Angels of Vengeance: The Disappearance Novel 3 by John Birmingham Read Free Book Online

think they could be settled if we placed them within compatible communities.’
    ‘Such as?’ Jed asked, his scepticism leaking through.
    At this, Humboldt shrugged briefly. ‘Many of the Indian nationals we’ve taken in to work on the railway programs came from that country’s Muslim community. After the war with Pakistan, they weren’t entirely welcome in their homeland anymore. But they’ve had no trouble fitting in here. Most are observant in their faith, but not politicised by it. There are enough of them now that we could salt most of our East Coast detainees through their population without ghettoising them.’
    ‘And the fighters?’ Kipper quizzed, saving Jed the effort. ‘The men?’
    Culver was certain he saw Humboldt flick her eyes quickly over at Admiral Ritchie.
    ‘It’s not within the purview of my department, Mr President. But we have been turning this matter over for a while now, both in this working group and the wider Cabinet, and there have been a couple of position papers drawn up that might be of help.’
    The Immigration and Customs Enforcement head started rifling through the thick wad of papers she’d extracted from her tote bag. She kept her head down, studiously avoiding eye contact with Culver, who knew nothing of any so-called position papers. Retrieving what she wanted, she passed copies around the room. Ritchie, he noted, didn’t need to scan the document even for a moment. He gave the impression of being familiar with it.
    ‘The fighters are a more difficult question,’ said Humboldt. ‘Especially if we accept the settlement of the non-combatants. Many of the fighters, nearly two-thirds of them, have relatives among the women and children we are holding. We cannot separate them, in law or in conscience.’
    The hell we can’t , thought Jed.
    Kipper was nodding slowly, feeding himself small chunks of cookie that he broke off the mother lode like a kid trying to make a treat last a little longer. Jed could not be sure he was nodding in agreement with Ms Humboldt; he may simply have been acknowledging her. The President liked people to know he was listening to them. The Chief of Staff, on the other hand, was having trouble constraining himself. He didn’t like where this was going, and he felt himself blind-sided by whatever arrangement Humboldt and Ritchie had come to before the meeting. Jed was going to have to reassess his reading of the National Security Advisor. It appeared that Ritchie was more practised at the dark arts of politics than he had imagined when lobbying Kipper on the admiral’s behalf.
    ‘ICE sought input from all the major stakeholders on this question . . .’
    But not from me , thought Culver.
    ‘. . . and as you would imagine, their responses varied considerably. Defense and the NIA argued strongly in favour of continued detention. Treasury’ – she spared a glance for McAuley at this point – ‘has been updating its forward estimates for funding a number of scenarios. And we at ICE, of course, are in constant contact with Reconstruction about their needs for various skill sets that remain under-subscribed.’
    Barney Tench appeared to be nonplussed by the inclusion of his department in Sarah’s magic circle. But as Jed examined his shorthand notes of what she’d just said, he suppressed a sour grin of admiration. Humboldt had drawn the other players in the room into whatever gambit she was about to make, simply by stating the fucking obvious. Of course Reconstruction and Treasury were in constant contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement about labour shortfalls and funding requirements – that didn’t mean they were on board for every program Humboldt wanted to push. As tempted as he was to interrupt, the Chief of Staff thought it best to let her play her hand.
    ‘It would be possible,’ she continued, ‘to include most of the problematic cohort, the fighters with family ties to our non-combatant detainees, as part of the general