The Fire Ring was smiling, unusual on a Wednesday. Smiles are normally reserved to sometime after the luncheon break, when the future of this day is pretty much set and the morning bright with promise is relegated to the past. The best we can normally muster at the meeting is to savor the warmth of the coffee and think about pulling the sheets snug on the cots.

It is also a bit refreshing to see the entire circle attired in a certain deshabille. There is a common definition for that fancy French term that normally refers to a touch of disorder in our attire, but also to a disorganized thought pattern that only dissipates after a second or even third cup of steaming Chock Full O’ Nuts. Melissa has adopted a mild but effective leadership in that regard, using each periodic stop in the rest facility to gather her “day” ensemble together, article by article. She reserves donning her pearl necklace to the moment DeMille is about ready to end the meeting. Her incremental progress across the morning is an exercise in leadership much more effective than the somewhat startling motion of Splash, thinning hair uncombed and waving his tablet in the air.

DeMille is firm and attempts to keep the reconstruction of the week’s events moving forward into something coherent. “So, how is the open border thing working out? Thoughts on that?”

Splash had not got over his agitation from the news yesterday. “They say the lady that got stabbed yesterday actually had 60 wounds, not 58. Accuracy is important. And it is 20,000 illegals crossing the border every day. Think about that. 140,000 a week, with 38 weeks left to go in 2022.”

“That is bewildering. How can that be a national policy? How can anyone articulate a policy saying we need to take in…what…140,000 times 52? That is over seven million new people, all of whom appear to need some help. How are we supposed to deal with that?” DeMille’s engineering training made him seek some actual numbers on which to base objective decisions.

Loma stirred. “Remember the old rule that only a third of illegal activity actually runs into law enforcement. They were talking about 24 people on the Terror Watch List being identified already.”

Splash’s voice rose. “It doubled since yesterday. So let’s take this as a proportional sort of issue. The State of Wyoming has only 581,000 citizens. Ten times the number of people in one of our states should get anyone’s attention.”

“According to that law enforcement statistic you keep using, there could be a bunch of invisible citizens in Laramie or Cody. So relax, we may get around to completing a wall in Texas or something.” Loma is a logical fellow accustomed to dealing with the parabola of things released from his aircraft, delicately following the arc of gravity’s rainbow to a designated point on a placid planet spinning in space.

DeMille sighed. “Do we want to talk about the War in Ukraine, or the war in numbers?”

Rocket normally does not engage in conversation of any sort until sufficient stimulants have coursed through all navigable channels in his central torso. He is constantly precise about numbers, though, since failing to keep track of the ‘number of pounds of fuel’ can result in his jet falling from the sky and into the broad ocean below. “You heard a number on the flatscreen today and made a wild extrapolation of what may be an erroneous figure intended to cause alarm. I checked the Customs and Border Protection numbers this morning. They say “year to date” for 2022 is only 201,000 people.”

“That is only half of Wyoming. But I bet that is a fiscal year number, which starts in October, not January, so the number is much smaller than what you are hearing on the news.”

“Which news? The CBP numbers don’t have a date of issue, or a daily accounting. Plus, they add the qualifications you don’t see on the flatscreen. Like, ‘Inadmissibles’ is the term for people who already admitted themselves. They are categorized by Title 8 and Title 42 terms encountered at the 300 ports of entry who are seeking lawful admission into the United States. It includes individuals presenting themselves for humanitarian protection and those who withdrew applications for admission and had returned to their countries of origin but came back again. So they would better be interpreted as an “estimate.”

“Hah! I can’t even understand what they are talking about. That is like the Covid numbers. “From” and “With” had completely different meanings and produced completely different outcomes.”

“And five year old kids wearing masks in school this morning when they were the least vulnerable to the virus.”

“I think we are all a little tired of Science being used as a political tool.”

“Depends on whether you believe what the scientists are saying.”

“Belief systems get a little complicated. Science is supposed to be about testing things, questioning them to see if they are proven. Not just believing in them.”

“How about we just suggest people wear masks if they feel like it makes them safer. That is the way it worked in Japan when I lived there.” Loma was phlegmatic in his approach.

“Isn’t that where we should have started with all this?”

“The war in Ukraine is easier. The Russians have pulled out of the border area to the North, are redeploying some of those tired soldiers to the area around Mariupol, and mass artillery fire is being reported across cities in the east. Preparations for the big Victory in Europe Parade they hold in Moscow on 09 May are underway.”

“Any numbers to go along with that?”

“They say normal.”

“Thank goodness. Any unusual numbers would be something to be concerned about. But I still don’t know what a ‘Title 8 Inadmissable’ is. I can’t worry effectively without the right numbers.”

DeMille sighed. “There isn’t going to be anything reported in a way we can understand. That is the point. At least not before lunch, you now?”

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