Hank Williams Jr. was now singing of a friend killed in New York City…
II.
The man Mac had tagged as Carol Denny stood just inside the now closed door of Freedom Tavern and briefly surveyed the room, his right hand resting atop the butt of small electric powered gun that shot a high voltage arc toward its intended target not to kill, but to merely stun. Such weapons were carried by all law enforcement officials working under the New United Nations. Deadly force was looked down upon, though recent history proved N.U.N. more than willing to use it upon private citizens when they deemed it necessary.
Mac stepped forward with his hands up in a mocking gesture of surrender.
“No need to come in here guns blazin’ Carol. We are just sitting a spell out from the cold. Harmless old men is all we have here.”
Carol’s mouth twitched as his eyes continued to dart about until they rested upon me.
“You have a new guest Mac?”
Mac turned nodded his head in my direction and smiled back at Denny.
“Sure do Carol – kid from the Lower 48. Come here for a little downtime. Just like the rest of us.”
Carol Denny took two careful steps toward me while continuing to question Mac.
“You know you’re required to notify me of any new arrivals Mac. Every time you try and bend the rules you make it tougher on me to let you people alone up here. Now I have to create a report on this new arrival of yours and note you didn’t comply with the notification requirement.”
“Now Carol, he just got here. Give me a break. Second, he’s not really my guest, and I’m guessing you already know that. The person who took care of the arrangements in getting here, that was the Old Man. So if you want to complain about somebody not giving you timely notification…well…you’re welcome to take that up with him yourself.”
Carol Denny puffed out his chest defiantly and looked at Mac with attempted contempt.
“Maybe I’ll go ahead and do that Mac. Nobody living up here is immune from the mandates. Not you. Not him. Not anybody. You know that. We all know that.”
“So should I bring him here, the Old Man?”
Carol’s eyes lowered to the floor and he shifted nervously while trying to appear disinterested in the request. Mac took a step closer to him.
“Or I could take you to his cabin Carol, if that’s what you want.”
Carol Denny drew himself to his full height, which still left him several inches shorter than Mac, shook his head and then pointed at me as he spoke.
“That won’t be necessary Mac. I’m not here about the Old Man. I’m here about HIM.”
“What do you want with him Carol?”
“Just a brief interview Mac – have to do my job. I don’t want to have to come up this way any more than you and everyone else wants to see me here. You know that. I just need to ask a few questions. No big deal, ok?”
Mac looked over at me and raised his eyebrows, wanting to know if I was ok with being questioned.
‘That’s fine,” I replied. “Could we just do it here, over at that table?”
Carol shrugged.
“Hell, I don’t care. If you don’t mind other people hearing what you have to say. Otherwise, we could just do it in my vehicle outside.”
I walked to a small table seated up against a wall and sat down facing the door. Carol Denny sat down across from me, as Mac stared down at both of us before looking directly at Carol.
“Try to keep this to a minimum, ok Carol? The kid just got here and I imagine he’s tired and hungry.”
Carol looked back up at Mac and gave a small smile.
“Sure Mac. I’ll keep it brief and even pretend there’s no smoking going on in here. Or that the three men you have watching me aren’t armed with illegal weapons. That sound fair? I could cite this place of yours with about twenty violations easy, right? More than enough to take you in. Is that what you want Mac? Because if it’s not, then please shut the hell up, and let me do my job.”
Mac leaned down and placed his face inches from Carol’s, hissing his own response to Carol’s newfound courage.
“You and I both know that won’t happen Carol – you’re gonna need a hell of a lot more than that little electrical pea shooter to take me in. So don’t be trying to write a check you can’t cash, son. Don’t come into my home and make threats. Right? You got ten minutes and then you’re gone. Ten minutes Carol, or you and me, we’re gonna have ourselves a real disagreement.”
Whatever courage Carol Denny had shown so recently quickly evaporated under the direct gaze of Mackenzie Walker. Mac’s eyes now appeared almost reptilian, no hint of emotion, looking at Carol just as a snake would look into the eyes of a rodent just before consuming it whole. For the first time since arriving in Dominatus I fully understood and appreciated what my father meant when he described Mac as “the most dangerous man I have ever called a friend.”
Carol Denny’s eyes darted away from Mac and looked back at me.
“Ok then, ten minutes and we should have this about wrapped up. Is that acceptable to you Mr. Neeson? Mr. Reese Neeson?
I must have appeared surprised he already knew who I was, because Carol quickly replied.
“Yes, I already have your name. You’re in the system of course. We all are. That’s the world we live in.”
Mac walked back behind the bar and stood looking over at us with his arms folded while the other three men remained in the same spots they were when Carol Denny first arrived. I also noted Frank Sinatra’s smooth baritone was singing of summer wind.
Carol gave me a brief smile in an attempt to put me at ease. I spotted the small camera lens attached to the front of his jacket – an audio visual transmitter that all enforcement officers of the New United Nations wore that transmitted sent a video of every moment they were on duty back to a regional headquarters – in this case the one in Anchorage, Alaska – meaning of course some government agent was watching and listening to everything happening at that moment inside Freedom Tavern.
“And what is your purpose here in Alaska Mr. Neeson?”
The question hung in the space between myself and Carol for a moment before I replied.
“Just checking it out. I had heard about it, and wanted to come up here and see it for myself.”
“See what Mr. Neeson?”
“Dominatus.”
Carol Denny was looking at me very intently now, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“And why is that? What purpose do you have traveling all the way up here to Dominatus?”
“My father had told me about it, told me it was something I might want to see.”
“How well do you know Mr. Walker?”
I could feel Mac’s stare, though I fought the urge to look over at him.
“Just met him today.”
“Oh, so you had no prior knowledge of Mr. Walker before today?”
Again I paused, taking just a few seconds to construct a response.
“I had never met him in person, that’s correct.”
“That’s not what I asked you Mr. Neeson. I asked you if you had any prior knowledge of Mr. Walker prior to today. Please answer the question.”
“I…yes…I had heard stories. From my father.”
“And how did your father know Mr. Walker?”
“He was a client.”
“Of your father’s?”
“Yes.”
‘Your father was an attorney, is that correct?”
Again I was being asked a question by Carol Denny that he apparently already knew the answer to.
“Correct.”
“And why did your father encourage you to visit here, to visit Alaska?”
I sensed the attempted trap, and remained silent.
“Mr. Neeson, I’ll ask you again. Why did your father encourage you to visit here?”
‘That’s none of your business.”
Carol Denny leaned back slightly, then folded his hands on the table and again attempted a little
smile.
“Just answer the question Mr. Neeson.”
“No, it’s none of your business.”
“Mr. Neeson, you are a visitor in my jurisdiction. I am a compliance officer of the New United Nations . I assure you, it very much is my business. So I will ask you one more time, why did your father encourage you to come here?”
The music no longer played inside the Freedom Tavern, and I saw out of the corner of my eye Mac give a brief gesture to the man seated across the room. The two men at the bar shifted in their seats and I could sense the tension in their bodies – coiled and ready to move quickly.
The silence, though only a handful of seconds, felt much longer.
Carol Denny once again leaned forward in his seat, his eyes now begging me for a response. His rounded face was kind, his left hand trembling just slightly. This was a man who did not want confrontation.
“Please Mr. Neeson, I don’t want to have to take you in. I will though. It’s…it’s my job…my responsibility to do so.”
I found myself now leaning forward as well, sensing that the older man wanted to be anywhere but here.
“Maybe you can tell me who sent you out here Officer Denny. Is that the right title? Officer?”
Carol Denny shrugged.
“Sure. It’s actually Compliance Officer Denny, but Officer Denny is fine too. I’m not stuck on titles…I’m just a guy doing his job.”
“So who sent you out here to do this job? I’ve been here just over an hour and then you show up? You must have been ordered out here almost as soon as I left the reservation.”
Officer Denny used both his hands to rub his eyes before looking back at me.
“Yes…you were being tracked since you left the Lower 48. We knew as soon as you entered Alaska, and as soon as you made the trip out here. So, I answered your question. How about you answer mine so we can wrap this up?”
“You didn’t answer my question though Officer Denny – I asked who ordered you to follow me all the way out here and interview me.”
“The Compliance Office in Anchorage, there’s your answer. Now Mr. Neeson, I’ve entertained your question long enough. Let’s get back to you answering my questions. Why did your father send you to Alaska?”
“I don’t know, you would have to ask him. He’s dead though, but you already know that, right?”
Carol Denny leaned forward again, looking over at Mac before whispering a response.
“Mr. Neeson, these people…I would suggest you turn around and go home. Nothing productive will come of this. Your personal safety…you are putting that at great risk the longer you stay here. How long do you intend to stay?”
“As long as it takes.”
“As long as what takes Mr. Neeson?”
It was my turn to shrug.
“I don’t know.”
“Mr. Neeson, I’m not going to order you to leave this place. Not yet, but I will if you remain here longer than a few days. It’s in my power to do so, and I will exercise that authority, do you understand?”
I could hear Mac’s footsteps as he strode across the room and to our table.
“Your ten minutes are up Carol, time to go.”
Officer Denny ignored Mac and continued speaking to me.
“And one more thing Mr. Neeson. I suggest to you in the strongest terms, do not transmit any unlicensed communications from this location. Do you understand what I am saying? Am I making myself absolutely clear to you?”
I inhaled sharply and sat upright. If Officer Denny knew of my transmissions, that would mean I had been closely monitored by the N.U.N. authorities for far longer than just this trip to Alaska. It also likely meant my father had long been monitored as well. How much they knew, the possibility began to form a ball of sickness in my stomach. Officer Denny was right about one thing – I faced real danger.
“Do you understand Mr. Neeson?”
Before I could reply, Mac’s hand came down upon Denny Carol’s shoulder and he repeated his earlier statement.
“Time to go Carol, NOW.”
Carol Denny quickly stood up and as he did so his right hand held the electrical charge device that had just a mere half second before been holstered at his side. I was stunned at how quickly he moved - how quickly he became a fully armed Compliance Officer of the New United Nations.
I was then even more stunned at how much more quickly and easily Mac disarmed Officer Denny.
The former Seal Team Six member’s movements were difficult to follow – I saw Carol’s weapon come up, and then in nothing more than a blurred flash, Mac was holding it in his own right hand, as his left hand clamped down on the right shoulder of Officer Denny and forced him back down into his seat. Carol’s face broke out into a grimace – whatever hold Mac had on his shoulder was producing a considerable amount of pain.
Mac then brought his face into the small lens of Officer Denny’s transmitter that hung on the front of his light blue New United Nations’ jacket.
“I know you shits are watching this, so make note of the fact I am allowing Officer Carol to leave here unharmed and am returning his little gun to him. He asked his questions of our guest, and now it’s time for him to go. We just want to be left alone up here do you understand? Just leave us the hell ALONE.”
Carol Denny’s eyes were darting around the room, and a thin sheet of sweat now covered his forehead. He didn’t appear upset, or even afraid, but rather genuinely concerned not for himself, but for the man who had just disarmed him.
“You shouldn’t have done that Mac. That was over the line…you…you just put everyone up here in serious danger with that stunt. You just assaulted a compliance officer. They won’t allow that to slide. The next time I’m up here, I won’t be alone. And I won’t be in charge. Dammit Mac - why did you go and do that?”
Mac appeared unconcerned with anything Officer Denny told him.
“Carol, just get back in your vehicle and drive on home. If you or anybody else wants to make this a real fight, that would be the mistake. I ain’t looking for a fight Carol, but if I have to, I’m still more than capable of bringing it.”
Office Denny’s tremble in his left hand returned, and sweat from his forehead was trickling down his cheeks as he stood back up.
“You’re an old man like me Mac. This is nuts, all of it. This tavern, the smoking, the music, the unlicensed alcohol, the weapons - this won’t end well for any of you. The Old Man, he can’t stop what’s coming now. This has gone too far. Even he is running out of friends and influence.”
Carol Denny then looked back down at me.
“If you are planning to transmit your program from here, to try and use this place as some kind of example to the rest of the world, if you engage in any kind of anti-N.U.N. propaganda, you WILL be getting these people killed. Are you aware of that? They will send the counter-compliance teams up here and wipe every last one of you out. None of you will have ever existed. Don’t you get that? Women, children, all of you, dead.”
Mac stepped between Carol Denny and I, gently pushing Officer Denny back a few steps.
“Carol, you have been giving us the doom and gloom report for…hell…it’s been at least three years now hasn’t it? I suppose sooner or later they are going to try and shut us down up here, and there isn’t a one of us who doesn’t know that and isn’t prepared for it. The question is, which side of that conflict are you going to be on? Which side do you want to make your stand? Them? Or us? The New United Nations, or what used to be the United States?”
Again Officer Denny raised himself to his full height, looking up into Mac’s eyes.
“I am a sworn compliance officer of the New United Nations. I took an oath to defend the mandates for the betterment of society. That won’t ever change Mac. You and me, we ain’t so different. But when…when it comes to my job, doing what I swore to do…I’m keeping that obligation. If it comes down to it Mac, I’ll take you down. If that’s the order, I’ll do it. Won’t take any pleasure in it
, but I’ll do it.”
Mac shook his head slowly and looked down upon Carol with tired sadness.
“We are VERY different Carol, you know that. I’m living day to day a free man. You? What you have chosen to do is something else entirely. C’mon, you sold your soul when you signed on to this New United Nations compliance officer bullshit. You know that. What were you before this? Alaskan State Patrol? Wasn’t that it? How many years was that? Fifteen – twenty years? And then what? The mandates come down, D.C. sells us all out, and you take this job. Why? For safety? For the paycheck? What was that oath you took when you signed on as a patrolman Carol? Wasn’t it an oath to uphold the constitution of the State of Alaska? To protect its citizens – its laws? When did it become acceptable to you to break that oath and put on the uniform of the New United Nations?”
Military Fiction: THE MAC WALKER COLLECTION: A special ops military fiction collection... Page 68