6. Minister of Utmost Importance

Prince didn’t mind the helicopter ride, as Mindy had given him and Akoa a mound of leaves to munch. Good thing too, or he’d have seen how high they flew and fainted in a panic.

Akoa, of course, had no such issues. Mindy repeatedly shoved her sleeping body off herself, glaring all the while.

The ride was very short; the Kran weapons would also arrive soon. He missed Pika and had accidentally given Mindy’s hands several kisses already. See, Pika. Humans aren’t so bad. They’ve learned from their mistakes and won’t blindly fire back.

It was a shame Prince and Akoa had to stay caged inside the ministry. This was made worse when the prime minister grumpily shoved them aside, calling them beasts. Until it reached its worst of all when he began:

“There is but one response. We fire all our weapons too.”

“To what end, Goettot?”

Judging by the many medals and weapons adorning him, Prince deduced this was the military advisor. “Better to save our own people than punish others for something with which they likely weren’t involved.”

“Kran’s laws are clear,” Goettot shouted. He had a round face with small gray eyes above a broad nose. “No one fires them, because then the rest will fire back, and the whole planet dies.”

“Yet they’ve been fired. We’re past laws now.”

“The decision is made!” Goettot turned red. “Listen to your prime minister.”

Mindy nervously picked at her nails under the table. She felt entirely misplaced amidst the ornate chairs and heavily decorated room. This was the country’s most important building. She was an intern.

The news was so shocking, however, that this meeting had been hastily called, violating virtually every law in order to quickly reach a decision.

Prince and Akoa sat in the cage next to her. They stuck their paws through the bars. Mindy pushed them back in. “You’ve had plenty to eat, greedy little beasts,” she whispered.

The adviser sought her attention. “Mindy, was it?”

She nodded a good twenty times, eyes wide. The advisor sighed deeply. “You’re certain of what you saw?”

“Your colleagues saw it too, when they picked us up.”

“And you’re sure all the radar devices work correctly? That those … animals didn’t mess with it?”

“Get those beasts off the table,” Goettot grumbled. “Why are they here? What are you doing here? Are we to be led by foolish interns without any degree? Has the country come to this?”

Mindy swallowed. “They pointed me to the screen.”

“You imagined that, young lady.” Forms were shoved before Goettot him and he signed them. A group of three ministers were sent away to retrieve the launch codes for Kran.

“I can be a bit of a daydreamer, I admit. And my head’s as messy as my hair, but—”

“Speak clearly and speak quickly.”

Mindy stilled her hands and placed them on the table. “I’m certain. They pulled me to the screen and pointed out the exact red cross.”

“So what?” Goettot had stood up. His pen ran out of ink. Mindy immediately offered him one of her thirty pens.

Prince heard a grinding sound, coming from all directions. It was soft and sounded like the whole room slid across sand. The weapons haven’t been activated already, have they? he thought. It would mean Somnia’s end. Can I still stop this?

“These are clearly intelligent beings.” Mindy lifted the cage roughly, flipping Prince upside down. “We can use them for warnings in future. We must run tests. What happens if you feed them human food? How do they respond to pain or danger? How to get more information from them? How—”

Prince whistled as loud as he could. Akoa awoke with a start, saw the situation, and grabbed a pen from the table.

Behind the scowling Goettot, three thick walls slid down. The sound was almost like the grinding noise that now drove Prince mad, but not quite.

A red button gleamed atop a raised platform in an otherwise empty gray room. Akoa had finished writing something on a sheet. Mindy picked it up and frowned.

“What’s this?” Prince asked. “Koala talk?”

“Koalish, of course. The only language all smart animals understand.”

“Really?”

Akoa laughed. “Of course not! Only koalas speak Koalese.”

Prince growled. He tugged the pen from her paws with his teeth. He’d never tried writing anything to the humans before. But he could understand them, mostly, so maybe this worked both ways.

Goettot hurried to the red button. His footsteps left a trail of sand. Alarms sounded all through the building and the room itself flashed red.

Too little time for more, Prince thought, sliding the sheet forward.

Mindy’s mouth fell open. The advisor stood behind her, also reading.

“I don’t know what this symbol means,” he mumbled. “And that word doesn’t exist. But if this is …”

“I take no joy in it,” said Goettot, still red-faced and puffed up. “But if we do nothing now, they’ll learn they can bombard us without consequences. Kran’s weapons show strength, power, resilience, and—”

“I understand, prime minister.” The advisor also rushed into the room, but was stopped by guards. Goettot alone could enter, his fingerprint the only one that worked. “But what does it matter if they bomb Aprania … if we’re all gone?”

Goettot froze, hand above the button. “What?”

“We have enough rockets spread across Aprania, especially in Raketa. We can ready them and have everyone flee.”

“The rockets are exploding left and right!”

The advisor punched two guards in the face and stepped beside Goettot. “The survival of most is better than the death of all!”

“Guards! Remove this man.”

He was dragged out by hands and feet. Prince and Akoa busted open the bars and ran along the table. Mindy grabbed Akoa.

Not to restrain her—to hug her. Her voice was soft and squeaky, like a baby after crying for hours. “Farewell world, I suppose.”

Prince used the slumping military advisor as a springboard to leap over the guards.

That proved unnecessary.

The guards shut their eyes one by one and collapsed. Goettot’s hand was shoved away by a sandy fist, before he toppled forward, embracing the platform asleep.

The sand grains melted and twisted until forming a figure. It surveyed the room briefly, became a hare for a moment, then settled on a human shape.

The advisor stumbled backward. “This room plays with my mind. It’s cursed. Cursed!”

“Hmpf! I’m Claes the Sand King and have just saved your world, no thanks needed, no thanks at all.”

He walked around the table, pointing to Akoa. “You may thank the koalas. All my time gets sucked up by these odd creatures who do almost nothing but sleep all day. That led me to you.”

Oddly, Akoa stayed awake at his touch. “Say, do me a favor and stay slightly more awake. Since the air blackened the whole world has a sleep issue and depression, so if you could just cooperate? Please?”

Mindy’s fingers sought pen and paper. “B-b-but you’re sand. You live. And you’re sand. And you talk. How does that work? Can you explain?”

“Magic.” Claes sprinkled sand like confetti, as if this were a child’s birthday party. The playacting ceased rapidly. “If you weren’t so stupid as to attack the gods, they might have explained it to you.”

He turned to the advisor, who tried to remain calm and collected. Back perfectly straight, he stood in the room’s center. When Claes extended a hand, however, he swiftly drew a weapon.

“Are you able to execute the plan?” Claes asked with his mouth down-turned, as if annoyed that the advisor didn’t realize bullets couldn’t kill sand. “Ready all the space rockets and flee with everyone?”

“Yes. Yes, I have that authority. But why—”

“Do it.”