A Creature of War, Book 4, CH16

Three days was how long it took. During that time, DHC’s police officers stopped a few arguments, but unrest in general didn’t seem to be a problem.
Other than receiving DHC’s daily report, El kept busy helping around. Anytime he started feeling useless, he reminded himself that humans had no powers, and that didn’t stop many of them from making contributions, so he forcefully ignored the despair that threatened to overwhelm him and he helped gather more soil for the greenhouse.
Whenever he had free time, he practiced his control over the elements. Air was the easiest, but he still lacked precision. Water felt like it had metal mixed in, making it sluggish, and requiring as much exertion as if he put a shoulder to a boulder and tried to move it that way. Earth, well he couldn’t even get a pebble to move, unless he applied physical force to it. Fire would move as he commanded, but he couldn’t keep it from burning what it came in contact with. And lightning teased him, keeping to the edge of his senses, but out of his grasp.
The evenings were the worse for him. Tired from the days work the only way he could keep from despairing at ever regaining his control over the elements as the turn it into anger and feed that into practicing. But without Vee pulling him away, he would spend the entire night there, sometimes screaming at himself.
On the fourth day, while he and Vee were walking around the mall, two police El didn’t know tracked them down, to explain that a man had broken into the food storage between shift. He’d been caught because he’d stayed too long. By the time they were done explaining, two others were bringing a thin man to them. Other people followed them, the expressions a mix of concern and excitement.
“Let’s go to my office,” El said, “and one of you get DHC, that’s who you should have gone too.”
“No,” Vee said, looking at the growing crowd. “They need to see that crimes will be handled properly.”
El wanted to pull Vee aside and remind him there was a reason disciplinary actions were always handled behind closed doors, but he also needed to keep the image of unity that was vital to maintaining control.
“This man was caught in the process of stealing food,” Vee’s voice boomed, quieting the crowd.
“He was hungry,” a woman said. Those close enough to her nodded in agreement. Hunger was a common feeling these days.
“Do you know him?” El asked.
“He’s my brother, we share a room.”
“And is he the only one hungry?” Vee asked the crowd.
Everyone shook their head.
“That’s right, we all are. You, those around you, me.”
A man scoffed and the people around him grumbled in dissatisfaction.
The bull fixed his gaze on that man. “You think I’m not hungry?”
“You control the food,” the man replied, derision in his tone. “You don’t look hungry.” El had expected him to be the one who had protested Vee take over. Alicia and indicated that he was one of the people who would cause trouble. But this one was different. Like everyone he was thin, but his features were younger.
“Ask any of the group leaders how well we eat. Ask them what the food on the table looks like when they give me their reports each evening. Their biggest complaints, every evening, is that they deserve to have more food than those who work under them. We don’t get more food because there isn’t more food.”
“You expect us to believe you? What’s to say you don’t have food stored in your room?”
“I am not Artell! I am not the governor who felt it was just to leave people outside to die in the cold. I lead by example! I will not feed myself better than any of you. I will make the same sacrifice as you. I will lead you by being in the middle of this, not above it. You’ve seen me work with the crews, when I’m not busy managing things.”
To the visible annoyance of the man, the mood of the crowd lightened. He looked like he might start talking, but one of the men next to him whispered something. El made sure to memorize both their faces. These two would be trouble.
“No,” Vee said once the crowd had quieted. “This man tried to steal not from me, but from all of you. If he had succeeded, I would have had to cut the rations, so we still had a chance to survive until spring. I—we can’t allow that to go unpunished. He was willing to put your survival in jeopardy, just to fill his stomach.”
The crowd erupted in anger, some people calling for the man’s head. El watched the two, they observed impassively, then vanished into the crowd. Yes, they would be trouble.
Vee raised a hand, and the crowd calmed.
“What are you going to do with him?” the man’s sister asked. “Send him to the cells?” the cells were a series of small rooms on one side of the mall, against the outer walls and without any insulation. El and Vee had found out about them as part of learning as much as they could about the mall.
“No. Those things aren’t fit to house murderers. Punishment isn’t about making him suffer, it’s about allowing him to reflect on what he did, how it put us all in danger, so that when he rejoins us he will work toward helping us, instead of thinking about his own needs. He is being placed under house arrest.”
She tried to keep from showing her relief, but tears fell from her eyes. El hadn’t asked, but he’d worked out that the previous governor hadn’t been patient with people who tested his rule. The cells were a good example. Anyone sent there for an extended time would die, of cold in the winter and heat in the summer.
“You all need to understand,” Vee said. “We are in this together. We will only survive if we stand together, shoulder to shoulder. If we support each other. It won’t be easy. The world has changed and we aren’t prepared for it, but together, we will adapt.”
The crown nodded and El saw something he hadn’t expected in their face. Relief, Vee had reminded them they weren’t alone in this. Maybe handling this in a public venue hadn’t been the mistake El thought it had been.
Vee looked to El. Right, the police was his department.
He didn’t know the name of the human holding the thief, but that wasn’t important now. “Take him home. You and your partner stay there. He isn’t to leave unless it’s an emergency. I’ll have DHC arrange a schedule, but at worse in a few hours someone will replace you.”
“Yes, Sir,” she answered.
“Wait,” the thief said as they started pulling him away. “How long? I’m on one of the work crews, can I still work?”
El was still thinking about it, when Vee said. “No. You won’t work.”
“But my ration?”
“It will be reduced to the level of those not doing anything to help the community.”
“I’m going to die.” The despair in the man’s voice put the one El had felt to shame.
Vee placed both hands on the man’s shoulders. A gentle act El had seen parents do with their children over the centuries. “You won’t. Even the minimal rations are set so you’ll survive.”
“Please. I won’t do it again. I promise.” The man was crying.
“I know. But I can’t simply let you go unpunished. What message would that send to the others? If they think they can put all of us at risk and not suffer the consequences, we will not survive the winter. I know it will be hard for you, but you will pull through, and you will be stronger for having been through it.”
The man was still crying, but now there was hope in his eyes. El knew he wouldn’t have been able to calm the man in such a way. He was happy Vee was the one who’d handled this.
“How long is he going to be a prisoner is our room?” his sister asked.
Vee looked to El, who had to think about it. All he had to go one was the military penal code, but this was sort of what they had now.
“Two weeks.” The man swallowed, and his sister nodded.
“Am I… Am I allowed to share my food with him?”
Vee watched her. “It’s your food. I won’t dictate what you can or can’t do with it.”
“Don’t,” the thief said. “This was my screw up. You shouldn’t suffer for it too.” There was pride in his voice, and Vee nodded to him.
When his two guards motioned for him to move, the man offered no protest. When they were out of sight, Vee turned to the crowd.
“Go back to work. Remind those who aren’t happy with the situation that none of us are, but that they aren’t alone. We are all in this together.”
As the crowd dispersed, Vee turned and headed his own way. El stayed behind a while longer. As he’d expected, some threw hateful glared at Vee’s back. There were always dissenters in groups this large, and the two he’d memories wouldn’t be the only ones to cause trouble.
The lynx caught up to Vee and took his arm in his. “You handled this well.”
“You had doubts,” Vee replied.
“I don’t think any Anthro’s ever led such a large group. I have experience leading, and I know I wouldn’t have handled it as well as you did.”
“They just needed a reminder they aren’t alone in their suffering.”
“That vocal guy did have one good point. We do look a lot healthier than any of them. Maybe you need to let my metabolism go back to normal. Yours too, if you can.”
“You really want to go hungry?”
“No, but your speech about all of us suffering together sounds a little self-serving when, even while eating the same amount of food they do, we don’t suffer. The longer we look healthy when they don’t, but easier it’s going to be for them to doubt that we are in the same position they are.”
“But they know what I can do, that it’s why I look like this.” Vee paused. “And don’t ask me to let you go back to inefficiently digesting your food, not unless you’re willing to stop your incessant practicing.”
“I’m not stopping.” El stated.
Vee stopped and took the lynx by the shoulder. The act wasn’t as gentle as with the man, El noted.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you had to stop. I get how important controlling the elements is to you, but you need to slow down. You don’t need them to contribute. You have to see beyond them, to what you bring to this community.”
“Vee—”
The bull placed a finger on El’s lips. “All I’m asking is that you try not to drive yourself to anger and exhaustion. Remember how the scientists back at the Lab had us deal with it, back when all this was new to us. Slow and methodical. Killing yourself trying to regain control isn’t going to accomplish anything. El, I don’t want to lose you.”
El nodded. “I’m sorry. I know I can help without them, but it’s still driving me crazy. Why can’t it be as easy as it was before?”
“The world changed. Technology stopped, water doesn’t boil, gunpowder is only good to start fires now. Something fundamental had changed, and your ability deals with those fundamental forces. We need to stay alive to figure this out. If we find out what caused it, we’ll find out how to give you back your control.” Vee smiled. “Look at it this way. I’m pretty sure the wars are over now. So we’ll need something new to keep us occupied. It might as well be trying to understand this.”
El forced a smile. “You’re right. I guess I’ve been too self-absorbed. I’ll take it easier.”
Vee kissed him. “Thank you. I don’t know if I could do any of this without you.”
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere. We’ll always be together.”
Someone cleared her throat. “Sir?”
A guard, still dressed in winter garb was standing a respectful distance away.
“Yes?” Vee answered.
“Malcolm sent me to let you know the new layout for the greenhouse is complete. He said you wanted to see it.”
Vee nodded. “I’ll be there shortly.”
She turned and left.
“Looks like work’s calling again. Are you coming?”
The lynx shook his head. “Can’t. You put me in charge of the police, remember? That means I need to talk with DHC about scheduling guards for our first official prisoner, and figuring out what to do with the others will have.”
“You really think this won’t remain an isolated incident?”
“You didn’t see the expression of some of those people, Vee, and not just the humans. Some of the Anthros looked willing to plant their claws in your back. You’ve upset the balance, and it’s going to take a while for it to reestablish itself.”
“I’ll see you at dinner then.”
They kissed before heading in different directions.