Excerpts From Nonexistent Books

“I’m not used to discussing myself with my men,” said Yamaguchi. “Though I am not surprised that you asked. It was much the same when I was stationed in London–even passersby on the street were full of questions.”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” said Major Leigh. “I thought it might pass a moment, that’s all.”

“My grandfather was a samurai–do you know them in your country?”

“I think I’ve heard of them. Like knights, right? Loyal to their lord and full of honor and chivalry?”

“That is, I think, how they would describe themselves,” sighed Yamaguchi. “Fifty years ago, my grandfather and his ilk were respected and unique, scholars and poets and warriors. They alone had the right to wear a sword in public, and they alone could cut down a peasant who showed them disrespect at will.”

Leigh squirmed at the mental image. “Sounds good for the samurai, not so good for the peasant.”

Yamaguchi shrugged. “It was never something that actually happened. But then, the Emperor decided that it was time for ours to be a modern country with a modern army, and the time of the samurai was over. My grandfather did not know how to adapt to being a simple soldier, one among many, and he took his own life. My father has worked as a postal inspector his whole life, and his feeling was that dedicated service in an important but unrespected profession was the ultimate proof of loyalty to the Emperor and to the nation.”

“We have a word for that as well. The good old Puritan work ethic.”

“I could not live that life. I wanted to show that the martial spirit of my grandfather and his ancestors lives on. So I joined the military. I’ve seen many battles–this is not the first time Russian guns have been turned on me. But in the end, Major Yamaguchi is…a postal inspector. I keep small things moving around and getting where they are supposed to go, and unlike my father’s letters many of them are unruly or undisciplined. And unlike him, I have more to fear than a papercut.”

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“I see. So it’s a choice of getting shot, or getting shot with a chance of missing, huh?” Jones sucked noisily on a molar. “How do you say ‘don’t shoot I’m on your side’ in bolo, Rosenthal?”

“Ne strelyayte, ya odin iz vas” said Rosenthal. “At least I think it is. Did I mention my folks can’t read and they didn’t exactly speak the Czar’s Own at home?”

“Well, the way I see it, that gives your bolo a bit of down-home charm,” said Jones. “You speak too good, it’ll sound all practiced. Bolos might cotton that you’re a kike if you talk like that, and me too if I’m parroting. Shoot me anyway.”

“You really are not interested in getting out of this alive,” muttered Rosenthal.

“That a threat, kike? You gonna draw steel on me? Leigh’ll look real kindly on that, especially as we’re short on men and half of what we’ve got’re chinks that’ll break at the first sign that civilization might break out.”

“It’s thanks to you that we’re in this mess,” said Rosenthal His hands tightened around his Mosin. “You’d think after all we’ve done for you, you’d be a little more grateful.”

“Grateful for what?” Jones spat. “For you all saluting a bunch of chinks on my behalf? For some kike lecturing me when he’s about as American as a Wiener schnitzel? Someone’s gotta stand up for real Americans, and it that means stabbing a chink who needs to learn some respect, so be it.”

“You could have started a war.” Rosenthal’s teeth were clenched.

“Hell, if that’s what it takes for them to learn their place, so be it.” Jones spat again, this time directly on the berm. Rosenthal blinked as droplets struck him. “Way I see it, I’m the only real American here.”

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Rosenthal turned to the man. “Skolko prikhodit?” he said. “Sto? Dvesti?”

The disheveled mop jerked back and forth. “Dve tysyachi.”

“Well?” said Leigh. “How many bolos are coming down the line?”

“Two thousand,” Rosenthal said.

“What? Are you sure?”

“You asking me if I can’t count, after all those miser jokes?” Rosenthal snapped. “Look at the poor guy. He’s leaking out of every hole. That’s genuine worry. If he’s not out of that Czarist rag as soon as he gets out of our sight, I’ll eat my hat.”

Leigh turned to Yamaguchi. “I have twenty-five men with me,” he said. “One machine gun and the rest are riflemen. We came in haste and I brought who I could.”

Yamaguchi bowed his head. “We are twenty-three. Twenty-four if you trust your man Jones enough to let him fight for his life. We have a Taishō 14 machine gun, and a supply of rifle grenades.”

Leigh turned to Davis. “You worked on an engine, right? Before the war?”

“Union Pacific stoker, I’ll have you know,” Davis said. “I could’ve ridden out the war behind a shovel if I wanted to.”

“Do you think you can get the engine at the station running before the bolos get here?”

Davis nodded. “With some water, a few tenders, and some fuel, we can get her going. Of course, I can’t guarantee she won’t blow up. But she’ll take fifty men.”

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“It seems to me,” said Rosenthal, “that now might not be a bad time for some negotiations. My arms are getting tired.”

Leigh, his arm beginning to wobble under the weight of three pounds of gun, looked at Yamaguchi. “Maybe the man’s got a point,” he said.

Yamaguchi was visibly shaking under the weight of his six-shooter. “While I will not hesitate to respond to your aggression,” he said, “I cannot say that I want a war.”

“So where’s that leave us, then?” said Davis. “Our rules say that we can’t go without Jones.”

“And our rules say we cannot let you have him,” replied Yamaguchi, “not after he behaved that way.”

“We’d just as soon he was left to dangle for being such an idiot, if it makes any difference,” Rosenthal offered.

Another of the Japanese troops, an officer with a bandaged throat and shoulder, whispered to Yamaguchi. “Are you sure our earlier offer of his dead body is not satisfactory?” Yamaguchi said. “It is still on the table, as it were.”

“Is that the man Jones stabbed?” said Leigh.

“Yes, this is Captain Takara. It may not matter to you, but he comes from a fine lineage of samurai loyal to the Emperor.”

“And Jones comes from the hillbilly muck of Kentuck, which is a lineage that’s disloyal to just about everybody.” Leigh thought a moment. “Would you mind asking Captain Takara if he’d accept another sort of apology. Other than Jones’ death.”

Yamaguchi spoke over his shoulder, and Takara responded. “He says that the lack of respect was shameful, far worse than the stabbing.”

“Well, what if we offer him some respect?” Leigh said.

“What kind of respect?”

“If you’ll order your men to stand down, I’ll order mine to do the same. Then we will shoulder arms and give you a salute, same as we’d do for the president of the USA.”

The Japanese major thought about this, visibly rolling around the idea and trying it on for size. “Your…proposal is acceptable,” he said. “Under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You put your arms down first.”

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Captain Yamaguchi stared impassively at his opposite number. “Yes,” he said. “I have some English. Why have you come here, armed, with reinforcements as if to battle an enemy?”

“Our man, Private Jones,” said Major Leigh. “You have him, yes?”

“If you are referring to the man who tried to shoot my officer, and did more than try to stab him, then yes. We have him,” said Yamaguchi. “We will spare you the bother of executing him for this transgression.”

The room was silent for a moment, with only the howling wind outside the old Czarist train station and the crackle of a fire in the hearth.

“We’d hate to…trouble you,” said Jones. “As our allies in the struggle against the Bolsheviks, anything that distracts you from your mission to bring stability to Siberia is…not in our best interests.”

“Not at all,” Yamaguchi said evenly. “As fellow soldiers, we recognize the importance of…discipline. It would be our honor to execute your Private Jones.”

“I appreciate your…honorable intentions.” Leigh licked his lips delicately; sweat beaded on the tip of his nose despite the cold leaking in between the slats. “But there is the matter of the private’s body. It will need to be repatriated, as per our government’s policy.”

“Of course,” said Major Yamaguchi. “We will return the body to you after the execution. For repatriation.”

Leigh flicked his eyes to his left and right. Davis had his hand resting on his holster, and Rosenthal’s rifle was shouldered but not slung.

When the major made for his pistol, the room exploded in movement. Davis pulled his Colt, and Rosenthal had his bayoneted Mosin ready, but they found themselves staring down the shaft of Captain Yamaguchi’s drawn sword, and the revolvers of his officers.

“Are you ready for a war between our two countries, Captain?” Leigh hissed. “Because that is what you’ll get if you strike one blow in anger here today.”

“And what,” Yamaguchi sneered, “about the blow struck in anger by your Private Jones? Perhaps the war has already started, and we are only now coming to realize it.”

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Each of the Ministry of Seven posts is held by the eldest member of a notable Taasian family. Cadet branches and their more distant relations make up the majority of the Tynwald and the Taasian Army officer corps. It is possible for a new family to
gain a Ministry, or for families to switch Ministries, though this is extremely rare.

Family Steyr
Virginia Steyr led the Taasians at the time of the Sundering, and every firstborn female in the Steyr family since has been named Virginia in her honor. The current Virginia Steyr only recently came to power after the death of her father, Vaughan Steyr, who had been First Minister for nearly fifty years. The Steyr family maintains an iron grip on power in the city, and has managed to remain in this position despite the machinations of other families.

Family Walther
Once led by legendary patriarch Ginsberg Walther, his son Frost now holds the position of Second Minister. The Walther family was closely linked with the Steyrs during the Sundering, and a Walther has always held the position of Second Minister, despite the rift that currently exists between them. Legend has it that Ginsburg Walther’s fall from grace and sudden death were the result of a plot to overthrow the Steyrs and take their place as First Minister.

Family Colt
Another longstanding Taasian family, the Colts were originally Ministers of Sustenance, the wily Khayyam Colt gained the Army ministry after his marriage to a Steyr and the untimely death of the incumbent minister. Keating Colt, Khayyam’s grandson and the current head of the family, has served with distinction since his ascension despite rumors that he murdered his father to gain his position. Their current closeness with the Steyrs mirrors the relationship that the Walthers once enjoyed.

Family Winchester
The Winchesters were not important members of Taasian society before the Sundering; the family has been able to attain its position through distinction in battle and strategic marriages with other families. As a result, the family is extremely attached to the symbols of ministerial power and remains fiercely ambitious. Whitman Winchester is among the oldest of the Ministers, and has held his position for nearly sixty years. His heir apparent was his elder brother, Wordsworth, but after the murder of his fiancee Emily Emerson, Wordsworth was exiled and his younger brother became heir to old Walker Winchester. There has been enmity between the Winchester and Emerson families since Emily’s death, though they are united in opportunistic opposition to the Steyrs and Colts.

Family Ruger
The Ruger family once held the Minister of the Army position, but have since been demoted to the far less important Ministry of Sustenance. Maya Ruger, the family head, is the second oldest Minister, and has headed her family for forty years. Despite her father’s fall from grace at the hands of Khayyam Colt, the Rugers are still closely allied to the Steyrs and Colts, as the Army is entirely responsible for organizing Sustenance shipments. Maya herself deeply resents this, and given an opening, would willingly align herself against Steyr and Colt.

Family Emerson
The most recent family to enter the Ministry, the Emerson family rose from the Tynwald to replace a family that was demoted for plotting to overthrow the Steyrs. In exposing this, the Emersons were rewarded with their post. Elizabeth Emerson is approximately the same age as Virginia Steyr, and the two were long close personal friends. Elizabeth had a younger sister, Emily, who was engaged to marry the oldest son of Walker Winchester. Emily was unfortunately murdered before the wedding could take place, and this led to a enmity between the Walther and Winchester families. They currently find themselves in an uneasy alliance opposed to Steyr; Elizabeth Emerson’s turn on her former bosom companion is one of the enduring mysteries of the current Ministry.

Family Lebel
Hugo Lebel is notorious for his hedonism and flamboyant manner, but the Lebels are also notorious as some of the most unshakable allies of they Steyrs. So while the Walthers have fallen from grace, the Rugers plot and plan to swing their support elsewhere, and the Emersons would rather take up with their daughter’s murderer than Virginia Steyr, Lebel has been unwavering. One might say that is the quality which has seen him through all his personal and familial scandals. Despite, or perhaps because of, his penchant for marriages and affairs, Hugo is growing older and has no legitimate offspring. None of his seventeen marriages have been for political gain, interestingly, and it is not know what, if any, plans he has in place for his death.

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The Tynwald, the Supreme Assembly of the Taasian People
1000 hereditary deputies from Taas and Included territories. Serve a consultative role, advising the Ministery of Seven on local concerns and rubber-stamping all acts proposed by Ministers, especially the First Minister. Each Deputy is, theoretically, eligible for appointment to the Ministry of Seven and each of the Ministers is, in turn, theoretically a Deputy. But aside from those rare occasions when one of the Seven has been demoted or their line has gone extinct, this rarely occurs.

Each of the 1000 deputies is also theoretically elected by direct universal suffrage. But in practice, the elections are formal affairs asking citizens to simply affirm a ballot put before them. In the rare occasions when a citizen rejects the ballot, even accidentally, they are often immediately arrested. New Deputies are only appointed when an existing Deputy is removed or when one dies without issue.

Grand Army of the People of Taas
Divided into several combat divisions, each headed by a People’s General. Groups of ten divisions are commanded by a People’s Marshal. The Third Minister, in his capacity as Minister of the Army, hold the rank of Grand People’s Marshal. At every level, the officer structure is mirrored by “Ministerial Officers” who are members of the STASI and serve to keep the troops loyal. Promotions are usually given based on family connections, though soldiers can distinguish themselves on the battlefield and earn field commissions.

Included territories furnish soldiers as well, though they are ineligible to become officers and are, in fact, preferred as laborers and auxiliaries. When they are allowed to fight, they are typically issued the worst equipment and sent into battle against the longest odds.

State of Taas Association of Security Information (STASI)
The security force responsible for maintaining order and enforcing the will of the Seven Ministers. Stasi agents function in uniform as police officers and Ministerial Officers, but also work undercover to expose anti-Seven sentiments and other forms of subversion. The Stasi hierarchy reports directly to the Second Minister, and only the personal intervention of the First or Second ministers can reverse or nullify a Stasi order or decision. People deemed gulity of anti-Ministerial conduct are dealt with in a variety of ways; some minor offenders are recruited as Stasi agents, others are sentenced to hard-labor gangs in Included territories. Serious offenses are usually punished by execution, though this can be commuted to exile as a Taasian Scout on a case-by-case basis. Exile is usually applied to members of Ministerial or Tynwald families.

Taasian Scouts
In lieu of execution, people accused of crimes by the STASI may elect to serve as a Taasian Scout. Scouts are given a weapon and supplies, as well as a focusing mechanism that allows the Gate in Taas direct linkage to a corresponding Gate. The Scouts are then deployed into an unfocused Gate, hopefully landing in an area that his not yet known to or occupied by Taas. They will then affix their focuser to the local Gate and aid Taasian troops in overrunning the area they have discovered. If a Scout fulfills their duty, they are absolved of all crimes, granted a Taasian Army commission, and their STASI files are sealed. Few survive to claim this reward, however.

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First Minister: Virginia Steyr
First among equals. Delegates tasks to other Ministers, dictates policy to Supreme Assembly, oversees major policy decisions and Inclusion concerns. The current First Minister is quite young, having inherited the position from her father less than five years ago. The Steyr family has provided eight of the last ten First Ministers, and the two others had a combined term in office of less than a year, combined.

Second Minister: Frost Walther
Minister of Security. Oversees internal security of Taas and Taas-controlled territories. Head of the STASI and responsible for occupation of Included areas. There has been a bitter power struggle for years between the Second and Third Minister for control of overall policy. Second Minister Walther is an old man and currently on the losing side of this struggle now that his old rival Kipling Colt has been replaced by his son Keating.

Third Minister: Keating Colt
Minister of the Army. Commander-in-chief of all Taasian armed forces (subject in practice to the First Minister), directs military campaigns, devises strategies, and oversees the production of armaments. The Third Minister is currently the second most important person in Taas after the First Minister herself, and rumor has it that he and First Minister Steyr are actually lovers. There is also a rumor that Keating murdered his father, the traditional but doddering Kipling Colt. That he has soundly beaten Second Minister Walther in the long-running dispute between the two offices is beyond doubt.

Fourth Minister: Maya Ruger
Minister of Sustenance. Responsible for all food and other amenities in Taas and Included territories. Oversees production, distribution, and rationing of food, medicine, and other like materials. Due to the harsh climate of Taas itself, most agriculture requires intensive labor and irrigation. Unincluded are used for this purpose, but in actuality Taas is completely dependent on food imports–imports that are escorted by army patrols. For this reason, the Fourth Minister is almost completely subordinate to the Third Minister. Minister Ruger deeply resents this, as well as Minister Colt’s perceived warmongering, but is powerless to do anything about it.

Fifth Minister: Whitman Winchester
Minister of Inclusion. Charged with preserving Taasian customs, laws, and language and recruiting “suitable” outsiders for Inclusion into greater Taasian society. With the power to strip any Taasian of their citizenship, as well as the power to bestow citizenship at a whim, Minister Winchester is a much-feared wild card in the Taasian government. Closely resembling his late father, Minister Winchester also holds similarly guarded views and no one is sure where his ultimate loyalty lies.

Sixth Minister: Elizabeth Emerson
Minister of Consumption. Responsible for inorganic consumer products, heavy industry, and construction (except for arms manufacturing, which is controlled by the Minister of the Army). Minister Emerson is a close ally of Frost Walther, and finds herself similarly on the outs, with the military dictating policy and favoring guns over butter. For reasons that are unclear, she and Minister Winchester have bitter enmity for one another despite being nominally close allies.

Seventh Minister: Hugo Lebel
Minister of Materials. Is in charge of public works projects, buildings, and raw materials extraction in Taas as well as Included territories. Easily the wealthiest and most decadent of the ministers despite being last in precedence. Minister Lebel is a well-known hedonist who nevertheless manages to discharge his duty with a semblance of aplomb. Despite the great contrast between his freewheeling style and Minister Steyr’s austerity, he is one of her closest allies, and the final leg of the First-Third-Fourth-Seventh ministerial alliance that dominates the council against the Second-Fifth-Sixth coalition.

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Mirabelle was through listening. “What color is the sky today?”

“Not this again, sweetie,” June said. “Come on. We haven’t even checked the scope yet.”

“When will you check the scope?”

“Didn’t I just say I’d check the scope after breakfast?” Richard cried.

“When’s breakfast over?” Mirabelle stuffed everything that remained on her plate into her mouth. “I’m finished.”

This time, when June and Richard locked eyes, their expressions broadcast in stereo: Conference. Now.

“Chew your food, rock-a-bye-baby, and give it time to settle,” Richard said. “I’m going to go check the scope, okay?”

“Okay!” Mirabelle beamed. “I hope it’s the right color!”

June and Richard moved down the corridor that led to their communications array, rolling shut the blast door that served to isolate the rest of the tunnels from the smoke and flames of an electrical fire.

“The dumb thing doesn’t work,” June cried. “How long are we going to keep up the fiction that it does?”

“As long as it works,” snapped Richard. “Looking through a broken instrument and saying the sky’s not right is a lot more convincing to a six-year-old than a simple ‘no.’ I remember what it’s like to be that age; my dad used to check his ‘weather rock’ the same way.”

“That damn Cassie,” June said. “If I’ve told Popovich once I’ve told him a hundred times. Those windows could be a death sentence if that location isn’t. But he’s as insufferable as that brat of his.”

“Do you think…” Richard bit his lip. “Do you think it might be time to show her?”

“You mean suit her up?” June said. “March her out and show her that, yes, it’s every bit as bad as mommy and daddy have been saying? That the sky really isn’t the right color today?”

“You never know,” Richard shrugged. “It might actually be. Remember when we had to go to the Horowitzes to barter for water purification filters? I didn’t even need the suit that time, just a breath mask.”

The nascent lines on June’s face seemed to lengthen and deepen in the half-light of the communications array. “But would you…run the risk? It’s one thing when it’s you or I, but Mirabelle…”

“I think it’s time,” Richard said. “We’ll take her out, answer her questions, and go from there. It’ll be fine.”

June leaned against the wall. “Promise?” she said.

“I would if my promiser still had any kick left to it,” joked Richard, drawing her in close. “Sadly, the dumb thing doesn’t work. I think I might have been made by the same two-bit outfit that slapped together our scope.”

“That…would explain why you’re never clear about anything, especially with Mirabelle.” June managed a weak laugh, but the worry lines remained deeply incised.

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I reach across the gulf, a fingertip outstretched
Words mean nothing, but they’re all that I have
I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t
Even though I think I can see, dimly
Through the haze of memory and delusion
That you won’t, you can’t, reach back
Still the hand is outstretched
The handshake half-complete
Forever

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