Aldon removed his mask and Czapka and fixed them on the steel mount of his royal quarters. Above him was the Galdanian Standard, a sea serpent coiled around a faichon. The walls covered by a network of hatched stones. There was no bed. But soon enough, a flat metal serpent slithered to his side and opened up for him to sit down. Aldon's skin had tint of blue and he had long yellow brows and dreadlocked hair and a bald forehead. The tints were the latest cosmetic enhancements produced from mineral deposits harvested from the former icy region of the North Pole. Now, it was a sea of trade, the new fertile crescent, inhabited by the last of human civilisation.
He let himself fall onto the mouth of the serpent that caressed him and rose to ceiling of the room. The creature flexed and it sends great ripples through the wall of metal. Parts of the hatched walls begun to interlock, spin and seperate. The room soon formed into the replica of the same sphere of council chamber. The flags of the colonies extended from all the walls in circular glowing time pieces which stated their percentage of Ore extracts, population, raw materials and economic climate.
Pulling Deruwan's and Krosia's discs towards himself from of the wall. He punctured Deruwan's disc. It seperated into concentric coloured tiers showing it's weak population, resource and economic readings. And there was the tantilising purple ring which stated "Ore Valuation at 800%". He immediately drew up Albernia and Gulren time-pieces which were connected to Deruwan by a blue trail of light. He turned their discs in opposite directions and Deruwan's time piece began to scatter to the point of disintergration.
"Still toying the fate of unfortunate nations?" It was the same hollow voice of the hooded seer.
"I am just bending the rules in my favour. It is after all my symphony. I can decide just how the story goes."
The figure drew back the hood and removed her mask. A young woman with light orange tinted skin and purple-white streaks of hair.
"You didn't build the system. Our Commissar did. You only ensured that the colonies complied with its standards."
"Quosalis was a traitor. History will soon forget him for his crimes. I am the one who has brought this system to its full glory. And made all this - more profitable."
"By the Embargo proposal?"
"By consolidation, Gnesedia. To ensure that Galdania exercises it's full rights as the League's leadership so it gains what it deserves.Technology should always remain in the hands of the priviledged who know how to use it and realise its full potential. Deprivation of it to the inept is a strong measure to discourage abuse."
"And what if history doesn't forget."
"Gnesedia, I don't have time for riddles. What's your business today?"
"There was a fission signature near the camps of Psoriya yesterday. It belongs to an old friend of yours. A small-time nuisance by the name of Lauren Davis."
"Send a few deputies to deal with him. This upstart must be made to understand he's not recieving back his assets or his membership."
"The source of the Ore Ignition was from that man."
Aldon stopped his work and brought the serpent down to her.
"Gnesedia. Between the six of us including Quosalis. No other seer knows how to ignite the Ore."
"Perhaps someone had liberated the knowledge of the Ore from Atlas and sold it in the market. Or perhaps, the Commissar we know might be still be alive after all."
She said it with a sense of wonder and that infuriated Aldon. He glared at her.
"Are you saying that the work I did wasn't thorough enough?"
"I am saying that our Commisar will soon plot his return. I suggest that you start becoming more interested in your security than your obsession with Ore. I have sent the deputy in-charge of the last job. Please learn to treat your kind with a little more respect."
"My apologies Gnesedia. Proceed with the execution. I will monitor the events from here."
"Sleep tight. Commissar Aldon."
Aldon watched Gnesedia leave the cavern of time-pieces. Then, he rose from his seat and banged his fists on the arm rests.
"I have always been right about you. You can change your looks but you will never change who you truly are. We shall meet again. You can be certain of that my old friend - Commissar Quosalis. "
And before him on a circular screen was Lauren happily shaking hands with Cordy as they confirmed their deal for Heraldnesia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The day was just amazing. Stocks rose for the first time in a year for Deruwan and for Albernia and Gulran. I was also making a killing with the sale of re-packed food on the streets of Acadia. I turned up my megaphone and sifted the crowd.
"Hey, mister. You with the hobble. It seems like you can use a meal. Hey, busy person riding the bike.You're gonna collapse in 5 minutes and still won't get to where you want. Forget the schedule and come fill your stomach. And you, Miss Wanna-be-on-top-of-things. Look no further. Here is the lunch you need for yourself and your entire office. Come on over!"
The customers plodded over mechanically, one after another, bought their food and left. Cordy was not please. She binned the ladle into the boiling pot and removed her apron.
"This is a robbery. In daylight. You read their minds and sell them things!" She protested.
"I am just improvising kid. Remember, this pays for our accommodations uptown. We'll leave as soon we find my friend, Malcolm. Excuse me for second. Thank you so very much for your support Madam. Have an excellent day."
Cordy honoured our agreement and forced herself to smile until the old lady was out of sight.
"You should have at least gave them a choice!"
"No one plays fair in my kind of business." I tried to enlighten her. "You gotta make use all chances and take the biggest chunk of the pie. A chance like this may never come again." I took a sandwich which I was having and bit off a huge mouthful of it to prove my point.
She was absolutely disgusted.
"I am going back to the motel. You can stay here all afternoon and keep selling them these second grade surplus food. I will have no part in this!"
Before I could make my defense, she grabbed her bag and stomped off toward the crowd. But, she stopped abruptly in front of the wall of people, unsure of how to make her way. Just as I thought, she was just a country kid. Now, all I need to do was to just talk her back into our agreement. One thing's for sure, I will never be the only one here doing all the work.
Then, a set of arms emerged from the crowd shoved her the ground. Now, that was uncalled for. I ran and helped her up. There were suddenly twenty odd burly men standing around us with wooden sticks. They were in grey cotton shirts, slacks with shades of black and brown and wearing driving caps and straw hats. This did not look good.
The foreguy loomed over me and said, "We heard that there was a new seer in town. And so we came down here to have a look."
"You're looking at one. Is there anything we can do for you?" I answered.
He extended his stick and pushed the lunch cartons, letting them tumble down into the soup pot.
"Nothing. We just feel you should know that seers are not welcome in this city."
I considered stuffing them in trash bins and launching each one 30 feet into the windows above us, but there were too many of them and they standing too close. I can't use my powers. These guys know who they were dealing with.
I tried diplomacy. "Woe there. This must some kind of mistake. I was thinking of paying you guys a visit this evening and talk about how we can share profit on your turf."
The man nearest to the leader leaned over to him and accused me, "He's lying Boss. I can sense it."
"No, you can't. You're not a seer and I am not lying." I defended. "Let's be cool. We're just here for 3 days and we're gone. I can give you a 70% cut of my profits. I am sure you won't be able to get this kind of money anywhere else."
"Sorry. But this deal's still a little short. I expect a 110%. Like the way you charge your clients in the bigger cities."
"Look, I've just opened for business today. Give me a little more time and you will your money by sundown."
He grinned and said "Not fast enough. I want it now. Boys, bring this place down."
Two men came from behind me, wrenched my arms with the sticks and threw me down on my face. The boss stepped on my face. I clenched my teeth so my jaw will not fall off. The rest of the mob fell on our store. They crumpled and crushed everything they found. The soup, chopsticks and cartons were scattered. The gang seized our afternoon's worth of paper credit and handed it to the leader.
"Where's the rest of it?"
"That's all there is. Can we go now..." I struggled to reply.
Number Two returned holding a money bag with Cordy hanging onto it with both hands.
"Boss! Look at this!" He tried to shake her off, but Cordy held on fast. He handed the bag over.
"Let go off my money." Cordelia hissed.
"It's no longer yours little lady. This bag of money is gonna feed us a month."
I turned my neck enough to meet his eyes of the man stepping on my jaw. I unravelled his thoughts. I saw him and his gang among the strongest of syndicates in Acadia. I threw my sight further at him departing from the gates of Malcolm's Corporation. And him, rallying other desperate and jobless individuals to take matters into their own hands. There was much anger. And a reign of terror in the streets soon followed.
I pleaded, "Whatever happened to you at Malcolm's was not my fault. If it's about my kind, I am sorry. You don't have to do this to us."
"That job, Mr Seer, was my life. My boys here also wanted it all simple. But you and your friends at the casino decided to take it out on one another with our stakes. Now, I do really want to show you how all this feels."
He turned to the bag he was holding with one arm. "Let go the bag, kid. Or I'll have to punch you."
"I am Princess Cordelia of Glender! I am not a kid! And how dare you seize hold of my property?!"
This was getting really ugly. I shouted just before he could throw a punch.
"A hundred million dollars! It's all in the bag! Take it! It's yours!"
"But..." Cordy was stunned. This was not me and she's right. I didn't know why I did it either.
"Let the bag go Cordy! We can always make money elsewhere." She relented, released her and fell to her knees.
"That's right." He lifted the boot from my face. "You two should make your money elsewhere."
He opened the bag, dipped his hand in expecting stacks of notes, instead scooped out a handful purple crystals which he promptly showed to me.
"This ain't money! What is this stuff?!"
"This is your free ride to the mountains outside this city. "
I threw my thoughts onto the Ore and a surge of candy and confetti blasted out the boss' hands like a geyser. I sealed the gang into individual 5 stage rockets, whch blasted off the streets and into the sky. If you're standing at the next city block. It will be quite a sight to see twenty rockets with cloud exhaust emissions of the colours of the rainbow leaving the city for the clouds. I could hear the boss scream as he and the mob departed the scene.
"Yeeaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
We will not be seeing them for some time. They will reach the mountains where they will be jettisoned out in parachutes with 30 days of supplies and hiking apparel. I hope these guys will change their minds about their trade when they get back to the city. In a mean time, my friend Malcolm owes me an explanation for the trouble he caused us today. I gave Cordelia her back and helped her back on her feet.
No comments:
Post a Comment