The Hero Strikes Back by Moira J. Moore

either.”
    â€œMaybe if we got something official from the Triple S council,” Wilberforce suggested. “Some kind of document explaining that this kind of phenomenon is beyond our abilities to address. We could get a few copies and post them in appropriate places. That might make the regulars settle down.”
    That was actually a good idea.
    â€œOnly if they can read,” was Beatrice’s dry contribution. An unnecessary cheap shot, I thought. And anyway, once a few saw the notices, word of mouth would cover the rest.
    â€œWon’t that make it appear that the Triple S council is evading responsibility as well?” Benedict asked.
    â€œBetter them than us,” Beatrice retorted, as expected, for one partner in that Pair could not say one thing without the other advocating the opposite.
    â€œThey are us,” La Monte snapped. “I don’t know that I care for the idea of passing responsibility to some distant institution most regulars have no direct contact with.”
    â€œWe don’t have responsibility,” Sabatos pointed out. “How can we pass it?”
    Here was a radical idea. I was almost afraid to bring it up. “We could actually try to do something about it.” One, two, three . . .
    Garrighan barked with laughter. He was awfully emotive for a Shield. “Do something about the weather? Are you serious?”
    Yes. Always, apparently. “Has anyone tried to do anything?”
    â€œDon’t, Lee,” Karish ordered in an undertone.
    Don’t what? “I mean, if we don’t even try we can’t know there’s nothing we can do.” It seemed simple enough to me.
    â€œLeave it, Lee!” His tone was louder and sharper that time, and no one could pretend they didn’t hear it.
    What was his problem? It was a good idea. We could all experiment with our abilities and see what we came up with. What harm could possibly come from that?
    â€œWhat is your idea, then, La Monte?” I asked, for of course the reason he’d called the meeting was to dazzle us with the brilliance of his solution to the problem.
    La Monte clasped his hands behind his back. “The best course of action is to let everyone know we’re working on it.” He paced a few steps, which was all the limited space allowed him. “Every time anyone asks us about what we’re doing—”
    Or accuses us of being lazy parasites.
    â€œâ€”we assure them that we are studying the situation and will soon have things under control.”
    Incredible. “Tell them we’re working on it?” I asked him. “When we’re actually doing nothing? You want us to lie to them?”
    â€œIt’s in their best interest.”
    â€œHow?” It was in our best interest, maybe, and only for the short term, but no one could reasonably claim it was in theirs.
    Though La Monte seemed ready to try. “It will reassure them, make them feel safe and secure again. It will raise their opinion of us. And when this passes, they will feel we have earned their respect and support, that we have done our job. Everything will return to normal.”
    I stared at him. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What a bad idea. And from the quality of the silence in the room, I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Even Wilberforce was looking a little uncertain.
    â€œWhat if this doesn’t pass?” Sabatos asked. “What if this cold snap stretches on for months?”
    Not exactly the point or the central problem with the whole plan, but it was definitely one big glaring glitch. I was glad someone other than me had pointed it out.
    Because La Monte didn’t like having his opinions questioned. Not by anyone. He didn’t lose his temper—at least, I’d never seen him lose it—but his nostrils twitched and his face kind of went taut, and one got the impression that if you touched one more nerve he just might explode.