“I don’t think the captain is here to talk about the investigation,” Henry said, his voice a quiet rumble.
“I’m not here about the investigation,” Burke agreed. He linked his fingers and rested his hands on the table. “The son of a good friend of mine was injured in Jerzy last month. Roger was one of the police officers who answered the Crows’ call for help. He was shot by the humans who started the attack, but he survived.”
Simon said nothing. Monty wished Burke had given him some idea of where this was going.
“Roger is a good police officer, and he’s a good man,” Burke said. “He’ll be ready to return to duty soon, but indications are that it would be prudent for him to relocate.”
Simon cocked his head. “Why?”
Vlad gave Burke a chilling smile. “The monkeys blame him, don’t they? They think he should have let the Crows in that house die.”
Burke barely twitched in response, but Monty didn’t doubt the Others saw that twitch.
“Not all the survivors in Jerzy think that Roger is to blame for the fight that came afterward, but enough of them do,” Burke replied. “They want to blame someone. Right now, Roger needs to be someplace where the people he’s trying to protect don’t call him a traitor.”
“What do you think would have happened if this Roger had let the Crows die?” Henry asked.
Burke looked the Grizzly in the eyes. “I think if he and the other officers hadn’t responded to that call for help, there wouldn’t have been any survivors in Jerzy.”
Henry dipped his head, an acknowledgment of that truth. “Yes. Those humans are still alive because of him.”
“At least for another week or two,” Vlad added.
Monty stiffened. “What does that mean?”
Simon ignored the question and focused on Burke. “So you want your friend’s pup to relocate to Lakeside?” He shrugged. “You don’t need our consent. That’s human business.”
Now Burke looked uncomfortable. “Roger prefers living in a village—and working for a smaller police force.”
Puzzled looks.
“What are you asking us?” Simon finally said.
“I’m asking if you could find a place for Roger on Great Island,” Burke said. “I know the island is controlled by the terra indigene, but there is a community of Simple Life folks living there, as well as the humans who run the ferry and manage the shops and services on the southern end of the island. I don’t know what arrangements Great Island already has, but surely enough humans live on the island to warrant an official police officer or two.”
Monty tensed as silence filled the room.
Finally, Henry said, “There is no police force on Great Island. Not like there is in Lakeside. The Intuits who live in Ferryman’s Landing aren’t the same kind of humans as the Simple Life folk. Or you.”
Burke studied the three terra indigene. “I’ve never heard of a race of humans called Intuits.”
Henry studied Burke. “In Thaisia, that is what they call themselves. They may have different names in other parts of the world. They are the humans who have a sense of the world the rest of you lack, an ability to feel what is around them and recognize danger or opportunity before it is obvious. They were often killed because other humans believed such an ability must be evil. Even now, they keep to themselves and feel safer living in a human settlement controlled by the terra indigene than they do living in a city controlled by your kind.” He smiled in a way that seemed a threat. “It would be better if you didn’t remember hearing about them.”
After a moment, Burke nodded to indicate he understood.
“Letting another human live on Great Island isn’t my decision,” Simon said. “I don’t know if the Intuits at Ferryman’s Landing will welcome a human who isn’t one of their own. But I will talk to the village leaders about your friend’s pup, and they can decide.”
“Thank you.”
And now a police captain is in debt to the leader of the Courtyard, Monty thought. Because Simon will make sure Roger is allowed to live on Great Island. He just hoped that when Wolfgard called in the favor owed, Burke wouldn’t choke on it.
“It’s for the best this Roger doesn’t want to live in Jerzy anymore,” Simon said, his tone a little too offhand. “It won’t be a human place much longer.”
Monty looked at Burke, who held perfectly still. Then he looked at Simon. This is why he agreed to meet with us. To deliver this message.
“The lease on the Jerzy farmland expires at the end of next month,” Simon said. “The West Coast leaders have decided the lease will not be renewed, and the land will come back to the terra indigene. The hamlet’s land lease expires at the same time. It, too, will not be renewed.”
Burke sucked in a breath but said nothing.
How many people lived in Jerzy? Monty thought. A few hundred? More? Less? Stunned, he spoke without thinking. “You’re going to evict an entire town? Just like that?”
“Yes, Lieutenant,” Simon replied. “Just like that. We may allow you to build on it and use what comes from it, but the land isn’t yours. Will never be yours. Humans broke trust with the terra indigene who watched over Jerzy. So one way or another, the humans must go.”
“But those farms provide food for cities on the West Coast. What are the people in those cities supposed to do for food?”
“Humans can grow food on the farmland they still lease,” Simon said, shrugging.
“But …”
“Lieutenant,” Burke said quietly, a warning that arguing about a decision that was already made on the other side of the continent could be costly to their own city, as well as dangerous to themselves.
As Monty regained control, he caught Vlad looking at him.
The vampire smiled and said, “How will the strong survive?”
Shivering, he looked away, scared sick by the reminder. Vlad had asked him once if stronger humans would justify eating the weak if other food wasn’t available. It wouldn’t come to that, but he suspected a lot more people all across Thaisia would be trying to grow a little kitchen garden this summer. There had been lean times before. It looked like there would be lean times again. Even now, you needed a ration book for a lot of foodstuffs, like butter and eggs.
“Where are the people in Jerzy supposed to go?” Burke asked, sounding mildly interested. “How are they supposed to transport livestock? Will they be allowed to transport livestock?”
“They can take the animals,” Simon replied. “They can take whatever was made by humans. But they should take care during their migration. If land or water gets poisoned, if one of the gas stations should explode, if houses should catch fire as people are leaving …”
“I understand.” Burke’s knuckles were white. “What if the people refuse to leave? Some of those families have lived on the farms or in that hamlet for generations.”
“Then they should have known what would happen when they attacked the Crows,” Simon snarled.
“Where are those people supposed to go?” Monty asked, echoing Burke’s question.
“The terra indigene leaders on the West Coast and in the Northwest are very angry,” Henry said. “They don’t care where the Jerzy humans go.”
“There is growing unrest in parts of Thaisia, as well as some other places in the world. Evicting the population of an entire hamlet will lend fuel to the Humans First and Last movement,” Burke said.