by Ted Mayes
Ark 2 was under construction and Ark 3 was entering initial planning. The air pressure on Venus was slowly decreasing, while the angle of inclination and the rotational speed were slowly increasing. Operation Puzzle was making slow progress. The additional information coming from imperial probes in the solar system was keeping ‘outside’ scientists busy, and an academic war of words had just started over competing suggestions for how some of that ‘additional information’ could possibly agree with current scientific theory.
Everything else seemed to be going smoothly. There was a steady stream of immigrants to Capitol, not even counting the refugee colonies and Kepler. The upper level theoretical sciences were moving to Capitol this week, and a general plan for the Imperial Library was being reviewed. The ‘slow down’ that the emperor had put into effect at the beginning of the year was working out as everyone had hoped. The drug cartel that had tried to import drugs into Ostia was losing money (and drugs) to various police organizations at an amazing rate and the speculatores reported that a war over who controlled the cartel was starting.
When the most important paperwork was out of the way, Michael leaned back and looked again at Ari and Jon. “May I have your attention, gentlemen?” Both heads popped up and looked at him, awaiting orders. “You’ve been my aides for three months now as a part of the cursus. I’m pleased by your development and thankful for your help. Now I wanted to let you know a couple of things. You will not have to report for duty tomorrow, so that gives you a three-day weekend. Since University classes have already ended, that means you will have more free time than you’ve had in a very long time. While I’m sure you’re going to be spending time with your young ladies, I would suggest you also catch up on your rest – going to sleep later than your recruits and getting up before them is going to be wearing.”
“Since I assume you’ve led a group through basic, sir,” Ari said, “I assume that decurions also survive basic.”
Michael grinned. “If you review the training session you watched about basic, you may be able to note, this time through, that there are a number of times during the day when others will be in charge of your recruits – PT trainers, hand-to-hand instructors, firing range non-coms. I would be very surprised if you weren’t able to catch a few winks like the other decurions will be doing.”
Jon nodded his head. “And since we are now accustomed to working with our clerks, we will be able to give the recruits the impression that we know everything.”
“Well, actually, since you will have full access to the information on your recruits and what they do with their time, you will know pretty much everything about your recruits. I believe that you’ll get the first download of information on Sunday, so you will have a pretty good idea of what you’ll be working with on Monday morning.”
“I was told,” Ari said, “that several of our codjits will have temporary duty with us for the first couple of days. What’s that about?”
“Until they’re firmly under military discipline, every decurion needs some help getting the recruits through the first hours of basic. If you remember your own experience, you were probably only aware of ‘everyone’ yelling at you on the first day. By the time you were used to the routine, you only saw the one decurion, but on the first day or two he had help. It will still be your decury, though – your codjits will be following your orders.”
Ari had a determined look on his face while Jon was thoughtful. Michael smiled and rose, causing the two youngsters to spring to attention. He extended a hand to each of them. “Thank you again for your help here, and best wishes for your next posting. Now, you’re dismissed, so clear out of here and behave yourselves.”
The two young men saluted and Ari left quickly. Jon was taking his time gathering his things. “Can I ask another question, Uncle Mike?”
“Sure, Jon.”
“You asked Amanda to marry you very publicly. I’m sure Beth wants something more private, but I’m just not sure when to ask her. I think we’ve decided to get married, but I think she’s scared about something. Should I ask her Dad’s permission first?”
Michael smiled. “If you’re going to let me play big brother this time, then here goes. First, any man who claims to know what a woman is thinking is a liar, so I can only give you my best guess. After you’ve lived with a woman for a while you can start making better guesses, but they’re still only guesses.”
“I’d say, ask Beth first – after all, she’s the one you want to marry. If you’ve talked about it, and you’re pretty sure she’ll say yes – and I don’t have any doubts that she will – then ask her when you think it’s right. With your case in particular, the question is, when do you want to be married, sooner or later. You’ll have basic for most of the summer, then university classes will start up again. If you want to be married soon, ask her quickly. But ask her, and then see what she wants to do. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, but I have to tell you that I’m more worried about this than that duty on Mars.”
“Well, of course. That was only being in command of the most distant human outpost in history. What you’re facing now will totally change your life, link you to the woman of your dreams for the rest of your life, and entrust to her care the rest of your life and the lives of the children that you will have. Of course you’re worried.”
Jon gave him half of a grin. “Well, if that’s all I need to worry about…,” he said jokingly.
Michael laughed. “Get out of here, brat. If you love Beth and want her to be yours, ask her. Then see what she wants to do about where and when.”
Jon straightened up, saluted and left with a “Thanks, Uncle Mike!”
20 – June 1994
Beth was standing in front of the Marine building, waiting for Jon to get out of a meeting and Kevin to bring a couple of coffees from Jordan’s. It felt more than a little strange, since she hadn’t worn the gray field uniform for almost a year. No recruits had shown up so far, so she was spending most of her time looking at the ring on her finger. Jon had gotten Friday off, and he’d surprised her by taking her out to lunch at ‘their’ Chinese restaurant. They’d enjoyed the lunch, and then, on the elevator ride back topside, he’d gone down on one knee and proposed.
They’d talked about it, but she’d been surprised anyway. She had gladly accepted and was glad that he’d proposed in a private moment. Then they began talking of when all of this would happen. She found herself proposing a mid-August wedding, after Jon was done with basic. That way there’d be time for a honeymoon before university classes began in September. While they were agreeing on that, he steered her towards Morton’s and she was picking out her engagement ring before she was completely aware of what was happening. What was more surprising was that Greg Morton didn’t want to sell them the ring set. He wanted to exchange the ring set for their dating rings – he claimed that since they were the first dating rings, they were ‘historical,’ and he planned to put them on display.
So they left the jewelry store with the rings they liked. At Jon’s suggestion, she let Sigrid know she’d be back a little late from lunch. They stopped at Jordan's and told her parents the good news, showing them the rings. Then Jon called his parents and then they stopped at the house to do the same with the Harrisons. Both families had been happy for them and Mrs. Harrison had called her Mom to offer any help that might be needed in getting ready for the wedding. It wouldn’t take much, Beth was sure, because she wanted a small wedding – nothing as elaborate as Amanda’s had been.
The rest of the weekend, at least most of it, had been just one happy glow. They broke the news to their codjits, and started window shopping for furniture for the apartment. They talked about the details of what married life might involve – she’d handle the finances, he’d handle whatever technical problems came up and, at least for now, they’d alternate on cooking duties. However, there was also a training session she’d had to go through, because she was on temporary duty today and tomorrow, helping Jon
with his recruits for the first two days. She was curious to see what it would be like but in a way she was glad that she had only the two days of temporary duty.
Kevin came around the corner and headed straight for her, holding a tray with three cups in it. Coming up to her, he handed her a cup and nodded at the ring on her finger that she was still playing with. “Congratulations again, Beth. You know, I always suspected something between you two.”
After taking a sip of coffee, she looked at him. “You’re kidding, right?”
He chuckled. “Not hardly. It was fairly easy to see that you were looking at Jon far more than you were looking at anyone else – and he was doing the same with you. By the way, where is Jon?”
“Last minute orders from the tribune and centurion. Oh, and while I think of it, I hear congratulations are in order for you, too. Someone said something about a ship for you?”
“Yeah. I spent quite a bit of time out at the trailing LaGrange point, where the arks are located. I must have done something right, because they’re going to give me a new ship, the ISS Santiago. I’m to take over the new ship, collect a crew and join the First Squadron as soon as we’re done helping Jon with his recruits.”
Jon came quietly up behind her and took the last cup of coffee. “I tried to warn people what a screw-up he is, but no one seemed to listen.” Kevin just grinned in response. “Of course, his getting a ship may have something to do with that magnus honor stripe he has on his jacket. I think I’m going to have to go back and read the last Honor List, because I must have missed something.”
“Oh, it was nothing important,” Kevin said with a pretended air of casual humility. “Just my usual display of brilliance, courage and good looks.”
Beth couldn't stand it any longer – she broke out in loud laughter. “Enough of the joking, guys – we have to look menacing when the recruits show up.”
“Any orders for us, Jon?” Kevin said.
“I’ll have the 614. Those of us who are in the first century will get the recruits, ten at a time, down to the second century at the barbers. They’ll move them on to the third at the clerks, and so on. When we get all the recruits moved into the building, the tribune or centurion will send us where they need help. We have some recruits who came in yesterday and stayed in Ostia last night – and a few are coming down from Capitol on a special military flight. We’re supposed to be start processing at 1100. I think I see some newbies coming down the Via Emporia now, the first bus is due in from KCI in the next ten minutes, and there are a bunch who spent the night at area motels. So, as Beth said, it’s time to put on command faces.”
Jon’s centurion and his optio stood just to the right of the main entrance with the decurions spread to the left and right along the building’s wall. Although Beth was wearing the unsmiling face she had reserved for especially obnoxious scientists, she couldn't help but feel a little bit thankful that she’d had an unusual introduction to basic a year ago. Glancing at the reception the recruits were receiving she imagined that she would have been terribly intimidated if she’d gone through it.
The first recruit reached the group, hesitated for only a brief second and then located the centurion. He stepped forward and handed the centurion his orders. The centurion looked at the letter, handed it his optio, who entered something on a tablet, and ordered the recruit to stand quietly off to one side. A second recruit did the same and soon the first ten recruits were gathered up and sent off with the first decurion and his helpers.
By the time Jon was up to take a group in, the street was crowded in front of the Marine building. The farther away the recruits were, the more murmuring and whispering there was, but there was a noticeable area of quiet around the centurion and the door. The first recruit who came to stand close to Jon had glanced at him as if he knew him, but wisely said nothing. The sixth and seventh recruits were two girls who apparently knew each other, because Beth heard the merest whisper of a comment from one of them. In her coldest voice she said, “Do you have trouble understanding what ‘quiet’ means, recruit?”
The girl immediately went pale and replied in a small voice, “No, Ma’am.” She and her friend were conspicuously silent from then on.
When Jon had ten recruits, he nodded Kevin and Beth through the door and quietly announced to his group, “Follow the decurions through the door and line up where they tell you.” The recruits moved quickly to follow orders. When they were lined up in the commons, he continued in a calm, quiet voice, “You will be starting through the welcoming process now. The first stop will be the barber shop, where most of your hair will be removed. You will remain in the line you are in right now. There will be no need for you to talk – you will be told what you need to know.”
The other girl took a breath and looked like she was going to whisper something, but Beth was there in a second, glaring in her face. The girl first turned red, then white, but she managed to keep her mouth closed.
Jon looked over at the girl and repeated, “There will be no need for you to talk or ask questions. Personally I would suggest that you rest as much as you can while standing, because later this afternoon your decurion will run you into the ground. Now, you will follow me down the stairs as quickly and quietly as you can.” He turned and led the group to the stairs, Kevin taking the midpoint and Beth following. She spotted another group starting to enter the commons just as she started down the steps.
They stood in the hallway outside the barber shop for some time, waiting to turn the group over to the second century decurions. Pacing up and down, glaring at the recruits, seemed to work well at keeping them quiet. Eventually they handed the group over and, following Jon, jogged back to the street outside the main entrance, which was still crowded. They took five more groups down before the crowd of recruits were gone. The last groups of decurions had not yet returned when the centurion’s optio reported that all 600 recruits had reported for training. The centurion told them to go ahead and get lunch and then report to the parade ground, because, so far, everything was running smoothly.
They ate lunch, talking about what had been happening in their lives. The engagement and wedding were, of course, one of the main topics, but Beth was interested to hear what Kevin’s duty had been like. It was nothing like the university classes that Jon had been taking, but it became quickly obvious that Kevin was receiving lots of technical training (like how to fix some of the marvels that the empire used) as well as lots of practical experience. Beth had thought herself to be quite the traveler, with all of her trips to the moon. Kevin, though, had almost five months of crew experience in what could only be called ‘deep space,’ although he insisted that term was only appropriate for the area beyond the orbit of Mars.
They moved out into the parade ground just as the first groups of recruits were struggling out of the Marine building, burdened down with their clothing. The recruits were told they could relax and talk and the hum of conversation grew louder with each new group. Beth had Molly listening in to some conversations. For example, the two talkers from their first group seemed to be preoccupied with how scary Beth was.
The recruit who seemed to have recognized Jon was talking quietly with another recruit. “I’m sure of it – the guy who brought us into the building was a year ahead of me, Jon Harrison. No, it’s important, because in less than a year he’s picked up honors and is a decurion already. Someone who can do that is someone who should be imitated.”
Smiling only to herself, she had Molly relay that conversation to Jon, only to get a response back from him. “Yeah, I recognized him, too, but he’s not in my decury. Besides, Wonder Woman, if I remember correctly, you not only made decurion in such a short period of time, but became an international sensation in the press.”
“Which you know I would rather have everyone forget – or at least not mention.”
The tribune and the centurions also stepped out of the building and Beth heard a short announcement through her headset. “We’ll begin gathering the d
ecuries. The Marine clerk will announce the units based on who’s already here.”
There were several hundred recruits on the parade ground when the first decury was assembled. About twenty or twenty-five had already headed upstairs when the Marine clerk announced ‘614’ and a list of ten names. The number was displayed on the wall near the door and it was easy to see their recruits heading toward them, especially after Jon had encouraged them with the words “Let’s get moving, people!”
When the recruits reached them, Jon lined them up in two squads. Beth thought it interesting that there were four women in the decury and she wondered idly whether any of them had joined because of Amanda's article. Jon arranged them with two women in each squad just like their squad had been arranged a year ago.
When they were in order, Jon glared at them (and Beth had to admit he did a pretty good job of it). “Listen up, children! Remember how you’re lined up – you’ll be lining up like this for the next three months. You’re headed up to the barracks to begin settling in. The decurions will lead the squads up, and then I’ll have a few more things to say to you. Keep up, because I’ll be behind you – and in the wise words of some unknown DI, ‘Give your soul to Jesus, because the rest of you belongs to me.’” With that he gave them an ‘evil’ grin that Beth was sure he’d learned from First and must have practiced in front of a mirror. The recruits stood almost motionless, trying hard not to attract the smallest amount of attention. Then Jon nodded at her and ordered “Right hand, move out.”
