“I am Aslaville’s mayor, Bonassis. I am actually the governor of Chakra as dispatched from Mandala, but as you surely know, the only city here is Aslaville. Furthermore, the owner runs the mines. That’s why everyone around here calls me ‘Mayor.’”
The mayor puffed on a cigar and let out a high-pitched laugh. Hee hee hee. His chuckle was drowned out by the sounds of waves. The noise from the ship’s engine was so quiet, I couldn’t hear it at all. We had been traveling quite a ways, but I could hardly tell that we were moving through the water. It was an incredibly comfortable ride.
After climbing aboard the limousine parked in front of Salvatore, we’d zipped through the center of Aslaville, and continued onto the highway. Why does the one town planet of Chakra need a highway like this? I couldn’t help but wonder. We were moving in the opposite direction of the space port. He wouldn’t take us to a mine, would he? That didn’t make sense. To get to a mine you needed to use mountain roads, which wouldn’t be good for a limousine’s exterior, if it could even make it up the roads at all. I wanted to ask questions to the gentlemen in the front passenger seat, but the front and rear of the limo were separated by a smoke-tinted glass screen, so there was no way to communicate. Was this really just a fancy-looking paddy wagon? Sure, there were all kinds of liquor and you could play whatever sort of background music you wanted. However, sitting next to Yuri and Mugi and with free fancy liquor, I was still sad. Sheesh… I really wanted to be with Jeff!
We rode in the limousine for just over an hour. I would estimate we covered 350 kilometers, a pretty far distance from where we’d started.
The limo stopped. The man in the passenger seat got out. The door opened up. The smell of fresh water was carried in the breeze that wafted into the car.
“Waa!”
Yuri’s eyes opened wide.
It was a yacht harbor. Right in front of us was a very fancy-looking wharf. Many large-scale cruisers were docked for as far as the eye could see.
“This isn’t the ocean, right?”
I sniffed the air.
“O’Tana Lake. Indeed, it is as big as an ocean, but is, in fact, a splendid fresh water lake,” said the man. He said he was the mayor’s secretary, but he seemed more qualified as a tour guide. The way he spoke was beautiful.
“What are we doing here? Are we going yachting?” Yuri asked. Apparently the highway was built for the sole purpose of getting to and from this lake. What an extravagance.
“Yes, you are correct,” said the secretary, bowing to Yuri. “Please, shall we board the ship docked over there?”
He pointed to a ship floating in the center of the harbor.
It was an especially gigantic cruiser. Its hull was a shiny, pure white, and looked absolutely elegant. All of the other ships were quiet, only this one had dozens of crew members getting on and off in preparation.
“Will we meet the mayor there?” I asked the secretary.
“I would expect that he is anticipating your arrival.”
“Laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?” said Yuri. She wasn’t thinking about what the mayor had planned.
“Some recent events have taken place,” said the secretary, ignoring Yuri’s comment, “and the mayor would like to discuss these matters with you directly.”
The mayor’s secretary walked us to the ship, and ascended the short gangway. The name of the ship was written on its side. El Santo—it meant “saint.”
Once we made it to the deck, the ship’s captain came to us. He was tall with a slim build. A little younger, and he was almost the spitting image of Jeff. Almost. He was well into his middle-aged years. The captain took over the tour guide duties from the secretary.
We were led to a compact cabin. Not only was the hull painted white, but so was the interior of the cabins. The furniture and walls were pure white, not a stain or blemish to be seen. There were two beds folded into the left and right walls. Mugi pulled one out of the wall and went to lie down on it.
“Once the meal is ready, we will call you,” said the captain. “Until then, feel free to relax here.”
With a salute, he turned and left the room.
Soon afterward the cruiser began to move.
With a perfect, trouble-free departure, the harbor got smaller and smaller as we moved farther away.
“I thought the owner was a little screwy, but the mayor might be even worse,” said Yuri. “You’d probably go loopy if you had to go out with him.”
I scooted Mugi closer to the wall and lay down on the bed. I used Mugi’s back as a pillow.
“I’m getting hungry,” I said to myself out loud.
After that we waited in our cabin for two hours.
At exactly the two-hour mark, a purser came to get us. Being on the verge of starvation, I needed a hand standing up. Yuri asked if it was all right for Mugi to join us, and he said that it was. They seemed to understand how we operate on this ship. I could see the news made my part-time pillow happy.
We were led to the dining hall which was one deck above the main deck. It was a large room with huge plate glass windows. There was one large oval-shaped table. Around the curve there were three place-settings arranged. They must have been for Yuri, the mayor, and me. The settings were spread fairly far apart. The mayor hadn’t arrived yet. The purser pulled put the chairs. Yuri and I sat down together. In a gesture of cool elegance, the purser quietly pushed our chairs in. Mugi was on my right. Naturally, he didn’t need a chair. Mugi sat down on the floor.
“Oh, oh, thank you for taking the trouble.”
Just as we were seated we heard a voice. Turning our heads we saw a blond man standing in the doorway smoking a cigar.
He looked to be in his late forties or maybe early fifties. No, he wasn’t that old. He wore a bright, shiny suit. He was of average height. But since he was rail thin, he looked taller than he was. His build was, in a word, skinny. But you couldn’t say he looked sickly. His complexion was good and he looked cheery. His gray-colored eyes sparkled brightly. He had a thick head of hair and he had almost no wrinkles.
“The Trouble Consultants dispatched from the WWWA, I presume.” Puffing his cigar, the blond man slowly made his way to where we were sitting. His gestures and aura were vaguely feminine. He spoke in a high-pitched voice.
“I am Aslaville’s mayor, Bonassis.”