Harbourtown
As the news crew, Queen, and smaller group of aid workers left the grey industrial center of Harbourtown behind, work continued to help get the city back on its feet. Military activity continued in the countryside outside of the city. Battle damage was evident from the air. The fires had died down, but charred skeletal remnants stood as monuments to Romain's victory and streets were blocked by wrecks and rubble.
The peacekeepers had been thrown for a loop by the chaos of the battle and the murkiness of their own original mission parameters, but started to settle back into a sort of rhythm. General Deaton did what he could to refocus the mission on what was important: elections and refugees. Working with Attorney General Misabel to establish clearer jurisdiction and coordinate enforcement with the local police forces, the CPO Mission to New Edom would have clearer authority to protect prospective voters and displaced persons. Eventually offices were set up staffed by a combination of CPO and Edomite officers where people could report political violence, including destruction of campaign advertising, voter intimidation, or outright attacks if the local militia weren't trusted.
Sergeant Shi's most exciting days in New Edom were behind her. Instead of taking fire from ETC militia or directing refugees through a combat zone, she found herself in a relatively simple posting guarding a polling station, an theater being used for voter registration. In the street was a National Elections Committee worker in nothing but a t-shirt which said "ASK ME ABOUT VOTER REGISTRATION." At first the woman's job seemed odd to Shi, but when she overheard the voters' questions she realized how necessary it was to explain things in ways people could understand. She knew how bitter people must be after the violence she witnessed firsthand, but it was strange and interesting to see how new and alien democracy was here.
Jenson and other MPs stuck close to the airport, defending both the vital point of arrival for the CPO's supplies in addition to the growing refugee camp. Adiran and Jedorian engineers had managed to drain parts of the camp's swampy footprint, but such a low-lying area would be prone to flooding without erosion control. Drainage ditches and culverts had to be installed to manage the soggy ground amidst the city's frequent rains. Engineers laid concrete foundations for the Quonset huts used for the clinic, soup kitchen, and storage. Raised earth berms were built for tents, while the roads inside of the camp sloped off into ditches and were lined with crushed stone. MeshWalls made up the outer perimeter of the camp.
When the camp was built, the next part of the battle was getting it running. Sturdy, family-sized insulated tents were erected in orderly rows on the raised earth throughout the camp, with the amenities centrally located. The tents were customizable, with several openings to the outside which would give them options for windows and flaps inside which could be used to create separate rooms. A tent could have an entire family sharing the same large space, or it could be modified to have a central communal area connected to individual bedrooms.
The camp's infrastructure was generally the purview of the Water and Sanitation Association. Foundation personnel contacted acting city officials in the hopes of tapping into Harbourtown's electric, water, and sewer grids. Assuming all of the city's water mains weren't contaminated due to battle damage, the plan was to connect new water mains to the clinic, food distribution centers, public and private showers, and to a large number of communal water pumps servicing small groups of tents. If the municipal water was contaminated, the Foundation would have to make use of a reverse osmosis purification unit. To offset additional strain on Harbourtown's water grid, the Foundation pledged to set up rain collectors, filtration systems, and water tanks in the camp as well.
If the Foundation had access to Harbourtown's sewer systems, it would be a matter of setting up public toilets. Otherwise they would have to dig latrines, which were less than ideal in a wet climate where flooding was possible. Electricity would be used for the clinic, kitchen, and for street lights placed for security purposes. If the city's electric grid wasn't overtaxed, it would even be possible to wire up individual tents for their own lights and hot plates. Generators would be needed if the CPO's engineers couldn't get the power hooked up to Harbourtown's grid.
In terms of food, the Foundation didn't see signs of pervasive malnutrition or famine, and the food supply in Harbourtown was not seriously threatened. Organizers from the Silva Trust went into the city of Harbourtown to take stock of local markets, shops, and food distributors who would sell to the Foundation. In buying from them, the Foundation would both feed the refugees and keep local farmers and businesses afloat. The Foundation didn't want to be competing with local producers during what was already a time of considerable upheaval.
Still others, like Teachers for the Future, were in Harbourtown prepared for the eventuality that this would be a long term mission. Children growing up in the camp didn't deserve to be disadvantaged educationally by their circumstances, and education represented an opportunity to bounce back. Chelsea Bly, a Glasstower veteran, already missed the abandoned upper-class house that had been appropriated for her previous classroom. She was also acutely aware that many of her former students were members of the End Times Church, possibly caught up in this latest conflagration.
