Ghost of the Well of Souls

AMBASSADOR DUKLA'S ALMOST EQUINE FACE PULSED AS HE breathed the water of his longtime ambassadorial home. Most of those he addressed were no more likely to read his mood or expressions than they could read it on a rock's, but there was no mistaking the tone the telepathic translator module carried through to the allied hexes. "The Chalidang ambassador has been replaced, as you know," Dukla began, sounding cheerful. "My suspicion is that he either did not go home or he is home for good. The Emperor and Empress there are having quite a purge." Those watching in both air- and water-breathing ambassadorial chambers gave their own equivalents of nods or knowing chuckles. Not only did the Chalidang rulers have vicious tempers, they were known to go into serious rages and eat the nearest person alive, slowly, limb by limb. It wasn'tjustpersonal, it was almost traditional. "The official protests, of course, have been coming in fast and furious as well--not just from the Chalidang, but also from the Jirminins and the Quacksans. Both lost quite a bit more in the Battle of Ochoa than the pride their rulers lost--for all that means to the bastards. It centered mostly on my using my authority to allow Ochoan armed troops inside Zone as part of the battle. They are waving the treaty like never before, even though they ignore it whenever it doesn't suit them. They have called for an impeachment of me and my office, and for my immediate recall with censure, and, of course, they want all sorts of reparations. As usual, these things are being negotiated under the table, even as they bluster, but I wanted to let you know ahead of any Council convenings that a deal is already shaping up. "Technically, the Ochoans were here primarily as a deputized force of the Zone Council--as all of our races who participate do from time to time. They were empowered to prevent hostilities and to prevent Zone's use in influencing the course of a conflict. The complaintants see it differently. The fact that the Kalindans gave over their assignment to the Ochoans is in order, but I'm afraid the Ochoans aren't good for long periods underwater, no matter how well they fish." The Ochoan ambassador, who knew he owed the continued existence of his nation in part to the courage of this strange creature and its sense of right and wrong, had guessed that this was coming, but he didn't like it anyway. "So they are taking the easy way out, I suppose?" he said. "Much easier than making a moral choice. They justify their action in using Zone as a planned military escape route because of our action, in support of Kalinda's authority, to stop them. The invaders are disarmed and sent home. We are already home, so that is moot, although we did go home fully armed. And you take the political fall." "That is an accurate summary," Ambassador Dukla acknowledged. "I knew this was probable when I did it. Do not worry. My homeland does not eat its recalcitrants. Fortunately, we are vegetarians. And it shall be nice to be home once more in my native land. I have an estate that is a gorgeous coral reef, nicely designed by me and my kin. I truly have missed it. In a year or two, when things quiet down and memories fade and the rage of nations is elsewhere, I'll quietly be let back into the government, probably as an adviser or deputy minister." In the Kalindan embassy, the twin-minded Ari and Ming watched while reclining in comfort just beneath the water, along with the very strange one called Core, who appeared to be the self-aware portion of crime lord Jules Wallinchky's computer, designed to run his faraway museum and retreat. For the moment, Core was on their side, but there was no precedent for such a creature, not even in its own memories, and nobody knew just what it might do or become. "Do you mean that the Ochoans win the war because Dukla hChalker, Jack L. is the author of 'Ghost of the Well of Souls', published 2000 under ISBN 9780345394859 and ISBN 0345394852.