Promotions, Temporary and Permanent

       “Promotions, Temporary and Permanent”

By Jeffrey Van Dell

Cones of incense burned in a brass holder under the images of my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents mounted on a wall in my study. Other family members were represented by a pictograph carved in dark green jade. I put down the food offering of a bowl of rice and three tangerines. I bowed, then meditated, asking my ancestors to help me navigate the rapids of my tumultuous work environment.

            Jing had breakfast waiting for me and little Jin was working hard at putting a piece of round cereal into his mouth. He had three of them stuck to his face along with some applesauce he was squeezing from a plastic tube.

            “Be careful he doesn’t choke on the tube.” I said to my Jing.

            “Don’t worry, it’s actually too big for him to swallow.” She poured my tea. “What, don’t give me that look, I measured.” She put a bowl of rice and some miso soup in front of me.

            “What are you doing today?” I asked.

            “I’ve got a doctors appointment then we’re going shopping for baby clothes.” She poured herself a glass of orange juice and wrinkled her nose at it, pouring herself mint tea instead.

            “Still can’t eat?” I asked.

            “No, I’m almost past that. Jin Jin put it in your mouth honey.”

            Jin Jin had a piece of cereal on his finger which he was slowly moving towards his mouth. Just before the finger went into his mouth the doughnut shaped cereal fell off his finger and onto his tray. The finger went into his mouth and he wrinkled his brow.

            “You’re going to starve.” I said.

            “He’ll learn. What have you got planned? Are you going to the reservation today?” Jing asked.

            “Yes, in the afternoon I’ve got a meeting with the tribal leaders.” I dreaded these meetings because I’d have to tell them they needed to have their children inoculated, which went against their religious precepts.

            “I put your uniform out. You got a food stain on the shirt. It cost extra to remove.” She cleared my dishes and poured tea in travel mugs for the road.

            “Two teas?” I asked.

            “One’s for Ming.” Ming was my subordinate and trainee, the cousin of my wife and a good officer. He was dating a secretary who worked in the dentist’s office in our building.

            “You’re too kind.” I pulled her towards me and kissed her passionately on the mouth. I could taste the mint from her tea.

            “There’s more of that when you get home you know.” She pinched the back of my neck playfully.

            I kissed Jin Jin goodbye, picked up my workbag, turned on my implants, and went outside to meet Ming. He was driving the ancient, rubber wheeled car, which I hated driving in.

            Ming said, “Good morning Xang. Do you need to stop at the office before we go?” He turned the car on and took a sip of the tea I gave him. “Thanks!”

            “Not unless you need to go. I’ve got all the documents here. You couldn’t get a regular car?” I asked.

            “No, Supervisor Ping said the tribal leaders would be more impressed if we arrived in a car that wasn’t mag-lev. We can go back if you…”

            “No, this is fine. I take it we’re meeting the tribal council in their tent rather than in our office. Is that why we’re driving this thing?” I asked.

            “Yes, I’m afraid we’ll have to tough it out for the day. Don’t worry. I packed our own food so we won’t have to contaminate ourselves with whatever it is they eat.” Ming put the car into gear and the gasoline fueled vehicle bumped into action across roads that hadn’t felt rubber tires in fifteen years.

            “Ming, the first step in being a good mediator is to eat whatever they offer you. In their culture it’s a sign of disrespect if you don’t share their food.” Ming frowned. He’d gotten food poisoning from some undercooked meat last month.

He was paranoid about accepting food from them again.

            “I know. I took my stomach pills this morning. It’s just in case we don’t have to eat with them.” He swore as the car hit a depression in the ground and tea spilled on his dark uniform pants.

I looked at the overnight messages and our agenda for the tribal council meeting. The road was incredibly bumpy. Every little roll in the road felt like a mountain. Mag-lev was the only way to travel. “Do you have any more of those stomach pills?” I asked Ming.

He gave me the container from his shirt pocket. I took three and hoped they started working before I became nauseous from the ride. It was a two-hour trip once we got to the reservation border. I’d offer to drive a little after we entered their land.

My position was as chief assistant mediator between the Nation of God and the People’s Republic of China. If my boss, Mr. Lee, retired in three years as he was supposed to, I would probably become chief mediator. With another child on the way and our small home becoming more and more crowded I looked forward to the extra income.

The computer warned us of delayed traffic up ahead and asked if we wanted to seek and alternative route.

“Yes, take the old mine road.” I said.

“Are you sure sir? It’s really bumpy. We might have some trouble getting through it.” Ming punched in the instructions to the computer, which displayed the new route on the windshield.

“I drove that way last month. We’ll be fine. These old cars are more dependable than they look.” Most of the pre-war roads were places on the landscape that were less overgrown with weeds and grasses. The department of transportation lazed the roads free of tall grass so we could pass through, but sinkholes and distended asphalt were the norm. In any event I wouldn’t be getting much paperwork done that day.

“Pull over Ming, I’ll drive. I can test you on the way there.” I said.

For the next hour I quizzed Ming on the procedures, policies, and programs the governments of the world had instituted for those wishing to follow the old religions.

“If a minor wishes to convert to Judaism or Islam and they live in the state of a country which forbids ownership of those sacred books what are their options?” I asked.

“Um…if their parent’s object they can file an R-45 and petition the court to become an emancipated minor. If their parents don’t object they can move to a reservation and/or let a family there become their legal guardians. Or…” He looked at me.

“Of they can wait until they’re of age and move away.” I said. “Are you getting tired? The oral test is only an hour but the questions are from anything in the coursework, so you have to be widely read.”

“I know too much national law. I need to read the international statutes over again.” Ming checked the computer. “Two kilometers and we’re there.”

I looked at the screen and pulled off the road. “Bathroom break.” I said.

The desert landscape had a stark beauty, reds, browns, and yellows dominated the color pallet. Green scrub pines dotted the flat ground wherever water stations were situated. At night the Milky Way blazed overhead. Jing and I conceived Jin Jin out under the stars in the desert.

“Xang?” Ming said from the car.

“What? I’m almost done.” I zipped up, cinched my belt, and thought about getting more tea somewhere for the trip back to the office.

“They’re here.” I heard our car door shut and turned around to see half a dozen of the tribal leaders, arms crossed, waiting for me.

I should have expected it. “The Remnant”, as they called themselves, included descendants of militia members who prided themselves on their warrior heritage. Sneaking up on inspectors and liaisons was part of the little game they played.

“Greetings.” I said.

“Shalom Mr. Wang. It’s good to see you again. Mr. Tang we greet you in peace. Shall we go inside for some refreshments?” The leader of the tribal council, Jacob, led the way to their army surplus tent where we would begin the meeting. I wondered how they knew we were coming by the old mine road.

Once we were inside and seated tea and coffee were served, along with little cakes that Ming and I politely accepted. Ming took the smallest one. I pulled out my sheaf of papers and handed out copies of the issues to the tribal leaders.

“There’s a lot to discuss. We should get right to it.” Jacob said as he wiped his mouth with a paper towel. He had bits of powdered sugar in his beard.

“Yes, where would you like to begin?” I asked, hoping that they wouldn’t start with the inoculations we wanted them to have.

“I’d like to begin with the inoculations.” Ezekiel was the oldest member of their community. He was always suspicious and hostile. “You know this is something we cannot do. Why do you even ask?”

Ming shuffled some papers nervously. He had gotten into an argument with Ezekiel during out last meeting and he didn’t want a repeat performance.

I said, “The inoculations in question are for your benefit. Since the war there have been hundreds of genetically altered bacterium released into the water and air of this country. Your own nation had an outbreak of Influenza 21 Nairobi last year…”

“That was planted by your agents to wipe us out!” Ezekiel was on his feet and red in the face. “How can you sit there with a straight face and tell us to take foul foreign things into our bodies when you yourselves are responsible for those outbreaks!” Spittle sprayed from Ezekiel’s mouth and a vein in his head throbbed and turned dark blue as he shouted.

Chaos erupted and all the council members were on their feet. Half were in agreement with Ezekiel and half were trying to bring order by shouting down the other half. I looked at Ming and nodded. This would go on until they had spent their anger, which took an average of fifteen minutes. I didn’t feel like waiting that long. I stood up and began putting papers into my case. Ming followed my example and we exited the tent.

We made it as far as the car before David, one of the elders I could reason with, ran out and stopped us. This was also part of the game they played.

“I’m so sorry sir. You know how they are. They don’t want you to leave. Please accept my…our apologies and return. I promise there won’t be any more unnecessary outbursts.” He was sincere. I pitied him.

“I am not accustomed to having my time wasted. If your tribal group continues this behavior then I will suggest to my superiors to simply send you our requests electronically and dispense with all of these face to face meetings and their theatrics.”   

“I promise you won’t have any more theatrics tonight. The reason they are all so upset is that they were hoping that we would be allowed to hand out free literature in the open market in New Carson City during the month of December.”

A recording device on my person was taking down all of what was being said for later examination, but this was a surprise. Since the war most of the religious groups had gone into retreat. With the exception of a brief experiment in religious missions by the Von Raven Community in Germany none of them had ventured out of their reservations.

“You know that no proselytizing is permitted within the North American continent? How can you believe that we would allow you to engage in such activity? It goes against the constitutional agreements your government signed at the armistice.” I said.

“It would be easier for the tribe to accept the inoculations if we were allowed to hand out literature. I don’t mean actually speaking with anyone, just handing out tracts that explain our beliefs.” David pulled out a religious tract from his pocket. I’d seen them all before.

“So you believe that if you allow us to inoculate your community against virulent diseases we will allow you to spread your dangerous religious doctrines?” I asked.

“No, I believe that you will do whatever is in your interest and that may or may not include allowing us to hand out literature.” David looked down at his shoes. They were falling apart, like most things in their “nation”.

This was the frankest any of the tribal elders ever been with me and he revealed a sophisticated and realistic understanding of their situation. David would have been a child when the war broke out, a teenager when Hong Kong’s population was wiped out by religious fanatics. The world had agreed that too much religious freedom was a bad thing and he, unlike his peers on the tribal council, understood the new global realities. He was someone with whom I could work, someone I could manipulate.

“David, you must understand that this request will never be approved.” Ming said.

“Do you know what kind of trouble you could get into if you attempted this without permission?” I asked. “You would lose your reservation and status as an independent area.”

“How independent are we really? I’m afraid of what might happen if we’re not allowed to go outside the reservation. Many of the others wish to go with or without your permission. Some of them even believe that we can take back the country and return it to a constitutional republic. I’ve heard other reservations speak of hoarding small arms.” David said.

Was he trying to warn me of danger from people on the reservations? It was so surreal, this conversation we were having. With one communication I could have a battalion of soldiers here to take the population of the reservation to prison camps. From space we could have incinerated them. Ash and dust would be all that was left. Although I cared for their health and well being in a general way, their failure to accept the reality of their situation infuriated me.

For some reason the leaders of the world decided that these religious fanatics were, what: useful, worth keeping, not worth exterminating, colorful, a sign of the government’s tolerance? If it were up to me I would have exterminated the leaders long ago and sent the children to re-education camps. I remembered the religious wars when Mecca, Tel-Aviv, and New York were turned into smoking fire pits. It wasn’t my place to dictate policy. but I wasn’t above sending suggestions up the line.

“Let’s go back inside.” I said.

The rest of the meeting continued with neither incident nor resolution.

“The doctor said we’re fine.” Jing fed Jin Jin some mashed chicken as she fed herself the steamed carrots and rice. She took a bite of his chicken, then another. “Not bad.”

“How was shopping?” I asked.

“Good, I bought enough for the first year. Don’t worry, I got most of it on sale, except this snowsuit that was expensive but should last two or three years. It’s made of that new material that grows with the baby. You should feel it, it’s like silk but a hundred times stronger.” She finished feeding Jin Jin and gave him a soft biscuit to gnaw on.

“From Hong Kong?” I asked. Everything wonderful came from that island which was reborn and had given the world one technological marvel after another.

“Yes. They get the thread from goats that have the gene for making spider silk spliced into them. They use it for building material. It’s stronger than steel and one-eight the weight.” She was enthusiastic about technology because she used to be a writer for a science magazine before Jin Jin was born. She submitted an article for it every month. After the second baby was born she wanted to go back part time.

“I’ll paint the baby’s room tonight, or at least get started on it.” I yawned and gathered up the dinner plates, put them in the washer, then cleaned up Jin Jin and played with him on the rug in the living room until it was time for him to go to sleep.

Jing helped me get the baby’s room ready to paint.

“How was your meeting? Did they give you any trouble?”

“Of course they did. They want to go out and spread their message in exchange for us allowing them the privilege of to have their kids inoculated. I should ask your grandmother how to deal with them.” I put a strip of masking tape all around the border of the wood molding. “Did you choose a color?”

“Yes, yellow, it’s in the car. I forgot to take it out. Do you want it now?”
            “No, I won’t get to painting until the weekend. I want you out of the house when I put this stuff on.” Paint fumes weren’t good for pregnant women and children. I had taken the North American assignment because it allowed us to have more than one child without special permission. Jing wanted four children.

“We’ll go to the New Year’s Party they’re having Saturday. It’s from eleven to four.” Jing taped off a section above the door using a razor to cut the masking tape. She was a perfectionist.

“We can get some movies for Saturday night and have an indoor date.” I said. Jing would prefer going out, but since our families were over in China and babysitters were in short supply we often had “dates” at home.

“By the way, I got a note from my sister. My grandmother’s in prison again.”

“What? Again...what happened?” I dropped the tape on the floor and moved the dresser to the middle of the small room.

“She was caught going through customs with a case full of bibles on Mars. Aunt Lee wanted to see her for her birthday and sent her a ticket to go there. When she went through customs they found her suitcase packed with those tiny paper bibles the Von Raven’s make. It’s almost as though she wanted to get caught. Of course grandma told them they were only ‘decorative memorabilia’ and ‘cultural gifts’, but you know the Company.”

I’d worked with Company people before. They were intelligent, dedicated, and humorless. Our spheres of influence overlapped and that caused problems on occasion. For the most part our goals were the same, harmony and profits.

“How long is she in for, and where? Isn’t she a hundred years old now?” I hoped she wouldn’t be confined on Mars. She had arthritis and the cold would be bad for her.

“They brought her back to the Moon Station Sixteen. She’ll be there for six months, poor thing. I don’t know what they’ll do to her after that. That entire side of my family has been in prison at one time or another. If she weren’t Chinese she would be exiled to one of the reservations. We’re lucky it hasn’t effected your job.”

Jing put her arms around me and pushed her face against my chest. Her swelling belly was pushing into mine and we shared a quiet moment of bliss. I didn’t tell Jing that on several occasions I had been called into my supervisor’s office for a “discussion” about Jing’s family. They usually wanted to know if any of her family had been in contact with us, if they had tried to convert us or give her religious books or tracts. I had of course read through all the banned religious literature as part of my training. Only the ten laws of Moses resonated with me, but then every culture had them didn’t they? At any rate my supervisors always had me take “Religious Affiliation Field Test #14” every time I met with them and they were satisfied with my allegiance. No member of the People’s Army or Diplomatic Corp had ever converted to a forbidden religion, not since the war that is.

Before the war my roommate in the cultural school had gone native and converted to Islam. Unfortunately he made the pilgrimage to Mecca the week the war started. His bones are probably in the pile with all the others. I had suspicions that I was being monitored through my various implants, despite the assurances from my superior that all field workers of my level weren’t monitored during their off hours. I had a clean conscience. Only prayers to my ancestors were lifted up in this house.

Ming picked me up the next morning in a normal car.

“Good morning Xang. Supervisor Ping wants a report from yesterday’s meeting. I typed up my notes and they’re in the database, there’s a coffee for you if you want it.” Ming was all smiles.

“Did you have a date last night?”

“Oh yes, we went to the Thai restaurant then to the dance club. She gave me another toothbrush.” He pulled a self-pasting toothbrush from his pocket. “Listen.” He said and tapped it against the car’s dashboard. A little song about dental hygiene played from the thing’s handle, muted by its plastic wrapper.

“Cool isn’t it? Nanotech at its best.” Ming liked gadgets. He loved having implants, even when they malfunctioned and had to be taken out. “Ling’s boss wants to wants to donate several gross of them to the reservation as a tax write off.”

“The Remnant will never accept them. It’s a nice gesture though. What time’s our meeting?” I took a sip of the coffee, black with hints of nutmeg.

“Ten O’clock. We’re supposed to go back to the reservation afterwards to conclude the negotiations.” Ming smiled with his mouth but not his eyes and I wondered if he knew something I didn’t.

I read over his notes as we drove in silence. My implants allowed me to access the database remotely, but I could not read classified files unless I was actually in the building. My next promotion would allow me that privilege and I looked forward to traveling less between the reservations and the office.

Supervisor Ping’s office had thick burgundy carpeting, dark paneling, three flags, a picture of the current and past Premier of China, and two interrogation chairs facing his desk. Ming and I bowed low as Supervisor Ping typed on his desk. We stood at attention for ten minutes before he cleared his throat. It was another five minutes before he spoke. I read a plaque on his wall.

Discipline brings honor and victory.

            “I am being recalled to Hong Kong. The Vice Adjunct to the Minister of the People’s Parliament has died and I am to take his place. Xang Wang, you are now Interim Supervisor of the Western America’s Reservation Program, 13th District. Ming Tang, you are taking Xang’s position, temporarily.”

            My head was spinning. This was an unprecedented promotion. I’d skipped over three other people with greater seniority and experience. Had there been a coup?

            “I’m sending to your implant the codes for the files. My secretary will brief you on all meetings, programs, and duties.” He continued to look at whatever he was typing. “There are a significant number of documents for you to sign, only one of which you must sign now.” He pushed a pad and stylus towards me without looking up. “You are free to use any and all of the facilities that go with the position, including security and a driver. Since you are the interim Supervisor you are not allowed to create new policy, only enforce that which is in existence.”

            I signed the document and gave the pad my hand and retina for scanning. Supervisor Ping pulled it back and co-signed the document granting me legal authority over the reservation program. My implant showed me the codes and thousands of documents at my disposal. Ming stood motionless and stared at the picture of the current Premier.

            Supervisor Ping began putting small personal affects into a bag. He’d been head of my division for twenty-three years. I wondered if he was as shocked as I was. He still would not look at us. Sweat formed on my brow.

            “Ming Tang, you will find six cases of documents sitting on a cart in the hallway leading to the garage. Take them and put them in the transport that is waiting to take me to the airport. Also, I understand that your lady friend’s employer wishes to give several hundred oral hygiene devices to one of the reservations in your duty area? I want you to bring them all to the reservationists. Tell them that they may give out whatever literature they desire so long as they practice proper oral hygiene. You are dismissed.”

            Ming left and Supervisor Ping reached into his pocket and took out one of the singing toothbrushes. “It is vital that the reservationists take these. There is a dose of an anti-viral agent on the handles of them. They don’t even have to brush their teeth, only hold them. The songs and lights are designed to attract the children, whom we are most concerned with. Even if their parents don’t let them brush they will probably play with them.” He tapped the device against his desk and it lit up and produced a children’s song I recognized from some show Jin Jin watched.

            “Sir, if I may ask…” I began.

            “It’s better that you don’t. Tell them they may pass out their religious literature if they take them. Just make sure they take the brushes. Under no circumstances should you bring one home or give on to any woman outside the reservation. You have been an excellent liaison, you will do fine.” Supervisor Ping shook my hand and I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. He was passing me information in a nano-tube.

            “Thank you sir, I promise to fulfill my obligations in a way that brings honor to China.” I said. Already the nano-tube was delivering its information to my primary implant. I would read it later.

            “Here, this is the code to the refreshment unit under the desk. There is a wonderful bottle of rice wine for you and your wife to celebrate your promotion.” He clicked his heels together and stood at attention.

            “I relieve you sir.” I said, saluting smartly.

            “I stand relieved.” He said, returning it.

            I was left standing in my new office, responsible for thousands of reservationists and over a one hundred and sixty-four case officers. There was a knock on my door.

            “Come in.”

            Ming entered and saluted me. “What are your orders sir?”

            I saluted him back and noticed a half dozen people lined up outside my door with looks of apprehension, curiosity, shock, and anger on their faces. Among them were my new secretary and one of the women I had leapfrogged over to become Supervisor. She was smiling at me, like a tiger.

            “Ming Tang, we are going to deliver some dental care to the children of reservation fourteen.”

            “Pull over.” I said.

            Ming stopped the car, silence and a cloud of red dust settled over us. A large cactus plant was just outside my door. It had flower blossoms on it.

            “Let’s analyze these.” We sprayed our hands with a particle coating, put on bio-resistant gloves, and donned masks.

            The new bio-hazard devices were palm sized, black ovals which had one opening in the center the size of a large man’s thumb. I slipped it on my finger to calibrate it, all Chinese on foreign soil were required to test themselves weekly for contagious agents. Anyone infected would not be allowed back on Chinese soil until the virus, bacteria, or nano-structure was eliminated.

            “Ok, let’s run the handle first.” I put the blue handle through and looked up at the portable database we’d brought. Before leaving the office we turned off our implants so that we could have some privacy. There was a remote chance that someone on the mainland could override my shut off command but if they were observing us through our implants when I thought they were off we were in serious trouble.

            “It’s reading a compound in the handle. It’s the vaccine for that airborn rabies someone let out a few years ago.” Ming said. I checked the data again.

            “That’s it? They want to protect them against a mutated strain of rabies? No new cases have been reported in sixteen months.” That of course made no sense. “Ming, do you remember that memo about not allowing pregnant women, spouses and girlfriends, into the reservations. It came out a year or so ago.”

            “Um, no. I don’t read all my memos. There are too many.” He was honest at least.

            “Neither do I, but I remember that one. It was a month after Jing became pregnant. I remember saying to her, ‘why would anyone want to take their pregnant wife to one of those places?’ She told me that sometimes her friend’s would go to those bizarre religious services, just to see what they were about. I forbade Jing from going, not that she would. She’d had enough of her grandmother’s antics.”

            “There was a couple in our building from Norway. The wife was pregnant and had gone to visit reservation number twenty-eight, several times. They moved almost overnight. In fact it was overnight. We never saw nor heard what happened to them.” I undid my safety harness and put on the spare set of boots I kept in the car.

            “There was a bio-hazard containment unit set up in our building, on their floor a day later. I remember because you had to pick me up at a different entrance and I was angry because I thought you were late.”

            I checked my canteens to see that they were full. “Ming, check the database for people with Western names in my building. It will be a long name, lots of letters.”

            He brought up the city directory and found it. “Mr. & Mrs. Hans Huffmandoseer. They were here because he was doing his residency in obstetrics. She was teaching at the English school and getting her masters degree in antrhopology.” He pulled their photograph from the file. I recognized him. Always smiling, typical Westerner.

            “Find out where they are now. I’m going for a walk.” Ming tried to follow me but I gave him strict orders to stay with the car.

            It was a four-mile walk to the reservation in the middle of the day when the heat could wither even thoughts of green. I took two canteens, one of the unopened toothbrushes, and my backpack. I turned on my implant temporarily and checked for messages. There were forty, thirty-eight were marked “urgent-respond at once”, which I ignored. The other two were from Jing asking me to pick up juice and diapers, and my brother in China asking about borrowing my golf clubs which were in storage. A couple of miles into my walk I met a young reservationist.

“Shalom and Howdy!” A young girl wearing the long dresses the women of the Remnant favored. She was putting stakes in the ground and reading a crude map. “What are you doing out here?”

            “I need to speak with David Nussbauer. He’s one of the tribal elders.” My English was good but reservationists had difficulty understanding my accent. I repeated myself and watched her brow furrow.

            “Oh, Elder David! I know him. He was my teacher in science class last year. He’s out harvesting fish with daddy. Come on!” She ran ahead of me and I followed, thankful that my People’s Army boots were well broken in and comfortable.

            We arrived at a giant, man-made pond filled with salmon which were being herded by net into a conveyer unit that would deliver the fresh fish to market that evening. David was wearing a straw hat and black rubber waders, helping pull up the net.

            “Shalom!” I shouted over the noise of the machine, which was spewing noxious fumes.

            “Oh, Hello! I didn’t think we had a meeting until next week? Is everything all right?” He asked, concern coming over his features.

            “Yes, I have some good news for you.” I said, trying to smile the way North Americans did. It hurt my cheeks.

            “Ok, ten minutes and I’ll be done. Why don’t you wait in the tent over there? Sarah will show you.” He said and pulled on the bulging net. His strength was impressive. Even without muscle treatments our special forces received he was already as bulky as one of them. A hard body for a hard life.

            Sarah looked up at me. “I’ll take you there. We have strawberries from our gardens. Would you like some? There are too many to eat and we’re canning the extras. I like making jam with mama.” The girl walked quickly towards the tent.

            “No, but thank you, I brought water and a supplement.” I wouldn’t eat anything grown on the soil here if it were the last morsel of food on earth.

            “Here we are. You can use the bathroom over there if you need to. There’s food and drink in the cooler. Do you need anything else? I have to get back to work.” She smiled at me but mistrust still troubled her brow.

            “No thank you. You’ve been a great help.” I bowed to her and she made a kneeling motion with her legs I had only seen in very old movies.

            “God bless you.” She mumbled as she left, not looking me in the eye.

            David came in a moment later.

            “So, what brings you here today? Where’s your vehicle?” He looked at my sweat stained uniform and dusty boots, tilting his head with other unasked questions.

            I made sure all my implants were completely turned off. A brief moment of vertigo swept over me as my ocular data feed switched off and my brain adjusted to the loss of visual information.

            “Are you alright Xang?” He pulled a chair out for me and I sat down.

            “Yes, thank you. I left my vehicle a few miles away. Ming is there with some gifts for you. I needed time to think and a nice walk did me good.”

David pulled up a chair and leaned back. “What’s going on?”

            “I have been instructed to inform you that you will be able to hand out the literature you asked to distribute.” I drank all the liquid from my first canteen. It was berry flavored and hot as coffee.

            “Well, that is a blessing! I expect it comes with a price.” David flicked off bits of fish scales from his black rubber boots with a dirty fingernail.

            “Actually, you are to be the recipient of a gift of self-pasting children’s toothbrushes.” I pulled the one I had taken out and tapped it against the table. The song came from the unit and I smiled again.

            David looked at me and shook his head. “What’s in the toothpaste? A retro-virus designed to kill us all when we eat a certain food? Maybe they contain some nasty bacteria that will make us all infertile? There’ a rumor that the Von Raven Community was wiped out by Chinese troops. Do you know anything about that?”

            I didn’t know how to turn off the toothbrush song so I dug a hole in the sand with the heel of my boot and buried it.

            “I will tell you that there is a rabies vaccination in the handle of the unit, and probably some other inoculations which we have been trying to get you to take. David, we are only doing this for your benefit. What you do with your life on the reservation is your business, world health is the People’s business.”

            David shot up out of his chair. “You really are the anti-Christ you know that; coming here and taking over our country, telling us what to do, where to live. Making us take pledges of loyalty to your government is only one step away from asking us to deny our faith. We know what happened to religious groups in your country…”

            I stood up, furious. “You will not speak ill of my country. If it weren’t for us you would all be dead and weeds would be growing where your cities are. You should be on your knees thanking us that we didn’t simply allow the plagues to eliminate you all and take over the real estate! You may take our offer and our gift or…”

            “Or what Xang? Suffer what consequences? We barely scrape out a living here selling fish and selling crafts. You tell us we’re a sovereign nation but we know better. Your remote fighting units could level our entire population in an hour. The operator could do it and be home in time for dinner.”

            I adjusted my uniform and spoke the word that brought my implants back on line. “I’ve done all I can. The rest is up to you. Mr. Tang and I will be here in an hour. Have the tribal council ready to meet and discuss what I’ve offered. I am now the supervisor of this entire area. I suggest you comply with our requests.”

            On the way back to the car I saw Sarah again. She had staked out a large area in the shape of their religious glyph. I was calmer by then and sorry for my angry outburst.

            “Are you walking all the way back to the city?” She asked, wide eyed.

            “No, my car is a couple of miles away.” She had blisters on her hands and red dirt caked her face. Sarah’s blue, floral print dress was dirty, worn, and torn.

            “This is going to be our new worship building. They used to call them tabernacles. Do you have enough water? I’ve got an extra bottle of city water, it’s still sealed.” She held out a two-liter bottle of purified water with an intact seal.

            Both my canteens were empty. The water would be good to have. Sarah was thin, like most reservation children. In an age of perfect health for all, where starvation was unheard of, where cancer was tamed and only accidents caused the death of the young, this girl was likely to die before her fortieth birthday. She probably didn’t even know her multiplication tables.

            “I’ll take the water if you promise me something.” I said.

            “Papa said we’re not supposed to make deals with the Chi-Coms. Sorry, that’s what he calls you.”

She saw I was disappointed and I played on that. “I’m a person too Sarah. I have a wife and a little boy named Jin Jin, and another son on the way.”

“Your wife’s going to have a baby! I want to have a baby someday.” She said, with a look on her face that made her appear suddenly mature. For an instant the clouds of time parted and I saw the woman she might grow to be.

            “How old are you?” I asked.

            “Fifteen.” She said.

            “Oh.” I said. She looked much younger.

            “You believe your God wants you to live right? Life is good in your religion, right? I want to give you something that will help you live.” I said, smiling.

“I guess if it’s not against the Lord’s teachings it will be ok.” She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “What is it?” She asked suspiciously.

            I handed her a communications patch. “Put this on your skin, on your arm under your dress sleeve. You can wear it for months, sleep and shower with it. If it suddenly gets so hot it feels like it’s burning, run away from the reservation towards the city. Trouble will be coming and you need to get away. ” I took the serial number and RF number off the back. “I’ll send someone will come get you.”

            “You don’t think God and all his angels will protect me?” She asked.

            “I’m not saying that. I’m doing what I know will help you Sarah.”

She looked at it but did not reach for it. “You can take the water. I’ll think about it but Papa and the elders say that taking anything into your body from the world is the same as taking the mark of the beast.”

            Sarah had blue eyes and blonde hair. No one in China did. “Is that a regular canteen Sarah?” I asked.

            “Yes, well water from our house.” She patted it and smiled.

            “If I take a drink of the well water will you take the patch?” I asked. I must have been crazy. Who knew what toxins were in the water?

            Sarah rested her hand on her chin and thought.

            “I have to leave Sarah. What’s your choice?”

            “Ok, here.” She held out the canteen and I drank some. It was lemon flavored and cold. There was no cooling unit on the canteen.

            “How did you get it so cold?” I asked, holding out the patch. She took it, frowning, and opened it. I helped her put it on her arm.

            “I put it in the canteens in the fridge to freeze every night. It stays cold and the ice melts as I’m working.” She pulled her sleeve down. “Are we all going to die? I know that you can do that.”

            “It depends on what your parents and elders say when I meet with them.” I said.

            “I’ll pray that the meeting goes well. You’d better take the water. If one of you dies on here in our nation your soldiers will come and punish us.” I took the plastic bottle from her.

            “Thank you Sarah. Remember about the patch.” I bowed and she did the strange leg bend again.

            Ming was apoplectic when I returned.

            “Where have you been? I’ve been calling on your personal channel for hours!”

            “We’re meeting with the tribal leaders. Let’s go.” I said and drove the car myself. It felt good to move quickly over the landscape after such a long walk.

            I explained to Ming about the Sarah and the transmitter I’d given her. If we send troops in, activate it, monitor the frequency and get her to safety.”

“Do you think this wise Xang?” He asked.

“It’s my responsibility, just do it.” I said.

The meeting was a disaster. I did my best to convince them to take the toothbrushes but they cursed me and called me names from their religious books. Ming left the boxes of brushes outside their meeting hall. They probably buried them in the sand. We’ll never know because I never saw them again.

            A day later I was in my air-conditioned office with the plush carpeting and dark paneling trying to solve problems I never knew existed and making decisions that affected the lives of thousands. 

            A week later I received news that the population of reservation number thirteen had gone missing. I asked other agents to check and see if neighboring reservations had absorbed them into their population. I checked that data against satellite images. They had vanished completely.

            A month later some regional emergency medical centers in Oregon and Washington reported that pregnant women with no implants, body mods, or identification had bled out shortly after childbirth. There was a panic in those areas and quarantined areas were set up.

            A week after that a report from the local coroner’s office caught my eye. They had found the body of a young girl, ten or twelve years old. It was unusual because she was from the reservation but headed towards the city. I was buried in paperwork but needed a break. My driver pulled the car around and I went across town to the city morgue.

            The local coroner was wondering what I was doing there but gave me the information I wanted. “The police found her half buried in the sand when they were looking for a stolen vehicle. She was wearing reservation clothes and had this in her pocket. This is what she looked like in life.” A holographic image of Sarah appeared over his desk. Sadly, she’d never looked so good. 

“How did she die?” I asked.

            “Cause of death was dehydration and exposure. She had bled out as well, onset of menses gone awry. It was probably some stray virus left over from the war. Anyway it gets cold in the desert. She must have wandered off from one the reservations and gotten lost or separated from her family. What’s the People’s interest in this case?” He frowned at me. “What does the People’s Army know about her?”  The coroner was a North American, older, and probably remembered life before reconstruction.

            “Nothing. I was the case officer for this girl’s reservation. May I see the note?”

He handed it to me.

The note read, “Daddy, I can’t come with you. God has another purpose for my life and I think I need to go to the city. I’ll come find you where you said you were going in a couple of months. There’s someone who needs to hear the Word and I need to tell him to his face. I know you would want me to do this because you told us that the evil world needed angelic messengers to preach the gospel to the Chi-Coms and Company people. I love you and Mama and everyone. See you soon, Sarah.” I wondered why her father had not received the note. There was a short sentence written on the back of the paper, which I didn’t understand until a few days later.

            “Did you find a tracer patch on her arm?” I asked.

            “No, why the hell would she need one of those?” He asked.

            “She wouldn’t.” I said

            I took the note, under protest from the coroner, and left.

            Back at the office I had a visitor.

            “Mr. Ping!” He was sitting at my desk. I walked up to it and he pushed a pad with an official letter towards me. I read it.

            “You will resume your previous duties. Your status as Interim Supervisor has shown the General Committee that you need a few more years of seasoning before you take the post permanently. You will resume your previous duties with a slight pay increase. You are dismissed.”

            After returning responsibility for the reservation system to Mr. Ping I felt relief and disappointment in equal measure. I told Jing I’d be working late and Ming and his girlfriend took me out for steak and got me drunk. Jing went into labor the next night and I went on maternity leave to help out at home.

            “I’m taking Jin Jin to the park. Are you going to be ok for an few hours?”

            “Be back before six.” Jing was breast feeding the baby, reading a book about nano-viruses, and listening to Mozart.

            Ming met us in the park. We turned off our implants while I pushed Jin Jin on the swings.

            “Do you have a date set?” I asked Ming.

            “She wants to wait until next year so that if we have a baby it will be born in the year of the Dragon.” Ming rolled his eyes and undid the top button of his uniform jacket.

            “It’s a good idea. Your pay grade will increase and you can move out of the dorm.” I said.

            “So Xang, did you figure it out?” Ming asked. He lit a cigarette and blew smoke away from Jin Jin.

            “Yes, we really gave them the antidote. The toothbrushes would have worked because the viral agent that caused them to bleed out was already in the water. All of their women had taken the agent in. At the onset of menses or when they gave birth their clotting agent was disrupted and they bled out.” I said. Jin Jin yelled gleefully in his swing as he went higher and higher.

            “Yes, if they only trusted us everything would have been alright.” He said, shaking his head.

            “How many of the other reservations took the antidote?”

            “Three. The rest are doomed. Some keep showing up in clinics or hospitals in the big cities. Such a shame for them not to trust us.” He said.

            I said nothing. One more mystery remained to be uncovered.

            “What about Sarah?” I asked.

            “Who?” Ming said. Blowing smoke behind him.

            “Someone must have activated the patch. It wasn’t me. You were the only other person I told.”
            Ming stubbed out his cigarette.

            “You see Xang, we couldn’t have her running to another city with that patch on. At least here we can control the local officials. She would have gone with her family to Oregon and been outside of our jurisdiction. It would have ruined both of our careers if anyone found out you gave a reservationist a transponder. I couldn’t let that happen.”

            “What did you do Ming?” I pushed Jin Jin higher and he squealed with delight.

            “When I saw that they were leaving the reservations I activated her patch and tracked her with it. I took the wheeled vehicle without a tracking unit, so I wouldn’t be discovered, and found her in the desert walking towards the city. She had no idea how far it was and her water was barely enough for the trip. I emptied her water into the sand and gave her a shot of female hormone. It activated her menstrual cycle and caused her to bleed out. I buried the patch in the sand far from the body.” He put his cigarette out and buttoned up his uniform coat. “She would have died in either case, in the desert or with her family on the road somewhere. She had her little holy book with her for comfort.”

             “Did she suffer?” I asked.

            “Of course she did. Don’t we all, at some time or another?” He shuffled his feet in the sand. “I was going to ask you to be my best man. Are you interested?”

            I smiled and nodded. “Of course! I’d be honored and delighted to stand for you.”

            “Wonderful. I have to get back. I’ll pick you up on Monday, that’s when your leave is over right?”

            “Yes, if I don’t see you before then I’ll expect you Monday.” We shook hands and he left.

            That night after I fed the baby and made sure Jing and Jin Jin were asleep, I burned incense to my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents asking them for wisdom. The note Sarah had written to her father was in a frame at the base of the altar. I meditated on the sentence she had written on the reverse side of the paper over and over again.

            “To Mr. Chi-Com. First, I forgive you. Second, my daddy always said, ‘A seed of doubt can also be a seed of faith.’ You should think about that.”

            The cone of incense burned down and as I meditated I wondered to whom the note was written, Ming or myself?

To Sarah, it mattered not at all.

The End