The Tartarus Directive

Chapter 4

The following morning the All-Residents Workers' Union executed a general strike. The A.R.W.U. had been formed after several years of unsuccessful strikes by the many fragmented workers' organizations on the ship. The conglomeration of the A.R.W.U. was not well-received by those above C level. A general strike had been fermenting for some time, and every day rumors were it was going to happen that day, but the Security Service did not have the resources to stay on top of the organizers like the Commander wanted.

At the stroke of nine a.m. workers across the ship--or at least on C level and below--left their positions in the plants and formed picket lines. By 9:03 a.m. word was received from the planetside mining outposts that the same had occurred. By 9:05 a.m. Griff was re-activated and ordered to report for briefing at headquarters. There he was issued a truncheon, a Kevlar cuirass, and a facemask. The facemasks were issued to protect the identity of the officers involved in strikebreaking to prevent reprisals by militant union members after-the-fact.

Perhaps two dozen "special constables" were issued the same kit. Special constables were volunteer strikebreakers given carte blanche under Directive 84--a commander's directive which also strictly prohibited strikes and labeled unions terrorist organizations. Griff was assigned to D level where the bulk of manufacturing and food processing facilities were and where the greatest number of strikers had gathered.

Griff, along with a few officers and several special constables, rode the service elevators down to D level. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they were faced with a crowd which numbered well over two hundred persons and a din of angry voices. When their presence was finally noticed by the strikers, they were met with passionate jeering and several thrown articles of harmless but well-directed rubbish. They were all under orders not to violently suppress the strikers unless all other options were exhausted. For the seething special constables, those options would undoubtedly exhaust themselves swiftly.

The crowd was located in front of the entrance to the United International Foods facility. The shutters to the plant were shut horizontally so that bodies could only enter single-file. The corporation's private guards had assembled in front and were perhaps chomping-at-the-bit for action more than the special constables.

Perched atop a crate in the center of the unionists was György Dutka, the union's chief organizer. Standing well over six feet tall and wearing a charcoal-gray tunic with a red neckerchief, he was an imposing figure to behold. His beard and circular eyeglasses gave him the air of an intellectual, but his unkempt hair and fiery oratorical style made him the portrait of a true revolutionary. At first Griff could hear none of what he said and could only see Dutka's passionate full-body expressions.

The crowd settled and Dutka's operatic voice pierced the quieting masses. He paused after each sentence to allow time for his audience's reaction:

"Comrades! Allow me to ask you: when was the last time your stomach was full? When was the last time you woke from sleep feeling truly rested? When was the last time you felt your labor meant something?

"Our 'Commander' and his cabal of corporate handlers would have you believe that your endless sacrifices are for the 'greater good.' What is this 'greater good' he speaks of? Who are the beneficiaries of this 'greater good?' Our 'Commander' would have you believe that your suffering has been so that your descendents will find a good life at some distant point in the future.

"He would tell you that we share a common mission to sustain humanity--that our responsibility is not to ourselves but to all of humanity. I ask you: is mere subsistence humane? Is malnutrition humane?

"Comrades: each and every one of you can see the problems with our current arrangement. For 267 years this ship has remained on-course--a feat which would not have been possible without the hard work of people like you and I. For 267 years we have labored and taken each successive blow on the chin while the specter of capitalism and fascism has become ever more prevalent.