by Ted Mayes
Amanda looked after him for a moment, before turning to Mrs. Harrison. “I’m not sure what all this has to do with me.”
“It has quite a bit to do with you,” Mrs. Harrison, offering to pour some coffee for her. Amanda shook her head and Mrs. Harrison continued. “First, call me Kristen. I’d rather not be so formal, if it’s alright with you.” At Amanda’s nod, she continued. “To answer some of your questions, yes, the empress has had her eye on you for quite a while, mainly because Michael had an unusual reaction to you. I’m afraid I have to tell you that the empress is something of a matchmaker – and has pretty much decided that you and Michael should be together.”
Mrs. Harrison noticed Amanda’s growing anger. “It isn’t a forced arrangement, my dear. It will be totally up to you and Michael to decide whether you want to take … whatever you have now … any farther. It’s just the empress's opinion that there is already something between the two of you that should be encouraged. It might interest you to know that the empress's ‘interference’ is one of the reasons you’re still alive. You see, the empire has been very strict on punishing traitors and spies.”
“While I’m thankful her influence helped keep me alive, I’m not sure I appreciate anything else.”
“Not even any appreciation for helping you to get back into the empire? As I said before, the empress is not forcing you or Michael to do anything. She is just trying to give the two of you a chance to discover what’s between the two of you. Now, on to other things. As you may have already guessed, I’m one of the people that sometimes does things for the empress, and she wants you to be another.”
Amanda was momentarily speechless. “Why me?” she was finally able to blurt out.
“You have several characteristics that are prized by the empire – intelligence, determination, honesty, the willingness to take responsibility, and a preference for staying out of the public eye. You’ll discover more reasons why the empress chose you as time goes on, if you decide to accept her offer. But you don’t need to do anything now. First of all,” Mrs. Harrison handed Amanda a piece of paper, “here are some apartments that you may want to check out this afternoon. Then, stop by the address at the bottom of the page before you head back here.”
“The Bear’s Den? Like the one on the moon?”
“Yes. In case you didn’t realize it, the restaurant, or restaurants, I should say, belong to Michael. The emperor has him taking care of a few things at Capitol and this new restaurant should be a surprise. A waitressing job there has been reserved for you and, at some time in the future, the First of the Praetorians will steer Michael there. What happens from that time on is for you and Michael to decide.”
“What does the empress want me to do, though?”
“I’ve passed on the information that was given to me. I suspect that the empress will contact you personally sometime soon.”
Mrs. Harrison got up and began clearing the table. Amanda helped, but she was distracted by all her thoughts. She’d half forgotten how quickly things could move when the imperial family wanted something done, and how things were rarely explained completely. Well, she was back – that was one good thing – and the empress herself was setting the next meeting with Michael. She chuckled to herself, thinking that she wouldn't mind a little bit of an ambush, just to see the expression on Michael’s face. When the kitchen was cleaned up, she stored her bag in the guest bedroom, thanked Mrs. Harrison and left to look at apartments.
She found a small apartment that reminded her of her apartment in Los Angeles and rented it on the spot. She stopped at the Imperial Bank to get some coins and to start transferring some of her trust funds to the empire. Then she stopped at the new Bear’s Den, which had taken over the space that had been Claire’s and another small business near the topside crossroads. She was given a uniform (black pants, white shirt) and immediately whirled into an orientation. It seems that the restaurant was already open and trying to get everything in order before Michael showed up.
The menu wasn’t much different from when she’d eaten on the moon – simple food cooked well. One change that she did notice – and she thought it was probably a reflection of what was happening on the Moon – was in the list of beers available. Besides the expected list of Earth beers, there were three others – Earthlight Ale, Tranquility Base Beer and Bear’s Best Beer – that were listed as Lunar beers.
She got back to the Harrison’s in time for supper, and found herself entranced by the experience of a ‘normal’ family. She watched Dr. and Mrs. Harrison work smoothly as a team, handling the commotion of Jon’s four younger siblings apparently effortlessly. The school day’s events (in four different grades) were reported and discussed. The traumas of the day (little sister getting picked on by older brothers) were resolved, and Amanda was somewhat astounded by the lucid critique of the male gender served up by 10-year old Ruth, who capped her summary by saying that ‘Beth’ agreed with her as well.
The evening, topped off by 16-year old James leaving to go with a group of young people to a dance, made Amanda very thoughtful. It was a fascinating peek into a type of family life that Amanda had never experienced. It also made her wonder whether she’d ever be able to handle a family like that while at the same time awakening in her a great desire for – something, something she wasn’t quite sure of.
The next morning she went down (fifth level) to her new apartment and was surprised by two things. First, all the furniture from her LA apartment was now there. Second, almost as soon as she began putting clothes away, five pings were heard in the apartment – and the five pings announcing the empress were different. The emperor’s ‘pings’ were ‘hard’ and ‘brassy.’ The empress's pings were ‘softer’ and ‘warmer.’
“I hope you don’t mind, Amanda, that I had your furniture installed here.”
“No, Ma’am. It was very thoughtful of you. Now it really feels like home.”
“Good. Now I hope to speak with you about helping me, but I’m sure you’re more interested in other things. So, Michael is due back on Wednesday afternoon, and the First of the Praetorians assures me that he will make sure that Michael is there on Wednesday evening and the manager of the Bear’s Den will see to it that you are his waitress. From that point on, it’s up to you.”
Amanda was quiet for a moment. “Thank you, Ma’am, but may I ask why you’re doing this?”
“To put it very simply, Amanda, we value Michael greatly, and his contribution to the empire. His reaction to meeting you was unusual, as I suspect your reaction was to meeting him. I decided to bring the two of you together in order to see if something developed. Now, have you any questions about being one of my agents?”
“What would I do as an agent, Ma’am?”
“First, you would report to me about anything you think I should know. Second, if you came across an instance where someone needed help, especially financial help, you would let me know about it. Third, you may help distribute my charitable gifts. If some other duty seems to be required at some time in the future, we’ll discuss it and see if you want to take it on.”
“That doesn’t sound like a full-time job, Ma’am.”
“It isn’t, Miss Ochs. I assumed you would continue your job as an investigative reporter, and continue writing articles.”
Amanda thought for a moment. “Would it be alright if I discussed this with Michael?”
There was no mistaking the amusement in the empress's voice. “Yes, you may, Miss Ochs. Don’t forget that Michael is returning on Wednesday.”
The next few days were difficult, in a way. The waitressing was easy and the tips were good, but Amanda was constantly aware that Michael would be returning soon. She was alternately excited about seeing him again and worried about what his reaction might be. Wednesday, at least the morning, was particularly hard, but she was glad to realize that as the day passed she became calmer, at least outwardly.
She was waiting in an inconspicuous place, watching, when Michael, Fi
rst, and Michael’s guard came into the restaurant. She could see tiredness in his face and there was an ‘air’ surrounding Michael and his guard that seemed much more tense and nervous than she remembered from her days in the ‘residence.’ The manager guided them to tables at the back of the dining room and signaled to Amanda to start moving toward them.
As she drew closer, she heard First say, “… don’t know, Mike. What I heard was what the manager said, that the junior partner wanted a restaurant here.”
Michael was just drawing a breath to say something when she arrived at the table and spoke, “Can I get you something to drink?” The reaction to her words were all that she could have expected. Michael’s head spun to look at her faster than she could believe and the change in his expression was warming. His face visibly relaxed and a huge smile appeared.
He stood up and gave her a slight bow. “Good evening, Miss Ochs.”
“Good evening, Master Baxter,” she replied with a smile. “Would you like something to drink?”
“In view of the occasion, I believe I’ll buy a round for the house, even something for Tommy here, who has apparently been keeping more secrets than I expected.”
“And what would you like?”
“Why don’t we start with dinner with you, tomorrow night.”
“I think I may have to work tomorrow night, Master Baxter.”
“Oh, I’m sure that you can have tomorrow off without a single protest from the owner.”
“Well, then, dinner tomorrow night, and we’ll see what happens, okay?”
* * * * *
Beth’s high school life was, in one sense, more hectic than ever, while at the same time somehow being easier. It seemed easier because it was the last semester of the senior year and no one was making any big demands on the seniors who were about to graduate. However it was more hectic for Beth for two reasons. The first was that she’d had enough exposure to the Imperial University from what Jon was going through that she was too nervous, maybe too scared, to slack off from academic work. The second was that the classes she was taking were more geared to what she was already doing, or going to do, than first semester, so she found herself more interested and working harder. Business law, business management (it looked like the family ‘franchise’ was only going to grow), Physics II (to better understand the scientists she had to work with), Journalism I (because of Amanda and her writing?) and Spanish V, rounded off with a final study hall, gave her more than enough to do at school.
At Ostia, there had been something of a slowdown, as if everyone was trying to catch their breath. At least there was a slowdown as far as the imperial administration was concerned. It seemed as if the outside scientists that Beth had to deal with were becoming more and more, well, ‘flustered’ was the word that came to mind. The Mars experts were still trying desperately to assimilate all the information that was available from the planetary survey, as well as trying to develop theories explaining how the Martian atmosphere, following the ‘experiment,’ was slowly and erratically increasing.
That was enough to keep the scientists who’d been there the longest occupied, but the emperor had made things more interesting. Each week of the new year, additional satellites and channels of information had come on line and each week had brought some new scientists to Ostia. The first week had been filled with events surrounding Mars and its ‘new’ magnetosphere. The second week everyone had been astounded by what they called ‘complete coverage of the Sun.’ The third week it was satellites reporting from Venus. This week satellites were reporting observations from Jupiter. The frantic activity of the outside scientists was almost comical to see. While some of the scientists were busy trying to make sense of the data there at Ostia, others were just as busy trying to get complete transfers of the information to international science agencies and universities ‘outside.’
For Beth, it made things a little easier, because the scientists were so busy that they weren’t spending as much time complaining about what was happening and demanding that the empire take certain steps. There was still plenty to do with the increase of information, but the scientists seemed to be busy with other things than making requests of Beth and her section.
That was a good thing, because Beth had another matter to occupy her attention. When Eloise had been transferred and Beth had been promoted, Eloise had told her that one of the important ‘new’ duties that she had as a decurion was to look for and develop ‘talent.’ She had even had a couple of training sessions on what to look for and how to react. Now, it seemed that she’d found her first talent.
Sigrid Vaasa had been assigned to her section soon after Eloise had transferred. Beth had conscientiously examined her records when she reported. A native of Finland, she’d been singled out by her basic decurion as someone to be watched for her ability. She was the daughter of a Finnish scientist who had immediately asked to join the Marines when Amanda's stories began coming out. She had been a standout in basic training, the leader of her decury and able to converse in Latin when she arrived.
Beth had kept an eye on her and she did seem to be an extraordinary individual. She seemed to enjoy her duties because she was always on time, if not a little early and she certainly seemed to enjoy the scientific aspect of dealing with the scientists, always being interested to listen to them and hear about the new discoveries. She looked like a beautiful blond Swede, but never encouraged some of the flirtations that the scientists tried on her. She worked well with all her coworkers and, something that had come as a surprise to Beth, didn’t shy away from taking on responsibilities. Beth had been so used to that with Jon and the rest of her codjits that she hadn’t realized that such an attitude was not that common. Beth was also learning a lot from talking with Jon about the difficulties of command from the centurion in command of the Mars flotilla.
All of that was helpful, but on Wednesday of that week, when the scientists were still excited about the information coming in from Jupiter, Beth got a call from the centurion in charge of her little group. It seemed that her optio was being promoted into another group and the centurion asked for her recommendation for her new optio. “Well, Sir, it depends on whether you want to promote from within the decury or not.”
“No, it’s your unit, decurion. How do you want to handle it?”
She thought quickly. “There is one private here who probably should be promoted, but she’s new to the unit...”
“Which means…?”
“Which means I’ll have to be careful that the promotion of a new-comer doesn’t cause dissension and jealousy.”
“And one of the easiest ways to bring that about is…?”
“Pile the work on, yes, Sir.”
“Well, it’s your decury. I’ll be looking forward to hear your report on your new optio.”
Beth sat still for a moment. She recalled that the decurion training sessions had heavily emphasized the importance of making good decisions about who to promote. She hoped she was doing this the right way. She’d have to talk with Jon about it when he called. Beth called in her current optio, gave him the good news of his promotion and his new orders. She sent him on his way recommending that he pay close attention to the training sessions that he’d be having as a new decurion.
Then she called Sigrid into her office. The private came in, closed the door, came to attention and saluted. “Yes, Ma’am. Miles Vaasa, reporting.”
Beth looked at her carefully. After a few moments of silence she thought she could see a few quivers of worry in her expression. “How long have you been in this office, Sigrid?”
“Three weeks, Ma’am.”
“And before that?”
“Five weeks patrolling the city, Ma’am, most often at night.”
“And you were transferred here for what reason?”
“Ma’am, the decurion said that I wasn’t being challenged, and that I was going somewhere where I could really earn my pay.”
Beth was staring at her, trying to unde
rstand more about her, when she noticed a small drop of perspiration beading up on Sigrid’s forehead. She realized that Sigrid was nervous and Beth remembered the times the decurion, or the consul, had stared at her. She realized in a flash that it had always seemed like she was in trouble – now she knew that sometimes it just meant that they’d been thinking about what to do. Taking pity on Sigrid, Beth said “At ease” and when Sigrid started relaxing, she got up from behind her desk. Motioning Sigrid to sit down in one of the chairs in front of her desk, she sat down in the other one. “You’re going to start earning your pay. As of right now, you’re promoted to optio and you go up one pay grade.”
Sigrid gave a little gasp and turned a little paler. At Beth’s questioning glance, she said, “But, Ma’am, I’ve only been out of basic for two months.” When Beth said nothing, she went on, “Some of the privates in my last decury have been privates for years. It’s too early for any promotion for me, Ma’am.”
Beth smiled. “Rule number one – don’t argue with the decurion. I’m sure you learned that in basic. Rule number two – when it’s just the two of us, it’s just Beth and Sigrid.”
Sigrid blinked and then said slowly, “If that’s the way you want it, … Beth.”
Beth chuckled. “Now as far as how long you’ve been out of basic, that has nothing to do with your promotion. I’d be surprised if the centurion hadn’t told everyone in your class that promotions come because your officers decide you’re talented enough to be promoted. The privates in your last unit may have been good men and good guards, but they may never be promoted beyond that rank. In fact, I know a number of individuals who don’t want to be promoted.”