Time of Scorn

Chapter 9: and then there were three

Cameron sat with her hand in Harper's. She was squeezing perhaps too hard, finding the circumstances of this room too similar to past tragic events. Harper didn't complain, but released her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"It'll be okay," he whispered.

"I hope so," she replied.

Lully was now reading off the script, which made this far less exciting. He introduced Dashiell and Austen and took his seat next to Esperanza in the first row. Dashiell smiled at the audience while Austen seemed a little uncomfortable.

There was a format to these, the questions gathered by Lully had been handed to either candidate and they could choose which questions to answer. On the Canary, of course, there had never been voting like this. One was promoted by their superiors based on performance. Cameron had risen through the ranks quickly because her mother needed help with names and faces. Cameron excelled at remembering everyone and what they were responsible for. The Aeneid democracy was foreign, but Cameron was glad for a say in who the captain of the base was. Otherwise, it would be out of anyone's control, just who was highest ranking somehow. And how would that work? Aeneid members didn't have rankings, just who knew the most or was most valuable to a department. It would widen the conflict between the groups, not close it.

Both candidates answered the soft, easy questions first, about qualifications, and previous work for the base. Dashiell delicately did not bring up being ousted by Dylan, but rather focused on the constitution that had made its way to the holo-ribs of everyone at this point.

Cameron and Harper had read the constitution last week together and hadn't found any complaint. It was mostly common sense: people ought to have the freedom to work and live in a manner that contributed to the continuation of the human race. That congress shouldn't control people's personal lives. That the captain should be held accountable by congress as well as the other way around. That people shouldn't be discriminated against because of when or where they were from. There were some needless clauses about other colonies or contact with the outside world, but since it was likely that this base was it, the odds of that coming up were low. Cameron was glad the base had started to make laws and goals. It had been the reason for killing Lincoln and the others, and she was glad the crimes Harper and she had committed were not in vain. That O'Keefe's death had not been in vain.

"Babe, I don't know who to vote for," Harper whispered in her ear.

"Whoever you want," she whispered back.

"I don't really like Dashiell," he said. "But I don't think...I don't think Austen gets along with Canary members. They're all scowling when she talks; I don't want to deadlock congress."

"Look at you, department head," she teased.

He squeezed her shoulder and she rested her head against him. She didn't care who was the captain now that Harper was on congress. She wanted to just focus on their departments and do what they could that way.

Austen read from answers she had typed up on her holo-rib with authority, but not the passion that Dashiell paced the stage with. If she only listened to the tone, Cameron could think that only Dashiell was qualified. And true, he was a better speaker, but the policies that Austen was speaking on made sense. She just wasn't as flashy about it. Cameron wondered if Harper would be a good public speaker. She still wanted him to run for captain in a decade or two, but they would have to work on speaking. She was pretty sure that he was too impatient to get a point across.

"What should we be focused on?" Austen had chosen the question that was probably on everyone's mind. "We should focus on securing the base from earthstorms, gathering data and planning expansion. I know my colleague here would like us to go faster, but running out of iron should have taught us something; we have to know our limits. We are limited by our population, by our resources, by our inability to get along for more than a baskets tournament."

She nodded her head to Dashiell for his turn to speak. She had been cordial to Dashiell so far, but Cameron could tell, as she was sure many people could, that Austen couldn't stand Dashiell. Austen would attempt to suppress the eye roll when he spoke, but only barely.

"So I think that this base shouldn't give up hope on the Earth," Dashiell replied smoothly, ignoring the jab from Austen at any rate. "I think that we should build and grow, mindful that we could have another ship come any cycle. That our resources could expand drastically with the next expedition, or population from another ship. Austen would have us wait for years before affecting and real tangible change. I don't see why it can't be a reality within cycles."

"Dashiell, that's moonshy," called a voice.

The room stopped murmuring when this voice spoke out. Libba stood, hands on her hips. She was sitting towards the front with some of the others from archives. Cameron would have thought she would sit with Val and Titus.

"I've looked over the data, poured through the logs," Libba began. "If we try to focus our efforts on some imaginary new population, we will be ignoring the people we have right here." She gestured to the people sitting around her. "We should be focused on quality of life now. We should build with purpose, not frantically pushing expeditions and builds we don't need. Yes, sometimes it's slow to work that way, but that's what happens with people with varying backgrounds get together and solve a problem. Everyone brings a piece of the puzzle."

"Libba," Dashiell shushed. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Isn't that what the debates are for? For talking?" she challenged. "So I wasn't President of the United States. Maybe I'm not qualified to be captain. But I have eyes. The Aeneid crew doesn't like you because you're pushy, demanding, and you offer no explanation for why you do the things you do. The Canary crew isn't used to this collaboration, doesn't necessarily want it."

She wheeled around on the audience, someone no one was expecting.

"Look at us!" she said in a tone that was unlike scolding. She spread her arms wide. "We're still segregated. The only people who seem to have made an effort to sit with someone from the other side are Lully and Esperanza!"

She pointed. Esperanza and Lully were sitting with Harriet and Reagan on one side and Oliver and Joan on the other. Lully's ears turned red as Esperanza patted his hand. Cameron realized that Libba was not wrong. The other half of the room was mostly Canary people, this half was mostly Aeneid. Cameron and Harper had come early enough that people had sat around them, but the fact remained.

"I didn't know that Lully could get embarrassed," Harper joked quietly.

"So what I want, is everyone to get up, right now, go find another seat. All at once, so we can't make this...ridiculous seating chart again. I'm not kidding, up you go."

She shooed people with her hands and people, slowly, began to move. Cameron pulled Harper to his feet.

"Should we sit apart?" she asked.

"I don't think so; we are Aeneid and Canary," he laughed and pulled her over two seats before sitting again. From their new seats, Cameron saw Lully take Libba by the elbow and pull her up to the dais with her own chair. Dashiell had so many emotions flitting over his face, Cameron wasn't sure what he was feeling. Austen looked oddly relieved. She didn't want to want to be captain? Cameron questioned. Did the Aeneid members hate Dashiell so much?

People settled as they introduced themselves, or waved at their friends across the room. Lully and Esperanza hadn't moved, but he had a wide grin on his face as he surveyed the audience. No one seemed as surprised as Libba that she was on dais. She blinked at the audience and then over at the other two people standing with her. Austin smiled. Dashiell just stared.

"I just want people to get along," Libba admitted.

____

I really struggled with how these debates were going to go, then during a nap, I had the idea of someone standing up, protesting Dashiell. Well, who would that be? Someone who has complained about his policies before, someone who could be capable of navigating the mess of congress. Someone outside of our main group of characters since they are all younger. And I love the idea that Libba, who has heard all of these talking points, is just...finally done with her husband grandstanding.

Thanks for reading!