Chapter 19
Scarlet
Scarlet let out low breath as she stepped forward into the domini box within the Coalition Rotunda, awed by the sight surrounding her.
It had been almost two tendays since the meeting had begun. Long days filled with diplomats and kings and representatives talking about literal planetary wide problems, debating solutions, coming to a solution, then recording said solutions for the vote that would be taken at the end.
Alanna was the only human that had gone every day. She wanted to bear witness to the discussions and how things were done so she could do it properly when it was her turn. Scarlet, meanwhile, had been keeping careful, concerned watch over Peony.
The baby was growing faster than he should if he were a domini, seeming more on par now with a human growth rate than the longer domini one he originally tracked with.
Which worried Scarlet slightly as, if Peony was going to carry like a human for the second half of her pregnancy, they would have no idea of her expected due date.
Her current due date was estimated based on domini timetables because, as the embryo formed, that’s how fast the baby was moving.
But he was fully formed now, his body was just growing and preparing to survive outside the womb, and now it was at human speeds.
If her pregnancy was fully human, based on when she got pregnant, she would be due to give birth worryingly soon.
Since the pregnancy was a combination and the growth rate had changed, Scarlet didn't know what to expect.
But today was the day that the domini delegation would be presenting their case. There were only two species ahead of them in line, so, depending on their contribution, they might speak before the evening was finished.
Peony had emerged from her nest for the first time in a tenday to be here. Alanna had led the two of them to their box where the guys – sans Tuvo, who was escorting them – were already hard at work. Atem especially was busier than ever, but Havali was working hard too.
Thinking of him, Scarlet’s heart immediately skipped a beat before racing in excitement. Something that surprised and delighted her. She really had thought she was never going to feel this anxiety free excitement over a male again.
She had seen him at least once a day since their date.
He was always with Atem, always busy, constantly working.
Atem didn't act as the representative in a bubble.
He got a lot of aid from Havali in keeping track of the other species and their topics and everything that had been decided upon but not yet voted to codify – all voting was done at the end when all topics finished.
That was to prevent anyone from trying to leave early because their concern had been addressed.
The times she saw Havali were quick. Sometimes perfunctory. They had a few conversations, but nothing more than that. There simply wasn’t time in his schedule. And, she found to her own surprise, that absence did indeed make the heart grow fonder.
As the three of them, plus Tuvo, approached, Scarlet got her first glimpse of the rotunda that she had only seen from the outside, and it took her breath away.
From the outside, the rotunda was a simple, dome covered building that, although it had stunning architecture, wasn’t anything too futuristic or complex.
Inside, however, was another story. The dome of the rotunda was where all the boxes for the representatives and their entourages were placed.
They climbed the walls, not quite covering the very top, but getting close.
It gave them all an equidistant view of the floor of the rotunda where the box for the species currently speaking was lowered.
Combots floated around the floor, projecting images directly into the boxes, though they also had clear viewing windows and floors so that they could see the person directly.
Below the platform for the speaker, the lower hallways leading into the rotunda opened right to a landing spot where the boxes, from above, were summoned down so that they could be loaded without disturbing the species on the floor.
Atem and Havali were inside their box already, watching the male who was gesticulating as he spoke on the platform through their holo display. Havali was taking notes, Atem was frowning, leaning forward, hand on his chin, clearly not pleased with whatever he was hearing.
Scarlet and the girls were quiet, trying not to disturb their focus, as they stepped inside and Tuvo shut the door behind them, allowing the box to rise back to its spot on the dome wall.
Scarlet looked around, more interested in their room than the debate currently ongoing.
Havali had been right. The problem of trade unfairness between this species and another regarding a specific animal that was considered a delicacy on one planet and a pest on the other was not at all interesting to her.
Instead, she admired the beautiful, comfortable decor.
There was a drink machine that she knew, after being here for over a tenday, would dispense almost anything she requested, so long as it was programmed into the machine’s database.
There was also a buffet style spread of food on heating plates that smelled amazing and was available for them to pick at.
Comfortable seating surrounded a table covered in holo displays that Havali was taking his notes on.
A door near the back led to a small but comfortable bathroom that had speakers and another screen to continue watching the debates.
The Coalition representatives’ most important job was coming to this meeting and listening and voting on other concerns just as they wanted people to vote for theirs.
To that end, they did not leave their box for breaks except when the High Imperium called an end to the day when they were allowed to return to their embassy to sleep.
So, everything they might need was here and the boxes could be customized and altered for each species’ individual needs - i.e.
temperature, humidity, furniture choices.
Alanna started to take the seat beside Atem then seemed to realize herself and offered it to Peony instead, taking the seat beside her with a smile.
Tuvo dropped down onto a sofa along the wall, not needing to pay attention to what was going on, as Scarlet sat down beside Havali.
She gave him a tentative smile that he returned without interrupting his note taking.
The male down below had finished speaking and was even now returning to his box. As it was rising, from above, she heard the familiar, androgynous, robotic voice of the High Imperium.
“Are there any other arguments for dissent for the compromise?” There was a moment of silence wherein no one spoke.
“Very well. The plan to address the issue of the Standard price of rapij meat by raising the price of no more than eight credz, no less than six, to reach a Standard cost of forty-four to forty-six credz per kilomass, when traded off planet on a large scale, is logged. As per Standard, individual sellers are still permitted to set their own price. We shall now move on to the next species. We call species 167, the allowee. Representative Lua will speak.”
Their neighboring box lit up and began to lower.
Projected into the center of the dome, was the image of a pale blue skinned female who had tentacles for hair that looked like a cross between elegant Medusa snakes and styled dreadlocks, each curling at the tips.
She was either wrinkled at baseline or elderly.
Without knowing her species, it was hard to tell.
She emerged from her box and stood, her entire body hidden by voluminous purple robes with a truly impressive collar around her face.
“Thank you for your attention, representatives,” she said, her voice strong and powerful, even without the mechanical amplification. “The issue I bring before you today is in regards to a territorial claim over a roaming, lifeless gas planet’s resources between my people and the tsurana.”
Scarlet tried, she really did, to pay attention to what was being said.
But it was incredibly, achingly, boringly dull.
She didn't know how Alanna was able to sit forward, riveted on the long list of harvesting rights, first finder’s rights, and first explorer’s rights that were being laid out and disputed by the two species in question.
It was like watching a court trial between two lawyers presided over by a jury of other lawyers.
A bunch of dry jargon, precedents, references she didn’t understand, and polite, diplomatic arguing.
Her wandering attention returned to the others in the box.
To Tuvo, who was relaxed, tapping at his combot without concern for what was happening around him.
To Alanna, who was tapping at the holodisplay on her part of the table – looking up the references and precedents that were flying completely over Scarlet’s head while somehow paying attention at the same time.
Peony, meanwhile, was wrapped up in one of her nest blankets.
She had fallen asleep, head leaning against Atem’s arm.
He was being careful not to move that arm as he continued working.
He was focused on what was being said without allowing himself to be distracted by research.
Though, occasionally, he did look at something Alanna brought to his attention over Peony’s head.
In the last tenday, Alanna had made a place for herself at his side.
Serving as a helpful aid searching for things that she didn’t know – which was a lot – and therefore being able to help him with what he didn’t know – which wasn’t as much, just by virtue of exposure, but often was still valuable since she could find things the others overlooked.
While Atem was not involved with this dispute, he still had to vote for it, and to cast an informed vote, he needed to know the arguments for and against.