Annales Imperii - I. Ostiia

by Ted Mayes

  She was embarrassed at first, because she hadn't realized she was saying it out loud. “Oh, well, …, here we are quite a way underground, in a 'city' that's more than just a little strange, and yet, it seems so 'normal' so much like being in a normal house, in a normal suburb.”

  “Now that you mention it, I see what you mean, but I'm just thankful it's possible to be 'normal.' I don't think I'd be very happy if everything looked the same and there were no differences between your place and your neighbor's house. I suppose it would look something like your barracks, at least the pictures I've seen of the barracks.”

  Shawna and Maria came into the kitchen then, and the conversation changed direction. Jon's Mom was very nice and sweet about it all, and she certainly seemed sincerely interested, but Beth came to realize that Mrs. Harrison had conducted a very thorough interrogation of all three girls and all about their families. Soon, though, Beth excused herself and went into the guest room for a nap, curling up on the floor so that the other two could have the bed.

  She woke up several hours later, hungry, and wandered into the kitchen. Mrs. Harrison was there, fixing something, and she was invited to help make a batch of cookies, something that she hadn't done in quite a while. It made for a comfortable afternoon, the smell of newly-baked cookies filling the air and everyone in the house stopping by to try and snatch at least one of the cookies. Beth thought that Jon's parents were adorable. Mr. Harrison had stopped by to try and grab a cookie and the mischievous expression he wore was so different from his usual serious face. Mrs. Harrison had forbidden him to take more than one, calling him the biggest 'cookie monster' in the house. The whole episode had made them more likable and down-to-earth.

  It was also an informative afternoon. Eventually all the girls had congregated in the kitchen, helping to prepare the ingredients for the pizzas that were planned for the evening. Mrs. Harrison, expressing her appreciation at being able to talk with females rather than the males she was usually surrounded by, filled them in on all sorts of things, from a different perspective. Yes, there was an empress, who, according to all the rumors, deeply loved her husband, and was greatly respected by him. One example of that relation was the underground housing at Ostia – the emperor wouldn't have been bothered by simple tunnels – the empress had insisted that such a thing would be depressing in the extreme, and the emperor had easily accepted her suggestion for a 'suburban' look including different house fronts and 'front yards.' Yes, the shopping in the mall was amazing, compared to what it had been originally, but things were expected to change soon, and it might become even more amazing. How? The rumors were that emperor was soon going to appoint one or two consuls, very public heads of administration, and the empire would soon become very visible. Yes, that could cause all sorts of trouble, but she knew some of the people who were in charge, and she had no worries about the future.

  The afternoon and the evening were totally relaxing. More than one of the codjits had remarked how easy it was to forget that they were still in basic training. Everyone just sat around, eating their fill of home-made pizza and talking about nothing in particular. It was pleasant to get to sleep early as well.

  The next morning Beth was able to meet her parents at the Imperial chapel and attend worship with them. It felt a little strange not to be sitting with Jon, but he sat with his family for a change. After the service, they met up with Maria and Shawna's parents and walked back to the house. She didn't hear everything they were talking about since she was laughing at Jon's joking with his brothers and trying to keep track of Ruth's chatter, but she did hear one thing. Shawna's Dad had asked about racism at Ostia, and in the 'empire', she guessed.

  Mr. Harrison replied, “I haven't seen any, but that, of course, doesn't mean much. I'd suggest you talk with your daughter, and that you consider her friends.”

  “Her friends?”

  “Yes, consider these ten young people. Ari Levi, from Israel; Lal Modi, from India; Nick Mendev, from Russia; your Shawna, from Detroit; Kim Jong, from South Korea; my son and Beth Jordan, from the Kansas City area here; Maria Roca, from Argentina; James Abani, from Nigeria; Kevin Little Bear, from the Lakota in South Dakota. I don't know if that's proof of no racism, but I can't see how it would be proof of racism.”

  The meal itself was wonderful. The girls with their parents ate with the Harrisons in the dining room, while the guys sprawled in the family room, making repeated trips back to the kitchen for more food. The talk in the dining room was mostly about the training, how the girls were surviving, and what would be coming next.

  After the meal, as some of the parents were asking more about Ostia, Beth's Mom said quietly, “I got a phone call from the high school this week, Beth. The principal wants to talk with you.”

  Beth felt confused. “Why would Dr. Andrews want to see me?”

  “As far as I can tell, he wants to find out exactly what you plan for next year. After all, you were supposed to be the head cheerleader, and then you joined some kind of army. While I'm glad to see your sister home and doing so well, and to see you apparently thriving, I'd have to admit I'm still a little confused as well.”

  Beth shrugged. “I can't imagine anyone letting me out of training, but I'll talk with Jon – he's our leader – and see what he says.”

  Mrs. Harrison was listening. “I'm sure that you'll get permission to meet with the principal. Isn't your

  next 'official' duty to graduate from high school? I'll drop a message to a friend over there, and see if they'll take that into consideration and give you the time to meet the principal.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Harrison, but I'm still going to talk with Jon about it.”

  “Then why don't you do that now. We were just going to suggest you girls show your parents around the city. They might find some things we have here interesting.”

  Beth did that right away, and Jon passed the information on to the decurion. The decurion promised to pass the message on and get back to Beth as soon as a decision was reached. She helped clean up the kitchen after the meal and then went with her parents to show them some sights. They walked down the mall, looking at all the stores, talking about what had been going on at home. They rode up to the surface and Beth decided to take them to see the money pit.

  Her parents were impressed. She told them the stories that Jon had told, and her Dad shook his head. “That sounds like someone's exaggerating things, by a wide margin.”

  She considered that for a moment. “That could be, Dad, but it's not what I've experienced. The people I've met so far are far more likely to underestimate than exaggerate – they're much more likely to be quiet about things than they are to boast about them.”

  “But all those gold and silver coins! Can they even be real, out in the open like that?”

  “I've got some of the copper coins, and the centurion showed us a silver and a gold coin, but whether all those are real,” she pointed down at the piles of coins in the pit, “I don't know. But if I had to make a bet, I'd bet they are real.”

  They were saying goodbye by the gate when Beth's decurion came up to them and introduced himself. He began by complimenting her parents on how well she was doing and then went on to inform them that they should set up the meeting with the principal – he guaranteed that she would be delivered to that meeting. He gave them a phone number they could contact him at as soon as they knew when the meeting was supposed to be, then said goodbye. Beth didn't think much about it, but her father was greatly surprised how quickly a decision had been made. They separated with hugs and kisses and Beth returned to the barracks and found herself in a free-ranging discussion about parents and families.

  * * * * *

  Later that week, after exercise and breakfast, the decurion called Jon and Beth to one side. “You two are temporarily excused from duty. Get cleaned up, put on clean uniforms, arm yourself with light weapons and get outside. A vehicle will be checked out for you, and the two of you are to meet Beth's Mom at the high school. Your ap
pointment is for 9 AM and the high school is on NE 79th Terrace, so it shouldn't take you very long to get there. It also won't take you very long to get back here after the meeting, correct?”

  “Yes, sir,” they replied in unison.

  “Good, because I'd hate to have you miss out on all the fun we're going to have today. Dismissed.”

  They did as they were ordered, running upstairs to clean up and change uniforms. By this time they were used to carrying their dagger everywhere, but it felt a little strange to shrug into the shoulder holster rig, load up two pistols and put on their uniform jacket. She eventually asked Jon about why they were going out armed.

  “I asked Dad about that one time when I saw him do the same thing. He said there were two reasons. One was a left-over from the Vietnam era, when military of any kind was hated. The rule was made then that imperial forces were not to go 'outside' without their arms. Secondly, to the world outside

  we're members of Imperial Security. We have ‘automatic’ permits to be armed and long-standing agreements to help any police department, if they request it, in any way we can – sometimes we need to be armed for that. Therefore, when we're outside in uniform, we're armed – if we're 'disguised' as civilians, we're not. A third reason is that some low-lifes don't like our helping the police, and try to show their dislike when they get a chance. So to a small segment of the population, our uniform can be a target – thus, you go outside armed.”

  By the time they got out of the gate, a van with the Imperial Security logo on it was waiting for them. They talked on the way about the upcoming meeting and about her high school. When another question came to her mind, she asked, “Will I have to wear a uniform to school?”

  “Based on what they do with others, I'd say, no. If we're on guard duty or some kind of official military exercise, we might wear these 'utilities.' Otherwise, if it's involves school or a 'desk job', you can wear whatever you want. Although,” he mused, “it seems like a lot of people wear 'dress uniform.'”

  “And what's that?” she asked.

  “Well, it's another strange thing about the imperial service. Dress uniform is a dark blue or black coat with all the insignia, but that's the only requirement. I've seen people wear dresses with the dress uniform – sometimes even a formal gown, or blue jeans and a t-shirt or a Hawaiian shirt. Even the style of coat is a free choice – I've seen old-style Western 'dusters', tails, single- and double-breasted coats and even 'Ike jackets.'”

  “That's pretty unusual, isn't it?”

  “Yes, but supposedly the emperor wants everyone to have as much freedom of expression as possible – a very strange thing in an 'empire' ruled by an 'emperor,' right?”

  Beth thought about that for a minute or two. Yes, it was strange, but she couldn't say she was against the idea of having more choice in things, especially after two months of basic training. Finally she shrugged. The whole idea might be strange, but she didn't have any thing to say about official policy, so why waste time thinking about it? “So what kind of dress uniform coats should we have, once we get around to having the opportunity to wear them?”

  Jon smiled. “Personally, I don't care. Dad doesn't either – he wears a uniform coat that Mom picked out. I guess we could just decide as a group...”

  Beth thought of herself as having a good fashion sense and began thinking about what kind of coat/jacket would go well with most styles. She was still thinking of that when the van stopped and she realized that they were parked in front of her high school. Seeing her Mom waiting for her on the sidewalk, she got out and hurried over to give her a hug. Jon followed behind them as they entered the school and headed for the office.

  The office was busier than she had expected, but without thinking too much about it, she realized that they had to be getting ready for school to start. Mrs. Jordan introduced herself to the secretary and they soon found themselves in the principal's office. The principal asked Beth and her Mom to sit down and she noticed another man in a police uniform already in the room. Jon stood at parade rest at the back of the room.

  “Mrs. Jordan, Beth, I'm glad that you could meet with me this morning. I'd like to introduce Lieutenant McNair of the Kansas City police department. And this is...”, he looked at Jon.

  “Corporal Jon Harrison, my immediate superior,” Beth replied before Jon could say anything.

  The principal nodded at Jon and then looked at her for a moment. “Originally your cheerleading sponsor contacted you to start getting things ready for the school year. When she let me know of your activities, I wanted to talk with you to try and get an idea of what your being here at school is going to mean for us this year.”

  Beth found herself embarrassed. “I'm sorry, Dr. Andrews, for not letting anyone here know about what was going on. At first I was too concerned about my sister, and since then, well, things have moved so quickly that … well, I haven't had the time to think anything more than a few moments in the future.”

  A small smile appeared on Dr. Andrews' face. “If your basic is anything like what I went through, I can understand your predicament. However, are you able to tell us what your plans are for this coming year?”

  Beth smiled, too. “That's easy, because I've already been told that my next assignment will be to graduate from high school. So, unless there's some problem you can think of, I'm planning on attending classes here this coming year and graduating next spring.”

  Dr. Andrews looked thoughtful. “I don't think there are necessarily any problems, but maybe we could clarify a few things. Are you going to be involved in any extra-curricular activities this year?”

  “Well, no one's said anything yet about what other duties I might have, but somehow I doubt I'll have a lot of free time.” Beth turned to glance at Jon and give him a questioning look.

  “Sir, it might be best to think of Beth having a full-time job after school hours. I'm pretty sure she'd be able to get to some special events, dances, games, things like that, but I don't think she's going to have the opportunity to do anything after school on a regular basis.”

  The principal nodded. “Lieutenant McNair has a son in this school, and he mentioned a concern to me that I thought should be dealt with. If I understand correctly, when you finish your training, you will be considered a fully trained member of Imperial Security.”

  Beth didn't quite know how to answer that, but Jon answered for her. “Yes, sir, fully trained, but with very limited experience.”

  The police lieutenant spoke up here. “If I can interrupt here for a moment? First of all, I want you to know that I am, personally, and the whole department with me, very appreciative of all that Imperial Security does for law enforcement departments. You have made our job so much easier! However, it is my understanding that Imperial Security is armed at all times. While that is acceptable in some situations – and their safety record is fantastic – the principal is somewhat, shall we say concerned, about a school situation.”

  “I must admit that I have concerns for safety in a school, although I am not saying that I have any concerns about your behavior at school, Beth,” the principal explained.

  “Beth, are you carrying weapons right now?” Mrs. Jordan asked in a surprised, slightly scandalized tone. Thankfully, Beth thought, Jon decided to talk for her again.

  “Yes, we both are, by standing orders for members of Imperial Security. I believe you know, Lieutenant, how many criminals have tried attacking IS members?”

  “I understand that, but the concern that some parents may have is whether arms should be carried on school grounds.”

  Jon smiled. “Beth, take out one of your pistols. Remove the magazine, clear the chamber, and work the trigger to show the gentlemen that it's in working order.” Beth did so, wondering what Jon had in mind. He continued, “Now insert the magazine and hand it to the gentlemen and let them try to operate it.” She did that and then worked at keeping a smile off her face while the police officer and then the principal tried to get something, any
thing, to work – and failed.

  “These pistols are Beth's and cannot be used, or fired, by anyone else without some deliberate reprogramming by imperial technicians. That should be of some comfort that they cannot be used by anyone other than Beth, but if I understand you correctly, that's not the whole problem. There could be a number of PR problems that neither the school, nor Imperial Security, and especially not Beth herself, would be interested in experiencing, correct?”

  “You've expressed our major concern accurately, young man,” the principal said.

  “Then, perhaps we can reach a compromise in this way. How about if Beth brings the weapons she's required to carry into school, in a secured bag, along with her official security 'uniform coat', and leaves them here in the office in a place that the principal designates? That way she isn't carrying them, but if she's ever needed as Imperial Security, her tools will be here.”

  “That's a possibility,” the principal said, “but I'll have to run it by the superintendent and get her approval.”

  “And I'll have to talk with the chief,” the lieutenant added, “but I think the police will go along with that, especially with what I'm going to ask you next.” Jon looked at him with a questioning raised eyebrow, and the lieutenant went on. “The surveillance systems you provide for businesses have made police work easier and more effective, but up till now there have been no such systems for schools. In the last few years there has been a rise in school shootings, though we don't expect any of that here. There has also been a rise in the presence of drugs in schools. What is the possibility of having such a security system for this school and perhaps for other public buildings?”

  Respectfully, Jon said, “If you'll give me a business card, Lieutenant, I'll pass it on to my superiors and ask that they get in touch with you about that. Personally, I don't know why it couldn't happen, but I'm obviously not the one to make a decision like that.”