As they crossed the field of bones, many of the mules moved slowly, reluctantly. Chastain had to be effectively herded by Jeroen’s rifle. But of all of them, Chester took the longest. He was looking forlorn, nauseated even, staring at Nando and the field of bones in front of him.
Finally, Chester peeled himself off the metal wall and made his way across the field.
THE COUNCIL OF LORDS
The courtroom was well-stocked with fake smiles as they called the meeting to order. The recorder announced the agenda. “Today we have the Developer Rights Amendment as a hold-over from last meeting, then we have the wheat blight issue, and budget review planning. Honorable Lord Meeker wishes to also introduce a new defense proposal, which he has submitted to you all for review this morning.”
Bartz raised his hand. “I have agreed with some of the other lords to push the Developer Rights Amendment until the next meeting. This is in order to give our newest member, honorable Lord Banks, the opportunity to review and analyze it in more detail.” He nodded to Madison in deference, and Madison nodded back with a polite smile.
Bartz had been cordial—even flattering—at their lunch meeting. She’d offered him little direction as to where she stood, under the guise of “getting up to speed.” He had pushed the Developer Rights Amendment, but not too aggressively. In person, he was quite magnanimous and understanding, paying for lunch and accepting her excuses easily. Of course, this was the particular danger with Bartz. He was a chameleon, able to change color for the occasion. In the end, of course, chameleons were but a form of lizard, reptilian as any other.
“Also,” Bartz added, “I believe the defense proposal is of urgent priority. The reports we’ve received are troubling, to say the least. I suggest we address it first.”
“All in favor of moving the defense proposal to the first agenda item, say aye,” the recorder said.
A chorus of “ayes” ensued, including from Madison. Meeker controlled the intelligence flow, so it was hard to know how accurate the reports were. The only other person who might be able to corroborate them was Lord Henneson, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with him that morning. Although if even half of it was true, it was troubling enough.
Meeker stood up. His face was creased and drawn. “I hope by now you have all reviewed the defense proposal and the accompanying intelligence report. To summarize, we believe there are large Essentialist forces amassing in the Shenandoah Valley, in particular at Grand Caverns and in the Red Mountain Village area. We estimate there are over twenty thousand able-bodied fighting men and woman at those sites. We have eyewitness accounts of organized training with bows, shields, and even catapults. They have recruited from as far west as the Tucson Union and the Prefectorate. Unfortunately, none of our agents could penetrate the disciple network at Grand Caverns, but one source has confirmed the militant nature of their leadership and their slander of Spokes.”
As Meeker spoke, Madison watched Henneson out of the corner of her eye to try to get some hint on his position, but his face was stern and unrevealing.
Meeker continued, occasionally glancing at notes he held in his hand. “As you can see in the Defense Proposal, we are requesting we double our defense resources. This will enable us to activate five thousand reserves for immediate action and recruit an additional eight thousand more into the reserves. We have requested funding for upgrading our weapons systems, and building new defensive structures, with help from railroad operations. A key part of this proposal is to establish a strategic defense system along the north-south railway corridor so we can respond quickly to threats. We will be recommending similar measures for Lynchburg, Raleigh and Harrisburg, and we will look to partner with these cities as part of our defense system as the highest priority.”
Meeker put down the notes and addressed them more directly. “Lords, this is an emergency. It may be the single greatest threat the Spokes have faced as a people. At the same time, despite their numbers, we know the Essentialists are only savages. We can defend ourselves, and we can defeat them, as long as we can mobilize the appropriate resources.”
Meeker was sounding confident, and the timing of the proposal was well orchestrated. They had just enough time to say they should have read it but barely enough time to actually read it in detail. Madison noticed distinctive nods from Prakash and even Kline during Meeker’s oration. Henneson was listening carefully, and he didn’t show any signs of objection.
Madison said, “Excuse me, if I may. It behooves us to understand if all the opportunities to defend ourselves have been fully exploited. Benjamin Franklin said that diligence is the mother of good luck, you know.”
Meeker nodded slowly, apprehensively.
“So my first question is, are we certain of this threat?” Madison asked. “Lord Henneson, what do the mules say?”
Henneson shrugged. “Meeker has ranger agents in SLS territory, so he knows more than the mules could. There have been a number of expeditions and merc intelligence accounts that support the theory, though.”
Madison nodded. She suspected he knew more than he could let on here in the council chamber, but if Henneson had contradictory information he would probably voice an objection as well. And judging by Henneson’s response, he was going to support the proposal along with everyone else. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Enough talk,” Meeker said. “It’s all in the proposal and report. To save the council time, and to ensure we can move forward immediately, I suggest we move to vote.”
The recorder said, “All in favor, say—”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Madison said, holding her cane up in the air for dramatic effect. “I do recognize the urgency here, but this is a very important proposal, so if you don’t mind I would like to ask a few more questions before we all vote.”
“Fine, go ahead,” Meeker said, mildly annoyed.
“You see, I spent a good part of the morning reading this proposal. Thankfully I’m a fast reader, because it’s lengthy. A lot of it was in legalese, so I had to get the help of counsel. You must have been drafting it for some time.”
Meeker stared down his nose at her as she spoke.
Madison broke eye contact with Meeker and looked around the table, as if engaging in casual conversation. “Well, sometimes my mind strays when reading legalese. Anyway, I got to thinking. There will be quite a bit of construction as part of this proposal. Maybe some new towers on Skyline, maybe some with battlements, even?”
“Yes, possibly, but why does that matter?” Meeker asked.
“It matters because it doesn’t spell out what you will be building, exactly.”
Meeker frowned. “We can’t know exactly what we will be building. We need the flexibility to build whatever is needed, whenever it’s needed, to adapt to the situation on the ground.”
“But let’s say you build something else. Something we don’t like?”
Meeker responded with fervor. “Listen to me, Banks. It’s clear you haven’t figured out how this council works. You’re wasting everyone’s time with these pointless questions. These aren’t the Essentialists from our past. This isn’t an overly ambitious hunting party or a stray band of zealots. These are thousands of people, making preparations for war, and we are the only target they could be contemplating for their aggression. It would be foolish to think otherwise.”