Once Frank went back into the castle, Janet, Brad and Dr. Scott moved to the spot he had indicated. Janet looked at Brad and Dr. Scott, and asked them, "Well? Do you believe him?"
After a moment of silence, Brad reluctantly replied. "I know he's a good actor, and he may be pulling the wool over our eyes, but I can't help but believe him."
Janet turned to Dr. Scott. "What about you?"
He was just as reluctant to answer as Brad had been. Finally, he said, "I believe Frank believes what he is telling us. However, he may be too much in love with the Queen to recognize her shortcomings as a ruler. I doubt she is evil, but she may indeed be too weak to govern and protect her people effectively. That may be the reason for the coup. It is a bad sign if the head of the military is involved."
The logic behind that analysis rendered the three of them silent. They waited quietly until Frank reappeared, carrying a metallic notebook in his hand. He was accompanied by Rocky and Columbia, both dressed as casually as Frank and both, therefore, looking almost as dramatically different from their earlier appearances as did Frank himself.
Frank had clearly filled Rocky and Columbia in on the situation, so they were not surprised to see the three Earthlings. Janet, mindful of Brad's eyes on her, walked over to Rocky and gave him a hug, then did likewise with Columbia. Neither Brad nor Dr. Scott made a move toward the two aliens, but merely nodded politely to them.
With greetings concluded, everyone stood awkwardly for a moment. Rocky broke the silence by saying, "Thank you for bringing us this information. Like Frank, Columbia and I are devoted to our Queen. Hopefully we'll now have the chance to save both ourselves and her."
Columbia chimed in, her lovely alto voice coming as a shock after the cartoonish squeak she'd employed for the experiment. "Of course we don't know Her Majesty as well as Frank does, but she's a lovely person, and she's working so hard on behalf of her people. I'm sure everyone would think she was doing a great job, if only she were twenty years older."
Frank, meanwhile, had seated himself on the ground and opened the notebook. Moving all the paper toward the front, he flipped open a nearly invisible latch in the lower inside cover to reveal a compartment holding what appeared to be an almost perfectly flat telephone-type device.
Removing the phone, he said, "Adrianna – the Queen - gave
this to me to insure I'd always be able to contact her. Unlike using the communication portal in the
castle, this way neither Riff Raff nor Magenta will know I've spoken to her,
nor will they be able to monitor what I've said."
Janet interrupted him. "Riff Raff
mentioned overhearing you tell Columbia you had something like that. He searched your belongings, but couldn't
find anything. Now I know why! That's really neat."
Frank smiled. "I thought so, too. Before this, I've used it for rather, well, personal conversations I had no desire to share with anyone but Adrianna." He started punching in the appropriate code. "Once I connect with her, I'll set this to 'conference' so everyone will be able to listen and talk."
Almost immediately, light years away, the Queen picked up on her end. "Frank! How perfect. I was just about to try to reach you."
Frank's smile broadened. "Wonderful. Do you mind if I put you on 'conference'? My friends and I all need to talk to you."
"That's fine, as long as Riff Raff and Magenta aren't with you."
"Adrianna, I said my friends need to talk to you. Surely you don't believe I would describe the good doctor and his loyal sister in such a fashion."
Frank hit the 'conference' key, then held the phone out so everyone could hear. "Okay, royalty first. Why were you going to try to reach me?"
Her voice, an elegant, honeyed soprano, sounded as clear as if she were just down the road. "I want you to seize control of the mission and return to Transylvania immediately. Confine Riff Raff and Magenta however you see fit."
From the expression on Frank's face, it was clear this was the last thing he'd expected to hear. "What? What's going on?"
When he heard her tone of voice, he could almost see her triumphant smile. "I just concluded a meeting with General Luna, also known as the guiding force of a 'coup' to overthrow me."
At her words, six jaws dropped. Finally, Frank gasped, "You know about that?"
She laughed. "Not only do I know about it…in a manner of speaking, I actually encouraged it."
Relief was written all over Frank's face. "Would you mind explaining that? Obviously I'm more than a bit behind the times."
"Of course not. About six months ago, the General and I were having a meeting regarding my personal security. He was lamenting the number of attempts to overthrow me he'd been forced to combat. They were all small, but still troublesome. As we were talking, it occurred to me the most effective deterrent would be to have him in the position to control the development of a larger, more organized attempt, then quash it in a very public fashion. That way, hopefully the malcontents and power-grubbers of the world would see I'm not as vulnerable and powerless as they apparently believe me to be. Therefore, I told him the next time he was approached about taking part in such a rebellion, he should agree to do so, then keep me informed on its development and who was taking part. As it turned out, he was approached almost immediately by someone representing our own beloved Court Scientist, who was already on Earth with you."
Frank was astonished. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because until yesterday, General Luna didn't know who the gentleman who approached him was actually representing. He was told the person was a powerful member of the Court, who needed to remain anonymous until the plans were closer to completion. According to the General, that kind of secrecy is fairly common when the perpetrator is already a Court insider. Apparently Riff Raff finally became convinced all was progressing as it should, so he revealed his identity to the General. At any rate, during our meeting this afternoon, General Luna said he now has a complete roster of those participating in the coup. Tomorrow there will be mass arrests of all participants. Therefore it is vital that you apprehend Riff Raff and Magenta today, before any word of the arrests can reach them."
Frank was still stunned. "Yes, of course, we'll take care of it," he managed to murmur.
The Queen laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to catch you off guard that way. Incidentally, why were you calling me?"
Frank chuckled ruefully. "I was calling to tell you three of my Earthling acquaintances overheard Riff Raff and Magenta talking about the coup, mentioning that General Luna was involved…and that Riff Raff thought I was asking too many questions, so I, along with Rocky and Columbia, was to be killed at the conclusion of our next experiment."
Adrianna stopped laughing. A note of sheer horror crept into her voice. "Oh, no. It never occurred to me you would be in danger. I would have never been able to live with myself if anything had happened to you. If anything had happened to all three of you."
"It's all right. Now that we know what's happening, we'll be able to take care of it. Please don't worry. I'll get in touch with you again once we have Riff Raff and Magenta in custody."
Adrianna's response came in a voice fairly dripping with intimacy. "Frank, take me off conference. There are some other matters of the utmost importance I need to discuss with you."
He smiled. "Yes, Your Majesty." He switched off the conference button, walking away to a more secluded spot to continue the conversation.