And why a meeting of the whole family? That he didn’t get. Oh, they had parties once in a while, like when Dad had turned seventy-five, just before he became Emperor. And he had sometimes met with smaller groups. But never everybody, all in one place, in a lecture hall meeting. What was it all about?
He hoped Dad hadn’t decided to step down and make him Emperor now. He didn’t know what he’d do, and he hadn’t discussed it with Franny.
All across Jonathan Drake’s family, similar musings were taking place. Jeremy’s oldest son Frederick, forty-five years old and also a government bureaucrat, was wondering if he might become Emperor sooner rather than later. He knew his father didn’t want the Throne. And if his grandfather stepped down and his father refused the Throne, did it go to Frederick or one of his uncles? It had never come up before.
Frederick’s oldest son Edward, now twenty-three, expected to be Emperor someday, he knew. Wanted to be Emperor. Frederick didn’t think that would be a good idea, though. The boy didn’t have a lick of sense and wanted it for all the wrong reasons. The ‘culmination of a life of service’ was a null statement to him. He literally wouldn’t know what it meant. How Frederick would tell him he wouldn’t inherit the Throne if and when the time came was something he didn’t want to think about.
The family gathered in physical reality in a small lecture room in the Imperial Palace. There were about a hundred seats, and it was a bit more than half full. The elders sat down front, with the generations running up the bowl of seating. Jeremy took a seat with Franny in the middle of the front row.
There were Imperial Guard in the corners of the room, all of them wearing the new black fourragère, and all wearing sidearms. They were apparently under the command of a brown-skinned female officer who stood by the door.
When the family was all gathered, the Emperor, Jeremy’s Dad, entered, on the arm of some sort of assistant, a short, stout fellow with blond hair. Everyone stood while the assistant helped the Emperor to a seat in the middle of the speaker’s well and then stood along the wall behind the Emperor. Jeremy concentrated on his father, wondering yet again what he would say.
“Hello, everyone. Sit down, please.”
Everyone sat, and his father continued.
“I wanted to talk to everyone at once, give you all the same information, so it wouldn’t get distorted by repetition. This also means I only have to tell the story once.
“I am now ninety years old. I have watched the Empire from the Imperial Palace for the past ninety years. What I can see – what you might not yet see – is the Empire is slowly breaking down, and has been since Augustus the Great died over a hundred years ago.
“I believe that’s due to a number of factors. I have tried to stem the tide over the last fifteen years, but all my tinkering has been for naught. It will take larger changes, changes I am mapping out even now.
“One of the biggest changes, from the impact it may have on some of you, is a simple one. The Throne of the Galactic Empire will no longer be hereditary. It wasn’t hereditary before Augustus the Great, even back through the twenty-seven Empresses of Sintar, and it will not be going forward.
“Therefore, none of you will be my Heir to the Throne. Sorry, Jeremy. The Empire doesn’t need another new Emperor in his seventies. It needs a young, fresh Emperor, selected for ability, not genetic heritage.
“So that’s what I came to tell you, so you could all hear it at once from me.
“The other thing I want to mention is that, as I have gotten older, family members and young people under foot all the time have gotten to be too much noise and commotion for me. So all of you are being moved out of the Imperial Residence. Housekeeping is moving you right now. Your permissions have all been changed. You will not be allowed back onto the Imperial Residence floors without an appointment.
“You will all be moved for now into apartments in the Imperial Research Building. If you check your residence listing now, it will show you where. For those of you who work in the government and your immediate family, you may stay in those apartments while you work for the government. For those of you who do not work in the government, you have one month to find residence elsewhere. Housekeeping will help you with that move as well.
“OK, everybody, I guess that’s it. I love you all.”
His dad stood up, and everyone else stood as well. He signaled to his assistant, who came forward and gave the old man his arm, then helped him to and out the door. The Imperial Guard officer called out ‘Guard Dismissed’ and all the Imperial Guardsmen left the room.
“Thank God,” Franny said.
Jeremy turned to her.
“What? I thought you wanted to be Empress.”
“Oh, a passing fancy, dear. I married you, not the Throne. I didn’t want to lose you to it.”
“So what do we do now?”
“Retire to the lake, Jeremy. I think there’s some fish out there with our names on them.”
Jeremy picked up her hand and kissed it.
“I love you, Franny.”
“I know, dear.”
There was a commotion behind them. They turned to see what was going on and it was Frederick, Jeremy and Franny’s oldest, and Edward, Frederick’s oldest.
“But he can’t do that,” Edward said.
“He’s the Emperor, Edward. He can damn well do what he wants,” Frederick said.
“But where are we going to live? How are we going to live?”
“Well, you could get a job.”
Edward looked at Frederick as if he had said something obscene.
“Pardon me,” Frederick said. “What was I thinking?”
Frederick turned and came down to Jeremy and Franny.
“Hi, Dad, Mom. How are you doing?”
“Great, actually. I was afraid Dad was going to step down and name me Emperor.”
“Yeah. I was afraid he was going to step down, pass over you, and name me Emperor. I think we both dodged a bullet on that one.”
Frederick took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing.
“So what are you two going to do now?”
“Retire. Move out to the lake permanently. Catch some fish.”
Frederick nodded.
“Sounds like fun. You good with that, Mom?”
“Oh, yes. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been dreading what was going to happen for years. And now it just, well, didn’t happen.”
“That’s great. Let’s walk over to our new apartments and see what they look like.”
Frederick looked around. Patty was still trying to calm Edward. She looked his way in frustration and he signaled her to join them.
“That sounds good, Frederick,” Franny said. “Lead on.”
The four left the room to head over to the Imperial Research Building, leaving the rest of the family still babbling behind them.
When Drake and Ardmore got out into the hallway, out of sight of the family, they dropped out of the VR projector and were back in the living room of the Imperial Residence. Burke joined them minutes later.
“Well, I think that went pretty well,” Drake said.
“I was watching in the management channel, and Edward made a fuss after we left,” Ardmore said.
“Wouldn’t have done any good. Freddy told me he wasn’t going to leave Eddy the Throne anyway. He said something like, ‘Emperor shouldn’t be your first job.’ How did Jeremy and Freddy look after we left?”
“Relieved, I think,” Ardmore said.
“That’s right, Jonah,” Burke said. “I was watching the management channel in overlay on my way up here. And their wives looked even more relieved.”
“Good, good. Some people want something just because it’s important, whether they would really enjoy it or not. But Jeremy and Freddy are too smart for that.”
“Edward’s not,” Ardmore said.
“Eddy’s not too smart for a lot of things. I suppose we’ll have to have General Hargreaves keep an eye on him.�
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“I don’t think you have to worry about that, Jonah,” Burke said. “The Guard will be all over that meeting. They’ll have him covered.”
Drake nodded.
“I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but we three have bigger fish to fry. So now the family’s done, what’s next on our list?”
“Restore the Law of Ilithyia II and fire the censorship department,” Ardmore said.
“Yes, that’s right. Well, I’ll take care of that tomorrow morning. And you two have a couple of Co-Consul candidates for me?”
“Yes, Jonah,” Burke said. “You interview them and then we’ll all three decide, if that’s OK.”
“Yes, absolutely. No sense having you two have to fire him in five or six years and have all that disruption together with a succession. We need to make sure he’s good for all of us, whomever we pick.”
That night, Jeremy and Franny had dinner with Drake. It was an empty spot in his schedule and they had jumped on it. With all the family cleared out of the Imperial Residence during the day, it was just the three of them in the dining room that night.
“So you guys aren’t angry with me, like Edward?” Drake asked.
“No, Dad. We’re relieved, actually. We wanted to have dinner with you because I’ve put in for my retirement from the government and we’ll be moving out to the lake.”
“Excellent. I’ve seen it in VR, you remember. It looks very nice. Of course, I’ll never see it in person, but, well, you know.”
“Yes, we know,” Franny said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re relieved. If Jeremy became Emperor, we’d never see it again. Or anything else, for that matter. Just the Palace.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad. I’m so busy, for one thing. Always something to do.”
“Yes, and I guess you have the Gardens when you want to get out.”
Drake nodded. When was the last time he had been in the Gardens? He couldn’t remember. Years. He would have to go and see them again. Show them to Gail and Jimmy, at least.
They had a pleasant dinner, then Drake said goodbye to his eldest son and his daughter-in-law. It might well be the last time they would see each other, and they all knew it, but they kept it happy.
In response to repeated inquiries, the Imperial Press Office issued the following release.
PRESS RELEASE
– For Immediate Release –
IMPERIAL PALACE – The Imperial Palace will have no comment on the Heir to the Throne until a succession event occurs.
The Emperor In Command
“Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“Good morning, Mr. Moody. Be seated.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“We’ll take up your list tomorrow, Mr. Moody. I have some assignments for you today.”
“Yes, Sire. Of course.”
“I am superseding all current Imperial Law with the Law of Ilithyia II. You need to draw me up an Imperial Decree to that effect, Mr. Moody.
“All Imperial Law, Sire?”
“Yes, Mr. Moody. Don’t question me, just do as I command.”
“Of course, Sire.”
“And we are deleting all Imperial censorship efforts. Everyone in the censorship department and any of its sub-departments is fired. Give them one month’s pay and walk them out. And all previously banned materials are now unbanned. I need an Imperial Finding to that effect, since the change in the law makes that the result anyway.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Have Housekeeping move Captain Gail Burke of the Imperial Guard into the first family apartment in the Imperial Residence, and Dr. James Ardmore into the second family apartment. Get that done today, Mr. Moody, if Housekeeping can swing it. I don’t know whether those apartments need attention after their most recent tenants or not.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Also, Mr. Moody, have Housekeeping change the table in the dining room of the Imperial Residence to a setting for four.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Finally, Mr. Moody, I want to meet with Paul Diener at 9:30 this morning and with Thomas Pitney at 10:30.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“That is all for the moment, Mr. Moody.”
“Yes, Sire.”
Drake, Ardmore, and Burke met for lunch in the Imperial Residence. They were meeting in the dining room. With Drake’s extended family no longer in residence, they were the only three people who were permitted to eat there now.
“So what did you think of Mr. Diener and Mr. Pitney this morning?” Drake asked. “You watched, right?”
“I liked them both, actually,” Ardmore said.
“Me, too,” Burke said, “but in different ways.”
“How so, Gail?”
“I’m not sure how to say it, Jonah. Diener seemed like more of an administrator. You know. He was a little more cut-and-dried, in a way. Sort of a ‘sure we can do this, sure we can do that’ sort of thing. Very competent. Pitney has a different edge to him. Like he was weighing everything, trying to see the hidden secret in everything. Competent, but more– measuring, I guess is the word. Or skeptical.”
“I can see that. What about you, Jimmy?”
“I see it now Gail points it out, Jonah. Diener is the assistant head of budgeting, and he’s well thought of there. People transfer into his department just to work for him. But Pitney came out of the Imperial Police. He got in some kind of hot water over there – actually, I think he may have been too competent, if you get my drift – and he’s been the head of Imperial investigations for a while now. I think that’s where that edge Gail mentions comes from.”
“That’s interesting,” Drake said. “I see the same thing. Actually, probably either would make a good Co-Consul. There is no one perfect guy, after all, and no matter who we put in that position, he’s going to have to grow into it. But consider this for a moment. What if we made Diener Co-Consul and made Pitney the head of the Department?”
“Ooo. I like it,” Burke said.
“Two birds with one stone,” Ardmore said.
“Good,” Drake said. “I just don’t think there’s any sense in doing another whole search for the head of the Department when we have a solid candidate staring us right in the face.”
“What about the current Co-Consul, Jonah?” Burke asked.
“Mr. Norton? He’s a toady. All unction and concern for me. I’m not sure what he does with his time, actually. I’ll make the change this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?” Ardmore asked. “Wow.”
“I’m ninety years old, Jimmy. It’s not like I have a lot of time to waste. Once a decision is made, best to act on it.”
After lunch, Drake had another idea.
“Do you two want to go upstairs and see the Gardens? I haven’t been up there in maybe five years. Since Julia died. I never saw the attraction, actually.”
“Sure, Jonah,” Burke said. “Sounds like fun.”
Ardmore nodded.
They went up in the escalator to the roof, debouching into a glass cupola. They stepped out of the cupola into a geometric planting of shrubs, trimmed to orthogonal exactitude within an inch of their lives. Small lawns and flower beds populated the niches. Various paths cut in straight lines across the geometry. They could see the whole roof at once, even the service elevator in the distance.
It was like being an ant looking out over an empty crossword puzzle, printed in green.
“But this, this is all wrong, Jonah.”
“What do you mean, Jimmy?”
“This isn’t what they were like. Back in the days of Trajan.”
“Well, they’ve been changed over the centuries, surely. I still don’t see the attraction.”
“No, I don’t either, Jonah. Not in this.”
“It is kind of sterile,” Burke said. “Hard to make something out of plants look sterile, but there you go.”
“The problem, Jimmy, is we don’t actually know what they looked like in the days of Trajan.”
�
�But we do, Jonah. In among all the other files, I found a VR recording of the Imperial Gardens in 51 GE.”
“You did? A recording?”
“Yes. The recording was made by Emperor Trajan for the Empress Amanda as a fiftieth anniversary present. She was in her mid seventies then, and could no longer walk the whole thing. But in VR she could. That’s why I wanted to see them.
“Here. Let’s sit here, and I’ll show you.”
There were benches by the escalator cupola – organized at precise right angles, of course – and they sat. Ardmore pushed them a pointer to the simulation, and they all entered it together.
They walked through the gardens, past the fire pit and the swimming pool, past the meadow, around to the bocce court and the hidden swimming hole, all the little niches and arbors.
“My God, it’s beautiful, Jimmy,” Burke said.
“This is a wonderful escape,” Drake said. “No wonder everyone refers to them as so special. They were. And one of the Four Miserable Bureaucrats screwed it up, like so much else.”
“Yes, Jonah,” Ardmore said. “But this is a recording, not a simulation. From this, they could recreate the gardens as they were.”
“Oh, Jimmy, could they?” Burke asked.
“Of course, Gail,” Drake said. “I won’t live to see them grown out like this, but you two will. I’ll get this started, too.”
“Where will the money come from, Jonah?” Ardmore asked.
“Oh. Did I forget to mention, Jimmy? I canned the whole censorship department today. It also turns out real Imperial Guards are a lot cheaper than pretend Imperial Guards. Lots of money available now. That also means your book is coming out. Today. I imagine it will be a big seller among sector governors who wonder what we’re up to. I predict they won’t like it much, though.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Mr. Moody, I need to see the Imperial Gardener, Mr. Norton, Mr. Diener, and Mr. Pitney this afternoon. In that order. The Imperial Gardener can attend me in VR, in channel 22. Arrange all that as soon as possible.”
“Of course, Sire.”
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