Opalina Outpost

Chapter 27: Uncertainty

Lio blinked up at the Commissioners. He must've heard them wrong. The sound must be garbled by the waterfall. It sounded almost as though they just announced him as Opalina's Enforcer com. That couldn't be what they'd really said.

But in the chair nearest, Aziri stared at him, and Duhar was leaning forward in his seat to see around Aziri, his mouth open. They were looking at him like they'd heard it too. His palms went damp, and his head felt only loosely attached to his neck.

An image swept through his imagination. Striding up the steps of one of his family's estates, waving an airy hand at the lightship he'd parked on the lawn. His com ripple, silver as Opalina itself, glittering in everyone's faces.

The Commissioners were still expounding on the great accomplishments of the crew, the historical advances for which they would be lauded, the honors that would be heaped on them at their new assignments—

He twitched in his seat. It was as if someone had abruptly turned the volume back up. His ears echoed with the news that the crew would still be dispersed to new units. Away from Opalina. That was not at all the plan.

"No!" he said, interrupting the Commissioner. Even from this distance, he spotted the cold glint in her eye at the breach of etiquette. But this was too important. He stood up from the chair and offered a hasty salute. "Commissioners, please, you've got this all wrong."

"Yes," one of the men at the end of high table said. "I agree. We've been far too lenient with you all, Com Mirez."

The use of his new rank startled him enough that he froze. But the rest of it was a clear threat that demanded his focus. He needed to diffuse it before it exploded all over his friends. He almost saluted again, and then remembered he'd already done that.

"Commissioners." Lio tried to channel his brother's calm, assured voice. "I must ask you to reconsider. This crew cannot be reassigned. Every single person present was instrumental to the advancements you've praised."

They didn't look impressed. The Commissioner in the center seemed to be gathering herself to say something, and she wasn't going to let him interrupt her again, so his only shot was to get much more convincing very quickly.

Before anyone said anything, Lio flung out a hand indicate his friend. "Take Aziri. He and Orvaska were the ones who translated ancient texts on the Mastali. They laid out all the clues. They're your cryptics experts, and they can decode the Mastali programming in the ship. I'm sure of it."

He stretched his hand to the next chair in the line. "And Duhar—he's probably the only non-Mastali being in the All-Territories to actually fly a true lightship. He's your pilot, and he'll find out what the ship can truly do."

Lio gulped and inched forward a step. "But he wouldn't have been able to fly it if your engineers hadn't figured out how to power it. Rosareen, Onfenka, and Yorune can design anything. They can hold their own against any Enlightenment team you can find, I promise you. They'll be able to find out so much more about how Opalina works."

A glance at Teres, who was shaking her head slightly at him. "Duhar didn't fly alone, and we wouldn't have made it through the Mastali course if Teres hadn't flown the"—shit, he'd nearly said "dildo" in front of the Commissioners— "light vortex and gotten us safely through. And on top of that, she's a promising Enforcer who's made years of progress in months." The Commissioners didn't look particularly swayed, but they weren't demanding he shut up yet.

"But this crew...we are talented and sometimes difficult and that means we need people who will remind us when we can do better. Our subal does that, and he'll tell us what we don't want to hear because we need to hear it. Of all of us, Jossen has been with Opalina the longest. He never gave up on us, even when com after com left."