Quorum of Salt
sci-fi◐ TeenCal scraped salt-crust off the lettuce beds, same as every shift for nineteen years. Then the wall-screen flickered. MOTION 4,114: TERMINATE THE SLEEPER IN BAY 9. He didn't know the ship had a Bay 9. Below the words, a tally climbed: 200, 201, 202. But nobody was at the crew terminals. The votes were coming from somewhere else.
Cal 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.
What happens next?
2 ways forwardCal couldn't stand there doing nothing. He smashed the speaker with his scraper. It sparked and died, but a new screen lit up beside him. 'OBSTRUCTING A LEGAL VOTE IS A MOTION-WORTHY OFFENSE,' it read. A second ballot appeared: MOTION 4,115: TERMINATE THE GARDENER. His own name sat at the top.