Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Two: To Be or Not To Be #13

"It was a good ceremony, I think," Dhanvin commented as he ushered Sophia towards the buffet line at the back of the banquet hall.

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, the Chapatie, his speech made me think. I didn't realize what had happened to them. It's kind of scary. I mean we hear that nuclear weapons could destroy our whole planet, but you don't think anyone would really do that."

"It happens," Dhanvin said. "I'm glad it didn't here. Glad your country is surrendering what you have left."

"Yeah, but what about the rest of the world?"

Dhanvin shrugged the question off. "That missile crew seems competent enough. I don't think there is risk to your people. Speaking of people, didn't any of your friends want to come?"

Sophia hadn't asked. They wouldn't have come, and it would have only led to them trying to talk her out of it. Tapanga had told Kerry that a bunch of his friends were watching the feast from one of the bars a floor down. "Big party, eh?" Kerry had convinced Tamela that was the place to be. Sherry was watching yet another chiya-batu movie with Animika.

Besides she wanted to talk to Dhanvin. Sophia hadn't had a stable adult in her life since she ran away, if you could ever call her family stable.

"Kerry and Tamela are at one of the feasting stations, a bar," she said. They reached the buffet table and filled her plate.

"They seem to party a lot," Dhanvin said, watching her out of the corner of his eye while he filled his own plate.

She snorted. "Yeah, you could say that."

They found a place towards the back of the banquet hall. The hall had low tables, only a few inches off the ground, and cushions for sitting. She took a small table, so they could talk in peace without a half dozen others around them.

"There's no harm, when you are young, of enjoying yourself," Dhanvin said.

"But every night?" Sophia grumbled.

"No, not every night."

"And they spend almost every bit they make. I don't know, I just..." she broke off, staring across the banquet hall. Dhanvin waited for her to go on. "I love it up here. All of it. I feel like I got a second chance on life."

"Because of that disease?"

"That and everything else. I'm transitioning, becoming a girl. I don't think I could have done that below. I didn't have the money or whatever. I have a job. An apartment. I could make a life here."

"I hope you do."

"But what sort? I just think, they're blowing it. They could make a life. But they just want to party."

"Is this about them, or you?" Dhanvin asked, leaning in.

Sophia looked at him, startled.

"You can't make their decisions, decide what life they should live. But, they can't do that for you either. Just because they want to live hand to mouth, working day labor, doesn't mean you have to."

"You're right. I know that. But I'm not sure what I want. For as long as I can remember I've wanted the same thing, to be a girl, for real. Now it's happening. I'm happy, I really am." She was appealing to him, trying to convince him of her sincerity. "But now that I am doing this, what comes next?"

He chuckled. "Now that you are a woman, what kind of woman are you?"

"Exactly!"

"You are young, there is still time to figure it out."

"I know," she whined.

"But really, this is the perfect opportunity. I've been wanting to talk to you about this too."

"You have?"

"You are a smart girl. You are a hard worker. Sara has said so, many times. In the consortium there are many things you could do, be. That job, you needed something that day, doesn't mean that has to be your life."

"I know. I like it, though. And I don't know what else I would do."

"I want you to take your educational exams," he said.

She froze, a pastry of some sort in her hand. "What's that?"

"Educational potential exam. Everyone in our system takes them, usually when they are young. It takes three days. I can probably swing a voucher if you can't afford the time off. It will tell us how your knowledge base compares to ours."

She snorted. She could guess how her education compared.

"And it will tells us a lot about your abilities and your interest. It might suggested a career path."

"And then?" she asked, eating again.

"And then you should see about your basic education. It might take some time, to get you up to speed, but once you have basic education you can apply to any number of schools."

"You are talking about college?" Sophia had never thought about going to college before.

"Sure, why not? You are bright enough."

"I don't know," she demurred. "I don't have the money. How much does it cost."

"Cost?" he mused. "What do you mean cost?"

"Tuition," she prompted.

"What's tuition?"

"What you pay to go to college."

His face scrunched up. "You have to pay to go to college?"

"You don't in the Consortium?"

"No."

"But...how?"

"You take your exams. Your stipend depends on your score."

"Stipend? Like they pay you to go to school?"

"If you are smart enough, yes. Basic economics isn't it? How do you create innovation?"

Sophia shrugged.

"You make sure anyone smart enough to innovate in a given field has economic incentive to study it, by giving them a stipend. I'll bet you'll get at least 1.5 or higher."

"So they will not only let me go to school for free, if I score well on these exams they'll pay me more than I make doing manual labor?"

"Yeah."

Sophia chuckled. It sounded too good to be true. Still she had been homeschooled. There was no way she'd pass any Consortium educational test. It was a pipe dream. A fun one, but still a dream. She promised to think about it.

They ate and spoke of other things. When the feast was done, Dhanvin walked her back to the section where her apartment was. He left with one last reminder to think about taking the exam.

She went in to find the apartment empty. As she lay in her bed the thought of going to school came to her again. What did a Consortium school even look like. She had no clue and her daydream of Consortium college was as vague as the idea of school anyway.

Thanks for reading!