problems than it could handle.
“Ave.” Caesar returned the greeting and salute formally. “Colonel Paschal I believe? You have met the Second Consul Jade Kim?”
“Ave Consul. I believe we met when you were running the PFLH in the Hellpit. To create a successful insurgency from such an unpromising start was a remarkable achievement.”
“Thank you, but without the aid of my husband, it would all have collapsed.” Kim put a gentle but distinct emphasis on the words ‘my husband’. Paschal couldn’t help but reflect she was learning the political game very fast. Wasn’t surprising, she was getting the lessons from a master.
As if he was reading Paschal’s thoughts, Caesar took the lead in the conversation back. “How are you enjoying your first visit to our new Republic?”
“New Rome is a remarkable achievement Sir. You seem to be recreating the old Republic of Rome with incredible speed.”
“Celeritas, Colonel. Always Celeritas. Speed and decisiveness in maneuver are always the key to successful efforts. But, I needn’t tell an officer in a human army that, you’ve taken speed and mobility to levels I’d never imagined possible. We’re not recreating the ancient Republic of Rome here though, we are trying to take its best features and adapt them to the modern world your generation has so successfully created. If we take the best parts of my era and combine them with the best parts of yours, then there are wonders we can achieve.”
Paschal nodded in agreement, reflecting that despite the two millennia since his death, Caesar’s ability to inspire people with enthusiasm for his plans was still unchanged. It wasn’t surprising that Jade Kim had cast her lot in with him, although it was becoming apparent to Paschal that people’s allegiances for their Second Life in Hell rarely had much in common with those of their First Life on Earth. Expecting otherwise had already proved to be a bad mistake. “If I may ask Sir, what part of our modern practices do you seek to change?”
Caesar thought for a second. “Voting. Here in Rome, the right to vote is restricted to those who have demonstrated their commitment to the Republic by owning land. And we make voting a solemn affair where Roman Citizens are expected to dress formally and hear the candidates debate the great issues of the day before casting their votes. A vote cast casually without thought or consideration is a vote wasted.” Caesar spoke gravely, then seemed to brighten again. “But we are not here, I think to discuss political theory. If you will join us for Cena, perhaps we can continue then.”
“Thank you Caesar, I would enjoy that. My task here is a curious one. May I ask what gods you worshipped during your First Life?”
“The ones who protected me in the pit? And others of course. Why do you wish to know?”
“Caesar, our assault on Heaven is stalled. All access to the place has been shut down and we can’t get at them. For almost a year now, we have been trying to force our way in and for all that effort we still do not know how to do so. Yet, the inhabitants of Heaven are able to attack us almost at will. They direct storms against our cities, bring plagues upon us and attack us with their beasts. We beat off their attacks with some loss to ourselves but we cannot, we will not, remain on the defensive for ever. Nobody ever won a war by defending themselves.”
“That’s true.” Caesar laughed nostalgically. “Defeating the enemy means taking the war to them.”
“Yes Sir. But we can’t. But, in our investigations, we’ve learned that the daemons here in Hell fought other groups on Earth and expelled them. Although the fighting took place long before human history was recorded, we believe that memories of those other groups form the basis of many world religions. We have also learned that one such group, daemons call them devils, was so hard to defeat that they struck a deal with Satan and Yahweh. That they would withdraw from Earth only if those who believed in them were protected from the torments of Hell. You, Sir, are the only person we know of who falls into that category. So we seek to identify this other group. If they are loyal to those who believed in them and sought to protect them, they may be the kind of people we can deal with.”
“Deal with as in make arrangements with, or deal with as in shoot full of holes?” Kim spoke drolly although the intent behind her question was deadly serious.
“Their choice ma’am.”
“A very Roman answer Colonel. When you die, have you thought of settling here in Rome?” Caesar was teasing him and Paschal knew it but it was a good question. “To answer your question, in public my family worshipped the Roman gods but in private I and a few others were members of the cult of Cybele. We kept that quiet, the authorities really didn’t approve of it. But, a few of us kept up the faith in secret and were rewarded. Does that really help you find a way to get your tanks into Heaven?”
“It might Sir. It gives us another avenue to research at least. At the moment, we’ll try anything to break in and give Yahweh what’s coming to him. And I don’t mean that in a nice way.”
“Good.” Kim’s voice was forceful and very determined. Subconsciously her thumb stroked the palm of her hand where a bronze spike had once been driven through it.
“I’d like to offer more help than just a name Colonel, but my army here is only adequate for defending what we have. And we are desperately short of equipment. Some of my soldiers still carry tridents instead of rifles. And we could use more armored cars and some helicopters. Not to mention more radios.”
“MH-6s would be nice. If there are any going spare.” Kim smiled fondly, she thought that she would like to get her hands on a helicopter again. Especially an armed one.
“I can’t promise anything, I just don’t have that authority. But, if you can make out a list of what you really need, I can present it to my superiors. DIMO(N) has a shallow command structure and the point is very close to the top. A word of advice though, with modern equipment, it’s not getting it that breaks the bank, it’s supporting it.”
“Rather like a beautiful woman?” Caesar was teasing again but this time the gentle barb was directed at Kim who responded by punching his arm.
“Exactly Sir. Best modern equipment in the world is useless without proper support. We’ve walked all over armies that forgot that. A state with limited funds is better off with smaller amounts of equipment and investing the money in support facilities.”
“That’s good advice Gaius.” Kim had given Caesar the same lesson herself. “We’re mineral rich here, we’ve got iron, chromium, titanium, vanadium, you name it. And oil, lots of oil.”
Napyidaw, Myanmar
“And we want our gold back.” General Asanee spoke quietly but very firmly.
“What gold?” General Petraeus actually know the answer but just wanted to hear her say it.
“In 1767, the Burmese launched an unprovoked attack on us and eventually stormed the old capital of Ayuthya. They massacred all the inhabitants, burned the art treasures, the libraries containing our literature, and the archives housing our historic records and then took all the gold in the city back to their capital. Now we want it back.”
Petraeus tried to stop himself grinning. “Was it a lot of gold? Where did you get it from?”
“All the gold in the country’s treasury. We’d collected it for centuries, mostly from what is now Laos and Cambodia.”
“Ahh, so it’s their gold. Why didn’t you say so? After all, those countries could use the cash. They’re totally broke.”
“But they were our vassal states, their gold belonged to us.” Asanee looked at Petraeus and realized her leg was being gently pulled. “It’s a sort of cash float. Whoever wins the latest war gets the gold. And we won this one.”
“General, this kind of thinking has to stop if we’re going to win this war. I don’t mean the one with Myanmar, this is just a mildly irritating sideshow. If that, it’s more like a live fire exercise in how to use portals for warfare.”
“A live fire exercise that cost the lives of more than six hundred of my men.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Petraeus looked at her reflectively. He happened to know that she’d personally written to the family of every soldier killed in action under her command and had visited those families within reach. From her record, he guessed she would take the time to get to the others as soon as the war was over. “If it’s any consolation, the H.E.A. has picked up your dead as they arrived in Hell and made sure they are looked after properly. By the way, there were some pretty good brawls in the receiving area when your dead and the Myanmar Army dead arrived simultaneously. In the end we had to keep a contingent of military police on site to
