She looked irritated, but didn’t argue with my point. Instead she said, “How are we supposed to tax people?”
“Got me,” I said. “Maybe it says in here.” I tapped the topmost guidebook on the stack. “Otherwise, the Trade Center can probably tell you, assuming there’s a way to do it at all.”
“What do you mean?” Deputy Franklin asked. “How could there not be a way to tax people?”
“How do you collect taxes?” I said.
“You send people a bill, or make them file a return,” she answered.
“And if they won’t pay?”
“You garnish their wages or their bank accounts or even throw them in jail.”
I glanced at the City Manager. Her horrified expression told me she’d already worked it out.
“You can’t take somebody’s Credits from them, other than maybe beat them and try to get them to give them up,” I said. “And the System might very well view that as an unjustified attack, if it doesn’t support the idea of legal authority to tax. If it doesn’t, well, all those people who always claimed taxation is theft will suddenly be right.”
Now the other two had gotten it. “Oh, Jesus,” said Gravelle. “A whole planet of Sovereign Citizens.”
Franklin made a terrible face. “That’s not funny, Sheriff.”
“Do you see me laughing?” he asked.
“Well, you guys obviously have a lot to talk about,” I said, standing up. “We’ll go find our friends and catch them up.”
“Are you leaving Pigeon Forge, Mister Erickson?” asked the City Manager quickly.
“No,” I said. “Not today, at least.”
“Please don’t leave without telling us,” she said. “I won’t tell you not to leave…” She looked at Gravelle. “And you are not to try to keep them from leaving if they want to. I won’t have you hurt for no reason when these people have done nothing but help.”
Then she turned back to me.
“But I would like every chance I can get to pick your brain about what’s happening. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you’ve done.” She sounded completely sincere.
“Some of our friends are very worried about the immigration thing,” I said as Danielle stood up beside me. “I can’t speak for them. But I won’t leave without talking to you first.”
“So neither will I,” added Danielle.
“Thank you,” she said. “If I need you I’ll send the Sheriff or Deputy Franklin to find you.”
We all shook hands, and Danielle and I made our way out, accompanied by Franklin. She waved to the deputies who were still watching the Trade Center and they came over to us.
“The Sheriff will probably brief everybody soon,” she said. “But the short version is that we think the box is relatively safe. These two went in and out and they’re fine. They can go in whenever they want. Don’t let anybody else in there until the Sheriff gives the word, though.”
“What’s in there?” one of the deputies asked me.
“It’s a Trade Center,” I said. “It trades with you. But I’m going to let the Sheriff give you the details.”
He looked disappointed, but both of them thanked us for braving the mysterious box. Then it was back to our Party, who were watching us return with smiles. Sally actually looked happy for the first time since I’d met her.
“I told you he’d come back,” Samantha was saying to her.
“Hello, Mister James!” said the little girl. “Hello, catlady!”
Oops.
There were some people hanging out on the street. Mostly they were looking at the box as if they expected an alien invasion force to burst out of it at any second, but a few were paying attention to us.
I walked over to Sally, who jumped out of the wagon and ran up to give me a hug. I gingerly hugged her back. “Sally, I need your help,” I whispered in her ear.
She pulled her head back a little, but didn’t try to get down. “What do you need?” she whispered back.
“The cat-lady is a secret. Right now she’s just Danielle, okay? We can’t tell people she’s a cat-lady, they might be scared. Can you help me?” I tried to make it sound important, but not scary.
“But the catlady’s nice!” she said in a furious whisper.
“I know, Sally,” I said. “But people are silly. Will you help me protect her?”
At the idea that she would be protecting someone, Sally’s whole demeanor changed. I could feel her stiffen in my arms.
“I will,” she said in a fierce voice. “I’ll protect her.”
“Thank you, Sally,” I said. “You’re very brave.” I let her go, and she went and sat in the wagon, looking determined.
“So,” I said. “Who’s up for an early lunch?” This got me some incredulous looks.
“If anybody’s leaving,” I continued, “you should eat first. I’m not going. I want to see what happens. I’m not a fan of the System, but I believe it’s telling us the truth.”
We walked back to the refugee dining area. On the way, I handed around the guidebooks. I gave each of our party members one, and handed one to the closest Noob, who happened to be Dave.
“This is a gift,” I said. “But it costs money in the Trade Center, and that money’s hard to get. So there’s just one. One of you can read it and then tell the others what you learn.”
“Thank you,” he said. Then he handed it to Emily. “You take it, Em.”
Before she could open it, I said, “You need to sit and read it quietly for a minute or so. If you get interrupted, it won’t work. So don’t do it now. Put it in your Inventory.”
She gave me a strange look, but complied. Everyone else stored theirs too.
When we got there, they were setting up for lunch. There was already a line. Most people might not get up before the sun rose with no alarm clocks and no lights, but they knew when it was time for lunch.
Given that most of the people in line were stranded travelers and vacationers who were now refugees, not many people knew us in particular so we were able to get in the line in relative obscurity. A different deputy was watching the tables, one I hadn’t seen before, and he just sat quietly and kept an eye on the crowd.
I was glad he was there: the mood was nervous. People kept glancing in the direction of City Hall. Apparently the word was out that that’s where the Trade Center was, and enough people had seen the message this morning that they were on edge. When we got up to the table, there was bread, potatoes and corn, and some none-too-appetizing meat.
The same three people were serving lunch as had made breakfast. The woman in charge recognized us. She gave me a serious look, then said, “Please come see me when you’re done eating, sir.”
“Sure,” I said after a second’s pause. She nodded and turned to the next person in line.
The seating area was already full, so we took our paper plates and plastic cups of water and found a spot of ground to sit on. It was warm in the sun and our newly toughened bodies didn’t seem to mind.
Since we’d already talked about the Trade Center in Party Chat, and filled the Noobs in on the highlights, at first nobody spoke. We just sat and chewed our food with expressions that ranged from thoughtful to serious to nervous.