“Ma’am. Whatever you have that is non-alcoholic. I am still on-duty.”
“I am also,” Brynhildr interjected.
“I’ll take whatever is easiest for you, Ma’am,” Emily added.
“Well, come on in then. And call me Freda, please.”
“Only if you call me Paul.”
Freda giggled a bit, letting them know she was still young at heart. “Alright, it’s a deal. Now, inside where it is warm. Please feel free to bring in your dog, doctor. I can tell he’s rather attached to you.”
Paul paused for a moment, looking around. “I counted four youngsters. There is a fifth, the oldest, Hannah Weitz. Is she here?”
“Oh, my poor manners. Of course she is. She is out helping my Johann in the forge. Here, I will call for her.” Freda stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a loud, shrill, unladylike whistle.
A moment later, her husband Johann stepped out from the blacksmith shop. “Yes, Mother,” His voice boomed.
“Visitors for Hannah. Please get her.”
He waved affirmatively, turned to talk to someone in the shadows. A few moments later, a raven haired young lady stepped out. With a long dress, leggings and boots like the other females, she was also clad in a heavy leather protective apron like Johann. Her long raven hair was tied up into a bun with a scarf over it. She was removing some thick gloves as she approached, began to smile as she recognized the visitors. She called a greeting in Norwegian, to which Brynhildr responded. Again Paul felt a little bit like a clod. Five youngsters were learning a second language in a matter of days, and he still had trouble remembering his Border Patrol Spanish, all four months of it.
Hannah walked with a confidence and strength the Commissioner would have not thought possible after what she had been through. Hannah was seventeen, the oldest of the captives, and had survived some two years of life in the pits. Of all of the survivors, she was able to give within a day of their rescue very detailed statements of what she and the others had suffered at the hands of the Kraken. Paul still felt a pang of guilt having to send agents and medical staff out with in twenty-four hours to take rape kits, examinations of the five young victims. But sometimes, command decisions were not pleasant. The guilt he felt was a big reason for him to be here.
Brynhildr and Hannah met a few yards from the porch, hugging each other. Brynhildr, an inch shy of six feet, was large, some five inches taller than Hannah. But even up against her, Paul could see Hannah was definitely filling out. Her shoulders were broader than he remembered. Her arms, even covered, looked strong as she hugged her dear friend.
There was an unexpected loud whining and Bruno, brown-colored pit bull mix, made a beeline toward Hannah. His ears were back, he was wriggling and twisting his body as if he was in the throes of some strong emotional event. Which he was.
Hannah, seeing the dog, kneeled down. “I know you,” she called out as she was quickly on the receiving end of some very passionate doggy kisses, Bruno pushing and rubbing up against her as if he were trying to become one with her. Hannah hugged him back, rubbing his body, scratching his ears as tears began to run down her face.
Emily had started forward when she noticed Bruno reacting. She knew by his body language the dog was no threat to Hannah as he approached her. But she was very puzzled by his reaction after apparently recognizing Hannah’s scent. Then it dawned on her.
The vet walked slowly up to the re-acquaintance activity and quietly spoke. “You and Bruno met in…the pits.”
Hannah looked up with wet eyes, but with a big smile on her face.“Yes, Ma’am. We are both survivors. We even slept together a few times. Then he disappeared. I thought he was dead.”
Emily knelt as the other adults looked on. “I think he wants to be with you. I think you are his human.” She looked at Johann who had walked up, pulling his thick gloves off. Before she could speak, Johann did.
“I can tell this large hound will not be happy about leaving you. And I can tell, Hannah, that it is the same with you leaving him.” The big man paused for a moment.
“Think he can be taught to guard livestock? Those damned coyotes and raccoons are killing off my chickens and geese. I could use another dog since ours died.”
“Yes, Uncle Johann. I can get him to do that.”
“Good. It is settled.” He looked at Emily. “I take it you are in agreement with this?”
Emily stood up. “Shake.” She stuck her hand out. Johann took it, a slight quizzical look suddenly on his face.
“Congratulations. You just adopted, and Hannah was just adopted by, Bruno, pit bull mix. I warn you, I will check back to make sure he is being treated right. I take my veterinarian duties very seriously. As a former patient of mine, I’ll always be looking out for him.”
Johann gave a wry smile. “I knew when I met you on the Raid that you were a force to be reckoned with. Any woman who tries to rescue and help creatures like the ones we killed that night…you are one with much honor. I give you my word I will insure this dog is well taken care of.”
Hannah stood up and gave Emily a huge hug. “Oof. Easy on the ribs, dear. What have you been doing, Hannah, weightlifting?”
“Next best thing, doctor, Working with metal,” Johann answered for her.
Emily looked at the young lady, still a girl in many ways. “You like that, Hannah? Kind of hot, sweaty and dirty.”
Hannah showed a small smile. “I have been hot, sweaty, and dirty many times over the past couple of years. Working with the forge, shaping iron, steel…it may look dirty but steel is clean. It has a clean strength, formed from clean heat, fire. Steel is honest, does not betray you if you work it right. And steel gives you strength with which to resist your enemies, those who wish to harm you.” Hannah paused, her demeanor now serious. “I will never be without steel again.”
Paul Miller saw, once again, the results of the sins that the Tschaaa had visited on humanity. It was bad enough when humankind just tried to deal with its own members. Now, these aliens seemed to accentuate everything that was bad with the human species, gave it additional tools and reasons to abuse fellow men and women even more. As if they needed that.
For the umpteenth time, a person just leaving childhood behind had to deal with violence, horror, death on a daily basis. The universe was definitely not fair.
“She works as hard as any two grown men,” Johann interjected. “She is the best assistant I have had in years. That includes my own sons.”
“Now, Uncle Johann,” Hannah protested. “You are exaggerating.”
“What, I, Johann, exaggerate? When have I ever done that?”
“Poppa, you must be joking,” Freda broke in.
“Now, Momma…”
“Husband, you are well known for what you call your storytelling over a mug of mead or ale.”
Johann displayed his best sheepish look. Freda strode up and hugged him, and he bent over and kissed her. “Without my wife, I would be a lost puppy. She keeps me grounded, and out of trouble.Well, usually.”
With that, the young girl called Jewel, one of the two ten-year-olds that Johann had personally rescued from the semi-trailer, came back to the porch.
“Please, Aunt Freda, Uncle Johann, our welcomed guests. The drinks and snacks are ready.” When Paul looked at young Jewel, it was hard to remember the naked, dirty, bruised and scratched little girl they had found cowering in the trailer. Bright, healthy, and cheerful, Aunt Freda and Uncle Johann had worked a miracle. Five, to be exact.
“Before we go in, could I have some help for a moment? I brought you two free range live turkeys, six Bantam chicks, and some rice and flour. With Thanksgiving coming, I thought you could use help feeding these additions to your family.”
Suddenly, Johann looked stern. “Commissioner, with respect, we need no government hand out, and expect none. We took these five fine young ladies into our home because it is the right thing to do. We don’t ask for assistance.”
“Poppa. Don’t be so pig-heade
d.” With that they began to argue in Norwegian. Now it was Paul’s turn to interrupt.
“Excuse me.” He spoke rather loudly and with authority. The couple stopped arguing, turned and looked at him. “The items and fowl I have brought are bought with my funds, the government has nothing to do with it. I ask you to accept it in behalf of our five survivors. It is offered as atonement, penance on my part.”
“Why?” Hannah blurted out. “You helped save us.”
“Because, my beautiful young lady, I should have known what was going on in my own backyard. All of the signs of Kraken shenanigans, criminal acts were floating around for quite some time and I did not put the facts together. Because of that, I have at least three dead children on my conscience. I don’t like that. So, I owe you survivors. At least take the items in the name of the three who did not make it.”
Everyone was silent. Hannah broke the spell by walking up to the Commissioner and putting a hug on him like she had done to Emily.
“Oof. You are strong.” And Hannah began to quietly cry.
“Come on now. I don’t do well with girls, women crying. Especially when I cause it.” Hannah held on tight, refusing to let go. Paul began to stroke her hair as he used to do with his own children when they were upset. Brynhildr quietly walked up, spoke something softly into Hannah’s ear in Norwegian. With that, Hannah looked into Paul’s face.
“Commissioner, please. Never, ever claim fault for what happened. The fault, guilt lies with the Krakens, the Squids, and all those evil ones. You and the others who showed up that night. You were our saviors. You’ll always be in our prayers.” She turned her head then toward Johann. “Uncle…”
“Ach, say no more child,” Johann replied. “Once again, my wife and the other women folk are right. I’m much too hard-headed and stubborn, for my own good. I think it must be from being kicked in the head by all those horses I was shoeing.”
Freda huffed once. “My love, you were hard-headed and stubborn from the first day I met you. Twenty-five years later, little has changed.”
“Well, my loving wife, had I not been so stubborn, you would have run me off, married the Olson boy.”
“I would not have. You exaggerate once again…” and they began again to kvetch at each other.
Brynhildr broke in. “Please. I have my mouth ready for some hot cider and cookies. Can you continue this discussion some other time?”
With that, the married couple laughed, then hugged and kissed. Johann let go of his wife and strode over to Paul, his hand outstretched. Hannah moved aside, and Paul took the very large hand into his. “Accept my apology, please Commissioner. I am not used to having government officials actually try to help me. They have been absent for almost six years. I’m used to doing things on my own.”
“No apology necessary. And please call me Paul. As Major Bender says, once you have faced death together, you’re on first name basis with each other.”
“Then you must call me Johann. Good. That is settled. Mother, can you help me find a place for the new livestock?” And with that, they began to move the turkeys to a nearby pen, took the chicks into the house so that the four younger girls could see them, hold them. Nothing like soft little baby chicks to make kids happy.
An hour later, Paul, Emily and Brynhildr were finishing up hot cider, cookies and pastries. The five young ladies were sitting next to them at the table. The four younger ones, ages nine to fourteen, liked to sit close to the three visiting adults, holding onto their arms, liked the secure human contact with people they associated with rescue. Hannah, some seventeen years old by her count, was a bit more reserved. But she still had a beaming smile that often flashed during the hour long conversation.
Hannah then looked at the clock. “I am sorry, but I must excuse myself. I have just a little bit more work to do on a project I am doing for the memorial service tonight.”
Johann, frowned a bit, but then motioned for her to go.
Freda spoke as she got up to leave. “Please leave yourself enough time to clean yourself up for this evening. I want no blacksmith soot on the dress and jacket we have made for you to wear.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Hannah then went to each of the visitors, curtsied, and then gave them all a quick hug. When she swiftly departed for the forge, Bruno automatically followed her, having been snuck some goodies by Paul and Emily when no one was paying attention. Freda looked at her husband after the young lady had departed.
“Poppa, please do not work her so much. She needs to learn more kindly pursuits.”
“Me work her? She is the one that is always pushing to do more. Hannah has caught on so fast, is constantly finding new things to work on, that I am always trying to keep up with her. When I said she did the work of two normal men, I was not exaggerating.”
Paul looked at the large man. “Sir, I know she’s about the age of majority, can vote when she hits eighteen, but I wish she had more time to be a regular teenager.”
“Is there such a thing anymore, Commissioner?” Brynhildr interjected. “The Tschaaa have changed everyone’s life.”
“I know, Paul. My wife and I try to give all these fine young girl-children a resemblance of how we were raised. And as you can see, they are turning out just fine. I’m as proud of them as if they were my blood.”
“We are survivors, Uncle,” Jewel broke in. “We have not forgotten what has happened. But you and Auntie are giving us so much love…” Her eyes began to tear up. Emily, sitting beside her, reached over and hugged her. Jewel returned the hug, now smiling. Emily kissed her forehead, then spoke.
“Johann, Freda, you both deserve medals. Hopefully no one from the State Child Protective Services will give you any grief for taking all five under your wings.”
“They won’t,” stated Paul.
Johann and Freda both looked at the Commissioner, the unspoken question of how he knew that hung in the air. Paul Miller smiled a bit. “Sometimes being at the beck and call of the President has its benefits. Especially when communication is a two-way street. Madam President sent CPS an email, then a letter with a Presidential Seal stating that she considers these five young survivors as Special Wards of the U.S. Government. Yes, once all the courts are up and running, someone could try an end run. But right now, especially after the response to the broadcast, no one is going to buck her. Everyone knows now she was right all along about us not being forgotten by the Squids and their followers. What happened here in Great Falls was years in the making.”
The four girls could understand what he was saying, and knew now that their future with Uncle Johann and Aunt Freda were secure. In a quick motion, they were all clustered around Paul, all tried to hug him at the same time. The Commissioner protested. “Hey, it was the President that set this up, not me. Thank her tonight when you see her. She wants to talk with all of you.”
Freda’s eyes widened a bit, then she clapped her hands. “Children. Come, quick, we must clean up. Then, we have to make sure all of you are washed and dressed correctly for meeting with the President. She must see her decision was the correct one. So, let us get to work.”
Paul and Emily tried to help clean up, but they were just in the way of the whirlwind of activity. Already, Freda Munsen had everyone organized, efficiently doing what need to be done. Emily and Paul retreated to the porch, putting their parkas back on. As they stood on the porch, Emily grabbed Paul’s arm, looping hers around his.
“Commissioner Paul Miller, did anyone ever tell you how nice a man you are?”
“Quit it. I’ll get a swelled head.”
“Would you go on a date with me?” Emily asked. Paul sputtered a bit, all of a sudden out of his element.
“If you say no, of my canine friends and I will be very displeased. They may pee on your feet the next time you come to my clinic.”
“Emily, I am not exactly a spring chicken…”
“And neither am I. Now, speaking of chickens, are you going to chicken out? I asked you for a date. You should b
e used to women taking non-traditional approaches.”
He looked into Emily’s eyes. He then realized just how much he enjoyed her company. “Yes, Emily, I’ll go on a date with you. Though I am horribly out of practice. And we will have to work it around our work schedules.”
“Of course. Good.” Emily squeezed his arm. “Now, let me say goodbye to Bruno. I’m going to miss having him following me around everywhere. But he and Hannah belong together.”
He watched the vet walk toward the forge and smithy building. Not for the first time did he notice how attractive she was. And smiled. Everyone needs a bit of fun and affection in their lives. Maybe this was his chance.
The memorial ceremony for three dead children was to begin at 6:00pm in the large auditorium on Malmstrom Base. The two agents killed had already been buried by friends and family, so tonight would be a remembrance. But for the three dead youngsters, it would be a funeral. They had held off on a burial for two weeks, tried against hope to find some friend or family who knew who they were. Paul Miller had their first names from the survivors—June, David and Cheryl. That was it. Ages were only approximate based on the autopsies and examinations. They all appeared to be caucasian. No identifiable marks, other than scars from the abuse they had suffered.
Three coffins were donated by the local funeral parlors, as were cremation services. It was decided that, not knowing if the Squids and Krakens had tried to inject them with any foreign bugs, it was better to err on the side of caution and cremate them, destroying any chance of the spread of some weird disease.
After the memorial/funeral, there would be an awards ceremony and then an interview by a certain broadcaster. Which was the reason Alesha Taylor was there an hour early. She had to prepare the two special recipients.
The Tsunami Page 44
