C10
Come out to Play
Arriving in the hall, I was blown away by how many Veiletians were in the place; it was crammed. Once we arrived, the loud clamor of multiple voices dropped, to be replaced with silence and stares. It got uncomfortable quickly, so I smiled and waved, with a cheerful, “Hey, everyone!” Amazingly, this didn’t help. If anything, the awkwardness grew.
“My people!” came the commanding voice of Prefector Kalika bellowing to the roomful of Veiletians. “Is this how you make a good impression on those who bestow you the opportunity to become a crewmate on their prestigious ship? You have been greeted. Do not be so discourteous as to not return that greeting.”
There was a palpable atmosphere of shame and embarrassment from everyone I could see in the room, as a disjointed chorus of “Good day to you all” rang out from – I assume – everyone’s mouths.
We continued our way to the front of the room, where the elders sat. “Hi again, everyone. So, what are we supposed to do now? This all feels a little awkward,” I said, addressing mainly Kalika.
“Take a seat at the table and interview everyone who wishes to go with you. Make a shortlist. The people who still wish to come with you after the two-way assessments will be matched up with your shortlist. From there, we’ll have a good idea who is to be recruited,” Kalika replied.
“There are like, 300 people here. This could take days,” I said, dismayed.
“Then it will take days. We must not rush these choices,” added another of the council members who had spoken yesterday, but had not given their name.
“Right. I'm not sure that’s going to work for us,” I said, turning to address the crowd. “Everyone! I’m glad you are all thinking of joining us. We would be proud to have you all with us. Alas, that cannot be at this moment in time. In the future, we hope to have more ships, and even a base from which to run the Headquarters of the Uprising. Our vision is that more of us can work together to make this galaxy a safer place. With that in mind, I have a few specifications to find the most-suited candidates.
“You know what we plan to do. If you really want to be part of that, make your way to the right side of the room. If you’re just here to find out more about us, or are unsure if you even want to join, go to the left side.”
People began to move. Havok chuckled in my head.
“This is preposterous and not how things are done here. Everyone is given a fair chance,” one of the council members complained. It was taken up by a few others.
“Sorry, guys. I’m not meaning to be rude. We just have to be realistic here. We don’t need people who are unsure of themselves, or of being part of the Uprising,” I said quietly, then turned back to the crowd. It had parted, leaving only around a hundred gathered on the right-hand side; great for sorting, but annoying that so many had come essentially to waste my time.
I continued, “Brilliant, thank you. Those on the left may leave.” There was a grumbling of discontent as people began to file out. I really had no idea what they expected to happen. The elders were complaining again, too. I just blocked them out. This was potentially for everyone's benefit.
I glimpsed Kalika and saw she had a small smile on her face, which was good, because I intended to continue with my sorting. “Okay, everyone else. Now, I’m really sorry we have to cull your numbers; the council has only permitted us to take ten of you, until such a time as we can prove our good intentions and behaviors towards Veiletians. I must ask you once more to split into groups. As it stands, we’re going to be a mercenary group, so can you please divide to the right side for those that are competent fighters, and over to the left side for those who are not confident fighters.”
A stream of deflated, dejected faces flowed to the left side of the hall, leaving around 30 in total who considered themselves as skilled in the art of fighting. “Right,” I smiled. “Of those of you in the remaining group of fighters, whoever has medical knowledge and abilities, come stand by the desk to be evaluated.”
Four came up to the desk. I spoke with them as a group. “Are you still happy to join the Uprising after what you’ve heard so far?” They nodded in unison. “Excellent. If you can all go to speak with Elyek, they will carry out the final stage of vetting and answer any of your questions.” They walked over to Elyek, who looked taken aback, even though we’d agreed to it earlier.
“You 26 remaining, raise your hands if you have any experience of being part of a ship's crew with expertise of your own.”
Eighteen hands went up.
“Excellent. To the rest of you, I’m very sorry we cannot recruit you at this time. We have our shortlist of candidates. Thank you for coming, and when we increase our capacity in the future, we hope you can join us. We’d love to have you on board.
“As for those who are left, please form an orderly line to speak with Elyek.” I sighed, turning my attention to the councilors.
One of the councilors spoke: “You have treated our people with great disrespect. I am beginning to rethink if any should be allowed to leave with you.” He was encouraged by nods of agreement from the other council members. All except Kalika, who remained silent.
“I haven’t got the time for time-wasters, when there are those who genuinely want to come with us. I don’t want to take people into war zones who cannot fight. I need people with fighting skills and expertise to operate a ship. If you think
