Tevun-Krus #100

79 - St-Kamil's Rescue - @CarolinaC - CatPunk

St-Kamil's Rescue

By CarolinaC

The day of the accident was not a good day for Dominik IV, king of Marpinia. The quattrino was down sixty-two basis points against the Euro, Princess Apollonia -Dominik's eldest, and therefore the future queen – had failed her high school civics exam, and the Ruritanians had advanced to surround the capital, St-Kamil.

That the war had not gone well was not entirely Dominik's fault. Dominik's grandfather had been an absolute monarch, but such things fell out of favour after the events of the 20th century, and Dominik had to answer to a parliament with a dozen ministers of this, secretaries of that, and treasurers of the other, all of whom seemed to have more power than he. 

Of course, the problems were also not entirely the fault of the batch of overzealous politicians. Instead, the biggest problem facing the tiny nation of Marpinia had been caused by Dominik's powerful grandfather. Following an incident where his second daughter had eloped to marry a balloon pilot and live across the Atlantic, that illustrious personage had declared that Marpinia would never utilize military aircraft of any sort. No planes, no gliders, no kites, and certainly no balloons. As an absolute monarch, his word was law.

Though what might be best described as a serious of miracles, the lack of an airforce had not caused Marpinia's destruction in the first or second world wars. A series of well-planned alliances followed up by political marriages for Dominik's aunts and promises of neutrality brought them through the cold war without being torn apart, annexed, or otherwise destroyed. The current war, however, seemed determined to undo all that.

If only Marpinia had an airforce, Dominik knew, they would have had a hope of repelling the Ruritanian invaders. As it was, St-Kamil had no way to defend herself against the rows of Ruritanian tanks arrayed outside the city's medieval walls. Dominik was grateful for the walls, now; they were a UNESCO world heritage site, and so far, the Ruritanians had declined to destroy them. For the moment, the purple flag of Marpinia still few over St-Kamil, but inside the walls the people of St-Kamil waited, the city surrounded, nothing going in, and nothing coming out, just as if Marpinia was still stuck in a time as medieval as the walls. 

Nothing went in and nothing came out. Nothing went in and nothing came out, that is, until the accident happened. Dominik first heard of it when he was called out of his lunch. He was told first that a Ruritanian bomb had struck the city, landing dead centre in the largest park in St-Kamil. Fifteen minutes later, he was told that the initial reports had been incorrect – a Ruritanian aircraft had crashed in the park. Thirty minutes after that, lunch long forgotten, the prime minister let himself in to Dominik's office.

"Really, Nicolaj," Dominik said with a sigh, "I may be legally at your beck-and-call during business hours, but you could knock."

"This is too important for knocking, your Majesty," the prime minister replied. He was clearly straining to keep his voice calm, but the variable speed of his words and the way he kept wringing his hands betrayed a certain nervous energy.

Dominik raised an eyebrow. "If the Ruritanians had breached the walls or started bombarding the city you'd have said so. If someone notable had been killed, you'd have said so. If the secretary-general of the united nations were on the phone, you'd have said so. So what – aside from those things – is too important for knocking?"

"Ah, well, it is about the, erm, accident in the park."

"Ah! Have you captured some Ruritanian prisoners?" Dominik asked, hopefully. Perhaps prisoners could be exchanged for some concessions from Ruritania.

"Not exactly. The, um, passengers of the – the vessel, I suppose? - the passengers of the vessel wish to speak to you, your Majesty."

"I am sure the army, such as it is, can deal with a group of Ruritanian prisoners of war," Dominik said. He tried to resist the urge to roll his eyes; he failed.

Nicolaj began to wring his hands again. "Oh, but they aren't, strictly speaking, prisoners, sir – and they're definitely not Ruritanian."

"Not Ruritanian? Then who are they?"

Nicolaj's hands began to move more quickly. "Well, um, they – they're not of this earth, your Majesty."

"Not of this earth? You mean -"

"They're not human! They're from some planet out beyond the bounds of our solar system, and they're cats! Giant, bipedal, bright purple cats!"

"Nicolaj, you've lost it," Dominik said, with a frown.

"Just come speak to them, sir?"

Dominik sighed. "Lead on," he said.

The king wasn't sure what he expected - an empty room, perhaps, or a crew of tired and injured Ruritanians. Either option would prove that Nicolaj had indeed gone mad, and was quite as imaginative as Apollonia. One thing Dominik did not expect was what he got: a large, purple cat standing on its hind legs in the middle of his throne room and wearing a shiny silver jumpsuit. It's tail, poking out through an opening in the jumpsuit, was held upright, tip-turned like a question mark.

"Greetingsss, ssssire," the cat said, hissing its s's. "I am glad that you came to sssspeak with us."

"I – welcome to earth," Dominik said, blinking awkwardly. Perhaps he was mad. He'd ask Apollonia for her opinion at tea; teenagers are always ready to criticize their parents.

The cat waved a purple paw. "We have been here before. We have taken an interesssst in you."

"In humans?" Dominik asked.

"In Marpinia." The cat said. Before Dominik could ask why, the cat said, "Your flag issss purple. We like that."

"Oh." said Dominik. 

"We have a gift," the cat said, gesturing. 

Three other cats approached Dominik, dragging an enormous basket between them. Dominik looked in curiously. Inside were hundreds of metallic spheres.
"Take one, pleasssse," the lead cat said.

Dominik reached out and picked up a sphere. It was surprisingly warm and very smooth. It clung gently to his hands – and it hummed, a low sound that Dominik felt more than heard.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Cradle it in your handsss," the cat said.

Dominik took a deep breath and did so. The hum increased in volume and pictch, but the physical feeling of vibration did not disappear as the hum became more audible. Suddenly, the sphere split open. 

A purple mist poured out. It curled upon the floor, cold like fog, then formed into a shadowy shape. As Dominik watched the shadow condensed and solidified. It became a large, sinuous animal. It had large, intelligent eyes, scaly wings, a long tail, and claws. 

After a moment, Dominik realised what he was looking at. It was a dragon – a dragon the size of an elephant. Dominik tilted his head to one side in confusing.

"They fly," the cat said. It twitched its tail.

Dominik's eyes grew wide. "Nicolaj!" he yelled.

Nicolaj, at his elbow, smiled. "Legal sir. They're completely legal! As living animals, they are not aircraft. Thus, they're not covered by your grandfather's law!"

Dominik excitedly grabbed each of Nicolaj's arms with one of his own. "You mean to say there's a chance we could win this war? That St-Kamil might not fall?"

Nicolaj nodded, "Thanks to our new friends, that's exactly what I'm saying!"
Dominik smiled. Perhaps this was going to be a good day, after all. Once the war was going better, the value of the quattrino would increase as well. He could find Apollonia a tutor. Everything would, finally, be looking up. 

"We'll take them!" Dominik said, gleefully.

The cat licked its paw. "We are . . . pleasssed." His tail up like a ramrod, he said, "We will sssend you our bill. All in good time."