Chapter 11 (Excerpt)

The road went south from Rapid City like a diamondback rattler slithering through the dust.

The land was burnt-cinder red and ugly. The entourage consisted of one vehicle, a single white Toyota 4Runner.

Jena Li sat in the passenger seat up front. Gavin Shea, her cameraman, was driving. They were on their way

to the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota to do a segment for Jena’s show, “State of the Earth.”

“It’s like Iraq,” Jena said as she swept her hand out the window.

“Yeah,” Gavin said, “just like Iraq. Hotter than hell and butt-ugly.”

Jena laughed.

They were partners. They’d been together since Iraq. News reporters embedded in hell. …

 

When they came back from the war, they were semi-famous. 

They won awards. They were in a position to negotiate. They convinced the management at CNC News

to do a documentary series. During negotiations, Jena met her new flame, Michael Tobias, the CEO of CNC News.

After their stints in Iraq and Afghanistan, they wanted to do something positive. Jena’s passion was the environment.

She had two bumper stickers on her Toyota: “Save Mother Earth!” and “Visualize Whirled Peas!”

They did segments on the recovery of Prince William Sound and the decline of Puget Sound.

They did a segment on California’s wild salmon runs. They had just wrapped a segment on the Hanford nuclear site.

They were working on a new piece, now, the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota and the environmental impact

of industrial tourism. They were on their way to interview the man responsible for building the largest sculpture in the world.

Jena rolled down the window, reached out with her right hand, and placed the satellite receiver on the roof of the truck.

“We’ve got to touch base. See if there’s anything new.”

“Ten-four, Captain.”

 ”General to you.”

“Okay. General. General Li.”

“That’s right, and don’t you forget it.”

She popped open her laptop and turned it on. An email notification popped up.

Gavin reached inside his shirt jacket and pulled out a small silver cigarette box.

He flipped it open and offered it to Jena.

“Here you go, General.”

Jena reached for the joint and smiled.

“You rolled this, didn’t you?”

“With one hand.”

“It shows. What were you doing with the other hand?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Been there. Never going back.”

“How quickly they forget.”

“So forgettable.”