Long Live the King

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

10/01/98:

I slowly drifted awake, the soft warmth of my own bed
wrapping around me. Along with the firm warmth of Oriana,
her chest pressed against me, the gently rise of her belly
pushing gently on the small of my back.

It felt good to be back home, out of the small prison cell,
and away from Grasion. Back home, with the women I loved and
my close friends.

But not everyone though, Naomi was in the hospital for the
new week or two. The doctors had decided that it would be
best for her to rest there, now only days away from giving
birth. When exactly they weren't sure, a few weeks ago they
though it was two months away.

Soon though, they knew that much. They also knew that it was
going to have to be a birth by c-section. Her bones were not
ready to birth a child, having grown at a slower rate then
the rest of her.

For now that, I didn't want to worry about such things. I
was quite content to just lay there, listening to Oria
breath gently against my ear, her tail wrapped around my
leg.

Reaching back with one hand I gently set it on her hip,
petting the fur with my fingers. Things where changing so
fast now, with everything coming to a quick head involving
the Council, the birth of my Grand-Daughter, and my own
children soon.

Right then and there I made up my mind to not go off on any
more silly adventures if I could help it. I didn't want to
get myself killed now that I had so many people to take care
of.

Oria shifted against me, one paw slipping on my arm to hug
me gently. "Good morning love," she whispered softly in my
ear.

I rolled around in her grasp, till we were face to face in
the bed. Hugging her back and lick the end of her nose. "As
to you my love," I responded, moving to nuzzle her cheek.

Purring softly, she pulled me closer. "Ready for today?" She
asked, running her fingers down the length of my spine.

I nodded, "Yes, I'm ready."

She pushed away from me a bit, looking me in my eyes. A
smile slowly spread over her lips. "You know how cute you
look like this? Just awake, your hair messed up and sticking
all over, squinting to see, with little bits of fluff from
the sheets stuck in your beard?"

I laughed, reaching forward and tickling her belly for a few
seconds.

Bursting into a short fit of laughter she hugged me again,
pinning my hands between us. "I see that you do."

I snorted, pulling my hands out and wrapping them around her
body as I gave her a long, slow, kiss. Which she happily
returned.

As we pulled away from each other, I found that I was
purring, and didn't mind it one bit. "You know Oria," I
asked, propping my head on on my hand, "I want to ask you
something."

Reaching out, she placed the tip of her finger right between
my eyes. "And what would that be?"

"How exactly--" I started, being cut off by someone pounding
on the door to the room.

I sighed, sitting further up in bed. "What is it?" I
demanded of the person on the other side of the door.

It opened a crack, and Sora stuck her head inside. "Everyone
is here, they wanted to know if your awake yet."

"We'll be out in a couple minutes," I responded.

She chuckled softly, looking between me and Oria. "I'm not
sure of that, but I'll tell them anyway." She said,
retreating from the room and shutting the door behind her.

I shook my head, slipping out from under the covers. "I
guess we had better go join everyone else."

Oria quickly slipped out of bed herself, grabbing my arm.
"What did you want to ask me Fox?"

Reaching up, I fluffed the fur on her ears. "It can wait
till we have more time. For now though we need to deal with
this."

With a nod, she hugged me. "I'll hold you up to that."

I chuckled. "I know," I answered, giving her a quick kiss
before scrounging up some clothing to wear. I wanted to look
my best on this day, but not to formal. I just pulled on a
black shirt and the same colored jeans. Brushing my hair I
pulled it back into a small ponytail in back. Not enough to
braid it yet, but I could wait for that.

Oriana dressed in close to the same, though more colorful
then I had. Her shirt was a bring mix of a dozen colors,
that some how managed to look just right together. Her pants
were just a simple blue, though left lose at the top. All in
all, her clothing just did much to accentuate her growing
belly. Actually, I think she liked showing it off.

Walking over to me, she adjusting my clothing, pulling at
this, tugging at that. "I think it's missing something."

I smiled. "What would that be?"

Shooting me a large grin, she ran over to the closest, and
fished something off the top shelf. Coming back over, she
unfolding it, present it to me.

It was a denim jacket, in a nice washed-out blue color. I
smiled to her. "Oh really?"

She nodded. "Since you got rid of the old ugly green one, I
though you needed a new one to set out away from the rest.
And take a look at the back." She flipped it around,
embroidered on the back was a simple pattern showing a Fox
vixen an her cub.

I smiled. "It's lovely."

Grabbing my shoulder, she gently pushed on it. I turned
around, and put my arms back. She slipped it onto me,
tugging at it a bit to adjust it over my shoulders. Then she
turned me back around to face the mirror.

I grinned wide, adjusting the sleeves a bit. "It's great!"

She hugged me from behind, draping her arms over my
shoulders. "I'm glad you like it."

I nodded, tilting my head a bit. "I think it needs
something," I said, stepping towards the dresser.

"Oh?" She asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

"There's nothing wrong with it," I said, pulling up the top
draw, and searching around the back. "I can just thing of
something that would be perfect to add it it."

"What?" the disappointment was gone from her voice.

"This!" I said, pulling out my EA pin that I've had gotten
on my last trip home. I quickly attached it to the flap over
the left pocket on the jacket. The blue and gold pin added
just the right touch to make people take some notice.

Oria nuzzled my ear softly. "It does seem to fit you better
like that," she said with a soft laugh.

I turned around and kissed her again. "Thank you for getting
it for me."

She blushed a bit in her ears. "You welcome."

Taking her paw in my hand I stared for the door. "Come on, I
guess we had better go join the others."

"All right," she said with a fake sigh, following along.

There others were waiting for us in the kitchen, and
consisted of Rachel, Page, and an mare that I recognized as
the lady who took my picture outside of the prison.

I smiled, taking my seat, with Oria right next to me.
"Hello," I said, reaching a hand out over the table to the
newest addition to our little group. "I don't believe I know
your name."

"Eliza," she answered in a timid voice.

"Make much money from that picture you snapped of me?" I
asked.

She blushed a bit. "I didn't give it to my editor. You just
looked some calm in it, I didn't want to see it spread over
the news."

"Eliza here works for Prid's news agency," Rachel said. "She
came to with the picture you she took, and has proven
invaluable sense then."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really, in what way?"

Eliza picked up a PADD from the table and handed it accost
to me. Taking it I glanced down at it's contents. It was a
picture of a small group of people, being hustled from one
ship to another one some space station some where.

"That story was pulled three hours before it was meant to
run," she explained.

I nodded, scanning over the text. Apparently the photograph
was of the refuges from the first plague world.

"Well, if they asked for it to be pulled," I said, starting
to had the PADD back.

"Fox," Rachel broke in, "Look at the picture, look closely
at it, in the back, on the far right."

I shrugged, looking down at the picture, searching over the
sad and angry faces in it. Finally I came to the face I was
supposed to look at. And I looked, and looked some more.
Finally understand what I was looking at.

"Oh shit," I hissed, throwing it onto the table like it had
burnt my hands. "That's Dwight!"

Page nodded, "I've confirmed it as many ways as I can.
Dwight's home was the first plague world."

I shook my head. "The profile that you gave to me about him
said nothing of this."

She nodded again. "Because all of his history is a fake. A
very good, very expensive fake. One that looks to have been
put there after he was selected to become the new Council
Head."

"Do you have his real history?" Oria asked, retrieving the
PADD and looking it over.

"Yes, I do. He should never have been allowed to become
Head."

I grumbled a string of choice curses I had been saving for
years, just for such a moment. Most of them weren't even in
a language that anyone by I understood.

"That was about my reaction." Rachel said, resting a paw on
my shoulder. "The implications of this are tremendous."

I nodded slowly. "Is there anything else to add before I go
dance with the Council?"

"This," Oria said, pulling a small folded piece of paper
from the stack of stuff on the table. "It was in your bag, I
think it was attached to the box."

Taking it from her, I scanned over it. "What language is
this?"

"Smuggler's speak," Page said, handing me a new sheet of
paper. "This is the translation."

Taking it from her I read the words that were printed on the
paper:

  Greetings, Mr. Cutter,

  I have returned the Council Chair's little toy to you.
  Please do not betray my trust in you on this matter.  I
  don't have any use for the toy, and it would only serve as
  a dangerous distraction for me.  You'll also be receiving
  another package from me, containing a manuscript that I
  think you'll find interesting.

  I'll be setting up shop in a small city here on Prid with
  some relatives, so I might stop by for a chat once and a
  while.

  May Your Line Be Free Forever,

  Elena Khatika

  PS: Please pass this message to the Council Chair, may
  Ruhk spit on his Name.

  "In the name of Ruhk, a disease was set loose upon your
  people, nearly destroying them.  In your quest for answers
  and revenge, you tortured and killed an innocent, and
  sought to destroy MY people. I can not allow this to go
  unrewarded. In the names of Ruhk and Set, I place my curse
  upon you. Before your homeworld completes one revolution
  around its sun, all you were, all you are, all you will
  never be, will be as dust ground under my paws."

I sighed softly, setting the paper down on the desk. "Sie
knew why we were going to hir world. Sie knew all of his
before we did."

Even including how the Mouse had been tortured to test the
different version of his bomb, something we had only just
found out a few days ago.

Page nodded, "I suspect sie still does."

"We have half an hour before your to meet the Council,"
Rachel said, "everything is ready, and all the PADDs have
been made up. We'll be waiting for you in conference room
G."

I nodded, standing up and retrieving one of the PADDs from
the stack. "Is the note included in it?"

"No," Page answered.

I sighed, standing up and rolling my shoulders. "The bomb?"
I asked.

Oria stood, and walked over to one of the cupboards, opening
it, and brining the box to me. "I went back for it right
before they let you out yesterday."

I nodded, grasping it in my hand. "Wish me luck."

Everyone was silent.

* * *

It's hard to describe the events that followed the rest of
that day. Every time I try I end up going no where fast, so
I'll have to sum up most of it.

The Council was quiet as I entered, a few knew what was
coming, but many though that I was just there to give them
my report on what happened while I was on Elena's world.

I think they were all surprised when I opened the box and
brought out Dwight's bomb. Not Dwight though, he just sat in
stoney silence, glaring at me with the weight of his dead
world.

Slowly I started going over what we had collected in the
past month, the trail that lead from the bomb right to
Dwight. The use, and murder of the Mouse, simply to test to
see if it was slow and painful enough.

The money that changed hands, the orders behind the scenes
that followed to a few choice people under him.

Then I moved to the real bomb shell, the one that would do
more to destroy the Council then anyone had ever though. I
explained that Dwight was placed as Council head by someone,
someone very powerfully, with many connections. Who, by
anyone's accounting, put him into power to do more then get
revenge. He was in there control.

Dwight still said nothing. Nothing as I leveled the
accusation against him. Nothing during the battery of
questions throw at him from the other Council members.

Finally the moment had come, the Council was angry, hunting
for meat, and wanting Dwight. That's when the finale bomb
was dropped.

Not by me though, by a third level member, who didn't even
know about this in advance. He stood up and flat out said
that Dwight had destroyed the Council, that the basic ideas
that it had been founded on where now destroyed.

Slowly, one by one, the Council members were each convinced.
Some left to talk to there governments, other just seemed to
be in a state of shock. Eventually though, they all came
back.

In the end though, nearly everyone was agreed, and the
Council of the Multi-verse closed it's last session, with a
almost unanimous vote to disband.

Dwight still said nothing, even has the local law
enforcement (the Hall guards were now legally powerless)
came and arrested him for the crimes he had committed. He
put up no fight, and went quietly, with dragging steps.

Finally I asked the now former Councilors to come with me.
Many of the did, only a few staying behind. Once inside
Rachel slowly outlined the new government. The Joint
Consortium of the Multi-verse. It would take on where the
Council had left, trying to keep the balance.

More left though out her speech, leaving only half of the
old members. Each one took a copy of the Deceleration of
Principles, and the general laws we had already created.

There followed many hours of arguing, deciding on who should
head the Consortium. Many of the old members wanted me, but
I refused. Politely at first, but with more and more force
as the day wore on.

Finally it was decided, Rachel would lead the new found
government until the first general elections for the new
leader. An office that was still yet unnamed.

The last of the surprises that was given to the new members
was one of how we would provide money for the Consortium. At
least until such time as new taxes and dues could be leveled
and collected.

The answerer was the one that Grasion had help me think of.
Technology. The Consortium would sell different parts of the
old Council's technology to different people. The first such
deal that had already been made was to allow people to buy
ships with Council power system. Currently there was only
one shipyard permitted to install the system though.

If you guess mine, your right. The Pandora Shipyards had the
right to include the system in all ships we manufactured,
though no rights to allow refitting.

At the end of the day, I was sore, tired, and hungry. I
walked into the house and just curled up in bed, where
Oriana was already waiting.

I nuzzled up to her, kissing the back of her neck as I
drifted of to sleep. Not knowing, or caring, what the next
day would bring.

-----

This story is (c) 1999 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.
Elena is (c) 1999 by Chris Bradford.