Der saw someone walking towards him. “Inanarur!” He got up and ran to her.
She wore cobalt blue trader’s robes and white under them. “Oh, Der, Shanalai said you wished to marry me! Is it true? Mechsheritatudeis, is it true?”
He knelt with one leg behind him. “Inanarur, she whose footsteps grow flowers, whose voice calms storms, I wish you to be my cesarae! Inanarur, Master Trader Of Biehshah Leheren, I, Der, Diplomat Of Biehshah, wish to marry you by the ancient protocols of Bisillipia, Biehshah Leheren, Ye~ and Zhea~! Will you accept this Petition Of Marriage Without Courtship from me?”
She trembled and her brown skin faded to gray! “Yes! The wish of my heart is to marry you, Der, Diplomat Of Biehshah! I, Inanarur, Master Trader Of Biehshah, wish to marry you!”
A healer jumped from a green portal and grabbed her. “Drink this!”
She looked at Der, blue eyes wide, and gulped it. Then he gave them a white flower to sip from.
Ir smiled, but looked sad. “We didn’t have—”
Ten ran us one and we enjoyed it. Oh, it was sweet as honey but flower-scented.
As Der recited a beautiful poem, a lady came to us. Bowed at the waist. Her accent was faintly German. “Kia, I am here to warn you. I am Elisabethae, Host Of The Green Cube Of Questions and Yamotenanten, Council Leader Of The 5th sent me to you.”
Ir gasped and bowed low with one leg behind him.
She frowned at him. “I did not come to you! Your foolish people let Rentappenen come to power by giving Opseh Wehn Cet a Cube!”
“Pirad wished to help the Ty’nirrhans with their new colony—”
“Could he not predict what he would do with power? He enslaved half the Wausen and forced them to help Rentappenen. Then he allowed Rentappenen to create a cube with the power to change histories.”
I didn’t see what Ir could possibly have to do with that—
His father stood. “I opposed them. All of us who are now Biehshah, and fully half of the Bisillips, opposed slavery. I will not take the blame for the foolishness of our people!” He shook so badly, even his silver hair jiggled.
“I said, I am here to warn Kia, not you, Tanirpahadachan! She holds the Emerald Cube Of Newness. It is a weak Cube, but has hidden power. Yamotenanten hid a Green Lens within it. But you must travel to Siotu and get it. No Biehshah must know. I am to take you there.” Her blue eyes seemed to drill into my soul.
Ir grabbed my arm. “I must go with my wife!”
We appeared in a red desert. A very hot desert. The sand hurt my feet through my tennis shoes!
My husband waved and I wore a heavy red uniform, a dark, dull color, almost brown. The sky had dark clouds.
Elisabethae pulled my other arm. “Watch the machines.” I looked where she pointed. Diggers sliced through rock in a mountain straight ahead.
“There is no way for us to pass!” With a gently pull, Ir held my arm against his chest.
“I can do this.” Her voice didn’t sound very confident, but she pulled me behind her and ran towards the machine. It towered over us!
Her run took us in kind of a zig-zag pattern as the machine zapped and rock fell! Heavy thuds against my uniform hurt, but didn’t stop me.
Finally there was an opening and we ran for it! A surprised scientist stood up. “Ir? How did you get past my mining machine?” This fella had pink eyes. Hard to tell past the helmet.
“This is my wife, Kia, and—” Elisabethae wasn’t there! Ir lowered his voice. “You will not tell anyone we were here, will you? I cannot explain.”
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“For the Emperor?”
“Yes!”
“I support Ry’nao. No one is here but me. I will erase you from my recording. Do you need my assistance?”
Elisabethae’s voice echoed in my mind. Ask him to take you to section dorna. “We need to go to Section Dorna.”
The man startled. “I do not have permission to go there! You cannot go!”
I bristled. “We’re tryin’ to save 13 galaxies here! You gonna argue with Yamotenanten?” Oops.
I felt Rentappenen’s black eyes on me, black, beady eyes since he’s now half-Earthan. His fear. An earthquake started but we appeared in a rock room. Without that scientist!
“That was convenient. Take your Cube.” She pointed to a bunch of skeletons with their bony hands around it!
“You didn’t save him?” I looked up from the Cube and she was gone!
I leaned down and grabbed it. Green light flooded the cave-like room.
Men ran in, with weapons! Elshars are here? No, Dosilians!
Green light zapped them, but more came! I hugged Ir against me. “I want that scientist! Get us outa here!”
We appeared back where we were by Ir’s daddy. On the floor of our Council Building.
Dromie sat by us. “Who’s he?”
That scientist was lying on the floor, groaning. I waved his uniform off and he had ScSv purple. No time! The orchestration built and Angel ran in. Got sick! I need her!
But, she waved hygiene and sang. At first, my buildup took forever but the green cube in my hand glowed and it was ice cream flavors that were green. Pistachio. Mint chocolate chip. Lime sherbet. I tasted ‘em in succession.
The poor scientist’s legs popped, then his arms, and his chest and neck! Finally, I got all of him healed and he laid there sleeping.
Ten ran in. “Rachanar? What happened to him, Kia?” Behind him, a bunch of Zheien startled and looked around. A bunch of our colonists explained my healing.
“He was in an earthquake, in Siotu—”
“You went to Siotu! Why?” Carefully, Ten pulled him into his arms. “I must treat him for poisons. Did his family come also?”
I couldn’t answer any of his questions. “Ten, Pirad wouldn’t want me to talk about—oh.” I waved for the Cube to go in my pocket in alt storage like Ir showed me.
Ten saw it and his yellow skin went white! “Councillor Kia! Pirad has plans for you, then?”
The voice that came out of me was booming, and a bunch at once! “Silence! Rentappenen is watching, do you not know this?”
Suddenly, I barked orders to people. We ran out and I grabbed one Biehshah and another, and green light directed them to a person, or opened a portal for ‘em! Sent 45 of our colonists in portals to other planets! The most shocking thing was, they saw that green light and went!
But we went straight for the Areonian Colony. I pulled people out of the festival and got them to port to Council to wait for us. There were 15 in the festival and another 37, 17 in Bremen and 20 in Stuttgart.
They all looked scared. When the last girl ported, we stepped from a green swirl to the doorway of Council.
People quit leaning on the table with guilty looks.
Ir looked to me to address them. “I am shielding this room. All of you have Cubes. Will you all fight Rentappenen? I gave Cubes and Gifts to 59 of our Colonists, and all of Biehshah is getting ready for this war!”
A man threw his hands in the air! “I don’t want this Cube, and it’s not my fight! We just had a revolt on Areon—” His voice choked off as another man pointed to him.
“You are not Areonian! A spy, here to fight us!” Blue light, and he vanished! “Be wary, he was Dosilian!”
The others just looked scared. “We cannot see them!”
“I can. I am Cunigundae, Host Of Blue Cube Of Secrets. I can find them, no matter how well they hide! Kia, want me to organize these children? I am a Luruu Observer, but our people were destroyed by him!” He pointed to Dromie, who hung his head.
“Now I know how wrong I was. A family on Earth showed me what family means. My people learned from me. I gave weapons choices when I made them alive, and most of them are fighting with us. If you will let me make your Cubes more powerful—”
“You will take it! I will not listen. All of you, we need to go to these festivals and find our enemies. I—”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Dromie’s people are going to help us win. All of you, let him do this!” It wasn’t my voice, but my Cube’s.
All of them let him make their Cubes into Lenses. I felt Yamotenanten’s shock! He didn’t know Dromie had that kind of power! He’s from the 15th Level?! Yamotenanten is from the 5th. The Imwa, Wally’s people, are from the 6th but some of them rose to the 15th. But, part of this is because Rentappenen, Eriganh and Satauuver broke the rules. We are supposed to stop them before they take over the Padrisa. But to do that, we’ll have to break the rules. That’s why we have to go to Yamotenanten when it’s over. There will be penalties! That’s why Pirad didn’t want Dromie’s help.
This is an intergalactic mess! Well, I’m the Queen Of Mess! Let’s go.