The next few days gave Aurelian the answer to a question he had been avoiding for a while.
The Crownward March was getting large enough that not every problem could stay temporary.
Neutral stations were becoming trade partners.
Sanctuary Ardent was waking more people.
Helion Bastion Twelve had begun training proper patrol crews.
Larkspur Haven was moving beyond emergency recovery.
Survey World M-17 had enough promise that Elowen was already preparing a longer environmental program.
At some point, all of those places would need more than separate agreements and Aurelian making decisions whenever something crossed his desk.
Astercourt reminded him of that almost every morning.
She did it again while reviewing the latest population reports.
"You now have three established population centers, several smaller controlled positions, expanding trade with former Compact settlements, and a fourth world under long-term survey."
"M-17 is not a settlement."
"Not yet."
