Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince by Kumar Lomash Page A

almost no vehicles driving around on the ground. Mone looked busier than Peele too. Kevin hardly saw a flying vehicle on Peele during his entire two days of stay but Mone was full of them. He looked at the buildings with amazement, like a tourist in a big city as he walked through the streets with Keele. They both had paper bags in their hands, they were coming back from a grocery store.
    “Mone is one big city, Kevin. Almost half of Mone is urban, occupied mostly by politicians, bureaucrats and media persons. Apart from the city, the rest of the surface is forest and water. The city is still expanding, though. A democratic government needs a lot of bureaucrats and as a result a lot of office space to seat them. We might have to borrow some more land from the forest if democracy wins one more time.”, Keele said to Kevin.
    “That's bad. You people should learn from our mistakes.”, Kevin said, still looking around. He found the buildings very interesting. Each one having its own theme, constructed to fulfill a specific need. The buildings on Mone looked a lot different from those on Peele.
    “Cutting down of forest might not be the worst thing that would happen if he wins.”, Keele stopped at a hoarding. The hoarding said “True freedom lies in the liberty to make mistakes” along with the picture of a man. It was clear who that man was but Kevin asked anyways.
    “Is that him?”, Kevin’s gaze was now focused at the hoarding.
    “Yes.”, Keele said.
    “He looks absolutely normal, not evil at all.”, Kevin was surprised. Maybe he expected a fierce monster. After all that is what dangerous aliens are supposed to look like.
    “He is as charming as they come, Kevin. What were you expecting? Some daemon with horns?”, Keele quipped as he started walking again.
    “I don’t know what I expected.”, Kevin followed Keele. He was now more interested in the conversation than the surrounding buildings.
    “He is the democratically elected prime minister of the most evolved species that you know of. What did you expect?”, Keele smiled as he looked at Kevin. He was smiling at his naivety.
    “How is he in person?”, Kevin asked.
    “Charming, as I said. One meeting with him and you would feel that he is the best friend you have got in the entire world.”, Keele said.
    “I don’t understand, why do we hate him so much then?”, Kevin wanted to understand.
    “He is quite popular among hums, I will be honest with you. Those who believe that a change is necessary are against democracy, against popular measures, not him. Hums don’t believe that the deteriorating state of affairs in our society is his fault, in fact they think he did the best anyone could have done in a democracy. But there are few others, like Boriri, who believe that he might not be the selfless leader everyone thinks he is.”, Keele said.
    “Why is that?”, Kevin asked.
    “It's better that you hear it from Boriri himself. But I am afraid Boriri’s concerns are based just on his intuitions right now. There is no evidence of foul play. If there was then it would have been easy to put Igogo away.”, Keele replied as they both walked towards Boriri’s apartment building.
    As they walked through the main entrance, a beautiful girl seeked Kevin’s attention. She looked at Kevin in a way celebrities are looked at by their fans. Kevin was unaware of his admirer, he was still lost in his thoughts. Keele, however, noticed everything.
    “Kevin, meet Seriri. She is the great granddaughter of Moriti.”, Keele introduced them.
    “Good morning, prince.”, she said.
    “Please call me Kevin.”, Kevin shook her hand. Seriri looked really pleased to meet him.
    “Why don’t you come in? I will make some wake.”, Keele asked Seriri to join them.
    “No, I am in a hurry. I have to take a class in 10 minutes.”, she said. “But, I am free this evening.”, She expected Kevin to take the hint but Kevin was still lost in his thoughts. Keele intervened