...Sadness For Everyone

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 10

The Senate chambers were silent as Ren and I were lead
inside. It was a large room, almost pit like in it's
construction. The members of the Senate lined a two tear row
of seats all the way around the room. A large podium was at
very center, behind which sat an elder looking otter, who
had an annoyed grimace on hir muzzle.

Once at the center of the room, the two bears who had been
holding our hands let go, stepping back to block the doorway
out.

"We have an interesting situation on our paws." The otter
said, standing up, hir eyes drifting over the other members
in the room. "The discovery of two humans in this world.
Disguised as elves, they were moving deeper into our lands,
until they were revealed by an attacking dragon two days
ago."

Ren spoke up, "Which we happened to have stopped, along with
a few others, as they where attacking the population of the
city." He said it more like a boast then a statement of
fact.

The otter nodded. "True, but the attack was aimed directly
against you. Sent by Ruhk no the less."

There came a collective gasp from around the room.

I shrugged. "I'm sorry about that, but sie has taken an
unhealthy interest in the pair of us."

"Unhealthy for who?!" A voice called from one side of the
room.

"Me, Ren here, you, and everyone who gets in hir way while
sie tries to recruit us." I answered.

A smiles as creeping accost the otters face. "So your
running from hir, not serving hir. Is that what your
saying?"

"Yes!" Ren said.

"Not that I would expect any of you to believe it." I
answered for myself. "Sie is, if your pardon the language, a
utter bitch. Sie made a point of showing me exactly what sie
was planing to do to me, to scare me I think."

The otter shook hir head. "What should we do with them?" Sie
asked the Senate.

I stepped forward, "Excuse me," I searched for the correct
version of the world, "I'm not sure of your proper title,
but I believe we are entitled to say something in our
defense."

"Lady Chairman will do," sie answered, "or Speaker and you
may say your piece."

I sighed softly, looking around the room at all present. "To
be blunt, Ren and I were sent here."

There was a pause, no one in the room was saying a word, all
were looking at the otter.

"Who sent you, and why?" Sie asked me.

"I was sent by the Head of the Council of the multi-verse."
A few people in the room jumped, "As for the why, that's
simple. Ruhk has wormed hir way inside of it through
assorted means."

This finally brought an outburst from some of the crowd,
mostly some hushed conversation, though a few people stood
up and started yelling to each other.

The otter looked around the Senate, and with a slice of hir
paw, brought them all to silence. "I know of the
multi-verse, we have been able to step through the binds of
these worlds for many years. I have heard of your Council
before through are trades, but nothing of Ruhk."

I smiled. "When was the last time you sent anyone out into
the multi-verse?"

"About nine months," a lynx said, standing up and presenting
hirself to us. "Our trader never returned, and hir guards
came back dead. We have stopped all trading until we can
find a new location to conduct our business."

"Right, I know about the dead part, I was there. I was
trying to capture them."

This brought a loud outburst of yells through out the room.

The Speaker stood strait and let out a shrill whistle with
hir fingers. "Sit back down, all of you. They would not know
our feelings on capturing our people."

Everyone sat down, but many a hushed conversation continued.

"Why," sie asked, "did you feel it necessary to capture
hir?"

"Tell me," I said, ignoring the question for now, instead
turning in a slow circe to look at everyone. "Who hear
selected and provided the artifacts for trade?"

A large boar stood up, crossing hir arms over hir chest. "I
made those selections."

"Do your remember a sealed artifact, set to trade about a
month before we captured the Mouse?"

Sie snorted. "Yes, that was only thing that was sealed."

I smiled. "And why in the world would you ever send a sealed
artifact for trade? Shouldn't you always open it up first."

Sie slowly smiled. "It was my call."

I shook my head. "I doubt it," I turned back to the otter.
"you see, inside that artifact was a virus. Created by Ruhk,
and made to kill everyone it infected, no matter the
species. The death tool was almost eleven-billion people
before it had run it's course."

The was a stunned silence in the room. Quick it was broken
by the otter glaring at the boar. "Did you know about this
before you sent that artifact?"

Sie smiled even wider. "Yes, of course. Ruhk wishes to have
the multi-verse, and I will do all that I can to aid my
mistress."

"Would someone please get hir the hell out of the room?" Ren
asked, glaring up at hir.

The otter nodded, an angry look on hir face, but sie was
holding back more. A pair of bears had already arrived next
to the boar. They quickly restrained hir paws and escorted
hir out of the room. Just outside of the door sie was meet
by another bear, this one bigger in the others. I could see
a glint of steal in hir paw before the door closed.

'That's right,' I though to myself, 'they don't imprison
there own kind.' Expecting that sie wouldn't live out the
day, or if sie did it would be without hir ear, and there
for, hir name.

"Is this mass murder the extent of Ruhk's influence?" The
otter asked, drawing my attention back to the matter at
hand.

I sighed. "In the dream where sie attacked me, sie implied
that it was. In the past sie has been able to posses the
bodies of willing victims inside the multi-verse, but sie
also implied that that rout has been closed off to hir."

"I do not trust anything about hir that can not be proven,"
The otter said.

I nodded, "a very good choice."

"We will reinforce hir prison, to prevent hir from extending
hir corruption any more then it already has."

I nodded again. "Very good, but there is more."

Sie raised hir ears. "More in what way?"

I sighed, licking my lips. "You must understand Lady
Chairman, this is not an action that can be taken lightly.
Whoever was directly responsible for the Plague, the fact
remains that it came from this world, and the people of this
world must be held accountable."

"How?" Sie asked with a slight growl.

I shrugged. "There are two ways. The first being is that we
block your folds, force them to feedback on themselves, they
could never be opened, you would never be able to leave your
world again."

Sie thought about this for a few seconds, a frown spreading
accost hir muzzle, it faded away right before sie answered.
"That would not be a large loss, but we are not the only
one's in the world. They may also understand how to open the
folds."

I nodded. "I know, there is a second option though. We
invert all the know folds, forcing them all to one location.
In this matter you would be allowed to trade, but with the
Council as mediator, following it's rules and guide lines on
what things you can trade and with who."

"And if we refuse either of theses options?" Someone from
the back asked.

I sighed. "The same as if you find a way into the
multi-verse through either type of the blocks. You would be
subjected to what is referred to as a level fifty bomb."

"What does that mean?" The otter asked, a new frown playing
accost hir muzzle.

"Simply put, it's a super-nova bomb. We drop it in your sun
and three days later your picking your solar system up quark
by quark. Quite a nasty end as you might imagine."

Sie looked down at me, then back up and over the rest of the
room. "Are these terms negotiable?" Sie finally asked.

I nodded. "All of them are. You will have to send a
representative to Prid though. Sie will handle all of the
negotiations directly with the Council."

Sie nodded, sitting down in hir chair. "We will need to
discuss this. You will be escorted to a room, where you will
await our answer."

"Thank you," I said as I felt a large paw decent on my
shoulder.

Ren and I were escorted into a small windowless room. I
dropped down into a chair as the door outside locked.

"A type fifty bomb," Ren said with a laugh. "Great bluff!"

I gave him a weary smile. "Never said I was bluffing."

He smiled, sitting down himself, playing a bit at the bands.
"If you say so, though frankly I can't see how a bomb like
that could work."

I shrugged. "I can't either, but you never know."

He nodded, leaning back in the chair. "So, how long do you
think we'll have to wait."

"I don't know," I answered. "A few minutes, a few hours,
even a few days. It depends on how things go."

He snorted. "I hate being out of the loop. It makes me feel
like I've lost control of things."

"Were you ever in control?" I questioned.

He smiled.

"Do you think they'll go for it then?" Ren asked.

I nodded. "In some fashion, at least they will come up with
a decent agreement. I just wanted to get the floor open and
try to settle this in some decent way."

"Better then the alternative." He commented, rubbing the
side of his neck. The wounds had healed, leaving a pair of
nasty scars. I figured he would have the removed once we got
home, or not, knowing Ren he might just flaunt then.

I shrugged. "Life is always better then death."

He chuckled. "If you say so Fox, myself, I'm going to try
and get some sleep. It's been a long trip and I'm really
getting exhausted."

I smiled, waving my hand at him. "Go right ahead, I'll wake
you when something interesting happens."

He nodded, leaning to his side in the chair and drifting
right into sleep.

It was five hours before anything interesting happened. Ren
was already awake, and we were playing chess. I had made
some quick pieces from the things in the room, and had been
playing steadily for the last hour. I was still winning, but
Ren was picking up the game quickly and I'm sure would start
beating me in a game or two more.

That was interrupted though when the door into the room
opened and the otter stepped inside. "Greetings," sie said
as the door closed behind hir.

I nodded to hir, making a quick move that but Ren into
check. "Have you come to some sort of an agreement with the
Senate as to what action to take?"

Sie nodded slowly. "Yes, it's not a unanimous decision, but
we do have a plan as to what to do."

"What would that be?" Ren asked, moving his king in the only
direction he could.

"You are to be taken to the science building accost town,
the fold we use for trading is there. You are to leave as
soon as you are ready." Sie answered.

"Right," I said, moving my queen. "Check mate," I told Ren,
then turned my full attention to the otter. "Are you sending
someone with us?"

Sie nodded. "I will be coming along to represent my people.
Neither of the options you gave us were optimal, and we
decided that it would be beneficial to us if I was there to
negotiate directly."

I grinned. "A very good decision. I guess we can leave at
anytime, though I do want my gun back that you confiscated."

Sie nodded again. "It will be waiting for us at the
destination, as will be your pack." Sie said, turning to
open the door.

I chuckled. "Where did you find that at?" I asked.

"I was just told we had it."

I shook my head, still grinning. "Right then, lead on then."

We followed hir out of the building, into a car, and accost
the town. We then were escorted into a large lab type room
under the building. I was given my pack and gun back, and
Ren had the bands taken off his palms.

The trip through the fold went without incident, I had Ren
take the otter to the Council Chambers while I made a quick
trip home before I went there myself.

   To Be Continued...

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This story is (c) 1998 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 and hir world is (c) 1998 by Chris Bradford.