design to specialize in? Maybe even then you saw control of the life support as your way to ultimate power.”
“I’ve been planning it since I was hanging in the vacuum in this fucking hull. That’s how long.”
“And you’d switch off the air if you had to.”
“If it meant saving the majority-yes.” She looked at them, one by one, forcing them to meet her eyes. “Unless you have any more to say, this is the end of that discussion.”
None of them challenged her. Grace had said nothing at all.
But Wilson kept grinning. “Well, well. Harmless little Holle. The mouse that roared. So what’s next on the agenda?”
“Survivability,” Holle said immediately.
Venus nodded cautiously. “Go on.”
“Since the accident we’ve secured the ship and its basic systems. Now we need a review and rebuild from prow to stern, fixing what got broken in the blowout. And I want to build in more security against failure modes, even against another hull breach. Design redundancy was compromised after the Split. We need to robustify the ship. Is there any way we can improvise leak-proof internal bulkheads, for instance? And we need a rota of crew with suitable equipment waiting in the refuges at all times, the shuttle and the cupola. Also at least one crew member, maybe two, partially pressure-suited. I want to up the crew training for the case of decompression, and other failure modes like fire and power loss. Wilson, you and I will work on this, figure out some kind of strategy.”
“OK. But I remind you that it was sabotage that caused the blowout. No amount of redundancy will protect you from that, ultimately.”
“True. But maybe a full restoration of surveillance systems will. Venus, I want you to work with Grace on that.”
Venus frowned. “Why us?”
“Because you, Venus, have the technical expertise, and Grace already knows the crew individually as well as any of us; she’s their doctor. I want to catch any more rebels before they get a chance to act. Grace, if you notice odd patterns of behavior or unexplained absences from work details or whatever, you come to me.”
Grace looked deeply unhappy. She hadn’t spoken since they’d come together. Now she said, “If I really was a doctor I’d say that violated patient confidentiality.”
“Well, you’re not really a doctor, so that’s not an issue. Oh, and do something with Zane.”
“Like what? Cure him?”
“No. There’s no hope of that. Abandon the therapy program, except for some kind of monitoring. We need Zane’s expertise. But keep him away from the crew, the younger shipborn.”
“How? Shall I keep him in a cage?”
“If you have to.”
Wilson said, “So what else?”
“We’re short of resources. We lost a lot in the trauma-the blowout, the explosion, the fire on your bridge. We were already under strain; after the Split our recycling loops were cut in half. Now we’re going to have to aim for a much tighter closure of the loops. Really, we need to achieve one hundred percent from now on. And that’s going to begin with the disposal of the dead from the blowout.”
“We’ve buried dead before,” Wilson said. “Over the side, and out to the warp bubble, and poom. ” He spoke flippantly, but handling their occasional “space burials” had always shown Wilson at his authoritative best. With due ceremony the bodies were sent out of the airlocks, accompanied by Wilson’s intonation of the old US Navy’s service: “We do now commit this body to the deep…”
Holle said, “Sure. But things have changed, Wilson. We’ve always encouraged people to think of recycling the dead through the ECLSS systems.”
Wilson grinned blackly. “Feeding loved ones into the furnaces chunk by chunk.”
“Do you know what percentage did that so far? Less than twenty percent.”
Wilson shrugged. “It wasn’t something I wanted to make a stand on.”
“Well, now we need to reclaim every drop of water, every scrap of organic material, and that includes corpses. We need to work out some variant of Wilson’s funeral procedure to honor those who give up their bodies to the furnaces. Make it clear that the greatest contribution you can make to the Ark is to keep it running for those who outlive you.”
“Have people will it,” Venus suggested. “Before they die. Lodge it in the archive. That might reduce the conflict after death.”
“Good idea. And Grace, you may need to work on some education program about reducing the taboo of consuming the remains of the dead.”
“That won’t be hard for the shipborn,” Grace said. “They’ve grown up knowing that every sip of water they take has already passed through other people’s bladders a zillion times. They don’t have the same hang-ups as the older crew. We will be the problem. I’ll look into it.”
“You need to think about the refuseniks,” Wilson said. “There will always be some.”
“They won’t get the choice,” Holle said flatly. “OK. Then there’s the question of punishment for the actions leading up to the blowout.”
“Ah.” Wilson sat back and folded his arms. “So this is some kind of trial after all.”
Holle shook her head. “No. Listen, Wilson, you’re indispensable. But you are going to have to survive in this ship, and it’s a damn small place. I’m not putting you on trial, you won’t be formally punished. I won’t even criticize you in public. You need to make some kind of recompense of your own. Find ways to apologize to the kids you hurt, and their families. That’s up to you.”
Wilson nodded. “Well, that’s pragmatic.”
Grace said, “If we aren’t punishing Wilson-who?”
Venus said, “I’m guessing Steel Antionadi.”
Holle nodded. “Right. For the crime of a rebellion that nearly killed us all. We have to make an example of her.”
Wilson grinned again. “Why not just say it straight out? You’re going to execute her.”
Grace laughed nervously. But Holle kept her face expressionless.
Venus gasped. “Are you serious? Holle, the kid was abused by this gorilla here, she had her head filled with rubbish from Zane-what chance did she have? Her crime was our fault, our generation’s.”
Grace said, “And to execute her-in Walker City we had crime, we had rape and murder. But we rejected capital punishment, the mayors did. We were too small a society for that. Each of us would have been too close to the executioner, each of us would become a killer. And compared to this crew, we were a mob. Everybody will be tainted by this.”
“Good,” Holle said.
Venus said, “Besides, Holle, you said we can’t afford any more losses. Steel is one of the brightest of her cadre. Even if you consider the rebellion, she showed vision, leadership, planning, even a kind of military skill. She managed to unite all those teenage gangs. And she was thorough. She cut the comms links, including the backup. She sabotaged the shuttle. All in complete secrecy-”
“I don’t want leadership,” Holle said. “Not among the shipborn. I don’t want vision, or idealism, or curiosity, or initiative. I don’t want courage. All I want is obedience. It’s all I can afford, until we’re down on Earth III and the day comes when we can crack open the domes and let the kids just walk away. Yes, she’s the best of her generation, and that’s why she’s such a danger. We have to make the process as public as possible. In fact that’s the point. But in the end, yes, she’ll die. Grace, I’ll expect you to make recommendations on how we do that, fast and painless.”
Wilson blew out his cheeks. “Wow! You really have been thinking this through, haven’t you?”
Venus shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything. Just accept my verdict.”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. I’ve known you almost your whole life, Holle. Now you’re imposing a regime of total surveillance backed up by total power. Is this you?”
Holle faced her. “Remember all those theoretical debates, back in the Academy? About the conflict inherent in a situation like this between human rights and the need to sustain life itself? The truth is, no matter what system we tried, we were always going to fail in the end. The only way we can survive now is to impose total control from
