As the group gathered in the reception hall, a number of people appeared, entering the room from its main entrance. Kevin and Denise looked at them curiously, but Amelia grabbed Kevin’s arm.
“It’s the prime minister!” she whispered to him in shock. “The education secretary too!”
Wixom entered the room following Grayson, ushering in several other distinguished-looking individuals.
Grayson, with Wixom at her elbow, walked up to Amelia and took her hands.
“Wonderful to see you again, Amelia, dear; Jeremy too,” she smiled at Amelia and shook Jeremy’s hand.
Amelia gulped and nodded jerkily. “Likewise, ma’am.”
Wixom smiled at her, then looked at Denise and Kevin. “Mrs Prime Minister, you’ve met Miss Hadad, but let me introduce Miss Denise Roberts and Mr Kevin Coris. Miss Roberts, Mr Coris, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to the Right Honorable Eleanor Grayson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
Grayson offered her hand and they both took it politely.
She smiled at them. “I’ve wanted to meet the two of you for months, ever since I learned about your role in disrupting the orderly workings of my government,” she said, trying to keep a straight face but not succeeding. “I told Amelia I wanted to meet you in neutral territory, but I suppose the U.S. embassy will have to do. After what you did to Education, I dare not let you get close to any of our other departments. Speaking of which, let me introduce my ministers who are with me today.
“Missus Amelia Hadad and Denise Roberts and Mr Kevin Coris, I present you the Rt Hon Roderick Cassidy, MP, Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Dr Gregory Williamson, MP, Secretary of State for Health, and the Rt Hon Patricia Bolling, MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department. My lady and gentlemen, I believe you’ve all previously met the Porters’ son, Jeremy Porter...”
They all nodded acknowledgment and then shook hands all around.
“... and it may not be a surprise to you that our young Mr Porter is deeply involved in our education issue along with the ambassador’s other guests. Mr Cassidy saw him at Norwich Academy, the pilot school, so he undoubtedly mentioned that to you,” she finished.
Wixom smiled. “Yes indeed. Prime Minister, what you have at Norwich is a truly multi-national education initiative. Did you know just how many different country’s education systems we have represented in these four young people?”
She looked at Wixom. “Okay, no. Please tell me.”
“Our sole unilateral expert is Miss Roberts, but she was educated in two different U.S. states. That can count as different countries in some people’s eyes. Then I present to you Miss Hadad, who attended schools in London, Birmingham, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Next and adding some other countries, we have Mr Porter, whose first schooling was here in London, followed by Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. And our truly multinational expert is Mr Coris. He attended schools in Indonesia, South Korea, Japan—help me, Kevin—China?”
“Hong Kong, actually. And Thailand,” Kevin answered, grinning. “And three U.S. states too.”
Wixom nodded. “Another item you might not know, Prime Minister, is that Miss Roberts and Mr Coris actually have been awarded master’s degrees based on their work on the Avery-Denison Program and Miss Roberts is on track for a second master’s from her university here in London. And that work on this degree is being done in her spare time.
“Also, these two young people have been honored in the U.S. for distinguished service; Kevin is the youngest ever to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom while Denise was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal.” He laughed. “So, my friends, you can see that your education rebellion is being handled by some highly competent experts, if that thought is comforting.”
Everyone laughed.
“Come, let’s have dinner,” Wixom invited the group, and they walked to the dining room.
At dinner, Kevin and Denise were seated next to the prime minister and had an engaging conversation about their experiences while living in London. Both Kevin and Denise loved the city. The PM asked if they had had a chance to explore the countryside; they told her that they hadn’t but did plan to do it after their classes were over.
After dinner, Wixom led the group to a conference room. When he walked in, Kevin noticed that one entire wall of the room was covered by a sheer curtain. After everyone found seats, Wixom leaned back, looked around at everyone, and smiled.
“Now, my British friends, I understand that you have some information you thought our two secret agents who we’ve infiltrated into your educational system would appreciate learning. But before you take the stage, there’s one more guest who’s asked to be invited who I’d like to welcome now.”
He nodded and Chambers pushed a button on a console on the wall near her seat. The curtain on the wall drew aside, revealing a large screen which took up most of the upper wall. The screen came to life and revealed President Gerston, who was seated in a room similar to the room that they were in.
“Good afternoon, Mr President,” Wixom announced to the smiling man. “We’re delighted to have you join us. You of course recognize Prime Minister Grayson, and her associates are...” he introduced the others. “And of course you remember Miss Roberts and Mr Coris. And these two delightful young adults are Miss Amelia Hadad and Mr Jeremy Porter, Warren and Barbara’s older son.”
“Yes, thanks, Charlie; Madam Prime Minister, so nice to see you again and under such pleasant circumstances. And Denise and Kevin, I’m really delighted we could meet again now even if it is only electronically—I’d like to rectify that when you return to the States; I hope that you’ll pay me a visit. And Amelia and Jeremy; I’ve heard such wonderful things about you both; I know the Porters are so very proud of you, Jeremy; and Amelia, I’ve relayed my appreciation for your work in London to your dad Elliot through my Indonesian ambassador. Congrats on your dad’s forthcoming wedding too, my dear.”
Amelia was blushing scarlet.
“Well, Charlie, you told me that for once we Yanks did something right,” Gerston chuckled.
“Yes, Mr Gerston,” Wixom nodded, “that’s my impression from the prime minister. Ma’am,” he nodded to Grayson, “the floor’s all yours. This isn’t exactly a neutral territory, but you’re not risking the loss of any of your agencies while we keep our agents in here and away from Whitehall.”
The others in the room chuckled while Gerston laughed. “Good one, Charlie,” he said approvingly.
“Thanks, Mr Ambassador,” Grayson said, nodding. “Normally I would assume my battleaxe persona and accuse you of meddling terribly with our government by sending unregistered agents into our schools and fomenting rebellion,” she chuckled ruefully. “But I find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to thank you for the attention these fine young people gave to our school situation and to the wake-up call their appearance presaged.
“I’ve already received a number of reports from my cabinet officials,” she continued. “I’m familiar with the information you’ll be given now, but I wanted to share it with you as our thanks for opening our eyes about the Naked in School Program’s problems. Mr Cassidy’s department has been working overtime, analyzing the data Miss Roberts so thoughtfully provided to our Program Committee, so let me have him tell us what they’ve learned.”
“Thanks, Prime Minister,” Cassidy responded. “Pleased you could join us, Mr President. The PM directed us to investigate the facts that Miss Roberts presented to the Program Committee; this is a summary of what we learned. When the recommendation for introducing the Naked in School Program in the U.K. was first proposed, the DfE never considered its academic effects. That’s because the Program was believed to function in the school curriculum similar to physical education classes; after all, both physical education and the Program involve activities involving the pupils’ bodies rather than book learning. I’m embarrassed to admit that we’ve routinely tended to ignore education studies conducted in the U.S. since the U.S. system differs from ours significantly. We plan to rectify that oversight.
“Thanks to the information Miss Roberts provided from the American study, we used similar study methods to review the data from our own schools, except that we didn’t have access to detailed class-by-class scores the Americans did. Instead, we chose the schools in the U.K. where the Program was run for at least two years and evaluated the overall average GCSE scores before the Program, comparing those scores to the results of exams taken while the Program was in effect and indeed, we noticed slightly greater than a 9 percent decline, by subject, in average overall performance of our pupils. This was comparable to the decline reported in the Avery study Miss Roberts cited. We believe that this similarity in results likely also validates our approach. Just as Miss Roberts told the Program Committee, the unavoidable conclusion of our result demonstrates that the Program has been an educational detriment to our pupils’ academic performance. Are there questions?”
“Do you know why the academic grades were so affected?” Gerston asked. “I’m embarrassed to say I never asked our own education officials that question; I was glad to be done with the Program here after its scandal was exposed.”
“No, Mr President, we didn’t look into the reasons, but in hindsight I suspect that some could be theorized,” Cassidy replied.
Both Kevin and Jeremy raised their hands. Wixom smiled and looked at Gerston. “Mr President, who would you choose to speak first?”
Gerston laughed. “Thanks for giving me the hard choice, Charlie. Let’s see; both of you experienced the Program in your own countries first-hand. I suppose we should hear from Mr Coris first, since he’s close friends with the original study’s authors and may have some insights from them. Then Mr Porter. Do you have any ideas, Kevin?”
“Not directly from the study itself, sir,” he answered, “but from the data collected just before the study was designed. Denise, you reported that the results were just about the same for schools where the Program was really terrorizing the students and where it wasn’t so bad, right?”
“That’s right. The differences were statistically insignificant,” she answered.
“And that makes sense in a convoluted way, actually,” Kevin went on. “From personal reports of students in the Program, so many of the kids in the classes were disturbed by Program activities, like the Relief sessions—the public masturbation at the class’s beginning—or the disruption of using Program students in classes to have them perform jobs whose only purpose was to humiliate them. Those things went on at every school and disrupted learning; the kids couldn’t focus on the lessons because they were either aroused, disgusted, or scared, thinking of what would happen to them when it was their turn to be objectified.
“Second, because no one participating in the Program could concentrate on their schoolwork, they got a bye for work missed during their week. You know how difficult it is to make up a week of missed work? A third reason may be the increased use of anti-anxiety drugs by Program participants. It’s hard to learn if you’re drugged, and we saw reports that some kids had to be on the drugs long after their week was over; they experienced PTSD from the trauma. For yet another reason, we saw many cases where being put in the Program was used as punishment so those kids had more required naked time and more stress as a result. Finally, the atmosphere in the schools was one of dread, especially at each week’s beginning, when the selected students’ names were read. Kids spent their weekends worrying if they’d be called. That’s the wrong frame of mind for studying. Some teachers tried to make it easier for the Program kids, but a lot of teachers took pains to follow the hard line that the Program officials mandated. Basically, if kids are worried and scared about coming to school, it’s hard for them to learn. I suspect that all of those reasons were factors that caused the grades to drop.”
“Thanks, Mr Coris, that makes a lot of sense,” Wixom said. “Jeremy, do you have anything to add?”
“Not that much more, sir. Kevin covered most everything I saw at my school. But I’d like to add that teachers went out of the way to change their lessons if a Program kid was in the class. That happened to me; in biology we were covering a unit in ecology when I appeared in class as a Program participant. Since I was naked, the teacher decided to drop the day’s lesson and use me to demonstrate a sexual act.”
The others gasped.
“Not what you think, sorry, it was a solo act. But we had the GCSEs coming up and he wanted to waste class time over something completely unrelated to ecology. My teachers did that a lot, so a fair bit of important lesson material was glossed over or even never covered because of time wasted on Program interruptions. And from what I experienced, my classes were much more unruly when a naked kid was in them; it was a real distraction for everyone. I hope that can explain it, Mr President,” Jeremy concluded.
Gerston nodded. “Thank you, both of you; those reasons make a lot of sense. Please carry on.”
“Thank you, Mr President,” Cassidy said. “Any other questions from my part? If not, next, Home Secretary Bolling can speak to the changes in school-related crime incidents we’ve experienced and then Dr Williamson of the Health Ministry will tell us of his agency’s projection of the health and social effects of the Program.”
“Thank you, sir. Madam Prime Minister, Mr President, distinguished guests,” Bolling began. “Miss Roberts reported on a number of anti-social legal problems associated with U.S. schools, particularly assaults and sexual crimes. There were legal actions initiated against schools and teachers, too, alleging abusive treatment. The Home Office reviewed British crime statistics for the past three years and found an increase in reported rapes and assaults, including sexual assaults. It was difficult to obtain exact figures so we opted to count only the crimes clearly linked to school activities. Even with this limitation, we found that the national incidence of reported teenaged violent crime, sexual assaults, assaults, and rapes, increased 63 percent two years after the Program was started here. There were also increases in reports of adult crimes against children too and that number was horrific: there was a 118 percent increase.”
There were gasps from the group at that statement.
“These were only reports, not convictions, my friends. It could be that the heightened publicity of events surrounding the Program engendered a higher likelihood of an abuse being reported. Still, these are troubling numbers. Before we move to the Health Secretary’s report, do you have any comments or questions?”
“By ‘report,’ exactly what do you mean?” Wixom asked.
“It’s a complaint made against an alleged offender to a police agency that resulted in an investigation at some level, whether or not it advanced to filing charges,” she replied. Wixom nodded. “Anyone else? Next will be from the Health Secretary,” she concluded.
Williamson stood and glanced at the screen. “Mr President. Prime Minister and guests. Honored to share our report. Our contribution from Health was more difficult since we had to comb through medical data from reimbursement reports and make projections into the future. Of course we had no access to the kind of large dataset that the U.S. study had access to, even if it was composed of self-reported data, because for Program participants in the U.K. no such information was ever collected. However, unlike the U.S., the British health-care system is organized in a highly centralized way so we were able to go through the national medical reports and were able to identify reports showing a marked increase in delivering health services to youngsters.
“The study Miss Roberts mentioned covered a number of medical related diagnoses which could be searched for in the national health-care reports, such as trauma or infection involving the genitals or psychological interventions including the prescribing of psycho-active medications. Without going into specifics, in the teenaged population, medical treatments had increased some 50 to 55 percent in the two years after the Program began here. We also noted an increase in our teen suicide rate and the increases appear to be linked to schools where the Program was operating.
“In the past two years, the additional cost to our economy for the increased medical services was over £50 million and the Program wasn’t operating in all schools yet; it was just getting started in about two-thirds of the country’s schools. The Program was fully in effect in only about a third of the schools for the first year and a little over half in the second year. If we were to project costs for the next few years with all eligible schools participating, we projected the annual costs to exceed £150 to 200 million per year, and that represents just medical costs. So for Great Britain too, our projections appear to agree with the U.S. information that Miss Roberts presented from the study she cited. Any questions? Yes, Miss Roberts?”
“Thanks for mentioning the study I cited, sir,” Denise said. “I’m wondering if you saw any continued negative psychological effects on children forced to participate; I’m thinking of my own reaction when I was selected despite a very specific medical exemption. Forcing my participation resulted in my hospitalization and required some further treatment afterward. I saw reports of other children who were hospitalized too, but U.S. health-care reporting isn’t as efficient as it seems to be here.”
“I don’t have the details about that, Miss Roberts. But I do recall that there was an increase in hospital admissions for psychological reasons to treat cases that spanned a wide range of problems including suicide ideation; neurotic reactions such as dissociation, displacement, or repression; or even pathological defensive mechanisms like psychotic denial or delusional projection. And yes to your question; many of these patients are still receiving treatment. Their reactions, based on the clinical reports, appear to be similar to sexual assault survivors, even though a vast majority were apparently not actually assaulted.”
Amelia broke in, “Sir. I must disagree; they were most certainly assaulted! The very act of forcing someone to remove their clothes, even if some law makes that legal to do, is still an assault. Can’t you see that?”
“Erm, sorry, Miss... uh... Hadad, you’re absolutely correct,” Williamson hurriedly answered. “These cases are so unusual so it’s difficult to place them in the normal clinical categories. The violence here was more psychological than physical, and the usual kinds of sexual assaults clinicians treat is physical. Is that a better response?”
Amelia nodded. “Yes, that’s better. Thank you.”
The prime minister stood and looked around at the group. “I think that our presentation wraps up what we learned from our review of the dreadful financial and social results from our adoption of this misguided educational idea. And I have the support of my cabinet and the entire British Parliament in extending to you, Miss Roberts and Mr Coris, the thanks of our nation in averting further damage to our country’s youth, not to mention the damage to our economy and social structures. Not only did you show us where we were wrong in adopting the Naked in School Program, after which you could have shrugged off any further involvement with our schools and gone your own way, but instead you went on and offered to replace that discredited educational program with one which is promising to have unique benefits, and spent your own time and effort to design and launch that initiative. You did all of this with no regard for any personal compensation or recognition in a country not even your own. My government would like to express our appreciation to you all, the four of you, and will be inviting you to a reception at Buckingham Palace in mid-June.”
The four looked at each other in amazement, then Kevin found his voice.
“Thank you, Prime Minister, we’re very honored that you think so highly of what we did—you do realize that at first, we were simply protecting our ward, Amelia? We had no designs on your educational system. Our involvement only grew out of our concern that if Amelia were made to participate in the Program, it would have caused her injury, physical and psychological.”
Grayson smiled. “Yes, Mr Coris, we know. Your activities did fall into two areas; however, only the first was defensive, I suppose, showing the Program Committee how the Program was wrong and about its costs to society. That prompted us to do our self-evaluation. But your subsequent work to replace the Program with your Avery program, which has great potential, was your second outstanding contribution. President Gerston has told me of your modesty, young man. All four of you are highly deserving of our expression of appreciation.”
Gerston was standing up now, and he spoke. “Folks, Prime Minister Grayson and all of you, I’ve got to sign off now, but I want to thank you all for having me attend this most informative session. Denise, Amelia, Jeremy, and Kevin, it’s been a pleasure seeing you all and hearing about your work. Keep it up, and I’m sure we’ll hear good things from you in the future. Please come visit me when you’re back in the States. Have a good evening, all!”
“Goodbye, Mr President.” “Farewell, sir.” “Good evening to you too.” The farewells were called out as the video connection went off.
The meeting began to break up at that point as the prime minister went to Denise and Kevin to shake their hands, and then she put her hand on Amelia’s shoulder.
“My dear,” Grayson said to her, “thank you for your outspokenness. I heard something of your history and I’m impressed by your courage and dedication. And Jeremy,” she said as she took his hand, “it’s a real pleasure to have spoken with you about substantive matters instead of just the social chat we’ve had at receptions. I’m looking forward to hosting you all in June,” she finished, speaking to all of them.
They all acknowledged her and then everyone began leaving, saying their farewells. Soon only the four remained with Wixom and the Porters.
“I certainly didn’t expect such an exposé of their internal affairs,” Wixom commented. “They really went into some detail about the Program problems. You will be able to go to that reception?”
“In mid-June, yes,” Kevin answered. “We have a wedding on June 3 in Jakarta; Amelia’s dad is marrying my honorary aunt. We’ll be there for four days.”
“Well, good; congrats, Amelia,” Wixom said. “Okay, I guess it’s time to pack it up; thanks for coming and many thanks for your work in the schools. That has produced a tremendous amount of goodwill between the U.S. and England so I’m grateful; makes my job a bit easier,” he laughed.
As the four left Wixom and walked to the embassy exit, Jeremy was quivering; he was bursting with enthusiasm.
“Oh god,” he exclaimed, “we actually did it! The PM agreed that the Program was a colossal mistake! And in front of the president, too. Kevin, Denise—you did bring the rebellion here...”
Kevin laughed. “Settle down, guy. You had as much to do with our success as anyone, after all, you began the psychological part of our battle with your blogging. That got the newspapers involved and the public got motivated to make their voice heard. Amelia, honey, I still can’t figure out how a self-proclaimed shy girl becomes a fireball and speaks her mind to a government minister, with the heads of state of two governments present.”
Amelia giggled. “Jeremy’s outrage over human rights abuses is rubbing off on me. I had to correct him; he was missing a terribly important point.”
Jeremy hugged her. “You were wonderful, sweetie.”
After saying their goodbyes, the Porters left for their home and Kevin, Denise, and Amelia took the embassy car to their flat.
~~~~
As the school year drew to a close, Denise and Kevin put the finishing touches on the Avery-Denison curriculum and Denise completed her report on its development, together with a preliminary evaluation of pupil progress on interpersonal relations, and submitted it as her master’s thesis. The assessment measures she used in the study included self-reported surveys and school disciplinary reports; all were very favorable. The school’s year-end preliminary reports seemed to indicate that even pupil grades were improving and teachers noticed the formation of informal study groups with stronger students helping the weaker ones.
At the end of May, Kevin, Denise, and Amelia traveled to Jakarta for the wedding. It was a small affair; only close friends and associates of the couple were invited. Hadad’s parents came from Ghana and the Hadad family had a very happy reunion. After the festivities were over, Kevin and the others returned to London since Denise had to attend the required ed class for her master’s degree, while Janet and Elliott Hadad left for a quick honeymoon trip.
Soon the date for the reception at Buckingham Palace arrived. The week before the date, Porter called Kevin and Denise.
“Hi, guys,” he told them. “Your duds all ready for the event?”
They had been told that the dress was formal.
“Yes, all set,” Denise answered. “Do you know anything about what’s happening yet?”
Porter chuckled. “I suspect you’ll be honored somehow. Next week is the Queen’s official birthday; it’s usually held on the second Saturday in June and that’s when the government’s honors are announced. Then and at New Year’s. But we haven’t been told anything, except that the PM would like you three to come to her residence at Number 10 first, before going to Buckingham Palace. I don’t know what that’s about, but she asked Charlie and me to bring our families there too.”
“Okay, I guess,” Kevin said.
“I think that’s when she’ll tell us what’s happening,” Porter finished. “I’ll send a car around to fetch you.”
He gave them the schedule details and then they disconnected.
~~~~
Denise looked at the building as their car pulled up. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “is this it? What an ordinary building... looks just like a block of flats, actually.”
“The door has a ‘10’ so it must be,” Amelia said. “Look, the zero is crooked,” she giggled. “Maybe it slipped or something. The door’s kinda pretty, though.”
“The entry door is sort of famous,” Kevin said, as they got out of the limo.
“Yes, sir,” the embassy driver agreed. “It is. And miss, you should ask about the zero. It was actually painted that way.”
“But the building’s so modest,” Denise insisted. “Not like the office and home of a world leader.”
The driver grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am, that’s supposed to be exactly the idea. We’ve been told it’s to make the point that the United Kingdom’s government chief is just like a common person. You folks enjoy your day, now.”
Apparently their arrival had been coordinated with Wixom’s, since the ambassador’s car pulled up behind them and Wixom, Porter, and their spouses disembarked, followed by Jeremy. As the groups greeted each other, the door to 10 Downing Street was opened and several people emerged. A woman approached them.
“Welcome to the Prime Minister’s offices,” she said. “I’m Jane Southington, the director of communications for the PM. Hello, Mr Ambassador and Mr Porter, ladies; good seeing you again. These are our honored guests? Hello, Jeremy; please introduce your friends.”
“Sure, Mrs Southington. These are Denise Roberts, Amelia Hadad, and Kevin Coris,” he said as each reached to shake hands with Southington.
She led the group into the building as she explained their schedule while the Wixoms and Porters went with a different official; Jeremy stayed with Amelia.
“We’re going to the White Drawing Room to meet with the PM. She’ll join us in about twenty minutes. We’ll be going to Buckingham Palace for the reception in about two hours.”
As they walked, Amelia asked her question about the zero painted on the door.
“Oh, I did hear about that but I forget why it looks that way,” Southington said. “Let’s see if I can find out.”
She stopped a passing staff member and asked if anyone knew about the zero.
“Erm, I think Sir Walter is actually here today,” he told Southington. “Let me get him. You’ll be in the White Room?”
“Yes; thank you.”
They arrived at the White Drawing Room and Southington began introducing them to the people there. Several minutes later an elderly man entered and looked around; then started toward Southington.
She saw him approaching. “Ah. Sir Walter Semmis is the official historian and probably can answer your question,” she told the group as he came up.
“Hello, Sir Walter. Thanks for coming. Our guests—these are Miss Amelia Hadad, Miss Denise Roberts, and Mr Kevin Coris—asked me about the odd zero painted on the door.”
“Ah yes, our wonky zero,” he laughed. “Yes, people ask lots about that and there’ve been many explanations offered, mostly nonsense. The best one, one that’s probably correct, is that the design came from the so-called ‘Trajan’ alphabet from which an adaptation was made for the Ministry of Works from a book from the 1930s. That alphabet is based on Roman inscriptions from a Trajan period column where the zero is actually a capital ‘O’—the Trajan ‘O’ has that same left tilt—but the sign painter was a bit of a duffer; the zero’s right side is fatter and its edges aren’t smooth, making it look lopsided. Even the architect of Number 10’s renovation in 1963, when the door was designed, said that the lettering was beastly. And every time the number’s been redone when the door is repainted or replaced, they keep that exact look. But we like it because it’s distinctive,” he finished with a smile. “Does that answer you?”
Amelia nodded. “What an interesting story,” she said. “It’s funny how some traditions start.”
“Very true, young lady,” he acknowledged. “Very nice meeting you all. Now if you’ll excuse me?”
He nodded to them and left; soon the prime minister entered the room and gradually people left as she walked over to Kevin’s group. They greeted her.
“Hello, my friends; welcome to the United Kingdom’s executive offices and my residence,” she replied, shaking hands around, and motioned to the remaining people in the room to take seats. “Let’s sit and I’ll clear up the little remaining mystery about today. You remember my ministers from our meeting at the American embassy.”
Everyone acknowledged that they did.
She looked at Kevin and Denise and grinned. “President Gerston tells me that there haven’t been many ‘ordinary’ American citizens who have been official guests at the White House and Number 10 both within a few years,” she continued, making a quotation gesture with her fingers. “I reminded him that you weren’t quite ordinary and he agreed.”
Denise blushed and Kevin shrugged. “It’s an honor and completely unexpected, Prime Minister,” he said. “In both cases. Thank you.”
“Well, the honor is mine—and soon to be yours. Mr Gerston frequently reminds me about your modesty, Mr Coris...”
Kevin moved his hand in denial. “Please, ma’am, just Kevin is fine.”
“...if you wish. Mr Gerston advised me to keep you in the dark about our intentions,” she grinned. “He said you’d flee from the country if you learned about our plans. Ah, speaking of whom...”
She looked at the opening door behind them. President Gerston entered the room with a broad smile, followed by the Wixoms and Porters with Mrs Gerston.
Kevin and his group gasped, then rose to their feet.
“Mr President!” Denise exclaimed. “My goodness!”
He walked over to her and embraced her; then shook Kevin’s hand. Then he glanced at Amelia and reached for her hand.
“So delighted to meet you in person, Miss Hadad. And you too, Mr Porter; this is so much better than by video link. Has the Prime Minister told you yet? Ah, your blank looks tell me she hasn’t.”
“Let me break the suspense, Mr President,” Grayson grinned. “If we can be seated? Good. Well, Mr... all right, you asked that I be less formal. Kevin, Denise, Amelia, and Jeremy. All four of you were nominated for one of Britain’s high honors, commonly known as knighthood, and you’ll receive the honors from the Queen later,” she finished, smiling broadly.
Denise and Kevin sat there, stunned, looking at Grayson in shock while Amelia squeaked, clasping her hands to her face and Jeremy sat bolt upright in disbelief.
Grayson went on, “The honor of knighthood is given for a pre-eminent contribution to the nation, but normally these awards are reserved for those individuals whose contributions to society span an extended period of time. However, in your case, your contributions were so dramatic and far-reaching that our government officials can’t think of a better way to honor all four of you for what you’ve done.
“You might be aware that today is the Queen’s official birthday,” Grayson explained. “We announce honors on this day, also on New Year’s; our honors commission concurred with your nomination and the honor was supported by Her Majesty. The president is here to also receive the award of a knighthood.”
Gerston grinned at her. “Among a large number of former presidents, you might add, Madam.”
“We greatly value the friendship and support you’ve given to our nation, Mr President, as I’ve told you,” she responded.
She looked back at the four youngsters, who had gradually collected their wits, and then she laughed.
“I see for once you’re speechless,” she chuckled. “I believe that means our surprise was complete.”
Denise nodded. “Oh my, yes. I really don’t know what to say... OH! Do we have to give a speech? I read somewhere...”
“My dear, no, you don’t,” Grayson soothed her. “We’ll tell you what to say to Her Majesty. You’ll give a very brief acknowledgment and you can say it in your own words.”
Then the dam broke and all four began asking questions, which Grayson and her cabinet officials answered. When the questions were all dispensed with, Grayson announced that they would have a light lunch and then be brought to Buckingham Palace.
Still in a bit of a daze, the four honorees-to-be went with the others to the dining room and following lunch, they took the short ride to the palace. When they arrived, they were told what to expect at the ceremony and how to address the Queen.
Mrs Grayson then took them aside before they went to the audience hall and gave some final instructions.
“Denise, Kevin—and President Gerston—since you aren’t subjects of Her Majesty, your awards are necessarily honorary. You don’t kneel and be tapped with a sword. And by the way, you don’t use the style of ‘sir’ or ‘dame’ in your names. On the other hand, Amelia and Jeremy, since both of you have British citizenship, your awards will carry all the privileges of the honor, but the acclaim—that’s the tapping of the sword—will be done only with Jeremy. Sorry, Amelia, it’s not done with ladies since it’s a carryover from an ancient military honor, the appointing of a member of a fighting force for the protection of the sovereign.
“And Jeremy can be known as ‘Sir Jeremy’ while Amelia can be called ‘Dame Amelia.’”
Amelia blushed and bowed her head.
Grayson smiled at them, then finished, “Watch the others who will come first; that’s the best way to see what to do. President Gerston, you’ll be called before Denise, as we’ve discussed. And remember the simple acknowledgment I told you. The Queen may ask you a question or two; simply answer—just like you would any person. Address her as ‘Your Highness.’”
Soon the ceremony began and a number of other honorees received their awards, then Gerston received his. Next the chamberlain called Denise. She gulped and squeezed Kevin’s hand; then walked up to the Queen and curtsied. The Queen smiled at her and put out her hand. Denise touched it as she had been coached.
“Miss Denise Roberts. What a pretty young lady and so clever too,” the Queen said. “You have done so many selfless things for our country and you have our heartfelt gratitude.”
“Thank you, Your Highness, I’m greatly honored,” Denise replied.
“We understand you are to receive an advanced degree in education from one of our fine universities. We know you will have great success in your chosen field and we are grateful for your contributions to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
Denise murmured her thanks.
“Accordingly, Miss Denise Roberts, we confer on you the honor of Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Let all present acknowledge this honor and let us accord Miss Roberts our thanks for her service to the Crown.”
There was polite applause and Denise said her brief words of thanks, to which the Queen nodded and smiled. Then Denise was escorted back to her position and Kevin was called.
The Queen made some complimentary remarks and asked Kevin, “We’re told that you are affiliated with the Coris Foundation in Indonesia.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“We’ve heard of the outstanding humanitarian work your foundation has done in the Far East over the years, and now we understand that it’s moving its offices to London. We hope that this means that you will keep your contacts with us in Great Britain and continue to contribute to our society and to the world as well.”
“Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness. That’s certainly my intention,” Kevin responded.
She nodded and smiled, then spoke, “Mr Kevin Coris, we award you the honor of Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Let all present acknowledge this honor and let us accord Mr Coris our thanks for his service to the Crown.”
Kevin said his words of acknowledgment and was escorted away; then Amelia was called.
The Queen looked at her; she was trembling. “My dear, don’t be nervous, we don’t bite,” she whispered and winked. “Use your wonderful acting skills and think of this ceremony as a play, dear.”
Amelia gulped and smiled back. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“We are told that you were a highly able helper and a project co-leader of this wonderful educational initiative now being introduced to our schools. Do you plan education as a career, or acting?”
“Your Highness, not acting, but in a field to help people like Kevin and Denise are doing.”
“Most admirable. We are delighted that you are a citizen of our great nation, my dear. Miss Amelia Hadad, we appoint you Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Let all present acknowledge this honor and let us accord Dame Amelia our thanks for her service to the Crown.”
After Amelia’s words of thanks, it was Jeremy’s turn. On reaching the Queen, he knelt, but she motioned him up.
“Young man, before you receive our acclaim, we wanted to mention how unique this situation is; you are a British subject by birth and an American by parentage; a diplomat’s child. Our historian believes that this is a unique situation; none before you have been found in our records,” she smiled at him. “You have been an ardent and outspoken supporter of human rights, our sources tell us, and you helped bring the new educational initiative to our nation’s schools. By doing this you brought great honor on yourself and both of your countries. Do you plan to pursue such a career in your future?”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I’m greatly honored by your words. Yes, I do want to have a career in an area where I can improve human rights in the world.”
“We truly hope you meet with success, young sir. Mr Jeremy Porter, please kneel to receive our acclaim.” He did so. “We hereby honor you as Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Let all present acknowledge this honor and let us accord Sir Jeremy our thanks for his service to the Crown.”
Jeremy was escorted back to his place and several other people received their honors. Then the assembled people were invited to the reception. Amelia turned to Jeremy and crushed him in a hug; then the Porters came over and hugged him while Amelia hugged Denise, then Kevin. Gerston looked over at the group, caught Denise’s eye, and winked at her. She laughed, took Kevin’s hand, and walked over to him.
“Sir,” she said as he took her hand, “you knew all about this, didn’t you?” she accused him.
“I certainly did, Denise,” Gerston laughed. “But the honors were truly deserved.”
Kevin shook his head. “I guess we just keep falling into these situations, sir.”
“No, Kevin,” Gerston disagreed. “It’s what you do after you fall into them. You fix them. You find a way to make the right things happen; you have a wonderful gift and I hope you continue to use it well.”
As the group walked to the reception hall, Amelia was clutching Jeremy’s hand.
“I was so nervous with the Queen but she was so kind...” She told Jeremy what the Queen whispered to her. “What an awesome experience. And I’m ‘Dame Amelia’ and you’re ‘Sir Jeremy.’ God, it’s like a fairy-tale story!”
The group continued to talk among themselves, discussing their experiences and thoughts during the ceremony. Then they circulated among the other guests for a while and even had a minute to speak to the Queen again when she made a brief appearance. As the reception was coming to an end, Grayson appeared with the president and they both came over to Kevin and Denise and their little group.
“I want to offer my congratulations again,” Grayson told them. “Denise, Kevin, as I mentioned earlier, you don’t use the ‘dame’ or ‘sir’ style with your name as Amelia or Jeremy can. But you all, including you too, Mr Gerston, can use the initials ‘OBE’ after your names if you wish; it means ‘Order of the British Empire.’”
Gerston broke in, “Madam Prime Minister, thank you again for honoring these amazing people; I certainly agree that they were highly deserving of the great honor you bestowed on them. Now that they’ve helped both of our countries so significantly, perhaps we can find something else to turn their unique talents to? Perhaps something simple like world peace?”
Grayson laughed. “We’ll need to get together to discuss that, Mr President. And find another country for them to which they can export their rebellion.”
End
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