Chapter 14
Fourteen
Holly turned back to the tables and took a stabilizing breath. She forced herself to block out the man by the door and focus. This meeting needed to be run as if this was a first meeting with a new client at Sol-Arc Industries. Professional. Prepared. Open to input, but ready with solutions.
“Thank you all for coming,” she began. “As you all know, I’m Holly Greene-Moone.
I’m Charles Moone’s granddaughter and I’ve taken over the operation of the station.
I never met my grandfather, and I’d like to think I’m a very different person from him.
” She paused, letting that land. The residents watched her with guarded expressions.
“I’m here because I want to understand what Moone’s Landing needs.
I want to know your biggest priorities. Your greatest concerns.
What you hope this station could be like in a year, or ten years.
” She gestured to the d-pad in front of her.
“I’ve read all the records I have on this station so I have a good idea of what needs to be done, but I want to hear from all of you. ”
She thought it was a good opener. Maybe she’d even redeemed herself after that blunder with Rasker Vipp. She glanced at him, but his face revealed nothing. He just leaned there, watching.
“So,” Holly said. “Who wants to start?”
Sam pulled out his own d-pad and tapped the screen.
“The spaceport is my main concern. We only have two operational landing pads. The grid pulses, as you saw when you arrived.” He scrolled through his notes.
“I put in the order for the replacement solar cells after we talked. They’ll arrive in two days and I can have them installed the same day. ”
“That’s good news,” Holly said.
“It used up most of the funds in the account I have access to.” Sam’s expression was flat. “Is there any way to access more? For other repairs?”
Holly chewed her lip. “I suspect there are more nits somewhere. I just don’t know where Charles put them. I’ll have the estate lawyer, Mr. Binn, dig around and see what other accounts he can find.”
“The medical pod needs updating,” Alyce cut in.
“It can only treat a handful of species right now. If we want to serve travelers properly, we need to expand its capabilities.” She ticked items off on her fingers.
“We’d also benefit from a dedicated medic.
We haven’t had one in twenty years. The turbines need fixing so the air circulates properly.
The lights need calibrating for the forest and gardens.
And for the love of the stars, we need to hire a new groundskeeper once things get better around here. ”
Holly wrote furiously, her stylus flying across the d-pad. “Got it. All of it.”
“Can we talk about the ratings?” Harry asked, placing a hand over his heart.
“Things are not going to get better around here until the ratings improve. They are killing us. No one wants to stop at a station with two stars out of ten.” He waved a hand toward Holly.
“You should read the comments—actually, no, you shouldn’t.
They’d break your sweet spirit. The problem is, we’re rated so low, the only travelers we get are desperate ones.
” He sighed. “I run a vibrant business by shipping out my fungi, but imagine if customers came here to place orders and sample my wares? Moone’s Landing is perfect for my operation because there’s less oversight for some of my…
” He waved a hand. “Less conventional varieties.”
Tyer snorted. “He means illegal.”
“Nothing I grow is illegal in this region of space,” Harry protested, perhaps inadvertently broadcasting the reason why he chose Moone’s Landing as his base of operations. “But it’s getting harder to hire transports willing to come out here for special orders. The station’s reputation precedes it.”
“We have no concerns,” Orba said serenely, and Sula inclined their head in agreement.
Everyone turned to look at the Vepins.
Orba gracefully spread their hands. “We are seven hundred fifty-two, and nine hundred thirty years old, respectively. We have seen much change across the galaxy. Very little concerns us.”
“How nice for you,” Tyer muttered.
“All will work out as it should,” Orba continued, unperturbed. “In time.”
“One wonders why you two attended this meeting at all, then.” Tyer rolled his eyes.
“I live on the far side of the outpost, by the pond. I would simply like to continue living there quietly, without issues. That’s all I require.
” He examined his fingernails with studied disinterest. “If I can assist in that…”
“The pond is lovely,” Mish said, her voice strained.
She looked at Holly. “We walk there sometimes. When the children are calm.” Mish twisted her hands in her lap.
“I need Moone’s Landing. I need somewhere safe to stay with my children.
If my home planet wasn’t war-torn—” She cut herself off with a shake of the head.
“But it is. My children need three or four more years until they mature into independently thinking people. No civilized system will take them until then. We’re too much of a risk.
My husband is on a deep space mining rig for the next two years, so I have nowhere else to go. ”
“You’ll have a place here,” Holly said firmly. “I am going to do everything in my power to make sure of it.”
Mish’s eyes grew wet. She nodded and looked away.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Cody said, stretching lazily. “Good vibes. Good people. Family.” He grinned at Holly. “What more could you want?”
The silence that followed was pointed. Harry’s sour expression suggested he could think of several things. Alyce narrowed her eyes. Even Orba and Sula exchanged a glance that somehow conveyed dismay, despite their serene features.
Holly forced herself not to snap at him.
“There’s something else,” Sam said, drawing attention back to himself. “The Galactic Registry of Way Stations sends inspectors out here every two years. Our last one was ten months ago, so we have some time, but we passed by only two points. We were given a stern warning.”
Holly’s stomach dropped. She’d read the inspection report, but it had slipped her mind. “What happens if we fail?”
“Moone’s Landing gets removed from the Galactic Registry of Way Stations.” Sam’s voice was grim. “We’d no longer appear on navigation systems. No travelers would find us, so we’d generate no income. The station would be finished.”
“So we have fourteen months,” Holly said.
“Yes.” Sam shrugged. “But if someone flags us for a violation and the inspectors come to do an emergency inspection, we’d likely fail.”
Holly let that sink in. Fourteen months.
It felt like both an eternity and no time at all and it made her measly three-month leave of absence feel utterly inadequate.
It would take longer than that to know if Moone’s Landing could survive.
And on top of that, she’d assured Mish she’d save the station.
What a mess she was already making of things.
Conversation continued with lively discussion about what to improve, how to improve, and what could and could not wait until later.
Harry reiterated his very passionate concerns about the station’s ratings, and read one aloud that seemed to vex him: Moone’s Landing is one step up from the toxic slime pits on Xalkon-5.
Sam reminded him that there was nowhere else to stop en route between quadrants, and despite being down two landing pads, the number of travelers who stopped for repairs was only slightly down from the year before.
Tyer made a crack about the sorry state of the hotel, and everyone had opinions about that.
As the meeting began to wind down, Holly looked at the people around her. They seemed less guarded. Less skeptical. She thought, maybe, they were beginning to trust her. A little. And she had to admit, she liked them. They were good people, for the most part.
“Thank you,” she said when it was clear everyone had run out of useful things to say.
Tyer had begun to focus his energy on making little digs at Cody, and a good meeting leader knew the signs of when to end a meeting.
Before it devolved into arguments. “I appreciate all of you for coming. For sharing your thoughts with me.” She closed her d-pad.
“I’ll follow up on everything we discussed. We’ll have another meeting soon.”
The residents began to rise, gathering themselves to leave. Holly leaned toward Sam before he could stand.
“Why didn’t more people come?” she asked quietly.
Sam shrugged. “Some live at the edge of the galaxy because they wish to not be noticed. Some are planning to leave.” He met her eyes. “The people who came want to help. They’re willing to fight for Moone’s Landing.”
Holly nodded. It would have to be enough.
The lounge emptied. Holly gathered her d-pad and rose to leave, her head full of ideas and fresh worries. She was halfway to the door when she realized that Rasker Vipp was still leaning against the wall.
She stopped short. He smiled faintly at her.
“You did well,” he said.
Holly regarded him cautiously. “Thank you.”
“It’s a shame none of it will be enough.”
Her guard snapped back up. “Excuse me?”
“The station is too far gone.” He pushed away from the wall in a fluid movement. “Sam’s right. Many of the remaining residents are planning to leave. Soon this will be a ghost station.”
“Are they leaving because you’re paying them to?” Holly demanded.
Rasker chuckled. “Rest ’N Recharge doesn’t use those tactics, although I cannot speak for our competitor, Complete Respite.
As far as I know, no one has been paid to leave.
They’re doing so for free.” Something flickered across his face.
Something that looked almost like regret.
“I will say, it’s sad this beautiful place has fallen to near ruin.
It must have been truly beautiful in its day.
They don’t make stations like this anymore.
” His gaze swept the lounge, the vintage kitchen, the faded carpet. “It’s a shame to see it go.”
Holly could tell his words were genuine. That made it worse, somehow. But at the same time, her chest filled up. If he could see the potential here, maybe he could see the station’s value.
“Then why don’t you help?” she asked softly, taking one small step closer.
He shook his head. “I, unlike you, live in reality.”
“Reality is what we create,” Holly said, thinking of the uncompleted station her great-grandfather had bought and shaped into a thing of dreams. “Not what we settle for.”
Rasker’s expression shuttered. He turned away and shifted his body toward the exit, as if to block her words. But before he slipped through the door, he looked back at her. His eyes traveled over her form, the new clothes, the hair she allowed to flow past her shoulders. Her favorite shoes.
“Your new look suits you,” he said, inclining his head. “I’m still waiting to set up a meeting with you.”
“Keep waiting.”
He sighed and slipped out the door.
Holly stood alone in the empty lounge. Her heart beat faster than it should. Her chest tingled with an annoying awareness that in addition to looking good, Rasker Vipp smelled good, too.
She walked back to her unit replaying what had just happened.
Rasker had dropped the consultant role just long enough to give her a peek at what was beneath the polished exterior.
It was not easy to push against energies that wanted to make you into something you weren’t, but she could see that he, too, saw the beauty of this domed station.
He ran Loop Road, so he’d seen the forest, the gardens, the pond, and the rest. He must have appreciated the potential that was here.
He must have wondered what it could be like, again, with some attention and repairs.
And he must have also thought about what it would be reduced to when the whole dome was shut down.
Holly could only hope that mental image affected him.
As she walked back home, she wondered for the first time if Rasker Vipp could possibly be persuaded to be part of Moone Landing’s renewal, and not its demise.