when the imperial councilors made their final decision to destroy, depopulate, and abandon the earth, genghis xxxix, the last appointed human subprefect, pleaded with them to leave two survivors, one male and female.
the councilors listened with their limitless courtesy to genghis’s plea, and f-1-f, the senior councilor, asked him what he thought the chances were that the male and female could begin a process of successfully restocking the planet with humans.
genghis replied in time honored human fashion that he was not concerned with such things as odds or probabilities, that he was not very good with numbers, but that he had faith, and that you might as well take a chance.
this answer amused the councilors greatly. they put their heads together briefly.
“very well,” said g-3-g, speaking on behalf of the council, “we accept your proposal. one female, of childbearing age, and one healthy young male, presumably capable of doing his reproductive duty, will be allowed to remain on a planet that, we must say, they may not find the most comfortable. “
“thank you,” replied genghis.
“however,” g-3-g went on, “we have three stipulations.”
genghis bowed his head and waited for the stipulations.
“first, that the male and female will be placed on opposite sides of the earth, and will be forced to find each other.”
“will each be told that the other exists?” genghis asked humbly. “if they are not, they might find a snug berth and never see the other.”
the councilors conferred briefly again.
“very well, “ g-3-g told genghis, “we agree that it would not be in the spirit of the agreement to do otherwise.”
“and the other two conditions?” genghis asked.
“the first - is that a third human will be left behind.” g-3-g smiled as benevolently as he could.
genghis was genuinely surprised, and showed it. “and who or what might that be?”
“who but your worthy self, my dear sub prefect?”
genghis bowed low. “and the third condition?” he asked, when he had straightened up.
“the third condition is the most important,” said g-3-g. “listen carefully, so that there is no misunderstanding. we ask that you promise, if you encounter either the man or the woman, or both together, under any circumstances, any circumstances whatever, that you kill them.”
genghis considered this. “how are you to guarantee that i keep my promise?,” he asked. “are you going to maintain surveillance on the home planet, just for that purpose?”
“foolish human,” g-3-g laughed. “you demonstrate again why it was necessary to obliterate your miserable race, with its complete lack of a sense of honor. no, we have better things to occupy our time in the universe than keep track of the likes of you. creatures of honor ourselves, we do not concern ourselves with whether you keep your promise. we only ask that you make the promise.”
“then i agree,” said genghis.
“you promise?” the councilors asked in unison.
“i promise.”
*
samantha jones hated strong men and despised weak ones.
she was gratified to find herself alone on a grassy slope somewhere in north america.
she had nodded politely when informed by the courteous imperial escort that there was a human male somewhere on the planet that she might might mate with if she chose and if fate decreed, but she made no comment aloud.
after determining that she had sources of clean water, in a couple of bubbling brooks, and some trees that produced apples and pears and some fruit she did not recognize, samantha decided to devote her days to the study of magic, which had always intrigued her but which her duties as a cafeteria hostess at imperial subprefecture headquarters had always left her too tired to pursue.
*
genghis xxxix, the erstwhile subprefect and former most powerful human on the planet - well, he supposed he was still the most powerful human on the planet because he knew things the other two, whoever they were, did not - had absolutely no intention of keeping his promise to the councilors to kill the man and the woman if he encountered them.
“miserable race, with its complete lack of sense of honor” indeed!
all things considered, he was happy to walk alone beneath the wide green sky of earth, and never again have to listen to the gabble of the imperial races, with their polite, sneering, superior ways.
he resolved to make every effort to find the man and the woman, to bring them together, and to assist them in every way he could to restart and recharge human civilization.
but first, he knew, he had to reconnoiter his situation, find sources of food and water, and hopefully find a way to provision himself for a long journey, if necessary.
*
bernard akbar had never had much success with women.
he was overjoyed to find himself in his present situation, although he did feel bad for the billions of follow humans the overlords had summarily disposed of.
alone on a planet with a woman who could have no choice but to love him and treat him right!
but first he had to get his bearings, find something to eat and someplace to sleep.
to sleep alone for now, but not for long, ha ha!
bernard decided to take his time, make sure of his resources, and make a good plan to find the woman.
but as the days went by, this proved more difficult than he had at first thought.
there was plenty of vegetation in the godforsaken spot he found himself in - the brazilian rain forest maybe, or borneo? - but not much of it was either tasty or nourishing.
as for the water - bernard closed his eyes and drank it, but did not much care to think about it.
he had hoped to find an abandoned human settlement or city with a limitless supply of canned goods - and bottles of beer! - but as the weeks and months went by this began to seem a pipe dream.
bernard began to despair.
and then one day he beheld an object in the sky.
a plane? were the overlords returning for some reason?
but the object was not a plane but a dragon. a green dragon, such as bernard had seen portrayed in countless films and graphic novels, and about the size of a horse.
the dragon listened sympathetically to bernard’s tale.
“climb on my back, bud,” the dragon announced when bernard had finished, “we’ll see if we can’t take you where you want to go.”
bernard gratefully climbed aboard the beast.
they sailed away into the bluish green sky, high over the area bernard had been futilely tramping around, which he now saw was an island by no means close to any mainland.
a strong wind came up, and the dragon headed right into it.
bernard found it difficult to hang on to the beast’s neck. he felt his grip slipping.
he cried to the dragon to slow down or land, but the dragon did not seem to hear him …
*
genghis felt he was making good progress.
months had passed since the abandonment of earth by the imperial overlords, and genghis had not let the grass grow beneath his feet.
he had been following a series of rivers along whose banks he found enough food to eat, and also enough to keep a reserve in his pack, in case he came to a more barren stretch.
he still had absolutely no idea where he was, or where the man or the woman might be, but every day filled him with new confidence.
one morning he awoke from his sleep under a mossgrown tree beside a river, and saw what he at first took to be a green horse gazing at him.
it was not a horse, but a dragon.
the dragon listened attentively to genghis’s story.
“climb on my back,” the dragon commanded genghis. “we will resolve this situation.”
genghis was somewhat taken aback by the dragon’s authoritative tone, but obeyed.
the dragon and genghis sailed high into the sky.
higher and higher and higher.
genghis lost sight of the land below. he began to feel dizzy.
“where are we going?” he cried.
“we are flying into the sun,” the dragon replied.
“into the sun! but why? why? what will happen to us?”
“i assume you will be burnt to a cinder,” said the dragon. “as for me, i will be reborn to a life such as you can never comprehend…”
for, reader, as you may have suspected, the dragon was none other than samantha, who had put her time in studying magic to good use.
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