We Shadows

Chapter 29: someone came prepared

"Dylan did the same thing," Cameron pointed out before Vertov could say no. "She voted with her department before switching with Walsh. The move is not without precedent."

The older man rolled one shoulder. "You are correct. It's still strange. Is he still working in archives?"

"Working under me, oui," Harper replied.

Harper had explained to Cameron that Levi would be back in botany next week, but as an archive member. She wasn't exactly certain how Harper planned to pull this off, but trusted that he would work it out with Anatoly. They would need to start having dinners with the congress members, she realized. Madison would be a good start since Tyson was already working with Keller and he needed information from archives. She made a note on her holo-rib as others filed into the meeting room, taking their seats. Dylan glanced at Harper once, but she didn't seem surprised. Dashiell, on the other hand, raised his eyebrows and then frowned at Cameron, as if it was her fault. She was a little glad that Harper had kept her totally out of his decision; she had plausible deniability.

More shocking was the addition of Lully to the room. He looked very uncomfortable when he walked through the door and he sat next to Cameron before anyone could say something to him. He was dressed nicely with his normal mop of curls slicked back. She hadn't seen him clean shaven in a while, it made Lully look much younger.

"Hello," Cameron managed. "Welcome to the meeting."

Lully gave a little laugh. "Merci."

"Are we all here?" Vertov inquired. "We have two new faces here today. Harper is the new archives head after an internal vote and Lully, who I've nominated as the new lieutenant."

"Were we not going to discuss having a lieutenant, vote on it, anything?" Edison objected. "We just mentioned it at the last meeting!"

"Here's my reasoning," Vertov explained. "I am only captain another week or so and then we have a vote. It logically follows that we should vote for a lieutenant at that time, but without someone in that position now, we don't really know what we need. Dylan suggested that the lieutenant should be project manager, perhaps overseeing the budgets and printing, and I realized that Lully already had that job. He knows more about the projects on this base than I would wager anyone in this room. I didn't so much make him lieutenant as realize he was already doing the work without the recognition."

Lully nodded. "Speaking of, I have a couple things. Obviously, I don't really know how these meetings normally work, so whenever it's my turn."

Cameron was surprised at Lully's sudden inclusion, but was glad he was prepared. He would be a good lieutenant, she thought. She was sure that Dylan had been vying for the position, but that would only benefit the Aeneid run departments.

"First, I have a couple announcements. Bell is sending the rest of the steel filament today; the iron vein wasn't as deep as we had hoped. She is working with Joan to plot the next location, if they can find somewhere close then they will just move camp rather than come back here."

"How does that affect the printing?" Dylan inquired.

"It will last us until the next earthstorm most likely. But nearly all of you want to expand in the next cycle, and we will have to be more frugal with our materials than expected."

"When will they know if they're moving or coming home?" Ford inquired. "Because I'll have to send more comm."

"Research should have a location in the next week," Ibsen told him. "We've send the topo-hover out; we have satellite footage; it's just a matter of time."

"Second, I am not running for captain," Vertov continued. "Printing has too much going on and I don't like my focus being split. Anyone who is interested, message me, and I will send a base announcement in two days."

Cameron glanced around the room. She knew Dashiell would run, but she didn't know who else would want to be captain. It was a lot of work, something that Vertov had aptly demonstrated. She was glad that he had been the leader of this expedition to get it so quickly prepared. They needed to be more responsible with the limited materials on this base.

"All right. Lully, what do you have for us?"

Lully glanced down at his holo-rib and then around at the table.

"So I've been lieutenant for less than a day," he admitted. "And I have three dozen messages from various members of the base asking me to bring up various topics or projects to congress. Some of these messages are from people I don't know." He scrolled for a moment and then began to read.

"Lully, can you ask congress to formalize the midday break schedule. I never get to see my kids. Lully, we need someone from botany to come out to the expedition; there's all this water and nothing to plant around it. Lully, I want to transfer but I'm scared to ask my department head...." He paused. "I have dozens more."

Cameron couldn't imagine being in Lully's shoes. She was well liked sure, but she wasn't personable as Esperanza and he were. The rest of congress seemed a little stunned.

"So what are you doing here?" Lully demanded. "The people out there, the normal people on this base, don't think that this room cares about anyone. They should be messaging you. We should be listening. And oui, everyone knows me so maybe it's easier to hope that I can change things instead of talking to the serious looking department heads. But come on, this is rotated. I've had more conversations in the last week about how the infighting of congress is hindering progress than saying anything good about it." He let out a sigh. "You can ask Vertov. I don't want to be here. I wanted to join exploration and travel across the planet. But seasons, we have to be better than this. And if that means I have to stay lieutenant to make sure that happens, then I guess that's what's going to happen."

No one spoke. Lully set his holo-rib down on the table. Now that he wasn't lecturing congress, he looked a little nervous.

"I can send Winston," Anatoly remarked in the quiet. "To the expedition, I mean. We're a little short staffed at the moment, but so long as he's back in a couple days, that should be all right. I know it doesn't solve the larger issue you're bringing up, but at least there's that."

"We don't have any formal base-wide standards," Dashiell added. "That's something Titus and I could do. Scheduling, asking for transfers. If we formalize it, will people feel more comfortable? We could create some forms and they could take it to personnel, maybe?"

"I think so," Lully said. "I can send you a list of necessary forms. Cameron, could you handle the paperwork if that happened?"

"It's what I do," she smiled. "Personnel would have to know about it anyway to make sure everyone gets paid. Were there any other messages that stood out?"

"I'd had to read them again," he admitted. "But I think people should be allowed to submit requests and questions to congress. I don't mind it being me, but I think it would be simpler if it went to a holo-rib that was just the captain or just the lieutenant, not my personal one. That way, if I'm no longer lieutenant, people won't keep sending me messages."

"We can do that," Ford agreed. "It might be nice anyway, I can put different security clearance on them and they can be passed from captain to captain."

"Sunshine. That's all I had," Lully said with a smile.

Vertov snorted. "Is that all?" he scoffed. "You are continually surprising, Lully Brandt."

"I do my best, sir," he replied.

___

Lully! So he's doing better in this position than even he probably expected. Still it's a lot to catch up on.

Also, What Dreams May Come is up for nomination in the Ooorahs Best of Romantic SF. I'll put the link in the first comment but you can also find the awards and rules on their page The_Ooorahs. If you have a moment, vote!

But most importantly, thanks for reading!