Queen's Quest

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen Do Not Forsake Us

The hearing resumed around nine the next morning, and the first thing we noticed was that "The Morrigan" was suddenly more forthcoming with details concerning lfheimr and those ancient times. She confirmed the fact that it was an island in the Baltic ocean and did in fact sink but not before everybody left…On way or another. Everybody admitted that existing records are sketchy and vague as to this business of flying. The question on our lips was what had happened to loosen "The Morrigan's" tongue and bring forth information she claimed not to be aware of. Ensign Fashar supplied a partial answer later on when he told me,

"Some of my friends were there at the banquet and told me the queens had a private "chat" with "The Morrigan." and that the Witches guild was present as well. They don't know what was said, but when she came out of the meeting room she looked scared." I nodded,

"I'll bet they made her an offer she couldn't refuse, forced her to stare down into that dark abyss. What ever it was she saw scared the hell out of her." Ensign Fashar then added,

"My friends tell me things were pretty lively at the palace last evening, our esteemed royalty along with their "enforcers" banged a lot of collective heads together getting a lot of minds "right." Gretchen, Gravin and I chuckled,

"They aren't going to let a bunch of rummy's come in here and make fools of them," snickered Gravin, "Look at them closely am I mistaken, or is there genuine fear in all their eyes?" Ensign Fashar's thoughts then entered my consciousness with,

"I've been told that the queens also had a private meeting with that woman Brie, as did Trueblood with that fellow named Trick. Malcanthet was there as well, so I'm guessing she was told that she was going to be the new governor, end of story."

Commander Jina confirmed things as well,

"I guess things got pretty serious last evening. Our "guests" had the law laid down to them and in no uncertain terms. Nobody will tell me what was actually said, but all of them were told that whoever is picked to be the governor will have the full authority of all three of our leaders, and any attempt to tamper with them or their authority will be dealt with the most severest of consequences." "Well whatever was said every Fae from earth was paying very close attention having now been made aware of their situation. For a good portion of the hearing each member of royalty as well as a couple government "experts" would ask one of our "guests" a question concerning lfheimr, it's location, possibilities concerning the uncovering of artifacts, other possible sites, which Trick revealed existed at a place only he and "The Nain Rouge" knew of, but he was very hesitant to reveal still fearing "The Morrigan."

You could clearly see the exasperation on our leaders faces causing queen Maguire to snap.

"If it makes you feel any better pass a note up here with the name of the location, however "The Morrigan" knows full well what will happen to her if she makes any attempt whatsoever to interfere with our attempts to uncover our past." All the same, Trick wrote something down on a slip of paper and passed it up to queen Maguire via a court page. The three rulers studied the note, then called Trick up to point the site out on a map. There was a lot of nodding and lowered voices before he was permitted to return to his seat. Questions were also fielded to our guests concerning their thoughts on interference by the humans. Trick and Ciara cautioned against anything that might alert the humans, then when king Trueblood suggested a submarine to explore the sunken site Dyson spoke up.

"Your highness, that would alert the Russians as well as the Swedes, each would think the other was up to no good, before long, the Americans would be involved as well. Radar and Sonar would pick up any underwater craft, the signature wouldn't register as anything anybody was familiar with you'd have everybody and his brother sending their navies out to investigate then you'd run the risk of being sunk or worse, captured, sorry your highness but that would simply be too dangerous." King Trueblood looked at him and started laughing,

"My friend, you've just answered questions I haven't even asked yet. But supposing you could get down there undetected, do you think it would be worth it?"

"Your highness," injected Trick, "Let me answer that one. If somehow you could evade and hide from other submarines, dozens of surface ships, all the radar and sonar, then yes, I think you might find something. But like we've been trying to tell you, the site of lfheimr is located right on the doorstep of Russia it wouldn't take much to provoke them, you just might get a world war regardless of anything we do after all."

Queen Kolee put her hands under her chin and leaned forward with a smirk on her face.

"Do you honestly think that a race of people such as us who can build the type of spacecraft that we do, travel in deep space at hyper light speeds can't build a craft that can roam under the waters without detection? Perhaps that is why you are where you are…And where we are. All we want to know is if such an effort would be worth it." Ciara then spoke up with,

Your highness, if you have the technology to poke around under the very noses of the Russians without alerting them, then yes…Yes, I think your efforts would be rewarded. However I would suggest investigating the site Trick showed you first, a whole lot safer, and easier to get to."

I looked at my shipmates and smiled, we knew why the queen made those comments to Ciara. Submersible technology was old hat to us; the navy had several submarines stationed in the Farnalian Sea. We also had a number of research vessels as well including the Malaxia, which was a huge training ship. Everyone here all took our basic training in her remaining submerged for the length of our training. It was much more cost effective to train new cadets and ratings on the Malaxia than in space. The effect of being confined in a metal craft was the same, floating around in inner space was the same as floating around in outer space…Only cheaper. For the past several years Isseth's military budget had been going into spacecraft, then the Morda came along and every trenka started going into space defense and technology. I had no doubt however that the navy had a craft that could be transported to earth for a little "sneeking and peeking" without the humans being the wiser.

The two queens and king then started asking our guests detailed questions concerning the nature of the feud between the two forces. Both sides were very reluctant at first to reveal the real problems; however, a lot of stern warnings as well as cajoling by the two queens began to produce results. They made it very clear nobody was going anywhere until the truth was out.

"We have had it with your childish games," snarled Queen Maguire, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I strongly suspect these people are hiding facts that if revealed would only hurt their cause. I'm warning you now, any attempt to hide or otherwise shade the truth will be met with the harshest punishment. In other words, if any of you ever expect to see home again the truth better start flowing like cheap wine. We'll be the ultimate judges of the final outcome, not you…Now, let's start all over again, only this time there will be no holding back on the truth." I had never heard her rail like this before, she was certainly one angry queen, Kolee and Trueblood didn't look any happier, in fact they were getting the evil eye by just about everyone.

The tactic seemed to work as our guests looked around at the glaring eyes staring at them; even "The Morrigan" appeared to be cowed. One by one, each was asked to tell in their own words what they felt or knew for a fact the reasons for all the hate between each other.

By the end of the day's session, a much clearer picture had emerged concerning the situation on earth. It was clear the humans were not loved but hated by both groups each side was certain they had the answer to the solution. "The Morrigan" and her people were sure war was the only solution. She felt that by starting a large scale war on the humans the Fae could gain the upper hand, even turning the tables on them by making them slaves. The light Fae on the other hand were afraid the war would backfire on them and end with the death or capture of all the Fae left on earth. Neither side had any real solution based in facts as to what would improve life on earth for all the Fae, or even how relations with the humans could even be improved. It became very clear to us all that the situation on earth was nothing more than a desperate "holding action" with everyone afraid to make the next move. Finally, king Trueblood asked the question everyone had been wondering about.

"What would be the reaction of your people if we were to just say, All who wish to come here to Isseth are welcome, you won't have to live with the hate and oppression ever again."

Trick was the first to answer,

"Your highness, I have no doubt you would find a majority of our people who would take you up on your offer." "The Morrigan," with her head lowered replied,

"We of the dark Fae just wish to be left to live our lives in peace, where we wouldn't be bothered." The rest of the Fae expressed similar feelings but then "The Nain Rouge" spoke up.

"Your highness's you have heard our replies, and wish to live our lives in peace. None of us has any doubt that live here on Isseth would be a whole lot better than trying to exist back on earth, however it wouldn't be our home, we would always feel like refugees. Life here is much different than that back on earth something that with time we would no doubt get used to, but even with all the difficulties we face back on earth the fact remains it's still our home, it's our true home we originated there, and for better or worse, it is where we choose to remain. Don't you see, we…Are your ancestors, your heritage. Living here on Isseth would no doubt be pleasant but it would never be our true home. Speaking for myself, I would rather die back on earth than live a borrowed existence here on Isseth." The others all confirmed their feelings along these lines as well.

The three leaders deliberated among themselves for several minutes, even talking in hushed tones with a couple advisors. Finally Queen Kolee spoke,

"We have heard your testimony as well as your feelings towards evacuating here to Isseth, it is not our wish to remove you unwillingly from your homes, however the current situation must change, and it must change immediately, you cannot continue to tear at each other's throats. You people have got to learn to work together or perish, sooner or later, it's all going to come crashing down on your heads. We don't want to be your parents, that is not our purpose. I you want advice or suggestions we might be able to help there, but I'm afraid that in the end, it will be strictly up to you to figure out what works best for you." At this point, something made me raise my hand at which Queen Maguire noticed me and called on me.

"Commander, do you wish to add something to this discussion?" Speaking into the mic, I said, "Your highness, I wish to ask our guests a question concerning their treatment by the humans."

"Very well, commander by all means." I began by addressing the group.

"This question is directed to no one in particular but it's come to my attention we Fae have a very positive impression with the humans. Apparently, Kendi is quite an accomplished artist and has drawn a number of depictions, as the humans know us of elves, and Faerie. If this is so, perhaps you could capitalize on that fact." "The Morrigan" then addressed my question,

"Were it that simple. Oh, it's certainly true enough; a human by the name of Walt Disney created a character named "Tinkerbell" an overly fantasized depiction of a pixie. Human literature is full of Fae, the most famous being J.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the rings" and "The Hobbit." Movies, video games, you name it we Fae are well represented, however that's where it ends. Humans can deal with us as long as we're merely the stuff of legends and quaint stories, but given real life, they get very upset. Oh I've no doubt there are many humans who would treat us with kindness and respect but we're not dealing with those individuals but deeply suspicious government types. The humans view everyone not like them or of a different race or country a potential enemy, sadly you would soon find that out were you to send an emissary to land in London or Washington D.C." She paused long enough for Trick to raise his hand.

"Your highness," he began,

"I'm afraid I'm forced to agree with "The Morrigan," it's one of the few points we agree on. God only knows what they'd do were they to realize an advanced civilization and Fae to boot had the ability to travel at will through deep space and possessed advanced weaponry." I could see the other Fae nodding their heads in agreement. Trick then continued,

"Speaking for myself, I'm very happy you and the humans you deal with get along so well, this is as it should be, but I'm afraid it's completely unworkable on earth." King Trueblood then asked,

"Is it possible for your people to retreat to someplace free from oppression. Some place the Fae could thrive? And live in peace?" To a man, everyone of the Fae burst out laughing or attempted to stifle their laugh.

"Did I say something amusing?" Asked king Trueblood, clearly irritated by the response. To his question.

"I deeply apologize for that outburst your highness," replied Trick, "But let me explain why that simply wouldn't work. First, while the earth is a large planet there are very few places that are habitable, those that are already have humans lining in them, we would be the intruders and the natives wouldn't tolerate us for long. On top of that, it might be rather dangerous for us to expose ourselves like that. Back on earth, everyone talks about escaping to a deserted island, getting away from civilization and all that. Even if we were to do something like that the question would quickly arise, "What do we do now, none of us are farmers we can't grow crops. Even though we live in fear of the humans your highness, we are more like them than not. We watch their television programs, we drive their cars we speak the same language, many of us work for human employers that is why many of us bob our ears starting in our youth. We live in their world, in many ways we need them more than they need us. All of us are dependent on their civilization to survive."

No one said a word after Trick's impassioned plea, finally queen Maguire asked the big question.

"What if we could find you a sparsely populated planet or possibly one that was deserted, would you and the rest of the Fae agree to leave earth and move to this planet?"