At the end, Burke addressed the group.
“We accept your pledges on behalf of the Throne and the people of the Galactic Empire.”
Ardmore gave his hand to Burke and she rose. The Imperial Fanfare began, and all present went down on one knee and bowed as the Emperor and Empress left the dais.
The opposition to the Throne was over.
Imperial Guard
Travis Geary and Nathan Benton graduated the Imperial Marine Academy Center near the top of their class late in May of the next year. They got their Imperial Marine uniforms – MDUs and MCUs – and moved their decorations and the fourragère of the Imperial Guard to the new uniforms. They had their orders, to report to the Imperial Palace on the first of June.
“It’s a year tomorrow, Travis,” Benton said.
“Yes, I know. It’s like it was yesterday, somehow.”
“We should do something.”
“Like what?” Geary asked.
“I don’t know. A wreath or something.”
“Where? He’s buried at sea, Nate.”
“I know,” Benton said. “On the spot where he died, maybe. I just don’t think the date should go unremarked.”
Geary nodded.
“Makes sense to me. When?”
“Nine o’clock. When he died.”
“All right.”
The next morning, Geary and Benton went over to the Imperial War Museum. Benton carried a small wreath he had picked up that morning at a florist shop on the arcade. The two young officers were dressed for parade in their new uniforms.
When they got up to the tenth floor of the museum, they found Phil Stinson already at the spot where their friend Sean Boyle had died. He had worn his dress uniform today as well. He saluted when they approached.
“Good morning, Sirs.”
“Good morning, Sergeant Major,” Geary said. “We’re just here to offer a little memorial.”
Stinson nodded.
“Yes, Sir. Me, too, Sir.”
As they were talking, General Hansen walked up. He was in MDU this morning as well.
“Good morning, Sir.”
“Good morning, Lieutenant. I see we’re all here for the same reason.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Well, you two brought the wreath, so you should proceed. The Sergeant Major and I will offer salutes.”
Geary remembered the exact spot where Boyle had died, and he and Benton knelt and laid the wreath there on the floor. They stood and saluted, and General Hansen on one side and Command Sergeant Major Stinson on the other saluted the wreath with them.
Afterward, Hansen spoke to them all.
“We’ve been thinking about what sort of memorial to do, and where to do it. Some people want a statue, some want a plaque. Some think it should be here, where he died, others think it should be in the Academy lobby, where it would have more day-to-day visibility. What do you think? Any ideas?”
“I like the idea of a plaque here, Sir,” Benton said. “Set into the floor right on this spot.”
“I agree, but I can see the appeal of a statue in the Academy lobby, Sir,” Geary said. “No reason you couldn’t do both.”
“There is one other idea, General, if I could.”
“Of course, Sergeant Major. What’s that?”
“Name the exhibit hall after him, Sir. A lot of museums name their exhibit halls. We haven’t, but there’s no reason we couldn’t, at least in this case.”
“Actually, I like all those ideas,” Hansen said. “It sounds like a nice package to me. Thank you for clarifying my own thinking on the matter.”
“Of course, Sir,” Geary said.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you all next year, then,” Hansen said. He nodded to Geary, Benton, and Stinson, and headed off toward the escalator and the Imperial Marine Academy.
Geary and Benton reported to the Imperial Palace. Their instructions had been to leave anything heavy behind and Palace Housekeeping would move it for them. So when they presented themselves to the clerk at the counter in the Imperial Park West lobby of the Imperial Palace Complex they were carrying the suitcases they came to Center with three years before.
“Yes, Lieutenant Geary and Lieutenant Benton. You have the controls for the people mover system already. Simply select the Imperial Palace in the menu. When you get to the Palace, take the elevator up to the Imperial Guard floor and report to the desk sergeant in the elevator lobby on that floor.”
“Very well,” Geary said.
Geary did find the controls to the sliding glass doors to the people mover station, and they walked through and got on a car.
“Let’s see,” Geary said as he looked through the menu. “Oh, here it is.”
Geary selected the Imperial Palace, and the car sped off through the tunnels to the Imperial Palace stop. They got off the people mover and stood on the platform.
“We must be under the Throne Room, Travis. If this is the front side of the Palace, that is.”
Geary nodded and led the way through the sliding glass doors into the basement of the Palace. A broad cross-corridor was full of people moving about. It looked to stretch about a couple of blocks in either direction, with slidewalks.
“Wow, look at this, Nate.”
“Nice infrastructure.”
They walked across the corridor to the elevator lobby on the other side. Geary pressed the call button in VR and an elevator dinged. They got on and Geary pushed for the Imperial Guard floor. When the elevator doors opened, they walked out into the elevator lobby on that floor. A first sergeant sat behind the desk there.
“Lieutenants Geary and Benton reporting as ordered,” Geary said.
“Yes, Sir. Your quarters are ready. Will you need any guidance?”
Geary checked in VR, and saw his quarters marked on a map of the floor. He tagged the pin and a heads-up display arrow appeared in his vision.
“No, First Sergeant. Just reporting in.”
“I have you logged, Sir.”
“Thank you, First Sergeant.”
Geary turned left and walked down the corridor, Benton alongside.
“Do you see yours, Nate?”
“Yeah. Looks like we’re on the front wall of the Palace, Travis. We have windows.”
“Probably everybody has windows, Nate. The building isn’t a solid block.”
“Yeah, but we have windows with a view.”
“We’ll see.”
They walked down the corridor, made a right and walked some more, then made another right.
“Here we are,” Geary said.
“I ‘m right next door.”
They both walked through to Geary’s room. It was a one-room studio, with a bath on the left and a kitchenette in the nook that created.
“Open the drapes, Travis.”
“There’s one here that says ‘Open Wall.’”
The drapes glided open, then the sheers opened, and finally the floor to ceiling glass separated into panels and slid back into the wall on either side. The whole room opened out onto a glass-railed balcony.
As the sheers slid back, and the view of the towers of Imperial Park South was revealed, Benton said, “What did I tell you, Travis? A view.”
Benton walked out on the balcony and called back.
“Travis, come look at this.”
Geary set his bag down and walked out on the balcony. The view was down the center of Palace Mall, with the statue of Ilithyia II on its pedestal in the middle of the Mall.
“Travis,” Benton said. “We have arrived.”
Apparently they had been entered into the Imperial Guard message and scheduling system when they checked in. They got a duty schedule, an orientation packet, and a number of other materials within the hour.
The orientation packet told them where everything was, and included an interactive map, so they were able to find the mess for lunch. Here in the Imperial Palace it was called a cafeteria, which seemed a little upscale to Geary until they ate there. The f
ood was incredible.
Over the next several days, they studied the materials they were sent, and went through orientation check, issuance of their regulation sidearms, range test, and regulations exam. Before long, they were working their way through assignments normally given to Guardsmen, not officers, including standing watches. It was the only way to learn the business.
Burke was working in her office when the Imperial Guardsmen on watch changed shifts. One of those coming on shift was a young lieutenant. The Gratitude of the Throne caught her eye.
“Lieutenant Geary?”
Geary had been standing at parade rest, with the ‘see everything look at nothing’ stare of the Guard. When the Empress addressed him, he came to attention and turned his head toward her.
“Yes, Milady Empress?”
Burke smiled.
“Welcome to the Imperial Palace, Lieutenant Geary.”
“Thank you, Milady.”
Burke nodded, and Geary went back to parade rest.
After dinner and family time, with Stevie down for the night and Burke’s parents retired to their apartment, it was Burke and Ardmore’s quiet time together.
“Lieutenant Geary stood watch in my office today,” Burke said.
“I thought they were going to graduate the Academy before coming to the Guard.”
“They did. It’s been a year, Jimmy.”
“Already? Heavens.”
“Some historian,” Burke said, laughing. “How can you keep track of centuries when you can’t keep track of months?”
“Centuries are bigger. They’re harder to misplace.”
Burke laughed, and Ardmore smiled. He loved the sound of her laugh. It wasn’t a little-girl titter, but a full-throated guffaw in the delicious tones of her voice.
“You’re remarkable,” Burke managed to say.
“I love you, too, Gail. So they’ve graduated the Academy and reported for duty. That satisfies my idea of the way things should be.”
“Yes. Exactly. And the DP families have all calmed down, as well.”
“Are we sure of that?” Ardmore asked.
“Yes. Lina Schneider has kept track of them.”
“Well, they know we’re watching.”
“Yes, but they have more to lose now as well,” Burke said. “It was a good idea to give them their confiscated funds back.”
“And Mr. Becker sold them control of their companies back. For a modest profit, granted, but not an outrageous one.”
“He’s no fool. Having them continue down the path they were on was as much a threat to him as us.”
“Yes,” Ardmore said. “That all worked out very well, considering. It’s been very peaceful since that tumultuous June of last year.”
“And Stevie is now twenty-one months old. You know what that means, Jimmy.”
“Time to start number two?”
“Yes,” Burke said. “I’m ready if you’re ready.”
“With you, I’m always ready.”
Adelaide Burke Ardmore was born at the beginning of March the next year, in the thirty-second week of Burke’s pregnancy. The NICU was back in operation in the bedroom of the first family apartment of the Imperial Residence, while Stevie was moved out into the living room of that apartment.
With both of their grandchildren so close, just through the communicating door from their living room, Burke’s parents could not have been happier.
Geary and Benton took the people mover to the Imperial Park West entrance of the Imperial Palace and exited into the arcade. They made a stop at a small florist shop along their way to buy a small wreath.
When they got to the Imperial War Museum, they went up to the tenth floor and found both General Hansen and Command Sergeant Major Stinson waiting for them. They were standing on either side of the newly installed plaque set into the floor where Sean Boyle had died saving the Empire two years before. It was surrounded with a half-dozen stanchions linked by velveted chains.
“Ah, there you are. I must have been early,” Hansen said.
“Yes, Sir,” Geary said.
Geary unclipped one of the chains from one stanchion and hung it on its fellow, opening a sixth of the circle. Geary and Benton each dropped to one knee and placed their small wreath on the plaque. They stood and backed out of the chained off area, then saluted the plaque, Hansen and Stinson joining them. Geary reattached the chain across the gap.
“Well, this is probably the last year for me,” Hansen said. “I’m retiring. Turning the Academy over to General Budayev in the fall. We’ll both be around all summer, turning things over. Then Mrs. Hansen and I are retiring to a little place we have out west, along the coast. We could move back to Gelsing, I suppose, but it’s hard to beat the weather here.”
“Thank you for everything, General Hansen,” Geary said. “Everything you did for Sean. For Thomas Doolan.”
“He deserved every bit of it and more, Lieutenant. And thank you for coming out for the dedication of the statue last month. Both of you. I know it meant a lot to the cadets.”
They all shook hands and Hansen headed off to the Academy.
“What about you, Sergeant Major? You retiring, too?”
“Nah. I did that already once, Sir. My place during the day is here, as long as I can make it.”
“We’ll see you next year, then.”
“Yes, Sir. We’ll see you then.”
On Galway, an hour outside of Galway City, a flatbed truck pulled up at the large stone house on the rambling estate. There was a large wooden crate on the truck, as well as a fork lift.
The driver got out and knocked on the door. The butler answered.
“I have a delivery for Maire Kerrigan,” the driver said.
“I don’t think she is expecting anything.”
“No, I’m told it’s a surprise. And she has to sign for it personally.”
“Very well. Wait here.”
The butler disappeared and was replaced a few minutes later by Maire Kerrigan.
“Yes?”
“We have a delivery for you, Ma’am. I was told to give you this.”
The driver handed her a stiff envelope, with her name handwritten on the outside. She opened it, and pulled out a card and a photograph. The photograph was of a lobby of some public building.
In the middle of the lobby stood a bronze life-size statue of her Tommy, in uniform, with all his decorations. Next to him stood a fire extinguisher. It was a very good likeness of him, and she choked up a bit looking at it. She looked at the card. Handwritten, below the Imperial coat of arms embossed at the top, was the following note:
Maire Kerrigan:
The statue in the picture is located in the lobby of the Imperial Marine Academy on Center. It was dedicated last week as I write this.
I requested an extra copy of that statue be made, and present it to you with my compliments.
Arsinoe Imp.
Commandant
Genevieve was having her seventeenth birthday party up on the pool deck of the Imperial Gardens on the roof of the Imperial Palace. The fourth of the ruling couple’s four children, she was the only one still living at home, and that would change soon. She was going off to college in another month.
Burke and Ardmore, now fifty-five and sixty-one years old respectively, watched in benign amusement. They would be empty nesters in another month – which was something they were looking forward to, truth be told – but they were also enjoying the last hurrah of having their children at home.
Burke’s parents, now in their seventies, were there, as were Genevieve’s older siblings Stephen, Adelaide, and Thomas, Stephen’s wife Candace, who was pregnant, and their first child Peter, and Adelaide’s husband Felix. There were also half a dozen of Genevieve’s closest friends, including her alter-ego and sidekick Beverly Chang, who would be her roommate in college.
“What a party we started,” Ardmore said softly to Burke, sitting next to him.
“They’re just getting started. Adelaide
told me she’s pregnant. And Candace is carrying twins.”
“Well, twins. Now that’s just cheating.”
Burke chuckled.
“Give it ten years, and there’ll be ten more of ‘em.”
“Heavens,” Ardmore said.
Imperial Guard Field General Travis Geary got off the train from the Imperial Marines Combat Training Center four hundred miles south of Imperial City in the Downtown Station where the long-distance trains came in. He had been commander of the training center for the past two years, on Temporary Additional Duty from the Imperial Guard to the Imperial Marines.
Maureen had gone on ahead, to supervise their move back to the Imperial Palace. The Housekeeping staff had taken care of everything, but she still wanted to supervise. Geary had stayed on base for a couple of extra days, tidying up loose ends and helping the incoming commander get settled.
Geary walked down the platform to the station and across the lobby. When he got out to the groundcar pickup area, there was an Imperial Palace limousine waiting for him. The driver took Geary’s one small bag and held the door for him as he got in. After putting the bag in the trunk, the driver got in and eased the big car away from the curb.
Geary looked out the windows as they drove through Imperial Park East, then onto Imperial Park East Boulevard to the turnoff for the underground entrance to the Imperial Palace. He had spent the last two years at the Combat Training Center, in command of the Thirty-Seventh Field Group of Their Majesties Imperial Marines, which was based there. Before that he had been on loan to the Imperial Marines Headquarters outside the capital, working in the Field Command Center.
The posting at the Combat Training Center had been hard on the kids. Sean and Peggy had been good about it, but it was obvious the separation from their friends had been hard. Geary had checked with his old friend Nathan Benton, who had just gotten his fifth star, stationed in Imperial City at the Imperial Marines Headquarters in Geary’s old job, commuting from the Palace. Nate and his wife Marie had agreed to foster-parent Sean and Peggy the last year of high school so they could live in the Gearys’ apartment and be with their friends among the Palace brats. Geary had missed the kids, but they were much happier. And he still got to see them about every third weekend, so it worked out.
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