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It was eleven o'clock. For the last half hour, having satisfied her obligations for the
evening, Vera had been chatting with Bluemud. Among those who still cared a tradition
had been in effect to drink a toast to the Republic at the conclusion of its birthday. Besides
Bluemud there were one or two others in the room who would have liked to have upheld
this tradition but they dared say nothing. The Rev. Williams was clearly not a man who
had any sympathy for the Republic. Surprisingly, however, Vera Passareil came to their
rescue and, even though the Pastor frowned disapprovingly she was quite insistent. 'My
husband asked specifically that we all give the toast to the Republic at midnight.' All afternoon it had rained but now the wet night was moving onwards, off the eastern seaboard. The rain had stopped at Shining River and at Granite Gorge and, though in Dentonsville it remained overcast, in the Capital the sky was clear and a rising half moon was shining brightly, low in the sky. The Secretary of State's office was on the third floor of a five story building of classic design beside the River of Many Bridges. The office had a large balcony overlooking the river and Jack Passareil, the Secretary, stood there with two silent aides watching the reflection of the moon on the black water and the ghostly bridges which by day were many colored. All three men were smoking cigars and held champagne glasses, having just drunk a similar toast and the chimes of the delicate Mandarin clock beyond the river were still ringing across the city. An adjacent balcony opened onto a large conference room which was brilliantly lit with chandeliers and contained a table set with many places. Here there were many other men - on the balcony and inside - standing, seated in groups, chatting commenting on the brilliance of the moon or that time that was to come. These were the last ambassadors of the Nation States on earth and their counterparts were similarly assembled in ten other cities about the globe. The hour to midnight ticked by. It was an hour of reflection and meditation, and conversation sagged while the brilliant face of the clock recorded the passage of the time. Bluemud continued to ogle Vera. The Reverend Williams wondered anxiously what would happen if the Dean learned of his participation in the toast - the man was a rabid anti- republican. In Dentonsville the new Pastor was updating his diary and listening to the radio. Theresa and her father were seated by a miserable fire, the roof having leaked in the heavy rain. The new mayor, the Sheriff, was drunk. At Granite Gorge, Carl was in the stockade for an offense he had committed this very day while at the War the techniques of Cossack dancing were being demonstrated in the officers mess although the sounds of this revelry did not reach the ears of the people of the Dentonsville Brigade who had been in residence for a week with no casualties as yet. At five to twelve the Secretary of State left his balcony and the quiet beauty of the moon upon the river and walked through his office and into the conference room. As he appeared the several ambassadors and their aides began to return from the balcony and from an adjacent refreshment room. At the dinner the guests gathered for the toast while at the conference assistants passed around with champagne to ensure that each participant's glass was full. As the seconds passed a hush fell so that all could hear the sounding of the clock across the river; a clock which in two hundred years hand not even lost one second. It's chime was of ringing porcelain, a single small bell which carried far across the city. They drank, then the glasses were put down and each man took up his pen and signed the paper before him. Vera stepped forward into the circle of people. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, my husband has asked me to make an announcement: The United States of America is no more. The Dissolution of the Republic has been proclaimed.' At which Bluemud turned pale and dropped his glass. At 8:30 a.m. on July 5th, 2476 the day having been renamed throughout the world as the First Day of the First Month of the Union of Ten Thousand Years, the time being three hours after dawn an artillery barrage at the front caused the destruction of five hundred and three members of the Dentonsville Brigade among them Carl's sister Ruth and a new born baby. |
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