Did I mention that I was a quick study at languages? Be that as it may... as I slowly made my way back toward consciousness I found myself understanding some of what was being said around me.
"still I say that with one of the foreigners in our hands, the Senate will have to at least listen to our position. '
"Perhaps, but this man is only an assistant, we know nothing of of their customs, as far as we know this man is entirely expendable!"
"How can he be expendable? He is the largest and strongest!"
The next voice I heard was definitely a woman's.
"You must abandon the idea that these people are savages! They are diplomats, not warriors. The do, however represent great military power."
"Then you are saying that the position of the Senate is correct?"
"I am saying that we must approach them with an alternative proposition rather than back them into a corner. If we make them look like fools before the world then we will never win their willing support."
As my head cleared, it became apparent that I had become an unwitting pawn in an internal matter of the country.I attempted to feign unconsciousness for a little longer in the hope that I might gain further information of my captor's intentions.
"Our position, "said the first voice," is much more beneficial to the mission of the foreigners than is that of the Senate.It is not impossible that he may choose to help us voluntarily."
Another voice entered the conversation, another man.
"How could this man travel with us unnoticed? Have you ever seen such a man, black as the winter night?"
"For that, he could become a visible symbol of our cause."
"Let me remind you that in many of the outer lands, his kind hold a lesser status than do the Kozars in ours! One of their empires had to fight a great and bloody civil war just to free some of his kind from abject slavery, and this in living memory!"
I could no longer keep myself from stirring and so allowed one eye to open. I now realized that I was being slowly rocked back and forth as if I was on a boat. It was now revealed to me that I was a passenger on a small skyship far less steady than than the great and weighty Bontor Do'alina. It was also revealed to me that my captors were two men and a woman.
One of the men was the man who knocked out Dzhidro and myself and the other was of a type that I had not yet seen in Bromfkidor for he had dark olive skin rather than the gray which seemed to be the prevailing sort. Also he stood only about five foot ten inches, making him a dwarf in these parts. I would later learn that this fellow represented a minority known as the "Mosains" who were followers of a very law and tradition oriented religion.
The woman was of the standard Bromfkidoran stock although rather an exceptional example for she was without a doubt one of the loveliest women that ever I had seen. She embodied all of the finest physical features found in her people. Her nose, although prominent, was so finely formed that it seemed not to dominate but rather to enhance her features and particularly the character which shone in her deep jade green eyes. Her hair was a full, wavy chestnut cascade which shined like a tiger eye stone. Further she possesed in the best possible way those atributes which I have previously noted to be so pronounced amongst her people. A great beauty to be sure but I could not in this moment of disadvantage allow myself to be distracted by pulchrtude.
"Look, he is awake!" she exclaimed.
"We will be lucky if he hasn't' been rendered an idiot by the blow Shopari gave him." said the short man.
"Be quiet, Kohain. I know my business, and I can tell you that it will take quite a bit more than a knock on the head to stop this one."
"Shopari," said the woman,"why must we do this? This is a mistake, we have representatives among the Guides, they can make our case. This is how a WAR starts!"
The tone in which she said the word 'war' led me to believe that it might just be the most vile word in her vocabulary.
For the first time I spoke using my sketchy knowledge of the Bromfkidoran language.
"Were am I? Why am I here? Who are you people?" I thought that all of these were germane questions regarding my situation.
The one who they called Shopari answered me.
"Woodrow Hammond," he said,"allow me to introduce myself and my colleagues. I am Dzhonith Shopari, until a few months ago I sat at the King's Table as a Senator. This man is Lenar Kohain, a great teacher and philosopher. The lady is Princess Ola Sharomna, heiress to the throne of Pojona."
"I wish," I replied, "that I could say I was pleased to meet you."
"Partner Hammond, it is possible that upon hearing me out that you may find that we have quite a few goals in common."
I snapped back, "'Partner' Shopari, you have placed yourself in a very bad position! I myself am a person of no great power and can do you or your 'cause' no good. On the other hand, I am the personal aide to ambassador William P. Richardson who is in the direct service of his Imperial Majesty, William II, Emperor of California and all its subject possesions. By abducting me you have made a hostile act against my government!"
Shopari seemed unmoved by my statement.
"Mister Hammond," he said, as if addressing a child,"you are speaking from a position of almost total ignorance. I am aware that people from the outside know but little of the true face of my country, had you stayed with your official party, you would have had little opportunity to learn more. Would it surprise you to learn that this is the active policy of the King's Table?"
"What utter nonsense!" I responded, "How on earth could it serve your government's interests to shroud itself in mystery. We must come to know each other to achieve diplomatic relations and trade."
"How little you know of 'my government' is summed up by your statement. Let me tell you the story of how Bromfkidor as we know it today came into existence. The official name for this land is Stomo Nomchitka do Bromfkidoro"
I now had enough of a handle on the language to know that the meaning of these words was roughly, Parliament of Nations of the United World.It didn't take me more than a second or two to figure out what he was talking about.
"Bromfkidor is the world?"
Shopari continued,
"A little more than twenty years ago king Dzhidro Bogadnij united the warring nations under his authority and on the moral foundation of a united world government being the only way by which mankind might endure upon the earth. Over the intervening years this has become the 'Great Principle' of our civilization. there is no truth greater, no dogma more binding. Seven years ago we learned that the world was very much bigger than first we thought. In that year I sat at the King's Table in the last year of my elected term. While those around me argued that the Great Principle was the only basis for action, I put forward the idea that we might have to play by the rules of the outside world. Being my last year at the Table my power to persuade was not as great as it might have been in the past. Because I was a friend of the king, I was able to extract from him the promise of a fifteen year moratorium on any military action that we might have time to learn of the outside before bringing them into the 'World'".
"My dear friend, the king Meskrin D'Rohuki, is now a very old man, his most likely successor is Buerno Montolla a champion of early enactment of the Great Principal. So you can see why there can be no diplomacy. Our king and parliament can extend recognition to no government but our own.
So here was the reality of the situation in this land, for I could sense the mesure of the man before me and knew he spoke naught but the truth.
"Bromfkidor, for all its great strength, cannot stand against the entire world! It would be the most insane folly to challenge the the united forces of Europe, Asia, the Americas! Madness!"
"United!? Even with our sparse knowledge of your world, we can see that you are far, far from united! There are over one hundred and fifty seperate, distinct governments outside Bromfkidor, most of whom are the sworn enemy of at least one other nation!"
The truth of this was beyond dispute. I merely nodded as Shopari continued.
"It is the plan of the Senate and the military to plant spies and pay collaborators in your nations for the purpose of inciting world conflict of the most horrifying type. If they can induce your kings and presidents to use up troops, materiel and money in useless, general conflict, then, for them, the course is easy. With your cities in ruin and your factories and farms laid waste, your empires a mere shadow of their former power, the sky men of Bromfkidor shall come to restore order. Yes, there would be some fighting, but with our collaborators having paved the way, most of your people would bend to their will without any trouble,in fact many would welcome them."
I was chilled to the bone by the vividness of Shopari's recitation. My feelings of overwhelming helplessness almost won me over in that moment.
Thankfully my musings were interupted when a crewman served me a hot meal.