I already ordered the parts."

"That still counts."

The two of them walked away while continuing the argument.

Aurelian watched them go.

Katsura looked toward him.

"You’ve lost them."

"I noticed."

Mirei smiled and followed after her sisters.

Rhoswen looked around the docking level.

"So where is everyone?"

"Central conference level," Meridian said without turning back. "Seris sent someone to guide you."

A young Human officer approached almost immediately.

Aurelian had seen him before among Helion’s recently trained local command staff, though he couldn’t remember the name until the man introduced himself.

"Commander Arcturus. Lieutenant Corin Vale. Seris asked me to escort you."

Aurelian nodded.

"Lead the way."

Corin turned and headed toward the inner lifts.

He was young, probably only a little older than some of the first awakened Helion crews, but he carried himself properly.

The uniform was simple and still lacked most of the markings Aurelian associated with established fleet organizations.

Helion’s people were building their military structure almost from nothing.

That made officers like Corin worth watching.

"How long have you been assigned to local command?" Aurelian asked as they entered the lift.

"Nine days."

Rhoswen looked at him.

"That long?"

Corin hesitated, unsure whether she was mocking him.

Aurelian saved him.

"She is always like this."

"Oh."

Rhoswen looked offended.

"I was being encouraging."

"No, you weren’t."

Corin wisely faced forward.

Aurelian continued.

"What did you do before?"

"Navigation support. Before preservation, I worked with civilian traffic control."

"How did you end up in military command?"

"Seris needed officers who understood the old route systems. Then the new patrol crews needed someone who could organize movement without ships crashing into one another."

Aurelian nodded.

That was reasonable.

Helion did not need every officer to begin as a professional soldier.

People who already knew how to organize traffic, engineering, logistics, or station operations could learn the military side afterward.

The lift opened onto the central conference level.

This part of Helion had also changed.

The halls were cleaner.

New lighting had replaced several old emergency strips.

People moved through the area without needing escorts or checking every door before entering.

Aurelian could hear conversation from the main chamber before they reached it.

The regional meeting had drawn more people than he expected.

Seris and Meren were already present at one end of the table.

Astercourt sat beside two representatives from Larkspur Haven.

Sanctuary Ardent had sent Mirelle Dain and an older engineer named Tomas Eran, both members of the temporary civilian council.

Elowen attended through a remote channel from Survey World M-17, where she had refused to leave the environmental station during an important observation period.

Neris had arrived earlier aboard one of the regular transport ships.

The administrator from the protected former Compact station sat near the far end, looking slightly uncomfortable among so many Human representatives.

Aurelian understood why.

His station had only been under Crownward protection for a short time.

For him, this meeting would decide whether that agreement remained temporary or became the start of something much larger.

Seris rose when Aurelian entered.

"We can begin whenever you’re ready."

Aurelian looked around the table.

"No ceremony?"

Rhoswen sounded disappointed.

"I knew something was missing."

Astercourt answered her.

"This is an administrative meeting."

"Exactly."

Aurelian sat down before they could continue.

Astra took the seat beside him, while Rhoswen remained standing behind them until Mirelle pointed toward an empty chair.

"You are allowed to sit."

"I know."

"You’ve been standing there for almost a minute."

"I was deciding."

Rhoswen finally sat.

Aurelian ignored the exchange and looked toward Astercourt.

"Start."

She brought the first proposal onto the main display.

The Crownward Administrative Charter.

The title remained exactly as boring as Aurelian wanted.

Below it was the first draft of rules meant to apply across the territory.

Trade standards.

Route access.

Mutual defense obligations.

Emergency authority.

Local government rights.

Common criminal procedures for crimes involving more than one settlement.

Basic military coordination.

And limits on what Aurelian’s command could do inside civilian areas without declaring an emergency.

Rhoswen read the last part.

"They put limits on you."

"Good."

She looked at him.

"That answer was too fast."

Astercourt continued.

"The draft keeps local government mostly unchanged. Larkspur Haven keeps its current civil administration. Sanctuary Ardent keeps its council. Helion keeps its own leadership system. Protected stations may keep their existing civilian structures unless they choose otherwise."

Meren nodded.

"Centralizing everything now would create more work without solving anything."

Mirelle agreed.

"Sanctuary Ardent is not ready to replace its temporary council anyway. Too many people are still asleep."

The former Compact administrator raised a hand slightly.

"What happens to stations like mine?"

Astercourt looked toward him.