Blood on the Water

by Mark Hildebrandt

  Separation of church and state and it happened about the time of Constantine. James head was spinning. It is just unbelievable he thought. The possibilities and ramifications had filled his mind, and for a few moments he just stared off into space.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please continue.” Cassandra beseeched trying to get James back on track.

  “Oh sorry, the official date the Empire fell was 476 when the Emperor Romulus Augustus surrendered to the German Barbarian Odoacer. That was the end of the Western Roman Empire, but it had been split several years earlier by Constantine into and Western and Eastern Empire. The eastern empire survived for many years, but the greatness that was once Rome was gone, never to return, and the rest of the world was plunged into darkness.

  “In my world, people have spent entire life time’s studying the demise of the Empire, and what caused it. There are almost as many theories as historians. I always thought it was not just one thing but a collection of factors that all came together to cause the collapse. Now you say it was nothing more than lead poising. How can that be? What happened here?”

  Cassandra had a sad look on her face. “Your version isn’t very uplifting. I fear the next part is probably bleak. What did you say, ‘the world was plunged into darkness?’ It gives me shivers.

  “Oh well back to Trajan. In this world, Trajan was succeeded by his son Trajan the Great. He was only seventeen, but he had no intention of seeing the Empire shrink. He intended to expand it, well beyond the limits his father left him.

  “His ambition was applauded by a hungry Senate and Roman people. By this time birth rates among the aristocracy had multiplied even beyond my ancestor Marcus’s expectations. The hunger that originally made Rome, the hunger to grow, expand, conquer and dominate the world was stronger than ever. Gone were the low birth rates, the slow minds, and the sickly bodies that filled Rome and the legion hierarchy before my ancestor Marcus.

  “Trajan the Great fancied himself as histories next Alexander the Great. Logically he decided to expand east. The Empire was becoming fanatical about silk, and many thought the silk came from India, so that became Trajan’s target, but there was a problem. The formidable Parthian Empire stood in the way. It was believed that the Parthian Empire, because of its large and well-equipped military, could not be conquered. Treaties existed between Rome and the Parthian Empire to allow trade to pass, but no military would dare try.

  “Using some strategies and tactics, borrowed from Alexander, and incredible boldness and audaciousness, Trajan the Great and fifteen legions laid waste the Parthian Empire. After that there was no slowing them. India was immediately assimilated into the Empire. China followed much latter. The Empire was content to take a breather and completely assimilate the newly conquered lands, but in the chaos that followed the collapse of the Han dynasty, the silk trade was interrupted, a situation that proved to be intolerable. Trajan’s great-great-great grandson, Tiberius, mounted an invasion and China was added to the Empire.

  “As was the case with other conquered provinces, it was not forbidden to practice native religions, provided an appropriate sacrifice was also made to the pagan gods. After a couple of hundred years the eastern religions began to creep west, while Christianity which had spread through the slave population like a wild fire moved east. The rapidly growing Christian church found some eastern ideas compatible, especially the pacifist way of thinking.

  At first, this was very pleasing to the Roman aristocracy, spread throughout the world, a religion that encouraged peace and non-violence. It made the possibility of a slave revolt seem very unlikely. Seeing the tranquility promoted by the new religions, the Emperor Maximums, who was the,” Cassandra looked away, and started counting on her fingers, “Ah, sixth Emperor to succeed Trajan the Great, officially recognized all faiths, and forbade persecution based on religious beliefs. He even went so far as to resend the practice of making all citizens pay homage to the old Roman Pagan gods and proclaimed a new Imperial policy abolishing the state religion. Religions would forever more be separate from the government of the Empire.

  “He was convinced the new religions could be used almost like drugs on the slave populations. This was a boon to the Empire because contented slaves meant a prosperous Rome.

  “All was well, or so the Roman elite believed. Until about 1250.” She paused and looked at a fascinated James, who was counting on his fingers. “Okay about 500 your time.” She said smiling.

  “I knew that. I might not be quite as fast as a physicist, but I can still count.” He said returning the smiling. He found he didn’t want her to stop. Listening to her voice, hearing her tell the story and watching her comely face had allowed him to completely forget where he was, not just the hospital, but this crazy mixed up world as well. He anxiously said, “But enough arithmetic, what happened in 500 AD, I mean 1250 AUC.”

  She looked at the ceiling for a moment then redirected her gaze to look directly into his eyes, smiled and started again. “Yes. In 1250 a pacifist leader, Bashir, emerged. He was born free, in the remnants of the Parthian Empire where all the religions collided. He combined elements of several and reinforced the non-violent aspects, and then he went one step further. He began preaching civil disobedience, non-violent civil disobedience.

  He brought the Empire to its’ knees. For a millennium the Empire had been worried about a slave revolt, but they had always expected it to come at the point of a sword and coated in blood. They had no defense for this kind of revolt. Sure a few slaves were killed, but it was impractical and unwise to kill them all.

  “The Emperor, an Emperor Constantine by the way, brought all the factions together. The Senate that had been slowly gaining power, the slave leaders that held the economic survival of the Empire, and religious leaders. Based on the promise of a true compromise, Bashir urged the slaves back to work while a convention was convened to develop a new government. The convention lasted for nearly ten years.

  “It produced the basic government that runs the world today. There are two distinct branches of government, three parties and a list of basic citizen rights. The Senatorial Branch is composed of Senators, independently elected by the people in their provinces. The Senate controls the finances. Then there is the Imperial branch, which is a dynasty passed through the Emperor. It controls the courts and military, as well as science and technology. The Imperial branch submits budgets to fund the government activities but relies completely on the Senate to approve the budgets. The three parties are the Imperial Party, the Labor party, and the Republic party. Having divided the power several different ways guaranteed one side would always be fighting the other. That strife insured the government, which arose from the Constantine Convention, survived to this day.

  James had perked up and was listening to Cassandra very intently, “You mean to say that at about the time the Empire fell in my world; the Empire in yours had actually formed a representative government. The old Republic, where the Senate was merely a hand full of rich citizens whose job was to legitimize anything the Emperor wanted was cast aside, and replaced with one where the people had a say?”

  “Yes, that’s right. It was the first time the government placed real value on people. One of the outcomes was that every person living within the limits of the Empire was declared a citizen, and all citizens were afforded certain basic human rights. It created a great celebration that spread throughout the Empire. Once the excitement wore off; however, the government and businesses realized they were facing some very difficult times. They needed something to replace the slaves. Because try as they might, there were some jobs that regardless of the pay, people or now citizens, wouldn’t do.

  The Greeks had developed steam engines five hundred years earlier, mostly as toys and amusements. The Roman engineers eagerly embraced the concept, and quickly converted the new power source to new useful engines. Mechanical power that could easily fill the void left after the demise of slave labor. Thus, began the mechanical era.” />
  James almost jumped out of the chair and blurted out, “Wait a minute. Do you mean to tell me that here in this world, the industrial revolution started around 500 AD, Ah – 1230 AUC?”

  “Yes” She answered sheepishly in response to James outburst. “Is that a problem?”

  He slowly walked to the chair where Cassandra was sitting, knelt down next to her, looked into her dark eyes and softly said, “No, it is not a problem. It does help explain why things are so much different here, your cars, colonies on the different planets, doors that vanish and then rematerialize, portals to other dimensions, even that helmet you put on my head when I first arrived. It all makes sense now.”

  James was smiling, but Cassandra was clearly confused. “James I’m not quite sure I understand. What do you mean, it all makes sense now?”

  “It was more than a thousand years after your, mechanical era, that the industrial revolution occurred in my world. Don’t you see? Your science has a thousand-year head start on the science of my world.”

  “Oh … Well that explains why our probe of your universe indicated it was so much more primitive than ours, but how is that possible? How come technology was so slow to develop in your world? Did you retain slavery and not need to find more efficient ways to get work done?”

  James stood once again and paced between the two chairs. “No, it didn’t have to do with slavery. Some form or another of slavery existed up until and just after the industrial revolution started. Weather it was called slaves, indentured servants, serfs or even apprentices there were always slaves, but never quite on the same scale as ancient Rome.

  “No, it wasn’t slave labor that slowed the technical development. It was the total vacuum left with the fall of Rome. Rome controlled most of the world. Where the Empire existed, commerce was good, people were educated, they could read and write, there was science, mathematics and engineering. When the Empire fell all of that was lost. Over the next thousand years referred to as the Dark Ages and Middle Ages, all the knowledge from Rome and before was lost. Mankind was thrown into barbarism, feudal lords, and a religion with far more power in this world than it should have had.”

  Cassandra had a troubled look as she thought about the ramifications of James’ story. “It sounds awful. I imagine the people suffered terribly during those times.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid that is true. If you were fortunate to be born a lord or were shrewd enough to make it into the church hierarchy, things weren’t too bad. But for most people, life was drudgery.”

  “What happened to all the information that was stored in the Library in Alexandria? Why are you smiling at me? I don’t think I said anything funny. Did I?” She said staring at James.

  “It’s not exactly what you said, but then again it is, and now I can check off one of history’s mysteries. Since you ask that question, the library must have been destroyed after Trajan. One theory regarding the destruction is that it was destroyed when Cesar burned the Egyptian fleet in 48 BC ah – 706 your time. The other explanations all occurred much later, but I now know it wasn’t Creaser.”

  “Oh James, you mean to tell me the library was destroyed? How truly awful.”

  James once again took his seat next to Cassandra and continued to tell the story of the middle ages, the Renaissance the plagues and hardships as the July sun faded from the sky. The entire time Cassandra was mesmerized listening to his description, at times seemingly almost in tears.

  Her data pad beeped and reminded her, it was time to meet her brother. She gently touched James’s hand and looked into his eyes, “James I must go. I promise to return early in the morning before any of the procedures are started.”

  She slowly got up and unconsciously so did James. He began to feel the panic of being left in a hospital, and yet there was something else. He didn’t want her to leave. He realized it was because he liked being with her. She had spent the afternoon with him in this hospital, and never once did he want to be anywhere else. She had magically chased away all the horrible childhood memories. “Cassandra, I enjoy being with you and I don’t want you to leave.”

  She looked closely at him, smiled and said, “I enjoy being with you as well, but I must go. I will return first thing in the morning.” She began once again moving toward the door, and undoubtedly noticed the anguish on James’s face because she turned and said. “Look James, if this is about your fear of hospitals, don’t worry. You are perfectly safe, and nobody is going to begin any testing until long after I return in the morning.”

  Her smile was gone and replaced with look of impatience. She was leaving, and he had better face it. “Yes, I know. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Don’t worry, James, I will return and finish the history of my world, I promise.” And she held out her hand, which James assumed it was to shake. He took it and watched as slightly pained look appeared on her face. She shook her head, “No. Not like that.” She released his hand, grasped his forearm and waited for him to do the same. As soon as he grasped her arm, James began to mimic the movement of a handshake, and once again Cassandra frowned. “No. There is no shake. Just grasp and look directly into my eyes. Stare until you know the promise has been sealed. Then release.”

  After several moments Cassandra broke into a smile, “There, you see. My promise is now a binding agreement. I will see you in the morning.” The grasp was broken, and she left.

  James just stood for several minutes, and then he slowly moved to the door, much to his amazement it opened. He stepped out into the hall, no guards. But the hallway looked more like a hospital then his room. He quickly moved back, and the door closed.

  The door wasn’t locked. It is possible to escape. While he pondered the thought, he moved to the window. The streets were full of people and a variety of vehicles, but absolutely nothing looked familiar. He could read the words on the street signs and billboards, but they held no meaning. It was like looking at a well-crafted scene from a science fiction move. Even if he fled the hospital what would he do? He knew Cassandra was the only person that could help him through this maze. He resolved to wait, and slowly lowered himself in the big overstuffed chair, where he sat and stared out the window at the setting sun.

  Chapter 10

  - Ah…Family -

  By the time Marcus finally left the Seven Hills, it was almost seven thirty. Once in the vehicle he quickly scanned his messages, and found Cassandra and Irena planned dinner for eight. The gods help him, if he disappointed those two by being late. He wanted to go to the clinic and meet Cassandra’s experiment, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. He quickly programmed the vehicle to take him directly to the Villa. He hoped to make it in time to have a cocktail and see the children before Cassandra arrived.

  He sat back in the seat and closed his eyes. The meeting with Kukulcan was disturbing, and the more he thought about the discussion, the more agitated he became. This is not good, he told himself, and consciously slowed his breathing to slip into one of his yoga meditative states. The meditation seemed to work because the next thing he knew, the car had stopped in front of the villa.

  When he entered the house two noisy children greeted him. They came rushing through the Atrium and attacked him. Titus, his seven-year-old son, grabbed one leg and Verina his five-year-old daughter grabbed the other. Marcus put his data pad in his pocket and reached down enveloping the children in his grasp.

  Both children were talking very rapidly at the same time. It was all Marcus could do to smile and nod, at one, and then the other, quickly enough to show he was interested in what each had to say. It was amazing, the cacophony of noise these two small humans could produce. While intently listening, smiling and laughing with the two, Irena and two servants entered the Atrium unnoticed.

  “Titus! Verina! It is time for both of you to get your baths, now go.” Both children and Marcus began to protest, but were cut off by Irena, “This is not up for discussion you three. You two go now.” She said looking at the children with a
very stern face, “and as for you Marcus, you still have a few minutes to clean up and change before your sister arrives. I watched some of your Senate performance this afternoon and am certain that clean clothes and a little soap and water will remove some of the stench those Senators piled on you. Now go. I’ll collect Cassandra and meet you in the garden.” She turned and followed the children and servants out of the room.

  Well it appeared there would be no few minutes with the children this evening. But he decided, there was still a chance to grab a cocktail, and he stopped at the bar. As usual the ingredients were already out for his favorite evening beverage. Extra dry English gin, dry Italian vermouth and two olives. The ingredients were quickly mixed followed by an equally quick sip, and he was off before Irena could return. gods help him if she caught him lingering at the bar. This was Irena’s house, and he was very happy to let her to run it as she saw fit. He was busy with life and death decisions all day, and it was nice to come home where he could allow someone else, someone he trusted, to make the decisions.

  He paused inside the bedroom door to take a long slow draw on the martini, and felt the warmth spread through the core of his body. He set the drink down and began removing his tunic, and marveled that it was still damp. He hoped perspiration was not visible during the inquiry. It was disheartening to think the Senators could see they had made him sweat.

  Irena had laid out a cool silk shirt, crisp cotton slacks and simple leather sandals for Marcus. Two more swallows from the martini, a quick sponge bath and he was beginning to feel much better. While dressing he thought of Cassandra. He loved his baby sister. Being ten years younger, it felt like he had raised her by himself. Well there were the servants, but his parents were never there. They were always too busy with social events and palace activities which probably contributed to his sisters’ distain for Roman society. But the thoughts of his sister brought a smile to his face, particularly when he considered how well she turned out. He clearly did a damn good job. She was smart, she was pretty, and she apparently had become a very effective manager.