Annales Imperii - I. Ostiia

by Ted Mayes

  She dug a little deeper and found another sample encased in a glass hemisphere, bearing a similar identification on a bronze plaque. She hadn’t thought much about her ‘collection’ when she picked up the first sample on the Moon, but it was getting much bigger than she had planned and she wondered whether Mr. Simpson might not have had a really good idea. But it was the last present that left Beth and most of her family breathless. It was another box from Morton’s and inside was a beautiful gold necklace with what looked like a large diamond pendant. “Oh, this is too much, Jon. It’s too expensive a gift.”

  “Well, not really,” he replied. “Two months ago, I had suggested a scientific experiment. The experiment was run, and the stone was made out of left-over material from the experiment. The good news, though, is that Morton’s has decided to bring out a line of necklaces almost exactly like this for a denarius. Oh, and he’s also planning on bringing out heart necklaces like the one he displayed before.”

  Beth thought about that for a minute. If she understood Jon correctly, he was telling her that she would not have any ‘privacy’ problems wearing either of his necklaces now. Something sounded a little off about the ‘left-overs from an experiment,’ especially since the back of the necklace mounting carried Morton’s logo, a number ‘1’, and the words ‘Venusian carbon’ in small letters. When most of the family got up to clean off the table, she whispered to Jon, “Okay, what’s the whole story?”

  He glanced around, seeing that most of the adults were out of the room, except for her Dad who was sitting at the other end of the table, looking at a drawing that Brent had presented to him. “There was an experiment,” he said very quietly, “to see how effectively the carbon dioxide in Venus’ atmosphere could be reduced by removing the carbon and leaving the free oxygen. The stone was made out of the left-over carbon, which the emperor didn’t want left on Venus.”

  She looked at the necklace and stone again and something clicked in her head. “Leftover carbon? Are you trying to tell me that this thing is a diamond?”

  “An artificial one, yes. Only two were made, and the line that Greg is bringing out features cubic zirconia, so you ought to be able to wear this one when you want to, once the others are selling.”

  “But it’s too expensive!”

  “The stone was, literally, free, Beth. And besides, since we’re starting to talk about a more permanent status, I’ll be buying you another diamond one of these days, and I’ll probably have to spend a lot more for that one.”

  “You may have a point there, but please stop with these jewelry gifts, at least for now, okay?”

  Jon gave an overly dramatic sigh and mock-complained, “You try to do something nice for a girl and this is the response you get.”

  “No, this is the response you get,” and she leaned over to kiss him gently. “Thank you for the gifts, Jon.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. Then, another idea struck her. “They only made two? So one like mine is going to go on display at Morton’s again?”

  “Yes, but this time, people will be able to buy one almost exactly like it. That should keep some of the craziness away.”

  “Maybe. By the way, whatever happened to the other heart necklace?”

  Jon looked away, definitely uncomfortable with that question. Finally he said, “According to that source we are both in contact with, that necklace has been returned to Mars to take it’s place as ‘a planetary treasure.’”

  Beth was shocked speechless for a moment. Then she whispered, “Planetary treasure? Jon Harrison, you are not to get me any more things like these necklaces. As much as I love what you meant by them, I do not want you to get me anymore ‘planetary treasures’! Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. Perfectly clear, Ma’am.” Jon threw in a fake salute that made her giggle. “Anyway, happy birthday, Beth.”

  “Thank you for all your presents, Jon.” She leaned her head back on Jon’s shoulder and glanced at her Dad. She was struck by the interesting play of expressions on his face. He looked at Jon and then at the necklace Jon had given to her. She was sure he had seen the words on the back of the mounting, so she was pretty sure that he had a good idea of what the gift actually was. He had looked back at Jon, considering things the way he did when something was puzzling him. As she watched, her Dad looked like he’d come to a conclusion, then there was a moment of vast surprise. Finally, she saw a look of pleased acceptance and then a sort of wary determination. She couldn’t resist asking, “Did you figure it out, Dad?”

  “Possibly,” was all he said.

  “Are you going to tell us what you discovered?”

  “Maybe someday, but not now,” he said with a smile. “But, happy birthday, Beth.”

  That, having a happy birthday, was surprisingly easy with Jon next to her.

  * * * * *

  It had become a habit – a good one, Michael thought – for Amanda to stop in at the residence the first thing in the morning. They would share a kiss and some closeness and talk for a while. Michael approved of it, first of all, because he enjoyed seeing her and sharing the time with her. He also recognized, however, that it seemed that they were drawing closer together, as well. Today, she’d talked a little about the news group she’d been thinking about, tentatively named the Imperial Press, but then she’d dropped a couple of ‘bombshells’ - at least, that’s how he viewed them.

  First, she let him know that she was seeing the chaplain on a regular basis, both to get counseling and, the real surprise, to get answers for her questions. “He provided a copy of Mark for me to look at, and the Jesus that Mark talked about just isn’t the one that I heard about over the years.” He’d looked questioningly at her and she went on. “The Jesus I heard about was a moralist who talked about being nice to everyone and was something of a rebel or Marxist. The Jesus Mark talks about is someone who is very religious and does impossible things to help others out, who is more of a back-to-the-Bible reactionary than a Marxist, and who apparently thought and talked of himself as something more than human.”

  “So you have questions. Is the chaplain answering them?”

  “Well, I don’t seem to have stumped him so far. He seems to find it very easy to come up with an answer.”

  Michael thought back for a moment. “I recall that when I had a number of questions some years back, he seemed to have answers. When I asked him about it, he mentioned some work written against Christianity in the second century, and said that attacks against Christianity since then were just repetitions and restatements of that first work. He said that, just like teenagers, each generation comes up with questions and thinks that they’re the first ones to do so.”

  “It can be a little intimidating.” Amanda was silent for a moment. “He also said I should talk to you … about that I’m afraid I’m not capable of committing to matrimonium.”

  Michael was silent, staring straight ahead. “I’m going to tell you about my first marriage now and never again, because that part of my life is over.” She waited for him to go on. “I thought the same thing for years – after all, I’d seen no kind of commitment to anyone, by anyone, including myself. My blood parents weren’t committed to each other and certainly weren’t committed to me. And the streets of New York certainly don’t encourage people to be faithful.”

  Amanda remained silent, leaning against Michael. “But I saw the commitment of the emperor and empress, even when they disagreed about things, and I saw the commitment of other married imperials. By that time, I was fully committed to the empire – and I realized if I could do that, I could be committed to one individual. Of course, my decision was also partly made on the realization that my first wife wouldn’t settle for anything less.”

  “Did she ever say why she felt that way?”

  He smiled. “Not to me, but Tommy said that she had too much respect for herself to put up with anything less than the best and most I could give.”

  Amanda was quiet for quite some time. Then, finally, she said, “T
hank you for sharing that with me. It is something to think about – and I will think about it, but,” she stood up and gave him another kiss, “you have to go terrorize your trainees, and I have some people to meet, besides the chaplain. For lunch, Beth mentioned a Chinese place down on fourth level – are you up to it?”

  He began singing, “Anything you can do, ….”

  “Ok, Master Baxter, noon at the fourth level crossroads.”

  She’d left the residence with a smile and Michael had gone into the atrium. Jon was already at work, and when Michael the room, he’d jumped to his feet and stood at attention. “Good morning, sir, Ari hasn’t reported in yet, and I’ve heard nothing from him.”

  “Don’t worry, Jon, he’s on a special mission, escorting a ‘friend’ of Sir Stafford’s up to New Hope.”

  “The same party?”

  “No, a different part of the family. FYI only, it looks like a manor house might be built up there for family use. Apparently Mrs. Wales’s boys gave very glowing reports about the village to their relatives – and, no, I don’t have any idea how that is going to work out. Mary Chen has some people working on the problems.” Michael had been looking at the list of things to do on his portfolio and saw a message from the emperor that he looked at very closely. Then he stared at Jon for quite some time. Jon seemed to be unaffected by Michael's intense stare, merely standing at attention.

  Finally Michael said, “Sit down, Jon.” When he had done so, Michael went on, “Based on your own knowledge, how much money does the emperor have access to?”

  “Probably more than just about anyone, I would guess.”

  “Elaborate.”

  “For some years, Imperial Security has been providing security systems for businesses across the world at a rent of $10 a month. Considering the number of businesses in the world, the income has to be at least in the millions, possibly billions, every month. Likewise Imperial Ecological Services is taking care of a significant part of the world’s solid and liquid refuse, as well as recycling – figure a slightly smaller amount each month for that. Add in the growing amount of monthly rents in Ostia and Capitol and the amounts that come in from those businesses in which the emperor is a junior but silent partner and I would say that I couldn’t begin to estimate what the emperor's income might be.”

  Michael smiled. “There are some senior imperial officials, with much more experience, who would be unable to make a guess like that. What does the emperor do with that money?”

  “Well, I believe all active Fleet and Marine are paid by him, but I have no idea how big a number that is. Also, scuttlebutt I’ve heard says he gives a lot to charities, but outside of that, I have no idea where the money goes.”

  The smile was still partly there on Michael's face, but it was obvious he was more serious and, when he spoke, he was much quieter. “And what do you think about the scientific advances that the empire may, or may not, display.”

  “From the existence of ‘clerks’, I would assume that the empire’s ability with computers is far, far in advance of everything outside. From the spaceflights and conditions at Capitol and Landing, I would assume that the empire understands gravity well enough to either control gravity and/or make it. From my communications with Beth when I was stationed away from Ostia, I would assume that the empire knows about something that is much faster than light and is able to control it well enough to maintain apparently instantaneous communication of both sight and sound. From the reports on the attack on Beth’s school, the empire has something that functions like the ‘force fields’ of science fiction. From supplies sent to my previous duty station, I would assume that the empire is able to virtually instantaneously ‘teleport’ items over long distances, something that I believe is also the cause behind the increasing number of satellites in places where no rockets or manned flights have been – I believe that satellites were placed around Saturn last week and one is reported this week around Titan.”

  “Reported?”

  “Yes, Sir, because I assume that some of the atmosphere of Capitol and Ark 1 was taken from some of those moons and I assume some sort of close monitoring of those moons was necessary for such a transfer.”

  “Just for your information, the brains are still arguing over whether that ‘transportation’ involves an alternate dimension, a worm hole, a ‘folding’ of space and time, or something else they haven’t thought of yet. Do you have other observations?”

  “Only two, Sir. One, that there have most likely been astonishing gains in medicine, as well, to be able to remove completely an advanced case of fourth stage ovarian cancer in a few days, or ‘give’ random individuals a working knowledge of Latin and various combat skills. Two, that the recent developments at Venus and Mars suggest that the empire is able to manipulate energy in ways and amounts that are still beyond the comprehension of most.”

  Michael looked at Jon seriously for a moment, only partially surprised at his guesses and intelligence. “I’m sure, then, that you are aware that these are the empire's biggest secrets, and the secrets that the empire is determined to protect – at all costs. It would be less dangerous for you, personally, to run around screaming the emperor's real name than to even whisper hints about these secrets.”

  “So I assumed, Sir.”

  “The emperor has authorized me to tell you this much – that ‘outside’ science is generally labeled ‘first order,’ primus ordo, science, and imperial science deals with ‘second’ and ‘third’ order science – and the brains are theorizing about ‘fourth order.’ I don’t understand any of it, but if you ever hear anyone even hinting about anything remotely like that, the emperor is to be notified immediately.”

  “Yes, Sir,” Jon said. “I assume the emperor isn’t worried about ‘outside’ science being able to catch up?”

  Michael laughed briefly. “Whenever I’ve brought it up in the past, he’s always brought up the same story. Do you know the current theory about glaciers moving down out of Canada during the last ice age?” Jon nodded. “It’s even been repeated in a new science fiction book, Fallen Angels – ice glaciers, moving down out of Canada, overwhelming Minnesota and the Dakotas. As the emperor says, if they ever compared elevations, they’d see they have ice moving uphill. So, no, he’s not too worried about outside science ‘catching up’.”

  They turned back to the paperwork and reports. Things were going well with Ark 1. Two of the scout ships had returned to Capitol and some volunteers were observing what was happening on Ark 1. (A request had already been submitted to hurry up the deliver of insects and birds to Ark 1 – because it was too quiet inside.) Ark 2 was entering planning stages – an expanded shell was proposed and tentative plans were to replicate the African savanah.

  The Mercury survey was almost completed. The Venusian experiments were continuing and a very small natural increase in the magnetosphere was reported. Solar radiance had been reduced and an even smaller decrease in temperature was observed. Things were still going well at Mars Landing, although the governor had added his recommendation to the temporary governor’s, that it was time for females to be based on Mars. The new governor even suggested that civilian colonists (from among those who were most interested in colonizing Mars) should be taken into consideration.

  The University was bulging with applicants for the next school year and some decisions had to be made. Marine HQ reported a huge increase in applicants as well, and command had a few recommendations, including adding a fourth basic class a year. Agriculture and Natural Science reported a slightly slower, but steady stream of applicants for farms. Commerce reported an increase in the number of companies applying to do business at Capitol, and an increased tone of urgency, or desperation, in those requests.

  Fleet reported that the first full-sized interplanetary transport (Terra-class) was under construction and that fleet reorganization was underway. The First Fleet would be comprised of five squadrons – one tasked with operations covering Mercury and Venus, individual squad
rons under the direction of the proconsuls of Earth and Mars, one put in charge of future explorations, and one squadron reserved for the emperor. Some of the squadrons would remain understrength for the time being, until the need for transports had been reduced.

  The Urban Praetor reported on those individuals or gangs that had tried at least three times to introduce drugs into Ostia and recommended the ‘personal’ return of their drugs. Michael reviewed the names, added his personal recommendation and passed it on for immediate review by the emperor. The first colonists had arrived at Kepler Colony and were trying to get everything working, but there was a brief note from Capitol that some changes in Kepler Colony were being discussed among the civilians, based on what they had seen, passing through Capitol. Michael passed a note back to Mary Chen asking what steps were being taken to keep an eye on this first colony.

  What took up the rest of the morning was the plan for dealing with the jihad. It wasn’t that different than what Ari and Jon had proposed. The first step was continued ‘non-cooperation’ - the removal of explosive devices, quietly, without allowing them to explode. A part of that first step, especially given the movement of Imperial personnel to Capitol, and soon to Landing, was the closing of most Imperial locations and consolidating them into regional centers. Ostia was, of course, one of those locations, as well as nine other cities spread around the world. Along with serving as contact places for recruits, businesses and immigrants, the emperor had ordered clinics to be established to provide some medical services. Otherwise, intelligence was to identify and track all Al-Qaeda members, in case harsher steps were needed.

  There was one short personal note from the emperor that Michael managed to get to before leaving for lunch. He was informed by the ‘junior partner’ that it was time to begin considering expanding the restaurant chain to Landing. Would Michael start looking for someone to manage that new restaurant? Michael thought it was almost funny – he was busy taking care of empire business and the emperor was making all sorts of decisions about the restaurant business. He certainly looked forward to retirement when the situation would be reversed.