Following that first gathering of the Council of Datajacks, there are many other small meetings, all geared toward formalizing the alliance with the Stepdaughters of Chiron. Cleve’s the one running these little sessions, but I’m present as his aide. He has conversations with each of Roze, Tenoch, Chloe, Astrid, and Shilp, as their schedules allow. Half of the council will be out in the field soon, so he gets their input first, but he meets with all of them before leaving on his diplomatic mission. I help him massage all the inputs into one comprehensible message to share with the Stepdaughters.
Cleve’s main concern for the moment is security. Data Haven wants military support in return for the same, since it’s unlikely that they will remain undisturbed as Morgan’s troops go by overhead. Which they will do when they eventually dig out a new pass… assuming Tenoch’s team is even able to close the original one. Cleve figures that intelligence—military intelligence—is another contribution Data Haven can supply. It’s much easier for people here to keep an eye on the activities of Morgan Industries. And to spread pro-Stepdaughter propaganda, as we’ve already done.
Data Haven also wants help with their food issues, sourcing it locally and preferably by farming rather than just hunting and gathering. Chloe is firm about that. In exchange, Roze and Tenoch agree to offer computational support as well as salvaging expertise and recovered scrap from Unity. I cannot help but wonder just how disastrous atmospheric entry was for the ship, given that it ended up scattered so far and wide across the landscape. How many explorers survived to even reach the ground, let alone made it through the first few years of miasma sickness? Cleve and I are really lucky things went as smoothly for us as they did.
Astrid wants support for exploration, but more than that, recognition of Data Haven sovereignty and borders. The Miasma Jungle is the most reasonable delimiter between Data Haven and the Stepdaughters of Chiron, though Marina doesn’t claim ownership of it. It is, however, a very similar biome to where she hails from and quite different from the area around Data Haven. She proposes it as a conservation area for which the Stepdaughters of Chiron are responsible. That limits how far eastward Data Haven can expand—not that these hundred or so people really need so much room. Data Haven is a minor party, sitting at the kids’ table while Morgan Industries and the Stepdaughters of Chiron have their grown-up arguments.
Cleve is pragmatic, willing to take on a conservation role if that’s what the Stepdaughters of Chiron demand. Really, any territory that can be kept out of Morgan’s hands is a boon to the Stepdaughters. Data Haven will never be as aggressive a neighbor as Morgan Industries.
Shilp has unique demands. He argues for military protection but also for the option to immigrate. Data Haven is too cramped, too closed-up. It sounds to him like the Stepdaughters have more space to live comfortable lives, and he wants the possibility of moving there himself. I imagine the rover repurposed as a transit vehicle, bussing research data here for Roze and their hackers to crunch, then returning the findings along with new migrants to the Stepdaughters.
To sum up: a military as well as ideological alliance—at least against Morgan Industries. Marina doesn’t anticipate any pushback on these points. She thinks it’s unlikely the Stepdaughters will demand much else beyond the sharing of information and resources, as well as holding the Monsoon Jungle sacrosanct. It’s not like they’ll require Data Haven to start a recycling program—though Cleve would be totally onboard if they did.