"The Prince Needs a Bride" (complete)

Part 14 - The Bloodless War

Eltron's screens showed the outer courtyard. 

Desmond pressed two keys together and held them down. Together, as if one person, the men of Dashenko's army fell as if they had been struck by bullets. Yet no gunfire was heard.

Some guests who were also rogue agents, folded slowly to the ground. One man was Leon, who had been part of Prince Albert's security detail.

Guests stared around in shock.

Captain Ruskrod and most of his two hundred men, swarmed out across the courtyard, the majority, collecting up all the weapons while others handed out durable plastic hand-cuffs with automatic locks, telling people to cuff the fallen men and women with their hands behind their backs and then go return to secure their feet with another.

"What just happened?" Albert asked.

"You have just seen a new way that a war can be won. It will be a huge task to process these people who have shown themselves to be treacherous, accepting bribes and putting themselves in the  hands of our enemies, working for them against country and kingdom..."

"But how, just how were they selected —are they still alive?" the queen asked.

"The enemies all have either phones or communication devices and all these have signals. With my daughter's help, we invented and isolated a reverse pulse that infiltrates the user's nervous system, rendering them, not unconscious, but paralysed, temporarily. Those who wear earphones will take longer to recover, others holding their phones in their hands, less time, and in a pocket, it will be short so the teams have to work quickly, this is why they're engaging guests to help.

"The same thing has happened in the northern provinces and our helpers there will imprison anyone who falls. Perhaps, Prince Albert and you, Jeremy, you will join me to help out as there will be those in the top tower who will need securing and maybe others in the palace itself. We might miss some but as long as they don't have a weapon, they will find themselves out-numbered and without a way to communicate with fellow enemies. We must pray that today, no one dies."

Police and emergency workers from outside the palace gates were brought in and it seemed all was chaos for a while. Those who had fallen were taken to the great hall where indoor balls, parties and festivities had been convened, the floor was littered with seemingly unconscious people.

"It will take a lot of time to process all of these," Albert said, thinking it to be an impossible task.

Elsie, who had joined him, said, "Some of them can just be given warnings and return to their homes and lives. All phones and communication devices that have been controlled by either Zod or Dashenko, will be destroyed. Our program must be carefully locked away. Imagine what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands. We designed it so that it has to be reloaded before it can be activated again.

"Was it tested?"

"Elsie laughed and said, "Of course. And yours truly was the one and only candidate. But, actually, for me, it wasn't a bad experience, just like shutting down for quarter-of-an-hour, a nice way to have a break."

"I should try it," Albert joked. In one voice, Elsie and the queen said a very loud, "NO!"

They laughed together as one. In a very serious tone, Elsie said, "I had forgotten what it was like to be with people I loved who would give me such joy. I cannot remember being happy like this since I was here all those years ago. I never want to be far from you and I pray we can always share such laughter that is like medicine to my soul. 

They learned that Clara had a phone given to her by Chief Dashenko, a week before the quest. She had been promised that she would be crowned queen, but due to the fact that Dashenko did have plans to bomb the capital, all those who had been bribed and lived here, including Clara would not have survived to receive their promised rewards. Clara was found in the royal gazebo as if sound asleep. Her mild paralysis lasted two hours. She was exiled from Eltronia and it was agreed she could go to live with a pen-friend in Canada.

Elsie, who had loved Clara, said, "It's sad, but I've learned that there are few who can't be bought when offered the most tempting of bribes."