Laughables

[WitchQueen]

Ahmed and the others have now reached Alexandria and there is a welcome for them at the Palace of the President. Guards are placed around the treasure and the men go into the Palace. "Welcome to all," speaks the President. We would like to thank you for this discovery. All the members of the Antiquties are very excited." "We have taken many pictures of this journey. My editor will print them in the Jadida Press," explains Has. After all of the ceremony, they have a mid day meal with the President and Zalmay. Now it is time for zalmay to leave. He will oversee everything for the new home of all the treasure and the sarcoughagaphes. The new building will be the Museum. Probably the art display in the building will be very large and the Egyptian Pyramid Display will be given the upmost attention.

Zalmay leaves and Brim and Has go with him. They will continue to cover the story.

Ahmed discusses the process of the plague program. He basically tells the President what has been done in his Territory to protect the people. We will do the samehere. "Itsounds like a good plan. Have you read the latest newspapers?"Ahmed tells the President that he has not. "What is the latest news?" The President tells him,"Bruckos and the Druids have some of the people on Oblika. They think they have some hostages.>"

"Well we know that they are evil. I have sent Anarcist to Oblika. I do not know if he has left yet.I better make a call to him. I think I will use the shortwave radio for the call. The Druids must be taken seriously. Ahmed makes a call first to the radio station, 97.9. The Knight answers. "This is Ahmed. How are things going there?" "It is quiet," answers the Knight. What is it that you wish, Ahmed. We will help you any way we can."Ahmed asks them if Madmaroc and HoudaK are there? The Knight tells Ahmed they are. Ahmed tells them to call other radio stations and annouce the recipe for tyhe Plague. "Use the shortwave radio so that you can reach Kruata and Bacuda. Get the other radio stations to help. Ask some of the younger boys to go to the farmers and make sure they protect themselves. I appreciate your help. Ziere will be sending out letters with this information to all of the Provinces on Al Khadikaji and also to all of the Consul Members." "Is that it Ahmed?" "Yes and thank you for your help."

The President tells Ahmed that he will have some of his men do the same. "Now what are your plans?" Ahmed tells the President that he will be sending MoroccanSnake and Abdelilah will be sending Lieutenent MeLianE to Mercula and Edena to speak with the Presidents there."I do not think that they will take this too seriously. They think you can pacify the Druids. This is not true. The Oblikans know. Menske said the war was great.

The war between the Druids and the Oblikans was a truly nasty one. Ahmed was not on Xanthia yet. Some of the Watanis went to help the Oblikans. It seems that the Druids found the Passageway by accident. The Oblikans knew about the other Portal. The ones on anthia were the watanis and Menske were. Some of the Quettans were aware. Menske knew that they would all be destroyed. Menske is one of the Ancients. They can live to about 5000 years old. They are very wise and have the knowledge to make great things. They made the great cities and the powerful telescope up in the mountains and the monitors. This is some history of the Druids.

When Ahmed came to Xanthia, Menske greeted him. He is like a phophet. (Menske is the one who told Ahmed to have a child to keep him company. Munna was able to keep the child for three years and then she turned him over to Ahmed. At this time thr war was over. Bruckos and the other fifty Druids were captured and locked in the Dungeon of the Dark Planet called Zergos. The prison was supposed to be escape proof but as you can see it was not. Menske was the one who said they should blow up the mountain and block the Portal on Argos. It was not an easy thing to do.

Ahmed went to the dark Solar System to see the Druids early on. Since they were in an agitated state they were not able to take human form.

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen

[WitchQueen]

Bruckos and the fifty other Druids are on the run on the planet of Oblika. Oblikais a more modern planet. The cities are somewhat futuristic. This is why the Space station is there. The Consul made a deal to have a satellite put up so that Xanthia would be able to have cell phones. Usually the trade between planets consists only of perishable items. Not resources. Oblika is messed up from the war with the Druids. After the war they found blueprints for the space Station, the power battery and the cell phones.

Xanthia has rare resources. They have much gold and they have the black tinge gold, the white tinge gold and the turquoise tinge gold. The metals have all the properties of yellow gold. Xanthia made a deal with the Oblikans to pay for their satellite with some of the rare black tinge gold and also for some of the trees and seeds to replace some of the ones that the Druids burned.

Bruckos is free at this time and he is wandering around with the other fifty Druids and the five men who were not turned into Druids. They have discovered the Space Station. The Space Station can send up satellites and is somewhat like the Space Shuttle. The Oblikans work with the xanthians. In fact some of the Xanthians helped the Oblikans with the Space Station. dz_ice hockey player helped with this project.

since they have escaped the dungeon on Zergos, the Dark Planet they have killed some of the Oblikans. Akbar is aware of this. He does not want the people to panic about this. He has not put any of this information in any of the newspapers. This means that Ahmed does not know about the deaths either. Although deaths are to be expected. What he does know is that Bruckos has two hostages and they are boys. The boys are about seventeen years old. Bruckos needs the boys to read the newspaper. The boys are best friends and they are trying to be brave. They know their situation is dangerous. Bruckos sends one of the boys with one of the Druids to buy the newspapers. They do not go to the same news stand all of the time. Do not forget they can take on the appearance of humans for awhile. Not for too long but for awhile. It is very tiring. And also all animals react to Druids. The animals hate them and they become wild if they come too near them. This means they cannot ride a horse, donkeys or camals. Even insects hate them.

Bruckos does not know that the Passageway to Oblika has been blocked off by an explosion. The explosion is on the Argos side of the Passageway.. The Druids just know that the Passageway is heavily guarded.

Bruckos wishes to have control of Oblika. They found the Passageway by accident. He also knows that there is one on the dark Planet of Zergos. Maybe there are more he does not know about. He does not plan to try to break through the Passageway at this time. He wishes to know more about the space Station and he is aware that there will be a time for him and the other Druids. this amuses him. For now he will just be careful and try to checkout the Territory. He knows that the Passageway to Argos is there and the one to Zergos. That was confusing with the moving Labrynith.

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen
_________________________________________________________________

Voltaires_Priest will play the part of Father Voltaire and also the part of Quado.

Thetruth will play the pert of the Disciple and also the part of Akbar.

Never_Mind will have the part of the FirstMate on the Seacat and also the part of the DarkAngel and also the part of PrinceAboto if he is a Dark African, He says he is not an Arab but he is a North African so we will see, I hope.

WitchQueen

[WitchQueen]

Ishtar has spoken with Chang the day before. She explained that she had a letter about the Plague and the Potion. It seems that the Chinese do not read the language of Xanthia which is Arabic.Most of the newspapers have a section written in English but not Chinese. The Chinese have their own newspapers which only they know how to read. Most of the people only know Chinese language for speaking also. What shall Ishtar do? Chang tells her to speak with his brother about this and they will translate for the rest of the people in the Peking Province. "We must also send some men to our Province. This way the people will be warned." chang tells this to Ishtar. "I would go myself but I think Ahmed would want me here in chinatow."

Ishtar tells Chang that she will go to Chinatown tomorrow morning to speak with your brother and your wife. "That will be very helpful if you can do that. I will be at the laundry tomorrow anyway so we will be able to set up a plan."

At this point Chang leaves for the day. The cleaning crew has been to the Palace so everything is polished. Ishtar has made ready one of the rooms upstairs for the new child. She is very excited about this. At a later time she will go to BabyNuria's where she will be able to order items for the baby. The shop belongs to Ms. Nuria and her husband. Fixing things in the nursery will be a fun thing to do.

Well the batches of the potions are coming along quite well. Ishtar knows that the women have been working overtime so that all of the men will take the potion as soon as possible. Saddy will be in charge of the women at the school. Ishtar is sure she will be able to handle things without her. Ishtar wants all of the women and their families to take the potion tomorrow. She has insisted. Saddy will keep records of everyone who takes the remedy. This is very important.

Ishtar decides to call Ahmed on the cell jjphone. "Greetings Ahmed, It is I Ishtar." (Arabic) "Greetings Ishtar. How are things going?" Ishtar tells Ahmed that all of the Malitia at the training camp have now taken the potion. The women are working hard at the school and we are keeping records of everyone who takes the potion. Ahmed tells Ishtar "This is good. The next thing we have to do is have all of the sailors on the ships and the fishermen take the Crackleberry remedy."

"I miss you, you know. I know you have to do what you have to do. I just wanted to tell you." Ahmed tells Ishtar that he must go now. "I will talk with you when I can."
_________________________________________________________________
The Spirit
The Spirit is like the new wine. The new wine must be poured into the new wineskin. Pur it into the old wineskin it will surely burst. So the parable goes. This is the way of the Spirit.

This belongs at the begining of the story.

I have forgotten Qater. According to the map, the Province of Qatar is located in the Gulf of Persia, west of the Lybian Territory. Qatar is an island and it is not far from Oman and Bahrain. There territory is larger than what they have on Earth. I have also forgotten the Western Sahara and at this time I have not decided where to put them. Now I believe I have mentioned all of the Arabic Provinces.

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen

[WitchQueen]

Now it is morning and Ishtar is awake. She has already dressed and straightened the room. Even though the children are here she is still lonely without Ahmed.

Downstairs the children are waiting for her. Nadia is already at the Palace. It is time for the morning meal.The boys have decided to go to the Watani village and visit with Couto. What they really want to do is take a boat down river and see what Couto is doing. with the explorers. Ishtar does not know about this. The boys have the day off and they can do what they want.

Ishtar explains,"I will be going to Chinatown and Conception. I have letters for them about the potion and the plague. they must be made aware. What about us? We have to take it ourselves." "I will make the remedy myself," says Nadia. "That will be best. Ahmed has already taken the potion at the Training Camp. We will be useless if we become sick."

"I would like to leave early. Cassem will drive us to chinatown. I will be taking Tezia with me. will you be able to take care of Abdul and Neeta?"asks Ishtar. "I will do that. The children play nice together."

Ibrahim offers to get Cassem and the other boys will get the carriage ready for the journey. The boys have to saddle their horses also. After about twenty minutes it is time to leave. The boys are already on their way to the rain Forrest. Cassem helps Ishtar and Tezia into the carriage and they are on their way.

The ccarriage is fancier than the wagon. It has a cover on it. They will be traveling along the Marrakech Road. The journey will take them about one half hour. To travel along this road is very nice indeed.

It does not take very long to reach the turn off to Chinatown. Now they will be traveling along the Path of the Dragon which will take them to the Main street of the village. Chinatown is very colorful. the buildings have roofs like Pagodas. Often the color red is used. Some of the buildings are trimmed with gold paint. It is exceptionally festive here when they have Chinese New Year. There are many dragons and costumes.

Now Ishtar and Tezia have reached Chang's Laundry. Chang comes out to reach them. "Welcome Ishtar. It is good to see you." "Greetings Chang. How are things? I have brought the letter with the recipe and directions to be safe." "This is good. I will give you directions to my house and we will be able to talk there."

The Laundry is located in the business part of Chinatown. Chang's house is located in the outskirts of the village. Cassem parks the carriage in the front of Chang's house and then they wait for Chang there. Two children are playing in the front of the house. they are speaking chinese. Ishtar asks,"Do you speak English or Arabic?" They speak both. "I am Ishtar. Are you the children of Chang?" "We are." They answer. "Our mother speaks chinese." "I see" says Ishtar.

Now chang has arrived at the house. His wife Ming has been watching the children from the house. She realizes that this must be Ishtar, the Witch.

Chang brings Ishtar and tezia into the house. They leave there shoes outside on the porch. Cassem has told Ishtar that he will ride around the village and maybe buy something for Nadia.

Inside of the house which is very Chinese and very beautiful, Chang speaks to Ishtar. She explains the plan so that everyone will understand what to do. Since Chang reads english and Arabic, he will be able to translate for the Chinese newspapers. "I will notify our radio stations and we will make up notices and leave them in the shops. "Are we allowed to pick the Crackleberries along the Marrakech Road?" "Yes you will be able to do that but try to protect the bushes." "I will tell my people what to do. What about the Peking Province?" "It will be best if you send some of your men there to be sure they understand the situation." Ishtar tells Chang. "I will pick the men myself and make sure that everything is taken care of.The Peking Province is a large Territory. We will print this in the newspapers in Chinese, Arabic and English."

Cassem has returned from the center of the village and he has been waiting for Ishtar and Tezia. He has bought a Chinese lamp for Nadia. "How did things go?" he asks. "I think that chang understands everything and he will be sending some of the men from the village to the Peking Province. I hope that this will cover all of the territory there is as the Peking Province is a large area. Well I did my best and now it is time for us to go to Conception."

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen

[WitchQueen]

The journey to Conception takes another hour. This is a quaint village on the opposite side of the Marrakech Road. It is a very nice day and you would think that there are no troubles anywhere but there are. The Druids are plotting and scheming. Quado has been sending out patrols to see if they can find anything of interest. They have secretly discovered a Monitor but they do not know that it is supposed to enable one to see what goes on on other planets. This one is not turned on. Bruckos does not know that Quado has tried to take over and has some of the Druids working with him.

Cassem has reached Conception. The Main Street consists of cobblestones and the shops and houses are quaint. The church is located in a square at the far end of the village. This church is known as Saint Mary of the Lake.There is a large lake at the back side of the village. The lake is called Fairy Lake and the lightening bugs fly around the lake in the evening. They make a magnificent display as they are able to light up. They light up to find each other.

Cassem has stopped the carriage in the courtyard in the front of the church. He helps Ishtar and Tezia out of the carriage. Tezia decided to go into the church with Ishtar.

There are few churches on Zanthia. Our Lady of Peace in the Iraqui Province. Church of the Ephiany in the Ethiopian Province and One in Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Seplecur in the Palestinian Province. (I am trying to be realistic about this.)

Ishtar and Tezia enter the church. The church has beige brick building and a cinamin clay pot roof. The church is decorated for Christmas and there are many pointsettia inside.

Ishtar is looking for the Priest. Priest_Voltaire. She tells tezia to sit and wait for her while she speaks with the Priest. He is in the Penance Room. Ishtar enters. Father Voltaire,"I have come to speak with you." "You may speak Ishtar. I have been expecting you. Is there anything you wish to say?"
"No father. I have made my decision to be a Muslim now. That is best for me. I would just like for you to know that Jesus is still with me but the Phophet Mohammed has helped me a lot, and I believe his words.

"Do you come about the Plague, Ishtar?" "Yes I do. I have everything written down. Ahmed and I have a plan and we have verything outlined for you. You must follow it and contact the other churches." "I will get michael to help me with this. I will do as you say. I speak with Menske some of the time and he has said we must cooperate." "This is good. It is nice to see the church decorated for Christmas." "We will miss you." Ishtar tells Father Voltaire that it is time for her to go now.

Ishtar bids adieu to the Priest. There are other people waiting outside of the Penance Room for Confession. Tezia is waiting for her. Ishtar goes over to the candles,lights one and puts three dracos in the box. Her prayer is long. She prays for Ahmed to be safe. She prays for all of the children and she prays for Xanthia and the Constellation of the Dragon.

Now it is time for her and Tezia to leave.

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen

[WitchQueen]

Ishtar has left the saint Mary of the Lake Church. She left papers with Father Voltaire, the Priest explaining the best procedure to set up a program to prevent the Plague. As she is leaving the Priest invites her to have the mid day meal at the Rectory with him and michael. It is already one o'clock in the afternoon. Ishtar thanks him for his hospitality and accepts the offer. "Come" she speaks to Cassem and Tezia. We will have our meal here before we make the journey back to the Palace."

Ahmed has spent a few days with the Egyptian President at his mansion. They have been going over plans in case an attack of the Druids. The druids are crafty and you do not know what they will do. Ahmed knows that they are working on the Passageway to Oblika. They are using slaves to clear the rocks that cover the entrance to the cave that leads to the Passageway. The reason that Ahmed knows this is because he made a trip to the rainForest and checked the Monitor under the waterFalls. Ahmed will have to do this more often. The people of the Planets of the constellation of the Dragon are not suppose to block or damage any of the Portals. Menske told Ahmed this. If this happens the Ancients may come back and remove the people here. The only reason that this Passageway was blocked is because of the first plague. Menske is the one who told the Oblikans to set off the explosives and bring the side of the mountain down.

Menske spends time at the Observatory and scans the heavens for signals from his people. The Ancients are around and for the most part they do not interfere. They like to see what the people who come to these places will do. They also scan the Planets of the Purgatorios and the Infernos.

The treasure of the Black Pyramids has been taken to the new Museum. The Egyptians want to make an elaborate display. They are very happy about this discovery. The President and Zalmay have invited Ahmed to return with his family and see the display.

Iman and Kaniff have now left Alexandria to make their return to Tazar. They are very happy with their finder's fee and now it is time to return to business.Some of the Egyptians have returned to the site of the tombs and they will keep guard there.Zalmay wishes for Amir and a few other Bedoins to also guard the tombs and oversee any people who wish to see them. This will now be a tourist site. A few of the artifacts have been left inside of the tombs and there will eventually be photographs and paintings inside. This way the people will be able to see much of the treasures.

Brim and Hassem have been spending time with zalmay at the Museum. This will be the story for the Jadida Press and Mark Bloomfield will be happy. Brim calls Mark on the phone everyday to let him know how things are going.

Ahmed and the President have sent letters to Mercula and Edena with MoroccanSnake and Lieutenent MeLianE. Something will have to be done on those planets. They do not have Crackleberries there. Ahmed hopes that they too have a book of remedies and there will be something to protect them. Ahmed will wait for a reply.

Mercula is in the Solar System to the south of Xanthia and Edena is in the Solar System to the west of Xanthia. Mercula is where the american States are located. they have the continent of the American States, to the south there are the Central American States and then the continent of Mexico is located in the Southern Hemisphere. On the opposite side of the ocean there is another continent. this is known as Biset. This continent is uninhabited. This planet has a very large island where there are natives who hunt with bows and arrows. North of this continent of Biset is another continent where the Canadian Provinces are located.

Edena is located west of xanthia and the European States are there. There is another continent to the east where the russians Territory and some of the Asian Provinces are. To the south there is another continent calledMedicaSouth of the European states is the continent of Baswa. This is where the Isreali Territory is located and the Territory to the south of the Isrealis is not inhabited.

The island of Austrailia is located on Edena. And on Edena this means that the Islands by Austrailia are near the other islands. The Philippinos have islands like that of the Indonesians on Xanthia.
The Caribbean Islands are located in the warmer waters of Mercula around the central Americans and along the Mexican coast.

Ahmed has spent several days with the Egyptian President.He has decided to leave the next morning and keep his mission a secret.

The President presented Ahmed with two gold arm bracelets for Ishtar and a gold necklace, Ishtar will be surprised.

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen

[WitchQueen]

It is very early in the morning. The sun is not yet up. Ziere has been making copies of the letter about the Plague that Ahmed left before he left for the Black Pyramids to meet with Zalmay, the Antiquties Minister. Ziere makes the copies on the copy machine. Most of the buildings on Zanthia have Solar Panels so they do have electricity.

Ziere has been folding the notices and putting them in envelopes. After he finishes that he afixes Ahmed's seal to close the envelopes. Now they are ready to go.

dz-(ice hockey player), RiRi and (Dat Moroccan) Kid will take the letters to the other provinces. Around four thirty the men arrive. They belong to Ahmed's Malitia. Ziere hears the knock and lets the men into the office. "Welcome, Ahmed will be happy you men are doing this for him." All the men introduce themselves and shake hands with Ziere. "We will be going to Casablanca to board the postal boats."asks dz. "That is correct. You will have to ride to the north where the port is located." "We think that camels will be best. We will leave the them at one of the Camel Stations there." RiRi tells Ziere. "That will be the best thing to do," Ziere replies. "You must deliver the letters to the leader of the Provinces. That will be three letters to each of the leaders. One for the leader and the other two are for the Consul Members." Each Province has two Consul Members. "This journey will take some time for you to do. Check into the Postal Office. I will give you one of Ahmed's passes so that you will be cleared to travel. The name of the Postal Boats are called The Messenger. They all are called The Messenger but they do have numbers to diferenciate them. This Mission is important." " Ahmed will be able to count on us," Dat Kid tells Ziere. With that they bid farewell and they are on their way.

Ishtar is awake early in the morning. She dresses and straightens the room. Today she must prepare the potion for her family to take. All of the women at the school will also do this today.

In the kitchen Ishtar washes the Crackleberries and places them in the simmering pot. She adds some water measures the corn syrup and the cinamin. Now she stirs the mixture and brings it to a slow boil. It takes awhile to do this. Neeta and Abdul hear Ishtar get up and followed her downstairs. Ishtar has them playing in the sitting room whie she prepares the potion in the kitchen. Ishtar stirs the mixture for the fifteen minutes. The birds outside are singing so she knows that the sun will be up soon. After the fifteen minutes Ishtar turns off the stove and leaves the pot to cool. Nadia will put the pot into the refridgerator later in the morning when it cools.

Today Ishtar and Tezia will be going to Chinatown to see Chang and to Conception to see Father Voltair. For now though she must take Neeta and Abdul upstaires to dress, but first the bathroom. By the time the younger children are dressed the older children are already downstairs and getting ready for the morning meal.

Now it is time to leave conception. Cassem has helped Ishtar and Tezia to board the carriage. They wave farewell to Priest Voltaire and michael and they are on their way. The journey takes awhile and Ishtar and Tezia are chatting about girl talk and clothes.

Once they are home they climb down from the carriage and they ascend the stone stairs in fron of the Palace. Cassem rides around to the stable and unhitches the horses. He will tend to them.

Ishtar tells Nadia she can go home if she wants and Ishtar will watch Omar. He will have evening meal with the other children. Ishtar makes blueberry pancakes for dinner with juk juice. that is something native to Xanthia. After the meal Ishtar cleans up and Tezia wipes the table. The boys returned for the meal because they know that they will be taking the potion together which they do. First Neeta and Abdul and then the Tezia, Ibrahim, Aaman and Jamal Abu.

Ishtar calls Nadia and tells her they should come to the house now for the remedy. Since their house is at the back of the property it does not take long for them to arrive. Ishtar has already filled the glasses and they all take the remedy.

MysticalRose alias WitchQueen
_________________________________________________________________

This is a flashback and correction. The flashback goes before the journey to Chinatown and Conception and the family taking the potion goes at the end of the day.