EMPIRE: Intervention (EMPIRE SERIES Book 13)

by Richard F. Weyand

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Madam President, allow me to introduce Dr. Friedrich Baum.”

  “Ah, Dr. Baum.”

  Turley got up from her desk and came over to shake his hand. Baum was a trim sixtyish, with a goatee, dressed in a nondescript government functionary suit.

  “Madam President.”

  “Please, come in, Dr. Baum.”

  Turley turned to Blackwood.

  “Thank you, Minister Blackwood. I’ll let you know when we’ve finished.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Blackwood turned and left Turley’s office, passing through the outer office, full of desks and empty of staff, shaking her head.

  Turley and Baum sat in the seating arrangement in front of the windows.

  “Has Minister Blackwood told you why I asked you here, Dr. Baum?”

  “She said you were looking for a Minister of Health, Ma’am.”

  “That’s correct, Dr. Baum. Your name keeps coming up.”

  “That’s gratifying, Ma’am.”

  “Now why, do you think, with all the obvious chaos going on, that I would put the Health Ministry near the top of my list, Dr. Baum?”

  “Because it’s important to you, Ma’am?”

  “Because it’s important to the people of Julian, Dr. Baum. It is only by the merest luck you have not had a plague here from something stupid, like e. coli, or typhus, or cholera. Bad water we’re going to fix with infrastructure. Malnutrition we’re going to fix by getting the farms producing at something like normal levels again, also with infrastructure. That will head off a lot of problems, but it will take time. We have to be able to bridge the gap.”

  Baum was nodding.

  “I understand, Madam President. I agree as well.”

  “At the same time, why is it I think the previous administration neglected things like VR implant nanites, contraceptive nanites, coronary artery testing and nanites – all the basics of Imperial medicine?”

  “Because you’re prescient, Ma’am?”

  “Could be, Dr. Baum. Or it could be because I have a PhD in History, with a specialty in government and military affairs.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Yes, and history is replete with social engineers foregoing the basics to fund their cockamamie schemes. Besides, VR has a couple of side-effects authoritarian governments don’t like, including access to the Imperial education system and the ability for citizens to communicate out of earshot of the government.”

  “I understand, Ma’am.”

  “Good, because I need you to fix all that, Dr. Baum. Hold off the plague long enough for us to get the infrastructure in place to forestall it, and bring back Imperial standards of healthcare and education.”

  “That’s a tall order, Madam President, but I agree it is all necessary.”

  “Not as tall an order as you think, Dr. Baum. You would be amazed how much money I freed up in the Treasury by dismissing all the cronies and secret police. You can hire just about anybody you want. And hundreds of thousands of doses of VR nanites, contraceptive nanites, and coronary artery nanites, plus hundreds of medical diagnostic chairs, will be arriving in the next two weeks.”

  “Really? That’s, that’s amazing, Ma’am.”

  “I’m in a hurry. I have three or four months to get a decent government set up for the people of Julian, to ensure their future, before I turn it over to a new, duly-elected president and go home. So I need to know, Dr. Baum: Are you in?”

  “Oh, yes, Ma’am. I’m in.”

  “Excellent.”

  Turley stood up and shook his hand.

  “Welcome aboard, Minister Baum.”

  Blackwood showed up then, in response to Turley’s summons. She had come back and had waited in the outer office.

  “Just tell Minister Blackwood your hiring requirements and recommended candidates, Minister Baum. Err on the high side. Then get them in here. You’ve got work to do.”

  “Uh, yes, Madam President.”

  Blackwood motioned toward the door and led a stunned Baum out of Turley’s office.

  Reconciliation and Release

  When Turley came into the office on Tuesday, she was surprised to find four secretaries seated at desks on one side of the outer office, and a man of about forty at the big desk on the other side. He followed her into her office, where Lieutenant Parsons waited.

  Turley sat at her desk, and the fellow walked up and stood by her desk.

  “And who are you?” Turley asked.

  “Your chief of staff, Madam President, although I think at the moment executive assistant would probably be a better term. My name is Thomas North. Please just call me Tom.”

  “I assume Minister Blackwood hired you for me.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “And how do you mesh with Lieutenant Parsons here, Tom?”

  “We’ve already discussed it, Ma’am. If it is something more personal or deals with the household staff or the residence, or if it relates to the military component you brought with you, use Lieutenant Parsons. If it deals with the bureaucracy and government agencies, use me.”

  “So if I want to have a meeting where the Minister of Health updates me on his hiring efforts, I should ask you, but if I want to change the dinner menu for tonight or have lunch with General Jensen, I should use the lieutenant.”

  “Exactly correct, Ma’am.”

  “Has Lieutenant Parsons shared with you my priority list, Tom?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. He’s also sent me a package of requests for your time, and he and I have been working priorities on that.”

  “And you’re OK with this, Lieutenant?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. It was getting pretty hectic there.”

  “All right, Tom. What’s first this morning?”

  “The prisoners, I think, Ma’am.”

  “Prisoners?”

  “Yes, all the prisoners of war your forces took last week, Ma’am. Brigadier General Jensen is requesting you make decisions relating to their disposition.”

  “Damn. I forgot all about them.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. I would suggest Minister Noyce and General Jensen would be the most effective meeting there. Also, Minister Noyce has his first update for you regarding the political prisoners held over from the prior administration. That meeting would be a twofer.”

  “Two birds with one stone, eh?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “All right, I like that. And I just tell you and you set up the meeting at everybody’s convenience?

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “OK. What else?”

  “Minister Baum has a question about your general approach to his department, Ma’am. Apparently he was thinking about it last night. The general form of the question is, Do you want him to hire doctors into the Ministry of Health to administer nanites and diagnostic testing and provide it as a government service, or subsidize private doctors to provide these services at a subsidized rate or free of charge?”

  “Private doctors. Set the rates the government will pay to the doctors, and the services we discussed are to be free to citizens. Administer the program, but don’t hire the doctors out of the private sector.”

  “Very well, Ma’am. I will pass on your guidance on the issue. Minister Blackwood has a candidate for Treasury for you to speak with, and I’ve set that up for two o’clock this afternoon. On the meeting with Minister Noyce and General Jensen, they are both available for a meeting this morning at ten.”

  “You sent them inquiries and received replies while we were talking?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. I have several form inquiries I’ve set up. I can just tag recipients and send them without composing anything.”

  “See if Mr. Chapman can join us as well.”

  There was a brief pause.

  “Yes, Ma’am, he’s available. Shall I invite him as well?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Done. He’s acknowledged.”

  “You seem very good at this job, Tom.”
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  “It’s a position I’ve held before. At the ministerial level, Ma’am.”

  “Ah. I see.”

  Turley checked the time.

  “All right, Tom. That’s it for now. We’ll tag up again after the meeting.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  North turned and walked out of the office, closing the door softly behind him.

  “Well, he’s certainly efficient.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. It’s a relief to have him.”

  “Been feeling a little overwhelmed, Lieutenant?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Turley chuckled at Parson’s emphasis.

  “Well, how about you ask the kitchen to send up some coffee and rolls for the ten o’clock meeting, Lieutenant? Or maybe cookies. Candy. Whatever they have available.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “And plan to unobtrusively be present. You know, off to the side over there. I’ll probably want your impressions after the meeting as well.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Kitchen wait staff showed up fifteen minutes before the meeting to set up. Blackwood had already brought much of the residence staff back. Not to be caught wanting for the new president, they had brought rolls, cookies, and candy. The dishes and coffee set were fine-china imports from the Empire, and the silverware was real silver. Looking at it, and comparing it to the food that had been available, even for Imperial credits, in civilian Monroe, Turley was impressed with how well the elites lived compared to everyone else. As always.

  Tom North showed in her guests precisely at ten o’clock. In the seating grouping before the windows were President Ann Turley, Justice Minister Colin Noyce, Brigadier General Henry Jensen, and Presidential Adviser Mark Chapman. Chief of Staff Thomas North and Lieutenant Steven Parsons monitored the meeting from side chairs.

  “Thank you all for coming. General Jensen, perhaps you can start us off.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. Most of the people who surrendered last week were government bureaucrats and functionaries from various departments within Government Center. They were allowed to leave and go home. The thousand or so Secret Police high-level officers who were brought to the spaceport for training were also allowed to go home. Of the forty thousand or so rank and file members of the Secret Police, those in Government Center who survived the battle were allowed to leave and go home.

  “The Police – which is to say, my military and resistance forces – are currently holding some five hundred Secret Police members captive. Many of these were active fighters who survived the battle. Some surrendered before the final attack, the rest after. As active fighters, we’ve been holding them as captured enemy combatants. The others were prison guards who surrendered to us when we took over the prison. But everyone else was allowed to go home. The question is whether we release these last as well.”

  “Minister Noyce, your report,” Turley said.

  “Yes, Madam President. As it turns out, it was easier than we initially thought to triage those currently incarcerated in the prison. There are the true criminals, of course, incarcerated on real charges after a fair trial. Then there are those who were incarcerated on criminal charges of one sort or another, with at least a nominal trial, but which are clearly trumped-up charges. Finally, there are those held on no charges at all, or without trial, on the say-so of Mr. Mieland or high-level members of his administration.

  “The question is whether we release these last two categories en masse, or if we have individual reviews of their cases. If the former, we may release a few people we probably shouldn’t. If the latter, it will take much longer.”

  “So you’re recommending, if I hear you both correctly, that we release everybody who isn’t for sure a criminal.”

  “That’s correct, Ma’am,” Jensen said.

  “Yes, Madam President,” Noyce said.

  Chapman cleared his throat.

  “Yes, Mr. Chapman,” Turley said.

  “One problem we might have is retribution, Ma’am,” Chapman said. “We may have some people released from prison who decide to visit some form of revenge on former members of the Special Police. Mete out their own justice.”

  “Then we will track them down and prosecute them.”

  “Some people will say that isn’t fair, Ma’am.”

  “Life isn’t fair, Mr. Chapman. The Secret Police under Mr. Mieland acted at least under color of law. The population of Julian voted in Mr. Mieland and his cronies by large majorities, sucked in by the promise of paradise without effort, the good life without having to work for it. Are we now to visit upon only a part of that population a punishment for what inevitably ensued? What even a cursory examination of history would have proved must happen? No. That is not the way forward. That is the path of the French Revolution. Would our latter-day Girondins repeat their experience? It wasn’t pretty.”

  “I understand, Ma’am, but we’re going to have to address it. You should probably address it personally, in an address to the citizenry.”

  “Mr. North,” Turley said.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Make a note for me to address the citizenry. Sometime next week, after my wardrobe arrives.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “In the meantime, General Jensen, we need to be sure we give guidance to the people we release, from both groups, that we are beginning a new era in Julian history. We will not waste our energies or our manpower in carrying forward the divisions and antagonisms of the recent past. Make sure they get the point, General.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. To that point, though, do we want to consider a ban on firearm ownership by former members of the Secret Police?”

  “No.”

  “But they might reorganize against the government.”

  “No.”

  Noyce stirred in his chair, and Turley turned to him.

  “I am curious about your vehemence on this point, Madam President. I concur, mind you, but I wonder if you could elaborate on your position for me.”

  “Certainly, Minister Noyce. I will resist all efforts to divide the citizenry, into this group and that group, favors for some and restrictions for another. Julian – all of Julian – got itself into serious trouble on such a path. Class division, envy, all the rest. The only way out of that is for everybody to pull together, with what means they have. Some will be more successful than others. That’s life. There is no way to fix that short of making everybody poor. Julian has operationally proved that historical truth. Yet again.

  “So I don’t want one set of rules for some people, a different set for others. There are criminals – people who prey upon others – and we will deal with them. That is government’s proper role. For everyone else, all are to be treated the same.

  “With specific regard to firearms, people have a right to defend themselves from both criminals and the government. It’s right there in Julian’s constitution. Any argument the government comes up with against that is specious and self-serving on its face. I would rather every citizen of Julian carry a sidearm all the time than that any group be disarmed.

  “In the case of the former Secret Police, the matter is even more pointed. Mr. Chapman has already pointed out they may be the targets of violence by revanchist elements. Are they to be left defenseless, then? Is the cycle of violence to play out to its bitter end, as it did in eighteenth-century France? Is that the road Julian wants to travel?

  “As for organizing against the government, if their fellow citizens allow some group to succeed in such an effort, they deserve it. Let everyone defend what they hold dear. If freedom and liberty are what the citizenry wants, they shall have it, as long as all are armed.

  “So no, we will not ban firearm ownership by the former Secret Police or anyone else. We will instead encourage firearm ownership by everyone, to prevent the sort of government overreach that took such massive outside help to overthrow.”

  Noyce nodded. Jensen was thoughtful. Chapman was pensive, then broke the silence.

&nb
sp; “Bravo, Madam President. Bravo. I did not see the way out of all this, but I do now. I think it will work. I hope it will work. I know enough history to see the danger that lies in front of us, and it scares the hell out of me. But I see a better path forward now. I do think it’s important for you to lay it out in such stark terms for the citizens, though. You are a compelling advocate on this subject.”

  Jensen stirred.

  “Indeed, Ma’am. I think it would also help if you would record a short message for the prisoners being released. Lay out that future for them, and contrast it to the alternative. Make sure they understand.”

  “I can do that, General. In MCUs, do you think, or should I wait for my wardrobe to arrive?”

  “For this group, MCUs might be better, Ma’am.”

  “Very well. Mr. North.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “Schedule a recording session for me. Later today, I think. I don’t need much preparation for this. Perhaps an hour.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. You have from three to four for prep. We can record at four.”

  “Excellent. Then I think we can plan for releasing people tomorrow, gentlemen, after everyone has viewed my little speech. Does that work?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Jensen said.

  “Yes, Madam President,” Noyce said.

  “Excellent,” Chapman said.

  They had all had coffee during their meeting, but they had made very little headway on the various treats housekeeping had brought up.

  “Everybody grab some treats on the way out,” Turley said, taking a roll and a couple of cookies. “You can’t leave all this here. It’s a threat to your president’s health.”

  They chuckled, and Jensen and Chapman grabbed rolls and cookies. Noyce restricted himself to the candy.

  “Chocolate is my personal weakness, Madam President,” he said, dropping a half-dozen of the foil-wrapped treats in his jacket pocket.

  “Lieutenant, take the rest of this to the outer office for the staff, please.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “All right, everybody. Thanks for coming. I’ll get that video to you as soon as we have it.”

  “Madam President, your two o’clock is here,” Tom North said from the open door.