Chapter 11

Oscar sat on the top of the truck drinking a hot cup of cocoa and looking around at his surroundings. He was in an isolated area surrounded by blinding white snow that hurt his eyes. The snow softened the landscape; turning hard edges into flowing curves. Behind the truck, tracks led back to the small village Oscar had left a half an hour earlier.

He thought back to his visit there earlier. The village had less then three hundred people living in it. Most were old; the majority of the young had left for better lives in the towns and cities. With the absence of young energetic bodies, the town was well into decline. The wooden buildings needed painting, the fences mending, and roofs repaired.

The toothless old women who had been in the church were hunched over with backs bent under years of burden. All wore layers of old clothes with scarves to cover their heads. They had watched Oscar; making signs of the cross and mumbling little prayers to their God.

Oscar had talked with the God under their watchful eyes. When he left, they had followed him out of the church. The men of the village had come out of the bar across the snow covered lane from the church. They were without their coats; warmed only by the alcohol in their blood.

Driving away from town, Oscar had wondered why Jehovah had indicated that he was to visit that church. The people of the town were not in a position to influence events on an international level. He doubted they could even influence events on a local level. He believed that the church would be a ruin in twenty years once the population died off from old age.

Now, seated on top of the truck, Oscar was alone. There wasn't another person within ten miles. Even the animals seemed to have disappeared; hiding from the cold harsh Russian winter. Oscar sighed and took a sip of his hot cocoa thankful for the fusion powered cooking gear in the back of the truck.

The silence and solitude forced him to consider his situation. He missed Georgia and Debbie. He felt guilty about dragging Georgia along with him. When a man promises a woman that he'll show her the world, it is assumed that it means exotic locations more exciting than Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and rural Russia. He was amazed that she left because she missed Debbie rather than out of disgust and boredom.

The trip hadn't been easy on Georgia and he knew it. She didn't have anything to do other than take turns driving. While he went into the churches and mosques, she waited outside watching. He had given her hardship and isolation. She had given her love and support. Shaking his head, he said, "There's got to be something I can do to make it up to her."

There was no reply. He took a sip of his drink and found that it had gotten cold. He tossed the remainder of the cocoa with a flick of his wrist; sending the contents onto the snow beside the truck. The result was a brown patch that looked like a crooked smile. He stared at it for a minute and then said, "Maybe I should have told her to stay in Israel with Debbie."

The silence forced him to examine other aspects of his journey. Hanging over his head was the journey's end. He knew there was only one way it could end, but he had no idea how it would end. The gift of foresight, loaned to him by William Redman Carter, would not reach to that event. Considering the event, he was glad not to know.

Although it was his mortality that occupied his thoughts, his concern for his wives future weighed heaviest on his mind. He wondered what they would do once he was gone. They would have money, so he wasn't concerned about that. They wouldn't end up in a trailer park living on welfare. He knew they loved him and that his passing would hurt. He just hoped they weren't there to watch it.

It was growing cold on the roof of the truck and he shifted position a little. Georgia hadn't been gone that long and he was already lonely. There wasn't anyone with whom he could talk. In the villages, towns, and cities he visited, he was greeted with awe, fear, and respect. No one asked him if he was having a good day or to join them for a cup of coffee to discuss the weather.

There was a gulf between him and the rest of humanity put there by his service. The only ones who bridged the gulf were Georgia and Debbie. They saw him as a human being with all of the faults and flaws that was part and parcel of being human. He didn't regret the service, but he resented the gulf it imposed.

He felt guilty for dragging Georgia across such empty lands and hardship. Sitting there in the cold white lifeless landscape, he knew that he wouldn't be able to complete his service without her by his side. The loneliness would drive him crazy. Perhaps it was selfishness on his part, but a thirsty man couldn't help but want water.

Feeling a little battered by the trip, Georgia got off the plane not expecting to find Oscar waiting for her. She still had customs and passport control to get through before she would reach the waiting area. Much to her surprise, Oscar was at the gate with a bouquet of flowers. He gave her a crooked grin and said, "I'm really glad to see you."

Rather than wonder how he managed to get through security, she raced over to him and gave him a big hug. After kissing him, she said, "That one was from me. This one is from Debbie."

The second kiss was just as passionate as the first kiss. It seemed to last even longer. When she finally broke it off, he said, "I brought you some flowers."

"Those are lovely," Georgia said accepting the bouquet of flowers from him. She held them to her nose and smelled the sweet aroma they gave off. It was a sweet gesture and she loved it.

Pleased to see that she liked the flowers, he asked, "Did you have a good visit with Debbie?"

"Yes. It was wonderful," Georgia answered. They had laughed and cried together for almost the entire visit. They had eaten in nice restaurants and talked through the nights. She had taken hot showers and eaten home cooked meals.

"I'm glad. Did you tell her how much I miss her?"

"She knows," Georgia answered running a hand through his beard. She had told Debbie how much they had missed her and wished that she could be with them. Debbie's visit to Afghanistan had underscored how difficult going with Oscar would have been on her.

"How is she?"

"She wishes she was with us, but she's working on her internship. It keeps her busy and fills her time," Georgia answered. Debbie lived in a very nice apartment in Jerusalem that was a short distance away from where she worked. The neighbors were nice enough and treated her with respect, but they weren't exactly friendly.

Oscar searched her eyes and read the message that Debbie did know how much he missed her. Pulling her closer to him, he said, "I missed you."

"I know," Georgia said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Let's get out of here. I've got a hotel right down the street from here," Oscar said. He had decided that they would try to stay in more hotels during the rest of the trip. The problem was finding hotels in places like Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, and Syria.

Georgia stepped out of the shower feeling a lot more human. The flight had not been particularly rough, but it had been long and the seats were uncomfortable. Looking over at Oscar lying on the bed wearing nothing except a smile, she said, "You look comfortable."

"Believe me, I am," Oscar said. The cold outside and the rough living had given him few opportunities to just lounge around.

Settling on the bed, Georgia said, "The news services are covering your journey with a great deal of interest. Every night on the news, they show interviews from towns you visited. Debbie has a map on the wall of her apartment with each town you've visited marked by a pin."

"Oh," Oscar said. Although he hadn't thought about it, he knew that his journey was historically significant and would be covered by the news. He wondered why he hadn't seen a caravan of reporters following him around.

"She wanted to know what it was like in all of those places that we visited," Georgia said. The little map was Debbie's way of making the journey with them. Each night, she would update the map with pins of reported locations and then spend hours on the internet reading about the places.

Frowning at the kind of discussion that would produce, Oscar said, "I imagine that she got tired of hearing you describe each place as desolate."

Surprised by his negative characterization of the locations they had visited, Georgia said, "Oh no. I told her all about the things we saw. I described everything about the towns we visited, the people we met, and the food we ate. We went through the pictures that I took of our travels. There was barely enough time to cover it all."

"Really?" Oscar asked surprised.

"Sure. I think she was a little jealous, but she knows that she really isn't cut out for the kind of life we are living," Georgia said. Debbie had been hungry for every little detail about their trip. She had shuddered in horror in hearing about the rough roads and how the truck threw them around. She had laughed when she listened to how awed of Oscar the woman in the pastry shop had been.

"Jealous? This trip must be horribly boring for you. Why would she be jealous?" Oscar asked.

"Bored? I haven't been bored on this trip. I mean, there are lots of times when the landscape is a little bland, but we've seen so many neat places. Remember when we stopped and visited Merv? That was a great day. Debbie really enjoyed my letter about the visit to Merv," Georgia said.

Oscar was stunned by her announcement. He had thought that she was miserable. He asked, "You haven't been miserable on this trip?"

"No. I'll admit that there have been times when I was ready to kill for a chance to have a hot shower, but traveling around like this is not misery," Georgia said. The dominate negative about the trip had been the fear. She had never gotten over the feeling that if something bad were to happen to Oscar that she'd be left alone in a strange place with men who would hurt her. She looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Why would you think that?"