[Chernarus] “To my friends, my neighbors, my countrymen, and those who would harm us.”

[K2U]

*There is a sharp click as the woman presses down the transmit button on the handset, but at first only the sound of a howling wind and heavy static can be heard. Several moments later two muffled voices can be heard in the background.* 

[Female Voice, North American Accent] “Is it working?”

[Male Voice, Mixed Chernarussian Accent] “Ano, it should be.” 

[Female Voice, North American Accent] “Are you sure? I don’t think it-”

[Male Voice, Mixed Chernarussian Accent] “Here, let me change this-.”

*The hum of static dies down and Deebs’ voice clears up, and though she sounded tired, there was a firm tone in her words as she speaks directly into the radio.*

“To my friends, my neighbors, my countrymen, and those who would harm us ... my name is Doctor Deborah Siskoh, DVM, and although I came to this country as a visitor nearly a year ago I have decided to stay, despite these unprecedented troubling times. Twice I have been approached by the then-in-place Chernarussian government and voluntarily became a naturalized citizen of this country, and I would gladly sign away my former Canadian citizenship a third time, should that opportunity arise. This is my home, and my family’s home, and I will not be intimidated away from the community I have served to the best of my abilities these past seasons.” 

“Unfortunately, there are those in the oblast who would demand just that: that I lock the doors of my clinic where I have mended the wounds and saved the lives of Chernarussians and foreigners alike, that I shutter the gates of my warehouse where we prepare the clothing, camping equipment, and medical supplies that are distributed at our donation centers, that I walk away from the foundations of my home where I have lived since the waning days of last summer. There are those who would lay the most vile of accusations at my family’s feet, and paint me as a monster for standing beside those who I care for. Those who know us will know that we are hardly without flaw, and most certainly not without sin, but we will not stand to be accused of brutalities and horrors that we have never committed.” 

“So to those men and women who beat me until I was nearly unrecognizable, to the ones who shot my family member in front of me and refused to allow me to render him aid as he lay there bleeding, I offer you the following apology which you demanded from my husband and my family.”

 “We have sold marijuana inside the oblast, which was grown beside our crops of food throughout the winter, and one who has since betrayed us was pushing stronger drugs which I have reason to believe he was moving in from outside the country, but we would never sell drugs to a child as we have been accused of.” 

“We have certainly maintained a small armory with which to protect ourselves, and some of those weapons were traded away for other vital supplies, but we never provided arms or armor to known enemies of the people if for no other reason than we would be arming the very foes who would turn those weapons back on ourselves.” 

“We were accused, most fervently of all, of having bent the knee to the Russians Anarchists and assisting them in their crimes against the Chernorussia people. With guns aimed at myself and my family members, I did agree to leave medical supplies in a building in Lopatino. When these terrorists returned with explosives and threats to murder those I cared for, I did spend time out west, but I never tended to the wounds of anyone wearing the uniform or armbands of my foes.”

*There is a long pause in which only the wind can be heard again as the woman continues to hold down the transmit button. Faintly, in the background, the male voice with the mixed Chernorussian accent can be heard asking if Deebs was done speaking.*

“I was called a liar by the ones who abused me and shot a member of my family, after I spoke truths, even ones that incriminated myself in the things I had done. If my words mean nothing to you, then I ask you to look at my actions, and the actions I have taken in this past year. Look at the lives I have saved, some who are counted among your own ranks, look at the hungry and cold who my family have fed and clothed, look at the houses left to ruin which were mended and made safe again for others to take shelter in. Fault us for cowardice, if you will, for taking actions to appease ones who came to our home with murderous intent - but do not lay outlandish, false accusations at our feet. My family will return to our warehouse, and we will once more stock the clinic and donation centers, and I will return to treating those who are in need, because this is my home, and I will not be shaken from it.” 

*For one last moment there is the sound of the wind, and then only silence as the woman lets go of the transmit button.*