(Romulus Thread)
I've been a commissioned officer in Panem's Peacekeeper force for several years, but I still wasn't used to being summoned to the Head Peacekeeper's quarters. The Capitol trusted particularly loyal soldiers with assignment to their home districts, and a few years ago I had been transferred to my birthplace of District Eight. At the time, I was a captain, in charge of nearly one and a half hundred men. Now I was a lieutenant colonel, in charge of slightly over four hundred of this country's finest.
I knocked on the Head Peackeeper's door and announced "Lieutenant Colonel Thread reporting to Colonel Weaver's quarters as ordered".
"Enter, Lieutenant Colonel," an unfamiliar yet very familiar voice answered. What is President Snow doing here? I wondered.
I opened the door to see the old man with his majestic white beard flanked by two Peacekeeper guardsmen. This elite force wore black and light brown uniforms instead of the standard pure white. Colonel Weaver also stood quietly in the background. I addressed him with "Mister President, I trust we owe the honor of your presence to a Head Peacekeeper promotion."
"That is correct, Soldier Thread," he answered.
"So what's happening to Colonel Weaver?" I asked. If Snow wanted me to replace him, I wondered where he was going.
"Nothing," Snow said. "You're being sent to District Twelve. Panem needs you out there," he explained.
"Sir, yes sir," I replied crisply, as if I was a recruit answering a training officer.
"Your soon to be predecessor Walter Cray has neglected his duty in favor of drinking and whoring," Snow continued.
"I am a sober virgin, sir," I barked.
"Illegal behavior has proliferated in his mental absence," Snow explained. "Four and a half years ago, I had mine security rig an explosion to take out a few of the most notorious troublemakers. My covert and surgical approach to ensuring law and order in District Twelve hasn't worked, and I intend to address that before it fails further. You're just the man to implement open and wide-ranging methods."
"That I am, sir," I agreed.
"You are to be in place well before this year's Reaping…" Which is only a month away. "…Mayor Miles Undersee is also guilty of ignoring or tolerating lawlessness. You have my authorization to deal with him as you see fit." That was one of the few limitations of a Head Peacekeeper's authority in his district – he needed approval to deal with the mayor, his family and his staff.
"I think a 6.59x42-sized solution may be in order," I joked, referring to the cartridge size taken by our main battle rifles.
"I like your thinking, Colonel Thread," he said, emphasizing my new rank. "The 12th Peacekeepers will be reinforced to regiment strength by your battalion and a battalion of recruits. Colonel Weaver, the 8th Peacekeepers will be restocked by a unit rotating out of 11." The Brigade of 11th Peacekeepers had tough duty controlling that massive horde of unruly farmers, so Colonel Weaver was getting some good men. I had just received a difficult posting myself, and I would need the good men of my unit.
"With Soldier Cray as my subordinate, I believe a similar solution may be in order," I offered.
"Exactly, but don't blame his subordinates for the poor leadership they received before your arrival. However, once you set up shop, crack down on any Peacekeeper or civilian malfeasance to the fullest extent of the law." Surely not all of the Battalion of 12th Peacekeepers were degenerates, and even if the problem ran deep, they'd be outnumbered by the new arrivals.
"Of course, Mister President," I answered. "Also, who will be District 12's new Mayor?"
"My intelligence says good things about one Fergus Larkin, assuming he handles the change in Head Peacekeeper well," Snow nominated. He handed me the paperwork, and I'd personally present Mr. Larkin with the appointment.
Snow demanded this be done quickly, and it was. The 2nd Battalion of the 8th Peacekeeper Regiment, now the 1st Battalion of the 12th Peacekeeper Regiment, was entirely loaded onto transport trains that evening. District Twelve was near District Eight, and one set of train tracks went directly there. We arrived the night of July 1st, now the morning of July 2nd.
The officers' barracks was just as easy to find in District Twelve. I handed my own letter of appointment to Cray and barked "You have been relieved". He surrendered his Head Peacekeeper uniform; it looked better on me and I wouldn't dishonor it. Executing him in private wouldn't have much effect, so I issued him a standard uniform while building up to the public spectacle. Mayor Undersee wasn't yet told about his impending death either. However, I confined both Cray and Undersee to the Justice Building for the time being.
The new mayor and the old one each had a wife and daughter; Undersee's family members were officially guests of the Larkins in the mayoral house for now.
That afternoon, I saw a young man and woman brazenly strolling through the woods around the district. Evading the district security fence to get out there was a major crime in and of itself, but what they were carrying betrayed an even worse offense – poaching off the Capitol's lands. I understood food supply was one way the Capitol exercised its control over the people of Panem. I remembered the propaganda lines about how rejecting the Capitol's food supply inherently meant rejecting the Capitol's mercy and wise leadership. They both had the fairly dark skin, black hair and gray eyes common in The Seam, the dregs of District Twelve's population.
I put them under arrest as soon as they crossed to the meadow inside the fence. I would have to talk with the District Five liaison about making sure the fence was fully electrified in the future. They were genuinely surprised that the law was actually being enforced as they were dragged to a different cell in the Justice Building. My best men were organized as the support squad of the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion, and they were doing good work. The man's admittedly handsome face was particularly sullen; I would especially enjoy bringing the Capitol's wrath down upon him.
Their fathers had been amongst the troublesome miners Snow dealt with, but presenting those deaths as an accident evidently hadn't gotten the message across.
I stayed in the Justice Building instead of my standard quarters to better supervise the prisoners. I heard 'Gale Thomas Hawthorne' and 'Katniss Ingrid Everdeen' enjoying what little was left of their miserable lives. That wasn't illegal, since an 18 year old with a 16 year old satisfied age of consent law. They were holding themselves against each other, but I had nothing to hold against them on that account. The next morning, July 3rd, I was thinking of dragging them to the square. However, when receiving her breakfast gruel, Katniss said "Appeal on the grounds of pregnancy". I liked most Capitol law; I'd grudgingly enforce the one that banned execution of pregnant women. The support squad of the 1st Battalion 2nd Company was a medical unit; I sent for one of their doctors.
I stood outside the cell while the test was performed. "You're one of the few sixteen year old girls who wants a pregnancy test to come back positive," the doctor joked. "And it did," he said plainly. I understood how the Capitol punished people through their loved ones; losing her boyfriend and babydaddy would be enough for now. With both her and the rest of the district, I hoped that a few punishments would be enough to deter further offenses, but I would be glad to administer much more if the situation called for it. I would be mindful of past offenses but I would not obsess over them. Such was my law enforcement philosophy.
We dragged all three of them to the square the morning of July 4th and tied them to the posts my men had erected for such punishment purposes. At this time of day, the population was still on its way to the mines, school or wherever, so it was easy to herd them into the square to bear witness to justice. Katniss has been let go for now with an obvious unsaid warning, so I found her walking to school with her little sister.
I faced Cray and Undersee. "My predecessor and his friend in the Mayor's office tolerated far too much lawbreaking, and each gave such leadership to their subordinates – treason if intentional, massive incompetence if unintentional," I intoned. "Either way, their sentences are both death." I administered both sentences with one shot each, both bullets to the heart for near-instant kills. Cray's bedwarmers and many of their relatives even cheered his death.
I faced the young man. "I understand Gale Hawthorne was one of the more notorious criminal subordinates. For violations of the District Security Act, Anti-Poaching Act, and who knows what else, his sentence is death," I said before pouring several bullets into him.
I had some advice for their families and the rest of the district. "Someone who betrays their nation's trust has proven they cannot be trusted. They may crow about loyalty to their families, their lovers – but that optional loyalty is nothing compared to the mandatory loyalty all owe their country. Sadly, they have chosen what they want to do over what they must do. Only scum would take such lazy immorality to such a level. Treason does not merit death, treason is death – we will deliver it if the disloyalty continues. Cry for the ones you lost, but remember that they essentially brought it upon themselves – we simply administered the punishment they earned. And if you don't want to join them, don't follow their example," I intoned. "The Capitol has shown mercy by taking a few lives instead of thousands. If you reject that mercy, we will make thousands die again."