Fabulae

Dishon Chapter 1

2004-12-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

Prelude to a War
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
A cold winter wind whipped through the town. Ishod clasped his freezing hands together and blew into them in a futile attempt to keep them warm. "Wish I would have brought my gloves" he thought to himself. Ishod picked up the shovel and continued clearing the street of snow. He had gone to Jolk's tavern, hoping to relax a little and talk to his friends, only to find out that Kitmus, the boy who usually shovels the street, had broken his leg and needed a replacement. Since Kitmus was his cousin, everyone volunteered Ishod for the job.

Ishod slipped on the ice and fell in the snow. He got up and brushed himself off with his numb hands. "Ishod" called a voice behind him, "what happened to Kitmus?" Ishod turned around to see Dosut. Dosut was second in power only to the king. He was also the commander of the army. Since Ishod was a soldier, he knew Dosut well.

"He broke his leg" answered Ishod. "I wasn't there but they tell me he fell of his horse."

"And so your filling in for him" teased Dosut. "Ishod you look miserable! Don't tell me a job meant for a child is so hard for you." Ishod opened his mouth to defend himself, but Dosut stopped him. "I'm only kidding of course," he said smiling. "Here, take my gloves. Your hands look redder then Tomaz's chest."

"Thanks a lot" Ishod replied, putting on the gloves. The chill began to rapidly leave his hands. "Speaking of Tomaz, have you seen him?"

Dosut thought for a moment. "Not since this morning. He and the king have been talking all day."

The smile on Ishod's face quickly left. Dosut's expressions also became more somber. "They're not talking about social matters I trust."

Dosut let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid not" he said.

"Tomaz always takes a break this time of day, always," pointed out Ishod. "What could possibly be wrong that they've been talking about it all day?"

"You know I can't tell you that Ishod. If the king wished it to be public knowledge, he would have told the people. Besides, you'll find out soon enough. It's hard to keep something like this a secret for long." Dosut turned and walked into the Tavern, leaving poor Ishod extremely curious.
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Dosut returned to the king's palace an hour later. Tish, one of the king's servants, rushed to take his coat and hat. "The king and Tomaz are in the meeting room" he told Dosut as he hung the coat up. "Did you lose your gloves?"

"I let Ishod borrow them" answered Dosut. "Did much change since I left?"

"Dosut, I don't even know what their talking about much less what they've decided, but it looks like Tomaz has reached a plan."

"I'll guess I'll just have to find out" Dosut said, giving Tish a valort, the current unit of money. Dosut raced down the hall to a small room that the king liked to call his meeting room.

Dosut was short, about 5 foot 5, with red hair. His father had been prince of Rammes, a far away country. When his brother had tried to take the throne Dosut, not eager for power, had let him have it. Knowing his brother would want to eliminate all dangers to his throne, Dosut had fled to Dishon.

Dosut was twelve at the time and he decided his future lay in becoming a soldier. He conditioned himself until he was fourteen, old enough to join. Dishon was a small country with a weak army, so peace was the only way the people survived, being most accommodating to other countries demands. However war did eventually break out. A tribe of lizard men, looking for a home, thought Dishon an easy target.

Lizard men have a body shaped like a man, but covered with scales like a lizard. They have two fangs like a snake which carried deadly poison. Their hands have no fingers, but rather five long claws, each half a meter. The claws acted like small swords. Fortunately for Dishon, however, their lack of fingers made it impossible for them to make or use weapons.

The war was a relatively easy one for Dishon. They stayed far away and cut down the lizard men with arrows and spears. In fact, Dishon only suffered major causalities from one battle, and Dosut was at that battle.

The Lizard men ambushed a battalion of Dishonites going back to the base after a hard day of fighting. The commander of the battalion had been incompetent and his men were not prepared. All at once, lizard men began leaping out from behind every tree and rock. Some even climbed the tree and pounced down on the army below. Before the army knew what had happened they where half licked. Most men didn't have time to even draw their sword before they were bitten by the fangs or stabbed by the claws. Dosut was one of the lucky ones who was able to get his sword, at which point he began cutting down lizard men left and right. The leader of the lizard men army himself had leapt down from his tree to combat Dosut. He landed on the ground and struck Dosut across the cheek with his massive claws, leaving Dosut's face a bloody mess. Dosut fell to the ground from the force of the blow, dropping his sword in shock. The leader leaped on him ready to inject his deadly poison. Blood flowed into Dosut's eyes, making it impossible for him to see. The leader's feet landed on Dosut's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The leader's hands came down on Dosut's shoulders. The head came down to bit Dosut's chest, but Dosut, able to see a little bit, grabbed the leaders neck and held him back. The leader took his hands off Dosut's shoulders in order to use his claws to shred Dosut's wrists. But before he could, Dosut pushed the leader off, and ran to his sword. He turned to see the leader leaping toward him. Dosut plunged the sword into the leader's chest. The leader fell down and writhed in agony, screaming loudly. Lizard men have a loud, frightening scream, causing everyone to look at the leader. Eager to avenge their leader, lizard men attacked Dosut from everywhere. Dosut, who was in no condition to fight, stood his ground and became an inspiration to his fellow soldiers. Eventually Dishon won the battle, and Dosut was honored with a major promotion. That was the beginning of a lot of promotions for Dosut, which eventually led to him being second only to the king at age 25. Dosut was now 27.

Dosut opened the door to the meeting room to see the king, Recab, and the king's most trusted advisor, Tomaz. Tomaz was a robin. In Fabulae animals possessed the same intelligence as humans.

"Sit down Dosut" invited Recab, motioning toward a chair.

"I heard Tomaz has found a plan" said Dosut, taking a seat.

"Not much of one I'm afraid" Tomaz answered.

"Tomaz is always very humble about his ideas" said Recab. "However this time, I think he's right. The strategy is really a last resort."

"While, what is it?" asked Dosut.

"Let's start from the top, shall we?" said Recab beaming. Recab was a history buff, and he loved showing it off. He cleared his throat and began. "The empire of Marram began about, oh, one thousand years ago in the region of what is now called Ninthinia. Ninthinia, as you probably now, is famous for it's rocky, desert like land. The empire was founded by some wandering barbarians who were too weak to conquer any sort of land what so ever and had to take part of Ninthinia because no one else wanted it. The origin of the barbarians can be traced back to the empire of Calet. The Emperor Cerazerer, in an effort to make his power supreme, began killing off all opposition. A small group fled from him and eventually, through the generations, became barbarians. It's quite an interesting story actually." Recab looked up to see exasperation on the faces of Tomaz and Dosut. He quickly added "but we won't get into that right now.

"Anyway, it took a while but the people of Marram were hard working and industrious. Before one hundred years had passed, they had established a thriving civilization. Then they went to the next step: conques. And conquer they did. Before the country of Egiot knew they were fighting a war, they had been conquered. Gracram also met a similar fate."

"And nine hundred years later" cut in Tomaz, eager to end the history lecture. "Marram is a huge empire, who is obviously preparing to conquer Dishon."

"Right" said Recab, showing no annoyance at being interrupted. (He was used to this kind of thing when he was talking about history). "They're positioning their troops and everything."

"Dishon is a very small country!" Exclaimed Tomaz. "We'd be conquered in a day."

"So what is Tomaz's plan then" asked Dosut, who had been trying to get a word in edgewise for quite some time.

"Why, to bribe Calet" answered the very talkative Tomaz. "Well have to scrape to the very bottom of our royal treasury to get enough money, but the king of Calet, Shallum, will do anything for the right price. We'll simply ask him to defend us from Marram."

"Calet," began Recab, "Now that was an empire."

Tomaz, who was always a talker and never a listener groaned, but Dosut was beginning to become interested. "Why Marram is a tiny village compared to what Calet once was!" he exclaimed.

"Calet had conquered almost the whole world" said Recab. "But then they fell, due to one disaster after another. First their capital burned down. Then an accomplished assassin began picking off their leaders one after another. As if that wasn't bad enough, a group of revolutionaries began trying to revolt. At the same time, most of the remaining countries left banded together and attacked. All this Calet could probably have handled, had not famine struck in Nomar, the empire's bread basket."

"And under these pressures, Calet was crushed like an egg shell" put in Dosut, trying hard to keep up with Recab by remembering what he had once learned during his brief education as a prince.

"Calet never recovered from the blow history has called the year of many disasters" said Recab, clearly more then a match for Dosut, or for that matter most everyone when it came to remembering history. "Falsely named however for the disasters spanned about ten years. They began a long, and painful for the citizens of Calet, decline in power. However, call it miracle if you will, Calet seems to be rising to it's old power again."

"Thanks to the help of Perez" said Tomaz, eager to regain domination of the discussion, and, being the king's advisor, was well informed about current events. "Perez is a military genius. A saying has developed in Calet, 'If Perez is put in charge of a war, he will bring victory'. So far the saying has not been proved false. Of the ten wars he's been put in charge of, he's won every one of them."

"Calet will hold Marram off for a little while at least" summed up Recab. "And I can see no other choice." Tomaz and Dosut nodded in agreement.

A weak knock was heard at the door. "Come in" called Recab.

Tish entered the room. "My king," he said, "your meal is ready."

Recab turned to Tomaz and Dosut. "You gentlemen can help yourselves if you want. I do not fell like eating with my country in such peril." Tomaz and Dosut were about to leave, when Recab called out to them. "You know what will happen if Marram conquers us."

Dosut shuddered to think about it, for he knew only to well what would happen. All males would be killed, girls made slaves, and women to be divided among the soldiers for the most vilest of purposes. The same would happen if Dishon surrendered. Recab left, leaving Dosut and Tomaz with the horrible thought still stuck in their mind.

Dishon Chapter 2

2004-12-27T22:20:00.000-08:00

The Others
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"I'll have to agree with Polad on this one" said the king, Shallum. "The Man should be put to death."

"Right" mumbled Miktesh, jotting down the king's decision. "One more item of business here. The country of Dishon wants us to help them fight against Marram."

"Dishon?" questioned the king. "Never heard of them."

"They're a small country located about right here" said Miktesh pointing to the map.

Recognition filled the kings face. "Ah yes, I remember now." After a pause he added "What's in it for us?"

"Excuse me" Perez cut in "but you can't possibly be considering fighting against Marram. May I remind you that Calet is not as powerful as it once was."

"Perez is right" agreed Polad. "I'm with him all the way."

"I'll hear your opinions after I hear the facts" said Shallum, a note of irritation in his voice. "I'll repeat my question: what's in it for us?"

"Dishon is offering us," Miktesh paused "a little gold."

"Give me that" said Shallum, grabbing the letter Dishon had sent. His face showed a little surprise. "Dishon must have done a lot of penny pinching to get this much. I would have never thought there was that much gold in a kingdom that small." He put down the letter. He tried to hold an emotionless face, but it was clear he was quite interested in the gold. "I'll hear your opinions now," he announced.

"I retain my initial feelings," Perez declared. Polad nodded his agreement.

The King turned to Miktesh, expecting an answer. Miktesh believed it was foolhardy to attack Marram, but he hated to agree with Polad. He and Polad were the two most powerful people in the kingdom and always at each others throats. "Well" said Miktesh, trying to look sincere, "I think we can easily defeat Marram, and for that much money...well, you know." Shallum looked very pleased with the advice and Miktesh realized in horror how little persuading the king actually needed in order to attack. He make up his mind to sacrifice his honor and lose the argument to Polad on purpose. "After all," he thought to himself, "What is my personal honor compared to the welfare of Calet."

"And why do you think we can defeat Marram," asked Shallum, eager to receive affirmation.

"I'll tell you why," blurted out Polad, like Miktesh knew he would. "Because he's a traitor. He wants to see the king die in battle so he can assume the throne himself."

Miktesh swallowed his fury with great difficulty and kept his cool composure. "The lord my king knows that is not true."

"But in fact it is true" continued Polad. "Everyone knows how little Miktesh knows about war, or anything for that matter, but I think he knows clearly what a great risk this is to your life, O king."

Miktesh was having difficulty controlling himself, but he was able to not break out into his own string of arguments by reminding himself that he was doing this for Calet.

"If I was the king I would execute the scoundrel for treason."

"I wonder how long it will be before be stops attacking me and starts attacking my plan," thought Miktesh.

"Why Miktesh isn't even fit to clean up after my horses" Polad cried, with a look in his face that showed he was enjoying this too much.

That did it! Miktesh simply couldn't take it anymore. "Polad says my plan is foolish, but in all this time he's been blabbering he hasn't pointed out one fault in it. He just doesn't want the king to win glory." Miktesh paused for a minute as he realized what he was doing. Then he kept on talking. Polad had left him no choice. He would just have to gamble that Calet would win. Then he could rub it into Polad's face. "Why I have complete confidence that the king could wipe out the armies of Marram completely."

Shallum looked at Miktesh with renewed faith. Perez, knowing how serious the situation was, knew he had to act. "Oh great king, for almost ten years now I have been your official military advisor" he began. Shallum nodded and he continued. "During all that time have I ever given you bad advice about anything."

"No, you haven't" answered Shallum with out even bothering to think.

"Then listen to my words carefully. Calet was once greater then any other kingdom was, or any kingdom shall be again. We will someday return to our old glory, and even surpass it. A wise ruler, like yourself, will make that day come soon. But right now, Marram is the world power. If we tried to stand against them, they would destroy us. We must not fight them."

The king thought for a moment, and then replied. "Perez, I understand your concern and it has not gone unnoted, but never once have you failed me when I put you in charge of a war. I don't expect this time to be an exception." Perez opened his mouth to argue, but Shallum stopped him. "Enough. I have spoken." The king then walked out, leaving a room filled with tension.
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A frightened slave girl hurried quickly to her master, Azom, emperor of Marram. The girl was originally from the country of Higmash, which had been conquered by Marram. Her father had died in battle, and so was spared the pain of seeing his family destroyed. Her brother had been killed with the rest of the males, and she had not seen her mother since the day her country fell. She had been five when all this had happened. Now she was nearly thirteen, but she had not yet manage to leave those memories behind. I will not even go into the brutal treatment she had suffered at the hands of her Marramiane masters.

She quickly cleaned up after Azom, who had just finished eating. Azom watched her silently as he stroked his vulture, Azet. She deeply hated Azom for what he had done to her.

Having gathered all of Azom's plates on her tray, she hurried back towards the kitchen. "Girl" Azom called out to her. "Girl come here!" She froze, overcome by a mixture of fear and rage. Her heart beat rapidly and she broke out into sweat.

"I zaid come here!" shouted Azom, and she knew she would be punished for not answering immediately. As she began to walk toward him, the tray slipped from her sweaty fingers. She watched with horror as several of Azom's dishes were shattered. She looked at Azom's face to see what he would do, but his face betrayed no emotion. The girl thought of what punishment awaited her, and could not help but cry. However, she was totally unprepared for what really happened.

"Feed her to the zharks" said Azom calmly, motioning for two guards to come forward. The girl stood still, shocked for a moment, and then bolted for the door in terror.

Although even if she would have escaped the room, the whole palace was filled with guards.

But the guards caught her before she got far. She screamed franticly and struggled against them. One of the guards began violently striking her in the face, but Azom stopped him. He wanted her to be fully conscious when the sharks got her. "Mind if I watch?" asked Azet. Azom shook his head and Azet flew off, following the guards.

Azom didn't usually kill his own people. After all, for Marram to become great the people must be loyal to him, and who would be loyal to a guy who might kill them at any minute. The slaves though, were a different story. All the slaves in the Marramiane empire were women from conquered countries. "That'z one of the reazonz Marram haz become zo great" thought Azom to himself. "They left no remnant of people to rize againzt them later." All the children that slave women produced were immediately snatched away, and made Marramianes. Because of all the killing Marram does, it has more then enough territory for all its people. But, like many other nations before it, Marram seeks to conquer the whole world.

Marram conquers one nation after another after another. Finding soldiers for these wars hasn't been a problem yet. Because of all the captives, each man had many wives, and these wives were used to make many children. Right now Marram was getting ready to conquer... Azom tried to remember the name of the country they were going to war against, but could not. He usually took command of the armies in war, but this country was so small he was just letting his generals take care of everything. "One week max," they had assured him. "And the country will fall."

Azom decided to take a walk to his shark tank, and ask the sharks about their dinner.

Dishon Chapter 3

2004-12-27T22:19:00.000-08:00

For the Love of Money
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Recab sighed with relief as he looked at the letter. "Calet accepted" he said. "We're safe for a while." Tomaz flew a couple of loops in joy, while Dosut smiled. "Assemble the people this afternoon" Recab continued. "I'm going to have to tell them about the danger we are in."

"Actually, most of them already know" commented Tomaz.

"I'm not surprised" said Recab sitting down. "But I have to officially tell them anyway."

Dosut nodded and left. Tomaz flew to the king's shoulder. "How do you think Calet will do?" he asked.

Recab picked up a broken piece of pottery that had been lying next to his chair and started toying with it. "Oh they'll buy us time. That's about it."

Tomaz nodded. "Marram will beat them as if they were dogs, but when they get to us, we will be crushed like beetles." Recab let the piece of pottery slowly slide from one hand to the other as he grunted his agreement.

A cool wind flowed in from one of the windows. Tomaz turned to look outside, and saw a hot summer day. "I'll see you later" he called as he flew off. Tomaz went to Jolk's Tavern. In it he found his best friend, Ishod. Jolk's Tavern was where everyone visited. Tomaz saw his other friends: Nolli, who loves alcohol, Mazus, who would always run during a battle, Gotaz, the quiet one, and many others. Tomaz landed on a table, at which Ishod and Mazus were seated.

"So what's new" asked Ishod, not looking up from the card game on the table.

"Dosut's announcing a public meeting today" Tomaz answered.

"Yeah, and we now what it is about too" Mazus remarked making his hands into two fists and putting them together, the symbol for Marram.

"I figured you would" said Tomaz.

Mazus slowly laid down a card, then looked up at Ishod grinning. "Don't you ever get tired of winning?" asked Ishod.

"How about another game?" Mazus said as he shuffled the cards.
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Azom looked at his generals. His face was full of anger. "Calet what!?" He hurled one of his dishes, which he actually cared very little for, against the wall.

"D-Dishon bribed them sir" the general stammered nervously. "Shall we forget about Dishon for a while and conquer Calet instead?"

Azom clawed at the air with his scaly hands. "Punizh Calet for thiz" he screamed. "Punizh them zo that they will be zorry they ever looked at the letter Dizhon zent them."

The general nodded and started leaving. "And then" Azom called after him, "deztroy Dizhon zo that not one ztone remainz in place.
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"Where are you going Dad?"

Shallum turned around to see Seled, his eight year old son, standing behind him. "I'm going to battle son," he answered.

Seled suddenly looked concerned. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm going to be alright" Shallum said, feeling a pain of guilt for thinking of his wallet before his son. "It will be an easy battle." He tried to convince himself the words were true, but deep down he knew they weren't.

His son saw right through him. "Dad don't take the money" he pleaded.

Shallum new it was useless to keep up the pretense. "We need the money" he said. "Calet is not as great as it once was, and we need to build forts, repair roads, and all that kind of stuff." Shallum strapped on his helmet and walked out the door. His son hurried after him.

Perez meet him at the door. "The battle plan is finished my lord" he said, gesturing towards a table on which lay a rolled up piece of paper. Shallum nodded, and Perez unfolded it. "I'll have Polad lead an attack from the left." Perez indicated with his finger where the soldiers would be. "And Miktesh from the right. Then you, my king, will lead the main army right in the middle. Between you and Polad, I have your trusted general Dabine leading a small army. Likewise between you and Miktesh, I have stationed Hikol." Perez then pointed out several different points in his strategy. The king nodded from time to time, understanding very little of it. Finally, when Perez finished, the king double checked things.

"All I have to do is lead the middle army?" he asked. Perez nodded and rolled up the plans. "I can handle that," Shallum said as he handed the plans to Perez.

Polad came running to the king, his right hand man Dabine close behind him. "My lord" said Polad kneeling, "I beg you to reconsider. Marram is ready to destroy us. Rumor has it that Azom himself will command the army."

"The rumor is false. Our spies tell us otherwise" Perez informed. "However Polad is right, we must not show an act of aggression against Marram. They could conquer us."

"There is to be no more discussion" Shallum said angrily. "Polad! Dabine! Get your troops ready! Now!" Both men scurried off.

Seled looked at his father with tears in his eyes. "Dad don't go!" he pleaded. "Something terrible is going to happen. I know it!"

"Oh cheer up" Shallum said. "I've been to lots of battles before and nothing ever happened. I'll be alright."

Seled nodded, but did not look convinced. Perez gently pushed the boy in the direction of the door leading outside. "You better go and play. Your father and I have lots to work on."

Seled slowly walked away. The king watched him until Perez tapped him on the shoulder. "We must hurry," he said. "There is much to be done."

Dishon Chapter 4

2004-12-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

Disaster
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Perez gaized out on the fearsome army of Marram. The weapons were most impressive, and the sheer size of the army was enough to make one dizzy. The huge army dwarfed the size of Calets forces, but Perez had complete confidence in his battle plan. With his plan he knew that Calet could win, but he shuddered when he thought of the lives that would be lost.

"This is it" said Shallum. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck" Perez replied. "Here, keep this with you," he said, handing Shallum a small rock. "It is Nathor tradition to keep a pebble with you when going into war." Perez was a Nathorite. Nathorites can be identified by their eyes, which are completely black. Perez was well known for always following Nathor traditions.

The king smiled. "And where did this tradition come from?" he asked, as he put the pebble in his pocket.

"No one knows anymore," Perez replied. "It's meaning was lost a long time ago.

Shallum thoght for a moment, and then said "Perez, in case I don't make it back, please take good care of Seled for me."

"As long as I live, Oh king, not one hair on your son's head will be damaged."

Shallum gave Perez a thankful glance, mounted his horse and then rode to the front of his army. Perez, with one of his servants, ran to a little hill where he could watch the battle.

At the front of the army, Shallum looked out at his commanders. Each raised their hand to show that they were ready. Shallum then raised his sword up: the signal to attack.

Calet's army charged forward, and once the generals of Marram saw the charge, they too ordered their army to charge. The battle had scarcly begun when Marram was taking some heavy blows. Perez's plan was ingenius, as were most of his plans. I will not risk confusing the reader by trying to explain it, but I will say that it was superb.

"And now" thought Perez from his hill "here comes Polad to deliver the final blow." But Polad's army did not move forward. In fact, it even began moving back a little. "What's wrong with them" Perez wondered. "Attack! Attack!" Perez knew his plan would bring victory even without Polad's army, but it would take a lot longer.

Suddenly, out of every forest, from behind every tree, came trolls. They ran into the battle from behind the mountians, and the winged trolls swooped down from the sky. There were more trolls then Perez would have thought possible. It seemed like an infinate number were now already on the battle field, and they were still pouring in by the hundreds. The trolls fought on the side of Marram, and within minutes, Calet's army was crushed. The Soldiers fled in panic.
Perez stood devestated. "How could this have happened?" he said aloud. "Where did those trolls come from?"

"Sir" his servant shouted. "We must get out of here quickly." Perez nodded and the two of them ran. Soon they saw the river where the army of Calet had crossed to get to the battle field. The river was very narrow, about four meters wide, but it was deep, very deep. It was had big banks on each side that dropped down like a cliff. Calet's army had to build a bridge in order to cross it.

The bridge the army had used was burned. About ten or twelve Marramiane soldiers stood guard by the bank. Perez saw more soldiers off in the distance that were coming his way. Perez realized with horror that soon Marram would have many soldiers here, and they would destroy the fleeing army of Calet.

"Were going to have to charge them if we have any hope of escaping," Perez said to his servant. "Are you armed?" His servant unsheathed his sword and held it up. "Good, lets go."

The two of them ran forward. Perez carried his spear in his hand. His sword hung by his side. The soldiers shot several arrows. Perez leaped to one side to aviod being hit. In doing so he tripped over his feet and fell in the dirt. Out of the corner of his eye, Perez saw his servant fall, with an arrow piercing his chest.

Perez threw the spear as hard as he could, and it killed a Marramiane soldier. Perez picked up a rock with his right hand and held his sword with his left. He resumed his charge. The soldiers did not have time to refit another arrow, but a couple of them threw spears. Neither of them struck Perez. Perez threw a rock at one of the soldiers, knocking him into the river. Perez thrust his sword into the chest of another soldier before he leaped to the other side.

Perez barely made the jump. His fingers had a tight grip on the edge of the bank, while his feet struggled for a hold. The bank was not as stable as he had thought. Most of the dirt was loose, unpack, and gave way easily to him. The bank quickly crumbled around where he had his fingers, and Perez soon found himself slowly sliding down the bank, clawing away at it the whole time in hopes of getting a hold. At four feet away, saying he was an easy target for the soldiers on the other side of the bank would be an understatement, but Perez didn't have time to notice that they never tried to finish him off.

With a splash Perez entered into the murky, but suprisingly warm water. He surfaced to see dead body of the soldier he had stabbed. Perez removed his sword from the corpse, and placed it in it's sheath. The other soldier, that Perez had knocked into the water, was being helped out by his comrades. Perez heard many splashes, and suddenly realized he was being attacked by several crocodiles. Since these animals had not been here earlier, he concluded that they must be part of the Marramiane army.

Perez quickly drew his sword. A crocodile swam towards him, it's mouth wide open as if to swallow him whole. Perez thrust his sword as far into the open mouth as he could, until he saw the end of it come out of the crodile's back. Perez withdrew his sword, leaving his enemy to flounder in agony.

A second crocodile approached, but opun seeing what had happened to his comrade, he dove down into the water. Since the water was dirty, Perez immediatly lost sight of his antagonist. Before he had time to think, Perez felt strong jaws clamp down on his lower leg. The next thing he knew, he was dragged under water and surronded by crocodiles. Perez swung his sword wildly, stabbing every where he felt movement. The crocodiles left him momentarily, but just when he was about to go up to get a breath, they were upon him agian. The same crocodile that dragged him under tried to get another hold on his leg, but with strength he didn't know he had, Perez put his sword through it's skull. He whirled around to see another croc swimming towards him. The creature soon felt cold steel through his belly. A third crocodile suddenly made a dart for him, but Perez, swinging wildly, gave it a painful cut on it's side. The crocodile retreated to another part of the river.

Perez surfaced and took a big gulp of air. He then relaxed as he saw that all of the crocodiles were either dead or had fled. Then he quickly submerged himself into the water when he remembered the soldiers on the bank above him. The soldiers had not yet been able to perceive that the crocodiles had been defeated, as the water was hard to see through. Since they didn't want to waste any arrows, they had been planning to just let the crocodiles finish Perez off.

Perez swam under water as long as he could. He swam until his lungs felt like they were going to burst, and then he remained swimming. Finally, when Perez could wait no longer, he came up for a quick breath. He would have liked to stay long enough to take a big gulp of air, but a quick breath was all he was able to take. Perez continued swimming, but this time he wasn't able to go as long before he needed to breath again. On the bank above the soldiers watched for his head to emerge so they could see where he was, then shoot a couple of arrows in his direction.

One impatient soldier drew his sword, and leaped into the water after Perez. He landed on Perez's back. As soon as he felt the impact, Perez immediatly perceived what was happening. His opponent promptly fell of his back, and before he could swim to the surface, Perez was on him, swinging his sword rapidly. The soldier barely had time to parry many of the blows, and ended up with a few cuts on his chest as a result of being one second to slow. Once he got his senses back, the other soldier fought just as valiently as Perez. Both fought under water, trying to stab the other and protecting themselves from the enemys sword. Neither dared to go up for a breath, fearing that his opponent would do him in the moment he left his guard. Perez, however, was worn out and could not hold his breath for long. Soon he kicked heartily, allowing his head to rise up to the air. No sooner had his head broken the surface, then the soldier charged him. He barely had time to parry the oncoming sword, when the soldier delivered a punch to his stomach with his left hand, knocking the wind out off him. Since the blow had been at a downward angle, the force it had carried Perez under. Perez, desperatly needing air, would have shot right back up to the surface, but the soldier was on top of him now, grabbing his throat and keeping Perez's head submerbeged.

Perez raised his sword out of the water and was about to bring it down on his foe, when the soldier dropped his own sword, and grabbed Perez's arm with his free arm. Immediately Perez's left arm flashed out and landed square on the jaw of his adversary, knocking him off. Perez came to the surface and drank in the sweet air. For a moment he forgot the danger he was in, and just sucked in the surrounding vapors.

The familiar sound of an arrow in flight came to the ears of Perez, followed by the sharp pain in his left shoulder where the arrow struck. Perez suppressed the urge to express his pain in a howl, and quickly returned to the safety of the water.

Up on the bank, the Marramiane soldiers forgot about Perez in order to attend to more pressing matters. The army that Perez had seen in the distance was supposed to attack Calet's army from the rear. However Marram had not anticipated defeating Calet so soon, and so that army had already missed the battle. It would still be effective though, just as a means to sandwich the retreating soldiers of Calet and destroy them. The Marramiane soldiers on the bank had been posted as some what of a look out, to make sure things ran smoothly. Now the fleeing Calet soldiers where headed right toward the river, with only the ten to stop them. The soldier who had gone after Perez was told of the situation by his associates, and was pulled up to help them at once.

The ten of them bravely stood their ground, as they shot arrows into the oncoming army. The Caletians, wild with fear, simply charged on, and the ten Marramiane soldiers were quickly killed. The Caletians all leaped into the river and proceeded to claw away at the opposite bank until they had climbed it. It was chaos like you wouldn't believe, and many soldiers drowned from jumping in the river and then have others jump on top of them, and still others, on top of the person who was on them. The river was very deep too. No one had yet found it's bottom.

In the commotion Perez surfaced and began to try to climb the bank, but he could not. His leg was badly injured from when the crocodile had clamped down on it, for crocodiles have a very strong bite. His left arm was almost totally imobalized by the arrow. He called to his countymen for help. If he had been any other man, he propably would have been left to his fate, but since everybody knew what his military genius had done for Calet, they helped him out.

Two men from on top of the bank grabbed Perez's arms, while two men below pushed him up. When he got to the top of the bank, two men helped him keep up with the other men by pratically dragging him the whole way.

The Watchers Chapter 1

2004-12-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday is Tomorrow
ONE THOUSAND THIRTEEN YEARS BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON

The Iceler stood above the fallen body of Haket, reviling in it's victory. "Get up and fight, you coward" it screamed out. Haket struggled to his feet, his muscles aching from endless battery, his head swirling. No sooner had he gotten to his feet then he was too weak to keep his balance, and fell back into the snow. The Iceler laughed, "You pathetic creature. I'll show you who is master of the mountains." With that, the Iceler picked up Haket, and tossed him effortlessly down the slope.

Haket had grown up as a prince in his father's castle. His father, also named Haket, was the king of Gowron, a rather large kingdom by the Appien Ocean. The elder Haket was a kind ruler, who genuinely sought to keep all his people happy and provided for. However he was rather naive when it came to ruling, and ended up making things harder for the people through his blundering decisions. Finally he was assassinated by his own brother, who sought to take control of the throne. His brother tried to kill any possible rivals, and young Haket, only seventeen, was forced to flee with a small band of friends.

As they were fleeing the country, they found it necessary to cross the Coler Mountains, a largely unexplored and totally unsettled range of mountains which formed the barrier between Gowron and it's neighboring country Durant. The mountains were cold and harsh. It was thought that nothing could survive in its brutal climate. Haket and his friends found otherwise.

The journey across the mountains was one Haket was obviously unprepared for. In his hurry to leave, he had neglected to bring many supplies, among them food, mountain climbing gear, and although they had some clothing, not nearly enough to combat the temperature. In particular they lacked gloves, and warm footwear. He and his companions would almost certaintly have been killed by the elements, but they were never given the chance.

They were hardly two hours into the mountains when they were attacked by Icelers. Icelers are creatures which resemble humans but are made completely of ice. Although it was well known that these creatures existed in parts of Fabulae where snow and ice stretched on seemingly forever, few had expected them to be in a place like Coler, where the mountains where only about five kilometers wide, and a length of 100 kilometers.

Several Icelers had leaped out of hiding, and before Haket could react his band was scattered, and he himself received several blows which left him sprawled in the snow. It is here we joined him, at the beginning of this tale.

After being thrown, Haket allowed himself to slide slowly down the mountain for about two or three dekameters, at the end of which he was gently stopped by a large boulder. He forced himself to stand up, and began to run away from his rapidly approaching foe. The Iceler was used to the mountain, and bounded down effortlessly after Haket. By comparison, Haket was moving slow and awkwardly. The Iceler soon caught up.

Haket unsheathed his sword and turned around to face his foe. As the Iceler ran towards him, he swung his sword at its head. The Iceler's arm flew up to take the force of the blow. Haket was expecting the arm to shatter or be cut in half, but instead only a dent was made in it. A large dent, but just a dent nevertheless. What's more, the Iceler was unfazed by his wound, and proceeded to hammer Haket with its fists. The first blow sent Haket flying through the air, and he landed on surprisingly compact snow. Before Haket could regain his orientation, the Iceler grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. Haket struggled violently against the icy hands. It was then that the snow beneath them gave way, they fell a couple meters through a tunnel, and tumbled out into a warm underground room.

It felt like a blazing hot summer's day in midafternoon. The Iceler immediately started to melt, and tried frantically to climb back up the tunnel. This was impossible since it was three meters wide and built straight up and down, with sides as smooth as glass. Haket waited about five minutes as his enemy was reduced to a puddle of water. Then he collapsed with relief and lay on the floor several minutes, until he had completely caught his breath.

Finally he sat up and looked around him. The room was filled with switches, buttons, monitors and lights. He lay down again and for the first time became aware of how warm it really was. It had taken time for his body to warm up, but now he was actually beginning to sweat. "Deka, its Hot"

"Temperature adjustment required?"

Haket leaped up. "Who said that?"

"It is I, the teacher."

Haket tried to discern where the sound was coming from, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "Who?"

"The teacher. I am part of the information network. I will teach you how to use the equipment. Temperature adjustment required?"

"Uh, yeah, could you bring it down about fifteen degrees Celsius." Immediately the room cooled off to a pleasant temperature.

"Is there anything else you require? I can tell you anything you want."

"Could you tell me where my friends are?" asked Haket in a hesitant tone. He was sure the teacher would not know what he was talking about.

One of the largest monitors clicked on. It was about three meters tall and four meters wide. It showed Haket's friends beaten, bound with rope, and tied together in a group. They were surrounded by Icelers. A couple of his friends even looked dead. Beside the monitor, a separate screen displayed a map which showed where they were on the mountain, and also where they were in relationship to where Haket was. They were actually just a few dekameters away, not counting the five meters Haket was underground.

"I've got to help them," shouted Haket.

"Rescue mission is in planning." The voice that answered this time was different from the teacher's voice.

"Who is this?"

"This is the Executer. Specify method of rescue to be used."

"The quickest one." Haket was not sure what was happening, but he was eager to help his friends.

As Haket watched on the monitor, the ground under which each individual Iceler was standing became red hot with heat. The Icelers fled in terror. As soon as all the Icelers were gone, the ground underneath Haket's friends opened up and swallowed them. The next thing Haket knew, the ceiling opened up and his friends landed beside him.

"Deka, what just happened?"

Haket looked at the friend who had spoken. "I'm as confused as you are," he said. Suddenly, Haket's attention was grabbed by Daved. Daved lay lifeless on the ground. His face was blue, and dried blood was caked around his mouth. "Is he alright?" he asked.

One of Haket's friends opened his mouth to answer, but shut it as soon as he heard the voice of the teacher. "He is badly damaged, but still alive."

Then came the executers voice. "Repair injured?"

Haket would have answered with a vocal response, but he forgot himself and just nodded his head. To his surprise, the executer was able to understand him anyway. A small sphere came out of the wall and hovered over Daved. The sphere seemed to absorb all of his injuries. When it was done, it vanished, and Daved sat up, stunned but completely healed.

****************************************************************

"Hans! Hans, wake up." Hans head shot up with a jerk. "Hans you idiot, you fell asleep at the computer."

Hans sheepishly looked around him. "I must have fallen asleep while reading history last night."

"What where you reading ?" Asked Rodens, trying to make conversation.

"I was just reading how this place was discovered one thousand years ago."

"No kidding. Not a very exciting story, is it?"

"No, I guess not, but I like it anyways. You remembered to turn the heat down?" Rodens nodded, and the two walked in silence as Hans thought. That had been one thousand and twenty three years ago to be exact. Since that time, Haket and his friends had been taught many things by the teacher. Although the room Haket was in stretched on for as far as the eye could see, the teacher told them of a secret passageway which led into a huge underground city, big enough to rival any of today's Metropolises. The artificial light and environment made many parts of it look and feel like a forest, or a grassy field. There were plenty of giant buildings also. The whole city was filled with computers and other technology. A ceiling existed about half a kilometer above the ground, and the artificial environment made it look just like the sky. The computer was able to make food, weapons, and in fact it could synthesize just about anything. Haket and his friends, (of whom incidentally there was an equal number of men as women) never left the city from the day they came into it. Their descendents followed suit. The Coler mountains remained unsettled and so nobody else discovered the city.

(Although now the Coler Mountains were no longer part of the country of Gowron. They were ceded after to a war to Durant, and Durant in turn was conquered by Grarap.)

The teacher had taught Haket and his descendents everything, from how to work the computers, to astronomy, geography, history, and everything else. Unfortunately, the dwellers of this underground fortress were somewhat Xenophobic, and although they watched the whole world through the monitors, they avoided contact. That is why they gave themselves the name, "The Watchers".

Dishon Chapter 5

2004-12-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

Fall Down
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"The king was killed in battle, because of the surprise attack of the Trolls. General Hikol also perished. Several of my scouts were murdered, and someone took great pains to make sure the existence, not to mention the location of the Trolls were kept a secret. The only people with enough power and influence to do that are in this room." Perez stopped to let his words sink into the ears of his three listeners, Polad, Miktesh, and Dabine. "On top of that, Seled was found murdered this morning, and the only motive I can think of is to grab power."

"If you're looking for the culprit, look no further Perez. Miktesh was never loyal. He convinced the king to fight in this war because he knew it would cause the king's death." Polad had risen from his seat and was all but jumping up and down.

Perez's face grew scarlet and he forced himself to stand up, even though his leg was in a brace, and his arm in a sling. With the help of his cane he moved to Polad, making an effort to control his anger. "That reminds me Polad, what the hell were you doing? You backed your army out when you were supposed to attack. Deka, what were you thinking? What were you-." Perez forced himself to stop, and waited, red faced, for an answer.

"I had sent out some of my own scouts as a precaution. They reported back that many trolls were waiting to attack. I thought it best to retreat. There was no opportunity to share my knowledge with anyone else."

"That's a lie." Miktesh joined those standing. "Polad never sends scouts out. He backed away because he had known about the trolls before the battle began. He was the one who murdered your scouts to keep the trolls hidden. He sold us out to Marram."

Polad drew his sword and walked toward Miktesh in anger. Miktesh began to draw his sword, when Perez yelled out for them to stop it. Dabine stepped between the two, but quickly moved out of the way when he saw Polad's eyes. Nevertheless Dabine was successful in stopping blows from coming, if only for a few minutes. Perez looked at Polad. His face showed his grief. "It was you, wasn't it? You murdered my scouts, you murdered Seled, and now you plan to take power for yourself, in order to help Marram and to help your own pockets."

"Seize him," shouted Polad. Dabine grabbed Perez and violently hurled him to the ground. A loud thud was heard as Perez smashed into the marble floor.

"That's enough," said Miktesh. He held his sword out and gestured towards Perez. "He's free to go."

Polad laughed. "I'm not taking orders from you! From now on, you'll take orders from me!"

"Like hell." Nothing further needed to be said before the two clashed swords. Perez heard the clanging of metal as he picked up his aching body from the floor. Dabine allowed Perez to sit up, but pointed his sword at Perez as a warning against trying to escape. Perez and Dabine watched as the two enemies duelled around the room.

During the course of the fight, Miktesh grew tired and fought carelessly. Consequently, Polad was able to knock his sword out of his hand, with a powerful, well timed swing. Miktesh's sword flew through the air and then slid along the floor. It finally came to a stop about a couple meters from Dabine. Dabine cautiously picked the sword up, while keeping an eye out to make sure Perez didn't attack him when his back was turned. If Perez had been in perfect health, he probably would have seen this as his break, but with his injuries, he decided to only watch Dabine.

Polad dashed forward to finish Miktesh off. Miktesh ran for his life. He jumped on to a table, leaped off in the same motion, and then quickly turned around. Polad was close behind, so Miktesh pushed on the table with all his strength. The table slid surprisingly easy, and rammed into Polad before he had a chance to stop his momentum. Polad's inertia caused his upper body to keep moving forward, even though his lower body was completely stopped, ultimately resulting in his face slamming against the table. Before he could regain his senses, Miktesh had leaped up on the table and kicked Polad's head, hard. Polad's body jerked backwards, and he ended up lying down on his back. He attempted to get up, but Miktesh stomped down hard on his right hand, which held his sword. His other foot kicked Polad in between the legs. Polad moaned, and didn't try to stop Miktesh as he removed his sword.

"Let him go!" Miktesh spoke with authority as he advanced toward Dabine. Dabine looked defiantly at Miktesh, sword ready.

Polad stood up, attempting to save what dignity he had left. "Let him go," he said to Dabine. "For Deka's sake, let him go!" He stared at Miktesh for a long time, then spit in his face and limped away, saying "This isn't over yet. When I'm through with you, you'll rue the day you ever met me."

"I already do" Miktesh retorted, as he helped the injured Perez out the door. "I already do."

After Miktesh had shut the door, Polad turned to Dabine. "Make sure Miktesh is assassinated before he leaves the palace."

Dabine nodded. "What about Perez?"

"He'll have to go too. He'd tell the people I was working for Marram. But you can't assassinate him here. The people love him too much. If they even suspected I was behind his death, I'd be out of power quicker than you could wink your eye. Oh we'll get him alright, not right here but soon. Move quickly now." Dabine bowed and left.

**************************************************************************

"So it's going to be civil war?"

"I'm afraid so," answered Miktesh as he helped Perez down the steps. "Polad has his supporters, and I have mine, and we each have our own armies. Polad is determined to help Marram, and I am against it."

"So who do you think will when?"

"Why, we will of course."

"Uh-uh. Not we. You."

Miktesh looked Perez straight in the eyes, his face had a look of horror on it. "You are on my side, aren't you?"

Perez sighed. "Twenty five years ago I left my homeland of Nathor, because it was a corrupt country I wanted nothing to do with. I came to Calet, where I served eleven years under Shellun. Never did a more noble king ever live. Unfortunately, Shellun was old, and died, so I served under his son, Shallum. Shallum may have had a weakness when it came to money, but over all he was still a noble soul. I would have enjoyed serving under Seled. Though young he was also noble. Miktesh, you just saved my life, and I am grateful for that, but you are not noble. You want power, but show little concern for the responsibility that comes along with that power."

"I can learn responsibility. I'm becoming more responsible all the time."

"Miktesh, I can't imagine you ever becoming responsible or noble. I wish you the best of luck, but my service in Calet is over. I'm going to find a place where nobility still exists." Perez continued slowly down the steps, leaving Miktesh stunned.

***************************************************************************

"No luck sir" Dabine reported. "Miktesh was given the fight of his life, but he still escaped our assassins."
Polad grimaced. It had been three hours since he had given the order to kill Miktesh. "Damn! Damn it Dabine, now we're going to be in the middle of a civil war." He calmed himself down. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault. You're my most loyal aid ever. What about Perez?"

"His location is unknown, but my men are searching everywhere for him."

"Deka! Dabine, so help me, I don't care how loyal you have been, you mess up like this one more time and I'll have you replaced. I'll do worse then that."

"Yes sir," Dabine replied, his composure unchanged by the threat.

Dabine left the room, and Polad pounded hard on the table. "You got away this time Perez, but I'll get you eventually, and when I do, even Deka couldn't help you."

The Watchers Chapter 2

2004-12-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

Foreign Policy
IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Hans opened the door to the observation room.

In the underground city, food was replicated by computers, as well as anything else someone might desire. Therefore, there was no need for anyone to work, but many did anyway. For those who loved science, like Dabrow, there was simply no substitute for the joy of finding out something through experimentation that the Teacher did not know. Some liked to write stories, and add them to the vast files of literature. Many of the people who chose to work were like Hans however. They were simply fascinated by the outside world. The observation room was filled with monitor screens from which many things could be observed.

At first, there had not been enough monitors for everyone who wished to observe, but then the Executor simply replicated more. Many of the rooms in the underground city had been turned into observation rooms.

Hans took a seat by his monitor. "Display a list of all wars going on now," he commanded. The monitor displayed a list of ten wars going on across the planet of Fabulae. Hans's jaw dropped in surprise when he noticed Calet was involved in a civil war. "Show events that led to the civil war in Calet." Hans watched fascinated as his monitor showed Polad and Miktesh arguing.

Hans had soon seen enough to guess why the war had started. "Display Miktesh at present time," he commanded. The monitor showed Miktesh marching with his troops. A map showed that they were heading to Agriola, Calet's official storehouse of food grown by the farmers. Each farmer in Calet had to give up five percent of their harvest as taxes. His interest growing, Hans asked to see the forces of Polad. Several of Polad's armies where also in a march to Agriola. Having the teacher compare speed and distance of the opposing armies, Hans saw it was very likely Miktesh would get to Agriola first.

Hans then told the computer to display Polad. Polad was discussing strategy with his generals. Hans smiled at his luck in being able to see Polad at such an opportune time and leaned back in his chair to watch. "Finally," said Polad, "Dabine will lead the-." The picture of Polad faded off the screen. It then reappeared briefly, before it faded away again.

"What's going on?" Hans wondered aloud.

"Unknown" the Teacher replied.

Hans turned to look at his good friend, Rodens. His screen was also blank. "Are you having the same problems I am?"

"If you mean your monitor suddenly went blank for no reason, yes," answered Rodens.

"Well what could have caused it?" Hans asked.

"The only thing I can think of would be the satellite malfunctioning," speculated Rodens. "The only monitors in this room that went blank were those displaying current events."

The satellite orbited Fabulae, and it was from this satellite that The Watchers were able to see everything on the planet. Rodens instructed the computer to show the satellite's activity for the last ten minutes.

The first two minutes were rather boring, as it just showed the satellite sitting out in space. Then, a blue light appeared briefly, and then vanished. Hans opened his mouth to ask the Teacher a question, but Rodens quickly reached over and placed his hand over Hans's mouth. "Wait until the whole thing is done." The blue light returned one minute later, then it came again thirty seconds after that. All too quickly it developed into a steady flow of blue light starting from the satellite and going to Fabulae. Then, about a minute before the monitor was supposed to stop, the picture faded out.

"What caused the blue light?" Rodens asked. The monitor showed a large meteor hitting the satellite. The satellite spun around several times, as the meteor went straight on its course unaltered. The satellite eventually corrected itself, and maneuvered back into its original position. A small blue light flashed across its exterior. Then the monitor displayed two maps of the satellites interior, before and after it was hit, and the changed parts were highlighted in red.

Across the city, hundreds of others were discovering the same thing.

*****************************************************************************

"By now, all of you have heard about the meteor." Bakes spoke at a meeting of all The Watchers. The teacher had taught The Watchers about many different forms of government, and The Watchers had agreed to use democracy. When Bakes was done explaining the problem, they would debate it for a while, and then vote on a solution. Bakes had dedicated his whole life to studying the computers, and was able to describe the problem most intelligently.
"I won't bore you with the details, but essentially the information from the satellite is being sent in a slightly different form. A small adjustment on our receptors could easily allow us to receive the information again just like we did before. The problem is that the new form the information is sent in unfortunately causes the mountains to heat up. With in weeks, the temperature of the Coler mountains will become fifty degrees Celsius. Obviously, all the Icelers are going to die much before them."
A small tinge of panic went through Hans. The Icelers were far from the savage warriors Haket had encountered one thousand years ago. Since that time, they had evolved into a peaceful culture that was bursting with creativity.
"As you know, the temperature in the Colers is usually around negative forty, with a record high of negative thirty in the past one hundred years. When the satellite was damaged, the temperature was negative forty four. Since then the temperature has gone up at roughly one degree every four hours. The temperature right now is negative thirty nine. We have until the temperature gets to Zero to save all the Icelers."
"Our options, gentlemen, are limited. As you know, the teacher has hidden some information from us for an unknown reason. The two we've found out about so far are: The origin of this city, and space travel. Therefor we obviously can not fly up to the satellite and repair it. It is also impossible to fix the satellite from the city."
A voice shouted out from the crowd, "Couldn't we develop space travel without the teachers help?"
"Undoubtable, however not much research has been put into space travel because," Bakess paued to think, "while we have no need of it. We Watchers seldom leave the city. In retrospect, that was obviously a mistake, however, with the time we have until the Icelers are destroyed, we can not possibly develop space travel to the point where we could fix the satellite from our ship."
"We can, however shut off the satellite completely from our city. If, someday, we develop to the point where the satellite can be fixed, we can turn it back on again." The were several angry shouts from the crowd. "Please, please, remember I'm only listing off all the options, I have yet to endorse any of them." The crowd quieted down, and Bakes continued.
"We also can transport the Icelers to a colder climate, via ships the executor can replicate. Of course, if we did this, we would try to fly the ships through mostly unpopulated areas, but it would be impossible to avoid detection completely."
"One final option has been proposed. We give half of the city to the Icelers. The artificial temperature can be lowered to accommodate them, and we would be co-citizens with them."
Bakess left the platform, never one for making conclusions, and the President for that year, Jistap, went to the podium. "After a time of debate, we will vote on the presented options. As always, new options may be introduced at this time too."
"In that case Mr. President, I have another option for you." All eyes turned to Rodens as he stood up out of his seat.
"You may speak."
"Thank you." Rodens, standing near the front of the crowd, turned around, as the majority of people where behind him. The computer stopped amplifying the voices from the front, and instead turned on Rodens' voice. Since most of the population was at the meeting, the room was the biggest in the city, and so few could see Rodens, but all could hear him. "I like the Icelers, and wish the best for their safety." Rodens began. "However, before we help others we must look out for ourselves first. This meteor incident was in no way," Rodens paused for emphasis, "no way our fault. We have absolutely no responsibility for helping the Icelers. Now I'd like to help them as much as anybody, however our first duty is to care for ourselves before we start messing in the affairs of others. We can't play world policeman, and do what we think is right in every situation. We have to let the Icelers look after themselves. I propose we don't risk detection, we don't turn our city into snow land, and we don't shut off our only link to the outside world. We are in no way responsible, and I propose we simply don't interfere."
Hans could hardly believe his ears. Not that Rodens would say something like that, Hans new Rodens well and he knew his views. The fact that they had completely different political beliefs had failed to stop their friendship. No, what Hans couldn't believe was the vigorous applauding Rodens had received.
Jistap looked out uneasily at the crowd. It was clear he was not in favor of the idea. "Your option will be added to the list. Thank you." Rodens nodded and sat down. "Any other comments." There where hundreds of thousands of people in the city, and they all wanted to get their two cents in, so after a long night of debate, the meeting was adjourned. It would ordinarily have been scheduled at the same time tomorrow, but because of the urgency of the issue, it was scheduled in the morning, barely long enough for everyone to get eight hours sleep. Fortunately, thanks to super elevators, travel time back and forth to the meeting hall was not a factor.

Rodens was getting ready for bed when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"
"It's me" Rodens recognized the voice of Hans, and pressed a button, causing the door to swing open.
"Hello Hans, what do you want?"
"Oh I just came over to talk. You were quite popular at that meeting."
"Ideas that look out for the common man are always popular. This city needs to focus on it's own, not worry about every thing that goes wrong in the world."
"While I can't say I didn't expect you to stand up and say what you did, but I still don't understand how you could just sit back and relax while all those Icelers are killed."
"Hans! Hans! Let me reiterate. It grieves me that the Icelers are in there present condition, but theres just nothing we can do about it."
"There's plenty we can do. We can-"
"Yes, yes I know. I heard the proposed options. But Hans, think about us. No matter what we do, whether we shut off the satellite, turn half the city into a frozen land, or let the whole world investigate the Coler mountains to see why these flying machines are coming out of it, life in the city is never going to be the same." Rodens could see that he was failing to convince Hans. "Hans, listen to me. We have to put the Watchers first. There's nothing wrong with that."
"What about the Icelers. They are sentient beings too. Their brains are almost identical to ours in function. We have the ability to save them, shouldn't we?"
"Ideally yes, but it isn't just as easy as snapping our fingers and their safe."
"Alright then, lets undergo a little hardship to help them, it's worth it."
"No, it's not. They're not our responsibility. There's nothing wrong with putting the Watchers first. It's them or us."
Hans took deep breath and blew it out. "I've never been able to understand your thoughts."
"Nor I yours. Have a good nights sleep."

Dishon Chapter 6

2004-12-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Recab entered the meeting room to see the downcast faces of Tomaz and Dosut. "Well, it looks like were going to fall back on plan B" he said cheerfully.
Dosut looked carefully at Recab, trying to determine the source of his new found cheerfulness. "We don't have a plan B." He spoke cautiously. "Calet was our only hope."
"We do now" Recab opened the room's door to reveal Perez standing there, accompanied by Tish. Perez limped in, as Tish bowed, closed the door, and left. Once in the room, Perez found a chair and collapsed in it, taking all the weight off his cane. He took a minute to regain his breath, then nodded to Dosut and Tomaz.
"What happened to your leg?" asked Tomaz
Not used to Tomaz' straight forward, uneloquent style, Perez was taken back a bit, but quickly recovered to answer. "It was bitten by a crocodile, and then I slammed my knee against a marble floor."
Recab, trying to preserve the formality of the event, put in, "Perez has left Calet to join us. I am confident that with his help, the future looks much brighter."
Tomaz flew onto Perez' shoulder, saying "don't get me wrong, I'm glad that your here, but your decision to move to Dishon isn't exactly what you would call a good career move. Why did you come?"
"In the pursuit of what is noble, and what is just. I wanted to go some place where I wasn't fighting for money or power, but for freedom and life."
Dosut, who had been starring at the ground in thought, looked up. "Even with Perez' genius, I still don't see how we could win this war. The numerical figures are just dizzying."
"I agree" said Perez. "Even Calet didn't have much of a chance against Marram numerically, and Dishon is not even comparable to Calet." Perez paused, and sighed. "Now Calet is doomed. To think that the death of a heir is all it took to send it hurtling into civil war." Perez' face suddenly brightened up. "Does Azom have a heir?"
"I've already thought of that. Although we know little about his command structure, it doesn't matter anyway. Azom stays in the capital city, Marret, heavily guarded." Tomaz walked back and forth on Perez' shoulder as he talked.
"Just how do you plan to win this war?" Dosut asked.
"I don't. I really don't see any way we could win." Perez paused. "Are you sure killing Azom isn't an option."
Tomaz replied jokingly "Not unless he decides to lead his army into battle himself."
"In that case, I don't see any way we can win. However, that isn't going to stop me from trying. The pursuit of what is noble is seldom a profitable journey. The goal here is to stay alive as long as possible, and hope something, some miracle, will force Marram to give up."
"Deka help us." Dosut said, as he slowly sat down into a chair. "We won't last a day."
"I'm hoping, in fact I'm counting on it, that Marram will send a small force against us. Supplies for soldiers cost money, and Marram didn't get to be powerful by wasting money."
Dosut remained uncheered. "Now that your here, you can bet Marram will send their full force against us."
"Marram doesn't know I'm here."
"I wouldn't count on it." Dosut said. "Don't under estimate their spy network. Anybody could be one of their agents."
"I know, I know. I learned the hard way. But fortunately, I have a very powerful friend who was able to completely cover my tracks. Besides my friend, you three and Tish are the only ones who know I'm in Dishon."
"And we'd like to keep it that way" put in Recab. "Perez is to be kept top secret. No one is to find out about him."
"We can tell Ishod can't we?" chirped out Tomaz. "Ishod can be trusted." Ishod, though only an ordinary soldier, had an uncanny connection with these three most power figures in Dishon. He was best friend to Tomaz, and Recab had married his sister, Ishite.
"No one else is to know about this. Not Ishod, not Mazus, not Gotaz, and not Nolli. Not even my own wife is going to know about this," said Recab. Calming down a bit, he added "We'll meet early tomorrow morning to discuss strategy. Until then, you gentlemen are dismissed."
Dosut nodded and walked out the door. Tomaz flew out the window. He headed straight for Jolk's tavern. The ground all around the tavern was covered with mud, do to the rain of spring. Tomaz flew in an open door to see Kitmus cleaning up the mud inside. Tomaz flew passed Kitmus to a table where Ishod was sitting with Mazus, and Nolli.
Tomaz landed on the table and looked around. "Where's Gotaz?" he asked.
"He went to get us another round of drinks" said Nolli.
"So what have you been doing this morning Tomaz?" asked Ishod.
Tomaz smiled, or at least as close to a smile as a Robin can get. "I can't tell you that. It's top secret."
"Ishod's eyebrows went up. "Oh really?"
"It's too bad I can't tell you, because it really is quite fascinating. If you knew, you wouldn't believe it.
"To bad you can't tell me then."
"Do you want to know about it?"
"Not if I'm not supposed to."
"I could tell you if you didn't tell anyone else."
"No, no, I'm a loyal soldier, and if the king doesn't want me to know, I won't find out."
"Are you sure you don't want to know?"
Ishod studied Tomaz' face for quite some time. "It never ceases to amaze me why the king would make you his advisor."
"The king doesn't know me like you do. Listen, if you really want to know, I can tell you. Just keep it a secret."
"I don't want to know" Ishod said strongly.
"I'd like to know" said Mazus.
Gotaz arrived with four drinks, which he distributed to Ishod, Nolli, Mazus, and himself without a word. Then he took his seat at the table.
"Well I can tell you then" said Tomaz, after Gotaz had sat down.
"Not here you don't" said Ishod. "I'm not finding out."
"Well go outside" Tomaz called out as he flew toward the door. Mazus followed him.
Ishod looked at his mug of beer. "I'm sorry Gotaz, but I've had enough."
"I'll finish yours then" said Nolli, who was already done with his drink. "Just pass it down." Ishod slid the drink across the table to Nolli, who grabbed it greedily. Ishod watched as Nolli gulped down the beverage.
Tomaz flew back in the room, with Mazus following behind him. Mazus sat back down at the table. "Boy, is Tomaz right. That really, really was amazing. Are you guys sure you don't want to know?"

The Watchers Chapter 3

2004-12-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"The five hundred twenty six thousand, six hundred seventy second meeting of The Watchers will come to order. I am president for the year, Jistap. The purpose of this meeting is to vote on the prediscussed options for handling the Iceler situation. Option one is to convert our city so the Icelers can also inhabit it. Option two is to transport the Icelers to a colder climate via our ships. Option three is to shut off the satellite. Option four is to," Jistap grimaced, and read the last option with a disgusted tone, "do nothing, and let the Icelers die." Jistap had changed the wording of the last option, which originally read, "Let the Icelers handle this themselves." Many of The Watchers applauded for option four. "The choices will remain displayed on the many monitors located around the room, while each of you types in your vote on your ballet."
It had been two days since the memorable meeting where Bakes had first introduced the Iceler problem. Since then, debates had raged furiously in the lengthy meetings that were to follow. Only the fact that people were so sick of talking about the subject after the meetings kept it from splitting the city. During those days, Hans had even made two speeches at the meeting, both in favor of helping the Icelers by any means necessary. To his frustration, however, he felt like the message had fallen on deaf ears. The mind of the people seemed to be to let the Icelers die.
"All the votes have been sent in" said Jistap. Hans put his head down in frustration. He knew how the people felt. For the first two days he had hoped he might be able to change their minds, but he had given up all hope now. For the first time in his life, he felt ashamed to be a Watcher. "Option two has won. The Icelers will be transported to a colder climate." Amidst the boos and hisses, Hans stared at the front of the room in disbelief. Slowly, a broad smile broke over his face. Next he began to laugh with delight, he tried to stop himself but he could not.
Rodens who was sitting next to Hans, at his left, said quietly in disbelief "That's not right. That can't be right." He revoiced his opinion with more volume. "That can't be right!" He wasn't heard over the commotion present. He stood up and shouted "Mr. President, it's not right! Something is wrong, that's not how the vote went!" A hush went over the crowd as they stared at Rodens in amazement at his audacity. Everyone waited for Jistap to answer.
"Rodens, I can assure you that is indeed how the vote went. You are acting out of order. Please sit down." As the look on Rodens' face changed, Hans could tell he was slowly realizing what he was doing, having before acted just out of impulse. He slowly sat down, still looking somewhat confused.
"Now," said Jistap, "on to the business of a leader. I nominate Hans to lead the mission, based on his reliability, honesty, virtue, and the fact that he is one of the most vocal supporters of this idea."
Hans broke out in cold sweat. He had never expected anything like this to happen before, and the stares of everyone around him made him feel somewhat self-conscious. "I accept your nomination," he hoarsely replied.
It took another half a day before the nominations were completed. When the vote came through, Hans won. Again Hans was surprised by the outcome, since he wasn't as popular or as well known as many of the people nominated.
"Hans has won." Jistap voice boomed over the speakers. "Anyone who wishes to volunteer, please meet Hans at the front of the room. This meeting is officially dismissed." The shock of winning caused second thoughts to fly through Hans' mind. Could he make all the decisions necessary? Could he take all the pressure? Hans waved the thoughts away, not allowing himself to get worried by thinking about them.
As Hans made his way to the front of his room, he was starred at by about everyone he passed. A few people congratulated him, others just gave him hateful looks.
At the front of the room, Hans was introduced to many volunteers, two hundred and thirty seven all together. Hans didn't bother writing their names down, because he knew the Teacher would remember them for him. To his surprise, one of the volunteers was Rodens.

"I never expected to see you volunteer. Have you changed your mind?"
"Hardly," grunted Rodens, as he and Hans walked through the city. "I'm going to be watching you. I'm going to make sure you don't jeopardize our city any more then you have to. I'm going to make sure you don't do anything the rest of the city wouldn't approve of, because if you do their going to hear about it."
Hans smiled. "It almost sounds like you don't trust me."
Rodens stopped walking and turned to face Hans, his face an accurate mirror of the anger inside him. "The vote was wrong, something went wrong. Do you honestly think that a majority of the people voted to save the Icelers? Almost everyone I talked to was against it."
"Oh now lets not be sore losers. Your proposition was defeated in the good old democratic way. You just-"
"Hans the vote was rigged. It was fixed. It was fake, phoney, pretend, mock, meaningless! Are you so conceited to believe you actually were voted leader? There were many more qualified people running. There were scores of people who were more popular. You're just an unknown guy who happens to favor shipping the Icelers all over the whole damn planet to save them." Rodens face was bright red with anger, but he quickly calmed down to his normal color after he finished talking. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe this is happening. That vote can't be right."
"It's okay. I understand your frustration." Hans answered without really thinking about what he was saying. His mind was racing through all sorts of possibilities.

Jistap sipped a cup of tea, as he watched leaned back in his chair and read a book. He was quit comfortable when Hans burst through the door. "Hans," Jistap said as he rose to his feet. "What can I do for you?"
"What the hell is going on?"
"I beg your pardon."
"The vote, it was fixed wasn't it. Option four really won didn't it. You lied to us."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're-"
"I'm not done yet," growled Hans. "I didn't win the vote either. That part was also fixed wasn't it."
"Hans calm down! Have you lost your senses? What is this nonsense your spouting?"
Hans looked straight into the eyes of Jistap. "Don't even try that. I'm in no mood for your games." His voice had an unusual hardness to it.
Jistap sighed and shook his head in frustration. "All right then, shut up and follow me." Jistap pressed a button on his wall before he left. Hans was about to ask him what he was doing, but before he could, Jistap said, "Don't ask. Just shut up and follow me."
Jistap lead Hans to the super elevators. He instructed the Executor to send both Hans and him to location seven. Hans was very curious as to what location seven was, since when people wanted to be taken, they usually identified their destination by name, not by code. The super elevator zoomed Hans and Jistap to a room Hans had ever seen before. Several other people were in the room.
"Alright Hans, you want answers, I'll give you answers."
Hans looked at Jistap. "Where are we?"
"Were in a secret meeting room. By pressing that button on my wall before I left, I summoned my team here. Your right, we did alter the vote. Originally it was overwhelmingly for option four, letting the Icelers die."
"You can't do that," stammered Hans. "This is a democracy. The opinion of the public must be the law."
One of the members of the "team" stood up. Hans recognized him as Bakes. "Are you saying you would rather let all the Icelers die then deceive a few people. Hans were talking about hundreds of lives here. The Icelers in these mountains number about two thousand."
Hans felt dizzy. He slowly sat down in a chair, and held his head in his hands. "There's got to be another way."
"There's not," Jistap replied. "You know as well as I do, our people want to wash their hands of the Icelers."
"But where do you draw the line?" Hans asked, looking up. "Once you start doing this, you could twist the vote every time, to make sure your will is always implemented."
"Damn it Hans," Bakes shouted, "We're not talking about drawing a line. We're talking about saving two thousand innocent lives."
"Listen, Hans," said Jistap, "We made the vote so you would win. We did that because we knew you could trust you. We knew that you would do everything you can to save lives, to save the honor of your people. We've taken a lot of risks to bring you here, to tell your our secret. You realize if you tell anyone about this the vote will be redone, and you know as well as I do, that would result in the death of every single Iceler in these mountains."
Hans lowered his head in thought. If he joined up with Jistap and his team, he was essentially destroying the democracy he loved so much, but if he exposed them, the Icelers would die. "Alright", he said, "alright, I'll join you, on one condition. After this Iceler problem is solved, we go back to being a democracy."
"You've got a deal" said Jistap as they shook hands. "You've got a deal."

Dishon Chapter 7

2004-12-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Miktesh stood on a platform, overlooking his many soldiers. "Tonight" he shouted "We have achieved victory. We have captured Agriola, the storehouse of Calet's surplus, food, and it's food taken by tax. We are now in control. Nothing can stop us." His army cheered him wildly as Miktesh stepped down from the platform and walked toward his tent.
As he entered his tent, he was met by his military advisors, Jole, Kile, and Kirtten. They all stood up when he came in. Miktesh waved his hand for them to be seated, before sitting himself. "How do things look?" he asked.
"Excellent. This year produced a bad crop, and without Agriola, Polad will not be able to adequately feed his army. He will undoubtably try and force us out of Agriola, but if we can hold our position, we've essentially won the war." Jole shuffled through papers as he answered.
"What about the populace? Will there be enough food for the common people?"
"Unfortunately not," answered Jole. "Food will be scarce. If Polad decides to tax the people to get food for his armies, and you can bet he will, we might be looking at a man made famine."
"A famine I would have caused," said Miktesh.
"This will work to your advantage," continued Jole. "The people will become angry with Polad for not supplying them with food, and will join you against him once they find out you have food."
"In other words, we will create a society in which people will do anything for food. No, I can't let that happen. We will give Polad as much food as he needs to keep his people alive, and not one bit more."
Jole's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. Do you know what an opportunity you're giving up?"
Miktesh starred off into space, thinking for a time before he looked at Jole and said, "I do, but this is hardly my last alternative. I've got quit a lot of tricks up my sleeve." Miktesh smiled broadly as he talked.
"You must be completely mad. Your insane."
Kile and Kirtten cringed when they heard those words. Miktesh had a reputation for dealing harshly with those who questioned him. Miktesh simply leaned back in his chair, and began chewing on a piece of grass. "I value your opinion Jole, but I've learned a lot in the past few months. One of the things I've learned is that a leader has to be responsible. He has to look out for his people first. You can't just want power, you have to take the responsibility that comes with that power." Miktesh stared off into space, lost in thought.
"You-you've changed!" stammered Jole.
"Have I?" Miktesh was still absorbed in his mind. Then he quickly came back to earth. "Any luck yet on the location of Perez?"
"No sir. My men are searching everywhere, but we can't find him yet" Jole said.
Miktesh shook his head. "I'm afraid Polad got him. He's probably dead by now. Damn it, I could have helped him but I just ran from Polad's men. Damn it! When I get my hands on Polad I'll-I'll," Miktesh settled down a little bit. "I'll do the responsible thing, and let him keep his wretched life, which is more then he deserves." Miktesh looked at his advisors, all wide eyed. He could tell they were questioning his sanity. "Your free to go," he said. "I have no need of you anymore."
Kile and Kirtten quickly left, Jole stayed behind. "A word with you, My lord?" he asked, the respect of his words where said in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"You may speak."
"Sir, your newfound obsession with responsibility is admirable, but Polad is playing by his own set of rules. If you want to win this war, your going to have to do it by any means necessary. If you want to be truly responsible, think of your men. Don't lead them to their death so that you can protect the comfort of our enemies. The people need a strong leader."
"Trust me Jole, I have no intention of losing this war. I've got quit a few tricks still up my sleeve."

"Most excellent king, your mighty armies have defeated Calet. Calet is now in civil war."
"And one of the participantz in the civil war iz a man who haz been known to be on the zide of Marram?" asked Azom.
"Yes sir," answered his general. "He has helped Marram on numerous occasions. He was responsible for Marram's victory against Calet."
"Then make zure he winz thiz civil war."
"What do you mean sir? How?"
"You did not become one of my top generalz without being rezourceful. Do the job any way you want, juzt make zure it getz done."
Azom's general nodded in obedience.
"Now," continued Azom, "on to thiz buzinezz about Dizhon. "You told me that you only need one week to deztroy the nation. When you zaid that, how many of my zoldierz were you planning on uzing?"
"Pretty much all of them," answered his general.
"That waz foolizh. Uze only az many men az you need, I will give you two monthz to conquer Dizhon."
"Yes sir." Azom's general nodded and left.
"Oh Dizhon," contemplated Azom, "if Calet fell before Marram'z power, what chance do you have?"

The Watchers Chapter 4

2004-12-27T21:56:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Hans looked at the fifteen men he had handpicked from the two hundred thirty seven volunteers. They were going to be the ambassadors to the Icelers. They were the ones who were going to explain to the Icelers who The Watchers were, what the problem was, and how The Watchers were going to help. Overcoming the language barrier between the Icelers and The Watchers was somewhat of a problem, but by no means difficult to overcome. At the time of Haket, both the Icelers and Haket's group spoke Caletian, but since each had been in isolation since that time, each developed their own offshoot of the language. Needless to say, both dialects were extremely similar, and with the help of the Teacher, little time was needed to learn the Icelers language.
"Alright, you all know your job," said Hans, "lets go." They began proceeding towards one of the many exits from the city. They were all dressed in appropriate clothing to combat the temperature.
"Hans, could I talk to you for a moment?"
Hans turned to see Rodens pushing his way through the ambassadors to get to him. Hans could guess what Rodens wanted. Rodens was angry about not being picked as an ambassador, claiming it was time Hans was not being observed by him. Hans had been very gentle in explaining the sensitivity of the project, which could only take the most enthusiastic and the best qualified, but Rodens didn't seem to understand. With the knowledge that Rodens' option really should have won the vote, Hans had treated what seemed to him like uncontrolled bigotry, with out getting upset.
"Hans, I need to talk to you," Rodens repeated his request.
"We've been through this before Rodens. Your not coming."
"No, it's not about that. It's about the vote."
"What?"
"May I see you in private to discuss the vote?"
"Rodens, now is not a good time. Can't you see we're about to start delicate negotiations here?"
"Hans I'm not waiting for you. You either talk to me now or your regret it. I will inform the people."
"What are you talking about?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about."
Hans heart beat rapidly. Could Rodens possibly know about the vote conspiracy. It was a chance Hans couldn't afford to take. The negotiations could wait five minutes.
Hans motioned with his hand for Rodens to follow him, and the two went down the hall and around a coroner, well out of sight and hearing of the fifteen. "What do you want to say?" Hans voice demanded an answer, a tone that was unnecessary since Rodens was more then willing to tell his story.
"Hans, you and I agree on very few things. The Iceler situation is no exception to that, but it is an issue that has created some strong feelings. I know what you are like when you feel strongly about something, and among other things you are very vocal and tend to be somewhat close minded." Hans did not view himself as being close minded at any time, but he decided not to say anything. The definition of an open mind was yet another thing that Hans and Rodens did not agree about.
"Lately, for the couple days you have demonstrated a tolerance unlike you. You no longer argue with me about the Icelers, but simply accept my view and even sometimes admit I might be partially right. Hans you look almost," Rodens paused as he searched for the right word, "guilty when we talk about the Icelers."
"At first I didn't think anything of it. Hans is just becoming a more well-rounded person, I told myself. Then one day I remembered that the last time you acted like you knew you were right was just before I yelled at you because I had been convinced the vote was fake. Just for fun, I had the monitor display that argument, and I noticed some things I hadn't before. When I was talking to you, I had been so involved in my little speech, I failed to notice how the expression on your face changed when I dictated my logic. Watching it on the monitor, I saw you lose your confidence. I didn't know what I'd find, but I decided to have the monitor track your movements after we parted. Well you made a beeline for Jistap's room, burst open the door, and everything after that has been classified by someone."
"You can imagine my surprise. After all, even though someone with the computer know how, such as Bakes, could classify something, it is forbidden by Watcher law. This allows little privacy, but it is a price we must pay to ensure that nothing dishonest is being done. That is the only reason I can think of to classify your conversation, to hide something dishonest. When I asked the teacher to display the next unclassified footage of you, you had just parted company with Jistap at the super elevator, looking more confused then you did before."
Hans looked straight at Rodens, fearing the inevitable complication to his plans, one that he now realized he should have seen coming. Rodens, after taking a deep breath, announced his fear was true. "You were talking about the vote, weren't you? The vote was fake, wasn't it?" Rodens voice rose as his face grew scarlet. "You knew the vote was fake, and you didn't do anything about it. Your in league with Jistap and his little henchmen aren't you?" Rodens stamped his foot down hard on the ground. "Damn it Hans! Damn you to Hell! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Your destroying our democracy! Your destroying our fucking democracy to help those damn Icelers!" Hans opened his mouth to defend himself, but Rodens hand flew out across his face in rage. "Don't even talk to me Hans. You can go rot in hell." Rodens walked off, still talking. "Your through, I'm exposing you, Jistap, and every single other damn conspirator. If your cause was truly just, you wouldn't have to accomplish it by deceit."
"Rodens, I understand your frustration. It's so hard to know what's right sometimes, but if your work with me we can solve this problem together." Rodens kept walking, without giving the slightest indication that he had heard a word. "Rodens, I don't want to fight. Don't do this, we can work it out." Rodens walk broke into a run as he disappeared down the hallway. Hans sighed. "Executor, let me talk to Jistap."
After a minute, Jistap's voice came through the wall. "This is Jistap, what do you want?"
"This is Hans, are you alone?"
If Hans needed to talk in private, Jistap could guess why. His voice became very concerned. "Yes, why."
"Jistap, we've got a problem."

Rodens raced through the hall. He was in a maze of empty metal hallways, that led to several different exits from the city. A few more turns and he would be out of the exit wing, which incidentally was one of many in the city. Once he was out of the exit wing, there would be people everywhere and he could tell them all about the conspiracy.
Rodens felt betrayed. He had always considered Hans a friend, and never thought Hans would betray him like this. All along Hans had known what was really happening. Hans knew the injustice being done to him. His right to vote and to have his vote count had been snuffed out. He had been violated by the government. But now those who tried to kill democracy in favor of their own views would be punished.
Rodens rounded the next turn, to see Jistap standing there. Two guards were on each side of him, four in all. "Rodens we need to talk. I can't let you-"
Jistap's words were broken off. Rodens screamed in rage, "You! You did this!" Rodens pulled back his hand, curled it into a fist, and with great speed it headed towards Jistap's face. Rodens punch never connected, two of the guards tackled him.
Rodens struggled furiously against his opponents, but they held him to the ground. "Let me go!" he demanded. "I'm a private citizen! You can't do this to me! I've committed no crime!"
Jistap stepped forward. "No one's going to do anything to you Rodens. None of your rights will be violated, I just want to talk."
"Like hell they won't be, they already have been. You violated my rights when you fixed that vote. By all the rules of democracy my proposition should have won!"
"What I had to do was most unfortunate, but you and your kind forced me to do it. I couldn't let the Icelers die."
"Damn you man, who's more important? You were elected president of The Watchers, not the Icelers. Your first and foremost responsibility is to protect us, and you've destroyed us."
"I assure you Rodens, no permanent damage will be done to our democracy. Once the Icelers are safe, I and my compatriots will turn ourselves in."
Rodens, who had been dormant for some time now, tried once again to free himself, but to no avail. "Don't you see, the damage will already be done. For the first time in our history, you will have bended the will of the people for your own use. Your only opening the door for others to follow in the footsteps. You'll destroy us." Rodens said his last sentence desperately, hoping he could somehow convince Jistap.
"Rodens, I don't want to do this, but I'll do whatever it takes to save lives. You can either shut up about this or you can be locked up."
"You can't do that to me. I'm a private citizen."
"After what I've already done, do you think that's going to stop me?"
"If I figured it out, others will too. You can't imprison us all."
Jistap leaned forward until his face was inches away from Rodens'. For the first time in their conversation his expression became menacing. "Watch me."
Rodens spit in his face. "I'll never, never help you. If your cause was just, you wouldn't need to use dishonesty and trickery to accomplish it."
"It's easy to say that when your only looking out for yourself. When the only life you care about is your own, then you can say that. But we only had six and a half days to save the Icelers. Right now their are only two days left. We didn't have time to do much, and even less time to think. Looking out for yourself is always easy. It's looking out for others that's hard."
This short speech obviously had no effect on Rodens. His face became angrier then ever. "Go to hell, and take your self-righteousness with you. If you want to help others, then look at what your doing to me."
Jistap nodded to his four guards. "Take him away." He looked at Rodens compassionately. "You'll be released once this is all over."
As he was being dragged away, Rodens screamed back, "and Deka help you when I am!"

Rodens was taken by the super elevator to what was identified as location three. He found it to be a secret prison. No one was there except-
"Hans," stammered Rodens, "what are you doing here?" After he had recovered from his initial shock, he asked, "if time is so short, why aren't you leading that ambassador mission."
"There aren't that many of us, Rodens. I was the only one Jistap could reach whom he knew was alone."
"And why did he know you were alone? Because you warned him about me you fucking traitor. Hans, I was shocked when you betrayed me about the vote, but I'd never thought you'd do this to me."
Hans nodded to the guards, who threw Rodens into a cell. An energy field immediately materialized, trapping Rodens inside.
"Hans, I'm your friend. Don't do this to me. Hans, you can't do this to me."
"I'm sorry Rodens. You leave me no choice."
As Hans walked into the super elevator, Rodens said quietly, in a barely audible tone, "not you too Hans. Not you too."

Dishon Chapter 8

2004-12-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
"You were right," said Tomaz. "Marram isn't sending all her forces."
"Excellent. How many men is Azom sending?" asked Perez.
"My scouts would estimate there forces to be at about five hundred sixty thousand soldiers all together. That's roughly one hundred thousand calvary, and the rest some sort of infantry. My scouts weren't able to get close enough to tell."
"Could you give me any idea of the species of the men?" Perez asked.
"No birds of any kind were seen, but it's likely they have some for scouting purposes." Perez nodded in agreement. "The calvary consists of about half Humans and horses, half Centaurs. As for the army, they're mainly human, about a quarter is made up by various other species, mostly large cats of some sort."
"Any crocodiles?"
Tomaz was a little taken back by this unusually question. "None were seen. It's unlikely that they would be present, since they are rather useless in battle unless they're in water."
"Your positive about the loyalty of your scouts?"
"Sure I am, why do you ask?"
"Just keep on eye on that, I've had negative experiences when the opposite was true."
Dosut stepped forward. "Marram may not have sent all her troops, but that doesn't mean we're safe by any means."
"How many men do we have?" asked Perez.
"Well, we made a rather ruthless draft, and we ended up with about four hundred thousand men. About two hundred thousand of these men have only been in training for three months."
"And what species is your army composed of?"
"It's all over the board. There's no one species that is the majority."
"I see, but it still helps me in planning my strategy if I know the number of each species as close as possible."
Dosut nodded. "I'll have a complete list for you by tomorrow."
"Thank you, that will help me greatly. How long before Marram's forces reach Dishon's border?"
"Not long at all," Tomaz replied as he flew onto the table. "They've had their troops in position for quiet some time now, so they should reach our border in a week, probably less."
Perez rubbed his chin thoughtfully, contemplating this new knowledge. After a moment, he spoke, "Then we need to act quickly. I think it would be best if we fought the first few battles on Marramian soil. It will give them the advantage of knowing the terrain, but save our land from much of the horrors of war, if for only a little while."
"The army can be ready to move tomorrow, if you want," Dosut said.
"Not tomorrow, tonight, and I'll need that list of species by this afternoon."
"In that case, I'll have to get started now."
Recab, who had been only spectating the conversation up to this point, was feeling no need to use unnecessary words. With a wave of his hand he dismissed Dosut. Dosut walked to the door, opened it, and was about to leave when he suddenly turned around. "Oh yes, there's one item I need to discuss with you before I leave."
Recab turned to face Dosut. "We're listening."
"Ishod confessed to me this morning that, in a moment of weakness, he allowed Tomaz to tell him about Perez."
Tomaz looked sheepishly at the glaring Recab. "I couldn't help it. He forced it out of me."
Recab rose from his chair. "That's no excuse. Tomaz, which part of the words 'government secret' don't you understand?" Tomaz remained silent, looking at the ground and pretending to be ashamed. Recab sighed. "How many other people did you tell?"
"None."
Recab looked at Dosut, who answered, "Nolli, Gotaz, and Mazus."
"I might have known. Tomaz, for the rest of your life, you are to pay one hundred valorts a month to Dishon's treasury in addition to your regular taxes."
Tomaz' lower beak dropped wide open. "One hundred valorts?!"
"You think the punishment is unfair?"
Tomaz could tell from the tone of Recab's voice it would be best not to argue this one. "No," he said dejectedly.
"Good." Recab opened the door of the room. "Tish" he called out. Tish came running from down the hallway, and arrived out of breath.
"Yes sir?"
"Have Ishod, Gotaz, Mazus, and Nolli brought here at once." Tish bowed and left. Recab turned to face Dosut. "As long as they already know, they can assist us in watching Perez. Make sure no one see's him who would recognize him, and make sure no harm comes to him."
"You mean be his bodyguards?"
"Yeah, something like that. What do you think?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Dosut agreed. "Of course we'll have to take certain precautions. Nolli has a reputation for becoming drunk. We can't let him do that with such an important secret on his tongue."
"Yes, yes, not a drop of alcohol for any of the four until this whole thing is over."
"Nolli isn't going to like that," peeped Tomaz cautiously, hopping the anger against him had subsided. "It may be a long time before all of this is over."
"No, it won't, and that's what I'm afraid of. Marram will conquer us in a month."
"Dosut lets not be pessimistic. As my second in command, you should be stirring up enthusiasm for the upcoming conflict."
Dosut shook his head. "Who are we kidding? We may be able to hold out against Marram a little bit longer with Perez' help, but they'll get us in the end."
Recab opened his mouth to reply, but could think of nothing. "There's always hope," he said weakly.
Dosut could see that his point had been made, and felt no need to drive it further. It was Perez who responded. "Let us not forget, gentlemen, that a war fought for the side of justice and goodness is won before it even begins."
"You can win your little war on any level you want, but the only level that's going to matter is the physical," Dosut retorted almost mockingly.
"Don't be to sure, Dosut. Winning a moral battle is more important then winning a physical one."
"Will see if you still feel that way when Marramian steel is in your chest."
"I've faced physical injury before." Perez gestured towards his wounds. "They have set me back, but a moral injury can destroy me."
"So can a physical one if it's strong enough."
Perez shook his head. "My body is disposable. Whatever happens to it does not affect the real me."
As Dosut voiced his response, Recab looked down the hallway, and wondered how much longer he would have to wait for the men.

Ishod, Nolli, Gotaz, and Mazus all filed solemnly into the room. Tish closed the door behind them and left. Dosut, having left to prepare his men, was absent, but Recab, Tomaz, and Perez were still in the room. Recab looked sternly at the men, while Tomaz tried to avoid eye contact.
"I understand you men have willfully betrayed your country and your king by listening top secret information." Ishod looked down at the floor in shame, as did Nolli. Gotaz stared straight ahead, looking very unconcerned about what was happening. Mazus looked terrified, and kept his eyes on the door. Recab continued, "your punishment is to be the personal aids and protectors of Perez. You are not to mention anything about this to anyone else, or your punishment shall be severely harshened. Furthermore, it will be necessary for you to spend much of the coming months, possibly longer, in isolation. Also, from now until you are told otherwise, no alcohol in any form is to touch your lips." Recab resisted the urge to laugh when he saw Nolli's expression drop. "Do I make myself clear?" The four nodded in agreement. "Good, then start right now. Perez, instruct them."
Perez lead the three away saying, "the first thing you need to know about-." His voice was cut off by the shutting of the door.

The cold rain came down in torrents. The wind blew it against the tents, whose insulation proved to be insufficient. Men tried to sleep in them, grumbling about how they would be just as dry outside. Miniature lakes where formed on the ground, that were often over knee deep.
A man stood against the rain by the outskirts of the camp. His clothes were soaked, and the cloak he had taken with him was discarded on the ground, having failed to provide enough warmth. He cursed the precipitation loudly, but the wind carried his words away. Off in the distance, he saw something moving, and wondered if it was his contact. As the figure grew closer, he saw it was a human mounted on a horse. Soon, the figure was but a few meters away. He dismounted his horse, who stood obediently where it was left. Then, the figure slowly and deliberately walked towards the man.
"Are you my barber?"
"I am he. Are you the farmer?"
"I am." The passwords having been successfully uttered by both men, they approached each other.
"If this is a trick-"
"Its no trick friend, I can assure you of that. I hold victory in my hands."
"The mighty Polad does not need your help. Victory is already in his hands."
"If he doesn't want my help, he doesn't have to take it."
The other drew his sword and held it menacingly. "Do not play games with me. If you give me your assistance, I can promise you a reward. If not, you will die like the rest of your swine."
A package was exchanged between the two. "You have my help. In that package, you will find all of Miktesh' plans. I'll update you frequently."
"If this package is wrong, you can be assured of special treatment once Miktesh is conquered."
"I believe you will find those plans more then satisfactory."
"I hope so, for your sake." The man walked off with the package, and mounted his horse. "I'll be in touch!" he shouted out loudly, but his words were barely audible to the other.
As he rode away, his informant trudged back to camp. His authority allowed him the privilege of leaving camp, and he would have no trouble getting past the guards.
He approached a guard. "It's me," he said, coming close so the guard could see him since his torch was long ago extinguished. "I've come-"
His words were suddenly and abruptly cut off, as his face was transformed into a mixture of pain and horror. He looked down to see the handle of a sword sticking out of his stomach, and tried to scream, but could not muster the strength. The sword was withdrawn by the guard, and came down again on his neck. He fell to the ground, and did not move. The guard discarded his fake uniform, and walked away from the camp.

The Watchers Chapter 5

2004-12-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Hans stepped out of the city, followed by his ambassadors. Hans was wearing a light coat, and thin gloves. The Coler mountains had lost their bite, and were only mildly cold. In some places, where the sun shone hot and bright, the snow was already melting. In his hand, Hans held a small computer, that was pointing the way to the Iceler villiage. Hans followed the computer, and his ambassadors followed him.
Hans lead them for about a half a mile trek through the snow. After climbing a large hill, the group came upon the Iceler community. The sight was anything but a hopeful one. Many of the Iceler homes had collasped in the heat. Some of the Icelers themselves lay sprawled out on the ground, appearently suffering from the temperature. As soon as the Icelers saw Hans and his group, they reacted with fear, some running away, others preparing to fight. It was obvious they had never seen Humans before.
Hans, in preperation for this meeting, had previously programed several Iceler phrases into his computer. He recalled on of them onto the screen and read it. In Iceler it said, "Do not be afraid. We are on a mission of peace. We are here to help you." The Icelers calmed down. Many of them stopped running, and their shouting was decreased to a great degree. Hans recalled another phrase and read it. "It is hot isn't it?" He expected a response, but upon recieving none from the spellbound Icelers, he continued reading. "I am here to help. These mountains are heating up. Soon you will die. My people want to transport you to a place where it is cold, like this place used to be." When Hans had prepared his little speech, he was sure he would recieve a response at this point, but the Icelers wonder kept them from finding words, so Hans kept reading. "We have come to talk to you. We don't know your language well, so please forgive our inability to speak smoothly. If you wish, we will transport you to safety." An akward silence followed. Hans waved his hand as a signal to the ambassadors, who integrated themselves among the Icelers and began talking to them.
After fifteen minutes or so of this, Hans was approached by one of the Icelers, appearently the leader. He spoke to Hans, and the computer translated it. Hans read the screen, "you can help us?"
Hans responded, "yes", a word that had stayed the same in both languages.
Again the Iceler spoke, and his words were translated. "My people are dying. You must get them to a colder climate quickly."
In very poor Iceler, "you can count on us." The two men shook hands.

Little time was wasted on diplomatics, with the temperature raising rapidly. The Icelers were loaded into ships built by the executer. These ships were speciffically built to hold a large number of Icelers, and were kept at negative fifty degrees, except for the pilots cockpit. Once the destination was programmed into these ships, they practically flew themselve, but two pilots came along just in case. To avoid being seen by the rest of the planet, these ships flew high above the clouds, but unfortunately there were many creatures on Fabulae who could also fly that high.
Five ships were all the executer had to build since each was very big. Little time was wasted getting the Icelers aboard. Hans himself piloted one of the ships. The speed of the ships was such that the journey took only an hour.

In what seemed all to soon a time, Hans was saying good bye to the Iceler leader. In the short time they were together, the two had learned enough about eachothers langauge to be able to communicate somewhat smoothly.
"I must thank your people again," the leader said.
Hans smiled. "I'm just glad we could help. I think you'll be happy in your new enviroment."
"Yes, I think we will be. I wish our two species could live in the same enviroment. I really enjoyed getting to know you."
Hans turned a little red at the compliment. "I'll be back often to see you. I can always wear warm clothes."
The leader returned Hans smile. "Until then, take this to remember my people by." He handed Hans a piece of soft rock, a kind Hans had never seen before. It had been molded into a human figure. "We told stories and made pictures of your kind, but we didn't think you actually existed" explained the leader.
Hans gave the leader his scarf. "You can take this to remember me by."
The two stood in silence for a couple minutes, gazing out at the beautiful white ground which stretched out forever. Then the leader spoke. "My name is Mora. What is yours?"
"I am Hans."
In the distance, a voice called out. "Hans, lets get out of here. I'm freezing my ass off."
Hans turned to Mora. "Goodbye, and goodluck."
Mora waved. "May we met agian soon Hans."
"But next time, under calmer circumstances." Hans took one more look at the enviroment, then slowly walked off.

Rodens sat in his prison cell, fuming. He had been in there a day and a half now. In that time he knew all the Icelers had been exacuated. The damage was done now, irrepairably. Even if Jistap, Hans, and the others were tried and convicted, sentenced to the highest Watcher penalty, then-
Rodens stopped himself. Thats assuming he ever got out of this prison. Jistap had promised him his freedom once the Icelers were safe, but how reliably was Jistap? His word was worthless. If he didn't blink an eyelash at decieving the whole city, why should he care about decieving one man. Rodens thoughts raced on. If Jistap was evil enough to destroy the democracy, he was surely capable of keeping him in prison for, Rodens swallowed, forever. Of course, it made perfect sense now. Why in the world would Jistap want him to be freed. It would only mean his fall from power, and facing criminal charges.
"No!" Rodens screamed aloud and pounded the cell wall. That must not happen. Jistap must not get away with his crimes. Somehow, someway, Rodens realized he must free himself. When he did, he would make sure Jistap was killed. Jistap and all the others. Jistap and-
Again, Rodens stopped himself. Kill Hans too? Why would Hans turn against him? Hans was his friend, one of his best friends. He knew Hans wanted to save the Icelers, but badly enough too betray his friend? No, of course not. Jistap must have corrupted him. Jistap would pay. Oh, how he would make Jistap pay.
But how? How could he hurt Jistap the most. How could he destroy him. Taking his life wasn't enough. Besides, Rodens thought, Jistap may be evil but he is still a Watcher. He couldn't take a fellow Watchers life.
Then, as if struck by lightening, and idea hit Rodens. He smiled with his newfound knowledge. If he killed all the Icelers, that would destroy everything Jistap had worked for. It would shame Hans back to normacly. If Hans could only see, his destruction of the Democracy wasn't for a higher cause. It was useless, totally useless. The Icelers would die anyway, and Jistap will have dishonered himself for nothing. Rodens laughed bitterly. Once Hans saw how useless this was, he would be knocked back to his sensess.
Rodens stopped laughing. He still had no way out of his prison. His mind raced through possibilitys. He couldn't jump the jailgaurd when he came into feed him, because all his food was replicated in the jail cell. Furthermore, the computer had been instructed to only replicate food, and Rodens had found himself unable to convince it to do otherwise. There was also a toliet in the jail cell, so that the door was rarely opened. Rodens thought about faking sickness to get the doors open, but he could be scanned from a distance to prove he was in perfect health.
Or was he? Rodens thought about a self inflicted injury. Then when the door was opened, he could escape. Even Jistap, he reasoned, wouldn't let a fellow Watcher die. "Executer," Rodens called out, "replicate Swavanka please." The Nathorian delicacy appeared before him, complete with a knife to cut it. Swavanka, famous for its toughness, came with a very sharp knife. Rodens grabbed the knife and clenched his teeth against the pain.

Of the thirteen people in league with Jistap, there was always a time when one of them was watching Rodens. Right now, it was Pericula's turn. While she sat in her home, she exercised, read a little of her book, and wrote a letter to her father, all while having Rodens displayed on a monitor, which she glanced up at every once and a while. As she was eating dinner, it was pure coiencidenc that she happened to look up at the monitor just as Rodens grabbed the knife. There was something about the way he held it that made Pericula nervous. He looked at the knife with an almost insane gleam in his eyes. Pericula's dinner dropped out of her hand in surprise when she saw him cut his wrist with the knife. Rodens grimmaced in pain, and held his injured hand for a moment as he figeted in discomfort. Then, as soon as he was able to regain his composure, he cut the other one.
"Computer," she called out. "Is Jistap alone?"
"Jistap is at a public ceremony."
"Is Bakes alone then?"
"Bakes is alone."
"Let me speak with him."
Soon afterwards, Bakes' voice inflatrated the room. "Bakes here, can I help you?"
"This is Pericula. I was watching Rodens on the monitor, and he just cut both his wrists with a knife."
"He What?!"
Pericula glanced up at the monitor. "He just cut his chest. He's cutting himself all over."
"Deka! What the hell is he doing that for?"
"I don't know."
A moment of silence followed, before Bakes responded, "that son of a bitch, he's trying to break out. When we come to try and help him, he'll try and get away."
"What should I do sir."
"Don't move. I'll get back to you. Executer, terminate connection." Pericula looked at the monitor again. Rodens had now slashed most of his body. With the exception of his wrists, none of the slashes were very deep. She concluded that he must be saving his strength for a breakour.
"Incoming message."
"Put it through. Bakes, is that you?"
"Yes, I've got Rodens on my monitor now. That crazy bastard is cut all over his body. I just checked the location of the other eleven of us. Everyone is involved some way or another with rescuing the Icelers, or at the ceremony celebrating their rescue. I, myself, am expected to speak at that ceremony in ten minutes. Your on your own."
"What do I do?"
"Replicate a weapon along with appropriate medical supplies. While you attend to his injuries, keep the weapon pointed at him at all times. In the meantime, I'll just reprogram his replicator from here so that it doesn't replicate utensils. If I'm a couple minutes late to the ceremony, who cares."
"Yes sir."
"Pericula, keep an eye on Rodens all the time. For Deka's sake, stay safe. We're counting on you."
"Yes sir."
"I'll check things out as soon as I can break away from the ceremony. Until then. Executor, terminate connection."
Pericula looked on the monitor and saw Rodens' bloody corpse lying on the floor, face down, motionless. She shivered with fear.

Dishon Chapter 9

2004-12-27T21:45:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
The night had not been a pleasant one for Jot. To start out with, there was the infernal rain, the unending rain that had soaked his tent, and him as well. The water inside his tent rose slight above his paws. Sleeping in it was miserable, but things would only get worse. In the middle of the night he was awakened by a frantic soldier. After the man had calmed down enough to be understood, Jot learned that he was assigned to guard duty that night. Well he was at his post, he was assaulted, beaten, tied up, and his uniform taken. He had struggled to free himself from the ropes that bound for at least an hour, then ran back to his post to find a dead man lying on the ground. Jot slowly got to his feet, muttering a few curses. When the soldier blurted out that, though he wasn't completely sure, he thought the murdered was an important figure, Jot jerked to attention. The news was not pleasant under any circumstance, but its loathsome nature was compounded by the fact that Jot was in charge of the camps security.
Jot bolted out of his tent, his body looking anything but the powerful looking wolf it usually did, but now like a miserable wet wolf, a form that aptly fitted its owner. Jot raced through the camp, with the soldier two steps behind him, yelling out directions. Soon, he was at the body, a human male. He gently rolled it over with his head, to reveal a wound in both the stomach and the neck. It looked like the victim had bled to death from these injuries. Next, Jot looked at the bloodstained, but still recognizable face of Jole.

"What? Are you sure?"
"I checked the camp. He is no where to be found. His tent mate, Kile, says he left during the middle of the night to walk around because he couldn't sleep. It's him all right."
"Well keep going, what else did you find?"
Jot nodded to a soldier standing next to him. The soldier took a cloak out of a sack and displayed it for Miktesh. "Kile was able to identify this as Jole's cloak. We found it several meters outside the camp."
"Any blood on it?"
Jot shook his head. "None, he must have taken it off before he was cut."
"That's ridiculous. Why would anyone take off their cloak when it was raining like it was last night?"
"We don't know. We're also trying to figure out what he was doing outside of the camp in the first place. I assume he didn't have your permission."
"Your quiet correct, but the guards don't know that. Who let him through?"
"No one has admitted to it."
Miktesh looked down at the ground in thought. "Have you considered that his cloak might have fallen off in his struggle with the assassin, and then have been planted outside camp?"
"We haven't ruled anything out yet. It's possible."
"All right, keep me informed. Anything else?"
"As a matter of fact there is. The stolen uniform was found discarded next to the body. But more importantly, Kile claims Jole left with a package of papers. He didn't tell what they were for, and Kile says he was to tired to ask. The package has not been found."
"You think someone killed him to get the papers?"
"Like I said, we haven't ruled anything out. However, based on the evidence we might do well to seriously consider the possibility that Jole was a traitor. He used his authority to get out of camp without orders, gave away a package of our plans to a contact person waiting for him, and then was killed by the enemy as a cover up."
"That sounds a little far-fetched, but certainly not impossible. In any case, I'd better draw up new plans just in case. Send Kile and Kirtten to may tent, and have them bring a new military advisor with them." Miktesh turned around, and walked toward his tent.

Miktesh looked out his tent once more. "Why isn't he here?"
Kile shifted uncomfortably. "I was quite clear to come hear at once. I don't know what's keeping him."
"Well it's to late now. The plans are already drawn up. If you see him, tell him to report to me at once. He's got a lot of explaining to do."
Kile nodded as he and Kirtten exited the tent. Miktesh sat down on the edge of his bed to go over the plans one more time. Feeling a little tired, he soon decided to review the plans lying down instead. Before long, Miktesh had fallen fast asleep.

"Sir?"
Miktesh turned over in his sleep.
"Sir?" The voice came again, slightly louder. Miktesh gradually became aware that he had fallen asleep. He slowly arose from his bed, his face showed that he had not yet fully awoken. He looked at the soldier obediently standing by the bed.
"Perez?" Miktesh' face suddenly became one of great surprise. "Perez it's you!"
"I'm afraid I-"
"Nonsense Perez, already forgotten. I always knew you'd come back to my side. I've certainly proved my responsibility, haven't I?"
"You don't understand, I'm not-"
"Where were you? You practically disappeared after we parted company two months ago. I thought for sure Polad had killed you." Miktesh opened the door to his tent. Light flooded in. As the face of the soldier became illuminated, it became apparent that he was not Perez. Miktesh stood by the door for a long time, stunned by his disappointment.
"I am sorry I'm not who you thought I was," said the soldier after sometime.
"Your eyes, there, there-"
"I am a Nathorite, like Perez." The soldier blinked his completely black eyes.
Miktesh studied the soldier closely. "You must be related to Perez. You look-"
"I assure you, the similarity is only because we are of the same race."
"No, no it has to be more then that. Your voice is too similar. Your dark black hair is exactly the same as Perez. You even wear it down to your shoulders like he does. Your face looks like a younger version of his. Even your height is about the same as his, one point eight meters. Are you his son?"
The soldier took a deep breath and sighed. "Very well, I shall tell you the truth. Perez was my father."
"All these years I've known him, and he never told me he had a son."
"If I know my father, he didn't tell you much about his past life at all."
Miktesh face conveyed his complete agreement. "Yes, yes that's absolutely right. Why is that?"
"It's very painful for him to talk about. His past, our past, has not been a pleasant one."
Miktesh nodded in sympathy. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
The young Nathorite sat down. "It's okay. You might as well understand why I my father has acted the way he has toward me. Your undoubtably curious as to why I remain a lowly soldier, while my father was one of the most powerful men in the kingdom." Miktesh nodded.
"Sir, I don't know how familiar you are with Nathorite history, but to understand what happened, I need to take you back about five hundred years. Up until that point, Nathorites had been working rather well with the other races. They had assimilated totally with the humans, almost to the point of intermarriage. In fact, a number of our people did marry humans, or other beings similar to ourselves. Zadka changed all that. Convinced he had spoken to Deka, and that Deka had commanded him to kill all the Nathorites, he began his campaign. Unfortunately, too many humans agreed with him. Many kings agreed with him, and followed Zadka's agenda. Nathorites were rounded up and slaughtered. We tried to fight back, but we were too scattered and too different to organize."
"One nation wouldn't allow that," Miktesh interjected. "Calet fought to help the Nathorites."
"You are getting ahead of me sir, but yes, the empire of Calet fought against the nations, called the Zadka League. The king of Calet, Perez, demonstrated his moral integrity by refusing to allow this genocide. Calet was not as strong as it once was even then, but it was still able to defeat the Zadka League."
"Kiltur, a Nathorite, demanded that this never happen again. He warned there would not always be Perezes to protect them from Zadkas. He demanded that Nathorites be given there own country, where the people would talk the same language, have the same culture, and have an army to defend themselves against attack. It just so happened that Calet was at that time fighting the kingdom of Roch, to its North. Kiltur made a deal with Perez, the Nathorites would help him conquer Roch, but then they got the land. Perez agreed, and when the kingdom of Roch was defeated, it became the kingdom of Nathor, the first and only exclusively Nathorite nation in known history."
"Unfortunately, as is often the case with this sort of nation, the haste in which it was established showed in its weak economy, its weak government, and its weak law enforcement. Its military remained strong for quite some time, mostly because all the original colonists had been soldiers, but that to became weak in time. Nathor quickly slid into chaos, a land filled with cruel dictators, ambitious assassins, ruthless criminals, and pointless civil wars. Now about two hundred years have passed since I began my story."
Miktesh nodded, fascinated since he had never bothered to look into much history besides that of Calet. The soldier took a deep breath and continued. "Two hundred fifty years later, my father was born. Conditions had improved insignificantly, if at all, by that time. My father was born to Derkstra, through his consort. Derkstra, a minor official of one of many warring dictators, was convinced the man he was supporting would eventually gain control of all of Nathor. Derkstra was dead wrong. When someone else, a man named Quintel, conquered his opponents to obtain absolute rule, Derkstra was one of hundreds executed. My father would have been killed himself, had not Polt interceded for his life. Polt was Derkstra's brother, who had chosen his allegiance a little bit more wisely then his deceased relative. In fact, Polt had been one of Quintel's top men. Quintel granted my father his life, but little more. My father was made to work as a slave in Quintel's palace. His name was changed to Gorgach, an idiot from Nathorite literature. Today, no one living knows what his real name was, including my father himself, who was an infant when all this occurred."
"My father grew up with every one hating him. As a slave, he soon learned that he didn't get enough to eat unless he stole from other slaves. When he was little, other slaves would steal from him, and he would have to steal from the kitchen to survive. If he was caught, it would have been instant death, but fortunately he was not. When he grew older, however, he found he was one of the strongest slaves there. He caused many to starve to death by his stealing, and in general was a brute. His barbarism even went as far as to rape several of the female slaves, which is how I was conceived."
Miktesh, who had been looking at his hands, shocked by this new information on his old friend, noticed a long pause in the story. He looked up to see the reason, and saw that the soldier was crying. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said, in a soothing tone.
"No sir, you should know what happened if you want to understand my father."

The Watchers Chapter 6

2004-12-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Rodens lay in a small pool of his own blood. His head was turned toward the wall, making it so Pericula could not see his face. His hands lay sprawled out slightly beyond his head. He was completely motionless.
Pericula removed a small object from her waist, pistol like in configuration. It was called a burner, because it shot forth an energy beam that caused severe burns on its target. She aimed the burner at Rodens. "Rodens, you even try to move and I'll boil your blood so that you could make a hot spring jealous." To late, Pericula realized the futility of her threat. Someone who was willing to cut themselves into subconscious probably didn't care about being burned. Her hand turned down the knob that controlled the energy barrier at the cell's entrance. The energy went to zero.
Pericula looked at Rodens. He was still motionless. Ever so carefully, she approached him, keeping the burned aimed at him all the time. She knelt down and gently touched his shoulder, her nerves wound so tight she felt they could snap any moment. Her hand leaped away the first time it touched his body, but when he did not move, she slowly lowered her hand again. Again she pulled it back rapidly as soon as it had contacted his shoulder, but when he still did not move, she felt safe enough to grab hold of him. As she turned him over, she felt the sticky warmth of his blood against her hands. His front side was a mess of cuts with a mix of dried and partially dried blood. Pericula removed a round object, what we would equate as about the size of a baseball. She placed it above his body, and stepped back. The ball turned from its black color to a bright red and made a soft humming sound as it hovered above him. The blood on Rodens body disappeared, and the cuts were healed. The ball turned back to its original black color and the humming sound ceased. Rodens body looked perfectly healthy. Even the blood around him had been absorbed by the ball, which still hovered above him.
As Pericula came to retrieve the ball, Rodens foot flashed out and hit her in the stomach before she could fire the burner. Pericula recovered from the blow almost instantly, but that was all the time Rodens needed to get to his feet. Pericula's finger touched the fire button on the burner just a fraction of a second after Rodens' hand grabbed her wrist, and jerked it away from its position, aimed towards him. The blast hit the wall harmlessly. Pericula's right fist hit Rodens face, sending him stumbling backwards. When he recovered his balance he saw the burner aimed right at him. He moved quickly, lunging for Pericula, but was not quick enough to avoid her aim. His right shoulder was hit by the burner. The smell of charred flesh filled the air. As he collided with Pericula, he found his entire right arm to be useless in the struggle. They both fell to the floor from the collision, Rodens landing on top of Pericula. With his left hand, Rodens grabbed the burner, and tried to wrestle it out of Pericula's right hand. Pericula's other hand struck Rodens face, and proceeded to push his head as far away as she could. Rodens was able to twist Pericula's arm until she was forced to drop the weapon. No sooner had the burner left her hand, then Pericula's knee came up swiftly, making contact with Roden's stomach. As Rodens face showed his pain, Pericula's right fist landed on his jaw. His head jerked back, and she hit him again. He fell off her. Immediately she rolled over to her stomach and reached for the burner. It was out of her grasp. She was about crawl towards it Rodens leaped on her back, holding her from advancing. She strained to reach the burner, but he back her hand. They grappled for a moment, each trying to reach the burner while holding the other one back, but Pericula clearly had the advantage, having the use of one more arm. Rodens concluded she would inevitably be the one to reach the weapon, so he decided to gain the advantage by being the first one on his feet. While Pericula grabbed the burner, he jumped to an upright position. As she turned to fire at him, he kicked the device out of her hand. He then repeatedly kicked her. Before she could counterattack he had leaped away and was running for the burner. She saw the danger of the situation at once, and ran after him. Rodens reached the burner first and turned around to fire the weapon. In his haste he paid no heed to Pericula's safety, and the blast hit her in the face.
Rodens sighed with relief, and turned to look at the injury. His shoulder was completely black and charred, yet he felt no pain. He reasoned his nerves must have been burned out. He grabbed the ball from the place where it had remained hovering, and waited as it healed his wound. After the ball had stopped moving, he rotated his right arm. His shoulder felt perfectly normal. Rodens then placed the ball above Pericula, and as he heard it humming he exited the cell and turned the forcefield back on. Holding the burner ready, he raced down the hall.

Hans had returned to be welcomed as a hero by some, and scorned by others. There was no debate however, he was the man of the hour. His leadership had allowed the mission to operate smoothly and successfully. All the Icelers had been evacuated, and the ships had taken great care not to be seen by any other life forms. Since the Coler Mountains were inhabited only by the Icelers, no one saw the ships take of from the hangers hidden beneath the mountain, and only those that could fly saw the ships flying above the clouds. Most controversial was the fact that The Watchers had told their secret to the Icelers, but the Icelers had promised to keep their secret.
Hans feet had hardly touched the ground of his city, when he was whisked to the ceremony. He was asked to give an impromptu speech, at which he did his best. Then he had to shake what seemed like thousands of hands, before being given a medal of service by Jistap. Immediately after the ceremony, Hans had stayed to receive the congratulations of many.
Hans had arrived back at his house exhausted. He knew he should try and get to sleep, but he was to excited. He had never received as much recognition in his life as he had at the ceremony. More then half the city must have been there to cheer him. Hans decided to try and relax by viewing what can be described as The Watcher equivalent of television. As Hans was watching the television, he heard the familiar voice of the Executor. "Incoming message."
"Put it through. This is Hans, can I help you?"
"Hans, this is Jistap. We've got a problem. Go to location seven, I'll explain when you get there."

Bakes frantically leaned over his computer, calling out commands and pushing buttons. He had left the ceremony as early as he could and rushed to location number three. He had found Pericula, lying in the cell unconscious. Rodens was nowhere in sight. By having the Teacher show him the events that had happened only moments before, Bakes saw the struggle that had occurred between Pericula and Rodens, and he saw how Pericula had been defeated, but completely healed by the ball. Once he was sure she was completely healed, he gently woke her up. He then tried to track down Rodens movements.
The Teacher showed him that Rodens had ran down to the hanger bay. He had taken a ship and flown away. It was illegal for a Watcher to leave the city without permission from the government, but in the confusion of people and ships entering and leaving the city to save the Icelers, Rodens managed to sneak out quite easily. Taking a small one man craft he had headed off towards the North Pole, where the Icelers had been shipped. Bakes had tried to recall the ship from the city, but Rodens had disconnected the link between the ship and the city. Getting it back would be hard, if not impossible. If anybody could do it, Bakes knew it was him and he worked all the harder.
Bakes tried to tune out Jistap. In the same room, Jistap was explaining to the other eleven what the situation was. "Bakes is working hard," said Jistap, as he continued his update. "But it looks like we won't be able to reestablish the link. It appears very likely that Rodens is out for blood, or maybe I should say water. We think he's going to kill the Icelers. We need a volunteer to get out there and stop him, ASAP. A ship has been made ready. Do we have any volunteers?"
Bakes almost raised his hand, thinking this was all his fault for sending Pericula into that cell alone, but he stopped. He knew he was needed here. Both Pericula's and Hans' hand shot up.
"Let me go," pleaded Pericula. "I was the one who let him out, let me be the one who tracks him down."
"No, let me go," Hans insisted. "Rodens is my friend. It was my bad acting that allowed him to discover the plot in the first place. Let me be the one stops him. He's still my friend, I'll be able to reason with him."
"He must be stopped, whatever the cost is. That is your first concern. You can reason with him later. Is that understood?" Hans nodded. "Good. Rodens has made his ship invisible to sensors. Do the same to your ship. He will not be able to find you, unless you communicate with the city. He would then be able to track down the origin of the communication to your ship. For that reason, we'll have to sever the link between the city and your ship. That means you won't be able to benefit from the images the satellite is sending. In other words, you'll have no idea where Rodens is, and be left to your own wits to track him down. Fortunately he'll be in the same position. We'll monitor your progress, and if you get in trouble we'll help you out, but other then that your on your own."
"I understand."
"Excellent. Hans, come with me. The rest of you are dismissed."
The other ten got up and left, while Hans went over to talk to Jistap. "Before I leave, there's just one problem we have to settle. Our mission has been accomplished, all the Icelers are at the north pole. It's time to turn ourselves in."
"I believe the conditions were once all of the Icelers were safe, and as you can see, they are in great danger." Jistap noticed the concerned look on Hans face. "Don't worry. I promise, once this whole thing is over, we'll turn ourselves in. Until then, we've got lives to save."

Hans had immediatly taken the super elevator to the hanger. The ship was ready and waiting, and Hans was helped into the cockpit by a couple of mechanics, who weren't quite sure what was going on. The ship was identical to the one Rodens had taken off in. It was short and sleek, less then seven meters long, four meters wide, and barely high enough for Hans to stand up. It's interior consisted of everything Hans would need to stay alive for however long this adventure took him, a synthesizer, a bed, and a computer. It could be adjusted to any temperature Hans wanted, and used a fuel supply that would recharge automatically, and allowed the ship to fly for twelve hours straight without recharging. As soon as Hans was in the cockpit, the hanger bay doors opened and Hans took off, flying at maximum speed. Hans glanced at the instruments, and realized with dread that it would take him an hour even at this speed to reach the north pole. Rodens already had a hour and a half head start on him. Hans looked at a box in near the back of the craft, filled with weapons of all kinds. He felt sick as it dawned on him that Rodens had the same box in his ship, plus each ship had the massive laser cannons mounted on it. If Rodens truly was intent on destroying the Icelers, he had the potential to do great damage. One shot with a burner could melt the whole Iceler. Hans quivered as he imagined the horror in store for the Icelers.

Dishon Chapter 10

2004-12-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
The soldier dried his tears, and continued his story. "It was at this time that an invasion took place from the country of Marram. Full scale war was evident. Every army Nathor sent suffered heavy causalities. Very soon, it became excruciatingly clear that Nathor had no able men to spare, not even the kings slaves. My father was forced into the army, and it is here that his healing began. Although the army of a losing nation is not exactly the best place to create a well adjusted person, it was a tremendous improvement from his previous lifestyle. In the army, he had enough food, and he no longer needed to steal. He had friends for the first time in his life, people who cared about him. He received discipline and order in his life, which after the initial shock he adjusted to quite well. He found he liked the soldiers life, and he put his enthusiasm into his work. He was distinguished on the battle field several times, and received several awards for his bravery. In three years time, he had become a minor officer. It was at this time that he was called into help plan the strategy. He was, as a minor officer, supposed to just sit and listen at the meetings. He had a hard time doing that, and one meeting he was unable to contain himself. He made a suggestion that astounded the leaders, clearly showing he had a genius for strategy above any of the other officers, minor or major. Since that time, his opinion was asked at every meeting, and each time he had a suggestion to make which would amaze all of his comrades. It wasn't long before he himself was solely drawing up the plans. You sir, have seen his work many times I trust, and you know the complexity of his designs. Although they were not quite as good as they are now, they were very similar. His promotions came like rain from that point on, for he seemed to have a golden touch. Every thing he was put in charge of flourished like never before. Two years later, Marram was beaten back to its own land, and my father was the head of Nathor's military.
"His position was one of the top ten most powerful in Nathor, so when it was discovered he had never had an education, he was put to work, studying day and night. By this time he was twenty five years old, and it was decided that he was too old to ever receive a complete education, yet Quintel wanted to invest his gifts, so my father studied strategy all the time from that point on, by order of the king. Before he could read the memoirs of famous generals, however, my father first had to learn to read.
"Learning to read represented a new field for him. Sitting down and quietly looking at letters printed on paper was alien to his previous barbaric lifestyle, but it was a change he had to make. He was challenged now like never before in academics, and it helped bring out a new man in him. He was still an immoral man, but now he was an educated immoral man, thoughtful, and reasoning. Once reading was conquered, he had to learn proper manners for the kings court, a far cry from his lifestyle as a soldier. His vocabulary had to be cleansed of vulgar words. His personal hygiene, which had been previously non existent, was now rigorously kept. His name needed to be changed too. After studying Nathorite history, my father choose to name himself after Perez, claiming he would someday become twice as famous as his namesake, with his miraculous gifts. There are many things I could say about his new palace life, but they can all be summed up in this: He became a gentleman on the outside, but retained his barbarism on the inside.
"I, meanwhile, had been born a slave like my father. As I have already said, my mother, Titaba, was a slave raped by Perez. I was born shortly before the war with Marram began, and named Drusus by my mother. My mother did not want a child, but had no choice. Fortunately, she was kind to me, and did not focus her anger on my infant body. From the day of my birth, I heard nothing but bad things about Perez from my mother, most of them true. In no time at all I had a view of him as the most evil creature ever to walk Fabulae. Fortunately, I did not suffer the same fate my father did, I had someone who cared for me. My mother made sure I always had enough food. I never had to steal anything. By her hand I was protected from all manner of bullies.
"Even as a small boy, I still looked amazingly similar to my father. One day, when I was seven years old, I was asked who my father was by one of the nobles in the court, whose boots I was in the act of polishing. Thinking little of it, I replied truthfully. The noble gave me such a blow with his hand that my little body was forcefully knocked against a wall three meters away from my previous position. He cursed me for lying, saying no son of Perez would be a slave. If I was truly his son, I would be right now enjoying the luxuries of court life. His ignorance is excusable. Being a former slave is one of the biggest political stumbling blocks that exist, so Perez had used his power to stop the knowledge of his past from spreading. The noble probably assumed Perez had always lived in the kings favor.
"The noble loudly demanded a truthful answer. I was so frightened I couldn't think enough to lie. I just stuttered my original answer. After a futile attempt to extract the 'truth' from me, the noble gave up and ordered me flogged. He then informed Perez that a slave boy was pretending to be his son, and he might want to do something about it. Perez immediately realized that I must indeed be his son, and thought, truthfully so, that if my relation to him was discovered, his past would become common knowledge. That night, Perez ordered two of his trusted soldiers to kill me. I was fast asleep when the soldiers came to get me that same night. One of them covered my mouth, to prevent me from screaming for help. His other hand was wrapped tight around my body, while the second soldier grabbed both of my legs. By the time I realized I was being carried off, I was too far away from the rest of the slaves, including my mother, to try and awake them by struggling. The soldiers were skilled, and awoke none of the slaves. If any where awakened, they simply paid no attention, for few cared about each other."
Miktesh was by this time, quite absorbed in the tale. His thoughts were racing through his head. How could the Perez he knew be the same that was described in this story? He waited patiently for the answer. "I was dragged out to the courtyard, for the execution to take place. I should have died then and there, but I thank Deka that my life was sparred. The king had trouble sleeping that night, and was walking alone through the courtyard. When he saw me struggling against my assassins, he demanded to know what was going on. The soldiers had been sworn to secrecy by Perez, but wisely decided it was better to obey the king. They told him everything. Perez origins were nothing new to the king, but the fact that he had a son was. My education was considered an investment in the future. My mother and I were raised to the status of nobles.
Needless to say, Perez's slave origins quickly became common knowledge, and all hope he had of one day becoming king was lost. Only a few days ago the kingship seemed certain to be his in time, but now he had to accept the fact that it would never be a reality. With all his ambitions gone, life seemed to lose its purpose. Perez spent several months pondering what exactly he wanted out of life. He surrounded himself with the finest Philosophers in Nathor. Although no two philosophers had the same message, many shared a common theme, your life has meaning when you help others. Perez began practicing this, and the monster inside of him gradually died out. At this point, war broke out again with Marram. Marram had spent the years since her defeat nursing her wounds and her grudges. She was now more powerful then before, and her people were wild with the idea of crushing the first country that had defeated them. Perez was sent off to the border, where he spent the next ten years battling Marram.
"I, meanwhile, spent the next ten years being educated in the palace. The pampered life I then led was quite different from my life as a slave, yet I never forgot how cruelly I had been treated by those who know claimed to be my friends. I never quite fit with those at the kings court.
"Shortly after my father had beaten Marram for the second time, the king Quintel died at the age of two hundred." Miktesh' eyes widened for a moment, then he remembered that the average life of a Nathorite was about that long. He continued listening to the tale. "His son, Quintus, assumed command, but he did not have the support of the people. Most of the common people favored Curatius, a military hero. Civil war was imminent.
"My father chose to support Quintus, as a favor to the family that had given him such a high position. I left to join Curatius, as a rebellion against the king's court, whom I still hated. Then, as now, I was far from my fathers equal in strategy, yet I had exhibited a talent not dissimilar from his, so at the age of seventeen, Curatius gave me my first command. I was put in charge of three legions of soldiers, and a wide range of assignments to chose from. I still hated my father, so I asked to be in charge of intercepting, and hopefully defeating, his army. I still remember Curatius' words to me after I had made my request. 'If anyone can do it Drusus, you can.'
"I realized I had no chance of defeating my father in a fair fight, so I arranged an ambush. I instructed my men to take no prisoners, but crush the enemy completely. The ambush went well, but it quickly turned into a fierce battle, with heavy causalities on both sides. I, myself, joined into the fighting. My training at the palace was no match for these veterans of the second Marramian war, but I fought valiantly none the less. My men fought hard too, but in the end we were defeated. I led my army in a retreat, and the enemy had too many casualties to pursue us. I should have taken this warning, but I did not. The very next day our two armies battled again.
"Once again it was a bloody fight, with both sides taking heavy losses, but in the end my army was defeated. Most of my men were killed, some escaped, and about one hundred were captured. I was one of those captured. Being recognized as the commander, I was singled out for special treatment. I was brought before Perez, who immediately recognized me as his son. As soon as I was identified as such, I was sure he would kill me as he attempted ten years before, not knowing how much he had changed since then. Perez granted me my life, but I was to be banished from Nathor. I went to Calet and have been a carpenter for many years. I'm close to forty years old now, but don't look so surprised. My youthful appearance is simply a result of the Nathor lifespan. My equivalent in human age is about twenty."
"You've been in Calet for over twenty years, and your strategic talent has never been utilized?" Miktesh was astonished.
"Yes sir. Shortly after I came here, Quintus won the war with my fathers help. He turned out to be a ruthless dictator, however, killing left and right. My father was ashamed he had helped to put such a man on the thrown, and left for Calet also, not knowing I was here. When he arrived he immediately rose to a position of great power. I did not wish us to meet again so I kept my identity a secret by concealing my gifts. Once I found out he was missing, I decided that I would help you if he would not. I enlisted in your army, demonstrated my ability to Kile, and had him recommend me to you. I'm sorry I missed the meeting, but I was delayed by my senior officer, who didn't believe I had an interview with you."
"Well, if your half as good as your father was, you've got the job. Be in my tent early tomorrow morning, with my other advisors Kirtten and Kile. We'll go over our strategy then."
"Thank you sir. I won't disappoint you." Drusus bowed as he exited the tent.

The Watchers Chapter 7

2004-12-27T21:33:00.000-08:00

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
The ship slowly glided to the ground, at the north pole. Hans leaped out and looked around for any clues he could find. He had not been able to locate Rodens ship with his sensors, but if Rodens wanted to, he could have made his ship invisible to the sensors. Hans completed his visual scan of the area, and did not see any signs of life. His sensors had identified that there were several Icelers in the vicinity, so Hans called out. He received no response. He called out again and had the same result. Hans removed his computer from his pocket, and called up an Iceler phrase. "I'm here to help," he called out in Iceler. "I am Hans. I wish you no harm." A cry came out in response. Hans sprinted toward the cry, and after clearing a small hill, saw that it had originated from a cave, one of several. Hans dashed into the cave. "Hello! Hello!" Hans called out the greetings that were the same in Iceler language as well as his. Several figures came from inside the cave and stood several meters away from Hans. One pushed his way through the others and walked up to Hans. Hans immediately recognized him as Mora.
"Take back this gift, for I have no desire to possess a gift of friendship from one who kills my people." Mora thrust Hans scarf back into his hands.
Hans head pounded as his worst fears were being confirmed. "Your people were killed by-" Hans suddenly stopped, the words stuck in his throat. "By one of my people?"
Mora's tone softened, as did his expression. Apparently he realized that Hans wasn't quite sure what was going on. "He came in a ship, like the ones you used to transport us here, only much smaller. Fire shot out of it. It melted my people as soon as it touched them. We all scattered for shelter, as the fire continued to fall. Once we were all safe in the caves, the ship flew away, maybe to kill more Icelers."
Hans could stand no longer, and slowly sank to a sitting position, leaning against the wall of the cave. He felt nauseous, sweat gathered on his hands and forehead. His whole body seemed to burn with heat even though it was bitterly cold. His head rolled to his side, and for the first time he was able to clearly see the expressions of the other Icelers. A rather inquisitive look was on their faces, since they could not understand all of the pidgin Iceler that had exchanged between the two. Hans himself had to have the computer translating throughout the entire conversation in order to understand all of what was being said to him. Hans was still a little confused, but he understood enough. His best friend was a murderer and had betrayed The Watchers. Finally, when Hans had gathered up the strength, he asked, "how many were killed?"
"About twenty, more are wounded."
"Wounded?" Hans was surprised. The weapons on the ship were powerful enough to melt an Iceler no matter where the blast hit him. How could an Iceler only be wounded? Mora must have seen the confusion in Hans eyes, for he beckoned for him to follow. He lead Hans deeper into the cave, though still close enough to the entrance to allow light to pass through. Hans was repulsed by the deformed bodies he saw lying along the side of the cave. He realized then that if a heat blast struck next to an Iceler, the heat was powerful enough to travel through the ground and contact the Iceler. The heat would then warp the victims body, if not killing him. Hans estimated a heat blast could warp a body up to five meters away. Tears came to his eyes as Hans observed the wounded. Little children who would be crippled the rest of their lives. Young woman who looked like they were quite beautiful before heat had destroyed their bodies. Young men whose youth had been suddenly destroyed, all of these suffering side by side. The words of Mora lingered in Hans' mind, 'Once we were all safe in the caves, the ship flew away, maybe to kill more Icelers.'
"No," Hans screamed aloud. "This ends now." Without a word of explanation Hans sprinted out of the cave and ran full speed towards his ship. Mora was right on his heels. As he entered the ship, Hans turned to talk to Mora. "Will you come with me?" he asked.
"No, my people need me here. I would not be of much help to you anyway, but I can tell you he went that way." Mora pointed South.
Hans nodded his thanks. "Take back this scarf," he said, throwing it to Mora. "We are still friends."
"You keep it Hans," Mora said, throwing it back. "If you're going to stay in this weather long, you'll need it more than I do."
Hans was forced to agree with this, and was about to take off, when an idea struck him. He called out to Mora, who was already walking back to his cave, and beckoned him to come back.
Hans took a rather large firearm from his box of weapons. It was heavy, the whole thing weighed about thirty five kilograms. It was about as long as Hans' arm, and had two straps that could be tied around the arm of the user. "This," said Hans, "is a laser rifle. It isn't quite as strong as the lasers on these ships, but it can pack quite a powerful punch. If the ship comes back, this can do some damage to it if you hit it, just make sure it's not me before you fire." Mora nodded, taking the weapon gently as Hans handed it to him. "I'll see you later, I hope," Hans called out as he shut the door to his ship. The warmth of the ship felt good to him after being out in the cold environment. Hans took off, and flew in the direction that Mora had pointed him to.

"We've got another problem, sir," Bakes said. "Rodens family has been deeply concerned with his disappearance. They have, as you probably guessed, tried to review his activities of the last few days with the Teachers help. Naturally they were surprised when that information came up classified. They began talking to their friends about it, and the story spread like wildfire. I'd be surprised if there is one Watcher that doesn't know about it. They're demanding an explanation."
"Tell them that information needed to be classified for security reasons, and we have no further comment at this time. If someone else should stumble upon some more classified information, tell them the same thing." Jistap voiced his orders confidently.
"But sir, we can't do that," Bakes argued. "You know as well as I do it's against Watcher law to classify anything. We'll be arrested."
"No we won't. You understand the computers better than any of the other Watchers. You have that program ready?"
"The program is ready sir," Bakes answered.
"What program?" Pericula asked.
Jistap smiled. "Oh, that's right. I've neglected to tell you about the little project Bakes and I have been working on. As soon as Bakes engages it, all computer commands will be under my control only. I will have-" Jistap checked himself. "We will have complete rule of the city. Neither the Teacher nor the Executor will do anything unless it is my will. On top of that, I have several young men who share my ideals, about a thousand to be exact, and they have been training for this day. They are my personal army."
Pericula exchanged confused glances with the other ten sitting at the table. "You told Hans we would turn ourselves in after the Icelers were safe. What are you talking about now?"
Jistap sighed and shook his head. "My dear, Hans was a young, foolish, idealist. I expected better out of you. You know yourself how prejudice and selfish our people can be. Rodens is a perfect example, and there are plenty who would follow in his footsteps if they were given the chance. I have great things in mind for the city, but I can not accomplish any of them democratically. The people would never agree to any of it."
"Just what do you have in mind?" Pericula asked, making no attempt to hide the contempt in her voice.
"Look at us!" Jistap waved his hand around the room. "From the day we were born, we've had every thing we wanted. We've never been hungry in our lives. Anything we desire, we can have the Executor make for us. There is no disease the Executor can't cure. Yet everyday, we watch on the monitors so much suffering in the world. Lands destroyed by war, ruthless dictators who kill right and left, people dying every day of disease, and hunger. Living their worthless lives in absolute poverty." Jistap's voice had gradually grown louder as he talked, but now it jumped into a shrieking yell. "And what do we do? What do we do about the misery we see all the time in the world? We sip a cup of tea and watch it happen. Oh, I've tried to correct the problem democratically," the word democratically was uttered sourly, "I've tried to follow the book. I've proposed changes, but nobody supports me. These people wouldn't even save the Icelers, because it would risk being discovered. Rodens is out their right now killing Icelers." Jistap ended his speech, his face burning red with anger. His breathing, slightly increased because of the shouting. A silence fell over the room for a couple of minutes. Then Jistap continued, much softer then before, almost a whisper. "Tonight, that will all end. My army will put me in power. I will begin my mission. We will fly food in our ships, and distribute it to whoever needs it. We will cure all those with diseases. We will stop all wars, and depose any undeserving ruler. An era of peace and happiness will follow that Fabulae has never known before. Who's with me?" Nine hands immediately shot up. Pericula the only one who didn't join.
"Still unconvinced to join my cause, Pericula? Are you just another selfish Watcher?"
"If that was so, I wouldn't have helped you save the Icelers."
"Alright, then what keeps you from joining me?"
"What happens when you die?"
"Pardon"
"I said, what happens when you die."
Jistap thought for a moment. "Why, someone will succeed me of course."
"Who?"
Jistap was forced to think again. "I don't know. Someone I pick who will continue my cause."
"But I thought you said all of the people are selfish."
Jistap did not like being made into a fool. "Just make your point," he growled.
Pericula took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Sir, the point is that if you destroy democracy, you'll have absolute power. I have no doubt that you will use your power wisely, but someday you'll die, and then who can be assured that the one after you will be just. Whoever succeeds you will have absolute control of the city, and whoever has absolute control of the city can conquer Fabulae if they want to, and use the whole world as nothing more then something to serve them hand and foot."
"I assure you I'll will pick my successor carefully."
"Oh, I'm sure you will sir. And anyone you pick will probably pick a worthy successor in turn. And his successor will pick a worthy successor also. But somewhere down the line, someone who is completely undeserving of the power will be picked. History is filled with such examples."
"I'll admit there is no guarantee that some where down the line, someone will do something undeserving with the power, but the danger is just as great that the inhabitants of the city will democratically try and conquer the world to serve themselves."
"No sir, the danger is not as great because in democracy someone is always representing the opposite side. Please, use democracy to introduce your new ideas. Don't give up, just be patient"
Jistap practically exploded. "Don't tell me to be patient. You tell the starving people to be patient. Tell the soldiers to be patient. Tell the diseased to be patient. They can't wait any longer. I'm going to act now. Your either with me or against me, and you don't want to be against me."
Pericula searched the room for support. Every face she met was hostile. In a dry voice she asked, "What exactly happens to me if I don't join you?"
"Oh, you'll be exiled I suspect. Maybe killed if you actively oppose me, but I hope it doesn't come to that. If you join me, I'll offer you power beyond your wildest dreams."
"I thought you weren't after power, just justice."
Jistap shrugged. "I'll need power to perform my tasks. Besides, with all the good I'm doing for the world, I don't think a little reward for myself is out of the question."
Pericula carefully considered her options. "Count me in," she said at last. A soft round of applause was given.
"Excellent. Bakes, the program." Bakes pressed a couple of buttons on his computer.
"It's all set," he said. "You have complete control."
Jistap laughed in delight, and couldn't restrain himself from standing up and doing a small dance. "Now," he giggled, "inform my army to begin taking control. Executor, render all energy discharging weapons useless, except those used by my army. Allow no one to replicate weapons, except my army."
"As you wish, master," the Executor answered.
Jistap turned to Bakes. "I like the Executor's new attitude. You hadn't informed me of this part of the program."
Bakes nodded in reply. "I'm glad your pleased. May I go now sir?" Jistap nooded. As soon as Bakes had left the room, he exploded into uncontainable laughter.

"I've read your report on the situation with The Watchers. It seems events have taken quite an unpredictable turn."
"It caught me off guard as well sir. Do you think Jistap posses a threat to our plan?"
"At present, I don't see how we can lose. We won't have the element of surprise anymore, but we are still practically invincible. You don't think they had anything to with this?"
The other shook his head. "Unlikely. To the best of our knowledge, they don't even know about The Watchers. If they did, they would have wiped them out long ago."
"Yes, they seem to have become rather lazy lately. Well no matter, we will keep an eye on The Watcher situation. It looks like they might even help us though." Pausing to consider the ridiculousness of his own words, he chuckled for a minute. "Not that we need the help of course."
"You realize, sir, that once our mission is accomplished, we'll have to put an end to The Watchers."
"Oh of course, of course. But at this point in the game they can't do much damage. We'll be keeping an eye on them. You are dismissed."
The receiver of the orders saluted and left. "We'll be keeping an eye on them," his commander repeated.

The New Era Chapter 1

2004-12-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Hans was beginning to get discouraged. He had spent the past couple of days searching for Rodens among the Arctic Circle of the North Pole. He had not been able to locate Rodens ship, but he was positive that was because Rodens had made his ship invisible to sensors. Whenever Hans sensors located a life form, he landed his ship to talk to it. Hans realized the consequence of this action was the possibility that the valued secrecy of The Watchers would be lost, but he could think of no other option. Rodens could be anywhere in the world by now, and it would be impossible for Hans to track him down simply by his instinct.
To the best of his knowledge, Rodens was still in the arctic circle. Hans talked to several life forms that had seen his ship. Hans also learned that two more Iceler tribes had been attacked by Rodens. As far as Hans knew, Rodens had killed at least seventy Icelers.
It was a great frustration to Hans not to be able to communicate with the city. He knew that they would be able to track the exact location of Rodens, but Rodens would be able to track the source of the communication, and have the advantage of a surprise attack. Be that as it may, each day Hans became more and more tempted to take the chance.

It was two days since Jistap had seized power. Pericula remembered the events of that recent past with sadness. Jistap had his face put on every monitor in the city, and announced his plans for dictatorship. He had plenty of resistance of course, but his army clearly had the advantage. The people grabbed energy firearms, but the Executor would not allow them to work. Of course, old fashioned guns that were fueled by gunpowder worked, as did swords, spears, daggers, et cetera, but not many of the people had these weapons, and Jistap made sure they couldn't replicate any. The resistance was crushed, leaving seven hundred dead, and about a thousand exiled. Among those exiled was Pericula's own father. After Jistap had firmly positioned himself in power, the old man had calmly walked up to Jistap, and told Jistap that he would never support him. He was, like all the other exiles, thrown out of the city into the Coler Mountains. By this time the Coler's had reached a pleasant temperature, like that of a cool spring day, and was still getting hotter every day. The exiles had banded together and formed a colony.
Few supported Jistap, but any who publicly admitted their lack of enthusiasm was exiled. Once the zealots of freedom had been booted out, everyone kept their mouth shut. Jistap had wanted to introduce his reforms immediately. Bakes had suggested he give the people a couple weeks to get used to the new government, and they had compromised at a one week adjustment period.
Jistap was still on his guard. He knew that much of his opposition was yet to be taken care of. Many of the freedom zealots had been temporarily convinced not to oppose him by their friends and family, others were simply waiting for the right moment to strike. Jistap had many of his loyal followers spend several hours each day watching the monitors, looking at what people have been saying for the past few days, to see what they were saying about him in private. Anyone who's speech indicated the slightest disapproval of Jistap was exiled. Jistap also exercised his power by classifying all information on himself.
Among those who disapproved of Jistap, but had not yet acted, was Pericula's brother, Julius. Julius was nineteen, seven years younger then his sister. The night Jistap took control, Julius had set out to fight Jistap's army with the only weapon he could find, a kitchen knife. Pericula had intercepted him in time to prevent him from taking any action, and had pleaded with him not to fight Jistap. Julius had reluctantly agreed, but Pericula feared he might do something rash. She knew Julius was ashamed that his father had stood up to Jistap, but he had not. She also feared that Jistap would review the conversation on his monitor and exile Julius, but with the thousands of people in the city, the odds were in favor of the conversation not being found.

"It's really not that bad here. The weather is pleasant, and the ground is soft. I could get used to this place."
"Shut up, Quintus. This place sucks. Quit trying to cheer us up."
"No seriously, it's really not that bad. If I have to spend the rest of my life in exile, this is as good as place as any. I mean, there's no robbers, no war. Except for us, the Coler mountains are uninhabited."
Antonius shifted restlessly. "There's also no food," he pointed out. "Remember, until a few days ago this whole mountain was covered with snow. There's been no time for vegetation to grow. We have to send a group down to the base of the mountain each day to gather food for the rest of us. Besides, as sound as Gowron or Grarap find out the Coler mountains are now habitable, we'll probably be conquered."
Crassus, who had been silent until this point, suddenly became curious. "How hot do you think the Colers are going to get?" he asked. "I mean, I guess everyone assumed it's going to get so hot, and then stop. Maybe it will reach 90 degrees or so, and then that's how hot it will stay. But how do we know the temperature won't reach a hundred degrees? Perhaps it will get so hot that the very rocks on these mountains will melt."
Antonius scoffed. "Oh you don't believe that, do you? Surely the satellite can't be transmitting that much heat."
Crassus shrugged. "Do you know how much heat it is transmitting?"
"Well, no not exactly. Bakes never told us exactly how much heat is being transmitted, but I'm sure it can't be near that much, or he would have mentioned something. Besides, if that much heat was being sent, don't you think the Coler's temperature would have risen faster?"
Mucius walked up to the three. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.
Antonius shook his head. "Have a seat. We were just discussing the value of remaining on Coler."
Mucius looked surprised. After he sat down he asked, "Well your not discussing moving, are you?"
"I see no point in remaining here," Antonius said. "We have to go so far to get food."
Mucius threw up his hands. "You haven't given up already, have you?"
Antonius exchanged confused glances with his comrades. "What are you talking about?"
"Well we have to get back into the city and undo the damage Jistap did," Mucius stated matter-a-factly.
"And how, do tell, are we going to do that?" Antonius' cynicism was not disguised.
Mucius laughed confidently. "Antonius, you have been sleeping during the lessons of history. Men like Jistap do not live long. We should be back in the city in a year at the longest. Until then we should stand ready."
That statement was too much for Crassus. "Be careful what you say, Mucius. Jistap may be watching us even here."
Quintus snickered. "What can he do to us now? We're already exiled."
Crassus paused briefly before saying, "Well, he could kill us."
To the surprise of his comrades, Quintus seemed shocked by this statement. "Don't be ridiculous. Jistap wouldn't kill a fellow Watcher."
"He already has you idiot," Antonius shouted.
"What?!"
"His army killed at least seven hundred. How could you possibly not know that?"
Quintus shook his head gently. He turned looked away to hide the tears in his eyes. "I was one of the first ones exiled. No one told me he killed that many. I just thought-" His voice was suddenly cut off as he restrained a sob. The mood of the meeting suddenly turned somber. "Deka help us, seven hundred dead."
Antonius softened his voice. "Well, its not like this is the first time a Watcher has killed another. It happens from time to time. Why just last week someone got jailed for life for killing two people."
"Yeah, I know but," Quintus paused, "I just never expected one of our politicians to do it. Especially not that many."
"No one expected," Mucius said. "And no one should have. Jistap is insane." Crassus opened his mouth to warn Mucius again, but thought better of it. "He's insane, and he's going to get himself killed soon. When that happens, I'll be one of the first to dance on his grave."
"Who's going to kill him? He's exiled or killed all how dare to oppose. The only one's left in the city are spineless cowards. All the men of valor left alive are right here in this colony."
Mucius stretched his arms before standing up. As he left he called out, "don't be to sure Antonius. Yet in the city are heros waiting for a chance to restore liberty."

Jistap fumed with anger as he watched Mucius walk away on the monitor. "That self serving toad! I should have had him killed. He's practically giving a graven invitation to anyone who wants to assassinate me." Jistap scowled for a few seconds, before calling out, "Bakes! Bakes, get over here!"
Bakes came running from the adjoining room. "Yes sir, can I help you?"
"I've been watching a conversation on the monitor. One of the exiles named Mucius gave a treasonous speech. You'd better classify it. If the wrong person watches it, it could incite them to do something rash."
Bakes paused, confused. "Sir, you don't need my help to classify it anymore. All you have to do is tell the Executor to classify it, and it will obey you without question."
"Oh, that's right. I had quite forgotten about that. Old habits die hard, you know."
"Understandable sir, quite understandable." Bakes bowed and headed out of the room.
"Well I better hurry up and classify this," Jistap added, mostly to himself, "before someone else sees it."

Jistap would not have been happy had he known that even as he classified the conversation, it was too late. Julius, like Jistap, had been watching the conversation as it happened and was deeply affected by it. The words of Antonius, calling all who had not yet stood up to Jistap spinless cowards, cut him deep. Although he did not even know Mucius, he felt that Mucius was referring to him personally when he spoke of heros awaiting their chance. He slammed his fist down onto the table. He must act now!
Julius calmed himself down. Don't go about this thing half cocked, he told himself. Jistap had killed seven hundred and exiled a thousand. He was a force to be reckoned with. Julius knew he had to develop a plan. If he was going to kill Jistap, he must first have a weapon. Julius had none, and he couldn't replicate any. However, there were several weapons in the city before the replicator had refused to make weapons. Many of his friends had a laser gun, or some similar weapon, but they were all useless now. Few people he knew had other weapons, but there were some.
Julius knew one family that owned a small gun. They used it for target practice. It was small enough that he could easily conceal it under his clothes, but Julius knew the family would never loan it to him. They were cautious people, who had no desire to get in trouble with Jistap. Julius briefly considered stealing it from them, but that was no good either. As soon as they noticed the gun was gone, they could ask the teacher who took it. When they find out it was Julius, they might deduce his purpose, and warn Jistap. Unless, Julius' mind raced on, unless they didn't notice the gun was gone until it was too late.

The New Era Chapter 2

2004-12-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"I trust you all know why we're here," Jistap said. "We have gathered here today to form the Fabulae's order. You twelve will be rewarded for helping me save the Icelers, and so facilitating my rise to power, by having power second only to my own. Hans will receive the same honor when he returns. I suggest we get busy. Fabulae has a lot of problems, and they need to be solved as soon as possible.
"The first major problem on our agenda is war. Once this is eliminated, we can work on the other problems. Since history has proven it is impossible for nations to coexist peacefully with each other, I think the only possible solution to war is to have Fabulae ruled by one government, but as always, I would like to hear your opinion." Jistap paused to await another view, but none was mentioned. Several of those present praised Jistap for his wisdom, saying no one in his right mind would disagree with a plan like that. Pericula was disgusted with theses sycophants, but remained silent.
"Hearing no disagreement, I will move on. I propose we select one nation, and place upon its throne a man of integrity. We meet with this man frequently, instructing him to try and conquer his neighbors. He will make war on his neighbors one by one, and we will aid him in each war with our advanced technology, until he has conquered all of Fabulae. Now I realize to some of you, this plan my seem hypocritical. Here I am, preaching peace throughout Fabulae, and am advocating a terribly violent plan to get there, but I am convinced that the ends will justify the means if not in all cases, certainly in this one. I see no other option for world peace, but I would like to here yours." Pericula noted that the reaction to this question was appallingly like the first. Even more appalling was the fact that Jistap quite visibly enjoyed this reaction, and Pericula got the feeling he didn't really want to hear their opinion after all.
Beaming with pride Jistap continued. "The next thing to decide then, is which nation we select. Before this meeting I had briefly talked with Livius," Jistap waved his hand in Livius direction. Livius was one of the top historians of the city, and was one of the thirteen who had joined with Jistap."-and we discussed this problem to some extant. I'll leave him to tell you what came of that conversation."
Jistap settled back in his chair, and gave a little nod to Livius, who cleared his throat as he made a quick sweep of the room with his eyes. Then he began. "Jistap approached me and explained his delimma, not knowing which nation we should choose. He then, in his profound wisdom, suggested we choose a current world power, one that was presently in a state of superiority over its neighbors, so that it would require less time, work, and blood to establish its complete rule, rather then starting from scratch with a weak nation. I informed him that the current world power was Marram. Jistap, though wise beyond other men in almost everything else, knew little about Marram, so I supplied him with a brief summary of what the country was like. After hearing this, Jistap wasted no time in deciding that Marram was unworthy of ruling the world." Jistap moved his hands in a circular motion, a signal for Livius to expand. "Marram has been most vicious in her wars. She takes no prisoners. Her people have no regard for life, outside of their own. They live to kill and plunder."
"Surely a whole nation can't be like that," broke in Pericula. "They're are honest people in Marram just as in any other nation."
"The point here," Jistap replied, "is not how many honest people Marram has, but that the nation itself stands against everything my new world order means. Before we proceed further, we must destroy Marram. I have therefore decided to send one ship against it. Equipped with one of our most powerful laser cannons, its mission will be to level most of Marram's major cities, and assassinate its king, Azom. I trust there are no objections."
"Sir, do you realize how many innocent people this plan will kill?" asked Pericula. "I'm sure only a fraction of the people in any of those major cities wholeheartedly approve of their government."
"It is my deepest regret that the new order can not be brought about, except by blood. However, Marram must be weakened at all costs. After this attack, it will be venerable to its many enemies." Jistap paused briefly to think about his own words, before exploding into action. "No time must be wasted, the world desperately awaits. Send out a ship at once." Jistap pointed to young Sulla. "I need you to complete the mission." Sulla nodded obediently. "Move now lad, the future can not wait." Sulla quickly moved towards the hanger.

The past few days had been unproductive for Hans. He had talked to several life forms, but unlike before, none of them had seen Rodens ship. Hans had even returned to talk to Mora, but Mora had not seen Rodens ship either. Hans was beginning to get worried. Rodens could be anywhere in Fabulae. He could be killing Icelers in the South Pole, or creating havoc somewhere else in the world, or he could just be lying low. Hans situation was looking hopeless. Compared to tracking Rodens down all over Fabulae, finding a needle in a haystack would be child's play. Feeling like he had no other choice, Hans was about to contact the city, when he had a stroke of luck. He saw, on his controls, that a ship had been identified over Marram. The ship was making no attempt to shield itself from Hans sensors.
Hans was delighted. Although his computer could not tell him what the ship was doing, it was obvious the ship belonged to Rodens. Hans didn't have the foggiest idea why Rodens would choose to unshield himself, but several ideas rushed through his head. Perhaps Rodens wanted to give up, and was waiting for Hans to come and arrest him. Perhaps he wanted to fight Hans one on one. Perhaps his equipment had malfunctioned. Right now, all Hans knew was that his search was over. He set out for Marram at full speed.

Julius was gradually beginning to shape his plan. One night, when the family was away from their home, Julius would enter, steal the gun, and assassinate Jistap all before the family got back. Julius did not have to worry about getting past locked doors. Since anything The Watchers desired could be replicated, thieves were not a problem and therefore few people locked their doors.
Before he went into action, Julius decided to talk to Boon. Boon was a member of the family that owned the gun, and Julius thought Boon might provide him with some helpful information. Like most Watchers, Julius was ignorant of unsophisticated weapons. Julius had the Teacher locate Boon's location, and Julius went there to talk to him, pretending to bump into Boon accidently.
"Sorry Boon," said Julius, after the collision. "I guess I just wasn't looking where I was going."
Julius knew he would have no problem striking up a conversation with the fourteen year old Boon, probably one of the most talkative people in the city. Boon did not disappoint his prediction. "No problem Julius. Got a lot on your mind?"
Julius shrugged. "No, not really. How have you been lately?"
Immediately Julius wished he had not asked. Boon suddenly jumped into a long and detailed narrative of his activities for the past week. Julius listen silently, nodding from time to time, until Boon mentioned his target practice. "-and then I had just barely got done with the game, when my dad asked me if I wanted to go target practicing."
"Target practicing?" asked Julius, feigning dumb.
"Yeah, you know, with our gun. Anyway, I didn't really want to-"
"You have a gun?" Julius interrupted again.
"Yeah, you know that." Julius shook his head, doing his best to look puzzled. "I'm positive I told you. Maybe you forgot."
"Maybe. Do you enjoy it?"
"Oh it's okay. It gets kind of boring after a while. I'm getting pretty good. Just last month I shot two Bulls eyes." Boon noticed that Julius seemed unimpressed, so he added, "that's pretty hard you know. It took me a lot of practice to even hit the target."
Julius jaw dropped. "You mean it takes practice to hit stuff?"
Boon didn't notice Julius' shock. "Of course. If it was easy to hit things, target practice wouldn't be any fun. It's not like a laser gun at all. You could practice for years and still miss a good percentage of your targets. In fact one time my uncle, he's quite into this stuff, he was over at our house and-"
Julius drowned out Boon's babbling in his mind. It was obvious that a gun wouldn't be the best weapon to use. A dagger would probably serve his purposes much better, and getting his hands on a dagger would be no problem at all. Julius knew someone who would gladly give him one.

The scene which greeted Hans was anything but pleasant. The ship he had spotted on his control panel was obviously not Rodens ship. Although his sensors hadn't been able to tell the difference since both ships were extremely similar, Hans now could see the ship in front of him did not belong to Rodens. To start with, it was a different color, but more importantly, it had the most powerful laser cannon known to the Watchers, and Hans knew Rodens had a laser cannon equal to his in strength. What was even more disturbing was that the ship was indiscriminately killing all in it's path. It was using its laser cannon to destroy anything it could see. One shot from the cannon, and immediately a building that had previously reached almost twenty meters in height was turned into ashes, along with all its inhabitants. Hans was as horrified as he was confused. He immediately sent a message over to the other ship. "This is Hans. Who are you, and what are you doing?"
The other ship stopped it's destruction. On Hans control panel was shown a picture of the pilot, whom Hans recognized as Sulla. "Sulla? What are you doing?"
"I'm destroying Marram, Hans."
"You're what!" Hans head began to swirl greater then ever before.
Sulla glanced nervously about. "Listen, its a long story. I've got to accomplish my mission at once. Go back to the city, Jistap will tell you everything."
Hans exploded into anger. "Damn it Sulla, your going to make the time to explain this to me, or I'll fight you right now."

Sulla knocked timidly on Jistap's door. "You may enter," the voice came from inside. Sulla stepped meekly inside. Jistap was seated in a chair, facing away from Sulla and so he couldn't see Sulla's worried face. "Did you accomplish your mission?"
Sulla swallowed. "Well not exactly sir. I devastated three cities, and I was working on my fourth when-"
Jistap swirled around angrily to face him. "When what?"
Sulla shrank back, as Hans came through the door. Jistap laughed. "Oh, Hans its you. I'm terribly sorry, I should have remembered you were after Rodens. No doubt you saw Sulla's ship on your sensors and thought it was your man. I'm terribly sorry. Even if I had remembered to alert you though, I would have had no way of contacting you. I'm terribly sorry."
Hans calmly walked over to Jistap, grabbed him by his shirt collar, and pulled him to his feet. He then rammed Jistap against the wall. "You son of a bitch. I should have known you couldn't be trusted."
Jistap chuckled nervously. "Now Hans, I knew you'd be a little upset when you first found out about this, but trust me its for the-"
"Shut up you little worm. Your not going to talk your way out of this one."
"Hans I must insist-"
Hans slapped Jistap across the face, hard. "I said shut-up, you posionous snake."
Jistap smiled, as one who suddenly remembers something that brings him great joy. "Executor, teach Hans some manners." A energy bolt flew out of the walls, and struck Hans side, knocking him clear across the room. Hans lay on the floor, writhing for a few minutes and coughing violently, all the while clutching the spot where the energy had struck him. Then, he lay still, face down. Jistap stood over him. "I'm sorry Hans, but you can't talk to me like that anymore. I'm in control now. I like you Hans, I really do, but your life could be the price for not treating me with enough respect." Hans rolled over, and spit at Jistap.
"I'll never submit to you Jistap, never!"
Jistap's hand flew back, and it looked like he was about to strike Hans, when he suddenly calmed down. "Hans, Hans, I knew you would act like this. I said to myself, 'Hans is an idealist. He always wants to do what's right, but sometimes he forgets the important thing is not doing what's right, but doing that which will help others.'"
"There one and the same."
"No there not Hans. When we saved the Icelers, we had to lie. We had to trick the whole city. We had to imprison Rodens, who's only crime was wanting the truth to be known. We had to twist democracy, but damn it Hans we saved lives."
"Given the circumstances, I think we made the right decision."
"Even though we had to imprison Rodens, who had done no wrong?" Hans nodded. "Even though we had to disregard the peoples' will, disregard democracy?" Hans nodded again. "Can't you see it's the same thing Hans? Can't you see that? I'm still saving lives. I had to exile a few people because they would have jeopardized my mission. I had to throw democracy out the window, but I'm saving lives."
"Jistap, I am against the way you killed seven hundred, and exiled a thousand. I'm against the way you grabbed power for yourself."
"Now just a minute-"
"Let me finish. I'm against all these things, but I might have joined you in spite of all this if it were for one thing."
"My plan to cease war?"
"Your plan to conquer Fabulae. Think of all the lives you will destroy. And on top of that, you send Sulla here to attack civilians. Civilians damn it, have you no shame?"
"But Hans, once my plan is over, all war will cease. Think how many lives that will save."
"There's another way. You could do this more gradually, and without as much bloodshed. Just think about what would happen if you-"
"No! No Hans the new order can not wait." Jistap suddenly seemed very angry. "I'm not trying to convince you for my sake! I'm trying to save you hardship Hans! Are you with me or against me?"
"I'm against you all the way."
"Guards!" Two men entered the room in response to Jistap's cry. "guards, escort Hans into exile." Hans was roughly grabbed and dragged away. Jistap turned to Sulla. "While, what are you waiting for? Go finish crippling Marram."

"The usual Ishod?"
Ishod shook his head. "Sorry Jolk, but I have orders from the king himself that my lips may touch no wine. I will have some grape juice though."
Jolk gave a puzzled look as he poured a glass. "Why did the king order that?"
Ishod smiled. "I can't tell. It's a matter of national security."
"Oh really. I don't suppose you could-" a loud crash cut off Jolk's words. Ishod turned to see a drunk who had just fallen flat on his face. He went to help him up.
"Easy fellow. You've had too much to drink," Ishod said as he gently put the mans arm around his shoulder.
Talking thickly, the man gave his reply. "Yeah buddy, well you wouldn't say that if you knew the trouble I'm in. I'm a murderer you know. I've killed about a hundred Icelers. Now I can't ever go home again."
"Oh really, so what are you going to do now," Ishod asked, humoring the drunk.
"Oh stay in Dishon I guess. I can't ever go back to the city again, never again." Ishod gently set the man down in a chair. He had just barely straitened up, when Tomaz flew into his face.
"Ishod! Ishod! I've got great news, great news." Tomaz paused. "We'd better go outside though, I'm not sure it's public knowledge yet."
Ishod hesitated. "Can this wait? I was just about to-"
"Ishod, this is great news. Biggest news this century."
Ishod, his curiosity sparked, followed Tomaz out the door. Tomaz flew into a deserted ally, and waited for Ishod to catch up. Ishod had barely gotten into the ally, before Tomaz burst with the news. "Some one, or something, has attacked all of Marram's greatest cities, and destroyed them. Azom himself has been killed. Marram has withdrawn all of her troops, and is focusing all her efforts on rebuilding the cities. Reports are sketchy, but we know this for certain, the war is over!"

The New Era Chapter 3

2004-12-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"Yesterday, as most of you know, Sulla successfully completed his mission, after a minor delay, to cripple Marram. I suspect by this time you all know about Hans. He has a noble heart and I am saddened that he choose not to join us, but he has made that choice nevertheless. The next thing for us to decide is, which nation shall rule Fabulae. As I told you yesterday, Livius and I talked about this choice to some extant. Once Marram was eliminated, the choice became very hard. I better let him tell you about that, since he could tell it much better than I could."
Livius jumped right into his speech. "As Jistap said, the choice was a hard one. No clear cut solution was obvious. In the end, we decided to choose Calet. Calet had many years ago conquered more then three fourths of Fabulae, spreading its language, and culture everywhere. Under Calet's domination, Fabulae became closer to world peace then it ever has before or since. For this reason, we think it would be fitting if Calet was the nation to conquer Fabulae." Several approvals were heard around the room.
"Unfortunately, Calet is currently in a period of civil war. On one side is Polad. He is obviously unsuited for the thrown. In addition to his many other abominations, he has recently betrayed his own people in a battle with Marram, causing massive losses to Calet in what would otherwise have been a victory. He has assassinated the kings son so that he could obtain the rule, and he has been receiving support from Marram.
"His rival, Miktesh, is little better. Like Polad, Miktesh has a long history of putting his own ambitions above the good of the country. Interestingly though, he appears to be changing. He recently gained possession of Agricola, the storehouse of Calet's grain. However, he compromised his advantage significantly by giving food to his enemies, and so saving civilians from the horrors of starvation."
Livius hesitated before continuing, and looked at Jistap for a single. Jistap nodded his head, and Livius proceeded. "Perez, probably the greatest military genius Fabulae has ever seen, and who served Calet for many years, has defected to Dishon, a small country located North of Calet. If we could somehow convince him to rejoin Calet, our task would be much easier. Their are many other interesting details about Calet's civil war. Dabine, Polad's right hand man, is secretly working for Miktesh, frequently sending him updates on plans Polad thinks are top secret. He also allowed both Miktesh and Perez to escape from Polad's clutches. One of Miktesh' advisors, Jole, tried to defect to Polad's side, giving Polad top secret information, but Dabine foiled his plan. Dabine himself went to pick up the information from Jole, and then destroyed it, giving Polad phoney plans. Dabine also had one of his men disguise himself as a guard to Miktesh' camp, and then kill Jole. Miktesh doesn't know any of this happened, and is still trying to figure out how Jole was killed."
Jistap, beginning to feel sorry he had given permission for this pointless excursion, cut into the conversation. "The point is, neither Miktesh or Polad is fit to rule Calet. We need to find someone in Calet who is truly worthy of that honor. Now Livius has narrowed down the options to-"
"Excuse me, sir?"
Jistap, irritated at being interrupted, answered in a exasperated tone, "Yes Gaius, what is it?"
"Sir, why not place one of us on the thrown?"
"That's ridiculous Gaius. In the first place, who would want to leave the comfort of the city for the primitive conditions of Calet?"
"I would sir."
Jistap opened his mouth to ask why, but suddenly he realized the answer. He saw in Gaius an ambition he had often seen in himself. Gaius wanted power, and he would endure any hardship to get it. Jistap realized Gaius was dangerous, the question was what to do with him. Jistap thought for a moment, and decided that he didn't want Gaius to stay in the city. Let Gaius have his little command of Calet, just as long as he remembered who was in charge. "The command of Calet is yours, Gaius. Now, in order to establish you in control, I will send a messenger to Polad and Miktesh. The messenger will tell them both that they must surrender to you, or die."
"If its all the same to you sir, could we just kill them both right off the bat. I mean, they're bound to try and get power for themselves anyway they can, and I just assume not deal with keeping them from fighting each other. Besides which-"
Jistap waved his hand, and Gaius stopped talking. "Alright Gaius, you want them killed? I'll have them killed. Whatever makes you a more effective ruler of Calet I'll do."
"Excuse me," Pericula interjected, "excuse me, but we're talking about actual lives here. You can't just kill them because it's convenient."
Jistap shook his head. "Look, Pericula, I'm really getting tired of telling you this. Fabulae can not continue on its present course any longer. The new world order will take a lot of blood but it must come about. Between taking over the city, and crippling Marram, we've killed thousands already. Two more lives aren't going to make a difference."
Pericula was silent, and Jistap continued. "Sulla, Gaius, Livius,take a ship and go to Calet. Kill Miktesh and Polad, and inform both of their officers about the new change. Sulla, you'll take command of Polad's forces. Gaius, you'll take command of Miktesh' forces. Livius, you pilot the ship back to the city. Once Sulla and Gaius have both taken all their soldiers back to Calet's capital, Caletia, I'll send Livius out in a ship to take Sulla back to the city. Gaius will remain at Caletia and await further instructions from me while he establishes his rule there. Now get moving." Gaius, Livius, and Sulla rushed out.

Livius turned to Sulla. "Alright buddy, we're coming to Polad's camp now. Polad is in his tent, sleeping. You need to kill him and any others who oppose you. You'll need this." Livius thrust a laser gun into Sulla's hand. "This puppy can cut right through the army of anybody you meet. You should also take one of these." Livius handed Sulla a small object, only slightly larger then Sulla's palm. "This little device will allow you to access the computers in the city. You'll have all of their information at your fingertips."
Gaius could see that Sulla was nervous, so he gave him a fraternal pat on the back. "I'll go with you. You might need a little help."
A beep alerted Gaius that they were rapidly approaching the drop off point. "You two, stand on that X." Gaius and Sulla followed the orders, Gaius taking a laser gun with him. The ship down close to the ground, near Polad's tent. The floor gave way beneath Gaius and Sulla, and they dropped about three meters to the ground, rolling over several times when they landed due to their inertia. A confused crowd gathered around the two.
As soon as he could stand up, Gaius held down the trigger of his gun. One blast followed another, with only a fraction of a second in between. Gaius sprayed the crowd with the laser fire, then once the crowd starting fleeing, Gaius started targeting individuals. Sulla followed his lead. As soon as every one was either dead or had ran away, Gaius pointed at Polad's tent. He and Sulla bombarded it with their fire, until little more was left of it then ashes. The ship now returned, and Gaius boarded it waving good-bye to Sulla. The ship took off.
Sulla turned around nervously. His confidence had left him when Gaius left, but he tried to push his fear out of his mind. He noticed that some were cautiously returning. He fired gun rapidly into the air, then announcing, "I am Sulla. I am your new master. Anyone who does not follow me will be killed."

"Okay Gaius, you have all your equipment?" Gaius nodded as he walked onto the X."
"Would you mind creating a little diversion for me Livius? Perhaps using the ship to shoot up the opposite side of the camp I'm on?"
Livius nodded. "I'd be glad to if it helps you out."

Kile smiled. "You what?"
Drusus returned the smile. "That's what I said. The whole tent had to be replaced, not to mention his clothes."
Kile couldn't help laughing hard. "I'll bet he was mad."
"Not as mad as Spolkes was. You should have seen his face."
"Well how much trouble did you get in for that one?"
"It would have been a lot but-"
Drusus was cut off by a loud scream, followed by several shouts, and the booming sounds of explosions. Drusus looked at Kile, who returned his confused look.
"Deka! Look out!" Drusus couldn't tell who issued the warning, but he was thankful for it. Looking up in the sky he saw a some kind of creature. A huge creature, shouting energy bolts out of it's mouth. When the bolts hit the ground, they caused an explosion, throwing everything near it any which way, and igniting anything close to it. Drusus instinctively broke into a run.
The camp had become utter chaos. The men were running every which way, fire was everywhere, dead bodies were everywhere, and the shouting was only a background noise to the sound of explosion.
An energy bolt hit the ground only a couple meters from Drusus' feet. Drusus was thrown couple dekameters, and skidded along the ground. When he came to a stop, he lay still for a few seconds, trying to figure out what had happened to him. This was a mistake. Although the fleeing soldiers had at first vacated the area where the explosion took place, they soon returned to it. As Drusus curled into a ball to try and avoid the numerous feet, he realized he was in grave danger of being trampled to death. Fortunately, another explosion not too far away, cleared the crowd for just a couple of seconds, but long enough for Drusus to get to his feet.
Drusus allowed himself to be jostled by the crowd for a couple minutes while he considered what his next course of action should be. He decided that his duty was to protect Miktesh, and fought his way through the crowd, all the way to Miktesh' tent, on the other side of the camp. Once he got to the tent, the crowd had diminished greatly. In fact, Drusus could only see about ten people, one of which was Kile. Drusus recognized the badly burned body of what once was Miktesh. The silence was unblemished. A man stood by the body. "I am Gaius," the man announced. "I am your new leader."

"I've got another report on The Watcher situation sir."
"No need, I've been monitoring the situation quite closely myself. Most interesting plan indeed. Helping Calet conquer the world by aiding it against its enemies. Most interesting plan indeed."
The one to whom these words were spoken looked strangely at his commander. "Sir, doesn't that sound familiar to you?"
"What?"
"Jistap's plan. Doesn't it sound familiar?"
Absolute horror seized the commander. "Fuck, why didn't I realize this before? Fuck me, I should have known." Both men read in each others faces the danger they were in.

The New Era Chapter 4

2004-12-27T21:14:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Dabine practically fell of his horse as he dismounted and ran into the camp. He recognized the man running up to meet him as Kile. Under normal circumstances, Kile would have been hostile towards Dabine, but the events of the past twenty four hours had changed his priorities. He was actually glad to see him. Under normal circumstances, Dabine would have known something was wrong when he was received as a friend, but he had too much on his mind to notice.
Dabine spoke brokenly as he gasped in air. "Kile, I came as fast as I could. I've been riding all night. I had to use three different horses. Let me speak to Miktesh, its urgent."
Kile hung his head. He mumbled a reply, but Dabine couldn't understand.
"Please, I need to talk to him now, where is he?"
Kile pointed to a mound of earth, with a rock at the head of it. "He's buried right there."
"Deka, what happened?" Kile told the story of Gaius entrance, in all the detail he could remember. He told how after Gaius had declared himself ruler, he killed all who opposed him, or who he thought opposed him. He told how over half the army had deserted since Gaius arrival, and the number was rising every hour. If things kept up, Gaius would be left without an army. He also told of Gaius new orders to go to Caletia. After telling the story, Kile's mind began to sense something was wrong, something that he had been to preoccupied to sense before. "Say, what are you doing here? Aren't you on Polad's side?" Dabine then related how he had secretly been on Miktesh' side all this time. "I'll guess I can believe that," Kile replied. "Now would be a pretty lousy time to suddenly switch allegiances."
"Actually, things aren't much better at Polad's camp. That was what I came to warn Miktesh about."
"Someone took over, like Gaius did?"
"There were two of them actually."
"No kidding. Are they as ruthless as Gaius?"
"I didn't stay to find out. I fled while they were still attacking the camp."
"Dabine, I presume." Both Kile and Dabine turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Gaius was headed toward them.
Dabine gasped, "You!"
Gaius looked surprised. "Have we met?" His expression under went an abrupt change. "Oh yes, back at Polad's camp. So what are you doing over here? Did you desert?" Dabine was too stunned to answer. Gaius grabbed his shirt and shook him violently. "I said, did you desert? Answer me damn it."
"You killed Polad. I fled."
"You son of a bitch, Sulla was your new master. You were to answer him, and you deserted him, a crime punishable by death."
"Now just a minute, I-"
Dabine was cut off as Gaius pushed him onto the ground. Before Dabine could get up, Gaius pulled his laser gun out of his belt and fired. Dabine's body jerked as the energy flowed through it, and then lay still, dead.
Gaius pointed the laser gun at Kile. "That could be you. Anyone who deserts will be killed. If you don't stop the problem of all the deserters, I will kill you. Do you understand?" Kile nodded, and Gaius turned around and walked off.

Later that afternoon, Drusus, Kile, Kirtten, and Jot all met in a tent. The purpose of the meeting was to decide how they should react to the events of the past two days. Kile began the meeting by relating his encounter of the past few days.
"Fascinating," Jot observed. "So Dabine was on our side all this time?"
Kile nodded. "That's what he says at least, and I believe him."
Drusus shook his head. "I don't get it. How get Gaius be at Polad's camp, and then come back to conquer our camp all in the same day? It's at least one day and night of straight traveling"
Kile shrugged. "There's a lot of things I don't understand about Gaius. What was that monster that helped him take over? What is that thing that sends fire into someone's body, and kills them? Why did he want to take over Miktesh' camp in the first place?"
"Gaius is undoubtably aided by some kind of magic. That much we know. How he is able to manipulate the magic we may never know. We should act with what we know," Kirtten said. There were murmurs of agreement from everyone else. "I don't know about you," Kirtten continued, "but acting on what I know, I'm getting out of here. My allegiance was to Miktesh, not to Gaius. Furthermore, I refuse to serve under someone whose always threatening to kill me."
"Well we have two choices," Jot said in reply. "We can either desert, like Kirtten suggests, or we can stay here. If we stay here, we'll have to try and stop the deserters if we want to avoid death from Gaius."
Kirtten was puzzled. "Jot, what possible reason could you have for staying here?"
"To make sure Gaius doesn't abuse the soldiers."
Kile snorted. "Gaius does what he wants, and there's nothing anybody can do about it."
Drusus agreed. "He obviously wants command of this army very bad, which is reason enough for me to make sure he doesn't get it. I say we encourage deserters, and the best way to do that is to set an example."
Jot shook his head. "Where will we go? We might be recognized if we stay in Calet."
Drusus shrugged. "I think I'll flee to Dishon. It's a nice little country now that the war with Marram is over, another thing I don't understand but I won't get into that. Calet is not my native country, and I have no strong ties here. Your all welcome to your own decisions off course."
"I'm with you," Kile said. Jot and Kirtten expressed the same opinion.
Drusus smiled. "Good. Lets leave tonight after Gaius is asleep."

Azom took another breath, and pushed hard. The rubble held firm, but he pressed against it harder. He had been trapped under the wreckage for three days now, or was it four? Already he was beginning to lose track of time. Azom rested for a second, before throwing himself at the wall of wreckage again. He pushed against it with all his strength, but it still didn't budge. Feeling tired, he rested against the sides of the tunnel.
About three days ago, Sulla had attacked Azom in his ship well crippling Marram. Azom had been in his palace when the walls had collapsed on him, and Sulla had read his life signs as non-existant. The Teacher had confirmed Sulla's idea that Azom was dead. However, both the sensors, and the Teacher were wrong. Azom was a member of a ancient species. As far as he knew, he was the only one of them left alive. Azom's parents were thought to be the last of the race, and now Azom was the sole survivor. Nobody knew anymore what the race had been like, or what it's characteristics are. All that information had been lost in antiquity. Azom's parents died when he was two years old, and the only information he had been able to gather about his race was from observing himself.
Needless to say, Azom's information amounted to little. For about four hours after Sulla had confirmed his death, Azom had remained in a deathlike state. Then, he mysteriously arose. He almost felt like he had been dead, but he didn't know why. Could it be that his species could rise from the dead? Azom had briefly pondered that solution, but dismissed it. If his species could rise from the dead, his parents would still be alive. Azom just filled the mystery away in his brain under things he would probably never know. Right now the only important thing was getting out.
Azom had been trying to dig himself out from under the wreckage ever since he awoke. That he had eaten nothing during this time did not concern him, he was known to go for weeks without eating. Food just didn't seem important to his survival, however back in the palace he often ate just for enjoyment.
Azom could sense he was not far from the surface, but the last wall of rubble was proving to be one of the most difficult. Azom, standing up from his rest, rammed himself into the wall. He could feel it give way a little, and encouraged, rammed himself into it again. The rubble shifted, and almost fell away. On the third try, it gave way.
Azom stepped into the surface, and covered his eyes to protect them from the glaring sunlight. In the palace, Azom usually kept everything dark. He hated the light and avoided it whenever possible. He stepped into a shaded ally.
"Hey buddy, what are ya doing in here? This here's my territory."
Azom turned to see a drunken beggar, making rude gestures at him. "I beg your pardon," Azom said in an arrogant voice.
"Get your ass out of my ally you big son of a bitch."
Azom grabbed the man by the soldier. "Do you know who I am? I am Azom, your king. You will not uze zuch wordz with me."
The man had obviously left reason behind with his drinks. "Shut up you bastard, I don't care who you are. Your in my ally so scram."
Azom knew he had incredible strength, probably also a characteristic of his species. With one hand he lifted the man up into the air, grabbing him by the head. The man tried to punch Azom, but hit his hands against a body like steel. Azom crushed the mans skull with his hand, and dropped the lifeless body to the ground.
"Azom, you alive." Azom turned to see Azet, flying down to greet him. "I thought you were dead for sure."
"I waz. I have come back from the dead. Death has no hold on my kind."
"Are you sure?"
"Pozitive. I am invincible to death. What has happened?"
Azet shook his head. "Nobody's sure what has happened, but whatever it was, it was terrible. Something destroyed all of our major cities. I mean completely destroyed them, not a building left standing or any survivor on the street. The empire of Marram seems to be crumbling. All our enemies are taking advantage of our weakness by attacking now. You were presumed dead, and now their is fighting over the thrown. A hell of a time for a civil war, but it's happening."
"What about Dizhon?"
"Who cares about Dishon? The war on them has been temporarily called off. We'll conquer them once we get back on our feet.
Azom, his good sense blocked by his ego, declared himself invincible. He believed he had been killed when the palace fell on him, but came back from death, forgetting about the holes in that theory, or perhaps more precisely, choosing to overlook them. "I am invincible. Zince I cannot be killed, I will conquer Dizhon on my own. When Marram recoverz, I will give it to her az a trophy."
"What?"
Azom turned his scaly body. His face looked like a skull. "I am going to Dizhon. Are you coming?"
"Well, yeah I guess. Might as well, but are you sure a two-bit country like Dizhon is where we should be focusing our attention in a crisis like this?"
Azom, his judgement clouded by his ego, didn't seem to hear. "With my invincibility, I zhall conquer, and gain rezpect from my people. I zhall become a legend, and I will never die." Azom trudged off in the direction of Dishon.

The New Era Chapter 5

2004-12-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
A sharp shrill sound aroused Gaius from his sleep. He groggily got out of bed, and ordered the lights to be put on. Soon he remembered he was not in the city, but in a tent in what used to be Miktesh's camp. Gaius groped through the dark to find his computer pad, connecting him with the rest of the city. He pressed a button, and Jistap's angry face appeared on the screen.
"Gaius, what the hell are you doing?"
Gaius yawned and scratched his head, still stupid from sleep. "I was sleeping sir. Why?"
"Gaius, almost all of your senior officers have deserted."
Gaius snapped into alertness so quickly that even Jistap was surprised. "What?"
"Drusus, Jot, Kile, and Kirtten all left the camp just a few hours ago."
"That's impossible. I gave strict orders that no one was to leave the camp without my permission."
"Gaius the guards don't answer to you. No one answers to you. Nobody cares about you. The only way you mantain control in that camp is by fear."
"So?"
"Gaius these people have no reason to follow you. Your their enemy. Really, your situation is pathetic. You've lost two thirds of your army already."
"Two thirds? That's a little high. It was only one half."
"It was only one half when you went to sleep you dolt. Your senior officers weren't the only ones who deserted to night."
"What?"
"Gaius, you must be the biggest idiot on Fabulae. Instead of peacefully announcing that you are ruler of this army, you launched an all out attack on them. More then one fourth of your army fled right then and there, and never returned. You know the arrival of the new world order will cause enough blood shed as it is, without killing more."
"I had to show these people I meant business."
"Oh shut up. You don't know how bad I wish I had never sent you out in the first place. I wish I had never listened to you. I should have kept Miktesh alive. Despite his flaws he's better then you." Gaius grew red with anger, but kept silent. "Sending you out here was the biggest mistake I've ever made, and sending Sulla was the second biggest."
"What's happening with Sulla?"
"His death is really your fault Gaius."
"His death?"
"Yes, you led him in a bloody takeover of the camp. Got the soldiers furious at him, and then you left. Then once the soldiers realized how timid he really was, they killed him."
"The bloody bastards."
"Anyway, I can see now that your obviously incompetent to handle this command. I don't know what I'll do yet but this is certain, your through as the leader of the new world order."
"You can't do that!"
Jistap leaned forward. "Damn it Gaius, don't you ever, ever forget whose in charge here. You will obey me without question."
Gaius swallowed. Only with great difficulty was he able to contain his anger. "Yes sir."
"Good. I'll contact you soon. Until then, stay put. Don't move this army anywhere. If you can, try and get on the good side of the soldiers." Jistap shut of his monitor, and Gaius pad also turned off.
Gaius screamed as loud as he could. Then he screamed again, at the same volume. He rushed out of his tent, and expected to vent his anger on the soldier he had forced to guard his door. The soldier wasn't there, however. "He's deserted" Gaius thought. "All of these blasted soldiers are deserting. It's their fault I'm in this much trouble. It's their fault I'm losing the command." Gaius pulled his laser gun from his belt, and shot in anger several times at the tents near him. He heard screams, and shouts, followed by the silence. He felt better, and went back to sleep.

After shutting off the computer, Jistap turned, still angry, to the table where other ten sat. "The idiot Gaius is going to blow this whole operation. I need to act fast before he ruins my dreams. I need options, gentlemen."
Livius spoke up. "Perhaps sir, our greatest mistake, my greatest mistake, was under estimating the power of nationalism. The people are Caletians, and they want to follow a fellow Caletian."
Lauto spoke up. She was a quiet woman, of twenty two years of age. "I think the biggest problem is that they are afraid of Gaius, and are deserting to save their lives. As long as the soldiers are paid well and kept happy, they won't care who they serve or why."
"I couldn't agree more," Jistap said. "I need to send someone out there who has some sense. Then, everything will fall into place." Jistap suddenly turned to Bakes. Bakes was not seated at the round table with the rest of them, but watching a monitor in the coroner.
"Are you keeping an eye on Gaius?" Bakes nodded. "How's he taking it?"
Bakes shook his head. "Not good. He just attacked his own tents, killing many of his own men will they were asleep."
"Why?"
Bakes shrugged. "He was mad I guess."
"The crazy bastard. I have to stop him now."
Pericula bolted up from her seat and headed toward the door. "Pericula, what are you doing?" Jistap yelled out. Pericula kept walking and didn't answer. "Executor, automatic door locks."
Even though she knew the door was locked, Pericula tried to open it anyway. She then turned to face Jistap. "What are you doing?" he repeated.
"I'm through Jistap. I'll have no part of this any longer. You've caused to much bloodshed already, and if you keep this up, you'll cause even more. Gaius is abusing his power. I warned you that power would get abused. I will not be a party to these crimes. You can exile me like Hans."
Jistap clapped his hands in glee. "You hate bloodshed, and you hate the abuse of power. You'll be the perfect person to replace Gaius."
Pericula shouted angrily, "No! I'm through! Finished! You can find someone else!"
Jistap smiled. "Let's make a deal. You replace Gaius, and I won't execute your brother Julius."
"What?"
Jistap's smile broadened. "We caught him planning to assassinate me. He was even trying to borrow a dagger from his friend to do it with. If you replace Gaius, I'll let him get away with exile. If you refuse," Jistap threw up his hands, "while his offense is punishable by death."
Pericula hung her head. "Alright, you win," she mumbled.
Jistap jumped up and down in glee. "Excellent! I'll send you in Livius out in a small ship." Jistap nodded to Livius. "Livius, I'll take your suggestion about Caletian rule into account. On the way to the camp, you'll pick up Drusus, Jot, Kile, and Kirtten, the four senior officers who deserted. When you arrive at the camp, you are to make those four directly under you, but give the appearance that you share power with them equally.
"I also want Gaius to be totally humiliated for his disobedience. He is to be placed under the authority of the four senior officers. He is not allowed to breath without their permission. I want this made absolutely clear to him." Pericula nodded. "Good, now be off."

"Well we've got enough water for another couple of days, but we could use some more food," Kirtten decided.
Kile nodded. "I suppose we should ask for food there." Kile pointed to a house, less then a quarter mile away.
Drusus agreed. "Lets go."
As they were walking toward the house, Kile had an idea. "Since were still in military uniform, they might know we're deserters," he said. "I propose we pretend we're scouts, returning from a mission. I will pose as our leader." The others agreed with this plan.
Upon arriving at the house, an old man and woman came forth to meet them before they had even reached the door. "Excuse me, good people," Kile began. "We are scouts, returning from a mission. We need food and we are wondering if you could help us."
The old woman was critical. "Your scouts did you say?"
"Yes ma'am. My name is Kile," to late Kile realized his error. Although he doubted these common people would know much about politics, his name was nevertheless not unknown among knowledgeable circles. As a precaution, he quickly added, "but I prefer to be called Kai." Kile realized how idiotic his words sounded, but he tried to pretend he talked that way all the time.
The old woman turned to her husband. She was about to speak, but then Drusus shouted, "Look out!"
All eyes followed Drusus' pointed hand into the sky. The monster that had aided Gaius had returned. "Run!" Jot yelled. All four officers took to their heels, while the old man and lady dashed into their house.
The monster flew directly above the officers, only about one meter above them. A human dropped out of it, and fell to the ground. She landed right in the middle of the fleeing four. She was dressed just like Gaius, and like him she also carried a laser gun on her belt.
She landed in a crouched position. Before she could get to her feet, Drusus kicked her in the face. She fell flat on the ground. "Run," he shouted. "I'll take care of her."
"No wait," the stranger yelled, sitting up. "I'm not like Gaius. I'm a friend." The other three kept on running. Drusus kicked her again. She fell to the ground and this time did not rise. Drusus stood ready, but she didn't give him a reason to attack. She lay still, as she said, "I'm not like Gaius. I'm a friend."
"Who are you?"
"I am one of Gaius' one people. I've come to stop him."
Drusus helped her up. "I may be crazy, but I believe you," he said.
The other three had stopped their flight, and had circled back to Drusus and Pericula. They approached apprehensively. "It's all right," Drusus called out. "She's a friend."
The monster circled back and landed by the them. The four officers started to run, but Pericula reassured them. "It's all right," she called out. "It's not a monster, only a mode of transportation." Cautiously, they came back. "Get in," Pericula said. "We have a lot to talk about."

Once the ship had taken off, Pericula began her explanation. "I'll be frank," she said. "My people posses technology that is beyond your wildest dreams. We want to use this technology to-" Pericula chose her words carefully "-to help Calet. We plan to reestablish Calet to her former glory and more. We want complete domination of Fabulae for Calet."
Drusus broke in. "Why would you want that. Wouldn't you want it for yourselves instead of Calet?"
Pericula decided it was best not to reveal everything, at least not right away. "That's our little secret. If you prove yourselves trustworthy, you'll find out in time. Now then, back to complete domination for Calet. We couldn't do anything until your civil war was over. That's why we sent two of our men to take over each army, and bring them to Caletia for reunification. Unfortunately, Gaius proved to be disobedient. He was not authorized to kill anyone-" Pericula cringed inside, knowing that was a lie, but did not show any outward indication of that "-yet I trust you know he did in fact, kill several.
"I was sent to take over from Gaius. However, my people understand that Caletians will want to follow other Caletians. That is why you four are to have the appearance of being equal in power with me. Gaius, as part of his punishment for disobeying orders, will be under your complete and total command. I trust I can count on your support."
The four officers exchanged glances at each other. Jot spoke. "Your words are good. If your people truly want to help Calet, we will give you all the support you need." The others joined in affirming Jot's statement.
Pericula smiled. "Good. Together, we can make Calet strong again."

The New Era Chapter 6

2004-12-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
The ship landed smoothly on the ground. Pericula said good-bye to Livius, and got out, followed by the four senior officers. Pericula had thought it best to exit the ship about a kilometer away from the camp so that the soldiers didn't get scared when they saw it. The five walking back to camp.

Gaius cursed the weather, and closed his eyes, as he put his head down on his bed. He had known that he wouldn't be able to adjust the temperature in Calet like he had in the city, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad. "Don't worry," he told himself. "I may be a little uncomfortable, but I still have the power I want." Power, the word echoed in his mind. It was the one thing he had dedicated his whole life to getting, and the more he had, the more he wanted. Last night he had not slept well, worried about Jistap's threat to take away his power. This morning, his mood was much better. He had decided that Jistap's threat had no teeth behind it. Jistap wouldn't dare make an enemy of him. Gaius smiled, Jistap knew how dangerous he was.
Gaius bolted upright. He could stand this weather any longer, something had to be done. He marched outside of his tent, and happened to see an officer passing by. "Hey, you," Gaius called out.
The officer came running. When he reached Gaius, he bowed low to the ground, terrified. "What do you wish, my lord?"
"I'm humid."
The anxiety the officer was feeling showed on his face. It was clear he didn't know how to respond. "Yes sir."
"Well don't just stand there, do something about it!" Gaius face flamed red as he waved his hands in anger.
The officer looked around nervously, and swallowed. "Sir, we don't exactly-"
A soldier ran up to Gaius, saving the officer from his dilemma. After bowing to Gaius he announced, "the four senior officers have returned sir."
Gaius' eyes lit up. "Is that so? They think they can just waltz on back after all the trouble they've caused me? I'll make them sorry they ever turned against me." Gaius grabbed his laser gun from his belt, and held it tightly. The soldier led the way, and Gaius followed.
After walking half-way through the camp, the soldier pointed to a group still a good four dekameters away, by the outskirts of camp. Gaius squinted at the far off group. "Those are the senior officers?" The soldier nodded. "But there are five of them."
"A female human is accompanying them. She is dressed like you." Gaius' heart skipped a beat as he realized what was happening. He sprinted towards the five.

"Oh no! Here he comes! Lets run for it!"
"Calm down Kirtten," Pericula reassured him. "I come with orders from the very top. Gaius won't dare harm any of you." Despite her show of bravery, Pericula was really worried. She didn't know what Gaius would do.
Soon, Gaius had rushed to their location. He tried to get out words, but he was too busy gasping for breath. Pericula spoke while he recovered from his mad dash.
"Greetings Gaius. I've come with new orders from Jistap himself."
Still breathing heavily, Gaius asked, only able to get one word out at a time. "Why...didn't...Jistap...contact me...through the...computer?"
Pericula responded, "I don't know," thinking it better not to mention the truth. Jistap had stopped communicating personally with Gaius, as part of his humiliation. Pericula continued, "I have been sent by Jistap to replace you. These four senior officers are to be directly under me. You have been placed under the authority of these four, and are to obey their orders to the letter."
Gaius gazed at Pericula, stunned. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that Jistap would place him below Caletians. He was a Watcher, and no matter what he had done he deserved his elite status because of that fact. Finally he found it with in himself to ask, "are you serious."
Pericula nodded. "Jistap was quite clear. I believe his exact words were 'Gaius isn't allowed to breath without their permission.'"
Gaius pointed his laser gun at Pericula. She reached for hers, but Gaius warned, "don't even think about it. You make one false move and I'll kill you."
Pericula tried to smile. "You wouldn't kill a fellow Watcher would you Gaius?"
"Try me. You'll get back in whatever ship you came in, and you go straight back to the city, or I'll kill you right now, Watcher or not!"
Pericula looked straight into Gaius' eyes, defiantly. "Go ahead and kill me Gaius, but my orders come Jistap. Your little pea shooter won't be much good when he brings out the big guns, and then you'll be sorry you crossed him." Gaius screamed in rage like an animal, clawing himself with his fingernails. Then, his outburst over, he hung his head and handed his laser gun to Pericula. She grabbed it triumphantly. "Arrange an assembly in one hour Gaius, in which you will formally hand over command of this army to us." Gaius left, and inside her facade of confidence, Pericula breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"-your new leaders." Gaius introduction had been less then enthusiastic, but the soldiers cheered as if he had given an inspired performance. The four senior officers ascended the platform. The soldiers cheered even louder. Drusus tried to quiet them down, but they would not be quieted. They cheered until their voices could cheer no more. Their jubilation was not without merit, for Gaius' brief but horrible reign of terror was over.
At last, when the applause had finally come to an end, Drusus addressed the soldiers. "My friends," he said, "I am both happy and sad at this moment. I am happy because the rule of Calet has returned to the Caletians." At this point, a great cheer was heard, but it did not last near as long as its predecessor. "I am sad, because of the memory of Miktesh. He was a noble man, a great man, and we can only hope to be a worthy successor to one so admirable." Again, Drusus was forced to pause for the soldiers' cheering.
"We four will share power equally," Drusus continued. "We shall also share power with another, one called Pericula." Pericula ascended the platform. She was dressed in Caletian fashion, so that those who had not seen her before did not know she was any other than a Caletian. Those who had seen the showdown with Gaius, cheered her enthusiastically. The others were puzzled that a woman should be given such authority, but were too jubilant to question the appointment. Gaius was out of power, everything else was details.
The five exited the platform together, followed by Gaius. Kile turned to Gaius, eyes' gleaming of mischief. "Gaius," he said, "I've got a job for you. The latrines need cleaning." Gaius' jaw dropped. He turned to Pericula, hopping a fellow Watcher would save him from this humiliation, but Pericula remained looking out at the camp. Gaius went away angry.
Pericula sighed and shook her head as soon as he was out of sight. She didn't want to have to fight him for the rest of her command. As the only two Watchers here, they should corporate. She didn't want to humiliate him, but she knew better then to interfere with Kile's command in front of Gaius. She gave Kile a light tap on the shoulder. "Be easy on Gaius," she whispered. "He'll make a far better ally then he will enemy.

Jistap leaned over Bakes' shoulder. "How's everything going?"
"Things are going good. Pericula has assumed power, and Gaius has been totally humiliated. The transfer of power went as smooth as possible."
"Excellent. What's happening with the army Sulla used to command?"
"With a lack of strong leadership, the army completely dissolved. Many of the men are now looking for work and creating trouble in the nearby towns, but most of them are heading to join Pericula's army."
"Excellent, Excellent!" Jistap paused, struck by a new thought. "Is communication a problem?"
"No sir, they speak Caletian just like us."
"But the Icelers spoke Caletian too, and we had trouble communicating with them."
"The Icelers lived in a climate few others did. They had little contact with Calet, and never fully caught on to their language, but only just enough so that we can call the Icelers language a Caletian language."
"But over the one thousand years The Watchers have been in isolation, wouldn't our language be different from that of present day Calet."
"No it's not, and you can thank the Teacher for that. The Teacher can understand every language in Fabulae. When Haket first spoke to it, the Teacher immediately realized Haket spoke Caletian, and so communicated with Haket, his friends, and their descendents in Caletian ever since. The interesting thing is, the Teacher changed its language as Caletian changed outside the city. The teacher always communicated in present day Caletian, and so The Watchers have learned modern Caletian from the Teacher. Off course, we have developed some slang words of our own, but for the most part, our language and Calet's is the same."
Jistap thought about this answer for a while before he asked another question. "How hot are the Coler mountains now?"
Bakes shook his head. "The satellite keeps emitting heat. Although the rate of increase has slowed down dramatically, the temperature is still rising on the Colers. Right now the temperature is thirty two degrees and rising."
"Is there a danger?"
"We may have to turn the satellite off if this continues."
"What? If we turn the satellite off, how can the new world order come about? The satellite is essential to my plan."
"Lets just sit tight then, and the mountains don't get to hot. I already have scientists working on space travel, as you ordered. If we have to, we may have to delay the new world order until we develop space travel."
"How long would that be?"
"Oh, one month, one year, two years, a decade, a century, no one knows. We have barely begun to scratch the surface on this project. Once we find out what's involved, we can give you a more accurate time."
"How is Rodens doing?"
"Still harmless. He hasn't touched his ship or any of the equipment he left in it since he hid it. Using his ship's lasers, he was able to hide the ship beneath the ground, so I don't think there's any danger of someone finding it soon, but we might want to pick it up. Rodens himself has been living in Dishon, acting as a beggar. Perhaps you should pick him up too."
"I know I should. I've just been too busy lately. Your right though, I should pick him up. He could be a thorn in the flesh if he isn't dealt with. Send Livius in a ship to pick him up. I'll deliver justice to him when he is brought before me."
"I'll give the order sir."
"One more question, Bakes, what is-" Bakes gave Jistap a look with just enough exasperation on his face to let Jistap know this wasn't a good time. "I'm sorry Bakes, are you busy? I can ask you another time."
"That would help me sir. I am busy here."
Jistap nodded and walked out, saying, "no problem, sorry to disturb you."
As soon as Jistap was gone, Bakes rapidly punched a few buttons on his computer. A face appeared on the monitor. "Sorry for the delay," Bakes said. "I was talking with Jistap."
The face looked concerned. "Oh no! Is he on to us?"
Bakes shook his head. "He doesn't suspect a thing. We were just talking business as usual."

The New Era Chapter 7

2004-12-27T21:04:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Livius escorted Rodens into the room. Jistap and Bakes rose from their seats to greet the two. "Where you able to retrieve his ship?" Jistap asked.
"Lauto is returning with it as we speak," Livius answered.
"Excellent. You may go, Livius." Livius bowed and left.
Jistap turned to Rodens. "Now, why don't you tell us what possessed you to do what you did?"
"What's going on? Why am I answering to you instead of an assembly?"
"No doubt you have many questions as to the events that transpired in your absence. I'll make a little deal with you. You tell me your story, I'll tell you mine."
"Sounds fair I guess." Rodens paused, "I'm not sure I want to talk about what I did though. It's not a pleasant memory."
"I should hope not!"
Rodens drew in a deep breath and began. "I want you to know I'm not proud of what I did. I guess it all started at that meeting we had, the one where Bakes first introduced the danger the Icelers where in. I liked the Icelers, but I was inflamed with love for the Watchers. My patriotism wouldn't allow the Watchers to compromise their power to help the Icelers. By losing our secrecy when we shipped the Icelers to the North Pole, we were greatly compromising our power.
"From the moment the vote was totalled, I knew inside it was fake. Then, when I found out that Hans was helping to lie to the public, I was filled with rage. My best friend had betrayed me in order to further his own political agenda. Our president himself was corruption incarnate. Fortunately, I had discovered the problem in time to stop it, or so I thought. I never thought Hans would help unjustly imprison me, but he did. I sat their in my cell thinking, thinking that I would be left here forever, and that you, Jistap, would get away with this. The very thought pushed me into a rage that ultimately sent me on the killing rampage. I would have killed you, but I couldn't kill another Watcher, so I killed Icelers instead. Finally, when my anger had subsided, the gravity of what I had done began to weigh heavy on me. I came into a state of total apathy, went to Dishon, replicated a lot of valorts, and stayed drunk for as long as I could."
Jistap looked strangely at Rodens, as if Rodens were a five headed mutant. After a while he said, "Rodens, their is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you are a mentally unstable person, perhaps the most so in all of Watcher history. In light of your temporary insanity, I am going to allow you to live."
"What do you mean? There is no death penalty among the Watchers."
"There is now. I have taken over now. The city is in a complete dictatorship."
"Even you wouldn't kill a fellow Watcher."
"My army has already killed seven hundred. You will join the thousand that have been exiled."
"You son of a bitch!" Rodens lunged for Jistap, but stopped suddenly. "You're no better then I am. You call me insane, but we are to of a kind."
"Guards," shouted Jistap. Two guards rushed into the room. "Escort Rodens into exile."
The guards practically dragged Rodens out of the room, but as he was leaving, Rodens shouted, "we are two of a kind, Jistap."
As soon as Rodens was gone, Bakes turned to Jistap. "I must admit sir, I'm surprised you let him live. Rodens has killed over seventy Icelers for no reason. I was sure you would executed him."
Jistap smiled. "Bakes, I have a much bigger plan in mind. I know Rodens deserved to die, but he will serve me much better alive. Those exiles have been plotting against me ever since they were banished from the city. I know this sounds silly, but sometimes listening in on their conversations, I get scared hearing their plots, and what they will do when they get back in the city. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I'd sleep a lot easier if I could take care of them. Hopefully, Rodens will do that for me. The exiles are all united in their hatred of me. We'll see how united they stay once they have a mass murderer in their mists, who hates me as much as any of them."

The first and most obvious thing Rodens noticed when he first set foot on the Coler mountains, was the heat. The sun wasn't even out, hidden behind some clouds, but the heat was unbearable to some one who had lived in comfort all his life.
Taking a look around, Rodens was unimpressed by the scenery that would have been breath taking to anyone else. He did see something that caught his interest though, a village of roughly made shacks, about a half a kilometer away. Realizing that this must be where the other exiles where, Rodens walked over.
When Rodens reached the village, on one of the few flat spots on the Colers, he was surprised to see few people there. The village was practically deserted. After wandering around for a few minutes, he did meet up with one man. "Excuse me," Rodens said, "I'm a new exile. Could you tell me where everyone is?"
Rodens was glad that he did not know the man, who responded, "Well, most of the camp is down at the base of the mountain, gathering what food they can. Almost everyone else is swimming in Coler's river, the only cool spot there is on this mountain."
Rodens was not eager to meet the rest of the exiles, but his short time in Dishon had convinced him he was ill equipped to handle life outside of the city. He would have to stay with the rest of the exiles, which meant now was as good as time as any to get this confrontation over. Besides, he thought, a cool swim sounds pretty good right now.
Rodens asked the man for directions, and followed those directions to the stream. When he got to the stream, Rodens acted as if he had been exiled all year, by casually jumping into the river, and swimming with the other Watchers the rest of the day.

It was dark by the time Hans returned to the village. His shoulders ached from carrying the food all the way from the base of the mountain to the camp. He rested, leaning against a rock. Even at night, the mountains were still hot, and Hans began sweating just sitting. Before long, Hans began to realize how thirsty he was, and got up to go get some water. Water had been brought back from the stream by several of the exiles on their way back from the stream. Hans took a big long drink from the bucket, before turning to head back to the rock. The water had taken some getting used to by all the exiles, since it was not perfectly clean like that in the city, but the mountains were so hot that it still was refreshing.
On his way back to the rock, Hans thought he saw Rodens. In the dark it was hard to tell, but the figure he saw did look like Rodens. Hans dismissed the idea at first. "Rodens isn't one of the exiles," he told himself. Thinking further, however, Hans realized that Jistap would want Rodens brought to justice immediately, and this was probably the place Rodens would end up once Jistap was through with him.
Hans walked up to the figure, and tapped his shoulder. The figure turned around, face to face with Hans. Hans immediately recognized that it was Rodens, and Rodens recognized Hans. About a minute passed as both just stared at each other, and each was too lost in his own thoughts to speak. Thoughts of both happier times and horrible memories of recent events. Then Hans snapped. The pictures of the dead and mutilated Icelers filled his mind. He was filled once again with anger at Rodens for his atrocities. Hans punched Rodens across the face, and then hit Rodens repeatedly. A crowd gathered around the pair.
"Break it up you two," Mucius yelled. Aided by several others, Mucius was able to separate Hans and Rodens. Several men held Hans back, as he struggled against them. Rodens gave no struggle, but a couple men held onto him anyway. Mucius stood between the two.
"Let me at that son of a bitch!" screamed Hans, squirming to get free.
"Hans, you know better then that," Mucius replied. "The common enemy is Jistap. It is he we must struggle against, and not each other. We must work together in peace until we have defeated him. If you can't do that, we'll have to ask you to leave our village." Mucius looked like he was going to say more, but he stopped suddenly. He looked back and forth at Hans and Rodens, before saying, "what's going on? Aren't you two best friends?"
Hans had expected the Watchers to know everything by know, but Mucius reaction proved Jistap had kept Rodens exploits secret even now. Hans had told the other exiles nothing about the short time during which he helped Jistap, fearing it would disrupt the sense of unity. "I'm sorry Mucius. You're right, my actions were totally out of line. It won't happen again. I'd like to speak with Rodens for a moment, alone."
Mucius nodded to the other men, who released Hans and Rodens. The two walked to the edge of the village, neither speaking a word the whole way. When they reached the outside of the village, Rodens sat down on a rock and buried his head in his hands, while Hans paced back and forth, occasionally punching the air. After a couple minutes of this, Rodens looked up, and in a soft voice said, "Hans-"
Hans whirled around. "So, Jistap finally caught you eh? We'll old buddy I guess you won this one. You've managed to kill almost as many Icelers as we saved. I yield to your power."
"Hans please-"
"I can understand you were mad at me, mad at Jistap. Killing a hundred Icelers is a perfectly healthy form of releasing stress."
"Hans, listen to me. I'm sorry for what I did now. You don't know the guilt I'm feeling."
Hans' face softened. He looked sympathetically at Rodens. "I'm sorry Rodens," he said in a sweet tone. "I know you realize now that what you did was wrong, and that you're sorry. I'm sure your never do it again, so I'm just going to forget that you killed a hundred Innocents."
"Hans I'm not asking you to forget it."
"Then what are you asking me to do!" Hans grabbed Rodens by the shoulders, and screamed into his face. "You didn't stop to see what you did, did you? You just flew on right past your victims! I landed! I saw the dead, the wounded, the mutilated, the grieving! I saw it and I'm never going to forget it, or forgive you! Never!" Hans broke away, and began pacing again. After a few times back and forth, he turned to Rodens. "You leave this village by tonight, and I won't tell anyone what you did. I'll leave your name clean, which is more then you deserve."
"Hans, I don't know how to survive by myself in the real world."
"Learn."
"Hans please, you can tell them the truth if you want, but I'm not leaving the village. I can't make it on my own."
Hans looked into Rodens' eyes, and Rodens looked back into Hans'. Rodens saw in Hans' eyes a look of days past, when the two were best friends. "Rodens, please, I can't forget what you did. I can't forget what I saw. I can't be around you anymore. This village isn't big enough for both of us. If you don't leave, there's going to be an ugly confrontation."
Rodens nodded, a little bit of a smile appeared on his face. "Alright Hans, I'll leave tonight." Rodens extended his hand for Hans to shake. Hans thought for a moment, brought forth his own hand, but before it reached Rodens' he slowly brought it back. Hans looked at Rodens, and thought of all the times the two had shared together. "Good-bye, old friend."
"Good-bye Hans," Rodens answered, as he began his journey down the mountains.

The New Era Chapter 8

2004-12-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Jistap looked at the table, where the thirteen on his team sat. He noticed several empty chairs, and he quickly accounted for many of them. Hans was in exile, Sulla was dead, Gaius and Pericula were in Calet, but that still left one more empty seat. Bakes, he was the one who wasn't here.
At just that moment, Bakes came in the door. "You're late, Bakes," Jistap said.
"Executor, now!" The words had just barely left Bakes mouth when energy flew out of the walls. Jistap screamed as it enveloped his body, but not for long. Before everyone's eyes, Jistap was completely vaporized.
Bakes turned to the others, who sat stunned. "Jistap wanted me to give him complete control of the computers. I did this, but unknown to him I gave myself even more power then he had. The computers took their orders from me, only when I remained silent did they listen to Jistap. Now, I have killed Jistap to gain total control for myself." Bakes noticed that he was not recieving as much support as he had been expecting. Knowing that despite their show of loyalty, no one in this room had ever really been a supporter of Jistap, Bakes had thought they would be overjoyed at his death. "I will undo the damage Jistap did. All the exiles, no matter what the reason for being exiled, will be forgiven their crime and welcomed back to the city immediatly. The new world order will be abandoned. Gaius and Pericula will be called back from Calet."
Aked, one of the most driven members of the team asked, "does this mean we will be returning to democracy?"
Bakes smiled. "Soon, soon but for the present I think it would be best if we here assume control, at least until things get back to normal. Hans, Gaius and Pericula, will join us in power." A cheer arose, followed by applause. The other eight in the room congragulated Bakes on his cleverness and braveness, and hailed him as the savior of the Watchers.

The air was nice and cool, almost a little bit too cold. Hans looked around him. The city seemed to sparkle in it's brillance. Everything was clean, and shiny, and comfortable. Paradise was recovered.
"Ah, it feels great to be back in the city again." Mucius took a deep breath, and exhaled it slowly. "The air here, it's so much better then Coler's. The temperature is better, the ground is better, everything is better. It's good to be home."
"I'm still not quite sure what's happening," Hans admitted. "Why were we allowed back in the city? Has Jistap forgiven us for our disloyalty?"
Before Mucius could answer, two men in guards uniform approuched the two. "You're Hans?" one of them asked. Hans nodded. "Come with us please."
Hans was lead into the meeting room of what used to be Jistap's team. The room was empty except for Bakes, sitting in one of the chairs. When Hans entered the room, Bakes immediatly rose to greet him. "Sit down Hans."
"Thank you Bakes, but I think I'd prefer to stand until I know what's going on. Why did Jistap let me back in the city?"
"Jistap is dead Hans, I killed him myself. I am in control now."
Hans smiled weakly. "Forgive me if I sound rude, but I don't think that's much of an improvement. Our problems won't be over until control is returned to the people."
"I couldn't agree with you more Hans. I plan to return to democracy as soon as we can safely do so. Unfortunately, Jistap did a lot of damage, and I think it's wise to repair what he did before we return control back to the people. Sort of ease them into it so to speak."
Hans' skepticism was evident in his tone. "What exactly do you have in mind?"
Bakes shrugged. "Well, you know, just clean things up a little bit. Make sure all the exiles get adjusted back to the city, bring back Gaius and Pericula from Calet." Bakes saw the puzzled look on Hans' face. "It's a long story I'll explain later. Anyway, there's a lot of little stuff that needs to be taken care off. The point is Hans, while this transition period is going on, the city will be ruled by the team, those of us who banded together to save the Icelers. As a member of the team, your entitled to your share of power. Do you want it?"
Hans thought for a moment. "On one condition, this very night you will make a speech to the city, telling them what you just told me. You will give a detailed outline of the steps you think are needed to return to democracy, and give the people a deadline of how long it will take. You will also tell them that if the steps aren't completed by the deadline, for whatever reason, they will be disregarded and democracy will be returned immediatly."
Bakes extended his hand for Hans to shake. "Fair enough, I accept. Welcome back Hans." Hans shook Bakes' hand firmly.

"Get out, I'm in no mood to talk."
The man simply smiled, and proceeded into Gaius' tent. "I'm not afraid of you Gaius, no one is afraid of you anymore. You've been declawed. Your nothing without your laser gun."
Gaius was not suprised that the man knew the name for the weapons he had been using. Pericula had been talking about the laser guns in front of the troops. "I'm still your superiour officer. I don't know who you are or what you want but if you don't get out of my tent right now I'll have you flogged."
The man held up his hands, his smile broadening. "Don't do that just yet. Here me out, I have a proposal to make that could be very beneficial to us both."
"You have nothing I want."
"On the contrary, I have the means to put you back in power."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have many men with me. We are about twenty in all. You want that bitch Pericula assassinated? We can do that for you. When she least expects it, before she has time to get her laser gun, we will strike. When she's dead, we'll give the laser guns back to you, and you can rule supreme."
Gaius interest was perked. "What's the catch?"
"As soon as your back in control, give us one laser gun. We'll leave the camp and stay out of your way forever. We'd use it to rob villagers, and become rich as kings."
Gaius was tempted. He would only need one laser gun once he was back in power, and he longed to see Pericula dead. Then, he remembered Jistap back in the city. "You just don't get it," he said. "I'm powerless against Pericula, she has strong friends."
The man nodded. "If you change your mind, my offer still stands. Look for me by my tent, it's right next to the well. My name is Blanka, ask for me." Gaius watched lanka leave his tent, and remained looking at the door for quite some time. Finally he turned away, and struck his bed, hard. He longed to kill Pericula, and Jistap, and Kile, and all the rest of his enemies. "Patience," he told himself. "Be patient and wait for your oppurtunity."

Azom dismounted from the chariot, and paid the horses. His appearance was shielded by a cloak, that covered his whole body. Peering out from underneath it, Azom looked at the sight surrounding him. He was in Dishon's capital, the perfect place to start his massacre. Azom felt around him to make sure he had all his weapons, sword, knife, and spear. They were all there.
Azet, purched on Azom's shoulder, asked, "so when do we start the fight?"
"Tommorrow. We will begin tommorrow."

"I hate to call this meeting so suddenly, but our life's work, not to mention our very lives our in danger." After an introduction like that, one would expect that the audience was leaning in, listening closely to hear what would be said next. This audience was no exception. "They are in control of the Watchers." The audience gasped, horrified. "As far as we can tell, they've known about the Watchers since they were created. Yet, they have left them alone all these years. Watcher history has been dull and uneventful. Now suddenly, they have been influencing the Watchers heavily, but to no appearant cause. Jistap's new world order was halted by Bakes, Gaius' reign of terror was stopped by Pericula, Rodens' killing spree was ended by Hans. Why haven't they done anything?" A dull murmur was heard, as several tried to guess. "I'll tell you why. There's only one possible explanation. It's too much of a coincidence that our return should coincide with chaos among the Watchers after all these years of peace. They know where coming, and they're are toying with the Watchers just to let us know they know we're coming. The element of surprise has been lost." Frightened chatter followed this last announcement.
The speaker held up his hands for silence. "Unfortunately, the situation is worse then that. If they know we are coming, it is logical to assume they know a lot more about us. They could know about all our plans, all our weapons. They could have duplicated and improved our inventions. They could be on this very ship." More frightened chatter was heard, and the speaker was unsuccessful in obtaining quietness for quite some time.
As soon as he could continue, the speaker proceded. "Needless to say, this calls for immediate action and to that end I have with me a number of key targets with me. The first item is Fera. No doubt you understand that breaking their influence is crucial. Fera is the only country they have absolute control over. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of time to spend, so we're going to have to make it brief." The speaker pointed to one across the table from him. "I trust you can think of something simple, yet effective to at least give them some trouble in Fera." The one being pointed to nodded.
"Good," the speaker continued. "The next target is the Watchers. They are a valuable playing peace, and since it is clear are oppenents are in possession of them, we must nullify their potential. Therefore, I want the doors sealed. No one is to get in or out of the city."
"Sir," someone spoke up, "they have two men still in Calet."
"That is the least of their worries. The doors will be sealed. In the situation we're in we can't afford to take any risks whatsoever. The two in Calet will have to learn to fend for themselves."
"Sir," someone said, "should we turn back now before it's too late?"
"No, we must never do that. They must be defeated at all costs. We are dealing with sadists, and murderors. We know how treacherous and clever they can be, but this time the victory will be ours. The next key target is ..."

Civilization is perhaps the greatest accomplishment ever achieved by intelligent beings. Protection is always needed from the evil, those that prey on the weak. When civilization is destroyed, life is thrown into chaos. Order becomes an ideal only. The only purpose is to survive. It was thousands of years ago that Fabulae first emerged from the chaos of life into civilization. A new era was then born. Now, that era is coming to a close. Chaos rears its ugly head, and life must cope with it. Now is truly the beginning of another era. A newer era, filled with new ideas, new problems and new solutions. Fabulae will never be the same again.

The New Era Chapter 9

2004-12-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
It felt good to have things finally returned to normal, Hans thought to himself, as he took a leisurely stroll through one of the city's many gardens. The artificial sky did not look quite as impressive to Hans as it usually did, now that Hans had seen what the real sky looked like first hand, yet it was so well constructed that Hans couldn't pinpoint the difference between this sky and the real one.
Hans took a deep, relaxing breath. Things couldn't look better. Last night Bakes had made a speech to the people. He had promised to return democracy in two weeks. Jistap's dreadful new world order was history. Livius was on his way now to pick up Gaius and Pericula, who had been informed last night of the changes.
Hans was still thinking about Livius bringing Gaius and Pericula back home, when Livius himself rushed passed him. Hans immediately turned around and grabbed Livius' arm. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be picking up Gaius and Pericula now."
"The executor is refusing to open any of the doors. I can't get out of the city."
"What?"
"I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to see Bakes now."
Hans nodded his agreement. "Good idea, if any one can figure this out it's Bakes."

Gaius entered Pericula's tent. "The messenger said you wanted to see me?"
"Yes," Pericula held up her computer pad, "it's another message from Bakes." Gaius leaned over her shoulder, and Pericula pressed a button, revealing Bakes' face on the monitor.
"Greetings, Pericula and Gaius," Bakes said. "I hope you are both well." Pericula and Gaius both nodded. "I'll get right to the point. By this time Livius should have already picked you up. No doubt you're wondering where he is. Well, somehow, someway, someone managed to seal all the doors to the city. All the Watchers are trapped inside, and you are trapped outside."
"Wait a minute," Pericula interrupted, "are you saying that whoever did this has done it so well that even you can't undo what was done?"
"I am well known among the Watchers for my skill in manipulating the computers, but this is a mystery to me. However did this knows more about computers then I do, then anyone in Watcher history ever did. I think we have two options to consider, either this person is the greatest genius in all of Fabulae, or we are dealing with someone who isn't a Watcher. Perhaps the people who designed this place."
Pericula gasped. "Are you serious?"
Bakes shrugged. "It's a good guess. This program definitely shows a greater understanding of the computers then I could otherwise explain. Anyway, the point is your on your own for now, perhaps forever. I don't know if I can ever get these doors to open again. I'll keep in touch, but until then you'll have to survive by yourself. I'll call you again soon." The monitor then went blank.
The news stunned Pericula. She just stood still for a moment, not believing what she had just heard. After a couple minutes, she shook herself out of the trance, and turned to put the computer pad away. Her back was to Gaius, and so she did not see him pick up the wooden chair that sat next to her bed. Gaius brought down the chair unto Pericula's head with all the strength he had. As chair splintered into many pieces, Pericula fell to the ground unconscious. Gaius laughed triumphantly as he tore up Pericula's tent, looking for the laser guns. When he found them, there would be no one to stop him this time. As Bakes said, he was on his own.
When Gaius finally stopped searching through Pericula's tent, it was unrecognizable. He had thrown everything out of place, leaving no corner unchecked, and yet he still had not found the guns. "Of course," he thought to himself, "she wouldn't hide the guns in her own tent, she knows that's the first place I'd look. The guns could be anywhere in the camp, but I'll find them."
Gaius rushed out of the tent, and ran toward the well. "Get me Blanka," he yelled, "and hurry."

Kile walked through the rows of tents. All the soldiers were out being drilled, and the camp was practically deserted. Kile could see no one around him.
Suddenly, an arrow flew past him. The arrow had come dangerously close to hitting him right in the back. Kile whirled around to see his attacker, but he saw no one. Whoever it was, he was hidden somewhere, probably behind a tent.
Kile's first impulse was to run. His foe obviously had the advantage, and until Kile could find out where he was hidden, he was a sitting duck. Kile suppressed the urge. If there was a murderer in the camp he needed to be found now. Kile drew his sword and took cover behind a tent.
No sooner had Kile leaned against the tent, when another arrow barely missed him. This time, the arrow had been shot from the other direction. Also, this time Kile could see his attacker. A man a couple tents down had shot the arrow. Kile charged towards him. The man realized he would not have time to fit another arrow, so he also drew his sword. The man parried Kile's first attack, a downward sweep made with the sword, then punched Kile with his left hand. Kile stumbled backwards a couple feet, but regained his balance in time to parry the mans thrust. The two began a furious sword fight, so furious that Kile didn't notice his other attacker, who had moved from his hiding place behind the tent and was now quietly moving behind Kile. He drew his sword, and ran so he could stab Kile in the back. Kile heard his footsteps, and moved out of the way just in time, receiving only a minor cut on his side.
Kile, realizing that two against one were not good odds, decided now might be a good time to leave the fight. He remembered the faces of the two soldiers, and they could be punished later. Kile ran with the two soldiers in pursuit.
Running as fast as he could, Kile took all sorts of sharp turns, weaving in and out of the tents in an attempt to lose his pursuers, but to no effect. Eventually, Kile's path led him right to Drusus.
Kile was surprised to see that Drusus was fighting two attackers of his own. One was in front of him. Drusus kicked this one, and he fell to the ground. Drusus then turned around to engage the other one, coming from behind. Drusus caught the mans wrist as the man tried to thrust his sword into him. Then Drusus punched the man with his left arm. While the man was still dazed, Drusus let go of his wrist and kicked him hard in the face. The man fell to the ground. Both men started to get up, and Drusus got ready to fight them, but when he heard Kile yelling for help, Drusus rushed to his defence.
Kile ran passed Drusus. As soon as Kile was passed him, Drusus came to a stop. Kile turned around and came back to help Drusus. He engaged one of the men in a sword fight, while Drusus faced the other man.
Drusus opponent, seeing that Drusus was unarmed, sneered and charged toward him. Drusus dodged his first sword thrust, then kicked the hand in which he held the sword. The sword flew out of his hand, and before the man knew what to do next, Drusus covered his face in a flurry of punches. Soon the man was on the ground.
Drusus then came over to help Kile. Drusus punched Kile's opponent several times from behind. Before the man could even turn around he was knocked to the ground.
"Lets get out of here," Kile said, "before they can get back on their feet." Kile and Drusus took to their heels, and didn't stop running until they were a safe distance away.
After they had recovered their breath, Kile turned to Drusus and said, "you're amazing. I can't believe you took down four men unarmed."
Drusus smiled. "I was trained in hand to hand fighting quite extensively in Quintel's court." Seeing the confused look on Kile's face, Drusus added, "it's a long story. I'll tell you later."
Kile shook his head confused. "Four assassins? What's going on? Why would anyone want to kill us?" Suddenly, Kile and Drusus both looked at each other. Each could tell the other was thinking the same thing he was.
"You don't think Gaius has anything to do with this?" Drusus asked.
"We'd better make sure Pericula is okay." Both men dashed off towards Pericula's tent.

Kirtten ran towards his tent. He could see someone was inside it. Kirtten burst through the doorway to see Gaius. "What are you doing?" he shouted. The tent was a mess. Kirtten's carefully ordered belongings had been thrown every which way, and Gaius was in the middle of the disaster. Gaius had his back to the door, and he turned around slowly. "What are you doing?" Kirtten repeated.
Gaius had a dagger in his hand, that he had positioned such that it was hidden by his arm. He threw it at Kirtten suddenly and without warning. The blade went right through Kirtten's left hand.
Kirtten yelled out in pain and fell to a kneeling position. He gritted his teeth against the pain, and pulled the dagger from his hand. Gaius drew his sword, one he had acquired during his stay in Calet, and ran toward Kirtten. Kirtten had no time to draw his sword, and simply steeled himself for the death blow. Gaius didn't kill Kirtten though, just threw him to the ground.
Gaius pointed his sword at Kirtten's throat. "Where are the laser guns?" he asked.
"I'm not telling you."
Gaius gave Kirtten a slash down his cheek with the sword. "Tell me or I'll kill you."
Kirtten gazed fearfully at Gaius. After a moment he said, "alright, you win. They're in Pericula's tent."
Gaius slashed Kirtten's other cheek. "You're lying to me. I'll give you one last chance to tell the truth or I'll cut off your arms."
Kirtten sighed, disgusted at himself for his cowardice. "They're in Kile's tent, buried under his bed in a chest."
Gaius smiled. From the look in Kirtten's eyes he was convinced he was telling the truth. "Thank you very much Kirtten." Gaius swung his sword, cutting off Kirtten's head. He then rushed toward Kile's tent.
Digging furiously in the ground, Gaius soon unearthed the chest. He pulled it out of the hole and set it on his lap. Then, with trembling fingers, Gaius opened it up. Both of the laser guns were there. Gaius shouted with delight. He rushed outside of the tent, firing both laser guns in his joy, shouting, "now, let chaos reign."
Gaius knew he was back in control. Blanka and his men were going to kill Pericula and the other senior officers. Gaius had already killed one of them. He cursed himself for not killing Pericula when he had the chance. No matter, he thought, I'll just kill her now.

Drusus rushed into Pericula's tent, with Kile close behind. Pericula lay motionless on the ground, face first. Drusus felt her pulse. "She's alive," he declared. Carefully, Drusus and Kile turned her over too her front side. "Go get some cold water," Drusus instructed. Kile ran out. Drusus looked and saw that Pericula was still breathing. The broken chair gave Drusus a pretty good idea of what had happened. Kile soon returned with the water, and Drusus gently began to apply it to Pericula's face. Slowly she regained conscious.
"What happened?" she asked.
Before Drusus could answer, Gaius appeared in the doorway holding both laser guns. "Well well well," he said, "three birds with one stone."

The New Era Chapter 10

2004-12-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Pericula looked at Gaius amazed. "Gaius, how did you get those? What are you doing?"
Gaius smiled. "I'm going to kill you, Pericula. You should have known better then to mess with me."
While Gaius and Pericula were talking, Kile had subtly removed his dagger from his belt, were it hung in a small sheath. Kile threw the dagger at Gaius. Gaius was able to dodge the missile, but while he was stepping out of its way, Drusus sprang to his feet, like a coiled up spring released. Almost immediately, he had grabbed both of Gaius' wrists, and pushed them to the sides, so that both of the laser guns were pointed harmlessly away. Gaius tried to kick Drusus, but before he could Drusus had pushed him down. A kick by Drusus put Gaius sprawled out on the ground.
"I'll take care of him." Drusus heard those words coming from behind him. When he turned around to see who had spoken them, a fist hit him in the face. Drusus fell to the ground, and looked up to see Blanka towering over him. "You go get the other two," he said to Gaius.
Gaius rushed back into the tent, but to his surprise, neither Pericula nor Kile was in it. Gaius dashed outside, and quickly scanned the camp. He saw the two running, about seven dekameters away. Gaius fired at them, but missed. They ducked behind a tent to escape, and Gaius ran towards them.
Meanwhile, Blanka allowed Drusus to stand up. "So Drusus," he said, "we meet again, only this time the odds are in my favor. I almost beat you in our last fight, now I am armed," Blanka held up his sword, "and you aren't."
"Blanka, what are you doing? You can't possibly be on the side of Gaius!"
Blanka smiled. "Gaius is a very powerful friend to have." With that, Blanka charged forward. Drusus ran, with Blanka in pursuit. Circling around the back of Pericula's tent, Drusus quickly grabbed a tent pole. The pole was wooden, and about four centimeters in diameter, while being just a little taller then Drusus was. As soon as Blanka's face was in view, Drusus hit it with the pole. Blanka fell over but was back on his feet just as quick. He approached Drusus again, but this time kept his distance. Drusus charged toward Blanka, and acted like he was going to hit Blanka in the chest, so when Blanka got ready to parry the blow, Drusus struck him in the left leg. Blanka didn't allow the blow to throw him off balance, and no sooner had Drusus dealt it then he swung his sword, slicing open Drusus' shirt and leaving a line of blood down his chest. Still running forward, Drusus struck Blanka in the face with the pole, knocking him to the ground. Drusus kept on running, dropping the pole so he could move faster. By the time Blanka was back on his feet, Drusus was nowhere in sight. Blanka gazed out at the seemingly endless rows of tents in all directions. Which ever one Drusus was hidden behind, if he kept moving quietly through the rows he had a good chance of not being found.

Pericula had run been running away with Kile, when Gaius fired at them. She heard the laser gun, and saw the lasers fall all around her. Immediately, she ducked behind a tent, and Kile followed her. They both lay down flat. Gaius fired again, holding down the trigger. The laser beams cut right through the tent, and landed all around Pericula and Kile. Pericula covered her head, as things were exploding all around her from the laser beams. When Gaius paused briefly, Pericula signaled to Kile. The two crawled slowly on their bellies, through the rows of tents.
Gaius ran to where he saw the two duck behind a tent. Pericula and Kile heard him running towards them, and sprang to their feet, running in a zig zag pattern through the rows of tents. Gaius followed them, shooting both laser guns.
Amid the confusion and noise, Pericula shouted to Kile, "head for the field. Jot is drilling the soldiers out there."
"No don't," Kile replied, "we'll only draw Gaius' fire on the soldiers. Head for the lake." Pericula and Kile kept zig zagging through the camp, barely avoiding Gaius' shots. When they reached the edge of the camp, by the lake, they made a beeline for it. Pericula dived into the lake. Kile was almost to the lake when a laser beam hit the ground by his foot, causing a small explosion that through him off balance. He fell to the ground, but was back on his feet in almost no time at all. Kile dived into the lake, swimming underwater for as long as he could.
Soon, Gaius had also reached the lake's edge. He tried to look for Kile and Pericula, but the lake was murky, impossible to see through. The trees around it effectively cut out the sunlight, and the lake was filled with all sorts of fallen trees, lillipads, and other things Kile and Pericula could be hiding behind. Gaius swam out into the lake himself, but he knew his odds of finding either was dim.

Keeping low to the ground, Drusus snuck through the rows of tents. Once he was sure he was safely away from Blanka, he began sprinting through them. Blanka's men tried to halt his escape. One leapt out in front of him with a spear. Before he could through it, Drusus made a ninety degree turn and kept on running. He then did some zig zagging to lose his pursuer, only to run into another man holding a sword. Drusus turned to run the other way, but his path was blocked by yet another man wielding a sword. They approached Drusus simultaneously, each swinging his sword wildly. Drusus moved like lightning, grabbing the wrist of one in a split second move, almost getting his arm cut off. Sweeping his leg, Drusus tripped the man. Once he had lost his balance, Drusus whirled around and threw him at his comrade. Both men fell to the ground. Drusus ran past them.
A spear flew over Drusus' head. It was soon to be followed by two arrows, each barely missing him. One man hid behind a tent, and tried to ambush Drusus, leaping out at him. Drusus was too quick for the man, kicking him while he was still in the air. The man was knocked backwards and landed on a tent, which collapsed on him. At once, Drusus was on top of him, and pounded him until the man let go of his sword. Drusus grabbed the sword and continued running.

Kile remained still. He was hidden behind a fallen tree. Most of the tree was still on shore, and so the tree had not sunk to the bottom of the lake but remained on the top of it. It had obviously only recently died, for it was still covered with green leaves. Kile had his hands wrapped around the tree, while his feet dangled in the water. He could hear Gaius moving through the water, but the light was so bad that he could not see Gaius.
All of a sudden, Kile heard laser fire. He cringed, wishing he could see what was happening. He heard Gaius shouting, and much thrashing about, all almost drowned out by the laser fire. Then he realized what he heard was Pericula making her escape. Taking advantage of the commotion, Kile quietly swam toward the shore. Once at the shore, he quickly fled. He ran back into the camp, and saw Pericula running ahead of him. He soon caught up with her.
"I think we lost Gaius," he said.
Pericula nodded. "I don't see him around."
"We sure had some close calls didn't we. I'm surprised we're still alive."
"Yes, we were lucky, but part of it is that Gaius is a bad shot. You see, my people do not fight often. A man trained in the arts of war is extremely rare. I bet before Gaius came to Calet, he had never fired a laser gun before in his life. In short range, he does pretty well, but as long as we keep our distance we have a good chance of escaping."
Kile nodded. The explanation had made him even more confused about Pericula's people then he was before, but he didn't show it. "We should get out of here before Gaius gets back."
"Agreed, but we can't leave the soldiers in his tender care. You go get Jot, tell him to disband the army. Tell any soldiers you see to get out of here well they still can. I'll go get my computer pad."
"You're what?"
"Never mind, just move." Both Kile and Pericula ran off on their missions.
Running toward's the field where Jot was training the soldiers, Kile soon found his path blocked by a man wielding a sword. Turning around, Kile saw that he was trapped, for another man was behind him, also holding a sword. Kile drew his sword and got ready to fight, afraid that this might be his final stand. All of a sudden, the man he was facing made a face of great pain. Kile looked to see that there was a spear point protruding from his chest. Someone had thrown a spear from behind the man, and it had gone straight through. The man fell over dead, clearing Kile's line of vision so that he could see Drusus, who had thrown the spear. Sword already drawn, Drusus charged the other man. The sword fight was over before Kile could see what was happening. Drusus was the victor.
"You're still amazing," Kile said. "That's twice today you saved me."
"There's no time to talk. We need to warn Jot."
"That's just where I was going," said Kile, as he ran off after Drusus.

Jot had heard the shouting from camp, as well as the unmistakable sound of laser fire. He knew there was trouble, but he also knew it was his priority to protect the troops. He longed to lead them in a charge at the camp, but if Gaius had the laser guns he could possibly take out the whole army. Jot had acted like he hadn't heard a thing, and continued drilling the soldiers as usual. The soldiers were nervous, but Jot's stoic attitude was somewhat calming them. Jot had sent to messengers into camp to find out what was happening, but they didn't come back.
Jot had mixed emotions when he saw Drusus and Kile running towards him. He was glad to see they where safe, but fearful of what news they might bring. The news was as bad as he expected. Gaius had both laser guns, and was once more on the lose. Jot wasted no time in informing the soldiers.
"Your lives are in danger," he shouted. "Flee while you can. This army is officially disbanded." Panic immediately took the soldiers, for they could guess what kind of danger Jot was warning them of. They ran off immediately.
Jot turned to Kile and Drusus. "I guess this means it's up to us to stop Gaius."
Kile laughed nervously. "Stop him? Are you insane? We can't stop him, we'll be lucky if we escape with our lives."
"No, Jot is right," Drusus said. "Gaius will kill many more if he isn't stopped. We must stop him, or die trying."
"Are Pericula and Kirtten alright?" Jot asked.
"Pericula's okay, or at least she was a few minutes ago," Kile responded. "As for Kirtten, I can only hope he's still alive."

Pericula knew the camp was filled with assassins. She ran to her tent cautiously, watching for an attack from any direction. Since she had no time to arm herself, she feared for her safety. Even if she did have a sword, she was not well skilled in using one. Fortunately, she reached her tent without incident. Grabbing her computer pad, she decided to swing by Kirtten's tent on her way out of the camp to see if he was alright. She knew it was out of her way, and put her in even more danger, but she hadn't seen Kirtten since this morning, and he could be in serious trouble.
When she reached his tent, all she found of him was his lifeless body and severed head. Another victim of Gaius' madness. "No matter what it takes, I swear I'll stop Gaius," Pericula said to herself.

The New Era Chapter 11

2004-12-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Kile's right fist landed on the jaw of his opponent. It was quickly followed by his left and then his right again, sending his opponent to the ground. The opponent got back on his feet, and ran away. Kile, Jot, and Drusus had been attacked by three of Blanka's men. Each had fought one of the men. Kile looked to see how Jot and Drusus were doing. Like Kile, Jot had also put his enemy to flight. Drusus' opponent lay dead by his feet. Sighing with relief, Kile picked up his sword from the ground where it had been knocked out of his hand in the course of the fight.
"Someone is coming," Jot said, his teeth bared and his hair bristling.
Kile squinted at the figure. "It's okay, that's Pericula." The three ran to meet her.
"Are you okay?" inquired Drusus, a question that was probably pointless since she looked perfectly okay, at least physically.
"I'm fine. I got my computer pad, and I also found Kirtten, or what's left of him."
"He's dead?" Kile asked. Pericula nodded. Kile shook his head, holding back the tears. "He was a good friend."
Jot growled. "We need to avenge his death."
"Believe me, I have every intention of stopping Gaius immediately," Pericula said. "He can not be allowed to kill even one more person."
"Agreed, we need to stop Gaius or die trying," Drusus affirmed. "We should also split up. If we stick together, Gaius could kill us all at once. Separated, if he kills one, the other three can still have a chance of defeating him." The four quickly dispersed and ran into the camp.

Blanka was fuming. Not only had Drusus defeated him in combat for the second time, not only had Drusus escaped him, but Drusus had defeated or escaped every one of his men he came across. Even worse, Drusus had also protected all his comrades from Blanka's men. The only senior officer killed was Kirtten, and he was killed by Gaius. If Gaius successfully killed the rest single handedly, then neither Blanka nor his men would likely receive a reward, since all they did was get in the way of things, not defeating one single officer. Blanka cursed himself, determined to earn his reward.
Moving swiftly and silently, low to the ground, Blanka traversed through the rows of tents like a snake. His sword has by his side, his bow was in his hand, and several arrows hung on his back. Blanka heard the sound of a fight and quickly moved toward it. One voice was shouting, a voice he recognized as one of his own men. The other was growling and barking, unmistakably Jot. Blanka arrived to the scene just in time to see his own man, bloody, bitten, and beaten, flee from Jot. Staying low and hiding behind a tent, Blanka remained unseen by either.
Triumphant, Jot continued on his way. He wasn't quite running, but going faster then jogging. Knowing he must act quickly, Blanka fitted an arrow to his bow. Springing up from behind the tent, he fired the arrow. The arrow hit Jot in his right front leg, when he was in mid stride. Jot fell over, and tumbled a bit until he regained his balance. Facing Blanka, about to charge him, Jot got hit by another arrow in his chest. He fell to the ground and, after writhing around a bit, died. Blanka triumphantly went to retrieve his two arrows.

Blanka wasn't the only one who heard the sound of Jot fighting. Kile also heard it, but unlike Blanka, he was unable to pinpoint who the other voice was. For all Kile could tell, the voice could be that of Gaius himself, and if Jot was fighting Gaius, he needed to help. Kile ran in the direction of the sound. The sound died out before Kile could get to it's location, but by that time he was close enough to follow where he had last heard the sound.
Rushing on to the scene just in time to see Blanka retrieve his arrows from Jot's body, Kile was filled with rage. For their greed, these killers had first murdered Kirtten, and now Jot, both good friends of his. Kile charged forward, sword drawn, yelling in anger. Blanka immediately drew his sword and turned around to face Kile. The air was soon heavy with the sound of clanging swords.
Blanka, by far Kile's superior in combat, was surprised to find himself on the defensive. Kile fought with anger and motivation, and soon Blanka was looking for some way to turn the tide of the battle. Keeping himself calm, Blanka bided his time and waited for the right moment, the moment when Kile left himself unguarded just enough for Blanka to land a well placed kick in his stomach. Kile stumbled backwards. Blanka charged forward, pressing his advantage.
Kile was able to parry one of Blanka's thrusts to his chest, but not another one which pierced his shoulder. In his pain, Kile let down his guard even more, and Blanka was able to give him a dangerous cut in the side. Using his left fist, Blanka knocked Kile to the ground. Blanka was about to kill Kile when he heard the words, "Leave him alone!" Blanka looked up to see Drusus advancing towards him.
Blanka smiled. He walked past Kile, who lay moaning on the ground. "So Drusus, now are you ready for a little rematch?"
"You bet I am!" The two clashed swords, and soon were in a rapid fight. Blanka had the upper hand, gradually gaining ground on Drusus, forcing him to repeatedly step back. Drusus, to engaged in the fight to realize what was going on, did not realize Blanka's plan. Blanka backed Drusus up against a tent. As soon as Drusus felt his ankles rub against the tent side, horror filled him. He had no more room to back up, his mobility was extremely limited. He had suddenly become very vulnerable to Blanka's attack. Several wild thrusts by Blanka forced Drusus to significantly lean back, sacrificing much of his balance. Blanka, seeing his chance, punched Drusus in the jaw. Drusus was knocked of his balance, and fell backwards onto the tent. Already unstable, the tent collapsed on top of Drusus, completely covering him under it. Drusus thrashed about to try and get up, but soon realized he could not get out soon enough. Hearing the sound of a sword cutting through the air, Drusus moved like lightening, rolling over to avoid Blanka's sword.
Drusus was counting on his ears now more then he had ever done before in his life. He heard what he interpreted as the sword being buried in the ground. He then guessed that the following sounds were Blanka trying to remove the sword. Shooting his leg up in the direction of the grunting sound, Drusus was delighted as he felt Blanka's head being hit 'head on' so to speak. Drusus kick was quickly followed up by a second that sent Blanka away long enough for Drusus to cut his way free with his sword.
Emerging from the tent, Drusus was met with the pleasant surprise that he now had the advantage. He was armed while Blanka's sword was still stuck in the ground. Blanka quickly grabbed on of the fallen tent poles. Drusus did not have time to contemplate the ironic reversal in roles before he was dodging a swing, and then another. Though far from as deadly as a sword, Blanka and Drusus were finding out that a tent pole made up in long range what it lacked in deadliness. Another swing hit Drusus' head, knocking him to the ground. When Drusus stopped sliding, he was a few meters from his original position. His head ringing, he realized with horror that his sword lay where he had dropped it when he was hit.
Drusus rolled over just in time to avoid being struck by the tent pole for the second time. He leaped to his feet, and grabbed the pole while Blanka was preparing to swing it again. Both he and Blanka struggled for the pole, each trying to pull it away from the other. Blanka tried to kick Drusus. Drusus kept clear of the kick, and while Blanka was on one foot, Drusus pushed hard. Blanka was knocked off his balance and fell to the ground.
Letting Blanka hang onto the pole, Drusus quickly grabbed his sword. Blanka, getting to his feet, before he had a chance to swing the pole had to deal with Drusus coming down on him with his sword. As Drusus had planned, Blanka had no other option then to use the pole to stop the sword. The sword cut clean through the pole, slicing it into two useless halves. Drusus pressed his sword against Blanka's neck. Blanka dropped both halves and held up his hands in surrender.
"It appears I am at your mercy," he said weakly.
"That much we agree on. Blanka, you have betrayed your own countrymen for greed. You deserve death, but I'm going to give you more then you deserve. You can have your life, as long as you leave and never return. I never want to hear of you creating trouble again anywhere. If we meet again in battle, next time I won't be so kind."
Drusus turned away. Blanka sighed with relief. He went to his sword to pull it out. "Leave your weapons where they are, just get out," Drusus warned. Not listening, Blanka gave a big pull and removed his sword from the ground. Drusus moved quickly, and before Blanka had time to use his sword, he had Drusus' sword sticking out of his chest. He collapsed to the ground dead. Drusus removed his sword, actually sort of glad he had been forced to kill Blanka. He wanted revenge for Jot's murder.
Drusus went over to where Kile lay on the ground. He was bleeding heavily, and the ground around him was red. Losing some of his common sense in a crisis, Drusus asked another dumb question. "Are you okay?"
Kile moaned and clutched at his wound. "Drusus? Drusus?"
Both of Kile's eyes were closed in response to the pain, so he could not see who was kneeling by him. "Yea, it's me."
"Oh Drusus, it hurts. It hurts so much."
Drusus examined Kile's wounds. Though far from a physician, Drusus could see the trouble Kile was in. Both wounds were serious, especially so the one on Kile's side. Ripping his own shirt, Drusus used the fabric as a bandage. "Hang on Kile, your going to be okay." Drusus was not so sure though. He knew he had to get Kile to a doctor as soon as possible. There was no telling where the army physicians had run off to, but hopefully most of them were in the nearby town. The town itself probably had at least one doctor. Drusus had to get Kile to the town, it was only about one mile away. Stopping Gaius would have to wait. As Drusus got a stretcher from the medical tent, he wished there was some way of contacting Pericula. He would hate to have her face Gaius alone.
Drusus worries about Pericula were soon over. She found him, and he related recent events to her. The two of them carried Kile on a stretcher into the town.

Hans wasn't used to feeling helpless, but watching Gaius on the monitor had successfully produced that feeling. Bakes was trying as hard as he could to get the city doors back open, so Hans was left to contact Gaius. He had tried several times, but Gaius had ignored his computer pad each time. The whole city was following Gaius' exploits closely, but no one could do anything about it.
Hans had thought about contacting Pericula several times, but he knew she was busy enough dodging lasers. He didn't have anything real important to say to her anyway, just keep up the good work, we're working on the doors, see you when you get back.
Hans desperately wanted to stop Gaius, to get outside of the city and put an end to his maniacal deeds, but he was stuck inside. Horrifying thoughts flew through Hans' mind. What if the city doors could never get opened again? Then who would stop Gaius?

The New Era Chapter 12

2004-12-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Contact! After almost a whole day of being ignored, Hans persistence was rewarded. Gaius had finally responded to his attempts at communication. Gaius had picked up his computer pad and answered the hail.
Gaius' face filled Hans monitor. Hans was nervous. He had never done any real negotiating before, not with stakes this high. To his right and his left, out of Gaius' view, Hans had several advisors waiting to help him.
Speaking in a soft voice, Hans tried to keep calm. "Hello Gaius, nice to see you again."
"What do you want Hans?"
Hans swallowed, so far not too good. "I just want to talk to you. We're all watching you very closely here at the city."
"I bet you are."
"Gaius, you don't have to do this. Just surrender to Pericula and everything's going to be okay."
"You just don't get it do you Hans. You Watchers just think you can get your jollies by screwing around with me. Now that I have the advantage, you want to act like your my best friend again. Jistap humiliated me, and now you want me to just surrender."
"Jistap is dead. Everything's going to be okay."
"You're a fool if that's what you think Hans."
Bakes stormed into the room. "Hans, move over." Hans obeyed, and Bakes went in front of the monitor. "Alright, now you listen to me Gaius! You'll get no pleasure from hearing me try and sweet talk you! You stop this right now or you're a dead man!"
Gaius laughed. "Indeed Bakes, what are you going to do to me?"
"You don't want to know. This is your last chance. When I get those doors open you'll wish you were never born."
Gaius laughed even harder. "When you get those doors open? Don't you mean, if you get those doors open? In fact, I'm betting those doors will never get opened."
Bakes face grew bright red with anger. He shouted in fury. "You better hope they don't, because if they do you'll learn a whole different definition of humiliation."
The smile vanished from Gaius' face. "Bakes your a fool and a lousy negotiator. You should have followed Hans example. Now you've gotten me angry. You just don't seem to understand that I hold all the cards, do you? Perhaps it's time for a little demonstration."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just watch me, you'll find out." Gaius turned off his computer pad, the monitor went blank. Hans buried his head in his head. "Some job I did on negotiating," he thought.
Bakes struck the table with his fist so hard, those standing around him were afraid he would break his hand. "Damn! He's crazy enough to do something disastrous."
"Any luck on the doors?" asked Hans.
"Not yet, but I'm not giving up. I guess I better get back to work." Bakes left the room, moving slowly.
Hans stared blankly at the monitor. He knew his job was to keep monitoring both Gaius and Pericula's movements, but he felt too worn out to continue.
A hand clasped Hans on the back. "You look tired Hans, go get some sleep. I can take over here for a while." It was Mucius.
Hans nodded as he got up. "Thanks Mucius, I could use a little sleep." As he left the room, Hans thought about how thankful he was for Mucius' friendship. Since Bakes had unclassified all of the information, Hans deeds became known to all. Very quickly, Hans had lost almost all his friends. Those who favored democracy were angry at Hans for collaborating with Jistap. Many were angry with Hans for being an accomplish in lying about the results of the Iceler vote. Then, there were a number of people who had favored Jistap's world order, and were angry at Hans for working to destroy it. Mucius was one of the few friends he had left.
To Hans dismay, Bakes had emerged as a hero out of the whole affair. The people cheered him for returning democracy. Hans was very distrustful of Bakes. If Bakes had the power to stop Jistap all along, why did he wait so long? Why didn't he stop all the killing at the first chance he got? On top of that, Bakes didn't have to kill Jistap to take him out of power. Bakes had killed another Watcher.
Hans suspected Bakes was after power just like Jistap was, but unlike Jistap he did not have an idealistic motive inspiring him. Bakes was probably a lot like Gaius, wanting power for the sake of power. Bakes had promised to return democracy, but he had yet to do that, and Hans suspected he had no intention of ever doing it, and was simply buying time with empty promises. Nevertheless, Hans intended to give Bakes his two weeks to return democracy, and not one second more.
Soon, Hans had travelled back to his home. He saw a woman at the door. She turned around when she heard his footsteps. He recognized the face of Kyoko. Kyoko had been a childhood friend of Hans. They had spent much time together, playing sports or cards. They had drifted apart by the time Hans had turned eighteen. Since all the Watchers stayed in the city, it would have been almost impossible for Kyoko and Hans not to meet again, even if they tried not to. They had bumped into each other at meetings or parks, and talked briefly, but over the past six years they really had not seen much of each other. Now Hans was twenty four, Kyoko was the same age.
"Kyoko, it's good to see you."
Kyoko smiled. "Hi Hans, how are you doing?"
"Good, good. You haven't been waiting here long have you?"
"Oh no, I just got here."
"Well, come in," said Hans, opening the door for her.
As Kyoko entered the house, Hans was struck by her beauty. Her long black hair, her gentle face, her delicate eyes, all were stunning to him. He followed her into his living room. "Please, have a seat," he gestured toward one of his chairs.
"Thank you," she said as she sat down.
Hans headed towards his replicator. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asked.
"Some tea would be nice." Hans replicated two teas and returned. He gave one to Kyoko.
"So what brings you here?"
Kyoko sipped her tea, before saying, "I know the stress and tribulations you've endured lately. I just thought you could use a friend."
Hans smiled. "You got that right." Much of the rest of the night talking.

Kile was sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed. Doctor Hippocrites walked over to where Drusus and Pericula where waiting. "He's going to be alright. Thank Deka his wounds weren't more dangerous."
"How long before he recovers?" asked Drusus.
"Oh, he'll have to stay in the hospital for two or three weeks at least. After that, he'll still have to be very careful. No more adventures for him for about a year."
Drusus nodded. "Thanks doc. How much is this going to cost?"
Hippocrites, one of the army doctors who had fled to the town, smiled. "For a man wounded fighting Gaius, no charge."
As Pericula and Drusus left the hospital, Pericula hit the door in frustration. "We could have used him."
"That means it's just you and me against Gaius. Do you think we can defeat him?"
"I don't know, but some help wouldn't hurt. Do you think you can recruit anyone in this town to help us?"
Drusus nodded. "There are always some young men eager for adventure and glory."
"Good, start recruiting now. While your at it, arrange lodgings for tonight. I'll be contacting my people."
Drusus looked at her strangely. "From here?"
"Don't worry about it, just go."
Pericula went into a secluded coroner of the street, and called the city on the computer pad. The pad was soon filled with the face of a man she did not recognize.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"I don't think so. My name is Mucius. I'm filling in for Hans as the Watchers contact to Calet. We've been monitoring your progress all day. You've handled the situation excellently."
"Thanks. Any hope of getting those doors open any time soon?"
Mucius shrugged. "I don't know quite what Bakes has been doing all day to get them open, but whatever it is he appears frustrated. I'd guess he isn't making any progress."
"I suppose it would be pointless to ask whether you guys succeeded in calming Gaius down."
"You put it wonderfully."
"So what are my orders?"
"Stop Gaius any way you can, try not to mess up Calet anymore then we already have, and take care. Gaius is still brooding at the camp with what's left of the twenty men he had following him. Only fourteen are left now."
"All right, I'll be in touch soon. Call me the moment anything develops." Mucius nodded and Pericula turned off her computer pad.

Mucius turned off his monitor after his conversation with Pericula. Having a position of great importance in this crisis, Mucius was finding, to his dismay, that he was surrounded by people offering help he didn't need. These people, though many of them well intentioned, ended up just watching him and getting in the way of things. Mucius had repeatedly asked them politely to leave him alone, and was beginning to lose his patients. After all, he was doing important work here, and could not sacrifice his attention.
Seeing that Mucius was done talking with Pericula, Antonius resumed talking where he had left off. "Anyway, like I was saying, it's a good thing we've got someone responsible doing this work now. Your decision to replace Hans was a good one. He just can't be trusted."
Mucius turned around angrily. "No one says anything bad about Hans, got it? I didn't replace him, I gave him some much needed relief."
Antonius nervously eyed Mucius' muscles. Mucius was arguably the strongest man in the city. "Sure Mucius, whatever you say." Mucius turned around back to his work.

Gaius was horrified to find Blanka dead. He had never liked Blanka at all, but Blanka was able to bring men from Calet to serve under him. Now Gaius was on his own. He had only fourteen men left under him, as compared to the twenty Blanka had brought. Gaius thought about sending one of these men to recruit more from the town, but he decided against it. He had learned his lesson. Treat his men with fairness and reward them lavishly, and recruits would come to him. All the gold and valuables was stripped from the deserted camp, and divided among his men. Now, Gaius was busy planning the little demonstration he had promised to show Bakes.

"This isn't working out at all."
"We should have seen it coming."
"So what do we do Now?"
"Now? Now we put an end to The Watchers once and for all. We would have had to do it soon anyway."
"Agreed. Let's get to work."

Hans waived good-bye to Kyoko. Talking, playing cards, Hans had felt like a teenager again with her. She provided the much needed diversion he needed from the catastrophe. Hans had asked to see her again tomorrow night, and she agreed.
Lying down to sleep, Hans mind drifted back to memories of his younger days, some of them painful. He remembered how Kyoko, Rodens, and he used to spend hours playing a card game called Roku. The game required a fourth person, but a fourth person was never hard to find. Hans memories turned to Rodens. He wondered how he was doing. For all Hans knew, Rodens could be dead by now. Hans quickly decided to shift his thoughts to something else. He wanted to think optimistically. Sure Bakes couldn't be trusted, and Gaius was wrecking havoc, but Hans liked to believe the worst was over. He wanted to think things were looking up.

The New Era chapter 13

2004-12-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Hans entered the room, feeling much better then he did when he left. He saw Mucius was still substituting for him at his station. Hans walked up to him. "Thanks for filling in for me Mucius. I really needed that break."
Mucius yawned. "No problem buddy, always glad to help a friend."
"Anything important happen while I was gone?"
"No, no, nothing," Mucius stopped to yawn again, "nothing important."
Hans smiled. "Feeling tired by any chance, Mucius?"
"Now that you mention it Hans, a little shut eye does sound pretty good right now. If your in control here, I think I might just go home and sleep for a while."
"Go right ahead, and thanks again."
Mucius was getting out of his chair, when Antonius rushed into the room. "Guys, guys, I just saw a Nathorite!"
Mucius stretched his arms. "That's nice. I'll see you boys later."
"No, I mean in the city!"
Hans grabbed Antonius' shoulders in excitement. "You saw a Nathorite in the city?!" Since the population of the city had always been entirely human (with the exception of a few plants), seeing a Nathorite in the city was indeed shocking news.
With sleepy disinterest, Mucius said calmly, "you're a month early Antonius."
"What?"
Mucius yawned yet another time. "Fools day isn't for another month."
"No, I'm serious!"
Hans looked skeptically at Antonius, but if Antonius was playing a joke he was doing a good job of acting sincere. "I guess I might as well ask the Teacher for the truth of the story."
All three listened intently for the answer as Hans asked, "Teacher, is there a Nathorite in the city?"
"Yes."
Hans heart skipped a beat, Mucius immediately became fully awake. "How did he get here?"
"Unknown."
"Where did he come from?"
"Unknown."
Hans turned to the other two, their faces as confused as his. "What is going on here?"
"It's stranger then that," Antonius said. "He has some sort of magical powers. He said he was going to address all The Watchers at noon in the city square."
"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Mucius. "Let's go!"

By the time Hans, Mucius, and Antonius had arrived at the city square, there were still three hours before noon, yet the square was packed. On the stage, in the center of the square, the Nathorite sat. His face was perfectly emotionless, and he did not move a muscle. On the way, Mucius and Hans had questioned Antonius for all the information he was worth, which turned out to be very little. Antonius had never seen the Nathorite up close only from a distance. He would never have known the man was a Nathorite at all if his companion Crassus hadn't informed him. In fact, all of Antonius' information came from Crassus, none of it was first hand. To make things worse, Crassus information wasn't first hand either. Hans realized he had no reliable information about the Nathorite at all. He soon wished he had taken the time to ask the Teacher more questions, perhaps even watch the Nathorite's movements from the time he first appeared in the city, until now. It was too late for that now though, Hans was crammed into the city square, and there was little hope he could get out and go to a quiet place to question the Teacher.
Hans soon found himself alone in the crowd. Antonius had wanted nothing to do with him, and had left Hans and Mucius to go to the other side of the crowd. Mucius had intended to stay with Hans, but was separated by a surge in the crowd. Hans began to look around the crowd for people he knew well.
It was then that Hans saw Kyoko. She was not too far off, and he only had to weave through the crowd a little ways to get to her. After a little bit of elbowing his way through, he made it behind her. "Kyoko."
Kyoko turned around to see who had called her. When she saw Hans her face immediately lit up. Hans almost took a step back her face looked so bright to him. "Hans, good to see you again."
"Nice to see you again too. Do you know what's going on, by any chance?"
Kyoko nodded. She had done what Hans should have done, get all the information she could on the Nathorite. She related it all to Hans.
The Nathorite had arrived in the city square in a flash of light. One second he wasn't there, the next he suddenly appeared. Naturally, he was immediately surrounded by Watchers, each asking him questions. The Nathorite had refused to say answer any of them, but simply sat still on the platform, like he was doing now. The only thing he ever said was, "I will address the city at noon, from this location."

Before long, noon rolled around. The city square was more packed then Hans had ever remembered it being in his life. Kyoko looked up at the artificial sky. "Oh no," she sighed. "It looks like rain."
Hans looked up at the sky also. Kyoko was right. "Don't worry, it won't rain today. They won't let it." Hans was correct. While he was talking, Bakes was already ordering the Executor to change it to a sunny day. Soon, the rain clouds were replaced by sun. Bakes then went on the stage, and took his seat behind the podium. As the Nathorite went up to the podium to speak, a hush fell over the crowd.
"Greetings Watchers," the Nathorite began. "My people have been watching you for some time now. We are extremely disappointed. You have not used your power responsibly at all. In fact, you have misused it greatly. From the Iceler incident, to the new world order, to Gaius, it is clear you can not handle power. You leave us no choice, and it is with deep regret that I am here to announce the end of the Watchers. The doors will be opened soon, and you are all to leave the city." The crowd remained deathly silent.
Bakes leaped to his feet. He walked to the podium along side the Nathorite. "Hold on just one minute. If you think we're going to just leave the city, you've got another thing coming. This is our home." A cheer arouse from the crowd.
The Nathorite kept his calm composure. "My people are not giving you a choice. You must leave."
Bakes, who had self-appointed himself as the Watcher spokes person, responded, "Who are your people? Do you mean the other Nathorites?"
"It is not for you to know who we are. You must obey us without question."
"If you expect us to obey you, then you better tell us more about yourselves." Another cheer arouse.
"Fools! You can not possibly know who you are dealing with! Do not risk our wrath."
"If you think you can bully us into submission, your dead wrong. Guards, seize him! I want him thrown into prison. He can stay there until he's ready to give us more information." The guards that Bakes had strategically hidden among the crowd leaped onto the stage, each with their laser gun drawn. The Nathorite waived his hand, and all their laser guns disappeared. The guards then tried to subdue the Nathorite with their bare hands. In an instant he was buried under a pile of guards. Then, suddenly, as if an explosion occurred, all the guards were thrown away from the Nathorite. They fell to the ground and did not move.
As Bakes' fist flew through the air toward the Nathorite, he screamed out, "You son of a b-." His fist only inches away from the Nathorite's face, Bakes was knocked backwards, as if he'd been hit by an invisible energy beam. He fell to the ground, and rolled off the stage.
One of the guards, who had not acted with the rest of his comrades but stayed behind as a reserve, fired his laser gun at the Nathorite from back in the crowd. The laser hit the Nathorite in the back, knocking him to the ground. The crowd gasped. The laser gun was more then powerful enough to disintegrate the Nathorite completely, yet the Nathorite simply got back on his feet, appearing to have nothing more then the wind knocked out of him. With a waive of his hand, the guards laser gun also disappeared.
Kyoko squeezed Hans' arm. "Oh Hans, this is terrible."
"You're right, this has gone far enough." Hans pushed his way through the crowd until he got to the platform. Hans climbed onto it, just as the Nathorite sent another volley of guards flying. "Everyone stop!" yelled out Hans. "I'm sure we can work this out if we just sit down and talk about it."
The Nathorite sneered. "Foolish Watcher, the time for talking has ceased." The Nathorite pointed his hand at Hans, and an energy bolt flew out of it. The bolt hit Hans in the chest, knocking him of the platform and onto the ground. Hans suddenly found himself unable to breath.
"You can not possibly comprehend what you have done, Watchers." A flash of light enveloped the Nathorite, and he disappeared, as suddenly as came.
"Hans! Hans are you okay?" Still lying on the ground, Hans looked up to see Kyoko kneeling over him. Hans tried to signal that he couldn't breath, and Kyoko understood. "Just relax," she advised. "Try and take deep breaths." Hans followed her advise, and soon found himself breathing normally.
Standing up and looking around, Hans was relieved to see that no one had been seriously hurt. The guards had been only briefly stunned, as had Bakes. Bakes had already got back onto the platform, and was walking up to the podium. The crowd by this time was in complete chaos. It took some doing, but eventually Bakes was able to restore order. The crowd quieted down to here what he had to say.
"I don't know what's going on any more then you do, but one thing I do know is that The Watchers will not be bullied. I don't know what his powers are or who his people are, but no matter what, we're not giving in." The crowd cheered enthusiastically. "When that Nathorite comes back, we will be ready. I want our top scientists working on a way to stop him. I want our most powerful force fields made ready, in case we have to contain him. I want our most powerful laser guns in the hand of every able bodied man and woman. If nothing else, at least the laser guns can knock down our foe."
Hans and Kyoko exchanged worried glances. "I don't believe this," Hans said.

Everyone had questions for Bakes after his speech. Bakes had tried to answer some, but there were just too many. He had to get to work on preparing for the Nathorite's return. Locking himself in his house, Bakes was hard at work, trying to see if there was any way he could increase the power on the laser gun.
There was a knock on the door. "I can't talk right now," Bakes shouted back. "I'm busy."
"It's Hans."
Bakes thought briefly. "All right Hans, you've got one minute and not a second more. Executor release locks."
Hans opened the door and ran straight to Bakes. "Are you crazy? Don't you want to at least try negotiating first?"
"I did."
"Hardly!"
"Listen Hans, I don't know who these people are but it's obvious they don't want to talk. Remember his words to you, 'the time for talking has ceased.' The next time he comes, we'll be ready to strike back."
"You saw his power. We can't fight against that."
"Hans, I don't have time to debate this with you. The next time he comes, we'll show him what we're made off."

The New Era Chapter 14

2004-12-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"Keep these laser guns with you at all times. There's no telling when he'll be back. As soon as you see him, shoot him. Shoot him repeatedly. Under no circumstances are you to give him any quarter what so ever, not when he could disarm the entire city with a wave of his hand. I want him hit so hard he won't have a chance to do anything. Any questions?" Bakes looked for questions, but none where present. "Good, go tell the rest of the Watchers what I have told you." The group began to leave. "Dabrow, stay here second."
"Yes Bakes?"
"How are you and your team of scientists coming?"
"The force field is ready and at your command. We were able to increase its power by three percent. I know it's not much, but in the time we had to-"
"Yes I know, I know, good job. That will be all."
Kyoko hurried through the city square. It was crowded, full of people carrying laser guns. On the monitors everywhere, Bakes' instructions where being broadcast. "This is absolute madness," she thought. "Somebody has got to put a stop to this."
Kyoko ran to one of the many parks in the city. The park was named Daved park, after a famous Watcher. The teacher had told her Hans was here. If someone could stop this, it's Hans. Kyoko saw him sitting by the pond.
"Hans!" He turned around to see her running toward him, and rose to his feet. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw he had a laser gun.
"Oh no, not you too!"
"What?"
Kyoko walked the rest of the way to Hans. "Your laser gun. I thought you at least would abstain from this madness."
"It's okay, I have no intention of using this unless it's my last option. If that happens, I'll be glad I have it."
"Aren't you going to try and stop this?"
"I did. It's no use, Bakes won't listen to me."
"But what about appealing to the people?"
Hans shook his head. "My name is mudd now. They won't listen to me about anything."
Kyoko sighed. "Your right. It's just that-"
Kyoko was cut off by a blaring siren like sound. "That's the alert!" yelled Hans. "He's back!"

The Nathorite returned, this time bringing four friends. Many of The Watchers had expected the Nathorite to emerge in the city square, because that was where he appeared the first time. They were not disappointed. Bakes himself had been waiting at the city square.
As soon as the flash of light appeared, all the laser guns fired at its location. The Nathorites had no time to do anything before they were knocked to the ground. The Nathorites where hit simultaneously by hundreds of laser guns all set on rapid fire.
By the time Hans arrived on the scene, the Nathorites were not even moving anymore. They simply lay on the ground, dead still. Their bodies didn't even jerk in response to the laser gun fire. They had begun bleeding out of their mouths.
Hans ran up to Bakes. Trying to make himself heard over the noise of the guns, he yelled out, "Bakes, stop this. They've had enough. For Deka's sake stop this!"
"I'll be the judge of how much they can have Hans. They'll think twice about attacking us again!"
Seeing that debating with Bakes would be useless, Hans ran out among the Nathorites. All the laser guns stopped firing, for fear of hitting him. The Nathorites remained still. It was utterly silent, and Hans waisted no time taking advantage of the silence. "Stop this!" he yelled out. "Can't you see they've had enough?"
"Get out of the way Hans! You're a fool!" Hans couldn't see who had yelled out the comment, but the crowd agreed with it. Several others yelled out from the crowd.
"Move it Hans, or will kill you too!"
"Hans you're a traitor! Move!"
"Hans, who's side are you on now? You can die with them!"
Hans steeled himself, ready to die as he heard and saw several laser guns being aimed at him.
"Stop this! He's right!" Kyoko ran out to where Hans was, and embraced him. Hans held her tightly. "If you want to kill Hans you'll have to kill me too," she yelled. All the guns were lowered. Kyoko had an excellent reputation among the Watchers, and no one was willing to kill her. Feeling relief, Kyoko squeezed Hans tighter. While they were hugging, a flash of light enveloped the five Nathorites. They disappeared.

Bakes opened the door to the meeting room. Hans was already there. "Sorry about calling this conference so suddenly Hans, but we need to talk."
"Don't apologize, I agree with you."
Bakes hesitated. He noticed the angry tone in Hans' voice, and wondered whether to address it or not. After thinking a short time, he decided to. "Hans, I know you're angry about what happened this afternoon. Mob fury can be an ugly thing."
"They would have killed me if it wasn't for Kyoko."
"Nonsense, your a fellow Watcher. Nobody would have laid a hand on you. People make threats all the time they have no intention of carrying out."
"They had every intention of carrying this one out."
Bakes shook his head and looked at the ground for some time, before looking up straight into Hans' eyes. "Hans, you don't trust me, do you?"
Hans was startled by the abrupt change in subject. "What?"
"You don't trust me, do you?"
Still taken aback, Hans spent some time thinking over an answer, before saying, "no, I guess not."
"Hans, I want to be your friend. I want to work together with you. I admire you Hans, I really do. You're a man of courage, of integrity, a man who stands up for what he believes in. I admit, I was a little worried for you this afternoon. If I needed too, with one word I would have nullified all their laser guns had I thought for one instant that you were in the slightest danger."
"I'd call that situation a little dangerous, wouldn't you? Their hands were on the trigger."
"Hans I didn't say anything because I knew they wouldn't kill you. You underestimate the morality of your countrymen."
"Really? So far I've not been impressed."
"Come on now Hans. We've got mad men like Gaius and Rodens, but what country doesn't. The majority of The Watchers are good at heart."
"The majority of The Watchers voted to let the Icelers die, and I think you would have let me die if Kyoko hadn't come."
"Hans I'm trying to be patient. I'm willing to overlook this afternoon's incident because I admit you did have a bit of a close call out there, but it better not happen again."
"Bakes they were down and beaten. What were you trying to do, kill them?"
"Maybe. Maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad idea. Maybe if we had killed them they would think twice before coming again. That's not the point. Unless you want our government to fall into total anarchy, you obey the authorities."
"Oh really? Who elected you?"
Bakes face grew scarlet. He opened his mouth to respond, but decided to wait a moment until he had calmed down. "Hans, we've been over this before. I'm working on returning democracy, but it takes time. Besides, in a crisis situation like this, maybe a dictator is better equipped to handle it."
"Alright, then lets elect a dictator."
"Hans we had a deal. I get two weeks to return democracy."
Hans took a deep breath. "You're right, I'm sorry. Just one thing, if we encounter the Nathorites again, treat them humanly."
"Would they have done the same to us?"
"That wasn't what I asked."
Bakes sighed. "Alright, alright you win that one Hans, on one condition. From now on, I don't want the two of us to be at odds anymore. I admire you Hans, I want us to work together."
"Deal."

"Drusus, this is the second night we've been in this town. Haven't you found some help yet?"
Drusus shook his head. "I'm afraid not. We're facing two problems. One is that Gaius' reputation has become somewhat exaggerated in this town. None of the soldiers who saw him in action want to fight against him, and none of the townsfolk who heard stories about him want to risk their lives either."
"And since the army is disbanded, we can't order anyone to do anything."
"Right. The other problem is almost the exact opposite of the first one. Strangely enough, many of the young men have gone to Gaius to join him."
"Join him?"
"Apparently he's been trying to lure men to his cause with gold. He's acted quite kind to his men, and been very generous with the wealth, with promises of more to come."
"And with those two laser guns, he could very well deliver on those promises.
"Right. Now the problems we're experiencing are probably only because this is such a small town. Just fifteen miles down the road there's a much larger city. We'd be almost sure to find help there."
"How many people would we be talking about?"
Drusus shrugged. "One, two, three, I guess maybe up to five."
"That's it?"
"Rumors have made fighting Gaius the equivalent of suicide, and the rumors aren't far off from the truth."
Pericula kicked the floor. "Damn! I don't know if we can take the time to go to the city and back, and I don't know if we can defeat Gaius alone." She looked at Drusus for help making the decision, but he offered none.
"This is your call," he said.
"I guess we go to the city. See if you can arrange transportation, I want to leave tonight."

Quintus shifted uneasily. "Hans doesn't really seem like such a bad guy. I mean, he was just doing what he thought was right."
"So was Jistap. Care to speak any words in his defense?"
"Yea, but Jistap wanted to kill. Hans just wants to help people."
Antonius rolled his eyes. "A fine job he's done of that. He helped destroy democracy to save the Icelers, only to let Rodens kill them later. He didn't stop Jistap's new world order."
"He tried, he couldn't"
"He could have, when he first found out Jistap's dealings. Instead he kept silent, and now seven hundred Watchers are dead because of his silence. Mark my words, Hans is no hero."

The New Era Chapter 15

2004-12-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"Hans, come in."
"Thank you." Hans stepped inside Kyoko's home.
"What can I do for you?"
"Well, I don't know if words can express my gratitude, but I'm going to try anyway. Right now I should be dead. You risked your own life to save me. I never got a chance to thank you yesterday so-"
Hans was cut off as Kyoko leaned over and kissed him. For a moment, Hans forget who he was or what he was doing, all he could think about was Kyoko.
When it was over, Hans had to take a minute to recollect his thoughts. "What was that for?" he asked.
"Hans, you were the hero yesterday. You risked your life to save the Nathorites."
"I couldn't have done it alone." Hans smiled, "I guess we make a pretty good team."
"We sure do."
Hans looked straight into Kyoko's face. It was such a lovely face, he thought. It was also the last thing he remembered seeing when he came to.
Has opened his eyes to find himself in a room he had never been in before in his life. The room was unlike any he had previously seen, yet something about it was familiar, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and yet it was there.
Hans noticed he was lying on a steel bed. A couple meters away, Kyoko was sleeping on another steel bed. Hans went over and gently tapped her on the shoulder. Slowly, she woke up.
"Hans? What happened?"
"I wish I knew."
Kyoko sat up and looked around her. "Where are we? One minute we were talking, the next minute I wake up here."
"I'm as confused as you are."
"Excellent, you're both up." Hans and Kyoko both turned to see who had spoken the words. It was the Nathorite, the original one who had addressed the city square.
"Where are we?" asked Hans.
"I do apologize for the inconvenience. All will be revealed to you shortly. By the way, on behalf of myself and my four comrades, thank you very much for saving our lives."
"You're welcome," Kyoko replied. "Please, what's going on?"
"Follow me, all will be revealed." The Nathorite left the room, and Hans and Kyoko followed him. Soon, they entered another room. The Nathorite left, and Hans and Kyoko were alone.
Hans shook his head in frustration. "What is going on? Why are we here?"
Kyoko shrugged. "They don't seem to have any ill intentions. If they wanted to harm us, they've had more then enough opportunity."
"Indeed, we have no intention of harming you at all." Hans and Kyoko turned to see a man enter the room. "Please have a seat."
"You're human!" Hans was amazed. "I thought all you people were Nathorites."
The man laughed. "Really Hans, are you fooled that easily? Just because all our ambassadors were Nathorites, you thought we all were? No, no nothing could be farther from the truth we are a very diverse group of species. Please, be seated."
Hans and Kyoko sat down on one side of the table, the man went to the other. As soon as he sat down, his attitude became incredibly somber. "Alright, heres the way it goes. We seem to have a little bit of trouble convincing The Watchers of our good will. They don't trust us, and yesterday they attacked our ambassadors. If it wasn't for you two, our ambassadors would have been killed. Therefore, and I must emphasize that this is not the way I wanted things to happen, I am left no choice but to tell The Watchers everything. Since you two have demonstrated your good-will, we will relate everything to you, and you in turn can relate it to the rest of The Watchers."
"You're going to tell us everything?" inquired Kyoko.
"Everything, however I can not tell you enough how much better it would have been for The Watchers if they simply followed our instructions and asked no questions. This information may very well destroy them. I'll give you one last chance, are you sure you want to hear this?"
Hans and Kyoko both said yes at the same time.
The man took a deep breath. "Alright then. I understand the teacher has a vast amount of information in it. With it, you can observe any event in history, is that correct?"
Hans nodded, "that is."
"Any event, are you sure?"
"Well back to a certain point of course."
"And what is this point?"
"Oh, shortly after the founding of Calet if I remember right."
"And you have no idea of what happened before that time?"
"Well, some I guess, not much."
The man leaned forward. "My friend, you have no idea what happened before that time."
"What do you mean?" asked Kyoko.
The man leaned back. "I suppose I better start at the beginning. A long time ago, a very long time ago there was a time when Fabulae didn't exist. Then, the force of gravity joined together different rocks, that eventually became the planet Fabulae. For over a hundred thousand years, Fabulae was simply a barren planet with a vicious atmosphere, hostile to all life. Then, things changed.
"The details are still unknown, so don't ask me to elaborate on this, but have you ever heard of a quasi-lifeform?"
Hans and Kyoko looked at each other confused. "A quasi-lifeform?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes, it's rather hard to explain, but I'll give it my best shot. A quasi-lifeform is somewhere between living and non-living. It is sentient, to some degree but with a much broader idea of the universe then we would normally think off. It doesn't really comprehend the concept of time or individuality, just oneness. Do you understand?" The man took one look at his audience's faces and found his question answered. "Never mind, it's not important.
"Anyway, a quasi-lifeform, this one in the form of a gas cloud, was travelling across the universe for an unknown reason, like I said the details are sketchy. This cloud decided to stop and rest at Fabulae. No sooner had it entered Fabulae's hostile atmosphere then it began to dissolve. Doubtless, once it realized what was happening to it, it tried to leave, but it was too late. The cloud dissolved into the atmosphere."
"So in other words, it died?" Hans said.
"No, remember it was a quasi-lifeform, it was never really alive in the first place. It became part of the planet's atmosphere, one with the planet so to speak. Its effect on Fabulae would be duly felt though, when one year later Conditor emerged from the result of the cloud mingling with the atmosphere."
"Conditor, who is he?" Hans inquired.
"Well, he called himself a super-god, and for lack of a better term my people refer to him as such."
Kyoko leaned forward. "He was a god?"
The man spent a couple of minutes trying to put his thoughts into words. "Sort of, sort of, it depends how you define god. By some definitions, he is indeed a god. He was a very powerful being, and he did have the power to create life. In fact, seven years after his 'birth' he became lonely, and created the first goddess, Femina."
"Now she was just a regular goddess, not a super goddess?" Kyoko questioned.
"Right, aside from Conditor there were no other super-gods or super-goddesses. Conditor called himself a super-god because he was the most powerful of the gods. Not only was he the most powerful, but he alone had the power to create other gods. He did create several other gods, and over time a race of gods was created."
"Pardon my stupidity," Hans said, "but let me make sure I've got this right. Conditor created a whole race of gods, how much is a race?"
"Thousands."
"All right, Conditor created thousands of god's, but he was the only super-god?"
"Yes, the only pure super-god. Naturally his offspring were half super-god, their offspring a quarter super-god, and so on. Anymore questions?"
Hans shook his head. "Thank you, I'm with you now."
"Alright, where was I? Oh yes, an entire race of gods were created. They lived on Fabulae for thousands of years. They didn't get along well, in fact they had several wars among themselves. Then, somehow or another they became involved in a great war, the most terrible war they had ever fought. When it was all over, over half their race had been killed. There was not a god among them who was not grieving the loss of a loved one. Very soon, the ground itself where the war had been fought became hateful to the gods. They cursed the ground to eternal ice and snow. They themselves went to live in the sky, in an invisible kingdom.
"Eventually, one of the gods had the idea of creating a lesser form of life to honor their comrades. A creature that possessed the same intelligence as gods, but not the same powers. This creature would resemble the gods somewhat but not completely. It would walk upon Fabulae, and by its existence would serve as a tribute to those killed in the war. The gods created thousands of these creatures, giving them the power to procreate, but also cursing them with a lifespan, so they might die and in so doing honor the dead gods. Today, these creatures the gods created are known as Icelers.
"For ten thousand years, the Icelers lived and died on the ground. Then, the gods totally neglected Fabulae. The North and South pole stayed frozen, as did several of the mountain tops and a few other various places. In the rest of Fabulae, nature took its course. Spring and then summer came to eventually the whole planet. The snow melted, and Icelers everywhere started to die. As the snow melted, the bodies of the slain gods were revealed. Although dead, it soon became evident their bodies still possessed great power. Any Iceler who touched a dead god was immediately transformed into a new form that could handle the new environment. What they turned into, depended on which god they touched. Touching one god would turn Icelers into a humans, another would turn them into a Gnomes. Some got turned into Nathorites, Elves, Dwarves, Lizard men mer-men, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. All of the humanoid races were created during this time.
"As the dead gods where unfrozen, their bodies naturally decayed, and as they did they enriched the soil, which brought forth millions of plants, many of them good to eat. So, the humanoid population was able to eat and survive. During all this time, the gods stayed in their invisible kingdom in the sky. They did not bother looking down to see what was happening on Fabulae, and if they did, they didn't care. They were quite isolationist at this time.
"The humanoids, though all of different races, worked and lived together. Many species found that they were sexually compatible, and intermarried. For five thousand years, these races were totally intermingled. Nations formed and fought each other, conflicts arouse, but never on the basis of race." The speaker stopped to suppress a yawn. "You'll excuse me," he said, "but this is quite a long story. I think it would do us good to break for some refreshments."

The New Era Chapter 16

2004-12-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
The man gulped down his water greedily. A small trickle of water flowed down his cheeks. Kyoko drank her water a little more slowly. Hans simply stared at his glass, not drinking any of it. He was feeling dizzy, his head spinning with the new information he had learned. He didn't quite know what to make of it, but it certainly was different then anything he'd ever suspected before.
Wiping his mouth with his hand, the man continued where he had left off as if no break had ever occurred. "After five thousand years, the humanoids had acquired some extraordinary technology. With this technology, they were able to discover the kingdom of the gods. Indeed, the discovery occurred quite by accident, since up to this time the humanoids didn't even know the gods existed. Nevertheless, they discovered the gods' kingdom, and the gods were furious.
"Raging in there anger at being disturbed, the gods lashed out at the humanoids. Almost all of them were killed, the gods permitted only a handful to survive. The gods also destroyed all their technology. Every building, every computer, everything." The man gulped some more water. "Well, okay not everything."
Hans gasped. "The city."
"Right you are Hans. The city, the one you Watchers now live in, was overlooked by the gods, probably because it was underground. Now Hans, do you want to try for two for two? The humanoids had, by this time, pretty good technology for space travel. A small group of the humanoids escaped into space. Do you want to guess what happened to them?"
Hans head began to spin even faster despite the fact that things were finally beginning to fit together. "Your their descendents."
"Right again. The gods had no powers outside of the planet Fabulae, and were not able to give chase. For the humanoids remaining on Fabulae, the gods were determined not to let them ever regain the technology they had. The gods were convinced that the way to stop technology was to break up the unity of the humanoids. There first step was to create other life, millions of other life forms were created, in the hopes that the humanoids would not be able to relate to non-humanoids. Primates, dogs, cats, dinosaurs, all of the other non-humanoids were created then. The plan didn't work. humanoids and non-humanoids were able to get along perfectly." The man briefly stopped to consider his words. "Alright, there was an occasional fight, but they got along well for the most part.
"The gods had to resort to plan B, stir up dissension in any way possible. To do this, sometimes they would send sub-conscious messages into the head of someone, or sometimes they would appear to someone directly. The gods appointed one of their number to be responsible for making sure war and hatred persisted, and technology did not. This god revealed himself to several people, who in turn would most likely carry out his will of destruction. Hans, you've had more then your share of questions, so I'll give Kyoko a chance with this one. Kyoko, can you guess the name of that god?"
Kyoko's eyes widened. "Of course, the cult of Deka."
"Exactly. Deka started a religion that believed he was the only true god. Deka was very influential in the founding of the Calet empire. He stood right behind it, urging its kings to make war, and helping it to conquer other nations. Dekaism was the official religion of Calet. In this way, Deka used Calet as his instrument of destruction. Once Calet had conquered over three fourths of the world, Deka realized he had created more peace then war. He ended is deep involvement with Calet. The empire slowly fell apart without Deka there to ensure its every victory. Dekaism died out slowly also, although there are still a few believers in Fabulae today, it is not nearly as popular as it once was.
"Now, back to the small group of humanoids who escaped Fabulae. They called themselves The Renegades, and they founded several colonies on other planets suitable for life. Over time, there numbers increased dramatically. Their technology continued growing at a fascinating rate. They kept in touch with what was happening at Fabulae through 'the city' as you Watchers now call it. Naturally, they were less then please when Haket and his friends accidently stumbled upon it, but there wasn't much they could do from twenty light years away. They did develop computers with extremely far range on transmission. With these, they were able to connect with the computers in the city even from twenty light years away. The Renegades shielded information from The Watchers. Among the information shielded, was history before and at the founding of Calet, and space travel."
"Pardon my interruption, but this is something those of us in the city have been curious about for a long time, is there life on other planets?"
"The Renegades never encountered any real life forms, although they did come across several different species of quasi-lifeforms. That isn't to say other life doesn't exist somewhere out there. Anyway back to The Renegades, eventually they developed technology to the point where they could defeat the gods, easily. A select group was sent to recapture the motherland from the gods. We are that group."
"So, your plan is to defeat all the gods and recapture Fabulae as your own?" inquired Kyoko.
"That was the plan, yes. However, as we were on our way, we observed a very strange thing happening. A meteor, hit by a projectile form Fabulae, went out of the course it normally would have taken, where gravity normally would have pulled it, and hit the satellite that transmits information to the city."
Kyoko held up her hands. "Hold on, you said the gods didn't find the city because it was underground. If that's true, then how come the satellite wasn't destroyed?"
The man smiled. "Forgive, I guess I should have made this clearer. The satellite is in outer space, the gods have no power outside of Fabulae. They couldn't touch the satellite. The gods have little knowledge of how our technology works, and so where not able to see where the satellite was sending the information, and so the city was not found."
About to continue with the story, the man looked to see Hans staring vaguely off into space. "Hans, are you even listening to me?"
Hans snapped back into attention. "I'm listening, it's just that this information is overwhelming. I can't believe all of it is true."
The man laughed. "Well, I guess this is as good of time to tell you as any Hans, it isn't." Seeing the look on Hans' and Kyoko's face, the man laughed even harder. He tried to say something, but was overcome by laughter. Eventually, he calmed himself down enough to say, "don't-don't worry though, most of it's true. The only lie was when I said the gods didn't destroy the city because they didn't find it. I don't know why the gods didn't destroy the city, no one but the gods themselves know why. We Renegades have always assumed that they didn't know about it. That was until recently. Like I was saying, we were on our way to Fabulae, when the meteor hit the satellite. I think you know the resulting events all to well. We Renegades were observing them, and we are convinced that they were caused by the gods."
Hans leaned forward. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
"If you think about it, there's really no other explanation. For over a thousand years, you Watchers have lived peacefully. If your pardon my saying so, your history is the most boring in the universe. There were no wars, no rebellions, not even a political scandal. Now, all hell breaks lose among you. Rodens slaughters Icelers, Jistap seizes power, killing seven hundred, Gaius creates chaos, and," the man paused, "and most importantly Jistap wanted Calet to conquer the whole world with The Watchers helping it. Sound familiar? It did to us."
Kyoko nodded her head. "I think I understand what your saying. Assuming the gods knew about the city, they could access its computers. Since you were also accessing the city's computers through your own, the gods could access your computers through the city's computers."
"So far so good. It looks like your catching on."
"And," Kyoko continued, "since the gods could access your computers, they could tell what you were doing, and they found out about your plan to recapture Fabulae. As you were returning, the gods stirred up trouble among The Watchers to warn you to stay away."
The man clapped his hands in glee. "You got it! You got it!"
Hans heart beat quickly. "Does this mean Rodens is innocent of any wrong doing? That he did what he did because of the gods?"
The man looked sympathetically at Hans. "Sorry Hans, but I'm afraid your old buddy is as guilty as hell. The gods were no doubt urging him to do what he did, but the final decision was his The gods can make no one do something he doesn't want to do."
Kyoko looked confused. "Do you mean Rodens actually heard the voices of the gods in his head?"
"Well, for all intents and purposes, that's not a bad way of describing it. It's not quite correct, but probably a lot simpler then the truth." The man looked at Hans. "Undoubtably Hans, the gods have been urging you to do there will, but you have refused to do it.
"Anyway, back to the story. Like Kyoko said, we realized the gods were doing this to warn us to stay away. We were horrified. If the gods knew about us, that means they probably knew about our technology too. In fact, that probably meant they had duplicated our technology for themselves. The odds were not good, but we were determined not to turn back. We wanted the madness stopped as soon as possible, so we sealed the doors to the city so you Watchers couldn't do any more damage. The gods outwitted us, turning our actions to their advantage by unleashing Gaius. At this point, the only option open to us was to shut down the Watchers. We sent our ambassadors, only to have them attacked."
Hans thought that The Renegades attitude was largely responsible for the way the ambassadors were receipted, but decided not to bring this up. Instead, he asked, "how can you hope to take on the gods when your men were almost killed by The Watchers."
"Well, you have to admit our technology is impressive Hans. I won't even try to explain to you how it works, but when our ambassador could simply make all the laser guns he saw disappear with a wave of his hand, that's impressive. Do you know where the equipment was that allowed him to do that? It was hidden in the fabric of his clothing. That small, and it could do so much. We also had in the clothing a device that protected our ambassadors from your laser gun. I'll grant you that your laser guns were still able to knock them down, and repeated hits would have killed them, but we have another device that allows the lasers to pass right through the wearer and do no harm at all. Our ambassadors didn't wear this type because it uses more energy then we thought wise to expend. Our ambassadors came to talk, not to fight. We never expected an attack.
"Now you know everything. You must explain this to the other Watchers, and convince them to leave the city."
Hans and Kyoko exchanged glances, and each could tell the other was thinking the same thing they were. "Can we have a minute to discuss this?" asked Hans.
The man nodded. "I suppose that would be acceptable. You can meet in the adjoining room."

The New Era Chapter 17

2004-12-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Hans and Kyoko went into the adjoining room. Hans shut the door behind him.
"Do you think we can talk freely in here?" asked Kyoko. "Are they listening in on our conversation?"
"They probably are, but that's not going to stop me from speaking freely. I'll tell you right now Kyoko, I'm not sure if we can trust these people. Do you think that story we heard was true? The man who told it too us was very strange."
Kyoko nodded. "I agree, but we're not going to get anywhere if we sit around debating the truth of it. They hold all the cards right now, we can't prove or disprove the story, so why don't we just act on the assumption that it's correct, and be cautious in case it's not."
"Good idea. Assuming it's correct, I'd say we have a choice to make. Do we move out of the city like they want us to, or refuse to move."
"It's really not our decision. We haven't been chosen by The Watchers as their representatives, and so we can't speak for them."
"Unfortunately, however, I don't think we have a choice. These people are going to want an answer. I guess we'll have to give them an unofficial one, and then check back with The Watchers later."
"Sounds good. What answer shall we give them?"
"Well, I don't know about you but I don't think The Renegades appreciate our position. We Watchers couldn't survive without our technology. We have none of the skills necessary for survival in the outside world. Besides which, I don't think destroying The Watchers is essential to their plan anyway. Once Gaius is stopped, we will make no more trouble for them. They simply want to eliminate us because it's easier then helping us."
"Hans, your playing with fire. We can't fight The Renegades, they're too powerful."
"I'm willing to bet that their war with the gods is going to keep them too busy to worry about us Watchers. Also, if we Watchers use only non violent resistance, The Renegades should respond the same way. Besides, I can't think of a better option. Leaving the city could be just as deadly for the Watchers as resisting."
"I can't argue with that. Alright, lets give him our answer."

The man looked up when he heard the door opening. "Ah, good your ready to deliver our message to The Watchers."
"We will tell them what you told us," Hans said. "We do believe, however, that a better solution exists to the problem at hand then disassembling The Watchers. We don't think you appreciate the-"
"Look Hans," the man cut him off, "I hate to be blunt but you aren't being given a choice here. You must leave the city or else."
"Or what?"
"We'll come down and drag every last Watcher out of that city if we have to."
"It looks like your going to have to," Hans responded.
The man looked at Kyoko. "Don't tell me your a party to this too."
"I'd like to see The Watchers and The Renegades work together. We share many common goals. Perhaps we can-"
Kyoko was cut off as the man broke in. "Listen, I'll be honest with you, we need your corporation. I know I was just threatening to drag The Watchers out by force, but we can't do that. We have neither the time nor the energy to expend on it. I need your help."
"We want to work together also," Hans said, "but we will not leave the city."
The man sighed with anger. "Alright, I will reconvene with the others, and see if a compromise can be reached. In the meantime, I'll have you escorted to some temporary quarters." As if on cue, an Elf walked through the door. "Escort Hans and Kyoko to their quarters." The Elf nodded and left.
As they were leaving the room, Hans turned to the man. "One last question, you said that the information you related could destroy The Watchers. How?"
The man shrugged. "I didn't want to drag The Watchers into our war. Once you know what is going on, the gods might see you as a threat, and find some way to destroy you."

Gaius proudly surved his growing army. Already he had about fifty men, and the number was increasing every day. Gaius began to feel the heat of the sun, and ducked into his tent. Once there, he unrolled his plans. He had promised Bakes a little demonstration, and now he was ready. He planned to completely destroy the nearby town. His army, eager for more treasure, could loot it for all it was worth. Then, the next time Bakes tried to negotiate with Gaius, Gaius would have the upper hand. Bakes wouldn't dare offend him again, and Gaius couldn't wait to see Bakes grovel on his computer screen.
Gaius rolled his plans back up again. He heard a humming sound behind him, and turned around. In his tent where two balls of light, each about ten centimeters in diameter. Instinctively Gaius pulled out his laser gun, but the balls did not do anything. Cautiously, Gaius reached out his hand and touched one. Nothing happened. Then, the balls of light transformed themselves into two men.
"Who are you?" asked Gaius.
"We are Titos, servants of the gods."
"The gods?"
"Do not alarm yourself Watcher. We are here on friendly terms."
"How do you know I'm a Watcher."
"We are servants of the gods, we know everything the gods know."
"Gods? What are you talking about? You don't believe in gods, do you?"
"Once you find out what we can do for you, you won't care what we believe in."
"What can you do for me?"
"Anything you want. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cretal."
Cretal's companion stepped forward. "My name is Elim."
Gaius was too excited to notice these introductions. "You can do anything I want?"
"Anything you want."
"I want gold for my men, lots of gold." Gaius was still talking when Cretal pointed at the ground. Immediately, the ground in Gaius' tent was covered with gold. Gaius' jaw dropped open. He turned to Cretal. "You did that?" Cretal nodded. "Of course, I don't want the men coming into my tent to get the gold. Can you transport it to the center of the camp." Cretal snapped his fingers, and the gold was gone. Soon, the soldiers cry of jubilation was heard. The possibilities were rapidly beginning to fill Gaius' head. "How do you do this? Why do you want to help me?"
"Do not trouble yourself with too many questions Gaius. Don't question your good fortune, rather enjoy it. What do you want us to do?"
Gaius stepped outside. Elim and Cretal followed him. "I want Pericula, Kile, and Drusus. I want them brought before me now. I want them imprisoned before my eyes."
Elim nodded his head, and three green boxes appeared on the ground. The boxes were transparent, but when Gaius reached out to touch one they were solid. Elim nodded his head again, and Pericula, Kile, and Drusus each were imprisoned in a separate box.
Pericula was understandably quite confused. One minute she had been riding on the back of a horse next to Drusus, the next she was imprisoned in a green box. She immediately recognized her surroundings as the camp. She also saw Gaius starring at her in glee, as well as the two strange men. "What's going on?" she demanded to know.
Gaius only laughed in response to her question. He looked at his three prisoners, all of them equally confused. Kile, Gaius noticed, had bandages on his side and shoulder. Gaius remembered Kile's humiliating order to clean the latrines. "All three of you tried to humiliate me," Gaius said aloud. "Now I will have my revenge."
"Gaius, what's going on?" Pericula demanded to know. "Where are we?"
Gaius turned to Elim. "I want intense pain flowing through Pericula's body, but no physical damage." Elim pointed at Pericula. Immediately, Pericula screamed as she twisted in pain. "Gaius stop it! For Deka's sake stop it!"
Gaius nodded to Elim, and he put down his hand. Pericula's body relaxed somewhat as the pain left it. "Let that be a lesson to you Pericula. You are in my control now. Don't ask any questions, when I want you to know something, I'll tell you." Gaius turned to Elim. "That was very well done, I liked that. Do the same thing to all three of them now, and don't stop until I tell you to." Elim pointed in the general direction of the three prisoners, and soon they were all twisting in agony.
Cretal went up to Gaius. "Do you plan to kill them?"
"Eventually, but there's no hurry. Why kill them soon when I can send them to living hell right here."
"You're one sick son of a bitch Gaius." Cretal laughed. "I like you already."

Hans stared at his cards. He didn't know which one to play. He had two left, playing the one to the right would be risky, but beneficial if it paid off. The one to the left would be safe, but with no real advantage.
"Come on Hans, are you going to play or what?" Hans and Kyoko had been waiting in their quarters. They had been very nervous at first, knowing the fate of the city was being discussed. To try and relax a little, they had decided to play cards. They found the replicators in the room to be very similar to the ones in the city, and had replicated a pack of cards.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking. You can't rush these things you know." Hans started to lay the one on his left, but pulled it back. Hans quickly threw down the card on his right, and clenched his teeth as he waited for Kyoko to move.
Kyoko looked down at the card, and then looked up at Hans. A smile broke out across her face. Hans shook his head. "Oh no, please tell me you don't have it."
"Not this time Hans. Another game?"
"Sure, why not."
Kyoko picked up the cards and started shuffling. "So, it looks like your little bluff paid off." It was the first thing either of them had said about the meeting with that man since they had walked into the room.
"Yeah, I was lucky. Hopefully my luck will hold out. The Renegades might decide to use force against The Watchers after all."
Kyoko began dealing. "I don't think that will happen. We both have so much more to gain if we work together."
Hans nodded. "Hopefully they'll see that."
The door opened. Hans and Kyoko turned to see the man enter the room. "What did you decide?" Kyoko asked.
"We haven't arrived at a conclusion yet. Something urgent has come up. It's Gaius again."
Hans leaped to his feet. "What's he doing now?"
"He's got help from the Titos."
"Titos?"
"Didn't I tell you about Titos, Hans? They're the servants of the gods. They helped Gaius capture Drusus, Kile, and Pericula."
"You've got to stop them!" Hans exclaimed.
"We can't. It's up to you."

The New Era Chapter 18

2004-12-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Hans couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean it's up to us?"
"Look, I know you how you feel, but we can't go against the Titos now. If the gods have our technology, that means the Titos probably do too. If the Titos have our technology, they could defeat a force sent against them. What's more, this could be a trap. While we're fighting the Titos, the gods attack our ships. We can't afford to take that risk."
Hans grabbed the man roughly by his shoulders. "You can't be serious."
"Hans, please, try and understand."
"I understand. I understand all too well. You smell a trap, so you don't want to take any chances, but Kyoko and I, we're expendable . Whether we live or die doesn't matter."
"That's one way of putting it, yes."
Hans quickly glanced at Kyoko. Her eyes offered nothing but support for him. Confident, Hans turned and gave his answer. "Well you can just forget about it. We're not going to fight your war for you, you'll have to fight your own bloody war."
The man smiled. "Hans, we thought you might act this way. We have a little bit of incentive for you. Now we know that you want Gaius stopped as much as we do, that's one reason you should defeat him. Also, if you fight Gaius, even if he kills you both and you accomplish nothing, you have our solemn word of honor that we will do no harm to The Watchers. The Watchers can stay in their precious city forever, and we will lay no hand on them. They will be forced to do nothing against their will. We will even protect them from the gods as much as we can."
"Can I trust your word?"
"I guess you'll have to be the judge of that. All I can say is that we Renegades value our word very much. Now, if you refuse to fight Gaius not only will he continue his rampage of destruction, but you will have demonstrated to us that you Watchers can't even control your own. Then, you have our solemn word of honor that the city will be evacuated as quickly as possible by any means necessary, and The Watchers will be left to fend for themselves."
Hans and Kyoko exchanged glances. "Alright," Hans said, "you win."
The man smiled again. "I knew you'd see it our way Hans. Now off course we wouldn't send you into battle unarmed, so if you'd be so kind as to step outside with me we'll give you some equipment." The three went outside of the room into the hallway, where the equipment was lying on a table.
The man gave Hans and Kyoko each a laser gun. "I trust you both know how to use these."
Kyoko turned her gun over in her hands. "I do," she said. Hans rolled his eyes, that was an understatement. Kyoko used to have a hobby practicing on the target range with the laser guns. She had the best aim Hans had ever seen. Hans had practiced with her on a number of occasions, but wasn't anywhere as good as she was.
"Good, now hold still." The man lightly pressed a small cylinder shaped object against Kyoko's skin. "This device serves much the same purpose as a syringe," he explained. "With it, I am putting into your bloodstream a chemical solution that will temporarily allow you to survive Gaius' laser shots."
"Like the device that your ambassadors had?" Hans asked as the man pressed the same object against his skin.
"Yes, yes a lot like that. Of course, their device was in their clothing, and wasn't temporary. This chemical solution will only last about twenty four hours."
"So we're protected from the laser gun. What about the Titos' powers?" inquired Kyoko.
"That you'll have to watch out for. The Titos aren't as powerful as the gods, but don't underestimate them. They've told Gaius they can do anything he wants, but in fact their powers are limited. They can create and transport matter, and to some extent deceive your senses, but that's it. They're not immune to your laser guns either. They can take a hit or two and keep it in stride, but if you hit them enough times they'll be destroyed. I recommend you switch your laser gun to rapid fire and hit them repeatedly, they'll be wiped soon enough. Also, and this is important, their power can only be utilized when it's accompanied by a gesture of some sort. A snap of the fingers, a nod of the head, pointing their hand, that sort of thing. If you keep hitting them with the laser gun so that they don't have time to gesture, you'll be safe. Any questions? No? Good, lets go." The man turned to lead the way, and then suddenly turned back again. "You know, we've spent so much time talking, I feel silly but I don't believe I told either of you my name. The name's Uther." By now, Hans was used to this type of abrupt change of manner by the man he now knew as Uther. It ceased to surprise him.
"You've probably noticed by now," Uther said as they walked down the hallway, "that we've developed a kind of matter transporter. With this, we can transport you anywhere you like with in a certain distance. I'm going to send you right to where Gaius is now, so have your laser guns ready to start shooting."

When the transport was done, Hans found himself staring at three green boxes, in each box a person. Hans recognized all three, having seen Kile and Drusus on the monitor back in the city. Hans hand was on the trigger of his gun, and he quickly surved the area for a target. He saw neither the Titos nor Gaius. Kyoko was a few meters to his left, also holding her laser gun looking for a target.
"Hans, good to see you again." Hans head snapped toward the direction of the voice. It was Gaius, he was standing by one of the boxes, the one with Pericula in it. Gaius aimed one of his laser guns at Pericula's head, and the other one at Hans. Gaius, quite confident, looked at Kyoko, her laser gun aimed at him. "You must be Kyoko. I've heard so much about you, your even more beautiful then they said you were."
Hans didn't take the time to wonder where Gaius had come from, or where the Titos were. "Gaius, let them go. You can't keep this up forever."
"Yesterday Hans, I might have agreed with that statement. Now, I laugh at it. Indeed, I can keep this up forever. Your certainly not going to stop me. Now Hans, put your gun down, or I'll kill Pericula right now."
Hans knew it was a long shot, but he had to try it anyway. "You wouldn't kill a fellow Watcher Gaius."
"Oh really, is that what you think? Jistap killed seven hundred Watchers. Bakes killed a Watcher and I hear he's a hero back in the city, and Hans I'm crazier then them both."
Alright, so much for that attempt. He knew it was a long shot anyway, now it was time to fight Gaius on his level. "Gaius, if you shoot Pericula, I'll shoot you, and if I miss, you can bet Kyoko won't."
"Really Hans, would you kill another Watcher? You're as bad as I am Hans, if you shoot me. Drop your gun now or I'll shoot Pericula."
Hans didn't drop his gun, and Gaius loved his own life too much to risk shooting Pericula. The three remained in a standoff for a minute, then Gaius said, "I'll see you in hell, Hans," and disappeared. Hans and Kyoko looked all around for him.
Hans heard Gaius laughing from behind him. As Hans was turning around, he was hit by a laser beam. He felt like every part of his body was exploding as he flew through the air, then tumbled along the ground. He felt thoroughly exhausted once he came to a stop, every muscle in his body hurt. Yet he was still alive, a good sign that the chemical solution was working.
Out of the coroner of his eye, Hans could see that Kyoko was hit too. Although he had dropped his laser gun, Hans got to his feet as soon as his body would let him. Gaius was confused to see Hans alive, yet did not hesitate to shoot him several more times with his laser guns. Hans plan had worked, Gaius' attention had been focused on him, so that Gaius did not see Kyoko pick up her laser gun and shoot him. As Gaius fell to the ground, Hans forced himself to stand up and grab his laser gun.
Hans wasn't too surprised to see Gaius wasn't dead either. He had suspected the Titos would shield him from most of the energy blast. As Gaius stood up, two balls of light appeared, one on each side of him. The balls changed into human shape, and Hans knew they were the Titos. His laser gun on rapid fire, Hans picked the one closest to him and shot it. Kyoko did the same thing with the other Titos, and soon both Titos were laying on the ground helpless against the lasers. Gaius, meanwhile, picked up his two laser guns and shot Hans and Kyoko. Hans was knocked backwards. He had tried to hold on to his laser gun this time, but it was impossible. Hans dived for his gun as soon as he regained his senses, knowing he had to act before the Titos could strike. Gaius shot him in mid air. Not wanting to fall for the same trick twice, Gaius quickly turned around so Kyoko could not shoot him while he was dealing with Hans. Unfortunately for Gaius, Kyoko had moved faster then he anticipated, and he was hit by her once again.
While Gaius was down, Kyoko grabbed one of his laser guns. Then she aimed both guns at the Titos and fired rapidly. They were both knocked to the ground again. Kyoko sighed with relief as she realized how close that had been. Both had been in the middle of snapping their fingers when they were hit.
When Hans saw Gaius standing up and aiming his remaining laser gun at Kyoko, panic seized him. Kyoko was too busy with the Titos to worry about Gaius. Hans didn't have time to grab his laser gun, he just sprinted for Gaius. Just as Gaius' fingers were pulling back on the trigger, Hans slammed into him. Both Gaius and Hans fell down, the laser went harmlessly past Kyoko, barely missing her.
Hans was now on top of Gaius. Gaius pointed his gun at Hans, but Hans pushed the gun to the side and punched Gaius in the nose. Gaius' right fist hit Hans face, and Hans fell off him. Quickly, Gaius aimed his gun at Hans. Hans' leg shot out before Gaius had time to fire. His foot hit the gun, knocking it out of Gaius' hand. Then Hans was on his feet almost as quickly as Gaius was.
Gaius' left fist hit Hans in the stomach. Well Hans was reacting to the blow, Gaius' right hit him across the face. An uppercut with the left sent Hans to the ground. Realizing that Gaius was going for his laser gun, Hans got to his feet as soon as he could. Gaius grabbed the gun, but when he turned around to fire it Hans' fist came across his face. Gaius stumbled backwards, and Hans grabbed his right hand, in which he held the gun. Gaius left fist struck Hans' face. The blow weakened Hans concentration, and Gaius was able to successfully struggle against Hans' grip on his hand and aim his laser gun at Hans. Gaius fired the gun and Hans was hit. He fell to the ground.
A laser beam hit Gaius gun and knocked it right out of his hand. Gaius turned in shock to see Kyoko smiling at him, both laser guns aimed straight at his head. Cretal and Elim were nowhere in sight. "Hello Gaius," she said, her smile broadening.
The danger past, Hans began to feel how sore his body was. Being hit repeatedly by laser blasts, not to mention Gaius' fists, had taken their toll. He got to his feet and very slowly walked over to where Kyoko was tying Gaius up with a rope. "Where are the Titos?" he asked.
"They disappeared," Kyoko answered. "I guess the gods saved them from destruction."

"Cretal and Elim, you have failed the gods. This council finds you guilty of being defeated by a mortal. You must pay the price." An instant later, ashes were all that remained where Cretal and Elim had stood.

The New Era Chapter 19

2004-12-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Hans looked around him. "They disappeared?"
Kyoko nodded. "I was hitting them with the laser guns repeatedly, just like Uther instructed. They didn't have a chance to do anything, just lie on the ground and get hit. They weren't destroyed though, I suspect the gods rescued them at the last moment."
"Sounds logical. I see you haven't lost your touch with a gun."
"Thanks. Are you okay?"
"I'm sore enough, but I'll be fine. You?"
"Fine, fine, lets see about getting Gaius' prisoners out of those green boxes."
"Good idea, what were you planning on trying."
Kyoko walked up to the box Pericula was in. She fired her gun at the bottom coroner. The whole box shattered. Pericula collapsed to the ground.
Hans ran up to where Pericula had fallen. Together with Kyoko, he helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Pericula teetered a bit on her feet, but regained her balance. "I think I'll be fine. Being Gaius' prisoner isn't pleasant."
"That doesn't surprise me," Hans said as Kyoko blasted Drusus free. Drusus looked a little unsteady on his feet, but he did not fall. Kyoko offered him her hand for support, but he refused it. "I'll be fine," he said. "Is Kile alright?"
Everyone's attention turned to Kile. He looked far from well. Being forced to remain standing in the box, as well as tortured by Gaius had took its toll. As soon as Kyoko shattered his box, he fell to the ground and did not move.
Drusus knelt beside Kile. "Kile, Kile are you alright?" Drusus tapped Kile lightly on the shoulder.
Pericula knelt down by Drusus. "Don't worry, he'll be fine once we get him to the city." She turned to Hans and Kyoko. "I take it your presence here is evidence that the doors are now opened."
"Not quite," Hans said, "but I have a feeling they're opened now anyway. Do you have your computer pad?"
Pericula shook her head. "It was left on the horse I was riding when Gaius transported me back here. I think you can use Gaius' though, his is probably in his tent there." Pericula pointed at Gaius' tent. Hans looked at Gaius for confirmation of the statement, but Gaius remained silent. Going into the tent, Hans eventually found the computer pad buried under various other things. Punching in a few buttons, Hans saw Mucius' face.
"Hans, how did you get out of the city? What happened?"
"It's a long story Mucius. I'll tell you about it later, right now I've got to get an injured man back to the city ASAP. Are the doors opened yet?"
"No, not yet. Bakes keeps working on them, but I think he has given up all hope by now."
"Tell Bakes to try opening them right now."
Mucius opened his mouth to question Hans' sanity, but decided that if Hans was outside of the city he obviously knew something the rest didn't. "I'll check with him. I'll get back to you in a bit."
As the monitor went blank, Hans stepped outside. "Did you find it?" asked Kyoko.
Hans waved the computer pad in his hand. "They're checking on the doors right now."
"It looks like we've got company," Drusus said. Hans looked to see what he meant, and saw Gaius' army. They had been scared off by the sound of laser fire, but were now cautiously returning. They could see their leader tied up, and were not to happy about it.
"I can handle this," Kyoko said confidently. She took one of the laser guns and fired it into the air. About half of the army turned and fled, the other half charged forward. With expert skill, Kyoko fired her gun, aiming at the ground beneath their feet. The soldiers were knocked off their feet by the resulting explosions. Some got right back on their feet and tried running again, but they received the same treatment. Soon, the whole army was in flight.
"You realize they'll be back before long," Pericula warned.
"Hopefully by that time, we'll be out of here," Hans replied. Just then, the computer pad buzzed. Hans hit a button, and Mucius was on the screen.
"Hans I don't know how you knew, but the doors are opened know. Lauto is on her way over in a ship. She's bringing a medicine ball with her."
"Great. Thanks a lot Mucius, Hans out." Hans turned off his pad. "Well, were in luck, help is on the way."

Bakes stood in the hanger as the ship came in. When Pericula stepped out, he immediately commended her. "Pericula, welcome back. Allow me to congratulate you on a job superbly done."
Pericula smiled. "Thank you sir, but it was Hans and Kyoko who defeated Gaius."
"Yes, yes I know but you handled your situation extremely well." Bakes glanced over to the ship doors to see Drusus disembark. He turned to Pericula. "You brought him here? I thought Lauto took a medicine ball with her."
Following Drusus, Kile exited the ship, in perfect health. "She did sir, but Gaius' men were closing in on us. We thought it best to take these two to safety," Pericula explained.
Bakes glanced up at Kile and Drusus again. The medicine ball had obviously worked perfectly. Kile was already beginning to run about the hanger. "Couldn't you have dropped them off somewhere? Did you have to bring them to the city? I'm not sure I like this." Bakes suddenly broke into a smile. "But, after what you did out there I'll easily forgive you." Pericula thanked Bakes as she escorted Kile and Drusus out of the hanger.
Next, Bakes saw Hans and Kyoko get off the ship. He went up to them. "I've got a lot of questions for you two. I was busy trying to figure how to open the doors well everyone else was watching you on the monitor, but I hear you defeated Gaius, congratulations. Now would you mind telling me how you got out of the city, or how you knew the doors were opened?"
"It's a long story Bakes," Hans said. "A long story, and we need to tell all The Watchers, not just you."
"Of course, I'll arrange for a meeting tonight during which you can share your story. In the meantime, you want to just give me a rough idea of what happened?"
Hans nodded. "Sure, I can understand your curiosity. Do you mind if I take a few minutes to recover first? I never got a chance to use that medicine ball."
"Are you hurt?"
Kyoko laughed as she leaned against Hans' shoulder. "Don't listen to him, he's fine."
Hans smiled back at her as he said, "that's what you think. You didn't get what I got."
"Hans, you only got hit by the laser gun five times."
"Yeah, well it feels like fifty."
Bakes couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You got hit with a laser gun five times?!"
Hans shook his head. "Alright, you guys win, I'm being a wimp. I just wish Gaius had been a little worse with his aim."
"Well, I can't wait to hear your story," Bakes said as he glanced up at the ship one last time. Gaius was leaving now, his hands were tied behind his back and Lauto was aiming a laser gun at his head as he slowly walked off the ship. Bakes' face lit up with glee.
"Hello Gaius, welcome back. It's good to see you again. As you know, you've been big news here in the city. I still remember you threatening me, telling me that you held all the cards. You told me it was a big mistake to make you mad." Bakes grabbed Gaius' collar and shook it. "Well know you're going to learn what a big mistake it is to make me mad." Bakes turned away, and Lauto continued escorting Gaius to prison.
Bakes looked into Hans' stern face. "Oh come on Hans, after all the evil he has done surely you don't disapprove of a little fun at his expense."
"He's insane Bakes. He needs help, not you rubbing his problems in his face."
"Hans, you always did have a bleeding heart. Gaius should get everything he deserves, and I intend to make sure he does. You never appreciate justice, do you? You let Rodens walk away scot free. Right now he should be sitting in prison, or better yet executed."
"You can't be serious. You know The Watchers abolished the death penalty centuries ago."
"Yeah, well maybe it's time we brought it back. People like Gaius deserve it. I'd like to see him dead."
"If you kill him, your just as bad as he is."
"Is that what you think? You just don't understand the way the real world works Hans, but you'll learn soon enough. I'm going to see Gaius executed."
"Oh no your not. Watcher law forbids it, and we are returning to a democracy."
Bakes took a deep breath. "I'm glad you brought that up Hans. I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided we're in the middle of a crisis here. This is no time to return democracy, and so I'm going to remain in command until the danger is over."
Hans was too shocked to speak, so Kyoko took over for him. "You can't do that. You promised to return democracy after two weeks."
"I know, but that was before this happened."
Hans looked angrily at Bakes. "I should have known you couldn't be trusted. You were just waiting for something like this to happen. Anything that would give you a chance to stay in power. You're worse then Jistap was."
"Now hold on Hans, remember we're supposed to work together. You're still one of us you know, you helped save the Icelers. You and Pericula are going to have just as much power as anybody else. Obviously, Gaius won't be returning to his share of power, so we'll need someone to take his place. Kyoko, that someone can be you, if you want."
"Forget it Bakes," she replied. "We're not after power, we're after justice. We want to see democracy returned to everyone."
"Don't you understand? We can't do that now!" Bakes took a deep breath in frustration. "Hans, Kyoko, we can settle this like adults, we don't need to yell at each other. I hear Pericula left her computer pad in Calet. She'll need to retrieve that, we can't let it fall into the wrong hands. Also, she'll need to drop Drusus and Kile back off in Calet. Why don't you two go with her. It will be a nice easy assignment, and it will give you time to think. I'll do a little thinking of my own, and once you come back we can come to a reasonable agreement."
Hans was skeptical. "I don't see what good it will do. If I wanted to think I could do that in the city."
"Hans, just trust me on this one. It will be a nice diversion for you. Don't be so critical, I'm not out to get you. I want us to work together."
Hans looked at Kyoko. "Sounds harmless enough to me," she said.
"Alright, we'll do it," Hans agreed.

"You asked to see me?"
"Yes, yes come in Livius, you too Lauto. We have a minor problem." Lauto and Livius entered the room. Bakes gestured for them to sit down, and they did so. "Hans and Kyoko have proved quite uncoroperative. I've done everything I could to try and convince them to join us, but I fear they will only be a thorn in our side. I want you two to go on that ship with them when they leave to drop Kile and Drusus off. You must kill them both."
Livius was astounded. "Kill them? But they're Watchers, we can't."
"You must, they will not join us. I can manipulate the computer records as long as you kill them outside of the city. It is the only course of action left to us, they'll never accept anything but democracy."

The New Era Chapter 20

2004-12-27T11:59:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Hans boarded the ship. It had been only yesterday that Bakes had suggested he go on this mission, and Hans was still questioning its value. Hans could see everyone else was already on board, Kyoko, Pericula, Drusus, Kile, and to Hans' surprise, Livius and Lauto.
"What are you two doing here?"
Livius smiled. "Oh come on Hans, I wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world."
"Opportunity?"
"Hans, I've been studying history and current events on Fabulae all my life, but I've never actually had a chance to interact with the nations I've been studying. We Watchers never leave the city."
Hans laughed. "You mean we never used to. One thousand Watchers were just recalled from exile outside of the city."
"Well, yes I guess you're right. Under normal circumstances we don't leave the city. Think of the opportunity here Hans."
Hans nodded his head slowly as he thought about it. "I guess you're right. I never thought of it that way before, this is an extraordinary opportunity." Hans turned to Lauto. "I guess that's why your here too?"
Lauto nodded. "I couldn't pass this up."
"It's a pity more people couldn't come on this. I'm sure someone else would enjoy this more then me, maybe I should give them my seat."
Livius' hand gently halted Hans as he was rising from his seat. "Not a good idea Hans. This isn't a public transport, we're here under the excuse of performing a mission, albeit a small one."
Hans sat back down. "You're right again. Oh well, I guess I might as well have some fun."

Pericula smiled triumphantly as she laid down her card. Kile stared at his hand for a little while, before putting forth one of his cards.
"I don't think you want to do that," Hans advised. "This card would be a much better choice given the circumstances."
Kile shook his head in despair. "I'll never get this game."
"It's okay," Kyoko reassured. "Roku is a hard game to learn. It took Hans almost two months."
"It only took me one, and that was because you were such a lousy teacher."
"I'm feeling like it will take me two months. I just have no clue what we're doing."
"No problem, we can play a couple more games open hand," Kyoko decided.
"Hold on Kyoko," Hans said as he laid down his card. "Lets not get ahead of ourselves. We're not even finished with this game yet."
Kyoko laid down the remainder of her hand. "We are now. Read them and weep. Your turn to deal Hans."
Hans gathered up all the cards. "Sometimes, I just don't believe your luck." As Hans began to shuffle, he turned his attention to the front of the ship. Lauto was piloting the ship, Livius was reading a book, and Drusus was looking out the window spell bound. "Hey Drusus, are we missing any scenery?"
"You bet, I've never seen anything like this in my life."
Livius glanced up from his book. "Just clouds Hans, you're not missing a thing. I'll tell you when the scenery comes into view."
Hans stopped shuffling. "Hey Livius, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You sound a little-"
"I said I'm fine Hans!"
Livius' tone of voice left little room for negotiation. Kyoko broke the awkward silence quickly. "Hans, will you hurry up and deal? We might be able to get another game in if we hurry." Hans started dealing, and then it happened.
The ship abruptly jerked forward, throwing most of its passengers back. The ship then began spinning wildly. Hans was thrown against a wall, and found himself pinned to the wall because the ship was moving so fast. What happened next, happened to fast for Hans to comprehend, but he was thrown all over the ship before it finally came to a crash on the ground below. Hans ended up in the front of the ship, feeling squashed between a chair and a wall.
Hans got to his feet slowly. The other passengers were doing the same thing. "What happened?" he asked.
Livius was next to Hans. "I don't know. Where's Lauto, she was piloting the ship when we crashed."
Hans turned, looking around for Lauto. He didn't see her. "Her she is," Kyoko said. "She's unconscious, and hurt."
Pericula walked over. She looked at Lauto, and saw several bad cuts on her. On one cut in her arm, Pericula could see all the way to Lauto's bone. "Yeah, she's hurt pretty bad."
"Great," Livius said, "I guess it's back to the city to get another medicine ball."
"Are you crazy?" Pericula asked. "After what happened to Kile do you think I would ever leave the city without a medicine ball again?" Pericula went over to a compartment, and removed a medicine ball. "Here it is."
The ball was placed near Lauto. As it hummed it healed all her wounds. Lauto regained conscious. As she slowly opened her eyes and looked around her, she asked, "what happened?"
"We crashed, and you were hurt." Pericula answered. "Anyone else need to use the medicine ball?"
"I do," Hans said, raising his hand.
"Hans be serious," Kyoko reprimanded him. "This is no time to-" Kyoko suddenly stopped as Hans stepped into the light. "You are hurt. Your head, it's bleeding, quite badly."
Hans nodded. "Just hand me the medicine ball and I'll be fine." Pericula threw it to him, and soon it was humming as it healed Hans.
"Do you have any idea what happened?" Livius asked Lauto.
"No, one minute I was piloting the ship, the next thing I know everyone's standing over me and I'm lying on the ground."
"Well, perhaps the computers can tell us what happened." Livius went over to the controls on the ship, and pressed several buttons. He waited for a while, and then repunched the buttons. "What is going on?" he asked.
Pericula came over. "What's wrong?"
Livius shook his head. "I don't know, but the computers not responding."
"Executor, why aren't the computers working?" asked Pericula. There was no answer. She tried asking again, and received the same result.
Hans was astounded. "What happened to us? What could be powerful to wipe out all of the ships computers?"
"I don't know, but I'm glad I brought this," Pericula said, going back to the same compartment she had the medicine ball in. She took out a computer pad.
"You really came prepared," Hans said. "I don't know what we would have done with out you."
Pericula didn't respond, instead her face bent into a look of confusion as she repeatedly punched the same buttons. "This doesn't work either," she said.
"So whatever hit us, not only wiped out the ships computers, but all the computers inside," Livius concluded.
"Not so fast, remember the medicine ball still works and it's run by a computer," Kyoko pointed out.
Livius went to a compartment in the back of the ship and removed two laser guns. "What are those for?" Hans asked.
"Oh, you know Hans just in case something goes wrong these are good to have with you for protection. Lets see if they still work." Livius opened one of the windows, and aimed both laser guns outside. He pulled the trigger on both, but neither fired. "These don't work either," he said, throwing them to the ground.
"This makes no sense," Hans said. "How come the medicine ball is the only thing that works? It was in the same compartment as the computer pad."
"I guess we'll have to wait and find out when we get back to the city," Pericula said. "A rescue ship is probably on its way right now, so we'll just have to sit tight until it arrives." Pericula tried to push one of the doors open, but she could not. Everyone rushed to her assistance, and eventually the door gave way. As it opened slowly, Pericula stepped out onto the ground. "The rescue ship should be here in fifteen minutes, tops."

"Another game?" Kyoko asked.
"Sure, why not," Hans said. "There's nothing better to do. How long has it been?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Now that the computers died, we have no way to tell time, but it must have been at least eight hours."
Hans sighed. "What I wouldn't give to know what's going on at the city?"
"Well, whatever it is I think we've waited long enough," Livius said. "We need to act as if we knew for sure they won't get here for at least a week, because whatever's holding them up might not go away to soon."
Pericula set her cards down on the ground and got up. "Good idea, what did you have in mind?"
"Well, we're going to need to get food, water and firewood. We should also find some way of protection. It's a dangerous world out here, a gang of robbers could attack us any minute. Somehow, we should find a way of arming ourselves. Last, but not least we should find out where we are. I know the political situation of nearly every nation on Fabulae. We could have landed in the middle of a war torn country, like Marram, in which case we should be on the look out for soldiers. We could have landed in a country whose government is unquestionably brutal, like Fera, in which case we should be careful to avoid the police. We could have landed in a land of great poverty, like Peredez, in which case we should look out for robbers."
"So how do you propose we do all of these things?" Hans asked.
"We should pair off and go exploring. We take anything that looks useful, and find out everything we can. We should meet back here in roughly two hours. Hans and Kyoko should be one pair, Kile and Drusus another, I'll go with Lauto, and Pericula, why don't you stay behind to guard the ship."
The plan was generally affirmed by everyone and carried out.

"I hope this is the last hill," Livius remarked as he and Lauto struggled upwards.
A brief silence followed before Lauto asked, "Livius, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"What?"
"Do you think the reason Bakes hasn't sent a rescue ship yet is because he's waiting for us to Kill Hans and Kyoko?"
"The thought has occurred to me."
"Then what are we waiting for? Lets finish them off."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."
"Why not," Lauto said, a mocking tone in her voice. "Can't bring yourself to kill Hans."
"Well I admit I have several misgivings about killing off not only a fellow Watcher, but one of the team as well, that's not the reason I advise caution. To start out with, the laser guns are ineffective. If we're going to kill them, we'll have to do it with our bare hands, or the weapons of the time. That isn't going to be easy."
"Of course it will. We can just kill them in their sleep."
"Maybe, but suppose the reason Bakes hasn't sent out a ship to rescue us isn't because Hans and Kyoko are still alive."
"What other reason could there be?"
"Who knows what's going on at the city right now. If we're going to survive out here, we're going to have to work together. I have a feeling the others won't be to coroperative with us after we kill Hans and Kyoko."
"Livius, you're being a fool. The only answer to this problem is that Bakes is waiting for us to perform our task. With or without your help, I'm going to kill them."

The New Era Chapter 21

2004-12-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"But if the score is at twenty, why would I want to lay this card?"
Pericula shook her head. "Never mind, just never mind. I think you've played enough Roku for one day."
"Just help me finish this game?" Kile pleaded.
Pericula sighed. "Oh all right."
"Thanks," Kile turned to Drusus. "Are you sure you don't want to learn how to play?" he asked.
Drusus nodded. "I'm positive. Once we get back to Calet, knowing how to play Roku is going to be of little value."
Kile nodded. "You've got a point there. Nobody else in Calet knows how to play, and there are no Roku decks." Kile paused to think over what he had just said. "I don't suppose you could give me a couple decks?" he asked Pericula.
"No problem," she replied. "I can even give you a written copy of the directions if you want."
"Could you? I'd appreciate that, I don't think I'll learn this anytime soon, do you?" Kile waited for Pericula to respond, but when she didn't he looked up from his cards at her. He saw her starring behind him, and he turned his head to see what she was looking at. It was Lauto and Livius, returning back to the ship.
Livius and Lauto were moving slowly, encumbered by the many sticks and branches they were carrying. All three ran out and helped them with their load. "Well, we're all set with firewood for tonight, if we need it," Pericula observed, taking a good share of the branches.
"There's plenty more were this came from, and it's not too far of a walk," Livius said. "Finding wood isn't going to be one of our problems. Are Hans and Kyoko back yet?"
Pericula shook her head. "No, not yet. Kile and Drusus just got back about fifteen minutes ago."
"Really?" Livius turned to them. "Was your venture as successful as ours?"
Kile smiled smugly. "Tons more, we came upon a house not far from here. The couple who lived there was quite helpful actually, not distrustful of us at all. We told them of our situation, kind of. We changed a few things around so they would believe us."
Livius nodded. "I understand, please continue."
"Well, like I said they were very trusting. They supplied us with enough food to last us all for two days, and they said we could come and get water from their well anytime."
"Amazing, anything else?"
"Actually, yes. They gave us this dagger for protection,' Kile removed the weapon from his belt, and gave it to Livius, who turned it over in his hands.
"Very nice, I hope we don't need to use it."
"So do I. They also informed us that there's a town not to far away, about five miles from this location."
"Did you go to the town?"
"No, by the time we had found the house, our two hours were almost up. We did find out one more thing though, the country we're in. It's called Dishon."
"Is that good?" asked Pericula.
"Very," Livius answered. "We couldn't have asked to land in a better country. Now that Marram has been shattered, Dishon is in complete peace. It has a very low crime rate, as well as a good king. We were lucky to land here."

"Hans, what took you so long?" Pericula asked, as Hans and Kyoko came back to the ship.
"We found out about a nearby town, only about five miles away from here," Hans answered. "We went over to it."
"Yeah, we heard about it too," Kile said. "Did you find anything interesting there?"
"Well, there was a variety of things to buy there, if you had the money," Kyoko said.
"What's money?" asked Lauto.
"A medium of exchange," Livius answered.
"That doesn't help."
"Never mind, I'll fill you in later. Continue please, Kyoko."
"Well, we told people we were travellers from a distant land, and asked them what was going on. We found out some really interesting things."
"Such as?" Pericula asked.
"Well, as you probably found out already, we're in the nation of Dishon. Now Livius is the expert here, but I believe Dishon is a land of relative tranquility."
"That is correct," Livius said.
"Then this may prove interesting," Kyoko continued. "Every person we talked to told us some version or other of a story about some kind of monster killing everything it sees. This monster can not be killed, and is very strong."
Kyoko stopped, looking at Livius for a response. "That is interesting," Livius said. "I've never heard of that before. If the stories are true, this is a recent development."
"Are the stories true?" asked Lauto.
"All the people we talked to seemed sincere," Hans said. "And everyone we talked to confirmed the story."
Livius nodded, thoughtfully. "Undoubtably they are sincere, that doesn't necessarily confirm the validity of their statements. In cultures such as these, communication is extremely poor, rumors are the only way these people get there information. Also, scientific objectivity is low. This monster thing could simply be just a big misunderstanding Nevertheless, strange things do happen out in the real world. The city may be only populated with humans, but Fabulae has a great diversity of lifeforms. There may well be a monster out there."
"Well, aside from the monster, this town also opens up some new possibilities," Lauto said. "First off, Drusus and Kile can go to this town and arrange transportation to Calet. I believe Calet isn't too far away from here."
"That's correct," Livius said. "You'll have to travel through Grarap, but that shouldn't be too big of a problem. Of course, you'll need plenty of money to hire transportation for that distance."
"Well, right now we don't have any," Drusus said. "What little I had managed to take from the camp I lost when Gaius transported us back."
"And the rest was taken by Gaius' men, along with what I had," Kile finished. "So until we can get our hands on some money, I guess we're stuck with you guys."
"Don't be so sure," Lauto continued. "The second use we have for this town is to set up shop there as doctors. We could charge whatever we wanted, and have no lack of business as long as we used that medicine ball."
"What about the people who can't pay?" asked Hans.
"Oh, well we wouldn't be able to help them of course. Once word got out we we're giving treatment away, we'd never see a coin again." Hans opened his mouth to protest, but Lauto new what he was going to say and cut him off. "Hans, for once, just once, live in the real world here. If we weren't here, those people wouldn't get help anyway. The only thing we're doing is offering an option for those who can afford it, we are not hurting the poor at all. Besides which, if we can return Kile and Drusus to Calet with the money we raise, we will be more then justifying our actions."
"I'm not sure I like the idea, but I can see its advantages," Hans said. "I would be willing to go along with it for a short time."
"I agree with Hans," Pericula said. "The ethical questions of using our technology to get money should be treated with great care. After all, we don't want to expose the outside world to anymore of our technology. Who knows what the long term effects on their culture could be?"
"This is a matter of survival," Lauto exclaimed.
"In that case, I don't think anyone would refuse you support, but lets explore our other options first."
"We could argue all night," Kile said. "But I have a feeling we're going to need our sleep. I'm sure we can discuss all this in the morning." Kile's comment caused everyone to take notice of the weather. Night was indeed rapidly closing, the sun had already set and darkness was racing in.
"I guess some sleep would do us some good," Livius agreed. "I don't think it will get that cold tonight, so we might want to save this firewood for another occasion."
"We may want a fire tonight anyway," Pericula said. "During my short stay in Calet, I learned that not only can the temperature significantly drop at night, but that it can get awful dark. We better build a fire."
"Sounds good to me," Lauto said. "I suppose we ought to take turns standing watch. You never know whose out there."
"I don't know if that's necessary, but you can't be too careful," Hans agreed. "I can take the first watch."
"If it's alright with you, I'd just assume do it, and get it over with," Lauto said.
"No problem, go ahead."
"Thanks, I suppose I better keep the dagger with me."
"If you think it would help," said Kile, handing it over.
"I'll stay up with you," Livius said. "Two sets of eyes are better then one, besides, we can help keep each other alert, and give each other company. That way, we can go longer without switching guard."
"Good idea," Lauto said. "Good night everyone." Everyone mumbled their goodnights as they settled down on the ground to sleep.

"Enough!" In the heat of the moment, Lauto had spoken the word louder then she should have. She looked around to see if anyone had been woken up. Drusus rolled over in his sleep, everyone else remained still. "I am not going to listen to anymore of your cowardly excuses," she said in a much softer tone. "Stand aside if you want, but I know what my job is."
"Lauto, for the last time, this is madness. Even if you succeed in killing one of them, the noise you make will wake up the rest."
"Watch me Livius, I won't make a sound." Lauto, knife in hand, began creeping towards the sleeping Kyoko. Livius silently rushed up and grabbed her by the left hand, the one without the knife.
"I won't let you do this," he said firmly. "If you take one more step I'll make enough noise to wake up everyone in the camp."
"Let go of me you fool!" Lauto whispered harshly as she pulled her arm free. "You can die with them, but not me. I'm getting out of here on the next ship, and killing those two is my ticket."
"Then I'm afraid you're out of luck."
Lauto whirled around angrily and continued walking towards Kyoko, much faster then before. Livius ran forward and tackled her. The soft thud of their bodies hitting the dirt awakened Drusus. Seeing all chances of surprise was lost, Lauto reserved nothing in her struggle against Livius, and soon everybody was awake.
"What's going on here?" Hans asked.
"Get him off of me?" Lauto demanded. Kile and Drusus grabbed Livius and roughly pulled him to his feet. Lauto remained on the ground, moaning. The knife was sticking out of her side. Kyoko sprinted for the medicine ball.
"What is going on here?" Hans repeated.
"He attacked me," Lauto moaned. "He tried to kill me with that knife."
"That's a lie," Livius said. "She stabbed herself to frame me."
"Then what really happened?" Hans asked. Livius was hesitant, not about saying anything. "What really happened?" Hans repeated, in a firm but calm tone.
"I have a confession to make," Livius said. "I've been sent here to kill you."

The New Era Chapter 22

2004-12-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Lauto's breathing returned to normal. She ceased to squirm in pain, and her wound became healed. The medicine ball stopped humming, and Kyoko knelt down to retrieve it. "Are you feeling better," she asked quietly as she gently helped Lauto to her feet.
"Much thank you," Lauto whispered. Both were talking quietly because Livius was telling his story.
"... Once she realized you were awake, she stabbed herself to make it look like she was the innocent victim of my aggression," Livius continued. "You know the rest from there."
Hans turned to Lauto. "Is any of this true?" he asked.
"That's a lie if I ever heard one," she responded. "It's true, Bakes did send us here to kill you. I had second thoughts about it, you know how much I respect both of you. As soon as Livius was sure everyone was asleep, he demanded I give him the knife. I complied at first, but when he started walking towards Kyoko I knew I couldn't live with myself if I let him kill her. I ran to block his way. He tried to push me aside, but I wouldn't let him. He lost his patience and tried to kill me too. I fought back, but he managed to stab me in the side as you people woke up."
Hans turned to Livius, his face expecting a response. Livius saw Hans' look and gave him one. "She's lying. Don't listen to her."
Hans looked at Lauto, and then at Livius again. For a while his face went repeatedly from one to the other before he announced, "I don't know what to do."
"I think it's time we had a little conference," Pericula said, "to determine what action we should take."
Pericula, Kile, Drusus, Hans, and Kyoko all moved out of the hearing distance of Livius and Lauto. As soon as they had all grouped up, Pericula jumped into discussion. "We don't know which one of them tried to kill us," she said, "but at this point that really doesn't matter. Both of them were planning on performing the act, until one pulled out at the last minute. Therefore, under Watcher law they are both guilty of planning a murder. The sentence for that is at least half a year in jail. Since we can't trust either of them, I recommend we start them on their prison sentence now."
"You mean, keep them under guard at all times?" Hans asked.
Pericula nodded. "I know it's inconvenient, but I think it's far better then letting the killer roam free, always having to watch our backs."
"I'm not sure about this," Kyoko said. "We need to band together if we're going to survive out here. Perhaps the best thing to do is to forget what happened, try and make allies of our enemies."
"Perhaps a compromise would be in order," Hans proposed. "We forgive them, and treat them on the whole, pretty much the same, but someone is always watching them all of the time."
"I could agree to that," Pericula said.
"So could I," Kyoko added.
Kile and Drusus also agreed.
"It looks like we have reached a decision," Pericula said. "We might as well go tell those two what we decided." As the group was breaking up, Pericula took Hans aside. "Can I talk to you a minute?" she asked.
"Sure," Hans answered. "What can I do for you?"
"Hans, I know this must be hard for you, finding out that Bakes is trying to kill you."
"It does sort of ruin my day, yes."
"Be serious Hans, I can tell by your face this is disturbing. Is there anything I can do?"
"I think I'm fine, you can check with Kyoko though."
"Hans, Kyoko was never one of us."
"One of us?"
"You know, one of the team. Undoubtably this was a shock to her, but you and Bakes have been working together. He was your ally."
"He was never my ally. From the moment he took power, I didn't trust him. I never thought he'd try and kill me, but it wasn't too much of a surprise. What I'm worried about is that this is clear proof he has no intention of giving up power, and he's making no excuses for it now. I need to get back to the city and stop him."
"You think that's why he's not sending a ship? He wants to make sure your dead first?" Hans had never thought about that before, and the idea left him speechless. "Do you think that's why he's not sending a ship?" Pericula repeated.
Hans brain began clicking faster and faster. Pericula's question had sent ideas racing through his head. "Of course," he said aloud to himself. "Everything's fitting into place now." Hans ran towards Kyoko, leaving Pericula quiet confused.

Kyoko was busy explaining the decision to Livius and Lauto, when she saw heard Hans' voice. "Kyoko! Kyoko!" he yelled out excitedly. She turned to see him running over.
"Take over," she said to Kile and Drusus. As they started explaining things, she went out to meet Hans.
"What are you so excited about?" she asked.
"Kyoko, I've got it. Everything fits into place now. I know why we're here. I know why the ship crashed."
"How? Why?"
"The gods didn't want us to tell the city about them. They were behind the crash. Using their power, or the technology they stole from The Renegades I don't know which, they shot down the ship."
"Hans, I've thought about that myself, but it doesn't make any sense. If the gods wanted us dead, why didn't they just blow up the whole ship with us inside us?"
"Don't you see? They had to use our deaths to create dissent in the city. We had to be killed by another Watcher. That's why they left the medicine ball alone undamaged among our equipment."
"But the only people who needed the medicine ball were you and-" Kyoko stopped right in mid sentence. Her face showed the realization going on in her head. "Of course, Lauto was the one who tried to kill us. The gods wanted her to be healed so she could perform their will. I can't believe I didn't notice that before."
"It's alright. After all, it is the middle of the night."
Kyoko smiled at Hans. "Thanks, that makes me feel better," she said in a mocking tone. "Seriously though, why don't the gods want The Watchers to find out about them. Now that they can fight The Renegades directly, I thought The Watchers were out of the equation."
"So did I, but obviously were not. We need to get back to the city immediately, we've got to warn the other Watchers about the gods."
"Sounds good to me Hans, just how did you plan on doing that."
"I don't know, but we've got to think of some way."

"Hans, Hans wake up." Kile shook Hans back and forth rather roughly and Hans opened his eyes.
"What is it? Is it my turn for the watch already?"
"No, it's morning."
Hans looked around him. The sun was still climbing into the sky. "No it's not, go away."
Hans heard Pericula's voice. "Caletians are early risers Hans, I found that out fast."
"Well, we're not in Calet. We're in Dishon."
Kyoko's voice was the next thing Hans heard. "Come on Hans, up and at 'em."
"Oh, not you too Kyoko." Hans sat up and saw her, bright eyed and wide awake.
"You know what they say, 'when in Caletia, do as the Caletians do.'"
"I'm I the only one not up?"
"Well Livius and Lauto are still sleeping, but they had the first watch."
Hans slowly got to his feet. "You mean Kile and Drusus kept watch the rest of the night?"
"We did," Drusus replied.
"I don't believe it, aren't you tired?"
Kile laughed. "It's a good thing your a Watcher Hans, because you wouldn't make it out here. If you think this is bad, you should have been at the battle of Logeria. It was my first campaign, I was under the command of king Shallum, when-"
"Oh not this story again," Drusus complained.
"Well they've never heard it before, and you've got to admit it was pretty amazing."
Drusus turned to Hans. "I've known Kile for a very short time, and already I've heard this story twice."
"Well, I'm always in the mood for a good story," Hans said. "I wouldn't mind hearing it."
Kile had barely begun, when Pericula exclaimed, "Somebody's coming!" Everyone's head jerked in the direction of her finger. A man riding a horse was heading towards them.
Kile went and got the dagger. "I'll go wake up Livius," Hans said. "We may need his expertise."
"Good idea," Pericula replied. "I'll go out to meet them."
"I'll come with," Kyoko volunteered. The two walked out to greet the arrivals.
Pericula was forming in her mind what her greeting would be once they got into talking distance. She never had a chance, the horse started talking first.
"Please can you help us," the horse said. "He's wounded and hungry."
Taking a look at the man, Pericula could see the horses words were true. He was not moving, barely still in the sattle. His body was limp against the horses back and his hands hung loosely at his side.
Kyoko was already beginning to help the man down. Kile stood ready with the dagger, poised for action as was everyone else. "It's alright," Pericula called out. "He needs help.
Pericula helped Kyoko, and by the time the two of them had brought the man to the ground, Hans was standing ready with the medicine ball. The man was brought into the ship, away from the view of the horse so the medicine ball could be used. Kile brought over bread and water. Once the man had regained conscious, he was slowly fed the food.
Meanwhile, Drusus went over to talk to the horse.
"Greetings," he said, "I am Drusus of Calet, a valued officer of the late Miktesh."
"Greetings," the horse replied, "I am Kestos, in the service of King Recab." Kestos looked quizzically at Drusus. "Are you sure you're from Calet? You look like a Nathorite."
"I am, yet I am still from Calet. What brings you here?"
"It's a long story, I'd better let Ishod tell it once he gets better. Ishod's is the wounded human, also in the service of King Recab." Kestos took notice of the wrecked ship for the first time. "Say, what in the world is that?"
"You like it? It's a new fade in Calet, quite a simple construction actually, but it sure looks impressive."
"I'll say. You'll have to show me how it's built before I go."
Ishod walked out of the ship, much to the surprise of Kestos. "How did you heal him so fast?" he asked the others following him.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," Pericula answered.
Ishod went over to talk to Kestos, Lauto, who was just now arriving, went over to Pericula.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. "I thought you weren't going to use the medicine ball on the inhabitants of Dishon?"
"This may be a mistake," Pericula answered, "but I think its use is justified this time. We did this Ishod a favor, hopefully he can do us one too. Either he'll give us information, or possibly even arrange transportation back to Calet for Kile and Drusus.

The New Era Chapter 23

2004-12-27T10:52:00.000-08:00

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Ishod finished talking to Kestos and turned around to question his healers. "Who are you people?" he asked. "How did you heal me so quickly? Did you use magic?"
"Yeah, something like that," Pericula said. "Why don't you just be thankful you were healed and don't ask to many questions."
"Fair enough. Thank you for healing me, I am in your debt. Is there something I can do to repay you?"
"Actually, there is," she said. "We are travelers from Calet, who have only recently come within Dishon's borders. We have heard many strange rumors about a monster who is terrorizing the country. Could you enlighten us?"
Ishod nodded grimly. "That I can tell you plenty about. I am a soldier in the army of Dishon. I was stationed in Dishon's capital, Dishonia. Not too long ago, we were faced the prospect of total annihilation by our neighbor to the North Marram. Since your from Calet, you probably know that story, and I won't bore you by telling it again. Needless to say, we were filled with great relief when that threat was over. The whole city, in fact the whole nation was in a state of jubilation.
"One day, soon after, as I was reporting for duty, I was informed by my friend Nolli that Jolk was killed that night. I knew Jolk well, he was the owner of a tavern that I patronized almost every night. My friend Tomaz tells me that compared to other nations, Dishon has a low crime rate, and Dishonia itself has a very low crime rate. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but Jolk's death shocked me, I had never expected someone I knew to be killed in his home town.
"Jolk's death turned out to be simply one piece in the puzzle. That night, it turned out nearly thirty people had been killed. The whole city was horrified. King Recab equated the problem with a crisis situation, and put the city on full security. Soldiers were called to Dishonia from all over Dishon, and those of us already in Dishonia worked double shifts, day and night, trying to find out what was going on.
"It turned out all those deaths were the work of a single creature, and that night the creature attacked all the soldiers stationed. There was a great battle. I was posted on the opposite end of town that it was on, and so by the time I had journeyed to where the action was, the creature had retreated. I talked to my friends who were in the battle, some of them near the front line. What I heard was astounding. The creature had great strength, able to crush stones in his hand and lift great weights. He had spears thrown at him, arrows hit him, and swords strike his flesh, but none of these harmed him in the least."
"The news of this creatures greatness traveled quickly. The king was desperate. The next day he sent me to travel the whole kingdom, in search of some power capable of defeating the monster. I left that same day, accompanied by Kestos, whose speed could greatly increase the efficiency of our expedition. I have been traveling ever since, until we were attacked by a gang of robbers. They stole all our provisions, and tried to kill us. Thanks to Kestos' speed we escaped. It looks like the attack may have turned out to be good fortune after all, for Kestos brought me hear to be healed by you, and at last I have found a power capable of defeating the monster."

"Ladies and gentleman, we've been through a lot together. This team was formed a very short time ago, and yet already we've done so much. We saved the Icelers and started a new world order. We have successfully governed the Watchers in a non-democratic government for the first time since the days of Haket. I know there has been some tension in this group. We were forced to kill our leader Jistap. Gaius abused his power in Calet and had to be stopped. Pericula and Hans quit. Sulla was killed. Nevertheless, those of us who persisted, who stayed with the group, we have formed a bond. We truly are a team." Bakes looked around the table at those who left, Aked, Ziet, Ossar, Akristh, Eva and Estaci. "I know I'm taking a great risk by telling you this, but if we don't trust each other we'll never going to solve this problem."
Bakes paused briefly before continuing. "We seem to be just plagued by one problem after another. I don't know what's going on here, none of us do. There has been a rumor going around that I am behind these events, I am not. I did not, I repeat, I did not seal the doors. I don't know who did, or why they did it, but I had nothing to do with it."
"Bakes, how do you expect us to believe that?" Ziet asked. "The only one who knew enough about the computers to do this was you. At the time this happened, you were in complete control of the computers, nothing happened without your assent, and you yourself could do anything you wanted to, is that not correct?"
Bakes was unable to think of an answer, and stammered for a couple seconds before replying, "well that's what I had thought, but obviously it wasn't right. Someone else had more control then me."
Paying no attention to Bakes answer, Ziet continued. "And on top of that, how do you explain that the doors became unsealed for no apparent reason, right after Gaius was defeated."
Bakes mouth dropped open. "You're not implying that I was on Gaius' side."
"Why else would you kill Hans and Kyoko?"
Bakes head snapped towards Akristh so fast that those near him thought they heard the click. "How did you know about that?" he demanded.
The whole room was deadly silent, everyone was stunned by Bakes reaction. "How did you know about that," Bakes repeated loudly.
"It was only a rumor," she said softly, barely audible. "I wasn't being serious."
"So it is true Bakes," Eva said, in a tone stinging with disrespect. "You were angry at Hans and Kyoko for capturing Gaius, so you had them killed. You also shut off the satellite so we couldn't see how the ship blown up."
Bakes pounded the table with his fist. "Damn it Eva, listen to me! I'm not on Gaius side!"
Eva looked Bakes straight in the eye. "I'm not going to listen to you Bakes, you're going to have to convince me first."
Bakes took a deep breath. "First of all, I did not seal the doors. I don't know what's going on here anymore then you do, and I admit it's strange but I did not seal the doors. Feel free to watch my movements on your monitors for the days preceding the sealing of the doors and look for any sign that I did this."
"Bakes, we're not going to underestimate you," Ziet said. "You know so much you could have created the program by pushing two buttons, while you were playing games on the computer and we'd never be able to pick it out."
Bakes briefly exploded into anger. "Well in that case I don't know what to do! Tell me Ziet, how can I convince you of my innocence?" Ziet remained silent. "When you think of something tell me, until then shut the hell up!"
Bakes continued in a much calmer tone. "Secondly, I don't know why the satellite hasn't been working for over two days now, but I had nothing to do with that either. I have a team of the most promeniant scientists working on the problem, including Dabrow, whose intelligence no one will dare question, and they can tell you the same thing.
"As for Hans and Kyoko, I ordered Livius and Lauto to kill them yes, I did not blow up the ship, killing everyone inside as the rumor apparently goes. I don't know why the others aren't back yet, or why the ship isn't responding to the communications we're sending, but I did not blow it up. Furthermore, I did not order the deaths of Hans and Kyoko because they had captured Gaius. Rather, I was left with no choice after they refused to acknowledge the crisis situation. They wanted democracy to return no matter what the cost, and they were willing to do anything for it."
"Hans was one of the team," Akristh said. "How could you kill him?"
"I told you, I had to protect our power so we could protect the city."
"Yeah, but don't you think killing him crossed the line?"
Bakes hit the table again. "Don't talk to me about crossing the line. I'm not talking about a line! There is no damn line I'm just protecting the city!"
Ziet sneered. "Come on Bakes, why did you really kill them?"
"I told you."
"Bakes, how did Hans and Kyoko get outside the city at all much less all the way over to Calet without a ship? How did they withstand repeated laser hits from Gaius and be perfectly fine?"
"I don't know."
"Well did it ever occur to you to try and find out? I recalled and watched the scene where they first reentered the city on my monitor. They said they had a story to tell, that all the Watchers needed to hear. You said you would call a meeting that night for them to tell their story, you never did."
"It didn't work out, there wasn't enough notice to get a meeting ready, I told them that later that night. The meeting was rescheduled for the next day instead.'
"But Bakes, you knew perfectly well they weren't going to be there the next day. What were you trying to cover up?"
"Nothing, I know no more about what happened to them then you do."
"Well you obviously didn't think it was important to figure out did you?"
"Look, I don't think it takes a genius to find out what happened. The Nathorites who came to our city just the day before had the ability to withstand multiple laser hits. Now, all of a sudden Hans and Kyoko have the same ability. The Nathorites had the ability to transport themselves anywhere they wanted. Now, all of a sudden Hans and Kyoko have the same ability. Are any bells ringing? Remember, Hans and Kyoko betrayed The Watchers and risked their lives to save these Nathorites. I think it's obvious Hans and Kyoko were working with the Nathorites."
The room was silent as they thought over what Bakes had said. "So what now?" asked Estaci.
"I think it's obvious," Ossar said. "We need to rescue all those who went out in the shuttle, if they're still alive."
"And what if Hans and Kyoko are still alive?" asked Eva. "Are you going to try and kill them again, Bakes?"
Bakes opened his mouth to answer, but Akristh cut him off. "No he's not. Hans is one of the team, you can't kill him."
"So was Jistap," Bakes responded. "So is Gaius."
"Before we do anything, we need information from Hans," Ziet said. "That he was working with the Nathorites is a sound theory, but we need to know for sure. If he is working with them, he can tell us what they're trying to do, why they want us to leave the city, and if they are behind the malfunctioning satellite. If he's not working with them, then we need to find out how he was able to do the things he did."
"Fair enough," Bakes decided. "Well bring Hans and Kyoko back for questioning, and then decide their fate later. The next question is, since the satellite is not working, nor communications to the ship, how do we find them?"
"We know what their course was," Estaci said. "We can follow that."
"And if that doesn't work?" Bakes asked.
"Then I guess we'll have to do it the hard way," Akristh said. "Talk to those who live outside the city, see if they saw anything. Check around."
Bakes sneered. "Do you know how long that will take?"
"If I have to go over every square centimeter of Fabulae, I'll find them Bakes, you can count on that," Akristh answered.