They had been lucky enough to be born into a family that had more Time than they knew what to do with, even with all the charities they supported AND the high taxes. So, they bought a large, badly damaged, station, had it fully restored to become state-of-the-art, then turned the entire station into a massive, beautiful, natural-as-possible garden, so that people traveling could use it as a breath of fresh air, as it were, and a rest-stop in their travels. Food was free, rest was free, the only fees charged was a tiny sum if a ship came in needing repair, and that was only to cover the cost of the parts. -- Anon Guest
What do you do with all the Time one could possibly want? Corporations may have the privileges of people, that was true. What they also had was the responsibilities of people as well. That meant supporting employees, paying taxes, and being a part of the community.
Sometimes, even that wasn't enough to quell the power inherent in wealth. Fortunately for the Alliance, this much Time was in the hands of people with sense.
There was so much that could be done, if one had enough Time. Such as purchasing a dilapidated station and using it as a hobby project. Not exactly busy-work, but definitely a sanity project. Art was left to those with the talent. Gardening was a skill and could therefore be learned.
Administrator Quyne left the functioning of Nutri-Food Incorporated to itself. It was not broken, therefore it did not need fixing. Most of hir work was done in seconds worth of saying, "Carry on." It was not fair that hir dividends were in Years for that much effort. Even after stocking every emergency supplies dropbox in the Alliance with company product, there was an abundance of Time to spare.
Quyne wanted to do more with hir Time and hir time.
Long story short, this is why Respite Station exists. It only looks like a junkpile station on the outside. It's what's inside that counts. In this case, the biggest and most varied arboretum-slash-air-recycling-system in Alliance space.
There are gardens made of each Havenworld's biota, all protected from other flora and fauna. There are gardens from whatever can survive on a Deathworld, each protected for different reasons. Every world has its garden. Every visitor is welcome.
The food is free. The hostels are free. The air is as free as if it were a planet. The poor, the tired, the huddled masses are welcome here. They can stay as long as they wish, so long as they do what they can to help others.
It's been attacked by various Deregger polities eighty-three times. Every single one of them had the same excuse - which boiled down to, "You're making us look bad!"
Said in entirely different words, of course, but that was the root of it.
The CRC has set up permanent offices there, and docked a permanent defence vessel very obviously to the station. So far, it has only given the Dereggers pause.
If you want to find Administrator Quyne, do not look for an expensive suit. Do not seek hir offices. Search instead for a cogniscent in the plainest possible gear. Look for someone with the dirt ingrained into their hands. Look for workboots, not designer shoes.
You will probably find hir on hir knees, planting a seedling. If ze is at a desk, they ze is drafting more gardening plans or designing the next arboretum. On the rare occasions that ze is not working on a garden, then ze is welcoming those who come in desperation to the station.
"Don't worry," ze soothes. "It's all free."
[Image by Eleanor Brooke on Unsplash]
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