"My Imperial Lord!" he saluted, "if you will come in the shuttle there is something I have for you"
The Ancient One frowned. "How many times have I told you not to do that!" he snapped. "Get up!"
"I am sorry, my lord!" the Imperial soldier answered. "It is hard for us to resist not following Imperial protocol. You are, by our law, emperor of this world!"
"I know!" The Ancient One answered, "I know! Show me what you've got!"
The Imperial warrior and The Ancient One entered the shuttle. A few minutes later The Ancient One emerged, the shuttle hatch closed and it departed.
"Oh!" The Ancient One's male companion moaned, "How I would love to have one of those to putter around the solar system in!"
"Yeah," The Ancient One answered, "and have it fall into the hands of somebody like Al Quaida? They'd wipe out half the world with iit! Come on! Somebody we've got to visit."
They headed east and landed outside a lavish home. The Ancient One took on his normal appearance and the uniform of an air force general. Without instructions his companions took on appropriate attire and followed The Ancient One up the driveway. Suddenly four men appeared with assault rifles!
"Back to your stations, boys!" The Ancient One remarked, "Unless you want to walk bent over for a week!"
One of the men waved to the others and they disappeared. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Got to talk to the lady," The Ancient One answered. "Let's be nice about it so nobody gets hurt!"
The man took a radio off his belt and spoke into it for a few minutes then put it back. "Go on in!" he snapped. "Be nice to her, o.k.? Not everybody hates her."
The Ancient One only grinned at him and entered the house. A man met them inside and guided them into a large livingroom where a woman was sitting in an overstuffed chair.
"Leave us, Henry!" she remarked. "Close the door." As soon as the door was closed The Ancient One spoke.
"Feba benashy. Duka. Minda kaida she ishtar igret. Stobol ka" The woman raised her hand. "Please!" she moaned, "Do not speak my language. It offends me when you savages try to use it! When I hear her sick message I want to vomit. Tell me what you want and get out of here!"
"They were deradiating some material from around the capital," The Ancient One snapped, "and they found this along with some bones." He put a round, gold object on the table. "It is your father's shield. He was wearing it the night the capital was destroyed. It's a little melted around the edges, but it's still recognizable. They knew according to his will, it was to go to you. They asked me to give it to you. And they also wanted me to tell you that because of the shame that you continue to resist us, that you are trying to destroy our people and have not returned home, many of your people are succumbing to the Darkness. The Afterlife of your native world is dying! Eventually your race will die out. Those that survive will have to move to one of your colonies. But your homeworld will become a barren wasteland. Everything comes around, everything comes back! You're trying to destroy this race. In doing so you're destroying your own."
The woman got up, came over, and picked up the object from the table. "And by the way," The Ancient One remarked, "your father and your mother and all of your brothers and sister are among those that have succumbed. Your entire family has been spiritually destroyed!"
The woman fell to her knees grasping the object to her chest. "You're lying!" she cried. "You're lying! It couldn't be! You're lying! My race would never succumb to your poison, to your sickness!"
"Even your people," The Ancient One answered, "understand that I never lie! If you continue, if you continue to fight me, you will destroy your people!"
"I've seen your web site!" the woman snapped. "It's stupid! You're a fool! They'll never believe you, they'll never follow you. You can't beat me!"
"If I don't," The Ancient One answered, "I'll destroy everything you love, everything you cherish. The grief may spread to your people's colonies. The life force there may be destroyed. You may destroy all your people! If you win you lose!"
He turned and left, as the woman wept behind him, muttering "No one can have that power! No one can have that much power!"
The Ancient One and his companions got outside, took their true forms and soared homeward. "Damn!" The Ancient One's female companion moaned. "Isn't there anything you can do to help them?"
"No," The Ancient One answered, "only she can help them. Only she can save them. I can't do anything other than help her fix what she's done. If we fail we don't lose one race, we lose two."
"Sometimes you feel a little sorry for them," The Ancient One's male companion sighed.
"Sometimes," The Ancient One answered, "you feel very sorry for them, you feel very, very sorry for them!"
They said no more as they parted ways. There was no more to say.

THE END�