Episode #13: Inconvenient Refugees #13 : Leaders

Jan,07 2026

<-#12: Inconvenient Refugees 12 : The hospital

I woke up with Cathy gone. Either she woke up in silence before her alarm and turned it off, or I slept through her alarm.

I found a note on the kitchen table.

"I love you"

That's it. Just three words. She would be back before I would come back, so I grabbed a pen and wrote: "I love you too"

I almost want to write more, but the simplicity of her message has a point

I ate breakfast, while trying to remember where Victor's house is. I need him today.

But then, I think about Amira. Maybe I need her too...

So I start with her. Victor knows I am coming for him, but not Amira yet.

I find her doing what I can only describe as yoga, in front of her house.

"You seem in a better mood"

"I am. Can you please give me a minute?"

She finishes her movement, and then stands in front of me.

"I managed to stop the painkillers. I am not an addict after all!" she says, happy.

"Good"

"I spoke to Cathy this morning. You have a lovely wife."

"She was gone when I woke up!"

She smiles. "I am much better, Dave. Thank you for checking in on me. I decided to try to see this change of skin color in a more positive light. As a sign of rebirth into a new life"

"Good. Because I don't think there is anything we can do about it, so you might as well learn to accept it"

"Did my therapist tell you to say that?"

I laugh. "No, but we are somewhat friends and they might have rubbed off on me."

"Dave, is anyone here not your friend?"

There are people I don't like. So I ignore that and give her the news.

"I know I put you on sick leave, but I have an assignment for you"

"Sure, what is it?"

"You have to seduce the leader of the Italian zone into accepting you as the leader of your counter-smuggling zone"

"Seduce?"

"It's a matter of speaking. Giovanni often responds more emotionally than rationally. Victor and I have to meet with him about improving the power distribution, and I thought you could present yourself"

She sighs. "Let me guess, he will flirt with me?"

"Possibly, but he will not do anything. He can be annoying, but I will be close"

"Fine. But tell me more about him on the way"

"Did you eat already? Are you ready to go?"

"Almost let me put on some sunscreen. Oh wait, the vaccine that bleached me prevents me from tanning. So yeah, I am ready to go", she says, laughing.

We went to pick up Victor. I made presentations, but they already knew each other from the boat.

"Is Natasha okay?", says Amira.

"She is, she is already in class teaching. Maybe you and your husband can come over tonight for a meal? "

"What? No, we will invite you to thank your wife for the English lessons on the boat"

Victor just nods.

We walk to the bridge, get on to the English Free Zone, and both of them are looking in. It's their first visit outside our free zone.

Like I explained, most residents can freely leave our Free Zone for the other ones, but they need a reason, and most residents don't have one.

I salute a few English zone residents I know, but we hurry toward the Italian zone where we are met by the man himsellf.

"I thought it was just you and your electrician, Who is this beauty you brought with you?", he says.

"Giovanni, be respectful. This is Amira. I want to propose an international free zone counter-smuggling operation, and Amira here is a former anti-drug police officer"

"Wait, Wait, ok, first, I made marijuana legal here. Just, for food, no smoking."

I pause him. "Giovanni, each zone would have its own rules"

"Yeah, like tobacco is illegal contraband here, and legal in the French zone", he says, with disgust.

Amira speaks up. "I just want to help the free zones deal with problems of a legal nature. My idea is to run a central desk coordinating efforts, but I would put a deputy in each of the other free zones."

"Oh, that is brilliant. I like her, Dave. So, is that Victor?"

"I am"

"Dave, did you give him diplomatic immunity?"

"I did, and Amira too"

"Damn, I wish I could just keep your brilliant mind to myself", he says, grabbing Victor's head with his bare hands. It makes Victor uneasy, but he doesn't react much, and Giovanni soon lets go.

"Ok, so let me show you our power station and Amara"

"Amira", I say.

"Amira, I'll present you with my current chief of police"

I turn to Amira. "Giovanni tends to change the chief of police every few months"

"I don't want them to grow complacent and get bored", he says.

In reality, he doesn't want any of them to feel secure in power, but he won't admit that.

Amira is dispatched to the "police station", which is just a normal house with the word "Polizia" in front of it.

After presentations with the current chief of police, a woman who is about 35, we leave Amira to talk plans, and Victor and I follow Giovanni to his power substation.

On arrival, Victor is like a child on Christmas Eve! Seriously, he becomes excited and mutters to himself in Russian as he inspects it.

"I like that cook you gave me"

"Good. Is her family settling in well?"

"Yeah. I might have made a mistake", he says.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't realize these refugees would have so many kids. I should have asked for big families. We need a new generation, and my birthrate is lower than I hope"

"It's not to late, Giovanni. You could ask Costa Rica to bring you a few more"

"Can you do it for me?", he says, almost pleading.

"Giovanni..."

"I'll make it worth your while"

I think.

"Give me a few lambs, and I'll see what I can do"

"But my monopoly!", he complains.

"Giovanni, you have to give a little to get a little. "

He grunts.

"I can always get lambs from Costa Rica"

"Fine. I'll give you one lamb per child under 8"

"Half male, half female, all young enough to reproduce"

"You drive a hard bargain. But fine"

I ask Victor how long he needs, and he says it might take all day to investigate. I check that he will be fine alone, and I see that Giovanni is already getting bored.

I confirm that Victor knows how to get back, and soon enough, I am collecting a thrilled Amira.

"Hannah will try to her position as my deputy in here to secure her position as chief of police for a longer term"

"Good luck with that", I say.

"Well, apparently, he doesn't rotate them as much as fire them when they tell him no"

"That sounds about right. Let's get back, I have to find more refugees to Giovani.

She bites her lower lip.

"What?"

"I know the refugees, what are the odds you could bring me with you?"

"I...we don't trust you enough yet"

"My son is here, my husband is here. Dave, if I am to fight smuggling, I might have to leave the free zones and coordinate with the Costa Rica police"

"That's not part of the plan"

"Dave, seriously? I am not a flight risk."

"That's not it"

"Then what is it?"

"I don't pick who gets to leave"

"Then take me to who does"

I roll my eyes.

"Fine, we'll make an exception today"

She suddenly gets excited and even hugs me. It's not appropriate in our free zone, but we are still in the Italian zone, where rules are not as strict.

We get home, and I go fetch my business suit, but Amira soon gets back still nude.

"None of my clothes will do. I guess this is a bust"

"Wait", I say, sighing.

I get into my wife's closet, and find a business suit that fits Amira.

I know Cathy won't mind. She prefers not to wear her clothing at all, so lending it is fine.

Amira gets dressed in our bathroom, but while she is there, Cathy comes back!

"hey!", I tell her. "Hey yourself", she tells me, kissing me.

"We have a guest. Amira, I have to go pick refugees for Giovanni, and I am lending her one of your suits"

"The gray one?"

"Yeah"

"You did good.", she says, putting the fresh loaf of bread she was carrying on the counter.

Amira exits and looks fabulous. "Cathy! You are home. Thank you for this suit", she says.

Cathy looks at her.

"I think you have the wrong blouse for your skin color. Let me get you another one"

"I don't mind"

"I do; it's my suit, and I want you to feel fabulous in it."

Cathy comes back with a pastel colored shirt.

"Oh, I see what you mean", says Amira. Perhaps because Cathy was there, but she changed the blouse in the kitchen.

"You look fantastic", says Cathy.

"Thanks. This must look good on you too"

Cathy thinks. "Tonight, keep it in your home. You'll need to more than I do. If I ever need it, I'll come borrow it"

"Seriously?"

Cathy gets closer to Amira, and puts her hand on her arm. "Amira, here, we share everything"

"Be careful, I might borrow your husband", she says, laughing.

"I mean things, not people"

"I know, I love my husband too much for that. I have a weird sense of humor; you'll get used to it"

But Cathy laughs. She is very social too, so I fear that as I work closer to Amira, Cathy will make her a friend too.

Well, I say fear... Amira is nice.

I don't bother Amanda; it's not for our Free Zone, and she is working on the budget today.

We first stop in the admin building, where I make a diplomatic password for Amira, who observes me with attention.

"That's not your signature"

"No, it's not. But our leader delegated to me the making of diplomatic passports"

"Dave, that's a felony", she says.

"No, it's not"

"Huh? Imitating the signature of someone against their will is."

"I have their permission", I reply.

"They specifically know you are making a diplomatic passport for me"

"No, they know I only make them when absolutely needed, and they really care about their citizen"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it's why they recruited me"

"Dave, tomorrow, I would like to meet them"

"Sure. I can see if they will see you. They tend to be very busy"

She makes an odd face, but we get to the front office, where we call the same car company.

But while waiting, I ask her to wait in the conference room while I go fetch a small box from a locked cabinet.

"Listen, I like to get a bodyguard with us, but being a former police officer, I thought that perhaps we would be ok. Plus, we will go to the camp where they have the army guarding the place"

"Sure"

"But maybe this would make you feel more at home", I say, opening the box and showing her one of our police guns.

"Wait, a Glock 19? Seriously? Can I?"

"Sure"

She picks it up, plays with a few of the switches, bringing the front of the gun forward, and ejects the magazine, showing it to be full.

"You keep a loaded gun, without a bullet in the chamber, here?"

"I... don't know firearms. Our previous marshal handled it"

"Wait, how long has it been out of maintenance?"

"Maybe a year? Two?"

She picks up the gun, brings it to her mouth, and whispers to it. "Oh, sorry, Betty, they didn't take care of you. I will"

She puts it back into the box.

"No one should use that gun until I have disassembled it, cleaned it, oiled it, and done what needs to be done on the regular. This is a fine piece of precise machinery; it is not to be left carelessly in a box. Shame on you"

"Betty?"

"I name my guns. This one felt like a Betty. Have you got a problem with that?"

"No, let's put it back, but tomorrow, you can do maintenance on it if you want"

"Tomorrow, I mean our leader. The day after"

"They might not be available"

"I have all day. And the next. I am not doing anything more until I know who my boss is"

"I am"

"Then, when I know who your boss is. A police officer, especially a chief, needs to know who they answer to"

I roll my eyes. "Fine"

We get to the car and, soon enough, find ourselves in the refugee camp, reusing the same letter we had received.

At first, the guy at the gate didn't want to cooperate, but his boss let us through.

Amira didn't use a microphone. She didn't recruit a crowd and do interviews. She knew exactly who she had in mind, and perfectly what to say to get them to agree.

In no time, she found two families who didn't speak English at all, but who had countless kids. 4 parents, but 11 kids, 10 of whom are under 8, and two babies.

Time had elapsed; despair had settled in. The rumor was that Costa Rica was trying to find a boat to ship them back on the ocean.

Getting them to accept naturism as a way out of their problems proved a lot easier than when we went at it.

In no time, a bus was arranged to carry them to the Italian free zone directly.

And yet, meanwhile, another family with 4 kids signed up, not even knowing about the naturism, but not backing out when they learned.

That meant 15 lambs for us, and it was the best outcome possible!

On the drive back, Amira was silent. In the conference room, I proposed that we leave our clothes in the closet there, so the next time we need to go out, they're close by.

"What a good idea! Plus, that way, I won't feel like I am stealing your wife's clohtes"

"Amira, we are naturists. We weren't forced to become naturists like you; we chose this lifestyle"

"Right. It's starting to grow on me. I am losing my reflex to check everyone for guns, and it's at the camp that I realized it"

"Oh, that's why I felt like you were worried"

"No, that's not it, Dave. I am a police officer. Furthermore, I know when people are lying"

"You do?"

"I wouldn't be a good one if I couldn't"

"Well, that's a plus for us"

"I will not see the leader tomorrow, right?"

I look at her.

"I won't say a word. I just can't trust you if you don't talk to me", she says.

"If they accept to see you, I will present you. Of course, I will present you"

"Dave, no one has seen her for over a year. I asked around. They became a recluse, an hermit, and only you talk to them. How do I know that you are respecting her wishes?"

"I do. I will always respect her wishes"

"And you consult them?"

"I talk to her every day"

"You are lying to me, Dave"

"I am not. I do talk to her every day"

She looks at me.

"That's not the whole truth, is it?", she says.

"You are asking questions above your pay grade, Amira"

She laughs. "I am not getting paid, and you aren't either. Tell me the truth; I can handle it"

"No, you can't"

"Dave..."

"This stays between us"

"As it should be"

"She died 14 months ago"

"What?", she says, shocked.

"She knew she was dying when she recruited me. Cancer. "

"So, you've been running the show, alone, ever since?"

"Yeah, but no one knows"

"Why?"

"Because free zones aren't really corporations. They are dictatorships. The leader of a free zone is an absolute monarch who can do whatever he wants, or in our case, whatever she wanted. If you didn't have diplomatic immunity, odds are that Giovanni might have kept you as his lover whether you wanted it or not"

"Ok, but not you"

"No, not me. I only love my wife, and I don't care about money, only about the well-being of everyone, including you"

"Wait, so you are the dictator now, right?"

"I am."

"But no one knows"

"Just you"

"And Cathy"

"Just you"

And Amanda?"

"Just you"

"Shit, Dave. Why?"

"Because I don't want the focus on me, ok? I don't want this. It's a job, not a power trip. I care about all you people; she only cared about getting the best chemo and the best treatments. Did you know that she asked people to donate bone marrow for research when it was to make an experimental drug to cure her? She only trusted me because I was elevating her as a hero helping all these people when she was screening them on their biological compatibility to her own body to get antibodies or whatever"

"But you agreed to work with her?"

"Yeah, on the condition that we would be benevolent otherwise, and to her, it made sense. She wanted healthy possible blood and bone marrow donors"

"Oh my God, Dave, tell your wife. You need help"

"Well, I can't. Because my wife loved her, not knowing how she really thought. They all loved her. They still do."

"Meanwhile, you can use her as an excuse when you need to give bad news. I get it, Dave."

"And I only do it for the good of the free zone, of the people"

There is pause. She nods.

"Swear to me that even your husband will not know", I say.

"You seemed rather intense there, Dave"

"Swear to me"

"This stays between us", she says, promising it.

I nod.

I don't know what I would have done if she didn't. I don't want to face that version of Dave. The one who has to do hard things to save his people. I like being the fun Dave.

But I am happy to have Amira on my side, not against me.

I grew up reading Spider-Man. With great power comes great responsibility. As the de facto leader of my free zone, I have absolute power and, so, absolute responsibility.

But that also means that I can't tell a soul. Even the mother of my still unborn child.

<-#12: Inconvenient Refugees 12 : The hospital