by E.E. Blake
5. To the Unknown Beyond
“Here he comes!”
“Prime Minister, over here! …Prime Minister!!”
Click. Flash, flash.
Click. Flash, flash, flash.
Zoot shielded his eyes from the cameras on either side of the roped-off entrance to Mecia Hall with two officer grunts at his sides. The loud cheer from when he stepped out of the carriage still rang in his ears.
Slowly he ascended the steps of Vida’s esteemed and only university, briefly escaping the crowd. Waiting for him at the top of the steps was the raccoon chancellor of Mecia, Anno Domini, dressed in a blue service uniform with a flowing white cape draped around his shoulders.
“Welcome back to Mecia, milord,” Chancellor Domini’s translated voice crackled in Zoot’s ears as the raccoon shook the prime minister’s hand with both paws.
“Thank you, Anno – come, let’s get inside.”
Chancellor Domini led Zoot and his two Alliance guards into a drawing room inside Mecia Hall. The chancellor immediately headed to the standing bar near the back of the room, by his secretarial desk. He half turned and gestured a sloshing, green bottle at his guest.
“Nothing for me, thanks,” said Zoot, waving a dismissive hand.
The chancellor fixed himself something to drink and met Zoot at the desk. Taking a leisurely sip from his glass, Chancellor Domini sat down and reached for the steno-pad placed off to one corner of the table.
Zoot waved off his grunt officers and seated himself before the raccoon.
“You know about that … incident … from the other night,” he said in a low voice.
Readying the steno-pad, Chancellor Domini leaned forward in his seat with an alert nod.
“I’m going to hold a press conference,” Zoot went on. “Nothing to scare the people – I just want them to be wary of the heretic. Nothing overly specific – just: ‘male, charcoal fox with a white-hilted sword; extremely dangerous. Alert nearest outpost on sight’.”
Chancellor Domini gave another nod as he finished jotting down the last of the request.
“There’s a girl with him now, apparently, but I don’t care about her.”
“I’ll approve and archive the request immediately, milord, and we can set up a public council here in Mecia for you by tonight,” said Chancellor Domini, then took a blank form from his desk drawer and filled out the necessary details.
Zoot’s upper lip curled as he watched the raccoon somehow handle an ink quill with ease – something he still wasn’t yet used to seeing in his five years on Vida, even though the animal did have five digits. The chancellor dotted the final period, then moved on to sign his name at the bottom.
He was sure Anno felt it paranoid that even the prime minister needed to request access from Mecia for anything. However, that regulation wasn’t something Zoot was willing to bypass, even as the planet’s god. He needed the trust of his people.
“Done,” Chancellor Domini said with a smile, and then slid the filled-out form into a file folder at the other corner of the desk.
“I should probably let you know,” Zoot remembered as he leaned back in his seat, adjusting the frequency level of the translator around his neck, “the heretic has the Wind Crystal, as well.”
Domini froze for a moment – and then went for a second blank form. “Should I make that public, as well, sir?”
“This time, yes.”
