Under Vanishing Skies (19 page)

Viyaja raised his hand before Ahmed finished his sentence and said, “I second the motion.”

“
Very well,” Ahmed said. “Then I put the motion to the Council for vote. Will all those in favor of authorizing Ahmed to appoint a replacement please say aye.”

Everyone said aye.

“
All opposed?”

“
Nay,” I said.

“
Very well then,” Ahmed said. “With the new authority invested in me, I hereby appoint Mr. Ramdas Prasad to the Council.”

I shot out of my seat. “Goddammit Ahmed! You said you would select a fair representative. Ramdas isn’t from the same island chain as Michio. How can he fairly represent the people of those islands?”

“
You are out of order, Mr. Atherton.”

“
Well, you’re out of your fucking mind if you think you’re going to get away with this.”

He pounded his gavel and cut me off. “Mr. Atherton, I said you are out of order. If you wish to make a motion, please use the proper protocol.”

I wanted to make a motion that he shove the gavel up his ass, but instead I said, “Mr. President, I propose a motion.”

In an annoyed tone, he said, “Please precede, Mr. Atherton.”

“
I would like to propose that you appoint someone from the Huran island chain.”

He smiled. “A motion is on the floor. Are there any seconds?”

I looked around the table. Everyone avoided making eye contact...even Shannon.

“
If there is not a second, then I am afraid the motion is dropped from consideration.” He brought the gavel down hard with a sharp crack, causing me to flinch. I sat down, stunned by Shannon’s abandonment.

The chamber doors opened and Ahmed called his cousin, Ramdas, to enter.  He walked in and took Michio’s seat at the table. Ahmed applauded. Everyone joined in, everyone except me.

I stared at Shannon, but she wouldn’t look my way. I racked my brain for an excuse to stall the vote. If I could just speak with her, I knew that I could convince her.

“
The Council will now consider the next item of business,” Ahmed said, “a vote on the revised list of candidates for relocation to the Mars colony.”

If Michio had been here, he would know what to do. Michio had memorized the parliamentary procedure book and could recall obscure rules at the drop of a hat. He once told me that the key to winning any game was to understand the rules better than your opponent.

Wait. That was it. I suddenly remembered a story that Rick had told me of how Michio had made Ahmed read the entire list of candidates before the Council could vote on it. He had said that it was a stalling maneuver to give Shannon time to make the meeting. I could pull the same move. It wouldn’t stop the vote, but it might give me the time I needed to talk to Shannon. I knocked my chair over as I jumped to my feet. “Mr. President, point of order.”

Ahmed looked like he had run out of patience. “Yes, Mr. Atherton? What is it this time?”

The crash of the chair made Shannon finally look over at me. I locked eyes with her as I spoke. “Mr. President. Given the importance of this vote and since this will be the final action of the Council and given that we have plenty of time left today, I move that the list be read in its entirety prior to the vote in accordance with the rules of the Council.”

I looked at Shannon in desperation.

“
Mr. Atherton, reading the list will only slow down the proceedings, not stop them.” Ahmed gave me a patronizing smile. “But I will open your motion to the Council. Is there a second for the motion?”

I kept my gaze glued to Shannon’s face. For a second, I thought she would look away, but instead she brushed the bangs out of her eyes and raised her hand. It hung next to her head for a second. My heart pounded in my chest. Finally, arching her eyebrow, she raised her hand and said, “I second the motion.”

“
Very well,” Ahmed said. From his tone, I knew that he was pissed off, but it didn’t matter because Shannon had seconded the vote. “A motion was made. All in favor, please raise their hands.”

I raised my hand and Shannon followed suit. I looked around the room. Everyone’s eyes were on Shannon. Then I watched as hand after hand lifted into the air.

Holy shit! This might actually work.

Ahmed’s face was the color of the pomegranate on the top of the fruit bowl in front of him. Viyaja looked more puzzled than angry, but even he raised his hand.

“
Fine!” Ahmed spit the word out. “The motion is passed. Mr. Secretary, will you please read the names?”

Viyaja stood up and read from his data mat. “Mr. Hariaban Kapoor from the island of Male. Miss Anaka Olsen of...”

I got up and walked to the back of the room, where pitchers of water and plates of fruit were laid out on the refreshment table. Shannon got up and joined me. I poured a glass of water. She came up beside me and whispered, “What are you up to, Aron?”

In a hushed voice I said, “Thank you.” She didn’t say anything, so I continued. “We have to stop the vote. There’s more going on here than you know.”

“
What are you talking about?”

“
Remember what I told you about my friend Jin? The satellite? Do you remember that?”

She nodded again.

“
Jin stumbled onto something. He found out that either Ahmed or someone using Ahmed’s IICN user account was sending messages back and forth with the pirates.”

She turned pale and asked, “Are you sure?”

“
I’m positive. And when I was on North Point, I accidently interrupted a video conference between an MDF officer and Jamal.”

Her lip trembled. “How do you know it was Jamal?”

“
The scar. It was him. Trust me.”

“
What were they saying?”

“
Nothing. They stopped talking when I joined the net. But look, it doesn’t matter that I didn’t hear what they were saying. What matters is that I have the messages that were sent and we know that someone from the MDF is talking to pirates.”

Her shoulders slumped and she asked, “What do the messages say?”

“
I don’t know. They’re encrypted. But Jin figured out a way to decrypt them.”

“
But...he’s missing, Aron. If he hasn’t turned up by now, you know what that means. So what good are the encrypted messages now? Did he tell you how to do decrypt them?”

I shook my head. “No, but I think the answer is somewhere on his data mat and I have it.”

She studied my face as if she didn’t quite believe me.

“
Shannon, all I need is a couple of days to figure out how to decrypt the messages. So vote with me to block the list. Give me time to figure out what they’re up to and then I promise…if there’s nothing in the messages about the list then I’ll vote for it. Hell, I’ll even raise the motion myself.”

She wrinkled her brow and said, “I don’t know.” I could tell she still didn’t believe me. “How did Jin figure out what was happening?”

Viyaja’s voice droned on in the background as he read name after name.

“
It’s complicated.”

“
Don’t pull that shit on me. If you want me to trust you, then you need to trust me.”

She was right. “He used the satellite to intercept emails from our network.”

“
I thought you said it was a reconnaissance satellite? How could he—”

“
I said it was complicated. I’m not entirely sure how he did it, but he did. Before he could tell me how to break the encryption, he disappeared.”

“
And can you do it? Break the encryption, I mean.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Before returning to her seat, she said, “I need time to digest all of this.”

What the hell was she digesting? It was clear that something was going on.

It took nearly an hour before all the names were read. The whole time I kept studying Shannon’s face, searching for some sign, any sign, that she was with me. But her face was a closed book. When Viyaja finished, he turned the floor back to Ahmed.

“
Thank you, Mr. Secretary.” Ahmed paused and looked at me. “With no further objections we will now vote on the list. All in favor, please signify by—”

“
I request a twenty-four hour recess,” I said.

“
Mr. Atherton, what reason could you possibly have for a recess?” Ahmed asked.

“
I need time to certify the list and I’m sure our newest member, Mr. Prasad, needs time as well.”

“
I don’t want to speak for Mr. Prasad, but I’m sure he is fine with the list.” Ramdas smiled and nodded. “However, since you made a motion I’ll ask…is there anyone who will second Mr. Atherton’s request for a recess?”

Once again, I looked at Shannon, but she just stared at her hands.

“
Any seconds?” Ahmed said.

What was she doing?

Ahmed clacked his gavel loudly and he said, “The motion is dropped. Now, can we continue with the vote?”

I didn’t say anything. I just stared at Shannon.

“
Alright. Will all those in favor of the list please raise your hands.”

I watched as each person around the table raised their hands. Shannon looked at me with sad eyes and lifted her hand into the air. And just like that, it was over. The list was final.

Chapter 12

I didn’t wait around to talk to Shannon or to see if she would come and talk to me. There wasn’t enough time to deal with that bullshit. I had to get back to Lohifushi and deal with real problems.

I sent Kamish a message and he picked me up a couple hours later, around six. We raced against the dark clouds advancing from the east and reached Lohifushi just as the storm hit. Kamish ran for cover in the equipment shed next to the old bait shack, but I braved the pelting sleet and rain. The weather fit my mood.

William wasn’t in the hut when I arrived, which was a good thing. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I changed into something dry and unpacked my bag. Reaching inside, I pulled out a mostly empty bottle of moonshine and poured myself a shot. If there was ever a time that I really needed a drink, it was now. I choked on the first sip, but drank through it, enjoying the warmth as it passed through me.

My mind circled a single question: what was I going to tell William? I couldn’t convince Shannon to delay the vote, I couldn’t decrypt the messages, and worst of all…I had let myself love that kid.

The realization of it all hit me with the impact of a helojumper slamming into the ocean. I guess I got what I deserved...a big stinking pile of shit to deal with.

 ***

The sound of beeping pulled me out of my dreams and into the conscious world that I had tried to escape. I opened my eyes and stared at the vaulted ceiling. It took me a moment to get my bearings. I was in my own bed. I reached for my data mat, but it wasn’t beeping. The sound came from William’s data mat. I looked over and saw him sitting cross-legged on his bed, acting like he didn’t know that I was awake. 

“
How long have you been sitting there?” I asked.

He shrugged while keeping his eyes glued on the game.

“
What time is it?”

“
Lunch time,” he said.

I rolled into a sitting position and put my hands on either side of my head. When the pain subsided, I said, “You’re probably wondering why I’m back so soon.”

“
Nope.”

“
You’re not even a little curious?”

“
Nope,” he repeated. “Everyone got the message from the Council. It said that the list was approved. I figured you’d be back.” He tilted his data mat and tapped the screen, seemingly pleased with whatever results the move had netted.

“
Did it say when the list would be released?”

“
The day before the shuttle takes people up to the ship. Helen said it had something to do with maintaining public order and stuff.”

That sounded like something Ahmed would say, but I knew the truth. That bastard didn’t want people to look too closely at the list. If they did, he would have a full blown revolt on his hands. And by waiting until the day after the ship arrived, the captain wouldn’t have any reason to suspect anything was wrong.