TROPHIES
by
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The Cook shack had warmed up to the low fifties. They sat at one of the door tables, drinking hot, thick, sweet, Russian coffee. Their bellies were full of salmon. "You know, Jack, after I came back from Afghanistan, I spent some time in your country. I was a student at the University of Texas. I also traveled quite a bit in what you call the ‘lower 48’. Considering my upbringing as a ‘good Communist’, I was amazed at what I saw there. I expected to see the ‘upper classes’ and then all the ‘poor’ exploited people. There was some of that, especially in the cities and in the rural south/ but it was not as I thought. The classlessness and the rule by law was what struck me. My government had told me to expect to pay bribes for everything, but I paid none I could be who I wanted to be by working for it." "Andre, I got to tell you this. After studying Russian in school, and having seen an example of Russian rural society, I think Russia is now a closer example of the ‘Robber Capitalist’ society that Russian has called the U.S." Andre nodded as he gulped the coffee. "An interesting observation, Jack--probably pretty close to the truth. Even though there are things about your country I do not like, it is much worse here, now. It may take a generation or two to change that. Russia has no history of democracy. Once the cork was popped and the genie escaped, there has been no restraint." "Okay, here we are, Andre. We agree about a lot of things. We’ve even discovered that we laugh at each other’s humor and know when to cover each other’s asses. We’re also ex-soldiers with pretty horrible experiences that have scarred us for life. Last, we are extremely frustrated and pissed off about the situation we find ourselves in now personally and perhaps beyond that. So, my friend, what shall we do about it?" After some time, Andre said, "You know Jack, Russia does have an environmental movement. In fact, Alexander Nikitin has just been acquitted of trumped up charges by the FSB. That is a good thing. Here we have the successor to the KGB trying to put this man in a Gulag for telling the truth about nuclear waste from our sub fleet. This FSB was trying to convict him because he used information from newspapers and journals to write a report/ and he was acquitted in Russia. That alone is amazing! Russia’s intelligence services have always felt they could do anything. They hid for a bit in the early nineties, but now they are becoming bolder again and acting like they did in our Soviet era. Not a good thing." What does the Russian sub fleet have to do with us and brown bears? I understand what you are saying about your intelligence services and court system, but so what?" "Ah Jack, Americans joke a lot about Russians seeing plots in everything, is that not so?" Jack smiled and nodded. "Well, perhaps we as a people are very suspicious, but the chopper that flew us in was a military machine, with an army pilot. Do you think he was acting by himself? What you were participating in here in Kamchatka, the hunt for a trophy brown bear, involves the Russian armed forces and many who ran the Soviet government in the eighties. They have changed their tactics, but they are still with us. They were a privileged class then and still are. I know of a few and suspect others, but I do not even know for sure who takes the money from these poaching and bear hunts. They have their fingers in many parts of the pie. So I admit that I see things under many rocks/ but you, my friend, you are very naive. Tell me truthfully if you had any idea what kind of society you were entering?" "No". "Jack, you will be going home to the ‘land of milk and honey’. I will be staying here. That is always the way it is, isn’t it? Americans return home to the protection of an open society after having their exciting experiences. Believe me, I have found in you a good friend, but I also realize you will not be staying here. I--" "Hold it a minute, Andre. I’m staying." "What do you mean? The bear hunt is over." "I don’t care about the bear hunt, and you know that. I do know what I’ve seen here and I think the two of us can do something about it." Andre shook his head in disbelief. "Are you crazy? You’re in Russia on a tourist’s visa. You cannot stay here. On top of that, Sam is dead and there will be many questions asked about that." Again there was silence. Neither had really thought this one through before. "Jack, I did not mean to trap you like this. I do not expect this of you. It will be dangerous. Besides, what about the tourist visa/ was it not lost in the fire?" "I had it on me. That and my wallet are all I’ve got. Everything else was burnt. The visa is good for six months. You know better than I that they won’t check visas if we don’t fly from airports. The hotels don’t even take passports anymore. We’ll need to travel by local transportation and the train system. I’ve always wanted to do the TransSiberian anyway." Now Andre was smiling again, but still shaking his head. "What about your Russian? You understand some and can speak a little, but anyone would know you are not Russian." With that Jack began speaking in German. "Well then, I guess I will have to become your retarded East German associate. I am learning, Andre. I’ll use German when we are in public with those who are suspect. With friends I will practice my Russian. And you, my friend, you will be my tutor. Also, don’t you have an underground of friends who feel as you do? There are many in the world who are becoming aware of what is happening here in your country. Perhaps they will help." Andre was stunned. "Where the hell did the German come from? You speak it well. Where did you learn this? "It was spoken at home. I come from southeastern Pennsylvania, the home of many German settlers." "Ah yes, the Amish!" "There were many other German settlers, and my family was one of them. My father and mother were both born in America, but brought up in a German household. So that is why the dialect is different. It is almost 100 years old! Things are changing in the U.S; More and more of its
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About the Book
The germ of the idea for this story came from a friend who journeyed to Kamchatka, Siberia several years ago to hunt the brown bear. Once there he was swindled out of his money and was lucky to get out with his life. He shot no bear. This novel, Trophies, is about a Viet Nam vet in his fifties who has lived to hunt most of his life, but is beginning to doubt his need to kill and hang animals on his walls. In this trip to Russia, he sees a chance to test this change with a chance to kill the greatest trophy, the brown bear. Once there he becomes embroiled in a society that is undergoing catastrophic changes. He meets a Russian guide who is a former Spetsnaz officer and closely parallels his own military experiences, but in Aghanistan, Russia's Viet Nam. All through the hunt these two alternately clash and come closer to each other until an event, which demonstrates that both have changed. The American makes the break with his known life in the U.S. and flies with the Russian to a Siberian Tiger Project outpost across the Sea of Okhotsk. There he meets the guide's older sister who is working within the tiger program. He becomes further involved with the Russian Environmental Movement as they attempt to stop the decimation of the tiger and its habitat in Siberia as his interests now broaden to a love for the sister of his friend. In the end, they are able to effect changes in the Russia of today that they would not have imagined were possible.
About the Author
Kerry Gyekis has been a professional forester most of his adult life. His career began in the jungles of South Asia in the sixties conducting a jungle-timber resources survey for the Malaysian Government. During this time he traveled through Cambodia while the United States Government was bombing its eastern boundaries. He was able to enter Viet Nam and travel throughout the delta during the American build-up there in the mid-sixties. Later, back in the States, he refused induction into the U.S. Military and was sentenced to five years in a federal facility. He fought this in federal appeals court and was acquitted several years later. Over the years he has done many different things including fifteen years creating and managing facilities for delinquent youth in the juvenile justice system. He and his sons and wife have sea kayaked in many places around the world including the northwest coast of Norway. He has written articles about these trips. He received his B.S. in Forest Management from West Virginia University in 1965. Mr. Gyekis presently lives with his wife of thirty-three years in the middle of his own forest in the north central mountains of Pennsylvania in a home that he and his family built of their own logs and stones. This is his first novel.