Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Two: To Be or Not To Be #16

Sophia was distracted and out of sorts the next day. She had expected Kerry to back out at some point, but her and Tamela had checked this morning; Kerry and Tapanga had both left the station onboard a local cruiser, headed for Saras Station.

In addition to the heartbreak that Tamela was going through, there was the practical issue. They had just signed on for a four bedroom apartment, now they were one person short. They'd discussed that with Sherry briefly that morning. They could each pitch in for Kerry's portion of rent. It would work for a short time, if they were all careful.

But Tamela was staying because she wanted to go to school. The idea was slowly growing on Sophia as well, though she wasn't sure about her own chances. However neither could afford to take three days off for the exam right now, they would have to work every rest day to make ends meet until they could find another renter.

She tried to throw herself into work to keep her mind off what was going on. She didn't notice as Sara approached her late morning with Dhanvin in tow.

"Dhanvin's offered to take the two of us to lunch. My favorite place, too. Can only be bad news for me," Sara groused playfully. "But I suspect good news for you."

"Perhaps, but I don't want to blow the surprise. You will join us?" Dhanvin asked, his voice eager.

Sophia gave a glance towards Tamela. She almost begged off, to be there for her friend. But Dhanvin seemed to really want her to go. "Yeah, give me a minute." She went to where Tamela, Animika and Sherry were working, setting up a stall in an increasingly crowded court. They were only days away from opening the court, finally.

"I'm going to lunch with Sara and Dhanvin, if that's okay," Sophia said.

Tamela arched an eyebrow curious. Then she nodded, catching Sophia's real question. "It's fine. I'll be fine."

"We'll have our own lunch," Animika said. Meaning they'd take Tamela with them. "Don't fear."

Sophia nodded, feeling a rush of gratitude towards Animika and Sherry both.

Sophia, Dhanvin and Sara took the elevator up to a small lounge in the spaceport. The domed ceiling was slate gray. "Not much of a view today," Dhanvin muttered apologetically.

"There's a cruiser taking off in a few," Sara replied, checking her slate. "No biggie, the shields will dropped soon.

They were led to a low round booth and seated.

"I grew up on a solar station," Sara said as they looked over menus. The menus were holographic, displays of various dishes with Consortium and Earth names.

"My treat," Dhanvin prompted as Sophia looked hers over. Despite his proclamation she looked the prices over nervously and tried to pick something not too pricey.

"Dad did maintenance on the docking facilities," Sara went on. "When I was a kid he'd bring me up to the ports to see. We'd go to one of the top lounges, where you can see the spaceships. Always loved it. It reminds that we are in space, not on the ground."

The waitress came back and took their orders. Sophia looked up just as the gray shield cut off and the clear dome opened to the stars. The lights dimmed in the lounge and they had a spectacular view. "Whoa," she breathed. "I see what you mean."

"Do you know the stars?" Dhanvin asked them. Sophia shook her head no. She loved looking at the stars but she'd never actually studied them.

"A few," Sara said. "Nothing like home, though. I suppose in time." She slid over beside Sophia and pointed to one corner of the dome. "Make of this what you will, but see that point of light there? That's what you call Sirius, the dog stars. I have seen many, many references to it in your mythology and folklore, though I haven't had time to explore them all."

Sophia nodded.

"If you were to head that way, just a hair to the right, maybe." She squinted as though she thought she could actually see. "And passed beyond the dark matter halo around the edge of your galaxy, you'd eventually come to Barthon, the gate station. Beyond that is what your astronomers had named the Canis Dwarf galaxy. It's the core and Dhanvin and I called it home."

"Cool," Sophia said.

"But Dhanvin didn't bring us here for astronomy lessons, I'm sure," Sara said as the waitress returned with their food. She slid back to her place and accepted her plate.

"No, but it's fascinating. I should really study more," Dhanvin mused. "We are here to celebrate. I've got a new project, and a pretty good promotion to boot. The captain, he's quite a remarkable man I must say..."

"You've met him?" Sara asked.

"Yes. We've all seen him, met him briefly. But only recently have I got to see him in action. He has a plan to deal with the steady trickle of sick that keep coming up, seeking advanced treatment and the many more on the surface that want to come but can't."

"That's good," Sara commented casually. "We should help if we can, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, but there are practical as well as political hurdles. It's been easy to integrate the likes of Sophia and her friends. But many of these people are too sick to work, but not so sick they must spend their whole time in a tank. Where are they to stay? What do they eat? How do they live in our system?"

"Sounds like some thorny problems," Sara said.

"Indeed, the captain wants to set up a special wing, just for them. Bring them up in small groups and help them the best we can. Then... they can return or stay as they see fit. Already maintenance and healing are working on setting up the wing. Diplomats are working out who can come and how. I will be overseeing the day to day operations on behalf of the economics department, seeing they have all the things they need. I will need a liaison, someone who knows what it's like to come up here with nothing, start over."

Sophia startled at the implication. Sara dropped her silverware with a clatter. "You mean to steal my best worker," she barked at him, but her eyes twinkled.

Dhanvin addressed Sophia. "You have adapted to living on a station remarkably well. I didn't realize how well until I've had to deal with some of the others."

"I just..."

"Kept an open mind. Listened. Learned," Dhanvin said. "I doubt you even realize how remarkable those traits are. I think you'd make a great liaison."

"What would that mean?" Sophia asked.

"For starters, a raise. I've a decent budget and this would be a big step up from day labor. As far as work goes," he shrugged. "The healers would provide the medical care, of course. We'll hire cooks to provide communal meals. These obvious things I'm not worried about. It's the other things that I know will crop up, needs we haven't anticipated, cultural differences, little things like showing people around the station. I need someone I can say, "help this person do this, find this," that sort of thing."

That didn't sound too hard. But she wasn't sure. "You said a raise?"

"One point five, to start, when things get up and running we can discuss two, maybe."

"Take it," Sara hissed. "That's great pay for non tech work."

"Are you sure?" Sophia asked her.

"Our project is nearly done anyway. You will leave me Tamela until I have construction done?" she shot this at Dhanvin. He grinned and nodded.

Sophia thought about her issues with the apartment. Even at one point five, she'd have no trouble covering Kerry's portion, and even helping the others if need be. "Yeah, I'll do it."

"Good then it's agreed," Dhanvin said.

"Not so fast," Sara said. "There is still the business of you stealing my best worker."

Dhanvin laughed and waved the waitress over. He ordered a dessert platter. The price alone made Sophia's eyes bulged, but it did look good.

"Better," Sara muttered as the platter was set in front of them. "Sophia, you should try the caramel first. It's divine." 

Thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying the story.