Parnell had set an alarm to remind him of a piece of open business he had to close, the release of the crew of the HMS Illustrious to planet leave. His alarm went off just after introductions were done at the after party – he hadn’t wanted it to interrupt him during the coronation, so he had left a little extra time – and he sent the mail authorizing planet leave to Illustrious’s captain, Julia Bianchi.
When announced aboard Illustrious, the news got a cheer, but, having watched the coronation, they also understood now why it had been necessary.
Goulet came up to Parnell and Bouchard to congratulate Parnell.
“That was nicely done, Dan.”
“You played your part to perfection, Jerry. Thank you for that.”
Goulet nodded.
“Seeing you on the Throne with Marie at your side, I was never more sure it was the right thing to do. And now I get to go home, back to a job I understand and can do well.”
“I’m glad you’re resuming your position. I would hate to lose you, Jerry. I have five sector governors to replace as it is.”
“The Five Musketeers, then....”
“Their avatars disappeared when they died.”
Goulet sighed and shook his head.
“Well, it serves them right. They put the entire Empire at risk for the sake of their personal ambitions.”
Bouchard put her hand on Goulet’s wrist, the wrist of the hand holding his drink.
“And I have not forgotten my commitment to you, Jerry. The book will be out in a year, no more. You might send me biographical information and pointers to some sources to get me started. At some point I will want to interview you at length, but we can do that in VR.”
Goulet bowed his head to her.
“Thank you, Marie. I will certainly do that. I appreciate it.”
“We owe you, Jerry, and we will not be remiss in our commitments.”
Goulet managed to catch Peters and Hayes together at the party.
“Hi, Amanda, Sandy. I wanted to thank you two for, um, assisting me in discovering my limitations in the role of ruler.”
Hayes smiled and Peters chuckled.
“It wasn’t that hard,” Peters said. “You’re a good man, Jerry, and too self-honest to be deluded by your preferences. You’d have gotten there without us.”
“Yes, but you helped limit the breakage.”
“We’ll see if you still think that after you read the newsfeeds.”
“I knew the plans, of course,” Goulet said. “How bad was it, Amanda?”
“The buildings collapsed, as expected. Whichever wing the governor was in, anyway. Hundreds died. It may go over a thousand, all told. The buildings were mostly empty because of the holidays. The senior people would have been the ones who were in the building for the coronation.”
Goulet sighed.
“It was necessary, Jerry,” Peters said. “It wasn’t enough to execute the sector governors, and leave all the assistants, planners, managers, strategists, and press officers in place. We needed to send the message that, if you aid and abet someone in pursuit of treason, you’re not immune to punishment. We didn’t get them all, but you don’t have to, to send a message.”
“What about collateral damage?”
“There was very little, actually. Some broken windows. The sector governors’ residences are normally set out in some sort of park-like grounds, well away from other buildings. And most government offices in the area were shut down for the holiday.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“The press will make it a huge thing, of course,” Hayes said.
“That’s good, Sandy,” Peters said. “Helps us get our message out. Treason will not be tolerated.”
“Why not hold a press conference and explain it, Sandy?” Goulet asked.
Hayes shook his head.
“We don’t need to. The average person gets it. They’re not involved in all this power politics and maneuvering. They just want government to leave them alone so they can get on with their lives. Explaining anything to the press just gives them something they can twist around to fit some stupid narrative.”
Peters nodded.
“It’s also going to drive them nuts that there’s no response from the Palace,” Peters said.
“There’ll be a press release, surely,” Goulet said.
“Not until Monday. This is an Imperial holiday, and the Imperial Palace press office isn’t open on weekends.”
“The Palace won’t have any comment until Monday?” Goulet asked.
“Yep,” Peters said, smiling. “Not on the coronation, the substitution of Emperors, the Guardian of the Throne, or the executions. Nothing till Monday.”
“The press’ll be in a frenzy of speculation all weekend,” Goulet said.
“Yeah,” Hayes said, laughing. “Then the press office will release a few lines on Monday, and take no questions.”
“But how do you manage the Emperor’s image?” Goulet asked.
“Did you ever compare Bobby’s favorability ratings to the sector governors, Jerry?” Peters asked.
“Yes, Amanda. They’re always through the roof. We were never within twenty points of him.”
“That’s why,” Peters said. “We always ignored the press. The public likes it that way.”
Peters made her way over to Bouchard during the party.
“Marie, you were fabulous. Just fabulous. And that dress is amazing.”
“Thank you, Amanda. I did what you said. For as revealing as it is, I wore it with no air of apology, only challenge.”
“And that was exactly correct. The common man thinks the Empress should be powerful and wise, of course, but heartrendingly beautiful above all else. If she’s the best of us, she should be. That makes people think all is well with the world.”
Bouchard nodded.
“I see that now. You were right, Amanda. Thank you again.”
“There’s one other thing about your performance today. I predict that the next succession – many decades from now, we all hope – will have no such challenge. No one will want to tangle with that Empress.”
“But I’ll be old then, Amanda. Wiser but not beautiful. Not in this way.”
“It won’t matter, Marie. Everyone knows who this Empress is now, and that reputation will endure. I’m following the newsfeeds right now, during lulls in the conversation. Do you know that the press has already compared the recordings of the coronation with those of the Imperial City spaceport shooting last week? They’re reporting that it was the Empress herself who outdrew and shot those five men in the spaceport, even while putting herself at a disadvantage by dropping to the ground so her shots wouldn’t hit bystanders.”
“Oh, my.”
“Yes. The public will love you even more for that – for your competence, for your deadliness, for your care for strangers, for the common man. Faced with death, you put yourself in even more danger to protect others. But those who might do you or Daniel harm will be even less likely to think about it. If they kill him, then you will have Imperial power. And they’re absolutely terrified of you.”
“Terrified of me? Is that good, Amanda?”
“The love of the public, and the terror of your enemies? It doesn’t get any better than that, Marie. Trust me. It doesn’t get any better than that. Daniel won’t have any trouble with sector governors for decades.”
Parnell caught up with General MacFarland at the party.
“You’ve updated the watch orders, Sean?”
“Yes, Daniel,” MacFarland said, managing to make it sound formal. “And Housekeeping reports the moves are complete.”
“Never underestimate Housekeeping.”
“Indeed. And Governor Goulet has been informed of the location of his apartment, and his elevator and other access permissions have been changed.”
“Very good. Enough business, then. How do you think the coronation went?”
“I thought it was excellent. Even more, Elspeth absolutely
loved it. She said, ‘Now there’s a true Emperor, with an Empress to match.’ Of course, that you come from the Imperial Guard is a big deal with her, too.”
Hayes also managed to catch up with Bouchard. He had a proposition for her.
“Marie, what are you going to be doing here in the Palace. Besides being Empress, I mean.”
“What does ‘being Empress’ even mean, Sandy? There are no official duties.”
“My point exactly, Marie. Now, for the last sixty-three years, Amanda has been a senior adviser in the Co-Consul’s office. She has work every day, is in the middle of the information stream coming into the Palace, and is self-dispatching. She basically works on whatever she wants to work on. Whatever interests her. I was wondering if you wanted to do something like that.”
“Sandy, I’m twenty-nine years old. Senior adviser seems a bit much.”
“Amanda was a senior adviser at twenty-five, Marie, and was never a senator in a planetary government. We don’t have much colony experience in my office. Besides, it gives you something useful to do, puts you right in the information stream so you will be better informed to advise Daniel, and yet you don’t work together all day, which can get to be a bit much.”
“I’ll think about it, Sandy.”
“Ask Amanda about it, Marie. She would be able to advise you best. We’d love to have you.”
They eventually went in to dinner. The small table for four that was typically in the dining room had been either replaced with or expanded to a table for twelve. There was full staff in the dining room, too, a maitre d'hotel and four servers. As in the living room, the window wall to the balcony was completely open.
There were engraved seating tags at each place setting. Parnell sat at the head of the table, with Bouchard to his right and Peters to his left. Goulet sat next to Bouchard, and Hayes sat next to Peters, with his wife beyond. MacFarland sat at the other end of the table, with his wife on his left. Perez and his wife sat to MacFarland’s right, and Dietrich and his wife sat to MacFarland’s left, on the other side of MacFarland’s wife. Per staff’s typical practice, status was preserved while managing to alternate male and female around the table, while also seating couples together.
Champagne was poured first. Hayes stood and raised his glass.
“To the Emperor and Empress. Long live the Emperor.”
“Long live the Emperor,” everyone said, then drank.
Bouchard then stood and raised her glass.
“To Governor Jerome Goulet, the Emperor Nerva, an honorable man who well served the Empire he loves. Long live the Emperor.”
“Long live the Emperor,” everyone said, then drank.
Bouchard sat down, and Goulet turned to her. He had tears in his eyes, and had difficulty speaking.
“Thank you, Marie.”
“You’re welcome, Jerome. As I said, I will write the history.”
Staff had outdone themselves for this meal. There was no appetizer course after the hors d'oeuvres earlier. Dinner started with a lobster bisque served with cubed fresh bread, lightly toasted and sprinkled with garlic butter. The main course was baby asparagus spears wrapped in a chicken breast and sautéed, served with deep-fried potato puffs and fried peach slices, on a bed of peach sauce. Dessert was individual chocolate cakes, with a chocolate ganache center, served with a scoop each of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream, blackberries on the side, and a black raspberry drizzle over all.
Conversation stopped for the food. After dinner, they sat around the table with coffee and cognac.
“Well, that was an amazing meal,” Goulet said. “I envy you your kitchen, Dan, but I’m not sure my waistline could take it long term. Back home to simpler fare for me.”
“The Imperial Residence has an excellent gym as well, Jerry.”
“We always preferred the pool,” Peters said. “I did, anyway. For Bobby it was the gym. He wasn’t much of a swimmer.”
The conversation wound down, and Peters, sensitive to the signs from her hosts, brought the meal to a close.
“Well, it’s been a long day, everyone, and I’m tired. I’m off to change down and relax a bit before bed.”
Everyone else took their cue from Peters, and, after several minutes of goodbyes, the last of the guests was seen off.
Parnell and Bouchard walked down the hall to the bedroom of the Imperial Apartment. Housekeeping had moved all their things, and Bouchard found all her clothes from her trunks unpacked and stowed in the gigantic closet of the Empress. Parnell, too, found all his clothes in the Emperor’s closet, which was actually smaller than hers.
Within minutes, two people from the Seamstress’s office and one from the Hairdresser’s office showed up in the Empress’s closet to get Bouchard out of her dress and take down her hair. They fussed about her for several minutes, then packed up all the roses, the crown jewels, and her dress, and left her standing naked in her closet. In the hallway, they gave the crown jewels to a pair of Imperial Guardsmen standing by, for return to the vault.
Bouchard ran warm water in the sink in her closet and washed her makeup off her face.
She was about to get dressed when Parnell walked into her closet.
“That was some production just to get you out of that getup. For all that, though, I like this outfit better.”
“Yes. Simpler to care for, but not suitable for everyday use, I’m afraid.”
“You could start a new tradition.”
Bouchard gave him a sidelong glance as she put on an MCU without undergarments.
“Would you really want that, or would you rather keep it to yourself?’
Parnell nodded.
“You have a point there.”
She finished dressing. He was already dressed in MCU, with sandals, his casual clothes of choice.
“I’m still too wound up to just sit. Come walk with me.”
“Sure. Where?”
“The gardens.”
“OK.”
Parnell and Bouchard walked down the hall to the escalator, then went up the escalator to the roof. They emerged in a glass cupola, and walked out into the gardens. Parnell signaled the pair of Imperial Guardsmen who had followed them to remain there, and they nodded and stayed at the escalator.
It was just early evening, not even dusk. With a noon coronation, dinner had been early, at four, so it was only half past six now, and the sun was just edging toward dusk.
Parnell and Bouchard walked down the lanes, hand in hand.
“Oh, I needed this after a month aboard ship and ten days locked up in the building,” Bouchard said.
“You act like you know where you are.”
“Oh, I do. Amanda walked me through a recording she has.”
“A recording? Not a simulation?”
“No, a recording.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. That’s what I said. Bobby had it made for her for their fiftieth wedding anniversary, when she started having a hard time walking the whole gardens in one pass. But in VR it’s not a problem. She walked me all through them. I’ll give you the guided tour.”
They walked on until they came to the fire pit.
“They cuddled up here on their first big date the night they slept together the first time.”
“On the first date?”
“That’s what Amanda said. She said she felt like they had been together for years. It was so comfortable. This is also where Bobby was when he first heard her singing. So he walked down this path.”
They walked down the path to the picnic table by the meadow.
“Bobby came here and she was dancing in the meadow, right out there. That was a Saturday, she said, so he asked her on a picnic the next day, Sunday.”
“So the fire pit was actually their second date,” Parnell said.
“I suppose technically, yes. I think she just likes to say she slept with him on the first date. She’s a hoot.”
They continued walking down the path.
“They had the picn
ic right here,” Bouchard said, “on this little lawn looking out over the meadow. This is where he told her he was the Emperor.”
“What did she do?”
“She almost ran away.”
“I can understand that.”
“Yeah. I know. I almost did that.”
They walked until they got to the pool.
“They had that sandbox put in for the kids,” Bouchard said. “Almost sixty years ago now. Then the grandkids, and now the great-grandkids have played in it.”
“The pool is clean. They keep it up, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah.” Bouchard sounded wistful. “I would actually love a swim.”
“Check the cabana. Wanna bet there’s a suit your size in there?”
“In seven hours? And how would they know my size anyway?”
“After building that dress?” Parnell asked. “There’s probably a dozen people in the Imperial Residence who can recite your sizes and measurements from memory. Come on.”
They walked back around the bushes to the cabana. Inside, on a shelf under signs reading ‘His Majesty’ and ‘Milady Empress,’ were two swimming suits each – briefs and boxers for him and one-piece and two-piece suits for her. She picked up the two-piece.
“It’s in my size, all right. How do they do that?”
“Never underestimate Housekeeping.”
Parnell grabbed a pair of trunks and went into a cabana stall. He changed quickly and beat her out to the pool. He lay on one of the chaises to wait for her.
Bouchard went into a stall and put on the two piece. She checked herself in the mirror, then shrugged. She shucked the suit and walked out of the cabana.
Parnell heard the cabana door close and looked up. Bouchard walked out from the cabana completely naked. She was a vision – tanned, naked, in the sunlight, with her shoulders back and her head high. She strode to the pool, then dove in, knifing the water cleanly.
Bouchard started swimming laps. It was a twenty-five meter pool – God alone knew what it weighed or what they had to do to hold it up on the top of the building – and the laps were away from Parnell, who was on the short side of the pool, then back. She took a hint from Amanda and swam the backstroke away from him, the water alternately exposing and obscuring the naughty bits.
EMPIRE: Succession Page 23
