SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Medicine Man Transition
A couple of hours later, and the attack team was assembled. Captain Manthey was seated in a smaller “light strike” vehicle called a Growler. It was small, but fast, with a machine gun mounted above the open seats. He had an operator for the gun, named Jimmy, seated directly behind him as he drove down into the woods behind the drones.
Before the Growler vehicle, was a collection of drones. Most were wheeled vehicles, but a couple of the twelve were the “walking” type, with four legs that propelled them over rougher terrain. All were heavily armed for attack.
Controlling the drones was a tech expert named Colonel Lee Anthony. He remained back in the clearing, watching through drone mounted cameras - whatever he saw through the cameras on the drones, he had linked to the television cameras of the world. Colonel Anthony was a technical wizard.
Back in Chicago, Nora and her other liberal counterparts were watching the proceedings avidly. After a short time of grief and mourning, probably about five minutes, Nora had got over her loss of Detective Antigone Gibbons.
As she explained to her U of Chicago colleagues, “I mourn the loss of a great hero of liberalism, my friend Antigone Gibbons. But, I know he would not want us to waste time grieving, but would instead expect us to forge ahead, and eliminate the racist Wulf Gott!” She loved to throw in her last name, sensing that it made her seem incredibly selfless, and actually really, really liberal and progressive, since she was more than willing to throw her family under the bus in the cause of liberalism and the Democratic party.
As Nora and countless others watched, Captain Manthey signaled for the attack to commence. Upon the television screens of most of the world, the drone march began. The twelve drones were shown as they wheeled and walked, just before the camera held by Captain Manthey, which camera was linked to the main TV cams, which were all synchronized and run together by a celebrity newscaster by name of Danny Roberts.
Dan Roberts, an extreme leftist, professed nightly on his show to love all minorities. For instance, he agitated for a huge increase in immigration of muslims, and was disgusted that they were supposedly denied because of their religion. But secretly, he despised these Indians, who had emerged as an anti-big-government, and so anti-leftist group. He hoped fervently for their elimination as a group, and so was talking up the drone attack as they went.
The drones started off energetically, but then lapsed into fits and starts, sometimes stopping entirely. Then, after a bit, they would resume moving, as would the vehicle carrying the Captain and Jimmy. Jimmy held onto the trigger of his gun tightly, just hoping that it would fire when needed- they all knew that machinery and weapons were quite “iffy” in this ensorcelled forest, at least for now.
The nations of the world held their collective breath watching this tableau, where machines were being pitted against a kind of witchcraft unknown in modern times. It was modern civilized weaponry versus ancient barbarism- and the earth was transfixed!
Akula was coughing, and that was a relief! The tribe had been fearful, since he had not even breathed for a good amount of time. Then, he opened his eyes-
“The Great Spirit is calling to me,” he spoke. “The great eagle has flown over the mountain, and called for my spirit to fly to our ancestors. I am to ride on his back, into the rising sun, to live forever in the woodlands of our forefathers!” Akula’s eyes rolled back in his head, and Wulf feared he was gone-
But then, with a great effort, the medicine man pulled himself back from his final flight. “A new man of the Great Spirit must be anointed, before I leave this land, else the civilized men will prevail. Who shall be worthy, and more important, who is worthy??!!” Akula lifted his head, with great effort, and looked out at all who surrounded him as he lay.
Wulf was there, magnificent in his strength. Nikan, also, stood strong beside him, ready to lay down his life for the tribe. There was Trina, the young girl with strength in both spirit and body, and Major Lee Anthony, who had come over to support them from civilization. All the other tribespeople were also crowded all around him, anxious.
As Akula gazed, the aura of each was shown to him- Wulf was a lion, too strong for a mage- Nikan was loyal, but a bear was his aura, too mercurial- and so it went, each member of the tribe was shown to him with their traits, their faults and strengths. Who could be the next medicine man of the Ojibwe? The spiritual leader of the tribe, the magical spirit-guide, to lead them through the quagmires of the modern age? The dying man looked avidly, hoping to find the proper aura to replace his guidance and spiritual leadership.
When he saw the aura, he was non-plussed; nay, shocked beyond belief. The aura he sought, that of the white-topped eagle, the totem of the Indian medicine man, was clearly outlined above one head, and only that one. Akula was almost disbelieving, but he gave himself over entirely to the Great Spirit-
The eagle aura shown clearly, just above the dark head of Jafiro!
The young, black, skinny little runt who had recently joined the tribe, under the auspices and pity, really, of Wulf. How could such an inauspicious beginning result in this youth becoming, all at once, as an outsider- the most important man in the tribe?
But Akula was not one to second guess the Great Spirit. Raising his arm one last time, he bestowed his blessing on this young black youth, and fell back forever.