17
Village of Angoon, Russian Amerika
“I would like this meeting to be extremely productive, very succinct, as brief as possible,” General Sobolof said. “For all of us to meet in one place, especially in these times, is just short of lunacy.”
The nine men in the room followed him with their eyes; nothing else moved.
“Captain Chernikoff, would you please bring everyone up to date?”
Paul Chernikoff stood and glanced around at the hard eyes now intent on his face. He nodded.
“Many of us, myself and my brother included, argued for a pact with the Japanese which we finally signed. Our shortsightedness has come home to roost much more quickly than any of us would have guessed. The Japanese are well into a conquest of our part of Russian Amerika.
“If they win, we will not only have a new master to contend with, but a much more alien one than the well-known Russians we are struggling to escape. The Japanese are multitudes of degrees more militant than the Russians, and they will enter every aspect of our lives if they succeed in this campaign.”
Colonel Fredrik Paul jumped to his feet and waited.
“Colonel Paul?”
“Do you have any suggestions on what we, as the Tlingit Nation Army, should do to prevent this from happening?”
“We are far too small to act on our own,” Chernikoff said with a shrug.
“Don’t the Dená have allies from the southern countries?” Colonel Gregori George asked.
“Yes. They have an alliance with both the United States and the Republic of California. Both of which, by the way, in the persons of their military liaisons, promised us military aid if we so wished it.”
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Dundas shot to his feet, didn’t wait to be identified. “Then why the hell aren’t they on their way with what we need?”
“Because, Colonel, my brother didn’t have the rank to agree to it.”
“Paul, he was our envoy; he had our full confidence to act as he saw fit,” Dundas said.
“That’s true, Sam, he did. But he thought if we were going to change masters, you all should have a chance to vote on which one.”
“Change masters—what do you mean?” Colonel George asked.
“We have to face reality, Colonel. Whichever country grants us military aid is going to want something for it. We don’t have gold like the Dená or oil like the Eskimos. All we have is salmon, cod, and halibut. How many guns can you get for a halibut?”
“Depends on how damn big it is!” Colonel George said with a snort. Everybody in the room laughed with him, including Paul. When the laughter died down, General Sobolof cleared his throat.
“Pietr was right on this one. They’ll want bases, treaties, more of our life than we want to surrender so quickly after winning it from the Czar.”
“So we sit on our ass and do nothing?” Lieutenant Colonel Dundas raised his eyebrows as he spoke and then glanced around at the others.
“No, Sam!” General Sobolof shouted. “We run out there and get our asses shot off, let ’em kill the whole TNA in one swoop. That what you want?”
“No, General, of course it isn’t. But there’s a war on and it affects us in every possible way. And we’re just sittin’ here watching it all go by like a buncha school kids.”
“If we are to exist at all, Sam,” Paul said in a low voice, “we have to stay quiet right now. There are people out there helping us, but all we can do is absolutely nothing.”
General Sobolof nodded.
Sam stared at each person in turn, and then said, “Sounds like crap to me!”
“Fine,” General Sobolof said and clapped his hands, “we’re unanimous then. How many agree we should formally ask the USA and the ROC for military aid immediately?”
Only Sam’s hand did not rise.
“There is also the question of unification with the Dená and the creation of an Alaska Republik,” Paul said. “Our northern brothers have agreed to send a delegation to explore the possibility. But that will all be so much star gazing if the Japanese conquer the Russians here in the panhandle.”
“Say what?” Lieutenant Colonel Dundas said.
Paul glanced at the stern visage of General Sobolof and felt his face go ashen. He had agreed to speak to the others!
General Sobolof raised his hand to still the sudden buzz in the room.
“Don’t worry, Captain Chernikoff, all is well. Gentlemen, the captain brought up a subject he thought had been presented to you before this. Due to my harried schedule, I haven’t had the time to cover the topic with any of you. I’m sorry.”
“Maybe we could cover it now?” Lieutenant Colonel Dundas said in a sarcastic tone.
“Colonel Dundas, I know you’re new to this military thing,” General Sobolof said with steel in his voice, “but you’re also getting close to pissing off a kwan leader. You’re stacking the deck against yourself, Sam.”
His previous scowl vanished and Sam Dundas suddenly looked worried. “I apologize if I suggested offense, General Sobolof.”
“Not to worry. Captain Chernikoff’s brother is on a trip to visit his cousin, General Grigoriy Pietrivich Grigorievich, Commander of the Dená Army.”
“Grisha is in command—” Colonel Gregori George stopped himself with an effort. “My apologies, General, but you couldn’t have surprised me more if you had said he was the man in the moon.”
“It is surprising,” General Sobolof said with a sage nod. “Especially considering the fact that a year ago he was a prisoner in one of the Czar’s penal camps. With this hiatus in fighting, the Dená are sending him and his new wife, a colonel in the same army, to us as emissaries.”
“But we are a rebel army, General,” Colonel George said, “not a government.”
“The Dená started in the same manner,” Paul said. “Then they had each village elect a representative to send to an assembly where they thrashed out a basic government.”
“Why don’t we just have all the kwan chiefs decide on a government?” Colonel George said. “That would save a lot of trouble and time.”
Paul Chernikoff and Sam Dundas were the only two men in the room who were not kwan leaders. But Sam was the son of a kwan chief and knew that one day he would lead his people. Chernikoff cleared his throat.
“If it had been the Tlingit Army, my cousin Grisha would perhaps be a major. The Dená have traditional chiefs, but they also have legislators, a war council, and a president. Some of those people are traditional chiefs, but the majority are not.”
“What are you implying, Captain?” Colonel Paul asked in a frigid tone.
“Our people have a rigid caste system. Tradition has always outweighed ability and that has not changed in hundreds of years.”
“Our system works for us, Captain Chernikoff,” Colonel George said. “Let the Dená do as they wish.”
“The Dená are creating a republik. Republik means equal representation for all. Every person above a certain age has a vote.”
“Even women?” Colonel George asked in evident surprise.
“Yes, even women. Over half of the delegates in the Dená assembly are women. And they have done an excellent job of directing, and fighting in, the war against the Russians.”
Silence settled on the small room. One by one, all eyes found General Sobolof. Chernikoff kept his silence and waited; he had done his part.
“Like it or not, we are in the midst of change,” General Sobolof said. “We wish to govern ourselves, to throw off the Czar and his cossacks once and forever. It surprises none of us that we cannot do this thing alone; we need help from outside.”
“General, if I may interrupt a moment?” Colonel Paul said. “Would it be worth destroying our culture in the process of freeing our people? The kwan is the backbone of our people—”
“But not the muscle!” Chernikoff blurted. “The people are the muscle, and the chiefs and leading families have always been the brains. It is time the whole of our people had a say in their lives.”
“That is a very radical statement,” Colonel Paul snapped. “This is not the time for radical deviation from the way our people live.”
“Throwing off the Czar and the Russian government isn’t radical? They have been our masters for over two hundred years—is that not tradition by now?”
“Captain Chernikoff,” General Sobolof said, “I think we all get the point of your commentary. Please allow us the courtesy of debate.”
“Of course, General.”
“You may leave the room now.”