If Jove Stray

Chapter 36: did we win?

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I had kept them flat against the table so that congress wouldn't notice, but now I felt as if I was somehow out in the earthstorm, being blown about like the dirt and rock. Other members of congress returned to their work; I waited for Levi to gather his crutches and head back to his new office.

"You didn't tell me about that video," he mentioned.

He sounded a little upset and I put my hand on his arm.

"It was still playing when I put you in bed," I replied. "I didn't want to wake you."

"I could have used it against him, Dylan," Levi said. "Dashiell would have let me go so he could stay captain."

"But we needed him out of that position," I argued. "Who knew what he was going to do next? This way we can fight him in congress; he's out of power."

"I didn't want to be in congress, Dylan," he said. "We didn't win today."

"And we can solve that tomorrow," I promised, squeezing his arm. "This is a good thing; I promise."

Levi stopped in the hallway and took a step away from me. I dropped my arm, worried that he was truly upset with me. His brown eyes were red rimmed as if he was about to cry, but no tears fell.

"Not for me," he replied firmly. "Not for Anatoly. You saw the vote; congress won't let me go. Now Alcott is stuck with Tyson until something changes and..."

He stopped to glance up at the ceiling, blinking back tears. I didn't know what to do. I thought Levi would be happy that we had ousted Dashiell and that we would be able to shape the base for the better. Of course I was upset that he had been locked into the position in the archives, but at least some good had come from it.

"We can talk about this later," he said finally. "I'm really upset and I don't want to yell at you. Pas mal?"

He walked off before I had a chance to say anything in my defense. I stared after him, bewildered at his reaction. We would talk later; I needed to tell my papa the news.

"Dylan."

Dashiell approached me with a faint smile on his face.

"You sure showed me," he remarked. "I can freely admit that you surprise the hell out of me."

"Do you read much Shakespeare?" I inquired.

"Um, not in my free time, no. Why?"

"There's a scene from Pericles that's perfect for occasions like this," I told him.

"The blind mole casts Copp'd hills towards heaven, to tell the earth is throng'd
By man's oppression; and the poor worm doth die for't.
Kings are earth's gods; in vice their law's their will;
And if Jove stray, who dares say Jove doth ill?"

"Okay," Dashiell said, not understanding. "I guess I really didn't pay attention in my English classes."

"You aren't a god, Dashiell Turner," I clarified. "And you don't have control of me or my life."

"Oh, I have received that message loud and clear," he replied with a smirk. "But remember, Vertov is only interim captain. The people still have to vote on it. And the moment we have a constitution, what then? You've now made rules that mean anyone can contest captain at basically any time. Vertov is the right pick for now, but after we find some iron ore, what then? What does Vertov know about running a colony?"

"What do you?" I countered. "I'm not going away, Dashiell. I'm not letting you bully congress and shape this base in a facsimile of Earth. We don't live there."