Alaska Republik-ARC by Stoney Compton

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.”

18
    Tanana, Dená Republik
    “No,” Wing said as sternly as she