Page 30 of Breaking Point
“It is a criminal act,” Brice added, keeping his tone mild.“Only the bridge can prosecute criminal charges.”
“Prosecute, yes.Anyone can file criminal claims against anyone else,” Zana said with implacable calm.“And it must be the Association who does the filing this time.The public enthusiasm for tankball has dropped down to next to zero, overnight.Even if we still had an arena and the season was ongoing, no one would attend the games and that is a public relations disaster.
“If we file the charges, then it will look as though we’re on the ship’s side, that we’re fighting for what everyone on the ship wants.Justice, not just next year’s ticket revenue.”
You only care about the revenue.The thought popped into Brice’s mind, and he gritted his teeth against saying it aloud.
“If we don’t appear to be fighting for justice, if we sit back and let the Bridge do all the work, tankball will never recover,” Zana added.“The future of the Association and tankball itself hinges upon us being seen hounding the Bridge into action.And you, as the most popular Association President we’ve ever had, must do this, Brice.”
Caution flooded him—a bigger dose than the wariness that he’d felt with Zana’s unexpected arrival.Every instinct he had was yelling at him.They had stepped into personal territory now.He cleared his throat and kept his tone mild.“You’ve had the report for hours, Zana.I’m still processing that someone did it deliberately.I’m still askingwhy.Whoever it was, they’d have to know coding, engineering, physics… If they’d wanted to murder people, they could have knifed them in the Field of Mars and got their jollies that way.Why this elaborate scheme?Was it directed at tankball fans?This association?The why is even more important now.”
Zana dismissed his questions with a wave of her hand.“I want your word, Brice, that you will follow through on this, with all your energy and time.”
He stared at her, surprised by her vehemence.
“You understand why I am insisting upon this?”she added.
Bronson, who was still on his feet and shifting about in the space between the chairs and Brice’s desk, was trying to catch his attention by staring hard.Brice couldn’t interpret that stare.And it didn’t matter, anyway.He could guess what Bronson wouldn’t say aloud.Just say yes and tug your forelock.We’ll deal with it later.
Brice couldn’t hesitate any longer.He said, “I understand your reasoning, Zana.And I agree with it to a point.The Association must appear to be pro-active about resolving the matter.”And that was quite true.No matter what he thought about Zana as a person, he freely acknowledged she was a sharp politician.
“I want your agreement in full, Brice,” Zana shot back.“To a point isn’t good enough.”
Brice felt his jaw sag and caught it up by clamping his teeth together.
Zana rose from the chair, her long length unfolding.“If you do not put your full weight behind this, if you do not hound the Bridge every day, and publicly scream for justice, it isn’t just I who will come after you with edged weapons.”
His caution shifted to alarm.Brice got to his feet, too, wondering what was going on that he didn’t know.Something else was at play here that was driving Zana to threaten him.
Is she angling for my resignation?He wondered.Is she sick of working with someone who doesn’t like her?Except the portion of people who disliked Zana Magro ran into the high double digits.She was used to it.So it wasn’t that.Maybe she was using this report to leverage his resignation for reasons he couldn’t begin to guess at.
Zana added, “The whole ship wants someone’s head for this.If you do not give it to them, they will crucify you.”
Sheispushing me toward resigning!She knows I won’t sit still for this sort of extortion.It was one of the points that he’d been careful to make when he’d accepted the job.“I’m a tankball player, Zana.Not a politician.You need my public image to make the Association popular once more.And I don’t need your politics tripping me up.”
She had agreed with barely a smile.That had been thirteen years ago.And now this.What had changed?
The chain of reasoning flashed through his mind in a short second, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Zana said, “And don’t even think about resigning, Brice.”
Bronson made a choking sound.He was as startled as Brice.
She held up a finger, levelling it at Brice.“If you resign, I will trumpet to everyone who will listen, I will plaster it all over the Forum, that you refused to bring charges against the criminal who caused the tragedy, that you refused to publicly denounce them.The entire ship will hate your guts by the time I’m through with you.You won’t find work anywhere on the ship.You and everyone in your life will be shunned.I will make sure of it.”
“Whoa, Zana, isn’t that a bit extreme?”Bronson protested.
Brice mentally regrouped.He was sweating.
“It’s not even close to extreme,” Zana replied.She lectured at the three men about perception and appearances and the zeitgeist of public opinion, and saving tankball, while Brice’s mind raced.
He thought he understood what Zana was doing.Shewaspushing him toward resignation…sort of.She didn’t care if he resigned or not.Either scenario would work in her favor.He could either push the charges, or resign andshewould push the charges, while publicly eviscerating him.His resignation would give her even more to rage against, and swing sympathy to her side.
He didn’t for a moment doubt that she would do exactly what she was threatening.By destroying him, she would be propping up the Association.
Shunning.Just the word itself was ladened with bleak history.Centuries ago, criminals had not been imprisoned in the Bridge jail cells, where they were kept now.They were left free.The entire ship was instructed to shun them.No one spoke to them.They could not communicate on the Forum.They could wander through a crowd, and no one would “see” them.They would be ignored.
The first person to be formally shunned had gone mad.Most of those who were shunned suicided within a year.
Even an informal social shunning, on theEndurance, would make a man’s life, well, unendurable.
