[tbontob]

ZAX Society
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THE LOCATION: JUST OUTSIDE OF THE ENTRANCE TO ELSTONILE CASTLE.

Eston was in a quandary.

He had a mission to accomplish. Not only did the health of Zaxxon depend upon his actions, but also the very survival of the society may depend upon it.

So, he could have "ordered" the guard to relay his message to the Zaxxoness.

But the distress of the guard was so great, that it brought out his deep sense of compassion. He decided to wait for the changing of the guard.

Almost eight hours, after midnight, the changing of the guard took place. But when Eston made his request, the new guard exhibited similar signs of distress. Eston decided wait a further 8 hours.

Morning dawned. With the changing of the guard, Eston approached the new guard on duty and made his request.

The guard started to tremble and sweat...

"Are you addicted to Bubblebath as well?" Eston asked.

"No sir, but I heard about it."

"Then why are you so afraid?"

"I have seen the deep longing of my fellow soldiers for another bubblebath. I have participated in holding them down as they exhibited severe signs of withdrawal. It is not something I wish to experience."

Eston could not bring himself to order the guard to deliver his message and turned back to his camp.

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THE LOCATION: THE SEMI-OVAL OFFICE OF ZAX CENTRE

Zaxxon was happy. That morning, he had leaped out of his bed with a heart bursting with joy. He thought, "By now, the silver tongue of Eston must be doing its work. Why, even now, the Zaxxoness must be preparing for the trip back to him!"

He felt that nothing would affect his feelings of happiness and well being. This was going to be a great and momentous day!

His thoughts were interrupted by "R2D2 wishes to see you, sir."

"Send him in"

R2D2 burst in with "Sir, I have changed the funding for the research and development projects.

"Great. Tell me abo..."

"Well, I reduced the funding for reverse speed by 5% and put the 5% into researching propulsion. This way the research into reverse speed will not be lost and we will eventually get the next level of propulsion."

Only then did R2D2 become aware of the beet-red color of Zaxxon and of the court physician pulling out an empty hypodermic needle from the arm of Zaxxon.

"Whaaaaat?" R2D2 exclaimed.

"If you value your career, I would suggest you put some more thought into the projects you are funding." the court physician interjected.

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THE LOCATION: THE SEMI-OVAL OFFICE OF ZAX CENTRE
THE TIME: 2 hours later

Zaxxon was beginning to emerge from his 'short nap', when Strong-of-the-Arm Custer burst in with "I must see him!"

"Sir, we must do something!" Going to the maps, he continued, "The CCCP is showing increased activity at these three locations! We must pull our ships of the line from this location to bolster our defenses."

Zaxxon started to tremble and hyperventilate when he realized that the system Custor wanted to abandon was the system where the Zaxxoness's parents lived.

Zaxxon again felt the prick of a needle and fell into a deep sleep.

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THE LOCATION: THE SEMI-OVAL OFFICE OF ZAX CENTRE
THE TIME: 3 hours later

Zaxxon had almost fully recovered from his 'inoculations', when a courtier announced that Spiii wished to see him.

Zaxxon said, "Well Spiii, I hope you have some good news!"

"No sir! We have discovered that the CCCP has subordinate allies. A number of them are assisting the CCCP with resources, ships, intelligence and God knows what else."

This time Zaxxon hardly felt the pinprick.

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THE LOCATION: THE SEMI-OVAL OFFICE OF ZAX CENTRE
THE TIME: 1 hour later

"Dip-low-Mac-Sea, the minister of foreign affairs wishes to see you sir."

Zaxxon responded with a weary "Send him in"

Dip-low-Mac-Sea said, "I have some bad news, sir."

"Well, it couldn't be any worse than what has happened so far!"

"Two more empires have declared war on us."

This time a hypodermic was not necessary as Zaxxon passed out with the shock of the announcement.