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It’s the end of the year, and the end of Tinaya and Arqut’s lives. The whole
ship is in mourning, even though they’re not quite dead yet. They’re in the
same room that they’ve slept in for years, but it has been modified to
accommodate their new situation. The bed has been pulled out to be replaced
with two hospital beds. People have been coming all month long to say their
goodbyes. The doctors don’t let too many people in over the course of only
one day, so they have to spread it out. Audrey, with nothing else to do, is
in charge of maintaining a healthy and comfortable schedule. Captain
Jennings has his turn now, as it is nearing the couple’s final days, and he
should be one of the last. His relationship to the two of them hasn’t always
been perfect, but they have a mutual respect for one another, he will still
be saddened by the loss. That’s not the only reason he’s here, though. There
is some final business to take care of. “You must appoint your successor.”
“Ask me in a year,” Arqut quips. Gallows humor.
Oceanus tries hard not to smile. He doesn’t know that it’s fine. They’re in
their nineties, for God’s sake. “Please. I want them to be as good as you.”
He looks around in paranoia, like someone might be watching. “Things have
been changing. Waldemar is gaining popularity.”
“We knew he would,” Tinaya says. “He’s a populist.”
“Yeah, but...please,” Oceanus begs.
“Who is in third place?” Arqut asks him. “If Waldemar is number one, who is
number three?”
“That would be Détha. Why? Are you considering her for the role?”
“I can’t just say, whoever loses becomes the Superintendent instead,”
Arqut explains. “I have to choose a name, and it will take that person out
of the running. They obviously can’t be both the Captain and the
Superintendent.”
“We all know that neither one of them is going to win,” Oceanus says, “Détha
nor Pronastus.”
“Right, but second place will become lieutenant, won’t they?” Arqut presses.
Oceanus frowns. “We weren’t telling people that.”
“You don’t always have to tell me something for me to know,” Arqut
clarifies. “Well...you don’t have to tell my wife.”
“It’s a little bit of padding,” Oceanus explains. “If that man has to become
captain no matter what, at least we can put someone at his side who we can
trust. If it can’t be Silveon, let it be someone we know and like.”
“Détha is the same,” Tinaya says. “I didn’t know her before all this, but
I’ve been watching her. She would make a good superintendent or lieutenant,
but let’s have her as the former. Pronastus has work to do when it comes to
policy, not just staffing.”
“So we’ll have two good people in power, and one not so good,” Oceanus
determines. He breathes a sigh of relief. “I was hoping you would say
something like that. She has to be informed first, though. She has the right
to decline, and move forward with her bid for the captaincy.”
“Well...” Arqut begins. “Bring her to us.”
“She’s not on the schedule,” Audrey warns from the corner.
“Who is?”
“Head Councillor Crusan,” Audrey answers. “After him, you’ve hit your quota.
You’re not allowed any more visitors, besides me and your son. Doctor’s
orders.”
“We’ll see him tomorrow,” Tinaya decides.
“Tomorrow is a day of rest,” Audrey reminds them. “They’re all days of rest
after today.”
“Then push it back. The day after that will be the start of our swan songs,”
Arqut insists. “He’s right, I should have picked a replacement sooner. I
just wasn’t thinking, and honestly, I forgot whether I had the authority to
do so or not. There was a time when we thought I didn’t. I have the power to
move staff around as needed, but does that include my own position? Anyway,
please retrieve her for us. But maybe wait an hour or two. We both need a
nap.”
Oceanus looks up at Audrey. “Just let me know when they’re awake and up for
it. Détha will jump when I say so.”
Détha ends up not being able to come until nighttime, when her watch as
active Vice Captain is over for the day. Technically, once she’s on break,
she’s free to do whatever she wants. It’s kind of the point to transition to
the next Vice Captain three times a day, so none of them has any sort of
help from the others while they’re active. During each watch, they are
expected to be the one and only. This is a different situation, though.
She’s not in command at the moment. “You wanted to see me, sirs?”
“There is no time to beat around the bush,” Arqut starts to tell her. He’s
sitting up now, feeling better than before, but he knows that he’s going to
have to go to sleep again soon. “Are you aware of your place in the
competition?”
Détha is a straightforward person. She recognizes the value in lying, but is
very good at seeing what others know, and what they don’t, so when lying is
pointless, it becomes counterproductive. She knows that Tinaya and Arqut
already know the answer, so any optimism or confidence will come across as
unearned, even though she got to where she is due to all that confidence.
Fake it ‘til you make it, except unfortunately...she’s not gonna make
it. And she knows that too. “I’m losing, sir.”
“Do you know why that is?” Arqut goes on.
Now she’s hesitating.
“Be honest with us about your perspective,” Tinaya encourages her. “We’ll
take it to our grave, which is coming up soon.”
Détha clears her throat, and tries to straighten up, but really, she was
already standing at high attention. “It’s a boy’s club sir. It has been for
over twenty years. I’m sorry if that offends.”
“It doesn’t,” Tinaya assures her. “You’re right, but that’s not the problem.
I’m guessing that you would be happier if Pronastus won. Not as happy as if
it were you, but better than the alternative?”
Détha hesitates again, but pushes through it. “He should be in first place.
He’s clearly the best, I’m not sure why he’s not. He understands people. He
knows what they need. He has literal superpowers. Waldemar, on the other
hand, is...”
“Incompetent? Reckless?” Arqut tries to guess.
“Inhumane? Dispassionate?” Tinaya adds.
“Lost,” Détha contends. “Sirs. He gets confused about why he should care
what others are going through.”
Arqut nods. “As Superintendent, when active, I don’t have the power to
relieve a captain from duty, unless under extreme circumstances, and even
then, I would need a lot of people backing me. I wouldn’t be able to just do
it.”
“Sir? Is there a problem with Captain Jennings? Is he corrupt?” Détha asks.
“No, not him. It’s Kristiansen. He’ll be a problem.”
“Apologies, but it appears that you won’t be the Superintendent anymore,
sir.”
“Exactly,” Arqut confirms.
Détha winces a little. She’s not quite connecting the dots, but she’s close.
Or maybe she’s there, but she doesn’t want to assume.
“We need you,” Tinaya says. “We need you to take his place, so you can be in
a position to help when the day comes that this ship requires an active
Superintendent again. As he said, you can’t remove a captain, but
maybe you could move enough other people around, and gather enough
support.”
“You’re planning a future coup,” Détha argues. “You won’t even be around to
suffer any consequences.”
Tinaya sighs. “There are things we know about the future. I’m breaking laws
just by telling you that, and I won’t say anything more, except that you are
a variable that we didn’t see. Perhaps...you can make things better. Based
on your track record, I don’t think you can make it worse. You and Vice
Captain Kegrigia are the only two people who might have a chance of keeping
Extremus in one piece. One of your should be lieutenant, and the other the
new Arqut.”
Détha considers the offer. “You don’t think I can win?” she asks. “You don’t
think something can change within the next two years?”
“You deserve it,” Arqut says to her, “but no. Time is usually fluid, even
for time travelers who have knowledge of future events, but sometimes,
there’s nothing you can do. We believe that this is the best course of
action to take right now. It might be the only one.”
Détha nods respectfully. “I accept the position. I will take on my new
responsibilities with honor and grace.”
“Now, you understand that you won’t have power over the vice captains
either, right? They’re just like the captain in this regard. If we were
still doing things the old ways, you couldn’t veto a candidate. They’re
insulated, by extension of the captain. So even though you’ll be starting by
the end of the competition, you won’t be able to change the outcome.”
“I understand,” Détha replies. “With all due respect, I can promise you
nothing when it comes to my future decisions. I will have to be my own
Superintendent, and if I calculate that Waldemar Kristiansen is the absolute
best thing to happen to Extremus, and its mission, then I will support him
appropriately. If you’re looking for someone to carry a set of instructions
that you write down before you die, you’re looking at the wrong girl.”
“We would never expect that,” Arqut says sincerely. “I would not be choosing
you if I thought I could. That’s the point.”
Détha nods again. “Then once more, I accept.”
There are a few minor details to iron out, but there’s very little that she
needs to know before she starts her job. They won’t announce the decision
for another few days, and she won’t actually start anything until Arqut
dies, or if he’s declared mentally unfit to continue. They are considering
asking the doctor to do just that so she can go ahead and get started. It’s
not like they would be lying. He gets tired all the time, and he’s on his
actual deathbed. Technically, he’s mentally stable enough to make decisions,
but in a practical sense, he should also be able to attend council meetings.
Even sitting up in a chair has become difficult. They don’t get the chance
to do any of this, however. A couple of days later, Détha is found dead in
her stateroom.
It was clearly murder, but they have no evidence that Waldemar was involved.
It doesn’t even kind of look like he might have done it. Only a few people
understand his full motives. Since he was winning the competition for the
captain’s seat, to outsiders, it doesn’t look like he would have much reason
to feel threatened by her. If anything, he should have killed Pronastus to
secure his own win, but that’s not what happened. Their best guess is that
he found out that Détha spoke with Tinaya and Arqut, even though she doesn’t
know them, and wouldn’t have been on the list of visitors unless it was
something that wasn’t in Waldemar’s best interests. Murder is wrong, of
course, but he’s not crazy to hold these fears. They are plotting
against him, just probably not in the way that he thought. Or she confessed
to him, either beforehand, which led to the murder, or during the violent
act, as a desperate plea for her life. So they don’t know what he knows. It
doesn’t matter for long, though, because Arqut and Tinaya die at the exact
same time just a few weeks later anyway. They never found a new
superintendent.
