It was midday as Sabre-X and I sat in Kyruggi's office. While I had been busy
doing my duty as a NeoPet by getting zapped by the Lab Ray, Sabre-X had completed
the preliminary interrogation on the Lupe we'd caught that morning. He had told
Kyruggi and I what he'd found out, and we had turned to our next problem--catching
the pet responsible for hiring the Lupe. We knew who it was, but the evidence
was too thin, and our target too highly placed in the Terror Mountain government.
It was discouraging, to say the least. After a minute or so of silence, while
all three of us tried to figure a way out, I had proposed my solution to the
dilemma.
Kyruggi stared at me. "That's highly dangerous, MonoKeras."
"Not in a physical sense, maybe, but you're right in a political and legal
sense. It is risky, but can you think of anything better, given the situation?"
The glum look on both of their faces was answer enough. Kyruggi finally nodded
in defeat. "Very well, do it. But you are going to give a personal accounting
for your actions, and soon."
"I wouldn't have it otherwise," I replied, hoping my reluctance didn't show.
She looked at me sharply and her slight smile was not entirely pleasant. "I
told you you would be sick of politics before this was over."
"I remember. But I think the least I can do is warn Bloriarity, after all
the help he gave us."
Kyruggi frowned at the forcefulness of my remark. "You know what he's liable
to do."
"I know, I know. But I think I can appeal to him on a personal level to keep
it quiet."
Sabre-X cut in at that point with a dry remark of his own, "You apparently
trust him to do the right thing more than you do a council full of Bruces."
I snorted. "Given who our mastermind is in all this, don't you? It's all balanced
too precariously to make any rash decisions."
He just sighed. "Go do what you have to do, MonoKeras. Don't mind me. I'm
just an old war dog who doesn't care for the shifty realities that pets call
politics."
I would have felt sorry at his beaten expression if I hadn't known it was
mostly exaggeration. If there's one thing that Sabre-X isn't, it's easily defeated-
on any grounds. I knew this was his way of approving of my idea without actually
approving. "Right," I said briskly. I stood up, gathered the documents that
I'd need, and left without a further word being said between the three of us.
Councilor Bloriarity looked up as I entered his office. "Well!" he breathed.
"Hello there. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you."
"It's MonoKeras," I replied. "The Lab Ray turned me into a Faerie Cybunny
yesterday."
"I must say, it looks... stunning."
"It'd be better on a female," I groused, sitting down.
Bloriarity nodded with a sorrowful air. "You have my sympathy, for what it's
worth. So, what news brought you to my door?"
"It looks like I was right about the avalanches being sabotage. We captured
the Lupe who was doing it this morning."
"WHAT??" Bloriarity exploded. He half-stood, eyes bulging as he glared at
me. "You mean you weren't just throwing out possibilities? There actually was
sabotage going on?"
I nodded. "Not only that, but we know who did it."
"I should think so, if you caught him. What's his name?"
"k9evil1. But I meant we know who hired him--the pet who masterminded this
whole thing, and financed it as well."
He sat back down abruptly, suddenly gone deadly silent. "Who?" he asked.
I handed him the documents I'd taken from Kyruggi's office. "The Lupe withdrew
money from an ATM to pay for his latest attempt. These are the records that
the bank had on that account."
Bloriarity flipped through them, frowning thoughtfully, and paused over the
significant name. "Are these the originals?" he asked, looking up.
"No, just copies. The investigation team has the originals."
"I see. A wise decision." He dropped the sheaf on its side to straighten things
back up, apparently as stunned as I was when I'd found out myself. "You think
you know everything about what's going on, and then something still totally
surprises you," he remarked in a distant way.
"I know," I replied.
"So, how are you going to prosecute the case now?"
"Well, k9evil1 is going to plead guilty to assorted conspiracy and property
destruction charges. He'll cooperate fully with the prosecution, in return for
a lighter sentence and no charges related to the main crime. I think he'll serve
some significant time in prison, making restitution for all of that property
loss."
Bloriarity nodded. "A good plan. But what about this?" He held up the documents
that I'd given him.
"Well, that's where it gets tricky. As you can see there, the bank has no
idea who actually withdrew the money from the ATM. The Lupe knows he did, but
he doesn't know who gave him the card to access it- another security feature,
it looks like, they give out unmarked cards to corporations that ask for them.
And, since he threw the card away- into the Tyrannian volcano, no less--we don't
really have any solid chain of evidence."
"But how did you know he withdrew the money in the first place?"
"Because I had a faerie 'crying glass' focused on him. We observed him through
that."
"I see. But you can't use magical evidence in court."
"Right. So we're stuck, it would seem."
Bloriarity's smile was chilling. "No, I think not," he replied. "It would
seem that I've succeeded brilliantly in my plan, and that you can't do a thing
about it."
I nodded. "So it would seem. It's amazing, actually, the depths that you've
sunk to. You become an advocate for the 'downtrodden Blumaroo', deliberately
inflame their passions to gain power, and then when that isn't enough, you hire
a pet to destroy their property and endanger their lives in order to provoke
a revolution to- what?- give you total power?"
Bloriarity gave a bark of laughter. "You have no idea what you're talking
about. I've always been a sincere advocate for Blumaroos, and still am. This
little plan was simply necessary for us to achieve any sort of equality. They
actually benefit from all of this- and I made sure no lives would be lost."
"Oh, but of course. It's OK if they don't have to worry about that, but you
can take away their property so that they are out in the cold. Some help."
He bridled. "You don't know a thing," he hissed. "You haven't been there to
see us ignored, backbitten, disregarded, and in general made the butt of every
joke in Terror Mountain. Now, at last, the limits are being reached. We're standing
up in a way that they can not ignore and the government is finally beginning
to listen to us."
"It won't for long, when the council finds out what you were doing. And your
'people' won't be listening to you, either, when they realise what you did to
them."
"You think not? You fail to see the reality of the situation. My people know
very well that I intend only the best for them, and they'll never believe this
story. If you and your stupid council ever try to bring me to trial, it will
provoke the very revolution they were trying to avoid. And assuming you still
had a legal system worth the name left, you've just told me in about as many
words that you can't convict me on anything. Magical evidence is not admissible
in a Neopian court of law."
I sat back with an air of defeat, while he grinned triumphantly at me. Now
was the time to pull the sucker punch. "What I'm still amazed at, actually,
is that you involved Fire Faeries in your scheme."
He shrugged. "Why not? They're a handy source for such things as explosives,
and are glad to do it."
I nodded. "But involving them subjects the Faerie Kingdom to suit from Neopia
for violation of our laws on supplying explosives for revolutionary purposes."
Bloriarity frowned slightly. "What are you talking about?"
"It's all part of the agreement between the Faerie Queen and Neopia. We don't
get involved in her affairs by using magical evidence in our courts, and she
won't get involved in ours by having her subjects do any sort of large-scale
destabilization, or contribute to it. It's the only way we can coexist, and
she is even more aware of it than Neopia is, I'm sure."
Bloriarity waved dismissively. "Another long legal battle that goes the same
way as your material one here in Neopia. While you're arguing in court, my people
stand up for their rights and gain the control that's been denied to them. I
still win."
I clicked the trap shut. "You do if it goes to inter-world court, that's true.
But, knowing the Faerie Queen, I don't think it will."
Bloriarity froze. "What does that mean?"
"That means that she is not in any way mindful of Neopian court procedures
when it comes to executing HER justice, both on her faeries and on other NeoPets.
When she finds out what you did in pulling this off, and that you involved her,
I don't think she'll wait for any sort of court that we could convene. It's
not her style. She'll... eliminate... the problem quickly, directly... and finally."
Bloriarity blinked as I fixed him with a piercing stare. For once, he seemed
at a total loss for words. I decided not to wait for him to recover. I stood
up and added, "But, it's Saturday, so I doubt any official action will be taken
until next Monday. That's when everything goes public, and the information is
released."
There was still no reply as I turned to leave. I opened the door and turned
back to see Bloriarity still staring in what appeared to be shock. I couldn't
resist a last jab at him before I left. "You know," I said in a thoughtful tone,
"I must hand it to you. You gave your constituents the biggest snow job that
I've ever seen."
The sound of the closing door put a nice period on the end of my exit line.
To be continued... | 
