The Stellar Alliance.
This was a special star region taking in a great many star systems.
One point in which it was like the Reef Star Region was that these star systems of the Stellar Alliance were all exceedingly poor in resources of their own native production.
But its advantage lay in this: the region the Stellar Alliance occupied was very well suited indeed to the traffic of interstellar trade!
Whether to the many interstellar powers within the Galactic Alliance, or even — before the Mechanical Race withdrew their forces — into the Mechanical Race's occupied zones, they had channels of the finest sort.
As to why anyone should want to go into the Mechanical Race's occupied zones: because there would always be someone posting a bounty for some article to be had nowhere but there.
And within the Stellar Alliance, besides the interstellar merchants, there would now and then be those who did a turn as interstellar adventurers on the side.
"That's the Stellar Alliance for you, more or less. Here it makes no difference what race you are — whether you breathe or you don't, whether you have one head or two. So long as you've got this in hand, anything at all can be arranged. There's law in the Stellar Alliance too, mind — but everyone understands well enough that whether that law exists or not comes down to just how high a price you're offering." Xue Xiaoxiao had the air of one who knew the place, and rubbed her thumb and forefinger together.
And at the same time, Xue Xiaoxiao was eyeing Zhao Chen, seated in her own captain's chair, with something less than pleasure.
For a purple seat-cushion of the sort she liked had been laid over it specially, and against the backrest sat a cartoon doll she was fond of.
The feeling of it was for all the world like having had one's house burgled.
But there was nothing to be done: with this man's standing being what it was, all she could do was glare and hold her peace.
"And the currency here is—?" Zhao Chen asked.
"Anything of value will serve. What's used most, naturally, is star-ore," Xue Xiaoxiao said.
Star-ore was the commonest sort of ore deposit there was, and very wide in its uses; five parts in 10 of the raw materials for building an interstellar warship would have star-ore worked into them.
And the raw material of the star coin — the Galactic Alliance's legal currency to begin with — as well as the thing it was measured against, was likewise star-ore.
Because star-ore's output was very great and its quantity very great, its price was exceedingly steady.
So everyone was glad to use it for their interstellar trade.
"How does the Stellar Alliance stand for strength? Is there anything among them that could pose a threat to this fleet of ours?" Chu Xuan asked from one side, in earnest.
Xue Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. "With our fleet configured as it is? Pose a threat to us? It'll do if we refrain from posing a threat to them. These 72 interstellar warships could walk sideways clean across the Stellar Alliance if they liked. But the Stellar Alliance's military strength is one thing; its true strength comes of the web of its connections. Trade disputes break out inside the Stellar Alliance often enough, and small local wars in private too. But everyone understands very clearly the reason the Stellar Alliance is able to exist within the Galactic Alliance at all. So if some outside power makes war on an interstellar power inside the Stellar Alliance without cause, then perhaps the Stellar Alliance won't stand against you face to face — may even swallow the insult and carry on as though nothing at all had happened. But they will use a 'means of war' of their own: you'll be entered on their blacklist. And to go onto their blacklist means you'll be unable to use the Stellar Alliance's channels to carry on interstellar trade — and at the same time, the moment any interstellar trade bearing on you is discovered, the Stellar Alliance will crush it and cut it dead whatever the cost. What they're skilled at is a war of trade. And in the matter of trade wars, to this day there is no one who has ever beaten the Stellar Alliance. Because the Stellar Alliance has connections spread through the whole of the Galactic Alliance. Mind you, even our own Owl Dragon Legion has no few ties to the Stellar Alliance as things stand. The grain trade, starship sales, raw-material procurement, and the rest of it. I don't know whether Secretary-Officer Lilith has mentioned it to you — but don't go lightly breaking relations with the Stellar Alliance, or it'll do the Owl Dragon Legion a very serious 'internal injury'."
Zhao Chen nodded; before he set out, Lilith had said as much to him.
But it had been no more than a reminder. Because Lilith understood that if Zhao Chen truly came to that step, then the Commander-in-Chief would have his reasons for it.
At the worst of it, one more Stellar Alliance could be wiped out.
Their Owl Dragon Legion had come a long road; what storm or squall had they not seen.
"Then where is a place one can go digging for intelligence?" Zhao Chen asked.
Chu Xuan spoke up first. "That I know. By the word our T3 Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Scout Ships gathered earlier— within the Stellar Alliance there's a place by the name of Stellar City. It's a neutral belt within the Stellar Alliance, and the transfer station for every manner of interstellar trade is there. There we should be able to find the intelligence we want."
Xue Xiaoxiao nodded. "Just so. In that place, Stellar City, so long as you're willing to spend the money, there's precious little in the way of intelligence you can't get wind of."
"Then we'll make a trip to Stellar City first," Zhao Chen said.
At this hour, this small fleet of Zhao Chen's had already come within the Stellar Alliance's bounds by way of the T4 Lucent-class Interstellar Jump Ships.
And by what the star chart gave, it steered on toward Stellar City.
Looking on from outside, one would find that upon these several dozen interstellar warships the Owl Dragon Legion's blazon was gone, and in its place stood a fleet blazon no one had ever seen.
This was Zhao Chen's doing, to keep his own identity hidden.
At the same time, Zhao Chen had deployed some T3 Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Scout Ships about the fleet in advance, to steer as clear as could be managed of any interstellar fleet they might otherwise meet.
For with these several dozen warships of Zhao Chen's, going by their bulk and their hulls alone, one glance from a great way off would be enough to guess that these were warships out of the common run.
The later such things were given away, the better it served Zhao Chen.
"The Qian family is at this position, is that right?" Zhao Chen opened the Stellar Alliance's star chart and looked at one region marked out on it well beforehand.
"The Qian family's foundations run deep. Within the Stellar Alliance they're the interstellar trader with the largest interstellar territory of any. They sit astride 13 star systems. This whole region belongs to the Qian family." Xue Xiaoxiao pointed at the region marked there, with its 13 star systems around it.
Xue Xiaoxiao looked at Zhao Chen curiously. "This sudden interest of yours in the Qian family — what's it for?"
Zhao Chen set her a riddle and left it there. "It's nothing. Only asking, that's all."
Xue Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. Zhao Chen was not the sort of man to ask a question of no consequence just for the asking.
And once he had fixed his eye on somebody, that certainly boded no good for them.
Only just now Xue Xiaoxiao hadn't the heart to spare for what Zhao Chen's purposes might be.
What she was more worried about, at present, was herself.
It should be all right.
She need only keep her movements somewhat hidden this time; the Stellar Alliance was so vast — how should it fall out so neatly as to run into that.
She'd finish her task and be away, and not a soul the wiser.
She'd still be the same Xue Xiaoxiao who let herself fly free out in the world.
Xue Xiaoxiao turned her own private cares over, and the corner of her mouth could not help lifting.
And beside her, Zhao Chen was turning over his own affairs as well.
Chu Xuan looked at the two of them, each with their own schemes tucked away, and could not shake the feeling that this journey to the Stellar Alliance was absolutely not so simple a business as it looked on the face of it.
As though some great matter were going to happen.