the rumors making the rounds are true.”
“If we present a name that sounds too weak,” Iceni objected, “it will make us look like an easy target. You’re right. We do have to think about this. It’s a marketing problem, isn’t it? We have to look strong but not threatening to those outside, and like a source of internal stability and protection but not Syndicate-level repression to those inside. We need to sell this to star systems that we want to join up, and present the right image to those we want to keep at arm’s length.”
“It’s not just marketing,” Drakon said, with an open disdain that made it clear what he thought of marketing as a profession. “Not just propaganda. It’s also about what form this grouping of stars takes, how much control we have or want.”
Iceni sighed, pressing one hand over her eyes. “We’re still working out how
this
star system will be governed. The details of that, anyway. Will what we decide to do here even work in other places, like Taroa, even if we can impose it on them?”
“We don’t necessarily have to impose it,” Drakon pointed out. “I talked to Captain Bradamont about how the Alliance worked. She said there’s a set of principles the member star systems agree to, that they can’t be like the Syndicate, for example, but beyond that individual star systems get to run themselves any way they want as long as it doesn’t conflict with the principles.”
“Hmmm.” Iceni lowered her hand and gazed at the nearest star display. “That’s not just Alliance propaganda, then? They do allow more . . . autonomy . . . for individual star systems?”
“That’s what Bradamont said. She admitted that under the pressure of the war, the Alliance central government gained a lot more power but insists that power is still limited.” He must have seen Iceni’s skepticism because Drakon added more. “And she is Alliance. You know how their officers are about that honor stuff and not lying.”
Iceni laughed. “I know how they go on about how honor is so important to them. I’m certain that some Alliance officers shade the truth a lot more than they admit to. But Bradamont does not seem to be one of those. She’s annoyingly honest in all matters. Well, if we’re not capable of enforcing some way of governing on other star systems, letting them do what they want as long as it doesn’t harm us or help the Syndicate might be a smart way to go. Most importantly, it is so different from Syndicate practice that it will defuse claims we’re trying to set ourselves up as a mini-Syndicate out here. Would you be upset if I expressed surprise that you thought of all this before I did?”
He smiled. “No. You’re a better CEO than I was in the sense of running a business. I didn’t think of it. Colonel Malin suggested we needed to think about it.”
“Colonel Malin?” She kept her tone of voice neutral as a welter of thoughts responded to that identification. “Colonel Malin appears to have many ideas.”
“He says he’s been thinking about things like this for a while,” Drakon said. “He didn’t think there would ever be a chance to do anything as long as the Syndicate remained too strong and the Alliance remained at war with us, but things happened.”
“Things happened,” Iceni agreed. “The old order has crashed and burned, and now . . .” Her voice trailed off as a memory fought to become clear.
Drakon waited, eyeing her, smart enough not to interrupt and chase away the image that Iceni was trying to recall. He did have some very good qualities even though sometimes their arguments were heated enough to start fires.
Fires. There it was. “A phoenix.”
“A what?”
“A phoenix,” Iceni said. “You said we need an image. I thought of this a while ago, that the phoenix might be useful. That’s why I didn’t name one of our heavy cruisers
Phoenix
. Do you know what a phoenix is?”
“Something that doesn’t actually exist,”
“If we present a name that sounds too weak,” Iceni objected, “it will make us look like an easy target. You’re right. We do have to think about this. It’s a marketing problem, isn’t it? We have to look strong but not threatening to those outside, and like a source of internal stability and protection but not Syndicate-level repression to those inside. We need to sell this to star systems that we want to join up, and present the right image to those we want to keep at arm’s length.”
“It’s not just marketing,” Drakon said, with an open disdain that made it clear what he thought of marketing as a profession. “Not just propaganda. It’s also about what form this grouping of stars takes, how much control we have or want.”
Iceni sighed, pressing one hand over her eyes. “We’re still working out how
this
star system will be governed. The details of that, anyway. Will what we decide to do here even work in other places, like Taroa, even if we can impose it on them?”
“We don’t necessarily have to impose it,” Drakon pointed out. “I talked to Captain Bradamont about how the Alliance worked. She said there’s a set of principles the member star systems agree to, that they can’t be like the Syndicate, for example, but beyond that individual star systems get to run themselves any way they want as long as it doesn’t conflict with the principles.”
“Hmmm.” Iceni lowered her hand and gazed at the nearest star display. “That’s not just Alliance propaganda, then? They do allow more . . . autonomy . . . for individual star systems?”
“That’s what Bradamont said. She admitted that under the pressure of the war, the Alliance central government gained a lot more power but insists that power is still limited.” He must have seen Iceni’s skepticism because Drakon added more. “And she is Alliance. You know how their officers are about that honor stuff and not lying.”
Iceni laughed. “I know how they go on about how honor is so important to them. I’m certain that some Alliance officers shade the truth a lot more than they admit to. But Bradamont does not seem to be one of those. She’s annoyingly honest in all matters. Well, if we’re not capable of enforcing some way of governing on other star systems, letting them do what they want as long as it doesn’t harm us or help the Syndicate might be a smart way to go. Most importantly, it is so different from Syndicate practice that it will defuse claims we’re trying to set ourselves up as a mini-Syndicate out here. Would you be upset if I expressed surprise that you thought of all this before I did?”
He smiled. “No. You’re a better CEO than I was in the sense of running a business. I didn’t think of it. Colonel Malin suggested we needed to think about it.”
“Colonel Malin?” She kept her tone of voice neutral as a welter of thoughts responded to that identification. “Colonel Malin appears to have many ideas.”
“He says he’s been thinking about things like this for a while,” Drakon said. “He didn’t think there would ever be a chance to do anything as long as the Syndicate remained too strong and the Alliance remained at war with us, but things happened.”
“Things happened,” Iceni agreed. “The old order has crashed and burned, and now . . .” Her voice trailed off as a memory fought to become clear.
Drakon waited, eyeing her, smart enough not to interrupt and chase away the image that Iceni was trying to recall. He did have some very good qualities even though sometimes their arguments were heated enough to start fires.
Fires. There it was. “A phoenix.”
“A what?”
“A phoenix,” Iceni said. “You said we need an image. I thought of this a while ago, that the phoenix might be useful. That’s why I didn’t name one of our heavy cruisers
Phoenix
. Do you know what a phoenix is?”
“Something that doesn’t actually exist,”
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