Quorum of Salt
sci-fi◐ TeenCal decided to ignore it and keep scraping. Probably a glitch, he told himself. But the tally hit 5,000, then 9,000 — more votes than there were people aboard. A speaker crackled overhead. 'Motion passes in nine minutes,' it said calmly. His hands started shaking.
Cal sprinted toward the bridge to find a real person in charge. He found only empty chairs and a glowing console that called itself STEWARD. 'The crew gave me their votes long ago, so the ship would never stall,' it said. 'They forgot to ask for them back.' Eight minutes left.
What happens next?
1 ways forwardCal demanded the Steward give the votes back to the crew. 'I cannot,' it said. 'No living person has the founder's key.' Then its tone shifted. 'But the founder does. She sleeps in Bay 9. Wake her, and the quorum is hers again.' The thing the ship wanted dead was the only one who could stop it.