“You tell me, Marius,” she countered. “At what point do you just turn people away? And how do you keep them from coming back?”

“That’s not for me to decide,” he said. “You’re the elected official, not me. You’re the one who asked for the job.”

Victoria ignored the bait. This was the last job in the world that she wanted. She’d resigned from the House of Representatives, for God’s sake, and everyone knew that. She was stuck with the job because she’d been stupid enough to not run away from it.

“All right, Marius,” she said. “Since you acknowledge my extraordinary power from my throne, I’m telling you that I have authorized the construction of eight cabins on your property. You are welcome to move into one of them if you wish, but if you do, you will have to sacrifice your home to the refugees.”

He started to argue, but she held up her hand for silence. “The decision is made, Marius. This is a time for everyone to give a little. This is your gift. Now, please let it drop.”

Thanks to Ty Rowley, the third-generation owner of Rowley Lumber, building materials were in ample supply. Ty had even been able to resurrect his grandfather’s old steam-powered lumber mill. A fascinating accumulation of pulleys, belts and blades, the mill was an OSHA nightmare, but it was great to watch the operation as he turned trees into boards.

To support the supply chain of incoming wood, she’d put Eric Lofland in charge of assembling horses and anything that could be used as sleds or wagons to move felled trees and other heavy materials from one place to another. George Simmons had fashioned a manual pump to draw gas from his inground tanks, so there was plenty of fuel for chain saws. Axes still needed to be swung, of course, but Victoria had never encountered a man who didn’t enjoy doing that, at least for a while.

It turned out that Paul Copley and Major McCrea were both carpenters in their spare time, though Copley showed considerably more talent than McCrea. Where they really shined was in their leadership and training skills. As new residents arrived, their first job was to assist with construction efforts. It wasn’t until the air was filled with the sound of hammering that Victoria realized how ubiquitous nail guns had become before the war. Ditto the sound of manual sawing instead of power tools.