On Lycium

“LYCIUM!!!” Tenk roared, or as loud as he was able with his odd soft voice. “How long have you known about this?!?”

“It came in a couple weeks ago,” said the slightly dazed looking militiaman.

“WEEKS ago?!? I have standing orders to be told immediately if this is found going through customs!”

“Well, we were going to tell you, little mayor dude, but the Squire kept sending over samples of that tonic he makes to see if it was any good or not…”

At this, the second militiaman chortled dumbly and nodded.

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!”

The two militiamen snapped to attention, realizing they had overstepped their boundaries.

“We’ll get rid of it, Clockwinder sir,” said the first.

“We’ll go dump it in the canal right way sir,” said the second.

“YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING,” yelled the Clockwinder, his eyes wide. “Send it back to wherever it came from! Don’t open it, don’t look at it, just get it on the first ship out of here! I don’t care what it costs!”

“Yessir!”

“And who was it being shipped to?”

The militiamen scratched their heads numbly, still feeling the buzz of the Squire’s tonic. “It was some Professor. Parks? Park? Yeah, That was it. Professor Park.”

Parx. So, Tenk thought to himself. That incident last year could not have been a coincidence then. There was only one reason anyone would be using lycium. Tenk paces back and forth while keeping both men fixed in his gaze.

“Here are your orders. You will inspect all incoming shipments for ANYTHING addressed to Professor Parx. And don’t let it off the ship. Mark it undeliverable. Whatever you have to. I don’t want anything of his coming into the City.

The militiamen looked at each other incredulously.

“IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?”

“Yes Mr. Clockwinder Sir! Right away!”

Tenk watched the two stumble down the stairs to the lobby of city hall, then went by another staircase to the Central Messenger Depot. He needed his orders sent to the rest of the Militia by a more reliable courier than those two.