The Board is the nominal government of the Zone, seated in Orbeliani District, which every company treats as neutral by custom. It still controls the courts and legal recognition, the licence registry and its records, and the port taxes and customs at Kolkhida Port. It has little else. Its Chairwoman, Ilona Varga, knows the system is collapsing and is selling the Board's remaining influence to everyone at once, often the same favour to several buyers. The scheme holds only while no two buyers compare notes, and she intends to leave with the proceeds before the Charter's term ends in 2016.
The Board's investigations unit is the exception. It is a semi-secret group working independently of Varga's office, led by Meryl Silverburgh with her Rat Patrol comrade Johnny, and staffed by veterans and honest cops who still believe in the Charter. They trace illegal licences, unregistered weapons and contract fraud. They do not know that AENEAS exists.
The Georgian government is courting the Board for a legal return of the Zone to its flag, and Varga is listening to that offer along with every other.