“Steve Ferryman says the Intuits had already built communications cabins at two settlements near the tip of Lake Superior,” Simon said. “One is in the Northeast, the other in the northern Midwest Region. The operators are using citizens band radios to talk to each other and convey messages between regions. Each cabin also has telegraph and telephone wires, so the Intuits can make phone calls and also use e-mail, but only within their own region. They feel that, if they use the radios carefully, the terra indigene in the wild country will not be provoked into destroying the cabins and that means of communication between the two regions.”

“They will send and receive messages for a fee?” O’Sullivan asked.

“Of course—but they haven’t worked that part out yet. For now, they’re only taking messages for Intuits and terra indigene.”

And probably will continue to do so, Vlad thought.

Simon handed Vlad a folded half sheet of paper. “Ferryman received this for us.”

Vlad opened the paper. We’re safe at Prairie Gold and Bennett. Heard from Jackson Wolfgard. Everyone at Sweetwater also survived. Tolya.

He handed the paper back to Simon, a little surprised by the depth of his relief. He had expected Tolya to survive. What surprised him was how much the confirmation meant to him.

“A lot of humans—and a lot of human places—are gone,” Simon said. “We don’t know how many. It’s not the Lakeside Courtyard’s job to know. Our job is to watch over this city, but from now on, we won’t be the only ones who are watching.” He looked at Burke. “The wild country begins right on your doorstep now. It will prowl your streets in ways we never did. The next time the humans in Thaisia turn against us will be the last time.”

“Understood,” Burke said roughly. He brushed his elbow against O’Sullivan’s arm. “You have any questions?”

“Do any of you have a suggestion for where I could set up a small office for the ITF? I’ll talk to Governor Hannigan about it, but I think it would be wise to have an ITF agent stationed here in Lakeside.”

“There are desks here in the consulate going unused,” Elliot said. “You could make use of one of them for the time being.”

“Thanks.”

“Just don’t expect any clerical help. It’s in short supply.”

“Understood.”

Vlad watched everyone but Simon leave the room. Resting his chin in his hand, he studied the Courtyard’s leader. “Think O’Sullivan and the other humans really understood?”

“How much human do the terra indigene want to keep?” Simon countered. “Or more to the point, how many humans do we want to keep? The ones we let in. We’re stuck with them now.”

He couldn’t disagree with that. “We have a Courtyard, a village, a city, and a community to work with, including the land that supports them.”