#ramstov

"I've been in the newspaper...."

The General slowly nodded. "Yes. I think I have heard of you. Mr. Unstable Quantums. I have seen him on the news from America. Always a different man, they have. Washington has found the perfect propaganda. They do not even need to bring in the same actor to play him. They can just grab whoever is nearby and say 'speak these lines."

"Propaganda?" That was a new one on me. I had never heard myself called that. Most people in the government didn't even like me. On the other hand, this whole thing did start with me working on a peace treaty for them with the Dinozens, then going undercover over here. So maybe I was letting myself be used occasionally. But I did it to help the world. "I'm just one man," I told him. "They were all me."

"Oh, yes, sure," the General laughed. "Like I am to believe a man can change his form whenever he wants?"

"It's not whenever I want," I said. "But tell me, what's so hard to believe about it? You have an army of lizard men. You have a dragon. What is so much stranger about a man who has to change his body every few days than a man with a magical horn on his forehead?"

"What?" the General exclaimed. "I have no horn on my head! Who has a horn on their head? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, General," I said. "It's as plain as the horn in the middle of your forehead. I can see it clearly. You can't fool me."

"That't it!" he roared. "I've had enough of you and your silly claims! You are not my wife and I do not have a horn! Guards, kill him!" The Dracs grabbed me and held me arms tight so I couldn't get free. One of them pulled out a knife and walked in front of me. One of the Dracs behind me grabbed my hair and pulled my head back exposing my throat. The Drac in front of me came closer. He pressed the knife against my throat, then glanced back at his boss. "Do it!" the General yelled. "Kill him!"

"I don't think so, fiend!" Lu Wu yelled from above us, hovering in the air. We all looked up at him in surprise. And as we were distracted, Tilly jumped through me and slamming into the Drac with the knife knocking him down. Tilly rolled to her feet.

"No!" The General screamed. "Where's my army? My dragons?"

"I sent them away," Lu Wu said. "They were distractions. You're the real villain."

"Villain?" the General echoed. "I'll show you villain! Kill them!" The remaining Dracs attacked. The Sharkwoman came diving through them. Between the 4 of us, we made quick work of them.

"Hand over the horn, General,' I said. "Don't make us take it."

"My horn?" The General reached up toward his forehead and grabbed his horn. A smile slowly formed on his face.

to be continued next week

These dragon were far different from his last batch. Only one of them had really resembled a dragon. The other two had been botched experiments. These dragons were not botched at all. They were living, breathing, flying dragons. And there were a dozen of them. They blotted out the sun as if they were a giant living thunder cloud. A thunder cloud that breathed fire and had sharp teeth and talons. "I think we're in trouble," I said.

"Why?" Na Fru asked. "Because of these bugs?"

The dragons flew at us like a swarm of bees, like a murderous flock of crows. It was terrifying to see the giant monsters bear down on us. Na Fru didn't seem as impressed. He waved his hands and rocks began to fly. The dragons pulled back. One was not as quick as the others. But he was only slightly shaken. The others hovered in the air. In unison, they all shot fire at us, a blazing inferno of death. Na Fru raised a rock shield to block the flames. I could still feel the heat. Na Fru didn't seem to mind.

The dragons came diving in. Na Fru sent spikes at them. They couldn't retreat. There was no time for them to escape. The Dragons came toward us and the spikes were growing toward them. I thought we were going to have some dragon shish kebabs. But when the Dragons and the rock spikes collided it was not the Dragons who were skewered but the spikes that were snapped in half. I couldn't believe it. What were these dragons made of?

But I had no time to worry because the dragons were still coming at us! Hands formed out of the mountain and began to swat at the dragons. The dragons were much quicker, but occasionally Na Fru would hit one. If nothing else he was keeping the dragons back. Unfortunately, since they could also breath fire, distance wasn't much of an issue for them. "What are these creatures?" Na Fru exclaimed. "They are too strong! The rock is too weak! I cannot beat them!"

"Of course you can!" I told him. "You have to!"

"I cannot pierce their skin with my spikes! I cannot hit them with rocks!"

"Put them together," I said. "Take the speed of the spike and the blunt force of the rocks. Put them together and pound those dragons!"

to be continued next week

"I...am not opposed to that," Na Fru said, "but weren't we trying to be sneaky?"

"If we split up, the likelihood of us not being seen decreases," I replied. "Plus, the second one of those Dracs wake up, they're going to sound the alarm. Sneaky may be out the window. Now, we just want destructive."

"You want destruction? Destruction I can do." Na Fru held his arms out at his sides.

At first, nothing happened. Then I started to feel a rumbling, a shaking. I turned to Tilly. "Maybe the two of you should go now." Tilly grabbed the Sharkwoman and, as she leapt into the air, she phased both of them. They went flying toward the vent and disappeared. "Ok, Na Fru," I said. "Let them have it."

Suddenly, rocks sprung from the ground all around us. I was frightened they might hit us. The rocks continued to grow until they were pushing through the ceiling. And then we started to rise as well. The ground beneath me shook and I had to reach out for something to grab onto to keep from falling. It wasn't hard to find something to hold. We were nearly surrounded by rocks and all continued to grow as we pushed upwards. Quickly, we ascended, busting through the ceilings above. I kept expecting to hit something or to have the broken flooring fall down on me, but Na Fru protected us well.

And then, we were outside, towering over the palace on a newly made mountain. I could see the building below us. It was in ruin. Walls were collapsed. Whole wings of the palace had been destroyed. I asked for destruction and I had gotten it. There was no question we had provided a distraction. No one could ignore this. The question remained, how would General Zlodeyskiy respond?

"Do you want more destruction?" Na Fru asked. "I see this structure beneath us is still standing."

"No," I replied. "This is good. Tilly and Shayu are still in there looking for Lu Wu. Not to mention all the other people inside. But don't worry, I get the feeling that you're going to have the chance to cause a lot more destruction."

As I said that, I saw people coming out of the palace. Some of them looked injured. Some of them looked like they were there to help. But most of them looked like soldiers. And it was soon after they spotted us that they started shooting at us. "Should I crush them?" Na Fru asked.

"Not yet," I told him. "Let's not hurt anyone we don't have to."

"I don't think we'll have that luxury for long."

to be continued next week

I felt a sudden wave of horror, like I needed to stop something. My heart was beating like I was just running, but I was sitting down. I looked at the dinner laid out in front of me. It was half eaten. I remembered its taste. It was delicious. Our cooks were the very best.

"Is everything all right, my dear?"

I looked up at me husband and smile. "Of course, Zlodey. Everything is wonderful!"

"Of course it is," he replied. "How could it not be? I have the most beautiful wife in all the world and two fabulous children."

I looked to my left where my son, Mayhew, was sitting. He smiled at me, at his father. He was a dashing young man. I was so proud. I turned to my right to my daughter, Madeleine. She was not smiling. She seemed perplexed, as she stared at her right hand. "Lina? Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" she asked. "No. Um...everything's ok...Mom. I just...I'm not feeling so, um, so great.  Can I be excused?"

"Are you feeling sick?"

"Sick? No. Just...tired? I think I might lie down."

"Ok, honey," I told her. "Would you like me to send in the doctor to have a look?"

"No!" Lina jumped to her feet. "No. I just would like to lie down. OK?" She rushed off.

I turned to Zlodey who shared my worried look. "I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about, my dear," he told me. "Teenagers can be strange sometimes. Isn't that right, Mayhew?"

"I think her being strange has nothing to do with her age, father," the boy said. "My sister has always been a weirdo."

"Mayhew," I scolded. "She's your sister! You should never..." I stopped as the door opened and Hera walked in. Why was I so surprised to see her?

"Excuse me, General," Hera said. "But we've received word from the Eastern Front."

Zlodey's face went cold. He could be a hard man. "Am I going to be happy?" he asked.

"I believe so, Sir. Paris has fallen."

Zlodeyskiy began to laugh. "Excellent news!"

Mayhew clapped. "Can we see the live feed, Father?"

"I don't know, boy," Zlodey replied. "You seem to have a lot of food left on your plate."

"Oh, be nice, Imre," I chided. "It's not every day that his father conquers a major metropolitan city."

Zlodey laughed. "I am trying my best though. Come on, boy. Let's all go see it together. You, me, and your mother, as a family."

"Yay!" the boy shouted before running off. 

We followed Hera into the War Room. There were monitors covering the walls showing live footage of the conquest. Mayhew rushed from screen to screen trying to see all of it. "Look at it," Zlodey said. "Our empire continues to grow!" He pointed at the map where Imperial Ramstovian purple covered practically everything between Paris and Moscow, from Athens to Oslo.

It was amazing, what my husband had achieved, but also, for some reason...frightening.

to be continued next week

In an instant, we were somewhere new. Bodies lay strewn about us. I recognized them before I recognized where we were. They were the Dracs. There was no question about it. That meant we were back in Ramstov, which meant we were back on Earth! I had returned back to the room Lu had taken me from! I was back where it all began, but now I had to deal with Maqesh.

The Sharkwoman looked at the scattered bodies. "These are not human, but there is a human taste to their blood. Did Maqesh do this?"

"I think Maqesh killed them, but he didn't create them. The owner of this house did."

She nodded. "And where are they?"

I looked up. There was a hole in the ceiling leading all the way to the surface. "He went up there."

The Sharkwoman grabbed me. "Then let's go!" The Sharkwoman started waving her arms and wiggling her hips. It took me a second to realize she was trying to swim up the hole.

"You can't do that in this world," I told her.

The Sharkwoman glared at me, then glared up at the hole. "Then how are we going to get up?"

There was a hole in the wall where the door used to be. "I guess we're going to have to use the elevator."

"The What?"

We walked into the next room . The cages were all empty. I wondered what had happened to those poor monstrosities.I started to run, but the Sharkwoman fell, trying to keep up. "Legs are just dumb."

I nodded. "Maybe you should just stay down here."

The Sharkwoman growled at me. "I came here to fight, human!"

"Then you better get used to using those dumb legs quickly."

I led her down the pathway to the elevator. She was agitated to be stuck in such a small room, apparently doing nothing. She was then shocked to find out that we had been "magically" transported to a new floor. We could hear explosions off in the distance. I didn't know the way to go, so we followed the sounds of fighting. We could tell we were getting closer because of all the screaming.

As I opened the door to the courtyard, I was aghast at what I saw. There were body parts strewn about everywhere! This was where all those poor creatures from the sub basements had gone and most of them were dead now. They were piled atop all the dead humans and Dracs. There was carnage everywhere. If it wasn't covered in blood, it was on fire.

And in the center was Maqesh with a fallen Wu at his feet, laughing triumphantly.

The Ramstovians fought with everything they could. Tanks and planes, bombs and guns, Dracs and mutated beasts, but it was nothing to him. Maqesh burned them and froze them, tossed them and squished them, crushed them and ripped them apart. It seemed like he couldn't be stopped.

to be continued next week

"What did she do now?" I wondered from my prison. What trouble was she causing? And was she able to get out of it? I had to get out of here! I had to help her!

But how? How could I get out? I tried the door again, but it was, of course, still locked. I tried to bash it down with my shoulder, but managed only to hurt myself. I tried to kick it open, but these shoes were not made for this. I stepped away. I was not going to break that door.

But I had to! I had to get out there! Tilly was out there! She was in trouble! I had nothing on me. I had brought nothing and hadn't dared getting caught with any of my inventions and break my cover. Besides, pretty much anything I would've needed, Tilly could have done with her bioupgrades. Or so I figured. Fat lot of good it did me now.

It was 10 minutes before the door opened and Hera stepped in. I thought briefly about jumping her, but her eyes made me think twice about it. The fire that burned behind her cold exterior made if clear she wasn't here to chat. At least not in a friendly manner, that was. "Did you plan this?" the woman asked. "Were you just a distraction? Is that what this was?"

"A distraction?" I asked. "Distraction for what?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Fran," Hera said. "I am an expert at getting the Truth."

"I have no idea what's going on Hera. Honestly."

"So, I'm supposed to take it as just a coincidence that the American government decided to send a first-time diplomat to this party? You just happen to be here when we have an infiltrator deep in the palace for the first time in years? Right after you attack the General?"

"Attack the General?" I repeated. "More like he attacked me! I just tried to get him off of me!"

"I doubt the General would strike you."

"He didn't hit me! He kissed me!"

Hera eyed me up and down. She did not look impressed. "Like I'm supposed to believe that.""It's true!" I told her.

She shrugged. "Then you should consider it an honor. He IS the leader of this wonderful country."

"An honor?" I was appalled. "He forced himself on me!"

"So you say. What is more likely is that you tried to seduce him."

"Seduce him? Why the hell would I do that?"

Hera snorted. "Because you are a spy, Miss Stone, if that is even your real name!"

"I don't know what you think is going on here, but I really have no clue. Whatever that alarm is about, it has nothing to with me."

For a second, Hera wavered and then her stern mistress look returned. "I don't care. You're coming with me." She reached out and grabbed me. Hera pulled me out of the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked, pretending to struggle but not too much.

"You'll see soon enough, Miss Stone."

to be continued next week

"Arrest me?" I asked. "For what?"

"For assaulting the royal visage!" he shouted. "Lock her up!"

The guards came toward me. I considered fighting, but didn't think I'd stand much of a chance. "You can't do this! I'm an ambassador!" I shouted as they grabbed me. "My government will hear about this!"

"Your government," the General scoffed, "can do nothing!"

The guards took me away as I tried to figure out what to do. I could probably escape, the guards wouldn't be expecting me to fight back. They had guns, but would they shoot me? If I could get to Tilly, she would be able to handle them, guns or not, but was that what I wanted? Was it time to break cover? Or was being arrested exactly what I wanted?

I was here to learn what the General was planning. If getting close to him wasn't going to happen, maybe being taken prisoner would do it. Sure, it was a risk, but playing spy was a risk. Everything I did was a risk and most of the time they were much more riskier than this.

The guards led me down the hallway. Hera appeared, looking unhappy. "Where are you taking her?"

"We're taking her to the cells."

"The cells? Are you mad?" Hera growled. "She is an ambassador!"

"It was the General's orders!" the guard replied.

"To take her to the cells?"

"To arrest her," the guard said.

Hera nodded. "Then you will follow me. We will put her somewhere more fitting her station. Come."

I could tell the guards were put off by Hera's arrival, worried that the General might not like it and take his displeasure out on them. Hera, however, was their boss and if she wasn't she sure acted like she was. Had I worked here I would be doing exactly what she told me. Of course, I didn't work here and I had no idea if she had my best interest at heart. Needless to say. I was also worried.

Hera marched us down the hall until she found the room she was looking for. She swung the door open. "Get in." I looked inside. It didn't look like a prison to me. There were no bars or chains anywhere. It just looked like a normal sitting room. I walked inside. "You can wait in here until we have worked everything out."

"Perhaps, I should just go back to the party," I suggested.

Hera shook her head. "You'll wait in here. Someone will come for you." "What about my daughter?"

"She'll be fine. I'll make sure of that."

Hera walked out and closed the door behind her. I could hear the locking mechanism, but I checked the door anyway. Next, I checked the windows. There was no way to open them and I was not going to be able to smash my way through them. That was clear. Then how to get out? I thought. I couldn't just stay here, could I? And then the alarm began to sound. "Oh, god...Tilly!"

to be continued next week

"Don't worry, Miss Stone," Lu Wu laughed. "I'm sure at least MY children know how to behave."

The General glanced over at his son. "I don't think your daughter at this moment wants or needs space at this time, Ambassador."

"Mr. Lu," I said, "perhaps you could get me something to drink. I'm absolutely parched."

Lu smiled at me. "I'd be glad to, Miss Stone."

I was glad to see him leave. If I was going to learn anything from the General it was not going to be with Lu Wu around. "Why don't we go inside, Ambassador, where we can have some privacy?"

"Inside?" I repeated. "But then I won't be able to watch my daughter."

"Don't worry, Ambassador," he told me. "She'll be watched, I assure you. In the palace, everyone is always being watched."

I didn't say how not the right thing to say that was and I didn't say how creeped out I was. I was on a job and I was going to do it. He led me inside where we passed dozens of armed guards. We walked down lavish halls with photos of the General covering the walls. We entered a large room that must've been his office. There was a large painting of him hung up behind the desk. "We can be alone in here."

The amount of money he spent to decorate this room, the rugs, the furniture, the memorabilia, the artwork, was outrageous. I thought how many of his own citizens he could've fed, how many hospitals he could've built, how many schools. It made me angry. "We can talk to each other without fear of being interrupted," he said. "We can get to know each other better."

I wasn't particularly comfortable in this situation, alone with the General, him wanting to get to know me better, but this was my job. This was why I was here, to get on his good side so that he would tell me his secrets. "That sounds great, General. I'd really like that."

The General's smile grew from polite to enthusiastic. He walked toward me. "I'm glad to hear that, Fran. It is exactly what I wanted to hear."

"I'm happy you're glad, General," I replied.

"Call me Zlodey."

I nodded. "Zlodey."

"My name sounds so sweet on your lips."

"Um..."

And then the General grabbed me and pulled me to him. I was shocked, but not as shocked as I was when he rammed his tongue down my throat. I tried to push him off me, but it wasn't until I slammed my heel into his foot that he let go. I stepped away from him. "What the hell...?"

He glared at me. "How dare you assault me?"

"Assault you? What the hell do you think you just did to me?"

He threw the doors open. "Guards! Guards!" As the room filled up with armed men, he pointed a threatening finger at me. "Arrest that woman!"

to be continued next week