ROMA

by R. A. Ender

  While thinking of the reasons why, being one of the few women and being considered quite beautiful, Heather instinctively straightened herself and her uniform, and ran her hands through her hair.

  Self-consciously she quickly looked around. Only the armed security was present along with legions of the annalese but they were mostly relaxing in their temporary stages and snoozing, waiting for information to report.

  Heather already knew all the information that was going to be revealed. It was hardly a secret. The annalese had been reporting it for weeks. Richard had been able to confirm it all to her as well.

  It was well known that Watabaeg's reluctance to return any of the territories it seized during the war with the Imperial Alliance of Empires had been the major stumbling block. They maintained that as a result of the invasion, the previous borders had been shown to be indefensible. They had been quite unwilling to return any system to the IAE, even on the promise of payments and permanent peace.

  Further complicating the matter, Watabaeg had aggressively expanded into those systems. Though none contained habitable worlds, they had created a variety of settlements, including a few strategically located domed colonies. They had in ten years managed to occupy every resource world and establish bases or stations at each strategic world.

  With that issue ever present, it had taken quite a while to draft a treaty that could pass the Senate. Truly, it was only the passage of time and the weariness of the public for a continued heightened military alert that had ended the standoff. Originally the Senate had sought a substantial indemnity to be paid for all the damages and deaths from the IAE attacks. The final figure had never been agreed on but was quite high.

  At first, this indemnity was demanded by an enraged public. The Senate held out for a treaty with that included. But over time it became less and less a top of mind concern. Finally, six months ago, a treaty was worked out that returned nothing of value to the IAE but eliminated all indemnity save for the mass driver attack on Tionaga which the IAE agreed to pay for and help rebuild.

  The treaty passed the Senate by a nearly unanimous vote, only the Watabaeg members voting against it, even though their government had agreed to its terms.

  Now, the formal ceremony was nearly over and soon there would be peace again between age-old foes.

  Hopefully, Heather thought, This will be the last war, like the Treaty of Roman Brotherhood was the beginning of centuries of peace between Roma and Ebos on New Earth. Or, maybe I'm too optimistic, Heather finished her thought with a smile. It seemed as though the Confederacy and the IAE were destined to always be enemies which was very sad as a partnership would be best for both parties.

  Plus, it might mean Richard could settle down on New Earth with me and not be away from home for months or years at a time! Heather thought with a big exhale. In fact, she knew that they would only get to spend this evening, or what was left of it after the ceremony, before he had to report to his ship in orbit for a six-month training cruise.

  As if someone could hear her thoughts, Heather saw a figure approaching out of the darkness and quickly recognized Junior Admiral Robin Shelbus, Richard's longtime second in command.

  If she is here to steal him away early, I hope she brought her weapon! Heather said angrily to herself. But on her face she smiled broadly and welcomed her with open arms, inviting a hug.

  Robin accepted the hug before quickly pulling back a bit to say, "Don't worry, I'm only here to give him a status report. I won't take him away early!"

  Robin’s big smile made Heather happy, but the message made her even happier. Pulling Robin in again, Heather squeezed her hard.

  "Well that's good, otherwise I was going to kill you!" Heather said with a big smile

  "Do you think they are almost done in there? It is a beautiful night but I have a ship to finish preparing and a pillow calling my name." Robin asked with her usual addition of sarcastic comment.

  Heather waved her hand toward the Senate building. "They went into the Senate chamber about an hour ago. I think they'll be done very soon. Richard promised he would leave immediately. He said he had no interest in an after party celebrating nonsense that should have been settled years ago."

  Looking to her side at Robin directly, she added. "Personally, I think he wants to avoid speaking with Abad. I don't think he's ever forgiven him for acting so callously at the end of the war."

  "Nor should he!" Robin added quickly and with a gruff snort to show she shared Richard's feelings.

  Heather had always tried to have Richard appreciate the simple best interest of Watabaeg rationale behind Abad's actions, but she had never won him over. Regardless of what she said, Richard could not forgive Abad for allowing so many of his men to die in a war that could have been very different if Abad had acted ethically and in the best interests of the Confederacy.

  Heather knew that that final battle still haunted Richard. Despite his long record in the service and his many battles, this war against the IAE had cost him the most soldiers. It was a topic Richard would often talk about with her, but only when she broached the subject, which she did often. She had always been aware of how crucial it was for soldiers who had suffered losses in battle to speak about it. Otherwise, it often ate them up slowly and sapped their vigor for life and faith in the good of the universe.

  Richard had never had such negative thoughts, he was too naturally optimistic for that kind of brooding. But, he was saddened, deeply saddened, by the loss of life for which he felt responsible. He kept a full list of every soldier lost in the war under his command. She knew that he had attended as many funerals as he could, and wrote letters of soldier glory to all the parents and loved ones of the fallen. It had taken Richard over a year to stop tearing up. He still, to this day, woke at night from nightmares.

  That is the only thing about Richard leaving that is good, Heather thought to herself. At least I don't wake up terrified that something is wrong every few nights.

  Despite that small positive, she was always sad and upset when he was gone. Heather loved Richard deeply. Her job was busy enough that she often didn't think about him during the day, but at night, in bed alone, she always missed him.

  "I wish you would train those officer cadets in our home system this time, so Richard can come home for dinner every night," Heather said aloud to Robin, continuing out loud what she had been thinking to herself privately.

  Robin just smiled. She knew from Richard how hard it was on Heather and himself to be apart now that they were married and passionately in love. Robin knew that Richard wanted to discuss it more but censored himself knowing that she still didn't have anyone to share her life with. She didn't mind him communicating his feelings, in fact, it often gave her a desire to find someone herself, but he went on sheltering her regardless.

  Just then, a light came from the side of the Senate building and a cacophony of noises filled the nighttime silence as the two side doors were opened. Simultaneously, Heather and Robin turned to watch for people coming out. It also perked up the annalese from their collective slumber.

  Despite waiting and watching for several minutes, not one person left the Senate chamber. The noise continued and seemed to be dropping off a little bit as the first person exited the doors. No surprise to Heather, she recognized that person as her husband immediately.

  He was walking in his usual fast stroll, not really looking at anything or anybody in detail but instead just plotting his route and looking to avoid obstacles. As he got closer, he finally recognized that Heather and Robin were standing together waiting for him, and he focused his attention on them both and waved from a distance.

  As he got closer, he spoke up to be heard from still a distance away. "Are both you beautiful ladies waiting for me?" Richard half yelled half spoke to them with a big smile on his face.

  "I'm waiting to rescue you from work and whisk you away for a night of romance. Don't let Robin trap you, she's looking to steal you away from me!" Heather said with a
smile, though on reflection her joke didn't really come out as she had heard it in her head and she wished she could have taken the words back.

  Despite that, Robin smiled and said, "I'm here to steal five minutes, not your evening." Pointing at Richard with her finger, she added, "Don't try to run now or I'll have to chase you down and shot you!"

  Richard was all smiles by the time he got within a pleasant conversation distance. He immediately closed that gap and gave Heather a big hug and kiss. "Don't worry honey. There is nothing that will keep us apart tonight. I even accidently forgot my handcomm in the Senate chamber and I doubt they'll get it back to me before tomorrow morning so no one can interrupt us. Are we going to your place?"

  "My place? Last I checked it was “our” place." Heather retorted, slightly annoyed that Richard continued to refer to their home as “her house” and had not embraced it as his. She already knew his answer to her criticism before he said it, and it might be true but it never made her feel better.

  "It is 'our house'. Don't get hung up on the words. It'll take a while to purge my previous bachelor living expressions." Richard answered in his usual way, as expected.

  "I hope so!" Heather said without a twinkle in her eye. Richard could tell that it still truly annoyed her that he didn’t automatically use “our”.

  Turning to Robin, Richard asked, "Alright Admiral, what do you have for me?"

  Robin straightened and gave a formal salute. No matter how long they had been friends, she was always still a perfect professional soldier. Whether it was an ingrained respect for the office and the rank, a holdover from her youth raised by a military Father, or because she always tried to leave a slight amount of professional distance between them when she could, Robin could always be counted on to begin in the best Defense Force way.

  In this case, reporting to a superior officer, a formal salute and standing at attention were called for. However, after a quickly returned salute, she sagged to a casual stance instead of simply spreading her legs apart slightly as per best professional conduct standards.

  “Mato gave me a report which I will summarize. In ten pages of detail, he says that the ship is perfect and ready to go, and he is happy with his crew, though he seems to have a lower number of three-year veterans than usual.” Robin began.

  Before Richard could answer that comment, Robin raised a finger. “I looked into the numbers and we’ve had a low number of engineers on board for a few years now, so he is right. I told him to elevate some of his second years to leadership positions when possible and if he is still in need, I can transfer some from tactical. Maybe it’s the recent war, maybe other reasons, but tactical seems to have a glut of officer trainees. My Adiutrix corp has nearly twice the bodies as it did before the war, so I can send him a few. I would just have to be picky so they don’t get bored downstairs in engineering.”

  Richard nodded along. At this point, Robin could run this officer training cruise without him. For almost twenty years now, they had commanded the Caesar Augustus together. They had developed the curriculum, dealt with the same or similar issues year after year, and had written the final evaluations together. It had always been Richard’s goal to train Robin to replace himself at the helm of the best officer school in the universe. Being a military organization, there was by no means a guarantee that the upper brass would agree. Fortunately for Robin, her Father remained a powerful and senior member of the Commanding Admirals Council. And with the recent passing of the chair of the council, Commanding Admiral Dredmoore, Commanding Admiral Shelbus had more influence than in past years and could likely ensure Robin’s eventual promotion.

  Without question, the biggest impediment to her rise through the ranks was her loyalty and stubborn refusal to step out from behind Richard in a formal way. He knew how much she did and how little he needed to be there. But any outsider had only his word, which was always viewed suspiciously. It was inevitable that working closely with someone, becoming friends, always led outsiders to question the accuracy and authenticity of recommendations.

  Outsiders would look at the impartial facts. And the facts are that Robin had begun as a trainee officer under Richard many decades ago, and every time he moved up, was promoted, transferred or gained a new assignment, within a short amount of time, she followed, as one step below his rank. She had been his second in command for so long they were usually spoken of as a unit. Even more suspected a romantic relationship, but Richard and Robin both knew the truth, that there was none. It was a relationship which stayed very much a work friendship, with rare dances into true friendship but never stayed there long.

  They had been together so long that when Robin offered her advice or explained the steps she had already taken, Richard was absolutely confident they were exactly what would have been agreed to had they sat down and discussed it. As a result, he had only to nod agreement to Robin moving tactical officers into leadership positions in engineering. There were plenty of tactical like positions in engineering to make a trainee officer happy for a year. Most found the technology behind the weapon systems very interesting.

  Robin took his head nod as a sign to move forward, and she did.

  “All the senior crew has reported they are ready, in briefer reports. Etu had a small concern about some medical supplies that had not arrived at the ship but were clearly delivered to the base weeks ago. I spoke with the senior dock hand and he said he’ll find it by the morning and we’ll have it on board before we depart.”

  Robin now flipped a page in her notebook. She always carried the standard Defense force workcomp necessary for reports on board, but she also kept a paper notebook where she wrote down checklists, items, and ideas throughout her day. She was one of those people that liked to have that real world physical copy.

  “Oh, ok, Jennifer wanted to set a time tomorrow to speak with you about a transfer. I already know that she has been offered a teaching position with one of the Academies and with her newly married, I think she may take it. As far as I’ve heard, it doesn’t start for six months, so I think she’ll just be letting you know but still coming with us. It would be a little late for a transfer.”

  “Yes, it would,” Richard said. “It’ll be very odd to not have her at nav station, but I guess we can’t all stay together forever, now can we,” Richard said with a smile.

  “And getting married is a great reason to settle down in one place with one position. Isn’t it Richard?!” Heather interjected giving him a very dirty but joking, look.

  Robin smiled broadly but kept the report coming. “Moving on, Sara reports that she’s ready though she has some new tactical software she wants to trial on this cruise. I told her to meet with Mato and come back to us with a training schedule.”

  And with that, she closed her notebook and looked back up at Richard. “And that leads to my report, which is we are ready to go, and I am ready to build out the training schedule but you haven’t told me where we are going. So, where are we going, sir?” Robin asked with a formal emphasis indicating her displeasure with not having been able to plan out the next few weeks of training.

  Usually, Richard gave them all that information well in advance, but he had been waiting. He had a special training cruise in mind but he had needed all the pieces to fall into place before his ship left the base. As of today, they had and he was very excited to announce the news. But…

  “You’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Richard said with a big smile. “It’s a surprise!”

  Robin just shook her head and made a sour face.

  “And will I like this surprise?” She asked.

  “I’m not sure, but it will be a great training opportunity and a terrific cruise. Go to bed, get your rest, I’ll see you in the morning. Dismissed!” Richard ended with a salute. He wouldn’t normally do that with Robin, but he wanted to avoid speaking about their destination in front of Heather so he didn’t want to have an extended conversation with Robin about it. The best way to do that was to make it clear the re
port was over and his night with Heather could begin.

  “Yes, sir,” Robin answered and saluted back. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow, right?”

  Again, Heather interjected. “Robin, you don’t depart until five in the afternoon, you will have him by then.”

  Robin smiled. “No problem, you can keep him as long as you want. We leave at five, though, with or without you.”

  Richard nodded and was about to speak, but Heather smiled and spoke again. “That’s not a big incentive for me! Have a great evening. I’ll see you in a few months.”

  “You too, and yes, I’ll see you in a few. Good night you two!”

  And with that, Robin turned and walked off toward some means of transport to get her back to the ship.

  Richard immediately grabbed Heather up in his arms as Robin got a little farther away and gave her a big hug and kiss. The kiss lingered, neither of them wanting it to end. But both of them did want to get home to spend their final evening together for a few months, and so they broke apart, but Richard kept his arm around her as they walked off in another direction toward a waiting transport that had brought them to the Senate complex.

  As they walked, neither said anything to each other. They had been friends and lovers for so long, that they only needed to be in each other’s company. As they approached the transport, the door opened to allow them entrance to the seating area. Heather got in first and took the seat at the far side of the vehicle. Richard got in next and sat right beside her, more in the middle of the vehicles long rear bench seat than the side they had entered. Wrapping his arm around Heather, they snuggled into each other.