There was no doubting that the corporation was profit hungry and soulless.
But the scientists and designers that worked for the corporation three hundred
years ago were very good at what they did. The colony ship that was sent to
what would become Mew’s home was designed to have almost every inch of material
repurposed once it had landed on its colony world. Over the first decade the settlers
had done just that. The ship that had been the home for two generations of
settlers had been dismantled and built into countless homes, factories,
community buildings and utility stations. And they had never seen a need for
another large ship to replace it.
Kepi and the other representatives were now trying to solve an
impossible problem. And most of the representatives loved nothing more than
sitting in session going on at length about each and every impossibility.
Luckily, Kepi had infinitely more patience for these sessions than Eamon. She was
the kind of person who liked to stay silent until she had something of real
value to add to the conversation, and she was not the kind of person who felt
that merely hearing her own voice added anything to the conversation except
time. This was a rare quality in the senate.
Cole Fletcher loved the sound of his own voice and was more than
eager to launch into never ending speeches that often had no point or purpose
other than to make sure that no one in senate had the opportunity to forget it.
He was the representative for district seventy eight, many of the families that
had held power as far back as the generations on the colony ship and possibly
further lived in district seventy eight. Cole Fletcher served as a barking
guard dog, protecting what passed for royalty on the colony, families that had
never worked a day of any kind of labor in several generations. His girth was
possibly the only thing that exceeded the size of his ego. He could not stand
to speak and thus gave his blubbering oratories from the comfort of his giant
hovering chair. “It is patently absurd to assume that anyone, let alone my constituents be asked to leave behind
the only lives they have ever known! I find it incredibly suspect that we are
taking the word of foreigners, interlopers, ALIENS, without even the barest
shred of verifiable evidence. I cannot in good conscience consent to the
destruction of everything this colony has worked for just because we might be in danger.” He leveled the last
sentence directly at Kepi, who may as well have been the physical shield for
Eamon. Fletcher had drastically altered the course of people’s with fewer words
and he meant to scare Kepi out of the room with these.
She was less than moved. “Representative Fletcher. While I more
than anyone understand your concerns we have all had the co-ordinates and the satellite
access codes to witness the wave at any time over the last ten days.” She smiled
sweetly as she spoke.
Fletcher slammed his fist into the armrest on his chair. “Are you
asking the citizens of this colony to trust some piece of technology that we
cannot guarantee the accuracy of?” He shouted.
She calmly picked up her tablet and input a few commands. “Funny
you should question the quality and accuracy of our satellite system sir.” She sent
the page she had pulled up on her tablet to the main screen and all the desk
tablets of every representative. “Would you be so kind as to look at the third
name on the board of directors and founding members of the company that makes
the satellites in orbit around our planet?” She highlighted and enlarged his
name COLE FLETCHER so that it was clearly visible, there was almost no where
you could look in the room without seeing it. “Are you telling this assembly
that your own company’s product is defective? How long have you known of these
defects? How would you suggest we go about being compensated for defective
equipment we bought and paid for based on the word of several generations of
your family?” The sweet smile never left her face.
Cole on other hand had turned beet red in fury. His giant fists
clenched in anger. “Of course Avionic Satellite Systems are of the highest quality.”
He admitted slowly, through clenched teeth. “I merely wanted to remind the
council that we are talking about the future of this entire colony.” He stared
daggers at her.
She didn’t even flinch. “Why senator, I think you might be the
last person in this room to realize that talking about the future of this entire colony is the only reason we were
elected.” She cleared the page from everyone’s tablets and the main screen.
Fletcher was gripping the arm rest of his chair so tightly that it might tear
loose at any second.
