Pushing

'But the Register of Shareholders shows that 33% of the shares are held by high ranking members of the Institute. This is a worrying development!'

'It could be, but the Jarnell family still owns 44%. They don't hold an absolute majority but they still have a very, very powerful saying in the company.'

'Unless the remaining 23% would be acquired by the Institute through their members. Than they would control the company and God knows what happens then. They could shut down the complete enterprise.'

'I suppose they could. But... would that mean the end of space travel? I don't think so. My guess is that the production of space propulsion systems would just "move" to The Beyond and there would be nothing Jarnell corporation could do. The Oikumene would gradually loose its "raison d'être" and the Institute would have effectively eliminated itself. The Beyond is there for a reason. It controls and supervises The Oikumene in a very delicate way. Push to hard in Oikumene and you push right through its delicate fibers into The Beyond and out of your control. So, if you'd ask me - and you probably will - the Institute just wants "acceptable control" and not a big-bang-all-or-nothing scenario. The nasty thing with those scenario's is that they tend to backfire upon the instigator... The Institute knows this.'

- Rachael Uhma interviews Pica Spitzberghen, member of the Olliphane parliament and honorary professor at the Sea Province University