A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer and James Birdsong! Glad you liked it. More on the Munchkins now. ;)


Chapter 11

Elphaba knocked on the office door a little while later and Boq bade her to enter. Once inside she found the three working hard to try and figure out the copy of the coded message. All three gave her smiles but didn't say anything.

"Rough going?" She wondered.

"Using all of our Munchkin skills, we've got a part translated, but this next part doesn't make sense," Mopsi spoke up.

"Like using the wrong cypher, doesn't make sense, or the words are not in a language you're familiar with?" Elphaba asked.

"Well, if we're using the right cypher the words are in Ozian. There is no indication that the cipher changed halfway down the page. Still, it might be a code within a code…" Boq frowned. There was a knock on the door and Elphaba went to see who it was.

"Ah Mr. Samuels, excellent timing. I think the boys could use some brain juice," Elphaba smirked. The cook had a cart with sandwiches and coffee.

"Well, I'm fairly certain that everyone in this room needs food, though Mr. Boq, I can call for the stable for oil, if need be," Samuels said.

"I'm good but I appreciate your offer," the Tin Man smiled at him. Mopsi and Popsi practically fell on the sandwiches.

"Miss Elphaba, the Captain has ordered lunches be brought to the stables. I didn't ask why but it seems odd," the cook admitted.

"Well, we have a Munchkin helper in our midst. Now, that wouldn't be so terrible if we didn't suspect the current Munchkin leadership of what can only be described as shenanigans," the green woman told him.

"Ah. So, the shenanigans are causing these normally well-behaved men to scarf my food?" Samuels could see that of the six sandwiches he'd brought, only two remained.

"Well, you make a good sandwich," Elphaba winked at him. The cook chuckled and promised to bring more after he'd fulfilled the Captain's order. Everyone in the room thanked him and watched him go.

"Ok break it down for me," Elphaba took a seat next to Boq, in an overstuffed chair, and snagged a sandwich.

"All right, here is the first part – 'We must determine if the green one is actually running Oz. If the blonde truly has power, then we must act in our best interests," Boq started.

" 'Our best interests'? Ok, real quick, could Munchkinland benefit from being detached from the rest of Oz?" Elphaba wondered.

"Unless something has changed since the downfall of the Wizard, I don't see how. We figured this meant that they would try to rejoin Oz, but you said the meeting was… not entirely productive," Mopsi said.

"So best interests couldn't mean anything to you," the green woman said.

"Well, he's the next part, which is what is confusing – 'Munchkinland must rise again. Do what your ancestors command'. I have no idea what is going on there," Boq shrugged.

"Given what we were required to learn in school, I do not remember on any classes discussing any sort of grand life in Munchkinland. I mean the biggest export is corn. The biggest employer is farming. What could be better than being able to trade within Oz and have assistance when you need it?" Elphaba was now understanding why they were confused. Popsi, who had been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up.

"Back when Frex was still in charge of Munchkinland, he was trying to make a deal with the Glikkus."

"Um… what now?" The green woman's eyebrows rose. The Glikkus was a region in Oz that mostly kept to themselves. Their population spent almost all their time underground, mining for the emeralds that the Emerald City had wished to possess. They mostly had no say in the government because all that had ever been asked of them were the emeralds, though the biggest reason was that they only spent enough time above ground to send the emeralds on their way to the Emerald City. The Glikkuns would load the trains at night and the Gale Force would drive the train down the Great Gillikin Railway toward Shiz. Then at Shiz, the emeralds would be transferred to wagons and driven down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City.

"He figured if Munchkinland took possession of the emeralds and act as a broker, we could get in on the profits coming in from the Emerald City. The Glikkuns were not overly keen on the idea, but they were intrigued when Frex offered that he would act as an emissary for Glikkus at the Council meetings. He was basically offering them a seat in the governing of Oz, without any Glikkuns having to leave home. There were other shady backdoor deals going on that I wasn't privy to after my arrest," Popsi explained.

"So, there could be something that we don't even know about and whatever it is could be unleased onto the rest of Oz," Elphaba shook her head.

"We need to translate more of this and get a meeting with Glinda," Boq said.

To Be Continued…