Take me to Your Leader - 12. Take Me Chapter 12

While I was concentrating on my exams, I arrived back at my room after a challenging day, where I found Hugh waiting for me and he was smiling. Once safely in the privacy of my room, and having quickly washed my face to freshen u a little, I asked Hugh if the visit was business, which made him chuckle. “It is your Excellency, I am happy to report news from the Embassy manager, that we have secured the bottom neighbouring property, which is already vacant, so work is currently underway to freshen it up.

I also have news for further afar… I had a message from the Council, informing us that there is a large interest amongst the Amiorpians to live and work on Earth, and it was suggested that now with a nearly operational Embassy, some Amorpians come down and be part of the Embassy staff, especially now that we have two neighbouring properties that can serve as staff accommodation. They have already sent a list of the first four people who are ready for the move at short notice, although a little anxious at first, Ms Henderson too, is supportive of the idea,” Hugh informed me smiling.

“It appears that all is coming together nicely. What about the situation with Ms Henderson, with her current political position?” I asked, “She has tendered her resignation from parliament, which of course will trigger a bi-election since there are still another 9 months until the next federal elections, but she does not care about that any more. Aunt Joyce is also loving the new job as Administration Manager of the Embassy, and thankful that she doesn’t have to do so much international travelling anymore,” Hugh said to me.

“So, this list of interested Amixorpians, anyone I know or should be worried about?” I asked, “Err, yes to both parts of the question… First on the list is Otrebor / Roberto, he has been wanting to come to Earth more often since first meeting you when you first arrived at Tethys, the other one which you may not approve of is Selrahc Pedi / Charles, who has been pleading with the council to allow him to come down to work for you on Earth to show that he is truly sorry, and he will do anything to be able to take up a position here on Earth,” Hugh informed me.

This news caught me totally by surprise, and I thought about saying no and getting it over and done with, but I once regarded him as a good friend and thought maybe after this time passed that maybe he should be given one last chance to prove himself loyal and well behaved, so I told Hugh that I would take it under advisement. “What about me? Is there a position that I can take up within the Embassy staff?” Hugh asked me and looking at him carefully I saw that he was serious and that the look on his face was of hope…

“That too, I will take under advisement,” I replied, and I heard Hugh sigh. “Yes, of course, I will employ you, as my trusted adviser and protector,” I responded. “Yippee,” Hugh shouted out loud before realising that he was making too much noise and said sorry, and I just laughed, before I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him in a warm hug. “This is a one-off thing, don’t expect anything to come from it,” I whispered to Hugh, who I felt nod his head in reply, “It is nice and thank you my very good friend,” Hugh responded as he released from the hug, stepped back from me, and wiped away a tear from his eye.

“What about the plans for us to move into your new home, are we going to go ahead with that or are we going to live at the Embassy?” I asked Hugh, “With everything happening so fast lately, I have been considering selling it or leasing it out, as I think it would be best to be closer to the Embassy,” Hugh replied. “Well, if you are going to be my minder and personal advisor, I suggest that you take up the bedroom suite closest to the hallway door on the south wind of the upper level, that way you are close by, and if you don’t mind, you can use the meeting room as your main workspace. Although you won’t have much to do as Ms Henderson and your Aunt Joyce will be doing most of the work,” I suggested. “I accept both offers with humble thanks,” Hugh said giving me a deep bow, which had me laughing.

“That is good to hear mate, as Ms Henderson and your Aunt Joyce Tibbert will be taking up residence in the top gatehouse, with it being a large house there is plenty of room for both of them, and the lads – Simeon and Travis will have the rooms on the lower level of the embassy. The rest of the new arrivals will reside in the lower house, once the new boundary security fences are completed, including the one down by the river foreshore, to stop any unauthorised entry from that direction. Also, another item of notice, I will have to return home to South Australia for two weeks over the Christmas and New Year period, so I‘m not sure what your plans are for the Christmas break, ” I commented.

“A dull one I am afraid, but I will have plenty to keep me entertained at the embassy. I hear from Ms Henderson that she has concentrated on a mixture of antique furniture from all over the world to furnish the embassy, so I am looking forward to seeing it when completed, especially since only the roof level is currently fully furnished, Hugh said.

As another university year was coming to a close, at my request Hugh asked Simeon and Travis to meet with me in my room a day after everyone had completed exams, so that I could ask them if they were interested in working for me on a full-time basis. Hugh and I met in his room, with me dressed in my formal suit with ceremonial sash, and came up with a plan, which would be a shock to them both but hopefully, it would answer some of their questions. I remained in Hugh’s room, while he went to my room and waited for the lads to arrive and when they did, Hugh tapped his watch twice, which was my signal to make an appearance.

“Holy sheep dip, where the hell did you come from?” Travis exclaimed which had Hugh and I chuckling, “May I present to you, His Excellency Treb Sua, Earth’s Ambassador for Amixorp,” Hugh said formally as he gave a short bow to me, and the lads followed his actions. “Wait… are you the guy that stirred up a hornet’s nest at the UN Security Council a few months back?” Simeon asked and Hugh and I both laughed at this.

“Yes, I am he, and that dinner party that you worked at with the former Australian Ambassador to the UN and her Chief of Staff was a business meeting of sorts. We have asked you here today to offer you a permanent job at the Amixorp Embassy, which has been established here in Australia, the positions will be a bit more senior than what you did at Hugh’s home. If you accept, I will be offering you positions – Simeon as House Manager and Travis as Grounds Manager… I recall you both mentioning to me that you were interested in these fields of work,” I announced to them both. “Yes sir, I would be delighted to accept this offer,” Simeon said giving another bow, “I too accept sir, as I feel that University studies are not what I want to continue,” Travis added.

I smiled and tapped my watch again, “Good, that is what I was hoping… let me introduce your immediate supervisor, Roberto Ruo who will be the Embassy Butler,” I responded, just as Roberto appeared, and he gave me a deep bow. “As you can guess he is Amixorpian, and he has a lot of experience with management back at Tethys, that’s the Amixorpian Settlement in our solar system, located on one of Saturn’s Moons,” I informed the lads before turning to face Roberto.

“Good to see you again Otrebor Rua, have you settled in ok?” I asked him, “Yes sir, all is done, and Ms Henderson has been most helpful as well. Selrahc Pedi is a little nervous about seeing you again, but he will do his job and do it well, and the other four are settled in and getting orientated with everything,” Roberto replied. “Good to hear. How let’s get over there and you both settled too,” I announced, as I tapped my watch once more and before the lads could say anything in response, we were all teleported to the embassy.

“Whoah, what just happened?” Simeon asked as the lads looked around at their new surroundings. “Welcome to the Amixorp Embassy, located somewhere near Sydney… you will get to know exactly where soon,” I said, as we all stood in the Grand Ballroom. “Gentlemen, as you can see we are in the Grand Ballroom, and if you look out there you can see a river and lots of Bluegum Eucalyptus bushland, so we are still in Australia,” Hugh said to the lads, just as we heard a loud shriek noise coming from outside, as the large sliding doors to the verandah were open, and we stepped out onto the verandah to see what is happening.

We saw Hugh’s Aunty Joyce laughing hysterically, and it took some time before she could calm down to explain when she saw us there. “Aunty, care to explain what all the fuss is about?” Hugh asked, “It appears that the property has a colony of Phascolarctos Cinereus, one decided to drop down at the feet of Charles and his co-workers,” Joyce finally said to us. “Drop Bears,” Hugh said with a groan, and I realised he meant Koalas, as we all laughed at the situation. “Koalas are an Australian Native mammal, that looks a bit like a small bear, as it has fluffy fur and big claws,” I explained to Roberto, as we saw Joyce picking one up that had wandered over to her, and she held it up for us to see, before placing it back on the ground and it wandered off into the bush.

Ms Tibbert, can you remind me about arranging to have a sprinkler system installed around the property to protect the buildings, all the trees and our native wildlife during the summer from any possible bushfire threat,” I asked Hugh’s aunt as she was walking back up to the main building, “Excellent suggestion sir, I will mention it to Susan so it can be done immediately,” she replied.

Once back inside, Roberto offered to give the lads a full tour of the embassy, which they were surprised to learn has four levels, taking them downstairs first, where they checked out their living space, which included the lounge room and use of all the space downstairs. Once back on the main level after completing the tour, I was in the library doing some reading and relaxing. “Hey, so what do you think of the complex?” I asked Travis and Simeon. “Very impressive sir, and after seeing it all, I am more than happy with the living facilities and the job offer,” Simeon responded, “Me too, what he said… sir,” Travis added which made me smile.

“Now, you may be aware that Charles is back in my life again, and I have been assured that he will be on his very best behaviour. Travis, you will have the most contact with him as he will be working under your supervision as a groundsman, and you will need to teach him all about Australian plant life, so good luck with that, as this is all completely new to him,” I said to Travis, “That is fine sir, before the incident, we were getting to becoming friends, so getting reacquainted will be fine with me,” Travis said.

“What happened to the other guy?” Simeon asked, “At his request, he caught the next flight back to the home world in the other solar system, so we won't be seeing him again,” Roberto informed us all, and nothing more was said about the matter. “How did the new staff like their first encounter with our wildlife?” Hugh asked having entered the library a few moments earlier, and he had a huge grin on his face, as I tried to keep a straight face and not start laughing.

“It was very scary at first, they had no idea what that thing was,” Travis replied, “We will have to take them for a day out to Taronga Zoo in that case,” Hugh stated and I nodded my head in agreement. “What are we going to do about feeding everyone every day?” Simeon asked me, “Well since we haven't officially opened yet, the ladies have been getting precooked packaged food that is easy to heat up, but I have mentioned to them that we need to have something more organised than microwaved dinners,” I replied.

“I have already spoken to Aunt Joyce about this, and we have decided to give a few other pre-packed meals a go, with one company having a very large selection of hot and cold meals available for weekly delivery. In the meantime, I am going to order takeout for the new few days and nights until that is finalised,” Hugh informed us, and I was watching him as he was thinking of something else. “What about the option of having a permanent Kitchen Staff of two, as I have just the people in mind for the job,” Hugh added.

It only took me a moment to realise that he was talking about his current house staff - Mary and Lance Abbott in Vaucluse. “I think that is a wonderful idea, go ahead with making arrangements for them to come for an interview and look around the place, “ I said to Hugh who smiled and nodded. Two days later I officially moved into my new home at the embassy, and thus I was officially the Ambassador in Residence of Amixorp on Earth, but I would only be there for less than a week, as I was due to fly home to Adelaide to spend Christmas with my parents and siblings, who I had not seen in almost a year.

Hugh had moved into the Embassy the day before me, while the other staff were getting settled into their new quarters, in the two houses next door and the staff quarters on the lower level. For now, all meals for everyone were on the residence's upper level of the Embassy, either in the kitchen dining area inside, the verandah facing the river, or the undercover balcony facing towards the courtyard of native trees and shrubs, depending on what the weather is like on the day.

I would be away for two weeks, flying home but returning in the New Year with my vehicle, driving up from Adelaide, which would take me about two and a half days to travel the 1,360 kilometres, averaging 540 kilometres of travel each day, which was plenty for me, not having driven at all since I was last home. I had already planned out the return trip, with the first day going from Home in Adelaide to the town of Balranald on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, following the A20 Sturt Highway and passing through the towns of Renmark and Mildura, and on day two I would continue on the A20, A39 and A41 highways, passing through Narrandera and Cootamundra, before I stop at Yass, which would be about the same distance of travelling as the first day.

On my last day of driving on the A25, I would be travelling southeast to avoid all the major highways, towards the town of Bungendore, then northeast to Nowra and the coastal town of Gerringong until I reached the cities of Port Kembla and Wollongong. From there I followed the coast most of the way north to avoid going onto the M1 Highway, although for twelve kilometres I had no choice but to take that highway until I joined the A6 for the last ten kilometres of the trip.

Although it was wonderful to see the family again and spend Christmas with them all, I was itching to get back to Sydney where my life was now located, as the Amixorpian Ambassador to Earth, even though my siblings were pleading with me to stay a bit longer than just two weeks. Eventually, the day arrived for me to leave, and I had packed up the remainder of my belongings to take with me, a lot of it stuff that I had kept as I grew up, and wanted to keep as they were my happy memories.

It was as expected a very long trip, where I stayed in a motel room for the two nights I was on the road, I was tired from all the driving as I came into the southern suburbs of Sydney, I was glad when I finally turned down the steep driveway to my new home, having telephoned ahead a few minutes earlier that I was almost there.