Alvarez looked thoughtful. “No safety in the dark. Does that mean you’re recommending a curfew that begins at sundown?”
“Within the city limits, I think people going to the movies or the theater or out to dinner won’t be any more at risk than they’d been before when the only predators roaming the streets not only looked human but were human,” Burke said. “But anyone foolish enough to leave the city limits after dark? That’s just a gruesome way to commit suicide.”
“Which begs the question,” Alvarez said. “Are you recommending a curfew?”
Burke hesitated, then shook his head. “Unless there’s a nightly slaughter, you won’t convince the majority of people to be tucked in at home before dark, especially at this time of year. A request that all businesses close by ten or eleven p.m. would be better. That way most employees who work in the evenings would be home before midnight. The fewer people on the street, the easier it will be for us to handle calls for assistance instead of herding people who have more bravado than sense.”
“Very well,” Alvarez said. “That request can come from my office since the police will have to handle any trouble between people as well as any . . . results . . . of conflict with the terra indigene.”
Any results of conflict. Monty looked at Alvarez and thought that was a diplomatic way of describing what the Elders had done to the humans who had been in their way as they raged through the city. The medical examiner was still trying to match body parts to the people listed as missing.
That much settled, the men went on to the next concern.
“Travel between regions is erratic. Even bringing in cargo over the Great Lakes is not without dangers,” Chen said. “Lakeside has used household ration coupons for many months to discourage hoarding of perishable foods by allowing merchants to charge more for an item if it is not accompanied by a coupon. For the most part, people were sensible when it came to buying things like eggs and butter. Then we had shortages of things like flour—shortages caused by HFL supporters who were willing to let the people in Thaisia go without in order to sell to Cel-Romano for higher profits. Now when people see empty shelves because of shipping delays, they are not so sensible, are not able to believe the lack of a particular food is temporary. My office receives several calls every day, asking what I am going to do about the food shortages. People don’t believe me when I tell them that, while some foods may not be available in abundant quantities, there is still a bounty of foods to eat. Therefore, an equitable distribution of food is vital but will also create hard feelings. The Others in the Courtyard may be blamed if a shop runs out of a particular item, especially if the Courtyard continues to receive supplies.”
“Earth native trucks bring in goods from farms run by Intuits or Others, and the Others mostly buy products made in Intuit and Simple Life communities,” Burke said. “Those aren’t items that have ever been on the shelves in city shops.”
“Anger and reason are rarely partners,” Chen replied. “And do the Others not purchase things like gasoline for their vehicles?”
Monty sat quietly, but it took effort. Before the storms and the primal terra indigene who ripped their way through the city, Lakeside had had a population of approximately two hundred thousand people. What humans didn’t consider, despite recent events, was that if people tried to stop deliveries, if they prevented the Others from buying gas for their vehicles, if they interfered with bringing in food that belonged to the Courtyard . . . From the Others’ point of view, there were two hundred thousand meals within easy reach. And most of those meals would be easier to catch than the deer the Wolves hunted now.
“I’ve been reviewing the reports submitted by the station chiefs, including the monthly bills for supplies and utilities,” Alvarez said. “The Chestnut Street station no longer pays the water tax that everyone else in Lakeside has to pay?”
“The water tax was lifted on that station and the Lakeside Hospital as thanks for our assistance when the Courtyard’s Human Liaison was injured,” Burke replied.
Alvarez and Chen looked at Burke, then at Monty, but neither man asked about Meg Corbyn. Did they know what she was?
“In that case, a courtesy for a courtesy,” Alvarez said. “We expect there will be some gasoline shortages since getting anything across regional borders is an exercise in diplomacy these days, but I’ve already received a directive from the governor that the gas pumps connected to the municipal garages will have first rights to any gasoline that reaches the city since that’s where the police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances fill up. Captain Burke, why don’t you and Lieutenant Montgomery approach the Courtyard leaders and offer to let them fill their vehicles from that source?”
“That’s generous,” Burke said.
Alvarez smiled. “It’s also practical. Our survival depends on the goodwill we can generate.” His smile faded. “I don’t think people have truly taken in how much was lost in recent weeks—or how much more we could lose if we’re not very careful now.” He focused on Burke. “As a young police officer, I, too, spent some time in a village located in the wild country. There was another village about an hour’s drive away. One night there was trouble between humans and Others, and we were called to assist. I still wake up some nights with my heart pounding and my hands shaking because of what I saw in that village after the more aggressive forms of terra indigene retaliated. Whatever help you need to prevent that from happening here . . .” He stopped. “Or happening again, since I understand that some officers learned the same lessons you and I did.”
O’Sullivan blew out a breath. “Governor Hannigan would like me to set up an official office for the Investigative Task Force here in the government building.”
“But . . . ,” Monty began, then stopped. O’Sullivan worked for the governor, and it wasn’t his place to comment on O’Sullivan’s decision—or the governor’s order.
O’Sullivan nodded as if he’d heard the rest of Monty’s protest. “Oh, I’m going to keep the desk in the consulate because it was offered and I don’t want to lose that connection with the Courtyard. But I suspect I’ll be dealing with some people who feel hostile toward the terra indigene, and it would be better to meet them on human ground.”
“I can arrange that,” Chen said. He studied O’Sullivan. “A foot in each camp. Not an easy place to be.”
“No, it’s not, but when the Wolfgard were attacked in the Midwest and Northwest, the governor responded to the information I provided fast enough to prevent similar attacks in the Northeast.
“That was a real danger?”