By David C. Daoust
Raymond Haul sat deep in his chair, one hand shadowing his brow. The permanent scowl on his face was a bit deeper than most days, though given the developing situation it was clearly warranted. He was still sitting in that same room, from the day before, along with the other representatives from the two communities of the small desert moon, Twin Crown.
It seemed like such a simple thing, a Compact, yet wadded pages were scattered from one end of the table to the other. Many of these previous drafts began to slip onto the floor to be kicked throughout the room as the restless men shifted in their chairs.
Concerning the assault on Sadie, Denali had long since quelled the outbreak of anger among the First Wave. Convinced them all, that all would be handled in its due course; Justice could not be meted out, until they had finished their business there.
Men from Grady were on the far side of the litter strewn table, while the First Wave filled the opposite side. The room became a fiery crucible of ideas. One idea, freely spoken, would be discussed, and added to, until by the end of the line, it was either tossed aside as irrelevant, or led to a stronger understanding of what their true purpose was for being locked in that chamber. The longer they hashed it all out, the more the two groups merged into new groups; new friends, new allies were made.
Eduardo Bram sat directly across from Raymond. The two had formed an unspoken alliance, as they, little by little, chipped away at the doubts that filled the room. They had found their common ground; each now had family that would be cast before the Confederate Judiciary, unless they proceeded with the secession. Their interest in sidestepping the Confederate Judges, alone, had allied them. The pair had seized control of the makeshift congress, all to avoid the Judges. Judges that were notoriously overworked, and known for their hasty verdicts, especially concerning those from the far out moon colonies, which no one in the Core cared about; or more aptly put, could not further the Judges own gains in some way.
A fair trial would be a noble thing, if that were to be the two men’s true aims, though Raymond knew his guilt. Eduardo, too, must know the rumors of his son’s wrong doing were true. Raymond was not sure either of them truly grasped their endgame, though they seemed to have the situation well in hand. Raymond already feared he may have sacrificed Sadie’s Justice in the hopes of clearing his own family from recourse. It weighed on him; he may as well have beaten the young woman himself.
It was this common ground that led the two men into shattering all resistance, not only to maintaining the secession, which Eduardo had previously spoken against, but then straight into the forming of a central government, as opposed to the individual communities’ interests- much of which was through Merrick Denali’s prompting. Thus the Compact would be more than just a compromise, but a Union. It would be the basest for a unified Independent State on the moon; Claiming sovereign for the colonists themselves, excluding any Confederate claims to the moon, or their lands. Truly, a major breakthrough that led to several of the first drafts that now lay wadded throughout the chamber.
It seemed like no matter how much headway they made, there was someone somewhere in the room with sudden insight into how it should be ‘said’. Semantics, it all seemed so silly. Yet, again and again, someone made a valid point.
It had all been going for so many hours, without so much as a break, it was inevitable these people would begin to tire. Raymond could feel as it all started to unravel. Many from both Grady and First Wave turned against too much detail in the document. Their argument being, the more that was set in writing, now, the more would be argued when they inevitably missed something. ‘Less is more’, was the wisdom these tired men came up with. Eventually that whole argument was replaced by those that claimed they had all gotten too far ahead of themselves, and that a real vote for independence was needed to legitimize their own proceedings. It was then widely agreed that without such an official vote, they were just a band of thugs that threw the remnants of the Red Faction off the moon, and began to dictate the goings on. Which aptly described the actions taken after the black out.
This was a movement that appeared to break through many of the barriers they had spent the last two days straight, arguing. It was agreed that if they truly wanted to form a Representative Democracy, this was the only logical step.
It was clear to Raymond that they had effectively moved backwards, and the final decision was indeed a way to procrastinate, thus the deepened scowl and shadowy brow, but it was enough of a Union that they were all bound to return.
The Compact became an agreement, a binding contract, to maintain a provisional government, until such a vote for Independence could be taken from the entire moon, not just those that were fed-up enough to force the Red Faction from the moon. And with that Raymond was finally released, at last given a chance… to catch up with his family.
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