Stars & Stripes Triumphant

by Harry Harrison

  "It has all been arranged, Your Majesty. King Leopold was immensely concerned with the safety of you and your family, and indeed was most relieved when you accepted his offer of sanctuary. The yacht is tied up and awaiting only your presence."

  "It will be safe?" Victoria sounded lost, unsure of herself.

  "I assure Your Majesty that Belgium will provide a safe haven for you, far from this devastated, war-torn country. Your bags are being loaded. We only await your royal presence."

  The Queen looked down at the children, wrapped warmly in jackets, and then at Bertie and the bare-armed Alexandra.

  "You'll get a chill," she said firmly.

  "Not really, Mama," Bertie said, a sly smile on his lips. "I think that Alexandra and I will be quite safe here in Osbourne House."

  "But—we planned. For all our safety..." Then Victoria's eyes widened and she gasped. "You are not coming!" Her voice was shrill, angry. "You will remain here, behind my back? We are the Queen. You have been talking to the monarchists, haven't you? Behind my back!"

  "Of course not, Mama," he said. But there was little reassurance in his voice and the tiny smile belied the meaning of his words.

  "You want me gone!" she screeched. "With me in Belgium, you want the crown for yourself!"

  "Don't excite yourself, Mother, it does you ill. You will enjoy Belgium, I am sure."

  In the end Bertie excused himself and left, waving the shocked Alexandra after him. It was some time before the horrified ladies-in-waiting could convince the Queen that she must go on the yacht—if only for the sake of the children. Weeping and distraught, she eventually entered the carriage, hugging the crying children to her.

  Aboard the Aurora, over half of the bottle of vintage champagne was gone before Gus and the Count were summoned on deck once again. Although the lamps on the dock had not been lit, the waning moon cast enough illumination for them to clearly see the arrival of the carriages. Dark figures, one after another, emerged and were hurried up the gangway. Even as the passengers were boarding, a cloud of smoke issued from the little vessel's funnel and floated across the harbor. Soon after that the lines were taken in and the yacht puffed out into the Solent. Minutes later the Aurora moved slowly in her wake. They sailed past the anchored naval vessels and out into the ocean. The Belgian yacht continued away from the shore a good few miles before she altered her course to the east.

  "She is now out of British territorial waters and well on her way to Belgium," the Count said happily. "Now—let us finish that bottle since this necessitates a little celebration."

  Once in the salon, he poured their glasses full, raised his on high. "This calls for a toast," Korzhenevski said. "Did your American schools teach you about Bonnie Prince Charlie?"

  "Not really. We are not a country that goes in much for British history."

  "A serious lapse. One must always know one's adversaries. It seems that in Scotland they toasted the deposed prince as 'the King over the water.' "

  "That has a nice ring to it." Gus raised his glass as well. "Shall we drink, then, to the Queen over the water?" They touched glasses and drank deep.

  "Did they really think that we wanted to keep her here?" Gus mused. "King Leopold has done us an immense favor. Too bad we cannot thank him."

  Although it was after dark in England, it was still early afternoon in Washington City. President Abraham Lincoln looked wearily at the papers that cluttered his desk, then pushed them away. He pressed the electric button that summoned his secretary. John Nicolay poked his head in through the door.

  "Take these away, John, if you will. I can't bear the sight of them. I foolishly thought that with the coming of peace, there would be a vast diminution in the paperwork. There is, if anything, a good deal more. Away with them."

  "Just as you say." He squared the sheets into a neat pile, then took more folded papers from his pocket. "I was just going to bring this in. The morning report from the War Department."

  "Ah, the military mind. Their idea of what constitutes morning sure stumps me. Anything there that I want to hear?"

  "Mostly passing on reports from London. The constitutional congress is still meeting, and they expect to have a document that they can vote upon by this time next week."

  "Sure are taking their time."

  "Our Continental Congress took a lot longer to draw up the Constitution."

  "Indeed they did. I stand corrected. Any more?"

  "Yes. A report from General Sherman. He will be in Edinburgh by now with his commission. The terms of the separate peace with Scotland are all agreed and will be formerly signed now."

  "So the Scots will have their own parliament. That will not go down well with the English."

  "That the Scots do have—and no, it did not go down very well at all south of their border. The English newspapers are incensed and predict riots and blood in the streets."

  "They always do—but thankfully it never happens. Sherman is too good a soldier to permit anything like that to take place. Like it or not, they have had peace thrust upon them."

  "There is also a confidential report from Gus Fox that Queen Victoria is about to be secretly smuggled out to Belgium."

  "God bless Gus! I don't know how he managed it, but that is the best news ever. Without her presence in the country, the monarchists will have no rallying point. I would be more than delighted if they vote this constitution in, then elect a representative government so I can bring the boys home."

  "There have been no difficulties on that score from the soldiers, Mr. President. Since General Sherman has been slowly reducing the occupying forces, any of them who want to return home have already done so. There have not been many volunteers. Seems their pay goes a lot further over there. They like the public houses and the women. Only complaints I've heard mentioned are about the weather."

  "Well, an army that only complains about the rain must be in pretty good all-around shape. Anything else?"

  "That's all for today. Except Mrs. Lincoln says that she wants you on time for lunch today."

  Lincoln looked up at the clock and nodded. "Guess I better get down there. I want to keep peace in the world."

  "That you have done, Mr. President," Nicolay said, suddenly serious. "Your first term began with a war—as has your second one. But peace rules now, and may it do so forever."

  "Amen to that, John. Amen."

  Peace at last, Sherman thought. The agreements signed and sealed. And now a separate peace agreement with Scotland. Great Britain had reluctantly been reduced in size. Still, it meant peace in his time. The victory was well worth the battle. But there had been too many stuffy rooms of late—and even stuffier politicians. He walked across to the windows and opened them wide, breathed deeply of the cool night air. Below him were the lights of Edinburgh, with the Royal Mile stretching away down the hill. He turned around when there was a quick knock on the door.

  "Open it," he called out. The sergeant of the guard looked in.

  "General Grant is here, sir."

  "Fine. Show him in."

  Grant, smiling through his great black beard, crossed the room and took Sherman by the hand.

  "Well, it is all over, Cumph. You really won this one."

  "We all did. Without you and Lee and Meagher—not to mention our new navy—I could have done nothing."

  "I admit, we surely all did our part—but we can't forget that the strategy was yours, the combined arms and the lightning war. At times I feel sorry for the British soldiers; they must have felt like they were trampled by a stampeding herd of buffalo."

  "Perhaps they were. Our American buffalo just stomped them down and kept on galloping."

  Grant, running his fingers through his beard, nodded agreement. "I doubt if they appreciate it—but it was the best thing that ever happened to them in battle. They took casualties, yes, but not nearly as many as they would have suffered had there been a long war of attrition. Now England, along with Ireland, is at peace and being dragged into being a democ
racy. And from what I have seen these last weeks, the Scotch seem to be tickled pink to have their own country again."

  "They are a fine people, and like the Irish they now feel indebted to the United States. I feel a certain pride in having people like them on our side. And something else they have—the best-tasting whiskey that I have ever drunk. I have one of their malts here if you would like to join me in a celebratory drink?"

  "Just a single one will do me fine. I think of all those years of falling into bed dead drunk every night and feel no wish to return to that condition."

  "You won't. You have changed too much during these years of war. That man who needed drink to get through the day is long gone. But you are right. One will surely be enough."

  There was a bottle of Glen Morangie and glasses on the sideboard; Sherman poured the drinks and raised his glass. "A toast, then. Something fitting."

  "All I can think of is peace in this world—and heaven in the next."

  "Amen to that."

  General Sherman sipped at the fine whiskey, then turned to the open window to look out at the land that had produced it. General Grant joined him, seeing the sparkling lights of the great city of Edinburgh, then beyond it the dark countryside. A peaceful vista, and their thoughts were at peace as well. But out there, beyond Scotland, was the English Channel. Traditional waterway and barrier that had kept the warring nations of Europe at bay for almost a thousand years. And beyond this barrier was a continent perpetually in turmoil, still wanting to settle its countries' differences by force of arms.

  "There is still a lot of trouble brewing up out there," Grant said, his words echoing Sherman's thoughts. "Do you think that those people, all those Europeans with their frictions and feuds and long memories of war and revolution—do you think that they can keep the lid on all their troubles?"

  "I certainly hope that they can."

  "Haven't done too well in the past, have they?"

  "Indeed they haven't. But perhaps they will do better in the future." Sherman drained his glass, put it down on the table beside him. "Still, they will have to be watched. My appointment by the President was to keep America free. We have all traveled a long and bitter road to assure that freedom. Our country must not be threatened ever again. Nor will it ever be, not while I have a breath in my body."

  "I am with you there, Cumph, we all are. Peace is our aim—but war is our trade. We don't want it. But if it comes we can lick it."

  "That we surely can. Good night, Ulysses. Sleep well."

  "We all shall sleep well. Now."

  SUMMER—1865

  THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  Abraham Lincoln President of the United States

  William H. Seward Secretary of State

  Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War

  Gideon Welles Secretary of the Navy

  Salmon P. Chase Secretary of the Treasury

  Gustavus Fox Assistant Secretary of the Navy

  Judah P. Benjamin Secretary for the South

  John Nicolay First Secretary to President Lincoln

  John Hay Secretary to President Lincoln

  William Parker Parrott Gunsmith

  John Ericsson Inventor of USS Monitor

  UNITED STATES ARMY

  General William Tecumseh Sherman

  General Ulysses S. Grant

  General Ramsay Head of Ordinance Department

  General Robert E. Lee

  General Thomas Francis Meagher Commander of the Irish Brigade

  Colonel Andy Summers

  UNITED STATES NAVY

  Captain Schofield Captain of USS Avenger

  Admiral David Glasgow Farragut Naval Commander in Chief

  Captain Raphael Semmes Captain of USS Virginia

  Captain Sanborn Captain of USS Pennsylvania

  Captain Dodge Captain of USS Thunderer

  Captain Curtin Captain of USS Atlas

  Captain Van Horn Captain of USS Devastation

  Commander William Wilson Second Officer of USS Dictator

  GREAT BRITAIN

  Victoria Regina Queen of Great Britain and Ireland

  Lord Palmerston Prime Minister

  Lord John Russell Foreign Secretary/Prime Minister

  William Gladstone Chancellor of the Exchequer

  Benjamin Disraeli Leader of the Opposition

  John Stuart Mill

  BRITISH ARMY

  Duke of Cambridge Commander in Chief

  Brigadier Somerville the Duke's Aide

  General Bagnall

  General Sir William Armstrong Commander in Chief of Her Majesty's Forces in India

  BRITISH NAVY

  Admiral Spencer

  Lieutenant Archibald Fowler Lieutenant HMS Defender

  BELGIUM

  Ambassador Pierce American Ambassador to Belgium

  Leopold King of Belgium

  Baron Surlet de Chokier Belgian Foreign Minister

  IRELAND

  Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa President of the Republic of Ireland

  Isaac Butt Vice-President of the Republic of Ireland

  Ambassador O'Brin Irish Ambassador to the United States of America

  Thomas McGrath Irish Intern in Birmingham

  Patrick McDermott Irish Intern in Birmingham

  RUSSIA

  Admiral Paul S. Makhimov Admiral Russian Navy

  Count Alexander Igoreivich Korzhenevski Captain of the Aurora

  Lieutenant Simenov First Engineer of Aurora

  SCOTLAND

  General McGregor Commander in Chief of Her Majesty's Forces in Scotland

  Mr. MacLaren of the Highland Council

  Robert Dalglish Chairman of the National Party of Scotland