The leader takes the rises and falls, but the text holds the key.

I was now on a spaceship built by the chimeras on a way to their leadership. This could go one of two ways. Either they would kill the other earth leaders and I, or we would somehow get them to help protect earth. I was anxious. The three commanders, as we were called, were all anxious. Who wouldn’t be? If you were going to a meeting with an alien species where either your head would be cut off, or you would bring prosperity to your people, wouldn't you be anxious too?

We were all locked in the same room. It had three mats on the floor and three blankets. It was a small room, hardly big enough for all three of us, still, we were in space, whether it felt like it or not.

After a couple days of travel, the door to our little compartment opened, and a Chimera stepped forward. It was a little smaller than most that I had seen so far and looked less than thrilled to be there.

“Get ready, the commanders will see you soon,” said the little Chimera through a translator, “When you’re ready, knock on the door.”

All three of us humans quickly got changed into new clothes, brushed our hair, in some cases put on makeup, etcetera. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any access to even simple showerheads. We brought our own food and water, and there was a big bucket in the corner for sewage. It was almost full.

“Alright everyone, remember to treat them like gods or deities or something, no matter what they say or how they act, we have to suck up our pride, and save humanity. If you’re afraid, don't show it, if you're worried, don't show it. We have to maintain a bold face in front of the Chimeras,” I said, “As a matter of fact, you should both probably keep your mouths shut. Maintain a disciplined posture. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am,” they both grumbled. I knocked on the door, which was opened by the little Chimera we had seen before.

“Leave your stuff.” the Chimera instructed. As the three leaders of earth stepped out of the little room, which was actually a compartment in a dropship, we found ourselves on what looked like a planet much like earth. We were on a landing pad in a city with skyscrapers and parks and all of the sort. In the parks, we saw all sorts of strange creatures. There were creatures similar to manticores and rhinos with swan wings and snakes for tails, etc. I had read in a book in the Fairy Queen’s Library that Chimeras were like all sorts of creatures, and that, when they visited earth centuries before, all sorts of them came down. Since they resembled animals, there were many legends made of them, legends that nobody heeded.

The earth leaders were led into a skyscraper that was roughly cylindrical in shape, and somewhere near the middle had a bridge going into another cylindrical building about half as tall. The interior of the building was just as modern, the only difference was that hallways and doorways were bigger, ceilings taller, etcetera. We followed the Chimera into what I assumed was an elevator, and in less than a minute, we were on the top floor of the building. We were led out of the elevator, and into a room that took up about half the floor, with one wall straight and the other curved. Somewhat near the curved glass wall, there was a curved table on a raised platform where there sat twenty Chimeras. I felt my heart beat a little faster. The way the room was set up made it seem like we were much smaller than we actually were. We were looking up at giant animal silhouettes, and we just seemed to shrink. I could tell that my teammates were feeling much the same.

Not knowing what to do with my hands, I took a translator out of my pocket and turned it on. I spoke first, I had a speech in my head but it was sort of failing me now. “Hello, I am a representative from earth, and I appreciate that you are taking the time to hear my people. I would like to discuss with you-” I was cut off.

“Just so we make things clear, human, the only reason you’re here and not dead is because of Her Majesty, The Queen Of All. Second, if you want to be our first client species, we will accept, but once again, only because of Her Majesty,” said the Chimera in the middle with a nasty tone, “If you have anything else to say, please hurry up. We have more important matters to attend to.”

Now completely off balance, I improvised. “What would being your client species entail?” I asked.

“You would fight for us and we would help you learn better technologies and protect you. If you prove yourselves worthy, you might even be able to be representatives from the Chimera Coalition at times, now, hurry up and decide there are more pressing matters for us to attend to,” answered the Chimera in the middle.

“We would like to be your client species,” I stated.

“We will be your patrons,” the Chimera stated, “Now get out.” We did.

The little chimera was waiting. Silently, it led us back to our dropship compartment. When we went in, we found the waste bucket empty. That was our only concession. This time, when we were waiting in the dropship, I decided that I would talk to the fairy queen. I took out the cloth with the key inside that she gave me from my bag.

“Hey, what's that?” asked Alaina.

“Well, It’s kinda a communication device that reads your mind,” I replied.

“Oh har har, what is it really?” she asked.

“Oh no, I’m actually serious.” I replied blankly.

A few seconds passed and then a fairy queen dropped from the ceiling wearing what looked like an oxygen mask.

“Uh… why do you have an oxygen mask?” I asked her.

“My health is of the utmost importance. I unfortunately can’t have little pieces of human waste going in my nose,” she replied with a blank expression.

“Uh… how did you get here?” asked Murphy.

“Portal. I assumed that it would be easier for Ella to explain that way, you see, she does a lot of reading in my library, and is one of my own creations, so I’m always going to be on her side,” stated Zoe.

“So I was actually wondering something, Zoe. Um, with the portals, if I went to HQ now, when I came back, would I come back in the dropship or this point in space?” I asked.

“Ah, good question, actually, you would come out in the middle of space and die. Glad you didnt try it first,” said Zoe.

“Ah, thanks, and sorry,” I replied shamefully.

“BUT, if you were a portal master like me, you could learn how to go to certain locations,” she said, “I have a sort of elite bootcamp going on at HQ soon, you could go there early and get ready. I don’t mind if you take those two,” Zoe pointed at Murphy and Alaine, “However, if they’re coming, so are two people you will grow to hate. One is a Chamhur, the other a Scihmet. Deal or no deal? Everyone will get a key there, but even if you don’t take anyone, they will all end up with a key.”

“Deal,” I replied a little hastily.

“Alright then, get your friends through the portal. Remember to be touching the key or you’ll be shredded. The camp is a year long, but neither you or your universes will age in that time, everything here will be frozen. In the corner of the main room, each of you get a gauntlet, your universal AI will guide you through rules and help you go where you need to go. Your schedules will be taken care of by her and anything else you need will also be facilitated by her,” said Zoe as she fell through the ground, or another portal.

“Uh, guys, basically, just follow me,” I said as I opened the portal, it moved. I closed the portal. “Everyone, hold the key,” everyone moved to hold it. I opened a portal on the ground. We fell.