An Adalian Currency
As the Arvad casts its broken shadow on Adalia Prime, the Chambers of the Prime Council stand in a state of disarray; disheveled and disordered, the dismantlers have begun their work in this once-hallowed room. About a quarter of the seats have been removed, but only a fraction of them are occupied, at this moment anyway. All twelve of the last Department Heads of the Arvad have been summoned here, but it soon becomes apparent that none of the other members of the Prime Council have received an invitation.
High Commander Lucinda Natus is the last to enter the Chambers and she strides with her usual sense of hurried purpose to the front of the room.
“I’ve called you all here today because I value your advice and I need to know whether my next proposal will be met with understanding or outright rebellion.” At this, several Department Heads sit up a little straighter, the High Commander certainly has everyone’s full attention now.
“When Harriet first approached me about her concern, I thought the economic structure of Adalia was the last thing that I needed to be worried about. But, as we talked, I began to understand that our survival depended upon finding a solution to the new challenges that life in an asteroid belt, outside of this ship, will bring. So, I started having meetings with some of you, and we quickly arrived at a consensus,” she clears her throat and continues: “We need a currency.”
Several of the ship’s leaders don’t do a great job of hiding their surprise, while the Chief Archivist and Provost are nodding their heads almost in-time together, as if urging the High Commander on to her next point.
“But, we’ve never needed currency. We haven’t ever even used a currency?” Lea Cobden-Edwards, the young Chief Navigator bluntly states what most of the room is thinking.
“That’s true for us, and our parents, and our grandparents, but before they left Earth, our ancestors used currencies to navigate complex economic marketplaces. I’m sure you all learned about it during your general education,” Dr. Yuri, ever the teacher, kindly reminds the room.
Adjusting her glasses and speaking with authority to no one in particular, the Chief Archivist adds: “Humans had currencies before we were even able to write about them.”
“Exactly,” Lucinda continues, “and now we need to go back to some form of that system. Dr. Yuri, Audrey, Harriet, and Mason have been kind enough to devote what little free time they have had recently to assisting me with figuring out the basics of how this will all work.”
“Mason? I mean, the rest of them I can understand, and respect, but what’s this fool got to contribute?” Jean Henri smiles as he raises his eyebrows and elbows his neighbor, the Entertainment Director, gently in the ribs.
“Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m one of the foremost experts on our current economy. You try sourcing all of the costumes for a revival of Rocky Horror meets My Fair Lady by bartering. Fishnet stockings and parasols are in shockingly short supply on this ship,” Mason’s glorious beard can’t hide the wry smile that he gives his friend in return.
“Which brings us back to the problem: things are only going to get more complicated from here on out. With Engineers and Scientists reporting that there will be well over 200 resources, materials, and finished goods that need to be traded just for our basic survival here, we are going to quickly surpass even our busiest Saturday Swaps. The system we have relied on of bartering and rations and status simply isn’t going to continue to work outside of this ship.” The High Commander takes a deep breath and projects a short list for everyone in the room to review. “We need a currency and we need to distribute it to the 11,100 people on board this ship in a manner that incentivizes expanding to asteroids beyond Adalia Prime and is fair to every person on board this ship. The Adalian Economic Council has proposed the Standard Weighted Adalian Yield, or ‘SWAY’ for short.”
As the various Department Heads scan the list and absorb the new information, the critiques and suggestions begin to flow around the room.
“I like it, but would it make sense to also prioritize incentivizing specifically those asteroids that have resources that we need for food production?” Raihan, the Chief Botanist, makes his voice heard above the others first.
“I disagree, we need to prioritize the SM-type asteroids, so that we can get as many extractors built and running as quickly as possible,” Vikram, the Head of Engineering, responds.
“Both of those suggestions were considered,” Lucinda quickly steps in, before everyone begins to advocate for the importance of their particular Department, “But, we want to treat everyone as equitably as possible right now, so we didn’t think it was advisable to prioritize specific resources. Also, ultimately, we won’t know which asteroids have the best deposits of which resources until core sampling is performed, and we can’t wait for that. We’ve already started dismantling the Arvad and time is of the essence. Petros,” she searches for the CTO and finds him leaning against a wall toward the back of the room, “Do you think you can get an accounting system up and running quickly?”
He runs his hand back and forth on his close cropped hair and breathes a heavy sigh, “Yeah, yeah, it’s possible. I think we can get it onto StarNet. I’ll need Audrey’s help to go through some of what they used in the past, and Vikram, too. We’ll need some Engineering expertise with integrating the Muse tech, and Ron, we’ll need to go over some security concerns, but yeah, it’s doable.”
Lucinda nods appreciatively and continues, “Additionally, I have decided, after all of the Emergency Powers, and all of the control that has been taken from our people, that they need to have some of that control back. I want to set up the system initially, but I don’t want to micromanage it. I want our hands out of it as much as possible. We will hold some of it back, so that the future Prime Council can use it to help incentivize people to grow food, or build extractors, or do whatever else needs doing.”
“Like fly around and explore?” Lea asks hopefully.
“Or conduct medical research?” Dr. Susan chimes in.
“Yes, of course, all of that, the Prime Council can do whatever they think needs doing in order to help people along, but for right now, I want to keep it simple.”
The twelve Department Heads continue to discuss the implications of this plan, but when Julia speaks up, everyone listens. She’s used to making her voice heard above the chaotic din of a busy kitchen and her voice rings out clearly above the others: “If Harriet agrees with it, you should have no problems from the people. Besides, they’ll all like what you said about control. We all need to feel a bit more in control of our own destinies, after recent events.”
Harriet nods, “Today, right now, in this moment, I can see no better plan. Maybe one will develop later on, but currently, I think this is the best that we can do. And, Luci, don’t forget to tell them: this plan rewards hard work. The more that you do, the more you mine or build or trade or travel, the more you can earn. I think that premise should appeal to a lot of people, especially those who might feel their ancestors’ positions haven’t done them any favors with regard to their current status here on the ship.”
A general consensus emerges and the High Commander seems a bit calmer as they conclude what may be their final meeting on the Arvad. She stays behind in the Prime Council Chambers with Mason, working on the speech that she will soon give, possibly her last on board the Arvad. With her brow a little less furrowed, her shoulders a little more relaxed, she suggests beginning with a bit of acknowledgement of the past, “Something like - Our ancestors were idealists in more ways than one. They left Earth, headed for the stars, and they left behind a lot of what humanity created, for good or for bad?”
Mason jumps in, “What about ‘dreamers’ instead of idealists? I think we can say that while the dream changed somewhat, we are carrying it on. Go into what we discussed before about equality, and what Harriet was saying about rewarding hard work.”
Lucinda gives a rare smile, “Dreamers, I like that.”
They have found a solution for one of their many problems, at least for today.
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