38 Suspicions

"Why?" asked Tamala.

It's five days before the demo, and Tamala is suspicious of me. I can't hide the fact I'm planning for a disaster. So I lie. Sort of.

For the most part I was able let her run things like she did under Psi. My only interference was I set new targets for all of our reserves: how many days of food to keep on hand, how much medicine, our stockpile of zombie control devices, things like that. Mostly, I was able to explain away the increase in reserves as simple caution.

"We're dependent on the outside for everything," I told Tamala when it first started, "we don't grow any of our own food. A little disruption can have huge effects on us. We need better reserves."

But my latest demands are less innocuous. I insisted on new shoes for everyone, and ordered the women's house to build fifty "transfer kits". They're basically the same as Sandy's and my go-bags, but without the antibiotics.

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"Things are going to change after the demo. There will be a lot of moving around, and it could be hardest on the women. I don't have enough information to make a good plan, so I settled for generally sensible stuff." This is another of my half-truths. The ministers really are planning a reorganization after the demo, but theirs is not the reorg I'm thinking of.

"You forgot tampons," she observed, "and pre-natal vitamins."

"Then add them to the packing list, and whatever else I forgot," I shrugged. The only time I had ever packed a go bag for a woman was when I set up Sandy's first backpack, so her ideas hadn't even occurred to me. It was honestly a good catch on her part. "Anything else?"

"Why did you take my picture yesterday?"

"I took everyone's pictures yesterday. I might show them to the guests after the demo. We'll see how it goes."

Tamala wasn't satisfied. She could tell I was planning something without her input, and it didn't set well with her.

"What are you really up to?"

"I'm working my ass off, getting ready for this demo. It has to be flawless. Isn't that enough? Ask me again after the demo is done, maybe I'll be able to say more."