The Hero Strikes Back by Moira J. Moore Read Free Book Online

make sense.
    I wasn’t the only one. For the first time since I’d moved to High Scape, there had been called a formal meeting of all of High Scape’s Pairs. It was being held in the Stall, a shortened form of the name Paranoia Stall bestowed on the one-room shack by a former Source. It had been built just outside the city limits, and it was where the Pair on duty sat and performed its watch, calming whatever natural events threatened to shake High Scape apart. I didn’t know why any meeting had to be held there in the first place; it was so far out of everyone’s way.
    Walking in deep snow was hard work, I had to raise my feet so high and I could never be completely confident about my balance. I envied Karish his extra inches. He wouldn’t reach the Stall exhausted and flustered.
    â€œHey! Source!”
    Karish’s arm tensed under my hand. We halted and turned.
    A woman was charging up the street after us, trying to hold her homespun skirts over the snow with work-hardened hands. A farmer, I thought. An unhappy one. People’s heads turned as they watched her pass. “When are you going to do something about this?” she demanded.
    No explanations needed about to what “this” pertained. Karish held out his free hand, palm up. “We can’t do anything about the snow, ma’am,” he answered in a gentle tone.
    â€œWhy the hell not?” She halted before him, holding herself up to her full, considerable height. “This is what you’re trained for, isn’t it? Why you spend years being coddled in those schools of yours. Why you have everything handed to you your whole life without having to pay for it. Nor work for it hardly.”
    Nor hardly work? We risked our lives every time we channeled. Even the regulars knew that.
    â€œThis is very different from a hurricane or an erupting volcano, ma’am,” I said in a voice that was low and, hopefully, soothing. “The world goes about creating these things in very different ways, and the truth is, we aren’t trained for things like snow.”
    But the farmer wasn’t interested in hearing logical explanations. She was angry, and she only wanted to vent. “Our crops are ruined,” she hissed. “We’ll have nothing to sell come harvest. We’ll have nothing to eat next winter. What do you plan to do about that?”
    I hesitated, because what could I say to that? We couldn’t do anything about the weather. That was the simple truth. And everyone knew it. No one had ever expected Pairs to regulate average weather. And there was nothing we could do about dead crops or unpaid mortgages or ruined occupations. “I am sorry.” A weak answer, made all the worse by the audience—yes, some people had stopped to watch and listen—that was witness to it.
    â€œSorry won’t feed my children,” she spat. She glared at Karish. “While you’ve been off cavorting with the Empress instead of watching your post, our livestock has been freezing to death. You’ve ruined us. Be proud, Lord Shintaro.” And she turned on her heel and stalked away.
    Karish looked ready to call her back. I squeezed his arm to stop him. No one else said anything, but they looked at us. Little surreptitious glances, muttered comments to companions, a few scowls.
    Karish didn’t look as shocked by the incident as I felt. “Has anything like that happened to you before?” I asked him.
    His only answer was a shrug. That meant something had happened. And he hadn’t told me about it. He should have.
    â€œYou shouldn’t have to put up with that sort of thing,” I said.
    â€œBut I don’t, do I? I have my Shield to protect me.”
    There was an edge to his voice. He didn’t like my stepping in as I had. Too bad. That was my job. We headed on to the Stall in silence.
    Arriving there we found it uncharacteristically crowded. In my memory, there