Time of Scorn

Chapter 3: facing reality

Lully slid back into his seat just as Harper's new budget had finally been decided on. Lully was glad that he had been out of the room for it; he couldn't really contribute without having a good idea what the other departments were spending or needed. He was hoping to coordinate with archives about tracking that information and saving it for moments like this, but he wasn't done going through the print queues.

"Merci," Harper said, sitting back in this chair. His holo-rib was covered in notes and scribbles.

"Lully, did you have anything?" Vertov asked. "How's your new office working out?"

"I wish less people knew where it was," Lully joked. "But it's good. I thought maybe when Dashiell and Cameron are finished with all the transfer and other forms they could be stored on my holo? People are coming to me anyway for that information. And I'm a neutral party if there's any reason they don't feel comfortable with their department head."

"Works for me," Vertov said. "You may want to talk to the next captain if they have a preference, but definitely for now."

"Sunshine. Esperanza mentioned that medical is a little short handed now that she's sick; do we have any doctors in cryo? Can we wake some or at least one? We've put the base on a cryo hiatus, but I'm not sure that's for the best. We need more people, and we need them skilled."

"The bunked berths are almost complete," Edison piped up. "By the end of today we should have at least one, if not two done. I think you're right; we could use some more people. Builds has been run ragged now that we have materials again."

"How many in each berth?" Vertov inquired.

"Four. I can confirm that we can get two completed with a short message."

"Cameron, will you see who we have in cryo that could be of use?"

Cameron nodded. Lully noticed that she rarely spoke in the congress meetings, but he heard and could attest that she was constantly meeting with or messaging everyone on congress. Lully didn't feel like this was a better plan, but perhaps it was for the best. Lully could barely contain his own reaction to finding out that Harper and she had killed Victoria and Charles and there were no consequences for them. He wanted to ask them about it, wanting to talk to Vertov about it, but everyone else had shied away from the knowledge coming to light.

Someday, he knew that either Cameron or Harper would run for captain. It was clear to him that they were eying that position. But he just couldn't believe that the base would benefit from someone who thought murder was a solution.

"Anyone else need specialists?" Vertov. "Provided we have any, of course. Or they might be from Earth and so exceeding out of touch."

"I feel like Tyson has done a good job," Madison remarked. "And honestly, I wish we could have more of him. He and Keller are up to their necks in appointments, paperwork and events. And yes, you could say that it's not on them to plan, for instance, the baskets tournament tomorrow. But somebody ought to be doing those things. We'll work ourselves to death otherwise."

"I pass along anyone I find," Cameron promised. "Though if they keep this up, they may need more space. We many need to consider Tyson and Keller separate from medical at some point."

"Agreed, but we don't have the room," Vertov replied. "Within the next year, most definitely. But," Vertov rose from his seat; "that is the next captain's responsibility. It has been a privilege serving as your captain, and I wish those in the debates good luck. Let's go home."

Lully was also looking forward to the debates so that they could be over with. He just wanted to know who would be captain, and he was quietly hoping that it wouldn't be his madre. She had announced she would run last week, and it was all he could do to avoid her. He still had his job to do and was supposed to be unbiased. But in an election between Dashiell and his madre, he didn't really want to work with either. Lully had liked Vertov and had hoped to change the older man's mind to no avail.