“A little melodramatic, don’t you think?” Liz asked, flashing a look at Edison, who was seated behind the judge’s desk on the raised stand.
Edison held his tongue, appearing to be frozen solid, like many of the corpses in the city after The Event.
Liz’s eyes came back to Krista. “I think we need to ask a few questions before a ruling is called.”
Krista welcomed the scrutiny and cross-examination. She’d been planning for this moment a long time. “Sure, fire away.”
“When you say get someone killed, do you honestly believe that her occasional tardiness will actually lead to someone’s death other than her own?”
“Yes, I do. And it’s not occasional.”
“Explain, please.”
“When she’s out there doing whatever the hell she does, she runs the risk of getting caught.”
“Wait a minute; that only puts her life at risk. A life she takes into her own hands every time she goes out there. A Seeker’s mission is a very dangerous task. One she does out of the goodness of her heart.”
Krista threw up her hands in frustration, her tone turning cynical. “Yes, we’ve all heard that same argument before. She risks her life for the benefit of Nirvana, but it still doesn’t change the fact that she’s chronically late. Plus, she’s barely successful with her recovery efforts.”
“What do you mean by that?” Alexander Morse said from his seat, interrupting. “From what I understand, she always brings back food and supplies. In fact, if my memory serves, doesn’t Summer lead all Seekers in terms of success rate?”
Krista shook her head. “But it’s always just two cans of food. Not one. Not three. Always two. Do you know what the odds of that are?”
Morse took out his pen and began scribbling something on the paper in front of him. “If you wait a minute, I’ll give you the answer.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Krista said, taking a breath to calm her nerves. “What I meant is she’s lazy. If a Seeker finds two cans of food right away, then she can certainly find three or four. Maybe more on occasion. That, to me, would be helping the group. It’s obvious she finds two cans, then stops looking. God knows what else she’s doing with the rest of her time.”
“Isn’t that up to her?” Morse asked, sending a look at Liz Blackwell. “She’s the one taking the risk.”
Rod Zimmer broke his silence. “Technically, no. A Seeker’s job is to find everything on their duty list, but not stop there when they have the opportunity to recover more.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what she is doing,” Liz said with a heavy tone to her words. “Maybe that’s why she’s late, looking for more items that will benefit our community.”
“I doubt that’s the case,” Zimmer said after a smirk. “We also have to take into account her character. She’s not the most reliable member of Nirvana, or the most well liked.”
“I appreciate what you’re saying,” Krista said to Liz, shifting the weight on her feet. The temperature in the room seemed to be about ten degrees hotter than it was a few minutes ago. “But Summer never does.”
“Never does what?” Liz asked.
“Never excels at anything. Not once has she turned in anything other than what’s on her recovery list.”
Morse cleared his throat. “Has she ever returned without something she was sent to find?”
Krista didn’t hesitate, having reviewed Summer’s mission logs before this meeting. “Only once.”
“When was that?” he asked.
“A while back. When Avery died.”
Morse seemed to expect that answer, his retort unleashed only a millisecond later. “Yes. Every time except once, and that was under very unusual circumstances, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Sure, if you want to make excuses for her.”
“Otherwise, she’s always been one hundred percent successful.”
Krista had to agree, even though she didn’t want to. “Technically, that’s correct.”
“But never more. That’s the key here,” Zimmer added in a matter-of-fact tone, his eyes scanning through a stack of paperwork in front of him.
Krista continued, appreciating Zimmer’s vote of support. “Summer only does the absolute minimum required to get by and not be reprimanded, even when I go out of my way to assign her the best areas. Areas where she can achieve and be successful, but it doesn’t change a thing. When I was in the Army, we called that just marking time. When a soldier does that, mistakes happen. Things get overlooked. Supplies run low. The whole nine yards.”
“I hope you know this isn’t the Army,” Morse said in a sarcastic tone.
“Well, maybe it should be,” Krista added, bringing her eyes to Edison sitting on his perch. “If we instilled more of a military approach around here, then maybe, just maybe, everyone would be a little safer. And happier. Not so depressed all the time.”
Edison only blinked and didn’t respond.
“I think things are regimented enough around here,” Morse said, swinging his head around to look at Edison. “Normal people can only take so much. Next thing you know, we’d have people saluting each other and marching in formation.”
Liz spoke before Krista could respond to Morse. “Okay, let me get this straight. Summer goes out and risks her life and always, except once, completes her Seeker Missions with every item she’s asked to find, and now you want to banish her from the community for it? On what planet is that fair? Or just?”
“Look, I get that you’re all fond of her. So am I, but we have rules that must be followed. Every time she’s late, we have to send out search teams to find her and that puts everyone’s life at risk.”
“Isn’t that what the search teams are for?” Liz asked, her face flushing. “To go out and find missing members?”
“When needed, yes. But Summer’s chronic lateness is a waste of resources and pushing the odds. Eventually, casualties will result.”
Liz rolled her eyes. “It’s all doom, boom, and gloom with you, isn’t it?”
Krista remembered that exact phrase coming out of Summer’s mouth, on more than one occasion. Obviously, the girl’s attitude was spreading to the others. “That’s my job, Doc. If I don’t look out for the safety and security of everyone, then who will? You?”
“Well, I never—” Liz said in an angry tone.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Edison said, finally breaking his silence. “Our time limit has been reached. Testimony has been heard. Questions asked. Now we must move forward to a ruling. Let’s take a vote.”
Krista wished she had more time to rally support, but Edison was correct. The time allotted had been reached. “I agree. Time for a vote. The rules are the rules. They apply to everyone, even me.”
Liz folded her arms. “Agreed.”
Alexander Morse nodded.
Rod Zimmer looked at Krista, his eyes tight and focused. “I’ve heard enough.”
“Then let’s proceed,” Edison said. “All those who find Summer guilty of repeatedly breaking curfew in violation of established rules, please raise their hand.”
Krista put her hand up in an instant. So did Zimmer. There was a momentary pause before Liz and Morse did the same, though they looked tentative.
“Then it’s unanimous. Summer is guilty on all counts and shall be punished accordingly,” Edison said.
“It’s about time,” Krista said under her breath, her heart beating even faster than before.
“Now I need to see a show of hands from those who think Summer should be banished from the community.”
Krista shot hers even higher into the air.
Zimmer did the same.
Liz and Morse pulled theirs down.
“Seriously?” Krista asked, not believing what she was seeing. Everyone just voted Summer guilty, yet they didn’t vote to kick her out.