Three Demands

Ves estimated that it might take weeks if not months for the Aducs to come to a consensus on what they should do with the Old Lady.

There was no way that a single meeting was enough to decide the life and death of their most important relic!

The significance of the Old Lady was so great that the Aducs needed to weigh every possible option carefully.

What was worse was that the vast majority of the members of the Aduc Family had developed a strong emotional bond to the Old Lady.

Their regard towards their Earth tree went far beyond mere respect. They worshiped her as if she was the Aduc Family's ancestor and patron saint!

All of these symbolic and emotional entanglements meant that it was impossible for the Aducs to settle for the most rational chance with the greatest chance of producing a favorable outcome.

This made little sense to Ves. Attempting to ship the stupid tree back to Old Earth was futile and self-destructive behavior.