If Jove Stray

Chapter 15: venturing out

I got a call from my papa just as I had settled in my chair to finish my report. I frowned at my holo-rib and then answered.

"Dylan? Thank the seasons, I have a favor to ask."

"Oui?" I said, a little worried.

"Can you attend a congress meeting this morning? We're trying to troubleshoot this turbine before the eye of the earthstorm, and of course Dashiell calls a full congress meeting. Please?"

I swallowed, wishing there was any way I could say no.

"You can have the rest of the day off," my papa promised. "You'll need time to recover anyway."

"I'll do it," I said, mustering up the will to say so. I couldn't hide away from the world forever, this I knew. "When does it start?"

"Merci beaucoup. It starts in a half hour. Just message me afterward so I'm up to date. This means a lot to me, Dylan. I know you don't want to do this."

My papa disconnected the call and I sighed. No way I was going to get my report done in thirty minutes. My clothes were rumpled and my hair wasn't combed, so I decided to go back to the berth to change. Before, when I had been department leader, I had always dressed up for meetings I didn't want to go to. It helped the others take me more seriously. I wondered what they thought of me now. I had relinquished my position, my partner: the life that I had worked so hard on. I couldn't imagine having to look Lincoln in the eye at meeting knowing full well that he had shot my madre down in cold blood. At least he was dead. At least he was dead and I'd never have to deal with him again.

I pulled a comb through my short curls and changed my shirt. I didn't have many unwrinkled options, but chose the blue shirt that Levi had printed for me. Before I left the room, I touched one of the poems that Levi sent.

I could do this.

I tucked my holo-rib into my pocket and headed to the meeting room, not wishing to be late. People were filling into the room. No one looked happy to be here. I took my seat quietly, focusing on my breathing rather than the room around me. I hadn't missed this chaos. I recognized most of the faces; congress hadn't changed much even with the new vote.

"Excuse me."

Dashiell attempted to cut through the noise politely. People either didn't hear him or were being belligerent. He slapped the table suddenly.

"Thank you," he said in the ensuing quiet. "I know you are busy. This will be as quick as we make it. Sit down."

Cameron remained standing as the others took their seat.

"The data we are receiving from the buoy system is interfering with comm's satellite monitoring the earthstorm," she said. "They can adjust their signal, but that will take offline hours to do it. We can stop the transfer, but risk losing the whole data stream."

"But even Cameron admits that the data in this stream is junk," Austen protested. "It's probably been degraded over the light years. We're wasting our resources hoarding it."

"My resources," Cameron shot back.

"Ladies," Dashiell cut in. "Austen, forgive my ignorance, but what is the damage of going offline?"

"If the eye hits early, we lose valuable time to repair," she explained. "Environmental is already down a turbine; where is Walsh?"

"He's prepping the repairs," I said. I could feel the room turn to me. "I'm here in his stead. She is right; one of the turbines stopped working two days ago."

"But if the eye doesn't hit early?" Dashiell inquired.

Austen grimaced. "Then we should be fine. Provided we can reconnect to the signal and nothing goes wrong."

"And what are the chances we'll lose the whole data set from Earth?" Dashiell inquired.

"No idea," Cameron replied. "We're using cobbled tekcom to receive in the first place."

If my madre were still in charge, she would have ruled in favor of Austen. As curious as we were about our previous planet, it was more important to survive. Of course Dashiell wouldn't believe so, but he hadn't grown up here. He was still far more connected to Earth than was healthy for a captain to be.

"How much interference?" I asked, my voice wobbling more that I wished it would.

"What?" Austen asked.

"How much interference are the buoys causing?" I repeated. "Could we shield it somehow?"

Titus, of all people, piped up. "Or couldn't we just weather through a dropout here and there, provided we still have the information we need about the earthstorm?" he countered.

Austen frowned at me and then at the man from Earth.

"But..."

Dashiell nodded. "We have managed so far without worry. And we can deal with this far better when we have clear skies. If something greater happens, then we'll shut down personnel's tekcom. Is this acceptable to everyone?"

Everyone but Austen nodded. I imagined that the others in the room cared less about this and more about the time they were stuck in this room. I could message Levi, I thought. We could have lunch again, especially if I wasn't needed back at work.

"I have a smaller request, since we're all here," Austen said in the quiet. She seemed a bit defeated, which I guess she had been. "I'd like to transfer Harper Harris from builds to communications. He can program and code, which I desperately need, and he's not in any position to be building anything."

"If he's amenable, then take him," Edison replied. "There's no problem with that."

"Yes please, give that man something to occupy his time," Madison groaned.

We all chuckled. The circumstances surrounding Harper's injuries seemed...strange to me. I couldn't believe O'Keefe would shoot him, but since no one else was questioning it, I chose not to either. I imagined that Lincoln probably shot Harper, though how Harper had been in such a position was a mystery.

"Anything else?" Dashiell inquired. "No? Then thank you. I'll archive this meeting and it will be available in personnel."

We rose from our chairs and filed out of the room. Cameron was waiting by the door and smiled when she saw me.

"Thank you," she said. "Matisse and Libba would have been crushed if congress voted the other way."

I hadn't meant to help Cameron, but nodded anyway. I hoped that Austen wasn't upset at me for asking; I had meant to help.

"Are you really getting data from Earth?" I asked.

"We think so. It's hard to tell since it's four light years away and anything we get is going to be ancient history by now, not that we can read any of it."

"Maybe it in Earth code," I suggested. "We use quantum, but Earth didn't, at least not when the Aeneid left."

Cameron's smile fell. "So we might not be able to read it at all," she sighed.

"Talk to Levi. He remembers programming from before. And he's the only one on the planet who's communicated with Earth. Maybe he can help."

The hallway was clearing and I could feel my heart begin to slow. The meeting had been stressful, but not as overwhelming as I had expected.

"Merci, Dylan," Cameron told me. "If you see Levi before I do, please mention it? I don't want to take up all of his time, but this...this is important. We need to know what's happening on Earth."

"Do we?" I questioned. "Or does Dashiell Turner?"

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Sadly, Dylan asked the important questions that no one seems to be worrying about. Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote!