There was also a footnote about family connections, followed by a listing of Burkes who had been in the Imperial Marines for almost a hundred and fifty years. All had served honorably. There were a lot of the rarer decorations in that list.
Drake wrapped it all up in a package and sent it to Ardmore with a note: ‘What do you think?’
“General Hargreaves, Your Majesty,” Edward Moody said, and waved Hargreaves in.
“Good morning, General Hargreaves. Be seated.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How are things going in the Imperial Guard, General Hargreaves? Everything getting sorted out? People on watch have looked very competent lately, with the black fourragère and sidearm and all.”
“Yes, Sire. We’re getting things straightened out, and most of the deadwood is gone. We’re still practicing various drills.”
“Yes, I noticed a flight of attack ships overhead yesterday. One of your drills, General Hargreaves?”
“Yes, Sire. Testing the response time of the readiness squadron. We want to do assault shuttle exercises, too, but that’s proving a little harder to work out.”
“Why is that, General Hargreaves?”
“We just have to work out landing sites, Sire. The existing plans show the landing sites on the Palace Mall.”
“Which is now littered with large statuary.”
“Yes, Sire. We’ll work it out.”
“I have a better idea, General Hargreaves.”
Drake tapped an icon on a panel set into his desk. Moody appeared at the side door.
“Yes, Sire.”
“Mr. Moody, arrange to have all the statues on Palace Mall removed except the statue of the Empress Ilithyia II in the center of the Mall.”
“All the statues, Sire?”
“Except Ilithyia II. That’s correct, Mr. Moody.”
“Do you want them relocated, Sire?”
“No, Mr. Moody. That would cost a fortune. Just have staff demolish them and truck away the debris.”
“Uh, yes, Sire.”
“Do you not understand your instructions, Mr. Moody?”
“No, I understand, Sire, I just don’t understand.”
“They’re in the way of providing proper security to the Palace, Mr. Moody. Plus I think only the Empress Ilithyia, of the statues that are there, deserves her place.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“That will be all, Mr. Moody.”
“Yes, Sire.”
Drake turned to Hargreaves.
“Will that help, General Hargreaves?”
“Yes, Sire. A great deal, I would think.”
“Very good, General Hargreaves. Now I have one favor to ask of you.”
“Of course, Sire.”
“I know the Imperial Guard does not like it when I dismiss them from my most confidential meetings, General Hargreaves.”
“That’s very true, Sire.”
“Very well. I will try to mark my most confidential meetings in advance. If you will put Captain Burke on watch during those meetings, when I dismiss the Guard, she can stay.”
“So the other Guardsman will leave, but she will stay, Sire?”
“Yes, General Hargreaves. Unless I dismiss her by name, she can stay. Does that help with your issue?”
“Well, yes, Sire. But she’s an officer. She would normally be moved off of watch duties soon and on to other duties.”
“I want her on watch, General Hargreaves. You should make it clear to her it is not any form of punishment or lesser assignment. It is, rather, a mark of extreme trust. She comes from a long line of Imperial Marines. She would rather jump off this building than betray her heritage. Put her on watch, and she can stay.”
“Very well, Sire. Consider it done.”
“Thank you, General Hargreaves. That’s all for now.”
“Yes, Sire.”
Gail Burke was relaxing on the balcony this morning. It was not her call day, so she was relaxing in MCU. There was some kind of activity going on in Palace Mall below her. She couldn’t quite figure out what they were doing, but workmen were messing around about the base of one of the pedestals holding the statue of an Emperor.
Then one of them ran det wire out from the pedestal and they all withdrew. She watched amazed as puffs of smoke shot out from the base of the pedestal, followed by a boom a few seconds later. The pedestal wavered there for a moment and then fell like a tree. Workmen set to it with construction equipment and started turning the big statue and its pedestal into smaller pieces.
OK, now that was something you didn’t see every day.
An hour later, another one came down. Was this priceless history being destroyed, or was it what she had thought of as gaudy excess being removed? The latter, she hoped. Palace Mall should be really pretty with all that out of the way.
Burke got a message from General Hargreaves to see him right away. It was her day off, but the message said ‘uniform not required.’ Yeah, like she would do that. Well, she was in MCU anyway, so she straightened up a bit and headed around the building to General Hargreaves’ office.
Burke walked up to the duty sergeant’s desk in the elevator lobby.
“He’s waiting for you, Ma’am. Go right in.”
Burke walked down to Hargreaves’ office door, knocked once, and let herself in. She closed the door behind her, walked up to his desk and saluted.
“Captain Burke reporting as ordered, Sir.”
“At ease, Captain. Be seated.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Hargreaves looked down at his hands on his desk as if thinking of how to start. What the hell? Burke thought. Finally, he looked up at her.
“Captain, the Emperor has made a request of the Imperial Guard. It’s more of an offer, actually. You know His Majesty often dismisses the Guardsmen when he has a very confidential meeting, particularly with Dr. Ardmore.”
Burke nodded. She had been dismissed on one of those occasions herself.
“Yes, Sir.”
“He has offered that he will mark on his schedule his most confidential meetings, and, if you are standing the watch, you will be allowed to stay.”
“Me, Sir?”
“Yes, Captain. You, and only you. The other Guardsman will be dismissed. He told me to point out this was not a lesser assignment but a sign of extreme trust. His Majesty said you would rather jump off the building than betray your heritage.”
“Yes, Sir. That’s actually true, Sir.”
Hargreaves nodded.
“I know, Captain. I looked up your family after he mentioned it. He had clearly looked it up himself already. Now, standing watch is normally an enlisted Guardsman’s job, but if you would be willing, it would solve a big problem for us.”
“I’m more than willing, Sir. I’m honored.”
“I think that’s the right attitude, Captain. It means your watch schedule will be updated at His Majesty’s whim going forward, but all your other duties are suspended while this situation lasts.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Dismissed, Captain.”
Burke went back to her quarters. By the time she got there, she saw there was a confidential meeting in the Imperial Residence living room tomorrow from noon to five, and she was on the watch schedule. That was a long watch without relief, but not terrible. She’d have to make sure she had lunch before she reported. The Imperial Guard cafeteria served twenty-four hours a day, to accommodate the watch schedules of Guardsmen.
She watched for the rest of the day as statue after statue toppled in Palace Mall. After the slow start to make sure they knew what they were about, the workmen dropped one every half hour for the rest of the day. By the time they knocked off for the day, only one statue remained untoppled in Palace Mall.
The Empress Ilithyia II once more had pride of place in Imperial Park.
The next day, Burke had an early lunch in the Imperial Guard cafeteria, then reported to the Imperial Residence for watch. They changed the watch at eleven-fifty.
The staff was preparing the small dining table in the Emperor’s private living room for lunch for two.
At noon, the Emperor and Dr. Ardmore showed up, were seated, and ate lunch. Burke was surprised they were on a first-name basis. They finished and moved over to the armchairs. Staff set out snacks and drinks for the afternoon and withdrew.
At that point, the Emperor addressed the Guardsmen.
“Leave us.”
The other Guardsman withdrew, but Burke continued to stand watch.
“Guard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the voice came from the speaker overhead.
“Suspend audio monitoring until five o’clock.”
“Yes, Sire.”
A soft ‘bong’ sounded from the ceiling, and a red light started flashing on the switch panel next to the door.
“Captain Burke.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“In these long meetings, every two hours you are to walk back and forth to the balcony several times, then sit for fifteen minutes on one of those chairs to regain circulation in your legs.”
“That’s not strictly regulation, Sire.”
“Nonsense, Captain. It’s my direct order. By definition it is regulations.”
“Yes, Sire.”
Drake turned to Ardmore.
“The Imperial Guard doesn’t like me sending them out of the room, Jimmy. Captain Burke, though, I don’t worry about.”
“That makes sense, Jonah.”
“I pulled another fast one, Jimmy. The Imperial Marines’ plans of record for an infantry response to the Palace had them landing on Palace Mall. I used that as an excuse to demolish all those ugly statues. We’re just keeping the one, as you suggested.”
“I saw that, Jonah. It looks better already.”
“I think so, too.”
Drake nodded, then clapped his hands.
“With the Imperial Guard taken care of, today we need to talk about how we restore the Law of Ilithyia II and how I tell my family they aren’t going to be my successors. I’ve got four generations of people to disappoint.”
Ardmore was very much aware Trajan the Great had had Daniel Parnell, the Imperial Guard general who would become Trajan II, stand watch in his most confidential meetings for ten years before he died and left the Throne to Parnell. It was an apprenticeship to the Throne. Burke was not aware of that.
My God, Ardmore thought, he’s going to make Burke Empress.
My God, Burke thought, he’s going to make Ardmore Emperor.
The Historian, The Marine, And The Emperor
“Actually, Jonah, I think there are a couple of things we could do first,” Ardmore said when his shock passed.
Burke, after all, was a good choice, as good as any he had seen, anyway. They’d have to brush her up on her history.
“Like what, Jimmy?”
“Well, we could get rid of the Imperial Press Office. Keep one mid-level guy. That would save a ton of money, and, as we make these changes, it makes dealing with the press much easier.”
“That’s a good idea, Jimmy. Check it out and let me know who I should keep.”
Ardmore nodded as he made a note in VR.
“And we could kill the censorship setup, Jonah. That would save another ton of money.”
“That would mean your book would publish, though, right?”
“Yes, I guess so.”
“Well, that can’t happen until after I confront my family, Jimmy. Your book sort of lays out the whole thing, and they know you’re here in the Palace. So if your book comes out, they’re going to read the book and figure it out.”
“Are you secure enough yet, Jonah?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask General Hargreaves. He’ll probably want to move my family out of the Imperial Residence. Maybe into the Imperial Research Building. Maybe out of the Palace complex entirely. I don’t think my son Jeremy would try to kill me, but one of his sons might.”
“It’s probably not a good idea having them on this very floor, right down the hall, though, Jonah.”
“Yes. And we can’t really install the Law of Ilithyia II before we confront them, either. The censorship is authorized under current law. There is no censorship under the Law of Ilithyia II, because no speech or press is banned.”
Drake sighed, then continued.
“I hope I don’t have to execute any of them for treason, Jimmy. That would hurt. My successor may have to do it after I’m gone, though.”
Ardmore looked up at Burke, standing their impassively, her sidearm prominent on her hip.
“That probably wouldn’t be a problem, Jonah.”
Burke misread his glance at her. Cold-blooded bastard isn’t he? she thought.
Drake nodded.
“At some point, you have to do what you have to do. The Empire comes first. Always.”
Ardmore nodded.
“OK, so what have we got? We can do the Imperial Press Office anytime, and probably sooner is better.”
“Then we have to tell my family. That has to be before we reinstall the Law of Ilithyia II.”
“Right. And when we do that, the censorship is moot.”
“That’s right. I think we have it, Jimmy. And by the time we reinstall the Law, the Palace Mall is all cleaned up, and that gives the press the photo they want to go with the news. We’ve restored the importance of Empress Ilithyia II.”
“OK, Jonah. So when do you can the Imperial Press Office?”
“No time like the present. I’ll let Mr. Moody know tomorrow morning. They’ll be gone by five o’clock”
“And your family?”
“Let me ponder that, Jimmy. That’s a tough one.”
“You should probably have them congregate somewhere off this floor, then tell them, Jonah. The Imperial Guard can deny them access back on to this floor from that point, and Housekeeping can pack them up.”
“Where to, Jimmy?”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Imperial Guard would be happier if you got them off premises. Several floors in a condo building somewhere?”
Drake nodded.
“That’s probably for the best, I think. It does mean I can’t control them, though. If they were here, I could simply not let them out if they got too, well, recalcitrant.”
Ardmore hadn’t thought of that wrinkle.
“Probably best to let General Hargreaves decide, Jonah.”
Drake nodded.
“All right. So that’s the current working list. What’s after that bunch, Jimmy?”
“Cleaning up the bureaucracy, replacing the Co-Consul, and then getting the sector governors in line.”
“Well, that last is a long-term project. I probably will be gone by the time that starts in earnest. Let’s work on the other two for the moment.”
At that point, Burke walked back and forth to the balcony three times, then sat in a straight-back chair at the eating table.
“Captain Burke.”
“Yes, Sire.
Drake pointed at the third armchair.
“Sit over here, it’s more comfortable.”
“Sire, I’m fi–“
“Captain. Sit.”
“Yes, Sire.”
She sat in the third armchair, at ninety degrees to the other two and between them. It made her feel uncomfortably like a participant in their conversation.
“Better,” Drake said. “Come to think of it, just stay there until five o’clock.”
Burke started to open her mouth, but Drake lifted an admonishing finger.
“Yes, Sire.”
“All right, Jimmy. Where were we?”
“Cleaning up the bureaucracy and replacing the Co-Consul.”
“Ah, yes. I think the Co-Consul should be first, Jimmy. We need him in place, then he can carry out the bureaucracy changes.”
“That makes sense. Are we going back to the six top-level groups, Jonah?”
“Projects, Budgets, that bunch?”
“Yes.”<
br />
“I think we should, don’t you?”
“Yes, I think so, Jonah.”
“Then I need you to be looking for a Co-Consul, and also the six top-level group leaders. They can start pulling the people they want.”
“And once we have that more or less in place?”
“Then we fire the rest, Jimmy.”
“OK, that’s the plan there, then.”
“What else?”
“The educational scholarships. The education curriculum. And the outside allies.”
“The tech guy and the commerce guy?”
“Yes. We need the equivalent of Jared Denny and Otto Stauss, Jonah. They were a huge part of Trajan the Great’s success.”
“Those we could actually bring along at any time, couldn’t we?”
Ardmore nodded.
“Probably the sooner the better.”
“All right. I’m going to ask you to find them as well, Jimmy. What are you going to do for the tech guy? Denny headed an outfit he had already put together, right? So are you going to look for an existing outfit, or subsidize someone to start one?”
“I’ll start with the academic records. Find the absolutely brightest people and track where they went. I think I can filter on the data to surface a tech outfit if one of them started one.”
Burke relaxed a bit as the conversation wore on. The Emperor and Ardmore were planning the wholesale rebuilding of the Imperial government. And they were doing it as equals, the Emperor and the Emperor-to-be. It was fascinating to watch, and she kept her equanimity and blank expression with some difficulty.
Then she wondered if they were throwing bon mots into the conversation just to see if they could crack her up.
And throughout, they kept referencing Ardmore’s book. Burke hoped they killed the censorship soon. It increasingly sounded like a book she wanted to read.
“Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“Good morning, Mr. Moody. Just a quick assignment today. Make Kenneth Armitage the Imperial Press Officer, then fire the rest of the Imperial Press Office.”
“You’re eliminating the Imperial Press Office, Sire?”
“No, Mr. Moody. I’m reorganizing it. Make Mr. Armitage the Imperial Press Officer, then fire everyone else. I want them out of here by five o’clock. Walk them out, then send them a month’s severance. And anyone living in the Imperial Palace complex gets one month to find another place and move out.”
EMPIRE: Renewal Page 5