The Four Kings

by Scott Spotson

  Collecting her breath, she commanded, “Messenger alpha one on.”

  Two concave arches, inverted so it looked like a cylinder had stood up and split into two through the middle, mechanically arose from the floor, surrounding her. Dozens of lens, lights, and controls dotted the inner sides of the tall arches. The hologram inscriber was ready.

  “Recording on,” Amanda said, letting out a long sigh.

  The lights blinked, bathing her with a reddish glow. She gazed straight at the lens directly in front of her eyes, and crisply stated, “I, Amanda Jane Fullerton, relinquish my post of Supreme Liaison to the Liberators of North America, effective immediately.”

  She paused long enough, to let the apparatus know that her time was up. The device then slid effortlessly into the floor.

  She spoke to the controls within the room, “Deliver this hologram to the wizards’ council at ten a.m. tomorrow morning.”

  “Yes, Ms. Fullerton, it shall be so,” the computer beeped back to her.

  Turning off all the lights as she left, she took one last gaze at what had been her home for the past sixteen months, and then shut herself off in a sideways shuttle elevator.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Amanda strolled into the boardroom, strategically located among the executive offices of Berkeley University. Her nerves heightened as she stepped through the door, then they significantly calmed when she saw the familiar visages of her immediate family: her dad Trevor, her mom Maggie, and her brother, Adam. She gasped with delight at a guest sitting at one side of the mahogany oval table – Leslie Bafia, President of Partners with Liberators.

  Out of respect, Amanda ran over to Leslie to give her a hug. A perked-up Bafia stood up quickly enough to receive the hug, and then she sat down. She glanced at her family: all seemed intensely worried, but at the same time relieved to see Amanda was safe. She, in turn, hugged every member of her family.

  “Thanks for arranging the meeting,” Amanda said to Trevor. “I had such a hard time getting a hold of you.”

  “You were crazy to attempt going to our family home!” Adam rose, unable to contain himself. “No one lives there anymore anyhow. The pressure was just too great.”

  Amanda gestured toward Leslie. “And you brought Leslie!” She stared at the leader with newfound respect. “I never thought I’d ever meet her.”

  Leslie graciously said, “It’s such an honor meeting you, Amanda. I also have long waited this day.”

  Trevor held up his hands. “We did it for a reason. This wizard situation’s getting out of control. We have to plan ahead. Working together.” He glanced around the room, daring anyone to speak up.

  Maggie spoke, “Amanda, you have no idea.” She shook her head. “You just have no idea.”

  “What, mom?”

  She blinked her eyes, her lips drawn in, “You’re the talk everywhere. Everyone’s looking at you, Amanda.”

  She protested. “But I just resigned!”

  Trevor held out his finger, “We’ll have to talk about that.”

  Uh-oh. This wasn’t looking good.

  She shrunk from the gathering in front of her, knowing resistance might not be a viable option. She hesitated to contemplate the unthinkable. She had to face the hard path.

  Bafia stood up, placing her hands on the table. “Amanda, you have to take your job back. You’re our best hope.” As Amanda grimaced, Bafia walked up to her. “I want you to know that your family has been filling in the details on what you’ve been doing for us humans. Like extracting valuable information.”

  Adam cried out, “You can’t give all this up!”

  Bafia nodded. She said, “I wanted you to know that Partners with Liberators is not a doormat for the Liberators. We have our own strong sense of values. When we started –” She took a deep breath. “We thought the Liberators could only do us good in our society. We saw their altruistic means that they wanted to unite, not divide, people. We applauded when they destroyed all the active nuclear warheads all over the world. We’ll always be grateful for that.

  “Having said that, we never intended to stamp with approval everything the Liberators did. We like to think of ourselves as equal partners who are always working to make the relationship better. When, for example, they introduced the bitcoin economy, we said bravo to the good ideas, like having a common measurement system for everything of value, but we’ve also pointed out the gross inequities in it.”

  “I know all that,” Amanda said, “I spent hours studying your reports over the past one year.”

  “Yes, I know you know, Amanda. But it needs to be said. I wanted you to get a feel for who we are and what our goals are.”

  Amanda shook her head. “You don’t need to convince me. The bravery you showed when you were kidnapped by the Patriots was impressive.”

  Bafia’s eyes flashed anger briefly. “The Patriots are a very destructive and hostile organization. They don’t reason; they only issue demands. And frankly, their approach is making things a lot worse.”

  Adam said, “Amanda, you may not realize this, but overnight the Patriots claimed they had signed up millions of new members.”

  Maggie added, “They’re even talking of running Jake Faulkner for President, when the wizards leave.”

  A look of utter disgust came over Amanda’s face. “Too bad he didn’t die in the battle.” Almost immediately, she regretted her choice of words. “Sorry. That was rude.”

  Trevor nodded and held his hand up. “I know exactly what you mean. Many times I’ve wished I could lay a hand on that bloody bastard.” He drew in his lips. “But we have to deal with him as a democracy. He’s becoming more popular now. I can’t imagine what provoked these wizards to engage in that idiotic battle with the Patriots.”

  A worried Bafia agreed. “Their first big mistake. A huge, huge mistake. It won’t be their last.” She turned to Amanda. “That’s where you come in. The Liberators will be grovelling for you now. You have the upper hand.”

  Amanda was amazed. “They like me that much?”

  Maggie exclaimed and rocked her head around as if trying to make a point very obvious. “Oh, you’ve no idea. The way they look at you when you speak. When you introduce motions and conduct debates.”

  Adam interjected, “Look, Amanda, you never see yourself on TV, but we know. We see it all. We see the vibes, we see the personalities.”

  “Even Indie respects you greatly,” Trevor said.

  Amanda blushed. She had thought of all this before, of course. But it was another thing for her family to confirm all this, out loud. She felt immensely proud of herself.

  “So,” she asked Bafia, “Partners with Liberators is going to continue to stick with the wizards?”

  “Yes, but we’re going to work out our conditions. We’re going to discuss that now.”

  Amanda laughed. “The wizards won’t accept anything dictated to them. It’s not in their nature. They’re wizards.” She immediately thought of the statue of Elsedor, safely ensconced within Emerana.

  Adam cautioned, “Oh, wait and see. They will.”

  Trevor spoke in a commanding voice to alert the others to a change of topic. “All right now, we’re going to pool information.” He held up a recording device. “I’m going to tape all of this. We’re going to talk about what we know now about the Liberators. We’re going to make copies and share privately between key executives of the Partners with Liberators.”

  Adam burst out, “So if you die someday, Amanda–”

  Trevor shushed Adam with a ferocious glance. “No one’s going to die. This is just for common sense. We’re going to have a database, a treasure trove if you will, of strategic value about the Liberators. Every enemy has a weakness.”

  “Well,” Amanda said tactfully as she composed her thoughts, “there’s about one year, six months left. We’re halfway through. For all we know, the wizards could walk away tomorrow. Or they could concede power the very last minute of the third year of their rule, as they
said they would.”

  All the people around the table scoffed. Amanda recalled the smirk on Demus’ face when he wistfully talked about Elsedor craving wizard rule over Mortals. “You’re right. Let’s begin.”

  “So you’ll take your job back?” Adam prodded.

  “Yes,” Amanda said firmly, “but make them crawl first.”

  All nodded their approval.

  “When you go back,” Maggie pointed her finger at Amanda, “You need to find out more. That new information could be very valuable someday.”

  “I’ve started the recording,” Trevor said, “Tell us all you know. Everything.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Wearing a disguise of a wide-brimmed red leather-woven fedora and dark sunglasses, Amanda reflected upon her recent meeting with her family and the head of the Liberators support group.

  She was en route to Chinatown on the Muni Metro subway in San Francisco. She badly needed a day off from her ever-constant, relentless duties as Supreme Liaison for an entire continent. A soak in a hot bath and a nice, long nap would be perfect just right now. She grinned at their reactions to her dalliances with Regi and Demus, especially Adam, who seemed jealous.

  All of a sudden, Justica materialized beside her inside the subway train.

  The effect upon the nearby commuters was immediate. These two were among the most famous celebrities on the planet. People who sat next to Amanda gasped and backed away, unable to keep their eyes off the wizard. Others far down the corridor of the train car became eager and assembled closer, their eyes glued to the scene. Totally oblivious to the magical spectacle now taking place, the subway train hummed on, jerking back and forth a bit in a swaying motion, speeding.

  Amanda, terse but weary, glanced at the dozens of eyes peering at her. “How did you find me?” she hissed at Justica, angry that her cover had been blown.

  Justica continued her calm demeanour. “It was difficult. We had to contact your family, then the people at your university.”

  Justica did not finish speaking, but was aware of a businessman determined to assault her with his briefcase. Out of the corner of her eyes, she conjured up a magic wall of clear thick plastic, forming an immediate barrier. Unable to stop himself in time, the man brought the briefcase smashing against the formidable wall. Horrified, he fell on the subway floor among the feet of startled bystanders.

  Justica didn’t skip a beat. She zapped up another barrier, for protection against the crowd on the other side of the subway car. The bystanders could hear nothing.

  “Now that I’ve found you, you’re requested to appear before the Liberators.”

  Amanda played her bluff. “I’ve resigned. I no longer have duties.”

  Justica grasped Amanda on her arm. “You have to understand. You not only were our liaison, you were also our friend and trusted colleague. We did not accept your resignation. You must come back. We want you back.”

  “What?”

  “Please say yes.” Justica increased her pressure on Amanda’s arm as she pled with her eyes. “We love you.”

  Amanda started to respond, but it was too late. In a fraction of a second, both women vanished from the subway car, as dozens of onlookers gaped in shock.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Indie, glowering at the assembly before her, was ready the second Amanda materialized in front of the wizards’ council, alongside Justica.

  “Amanda,” she said icily, “Why makes you think you can resign?”

  Whoa. Not even a greeting or a hello? Amanda looked at the screens around them all. They were still feeding in all the images to millions of Mortals. She knew she had to keep herself composed.

  “I resigned,” Amanda stated confidently and with a touch of defiance, “because against the wishes of millions of my fellow subjects, the Mortals as you describe them, you waged a totally unnecessary and unprovoked battle. Reports confirm over one hundred people died due to your actions.”

  “It wasn’t unprovoked!” Indie yelled, standing up quickly. “The Patriots Everywhere United, led in North America by the traitor Jake Faulkner, issued a call to arms.”

  “Which you didn’t have to respond to,” Regi spoke out, in a calm and controlled voice.

  Amanda understood. It was all an act. Indie would be the bad girl, and Regi the good guy. Demus, as the one who caused the missiles to explode among the Patriots, was undeniably in a weakened position to respond internationally to the accusations. His mood soured into a very dark void. He was slouching, leaning forward. His eyes betrayed contempt. Instantly, Amanda recalled why she could never trust Demus.

  Indie stood tall, playing her part, “Upon reflection, I suppose I could’ve ignored the obstructive incitement. I should’ve left the Patriots to play war games among themselves.”

  “Indie,” Regi pleaded, his eyes sad and his arms stretched out, hamming up his role, “surely you can see fit to apologize to the millions of residents of North America under our rule?”

  Indie rolled her eyes and pretended to have a change of heart. “Since you put it that way so convincingly, Regi, very well, I’ll do it.” The screens all filled with Indie’s serious, but sincere visage, her eyes boring into the consciousness of every viewer’s soul. “To all Mortals,” she said breathlessly, “I am sorry about the unnecessary deaths. I take full responsibility and I hope you can forgive us. I know Amanda was totally opposed to us going into battle.”

  Indie pointed to the screens, and images of Amanda crying as she watched the battle, moaning “Noooo!” replayed over and over.

  The undeclared leader of the wizards took over on the screens once again. “I hope we can move forward with our economic and political reforms, and unite together to a yet unimagined prosperity.” She turned to Amanda. “Amanda, you’ve been a most effective ambassador for the Mortals and without your dedication, knowledge, and experience, the connection between us and your people will suffer, thus leading to less effective reforms. While your resignation’s not effective until we accept it, I ask you: can you find it in your heart to fully dedicate yourself to your people in this role?”

  Amanda stood there. Remember. Make them sweat. Don’t let them guess your intentions. But don’t humiliate them either. Take a little bit, give them a little bit.

  She crossed her arms. “First, I would like the Liberators to do more outreach to our people. I would like you all to do more listening.”

  Justica spoke out, “For goodness sake, we have Petition Days all the time to –”

  But Indie held her hand up to silence her. Indie smiled sweetly. “Of course, Amanda. We’re reasonable individuals. If you have ideas for more effective governance, we’d be happy to incorporate them.”

  Amanda held firm. “I want you four to confirm that at the end of the original three year term, you all will step down and allow our citizens to govern as before.”

  All four wizards looked at each other; these sideways glances were all captured on national television. Indie’s eyes momentarily flickered, but she composed herself. “We’ve said that from the very beginning, we say it now, and we’ll say it at the end. We will resign as planned.” She held her hands out in Amanda’s direction. “Now will you come back to us?”

  Amanda hesitated, and then grinned. “I’m in.”

  The wizards whooped and hollered. One by one, they materialized beside Amanda, all captured live on television, and gave her a hearty hug. Even Demus seemed to perk up when he quickly kissed her on the cheek.

  As Indie re-materialized at her seat, she slyly said to Amanda. “We have a special treat for you.”

  “Which is?”

  “We’ve scheduled a special Debate Day on the merits and drawbacks of Ayn Rand’s most famous two books, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.”

  Amanda grinned. Her heart beat rapidly in excitement. She visualized herself leading off with several articulate arguments about the philosophical discourses of her idol.

  Now, now.

  No. Patien
ce.

  “I can’t wait,” she said.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  One year, seven months post-Liberation

  Alone in the Liberators’ Headquarters, where she often met alone with them to debrief and to discuss strategy and program results, Amanda’s thoughts kept drifting to Regi’s handsome features – his square face, jet black hair, and wide grin. She kept visualizing him as a football player, with wide shoulder pads, a helmet with a visor. Then, he’d take off his helmet to reveal tussled hair glistening with sweat, and then remove his team jersey shirt. He’d push off his shoulder pads, emitting a masculine grunt as he did so. Her imagination didn’t stop there. She visualized him in the locker room, heading toward the showers. He’d strip off his football outfit, not checking as to whom would be watching him, one garment at a time into a heap onto the locker room bench, until…

  She snapped out of her daydream. A huge skylight thirty yards above, in the shape of a four-point star, filtered in light directly upon her.

  Regi would be “arriving” in a few minutes – via magic, of course. For heaven’s sake, she had to be well-prepared as usual, and not derail herself. Not to waste time on daydreams.

  She grimaced at the reports she had prepared with her dozens of economic advisors. Thank heavens; she had been able to recruit replacements for the hundreds who had resigned due to the wizards’ ridiculous diversion on Osborne’s Farm. She’d managed to talk some of them to voluntarily return to work and rescind their resignations after they’d seen that moving moment on public television where Amanda was begged to return to her role.

  The gist of the reports showed something fundamentally wrong. She frantically had checked, double-checked, and triple-checked the figures. They didn’t lie.