Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Three: Eggs #7

Lannister stepped off the main elevator into the largest crowd he'd seen yet on his station. As it should be, he reflected. This was, he'd been told, a major milestone in the life of a new station. The bottom court was finally open.

The opening feast was a big draw, he was sure. The crowd was heavily native faces, they outnumbered the rest of the population by almost four times. Consortium faces and dress were the next most common, with a handful or American's mingling throughout.

The Consortium had given the planet ten such stations. The watchword for five of them was "a mostly smooth transition." The Far East hub, over Thailand — well Lannister had been to Thailand more than once in his career. The Thai people were legendary for their friendliness and diplomacy. Of course they got on with the Consortium. Kamchatka was leaning heavily on the Consortium for help in setting up there new democratic socialist government.

Canada, Europe and Australia had their political differences, but they'd normalized relations enough for their stations to slowly but consistently be filled with new visitors and citizens.

For Shoshone the watch word was "unusually quiet." They still didn't have regular diplomatic ties. Too many of the Consortium "standards" felt like "demands" to the political types down below. The sad part for Lannister was that the more he saw of the debate, the more he saw how much common ground they had. Human rights as defined by the Consortium weren't so different from the Civil Rights defined by the constitution, but the notion that we would have to abide by the consortium policies rankled.

So it was quiet. Even this crowd was nothing to what he'd seen on the news from other stations.

He went down and began to mingle, accepting a tamale from Grandma Fox, who had a stand set up and was smiling, bursting with pride at her new business.

Lannister felt chagrin that his station was behind the other Western stations in adoption, in getting started. But at least it was better than the other four. Their watchword was "a rough transition." Aztec station, over Mexico City wouldn't be able to open it's bottom court for the foreseeable future. The entire length had been turned into a refugee camp of sorts for those fleeing the poverty below them. Integrating them into station life, or finding them places elsewhere was proving a challenge. Brazil's station, the two over Africa, all faced similar problems.

At least he didn't have those problems, he thought as he made his way towards the window. He scanned the crowd as he went. Maka and Zeta were together at a juice stand. Maka gave him a congenial nod, but Lannister had noticed that the man treated him cooler since he learned that Lannister had declined to enrich himself at the station's expense. Jack was talking to a Consortium woman that Lannister didn't know. Fox was talking to a group of his officers. He was nominally off duty, but Lannister knew that Fox was never truly off duty.

Shir and her second in command were playing some game with Mandano, the chief walker and one of his officers. A small white dot shot across the table between them and laser lights chased the dot, controlled by the players neuro-reflexes. A crowd of onlookers had gathered and Lannister thought someone was running bets towards the back.

Lannister wondered briefly if he should report the activity to Fox, but they hadn't quite figured out which set of regulations applied and betting was legal in the Consortium. Centuries within a tightly planned economy had created a cavalier attitude towards such things. A few problem gamblers lost everything they owned, were reduced to day labor, but they still had food and shelter. Their kids were still cared for, educated. They could hardly complain about problems that were their own fault.

It was a strange juxtaposition for Lannister, but it seemed pretty common among the Consortium people he met. They abhorred the kind of poverty they saw on the surface below. Everyone deserved food, clothing, shelter. They'd give anyone a job, one that paid well enough for those basic things, even if they had to make up work for them to do.

But if the person felt entitled to more, or didn't feel like they had to work for it, the Consortium had little compassion. "Be poor then," Kellii had said to a petty criminal who claimed to be unable to work due to mental health issues. "Or see a healer about this disability of yours. But don't hold others back, who are willing to work and want to get ahead."

Lannister reached the edge of the court and looked down over his country. It was nearing dusk down below and a crowd had gathered to watch it fall. It was a spectacular sight. The setting sun cast long shadows off the Rocky Mountains at their feet. As the sunlight waned, city lights came on like a patchwork. You could almost pretend you could make out individual cities, though in truth they were far too high for that.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Walsh said at his side.

"Yes," Lannister said, mostly to acknowledge Walsh's presence. As the show beneath them faded into dark, he turned back to Walsh and the crowd. "I think it's time to get this show underway," he said. He mounted a small podium nearby. The crowd gathered around him.

He cleared his throat and began. "Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm Captain Lannister, as I am sure most of you know. I know most of you didn't come to hear me talk either. There's far more interesting sights and treats around the court, so I will keep this brief." He'd prepared a different speech, but this one felt much more organic, more attuned to the moment. "As I look down on the country I serve, I feel pride. Pride in what we've achieved up here, what we are achieving. I'm glad to be captain of this station, glad to have you all up here with me. My only hope is that soon we can have others from the surface join us, if only for a visit, to see what we've accomplished. Thank you all and enjoy the bottom court."

There was a roar of applause and he knew he'd read the room right.

"Excellent speech, Captain, excellent," Walsh said as he stepped down.

"Thank you, now I think a drink is in order, and a look around this court."

Thanks for reading.