Novus Ordo Seclorum

Chapter Six

Evil, when we are in power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.

Simone Well

Giorgio Deiaco walked into the office he shared with the woman he called Mildred, but whose given name was Miecheslawa Ludwidski. He had given up trying to enunciate the Polish syllables as soon as she told him what the translation of her name was. He still hated the name, but at least Mildred was easier to pronounce. As he passed behind her chair, he ran his pudgy fingers suggestively across her shoulders.

"If you don't want to lose that hand, I suggest you remove it from my person immediately," she snarled.

"You know, Millie, I never could figure out why you even took this job. Is it just me you hate, or men in general?"

"Not all men, Georgie Porgie." She knew he hated when she called him that, as much as she despised being called Millie. "You're definitely on my list. I've no use for men in general, but that doesn't mean I hate them."

"Okay. I stand corrected. You just hate me."

"You got it." She rolled her chair towards his, handing him a stapled stack of papers. "Thought you might like to look at this. Just came down from your 'goomba's' office."

"What's on Senator Sant'Oro's mind? He want more women for the houses?"

"Just read the directive. You'll see what I'm talking about."

Giorgio took the pages and turned back the cover bearing the U.S. Senate Seal and the newly designed, stylized "SS" superimposed over all governmental seals for the past six months. He knew its origins in Neitzsche's philosophy. President Turner was a great reader of ancient philosophies. He didn't necessarily understand them, but he said he read them. Turner said if the Germans could have Man and Superman, then the Americans, as a diverse people, could have Super Superman. Hence, the "SS". Giorgio sneered at the thought.

Inside, following the usual governmental blah-blah, Giorgio found the specific portion meant for him. He read it carefully, then re-read to make certain he wasn't mistaken. Giorgio closed the package and passed it back to Mildred.

"Seems as if the good Senator has a bit of a problem, wouldn't you say?" he asked.

"Looks like. I don't know why he's going to so much trouble, though. It's only three years old, not like anybody's really attached to it or anything."

"I know. Some people just go all overboard on things like that. Personally, I could never understand it. Give me a tank of fish or a bird anytime. I never wanted anything to do with raising kids myself. I'm not saying they don't have their uses. But three's too young for anything. Even for me."

Mildred laughed. "And why would they go to all that trouble for a girl? It's not like there's a shortage. And they can always have another."

"I know. I know. My wife's sons keep getting the little beggars every year and a half or so. There're four now, and two more on the way. Kind of scary, really."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Let me think about it, and I'll get with the Senator first thing tomorrow. I think he can understand this isn't something I can walk in and pull off the shelf. I don't want any repercussions falling back on either our office or the Senator's."

Mildred busied herself putting the papers back in their folder; the phone on Giorgio's desk rang. She looked over at him as if she knew who was calling. She handed him back the file as he answered.

"Deiaco. . . Yes, good morning, Senator. Good to speak with you, too...Yes, sir, I just finished reading the directive. . . Yes, sir. I understand completely. . . Yes, sir. . . I'll have it taken care of within the week." He flinched and held the phone away from his ear briefly. "I understand, sir. It will be completed within forty-eight hours. And where would you like it delivered? . . . Yes, Senator. I'll meet you there."

He hung up the phone and turned to his partner. "This is just lovely. I've got to have a healthy girl of Italian descent, no older than three, but no younger than twenty months, at Walter Reed Medical Center within forty-eight hours to act as heart donor for one Rosina Ricci. Just fucking lovely."