Sweep of the Blade (Innkeeper Chronicles #4) - Ilona Andrews Page 0,34

the whole of the system. It is sitting there and costing them money. I am proposing something that would bring a huge profit for everyone. There is not a docking station for the non-vampire species anywhere within the quadrant.”

“Anywhere within the Holy Anocracy’s territory, except for the diplomatic space station near the capital star system, as I recall.”

“Exactly. Dozens of species desperate for a port facility. They’re hanging there like ripe fruit. All I am asking House Krahr to do is to stand under the tree, open their mouths, and let the bounty fall into them. They could recoup the cost of the battle station within two years.”

He was right. The space station would earn House Krahr a fortune.

Nuan Cee moaned in genuine distress. “I do not understand. Do they not want to make money?”

“Is that why the tachi are here?”

“Yes. They have an archaeological dig on On-Toru. They have to travel hundreds of light years out of their way around vampire space to get there. A space station here would give them a nearly straight shot to that colony. They’re willing to pay top prices.”

Maud leaned back. Getting the vampires out of their “by vampires for vampires” mindset would be next to impossible.

“You know vampires,” Nuan Cee said. “And you have influence with the Marshal.”

“As I said, my influence doesn’t go that far. Dina told me that you and House Krahr have reached a settlement on Nexus that made all of you rich. You should be the natural ally for the Krahr. If they are resisting you despite all of your shared history, nothing I say would matter. I am a nobody here.”

“You are Matilda Demille.”

The family name slashed across her memory.

How would Mom go about this?

“Have you noticed how obsessed with defenses they are?” she asked. “As a species, vampires spend more time in armor than out of it. Take this castle, for example. A smaller structure would’ve sufficed, yet here it is, a monstrous castle with impossibly thick walls and enough defenses to hold off an assault by an overwhelming force. I haven’t been under the castle, but I would bet that below us is a network of tunnels burrowing into the mountain, so deep, it would withstand an orbital bombardment. The chances of such an attack happening are exactly zero. You’ve seen their fleet. Arland’s destroyer alone can hold off a small armada. The system is already as protected as it could be, yet they built a battle station on top of it. You’re asking them to allow outsiders into their space, many different outsiders, not just a select few trusted allies. You are forcing them to go against their nature.”

“I’m offering to make them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.”

“They don’t care. It’s not about money.” Maud swirled the wine in her glass and took another sip. “It’s about the Mukama.”

“I have heard about the Mukama,” Nuan Cee said, his face thoughtful. “But never from a vampire. You are almost a vampire.”

Maud smiled. “Would you like me to tell you about the Mukama?”

“Yes. There is a piece missing that I do not understand.”

“Very well. It goes back to the Law of Bronwyn.” The galaxy had very few universal laws, but the Law of Bronwyn had proven true again and again, so often that it was simply accepted.

“Once a species is introduced to interstellar spaceflight, it will advance technologically but not socially,” Nuan Cee said.

Maud nodded. “Yes. Their individual standard of living may drastically improve, their technological progress will continue, but their social construct mostly stays the same. The ability to travel between the stars removes some of the pressure factors known to drive societal change. Once you get interstellar spaceflight, suddenly population density is no longer an issue. Geographical limitations are gone. The competition for natural resources is largely gone, at least in the initial stages. Different splinter groups within the society no longer have to learn to coexist; they can simply move apart from each other.”

Nuan Cee nodded.

“Societal change is hard, because a society is made up of individuals. These individuals learn how to be successful in that particular social construct, and they resist change because it threatens their survival. To really implement a change, one must convince the population that their survival as a whole is in doubt unless they alter their course. Because interstellar flight removes a lot of these survival factors, the society in question generally stays as it is once the ability to traverse the stars is achieved. If they were