Opalina Outpost

Chapter 29 /Part 2/

His friends seemed to reflect his mood. There was a lot of hugging and gentle teasing and nervous glances as they were marched from the hovs into an ornate room. It was smaller than the space where they had first faced the Commissioners, and the gilt-adorned walls curved in an oval shape. Panels of dark smooth wood hung from the ceiling, each one designed like an undulating wave.

The attention to acoustics was his first clue to where they were, and the enormous, bristling structure of imagers and microphones aimed at a brightly lit dais at the back of the room made it obvious.

"Woah." Duhar squinted at the dais. "I feel like I've seen this before."

"Proclamation room," Lio said. "This is where the Commissioners usually stream their territory-wide announcements."

None of the Commissioners seemed to be present yet, but there were plenty of assistants scurrying around and bots whirring among the tech. The lights and colors on the dais shifted as different shades were tested.

Archcom Huseda emerged from the bustle, barking into a holowatch call and then shutting it off to glare at them. "There you are. Disaster of a morning, absolute headache. But they're going to start the transmission momentarily, thank the Little. You'll have to stand off to the side, over there. And don't make any noise." She was already snapping into an open line on her holowatch again, while it sparkled with new missives.

The assistants herded them to the spot where Huseda had directed. They weren't the only observers for the announcements, and Lio eyed the group of strangers next to them, all with immaculate uniforms and tense expressions. No doubt these were the Enlightenment com candidates, the top tier pool that Ravi said the Commissioners would choose from. Most of them ignored everything and kept their attention on the dais, but a few glanced over at the crew. Duhar gave them a limp wave until Rosareen snatched his hand down.

"Alright everyone," Ravi's voice was soft, and the whole crew shuffled to face him. "Whatever happens next, we're still each other's team, okay? All of us." He cleared his throat. "I've been...so honored and happy to be this crew's com."

Lio had to look away from him then, because his eyes were shining with tears even as he smiled. He linked one arm with Teres and the other with Aziri, and they huddled close.

Everyone swiveled when a door in the opposite wall rolled back. The buzz of harried conversations cut off entirely, and the only sound was the muted tapping of the Commissioners walking to throne-like seats arranged in a semi-circle behind the dais. Only one Commissioner did not sit, the same woman who had led the crew's audience. She adjusted her ceremonial stole, stepped to the center of the dais, and nodded at the waiting imagers.

The rest of the room darkened, leaving the dais in a pool of gold. The Commissioner smiled serenely, and the broadcast was underway.

While the Commissioner went through a traditional greeting and then began to drone about the miraculous discovery of the lightship, Lio glanced at Ravi. The com was looking right at him, a small, secret smile on his lips. He didn't drop Lio's gaze, and his smile grew the longer they stared at each other.

Everyone else might've vanished. All that mattered was Ravi standing there looking so hopeful and sad and in love. Promising things with his sweet, dark-eyed gaze. Lio wanted to take his hand and lead him out of the room and press him against a wall so he could kiss him and whisper all those promises back to him.

The Commissioner was wrapping up a very simplified explanation of the lightship's "test flight" when Lio finally dragged his attention back to her. She made it sound like the whole thing had been planned with Enlightenment unit approval, but at least she gave credit to the Opalina crew for the flight.