Microstory 1472: Democracy Prevails

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The nightmare was over. Life wouldn’t be all rainbows and ageless puppies from now on, but at least Durus finally had a real democracy. Everyone over the age of fifteen had a vote, and everyone’s vote was worth the same as everyone else’s. The Earthan refugees and the Durune natives were starting to come together, and consider themselves all part of the same community. People were starting to dig in, and make a decent life for themselves. It wasn’t really over yet, though, until every member of their former military occupiers was gone. It was a great big relief for the world when the majority of the salmon battalion disappeared through their portal. The achievement almost made people forget that some of them wanted to return to Earth as well, and the salmon could try to give them that. So it was an even bigger relief that not all of them had left yet. There were still a couple people there who would be staying to help in any way necessary. Unfortunately, the way they needed help was not possible. Even though the officers had come from Earth, they did not do so using their own agency. They were beholden to the powers that be, and if these mysterious controllers didn’t want the Durune to go back with them, then they weren’t going to go back with them. Hopefuls could even try to literally step through the portal, but nothing would happen. They would just pass right through it, as if the portal were not there at all. Even if the salmon wanted to try to help, there was no telling when and where they would end up on Earth. Their job was to travel throughout time, fighting in wars. They were sometimes given lead time to prepare for a particular battle—what kind of uniforms, and other clothing, they were given to blend in was often a really good clue—but they didn’t ever have much else to go on. There was just no way for the battalion to take any Earth-bounders with them, as much as they may have wished they could. The last of them left in 2170, but they didn’t go alone. One man was chosen to join them, though not by the leader’s decision, or himself. He was conscripted against his will. Fortunately, this man wanted nothing more than to fight for justice throughout all of time. The problem was, now they needed to find a new mayor of Aljabara.