An Empire on the High Seas

[FNBrown]

His name was Abraham Lincoln.

He was a charismatic and convincing negotiator, and a wise and patient leader. He knew well enough to listen to his council of advisors, of which I was the chairman. This is my story.

In the early days, it was Abe's resolve and the desire of the American people for a better life that lifted us out of our barbaric state and led to the settlement of our first village. We named it Washington, and it began to flourish.

We sent forth scouts and warriors to explore the land, and discovered we were on a very small continent surrounded by vast ocean on all sides, save the North. From there, on a clear day, we could spot land across a wide channel, and fires burning at night told us there were other tribes with whom we were unfamiliar.

I reported our findings when the survey was complete.

"I expected this report a long time ago. What's the matter?" Abe always wanted the bad news right up front.

"Chief, most of America is covered with hills and jungle. Washington is on the only grassland, and on one of only two irrigable rivers. It will take years to settle the other regions and make them productive." I watched as he furrowed his brow while this sunk in.

"What's the good news?"

"Well, we've got an abundance of silks in the central areas of the continent; more than we can ever use. Our warriors have rid the land of barbarians, and there are no other civilized tribes on the island. This gives us a defensive advantage."

"Fine. Send settlers to establish towns around the entire perimeter. Start with the north of the island - I want to keep an eye on whoever is across the channel."

"But what about the silks?"

"Forget the silks for now. The jungle is too dense, and we can't trade with anyone without first establishing some way to get across the oceans. If we're going to survive, we have to conquer the seas."

Abe was right. America was a jungle island, short on natural resources and arable land, and it was only a matter of time before we outgrew it. Getting off the continent was the only way to survive.

[FNBrown]

Abe and the council were in New York awaiting the return of our expedition across the channel. The envoy from the tribe across the sea had taken longer than expected, but it did not disappoint us.

We received them at the temple, the only structure in the small city worthy of a diplomatic meeting. The ambassador entered the hall wearing white robes and a red sash, and introduced himself to us.

"I bring greetings from the emperor Julius Ceasar of Rome. I am Mark Antony, his majesty's chief ambassador." Antony bowed in ceremonial fashion.

"I am Abraham Lincoln, Chief of the American people. Welcome." Abe extended his hand to the Antony, who took a moment to figure out what a handshake was.

The negotiations went well, but were risky. The Romans agreed to an exchange of maps and scientific research, but it was clear that their empire was much larger than ours, and I was uncomfortable handing over this information, but Abe insisted we needed to know as much about them, and they would not share otherwise. He funded the establishment of an embassy in Rome, where we made contact with other peoples, including the French, English, Chinese, Japanese, and Germans.

Abe was decisive. "Diplomacy is our best means for survival at this point. Internal growth is finally picking up, but it's clear that these other tribes have much more land to work with than we do. I don't care what it takes - get embassies in all of their capitols, and find out what they know."

Over the next few years, we established diplomatic relations with all of the known world, and realized that all the tribes we knew so far were connected on the same land mass. An English galley made contact with the Egyptians a few years later, and we established relations with them as well. America was almost fully settled and nearly ready to begin colonizing elsewhere.

[FNBrown]

Through masterful diplomatic manipulation, Abe had ensured that we were at least as scientifically advanced as any nation in the known world. Our silk trade was also very profitable, but we needed greater access to resources. We were fortunate to have one decent iron mine on the island, but there was no telling how long it would last.

Rome had the misfortune of being in the very center of their continent. Ceasar had done a poor job of exploiting this opportunity for commerce, and his empire was now surrounded on all sides, as unable to expand as we were, without settling overseas.

Which is just what he did. And America was the nearest continent.

When the town of Ceasaraugusta was founded on our eastern shore, I advised an immediate attack.

"Chief, their galley has only enough room for the settlers and maybe one division of spearmen. We can send swordsmen from Miami and Boston to overtake the city before they get their walls built or any more military trained." I didn't think he'd go for it.

"Our complete dominion over this island is the only advantage of being so isolated, and allowing another empire to establish a foothold here weakens America. While I do not wish to harm our diplomatic reputation, our security is paramount, and we can repel any attempt at invasion." This was the first time Abe had ever called on the military for action.

"So you want us to send the swordsmen to Ceasaragusta?" I said.

"Yes. And I want you to send three galleys across the channel to Pompeii."

I was stunned. "You want to invade the Roman empire?!?"

Abe didn't hesitate. "Pompeii is the closest city they have to us. If we capture it, we'll have a foothold on the continent. This will let Ceasar know we mean business, and if we're going to war, we might as well do it right."

I couldn't imagine invading anyone. We were a small nation. "Do you intend to conquer them?"

"Be realistic. We don't have the army or the financial power to conqer Rome. But we can rush a single city, capture it, and defend it, if necessary. It's a psychological victory."

Abe was right. We took both cities with minimal casualties. Ceasar was furious, but quick to make arrangements for a peace treaty. He was stunned at the audacity of the attack, and obviously worried that we might be a lot stronger than anyone estimated. He had lost four divisions of spearmen and two galleys, in addition to the cities we conquered.

The American people reveled in the triumph. Our military proved to be quick and decisive, and the victory was a proud moment for a nation that had never previously set foot on foreign soil.

[FNBrown]

After the victory at Pompeii, America continued to establish a reputation for scientific superiority. Through diplomacy and a hefty science budget, America began to dictate the pace of technological development for the globe. No nation was its intellectual equal.

We established a system of representive government, and the American Republic was born. Lincoln remained the unanimous choice for Prime Minister, and he kept most of his cabinet of advisors intact.

I presented him with my first report as Chairman of the Cabinet.

"Well, what do things look like in Parliament?" The Republic was represented by elected commoners and lords of the ruling families of each region. Abe would have preferred a more directly representative government, but there were still limits to how well we could communicate with our citizenry, and we also needed the support of the nobility.

"Our nobility keeps petitioning for us to undertake a more grand project in one of our cities. They keep going on about those Pyramids in Germany and that Great Library in France."

"I have a plan for that, actually." Abe pulled out a large scroll from behind his desk. "It's a Great Lighthouse. I think it'll not only prove to be functional, but also serve as a point of pride for the people."

I glanced over the plans. It was enormous, and I had no idea how our engineers were going to build the thing, not to mention generate that much light. "Where are we going to put it?" I asked.

"New York. It's our biggest city on the ocean, and has the best chance of completing the project before anyone else gets the idea to do it." He was right. New York had been the harbor that had launched our assault on Pompeii - it was the best choice.

"There's something else I want you to see." I unfurled our most recent world map. American cartography was the best in the world. We traded maps with everyone on an annual basis, and this gave us as much knowledge of the known world as possible.

"The Cabinet has been busy looking for places to colonize. Notice a pattern?" I wondered if Abe would pick it up right away.

"No. Don't make me guess." Abe was patient, but really didn't have time to be staring at charts.

"Everyone we know is on one of two large continents, for the most part. Europe and Asia share a land bridge, and Egypt is pretty much by itself. The thing is, they're all in the Northern Hemisphere. The equatorial jungles and mountains have pretty much kept them there." Of course, I didn't have to add that they were getting crowded up there, and weren't likely to stay put.

"How soon can we get some settlements established?"

"That's the problem. Our galleys have to stay pretty close to the shore to keep from getting lost at sea. It's slow sailing to the nearest spot south of Rome and Germany."

"This is top priority. Have every city organizing settlers and a regiment of pikemen to go. I want those boats underway, pronto."

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister. You know, we really need to find a way to cross the ocean more directly."

Abe just grinned. He spent a lot of time consulting with all the best scientists in the nation - he was a natural diplomat, but he would have preferred a career as a scholar. "Don't worry. I'm working on that. When we can stop hugging the coastline, we'll have the fastest navy in the world."

It took a few years, but we had no less than six cities overseas, and a strong foothold on the fertile southern European and Asian continents. Egypt was much farther away, and not a consideration just yet. America had begun to really expand, and before long, had command of a greater land mass overseas than that of our homeland.

[FNBrown]

The great hall at the palace in Washington had been cleared out and locked down. I had no idea why, which meant that whatever I was there to see that day was pretty top secret, because I usually knew everything that went on in Washington.

There was a conference table at one end of the room, with Abe and a few select high-level cabinet members already seated there, in addition to a few men that I didn't recognize. As soon as I was seated, Lincoln called the meeting to order.

"Let's get the status reports out of the way first, before we get on to some more urgent business. Admiral MacArthur?" Abe gestured towards Douglas MacArthur, Lord of the Admiralty of the Republic of America, and commander of the world's largest navy.

"Our caravels have nearly completed a complete survey of every ocean on the globe. Privateering contracts continue to hamper the naval efforts of England and Rome, although we could use some more ports closer to Japan - their navy is getting stronger every year." MacArthur wouldn't have been satisfied if every square inch of the ocean was covered in his ships. He had done an excellent job securing lanes of shipping and transporting troops and colonists to remote locations.

"Japan is a long way off, Admiral. Our territories in southern Asia are still young, but rest assured, as soon as they're able, we'll increase our naval presence." Abe then turned the meeting over General Robert E. Lee, Commander in Chief of the American Army. "General Lee, how are things in Europe?"

"Germany is nearly defeated, Mr. Prime Minister. We may have been a bit over-cautious in creating military alliances with France and China against them - their resistance was minimal for our objectives, and China is running all over them right now. I fear the Chinese are going to be a problem if we're not careful. Still, we've captured Leipzig, as you requested, although I'm still a bit unsure of it's strategic value."

"We're getting to that, actually. Gentlemen, the demonstration we're about to see is highly classified. I'd like to introduce our new chief of science and technology, Dr. Albert Einstein." Abe motioned toward a man with a large, bushy mustache and a rather unkempt hairdo. "Dr. Einstein emigrated from Germany before the war when he was offered a professorship at the University of Chicago. He's been working on a fascinating little chemistry experiment that I'd like to show you."

Einstein was soft-spoken and a bit nervous. He thanked Abe for the introduction and then walked over to another table that had been set up across the room. He opened a long rectangular box and began removing an apparatus that consisted of a long iron pipe with a wooden handle on one end, resting at shoulder level on a wooden staff at the other. At the opposite end of the room, a wall of thick wood planks about 10' by 10' had been propped up, and two of Einstein's assistants stood a scarecrow up in front of it. They dressed the dummy in a heavy breastplate, and then walked toward the table.

Einstein pointed his device at the dummy, then pulled a lever at the top of the handle back. He looked down the length of the iron pipe, then pulled another lever underneath the handle. The sound inside the great hall was deafening, and everyone at the table jumped in shock. There was a large cloud of smoke and a pungent odor emitting from the end of the device.

Einstein grinned sheepishly as he looked at the dummy. I walked over to it, and could see a hole punched clear through the front and back of the armor, leaving a pockmark in the wooden wall behind it.

Just as the rest of the council began to bombard Einstein with questions, Abe called the meeting back to order, and let the Doctor explain the new weapon in an orderly manner. When he was done, we all sat in stunned silence. Abe spoke up.

"Doctor Einstein was working on this out of his home in Leipzig before he came to America. He was able to complete his research in Chicago. The only problem was the key element - saltpeter. We don't have any here. He was working with samples he had brought with him."

General Lee snapped his fingers. "So that's why we took Leipzig. There's saltpeter nearby, isn't there?"

Abe nodded. "And our explorers have found deposits in southern Egypt and southern Asia, which is why we've begun to colonize those areas. Right now, we have access to enough of it to begin mass production of these muskets, and we'll start training our pike divisions to carry them. In a few more years, we may even be able to make them small enough to carry on horseback, and we'll start having our knights use them."

I finally jumped in. "Does anyone else know about this?"

Abe replied, "No, and we're going to try to keep it that way for a while. We're done selling our technology to other nations for the time being. Our economy is strong, and our overseas cities are beginning to provide us with good revenue streams. The military advantage is more important. If China had this technology now, there'd be no stopping them. They're already the largest empire on the planet, with the most formidable military. Even if we give this to our French allies, they'll just sell it to everyone else."

And to think... if Germany had been building universities instead of invading our territories in lower Europe, Albert Einstein might have never come to America.