Stoney Compton: Alaska Republik

“Wake up, Lieutenant,” Pelagian said from somewhere in the clouds. “We’re leaving soon.”

Jerry let the dream ebb as he lay in his wadded blankets. The ubiquitous daylight felt cool to his sweating face. The aroma of cooking food brought him completely awake.

After rolling his blankets together he set them near Rudi’s litter. The sergeant smiled at him.

“Fighting dream battle, yes?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Have been in army long time, it happens to most.”

“How long until the dreams stop?”

“I’ll tell you when mine do.”

Jerry thought about that for a moment, and then shook his head. “So, how do you feel, Sergeant Cermanivich? You look better than the last time I saw you.”

“For first time since Colonel Lazarev’s tank was blown off ridge, I don’t hurt. People rarely appreciate lack of pain. But from now forward, I do.”

Bodecia walked over and handed them both bowls of food. “If you wish to heal, Sergeant, you will stay in that litter for two more days. Then you may walk on your own, if you are capable.”

Jerry looked down at his bowl, potatoes and six small eggs fried sunny-side up.

“I feel good to walk now.”

“If you walk today, you will be dead by the end of tomorrow. You have many injuries, which need at least that long to begin healing. Two more days in the litter and you may live to see grandchildren.”

“Where did you get fresh eggs?” Jerry asked.

Bodecia nearly smiled. “Birds lay them everywhere, you just need to know where to find them.”

“I’m glad you knew. Thank you.”

Bodecia actually smiled and nodded her head before turning back to her family sitting around the campfire.

“Please help me sit up,” Cermanivich said.

Jerry grabbed the man’s wrist and hauled him to a sitting position. It took much less effort than he thought it would. Rudi gasped, sat still for a long moment, then began eating and looking around at the same time.

“We are not in last remembered location. River is different, and ridge is gone. Who carried me here?”

Between bites Jerry told him about the dogs and the litter lash-up.

“You helped carry me?”

“I told you, our war is over until we can return to our own people. Don’t you agree?”

Cermanivich looked up from his food. “I agreed in concept, I never believe you mean it.”

“Oh hell, Rudi, I don’t mean it. I’m going to shoot you the first chance I get.”

“Do not believe that, either,” Rudi said with a laugh. “You are very different from other armies I have fought. I do not think you are good soldier, but you are good man, for which I remain grateful.”

“Thanks, I think,” Jerry said, running back over it in his mind, trying to decide if he should feel insulted.

Pelagian loomed over them before sitting next to the litter. “We will sleep in Delta the day after tomorrow, if you both can handle the pace. I realize that neither of you are Yukon Cassidy.”

Rudi lay back and grinned. “Is no problem for me.”

“Lieutenant?” The blue eyes gleamed at Jerry.

“I’ve had a night’s sleep and a full meal, you bet I can handle it.”

“Good. Today you wear the harness in front.”

“But I don’t know where I’m going.”

“Just follow Magda,” Pelagian gave him a wolfish grin. “You can do that, can’t you?”

“Definitely,” Jerry said, holding the man’s gaze. “Who’s Yukon Cassidy?”

“A warrior of legend, and he holds his own. I am honored to have him as a friend.”

“Will I meet him?”

“If you are fortunate.”

A half hour later they stretched out down the trail headed north. Jerry found his stride and, in addition to watching Magda in front of him, appreciated the landscape around them. They climbed a ridge and dropped down into a wide valley.

In the distance Jerry noticed a mountain he had seen from his plane. At this elevation it loomed even more majestically. He called ahead to Magda, “What do you call that?”

She glanced back to see where he pointed, followed the direction with her eyes and came to a complete stop.

“That is Denali. A holy place for our people and the heart of the Dená Nation.”

“Oh. It sorta reminds me of Mt. Shasta back in the Republic.”

She turned to him, eyes shining. “You also have a holy mountain?”

“Not everybody regards it that way, but yes.”

Bodecia walked back down the trail to them, her eyebrows arched. “May we continue now?”

Pelagian chuckled and said in a low voice, “I wouldn’t waste any more time if I were you.”

Jerry grinned back over his shoulder. “I thought you were in charge here.”

“A woman is not property, and husbands who think otherwise are living in a dream world. My friend Bob told me that and he was right.”

“He sounds like wise man,” Rudi commented. “Is permissible to sing?”

“No!” Jerry and Pelagian said simultaneously.

“You two worry me.”

The lower elevations of the valley brought more water, standing and active. They forded two cold, fast-moving creeks. Jerry noticed early that they followed a trail; a mere suggestion in some places and well defined in others. Now the trail bore unmistakable wheel tracks as well as those of human and animal.

“How much farther to Delta?” Jerry asked Magda.

She dropped back and in a low voice said, “Just beyond the mountain you see in the distance there.” She pointed. They were going through a vast stretch of willows, more bushes than trees; the tallest stood no more than two meters.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Because we are very near a redoubt, and we do not wish to explain your presence to the Russians.”

“Listen to her,” Rudi said in a low voice. “They would kill us all.”

“Even you?” Jerry whispered.

“I am among enemies and still breathe, therefore traitor to the Czar. The Imperial Russian Army is bereft of nuance or sentiment.”

“Do you want to go in alone?”

“How to explain presence in this condition? I am too many versts from my command, perhaps deserter? No, I stay with you.”

A birdcall drifted back and Pelagian snapped, “Quiet! Get off the trail.”

Magda spoke to the dogs and they followed her into the brush. She led them down into a small depression and spoke again. All four dogs quietly lay down, tongues lolling. Pelagian slipped out of his sling and pulled a hatchet from the pack Magda had carried.

“You all wait here quietly,” he said. He disappeared toward the trail.

Jerry unbuckled the harness and gratefully let it slide to the ground. Not since flight school when he was a cadet had he expended this much effort on a continuous basis. He eased to the ground next to Rudi’s litter and fell into a light doze.

Something pressed firmly over his mouth and his eyes popped open to see Magda holding her other hand up, index finger over her mouth. He nodded his head and she took her hand off him. She handed him his automatic.

He dropped the clip enough to see it was still full. As he quietly pressed the clip back into the pistol butt, he looked around, finally catching Magda’s eye again. He elaborately shrugged.

She knelt down beside him and pointed toward the wall of brush between them and the trail. Suddenly he heard the voices. Unknown voices, speaking Russian.

Jerry slowly pulled the barrel back on the automatic until he could see the round in the chamber. He glanced around.

Rudi lay belly down on his litter, holding a huge revolver in both hands and aiming toward the voices. Both Pelagian and Bodecia were nowhere to be seen. Jerry’s heartbeat increased and his mouth felt dry.

The summer sun beat down from a cloudless sky and mosquitoes circled round them. Sweat stung his eyes but he didn’t move. The voices were no more than fifteen meters away; he could hear boots scuffing the small rocks and dirt on the trail despite the breeze high in the willows. The constant wind wasn’t strong enough to get down to where he crouched.