22 The Devil in the Spotlight - Part II

12th March

Old Settlement, Artemis, Freehold territory

Following Frank's speech, the rally disparaged in chaos. Some seemed to think it was a party, others frantically tried to calm down the protesters, and attempt to answer their questions. Frank for his part approached me, and explained to me that there was a provisional government being set up for the lunar state he just declared. Myself included, the Justice Association is to be represented by three of its' members.

Now, to the task that Frank has given me: selecting two other members to represent the Justice Association. I'm going to go ahead with it: play along with what Frank wants. I'm sure that there's some catch or other, but I'll have to go with whatever he wants blindly for now. In order to make him as blind as me. So, for that purpose, who should I approach to represent the Justice Association? I know that Nozomi is working with some members of the Association excluding me, in order to bring down Frank. I don't know who they are, however, so I can't factor that into who to choose to sit beside me in this provisional government. For starters, I should look towards the leadership within the Association. If they don't want to be part of the provisional government, because they're working with Nozomi or some other reason, all they have to do is hint at it, and I'll pass them over.

The Association is divided up into 'chapters' so to speak. Usually one in each settlement. Each chapter is made up of a leader and any number of deputy leaders, who work towards signing up more and more people as members of the Association. To show to Frank and the tigers, that the moon isn't an empty pool of resources for them to indulge in and exploit. There are people living here now too, and the rule of law has to be respected. That's what started the Justice Association. Out of the leaders, I suppose the two that make most sense to have on the provisional government with me, are Zhen Su Tai and Randolph Lawrence.

Zhen Su Tai is the leader of the Justice Association in Dunstan, and a member of the first twenty colonists. She was an engineer, and was primarily in charge of the construction of the temporary habitats we built on the surface before the drill made it down to where Artemis now lies. And she did a great job too. She must've, otherwise we would all be dead. A few years ago, her and her husband, Li Huang (another first twenty member), both moved out of Artemis, and up to Dunstan. Since moving there, she's been active as the Association's leader there. Tai is a lovely and intelligent woman, and I trust her. I think she would do a great job on the provisional government.

By comparison, Randolph Lawrence is much less well known. He only moved up from Earth in 2037, but he soon became a member of the Justice Association, and worked his way up to the position of leader in the moon's largest settlement. I don't know much about him, and I've only met him a couple of times previously, so the only thing that he has going for him, is the fact that he's been so successful in making his way up the ranks of the Association. I think that bodes well for him.

So, I start looking for the two of them, but that feels like a nearly impossible task. I ask around 'do you know where I can find Randolph Lawrence?', 'have you seen Zhen Su Tai?', but most people give vague answers, or say they've seen them, but not where they are now, or what they're doing. I do know both of them are here, however, I saw both of them earlier today, but the entire Old Settlement is so chaotic right now, that it feels impossible to find them. I don't know how Frank managed to find me in this mess. He's one hell of a fortunate man. It's almost like everything goes his way. I know better than that, however. It feels like everything always goes how he wants it, because he's always two steps ahead. He knows what's coming before anyone else, and that lets him appear to have everything go his way. Because he makes it go his way. There's no such thing as fortune or luck, only what you make of it yourself.

But anyway, I think I just saw… yes, through the crowd there, I can see her. Tai. It's going to be difficult to catch up, but I need to do this. I want her to be with me in the provisional government. I push my way through the crash and roar of the crowd. The push and pull throws me off, and I lose sight of her, but I eventually make it to a safe haven of sorts. From there, I look around, and soon spot her not that far away. Yes, that's definitely her. I would never mistake one of the first twenty, that's for sure.

I call out to her, as I head towards her, but she can't hear me. Eventually she looks over in my general direction, and I wave. Finally, I catch her attention, and she smiles when she sees me, and begins walking towards me as well. Tai greets me with an all-enveloping hug. We were never any closer than any other members of the first twenty, but that does still mean we spent almost two years together in a half-dozen tents. Of course, we are then close. All of us are, even if we couldn't stand each other at times.

"It's good to see you again, Mei. We haven't seen each other in… how long?"

"Yes, it has been a while."

The last time I saw Tai must've been well over a year ago, maybe even two. She looks older, wiser, and perhaps a little wider than I remember. I had forgotten, but she's a very tall woman. I'm already short to begin with, but next to her we probably look like mother and daughter. It is good to see her though.

"How are you and Huang? Is it nice living in Dunstan, away from all the noise here?"

She smiles easily, "yes, to be honest I was a bit worried at first, leaving Artemis I mean, but I'm enjoying it up there. I'm never bored. There's always something to do there. Some fault to be fixed on one of the harvesters, or in a new expansion…"

Once an engineer, always an engineer, I suppose. She can go on for a quite a while at times. And whilst usually I would love to wait here, and listen to her chat for a while, I came here with a purpose. Sadly, I don't have the time to wait, and listen to her patiently like I usually would.

"I'm actually here to ask you for a favour," I say, perhaps a little too brusquely, "I'd like you to stay here in Artemis. For maybe two or three days. A week at most."

"What for?"

"Frank asked me to get together three people to represent the Justice Association in a provisional government of sorts."

Tai's eyes narrow, "that really was something today. The two of you were planning this from the beginning, weren't you?"

I realise I probably should've said something about that first. To pull this off, I basically had to lie to the entire Association. Well, it wasn't really a lie. We were here to protest for the introduction of law and justice through the establishment of a lunar state, and we were answered. It's just I knew there was going to be an answer from the beginning. That's the bit I lied about here.

"Sorry," I apologize, with my eyes downcast.

"No, I'm not really mad or anything," Tai replies, "it just would've been nice to know."

I realise then that by Tai saying all this, she probably isn't working with Nozomi. If she was working with Nozomi, she would already have known what me and Frank were planning today, and she wouldn't have any reason to hide that from me.

"And while I appreciate the sentiment," Tai continues, "I can't stay in Artemis."

"Huh?" I look up at her smiling face.

"Me and Huang have a little boy. Huang's always busy with work, so I can't just leave him alone with our son."

That shocks me. I didn't even know the two of them had a child. Just how long has it been since I spoke with either of them? That's something I would know, it surely would've come up, if I'd seen them at any point since the baby was conceived.

"How old is he?"

"Ten months."

Ten months! That means I haven't seen the two of them in almost two years. It surely doesn't feel like it has been that long. But that must be right.

"I guess I can't ask you to stay in Artemis, then."

"Thank you."

"What's his name?"

"Zuo. Like all the lunar-born children, he's quite tall for his age."

I'm not sure what to say next. The two of us stand in silence, as if contemplating, or just listening to the hustle of the crowd around us. Many of those in the crowd quite clearly recognise both of us instantly. After all, we were on every television screen on Earth for a time. Because of that, the two of us are given space to have our private conversation. The crowd divides leaving space for us, swirling off and finding another path, just like a river does around an immovable rock.

"And what about you? Do you find it lonely in Junction?"

"Hmm?"

The question threw me off guard. I wasn't expecting Tai to ask something like that. Not because it isn't something that she would ask, but because it isn't something that I've ever really stopped to think about. Do I find it lonely in Junction? I'm not sure. How do I answer that?

"Mei?"

"What?" Tai's voice drags me out of my own thoughts.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go catch my train," Tai says, "if I was to recommend anyone for the provisional government job, I would tell you to ask around for Jamie Zhu Hai. She would be a good replacement for me. You should come up to Dunstan sometime to see us."

I don't go looking for Randolph or this Jamie Zhu Hai immediately after Tai leaves. What she said stuck with me, and halts me. The question that she asked, I mean. Do you find it lonely in Junction? That's what she said. I've never really taken the time to stop and think. Even though I went to Junction partly to get away from it all, running the Association has meant I'm still busy all the time. I haven't had any time to rest and think. But when she said that… I think it was the right question to ask me. Something that someone should've asked me, and probably for quite a long time. It was something I should've thought about, or perhaps I've purposefully been ignoring. Because now that I have thought about it, I realise that I am. That I am alone.