Gershom
Eventually I became tired of the scenery. Glancing upwards I could catch enough of the sky through the massive trees to know we had been here a few hours still waiting. A fear that even with Hannah's help I would fail in this task came over me, and then what would I do?
The person in question then took a hold of my arm a far off look in her eyes. Little Dragons normally have that expression when they are receiving a sending. "A member of Res Publica is calling us back to the sequoia monument," she said. "We shouldn't keep them waiting." She then transformed into a tendril of energy and sped back. I followed suit arriving a scant second behind her.
Both of us back in our human form now looking at an older muscular man with hard eyes and there wasn't a trace of a smile on his face as he extended his hand to Hannah. "Welcome back, Captain Hannah," he said to her surprising me with the title. She bowed her head in acknowledgement. "It is good to be back," she said and then turned to me, "This is Gershom, and he wants to join."
"We are aware of the request," he said and then added "We had hoped to hear from you sooner. You are a captain after all," he said his voice suddenly brimming with disapproval.
Hannah's eyes then hardened as she crossed her arms in front of her a thin smile on her lips. "What is it that you are trying to say to me, Private George?" she asked putting undue emphasis on his title.
"That isn't my title anymore, as Major I now outrank you," he said as he handed Hannah a piece of paper.
"What is this?" she asked as she slowly took it from him.
"A way for you to prove your loyalty to us, your friend must do it also if he wants to join," he explained an arrogant glint in his eyes.
Hannah slowly opened it and skimmed the contents. “I don’t understand. What does this mean?” she asked her eyes looking directly at George.
"Just be there at the time indicated," he told her.
"Res Publica doesn't work this way," Hannah refuted. "Complete transparency has always been available to its members."
"Loyal members," George corrected her all trace of a smile now gone. Hannah's own eyes grew hard. "Who made this decision clearly it wasn't decided by a majority," she said ignoring the snub.
"A crisis happened in our midst so a prominent member of Res Publica has taken over to do what is necessary for our organization to thrive. Do what you are told, and you will be restored to your current rank,” he promised and then turned to me. “You will become a full member.”
“Is it Felix Curran?” Hannah then asked in a softer voice, but there was no mistaking her meaning to me.
“What if it is?” George asked with a shoulder shrug. “Do you have any more questions?”
Taking a deep breath she took a few minutes to carefully fold up the paper before responding. "No, thank you," she said her eyes staring right at George before he disappeared into a tendril of energy leaving us alone.
"What does it say?" I then asked her.
"Tomorrow evening 6pm Earth time we are supposed to report to the third moon in the Xurus galaxy," she said a deep frown on her face.
That moon was far outside any normal route of travel. "Any idea of what is there?"
"Not a clue," Hannah said with a heavy sigh. Anne's case would be reviewed in three days by the time we attended this event we would only have one more day to try and find this weapon so she could be cleared. It was looking more and more hopeless by the minute.
"I think we have reached a dead end," I told her with a heavy heart.
"I am not so certain of that," Hannah then said while turning to face me as her eyes began scanning our surroundings. "But I won't talk about this here." She then transformed into the dragon and took off leaving me to follow her. We flew retracing our flight path back to Rzearth.
Inside the safety of the burrow she confided her thoughts to me. “I think Felix is revamping the entire organization and using the death of Linda Devine to do it. A terrible idea because unless it's run by majority rule as it has always been then except for true fanatics like George most Little Dragons will simply leave. He will end up destroying Res Publica.”
Could that be his goal? Or was it something else entirely, and he simply didn’t care if he destroyed the organization to achieve it? I expressed this possibility out loud to Hannah.
A thoughtful expression came over Hannah’s face, “There is someone else I should see, but she won’t appreciate your presence. I will meet you here again this evening to discuss what I have learned.”
I agreed with the stipulation that Jerome and Ezekiel also be present and explained how they were assisting Anne. “We are running out of time and need all the help we can get.”
She didn’t disagree with me.
That ends Social Conundrums, Part XXVII. Next month is Social Conundrums, Part XXVIII. Learn more about the Little Dragons by reading the earlier blog post series titled Humanity's Evolution.
If you enjoyed this story, please consider donating either time or money to your favorite charity. A few worthwhile ones are www.feedingamerica.org , www.doctorswithoutborders.org and www.givedirectly.org.
Together we can make a difference!
コメント