Gutierrez shrugged. “Maybe. Don’t see what else they could be here about.”
“There’s all sorts of things they could be here about,” Lewis pointed out. “But the veterans seems most likely.
Trev snorted. “Hey, maybe they’re here to bring supplies for them. Wouldn’t that be nice.”
“In a jeep?” his cousin said doubtfully. “While we’re enjoying some wishful thinking maybe Bryant’s found a source for smokeless powder and primers and sent it our way. We could be making bullets in less than a week!”
“Well whatever it is, we’ll find out soon,” Mary said.
Matt had to admit that his thoughts weren’t fully on the approaching jeep.
Dr. Maggy, as the town’s new OB/GYN had asked them to call her, had checked on Sam yesterday. She’d been encouraging about the condition of his wife and their baby, but she’d also given some slightly confusing advice that felt borderline contradictory.
First off it was time for Sam to stop working at the clinic until the baby was born. Dr. Maggy had told her to avoid all stressful activities, but try to get regular light exercise. She’d also told her to get more rest, but also do her best to be up and about when she could. She’d told her to avoid getting chilled, but try to get fresh air where possible. And so on to diet, hygiene, and on and on.
Matt was fully on board with Sam doing everything she could to stay healthy and prepare for childbirth. He just wished the list of things he needed to remember, to remind her in case she forgot and help her where needed, wasn’t so dauntingly long.
But all too soon the vehicle pulled to a stop not far away from where the impromptu delegation from the town waited, and Matt tore his thoughts away from fretting about his wife and their child for the moment.
There were four men in the jeep, from the looks of it an officer, his aide, and two enlisted soldiers escorting them, one of whom was the driver. The two escorts immediately hopped out to survey the crowd, not quite threatening but definitely ready to use the M16s they held. Meanwhile the officer left the aide behind in the vehicle and came forward alone. He was in his early 40s, pale with hints of sunburn, not overweight but not fit either, and squinted in the early morning sunshine.
Matt stepped out to meet him, but stopped when the man immediately halted to keep a cautious six feet between them. “Major Kyle Rogers, USAF,” the officer said stiffly. The distance might explain why he didn’t offer a handshake.
“Matt Larson, Mayor,” Matt said. He did offer his hand, inviting Rogers to close the gap on friendly terms, but the man ignored it. “What can I do for you, Major?”
Rogers jerked a thumb vaguely westward. “I’m the coordinator of the refugee camp not far west of here. I’ve been hearing about your town a lot lately so I thought I’d come introduce myself.”
“Only good things, I hope,” Catherine said with a smile.
The officer ignored her. “My men have noticed that you always have someone ready to greet new arrivals. So either you’ve got people standing around wasting their time as professional greeters, or you have sentries out a fair ways giving advance notice of anyone who approaches.”
That sounded like a question, but before Matt could reply Rogers continued with a snort. “Which would also be a waste of time, since the military is patrolling a wide area around the mountains. There’s no chance a threat could ever reach this far. Your people have better things to do with their time.”
Matt disagreed. The blockhead raid not far away was a pretty solid indication that they weren’t completely gone. And the Gold Bloc wasn’t even close to the only potential threat in the world. In fact, Matt was starting to get some alarm bells from Rogers himself. The man was deliberately avoiding the courtesies, as if steeling himself up for a confrontation.
That was the last thing Matt wanted. Whatever had got under the man’s grill, he needed to try to smooth things over. “I appreciate the reassurance.” He held out a hand to indicate the rest of the delegation. “Welcome to Aspen Hill, Major Rogers. Would you like to meet our leaders and take a tour of the town?”
The officer gave the group a slightly disdainful look. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I’d rather be about my business and back to my duties.”
“Of course,” Matt replied, although he was fairly sure he’d heard the man say he just wanted to introduce himself. “What can we do for you?”
Rogers’s next words were blunt. “Word is you’ve been poaching people from my refugee camp.”
Matt stiffened warily. “Poaching?”
“What else would you call taking the most hardworking and qualified?” The major shook his head in disapproval. “Not very egalitarian of you.”
It was hard to even think of a way to respond to such an absurd accusation. “We offered some people a better situation than the camp. We can’t take in everyone, only the people who can most help the town. What exactly can you find to criticize in that?”
Rogers ignored the question. “That poaching is why I’m here, to help you make amends. Specifically, however many people you brought in from the refugee camp, you need to take in ten times that many women and children. Widows and orphans. Consider it charity, to make up for your cynical cherrypicking.”
Matt’s bewilderment was quickly giving way to outrage, not to mention genuine worry. The town couldn’t handle hundreds more refugees. “Absolutely not. Unless the military is willing to give us supplies for those you’re asking us to take in. The people we invited from the camp are already going to be eating into everyone else’s rations, since we weren’t given anything for them. Call it cherrypicking or whatever else you want, but it’s still a costly enough tradeoff for the town.”
The major opened his mouth to argue further, but Matt doggedly kept going. “Besides, we already agreed to take in 28 wounded and crippled veterans. Also without their own supplies. Were you aware of that?”
“I was,” Rogers said reluctantly. “It doesn’t matter. We have women and children that need to be cared for. Taking in a bunch of experienced soldiers and qualified professionals is unacceptable.”
Matt felt like scum for refusing aid to women and children. He knew that was the man’s goal, to shame him into doing something that would be bad for Aspen Hill. Bad for the people who trusted him to speak for them. The town had its own women and children to care for, its own widows and orphans. Besides, if Rogers was coordinator for the refugee camp then taking care of them was his responsibility, not Aspen Hill’s.
That realization helped replace his guilt with outrage. “A lot of the people we took in have families!” he snapped. “We already have taken in more mouths to feed than people who have specific skills to offer the town, as part of our deal with them. We’ve been more than generous.”
For a few moments the officer simply breathed in and out, controlling his anger. “I’m appealing to Aspen Hill’s better nature here, Mayor Larson. If you won’t do it out of decency we might have to find other motivations for you.”
Matt’s blood chilled. “Is that a threat?”
“If you want to consider it that.” Rogers turned and started for his vehicle. “Seriously consider it. I want the right answer when I come back. We all need to sacrifice for the good of the nation.”
“Major Rogers!” Matt called after the man. Rogers paused. “I always thought that someone who asks others to make sacrifices for the greater good that they themselves aren’t willing to make is pretty despicable. But even more despicable is someone who forces other people to make those sacrifices.”