Part 1 of a 3 part story by R.M. Dolin
What Is To Be Done – TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHAT IS TO BE DONE
By R.M. Dolin
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Prelude To A Touch – Jake awakens to the stark reality of his world without Emelia as he readies for his morning bicycle ride.
Chapter 2: The Madness of Memories – Jake and Armando share a drink at the Al Azar on Cinco de Mayo before the rest of the crew arrive for their Americans for a New America (ANA) meeting that masquerades as poker.
Chapter 3: Al Azar – The rest of Jake’s cohort of retired Los Alamos scientists from the Mind’s Eye Project arrive at Armando’s bar for Cinco de Mayo poker and to finalize the pre-launch measures for their virtual coup.
Chapter 4: The Desperation of Her Darkness – In the midst of the ANA poker/plotting session, Sympatico bursts into the Al Azar seeking sanctuary. From her disheveled appearance and utter desperation every man in the Al Azar knows who she is and what’s she’s running from.
Chapter 5: Derivation of Destiny – Ruben, one of Miguel’s henchmen, quickly arrives to retrieve Sympatico, he doesn’t consider the ANA members to be a threat until Dario brutally takes him down.
Chapter 6: Death is An Illusion – In terrified shock, Sympatico tries to assess if these old men playing poker are good or evil. Given that her life is ruled by evil men, she sees all men as evil and would rather die than be handed back over to Miguel.
Chapter 7: The Monte Hall Paradox – Miguel arrives with an entourage of henchmen to take Sympatico with force but Jake baits him into a one-hand card game wager for Sympatico’s freedom and wins. Miguel tries to renege, but that these Los Alamos scientists are capable of unleashing a cyber hell that would end up with him in prison.
Chapter 8: La Marseillaise – Jake awakens to the aftermath of last night and tries to explain what happened to Emelia, who’s memory he talks to every morning.
Chapter 9: Decoding Demons – On his morning bicycle ride, Jake manically works through what to do about the damaged woman sleeping in his guest bed. Halfway up Totavi Hill he has his eureka moment and quickly peddles back home.
Chapter 10: Infinite Sympatico – Jake’s solution to his Sympatico problem is to take her to church where he can dump her off on Padre, only Padre is far to cleaver for such things and flips the script. Now Jake is responsible for taking care of this severely damaged women and he has absolutely no idea how.
Chapter 11: La Marseillaise Redux – Jake is hopelessly lost to the dark pain of another predawn with night without his beloved Emelia.
Chapter 12:In The Land of Manana – Jake decides Sympatico should stay at home while he goes to Española for needed pump parts. When he returns, Sympatico’s not there.
Chapter 13: What Happens Next – Just as Jake starts his panic over Sympatico being gone, Miguel shows up for the money Jake owes him and when he discovers Sympatico’s missing, he sees a chance to reclaim her if he can find her first. Now Jake and the rest of his crew must find her before Miguel and his henchmen do. Eventually, Jake finds Sympatico hiding in his tool shed, too afraid to trust anyone.
Chapter 14: Damaged Goods – To celebrate Sympatico’s return, Jake hosts a party for everyone who help in the search. Dario stays afterwards for a quiet drink with Jake where he falls into his latest PTSD episode while telling Jake the painful story of the friend he lost in combat in Iraq.
Chapter 15: Enemy at the Gate – The ANA gather at the Al Azar to debate whether to delay the launch of their virtual coup. They also work through what should be done about Sympatico.
Chapter 16: Casualties of Context – Alone in his courtyard with only his memories of Emelia and his black bottle bourbon, Jake has too much to drink. When Sympatico joins him, he starts to ridiculously role play, confusing Sympatico for Emelia, the consequences of his error are explosive.
Chapter 17: Alternate Ending – Jake awakens to another layer in his tragic Emelia story.
Chapter 18: Making Mula – Jake should apologize to Sympatico for last night but opts to make Mula instead. Mula is a New Mexico prohibition era liquor highly prized amongst locals even though it’s also highly illegal.
Chapter 19: Bourbon Etiquette – Chance arrives in Jake’s tasting room to sample whiskey’s unaware it’s interview day. His interview is full of twists and turns that winds up with Jake giving Chance a job offer that he declines until he spots Sympatico and decides to stay for the possibility of romance.
Chapter 20: Aroma of Memories – As a full moon rises over the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the aromas in Jake’s barrel aging room loft him back in time to a precious moment with Emelia.
Chapter 21: Blue Bottle Bourbon – Sympatico interrupts Jake’s full moon ritual and after some persuasion agrees to join Jake in his spirit cleansing ceremony. She confesses that she’s worried Jake will send her away, but Jake assures her that she can stay until the season of her healing is complete.
Chapter 22: Quiet Desperation– The ANA learn about Alverez, a Watcher sent from Washington to track down suspected New Mexico subversives. The ANA once again delays the launch of their coup until they better understand the threat.
Chapter 23: Imaginary Numbers – Jake leaves Sympatico and Chance alone at home to spend the evening at the Al Azar. Chance, the consummate player, has no idea about Sympatico’s horrific past and when he attempts to charm her, the results are beyond explosive.
Chapter 24: Angelica – Sympatico wakes Jake up with a note from Padre about bringing Angelica to church. Sympatico assumes Angelica is Jake’s girlfriend and she worries Angelica will force Jake to kick her out. On their way to church, Jake tells her the compelling story behind the alter wine, Angelica, he makes for Padre.
Chapter 25: Passions of a Padre – Padre uses Sympatico as a prop to deliver a moving sermon on perseverance. Padre hints at knowing Jake and his cohort are up to something big and he’s pleased that God has chosen him to play a part.
Chapter 26:Rendering Verdicts – While helping Jake in the distillery, Dario cannot hide is frustration and anger about Jake replacing him with Chance. Dario sees himself as Sympatico’s hero and Chance as his rival for Sympatico’s affections.
Chapter 27: Desperadoes – Miguel shows up at the Al Azar demanding Sympatico be returned. He offers Jake a huge amount of money, but Jake refuses. Miguel informs Jake that he works for desperate men and things are not going to end well for anyone unless Jake agrees to sell her.
Chapter 28: Dawn of Discontent – The ANA react to Miguel’s threats by making plans to protect Sympatico while once again delaying the launch of their coup. Frustrations are mounting within the cohort of revolutionaries.
Chapter 29: Tengo Caricia – The ANA, now at war with Miguel, brace for violence. They alert the Sandia ANA chapter to what’s going on and ask for their help. As usual for Sandia National Laboratory engineers, they arrive with lots of fancy technology to help defeat Miguel.
Chapter 30: Calculus of Causation – Jake is awakened late at night to the news that a man’s been stabbed and woman’s murdered at Miguel’s ranch. He rushes to Sympatico’s bedroom to find her missing.
In book two of the trilogy, “Trophic Cascade – The Rise and Fall of Quiet Acquiescence,” the story picks up with a murdered woman at Miguel’s ranch and Sympatico missing.
Comments are closed