The Four Chapter 3

IN THE THIRD YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"The five hundred twenty six thousand, six hundred eightieth meeting of The Watchers will come to order. I am President for the year, Van. The purpose of this meeting is to ..."
Julius peered out from behind the curtain of the stage. "It's packed all right," he said to the other three.
Andrew was not impressed. "No surprise, the meetings are always well attended."
Romulus shook involuntarily, attracting the attention of Remus. "Are you alright?" Remus asked. "You look a little jumpy."
Romulus tried to smile. "I'm very jumpy. I am so nervous right now. I've never done anything this important in my life. Do you realize that the fate of all those in Kalka depends on how well I deliver this speech?"
Remus nodded. "It's frightening, isn't it? Maybe I should deliver the speech. I wrote it, so I know it better. I'd be less likely to forget it under pressure, and I have a better idea of how it should sound."
"Thanks a lot, but I think I'll do fine. I'm nervous as heck, but I've got the speech down cold."
Julius glanced out from behind the curtain again. "Van's almost done," he said. "Get ready Romulus."
"Are you sure you don't want us to go on stage with you?" Remus asked. "We could give moral support, or help answer the questions."
"More people on stage then we need could confuse the audience," Romulus replied. "I think you guys could give me all the support I need from back here."
"He's done, time to move," Julius said.
"How to I look?" Romulus asked. "Do I look okay?"
"Get out there!" Julius practically pushed Romulus onto the stage.
Looking at his brother from behind the curtain, Remus was amazed once again as he saw the ease with which Romulus conducted himself on stage. For someone who said he was nervous, it sure was hard to tell.
Romulus started talking. Remus had gone over the words in the speech so much, they had almost lost their meaning to him, but when Romulus said them, they became alive again. Remus had never realized it before, but seeing Romulus on stage he saw what a gifted speaker Romulus really was. He held the crowd spellbound. The words flowed naturally from his mouth, not like a memorized speech, but like an impassioned plea, made up on the spot. Romulus charismatic personality, and his good looks escalated his impact. By the time he reached his conclusion, the audience was his.
Romulus stepped away from the podium to thunderous applause. He gave a slight nod of the head, as an acknowledgement of their applause, then politely waited for it do die down so he could answer questions. There were few questions, the speech had laid everything out so clearly. The Renegades were on everyone's mind, but no one asked Romulus about it because his position was quite clearly stated in the speech, being that they had nothing to fear from the Renegades, and even if they did it was worth the risk. One question compared Romulus to Jistap, but Romulus attacked it immediately. "Jistap wanted to conquer all of Fabulae, I want to distribute food to starving children. How dare you compare us."
After he had finished answering questions, Romulus confidently walked backstage, where he was heartily congratulated by Julius and Andrew with backslaps, handshakes, and verbal affirmations.
Van also came backstage to talk to Romulus. Although it was considered proper for presidents to be unbiased on issues that were being voted on, Van had not escaped the persuasion of Romulus' speech. Like so many others, he was now in Romulus' clutches.
"That was a fine job you did young man, a very fine job. You deserve congratulations on a superbly written speech."
Romulus beamed with pleasure, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you sir."
"Do you want to vote now, or wait a few days."
To Remus, the answer to that question seemed painfully obvious. Romulus had the people in his hand now, who knows what might happen in a few days. Romulus saw things the same way, answering, "I want to vote now, sir."
Van nodded. "I'll go announce it."


"All the votes have been sent in." Still backstage the four members of the Kalka Project, as Remus had named the operation, waited in anticipation. Each one was deadly silent. Romulus was the most anxious at all. He stood like a statue, looking out at Van, hardly breathing. "Project Kalka has been given approval."
Words could not express the joy that Romulus felt at that moment. The other three were giving each other high fives and words of encouragement, but Romulus felt distant from them. He felt as if he was the only one who really carried about the Kalka Project, that the others were simply along to help him. He needed there help deeply, for moral support if nothing else, but he believed he was the only one who really cared.


Romulus was the man of the hour. Everyone wanted to congratulate him, to spend time talking with him, so they could later claim him as a good friend. After the meeting, a crowd descended on him. Romulus didn't mind the attention. In fact, quite the contrary, he relished the glory he was receiving, and made the most of it. He stayed three hours talking to people and receiving their praise.
The other three received considerably less attention. Although Romulus had acknowledged them while answering questions, they were considered by and large unimportant. It seemed clear to The Watchers that Romulus called the shots.
Once the crowd had finally lost interest in Romulus, he returned home, deciding not to take the super elevators, but enjoyed a nice walk in the cool of a summers night. He walked on air all the way. To him, it felt great. No words could describe the satisfaction and pride he felt from being in the center of the public eye.
Reaching his house, Romulus saw Lauto waiting for him at his door. He smiled at her, thinking how pleased she must be at his success. She returned his smile with a frown.
"Hello," Romulus said warmly, not giving up.
"Hello," she replied, as cold as she could.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? Romulus, I thought we meant something to each other."
"We do. What are you talking about?"
"Why was I the last person to find out about The Kalka Project?"
Romulus looked at her strangely. "What are you talking about? You weren't the last person, you found out the same time as everyone else."
"Exactly. I should have found out before anyone else. Romulus, why didn't you ask me to join you. Why wasn't I one of the original members of the Project?"
Romulus suddenly realized he was in trouble. He had never meant to hurt her by excluding her, it just seemed like the right way to do things. "Oh, please don't get upset about that," he pleaded. "You know I never mix business with pleasure." Immediately after the words left his mouth Romulus' wanted to hit himself. Not only was the reply idiotic, but he knew it wouldn't solve anything.
"At the very least you should have told me about it."
"I wanted to surprise you."
"Well I didn't like it."
Romulus decided it might be best to just give up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
Lauto softened somewhat. "Come on, let's go inside. We can talk things out."


Pericula knocked on her brothers door. Julius opened it, and smiled when he saw her. "Come on in," he said. "It's always good to see you."
"I don't know what to say," she said, stepping inside. "I just wanted to congratulate you. I'm very proud of what you're doing, I know Dad is too. It was quite a surprise to hear Romulus mention your name."
"I wanted to tell you earlier, I knew you'd be interested but-"
Pericula stopped him by raising her hand. "Don't apologize," she said. "I know how those things go, you didn't want word to get out until the meeting."
Julius nodded. "We didn't want our audience to already have their minds made up."
"I understand. I'm behind you guys all the way."
"Good, we'll need volunteers. Do you know anyone else who would be willing to help."
"Kile and Drusus will do it, if just for a chance to see the rest of the world again."
"To bad we're not going to Calet. Now that you mention it, I think the appeal of seeing Kalka first hand will appeal to a lot of people."
"It might. Kyoko is also interested in helping."
Ever since the invasion, Pericula and Kyoko had been good friends. Having hardly known each other at all before, they got better acquainted well being stranded in Dishon, and fighting side by side in the invasion. When the invasion was over, Kyoko needed a shoulder to cry on, and Pericula was there for her. Ever since, the two have been close.
"Good, we'll need people like her. Anyone else?"
"Sorry, I didn't have a chance to talk to anyone else. I'm sure you'll find more than enough volunteers. Remember, the majority of The Watchers voted for Project Kalka."
Julius agreed. "It looks like Project Kalka is headed for success."