Friday, August 24, 2012

Infiltrators

[Post by Kincaid]

We have ourselves a few prisoners. Some of the Exiles passed themselves off as stranded travelers a few weeks back and worked their way to North Jackson. Not sure how they got into the group coming here as part of the first big wave of migrants, but they did. We caught them.

The question now is what to do with them. People think I must lean toward going easy on them because I was a marauder too. They're wrong. The prisoners were part of a group that chose not to take the amnesty when it was offered. They claim they couldn't because their leaders threatened to kill them if they tried to leave. We can't be sure.

Killing them offhand isn't something most New Haven citizens are comfortable with. The infiltrators haven't caused any trouble that we know of. They've worked and taken risks just like everyone else. That isn't to condone what they've done. There was a very specific set of simple rules in place. The Exiles broke them. Consequences are going to happen, no two ways about it.

I'm the last person that should have a public opinion about this. I have been on both sides of the issue and either way people are going to think I have an agenda. Either I'm trying too hard to win the trust of my fellow citizens if I side against the Exiles, or I'm a sympathizer if I suggest leniency. Call me Switzerland on this one. I'm out of the game.

I do have a few thoughts. Maybe an observation or two.

Context matters. When the truce went into place there was a lot more turmoil in the Exile camp. They were strong, then. There were more of them and the group was under the thumb of a bunch of tyrants.

Then again, they could have kept going their own way. The new plague gave them a chance to kill off those tyrants. They took it. Scar and his lieutenants are dead. The remaining Exiles had everything they needed to survive on their own. But for whatever reason they risked breaking the terms of the truce to come here.

So far the ones we've captured have given a variety of answers to the question 'why?'. No one knows what to believe, but the immediate inclination for most people here is to suspect them of a larger plot. If they were planning to weaken us from the inside we might find hard evidence of it. If they really did want to make a better life, it might have been worth the risk to simply ask us to come here. If recent events are any indication, the leadership might have taken another look at their hard line stance against the Exiles. We've all got enough blood on our hands. Compassion can be risky, though.

You probably guessed that there's a lot of discussion going on here. I can't say with any certainty which way it will go. There are factors about the prisoners I'm not allowed to share. They matter, I can say that much. I just don't know if they will matter enough.

I'm done being vague and mysterious for one day. Josh is eager to edit this, and I have more work to do than any three people should have to deal with.

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