saying the same thing: don’t do what they expect you to do.
“Go look at the map,” Borken said.
Reacher thrust his cuffed hands forward and lifted himself awkwardly
out of the chair. Walked over to the map of Montana on the wall. He
found Yorke in the top left-hand corner. Well inside the small black
outline. He checked the scale and looked at the contour shading and
the colors. The river Joseph Ray had talked about lay thirty miles to
the west, on the other side of high mountains. It was a thick blue
slash running down the map. There were enormous brown heights shown to
the north, all the way up to Canada. The only road ran north through
Yorke and terminated at some abandoned mine workings. A few haphazard
tracks ran through solid forest to the east. To the south, contour
lines merged together to show a tremendous east-west ravine.
“Look at that terrain, Reacher,” Borken said quietly. “What does it’
tell you?”
Reacher looked at it. It told him he couldn’t get out. Not on foot,
not with Holly. There were weeks of rough walking east and north.
Natural barriers west and south. The terrain made a better prison than
wire fences or minefields could have. He had once been in Siberia,
after glasnost, following up on ancient stories about Korean MIAs. The
gulags had been completely open. No wire, no barriers. He had asked
his hosts: but where are the fences? The Russians had pointed out over
the miles of snow and said: there are the fences. Nowhere to run. He
looked up at the map again. The terrain was the barrier. To get out
was going to require a vehicle. And a lot of luck.
They can’t get in,” Borken said. “We’re impregnable. We can’t be
stopped. And we mustn’t be stopped. That would be a disaster of truly
historic proportions. Suppose the Redcoats had stopped the American
Revolution in 1776?”
Reacher glanced around the tiny wooden room and shuddered.
This isn’t the American Revolution,” he said.
“Isn’t it?” Borken asked. “How is it different? They wanted freedom
from a tyrannical government. So do we.”
“You’re murderers,” Reacher said.
“So were they in 1776,” Borken said. They killed people. The
established system called that murder, too.”
“You’re racists,” Reacher said.
“Same in 1776,” Borken said. “Jefferson and his slaves? They knew
black people were inferior. Back then, they were exactly the same as
we are now. But then they became the new redcoats. Slowly, over the
years. It’s fallen to us to get back to how it should have stayed.
Live free or die, Reacher. It’s a noble aim. Always has been, don’t
you think?”
He was leaning forward with his great bulk pressing tight against the
desk. His hands were in the air. His colorless eyes were shining.
“But there were mistakes made in 1776,” he said. “I’ve studied the
history. War could have been avoided if both sides had acted sensibly.
And war should always be avoided, don’t you think?”
Reacher shrugged.
“Not necessarily,” he said.
“Well, you’re going to help us avoid it,” Borken said. That’s my
decision. You’re going to be my emissary.”
“Your what?” Reacher said.
“You’re independent,” Borken said. “Not one of us. No ax to grind. An
American like them, an upstanding citizen, no felony icu convictions.
A clever, perceptive man. You notice things. They’ll listen to
you.”
“What?” Readier said again.
“We’re organized here,” Borken said. “We’re ready for nationhood. You
need to understand that. We have an army, we have a treasury, we have
financial reserves, we have a legal system, we have democracy. I’m
going to show all that to you today. I’m going to show you a society
ready for independence, ready to live free or die, and just a day away
from doing so. Then I’m going to send you south to America. You’re
going to tell them our position is strong and their position is
hopeless.”
Reacher just stared at him.
“And you can tell them about Holly,” Borken said quietly. “In her
special little room. You can tell them about my secret weapon. My
insurance policy.”
“You’re crazy,” Reacher said.
The hut went silent. Quieter than silent.