Later

By Ray B. May IV

---

Juroh walked out of his home on the thirty-seventh floor of the housing complex. It had been days since he had left his small home. He had not wanted to leave today, though it was mandatory for him to leave at least once a week. This was not obligatory by law, for law had been removed. This was required by his Health Director (HD).

  

The Health Director was the man or woman who directed your daily life. If you went against your HD you would be removed from your home and placed in confinement. If you were unlucky you would also be placed in the Defense Agency (DA).

  

The Defense Agency were the defenders of the city, your city. If the DA was removed from its post, your city could become like Howrung. Howrung had fallen to Mongres and had never recovered. It was an infamous tale that the DA presented to keep the people in fear, not only of the outside world but also of a free society.

  

Juroh had been warned that his HD would be notified if he did not leave his home at once. In fact as he left he ran into his HD. She looked stern and very angry. “Mr. Juroh this is the fourth time you have waited to the last second to leave your home. If you do it again remember, I will have to put you in confinement.” She gave him a looking over. “Were you running behind on your deadline again?”

  

“Yes, they gave me a massive amount of work this time.” Her look softened.

  

“Work harder when you get the workload.” She tapped a button on her Portable Computer Wrist Terminal (PCWT). “There go finish your work.” She walked away.

  

Juroh pushed a button on his PCWT. It confirmed his work was sent to his office. “There, my work is finished. Now that I’m out here I might as well go do something.”

  

********

  

A buzzer rang, preceding a voice coming from the loud speakers that were hung all over the city. “Curfew will be broken, by anyone out of their home after the next thirty minutes are up!” the message repeated itself then clicked out.

  

Juroh was quite a distance from his home when he heard the message. He knew it would take him all of the thirty minutes to walk back. The walk was slow; it took him 25 minutes to reach his housing building. The next five minutes went almost in a daze. As he saw the clock on the wall in the foyer, he started to run harder than he ever had before. He ran up the steps taking two or three at a time. He reached his door just as he heard the locks click.

  

“Oh no!” Juroh gasped. He had been slow to leave his home. Late in fact, and chastised for it. Though he had never been late for curfew!

  

The loud speaker came to life. “Citizen 1378, stay where you are! Your Health Director will be with you shortly.” His heart had started to beat faster as the loud speaker had started to speak, but it eased now. The loud speaker went on to mention a name. The crackle of the loud speaker was audible again. “Citizen 2341, stay where you are you Health Director will be with you shortly. Mr Juroh this is not a warning it is a command.”

  

Juroh felt nervousness cloud his senses. He couldn’t think, he felt ill. He sat down and leaned against his door. His HD was coming up the stairs as his vision glazed and finally he passed out.

  

“Juroh!” his HD yelled at him as she sprinted across the landing toward him. She tapped her PCWT, “This is Health Director 2341, Rujha. I need medical assistance with Citizen 2341, Juroh. In front of his home, NOW PLEASE!”

  

********

  

 Juroh woke with his face in the pillow. “It was all a bad dream,” he said to himself.

  

“What had been a bad dream, Juroh?” His HD’s voice broke in on his thoughts.

 

********

  

Juroh walked down the hall wearing his dazzlingly white DA Uniform. He was now Major Juroh, with fifteen men under his command. A lieutenant came up to him and saluted, “Sir?”

  

Juroh returned the salute, “What is it Lieutenant?” Juroh had been working for the DA for several months now. It was hard work and he wasn’t very happy about it. It had been out of his hands because he was placed in the DA by the court system.

  

“Sir, your team has been reassigned to the outer wall, section 31741.”

  

“Thank you Lieutenant.” The man marched off at a brisk pace as Juroh tapped his PCWT.

  

“All members of Team Zoodka 0001 come to wall section 31741, on the double!” He walked outside toward his parked air-car. As he walked up he noticed that Rujha was sitting in the passenger seat.

  

“I heard your message and saw your car, so I got in,” she said in answer to his reproachful look then added, “Let’s go.”

  

“If you weren’t still an HD...” Juroh said shaking his head.

  

“I know but, I am, and we need to go!” Juroh started the car. He had only been driving for a month but he was an expert. Normal, civilian, citizens were not aloud to drive because it would hamper their health regime! “So what do you want to do for our evening meal tonight?” Rujha tried to make conversation!

  

“Do you want me to cook?” Juroh asked.

  

“Yes, I don’t want to cook,” Rujha replied. They flew in silence the rest of the way. Juroh parked the car near the inner wall, there they met the rest of team Zoodka 0001, and began to make their way to the outer wall. There was someone already standing at the posts on the outer wall. The man that looked like the leader of the group walked up to Juroh.

  

“Sir, I am Captain Sanchex.” He saluted. “This is team Gonda 3147. We were told to come to this location.”

  

“I’m sorry Captain, I am Sergeant-Major Juroh, and we were also sent here!” Juroh tapped his brow, returning the salute.

  

“Well, sir, I don’t know what we’re going to do about this.” A robot walked up to them; in its hand it clutched a piece of paper.

  

“Major Juroh?” it asked in a flowing human voice.

  

“Yes,” Juroh answered slightly annoyed.

  

“This message is for you.” It held out its hand. Juroh quickly took the piece of paper it was holding. It stalked off immediately.

  

“Team Zoodka 0001, come to HQ at once!” Juroh read aloud. “Major the general would like to have a word with you!”

  

********

  

“It looks like you made a big fool of yourself, Lieutenant.” General Martin was saying to the lieutenant that had delivered the message to Juroh.

  

“I’m sorry, sir.” The Lieutenant stood at full attention, very nervous.

  

“You are working at the DA Munitions Shop, until further notice.”

  

“Yes, sir,” the Lieutenant grimaced, and appeared crestfallen.

  

“Dismissed,” the General waved his hand towards the door. The Lieutenant turned toward the door, but when he opened it he jumped out of the way instead of walking through it. Juroh roughly pushed passed him and walked to the space the Lieutenant had just occupied.

  

He saluted then, “Sir?”

  

“Yes, Major.”

  

“Why has my team been removed from active duty, sir?”

  

“It will come clear to you in time, Major.”

  

“Sir, I must insist on an answer, so that I may know why!”

  

“You must take an oath, making you keep what I tell you a secret.”

  

“May I tell my team, sir?”

  

“No,” The General grimaced

  

“Yes, sir!”

  

“Do you take the oath?”

  

“Yes, sir!”

  

“Your team is to be broken up, before you interrupt me, listen! Each of you is to be promoted. Go think on this your self, just remember your oath.”

  

“Yes, sir.” Juroh turned and left the luxurious office. Walking down the hall outside many thoughts came to mind. If this works the way I want, then we can reform this DA and the city! Change it into something good.

  

********

  

A ceremony was held for the promotion of Zoodka Team 0001. The eight men on the team were promoted to team leaders. Juroh and Rujha were promoted to City Leaders (CL), the highest rank under general. There are only eight pairs of CLs; they are made up of a HD and a DA commander. The eight pairs were almost as advisers to a king.

  

Juroh now stood on the command ‘deck’ of the DA HQ Building. This building was also known as the ‘Center of all,’ because the building was in the center of the city. Most people thought that it was the first building built.

  

He was looking at a map of the city as he stood. “Commander,” Juroh issued.

  

The commander of the deck walked up holding out an information packet, “yes, sir?”

  

“Tell team Relicon to move to wall section 134701, and team Zoodka to take a rest at HQ.”

  

“Yes, sir,” the commander walked away. Juroh was not interested in what the commander wanted to talk to him about. It was important to the commander, but not to Juroh, that’s why he didn’t ask for the info-packet.

  

It had been a couple of months since his promotion. It had looked to all like he had changed some of his ideals as he gained power. A reformation of the DA and the city were no longer on his mind. With the power he now had he had overlooked and forgotten the evils of the system. He stopped pressing his case for a new DA governing system.

  

Being second in command and a city leader made him the second most influential person in the entire city. His power was waxing while the power of the general was waning. Juroh was well on his way to becoming the general. He, at the next election, would have the votes of the entire City Council. Juroh was put up by the other city leaders for the General candidate for the upcoming election, but he hadn’t been told!

  

“Juroh,” came the loud speaker. “Please come to the General’s office.”

  

Juroh moved toward the door slowly. Some people started to cheer; they obviously thought that he was going to be promoted, that the General had given up. As he passed through the door he noticed everyone on the outside of the Command Deck was also cheering.

  

He got a ‘lev lift to himself, as the slow ride started his thoughts broke in on him. It couldn’t be for promotion! There wasn’t anything higher from where he was but general and the General wouldn’t give up that easy. The only time in the four hundred-year history of Crovincia, the city, there had only been one general who had been promoted to his post. Ivan ‘The Great’ Johnson had been promoted by Ivan ‘The Terrible’ Grand.

  

The ‘lev lift stopped. Juroh walked out on the top floor seeing it as through someone else’s eyes. It wasn’t hard to find the General’s office. It was the only thing on the floor.

  

As soon as he entered the General started to talk to him. “Take a seat Juroh.” The General motioned to a chair. “I’m retiring, Juroh. It’s not just that I don’t want to go against you in the election, but I also have had enough of this world! I don’t want to make an enemy of you either!”

  

“When is the promotion effective sir?”

  

“Tomorrow, I don’t want to delay it!” The General held out a new uniform. “Put this on before you go down, General Juroh.”

  

As he walked onto the Command Deck the people went wild as he wore his new General’s Stars.

  

********

   

Juroh took Rujha out for a fancy evening that night, being a City council member and a newly appointed General had its perks. It was the best Juroh had eaten in weeks. After dinner they went to a small gathering to celebrate his promotion. Juroh went to sleep euphoric and awoke with a sour taste in his mouth. A communiqué from the ‘Center of All’ woke him late in the night.

  

“Yes,” Juroh said groggily.

  

“Sir, the General has just killed himself. You are now full general!” Colonel Rikas was on the other end of the COM system. “Sir, just to remind you, you need to promote a DA Officer and HD to the City council.”

  

Juroh sat up wide-awake now. “Thank you Colonel.” Juroh answered and ended the communiqué. “So the paper work begins.” He said to himself.

  

********

  

Juroh took the next couple of days to figure out who would receive the promotion and who wouldn’t. On the fifth day of his generalship Mongres were seen massing outside the walls of Howrung. The number of Mongres reported put them at one to one, but you never knew how many others were still in the city coming out.

  

“Sir, what are we going to do?” Colonel Rikas asked.

  

“Double our forces at the wall.” Juroh set a data pad on his desk and looked up at his assistant. “My first week as general and already an attack.”

  

Mongre attacks were not common but not rare either. Crovincia never fell to the Mongres but it was nerve wracking none the less.

  

“Sir, General Martin, your predecessor, became general during a war with the Mongres.”

  

“Thank you, Rikas. You’re dismissed.” Juroh looked up feeling Rikas’ stare. “Don’t go too far. I may need you again.”

  

“Yes sir,” Rikas saluted and left. Juroh stood and slowly walked to the window. Down below him the city spread. It had only been five days since he became ‘The General.’ Already he could see why General Martin had wanted to kill himself. It would only have been so easy too. Just jump from this very window and fall the 2.5 km to the ground. Crovincia was an immense city and the ends could not be seen from his vantage point. Thousands of kilometers Crovincia extended and here he was in control of it all. He sighed and turned away. With heavy steps he slowly walked toward his desk.

  

More paper work awaited him as he sat down. He started to organize his desk and dropped what he was doing as his eyes landed on a note addressed to him. He quickly picked up the note. Half of it was in the Zoodka script and the standard language – Crolspeak – the other half was in the prototype Jezot script as well as the new prototype language – Frespeak. Juroh read the first half quickly but had many problems with the second half. From the piece he could read he could tell it was a letter of ‘Good-Bye’ from General Martin. But as to what the other half said he couldn’t tell.

  

The letter read,

  

“Juroh,

  

I have now given you the whole city. I, Martin General 1538, am about to take my own life. The fall to the ground is 2.5 km and it will pass as an instant. You Juroh must do what I could not! Change this city, make it free once again. Do what is right for it.

  

The Mongres are­–”

  

The letter abruptly switched scripts and languages. Juroh turned on the closed circuit COM and called the linguists down in the basement.

  

“This is General Juroh please send up all your finished material on Frespeak, and the Jezot script. I’ll be waiting.”

  

“Yes sir,” answered a cold voice. Juroh clicked the COM off.

  

He waited two minutes then a loud clicking came from the door. “Enter,” he said. An android walked in the room with a very thick note book in its hands.

  

“I have brought the requested materials sir,” came the androids cold voice. He handed Juroh a paper on transliterating the Jezot script into the Zoodka script and the notebook. He left the room without saying another word.

  

Juroh opened the notebook and looked at the first couple pages. It was the common linguistics book, with grammar and syntax for the first four-hundred pages. The last six-hundred pages were a translation dictionary.

  

He quickly transliterated and translated the rest of the note.

  

“­–people who were mutated in an experiment. When I found out the scientific community decided to get rid of me. The experiment started in Howrung. If you look in the history books that I placed this letter on you will see there were no Mongres before the ‘Downfall of Howrung.’ If this leaked out to the public people would go insane! You must destroy this letter and start working on a way to change the city! Reform the DA and Scientific community. These are my last orders as Martin General 1538 of the city of Crovincia. Good luck Juroh General 1539, God speed.

  

Martin General 1538”

  

Juroh felt tears falling from his nose to the paper. The letter had rekindled the memories of how he was going to reform the DA, to help the city. The ideals he and Rujha had held before he gained power and forgot them. He placed the paper on his desk and picked up the first history book to the page marked. It was true! There was no mention of Mongres before the attack on Howrung. In fact the book had to take the space to give the now standard explanation of what the Mongres were as well as the true explanation.

  

“The political scandal that would in sew if this was to be known Crovincia would tear itself apart. So the Scientific Community came up with this explanation:

  

“‘A fetid people who came from another planet, their immune system went hay-wire when they entered Crondoria’s atmosphere. This caused a problem in the brain making them revert to an ancient prime-evil manner. They then attacked Howrung and killed its entire population.’”

  

Juroh was astounded. This was not information that would be accepted by the public. He would have to slowly very slowly introduce this to them, but first he had to deal with the Scientific Community. Then it would be time to start changing the city.

  

********

  

Juroh arrow headed the attack against the Mongres that night. This surprise to the Mongres caused them to change directions and go back to Howrung. Juroh went to sleep very, very late that night.

  

A city wide celebration started the next day. A week after this Juroh started to lead the city to remove the leaders of the Scientific Community. The whole process took several months. The leaders of the Scientific Community were very popular, they had made so many things to make life easier in Crovincia. Men lived for one-hundred fifty years. Some of these things, such as the wonder drugs, had to be removed. Slowly he was able to change the city he loved so much.