Chapter 117
Anastasia watched Adept Reilly leave, and then turned to find Corvus staring at her. "I'm sorry about your crew mates." Anastasia said as Corvus continued to stare. "Do you need a moment?"
This was the first time Anastasia really got a good look at Corvus. She was the same height as Anastasia, slender and Anastasia would have guessed they were the same age. Corvus had thick blond hair that she wore long. Her hair was mostly down but there were a few random braids among the thick chunky curls. Corvus's blue eyes were large and it looked like she was perpetually surprised.
"A moment for what?" Corvus asked. Her voice had an airy almost sing-song quality to it.
"We're you close to your crewmates, Adept Jones or Adept Rayburn?"
"Not really. Adept Jones was always talking about the will of Blake and insisted on performing useless hand gestures and other pointless rituals instead of just doing what needed to be done. I was ambivalent toward Adept Rayburn until I was told he wanted to get into my pants."
Anastasia nodded, "Yes, I've seen members of your order waste time on their pseudo-religious and superfluous actions when they could just turn on a system, or press a button. I also find that annoying."
Corvus nodded politely as Anastasia spoke.
"I've also experienced male co-workers like Adept Rayburn that allowed their carnal desires to cloud their judgment and make professional interactions difficult."
Corvus stopped nodding, "I'm not certain that was my problem." she seemed lost in thought, "Adept Jones said that adept Rayburn was 'trying to get into my pants'. I told him I was indifferent toward cross-dressing, but I didn't tolerate stealing, and was concerned that he would stretch out or ruin my clothes. That may seem trivial to you, but the order only issues new clothes once a year."
"'Get into your pants' is a common idiom for a desire to…copulate."
Corvus tilted her head to the side, "That actually makes more sense, and explains his general rudeness and cold demeanor after I spoke to him about cross-dressing and thievery." Corvus was quite for a moment than added, "I feel I should warn you, that I have been told I take things too literally."
Anastasia understood what Myers meant when she said that Corvus "didn't inspire confidence", but she was all she had to work with, "Acolyte Corvus-"
"Please, Anastasia, call me Victoria."
"Victoria, if we could, I think we need to figure out the most efficient way to install the ECM equipment. I worry that if we take too long Tempes will hurt me or my friends. Perhaps you could help me go over these manuals while we wait for the equipment to arrive."
Victoria nodded and led Anastasia to a small shelf-like table built into the tower. They poured over the manuals and Anastasis was pleased to find that Victoria could easily read the manuals and most of her assumptions were correct. After several minutes Victoria looked over at Anastasia. "I don't believe you have anything to worry about."
"You think this will be a simple install process?" Anastasia gave her a skeptical look.
"No. This is quite complicated. I was referring to your safety. I know enough about this crew to assure you, you and I are the only two people here that could hope to perform the tasks listed here."
"Noted." Anastasia answered. She was starting to sense that Victoria liked her, so she risked asking, "Victoria, what were you told about the current mission of this vessel?"
"Very little, honestly. I'm not considered a true believer, which is fine because I'm not. However, this means many of my questions are viewed as disingenuous or as things that should be obvious, so that annoys my superiors. Recently I've just stopped asking questions and tried to just do what they ask. This strategy also seems to annoy them, and periodically I've misunderstood their intent."
"I can see how that would happen, especially when you take things literally."
"That said, ComStar actually needs technical experts. As much as they wish their weak-minded rank and file could actually run a Hyper Pulse Generator or maintain a ship like this, they just aren't up to the task. That makes them compelled to work with the few people they find like me."
"I suppose no amount of religious indoctrination can replace an education in the science and technological disciplines. Does that mean most of the engineers on this vessel are like you?"
Victoria shook her head, "No, most of them are just smart enough to do their job, and content to repeat the sayings or asinine philosophies of some dead man or woman when they're prompted. Depending on who's around they may even do a few of the rituals."
"Suddenly, I'm even more surprised anything in ComStar works."
"Most of the systems on this ship are built around a 'square plug goes in square outlet, blue round connector connects to slightly bigger blue round connector' design philosophy. It's nearly all shapes and colors. Most routine operations are almost self-explanatory, and the acolytes are taught that if they are using significant force or things don't match up they should ask an Adept or Precentor. The HPGs are similar."
"Do the Adepts and Precentor's receive advanced technical training?"
Victoria laughed a light airy laugh, "Not in my experience. If anything they received advanced religious indoctrination. Honestly, if Blake was such a visionary you'd have thought he'd have foreseen that writing his meandering journal of philosophy and mysticism would do more harm than good. Of course his predecessors are to blame as well, especially Toyama."
"So you're saying Blake's religion has reduced the inheritors of the prime circuit into intellectual children waving their hands in meaningless ceremonies before matching colors and fitting shapes into holes?" Anastasia paused, "Except for those violent once in ROM."
Victoria's whole demeanor changed as she smiled and her eyes brightened. "I think you're the first person to ever truly understand me." She pulled Anastasia away from the comms tower and into a nearby alcove between two bulkheads, "Can I ask you something?"
"I suppose-"
She stared at her for a moment, then leaned out to look up and down the passageway. She looked Anastasia directly in the eye, "Do you constantly feel like everyone around you is an idiot?"
"Yes, I mean no." Anastasia shook her head. Victoria was starting to make sense to Anastasia. The patronizing looks, the distance from others, and social awkwardness. Victoria was like her, extremely intelligent capable of understanding great technology but struggling to interact with the people around her.
Anastasia was initially surprised as she assumed ComStar's education system would be the best in the inner sphere, given their access to high technology. She'd anticipate that if she could get past the religious exterior she'd find some of the brightest minds in the inner sphere. Of course, her experiences should have told her differently. ComStars education apparently focused primarily on the teachings of Blake. Any advanced technical education was accidental or done at extreme effort by the scholar.
Anastasia realized she didn't necessarily have time for this but she needed to handle Victoria carefully, "Victoria, Demi Precentor Myers said you had this highest technical acumen she'd ever seen."
"Given what I've seen of Comstar's best and brightest I'd warn you it's a low bar."
"That's fair, centuries of war has hurt education systems throughout the inner sphere. However you and I had the benefit of good education and have been able to intellectually thrive and flourish."
"You might have, my parents were anthropologists that were killed by some odd tribe of periphery cannibals they were studying. My grandfather then gave me to Blake's holy order because he thought they were actually lizardmen that controlled the galaxy. He was convinced they wore human skin masks and the robes were to hide their lizard bodies."
Anastasia had to process all of that. If it was anyone else she'd have thought that was a joke, but Victoria looked so sincere. She had thought she'd found a kindred spirit, now she wasn't so sure. Perhaps it was a joke. "Why did he force you to join Com Star if he thought they were actually a duplicitous race of lizard alien overlords disguised as humans?"
"He was dying and he told me the lizardmen were extra-dimensional and would reward us both in the afterlife." Victoria said plainly like it was obvious.
Anastasia didn't know how to respond to this. Victoria's antisocial behavior may have less to do with her intellectual abilities, and was either the result of a very traumatic childhood, and there was a real possibility she had a tenuous grasp on reality. She wished Hap were here, he seemed to instinctively know how to handle people.
She tried to think how Hap would treat her. He generally assumed or expected the best out of people, "So, your grandfather was insane, or perhaps he didn't want to deal with you, but was too kind to be honest with you."
"That may be partially correct." Victoria nodded, "If I'm being fair, I was young and very inquisitive, though I never felt he was kind nor unwilling to be brutally honest."
This felt more relatable, and Anastasia wanted to keep the conversation here, "I know my grandmother found my overly inquisitive nature to be tedious, however once she grew weary of telling me that all my questions were un-lady-like she'd send for my tutor."
"Questions weren't exactly encouraged by the Adepts who instructed young children in ComStar's schools. What was encouraged was reading Blake's work until your brains turned to mush."
"That sounds like more of a punishment than anything to invigorate learning and curiosity."
Victoria nodded, "It was a punishment. I read Blake's writing so much that there was a time where I thought that they had reanimated Blake's head and were keeping it alive in a jar so it could reveal new 'words of wisdom'. However, eventually I was taken to see Blake's body in state. Also if I had thought about it I would have realized ComStar didn't really have the technology or the people smart enough to make it work. It should have been obvious they were just making things up and attributing it to Blake."
"Was Blake's reanimated head another of your grandfather's theories?"
"No. Why?"
It was obvious to Anastasia that her and Victoria had some distinct differences. Curiously she found she liked Victoria, but Victoria's literal view of things, and ability to imagine almost impossible things probably caused her a lot of problems. Anastasia was certain where the theories of extra-dimensional lizard men and reanimated heads in jars were just theories or true beliefs. She wouldn't be too concerned but the lives of people she cared about depended on Victoria.
Anastasia nodded back to the passageway, "We should go back to the main juncture and wait for the men that are bringing the ECM equipment."
"I'd rather stay here and talk. This is the first time in a long time that I've had a conversation with someone who didn't want to tell me about the word of Blake or some other ignorant thing from their imagination. What do you do for fun?"
"I read a lot and I enjoy logic puzzles." Anastasia said as she repositioned herself so she could at least see the juncture.
"Logic puzzles? Like the ones where you have to work out the grid with the patterns of 1 thru 9?"
"Yes. Those are my favorite." Anastasia stared at the juncture trying to will someone with some equipment to show up. She tried to remember back to the prisoner of war training and methods for avoiding Stockholm syndrome. For a moment she realized that stockholm syndrome worked both ways, but there was a innocence and naivety about Victoria and the very idea felt immoral.
"Do you ever get very drunk and try to solve the puzzles to see what it's like for the idiots and normal people?'
"No. What?" Anastasia was again focused on Victoria.
Victoria barely let her answer, "No. Why would you? You don't need to know what it's like to be them, because you're significantly smarter and you don't need them to be your friend."
Anastasia was starting to sense that Victoria had a lot of disdain for people that weren't as smart as her but she was also extremely lonely. Anastasia understood that too, "I do struggle with interacting with some people," Anastasia replied, "however my husband-"
"Wait. You have a husband? Is he a genius like us?"
"Not exactly." Anastasia could see the disappointment from Victoria, "You and I have rare intellectual skills and talents." Anastasia and Victoria might not be alike, but Anastasia was coming to the uncomfortable realization that her and Victoria exhibited some similar antisocial behaviors. "Although I'd submit we're not exactly unique in the galaxy. You'd find your peers, at least intellectually, in some of NAIS's R&D programs." She'd also find quirky intellectual peers with a similar disdain for people they considered less smart than them.
"If your husband isn't a genius, why'd you marry him?"
"Foremost he loves me, and puts up with my…foolishness." Anastasia was starting to wonder just how insufferable she was. Victoria wasn't exactly a mirror, but she knew they weren't too far removed either. "Harold also has other talents, for example he tends to get along very well with others, which is a talent I lack."
"Oh, so you do want to relate to other people, even if they are all stupid."
"Well some days they seem to be in the majority." Anastasia said before she could stop herself. "Victoria we should go and wait for gentlemen that are bringing the ECM."
"I suppose." Victoria said as she led Anastasia back to the juncture near the comms tower.
Anastasia was relieved to see several of the crew members carrying boxes and two of them even had one of the larger pieces of the ECM between them. She then became anxious as she saw Demi Precentor Tempes swiftly marching up the hall toward them. Adept Reilly was struggling to keep up with the Demi-Precentor.
"Acolyte Corvus, explain to me why you think it will take over 30 hours to install the ECM device." Tempes said as he came down the passage way.
"Demi-Precentor, sir, she's not-" Reilly said as he tried to catch up with the Demi-precentor.
Victoria's head tilted to the side as she regarded the Demi-Precentor, "I believe I agreed with Anastasia's assessment that this would take over 70 hours."
"Unacceptable." Tempes said as he came to tower over both the young women, "I need this installed immediately."
"Even if we had five techs I doubt it will take less than 40 hours, allow me to show you-" Victoria grabbed the binder and started to flip pages. Tempes used his cane to knock the binder out of her hands and across the passageway.
"I don't care about the complexity of the task." Tempes turned on Reilly, "Did you know this task requires more technicians?"
"Violent men with the mentality of children." Victoria grumbled as she went to collect the manual.
"Uh…no, sir. If I had known how many techs were needed…" Reilly said as he tried to answer Tempes.
"I've brought this warship out of moth balls explicitly to have it equipped with this ECM. Do you understand that?
"Yes, sir. I'll do, but it's the fact that-"
"Perhaps I could be of assistance." A wizened old adept walked over, "I see two acolytes here, but it sounds like you have a significant task that will require wisdom and experience."
"Uh. Adapt Gallen-"
"Please brother William, ranks have no place when there is work to be done."
"Brother James, I'm not sure this is the job for you." Adept Reilly said.
"Blake wisdom allows us to accomplish all tasks." Adept Gallen replied nonchalantly.
Reilly looked concerned as Adept Gallen walked around the ECM equipment and started to motion to the men carrying equipment and indicated they needed to place it in a very particular pattern.
Anastasia glanced over at Victoria. She had the ECM manual clutched to her chest and was looking placid, and emotionless. "Is this normal?" Anastasia whispered.
Reilly grabbed the arm of one of the acolytes as he passed "Fuentes, need you to help out with this detail. I'll let your boss know you're not coming back to the power distro team till this is done."
"I don't know, sir, none of this equipment is up to Comstar's standards. There doesn't seem to be color-coding for the cabling. It's going to be impossible to install, and I don't believe it will work. I've heard it was made by the Capellans."
"My boy, we just need to believe and trust Blake's wisdom." Adept Gallen said as motioned to Acolyte Fuentes to stand near him.
Victoria leaned over to Anastasia and whispered, "This happens every time we are asked to do something non-standard or that the crew is uncomfortable with. Some olde tech comes around talking about Blake's wisdom and doing weird things, while the young acolytes complain that it's outside their training and it won't work. Eventually it all comes back to Victoria to figure it out, so yes, this is normal, it's an average Thursday afternoon."
"Come daughters, let us ask Blake's blessing over these gifts that we have received." Brother James waved to Anastasia and Victoria that they should join him and Acolyte Fuentes.
"Not you." Tempes snapped his cane up and blocked Anastasia's way.
"Demi Precentor, do not threaten that acolyte." Adept Gallen said.
"She's not an acolyte," Tempes said as he to Anastasia motioned with his cane, "She's an uninitiated outsider that serves a successor state. She has no interest in Blake's will, nor will she ever."
"Not with that attitude. Allow this one to know the grace and mercy of Blake and his vision, and see if she doesn't come to desire his purposes." Adept Gallen said.
"I need a word with 'this one' first." Tempes grabbed Anastasia by the arm and roughly pulled a few paces down the passageway. "You will ensure this equipment is installed as quickly as possible or I will start cycling mercenaries through an air lock."
"You've saddled me with a woman who may be delusional, an acolyte who has clearly never done anything as complicated as this, and an Adept who has put himself in charge because he believes your dead prophet will somehow guide us. How do you honestly expect me to install this equipment in a timely fashion without real assistance?"
"Fear." Tempes said coolly. "If I think you, and the people you have so little faith in, are taking too long I'll start by expelling your husband into the vastness of space."
"Meet me half-way, among the McFinnigan crew is an aerospace tech-"
"No." Tempes said.
Anastasia glanced past him to watch the rest of her detail..
"Look, none of this makes sense and we all know acolyte Corvus is madder than a bag of cats." Acolyte Fuentes said.
"I don't know why you're collecting cats in a bag and antagonizing them, but I am annoyed that you can't seem to follow simple instructions." Victoria sighed, "I'll try again, we need to connect the main processing unit here, and then the power amps will go half-way and at the top of the antenna tower. The multiplexer Adept Gallen is sitting on-"
"Are you following any of this brother James." Acolyte Fuentes asked.
"I believe Blake may be guiding her. We should follow where he leads, through her. I also just learned that I am sitting on a multiplexer. Tell me child, how does it plex multis?"
Anastasia glanced back at Tempes, and drew in a deep breath. Before she could speak he looked at her coldly, "I've already answered your question, if you'd like to try my resolve we can see how well your coyote handles the vacuum of space."
