“What’s your name?”
“C-Clarence Needham.”
“Where were you born?”
“Ohio. What does this have to do with anything?”
“Because if I let you go and I find out you lied to me, I will hunt you down and kill you.”
“I haven’t lied to you, dammit!”
“I haven’t finished asking questions yet.”
Needham chewed his lower lip and, despite the growing cold, sweat ran down his forehead.
“Who shot those guys in the riverboat three weeks ago?”
“Smythe, Lockhart, Innoko Mike, and Murphy over there.” He nodded toward the man Smolst and two soldiers were interrogating.
“What kind of rounds did they use?”
“Mercury tips.”
“Why?”
“Bachmann wants us to kill some people and he thinks we’ll only have time to get off a couple of shots.”
“What people?”
“Some Indians who he says are pushing him around.”
“How many of these pushy Indians does he want to kill?”
“We’re training to hit six people at once.”
Murphy screamed something at Smolst, drawing their attention. Smolst knocked the man flat.
“He’s got a boot knife,” Needham blurted, “and he’s fast with it!”
Murphy came off the ground and lunged at Smolst. Colonel Buhrman snapped up his rifle and shot Murphy through the head. He lowered the weapon and stared at Needham.
“You just redeemed yourself somewhat, Mr. Needham.”
Smolst walked over, glanced at Needham and then gave Buhrman a sidelong look. “I knew you were fast, Del, but that was amazingly quick.”
He gave Smolst a big grin. “I wish I could claim full credit, but Mr. Needham here told me that Murphy had a boot knife. We would have hung him anyway; he was one of the killers.”
“Well, you’ve certainly done better with Mr. Needham than I did with Murphy. I couldn’t even get him to tell us his name.”
Needham cleared his throat. “When you people came into the mercantile, Murphy knew you were looking for the shooters. He thought we could bluff it out and get away later.”
“You’ve stopped stuttering!”
“I knew I could talk my way out of your threat, but I also knew Murphy would kill me if I did.”
“You’re not out of the woods yet,” Buhrman said.
Needham’s mouth twisted into a small smile. “But I’m willing to tell you everything I know.”
Colonel Buhrman smiled in return. “Heinrich, let’s find some transport back to Tanana. We have a trap to set.”
“What about Murphy?”
“Pay someone to bury him and forget where they did it. Mr. Needham, you are my prisoner for now. Sergeant Papke and Corporal Badberg here will see to your accommodations.”
The two had come up behind Needham and he didn’t know they were there until they nudged him and pointed toward the mercantile.
“So what kind of trap do you have in mind?” Smolst asked.
“The best kind, of course!”
107
Tanana, Provisional State of Doyon, Alaska Republik
Sergeant Major Tobias answered his knock on the door.
“Colonel Yamato, please come in. The general is expecting you.”
Jerry stamped as much snow off his feet as possible and then entered the warm apartment, pulling off his large, fur-lined mittens. “I have never been this cold in my entire life!”
“Jerry, how good to see you!” Wing said, entering the room. “I see you have learned how to dress for the Alaskan winter.”
Jerry hung his parka on a hook near the door, draped his wool scarf over that and pulled off his knit cap and jammed it into the parka hood. He sat down on a chair and untied his mukluks.
“It’s a good thing I agreed to work for you folks when the weather was warm. I’m not sure I would have agreed so readily if I had already spent a winter here. The thermometer outside my cabin only goes to minus forty and the mercury has been down there for a week!”
“It’s about sixty below zero right now,” Wing said, “but you seem to be doing fine.”
He pulled off the mukluks and fished out the felt booties and put them on over his heavy socks. “I had no idea when I was given these things that they would save my life.”
“Your wolf parka is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of them.”
“Won’t it smell like wet dog if it rains?”
“You don’t wear a parka like that in the rain,” she said. “You wear your old RCAF raincoat.”
“I just hope it warms up enough to rain someday.”
Tobias and Wing both laughed.
Grisha walked into the room. “What’s all the noise? Oh, hi, Jerry, glad you made it.”
“General,” he nodded. “Good to see you, sir.”
“Jerry, you’re in my home.”
“Sorry, Grisha, this takes some getting used to.”
Wing laughed. “It’s January! You’re more set in your ways than my grandfather was.”
“Not fair, Wing,” Jerry said. “Military titles have a reason. I’ve been bending my head into the military mold for five years now. Some of this stuff is habit forming.”
“What do you hear from Magda?” she asked.
He sighed before he could stop himself. “She misses me. Hell, I miss her! She doesn’t understand why I have to be here and she has to be there.”
“Why does she have to be in Delta?” Grisha asked.
“Grisha, if my future father-in-law was more intimidating than he already is, he would be illegal.”
“What does he have to do with it?” Wing asked. “It’s Magda’s decision.”
“Well, this isn’t exactly San Francisco. I can’t just ask my fiancée to move in with me.”
“You don’t think that people who love each other don’t live together before marriage up here in the frozen north, not to mention people who just like each other?”
“Wing, I couldn’t ask her to do that!”
“You mean you haven’t? Jerry, you’re in your twenties, but you’re acting like a man in his fifties!”
“And there’s a lot of attention on me from every direction. I wear a uniform that has no tradition or history. We are all making that history and we have to be somewhat circumspect to be responsible to the People.”
“Bravo!” Grisha shouted and applauded.
“Jesus, you are my grandfather!” Wing said, feigning shock.
Jerry tried to smile but his heart wasn’t in it. “I think she has a point, you guys. Why do I need to be up here in Tanana. Couldn’t we talk by radio?”
“Sure,” Grisha said, abruptly losing his grin. “And everybody north of the 55th Parallel would be in on the conversation.”
“We don’t have secure communications of any kind?”
“A courier that you trust is about it. We use the old Russian telephone system for most of our traffic. Although we don’t need operators any more, anyone could tap into a phone line that goes for hundreds of miles through the wilderness.”
“I could act as your liaison from there if we had regular meetings. I could fly back and forth in one of the P-61s the RCAF gave us.”
Grisha’s grin flashed back. “Ah, now I understand! You get to see your girl and you get to fly!”
“I think it sounds like a good idea,” Wing said. “We need to spread our people around more.”
“But Tanana is the capital of the republic, or will be.” Grisha waved one hand in the air.
“Are you sure of that? It will be up to the first legislature to sort out—if we ever sort out the legislature.”
“Wing has a point, Grisha.” Jerry suddenly reflected that he used to think the RCAF was informal, but he had never before called his commanding officer by his first name. “Once each state gets set up and sends a delegate to the AR Council, there’s going to be a fight
over the location of the capital.”
“Well, they won’t be putting it farther north, that’s for damn sure,” muttered Grisha. “I’m just afraid that if they put it in Sealaska, the Tlingits will dominate the government.”
“Which is what the Tlingits, Aleuts, and Eskimos think the Dená are doing now,” Jerry said quietly. “Major Lauesen said his people are getting that message from all directions.”
Grisha rubbed his jaw, and stared at something only he could see. “Well, I’ll be amazed if they all send a delegate. I’m afraid they’ll all declare themselves republiks and do it all their own way.”
“They can’t afford to do that since Doyon State already has the majority of US and ROC military bases. They’ll send delegates, but the price will be a capital that isn’t on the Yukon or Tanana Rivers. I’ll put money on that,” Jerry said.
“We’ll find out next May,” Wing said. “Are you both ready for dinner? Sergeant Major Tobias and I have worked up something we think will please you both.”
108
Delta, Provisional State of Doyon, Alaska Republik
Pelagian came through the door, kicked it shut behind him, and dropped the load of firewood in the dented and scarred box next to the stove.
“I think it’s warmed up to about twenty below.”
Magda diced carrots furiously. “This is the longest winter I can ever remember. These carrots are about gone.”
Bodecia looked from the roast she was preparing and smiled at her daughter. “That’s because you’ve never had a reason to look forward to the arrival of spring before this.”
“I’ve always welcomed spring, Mother! It’s almost magical how the ground thaws and plants appear. Leaves suddenly pop out on the trees, the air warms and the world becomes a different place.”
She looked up from the carrots to see her parents regarding her with smiles.
“This is also the first spring you’ve been in love,” Bodecia said. “That always puts a different spin on things.”
Magda grinned. “Yes, I freely admit—”
A roar thundered through the house and Magda felt elation flash through her entire being.
“That’s Jerry!” She dropped her knife and ran outside.
She watched the P-61 circle around in the distance and come tearing back toward her. She jumped up and down and waved madly as the aircraft again zoomed over the house, waggling its wings.
Bodecia came out and touched her daughter’s shoulder. “Get your coat and some warm footwear. Rudi is already warming up the truck.”
With a laugh Magda raced back into the house. She felt like she could have run to the aerodrome dressed the way she was, but knew that would be foolish, let alone dangerous.
As she slipped into her mukluks, she remembered stories of people who, after a long spell of severely cold weather, would rush outside with little protection when the temperature rose to minus twenty degrees Fahrenheit, and suffer frostbite.
She pulled on her parka and zipped it shut. As she went out the back door while pulling on her mittens, Bodecia called to her.
“Why don’t you invite Jerry to dinner?”
She chuckled as she slammed the door on her parents’ laughter. The drab utility sat wreathed in a cloud of its own exhaust, running smoothly. Rudi and Pelagian had rebuilt the engine and the little VAZ, as Rudi called it, purred like a contented cat. She slid into the passenger seat and smiled at Rudi.
“A soon as I hear plane in distance I crank up utility, knowing you will wish ride as soon as possible, yes?”
“You’re such a smart man, Rudi. I’m very happy you decided to stay with us.”
“I am honored your parents allow me to intrude into your lives. Otherwise would have had to join Dená Army for rations and place to sleep. Now am proud resident and proprietor of finest garage in Russ—ah, Alaska Republik.”
Magda laughed with him. At this point she would have laughed with anyone. But she was pleased that the former Russian sergeant had accepted Pelagian’s offer of the room over the garage.
The garage was nearly as big as the house with space for two vehicles as well as a spacious workshop in the rear. A large woodstove in the corner of the workshop kept the entire building comfortable as its stack went through the ceiling of the shop into the second-story room before going through the roof. They had all been surprised at Rudi’s deft touch with engines and other things mechanical.
Pelagian immediately helped Rudi start an engine repair business and rented half the garage and all of the shop and upstairs room to Rudi for a percentage of his revenue. It also didn’t hurt that Rudi was almost pathologically protective of the whole family and that the dogs loved him.
“Cermanivich Services” already had a backlog of work that would take him through spring to finish. Magda noticed he wore clean clothes instead of his customary greasy mechanic’s coveralls.
“How did you get cleaned up so quickly?”
He smiled and kept his eyes on the icy road. “Was apprised of impending arrival of the lieutenant colonel so as to be prepared.”
She stared out at the snow-laden trees lining the road for a moment.
“How long have you known he was coming?”
Their headlights bounced off the six-foot snowbanks on each side of the road. Except for them, the road lay empty.
“Two days, I think.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“And ruin happy pilot arrival? Not in script, sorry.”
“Why, you plotter, you!”
“Please, both Pelagian and Bodecia also know of this, not just poor, lowly mechanic.”
“I’m surrounded by plotters!” Magda couldn’t be happier. She realized if she had known Jerry was coming, she would have been a total mess at this point. But, still!
By the time they traveled the four miles to the aerodrome next to St. Anthony Redoubt, the short day had descended into total darkness and the lights of the aerodrome looked particularly inviting in the frigid afternoon. A quick glance at the sky promised no deeper cold this night as the clouds that hid the stars also kept the air temperature constant.
Rudi pulled up in front of the office where pilots checked in and filed flight plans. Magda was out of the utility cab before it had stopped moving and raced through the office door.
Dominick Demientieff looked up from a book. “Can I help you? Oh, hi, Magda. What’s up?”
She frowned. “Didn’t a plane just land here? One buzzed our house …”
Jerry’s voice came from behind her, “Yeah, a plane just landed. What’s so important about it?”
She turned and jumped into his arms, kissed him deeply and tried not to cry. They broke the embrace only when Dominick cleared his throat.
“Why don’t you two go find someplace a little more appropriate?”
“Oh, Dominick, you’re such a stick in the mud!” she said with a giggle. She turned back to Jerry. “But I think he has a good idea there. Whattya say, soldier?”
He hadn’t stopped staring at her since their embrace. “I have missed you so much!” His voice went husky. “I’m not sure I can wait until August to marry you.”
“Me too,” she said. “You’re invited to dinner by the way.”
“Let’s go. Hey, thanks for everything, Dominick.” He grabbed a duffel bag near the door.
“Good seeing you, Jerry. Have a great time you two.”
Jerry held the truck door open and Magda scooted over next to Rudi; he threw the duffel into the back and slid in beside her.
Once the door closed, Jerry leaned forward and shook hands with Rudi.
“I hear you’ve become the proprietor of your own business, Sergeant Cermanivich.”
“Please, no longer sergeant. Am now happy civilian and part owner of good business. Is good to see you, Jerry.”
“Magda mentioned something about dinner. I’m starved.” He put his left arm around her and pulled her tight against him.
Rudi turned and drove back to
ward the house.
“I talked him into it, folks.”
“Who is him?” Rudi asked.
“General Grigorievich.”
“And what is ‘it’?” Magda asked.
“To be stationed in Delta.”
“When?” She all but shrieked.
He looked down at her and the dash lights reflected off his smile. “As of now.”
By the time Rudi pulled up in front of the house, Magda had regained control of herself. She thought her heart would burst when Jerry told them the news.
I hope I always feel this way about him.
As she and Jerry exited, Rudi said, “Will be in directly to share happy meal with all.”
“Thanks for the ride, Rudi,” Jerry said.
“I owe you many more, my friend.”
Magda rushed into the house and shouted, “He’s being stationed here! Isn’t that wonderful?”
Once Jerry removed his cold weather clothing, he hugged Bodecia and Pelagian in turn.
“Magda, please help me finish preparing dinner,” Bodecia said.
She frowned and started to protest before remembering he was going to be here from now on. They had time, a lot of time.
“Of course, Mother.”
“Do you have something for me?” Pelagian asked Jerry.
“Yes, sir, I do.” He pulled an envelope out of his jacket and handed it to the large man.
Pelagian ripped it open and eagerly read the message. Both Magda and Bodecia watched him as he walked across the room, opened the firebox on the wood stove and threw in the letter and envelope.
“Well, that was certainly dramatic!” Bodecia said in a tone that demanded enlightenment.
“Well, the main gist of it all is that I am running for First Speaker of the Alaska Republik.”
The way the words rolled off his tongue told Magda that he was taken with the idea.
“We don’t even know if we have a republik yet!” Bodecia snapped.
“Why are you upset?” Pelagian said.
“Because you haven’t talked to me about this at all, and here you are, putting yourself and us in the crosshairs of every mentally deficient, politically frustrated, would-be messiah out there. Did it occur to you that we might want some input into this momentous decision?”
“Bodecia, my love, nobody outside this room knows anything about it. I’ll happily listen to anything you and Magda have to say about it.”
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