The sedan drove very smoothly over the roads, and without the wind and the chaos of their drive into Domus, Blake felt like he might actually be able to relax. So many times, once they walked onto the surface of a world, they had very little opportunity to rest until they arrived back in the Maze. This quiet ride was a rare gift, in his opinion, and he was more than happy to just watch the road pass and even let his mind drift off.
This relaxation was short-lived, however, as the inevitable struck after only thirty minutes on the road. Without warning, their vehicle lost power and coasted along the road, slowing down little by little as Hector stared in horror at the controls, occasionally pressing the start button accompanied by a flurry of “no, no, no, no, no” in a desperate attempt to get moving again. Blake looked over the dashboard for anything that might indicate a change, and the only item that stood out was a number twenty-two flashing in one of the corners, which he thought might be some kind of error code.
“What happened?” Perry asked.
Hector dutifully steered the vehicle onto the road’s shoulder while still pressing the start button, which Blake felt was in vain at this point.
“I was afraid of this,” Velata sighed, folding the map and putting it into his pocket. Hector pounded the dashboard in frustration.
“Should we ask what happened?” Blake asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Hector shot back.
“I can see what happened, but I thought there might be a reasoning behind it,” Blake answered.
“I thought these things didn’t need fuel or whatever,” Perry said.
“Can you do that unlock thing you did before on the keypad?” Hector desperately asked Blake. Blake did not believe this would help, but he thought better than to argue the point with Hector at the moment. He shrugged and opened his electronic lockpick as he had done in Domus and held it over the keypad, which had never changed from green to its locked color of red.
“The keypad shows it is unlocked already,” Blake assured him. “I don’t imagine that’s the problem.” Hector pressed the start button a couple more times, but as Blake expected, nothing happened. Velata sighed.
“Government vehicles tend to have a remote shutoff,” Velata offered. “They waited until we were well out of town and shut us down. I really should have known better.”
“This isn’t fair,” Hector complained. “We were so close.”
“Well, we weren’t there yet,” Blake said.
“Closer than we’ve been before,” Hector continued.
“Now what?” Perry asked, gratefully bringing them back to the actual problem.
“We walk,” Velata said opening the door and stepping out onto the road. Blake nodded and in short order, all four of them stood on the shoulder in front of their deceased vehicle looking around at the vast expanse of nothing that surrounded them. It was the perfect place to ambush someone without attracting any attention since there was not so much as a street sign anywhere in sight, so if Halloway had their location on some kind of global positioning system, they would be sunk in short order.
“Isn’t there a town up the road a bit,” Perry asked Velata as they pondered their situation.
“Yes,” Velata replied hesitantly, “but Halloway will have troops there waiting for us to wander up powerlessly in case he misses us out here. He wouldn’t lose that opportunity.”
“I imagine he would be covering every little town between Carburast and Domus,” Hector lamented. “We don’t stand a chance.”
Blake glanced at Hector whose spirits looked crushed after this rather minor setback. Hector had always struck him as the strong variety, but he had had a rough day what with being shot and having to chauffer them everywhere. He imagined Hector was actually quite exhausted along with Blake and Perry, since none of them had rested since leaving Halloway’s base the previous evening. He did not want anyone to get too down on themselves, so he introduced his thoughts on the matter.
“There’s always a way,” Blake said encouragingly. “We know that he’ll cover the main road, but if we aim for something a little off the beaten path, we may have more of a chance.”
He took out his scanner and set it to look for human life signs anywhere within several miles of them, and swinging the device around, he noted several readings east of the road and far enough away that it would be unlikely that Halloway would set anyone out there. He pointed in the direction of his findings.
“There are people out that way,” he announced. “I say we start there.”
“There’s nothing there,” Velata replied skeptically. Looking in the direction he pointed without the benefit of his scanner, there was certainly nothing visible.
“Well, it wasn’t close, mind you,” Blake clarified, “but I did a basic life form scan, so whether we see them or not, there are a fair number of people out there.”
“I think we’d better get moving,” Perry said as he looked down the road. Blake followed his line of sight and saw a vehicle well in the distance. If Halloway were ready for their breakdown, he could have people here quick, and they had wasted a lot of time just discussing it.
“Let’s get off the road at least,” Blake said, and the four of them ducked off the road into some high grass and hoped that the vehicle kept going. It was several tense moments before they could hear the vehicle approach and then rush past them without pausing to investigate.
“It is only a matter of time before Halloway’s men show up here,” Hector said.
“I agree,” Velata added.
“Let’s start by moving in the direction of those readings,” Blake said. “I can get an estimate of their distance, but getting out of sight of the road is more important for now.”
He led the group away from the road and down a short hill. They passed through a few trees and crossed a field of grass before Blake had another look at his scanner and narrowed down the life signs to get a real feeling for how long it would take to reach them. The four of them knelt instinctively, though they were no longer visible from the road.
“I don’t see anyone behind us,” Perry said.
“No, I think we’ll be all right,” Hector added, sounding hopeful once more.
“There is a small town only a few miles in this direction,” Blake said getting a good reading on the life signs he had detected. “We should be there in an hour or so if we get moving and keep a good pace.”
“An hour?” Hector asked incredulously. “I don’t see how this helps us going an hour in the wrong direction. We need to get to Carburast.”
“It’s my understanding that on the main road at speed, we were still at least an hour from that sewer north of Carburast,” Blake pointed out. “On foot, we could take days to get there, and Halloway would most certainly find us before we even got close. We need transportation, and finding other people is the only way we’ll get it.”
“And you’re hoping to get it in some little town?” Hector asked.
“Somebody’s got to have something we can drive,” Blake said.
“I don’t believe the concern is finding a vehicle,” Velata said. “Hector may well be concerned that whoever we find might be either unwilling to help, or worse, simply turn us over to Halloway. If they consider us wanted fugitives, then it doesn’t take long for word to get around.”
“Have either of you ever been to any of the towns out here?” Perry asked.
“No,” Hector said, shaking his head.
“Nor have I,” Velata added. “I don’t know what to expect.”
“Not that unusual, Perry,” Blake said when he saw Perry’s disappointment. “If you were to look on a map of where you live, you could probably point to over a dozen little towns within fifty miles of your house that you would never visit. Not out of any conceit, of course, but simply because you have no reason to do so.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Perry said with a shrug.
“We have to hope they’re at least sympathetic,” Blake said.
“No way to know,” Velata said skeptically.
“Except by asking,” Blake noted. And with that, he placed his scanner back in his pocket and set off in the direction of the town that he hoped held their salvation.
Small towns on Earth tended toward extremes in their attitudes, but since they were so small, the attitudes were fairly equalized across the entire populace. The vast majority were friendly enough though a little wary of newcomers. The other side of that coin were those that distrusted outsiders entirely and generally did everything possible to get rid of them so as to not “infect” their locals. He always hoped for the former, but if the latter were true, they would simply keep moving.
He checked his scanner several times as they walked to make sure they stayed on track. They had to cross some fences around fields which did little more than define a border, and the grass generally stayed at knee level. They passed through the occasional patch of trees, but there were never very many. Despite the borders, everything grew wild with very little control from whoever owned these lands.
Eventually, they reached a road that appeared to have branched off the main highway to the east and led into a small town still some distance away. They walked along the side of the road until a neat little quintessential country town emerged before them. The road ran past a sign that read “Festra” and into what would be their main street flanked by a variety of shops like a strip mall on both sides and a few vehicles here and there parked in front of them.
Past these shops were houses scattered haphazardly around that central area with little streets branched off the main one like threads of a spider web, but most of them were very close. It seemed more than likely that most of the town’s inhabitants would walk from their houses into town for work or whatever they needed only bringing out vehicles if absolutely necessary.
The road, itself, was very quiet without a single vehicle driving on it and not a soul in sight. If Blake had not followed life signs to get here, he would have thought the town was abandoned.
“Are we looking to steal a vehicle this time?” Hector asked a little too eagerly for Blake’s taste.
“I’d rather not, if we can avoid it,” Blake replied.
Hector looked both dejected and annoyed. “I can’t see someone just giving it to us.”
“We have to find someone before we can be either accepted or denied,” Perry noted.
Blake agreed with a nod, and looked around. He pointed to a shop that appeared to have people sitting at tables within it. “Is that a restaurant?” he asked Velata.
Velata looked at the little shop and nodded. “Yes, I believe so.”
“Perfect,” Blake said, and walked toward it with everyone else close behind.
The restaurant was larger than Blake expected with a little over a dozen tables scattered across the limited space. A couple of waitresses walked from the tables to the kitchen now and then, and by all rights, the place could have been anywhere on earth. At this time, the place was about half full – its patrons eating with only the occasional murmur emerging from any of them as they ignored the new faces.
The smell of what was cooking was unfamiliar to Blake, and glancing at the plates around the restaurant, he was unable to identify what anyone was eating. Part of him was relieved that at least something about this planet would seem a little alien. It was, however, time for an interruption.
“Excuse me, everyone,” Blake said, raising his voice loud enough to carry across the room. “Excuse me. Pardon my interruption of your meals, but I have a rather ridiculous request.”
He looked around at the faces of those who were previously minding their own business and saw every eye now focused on him. The murmurs had stopped, and the silence was so palpable that even Blake felt a twinge of stage fright.
“You’ll think me mad,” Blake continued, “but we broke down on the highway and really need to get to the other side of Carburast. I don’t suppose anyone could possibly give us a ride?”
In a moment for what felt like an eternity, the patrons of the restaurant stared at Blake dumbly. Just as soon as he was able to acknowledge this, everyone went back to their meals as if nothing had happened and without giving him an answer. Blake looked at his companions and shrugged.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Perry said.
“Me either,” Blake agreed. “It was worth a try though.” He looked between Hector and Velata. “I don’t suppose either of you could spring for some lunch.”
“You want to eat?” Hector asked, surprised.
“It’s been awhile since we’ve had anything to eat, honestly,” Blake shrugged. “You included. We could keep going, but we should also allow people to respond to our request in their own time.”
“You think they will?” Velata asked.
“I knew you would,” Blake said with a smile.
“Are you all staying?” a waitress asked in a friendly voice as she walked up to them.
“Yes,” Velata answered, and handed over a small disc that he had hanging around his neck. The waitress retrieved a small, square device hanging at her waist and pressed the disc against it. It beeped, and she handed the disc back to Velata who placed it back around his neck.
“Follow me,” she said as she led them through the restaurant to a table for four, and they sat around it.
“While I see where you’re going with this, we have to face the possibility that we could come up empty-handed,” Velata said as the waitress left with their drink order.
“Maybe,” Blake said, “but before we face that, let’s try it the easy way.”
“How is it you travel but don’t carry money?” Hector asked almost interrupting him.
“Always have trouble with the exchange rates,” Blake replied with a smile, but although Velata chuckled, Hector did not appear amused by the response. “Sometimes, money works for us. We’re very acquainted with the electronic banking systems of several worlds and have means to make payment on those, but this is the first time we’ve been on your world, so we don’t know how it works.”
Velata reached into his shirt and retrieved the disc he had given the waitress earlier. He held it out for Blake and Perry to see.
“Everyone has something like this on them to reference their financial data,” Velata explained. “Stores scan them for payment.”
“May I analyze it?” Blake asked eagerly, resisting the urge to just reach out and take it. Velata shrugged and handed the disc to Blake who pulled his scanner out of his pocket and accessed an app on it to scan the internal structure of the disc. The disc appeared to have a small chip in it that stored the owner’s data. When it was placed on a device such as the waitress held, the reader scanned it to discover the bank number required for payment acquisition. Storage was not done magnetically, and the outer shell was very tough, so the disc could endure a large amount of damage before it would cease to function. It would be very easy for The Maze to emulate its function and allow them monetary freedom on Keersh, should they ever return.
As he was examining the results of his scan, a man walked up to their table. “You’re Royker Velata, aren’t you?” he asked.
Velata looked at him as a stranger and warily asked, “Have we met?”
“No,” the man replied, “but anyone who followed what went on with Carburast would know you.”
“Do you have an interest in Carburast?” Hector asked.
“No,” the man replied again, “just a weakness for people who need help.”
“Well, pull up a chair,” Blake said happily, “you’ve come to the right place. Hard to find anyone as down on their luck as we are at this point.” He handed Velata back his disc, and did a round of introductions as Velata replaced it around his neck. Upon hearing their names, the man chuckled.
“Blake and Perry?” he asked, clearly disbelieving them. “Really?”
Blake only stared at him, uncertain as to how he should take that. His introduction was pretty flat as introductions go, and he was not try
ing to be comical about it. “Is that supposed to be significant?” Blake asked.
“You don’t know who I am?” the man asked them.
“Should I?” Blake responded.
“Well,” the man continued with a sarcastic grimace, “if you’re Blake and he’s Perry, does that mean I get to be Michelle?”
Blake was dumbfounded. His mouth dropped open in surprise, and he had no response to the man’s comment. He felt like he was just backed into a corner over something that he knew nothing about. He glanced at Velata who was shaking his head.
“I know who you are now,” Velata said to the man. “You’re the author who came out with that quote-unquote true story of the origin of our planet – Kelvin Gorm.” Having identified the stranger, he immediately spun to Blake with a suspicious and even slightly irritated expression.
“And that’s where I’ve heard your names before,” Velata continued. “We conveniently break down on the highway, just happened to end up in this town, and just happened to meet the guy who insists you’re real. Are you having me on?”
Blake was at a loss for words, which did not happen often. While he had to admit it was a coincidence of impossible proportions, it still had to only be a coincidence. This was Michelle’s first trip to anywhere with him and Perry, so they could not be referencing her. He had to get to the bottom of this, or at least, clear them of suspicion.
“I’m afraid you have me at a loss,” Blake assured them. “Michelle is trapped in Carburast which is where we are admittedly going to end up, though only Perry and I are going in. How do you know of her? And how are our names familiar to you?”
“Are you serious?” Kelvin asked.
“What are your real names?” Velata insisted.
“They introduced themselves as Blake and Perry,” Hector said, “and when Prink and I took them from Halloway’s base, they had a woman with them named Michelle. What are you talking about?”
“Look, I’m sorry I bothered you,” Kelvin said standing up to leave. “I thought you all were legitimately in need, and not just here to give me more grief than I need.”
City Of Phase Page 20
