Zone Yellow

Chapter 23

I woke lying on a hard army cot, with my mouth dry and my stomach complaining of neglect. We ate, cleaned up, and were escorted into the Presence.

Swft, immaculate in a new overcoat with a vivid reddish-purple stripe, was beside me.

“Her Highness made an appearance before her Folk this morning,” he told me. “When she appeared on the balcony, she was unanimously acclaimed as the rightful Empress. So we’d best call her Her Majesty’ now. Order is being restored, and Doctor Smovia’s clinic is treating as many of the ill as can make their way there. Later, we’ll send out mobile innoculation teams. The Folk feel that Her Majesty has conquered the Killing. The Two-Law party seems to have become very inconspicuous. As for Grgsdn, he’s managed to elude my dragnet, and is still hiding somewhere. If any of the escaped ‘slaves’ find him, he’ll meet the fate he deserves.”

“What about the invasion?” I wanted to know. Swft assured me that all operations had ceased, except for the schedule of shuttles bringing the troops back home. Other units were being prepared to repatriate all captives.

Minnie looked radiant. She ran to Smovia and hugged him, before being shooed off by a dignified elderly female.

There ensued several days of euphoric mutual congratulations, punctuated by brilliant social events. Finally, I took Swft aside and told him it was time for me to go.

He agreed, and apologized for the delay, but said it had taken time to round up all the escaped humans roving the countryside, and to prepare enough travelers to carry all four hundred nine of them. I was surprised there were so few, but it seemed humans had proved unexpectedly hard to capture. I just had time to see Minnie for a moment and ask her how she felt about a Ylokk-Imperium alliance; she didn’t quite know what that was, but when I explained, she was delighted. She’d led a strange life so far, but it hadn’t affected her naturally happy disposition, though she did weep a little when she realized Candy and Unca Mobie would be leaving soon. She gave us all fancy starburst medals that would look fine on our dress whites, I thought.

I was asleep in the luxury suite I’d been ushered to. Just before dawn, there was a knock at the barred door. I went over and asked, “Who’s there?”

Swft answered, and I opened up. He and a few other ranking officers moved aside, then he stepped forward and clapped me on the shoulder, and told me, “All is well, Colonel. Her Majesty requests and requires your attendance, and that of Lieutenant Helm and Doctor Smovia at breakfast on the south terrace in half an hour.”

Minnie kept us waiting―about ten seconds. We were standing by the balustrade of the terrace, looking down at the wildflower garden spread out below, with the city beyond and the hills in the distance. The same topography as back home in the Zero-zero line, but a very different place. Even from this distance we could see the volunteer cleanup crews clearing up the trash deposits left in the streets by years―how many no one was quite sure―of Two-Law domination. The former Two-Law bully-boys were doing most of the really dirty work, spurred on by the ungentle citizens whom they’d terrorized for so long.

“That Grgsdn is still at large,” Andy remarked, as if reading my thoughts. “He won’t take this quietly. He roused the populace once when all was stable and running smoothly. What’s to prevent him from doing the same again―like Napoleon’s Hundred Days, after he’d been exiled to Elba?”

“The Army is working over the country very carefully, Andy, as you well know,” I reassured him. “Surely they’ll pick him up soon.”

Minnie arrived at a run, and threw herself at Helm. He returned her embrace happily, and for a while they talked baby-talk and stared at each other. She stepped back and did a twirl. “Is not my clothing pretty, Candy?” she demanded.

Then the anxious-looking captain of the guard detachment arrived and got in front of the excited girl and apologetically asked her to remain with the escort. She said she would, and took his hand and patted it. He yanked it back as if she were red-hot. “Majesty!” he choked. “It is not proper!” Then he shut up and backed out of the Presence.

“Prp is such a ninny,” Her Majesty Minnie said. She came over and leaned on the balustrade beside me.

“Now, Uncanul,” she began before giggling, “I know you want to take your people home; I don’t know how Unca Swft and I will manage without you, but we must face that.”

“Minnie,” I replied, “what’s this ‘Unca Swft’ stuff? Who is he, really?”

“General Lord Swft is my uncle, the Prince Royal,” she told me. “He should really be the emperor now; I’m not qualified. My parents, Emperor Wqk and Queen Tzt were assassinated, you know, at the same time I was k-kidnapped.” The tears started. I patted her awkwardly, and Marie came over and embraced her.

“Right,” Andy said heartily, “Time to go!” He leaned over Marie’s shoulder to say:

“Goodbye, Baby: I know you’ll be a marvelous sovereign. I have to go now.”

“Candy,” she wailed, and Captain Prp was there in an instant, eyeing Helm with hostility, one thin-fingered hand hovering over the butt of his disruptor pistol. Minnie blinked back the tears and said, “Captain, if I ever again discern on your face an expression of less than total respect and affection for our honored guests, it will be permanent latrine detail for you. Begone!”

He stumbled away, and I covered my confusion by blocking off old Gus, who was pushing forward with his big mouth all ready to start braying about “time to go.”

“Fall in there, Gus,” I ordered him. The rest of our little band of heroes formed up our usual square formation, even though its original purpose, the protection of Minnie in the center, was now obsolete. We said some good-byes and went along to Skein Operations. Minnie wanted to come with us, at least that far, but Smovia and Helm managed to dissuade her by promising to come back to visit as soon as possible.