Dominatus (21 page)

I nodded.

“Yeah, people have a real love for this place.”

“Thing is, it’s not this place they love, it’s what it represents.  It’s what the United States used to be, and maybe…maybe someday it will be again.  Freedom.  Opportunity.  Self respect.  People who make it up here, they realize just how important those things are to them.  I did.  And you’ve been up here just a few days, but I am willing to bet, Mr. Neeson…you’re feeling it too.  I recall your father’s visit…he sensed it too.  It’s no accident you’re here now, is it?  It’s what he wanted.  Not just to learn about Dominatus …he knows this was the best opportunity for you to learn about America…how it used to be.  The more people learn about that – the New United Nations fears that the most.  People realizing what they lost, because once enough of them do that, they will be willing to fight for it.  Not just the hundred or so of us here, or another hundred somewhere else, but hundreds of thousands, millions…will be willing to do what has to be done to take back what they took from us.

“And that’s your job now isn’t it?  To help get that message out there?  We’ve been listening to you for a while now up here…and I can’t wait to listen to you tell the world about Dominatus.  Tell them it’s real, the ideas of this place…they exist.  They have always existed.  Those people who hear your program, maybe they will join us.  Maybe…I know Mr. Meyer, the Old Man, he thinks they will. He thinks you have the talent to initiate that kind of re-awakening.  That’s a bit of a burden you have on your shoulders young man.  I don’t envy carrying that kind of load.”

The exterior of Freedom Tavern came into view sitting just a couple hundred yards further.

“There’s Mac’s place, Mr. Neeson.  I’m heading on over to the operations center, need to double check our medical supplies and move some of them over to the cave.   I’ll see you back at the tavern in a few hours.”

“I haven’t seen the cave yet.”

Dr. Miller looked back at me as he made his way toward the operations center.

“What?”

“The cave – I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Oh, you will.  Unfortunately, I think none of us will have a choice in the matter.  We’ll all be hanging out there soon.  You’ll see it, Mr. Neeson, you’ll see where the largest portion of the Old Man’s fortune went.  Money well spent if you ask me – very well spent.”

And with that final comment, Dr. Lester Miller disappeared behind a row of trees heading in the direction of the operations center as I made my own way along the remaining distance to Freedom Tavern, just hours ahead of the last scheduled community celebration ever to be held in Dominatus, Alaska.

The thunder’s arrival was quickening…

XV.

As I opened the door to Freedom Tavern I was greeted with Mac looking up and smiling broadly at me from behind the bar. 

“Well, well, you got to stay at the Old Man’s cabin overnight, eh?  Now tell me, son, was that his idea, or his daughter’s idea?”

I ignored the question as I sat on one of Mac’s barstools, noting a woman who appeared in her 50’s, sitting by herself at the far end of the bar nearest the hallway to Mac’s office with a cup of Mac’s home brewed coffee in front of her.

Mac poured my own cup of coffee as he caught me looking at the woman, nodding his head in her direction.

“That’s my friend Lucille…Lucille Wagner.  She’s been up here at Dominatus almost as long as I have.  Ain’t that right, Lucille?”

Lucille made her way toward both of us, sitting down on the stool to my right holding her coffee in her hand.  Her hair looked to be a blonde-gray, cut shoulder length. Her narrow face held sharp features, a slightly Roman looking nose, thin lips, and a strong jaw.  Her eyes were a very deep blue, greeting me warmly.  She extended her hand to firmly shake my own.

“Nice to meet you, Reese, Mac has already been telling me a little about you.  Heard you were around for the excitement with the authorities the other day, government bastards got nothing better to do than mess with people who are just trying to get by without them.”

I returned Lucille’s greeting, followed by a drink of coffee.  Lucille in turn was looking back at Mac with the kind of warmth that suggested they were more than simply friends.  Mac, possibly sensing my thoughts, continued in his introductions.

“Lucille came to us from…just down the road.  Juneau.  What was that…sixteen years ago?”

“Seventeen, Mac…you’re slipping.”

Lucille turned back to me and smiled, revealing strong white teeth – a smile that softened her appearance considerably.

“So you get to see one of Mac’s little Saturday afternoon events huh?  Normally there’s only about ten or so of us who hang out, a little drink and food and dance, but I hear tonight there is going to be a whole lot more.  You’re something of a local celebrity around here, Reese.  I think Mac has a big party on his hands today.  You think he’s up for it?”

Lucille winked as she spoke her question, the both of us then turning back to Mac.

“So is this pick on Mac day?  Is that what we have going on here?  Well you two can put yourself to some better use and set out some more chairs…see if we can make room enough for fifty or so.”

Lucille gently slapped the top of Mac’s hand before giving it a quick squeeze.

“You are turning into a mean old fart, Mackenzie Walker, downright rude in your old age.”

As Lucille and I organized the seating inside the tavern, Mac set out dishes and glasses along the top of the bar before making the short walk to his jukebox and turning it on, singing along to the music with a surprisingly strong voice after yelling out the song’s title.

“You ever heard of Travis Tritt there, Reese?  This one’s called
A Great Day to be Alive!
”  And that is what today is – a great fucking day to be alive!”

Lucille, helping me to move a table against one of the tavern’s walls, glanced over at Mac as he was singing and gave her head a slight shake.

“Mmmm, that man…all kinds of sexy.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her admiration of Mac, Lucille returning my laughter with some of her own.

“At my age you don’t waste time not saying what you feel.  And Mac, from the moment I saw him all those years ago…that man just flat out does it for me.”

Lucille shouted across the room.

“Hey, Mac!  You going to play something for us tonight?  Break out the guitar?”

“Just gonna have to wait and see, darling.  Thought I already gave you a performance already?”

Lucille’s eyebrows shot up as her face expressed pretend shock.

“Mackenzie Walker, now you’re just a dirty old man.  Shame on you!”

Now it was Mac’s own laughter that filled the interior of his Freedom Tavern, interrupted only by the sound of thunder from approaching storm outside.

The door to the tavern opened and Keith stepped in, quickly closing the door behind him.  He nodded briefly to Lucille and I before walking over to where Mac stood behind the bar.  The two of them then disappeared down the hall to Mac’s office.

Genuine concern spread across Lucille’s face.

“Mac has Keith watching the road up here, it’s been awfully quiet since him and that compliance officer or whoever they were, tangled outside.  Hope the Old Man can keep those assholes away from us, but…Mac thinks there is going to be some kind of conflict sooner rather than later and he’s a whole lot more worried about that then he is letting on.  Not worried about himself, but the rest of us.  He seems to think he’s the one responsible for keeping us all safe and for the first time since I’ve known him, he doesn’t seem so sure he can.”

Lucille’s eyes looked toward Mac’s office, her voice lowering as she continued.

“Don’t tell him I said that, but I know it’s weighing on him.  He’s the strongest man I’ve ever known, but none of us are getting any younger, and that little fight of his left him in a lot more pain than he’s letting on.  Most of us up here accepted the idea that someday the New United Nations would be shut us down, drive us away…or worse.  Mac is only one man, he can’t be held responsible for trying to stop something like that.  Not him, not the Old Man.  We’ve had a lot of good years up here, better than anyone living in the Lower 48, so if it’s coming to an end and they try to take this away from us, well…no sense worrying over something that’s out of our control.  We’ll fight as best we can, hold out for as long as we can, and then from it’s always in God’s hands.”

Keith and Mac’s footsteps could be heard returning from the office.  As both entered the tavern’s main room, Keith quickly made his way to the door and back outside.  Lucille looked over at Mac.

“Trouble?”

Mac shrugged.

“Nothing we weren’t expecting.  There was another drone fly over this morning, and word from the reservation that they are expecting a group of government officials to be stopping in later tonight or tomorrow morning.  The contact for that group was Hess.”

“The one you just tangled with?”

“Yeah – the one I tangled with, all the precautions have been taken.  The cave is ready.  So at this point, I just want to have some fun this afternoon.  Goddamn, I’m tired.  I need a break from this shit.  Just a little time for some good food, good company because this old body of mine needs a break.”

The door opened again and the imposing form of Bear filled doorway, followed by an attractive blonde woman in her 30’s who was carrying a plate of pastries,  and two children – a boy of about eight, and a girl who no older than five.

Mac shouted a greeting to the new arrivals.

“It’s the Tedlow clan!  And looks like Clancy brought her pastries!”

Lucille hugged both Bear and his wife, and then their two kids.

“Reese, this is Walter and Clancy Tedlow and their two kids Jake and Jeanie.”

Bear gave me a partial nod of his massive head.

“We met.”

Clancy Tedlow was a much warmer presence than her husband, offering me a broad smile as she shook my hand.

“Nice to see you in person, Mr. Neeson, I’ve been listening to your program for the last few years.  I’m a big supporter of your message.”

Within the next thirty minutes, another fifty or so residents of Dominatus entered Freedom Tavern, each group of guests bringing more food, drink, and a great deal more conversation.  Some of the faces I recognized from the earlier meeting at the operations center, while others were entirely new to me.  Mac’s jukebox was playing song after song, and as the beer was poured, the mood of the room became one of celebration. 

When the entrance door opened again to reveal Dublin and her grandfather, a collective shout of greeting was issued to the both of them.  Dublin laughed, hugging the Old Man tightly next to her, as he smiled almost sheepishly, indicating perhaps a touch of embarrassment at the attention given to his arrival.  Dublin had bundled him up insider several layers of clothes, and as she now removed much of those layers, I was reminded again of how small and frail Alexander Meyer was.

People moved forward slowly but deliberately to gently shake the Old Man’s hand, and each time he returned their greeting with a smile and nod of his head.  Mac came up to me and nodded toward the procession of people.

“He hasn’t been to one of these get-togethers in a while.  We all realize he may not make another one, so everyone is hoping to let him know just how much he has meant to us all these years.  That little man there, I owe him.  I owe him my life.”

Mac turned away from me as I sensed his struggle to maintain control over his emotions.  It startled me just a bit to know a man who had seen so much death, so much pain, was so affected by his friendship with Alexander Meyer.  It was the kind of friendship people experienced less and less of in a world now dominated by the New United Nations mandates.

Finally, having shaken the hands of almost every person in the room, the Old Man slowly made his way to where I sat at the bar.  I had to lean into him to hear him speak, his soft voice straining to be heard over the music.

“Good to see you again, Mr. Neeson.  I am so very happy you were able to see one of our gatherings here at Mac’s wonderful Freedom Tavern.  And thank you again for your company at my humble home.”

The Old Man then shuffled to Mac’s bar and lightly tapped the top of it with a slightly shaking hand.

“Pour me a bit of that home brewed devil’s water of yours barkeep!  In fact, this round is on me!”

The Old Man leaned over and whispered to me as cheers rose up around us.

“Always wanted to say that.”

Dr. Miller appeared next to Dublin and her grandfather and gave both of them a mildly disapproving look.

“I see my recommendations for staying indoors fell on deaf ears…again.”

Dublin shrugged as the Old Man waived away the doctor’s concerns.

“I don’t intend to spend my days cooped up all day and night, doctor.  No offense intended against your expert opinion of course!”

Alexander Meyer’s eyes were lit up with more than a bit of mischief, and Dr. Miller could not help by smile as he too, like Dublin, simply shrugged.

“Well then, let’s at least enjoy the food and drink huh?  Hey Mac, how about a song or two for everybody?”