CIRCLES OF TIME: The Great War
-by: the Yarnspinner-
the_yarnspinner@yahoo.com
www.geocities.com/the_yarnspinner/
Rated: PG-13
> Chapter 2 - The July of Waiting <
As June 28, 1914 faded into evening, Setsuna continued her search
for answers. By now, telephone and telegraph had carried the news of the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife to every European
capital, while the rest of the world would learn of it within the next
several days. Her problem remained. One attempt had already been made to
interfere with the proper flow of events, and she had to assume there
might be others. Without a full understanding of the groups involved and
their motives, however, she couldn't predict where the next attempt might
be made.
Ahead of her was, she hoped, another piece of the puzzle. Outwardly,
they appeared to be a middle-aged couple, perhaps in Sarajevo on holiday.
To her senses, however, it was clear they were wizards. Since they were
not among the Paladins, she could only assume they were associated with
the Order, the mysterious group the Paladins were opposed to.
They entered a small hotel and went upstairs. Setsuna cloaked
herself and followed. At the end of the hall, the couple unlocked the
last door on the left and went inside, bolting the door behind them.
Stopping outside, Setsuna examined the energies present. The room was
guarded by a relatively simple barrier spell, certainly enough to keep
out any ordinary mortal. Any wizard could enter, but only the most
skilled would be able to avoid leaving some trace of their entrance, thus
alerting this couple to the intrusion. Setsuna carefully observed the
energy patterns, cloaking herself to blend in seamlessly with them, then
shifted herself into the room.
Inside the room, the couple stood together. Energy swirled around
them, covering them each in an opaque field. As the field faded away,
their clothes had been replaced by black robes. The man moved over to a
bag sitting in the corner of the room, retrieving a black disc about a
foot-and-a-half around. One side was highly polished, reflecting almost
like a mirror. He put it down on the table, with the polished side up.
They stepped back and focused their power. The disc began to glow and a
shadowy figure appeared above it.
"Team S, reporting," the woman announced.
"You are late," the figure answered sternly, the voice clearly
female. "Other stations have already reported the Archduke's death."
"Yes, I understand," the woman answered. "However, we were observing
security protocols."
"Indeed? Please explain."
"A Paladin team was present in Sarajevo," the man said. "Our orders
did direct that we avoid detection."
"Quite correct. Now, present your report," the figure directed.
"Yes. Two attempts were made on the life of the Archduke," the woman
reported. "The first, involving a bomb, failed. The Archduke was unhurt.
The second occurred only by fortuitous circumstance. The Archduke's
driver had apparently not been fully briefed on a change in schedule.
That is our assumption, at least, but it is consistent with the known
facts."
"Go on."
"The leader of the Black Hand group, Princip, happened to be in just
the right location," the woman continued. "He seized the opportunity and
fired twice before being surrounded by a mob. Both the Archduke and his
wife were fatally wounded."
"And the Paladin team?"
"We are not certain," the man answered. "We were monitoring them
only for the purpose of avoiding contact. Given the fact of the
Archduke's death, we conclude that any plan they might have had to
interfere miscarried."
"Very well. Return at once," the figure instructed. "Your mission is
concluded."
The man and woman both bowed their heads. "The Darkness shall
triumph," they said in unison. The figure in front of them faded from
view.
Setsuna continued to observe as they collected their few belongings
in their small carpet bag. They stood together in the center of the room,
holding hands. Energy swirled around them and they vanished. As they
disappeared, the barrier spell vanished as well, along with all trace
that they had ever been there.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next day, Setsuna stood in an isolated valley of the Swiss Alps.
Beneath her was a large cave, sealed off from the surface, but containing
a very strong magic. She had traced the two members of the Order to this
location, and was now carefully examining the situation before attempting
to slip inside.
The cave was protected by a highly intricate set of barrier spells.
Unlike the couple's hotel room in Sarajevo, here the Order clearly sought
to prevent an intrusion by Paladin wizards. Setsuna adjusted her own
cloak carefully, making repeated minor adjustments until she was certain
she would go undetected. Only when completely satisfied did she shift
herself into the cave.
She stood at the end of a long hallway. Walking to the far end, she
found herself looking out into a large room that took up the bulk of the
cavern, with a high ceiling. At the center was a raised dias with a large
altar. A fire blazed at the altar's center, its flickering light
reflecting off a large globe of polished obsidian suspended directly
above.
On the dias were ten individuals in long, black robes. Her senses
quickly identified all as wizards. Around the dias were over a hundred
people, most mortal, but some wizards. As she watched, one of the wizards
on the dias stepped forward and silence fell over the chamber. He was
relatively short, perhaps about five foot four, and bald, with a grey
mustache and goatee beard.
"Servants of Darkness," he addressed the crowd, his arms raised and
his voice ringing clearly through the cavern. "We stand now on the brink
of our long planned triumph. All the work that has gone before will soon
come to fruition." A murmur of agreement spread across the room. "But we
must not be overconfident, for the opportunity could very easily be lost.
Our operatives must continue their work behind the scenes. The current
political order remains deterrent in its nature. Economic interests have
argued for over a decade that the European economies are so
interconnected that they cannot afford the disruption of a major war. At
the same time, each nation has a war plan which assumes that all factors
and variables can be anticipated from the beginning. While the
politicians will be looking for options, the generals can only present
rigid timetables, and will argue that the slightest delay risks defeat.
Our operatives within each of the major governments must ensure that the
voices of moderation and restraint do not prevail. Already, the effort to
inflame public opinion across Europe in support of war is underway. The
spark has been struck! And soon a great conflagration will follow!"
The crowd cheered, with cries of "The Darkness shall triumph!"
Finally, the man raised his hands once more, and silence returned.
"Our time has been long in coming. You all know that a thousand
years ago, the forces of darkness had been driven almost to defeat. In
the great wars, which human history no longer records as anything other
than merest legend, those to whom we now stand as heirs were betrayed and
beaten, denied their rightful place as rulers of this world. As the Earth
began to unify and became more involved with the Moon Kingdom, our cause
looked bleak indeed."
More murmurs could be heard, and the man cleverly let them grumble,
before resuming his speech.
"But then there arose a great queen, who would champion the forces
of darkness. Under her leadership, the darkness again grew strong, and
from that strength, she summoned the power of our great dark lord!"
"The Darkness! The Darkness shall triumph!" the crowd chanted,
before being motioned to silence.
"The Earth fell to the Darkness, but the queen knew she was not
secure. She turned her forces on the Kingdom of the Moon, unleashing
massive destruction. But in her moment of triumph, she was thrown back,
defeated by an intense light unleashed by the queen of the Moon. The
Darkness was sealed away, our dark lord banished from the realm of
mortals."
The crowd again grumbled their discontent.
"But all was not lost. There remained hope for our cause," he said.
"Though the Earth alone survived, much of its people fell back into
barbarism. All memory of the Moon Kingdom, and of the spread of
civilization, was lost. For a few wizards, however, the knowledge
remained. They recognized that the balance once again favored the
darkness. Banding together, they formed our society, the Sacred Order of
Darkness, to keep alive the memory of our great dark lord, and to prepare
the way for her return."
More cheers burst from the crowd, while Setsuna began to have a very
uneasy feeling.
"Only in the last century have the circumstances come together to
make it possible. Through the long, hard labors of both wizards and
mortals, we have prepared the ground. Now, with this war that is to come,
we will reap the harvest of death that will awaken our dark lord, and
bring her to rule the Earth, as is her destiny!"
"The Darkness shall triumph! The Darkness shall triumph! The
Darkness shall triumph!" the crowd chanted again, louder and louder.
To Setsuna, it was now only too clear that this was no mere sect of
demon-worshipers. The Order posed the most serious threat the world had
known in a millennium, and one that it was not supposed to encounter
again for another eighty years.
"Servants of Darkness! We began yesterday, offering as the first
sacrifice the most royal of European royal blood, a scion of Habsburg, to
feed the hunger of our dark lord... Metallia!"
The crowd erupted with cheers of delight, while the mystical flames
of the altar fire flared still higher. As the fire flared, she sensed new
waves of energy filling the chamber, and threatening to compromise her
cloak. The continued cheers ringing in her ears, she faded away.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It was now July 1. Setsuna had spent several days looking for the
Paladins, finally locating one of their bases in a remote Sottish glen.
Outwardly, it appeared to be a simple, if rather large, hunting lodge. As
she stood some distance away, she could sense the magic barriers
surrounding it. This time making no effort to cloak herself, she moved
closer. After crossing the first barrier, she sensed a new wave of energy
reaching out toward her, probing. She continued her approach. A
protective field formed around the lodge, while several faces appeared in
the windows. When she was only about fifty yards away, the door opened
and several men stepped outside.
"It's her! The woman from Sarajevo!" the man called Samuel
exclaimed.
Beside Samuel, the one known as Bernardo appeared. He rushed forward
and hurled a force bolt at her. She blocked it with her disguised time-
key, absorbing it harmlessly.
"Bernardo! Stop!" Samuel ordered.
Several other men and women emerged, joining hands to combine their
powers. As their power flared, Setsuna dispensed with her disguise, once
more appearing as Sailor Pluto. The man called Peter had emerged from the
building, and he now stared at her in shock.
"Stop! At once!" Peter ordered the others.
As the glow of energy around them faded, they turned to look at
Peter.
"Peter. What is it?" Samuel asked. "She's the one who defended
Princip."
"That may be," Peter answered. "But I recognize her costume. She is
the solitary one, the only remaining guardian of the ancient times. Only
the gravest threat would bring her to leave her post at the gateway of
time."
The others looked stunned, while Peter stepped forward, his hand
held out in peace. He was much older than the others, Setsuna recognized,
and they all clearly deferred to him.
"I bid you greetings, guardian of time," Peter said. "My name is
Peter. I regret that we were at odds. But what brings you to visit us?"
She accepted his hand, shaking it firmly. In his eyes, still clear
and a piercing blue, she saw great courage. "Thank you," she said. "I too
regret that, but your assault on Princip would have critically interfered
with the proper flow of time. At first, I thought that was the only
danger. However, I know now of the Order and their plans."
Peter nodded. "Please, do come inside," he said. "I think we have
much to discuss."
Accepting his offer, she walked with him toward the door. The others
made way, but most were not so quick in acceptance as Peter.
Inside the lodge, a spacious common room occupied the center of the
building. Peter offered her a chair. The others stood quietly, eyeing her
suspiciously. Only a commanding gesture from Peter brought them to their
seats.
"First, how should I address you?" Peter asked her. "I know you are
the guardian of time, but the history that was passed down to me never
provided a name."
"I am called Sailor Pluto," she answered. "But you may also call me
Setsuna." Energy swirled around her briefly and she reverted to her
disguise of the young academic.
"So, you have learned of the Order?" Peter asked.
"Yes. I had not been aware of them, or of your organization,"
Setsuna said. "I followed two of their agents from Sarajevo to their base
in Switzerland. One of their leaders recounted their mission and their
history."
Peter nodded. "The Order and the Paladins are virtually the same
age, and have been in conflict for centuries."
"Their founders were wizards loyal to Beryl and Metallia," she said.
"Yes. They worship Metallia as their deity. They believe she is
destined to return to Earth and they see it as their mission to bring
that about," Peter explained.
"And your group?"
"The Paladins were formed several years after the fall of the Moon
Kingdom. Like the Order, a small, core group of wizards retained the
knowledge of the way the world had been. Initially, our purpose was just
to keep that knowledge alive and to prevent the arts of wizardry from
being entirely forgotten. After several decades, however, one of the most
powerful of our wizards experienced a vision. In the distant future, he
saw the return of the chosen ones to resume their guardianship of Earth
against the forces of evil. The Paladins decided that it was our mission
to protect the Earth until the time of the chosen ones' return. Thus,
when we learned of the Order of Darkness and what they intended, we
became sworn enemies. They know we will do everything possible to stop
them."
Setsuna thought for a moment, considering the implications of
revealing any information of the future. "Metallia is supposed to return
to Earth."
"Then the time of the chosen ones is at hand?" Peter asked.
The others drew closer to hear her answer.
"No," she said, hearing soft sighs of disappointment. "That time
will not come until late in this century. And Metallia is not to return
to Earth until then."
"Yes, we understood that much. For only the leader of the chosen
ones can defeat Metallia," Peter said. "That is why we desperately needed
to prevent the assassination, and the war that is likely to follow."
Setsuna shook her head. "The death of the Archduke, and the war,
must happen for time to follow its proper course."
Peter sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "Then we must find
a way to stop their plan for harvesting the life energies of all the
slain while the war is going on, or face Metallia's return nearly a
century too soon... before the chosen ones are here to stop her."
She nodded. "The flow of time demands the former."
The others were murmuring amongst themselves.
"Not an easy task," Peter said.
"Perhaps easier than you might think," she said. "They will need to
stockpile this stolen life energy until they have enough for their
purpose."
"And such stockpiles will not be easy to conceal, nor difficult to
destroy," Samuel completed.
"Very true," she confirmed.
Peter considered this, then nodded. "We'll have to look into that.
They will, of course, be guarded, but there we are dealing with known
quantities, not a tremendously powerful demon. It does present some
possibilities."
"I have another question," Setsuna said.
"Go ahead."
"How is your group organized, and what about the Order?" she asked.
"Both groups are made up of wizards and mortals, and in both a
central council makes decisions. For the Order, that central council has
always been, as far as we know, made up exclusively of wizards. Ours was
that way originally, but the first mortal was appointed about four
hundred years ago, and it has been open to mortals ever since.
"Our network of members covers much of the globe," Peter continued.
"It is relatively informal. We very rarely try to influence policy, but
only seek to have eyes and ears in key places in order to know what is
going on. The Order on the other hand frequently try to manipulate
policy, and have been doing so quite successfully for about the last
sixty years. Not all of their operatives know just who they are working
for, however, with some believing they are representing a political or
national interest group of some sort."
"And how have they been manipulating policy? To what end?" she
asked.
"Well, the end you can see today. A Europe which, though still
outwardly peaceful, is on the brink of a major war," Peter said. "The
Order has been trying to destabilize the political situation among the
Great Powers so that just a minor spark could set it all off. Bismarck,
the late German chancellor, had warned that 'some damned fool thing in
the Balkans' would start the next war. From that the Order took its
direction.
"The death of Archduke Rudolph, the son of Emperor Franz Josef, in
1889," Peter continued. "It was labeled a suicide, but we know the Order
was behind it."
"How could that have served their purpose?" Setsuna asked. "Franz
Ferdinand had the makings of a far better emperor than did Rudolph, since
Rudolph was basically just a playboy. And in his few political
statements, Rudolph showed that he and Franz Ferdinand shared similar
ideas on reforming the Habsburg monarchy."
"True," Peter said. "But Franz Ferdinand was still an unknown
quantity at that time, and given his ill-health during that period, many
wanted to see him passed over in favor of his brother, Otto. More
important, however, was that Rudolph was secretly beginning to reorder
his life. Only a handful of people knew it, and it will certainly never
be recorded in history. Had Rudolph shed his image of a philanderer, he
could have been quite a formidable presence at the Habsburg court. Franz
Josef loved his son very much, and would almost certainly have respected
his opinion. Where the emperor disliked Franz Ferdinand, and rebuffed his
calls for reform on the basis of federalism, such proposals from Rudolph
might have been received in a very different light."
Setsuna nodded in understanding. "And a Habsburg empire successfully
reformed to promote and protect the rights of *all* its subjects, not
just the Austrians and the Hungarians, would have formed a stabilizing
influence in central Europe."
"Most likely," Peter agreed. "That is not to say that the odds even
favored such a reform, but the Order could not afford even the
possibility."
Setsuna considered this. "How else did the Order manipulate events?"
she asked.
"There are too many instances to name them all," Peter said. "But
just a few serve as examples. Before Kaiser Wilhelm II came to the German
throne, Bismarck's reinsurance treaty with Russia kept their relations
reasonably harmonious. Agents of the Order went to work on the headstrong
young Kaiser and convinced him to repudiate that treaty in 1890, and to
strengthen ties with Austria. This pushed the Russian Tsar to seek closer
ties with France as protection against a combined German-Austrian attack.
At the same time, Wilhelm was urged that German national prestige
required a navy that could challenge Great Britain's. The British were
not willingly going to yield their naval supremacy, and a massive naval
arms race was touched off. In 1899, Tsar Nicholas II called together an
international conference in the Hague, Netherlands, to discuss arms
limitation and the creation of an international court to settle disputes
between states by arbitration. The Order appealed to each government's
nationalistic priorities to ensure the conference ended in failure as far
as the arms control part of it was concerned. The two Moroccan crises, in
which Germany tried to prevent the French from establishing a
protectorate in Morocco, and the two Balkan Wars, which saw the Balkan
states fighting over the carving up of what was left of Ottoman
possessions in Europe, were settled by direct intervention of the Great
Powers rather than arbitration through the international court.
"In the Balkans, the Order fanned the flames in both the Austrian
capital, Vienna, and the Serbian capital, Belgrade," Peter continued.
"The Order was behind the assassination of the Serb king in 1903, which
brought a much more hardline government to power. Their leadership was
furious when Russia refused to stand behind the Serbs in 1909, but the
Russians simply weren't ready so soon after their stinging defeat by the
Japanese in 1904 to risk another major war. When the Serbs continued to
covertly sponsor terrorism against Austria-Hungary in the Balkans, and
when Serbia expanded its territory and influence in the Balkan Wars, the
Order found elements in Vienna only too willing to call for military
action to put the Serbs in their place. And now the murder of Franz
Ferdinand provides the excuse."
"Then why doesn't Austria act?" asked another of the Paladins.
"Several days have gone by with no action."
"The Austrians need time to mobilize," said Samuel, examining
several papers in front of him. "Also, there are political constraints.
The Austrians and the Hungarians are co-equal within the empire, so that
both Budapest and Vienna must agree on the course of action. The
Hungarians are concerned about anything that might alter the status-quo
within the empire. The Slavs make up over forty percent of the empire's
population, more than either the Hungarians or the Austrian Germans.
Furthermore, the majority of the empire's Slavs live in Hungarian
territory. Thus, the Hungarians have far more to loose from any internal
reform of the empire than do the Austrians."
"But what purpose does it serve to wait?" asked Bernardo. "Austria-
Hungary is clearly the aggrieved party, and the assassins were backed by
Serbia. We know this since one of them has confessed to the police in
Sarajevo. Why don't they just act?"
"You have a good political insight, Bernardo," Peter said. "You are
quite right. If they acted immediately, the other powers, with the
possible exception of Germany, would decry the use of force, but would
qualify their condemnations with the admission that Serbia had brought it
on itself by failing to restrain the forces within its own borders who
organized the assassination. Even Russia would do so, not willing to risk
a larger war for the protection of terrorists and murderers."
Samuel nodded his head in understanding. "But Austro-Hungarian
armies pouring into Serbia in righteous anger at the murder of the
Archduke does not serve the Order's interests. They want to slow things
down. Then there is time for offers of mediation, time for diplomatic
exchange, time for other powers to express their positions and ready a
possible response. Russia is the clear case in point. The Order wants
them able to condemn Austria's threat to attack, rather than only
reacting to an attack that has already taken place."
"And Austria-Hungary loses its moral justification as time elapses,"
Peter said. "The other powers will ask if Austria-Hungary was so
concerned with a Serbian threat to its dynasty, why did they not act
right away."
"The Order needs death on a massive scale," said Setsuna. "An
Austro-Serbian war won't achieve that. Only a pan-European war will serve
their needs."
"And Russia is the key to that," Samuel added. "If Austria-Hungary
marches into Serbia in the face of a Russian pledge to protect the Serbs,
then Russian honor and prestige demand they respond with force. Russia's
mobilization will compel Germany to respond, both to protect its Austrian
ally, and for its own self-defense. As soon as Germany reacts, France is
bound by treaty to come to Russia's aid. If Britain does not honor its
verbal pledge of assistance to France, it will have no choice but to
become involved as one of the guarantors of Belgian neutrality, since the
current German war plan calls for a massive flanking sweep through
Belgium."
"And given the colonial empires involved, the war will spill out
beyond Europe," Peter said.
"Precisely," Samuel agreed. "Japan has a treaty with Britain, which
it will likely honor by seizing the German possessions in China and the
central Pacific. The Australians can be expected to move against German
New Guinea, while French and British colonial units will march into the
German territories in Africa."
"But will the war produce the type of body count the Order
requires?" asked another. "I've seen the outline of the German war plan,
and it predicts knocking France out of the war in just six weeks. That
surely wouldn't be enough."
"Very true, Albert," said Samuel. "But von Schlieffen, the principal
author of the German plan, worked on revisions of it right up to his
death just last year. And he always said the plan would fail."
"But why?" Albert asked.
"By going through Belgium, they start with a narrow front that must
then widen out to cover northern France. The roads they must cross can
only handle just so much traffic, and the armies can only move as fast as
their infantrymen can walk," Samuel explained. "As the Germans sweep
farther south into France, they need more armies to broaden and reinforce
their front. This is where they run into the cold, hard fact that the
Belgian roads can't handle that many. Armies would have to move one after
another, which makes it impossible for the following armies to ever catch
up, since they're all moving at marching speed. Likewise, the forward
units don't dare slow down as that risks allowing the French to reinforce
and stabilize their forces. In every variation of the plan, von
Schlieffen found that as they approached Paris his line would be too thin
to deliver the knock-out blow."
"So, what is the outcome?" Albert asked.
"It will depend on whether the French and the British, whose
intervention the Germans make no provision for, can identify the German
weakness and put enough troops in the right places to exploit it," Samuel
answered. "If they can, then the Germans will probably pull back to more
defensible positions. The examples of the Boer War in South Africa and
the Russo-Japanese War suggest the two sides will settle in behind fixed
defenses for a war of attrition."
Albert nodded his head in understanding. "And that is just what the
Order is counting on."
"Precisely," Samuel agreed.
"As interesting as this all is," Peter interrupted. "How does it
help us thwart the Order's plans?"
"Samuel has outlined a very probable scenario for how the war will
unfold," Setsuna said. "From this, you can reasonably project where the
centers of fighting will be. The Order will want collection points
located within the general vicinity of the fronts, and from these they
will surely transfer the stolen energy to storage areas that are more out
of the way."
"Then we must be searching for those collection points as soon as
the armies start moving," said a woman, sitting beside Albert. "And we
can use those to search for the stockpile locations."
Peter nodded his head. "I think Ruth has quite succinctly spelled
out what our objectives must be. I will put it before the other Council
members, but I see no reason why they should not agree."
"I have a suggestion," Samuel said.
"Go ahead," Peter answered.
"I think we should take advantage of this lull period to locate as
many of the Order's facilities as possible. The more information we have
about where they are putting their resources, the better," Samuel said.
"A very good idea," Peter agreed. "I will call the other Council
members together and get their approval for a large scale search. At the
same time, we will have our contacts keep us up-to-date on how events are
proceeding. If anything differs from our projections, we need to know
about it just as soon as possible." Peter rose to his feet. "I will be in
contact with you soon." Energy flared around him and he vanished.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Over the following weeks, Emperor Franz Josef, after initially
resisting action against Serbia, told the Imperial Foreign Minister,
Leopold von Berchtold, that no action was to be taken without consulting
Grof Tisza, the Hungarian Prime Minister. Tisza insisted that legalities
must be observed, with a formal ultimatum delivered to Serbia and time
given for the Serbs to accept. He saw a diplomatic triumph being at least
as good for the empire's image as a military victory. In any event, Tisza
demanded assurances that no additional Slavic territory would be annexed
to the empire.
Austria-Hungary also turned to Berlin for assurances, being
concerned of finding itself alone in an escalating conflict. Germany
answered its ally with the strongest support, as Kaiser Wilhelm II issued
a virtual "blank check", saying Germany would back Austria-Hungary to the
fullest in whatever course of action Vienna should choose. Russian
intervention was considered, but dismissed as unlikely. The Kaiser then
left Berlin on a summer yachting trip, while several other key members of
the government were also away.
In Vienna, Berchtold and Field Marshal Conrad von Hotzendorf, Army
chief of staff, both demanded military action, but Tisza refused to back
down. Finally, under pressure, Tisza conceded the bare minimum for a time
limit on the demands to Serbia. By now, it was July 19, twenty-one days
after the assassinations. A further week's delay was now imposed out of
concern for the Russian reaction. The President and the Prime Minister of
France happened to be in St. Petersburg on a state visit, and the Austro-
Hungarian government did not want the French leaders and Tsar Nicholas II
to have the opportunity for immediate, face-to-face consultations
regarding their ultimatum. Hopes of localizing the conflict had already
faded considerably, and Vienna wished to avoid damaging those chances any
further.
Finally, on July 23, the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was delivered in
Belgrade, giving the Serbs 48 hours to respond. Of the ten points, six
concerned public repudiation of anti-Austrian propaganda, dissolution of
the secret societies, such as the Black Hand, and on-going assurances
that Serbia was carrying these out. Four points, however, infringed on
Serbian sovereignty, requiring Austro-Hungarian supervision, on Serbian
soil, of the arrest, interrogation, prosecution, and punishment of all
Serbian officials involved in the assassinations.
As Serbia was reluctantly preparing to swallow much of this bitter
pill, an explosion of outrage came from St. Petersburg, with Russian
Foreign Minister Sazonov angrily denouncing the Austrian demands. On July
25, the Tsar's government announced that Austro-Hungarian military action
against Serbia would compel Russia to mobilize in Serbia's defense.
In London, the British government now urged mediation by an
international conference, hoping to avoid the escalating step of Russian
mobilization, despite Vienna's repeated statements rejecting any outside
involvement. At the same time, Russia proposed direct talks with Austria-
Hungary to bring the situation to a resolution. Germany publically
endorsed the British proposal, but only as a delaying tactic to keep
France and Britain on the sidelines. In London and Paris, the hope
remained that the crisis could be resolved through diplomacy, despite
warnings from several ambassadors that a Russian mobilization would bring
not a counter mobilization from Germany but a declaration of war. Serbia
had accepted all the Austrian demands, except those requiring imperial
officials on Serbian soil, and when that was rejected in Vienna on July
27, mobilized its small army. Peace could now be measured only in hours.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Setsuna and Samuel worked together in a New York hotel room. It was
Tuesday, July 28, and they were plotting out on maps the likely theaters
of conflict. Scattered around them were the latest projections on the war
plans of the various soon-to-be combatants.
"This would be easier if I had more specific insights into what was
going to happen," Samuel said.
"I've already told you, I cannot reveal significant details of the
future," Setsuna replied. "My overriding priority is to maintain the
proper flow of time."
With a sigh, Samuel nodded his head.
Just then, a knock was heard at the door, which then opened to
reveal Peter with another man.
"Hello," Peter said. "How are things coming?"
"We're making progress," Samuel answered. "But it is taking time."
"I have more projections for you, and some of our search results for
cross-reference," Peter told him, placing more papers on a side table.
"Thank you," Samuel muttered.
"And I want to introduce Daniel," Peter continued. "Setsuna, Daniel
will be working with you on a new part of the search project. Now before
you remind me about not revealing the future, we're only asking you to
utilize your abilities to locate energy sources."
"Alright," Setsuna agreed. "That will be fine."
"Excellent," said Daniel. "I am pleased to meet you, Setsuna."
"Likewise," she replied.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair and emerald
eyes. To her senses, it was obvious that he was a wizard.
"Any further news?" Samuel asked. "Are they still posturing?"
Peter shook his head. "We just heard from Vienna. They declared war
on Serbia only a few hours ago. Austrian artillery has already fired on
Serb territory."
They stood together silently, the ticking of the clock the only
noise.
"Well, that's it then," Samuel said. "The rest is now automatic. It
should only take a matter of days before the other powers are in it."
Peter nodded. "That means we need to pick up our own pace, since the
armies will start moving soon afterward." He paused for a moment, staring
blankly out the window, before turning back to face them. "Daniel and
Setsuna, we need you in Havana as soon as possible. We've set up a new
center there, from which we'll coordinate all our search activities.
That's where you'll start."
"Is this in the casino basement?" Daniel asked.
"No. It's about two hundred feet below," Peter answered. "But don't
teleport there directly. I have to assume Setsuna could get in
undetected, but Daniel, please don't take offense when I say that you
would not make it."
"How do you recommend we proceed?" Setsuna asked.
"We have a house in the city that we use for arrivals and
departures. Daniel knows where it is. Go there, then in civilian dress
make your way to the casino. Once you're there, ask for Senor Esteban. He
is not a wizard, but he carries a small talisman to ward off other
spells, which also serves for identification. You should have no problem
spotting that, Setsuna, and Daniel, of course, is completely familiar
with it."
"I understand," she said.
Daniel nodded. "I just need to grab my bag, then I'm ready to go."
"Esteban will brief you once you arrive," Peter said.
In the suite's parlor, Daniel picked up his bag. He glanced at
Setsuna, then energy glowed around him. As it did so, energy flared
around her as well. He vanished in a flash, and she carefully matched his
destination, fading from site.
< To be continued >
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Always remember, good gentles, that a yarnspinner works from and within
existing legends and stories. The characters of "Sailor Moon" belong to
others. In spinning my yarns, I do not seek to infringe on their rights
of ownership, but merely to join with other fans to spread the legend
still further. "The moonlight carries a message of love." Enjoy.
-01.02.2001
(
geocities.com/tokyo)