....
To [Tussa]: [text] I can see I have much to learn. As unpopular as I may become, I feel I will have to raise issues such as these.
[Tussa]: [text] That is your right, and you will be welcomed to do so.
To [Tussa]: [text] Then until the next meeting, Miss Godfray, thankyou and goodbye. I will try to review questions I have and attempt to make them less....inflammatory.
[Tussa]: [text] It's ok to have different views, Miss Carbon, as long as you dont' forget the principle of the Council. We have room for everyone. Including those who are not as popular, like Eco Warriors. Those who are powerful and radical, like the Sentinels. And those who are peaceful and idealistic, like Gaia and The Pilgrim. None are better than the other, and we're all clanners.
The comm link went dark, and Anuket cursed herself for being so inflammatory. It wasn't as if she believed the Council of Truth was corrupt, that was madness. However, as soon as you asked anyone to account for their budget, people would jump ten feet in the air, and become incredibly defensive. It was all in the way she'd opened the matter too, overcritising the Sentinels. She put the data pad down, and sighed.
'I really hope you aren't becoming a zealot, Poly,' she thought to herself. It was just...how could anyone ignore data like that? It was all on public record, all anyone had to do was look. Out of the thirty one registered clans with members in the House of Representatives, ten were on record as supporters of Commander Silverstone. This meant that just under a third of the fees paid for the councils upkeep came from those that chose to answer to Silverstone. In addition, the council held its sessions in Tir. Sentinels were responsible for security outside of the tower. Was she, Anuket, really the only person concerned with how this might look to casual observers? How did the representatives gloss this over with each other?
The Sentinels were not known to be philanthropists. On the basis of data like this, you could almost forgive someone for believing Commander Silverstone owned a little too much of the Council of Truth, and held this above certain parties when behind closed doors. This one just one of the many issues fresh in her mind after a little research.
The weekend's rally had been well meaning enough. Fun even. Anuket spent most of her time working in different supply depots and yards in the Athen area, scrubbing down crates or mopping floors. A trip to Tir out of the way of encumbered atrox dock workers was a welcome change, and the atmosphere outside the Happy Rebel bar had been brilliant. It was the choice of words the speakers had used though, words like unity, harmony, and truth. Pretty words, but subjective, and dare she say it - cheap.
Anuket couldn't be bothered to sigh again. It was all she seemed to do after the rally, sigh, and work herself up into such a state she went and did rather rude things, like ask the council's clerical staff if they were all corrupt. It wasn't as if the council did itself any favours though. The critics, the detractors, always had plenty of grounds to condemn the coucil, usually through its failure to answer basic questions on its own logistics and methods. Even the name remained the same after its reform a year ago, something Anuket saw as a little unwise. It merely served as a reminder of its troubled history. There were so many more questions to ask, so little oppertunity to find answers...
It was all there was though, she reminded herself. Taking up her notebook, she wrote down the numbers one through to ten slowly and deliberately, something she often did to calm herself down. Yes, there wasn't an alternative. She would have to calm down, and accept the council for what it was. She would, if circumstance allowed, work hard for the council.
After all, it was the last chance she had of regaining something of a voice.
