The junior Attorney attached to the Writer’s Section at Refuge Farm was clearly frazzled. It was a nice enough morning, some sunshine amid the clouds, and temperatures might even break freezing later. She waved a regular sheet of paper from the printer that was completely blacked out with china marker.

“See? This is what you guys were talking about while I was gone. And who is this Buck character? He didn’t serve in the military and is not a compensated annuitant. That caused me to have to go back and check the civilian laws against sedition. I thought we had this thing neatly packaged to avoid trouble.”

Buck cleared his throat. He was largely concealed from the usual suspects and likes the chair behind the stove that keeps him from being too obvious. “I have committed no sedition that I am aware of. My observations on economic activity are completely in keeping with my role as an emeritus professor of Economics. Disagreement on public policy is not illegal under existing interpretation.”

Melissa smiled as the Attorney shook her shock of red hair. In normal circumstances, that would have caused us to comment on her resemblance to a public figure who routinely says those sorts of things. As annuitants, though, we have been told we are restricted from making such remarks under the provisions of law made up by non-lawyers. Being a civilian but entitled to the proceeds of an annuitant with whom she is no longer legally bound she feels a certain disenfranchisement. “This is starting to get a little nuts.”

Splash wasn’t concerned. He started by rising from his chair and turning to face the group. “You can say that, provided you don’t say specifically what is nuts. On the other hand, it is the Lunar New Year. Today.”

We looked to the attorney to see if that comment would bring disfavor to the group, or charges under a matter of a rarely enforced law. She frowned. “Astrologic events have no controlling statutes and can be observed by anyone, annuitant or not.”

There were smiles of relief. “The Chinese call it a Year of the Tiger, and in their astrologic scheme, this is the first time in seventy years the time of the Swimming Tiger.”

Loma nodded, carefully considering his words. “As we know, that name has an implication regarding favorable implications regarding cross-channel operations. And Chinese officials have been meeting Russians lately. It is possible they talked about things.”

The Attorney scowled. “That is about as far as we would like to see you go on that, since the reaction of US Officials to possible talking could be construed to have something to do with a national response. You are not supposed to have any reaction to that except support for officials in the chain of command.”

Buck laughed, although he was the only one. “I suppose that means Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are now in the chain? I am unfamiliar with their place in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Although I think they are well-regarded citizens, they are, strictly speaking, people whose views we could logically find sort of strange.”

Buck stood up and looked to see if his parka was accessible on the pegs haphazardly pounded into the wooden paneling by the door. “I will have to see if I can get my car down here and charge it up again. I wish I could get a bucket of electricity to fill it up.”

The Attorney shook her head vigorously. “That would imply criticism of a complete transition to renewable fuels without actually thinking through the process of establishing a new and reliable electrical distribution system from inherently erratic sources. That could not be permitted, though humming or whistling classic rock tunes is not specifically forbidden. Just keep the lyrics out of them.”

A normal Tuesday reaction to that carefully considered legal opinion followed, with some whistling and some humming. Buck said this: “I remember the words. They are copyrighted material, but I am entitled to 19 seconds of ‘fair use’ under existing statute.” He opened his mouth as if to begin, but was stopped by the Attorney’s lob of a thick sheaf of papers which impacted his chest with a thud before sliding to the bunkroom floor. All of them were marked essentially the same way.

Buck paused, and then bent over to pick them up. He carefully aligned them in a stack and looked at several. “What was on these?”

The attorney rose in turn. “I was occupied on official company business and got the transcripts from the weekend conversations Monday morning. It took me all day to get through them, but according to the Lead Attorney, you can use anything not blacked out in the redacted versions to do penetrating humor or satirical commentary on issues not subject to criminal sanction of sedition.”

Rocket looked at Buck, who in turn looked around to the other faces. “I suspect this will make drafting the Daily a little bit easier in the New Year.” He displayed the top sheet from the stack in his left hand:

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“See?”

The Attorney smiled. For her, the week’s work was already done. The rest of us had a couple questions, but we can’t say what they were. We imagine they were in lines 22-25.

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