gust of laughter. "Exactly."
Thom went to the cart and put his club away. He looked up at Roy. For a moment his eyes were cold and dead, like a lizard. Then he grinned.
"Okay."
"Okay what?" Roy asked
"Okay. I'll sign it. Google won't miss a few thousand a month. And you need it a lot more than them."
"Really?"
"I can't do it longer than a year."
Roy's legs went rubbery. He leaned heavily on the cart. This was it. This was what he needed. Just one more chance. But. "But... you know it's a scam."
Thom laughed. "Most insurance is."
Ani forced herself to look at the people and smile. Over two hundred of them; ten times the usual number. Their eyes were cold and sharp, like broken glass.
The week since the missed shipment had been hard. She'd had to moderate seventeen trios. Mainly for trivial stuff: breaking a tech module that could easily be replaced, setting the price too high on luxury water, an argument over bonuses for expansion of the farms. Stupid things, easily resolved with a quick look at the historical streams or a glance at the optimal ratios. Stuff that would never go to trio, before.
When will they get together and challenge me? Ani wondered. It would almost be a relief. Someone else could be Prime, and she wouldn't have to worry about the leadership lottery ever again.
"Opening the 787 th Open Meeting for the Community of Hermes, Moon, Ani Loera, Prime," Ani said.
They were murmuring.
"I'd like to open the meeting now," Ani said, raising her voice.
Still murmuring.
"Your Prime says shut the fuck up," Pavig Lok said, loudly. Heads snapped and voices dropped to silence.
Ani looked at him. Pavig gave her a shrug and a frown, as if to say, Don't thank me. He was the owner of the cavern; he'd probably been looking forward to selling it to the newbies.
"Good morning, everyone," Ani said. "Floor is open to discuss any items in advance of the special announcement."
"We're all dead!" someone shouted, from the back of the room.
Ani ignored him and waited.
"If there are no other items, I'll move to the announcement. I'll start with my personal statement: We don't know if the lost shipment is a one-time glitch, or if the shipments have ended indefinitely. If the shipments begin next month, there's no cause for alarm."
A doubtful murmur from the crowd.
"Even if the shipments have ended indefinitely, our Primes for Infrastructure, Technology, and Resources say we can maintain and grow Hermes for the foreseeable future. Regolith processing is simple and can be expanded. Our farms are stable and productive, and can also be expanded. Our genetic technology is sufficient; four hundred of us, including myself, have healthy, happy children."
Nils waved from the back of the cavern. Ani waved back. It warmed the crowd somewhat; she saw a few tentative smiles.
"I'll let the functional Primes make their statements," Ani said, nodding at the three people who sat next to her.
Gilbert Corlew, the current head of Resources, nodded and stood up. "What Ani says is technically correct. We have been continually expanding our regolith processing and foundries. I am, however, worried about our human resources. We're operating at the ragged edge. Each person must know three or more technical specialties. Double and triple shifts are the norm. It is difficult to maintain a year-2000 level technological regime with 1300 people, much less year-2040."
"But do we need the shipments?" Ani asked.
Gilbert shook his head. "No. We'll just have to continue working. Very, very hard, for a long, long time."
"Infrastructure?" Ani asked.
Marie Middleton shrugged in her grease-stained gray coveralls, but didn't stand up. "We can keep buildin' tunnels and stretchin' wire and putting up dotcams as long as you want."
Jared Gildea, current head of science, stood up and looked out over the crowd, licking his lips nervously.
"I hate to be the downer," he said. "But let me tell you where we have problems. First, without shipments from Earth,