“We’re going to Toby’s house. Don’t wait up!” she said as she dragged him bodily into the hallway.
“Take Floyd out one last time for me, would you?” I asked, not looking for confirmation as I guided Terri into my bedroom and closed the door behind us.
TIME FLIES BY
Terri never left my side that week. My stress and discomfort disappeared. The twins freely welcomed her into our home, and I could not have asked for better from them. I only apologized to Madison’s memory one time and that was for spending an entire year distanced from our children. I promised her that I wouldn’t miss another day, but to do that, I needed help. I needed Terri’s help.
I knew that Madison had liked her and that made it easier. Terri told me that she had been in love with me from when we first met. That made me laugh out loud. I thought she wanted to scratch my eyes out for being a man who had invaded their secret compound. All I ever wanted was to see people happy, and she realized that quickly. I replied that it was what any Marine would do. She disagreed, and we disagreed about much, but in a friendly way and after a healthy conversation, one of use would change our opinion, or we’d agree to disagree.
It didn’t get any better than that, but I was getting less sleep, although the reasons for that brought a big smile to an older man’s face. Terri was only five years younger than me, but had the energy of someone much younger.
I kept my BioLite stove cranking at all times to keep the satellite phone charged since I was on it almost constantly. Frank was on his way to Valdez, and I wanted to meet him there. Sumitomo was sending a representative as well. I expected they’d probably meet in Bellingham to catch the once-a-week ferry to Valdez. It was a small vessel, but there was enough of a demand that it still operated. Ten to twenty people would pay an exorbitant sum for the ship to go to Valdez where ten to twenty people were willing to pay that same amount to get the hell out of there.
I also wanted to hand-deliver our declaration of independence to the U.S. Government liaison. That person had an office in Valdez which was the first point that made me angry. Our largest body of people and central government were in New Fairbanks, but they couldn’t be bothered with sending someone to a place that austere. They told us to move. That was when I had my first inclination that our relations were going south.
I didn’t pitch a fit like I should have, but the U.S. Embassy was still in Tel Aviv and not in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, so if they couldn’t win that battle, the protectorate of Alaska had no chance. I tried to pick my battles wisely, but they threw up roadblock after roadblock, finally disappearing almost in entirety last year.
I wondered if our liaison was still there, so I dialed his satellite phone and he picked up after letting it ring for a long term. “Bustamante,” the gruff voice said.
“Governor Nagy here. How are you doing, Dick?” I asked. His name was Richard and he preferred Rich. I didn’t like the guy.
“Fine. What do you want?”
“Really? That’s how our liaison talks to me. That’s really nice. If nothing else, Dick, I’m a goddamned human being. Maybe you could be less of a prick.” I shook my head as I had not wanted the conversation to go this way.
“Yeah, whatever, sorry. What do you need, Chuck?” the man asked.
“I’d like to meet you. Will you be in Valdez in about ten days?”
“Sorry, Chuck. I’m in Colorado right now. Not sure when I’ll be back,” he said flatly.
“Interesting. As per Alaska’s written agreement with the United States, the liaison is to provide notification when the office is unmanned. Is someone there?” I doubted that since the satellite phone was in Richard’s hands.
“No,” he replied simply without further elaboration.
“So be it.” I clicked off, hanging up on the man. I thought about it for a second and realized that helped us. Abdication of compliance with our agreement was an indication that the United States had backed away. Cutting ties was now easier. If he tried to return, we’d simply refuse him entry to our sovereign nation.
“Did you really need to call him Dick?” Terri looked at me with her eyebrows raised.
“Are you the new first lady?” I asked her, semi-serious.
“I think partner in crime is more apropos,” she replied smoothly as she slid in next to me on my recliner. Floyd was at my feet, having given up trying to get between us. He howled mercilessly the first night until we finally let him in. He assumed his position in the middle of the bed. It took more moose jerky than I wanted to convince him to adjust. Terri was fine with him on the bed, which was important to me. He was our protector and I felt safe with him near, although I felt safe with Terri there, too.
She was in the master class of gardeners and had reestablished one of the surviving greenhouses west of the city. It had been almost a week and I had not yet talked to her about her. I was forever a buffoon.
“What am I keeping you from?” I asked her. She cocked her head at me, not answering my too-broad question.
“You’ve not been back to your home or the greenhouse since, well, since that day,” I maneuvered smoothly in my own mind.
She chuckled. “You can’t say it, can you?” she taunted. I bit my lip, knowing that she was right. “We made love, Chuck. We made love as only people in love do. You know me. I haven’t been with a man in a long, long time. At one point, I thought that I never would again, but you made me feel differently, and I changed my mind. I knew that the only one I would ever be with would be you, and I didn’t realize that until after Madison passed away. But I waited until you were ready. Monday was that day, and I will celebrate it for as long as I live and I hope that we celebrate it together. That was a big day for me and if anyone asked, that is the day we became partners in life. So, if you want to call me the first lady, I’m good with that. Just don’t call me Dick.”
We both laughed, but I hugged her to me and wouldn’t let go, even when the phone started ringing. I stopped her when she reached for it. “I’ll call them back. So, what are we wearing to my sixteen-year-old daughter’s wedding?”
“The nicest things we have. I have to say that I’ve looked in your closet, Chuck. It’s grim in there. I don’t think she’ll mind if you wear jeans and a plaid shirt. It’s what we all have. You have blood on most of yours, though. What’s with you, Chuck? Is it your desire to leave a blood trail across the expanse of Alaska?” she asked, clenching her mouth as she talked.
She was upset at how many times I’d been cut or injured in the past fourteen years. “My defense is that I have not been injured since you came into my life. So there. You’re good for me.”
“You need someone to watch over you full time. My lord, what have I signed up for?” she teased.
“Sorry, no takebacks,” I responded with a whistle, while fondling her butt. She let it go on for a while before getting up, careful not to step on Floyd.
“You call whoever back. I need to run to my place and see what I have to wear for tomorrow. Don’t hurt yourself while I’m gone. Floyd? You look after him now,” she commanded. I watched her go, happy with what I saw and felt. It was nice to feel again.
I picked up the phone and saw a Japanese number that was unfamiliar. I called it back, knowing that it was early morning there. A man answered right away.
“Governor Nagy, so glad you called back,” he stated in nearly flawless English. I was intrigued at who this newcomer was. I waited for him to continue, but it appeared that he was waiting for me.
“This is Governor Nagy. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with and what about?” I asked, more straightforward than was proper, but I was still out of sorts from the call with Dick. “I don’t mean to be abrupt, but there’s not much power left in the battery and we need to be brief so I can get this back on the charger. I get too many calls, if you know what I mean.”
“I am Kuro Suzuki
and I represent a certain trade consortium that would very much like access to Alaska’s natural resources. We are led to believe that you can grant us access, and that we no longer need to go through the United States.” I wondered about the probing, but he was correct to ask and this was more in line with how the Japanese discussed issues.
“You are correct in your beliefs,” I said noncommittally.
“Then we would like to see a twenty-year access to the waters within the twelve-mile limit. This is very important to us, and for that access we will pay a twenty-percent fee.” I leaned back, as this was a strong-arm tactic and not Japanese at all.
“We would have to talk about that as we cannot allow unlimited fishing in our waters. We have to let a certain amount of salmon through in order to feed those living along the coast, rivers, and streams,” I replied, not in a hurry for such an open proposal.
“We would need an answer by tomorrow in order to take advantage of the last of this season’s run. I hope you see how time is of the essence for us,” he answered.
“If you are thinking this year, then why the twenty-year requirement? I’m sure we can come to an agreement for now, but anything later would have to be thoroughly vetted and reviewed by the experts on our committees,” I said to add some ambiguity to the conversation. I needed time.
“If we were to just take the fish, there is nothing you could do about it,” he threatened. I wanted to choke him. I felt helpless, but I wasn’t.
“Mr. Suzuki, that’s uncalled for. I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement in time, assuming that your fishing trawlers have not already left. I may not be able to reach you, but I expect Sumitomo and METI can. I have leverage on them. And then next year, if there is illegal fishing, we will send those ships to the bottom of the ocean, no questions asked. We will have that capability at that time. Many things are in the works, so sure, short term, you can take advantage of us, but long term, you’ll lose. That isn’t quite a Japanese attitude and you wouldn’t have called if you didn’t intend to negotiate. So to start with, one year, no net more than a mile long and no more than ten vessels in one geographic area defined as a four-hundred-square-mile block of the ocean,” I told him, recalling the Council’s discussions from years ago when we received our first request. We’d had no way to monitor it, so we denied it. I had no doubt there was illegal fishing, but Kuro Suzuki was correct in that there was nothing we could do about that.
“I think we will find that acceptable and look forward to future conversations. You can always reach me at this number. I will call back in a few more hours when my staff has had time to put more details together regarding our proposal.”
“I appreciate it, and I want to thank you for your willingness to discuss it like a professional. I think we understand each other, Mr. Suzuki, and I also look forward to continuing our conversation and realizing success in both our mutual interest.”
“Very good, Mr. Nagy. Until then.” Kuro Suzuki hung up the phone. I looked at the blank paper in my hand, almost forgetting that I needed to capture the information before I forgot it. I started scribbling, still bothered by his aggressive tone. I wondered what the real issue was that made him work like that. Maybe he’d studied in America and that was why he handled the negotiations with Americans. I smiled. Maybe I wasn’t that anymore. I thought about how that worked but not for very long. Once we declared our independence, I expected that the U.S. would cancel all of our passports. Would they be that petty? I didn’t know, but we had to be prepared for it.
I checked in with Frank as he was driving west with three days left to get the last fifteen hundred miles. He was comfortable that he’d be at the ferry early. He wanted to load up on items to bring based on our earlier conversations. Survival equipment, plus everything to run an international trade office. His truck looked like an OfficeMax delivery. He also pulled a trailer, at my request, with two barrels that he’d fill with gasoline and a generator. He would need power for the office. Frank’s positive attitude made things much easier on me. We could talk about the business of starting a new country as opposed to wasting time lamenting the hardships that were inevitable.
Frank was a trooper. I would move heaven and earth to meet him in Valdez. That meant as soon as the wedding was over, I’d work out what I had to do. Probably take the airport truck, which meant taking Lucas to keep it running. And Floyd because Floyd always went with me wherever I went. I wondered if Terri wanted to come. Of course, I would ask her and carefully lay out my case on why she should. I would assume nothing as the decision was hers.
Which made me wonder where my kids were. They’d made themselves scarce since Terri moved in, and that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted them close by as sounding boards for everything I was putting in motion.
Time was flying by. I wanted to check on our food stocks to make sure we had enough of everything for us, the sled dogs, and Floyd; our household had doubled in size over the past week, much to my initial alarm, but I got used to it quickly. I heckled Toby about shooting me, but vowed to stand without assistance at the wedding. Aeryn tried to punch me, but I dodged away, almost falling down as pain stabbed through my leg. Terri and Aeryn had some words, but in the end, they hugged and cried together. Toby disappeared upstairs, which I appreciated as it was what I would have done if I could have.
When Terri returned from her house, she brought a huge duffle of clothing, including coats.
“How did you carry all that?” I asked as she struggled to move with the bag on her back. “Just put it there. We’ll carry it upstairs in smaller chunks. My God! Is that it? You’ve completely moved out of your other place? What about the greenhouse?” I asked in a rush, unsure of how I was supposed to feel.
“I’ve turned over the day-to-day operation of the greenhouse to Alexey and his wife Alyona. They’ve worked so hard, they deserve their chance. The good news is that we have access to anything growing so we’ll have fresh stuff through the winter.” She smiled warmly, and I couldn’t take my eyes from her.
“Do I deserve this?” I asked out of the blue.
“Of course you do, dear. Everyone deserves to be happy, especially someone like you who gives so much of himself to others,” she purred, taking a knee beside my recliner to be at eye level with me.
“I know that I don’t deserve that kind of praise. You didn’t see me and Floyd eat all of Toby’s moose jerky. Deep down, I think that’s why he shot me. It had nothing to do with Aeryn. It was the base instinct of defending one’s food. He was a total caveman!” I declared triumphantly. She shook her head and slowly started taking off her clothes.
Then Charles walked in, and the music playing in my head stopped. Terri gave me a quick kiss then headed off to take a shower.
Without me. So I did the next best thing. I gave orders and acted large and in charge. “Charles, please put this bag in my room.” He grabbed the bag on his way past, not breaking stride, and headed upstairs. I heard the thump as it landed on the floor over the living room. There was a bathroom in the master bedroom and a second common bathroom downstairs. No one used my bathroom except me, well not until five days ago. I heard the shower running. Shane had designed an ingenious gravity fed shower that we pumped water into in the summer. It was heated in the attic space using power from solar panels. The Community didn’t have many of those, but I was the guinea pig. The system worked fine for half the year anyway.
I got up, happy that my leg wasn’t hurting all the time. I started to make my way upstairs, looking forward to getting naked and heading into the shower.
Then the phone rang. Damn. Had it been three hours already?
THE WEDDING
I had no idea if Aeryn had a wedding dress. I had no idea who her maid of honor was. I had no idea about anything except the time and place of the ceremony. Terri told me not to worry.
“What do you know that I don’t know?” I asked her.
/> “Some things are not a father’s to know. Maybe you should just go and enjoy the moment, celebrate with your daughter,” Terri replied, looking sideways at me. I’d learned that that look was her way of putting an exclamation point on her statement, although she always spoke calmly. We rode our bikes slowly from our home, taking our time on our trip to the community center. We’d left almost two hours early, hoping to help with any last minute details.
“I’ve been a complete buffoon, you know,” I started. She raised her eyebrows at me. When she spoke, her words were worth listening to. When she didn’t speak, that’s when I had to listen best of all. “I have asked you so very little about yourself. All these years and I don’t know. Have you ever been married? Do you have kids?”
“Yes and no. I was married to an officer at JBER, the base outside Anchorage, but we were separated and that’s why I was in Denali. I was finding myself and the Russians found us instead,” she said bitterly.
“I’m sorry to bring it up. I want to know about you. I want to hear your stories,” I fumbled for the words, upset at opening old wounds.
“You want to know about me? What have you been doing the past ten years, Chuck? Tell me, who do you think I am?” she asked me, and I wasn’t sure about the back and forth, whether I’d gone where I shouldn’t have gone. She was my new lover. We were incredible together and I felt that she made me stronger, but did I make her feel the same way?
I hesitated a long time in my response, not wanting to patronize her with shallow platitudes. “When I first met you, you tried to shoot me. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that,” I chided. “You were doing the same thing that I was doing, protecting your people. When we became co-mayors, we fought, but never anything personal. We may have had different ideas how to get someplace, but we always agreed that there was a better place to get to. You have energy for anything you believe in and patience to learn about the rest. Although you are a beautiful woman, your real beauty is on the inside. There is nothing you won’t do for someone you love.” I stopped my bike and stood there, straddling the pedals. Terri braked and walked her bike backward to be next to me. Her eyes glimmered in the morning sun. It was cool and we had light jackets over our hearty Alaskan plaid.
Fury (End Times Alaska Book 4) Page 10