"Abe? Abe!"
"I'm awake, Mr. Jersey, I'm awake!" she scread the big man pulling himself to his feet with a snap, only to find himself in front of a female face that giggled under his mustache. "I'm not your boss" Dariela said making him blush.
Abe grunted like a bear in response and sat up. He hadn't slept very well for the past few days. The soldiers Dariela took care of had beco more unstable, so the two had decided to take turns on guard to keep them in check and prevent them from doing anything irreparable. But Abe also wanted to stay awake during the day, since both dinosaurs and humans were awake at the ti, and he wanted to be alert in case sothing happened. If all this was combined with the anxiety, fear and tension of the current situation, well, sleeping beca quite difficult. Abe now did not rest more than four hours a night, with the result that he often ended up dozing off during the day without wanting to, as in that case, for example.
"You should seriously sleep more" Dariela scolded him. "Your body won't hold up for long if you keep it up. You need a rest"
"I will rest when I see fit. Rather, why did you wake up?" Abe grumbled; he knew that if the woman had co to call him there must be a reason.
Dariela pointed to the gates: "I have noticed that many dinosaurs are approaching there, and I have also seen several pterosaurs flying near the square. I think sothing important is coming"
Abe imdiately got to his feet and stared at the spot indicated by the woman; there were actually many more dinosaurs and pterosaurs than usual. "Sothing important... could it be...?"
The ground shook slightly, a sign that sothing huge was approaching. Within monts an imnse sail appeared on the road, denoting the imminent arrival of the leader of the dinosaurs. "It is him!" Abe exclaid in bewildernt.
Dariela's pupils seed to freeze. "What will he want to do?" he whispered. From his point of view, if the leader of their captors himself ca to them, it must have been an unpleasant event.
Abe seed to sense his thoughts, because he said to him: "We are not going off guard. Let's keep calm and wait for him to declare his intentions"
"What if they were not good intentions?"
"We would have no way to defend ourselves or flee even if we wanted to. If his were not good intentions I'll have to try everything and make him think. WE will have to make him think!"
Abe knew that the dinosaur leader had always refused any interview with the prisoners and that he had never visited them in their prison camps. If he was showing sothing big he had to boil it in the pot. Abe hoped that the nations had not done sothing to irritate the dinosaur and permanently impatient him, and that he had not decided to stop the peace talks and eliminate all the prisoners.
Humans had no places to flee or weapons to defend themselves. If the spinosaurus had ordered a massacre they would have been torn apart in minutes. Abe had only one weapon, the word: if things got bad he would have to make the most of it. He had to at least try.
The two headed for the gate. Unfortunately their steps were not in the least compared to those of the gigantic spinosaurus, which in fact ca long before them. Although they were a bit far away, Abe was however able to notice that in addition to a large number of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, so humans were also following him. Then the spinosaurus spoke, and his voice was strong enough to be heard several dozen ters away: "Humans! I ca here today to give you good news. Your people's negotiation team ca to our doors last night! Very soon we will start discussions for peace!"
There was a mont of silence, then all the humans in the square burst into applause mixed with shouts of joy. Abe and Dariela stopped their race and both breathed a sigh of relief; they were still tense and worried, but that statent was enough to reassure them.
"The mbers of the human delegation are here, and I'm letting them get through the gate right now!" the spinosaurus said, and in fact, looking closely, Abe could see tiny, undoubtedly bipedal silhouettes crossing the entrance to the square. "They asked to see you to find out about your condition. I have no reason to refuse, so here they are! Tell them everything that happened here, don't leave out any details. Anything you say could help in the negotiations, so don't hold back!"
How clever, thought Abe, realizing what he ant the spinosaurus. The prisoners would have no reason to say that they were treated badly: indeed, they were treated more than well. If the human delegation team had asked them how the dinosaurs dealt with them, no one could truthfully claim that the dinosaurs were evil. Not only that, but the prisoners had witnessed glimpses of dinosaur culture and had even received gifts from them (not least to bring families together). In practice, the opinion on the dinosaurs that the delegation team would have received would have been more than positive, and this would have greatly sweetened the spirits and favored the negotiations.
Abe was fine with this. Any ans to restore freedom to the inhabitants of Marsala was welco by him. Even though the spinosaurus was playing with human psychology, he had no reason to oppose it.
As he watched the delegation team enter, however, sothing caught his attention. There were so familiar figures among it. The closer he got, the clearer he could see them. When he realized who he was he had a heart attack. "Miss Jersey?" he thought he with his mouth open. "What is she doing here? Why did she co to such a dangerous place? Wait... this ans..."
Abe's eyes recognized another figure that was advancing in the crowd. Almost without realizing it he started running towards it and stopped only when he ca a couple of ters away, his eyes bulging and his mouth wide open in amazent. Similarly, the other person stared at him with a look containing a mixture of relief, fear, anger, affection and joy.
He wasn't wrong. It was really him. It was Jackson. His beloved brother of him.
Abe didn't hold back and spread his arms wide. "Welco, Rafiki" he greeted him as he held his brother in a warm embrace.
Jackson returned the gesture and hugged Abe's body. A feeling of relief filled him for a mont. It was as if the last few weeks had never been there, as if the two of them were still at ho having fun and Abe wasn't being held hostage. "I should punch you" he said. "I specifically asked you not to get in trouble"
"I know it. Unfortunately I'm not a reliable guy"
"As soon as you get out of here I fill you with a barrel"
"Mh. Apparently I should ask the dinosaurs for political asylum. What do you say, if I show that I know how to hunt and that I can serve them well, will they take into the pack?"
Jackson broke away from the embrace, shaking his head. He was happy to see that Abe had remained the sa. It was then that he noticed that his brother was not alone. "Who is the woman?"
"Oh, she is..."
The raven-haired woman anticipated Abe: "Dariela Marzan, second lieutenant in Odaria's army. Well, at least she was until recently" she introduced herself.
Jackson was surprised. "Are you one of the soldiers who fought against the dinosaurs?" he asked her; he didn't expect dinosaurs to have taken prisoners.
Dariela nodded. "Exactly. One of the five survivors of the battle"
Seeing the woman's angry frown and Abe's warning look, Jackson realized he had been very indelicate, and hearing Dariela's words he could understand why. Only five soldiers had been spared… for an army of ninety thousand, that was an infinitesimal amount. Jackson could only imagine how many of her companions Dariela must have seen die. "I'm sorry. I didn't imagine…"
"It's nothing"
"Um… okay. So... how did you et?"
"Your... brother is a kind and reckless person. He helped a lot"
Jackson looked at Abe. The words 'kind' and 'reckless' fit him perfectly. He didn't know what Dariela ant, but he wished Abe wasn't in trouble, even though he apparently didn't have any physical injuries. Before he could ask him anything, however, Abe asked him the question: "Rafiki, why are you and miss Jersey here?"
"Oh, right" Jackson sighed. "Miss Jersey is the ambassador who ca to negotiate peace between dinosaurs and humans. I am here as an escort for her"
Both Abe and Dariela were silent for a mont, then the big man exclaid: "Really?"
"Believe , compared to the other candidates miss Jersey was the only one with a minimum of common sense" Jackson replied.
Abe was stunned, but he didn't seem too hostile to the idea. On the contrary, Dariela was quite angry: "Are they crazy? What idiot puts the fate of a million people in the hands of a fourteen-year-old girl?"
"In reality, the whole world is technically at risk..."
"You understand what I ant! How do they think about..."
"Dariela, calm down!" Abe interrupted, grabbing her shoulder. "I know it sounds absurd, but I know miss Jersey. She may be young too, but she has an extraordinary mind. I don't mind at all relying on you for this negotiation"
Dariela stared at him unconvinced, but then she relaxed and looked away. "Mph. We will see. I'm not at all convinced"
Jackson was quite surprised by that scene. It wasn't like Abe to have so much physical contact with strangers, and it seed odd that the soldier had given in so easily. Were they really just two people helping each other? Jackson wasn't convinced… sothing told him there was sothing underneath.
However, he decided to ignore the possible love duo and instead focus on the important things, such as inquiring about his brother's condition. Abe looked completely physically healthy, but his dark circles and tired gait ant that he wasn't feeling too good with his head. After all, Jackson reflected, anyone in that situation would have started to suffer from psychic disturbances even if of minor entity.
Abe had to work hard to convince Jackson that he was okay, that the dinosaurs had never mistreated him, that he hadn't gotten into trouble, and that he had never pushed luck too much with his curiosity about him. Jackson asked him questions about questions about his condition, even going so far as to ask him if his dark circles were actually bruises because Abe got involved in a fight. Abe endured that interrogation very calmly: he did not like to have the third degree done, but he knew that his brother must be terribly worried and that that was the only way to relieve so of the stress.
They discussed animatedly for at least half an hour. Abe told Jackson everything he had experienced, from Sobek's proclamation to the fall of Cartago, from the funeral of the dinosaurs to the Davis trial, all mysteriously avoiding going into too much detail when his brother asked questions about Dariela. In contrast, Jackson told Abe how the world had been shocked by the discovery of intelligent dinosaurs, how Jocelyne had imposed herself to avoid a war, and how they had been welcod by Sobek.
Talking was very therapeutic for both of us. Finally after a long ti of fear and uncertainty they could look at each other again and say sothing, and any topic was good for a chat. Dariela left them in peace and did not intervene in the fraternal eting, giving them so ti for themselves.
They weren't the only two talking animatedly. The other mbers of the escort had also dispersed in the square and were arguing with the prisoners. In particular, Chloe didn't spare herself: she questioned at least a hundred people before she was convinced that the dinosaurs had indeed treated the hostages well.
Journalists too had had the opportunity to indulge themselves. They took notes on notes with all the statents of the prisoners, which detailed everything that had happened to them.
Sobek gave them ti to discuss animatedly. After all, that was what he wanted: to show the world that dinosaurs weren't savages at all. And in fact not only did the prisoners speak quite well of them despite being their jailers, but they also described those parts of their culture that they had had the opportunity to know, which of course the journalists did not hesitate to note. As soon as that information beca public, the whole world would know that dinosaurs weren't barbarians but civilized creatures and not as prone to extermination as humans (well, most humans). This would have greatly improved any future relationship. The more the humans beca convinced that the dinosaurs weren't evil, the easier it would have been for Sobek to dialogue with them and continue the mission that God had entrusted to him.
He waited for nearly two hours, then he decided the humans had had enough ti. He turned and walked back to his bed, and asked his subordinates to bring the human embassy back to the square so that he could finally begin negotiations.
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