President Sherman Maltin

Sherman Maltin was a politician, diplomat and administrator in the Taurian Concordat before he was named President of the New Colony Region. He served both as Minister of Trade and Colonization in the Concordat and as Ambassador to the Magistracy of Canopus before his short stint as a head of a regional state. His failure as a regional governor is what led to the annexation of the Reach region by the two respective periphery states in the rim region.

Early Life

Sherman Maltin was born on Taurus in a minor political family, with ties to Taurus Territorial Industries. He received the best education money could buy in the Taurian Concordat, before going to Canopus to attend a local college and achieve a master’s in business administration. His mandatory military service was deferred until his return, where it was deferred again as he was brought up to serve on the cabinet of the Minister of Trade and Colonization.

Political career

Ministry of Trade and Colonization

Sherman was immediately given the position of sub-minister and put in charge of the colonization effort in the former Aurigan Reaches. Most worlds in that region were already inhabited and had their own culture, but many leaned more heavily towards Canopian rule rather than Taurian rule. It was Sherman Maltin’s job to “convince” these local nobles and warlords to accept more direct involvement by the Taurian government.

His work went rather well, allowing Taurian colonists to settle on multiple worlds in the Aurigan regions. He was rewarded in 3037 with the position as Minister of Trade and Colonization directly, which he held for 10 years. During that period, Minister Maltin pushed for more colonization and expansion in the Reach region, including allowing investment from Taurian firms in infrastructure outside of the realm.

Ambassador to Canopus

Sherman Maltin left his position as Minister in early 3048, after which he was appointed to the cushy position of Ambassador to Canopus. His main task at the time was to iron out an agreement with the other periphery power towards the state of the Reach region. Both the Magistracy and the Concordat had a strong desire to annex the worlds in that region, both for their population and for their untapped resources. The biggest fear was that House Liao would make the move first and capture the entire region.

After the signing of the Treaty of Victoria between the Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation, Magistracy of Canopus and Taurian Concordat, these fears started to increase as the Capellans were seen as rebuilding their forces heavily and pushing for more worlds to “rejoin” the Confederation. A second treaty, the Treaty of Taurus, was signed by the Magistracy and Concordat at Sherman Maltin’s advice, splitting the Reaches region between the two powers and using exclusionary language to prevent Capellan interference. The ambassador was rewarded by being appointed as administrator for the region in 3059.

President of the New Colonies and death

Sherman Maltin began his term as president of the New Colony Region by defining the requirements from both periphery powers and establishing a local taxation authority. His experience in trade and diplomacy made him very influential in the region, which began to be seen as a threat by the Calderon government and the Liao regime. The fear was that Maltin would want to secede his “New Colony Region” into its own nation, potentially even siding with the Federated Commonwealth to gain independence. The Magistracy of Canopus had a better view of President Maltin, believing that a lot of his actions were for the greater good of the regional population.

Things degenerated during the Fifth Succession War as the Taurian Concordat began offensive operations against the Federated Commonwealth. Fearing that the New Colonies could be impacted, Maltin invited the regional leaders to Detroit for a summit. Emma Centrella, Jeffrey Calderon and Sun Tzu Liao came to Detroit reluctantly and Sherman Maltin exposed his plan to have the Reaches be a buffer zone between the three states, which was opposed immediately by Calderon and Liao. After a few days of negotiations, the summit broke down and all were getting ready to leave the planet when operatives from what would later be known as the Word of Blake took the various leaders hostage.

President Maltin saw this as both a potential boon and issue and prepared his own Colonial Marshals to try and rescue the hostages. The operation was somewhat successful, with Emma Centrella suffering minor injuries and Jeffrey Calderon almost losing an eye. Sherman Maltin was blamed for the whole affair and was stripped of his position. The New Colony Region was dismantled and worlds were split between the two periphery powers.

Sherman Maltin died 6 days later of liver failure, which some believe was caused by the Word of Blake.