Cache Vale

At a glance

• World type. A neutral data vault world.

• What it does. Keeps backup copies of important records, and brings them back when something goes wrong.

• Status. Neutral ground, accepted by the Core, the Mid and many Rim ports.

• Reputation. Trustworthy, quiet and very secure. Raided often.

• Main services. Deep cold vaults, backup copies of held payments, key-splitting ceremonies, time stamps, recovery drills and inheritance releases.

• Main cities. Armistice Row, Brinelock Confluence, Hashline Prime, Shardvault Warrens and Slipward Canopy. The spaceport is Vault Crown Orbital.

Role in the Drift

Cache Vale keeps the data that must survive when everything else fails. Courts, records offices, shipping firms, insurers and big merchants all keep copies here. When a port loses its records or a company's keys go bad, Cache Vale sends back a clean copy and checks that it matches. Many worlds will not sign a big contract, list a ship, or insure a long haul without a Cache Vale copy.

History

Dates use USD, the Universal Star Date. Year 0 is the founding of the Central Authority, and now is USD 0107.

• USD 0063 to 0065. Held-payment computing grows, and people want backups outside company control.

• USD 0065. Cache Vale becomes the neutral backup site for many species. The first deal between worlds is signed.

• USD 0066 to 0075. The deep vaults, courier berths and check halls grow. The key ceremony rules are published.

• USD 0080 to 0088. Pirates and heist crews start hitting the recovery convoys. Defense rules and escort rules are added.

• USD 0100 to now. Authority offices, banks, guilds and carriers all use Cache Vale. Drills and outside checks happen every season.

Government and law

• Custodial Compact. A neutral board of guardians from many species and trades. They cannot hold outside office or own shares in any client.

• Laws. Nobody may seize client data or hardware on Cache Vale. No weapons past the inner checks. Arrests happen off-world.

• Oversight. Independent inspectors check the procedures, time stamps and recovery tests. Anyone caught breaking the rules is banned and named in public.

• Hearings. A small bench of judges handles access fights, inheritance claims and release orders that contradict each other.

Economy

Cache Vale charges for storage, time stamps, backup copies, courier handling, vault checks, recovery drills and emergency releases. Around that are trades in precision parts, tamper-proof packing, climate control, sensor repair and escort work. The planet keeps money aside to pay for restores for clients who paid for failover in advance.

Places

• Courier Ring. Berths for couriers and recovery ships. Fast intake lines with strict cargo lists and checks on every lock.

• Entry Grid. Identity, cargo and device scans in several stages. All network links stop here.

• Check Concourse. Public counters for time stamps, bookings and receipts. Anyone may watch.

• Key-Ceremony Halls. Clean rooms where keys are made and split in front of several witnesses, with recordings.

• Cold Vault Strata. Deep, cold vault layers with no network lines. Data sits in locked modules with code plates and paper indexes.

• Warm Mirror Galleries. Short-range copies for data that needs regular updates, on strict schedules.

• Recovery Staging Bays. Where restores are packed, checked and sent out. Every package gets a final code and a record of every hand it passed through.

• Custodian Keep. Government offices, legal archives and the inspectors' offices.

How it works

• Deposits. The client books ahead with a list of what is coming, how long to keep it, and the rules for getting it back. A courier brings it in. Staff check the locks and weight, scan it, make a code record, store it and send a receipt with a USD time stamp.

• Backups. A backup never takes over unless the client's own copy has failed. Updates come in on a fixed schedule, and a missed update is logged as a gap. When a copy fails, Cache Vale sends notices to ports and courts, good for a short time. When the original comes back, the two are merged.

• Recoveries. Signers show their signatures or a court order. Guardians check them against the contract and the ban lists. Staff pack a locked copy with a fresh code plate. Risky routes get an escort, picked by lottery or by contract. The job closes when the client confirms delivery.

Security

• Separate teams handle intake, coding, storage and retrieval. No single team can finish a full cycle.

• The deep vaults have no network lines. Data moves only in locked modules.

• Code plates are hard to fake and get checked at every step.

• Key ceremonies and big moves are recorded with independent witnesses.

• Drills for break-ins, fire and evacuation run on a schedule, and the reports are public.

• In a raid, guards inside use non-lethal force. Escort crews outside get called up, and every client and insurer is told.

Life on Cache Vale

Life is quiet and steady. People avoid conflicts of interest and keep their clients' business to themselves. Many families work the same halls for generations. Schools teach procedure, honesty, handling locked cases, code math and record keeping for many species. Holidays mark finished checks and successful disaster restores, not political dates.

Signs are simple and use a lot of icons. People speak Trade Common with a lot of clerk slang from human, Keth and Synthborn records. After a raid, the bars near the berths fill with escort crews spending their pay.

Who is who

• Custodians' Board. The neutral leaders. They publish the procedures and keep the Compact.

• Independent Inspectors. Outside watchdogs who check the drills and spot-check the chain of hands.

• Courier Guild. Trains couriers, sets their conduct rules and runs the escort roster.

• Bank Liaison Office. Books backup slots and key ceremonies for off-world banks.

• Records delegations. Small desks from Kedra, Keth chart offices and Brightline.

• Syndicate probers. Criminals who map schedules, bribe loaders and fake recovery orders. They get caught and banned often, and they keep coming back.

Ties to other worlds

• Kedra. Backs up its court dockets, debt claims and records office snapshots here.

• Brightline. Does the computing before data goes into the vaults, and runs public check boards outside the vault layers.

• Slipwind. Keeps copies of beacon charts and lane warnings here.

• Armistice and Brackenfeld. Send food, staff and storage supplies for the recovery bays.

• Caraphex and Talarq worlds. Send heavy building materials and heat-proof parts for new vaults.

Trouble

• Fake orders. Forged signatures or fake court orders. Guardians keep strict signer lists and call back on a separate line to check.

• Inside jobs. Staff rotate, work in pairs and have their spending checked, but a loader with debts can still be bought.

• Courier ambush. The weakest point. Convoys use escorts, decoys and staggered departures, and escort crews are always hiring.

• Missed updates. A backup that misses updates is worth less. Clients can pay more for a catch-up slot.

• Seizure pressure. Some worlds try to force Cache Vale to hand data over. The Compact says any seizure must happen off-world after a lawful release.