Chapter 5

Alone in the meeting room, Marcus leaned back in his chair, squeezed his eyes shut, and pinched the bridge of his nose, exhausted and worried. That very room was the only place Kane was guaranteed to see Abby, council meetings were something she wodn't skip unless it was an emergency. Marcus sighed, she was so elusive these days, tracking her down was almost impossible. They pretty much only interacted on a professional level, still, Marcus looked forward to seeing her even though every interaction left him feeling raw and hurt. Mindlessly, he scrolled through a report on his data pad without actually seeing the words as his thoughts drifted off to the council meeting they held a few days prior.

It was already late; their meeting took way longer than it usually did and everyone seemed ready to get it over with.

"Is it wise to allow people to pick new clothes? We haven't taken the stock yet, we don't know what we have or if we even have enough," said Jaha.

"Some people only have one set of clothes because their bags were left outside, it's becoming a problem as it's difficult to wash and dry them when you don't have anything to change to and some end up wearing clothes for days or have to borrow clothes. In a confined space, it's a recipe for a disaster, we don't want anything starting to spread and disease prevention should be our priority," argued Abby.

"Then we should pick the clothes for them, allocate identical sets, treat everyone the same."

"I think we should allow people to have a little joy. Picking up their own clothes is a little luxury that could help to keep their spirits up."

"I agree with Chancellor Kane on this," said Iris. "It could be a bonding thing, allowing Skaikru and Trikru to blend together, start fresh as one group."

"Very well then. Let's vote," said Marcus. "Everyone that agrees with the distribution of new clothes, say 'aye.''"

A resounding 'aye' hit Marcus's ears, everyone but Jaha was in agreement.

"Motion passed. Iris, can you help me with the distribution timetable?"

"Of course, she replied.

"Perfect! The timetable will be placed in the main hall tomorrow afternoon. If there's nothing else, the meeting is adjourned."

The atmosphere relaxed, everyone gathered their things and said goodbyes, ready to leave. Apart from Marcus, Abby was the last one to leave, but before she could do that, Marcus called out to get her attention.

"Abby?"

She paused and turned around to face him.

"Yes?" Annoyance clear in her voice, her body stiff and alert, ready to flight at any moment.

Her voice hit him like a tone of bricks and Marcus slumped his shoulders in resignation. These days, she was either nowhere to be found or annoyed at him, he didn't know what to say anymore.

"Are you going to dinner?" he asked with hope. Despite her behavior, he missed her dearly.

"I already ate."

"Mhm,"

"Is there anything else?" exasperation clear in her voice, she knew he didn't believe her.

"No." he shook his head, his voice monotone. "Have a good night, Abby."

"You too." And with that, she fled the room before he found another reason to stop her.

When Marcus passed by the medical later that night, Abby wasn't there, she wasn't in the mess hall either and when he got to his quarters, her room was dead quiet as it always was. He wondered what she'd been up to. Unless she was working, she was nowhere to be found, her room so quiet, never even made a sound with her door, he question if she even used her quarters.

Marcus ran a hand through his hair as he stared off into space with vacant eyes. Their interactions became a pattern, they were on a path and he didn't like where they were headed. A scene from another meeting popped up in his mind.

"Is there anything else?" Kane asked the council members.

"Yes, one more thing," replied Iris. "It's probably nothing but I've had reports from the kitchen chief that some food and supplies from the storage have gone missing. I told them to keep an eye on it and report back if it continues."

Copper nodded. "I was meant to bring it up as well. Kara reported that some stuff went missing from agro. She'll be doing checks and will send me a report by the end of the week."

"That's odd," mused Kane. "Our portions should be sufficient, shouldn't they?" he turned to Abby.

"In theory, they should, yes. But with everything that's happened and what people have been through, it wouldn't be unusual for some to start hoarding extra food just in case or for trade. Some people may also feel that they need more nutrients for their bodies to recover."

"What's the solution then?" asked Cooper.

"I know we're still waiting for Agro to be fully operational but if our food levels permit, we could offer extra rations to those who need it, at least temporarily." Suggested Abby.

"We have more than enough thanks to our low numbers." Upon hearing Cooper's reply, Marcus and Abby's faces fell, both visibly tensed at the thought of the lives that had been lost.

Abby recovered first, "In that case, we could offer extra rations on per need basis. If someone feels they need extra, they can come to the medical and request it. We'll do a small interview with them, check for any underlying problems, see if it's physical or psychological, temporary, or long term and we'll increase their portions accordingly. I think it would be wise to keep an eye on that."

"I tend to agree," replied Kane looking at Abby who looked at everyone but him.

"So do I," added Iris.

"Abby, will you have time for this? I thought medical was swamped," asked Jaha.

She turned to him with a stone-cold look on her face. "We'll manage."

These days she had no patience left for Jaha after his deception and lies when it came to opening the bunker door. How could he had expected her to go through with killing the man she loved for the second time? Her stomach twisted at the thought.

The tension between Abby and Jaha didn't go unnoticed by Marcus, he couldn't help but feel hurt to be relegated to the same position in her eyes as Jaha, she was clearly angry with both of them and had no patience left for either man.

"Very well then." Marcus gathered his thoughts. "If there's nothing else, this will be all for today. We will resume tomorrow at 1500 hours."

Yet again, as everyone left, Abby and Marcus were the only two left in the meeting room. He glanced over at her as she packed the last of her notes, she seemed to always have so many, a lot more than anyone else. Marcus leaned back in his chair as he watched her, a loose piece of hair fell to his forehead annoying him, he brushed it away. He scanned Abby's face, bags under her eyes darker than usual, her skin paler, all color gone from her face, it worried him. As she got up from her chair, she gripped the table to steady herself, her knuckles white, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Marcus knew that look, he'd seen it before.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine." Abby tried to compose herself as she packed the rest of her stuff.

Her reply did nothing to convince Marcus, he knew her too well, his eyes followed her every move.

"Abby, I need you to talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about. I forgot lunch, that's all. I'm fine. Really." She looked at him with defiance in her eyes.

"I am worried about you."

"There's no need to, I'm fi—"

"Are you though?"

"Yes!" Her back straight as an arrow, her jaw set defiantly as she looked at him challenging him. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a patient to see."

Defeated, he nodded, and Abby left without giving him a second glance. He slumped back in his chair, tipped his head back, and fixed his gaze on the ceiling. This was not going well, he thought worried.

The sound of the door took Marcus out of his thoughts, he shook his head and looked in the direction the sound came from, Iris and Cooper came in, ready for their Thursday council meeting. Marcus composed himself, it was going to be a long one. Instead of the usual stuff, they held an open session where anyone could come in and give their proposal of how to improve their lives. It was something they came up with in order to build a society where everyone's opinion was valued and important and anyone could propose changes. The ultimate decision was still up to the council, but it gave people a voice, something they needed.

Kane focused his attention back to the person in front of him, the open session now in full swing.

"While we don't have very many children here the ones we have cannot be neglected. They need proper education, even if it's just the basics," said Uva, a short, stout woman. Marcus remembered her, she came from the Farm station and used to be a teacher on the Ark.

"This is an excellent idea." Jaha's voice loud in the mostly empty room. "Have you thought of the details?"

"Some. Kasia here." Uva pointed at the tall grounder woman standing next to her, "used to teach children in her village." Kasia looked almost shy at the mention of her name. So far, she stood behind Uva, for moral support they assumed.

"It wasn't much, just some basics. None of the complicated stuff Uva told me you taught in Space," she said, her voice soft.

"It wasn't that basic and you know a lot about the clans' history. It's important for all the kids to be taught both of our histories moving forward." Uva insisted.

"This is an amazing idea." Kane nodded with appreciation. "The two of you, please continue with your planning, make a list of students, lesson plans. Let us know what your classroom needs are. Bring the plan to us and we will go over it together and if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. We'll do our best to set it up."

With bright smiles on their faces, the two women said their thanks as they left the room full of energy to work towards their goal. Marcus glanced over in Abby's direction as sat scribbling on a piece of paper in front of her. Doodling. He noticed she started doing that a lot lately. On the Ark, it would have been unimaginable, a waste of paper that was scarce in space. Underground, they had plenty of it and ways to make more, endless supply. The overabundance of some things was still new to them, a difficult thing to get used to, at least for Marcus who grew up in an environment that required strict rationing of everything.

Abby lifted her head and looked in his direction, sensing that she was being watched. He averted his eyes. They weren't on friendly terms and despite not doing anything wrong, it felt intrusive to watch her like that. Intimate. He forced himself to focus on the man that just entered the room.

"I propose that, in order to increase our population, we should match all single people into couples, with partners who they should procreate with," said Frank.

Kane remembered Frank very well. Once you knew him, it was impossible to forget him. Perpetually single, incurably offensive towards women, and yet refusing to understand that he was in the wrong. This wasn't the first time that unusually tall man proposed something similar. On the Ark, he was a huge proponent of it although no one took him seriously as they had an overpopulation problem, not the opposite. Frank talked about it in Arkadia but people had more pressing issued and no one paid him any attention. Marcus sighed and took a sip of his coffee as he stalled trying to come up with an answer. He sensed that Abby tensed up next to him. She rarely disliked people; Kane had the honor of being one of the few but while they argued professionally, Frank was on another level. On the Ark, she often gave Frank an earful about his behaviour but the fact remained that he never took Abby seriously, neither as a doctor nor councilor, not even as a human being. He challenged her in the most inappropriate way, implied that she wasn't smart enough to do her job, that a man should be in her position and so on. Kane recalled the time when Abby kicked Frank out of the medical and he stormed into the guard's office demanding Marcus arrested Abby for being disrespectful and neglecting her duties as a doctor. And it wasn't just once. Frank was a royal pain in the ass, seen as a ridiculous preacher by some, if the circumstances were right, he could cause some real problems.

Frustrated, Kane sighed, Frank had to be dealt with but before he could utter a word, Abby beat him to it.

"Now, Frank, we've been through this before." The man narrowed his eyes and looked at her with contempt but it didn't seem to phase Abby, or at least she didn't let it show. "Currently, we have no plans of mandatory pairing. It would be cruel and would take away people's agency. Let people pick their own partners in their own time." She gripped her pen, resignation clear in her voice.

"People can't be trusted to make that choice as you personally know." He raised his eyebrows as he looked between her and Kane. "Women don't know what's best for them, always making the wrong decision and men are the ones who pay for it." His voice dripped with venom, his eyes fixed on Abby, daring her.

She held his stare determined to not let him know that his words affected her in any way. She would not give him that satisfaction.

"Leave your project over there and we will take it into consideration."

"Yeah, right." He didn't believe her but dropped the project in the tray and left the room without any further argument.

Marcus looked over in Abby's direction. She pushed her chair back and leaned into it, her eyes fixed on the wall above the door opposite them. He wanted to ask if she was okay, give her a reassuring smile but she didn't look in his direction and when another person walked in, she focused on them.

"Hello, Jiah," said Iris. "What is your proposal?" Marcus focused back on his work.

End of Chapter 5