Richard J. Ronayne

Novella

Phenix Publishing Ltd

Nation-X Project

Dozens of my stories are currently being illustrated for release by Phenix Publishing Ltd for their Nation-X project, a multi-year project for 4-8000 word educational novellas.

This series was designed for young adults and high schoolers across Chinese and American schools, harnessing anthropomorphism to help digest mature, dark or joyful topics, whilst reflecting life, and exploring real social issues in an exciting and educational way.

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My Time with the Tiger
By Richard Joseph Ronayne

CHAPTER 1: One, Two, Three, Four, I Declare Total War
Tim had just arrived at the offices of Central Newspaper which was in absolute chaos. “Tim! There you are. Where have you been?” Toney shouted. “Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what? What’s going on?”
Toney slowly put each of his hands on Tim’s shoulders as if to brace him. “Ten minutes ago, there was a terrorist attack on the Presidential Palace in Midland. Nobody was hurt, as they received a letter beforehand warning them. But it’s gone. It’s just rubble now.”
“Woah, that’s huge. Do we know who did it and how?”
“We don’t know how they did it, but the secret service clearly believed the seriousness of the threat. They evacuated the building, which means they had no idea how to stop it.
“As for who did it, we received a letter this morning. It had a revised version of the national flag in it along with a radio frequency and broadcasting time—five minutes from now.”
Tim looked as Bidey cleared out an area of the office so he could place the national flag beside the amended version. The national flag for Nation-X was made of five colors and six white stars, while the amended flag had just one dark blue star on a purely white background.
“It’s Northland,” Tim muttered to himself matter-of-factly.
“What? Why do you think that?”
“Oh, well, the six stars of the National Flag represent each of the six ancient tribes that existed before the unification of Nation-X: East, West, South, North, Mid, and Northeast tribes. The five colors represent the unifying parts of Nation-X: dark blue for justice, white for ice, blue for water, green for the rainforest, and yellow for the desert.”
Toney stared blankly at Tim.
“So,” Tim continued, realizing Toney wasn’t following the logic. “One dark blue star on white would represent justice for one tribe of ice, Northland. I think they used that flag in the civil war too.”
Toney stared at Tim a little longer before finally speaking. “Interesting. Nobody else figured that out, Tim. Come with me.” He grabbed Tim and, without pausing, forced a path through the busy crowd toward the conference room. Alley was there with the editors and senior staff of the paper, including Mr. Newmann, the paper’s president.
“Quiet down, everyone. It’s starting now!” Margaret Rahhits shouted out, silencing the crowd. They all hustled around a radio placed on the briefing table.
The radio crackled to life as Brian raised the volume. Then, a charismatic silky voice began to speak through it.
“Good morning, Northland! This is Rebel Radio, the voice of the Northern Union, transmitting for all of Northland on the twenty-meter band at nine and five daily. I am the station director and commander of the Northern Union Rebels, Amur Fuser.”
“Who?” Tim whispered to Alley next to him.
He received a sharply gestured ‘be quiet’ as she put her finger to her mouth, listening intently to the broadcast.
“The government of Nation-X has lied to you. For over one hundred and twenty years, they have told you that the Northern Union was defeated, and that Nation-X is a unified continent in a golden age of peace. This is a lie. We were never defeated. We, the free peoples of the North, have been repressed into an occupied silence for over a century.”
Those huddled around the radio looked at each other with wide, terrified eyes.
“Your government was formed without our input,” Amur continued. “Our territories are governed without our say, and our resources are reallocated without our consent. For one hundred and twenty years, we have tried peaceful measures to communicate our wants and desires without renewing that painful war. We put our weapons down because we did not want any more violence. Twenty years of civil war led to the tragic deaths of millions.”
The Siberian tiger paused for effect. “That war was fought over the continent’s resources because our children were starving, and our families were penniless. We had no choice but to fight to survive. Fight or die; those are the options that the Southern Union gave us, unwilling to share the vast wealth that they had. We put our weapons down and continued fighting in non-violent ways, but your Southern Union hasn’t changed.”
Amur’s voice deepened, and he spoke louder, almost shouting.
“For one hundred and twenty years, you have continued to deny us of our basic rights! Our children are still starving! Our families are still penniless! No food, no work, no education, no business, no growth! You have placed corrupt officials to govern over us, who have continued to pillage what scant resources that the North has.”
Tim gulped. He was really beginning to see the seriousness of the situation.
“Well,” said Amur, “on behalf of the starving and desperate downtrodden of the North, I say, no more! I refuse to continue watching children die, as families cannot afford to live. I, Commander Amur Fuser, sheathe my pencil with great sadness, for it has failed us, and we must accept that. With a heavy heart, I pick up the weapons that will make you finally listen to our words. After one hundred and twenty years, the Northern Union is rearming itself. We will not allow our children to continue living in these circumstances. We fight for their future! Beware, Nation-X, for war, regrettably, is upon you. The North will rise!”
The speech ended.
Radio static filled the room, and not a person moved. They were all stunned into silence. 
CHAPTER 2: Huli Who?
Mr. Newmann broke the silence first. “That’s enough. I know this is alarming, but we have a job to do, people. Now tell me, what do we know?”
Margaret spoke first. “We know that this pirate radio station ‘Rebel Radio’ has been broadcasting for some time as a propaganda tool for Northern extremists. They speak of the great difficulties they suffer at the hands of Nation-X, which they call the Southern Occupying Forces.”
“Good. What else?”
Alley went next. “I tried investigating Amur Fuser some time ago, but the locals in the North refused to cooperate. As far as I can tell, he was born in Northland, then went to Midland for education. In fact, his family is very wealthy and gave him an education that few can dream of. He went to medical school and was an exceptional athlete in several sports. He was well-liked, well-read, and spent many years working at hospitals in impoverished areas of the North. Then, he just fell off the grid, only popping up again when this radio started.”
“Ok. So, we don’t know anything about the terrorists or how they destroyed the Presidential Palace. We don’t know how much of the Northern populace agrees with their agenda, and we don’t know how much of a threat they pose to Nation-X.” Mr. Newmann sighed and turned his attention to Margaret. “Who would you suggest answers those questions?”
“I would suggest sending our best investigative journalist to the North to track down the group.” Margaret looked at Alley. “Are you up for that again?”
“I don’t think I will be able to uncover any more than I did on my last visit,” Alley admitted. “I would recommend sending someone they won’t recognize. I’ll investigate the explosion.”
“Fair enough. Who do you think should go?” Margaret asked the room openly.
Suddenly, Tim was very aware that everyone was staring at him. “Wait, me?”
“You’re perfect!” exclaimed Toney. “They won’t recognize you on the spot, so you will be protected by anonymity.”
Still, Tim was not convinced.
“You figured out what their flag meant before anyone else,” Toney reminded him, “and you’ve been waiting for a big break like this.”
The Tonkinese cat paused and let out a breath. “Do you think you’re up for it? We could be sending you into a hostile warzone.”
“He doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s a waste of our limited resources,” Brian scoffed.
“Would you like to go instead?” Margaret countered.
Before Brian could respond, Tim stood up and addressed Mr. Newmann. “I will do it. It will be safer for an intern like me than for any of the well-known reporters here.”
Mr. Newmann looked him up and down intensely. “All right, Mr. Foxe. On one condition: come back alive and well.”
Tim was on a plane to Ice Town before the end of the day. He had quickly gone home to pack a suitcase for his travels, and to explain his assignment to his family who were rightfully afraid for his safety.
Nation-X had been at peace for over a century; nobody had experienced wartime reporting in his lifetime. Tim hoped that the training he received from the paper was still up to par.
Upon arriving in Ice Town, a local guide was arranged to pick him up from the airport and always stay with him. An Arctic fox in a thick-furred anorak held out a sign with his name on it.
“Hi, I’m Tim Foxe,” he said, smiling and holding out his hand.
“Oh, hello. My name is Huli Jing, but you can just call me Huli.” The Arctic fox dropped the sign, took his hand in hers, and shook it very enthusiastically.
“It’s nice to meet you and thank you for agreeing to be my guide. Can I have my hand back now?” Tim laughed.
Huli paused and looked at his hand as if she had forgotten she was holding it. “Oh, I’m so sorry, yes, of course. You will also need something a little warmer than what you’re wearing. You Southerners always underestimate the cold up here, especially in our winter. I brought a warm coat for you, too.”
Tim took the very warm-looking coat and began to remove the one he was already wearing before Huli interjected. “No, no, no, Mr. Foxe. It is to go over that coat. Otherwise, you will literally freeze to death. It’s very common here. Shall we go?” She threw the bags that Tim was struggling with over her shoulders effortlessly.
Huli led Tim outside and called a taxi, which took them to his hotel room for the night. “I thought we were heading toward the most northern villages straight away?” Tim asked, puzzled by the hotel.
“Oh, no.” Huli chuckled. “You cannot travel during the dark here, certainly not in the winter.”
After unloading their bags at the hotel, Tim took inventory of his gear while Huli cooked up some fish.
“So, Huli, how much did the paper inform you of my assignment?” Tim asked curiously.
“They told me you are here to report on the general condition of the populace. But I assume that you’re here for Amur because of the attack in Midland. Is that right?”
“Well, no, but yes, if I happen to come across his path, that would be a very good story to investigate, of course,” Tim explained, startled at her accuracy. “Wait, you called him by his first name. How well do you know him?”
“Amur? Oh, he’s my friend. He taught me how to read and write,” Huli said nonchalantly.
“What? How? Does the newspaper know about this?”
“I don’t think so. They didn’t ask. Amur is everybody’s friend out here. There are almost no schools outside of Ice Town, so everybody in the countryside grows up with little education.”
Huli continued cooking as she spoke. “It was always that way until Amur taught the farmers how to read and write, and then how to teach others to read and write as well. Rebel Radio projects really interesting writing and math lessons every day, too. He’s a really nice guy.”
Tim could not respond. He just stared at her with his jaw wide open.


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