"Are you nervous, president?"

Jocelyne let out a sigh. "This isn't the first time that I have spoken to the head of state of a foreign country, Abe. I know what I do, don't worry"

"But it is the first time that someone expressly requests to..."

"I know it. Now shut up"

"But…"

"Abe, don't bother the president" Jackson stopped him with a laugh. "If you're so obsessive with Dariela too, I'm surprised she hasn't cut your balls off yet"

Abe grunted, then fell silent, but pouted anyway, which Jocelyne found quite amusing. However, she made an effort not to laugh out of respect for her defense minister. To avoid bursting out laughing in his face, he turned his back on him and looked back at the airstrip where Queen Mackenzie's private plane would land within minutes.

In a way, Abe was right: she was a little nervous, but certainly not because he had to meet another head of state. She was nervous for other reasons, which Abe obviously didn't know. When the queen of Niger had contacted her a few days before her, asking her to intercede for her with Lord Sobek to be able to talk about her, she had been in seventh heaven: it seemed that finally the second phase of their plan could begin. An interview with a foreign nation was exactly what they were waiting for to accomplish what they wanted.

However, the words of her that Sobek had told her a few days before her, that she was certain that something was going to go wrong, continued to haunt her like a worm in her ears. Her spinosaurus often seemed a little too paranoid, but this time there was something different in the air, something that told her that Queen Mackenzie was not coming to Beleriard with her own goodwill.

Jocelyne wasn't sure if she would bless or curse that meeting at the end of that day.

However things would turn out, she couldn't let her concern about her show through. As president of Beleriard, she had to keep smiling and welcoming the queen in the best possible way, even though she would have much preferred to ask her directly why she came without too many words. 'I'm really starting to envy Lord Sobek...' she thought; at least the dinosaurs didn't have to worry about the rules of high society.

After about twenty minutes, a patch finally appeared in the sky and began to get closer and closer, until it took the shape of an airplane. The aircraft descended and slowed, until it landed peacefully on the runway. When she finally stopped, Jocelyne and her entourage finally exited the building they were in and walked along the airstrip to be able to go to meet the Queen of Prettania.

They didn't have to wait too long. As soon as the stairs were positioned, the plane door opened and two elegantly dressed men stepped out. Jocelyne knew them since she had inquired about the Queen's entourage: they were Secretary of Defense Harris Edwards and Prime Minister Darius Tanz. The two men positioned themselves on each side of the door, as a clear sign of respect, after which a woman emerged from the plane.

Queen Mackenzie was quite advanced in age, but she still carried her years well and she didn't seem at all tired from the long journey. Accompanying her was a blonde woman who Jocelyne knew was the queen senior advisor Grace Barrows.

As soon as the four had finished descending the stairs, Jocelyne stepped forward and greeted the queen respectfully: "As president of Beleriard, I welcome you to our nation, your majesty. I hope your stay will be to your liking"

"Thank you, president Jersey" the queen replied. "I am happy to finally be able to meet you in person. So far we have only seen each other in passing at the meeting of the NMWA..."

"I'm happy to meet you too, Queen Mackenzie"

"Please call me Pauline. There is no need for so much formality"

"Then you can call me Jocelyne"

After that initial exchange on the airstrip, the group headed outside that private airport. Normally the arrival of Queen Mackenzie would have been stormed by curious reporters, but since Pauline had asked Jocelyne for absolute secrecy, no one in all of Beleriard apart from the president, her entourage and Sobek himself knew of her coming. Once out of her, Jocelyne made the queen sit in the presidential limo with her. Harris, Darius and Grace, on the other hand, would travel in other cars along with the rest of Jocelyne's entourage. After all, this was a meeting between heads of state, it was normal for the two to require some privacy.

As soon as the limo left and the soundproof dividers were raised so that the pilot could not hear them, Jocelyne began the conversation: "I made sure you received the best welcome here in the Beleriard. I booked you rooms at the Grand Hotel, the most luxurious hotel in the whole capital. Obviously I didn't specify that it was you, so no one will suspect your identity..."

"Thank you, Jocelyne" Pauline said. "Forgive me for being in a hurry, but did you manage to convince Lord Sobek to meet me?"

"Yes, and he will be happy to talk to you. However, if you allow, I would like to know the reason for your visit" Jocelyne said with a slight twitch of her eyebrows.

"Who tells you I'm not here to negotiate?"

"If it were just that, it wouldn't make sense to hide it from everyone. It would be a great event. Everyone here is waiting for the NMWA to come to terms with us, and I'm sure you know that"

"I may be acting against the wishes of the NMWA. Like you, I might be looking for an ally to be able to pull myself out of it"

"I doubt it. The Prettania Kingdom has more than enough forces to defend itself in the event of an attack. The NMWA would think twice before attacking him. If your intent was just to leave the NMWA, you would have done so already and just send an ambassador here" Jocelyne shook her head. "Stop bullshit. Why are you here?"

Pauline smiled. "I see your sharp tongue hasn't changed at all" she said. "You may have become president, but you speak exactly the same as four years ago, when you presented yourself before the NMWA and explained how you had violated the naval blockade to capture Henry Wu"

"I just say things as they are. I don't like making too many turns of words. They are useless and you don't get anything out of them" Jocelyne explained. "Come on, talk. I'm waiting"

Pauline was silent for a moment, then she pulled out her cell phone and started typing something. After a few seconds, she handed it to him. "Look here and you will understand everything"

Jocelyne took it and stared at the screen. It was a video. She hit 'play'. The video kicked off and showed the five heads of state of Eden's superpowers walking into what looked like a laboratory. Evidently it must have been registered by a bug hidden in someone's clothes. For a while, there was nothing strange: the five heads of state were accompanied to a stained glass window and what appeared to be the scientist in charge of the place asked them if he could start the test. They agreed and then they all began to look beyond the glass, where you could clearly see the outline of a desert.

It didn't seem strange to Jocelyne. However, a second later her expression changed from curious to pure horror. Through the video, she saw an immense ball of fire forming on the horizon and a shock wave sweeping away everything within a radius of kilometers, while the excavated dust and rock rose into the sky in a mushroom-shaped cloud.

"What... what is... this...?" she asked softly when the video ended. Despite she hadn't been there in person to admire that sort of explosion, her heart was still beating madly. 'Was it a weapon?' she thought out of breath. 'Did they create it? Do they intend to use it?' The thought of that… thing exploding on one of the Beleriard towns was enough to make her sweat a hectolitre.

Pauline confirmed her concerns. "Meet the nuclear bomb, Jocelyne. The ultimate weapon that, if used improperly, can transform a green and blue planet into an expanse of ash" she said with a serious look. "Know that what you are looking at now is just a small part of the devastation that this weapon can wreak. The nuclear bomb also releases an immense amount of radiation that contaminates the area for decades. Oh, and I didn't even mention that this is a relatively small weapon. There are bomb projects much, much more powerful, capable of razing entire provinces to the ground"

Jocelyne immediately returned the cell phone to Pauline, fearing that if she continued to hold it she would break it. "Are you going to use them? Do you want to threaten us by chance?"

"If I wanted to, I wouldn't be here now" the queen replied. "The other heads of state are intent on harnessing this power to force the dinosaurs to surrender. So yes, they intend to drop one of those bombs on the Beleriard. Maybe even more than one"

"Wasn't the NMWA the protector of humanity?" snarled Jocelyne unable to restrain herself.

"We both know these are just fine words. The NMWA doesn't give a damn about the humans of this nation, they just want to get rid of the dinosaurs"

"And why are you warning me?"

"Because I want to avoid a massacre, of course"

"Do you expect me to buy it? Would you risk your life and your nation's reputation for a people who are not yours? I will be young, but I was not born yesterday"

Pauline was silent for a moment, then spoke. "When I say I want to avoid a massacre, I'm not lying. But you're right, I wouldn't put that much risk if it were just that" she said in a melancholy voice. "The thing is, I know that the dinosaurs won't give up, even after seeing that weapon. This would be the beginning of a larger nuclear conflict, and the dinosaurs would probably replicate the nuclear bomb..."

"And…?"

"And my scientists have already calculated that detonating only a few hundred of those bombs simultaneously is enough to trigger an apocalypse like the world has never seen. Incidentally, the cloud of dust that would rise would be such as to cover the sun, the radiation would poison the air, every plant would die from the absence of light and practically every life form larger than a cat would be extinguished... including humans"

Jocelyne looked at her with wide eyes. "Are you telling me" she said in a whisper-like voice, "that these weapons can potentially wipe out the entire human species?"

"And at least seventy percent of the life forms on this planet" Pauline added. "I told you: it will be an apocalypse as the world has never seen one"

On the Earth where Sobek came from, that phrase would have been silly: over the millions of years of its existence, the planet had in fact gone through numerous mass extinctions far worse than a nuclear war could create. But on Eden there had never been mass extinctions, indeed, there had never been extinctions. In the eyes of the inhabitants of that world, nuclear warfare could unleash an unprecedented cataclysm.

There was silence between the two women for a moment. "So... how do you think you can stop it?" Jocelyne asked.

Pauline sighed. "Lord Sobek is the last hope in the world. If he decides to come to terms now, we could avoid a disaster, or at least postpone it. That's why I have to talk to him"

Come to terms? They could do it, Jocelyne thought. Given the threat, it was the surest solution. However, in doing so they would have to cancel their plan. All their preparation, all their schemes, all their predictions for the future, would have served no purpose. Or maybe not?

After the fear passed, Jocelyne's brain was back in full swing. No… maybe that wasn't necessarily the case. Perhaps their plan could still come true. Although not for the reasons they were hoping for, Queen Mackenzie had still come here on Maakanar. If she had allowed herself to be persuaded, they could have continued with their initial plan… even if they would have had to be very, very careful. One misstep now could have cost them the whole world.

But despite that, they could still make it. They could still manage to create the world they wanted. Everything was in Sobek's ability to convince the queen; but Jocelyne was sure that, as she had convinced her, Sobek would also be able to get her majesty's help. "I will take you to lord Sobek immediately" she said after a short thought. "But I warn you, you will have to go there alone. It's a request from him"

Pauline looked annoyed. "I can understand that lord Sobek feels he cannot talk about certain issues alongside prying ears, but the secretary of defense Edwards, the prime minister Tanz and the senior advisor Barrows are trustworthy"

"Maybe, but his request was still to be able to talk to you alone" Jocelyne replied. "However, I can try to convince him... if you give me more time"

This was enough to convince Pauline. "No, it doesn't matter. Okay, I'll go alone. We don't have time to waste" she said. After all, Sobek was unlikely to have any bad intentions: if he wanted to kill her: he could have done it quietly even if Harris, Darius and Grace were there.

"In this case, we will stop at the hotel, so we can unload your luggage and you can tell your companions your decision in person. Then I'll take you to lord Sobek right away" Jocelyne said.

Pauline raised an eyebrow. "You seem strangely more relaxed"

Jocelyne shrugged. "I just... made some considerations in my mind"

The queen was curious, but she preferred not to investigate. She didn't want to be too invasive with the one who, at the moment, was her only means of communication with Sobek. After all, if the spinosaurus had to react badly to the news of the nuclear bombs, Pauline would have had to rely on Jocelyne to reason.

The journey was rather short; Pauline could hear many noises coming from outside the car, but unfortunately the windows were darkened to ensure secrecy. Only when she arrived at the hotel and she had to make that short ride from the car to the door of the building was she able to take a quick look at the capital, and what she saw surprised her.

The Beleriard was completely transformed. Pauline remembered how it had been a few years ago: rather poor, often dirty, with people not exactly happy with their lives. Now, everywhere she looked, she saw large clean and refurbished buildings and people with smiles on their faces. But the most shocking thing was that she, looking here and there, she could see dinosaurs quietly wandering in the street.

Using the satellites in orbit the various nations had a vague idea of what was happening in Beleriard, but seeing it in person was very different. Pauline noticed some velociraptors eating a sandwich in the company of some skaters and a large brachiosaurus waiting for the red to cross the road. Several species of birds and pterosaurs flew in the sky. But the absurd thing was that the humans seemed perfectly at ease: none of them were scared or worried, all of them acted as if nothing had happened. Indeed, Pauline noticed that a short distance from them a little boy was talking amicably with a ceratosaurus over two meters tall, and apparently they were discussing a football match.

Pauline watched that show for less than ten seconds, the time it took to reach the hotel and enter, but this was enough to upset her. What was happening? She couldn't understand it. 'Is it possible that coexistence is not such an impossible dream?' She wondered.

Jocelyne was very kind and she asked the hotel staff to take her luggage to her room; she apparently she had booked her a suite. While the young president and her entourage settled things with the hotel owner to ensure her silence, Pauline was reunited with Harris, Darius and Grace, who themselves seemed to be quite surprised at what they had seen. When they learned that the queen would go alone to talk to Sobek they were obviously against it.

"Your Majesty, let me tell you this is nonsense" Harris objected.

"For this time I agree with him. Bring at least one of us!" Darius supported him.

"Why? Would one of you be able to protect me from a tyrannosaurus, a carnotaur or lord Sobek himself?" Pauline asked rhetorically.

"Of course not, but we could give you time to escape" Harris replied, which made the queen sigh heavily.

"The decision has now been made. I don't have time to wait for president Jersey to intercede for me again and lord Sobek wanted to meet me alone. So that's what I'll do" she said. Before the others could protest, she added: "Anyway, I have a task for you"

This was enough to make them forget the main topic. "What task, your majesty?" Grace asked.

Pauline pointed to the door with her head. "You've seen what it's like out there too, haven't you?"

"And how! It was... quite interesting" she tried to downplay Darius, even though the right word was 'shocking'.

"Already. Therefore I want to make sure of the honesty of our possible future ally"

"What do you mean?"

"It seems obvious to me. I want to know if this is real or if it's just a fiction. As far as we know, the dinosaurs may be controlling the nation from behind the scenes and what we see out there is just a facade" Pauline explained. "Therefore, I want you to check. While I go talk to Lord Sobek, you will go out and explore this place. Look for even the slightest sign that shows that something is wrong"

"What if we find one?" Harris asked.

"Wait for me to come back and report to me. If all of this turns out to be a fiction, then we will know that the dinosaurs really aim to dominate us, and then we might as well throw in the towel now, because we will never stop the nuclear apocalypse. But if it isn't... it would be proof that dinosaurs and humans can really coexist"

Harris, Grace, and Darius looked at each other, then nodded. That simple gesture was enough for the queen to understand that they understood. When Jocelyne came to call Pauline to resume the journey, they threw her one last look, a mixture of apprehension and encouragement, then headed for somewhere.

The journey this time was a bit longer. Fortunately, Jocelyne was a good host and she was able to strike up a conversation on any subject, so Pauline didn't risk getting bored. Very soon, the noises of the city began to quiet down, a sign that they were coming out of it. About an hour later, the car stopped and Jocelyne opened the door to allow the queen to get out.

Pauline was about to leave when she stopped. They had arrived in an area full of trees, many of them quite young (a sign that they were not too far from the city and therefore the area was still in full reforestation), and as she had imagined she could see the city in the distance. However, waiting for her outside the door were a tyrannosaurus and a carnotaur.

Evidently realizing his apprehension, the t-rex hurried to introduce himself: "Hello, Queen Mackenzie. I am Buck and he is Carnopo. We have come to take you to the pack leader"

"They're friends, don't worry" Jocelyne assured her further. This was enough to calm Pauline, who took courage and got out of the car. "I will wait for you here. Don't worry, they won't let anything happen to you"

"Wait, aren't you coming?" Pauline asked.

"No, not this time. I'd rather let you and Lord Sobek be alone in your first meeting" Jocelyne replied with a strange smile. "Don't worry, if it ends in a way I don't like I will immediately intervene in your favor. But for now, I'm curious to see how it will turn out"

Pauline did not know whether to consider the Beleriard president an overly jovial girl or a psychopath. Maybe it was both. Or maybe she was even more. However, she couldn't back down now, so she let the two dinosaurs escort her to their pack leader.

It wasn't a long walk: they soon came to what Pauline initially mistook for a rock... but which turned out to be not a rock at all. It was the huge body of Sobek, who towered titanic in the middle of the trees and was staring at her with an eye as big as a human forearm.