Opalina Outpost

Chapter 22: Wreck and Opportunity

Ravi checked his holowatch as he stepped out of his trailer. It was hours before his appointment with Archcom Huseda, but the ride to the ziggurat was a long one, and he hated lateness. That and he was too fucking nervous about the whole thing, and his crew was starting to pick up on it. Might as well get out of the camp before everyone looked as anxious as he felt.

Jossen waited for him at the edge of the ring of trailers and gave him a sharp salute as he approached. "Best of luck, Com."

"Thanks. Keep them busy, Subal," he murmured, jerking his head back in the direction of the crew. He'd signed off on Yorune and Rosareen's overcomplicated plans for a garden as soon as he received the missive from Huseda asking for a meeting. The crew needed something to keep them well occupied during the wait for information.

Four days had passed since their meeting with the asshole inspector up the mountain. Four days, and the image of the lightship lingered in his mind. He still couldn't grasp that the shining hulk of Mastali metal had housed him for months. Grimy though it was, Opalina had been unpretentious and comfy in its own way. The lightship looked cold and kind of ominous by comparison.

With a quick farewell salute to Jossen, he sank into the hov. It peeled away down the mag lane, zipping through the red glow of the late afternoon, on a straight course back into town and the ziggurat. Ravi settled back with his slate, reading through commendation tasks. He'd combed through the ones in the area, so it was all things he'd already rejected, but he needed something to take his mind off whatever this conversation was about to be. Huseda had bypassed all his attempts to glean a sense of what was happening and insisted he come to the ziggurat. Only a little while longer, and he'd find out. He buried himself in the commendations list for the length of the ride.

The Fennec region ziggurat looked older and more traditional than the steel and glass structure he'd grown accustomed to in his old region. It was made of gigantic blocks of yellow stone, with dark slit windows spaced evenly across each level as if ready for siege. Which might be appropriate, because from what Ravi could see of the hovs and people descending on it, it was either under attack or suddenly very, very popular. Something clenched in his gut. Word of the lightship was spreading. Only a matter of time before this enterprising crowd started to follow the mag strip up the mountain to grab at their prize. Finding an empty hov port was going to be a tall order in the melee. He brushed his hand across the nav board and stopped the hov to climb out.

Indoors, it was as chaotic as expected. The Fennec region units were being inundated with applicants. Ravi inched through a crowd, trying to get to what looked like a reception desk. A harried assistant asked him twice to state his name and appointment time, all while fending off some insistent woman who was waving a slate with her resume on it. When he was finally permitted past Enforcer guarded doors, he stood in line for fifteen minutes waiting for an elevator to clang up and drag him upstairs. Good thing he left extra time for his arrival, because by the time he walked into Huseda's office, he was a minute late.

At first, he wasn't sure he was in the right place. It was big enough for an army, and heaped in layers of ornate rugs that made him feel as if his dusty boots had to be an offense. They were at the very top of the ziggurat, and the windows were larger here, filtering the harsh sunlight through treated glass. Archcom Huseda worked in the center of the room, seated on the rugs and positioned behind a low desk. He missed her at first, lost in staring around, and gave a belated salute.

She waved Ravi closer. "Endessen, glad you've arrived. Take a seat."

He folded himself down onto a round cushion, hands fiddling nervously on his knees. "Thanks for taking the time to meet, Archcom."