Epoi

By Ronnell Cleveland

The leaders of the new world struggle to keep power as a five-hundred-year-old threat re-emerges. New challengers, old allies, and old foes make things that much more complicated. Who will hold power when it's all said and done? Can the threat be eliminated, or will they have to learn to live with it? Journey through Epoi and find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ronnell Cleveland
• Release date: Apr 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393632368

Book preview

The Notniuqs

Meanwhile, across the ocean in England, the Notniuqs are partying at the Queen of England’s ball. Forty Llerrets and a hundred queen’s guards surround the building, which is also surrounded by other world leaders’ security teams. Ten Llerrets and twenty queen’s guards are in the hallway that leads to the ballroom. The ballroom is big and white with black plants against the wall. A few bright red plants are hanging from the ceiling.

Everyone in the ballroom is well dressed. Most of the people there are young. Not many of them are over forty. The room is full of world leaders and their spouses. Some of them have various family members with them.

A slow, sultry song plays. The Queen of England comes and grabs Yartal’s hand. Yartal is the Blue Notniuq. He’s black and five feet and five inches tall. She’s a young white attractive woman with blonde hair. She’s around the same age as the Notniuqs and wearing a blue dress—the same color as Yartal’s suit. She walks Yartal to the middle of the dance floor for everyone to see, and they do notice. He smiles as he follows her. She wraps her arms around him, and he does the same to her.

Aday is standing alone in her black dress. She is the Black Notniuq. She’s Yartal’s height and just as fit. Her large Afro is on full display. A tall, attractive, fit black man walks up to Aday. It’s Dekemus. He’s the President of South Africa. He holds out his right hand and asks her to dance with him. She takes his hand and walks to the middle of the dance floor with him. They wrap their arms around one another and slow dance. Lenod is already on the dance floor with a white suit, dancing with a man. Lenod’s of Asian descent and a little over six feet. Everyone is stomach to stomach with their dancing partner.

Yartal and Aday look at each other and smile. Lenod sees them and shakes his head in disappointment. Neither of them see him. For a few seconds they only see each other. The song stops and a faster paced song comes on. Aday tells the South African president thank you, then walks to the balcony. She’s looking out at the trees and tall buildings in the distance and how beautifully lit the night sky is from the lights of the stars and moon. She looks at how lit the town is. The lights are bright orange, light blue, and yellow. She hears someone walking up behind her and turns in excitement. It’s Lenod.

Lenod notices her disappointment. Yeah, it’s just me. You two have got to stop it. It’s one thing when you’re alone, but it’s completely unacceptable when we’re out in public.

Aday says, You’re not our father, and we didn’t do anything. We’re dancing with other people. We have barely even spoken with each other since we got here. We know what we’re doing.

You two aren’t fooling anyone. Everyone knows about you.

Well, some people don’t seem to mind. Aday looks at Yartal and the Queen of England still dancing together. She’s been all over him since we arrived in England. It’s a bit pathetic if you ask me.

Lenod chuckles. No, you and Yartal are pathetic. You know he only has eyes for you. That’s never going to change, no matter how many beautiful queens he’s around. Lenod hears a song he likes and gets excited. He dances back to the dance floor, grabs the queen’s hand, and pulls her away from Yartal. The queen smiles as she and Lenod dance together. Yartal is relieved and quickly gets away from them.

He walks to the balcony with Aday. She’s looking out at the world again. He walks up behind her and puts his hands over her eyes. Guess who.

She sarcastically answers, The future King of England? Yartal takes his hands away from her eyes, and she turns around. The President of South Africa may not like you putting your hands on me like that.

I don’t give a damn what he likes. You’re not seriously jealous of the queen, are you, Aday?

Of course not, Yartal. I know how we must make things look for the world since we’re not supposed to be together. I know how the game is played. I play it quite well myself.

You think you can. You know how Liz is. She likes to flirt.

You didn’t finish the sentence. She likes to flirt with you. Aday sees the queen walking over and says, Speak of the devil. Here comes the queen.

Yartal doesn’t turn around. The queen wraps her arms around Yartal and smiles at Aday. Aday and Yartal smile at each other. Liz says, Oh hi, Aday. I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I thought Yartal was out here with a plant. I guess I should have picked a different color. I just love black and white together. It looks so classy. You know?

Aday smiles. Liz, this is a wonderful party. You must come to Tac again sometime soon. We would be honored to have you. The way you’re acting, I’m sure you want someone to have you tonight. Yartal chuckles. Aday smiles at them both and walks away. She goes and starts dancing with Dekemus.

Liz says, I get the feeling she’s not too fond of me.

Yartal taps her hands while he’s still looking out to the sky. Your feelings are right then. She lets him go, and he walks back to the dance floor.

Hours later, the ball has ended. Lenod, Liz, Aday, and Yartal are all sitting in a room together talking. Liz has one of her female servants massaging her feet. There are no tables in this light yellow room. Liz is sitting next to Yartal. Aday is across from Liz. Lenod is sitting next to Aday and across from Yartal.

Liz says, Aday, I think Dekemus really likes you. It looks like you enjoy being around each other. I’m pretty good at picking out relationships, and you two would be perfect for each other. You should look into it. It couldn’t hurt to have South Africa as an ally. They are a very powerful country. South Africa, Epoi, and England together would be unstoppable. No one would dream of challenging us.

Aday says, Epoi is pretty much unstoppable by ourselves. We don’t need many allies. In fact, I’m starting to think we may have too many as is. You see, sometimes allies forget their place. And I don’t have time to keep everyone in line. It gets to be exhausting. Lenod puts his hand behind Aday’s back and taps her. She continues, But you should definitely try. England and South Africa together? Now that would be a formidable opponent for just about anyone. Not Epoi, but you know.

Liz smiles and says, Actually, I have my eyes set on someone else.

Aday replies, Then perhaps you should look elsewhere. The servant looks at Aday.

Lenod taps Aday’s back again and says, Well, this has been lovely. We should do it again sometime, but I’m afraid we must be going now. The Notniuqs stand to leave. Liz, this was magnificent. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Thank you for inviting us.

You guys can spend the night if you want. It’s late, and we have more than enough room for you and your Llerrets. Please? It would be my pleasure.

Aday replies, Thanks, but we really have to go. I wish we could stay.

Yartal adds, It was a lovely gesture. He kisses Liz’s hand and gives her a hug. Aday gives her a hug and then they all walk out into the hallway.

Let me walk you guys to your cars at least. Liz follows them out into the hallway, where thirty Llerrets form around them. Five walk ahead of them and five walk behind them. Then there are ten on both sides of them. One of Liz’s guards walks in front of everybody. The rest of her guards stand still while everyone walks past them. All of Liz’s guards have swords on their hips. The Llerrets have their spears in hand.

As they’re leaving, Aday says to Yartal and Lenod, We’re riding home together. All three of us. The Llerrets will take the other cars. Two of the queen’s guardsmen are standing at the main doors waiting. Both guardsmen open the door they are standing in front of. The doors are gigantic and wooden. The castle is enormous, with large trees at its back and plenty of houses at its front. The houses are rather large, although they seem small in comparison to the castle.

When the doors to the castle open, the forty queen’s guards outside all face each other and stand still in two separate lines. The queen, Notniuqs, and Llerrets walk past everyone to get to their cars.

Once they get to their cars, Liz says, Well, thanks again for coming. I know how busy you all are. She tries to hug Yartal again. Aday steps between them. She hugs Liz instead, and then they get into their car. Lenod gets into the driver’s seat, Aday and Yartal in the backseat. They wave one last time, and Lenod flies away.

Aday disables all the cameras in the car by pressing a button on her wristband. The Llerrets fly ahead of them. Lenod says, You two have got to stop this. You can’t keep treating the leaders of the free world like shit.

Yartal says, I was being nice to our host. Aday’s the one who got mad. She’s not even my type. I only have one type. I only have one person. He kisses Aday’s lips.

Lenod says, Oh please, Yartal, you threatened to take the pope’s eyes out when you thought he was looking at Aday.

What do you mean, I thought? I saw him. Plus, I was joking. He takes things too seriously. I’m willing to consider that maybe I took things too far that time though. I didn’t know we couldn’t joke with popes.

Aday says, Lenod, you can’t talk. You’re the one who couldn’t keep it in your pants when you met Akio. You almost blew our trade negotiations.

Yartal says, Him blowing it is what got the trade through. That was a shit deal for Jana.

Lenod replies, Nothing happened between Akio and me.

Yartal responds, Yeah, right, and nothing ever happened between me and Aday. We’re adults. Sex is bound to happen. Look, Aday, I’m sorry. I really was not trying to disrespect you. I don’t want Liz. I never have and never will. He kisses her lips. She puts her hands on his face and kisses him back.

Lenod says, Hell no! Not while I’m around. It’s one thing to break the rules, but I won’t be a part of it.

Aday responds, Good, because we don’t want you to be. Keep your eyes forward, watch the sky, and you won’t have to worry about us.

They both begin taking their clothes off. Lenod drives the car straight down. Aday and Yartal brace themselves for impact. Lenod pulls the car back up and says, I’m not driving anymore if you’re going to do that. He puts the car in autopilot. When a car goes into autopilot, it slows down significantly, so people prefer to drive themselves.

Lenod climbs to the backseat and sits between Aday and Yartal. Yartal says, Fine, I’ll drive. Let’s go to the front. Lenod leans forward to go with him, and Yartal pushes him back and says, Aday. Yartal and Aday climb to the front seats.

They fly for about two hours. Lenod gets tired and nods off to sleep. After he goes to sleep Yartal and Aday begin removing the rest of their clothes. Aday looks back at Lenod, who is knocked out, and she climbs on Yartal’s lap, her back to the steering wheel. Yartal presses a button that makes a partition come up and separates the back of the car from the front. Aday and Yartal can no longer see in the back, and Lenod can’t see the front.

Yartal puts the car on autopilot. This causes their car to fall behind the Llerrets’ cars. He stops kissing Aday and calls the Llerrets and tells them to go on without them. He hangs up and lays Aday down on the seat. He starts kissing her all over. He starts at her neck and works his way down. Lenod is still in the backseat sleep, oblivious to what’s going on in the front.

After Yartal and Aday have sex, they rest for a little bit. They’re both completely naked on the front seat. Aday is lying on Yartal. She sits up and leans against the door. Yartal moves out of her way and then puts his head on her lap. The car is wide enough for him to stretch all the way out and be comfortable. So are the seats.

He looks up at her smiling down at him. She leans her head down and kisses his lips. She sits back up and looks out into the night sky. He’s watching her watch the sky. Watching the reflection in her eyes. She begins stroking his head until he closes his eyes.

He says, Nights like these are the best. Too bad they come few and far between. I love you, and I don’t care who knows it.

But I do, Yartal. You know it’s against the rules, and we could both be replaced and sentenced to death.

I would take on an army for you. With your help, Aday, we could probably win too. We’re two of the most skilled warriors in the world. Quite possibly the top two. If they did anything to either of us, then they would pay for it with their lives. I love Epoi, but I’d take you over it any day.

Aday stops stroking his head. And that’s exactly why Notniuqs and Llennors are never supposed to be together or with anyone period. You’re talking about taking on the world for me.

With you, he replies.

She kisses his lips and sits back again. He opens his eyes, and they stare at each other. Aday says, as much as I would love to stay like this for days, we only have a few hours left. We have to get dressed.

Let’s give them a show. Yartal chuckles, and Aday removes his head from her lap.

She begins putting her clothes back on. He watches her, entranced by her beauty. Then he does the same. Some of their clothes are in the back with Lenod. Yartal puts the partition down. Lenod is looking right at him. Yartal and Aday jerk back. Lenod looks angry. No one says anything. Yartal and Aday retrieve their clothes, and Lenod goes back to sleep. They finish getting dressed but still have a few hours left until Tac. They continue flying on autopilot, which is going to make their trip and alone time that much longer. Yartal and Aday stay up talking the whole time.

Chapter 3

Tac

When Yartal, Aday, and Lenod make it to Tac, the Llerrets are there waiting on them to land. Aday has her head on Yartal’s shoulder. They’re both still awake and talking to each other. Lenod is in the back still sleeping. Once the car is about to land, Aday picks her head up. Lenod wakes up when he feels the car going down. The Llerrets surround the car.

Yartal says, I should get some sleep. I have a training session early in the morning. It’s in about two hours actually. He gets out the car, and his ten Llerrets get in formation around him. Aday and Lenod do the same and so do their Llerrets.

A little over an hour later, Yartal sees Aday sitting in the garden of flowers in the back of the house. She’s alone. Her Afro peeks over the top of the flowers. Hundreds of beautiful flowers are in the garden. Some are so big that you can’t see fully grown men and women standing behind them. Obviously, Aday is not sitting behind those. Yartal walks up behind Aday. She asks, You’re up already?

I slept in the ice box, he answers.

Ice box is what they call the frozen room. The room is freezing cold to help with their body and injuries. Special air is pumped into the room that makes an hour of sleep feel like ten. It’s to help them on their busy days. The gas even helps heal wounds and bruises faster. This is the room Notniuqs and Llerrets visit after a battle or intense training session. Since they don’t go into many battles, it’s mostly used after and sometimes before training sessions.

Aday replies, I figured.

Sometimes I come out here to look at the flowers too. He says to the room, Take us to paradise. The room changes. Aday is now sitting on a bench. A small garden of flowers is in front of them. Trees and mountains make up the background.

Yartal says, Do you ever want to leave this place, and never come back? I mean, Epoi would still stand if we left or got together. Yartal plucks a blue rose from the garden, looks at it, then presents it to Aday. She takes the rose and sniffs it. She looks up at him, and him down to her. She can see the sincerity in his eyes. She’s touched, but she doesn’t want him fantasizing too much about a life they can’t have.

She says to the room, Take us back home. The room returns to normal. The blue rose in her hand vanishes. She’s sitting back on the ground. He sits beside her. She lies down and puts her head on his lap. He’s staring out at the flowers, and she’s looking up at him. He starts running his fingers through her hair. He looks down at her.

She says, Yeah, it would be nice, but we have a duty. A life we didn’t choose, but one we must live. I know it sucks that we can barely ever be alone together, but think about it like this. If we had never been sold to this program, then we would have never met. Chuckling, she says, Do you remember when we first met? Both of us four years old. You came up to me and said you liked me.

Yartal grins. Yeah, I do, and I did. Then if I recall correctly, you said no, then pushed me down.

Aday chuckles again. But that didn’t stop you. When we were ten you saw some poor little boy talking to me and challenged him to a fight to the death.

I would have won too, if he would’ve been brave enough to accept.

He wasn’t cowardly. He was smart. Everyone knew you were far more gifted at physical stuff. Plus, he wasn’t interested in me. He wanted Lenod.

Yartal replies, He probably got Lenod too. You and I were inseparable after that. It didn’t matter how many times the teachers would try to keep us apart. We’d always find a way back to each other. You were the smartest person I knew, by far. Everyone knew we were going to be Notniuqs together. It was just a matter of which predecessors would die first. Then they all died in short order of each other. So, we were able to come in together.

Aday looks out at the flowers. I often think back on the first flowers we gave each other.

Yartal says nothing. He moves her head from his lap and gets up and grabs a blue rose. The flowers that rose from the sand on our first mission together.

I’ll never forget that day, she says. You and I were walking through the desert. No water or even a cactus in sight. We didn’t know when we were going to see anyone. Or if we ever would. Then we came upon two blue roses growing out of the sand. Their stems intertwined. You picked them and gave them to me. You put one in my hand and the other in my Afro. Then I put the other one in your beard. I hated that stupid beard. That rose made it tolerable at least.

Yartal says, "Yeah, I remember, because I thought, How she gone regift my gift right away? And to me?"

She smiles. "You said those roses were a symbol of hope for us. You said if these things can live where nothing else has, then we would make it out of that desert. I thought, I hope you die first, ’cause I’m starving." They snicker.

Yartal says, Then you said you weren’t worried about making it out. You knew we’d make it out, but you wanted to be alive when we did. It took days, but we finally made it out of there.

Aday adds, Dying of thirst in each other’s arms, then Lenod finally showed up. We were disgusting and covered in sand. I know our breath probably smelled like death. That’s when I knew I truly loved you. Because with death looming, I was still glad to be with you. Don’t get me wrong. I was relieved to see Lenod, but sometimes I yearn for that time back. If I had known that would be the longest we would ever be left alone, I would have cherished it more and lived in every moment like it was our last. You know?

Yartal is staring down at Aday’s big light brown beautiful eyes with a smirk on his face. He kisses her delicate lips, and then they lie on the ground surrounded by some of the world’s most beautiful and bright flowers. Pretty much every color of flower is in that garden. Leaders from around the world send them flowers as gifts.

A tall black woman appears at the garden’s door. It’s a Llerret. Aday and Yartal fall silent and still. The Llerret sees no one. So, she closes the door and continues patrolling the mansion. Aday whispers, It’s almost time for you to go train, and I should get some sleep. It’s been a long day.

Yartal replies, Let’s make it a little longer. They begin kissing. Yartal gets on top of Aday. They hear someone opening the door. Yartal peeps between the flowers and sees one of his Llerrets. It’s Llerret Thirty-three. What are you doing here, Yartal asks.

I came here looking for you. I saw you come in a little earlier. It’s almost time for our session, Thirty-three answers. He doesn’t see Aday because she is hidden by the flowers. She’s not making any movements or noise.

Let’s go. Yartal leans down and kisses Aday, then stands up. He and Thirty-three walk to the situation room. Aday stays in the garden until she feels no one is around to see her leave.

Yartal is training with Thirty-three. They are the only ones in the situation room. The reason it’s called the situation room is because it can turn into almost any situation. That way the Llerrets, Llennors, and Notniuqs can be prepared for anything. It’s where they learn how to fight, survive, and negotiate deals.

Yartal is very well built. He has a low haircut and mustache. He has a little hair under his chin as well. Lenod is six feet tall. He is a lean man. Aday is very well built too. Her arms and legs are muscular. She has a large Afro. Thirty-three is a six-foot-tall black man. He’s muscular like all Llerrets are.

Yartal and Thirty-three have the situation room set on jungle mode. They’re walking through the jungle slowly. Yartal and Thirty-three both have a metal spear in their left hand. Their spears have buttons that make them retractable into a one-inch box. This makes the spear easy to carry. Many people in Epoi have spears. Most are retractable. Notniuqs, Llerrets, and Llennors’ spears are heavier than most.

As Yartal and Thirty-three are walking, Thirty-three stops. Yartal sees him stop, and he does the same. They’re trying to hear animals that may be around them. Yartal lies on his stomach.

A tiger leaps from the grass and knocks Thirty-three to the ground. The tiger slashes Thirty-three’s chest. Yartal lunges and sticks his spear into the eye of the tiger. He pulls the spear from the tiger’s head. Another tiger comes from behind Yartal and swipes his back, leaving it slashed. Yartal drops his spear and falls to the ground. He quickly gets back up, looks at the tiger, and the tiger begins circling him. Yartal is turning so that the tiger is always in front of him.

Yartal looks at his spear on the ground and then back at the tiger. The spear’s a few feet from him. Yartal dives at the spear. The tiger lunges at Yartal. Yartal points the spear at the tiger.

A spear seems to come from nowhere and goes through the tiger’s head while he’s midair. The tiger falls to Yartal’s feet. Yartal looks at the tiger. He looks over at Thirty-three, who is now walking over to him. I had it covered, Yartal claims.

You’re welcome. Thirty-three grabs Yartal’s hand and helps him up off the ground.

The room returns to normal. Aday walks in and announces, Your time’s up. It’s my turn.

Lenod runs into the room and accidentally bumps into Aday. My bad. Actually, it’s time for all three of us to have our weekly session. We won’t be needing you, Thirty-three. Thirty-three picks up his spear and bows, then leaves.

Aday says, Pick your clothes. A hologram of clothes pops up in front of them.

Yartal looks confused. What is the situation this week?

Aday tells him he should know. Yartal takes his shirt off and throws it to the ground. He looks at Aday. He plans to show her that the situation doesn’t matter, because he can and will adapt to anything. He’s the ultimate tough guy.

Aday and Lenod press the coats and pants option. The clothes appear on them. The room puts them in the middle of a blizzard. Yartal reaches to pick a coat, but the hologram goes away.

Yartal acts like it doesn’t affect him. Is anyone else a little hot?

Lenod shakes his head in embarrassment. Lenod and Aday pull knives from behind their backs. Yartal digs through the snow with his hands to get his spear. They hear a roar. Yartal finds his spear and picks it up. His entire body is freezing. He won’t give anyone the satisfaction of knowing he made a mistake. Even though everyone knows it.

He lifts his spear and walks backward. He bumps up against Lenod and Aday. They all turn around quickly and face one another. They look at each other for a second and then they get back to back to back. They hear another roar. They figure it’s a polar bear.

The snow is so high that their feet sink a few inches every time they take a step. The blizzard is so bad that they can barely see their own hands. Yartal feels like he’s about to freeze to death. His teeth are clattering. He’s shivering. He can barely see Lenod and Aday. He doesn’t know if he’s going blind, or if it’s just that white out.

Aday notices light about two hundred feet away and walks toward it. Lenod and Yartal slowly follow behind her, constantly surveying their surroundings. They’re making sure they’re not going to be ambushed. They all walk up to a large black building. Aday goes to knock on the door. The door opens before she can touch it. Aday puts her knife in a slot behind her back. Lenod notices and does the same. Yartal keeps his spear in his hand. They all walk in. The door closes behind them. The warm air that wraps them as they enter the building is refreshing. Yartal immediately feels relieved.

A seven-foot white man walks into the room. He has on a black suit and tie. Everyone looks up to him. Yartal grips his spear a little tighter. Lenod stands still. Aday puts her right hand behind her back and grabs her knife. She only puts her hand on it. She doesn’t pull it all the way out.

The white man grins at them. He says, Ah, Miss Aday, Mr. Lenod, and Mr. Yartal, we’ve been expecting you. You’re thirty minutes late. Please follow me. Aday takes her hand off her knife. Lenod follows the man. Aday follows closely behind Lenod. Yartal follows a few paces behind everyone. Aday and Lenod are looking at the man the entire time. Pretty much everything else is grabbing Yartal’s attention. Things start feeling familiar to Yartal. He looks behind them.

The man walks them to a door and opens it. He politely gestures for them to walk in. The room doesn’t have much space. It’s a bit cramped. It’s all white with two doors. The other door is directly across from the door they came in. There is one table in the room. Six chairs surround the rectangular table. Three chairs on each side.

Lenod walks in. He takes off his coat and puts it on the back of a chair, then sits in the chair. Aday walks in. She’s still unsure as to what is going on. She keeps her coat on. She sits down next to Lenod. Yartal strolls in and sits on the other side of the table, across from Lenod and Aday. He stares at them. He leans back in the chair and crosses his legs. He hears the door behind him open. He turns around and leans back on the table. He presses his spear to a woman’s neck as soon as she walks in.

The room turns back into the regular situation room. Since no one was standing, everyone falls to the floor. They hear a voice announce, You’ve failed. And Yartal, put your shirt back on. Lenod and Aday look angrily at Yartal. Yartal walks over and puts his shirt on.

Yartal exclaims, We thought you were sending us to a fight! I just got finished with survival mode training! In real life we would know where we’re going! So I wouldn’t put a spear up to another world leader’s neck! That was stupid on your part! Plus, why didn’t I get a coat?!

The voice retorts, If I recall correctly, you took off your shirt. So why would you need a coat? Plus, you didn’t select the coat option. Listen, the point of the situation room is to prepare you for anything. You won’t always know what you’re walking into. Your first instinct shouldn’t be to kill everyone. Now, Yartal, go get your wounds tended to.

I might not have to kill everyone, but it’s good for them to know I could if I wanted to.

You always have to have the last word, don’t you, Yartal? Yartal and the voice begin arguing with each other. It looks like Yartal is yelling at the ceiling. Aday grabs Yartal and walks him to the door.

An enormous white man appears in front of them. He’s tall and muscular. He towers over them. Yartal and Aday look up at him. Aday takes a couple of steps backward. Yartal tosses his spear at the man’s feet. When the man looks down at the spear, Yartal pulls the knife from the side of his hip and cuts the man’s throat. Blood gushes onto Yartal’s face and clothes. Yartal takes his shirt off and wipes his face, then throws his shirt on the floor. He looks up at the ceiling, then forward. He picks his spear up off the floor and walks out.

Lenod shakes his head at Aday, and Lenod rushes past Aday and follows behind Yartal. He closes the door behind him. He grabs Yartal’s shoulder. Yartal knocks Lenod’s hand off him. He continues walking away. His Llerrets get in formation around him. The one he was training with earlier is in front of him. Lenod yells to Yartal, Your attitude is going to get you killed!

Yartal comes back with My skills will keep me alive!

Llerrets begin to form around Lenod. He waves them off, then walks to his room. Lenod’s Llerrets stand around his door. Aday walks out of the situation room and sees Yartal and his Llerrets walking down the long hallway. She turns and walks the other way. Her Llerrets get in formation around her. She goes to her room.

Yartal and his Llerrets go outside. The mansion is surrounded by tall, beautiful green trees. Yartal sees a log and lies down on it. He looks up at the sky with his hands behind his head. He’s wondering what life would be like if his parents never sold him. He wonders what his parents are like. He doesn’t remember their faces. Once a parent sells their child, they can’t come by to see him. They can’t contact them in anyway. They don’t want them knowing each other. That way their judgments will be fair to everyone.

Yartal and the Llerrets hear a car approaching the mansion. He opens his eyes. All the Llerrets stand at attention. Yartal stands up on the log. He still has no shirt on. Thirty-three had gone ahead and stitched Yartal’s back up. He and the Llerrets look at the mansion. The car flies into the door of the mansion. A thin white man stumbles out of the car. He seems to be intoxicated. He’s yelling and holding what appears to be a handgun. He begins to open fire on the door. Yartal, still standing up on the log, looks down for his spear.

Three of his Llerrets chuck their spears at the man. All three hit. One goes through the middle of the man’s back and out his stomach. The other one goes in through the top of his back and out of his chest. The last one goes through the back of his head and out his mouth.

Yartal and the Llerrets run up to the man. Yartal picks up the gun lying beside the dead man. He can’t believe what he’s seeing. This shouldn’t exist. This shouldn’t be happening. The Llerrets pull their spears from the dead man’s body.

The door to the mansion opens and they all walk in. Yartal is surrounded by his ten Llerrets. He’s in the middle of them for protection. Forty Llerrets are waiting at the door with their spears pointed at Yartal and his Llerrets. They didn’t know who to expect. The door closes. Yartal’s Llerrets raise their spears in defense. Yartal steps in between the Llerrets. This puts everyone at ease. Yartal looks around at all of them knowing the potential and immediate danger everyone may be in. He lifts the gun. Everyone gets concerned. Why does Yartal have a gun? How does he? What’s going on?

Yartal knows right now isn’t the time to freak out. He must appear strong and confident in front of them. If he freaks then they freak. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He picks out a Llerret and says, Tell Aday and Lenod we have to meet now. Tell them it’s an emergency. Get them to the meeting room as soon as possible. I want the rest of you to make sure no one else comes in that door. The door is sturdy, so I don’t think you’ll have too much to worry about. Tell the Llerrets on the backside to be on high alert. We don’t know who else may be coming. We also don’t know what they may be coming with. Also, I need two of you to go outside and check that car. Make sure it’s not wired to explode and that it doesn’t have any more guns in there.

Yartal walks to the meeting room. It’s identical to the one the Llennors have. Yartal sits at the table and presses a button to call the Llennors.

The Llennors go into their meeting room. Asil asks Nor and El, Why are the Notniuqs calling us? We never do this. Do you think they found out about the Llerret?

Nor replies, That better not be what this is about. They have no authority to question us. Even if we don’t agree with how you handled it. Plus, how would word get out to them?

El says, Well, we won’t know until we answer their call. Doesn’t that seem like the most logical solution? She presses the button to answer the call.

Aday walks in with her hair wrapped. She looks angrily at Yartal. She opens her mouth to speak, but before she can say anything, Lenod walks in and asks what’s going on. Yartal holds one finger up. El’s hologram appears across the table from Yartal. Aday and Lenod see this and they become even more confused. They grab their chairs and place them on the same side of the table as Yartal. Yartal is looking straight ahead at El.

Nor and Asil grab their chairs and pull them around to the side of the table with El.

The rooms are set up the exact same way so that everyone can travel around everything effortlessly and without confusion or hesitation. It looks like they are all together in one room. They can see everything happening in each other’s room. They can’t feel anything in the other room though.

El says, We’re all here. Now do you mind telling us why? What’s so important that we have to have this meeting? I’m assuming Yartal is the one with the information, since the other two look dumbfounded. Everyone is looking at Yartal. Well, speak up, boy. Don’t you have anything to say? You called us. A Llennor’s time is very valuable, and you have three. I assume a Notniuq’s time is still valuable as well. You have all their attention as well. So that means you have the attention of the most powerful people in the world. You still have nothing to say?

Yartal calmly shakes his head no. El tells them to never waste her time again. She stands up. Yartal slams the gun down on the table. Everyone jumps a little. El, interested, sits back down and says, Okay, I’m intrigued. Now talk.

Nor angrily asks, What the hell are you doing with that?!

Aday responds, That’s a great question. I had no knowledge of this.

Yartal says, Our mansion was attacked with this.

Lenod asks, When?

A few minutes ago. I was outside thinking, and then my Llerrets and I heard a car approaching. It crashed into the door. A skinny man got out and began shooting at the door. That’s when three of my Llerrets killed the man.

Asil asks, How did they take down a man with a gun?

He didn’t know we were there. They put three spears in him. It was kind of hard for him to walk after that.

El is trying not to show any emotions.

Asil says, Between this and the thing with the Llerrets, we better be really careful. The Notniuqs are lost.

Aday says, I’m sorry. What thing with the Llerrets?

El says, It’s nothing, child. You shouldn’t worry.

Lenod says, If it’s something serious, don’t you think we should know? We were just attacked.

El replies, That’s right. You were attacked. We were not. Perhaps your Blue Notniuq should do something about that. We’re not here to solve your problems. Now if you have guns on your side of the country, Yartal needs to get on it before it becomes a nationwide concern.

Yartal says, My people are happy.

Nor asks, If that’s the case then why are they attacking you?

Yartal stands up. I think you’re missing the point. I don’t care about being attacked. This is about what we were attacked with. Guns are outlawed across the world. Yet, here I am with one in my hand. Now I demand to know...

Nor stands up and points his finger at Yartal. He roars, You don’t make demands to us! Who the hell do you think you are?! Nor walks around the table and stands face-to-face with Yartal. It’s so intense that they can almost feel one another’s breath.

Yartal chuckles. Lucky for you, this is just a hologram, old man. Aday grabs Yartal’s arm and pulls him to his seat. Now isn’t the time for two of the heads of the country to be fighting. She knows how ferocious Yartal can be.

Nor stands over Yartal. Yartal knows not to take Nor’s presence as a serious threat. He wishes they were face-to-face for real. Yartal smirks and says, I suggest you go back to your seat. The flight to Tneg isn’t a long one. I could be over there in no time. That is, if that’s what you really want. He looks up to Nor, who still has that smug smirk on his face.

El says, Oh, the male ego is so delicate. Sit down, Nor! Nor goes back to his seat. El continues, Now if you two are done acting like children, I would like to get this meeting over with. Yartal, do you have any plans on how we should proceed with this gun issue? Yartal shakes his head no.

Nor says, I told you we needed to do something about this gun problem a long time ago.

Lenod says, Wait, you guys knew about this? Why didn’t you tell us? You don’t think gun smuggling would be of the utmost importance? When we found out we went right to you.

Asil says, We took action into our own hands. We made the wrong decision. We sent the Llerrets to go gather guns from people’s houses. They didn’t find any. Then they made matters worse.

How the hell did they make it worse? Did they start selling the guns?

Nor says, Again, you don’t question us.

Yartal chuckles again. Bullshit. I bet the stupid plan was Nor’s idea, and now he doesn’t want to tell us because it backfired. Which isn’t that surprising. If we are in any danger, I would like to know. We did it for you.

El replies, You’re a Notniuq. You’re in danger. Now you know. I’ve been a Llennor since I was thirty. There isn’t any shocking news you can bring me. I’ve seen it all, and I’ve done even more. And I’ve lived to tell it all. I’ll be okay. Don’t you worry your sweet little head about me. In the meantime, you three need to figure out how to stop the guns from spreading. Find the source and kill him or her. That’s all.

El gets ready to hang up. Yartal sees her reaching for the button and says, Don’t hang up on us. I’m the one that called you.

I’m aware. El hangs up the call.

All the holograms go away. Yartal, Lenod, and