Annales Imperii - I. Ostiia

by Ted Mayes

  She claimed the bedroom for some privacy for her talk and Maria was happy to study her economics in the living room. At 2000, George and Molly had made the connection and Jon's face appeared in her portfolio. It was so good to see him again! The first thing that each wanted to do was apologize for causing the difficulties, and there was almost a competition to see who could claim the most blame, but that was ended by Jon jokingly asking if she wanted to have a fight over who had caused the fight. She'd replied that she'd rather not fight at all, but then Jon had said he supposed that there might be other fights in the future, but he hoped that the reconciliation wouldn't take so long.

  Then they started sharing news. Jon told her, just for her ears, about the temporary 'governorship' which was something of a joke, because there would only be a total of about 180 men on Mars when the flotilla arrived. It was a combination test and training, apparently, because the centurion in charge of the flotilla was an experienced commander and Jon was learning quite a bit from him. The flotilla had men and supplies (organics) to get the Mars farms started. Even the trip was part of the experiment, because the flotilla was spread out, in regularly changing formations and at different speeds, taking up more space than normal to see what their passage would do to the various 'currents' in the solar system. He said he didn't understand what that meant but the centurion seemed to. If there wasn't much disturbance, future flights to and from Mars would travel at sustained higher speeds.

  The worst part of the job was dealing with the scientific experts who were on the trip. They were continually demanding answers that the empire was not about to give them. That gave Beth the chance to talk about her new job and her soon-to-be frequent trips to the Moon to coordinate with the scientists there. They continued sharing until they realized it was almost 2200. They broke it off then, but they agreed to make a connection every evening at 2000, if possible. Beth dropped a quick message to her parents telling them about the reconciliation and drifted off to sleep happily.

  She was still happy the next morning when she arrived at Fleet Harbor for an 0800 military flight. During the flight she looked at notes on the situation at Copernicus Station and the plans that Eloise and she were putting together. She chatted with her seat mate to discover that she was bringing the first dogs up to the Moon. Most of them were working dogs, slated for farmers who had asked for them to help herd various kinds of livestock that were now showing up on lunar farms. The rest were 'comfort' dogs, brought up just to be pets. There was apparently discussion at the University that having dogs at Capitol would lessen tension and stress – there was even a pool as to how effective the dogs would be.

  On landing she reported to the lunar office of the Foreign Department to find out how she would get out to Copernicus Station. She was introduced to a Private Sandoval who was assigned to be her 'driver' on the first trip. He led her back to the elevators and then to a level above the main hanger, where a number of floaters were parked. She was ushered into another suiting up room and knew just what to do from her first trip, which earned her a look of respect, and then they went out into vacuum, to the floater.

  “This one, number 16, is reserved normally for our use. It would be nice if the scientific types would link up with us, but for now we get to fly out to them.” He pointed to the crates in the back of the floater. “This is our delivery for today, living organics for their hydroponic systems. Climb in and I'll show you how it works. It's set up to be handled much like a car – when you turn the wheel, the floater turns, at higher speeds it banks like you're going around a curve on the highway. The two levers in between the front seats are altitude and acceleration. The one closest to the passenger is altitude – down, you're on the ground; up, you're at a hundred feet, which is as high as it goes. Acceleration, next to the driver, is spring-loaded – push down and you slow down, pull up and you speed up, leave it alone and you'll move along at the same speed. Terrain avoidance is built in, so theoretically you can't crash this thing. It's easy to fly, so I'll check you out on the way over and then you won't need a driver the next time you're up.”

  Sandoval indicated that seat belts were required for flight, then slowly piloted the floater out of the hangar and out over the lunar landscape, where he quickly picked up speed. Beth's first thought was that this could be a lot of fun. They headed west to where Copernicus Station sat just back from the edge of the crater. The trip didn't take very long, even with switching places to give Beth a chance to ‘drive.’ Beth made a mental note to check how fast these things were, because they were certainly easy and fun to fly. She sat the floater down next to an obvious airlock in what looked like an igloo made of lunar rock. They hoisted the crates out of the floater and carried them (blessedly easy in lunar gravity) into the airlock and pushed the button to cycle the air into the chamber.

  When the door opened, all the staff, 10 scientists, were there to greet them and wrestle the crates into the station. Beth took off her helmet and was greeted by a soft wolf whistle from one of the men. “Optio Bethany Jordan, of the Scientific Section of the Foreign Department and my temporary driver, Private Sandoval.”

  “Director Sanderson, Copernicus Station. Tell me, Miss Jordan, does the empire often send women on dangerous missions?”

  “Dangerous?”

  “Yes, coming out here to the station.”

  “I'm sorry, Director, but this my third trip to the Moon in the last few months – it's more of a short commute to me. A dangerous trip, now that's the trip to Mars, and my boyfriend is on his way there.” She ignored the gapes and gasps and went on. “I'm here to introduce myself, because I'll be your liaison with the Foreign Department. If there's any way we can help you, all you need to do is radio Capitol and they'll pass the message on to us. We'll be glad to help you in any way we can.”

  “I'm sorry, won't you come in and sit down.”

  She smiled. “I'll be glad to come in, but, if you don't mind, I've been sitting since 0800 and it feels good to stand.”

  A couple of the men wrestled the crates to a lower level, probably where the hydroponics were. The rest stood around or sat, mostly just looking at her. She continued smiling and the director shook himself. “We'd offer you the comforts of home, at least better than what you have over there, but we don't have all that much.”

  She directed a questioning look at Sandoval and he shrugged his shoulders – he certainly didn't know what they were talking about. “Better than what we have over there?”

  “Yes, your colony is so small we can't see any indication of it's existence.”

  Sandoval looked shocked. “I take it you haven't been to Capitol, which, incidentally is below ground inside the central peaks of Copernicus crater. Have you read the articles about the empire?”

  “No, I don't read science fiction.” She noticed that some of the men were grimacing as if they were embarrassed at what they were hearing.

  “How did you arrive here, Director?”

  “One of those little ships dropped us off here. We didn't want to strain your resources.” Sandoval was keeping his face a mask. She continued smiling.

  “How long did the trip take, Director?”

  “About two hours.”

  “And knowing the distance to the moon, as I'm sure you do, how fast did that little ship have to travel to get here in two hours?”

  The director thought for a few seconds, doing the quick mental math. “A little less than 150,000 miles an hour.”

  “And that isn't science fiction, Director, to go that fast in that little ship with no rocket boosters?”

  The man looked shocked, but some of the men behind seemed to approve of his discomfort. “At any rate, I wanted to introduce myself and see if we could be of any help in your scientific work. And not to take up your resources, we'll excuse ourselves. Private, I assume the Bear's Den on the Boardwalk is still operating.”

  “Yes, Ma'am. It's right next to Jordan's, the best coffee on the moon.” Sandoval did a double take and asked
, “Jordan's?”

  She blushed slightly, “My parents – but my sister and her husband run it and I want to stop in and see them and my nephew and niece before I go back. Do you know when the return flights leave?”

  “No, Ma'am. The military flights are too variable, but there's always room to return on the commercial flights. They each bring in about 150 immigrants and 250 tourists and return with plenty of room. The America departs at 1300, and the Russia at 1700.”

  “Those are impossibilities,” the director sputtered.

  Beth turned to him still smiling. “And you make that judgment based upon what scientific data? You haven't seen it? Well, I've seen it. In fact, I'll be happy to treat you all to lunch at the Bear's Den, if Private Sandoval is willing to make a second trip?” The private nodded and some of the men sitting behind the director smiled. “The empire really does want to help in any way it can, because your scientific research is much too important to be delayed or endangered.” She turned back to Sandoval, “The floater will take five of the men this trip, won't it?”

  “Yes, Ma'am.”

  “Good, then, if you men can get suited up, the first group can be off. And I can't wait, because Private Sandoval said I get to fly it all the way back.” While five men got up and headed toward the racks of suits, Beth moved closer to the Director and distracted him by asking questions about the Station. Behind her, she heard Sandoval mutter, “When you get onto the floater, belt yourself in good – you know women drivers.”

  12 – December 1993

  By the Wednesday after the New York trip, Michael was just waiting ... for something to happen. Things were definitely different. So far in their … whatever it was between Amanda and himself … she had been frightened, surly, cautious, confrontational and resigned. However, since the trip, she had been … well, the only word he could think of was 'eager.' She was up bright, early and cheerful. She seemed to have lost any fear of him, if she had ever had any. She was sparring with the youngsters and had even started trying to run, for short distances, at least. It was so unlike her that he kept expecting some kind of eruption, or something, to happen that would put things back to normal.

  They were sitting at the desk – he was reading a report on the growth of Capitol and she was drafting a reply to some politicians who kept hoping that the empire would make exceptions in their case. When it happened, though, it came from a direction that he wasn't expecting. He heard five pings in his earpiece, and from Amanda's reaction, he could tell that she heard it, too. “Sir,” he said.

  “Good morning, Michael. If you aren't too busy, I wanted to clue you in on a couple of things before the Imperial Council meeting.” Amanda couldn't help but make a small noise, a nervous little squeak that indicated the emotion on her face, temporary dismay at being part of such a conversation. “Did you say something, Michael?” The amusement in the emperor's voice was very evident.

  “No, sir. I believe that was Amanda, indicating her belief that you've made a mistake in including her in this conversation.” The dismay and panic on Amanda's face grew.

  “Well, please reassure her that even though I've made plenty of mistakes in future forecasts and plans, I don't believe I've made very many mistakes about who I talk to. Anyway, everyone has been frantically trying to react to current events, and trying to get any number of new programs and bureaus set up. Beginning with the new year, we're going to slow things down, at least here in Ostia. Research and planning may continue as always, but no new programs or organizations. We need to let everyone settle down and get used to what's going on right now.”

  “No problem, sir. The old hands have gone through this before. Everyone else will probably appreciate the chance to catch their breaths.”

  “Probably. Some of those old hands have decided they want to go on modified service. Brecht at Urban Praetor, Hansen at Agriculture and Transportation, and Harrison at the University are going to be training their successors at the beginning of the year, and then there are a few small jobs I want them to do for me.”

  “Yes, sir. You'll be announcing their replacements on the Honors List?”

  “Yes. Part of what the 'old hands' will be doing is planning the changes for the University for the next fall. The current thought is that Ostia will remain host to general education requirements for an expanded student body – it's my understanding that requests for enrollment next fall are going through the roof. Upper level classes may move to Capitol. Then there is the huge increase in applications for the Marines, although it hasn’t been decided if we’re going to make any increase in enrollment – but we may have to move some things around to make room for everything.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “One last thing, Michael, to be announced on the Honors List. Plus or minus ten, a Caesar will be proclaimed.”

  “Very good, sir, congratulations! And you say that all these will be discussed at the Imperial Council?”

  “Yes. I'll let you get back to all that paperwork that you're doing for me.”

  Five 'closing' pings sounded. It was a while before Amanda spoke. “I wish he wouldn't do that.”

  “What?” Michael said with a smile.

  “Include me in those conversations. Am I right in thinking that you're the only one who should know these things?”

  “I don't know about who 'should' know – I always thought that was the emperor's decision to make. I could make a guess, though, that only four people know right now, even though the council will hear about it later this week. The emperor knows and I'm sure he talked it all over with the empress before he contacted me – I know now, and he decided that you should know also.”

  “That's what bothers me. Why should he be telling me? I'm an outsider, a slave – I shouldn't be getting this information.”

  He considered her silently for a minute. “I guess it's a philosophical question that only you can answer. Who are you, really? The New York socialite, living on her family's fortune and influence, but not really doing anything, or the tough, talented writer who's earned the trust of the emperor?”

  She looked at him silently, wide-eyed at first. “I suppose that is a very good question, but I think I want to consider that question for a bit. Some questions for you? A slowdown? What is that?”

  “It's the opinion of the emperor that human beings can only take so much change at a time. If change gets to be overwhelming, people get nervous and distracted. So, since here at Ostia we've had rapid, non-stop changes for a good four months, we're not going to change anything for a while – just let people get used to what's going on.”

  “So what's going to continue unchanged for the next few months?”

  “Here at Ostia? The shoppers and visitors, basic training and the University. At Capitol? Immigration and continued excavations for more farms and villages – and probably construction on the colonies of other nations will continue.”

  “Capitol won't fill up with immigrants in the next five or six months?”

  Michael laughed. “If I remember correctly, planners decided that there was room for 1100 villages like New Hope under Copernicus. If we did nothing but shovel immigrants into Capitol, it would take almost a whole year to fill it up, assuming that all the excavations were completed and all the soil prepared.”

  “Changes to the University next fall?”

  “Ostia was always intended to be a 'buffer', if you will, between the empire and earth. Earth is going to remain the most populous, the wealthiest part of the system for quite some time to come. So, even though Ostia may not remain the major part of the empire in the future, it will remain the main way by which Terrans become acquainted with the empire. Part of that getting acquainted may be through the University campus here. After all the, what does Stafford call it, 'mind-boggling scientific advances' the empire has displayed, there are going to be a number of people who will want to learn about all those advances.”

  She smiled, amused. “And what are they going to do when they learn the empir
e's mantra is 'often what, sometimes why, never how'?”

  “Oh, some may be tapped to become Imperial scientists, and learn all about the 'hows,' but I'm pretty sure that all those will have gone through basic and be under discipline before they get to the 'hows.'”

  “And what was that last thing about a Caesar?”

  “The emperor will announce on the last day of the year that his son will join him, as a 'junior emperor', in ruling the empire. The 'plus or minus ten' is to confuse people about the identity of the emperor and his son. It means that the event has actually taken place at some time in the last ten years or will actually take place at some time in the next ten years.”

  She looked puzzled for a moment. “Do you mean the emperor may proclaim it and it may not actually happen for another ten years?”

  “Or it may have happened ten years ago. The idea is to make it difficult to use birth records or other public information to figure out who the emperor is and who the members of his family are.”

  “It seems like that's a lot of effort. Will the Caesar even know what has happened to him?”

  Michael laughed. “Maybe he'll know, maybe he won't. About whether or not it's a lot of effort, haven't some of your discussions with Dr. Harrison convinced you that money, fame and power aren't the proper ingredients for producing a 'just' leader?”

  “Okay, okay, I've had enough of that.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, I didn't think I could handle or survive that class, but Dr. Harrison gave me a good grade, and, I have to admit, the class definitely made me think.”

  “Did you, do you realize that, as I said, the emperor was probably keeping his eye on that class, and on what you said in it? And that could be one of the reasons why he was willing to let you hear things this morning?”

  Amanda looked at him steadily. “What's going to happen to me?”

  Michael looked back at her steadily and answered calmly. “I suspect that at some time soon the emperor will pardon you and send you back home, free.”