Hale breathed in heavily. One hand played with the picture of three girls that faced him on the side of his desk.

“We’ll lose our independence. We’ll lose our whole way of life, that’s come from centuries of co-existence with the Cradle.”

He put the picture back.

Even if the Hegemon doesn’t exist, I fear this is exactly the sort of excuse Earth will use to reunite our ‘little federation’. Their influence runs deep in our society, even today.”

“Forgive me, but I feel we’re drifting from the more pressing issue of access to the Psi-Helios system.” Benoit Souza interjected.

“All we need right now, is a promise that our teams can enter unmolested. We can promise to leave the locals alone if we think that will do any good.”