Discomfort

I was trading with some ships in the area of The Island, when a patrol craft for the Junta that has taken over after the civil war hove into view.

I was doing no wrong. I have permission to fish in those waters, and to tend to some of the traps and projects that I had started there in the past years.

Apparently the Newcomer had seen me there and was distressed, so the Junta dispatched patrol boats to examine what I was doing.

The ships around me, however, made clear that I was tolerated and welcomed, and so the patrol boat withdrew without bothering me at all.

It came back out again after the ships had left, and I was poling away. The captain, a rebel faction member if ever I've seen one, addressed me over the loudhailer, and explained that I was responsible for discomfort of the Newcomer, because I had not declared my intention to be near the Island.

When I replied that in fact I had told the trading ships I would be there, and that they had passed the relevant information to the coast guard, I was informed, again via loudhailer, that this was not sufficient, and that in fact I was, in the future, to ensure that all my travels near the Island were to be filed with the Island in advance so that the Newcomer would not be distressed.

I don't mind letting the Islanders know when I will be nearby, as an exile it is only fair for them suspect me. It's taking the blame for someone else's reaction to me that chafes...