Chapter 20: List Complete, Going Home!

“Are we going to see him again soon?” Maya asked.

“We are going there to have breakfast with them,” Vid advised.

“Vid, are you taking bodyguards?” Maya asked.

“If we took bodyguards, we might have to protect them. Demetri or Kozlov will be enough.” Vid Pusin laughed at the idea. Then he remembered, “Honey, I wear the Black Lanyard. I transported 225 people to the goldfield on the Arctic Circle. Need I remind you; you now wear the Red Lanyard? We can protect ourselves.”

“Oh! Now I understand why you said what you said about protecting bodyguards. What is the dress?”

“Blue jeans, plaid shirt, and boots with that green jacket. Put some layers on the boy so we can unwrap him if need be. Maybe a change of clothes for him.” Vid offered.

“We are seeing the President and First Lady of the United States and you are suggesting blue jeans?” Maya was outraged.

“Honey, this is an informal get-together, I hope to do something similar once a month. Ask Willa. I’m sure she will call Jenny.” Vid laughed as he handed his phone to Willa.

When Demetri came back in, he handed Vid three roughed out papers. Tony was wiping the block of gold with a damp towel and bringing more of the golden color out from under the dirt that had been on it for hundreds of thousands of years. Vid watch as Willa got her phone out and dialed someone. His guess was Jenny Taylor. He looked at the time and laughed, it had to be 6:30 in the morning in Omak.

After ten minutes, Willa hung up both phones. She brought Vid’s phone back over to him, “Boots, blue jeans, and a plaid shirt will be fine.”

Demetri came back in with the three documents his president wanted. Vid looked at each one carefully. He then picked up his favorite pen and signed the documents. He moved the empty box with the instructions over to one side when he thought, ‘John Taylor could send in a nuclear bomb just as easy as that phone box. Then it hit him hard, he could send out a nuclear bomb just as easy to anywhere in the world.

Then he heard, ‘Fear not, the road to the Thousand Years of Peace will take courage to get there. Fear will bring all of the horrible things you can imagine.’ That sounded like Gaia. ‘It is!’ Why does this feel like Star Wars?

‘Because we have been working on this planet Earth for a long time.’ This came from a very deep man’s voice.

Who are you? Vid thought.

‘White Eagle,’ the voice responded.

John?

‘He is on earth. We are not him; he is part of us.’ Vid had many questions to ask God.

He put the bundle in his briefcase Kozlov had given him at the Arctic Circle. He carefully placed the file in the lid flap so the documents would not be damaged. He was ready to go. He looked over and had to smile as Tony was sitting in a chair with Willa sitting on his lap.

The two certainly made a cute couple. Vid reached into his desk and pulled out a little box. He checked it, smiled, and remembered he had purchased it years ago. His young friends had given him hope for the future. He put the little box with the ring into his briefcase and closed it, “Shall we go find Maya and Skut?”

Demetri and Willa pulled Tony to his feet, so they all came to stand before Vid. He laughed at the antics of the young people. For the first time since 2010, Vid Pusin felt everything was going to be okay. He was even beginning to believe he would see his little boy grow up and be a man, maybe even the last President of the Federation of Russia. Vid looked at the three and nodded and transported them to his living room. He thought, “My God what power I have.”

“Demetri, Tony, please join with me, when Maya comes out here in blue jeans and a plaid shirt, give her a whistle,” Vid asked.

“Yes, sir! “Absolutely sir!” “You’ve got to be kidding?”

“Willa, Maya is a girly girl, she would think a ball gown would be okay for a pig wrestling contest or to paint the house in. I plan on retiring to my family’s apple orchard someday. Blue jeans will be the standard outfit,” Vid snickered.

When Maya came around the corner, there were four whistles. Willa’s was the best. Maya looked like she belonged on a ranch in the heart of Texas. Maya turned bright red. She felt more uncomfortable than if she’d been naked. She wouldn’t go to the post office wearing what she had on.

But as she looked at the proud smiling face of Vid, her embarrassment ceased, and her anger dissipated. Her love for that man-made everything okay. She came over and hugged Vid, “Are you having a good day?”

“Best in the world and I wanted to get back to you, so we can talk about it,” Vid whispered.

Skut came running in and stopped only when he hit his daddy’s legs. Vid reached down and picked up his son.

“We have other guests.” Maya announced, “Mika Kozlov and Yelena with their cameraman.”

Vid looked to Tony and got a nod of his head, “How are we doing on time?”

“Fifteen to twenty minutes, sir,” Tony suggested.

Willa and Demetri had pulled Tony’s and Willa’s suitcases out of the bedroom. They arrived back as Mika Kozlov and Yelena with the cameraman came into the living room from the dining room.

“Everybody ready?” Vid asked.

“Are we going...?” Yelena didn’t even have time to finish her question, they were standing there looking at God again.

“Tony, you said that God could give us clothes?” Vid asked.

“Yes, hold your hand against God and ask for what you want.” Tony had taken off the heavy coat and showed the instant change. Willa had done the same.

“Captain Kozlov, Yelena, we are going to have breakfast with President John Taylor of the New United States. You are welcome to go with us, but I would suggest for all three of you, blue jeans, flannel shirts, and a nice coat. I think their weather is like Moscow. You’re going as part of my family. John Taylor and I want to get together from time to time over a meal.” President Pusin shared, “We want to end war!”

Yelena translated.

“Yes, sir.” Mika Kozlov agreed.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Tony also agreed.

“Gentlemen, today, I want to do family things. Tomorrow, Mika, you and I will have to do many things to save our nation. You will be Captain Kozlov and I will be President Pusin again. But today, all of you please call me Vid. Let’s go play!” Vid said in Russian.

The men had been separated from the ladies as they prepared for the trip.

“Vid, I get a sense that there may be a proposal of marriage? My father started a tradition. We served our mates lobster for dinner. When Dad asked mom to marry him, he did it and I fed Willa lobster on our wedding night,” Tony shared very quietly.

“Are we going someplace that has lobster on the menu?” Vid whispered back.

“Not on the menu, but Sou has a 100-gallon tank in the kitchen with fresh lobsters in it.” Tony laughed.

“Where does he get his lobsters from?” Mika asked.

“I have no idea.” Tony laughed.

“I don’t have a ring.” Mika shared.

Vid translated.

“Ask God for a wedding ring for Yelena,” Tony suggested in Russian.

Mika took a deep breath and touched God. There was a beautiful ring in Mika’s right hand, “Wow!” He whispered. The men joined the ladies and Vid asked, “Has anybody had lobster?”

Willa giggled knowingly.

“No, but I’ve always wanted to try it.” Maya shared.

“Are we going someplace that has lobster?” Yelena asked, “I thought we were going to America to have breakfast?”

“I’ve had lobster.” Willa laughed, “My Tony served me lobster on my wedding night. It was delicious! We are going to Sou’s Family Restaurant. He’s the best cook in the world. He has over 1,000 people come to eat at his place every day.”

“Are we dressed, okay?” Maya asked.

“You will look like the natives.” Willa laughed, “Even while sitting at the president’s table.”

“Tony, can you take us to your home?” Vid asked.

“Everyone, please take a deep breath,” Tony suggested.

They landed in the parking lot of the bank across the street from Sou’s Family Restaurant. Tony led the way across the street and together with Mika, they opened the double doors. Tony noticed a change. Now there was an entryway with another set of double doors. Winter is coming, it will help keep the cold out. Once they got in, Tony saw his dad and Jenny just sitting down at the president’s table. The rest of the seats were occupied by Peter, Patty, Johnny, Teresa, and Bill and Nancy McCormick.

John caught Tony’s eye and stood straight as his guests came near. George, son of Sou, recognized the President of the Federation of Russia. He proceeded to the table handing out the breakfast menu while two of his sisters placed water glasses and filled coffee cups as they were wanted. Tony stood, “George can we show our guests your kitchen?” Tony smiled and winked giving George a clue that something exciting was underfoot.

“Yes, sir, who all wants to come?” George asked. Seven men stood with Tony. George knew his dad did not like customers entering the kitchen. He shook off his dad being upset, “Follow me, gentlemen.” When they entered, George held the door allowing John Taylor to be the first one for Sou to see. John looked up at the tank at the lobsters.

“Master Sou, I want to introduce a friend from Russia, Mr. Vid Pusin.” John shared.

“Oh, Mr. Pusin. Mr. Taylor. I now have two Presidents in my restaurant. Can I have pictures, gentlemen?”

“Yes, you may dear sir.” President Pusin answered.

“Let me feed you, my Presidents. If you are pleased, then I get my pictures? Okay?” Sou asked.

Tony looked at both Vid and John laughing, “Yes Sou, make this a fun time for us. We may have one or two marriage proposals. We want to serve all seven of the ladies a lobster dinner. Is this possible?

Sou was still thinking about where he would post his pictures. He looked at Tony, then John who had a question on his face. He looked at Vid Pusin who was smiling and nodding, “Yes, we will serve all ladies at president’s table lobster dinner.” Sou spoke with one of his cooks in training to heat some water, “And the men, what do they eat?”

John looked around at the men, “buffalo steaks and eggs with hash browns.” John got nods all around.

“Let me get to work. Food is being prepared.” Sou made motions for the men to leave his kitchen. “I think we are being chased out of the kitchen,” John laughed as he led the men to the big table.

George followed the men and started taking the orders for the meals. He took the orders, explaining to the ladies that their main dish had already been selected. Each of the ladies looked to their partner but only got a smile. George brought out two bowls of fruit with a small fork for each of the kids. The two boys dived into their little mountain of fruit and carried on having a great time.

“Tony, can you share how your trip to Russia turned out?” Vid Pusin asked.

Tony looked to John and got a nod, “We did great. We stopped a coup.”

Vid added, “Maya, Skut, Demetri and I owe our lives to Tony and Willa.” Vid nodded to Tony to continue.

Demetri had never been included in such away from Mother Russia. His loyalty and devotion skyrocketed as a little smile came to his face.

“We have over 400 trained men and women. We also promoted two individuals to the rank of the Black Lanyard.” Tony was laughing as Vid and Mika showed off their Black Lanyards, “We found the gold deposit and again I get it is possible to be 50,000 metric tons and, on the surface, it looks like 92% gold, plus silver, copper, and other metals.”

Vid opened his briefcase. He took the package that held the ten-pound cube of gold from the Arctic find and unwrapped it, “Pass that down to Tony and Willa please.” When Tony and Willa had it in front of them, “I thought you might want a sample of your find.”

“Willa let out an “ALL RIGHT!”

“Thank you, sir.” Tony and Willa were all smiles as they touched their ten-pound block of gold, “We have made some very good friends, I hope for a lifetime.”

“I have some more gifts for our two young friends.” Vid got the go-ahead from John, “Tony and Willa lived in my home for 15 days. I fully understand why you consider them as adults. They are adults. I have signed two proclamations stating Tony and Willa are citizens of the Federation of Russia for life.” Vid passed the certificates along with the folder, “I also have two paid internships for positions in our Treasury Department for both Tony and Willa Taylor.

I support these two in what they want to accomplish and become. When they are ready, our universities will be waiting for them with housing, books, and tuition all free with a nice living allowance.” After Vid passed that certificate to Tony and Willa, he sat as everyone else stood and applauded.

Tony and Willa were hugging and laughing, they both said, “Thank you!” to Vid Pusin.

Salads for the ladies were delivered to the table. Coffee and water were topped off. The junior seafood sampler plates also were being delivered to the boys.

“How did your trip to Denver turn out John?” Vid asked

“We lost four men. They were killed, but they have ascended.” John pulled out ten yellow bags from his big case. “There are twelve hundred Russian rubles that I believe are the property of the Federation of Russia. We found approximately 15,000 metric tons more in coins and bricks. The coins are very old and are certainly Russian. There is what appears to be another 5,000 metric tons in the same room. It is also identified in the paperwork as Russian. Shall we move it on Monday?”

Vid reached into the bag and took out a handful of Russian one-ounce rubles. Vid looked over at Maya with a smile on his face, “Monday would be fine.” Vid noticed Sou’s staff converging on the table. They had four carts full of plates.

Around the table could be heard, “Lobster?” from seven different places. Yelena’s cameraman was up filming what was going on. He had been with the men and was ready for it.

John stood, “When I asked Jenny to be my wife. I fed her lobster. Tony did the same for Willa on her wedding night. Lobster to me means love. I feel it is the ultimate that we can give to acknowledge our chosen partners.” All the men agreed. “HERE, HERE!”

Willa was sitting on Tony’s lap kissing him. Johnny and Teresa had their heads together. Patty followed her sister and was sitting on Peter’s lap. Vid and Mika were both kneeling next to their partners. Jenny got up and kissed John in appreciation. Sou and his wife stood off to the side watching and smiling. Both Yelena and Maya showed off their new rings. John continued to hold onto Jenny and just laughed.

“Thank you, God, our world looks promising. I want to thank you for our friends. Thank you for this food. Many blessings for all on our planet.” John sat down, “Let’s eat!”

The table was quiet for many minutes as everyone enjoyed what was before them. The two boys had done a good job on their servings. They were both starting to get bored.