A Time To Gather Stones Together

Terrace Ridge Maison

Araxes - Mu Draconis

September, 2521

Companion's Journal

I've noticed something about politics in the brief time I've stopped and actually paid attention to them: It's a bunch of people with a lot of money, influence, or power (frequently all three) sitting around arguing about what they think is best for everyone else... and when I say, 'What is best for everyone else,' I actually mean, 'What is actually in the best interests of the selfsame people sitting around arguing.' Generally, politicians aren't out to represent the people they represent.

So, when the Laandsrat council of Araxes decided that they needed to find Lily's son, K2, who has, incidentally, turned to stone and vanished, I kind of had a problem with that. It was mainly because his parents, Lily and Krakken, had come to a resolution about custody, and that ought to have been the end of it. Instead, the politicians presiding over the custody case decided it was in their best interests to study the boy, so ordered him brought to them when he was found.

Maybe I'm an upstanding citizen of the UAP, which is represented on that very council, but I find it difficult to remain 'upstanding' when the ethics of the situation suggest more of a prone position is appropriate - perhaps several feet below-ground, even.

I told Lily to find him before they did and to bring him to me.

Being a Registered Companion affords one certain amenities. It lifts one's status unto the highest echelons of society. It affords one large amounts of respect. It also allows one to operate above the indignities of such things as customs inspections.

Lily could not hope to get K2 off of Araxes. Perhaps she could have hidden him with the Desertborn, but that would have gone against the agreement with the boy's father. Likewise, Krakken could not hope to get K2 off of Araxes - the Myrmidons were already mistrusted and heavily scrutinized, and being caught smuggling his son off of Araxes would potentially start a war.

But I could.

Lining the pockets of customs inspectors is nothing new to anyone wanting to get their hands on some rare but illegal delicacy. I imagine that it was a practice Companions were familiar with, as I learned it from my own mentor - it's how the system operated. You could get anything your heart desired so long as you had the coin to grease the way. All it would take for me to get K2 off of Araxes is a wink, a teasing comment about a crate of Pule to entertain a client, and a smile as I slipped the agent a handful of credits, and no questions would be asked, nor would any eyebrows be raised. The 'crate of Pule' would be marked down as some trivial cargo that had been inspected.

It's been weeks since the custody hearing, and I'd not heard so much as a whisper about the boy. I was beginning to fear he'd been found by Araxian representatives. So frequently these things get hushed up, and if they had him, there wasn't much I could do to help.

I arrived on Araxes today to receive a client, however, and my fears were abolished. Standing next to the ornamental gong in the receiving area was a new statue: A stone boy. I couldn't help but smile at the simplicity, or at the irony. There he will remain until I can set things in motion, because who would think to search for him in the residence of a Registered Companion?

~I.F.