“I would be forever in your debt, sir!”
“Get used to it.”
“Damn!” Jerry blurted before he could catch himself.
Grisha and Wing both laughed again.
“Please,” Grisha said, “let’s eat before the food gets cold.”
Jerry cut a piece of moose steak and chewed for a moment before realizing it was the absolute best moose steak he had ever encountered.
“This is incredible!” he said as he finished the first bite.
“It’s my mother’s recipe,” Wing said, “using only native herbs and the best cuts.”
“I would love to thank her!” Jerry exclaimed, taking another bite.
“You may get the chance some day. She lives in Nulato, but I give you welcome in her stead.”
Grisha dug into his meal and Jerry tried to do the same, but he felt bothered.
“Wing, earlier you said ‘I’m glad the general chose you.’ What did you mean by that statement?”
She smiled and nodded at Grisha.
Grisha frowned at Wing theatrically and suddenly Jerry realized the intense bond between them. They both completely understood the other and accepted what they found. He wished that Magda could be here to witness this with him.
“My wife speaks out of turn, which happens a lot,” Grisha said with a laugh. “But she passes judgment on you, which is not to be ignored.”
“Judgment about what?” Jerry pressed.
“I want you to be my attaché from the Republic of California. I need someone who knows the ROC military, politics, and government intimately. Someone I can trust.”
“Grisha, you just met me tonight. How do you know you can trust me?”
“By that decoration hanging around your neck. You have proven yourself to be a friend of the Athabascan People to the point you risked your life more than once. We don’t do that sort of thing for just anyone.
“Whether you like it or not, we think you’re special, Jerry. And from what I’ve heard, we’re not the only ones. You have an incredible amount of political clout in this new nation and you don’t seem to know it. I want to use you, in the best possible meaning of the term, to help keep this fledgling republik alive.”
“How do I do that?”
“Accept my offer. It might mean resigning your commission in the RCAF. But I guarantee you that you will receive a higher rank in the Dená Army and equal if not better benefits.”
“I admit to feeling somewhat dizzy at this point, Grisha.”
Grisha laughed. “Hell, man, so do I! I was a slave when I first got into this outfit and Wing helped save my life. Top that one!”
“You’re kidding me, right? You were an actual slave?”
“You want to hear the story? Wing, please grab me another beer. Well, it all started down in Akku…”
94
Delta, Dená Republik
“Pelagian, you need to wake up.”
He rolled over and looked up at Yukon Cassidy. “Why? I was up late last night campaigning.”
“You were drinking and campaigning. I know because I was there.”
“So why are you up already?”
“Because I have been in elections before—you haven’t.”
“And I must rise from my comfortable bed because?”
“Konstantin Mitkov and a number of his friends have surrounded the two polling places and are stopping everyone.”
“What?” Pelagian sat up and for the first time noticed Bodecia wasn’t beside him. “That’s not allowed.”
“Perhaps you need to tell him that. I’ll go with.”
“Where is Bodecia?” he asked, pulling on his clothes.
“I think she’s out giving Konstantin a lot of grief.”
“Shit!” Pelagian pulled on his boots and stood. “Show me!”
Bodecia stood in front of two young, burly men. As he closed on them he heard Bodecia say, “You do not have the right to stop anyone from voting.”
“I have the right,” one of the thugs said in a condescending manner, “because no one can stop me.”
Pelagian walked up behind the two men, putting his hands on their shoulders and leaning between them briefly.
“You should have listened to her,” he said and jerked his head back, “it would have saved you pain!” He slammed their heads together, dropping them in a heap.
“It’s about time you got your butt out of bed,” Bodecia said.
“You might have woken me, my love.”
“Don’t start with me, you’ll lose! You have two more coming up behind you.”
Pelagian turned as two young men stopped in their tracks and glared at him and Cassidy.
“Why you beating up our friends?” one demanded.
“Because they are assholes,” Pelagian said. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“It’s pretty easy to take two guys from behind,” the other one said. “Might be harder if you were facing them.”
“They were impeding voters. That’s against the rules.”
“What rules?” the first said with a snort.
“My rules.”
They both glanced at each other and in that instant Pelagian stepped forward and cracked their heads together, and stepped back as they fell to the ground. He looked around at Bodecia and Cassidy.
“This election work is tiring. I’m hungry. Is there breakfast to be had?”
“Perhaps. Follow me.”
“Haven’t I always?”
“Don’t be impertinent. Have you voted yet?”
“No, I’ve been busy.”
“Go back and vote. Then come over to the house; we’re feeding everyone.”
Pelagian and Cassidy walked back to the school where he’d encountered the young men. As he walked through the door someone grabbed him. It was Konstantin Mitkov.
“Who you gonna— Oh, it’s you.” His face went pale and he stepped back.
“Are you grabbing everyone who walks in here?” Pelagian demanded.
“I can ask, can’t I?”
“What do you do if they tell you it’s none of your damn business who they’re voting for?”
Konstantin’s face clouded. “I ask ’em why!”
“You are breaking the law. No one is supposed to try and tell people who to vote for.”
Konstantin grinned. “Ain’t no law like that here, yet.”
“Well, maybe this will work.” Pelagian hit Konstantin in the side of the head and the man collapsed. “Okay, someone show me how to vote for myself.”
“Can I vote here?” Cassidy asked with a grin.
“Everyone knows you’re a resident of this area; of course you can vote here,” Pelagian said.
Two old women sat at a table containing a ledger. Pelagian stopped in front of them and asked, “What do I do now, Aunties?”
“Sign your name here,” one said crisply.
“And then mark your ballot,” the other one said, holding out a small ticket of paper.
“When you’ve voted you put your ballot in there,” the first said, pointing to a keg with a slot cut into the top.
“How many people have voted so far?”
“Not too many. That jerk Mitkov keeps stopping them.”
“We’ll fix that,” Cassidy said with a bow. “May I sign the ledger?”
95
Tanana, Dená Republik
Magda watched the ground rise up to meet the RCAF transport carrying her and her parents. It had been a long time since she last flew, and the novelty was enough to keep her glued to the window.
No wonder Jerry loves this so much!
The aircraft touched down on the newly laid tarmac, courtesy of the Republic of California as an aid to their Air Force, and quickly decreased speed as the engines cut back and the flaps on the wings dropped. She couldn’t see much of Tanana from the plane window. This was her very first visit to the new capital.