Chapter Fifty-Seven - All Which Matters

Things came, things went, and humanity with all of its idiosyncrasies and strangeness kept on.

Ivil felt like she was floating that evening. Yes, the little kiss with Twenty-Six had been about as chaste as a kiss could be, but it had been a kiss, and that's all that mattered.

She felt a comfortable warmth in her stomach, like a million stars going supernova all at once. Enough heat to usher in the death of a world and bubbling and popping and making her want to skip.

Not that she did such a thing, because it would be immature and would ruin her image. She contented herself to keep a small, demure smile on and perhaps the faintest of flushes.

That good mood was made all the stronger as she returned to the Sappho to find Aurora waiting for her. The noblewoman's hair was wet and her skin was still damp. She'd clearly just exited the shower, and yet she was dressed cleanly and appropriately, as if she was just moments away from stepping into a board meeting of some sort.

"Evelyn," she said with a polite smile. "Just the woman I wanted to see."

"Oh?" Ivil asked. Ever since Twenty-Six had pointed it out, she was acutely aware of her eyebrows doing things of their own volition to communicate how she felt. "Did you need me for something?"

They were in that small space just within the Sappho a ladder away from the bridge and right in front of the corridor leading past the First Mate and Captain's rooms and to the ladder leading down into the belly of the ship below. The bigger washrooms, with the nicer showers, were technically just below the bridge. Ivil figured that that was where Aurora was coming from.

Aurora nodded. "I did need you for something," she said before she adjusted her glasses. "It's... not a romantic matter, to make that clear from the start."

"That's unfortunate," Ivil replied with an easy smile.

Aurora cleared her throat. "Yes, well, as the case may be, it's not. I wanted to talk about our next moves now that we're in the Jovian system."

"Ah yes, the meeting of the moons," Ivil replied.

"Indeed. I've had a couple of days now to look into things. I don't exactly have a sterling spy network here, but there are enough rumours on the Jovian internet to hint at what's coming up. Before the conference of moons, there will be several smaller events."

"Oh?" Ivil asked.

"One of these is after tomorrow, around Callisto. I was wondering if you'd want to attend with me?"

"Of course," Ivil replied. "What sort of event is this, however?"

"It's a meeting between some of the minor moons," Aurora said. "Honestly, as things are progressing, I think the League of Free Moons is facing its first schism."

"Didn't you say that the leader of the organisation was a genius?" Ivil asked. She could very well recall that conversation.

Aurora nodded, then gestured down the corridor. "Should we talk over something to drink? I don't mind standing here, but it does become a little awkward."

Ivil agreed, so she gestured Aurora forwards and the noblewoman bowed slightly before moving along. "The League of Free Moons is, of course, young as far as such things go. Tradition might be a shackle to some, but it's also important to build legitimacy, and the League has no traditions. It was mostly an excuse to build ties between weaker moons, coordinate relief, and to have a third party involved in any conflicts that was more or less neutral."

"I vaguely recall that not working at all," Ivil replied.

Aurora tsked. "It really doesn't. There was a short-lived conflict some three years ago, I don't know if you recall?"

"I don't, sorry," Ivil replied.

"It was between Ariel and Umbriel, two of Uranus' moons. They both have minor orbital colonies, and honestly they don't matter overly much. I think the conflict was semi-religious in nature? It was a mess that no one wanted to get involved with. But the League of Free Moons stepped into it anyway."

"And the results?" Ivil asked. She waited as Aurora navigated the ladder down to the level below, then followed. She was keenly aware that as she walked down the steps, Aurora's attention was on her rear. It was nice.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, well, the League has something like twelve medical ships. We had fifteen. Three of them were shot down over the two moons. It's actually what ushered in the new director. She took the incident as a stepping stone to take over the League. Since then the League's stance in conflicts is a lot... harder."

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"Can the League even sustain such things?" Ivil asked.

Aurora made a so-so gesture. "The League has some amount of discretionary funds. A lot of these are being poured into the League's Defence Force. It's a small army, very small. I think some of the greater moons have militias with more ships and more men in them, but the League Defence Force is pulling resources from all over. I think the plan is to build an actual elite fighting force."

"Interesting. They're taking the Martian approach to warfare?"

"The Mars of fifty years ago, maybe," Aurora said. On seeing Ivil's questioning look, she elaborated. "Current Martian doctrine basically hinges entirely on Mars having the biggest stick in the system. Don't get me wrong, a Star Dreadnought like the Purgatorial Oblivion moving in too close is a nightmare for any naval force in the system except maybe the Earth Alliance, but it's still just one big brick of a ship. I'm no strategic expert, but I've listened to the experts, and Martian force projection has switched from being about them being an elite force and moved towards Mars just having the biggest guns."

Ivil nodded along. That actually made some sense. Mars was used to being the strongest military force for some time, and while she didn't doubt that the Martian elite was still the best... time moved on. Others would eventually catch up.

Maybe the admiralty had figured that out already and were planning for just such an eventuality by pushing the navy towards a more comprehensive approach to things.

Aurora and Ivil sat at the dining table after Aurora fetched a pair of mugs with some steaming hot cocoa in them for them to share. "We've gone off-topic," she said. "The meeting. It's between eight of the League's moons. Callisto itself, Styx, Galatea, Umbriel, Titania, Hyperion, Tethys, and with us present, Phobos."

"That's a decent number of moons, isn't it?" Ivil asked.

"Decent in number, small in stature," Aurora said. "You'll note that there's no Triton, no Miranda, no Titan or Io or Europa on that list."

"Ah," Ivil said. "It's a group of... those aren't the smallest moons of any planetary system, with the exception of Phobos."

"We're one of two moons around Mars, so we're the exception," Aurora said. "But yes, they're all the third and smaller moons of their respective planetary systems. Not just in size. There's a very real correlation between the size of a moon and its political power, but that's the subject of another dissertation."

Ivil smiled faintly. Aurora was usually a very reserved and polite young woman, she sat straight and seemed very composed at almost all times. That was, until she started to talk about something she cared about. In a way, she was similar to Twenty-Six, but with years and years of taught behaviour keeping her from expressing too much when she landed on a topic she cared about.

Right now, she was fondling her mug and rocking very faintly from side to side as she talked, as if she was listening to a song that only she could hear.

It was very cute, Ivil decided. And the sheer amount of abstract knowledge Aurora had about inter-system politics... well, that was just hot.

"So, this meeting, where is it?" Ivil asked. "And when is it as well?"

"Technically, tomorrow. It's on Oppresorax Station, one of the newer Callistoian stations. It's actually relatively close at the moment, so transitioning over shouldn't be too complex."

"Did you intend to take the Sappho over?" Ivil asked.

Aurora shook her head. "Just us. There are transports. To that end, however, I did hire some additional help. A local guide who has some knowledge of Jovian politics. She came well recommended and seemed pretty discreet. I was hoping you'd accompany me?"

Ivil perked up. "Of course. How long will this take, however?"

"A day to travel to the station, then one day for the meeting, a day's trip back," Aurora said. "It should give us a lot of information about the conference in a relatively discreet way."

"You mentioned a schism earlier, is this part of it?"

"Somewhat. The League has almost two hundred members. Eighty full members, then the rest are applicants or minor members. You can't have that many separate groups without coalitions and infighting. Not to mention planetary alliances. It's not conspiracy when interests naturally align, after all."

***