Chronicle of Nautilus

Chapter 18: The Boring Duty

“Damn you old people and your stupid system. I just need only a bit of information. I am not an adult, how could I have the stupid document proving my adulthood?”

“Sir, only those that have come of age have access to the records you are asking for.” The administrator replied coldly.

The boy swung his hand in a manner that insulted the intelligence of the clerk and ran off, cursing him silently.  He was absorbed in his thoughts so much, that he accidently bumped into a couple of people on his way out.

Inside the main hall, Tom was greeted by a member of the government.  Jay Anar was the name a short old man who waved his small hand in the distance. Jay wore an expensive grey jacket which was a trademark of all the ‘important’ officials.  After handshake Jay and Tom started their usual chitchat in the topics of history and political philosophy, it continued until they got to the office where the meeting was supposed to happen.

A middle aged man and an elderly woman were waiting for Tom in the office.  This was not the first time Tom had met them.

The man was named Samaron Rudan, an aura of calmness and intelligence surrounded him. His laid back hair was out of style but they fit well together with man’s tidiness and attention to details, such as a white scarf in the pocket of his jacket or an old mechanical watch on his hand. Tom imagined that the sharp stare the man had, should easily make the lesser people feel uncomfortable. Samaron represented the ideals of the modern governing ideology.

The blond woman – Ana Gerard was in her sixties and gave a lot of effort to pretend that she wasn’t. The signs of multiple plastic surgeries were well hidden.  She had a hot temper and was always straight forward. At times she could even forget her manners and start cursing. The light pink suit she wore did not make her image softer. She represented the conservatives.

Jay Anar looked over minorities and radicals or other politicians who did not fit into two main categories.  He was very open minded and could look at many subjects in different perspectives.

After Tom and Jay sat down, Samaron knocked his finger on the table and a hologram imitating a piece of paper was projected in front of him. He started the meeting.

 “Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming, especially you, Tom. We do know how you dislike our meetings. I hope we can be brief this time.“ Samaron started reading the digital paper.  “Tom, is there any additional information you can provide us on incident last week? Are we truly safe? There has been a long time since we had such incidents.”

Tom looked at Samaron’s eyes to assure the politician that his reply would be honest. “There is nothing to worry about, I have stopped dangerous people in my life, you have never heard of. The incident happened due to my miscalculation, the perpetrator was tougher than I had assumed him to be. I wish to assure you that this is not going to happen again.”

 “Great.” The middle aged politician plainly replied.

No one had anything to add and Samaron moved to the next topic.

“Ana is proposing to reduce the amount of members in the city parliament by twenty percent and increase wages of the remaining ones by the same amount.” He moved his eyes from the paper to Ana. “I myself am against this. Jay and Tom, what do you think about this suggestion?”

Jay wanted to open his mouth, but Tom interrupted him.

“I do not approve the increase of wages. Money should not become the motivation for young people to try and get into the politics. We could consider reducing the amount of members though. Constitution states that the parliament on our ship should not consist of more than 55 people and no less than 30, we are currently at 42, let’s reduce the number if you think it is necessary.”

Jay gave his own opinion on the matter. “The less people we have the less minorities and activists are going to have. To be frank, your parties—” He nodded at Ana and Samaron. “—have not given anything great to the community. While the little people I have are doing many initiatives and organizing all the social events.”

“He is wrong.” Anna interrupted Jay with her sharp tongue. “We may not be the busy bees as they are, but when we start doing something it becomes a great driver of progress for the whole community.”

“Then it’s a no for the reduction of people in the parliament as well,” Tom coldly said. He never wanted to go into pointless discussions, better stop them before they started. “What is the next topic?”

Samaron said, “We came to conclusion that people need some kind of unified transportation system, which would allow reaching any point of the city from any district.”

“Are the people unsatisfied with the current situation? Or is it only you who are lazy to go to work.” Tom smiled.

“It’s the people, not us.” Jay modestly giggled. “It is a pain for some of the people to get to the working stations on the second floor if they live on the opposite side of the city.”

“Understood. Prepare some projects for us to discuss for the next meeting. Do not make the transport too convenient though. We don’t want people to forget how to walk do we?”

“Yes, of course,” Samaron said, nodding slightly.

 Tom’s comms device beeped. He checked the sender of the message, it was Claire. He looked at everyone with a worried stare. “Do we have many topics left to cover? “

“Nothing of great importance.” Samaron replied.

“I am really sorry, but one matter requires my urgent attention. I will save a lot of time in the future if I am going to attend it now.”

“It’s fine, you have our permission to leave.” Jay replied lightly.

“Thanks.”

Tom rushed out of the room. He strode towards the exit reading the message from Claire. It was clearly written not by her:

‘I do not know how I should put it more romantic, but… Come to the ‘Burning Barry’ and have a chat with me, or she dies. Now.’

Landau left the building, ran down the stairs and jumped into the cab. He set destination to the “Burning Barry”, a restaurant near The Walker.