He was terrified by the idea of another dark period, only the thought of seeing so much suffering among his people brought him back to the horror of the Great War, before the Guardians of the Flower established a truce for the succession of the Code’s transportation. The city of Orca, which stretched along the valley clearly visible from the royal castle, still bore the signs of the attacks of the Dikali spacecrafts, second of the five planets of the Arkass system.
He turned to them, crossing his arms.
The tail rested on his shoulder and with the hint of a smile he said, «Well, Selidar is alive!»
The two looked at him in disbelief and immediately looked at each other as if to understand if they had heard him properly.
«Technically he has stayed with the Earthling on his planet all this time» he continued, smiling and touching his beard.
«Father ...» Myah interrupted him, «We all attended the prince's funereal wake, his body was ...».
«Dead!» Hiylos continued annoyed. «There was no sign of life in Selidar's body, I myself ascertained it.»
«It is true, my friend, but what you saw was only the body of the prince of Velado. Poligon Dhaal, the oldest of the guardians, believes that the terrestrial boy is the being mentioned in the prophecy written on the Wall of Markan and, even if all the guardians think he is a fool, Selidar believed him and transposed him his soul in the body of a pet that the Terrans call dog ».
«But this is definitely absurd» Hiylos said, as if someone had offended his intelligence, more than had already been done putting him with that little brat. «Transposition is an ancient and groundless theory, it cannot be!» King Karmora approached his servant putting a hand on his shoulder. «You will see it in person, they will come back here just after the mission on Kentaura».
5
Patrik opened his eyes with his face on the pillow in his room, looking at the bedside table. His Fender Stratocaster was against the wall.
It reminded him that he had to change strings.
The light from the window was strangely dark. It must have been late night and surely that unusual dream had awakened him. He felt a strange pain behind his neck and touching himself, it felt like the burning of a fresh wound.
What a strange dream, he thought again.
He laughed, thinking about when he would tell Marco, as he looked at the ceiling still incredulous.
His head was still hurting a little bit.
He brought his arm up and put the hand on his hair. He realized he had fallen asleep in his sweatshirt.
Unusual.
He remembered clearly having put on his pyjamas and ... wait a moment! Even his jeans and socks were still on?!
He tried to turn on the big light. It didn’t work.
«Mom» he began to call, and at the sound of his voice a strange light came on in the room.
«Oh God!» He shrieked when he realized that Marco was sleeping beside him in his bed.
He stood up suddenly, as if he had found a rat under the sheets and shouted «Marco!»
At that point the pain in the head was out of control.
Marco, who was sleeping deeply and open-mouthed, opened his eyes and, looking around in disbelief, asked «Hey Jones, why the hell am I in your room?» Then, putting his hands behind his head, he continued to speak, grimacing pain. «Good God, my head’s bursting!»
With a half-closed eye he turned to Patrik. «What an absurd dream...» he said again, «your dog was strange and there were aliens and spaceships and you...».
«Shut up!» Patrik shouted, looking around.
It was clear that something was wrong and he was trying to understand, while his head continued to burst with pain.
«What's wrong with you? Did you wake up badly? Why are you screaming, you jerk? But look at this guy!» Marco said, looking around. «Strange though, I don’t remember coming to your house!»
«Marco, something is wrong, we’ve not been to my house today and I think I had the same dream as you».
«Hey, it's impossible,» said his amused friend, «something so strange cannot be dreamed by two different people, and while you stop playing the idiot I'm going to take a nice piss.»
He got out of bed scratching behind his neck, where the annoying pain came from.
«Marco» said Patrik cautiously, «don’t open that door please...»
"Listen Jones don’t be an idiot, I have to pee, my head is breaking and I hope for your health that you have a Coke in the fridge, I'm dying of thirst!»
He started looking for shoes and, with a slight amazement, asked «Did you change the floor in your room?!»
«No!» replied Patrik trembling, his back to the wall, «I didn’t!»
«Well, that's enough» Marco said, annoyed, «If you think you're making a joke to the king of jokes you're out of your mind rookie, and don’t try and tell me that ...».
The words choked in his throat when, opening the door, he found himself inside a corridor that did not look like the Jones's living room.
«Okay Patrik, nice joke, but now I'd say it’s lasted long enough, so it ends here,» he said without stopping to look around.
«I assure you it's not a joke and I know less than you» said Patrik, astonished, as he peered out of the door as well.
«Uuuaah.»
An inhuman scream came from the corridor, so strong that it made the two friends jump backwards, and in less than a second a little monkey-like creature, but with huge bat ears and long talons like those of a koala,jumped on Patrik's bed screaming.
Patrik took the guitar by the handle, ready to defend himself. Marco grabbed the lamp on the bedside table, holding it more as a shield than as a sword.
The little creature kept flipping backwards as it screamed. He looked at the two boys with its huge eyes of emerald green. At that point Billo, Patrik's dog, came out of the door with the calmest expression ever and the two heard a voice saying «Kalberham! The boys are awake, it will be good if you come now. Camilla has already found them.»
The monkey, or whatever it was, rolled at the foot of the bed and landed on the dog's rump, rolling its tail around the body.
«Here you are» the voice said again, «stay calm now.»
«Who the hell is he talking to and what's going on?! Patrik, this is your doing...» Marco said, tightening his hold on the lamp even more.
«I already told you I don’t know anything about it, you imbecile» and looking at his dog he continued. «Come on Billo, come here, good boy!»
The dog didn’t move.
It looked at Patrik, and again that voice said, «Billo?! Now that you can hear me I would like to be called by my name, Prince Selidar of the planet Velado ».
The two friends looked at each other open-mouthed.
«It's not possible, it cannot be. What’s happening?» asked Patrik.
«But what do I know» Marco answered, «it's your dog, is it not?»
«I see it’s my dog, thank you!» Patrik addressed him, «But it appears that he is talking to me.»
«Come on Jones, it cannot be him talking.»
«But it is him, mate».
Kalberham appeared from behind the door and looked at the boys amusedly.
«Let's see what we have here?» He continued. «Two very big Earthlings held up by a Melidian monkey. You can put down the "weapons", Camilla is harmless if you don’t make her angry, and nobody wants to hurt you here.»
The monkey moved from the dog's back to Kalberham's shoulder in one leap.
«The pain you have behind your neck is due to the little device of galactic translation that has been placed inside your neck, and that's why you can hear the sound vibrations of Prince Selidar, or better...» and he gave a feline smile standing out his canines, «... Billo!».
«Patrik, he's the dude of the dream and that means I'm still sleeping and I'll get up and in any case ... I'll come and beat you!» Marco said in a frightened and threatening tone, addressing his friend, never looking away from the tall cat dres
sed so strangely.
Kalberham looked Patrik in the eyes, squeezing his pupils as if he wanted to scrutinize the boy's thoughts. He had waited for this moment for a long time and was curious to understand why Poligon Dhaal was so confident of his abilities. At first glance the boy seemed not so much, but the human race was so unexpectedly different, and anything could happen.
«Patrik» he said, turning to the boy, «I realize that everything seems absurd and I will explain the situation to you as soon as possible, but taking you away from Earth was essential for your safety. I allowed myself to transport your bedroom here on the Olimpia with your personal belongings, and as for the presence of your friend, well ... there was no way to get him down and so he is here too». He gave a threatening look to Marco, who raised the lamp even more as if it were a laser sword.
«Now it will be good if you all come to the bridge, the ship you saw landing on the horizon was looking for you and is already on our trail. I absolutely must create a Flexion and enter sub-space. This will distance them as far Kentaura».
Selidar and Camilla disappeared behind the corridor. Kalberham started to follow them but saw that the boys hadn’t moved. He turned to the desk, took a large book and pulled it hard towards Patrik, who unexpectedly raised his arm and blocked it in mid-air. Kalberham also lifted his arm and two hundred and fifty-seven pages of art history began to spin, swirling as if carried away by a typhoon, until the book fell on the bed without moving.
Patrik was stunned by the unconditional reflex he’d just made.
«Well, I see the removal of the limiter is beginning to take effect» said Kalberham, looking at the book. «You will need all your strength soon. And now, if you want to understand what's going on, follow me to the Bridge.» And so saying he left the boys alone.
Marco hurled himself at the door in half a second while Patrik, still stunned, continued to stare at his right hand with which he had stopped the book without even touching it.
«Listen, tell me what's going on!Who are these beings and above all why did they kidnap you, putting me in this mess?!» Marco said, with his back to the door as if he meant to barricade it.
Patrik looked at his friend for about five seconds, then, as if awakened from a state of hypnosis, he said, «Get up, let me by!»
That strange feeling that had accompanied him all his life had, perhaps, a meaning. The fact of doing and hearing things differently from others now had an explanation and he knew it was behind that door.
«Don’t tell jokes Jones, you don’t know who these aliens are!»
«Don’t argue and get up right now!»
«I will not let you go out there! And explain to me what that circus number meant with the book of art!»
Patrik’s blood was boiling in his veins and he felt he could move his friend with great ease, but he would never hurt him, so he held Marco's shoulders and stared at him like never before.
«Listen Marco, we have been friends for a million years now and you know that something strange was always within me, even if I was pretending nothing was wrong. You always preferred not to know or not to see and I am grateful for that, but now please let me pass. I must understand! What do you want to do anyway, stay here forever?»
His voice was very determined now.
Marco realized that staying there was useless and going out was the only solution. Besides, those beings were strange, but they did not seem threatening.
The two opened the door and walked in the same direction that the other three had taken before.
*
The Bridge of the Olympia was arranged in a crescent shape in front of the huge monitor, which was projecting the vision off the bow: the universe.
Three armchairs were arranged equidistant and Kalberham was seated in the center one, intent on manipulating the control instruments. The left-hand post was empty, but the one on the right was occupied by an undefined being, back turned, and with long, straight black hair that fell on its shoulders.
Selidar twirled nervously around like a lion in a cage, but stopped when the sliding doors opened and the boys entered the room with incredulous expressions.
«It seems there are two terrestrials on the bridge, captain.»
Patrik, perplexed looked at his dog, he was no longer sure of anything and worried since an alien being had taken possession of his most faithful friend.
He bent down, as he always did, to stroke the dog.
«Billo, my friend, what have they done to you?»
The labrador sat down and looked at the boy as he had done thousands of times before.
«Selidar, my name is Selidar. I come from a planet called Velado, which is part of the twenty-one petals of Eta Carinae».
Patrik could hear that voice in his head even if the dog had not moved a mandibular muscle.
«I decided to take the body of this terrestrial animal to be near you from the first day you found me. There is someone who puts a lot of trust in you and your skills, and you could not be left alone. I hope you can still consider me your friend, Patrik.»
«Well, I think I ... I don’t know ...» He was confused and didn’t know what to say.
«You know, Selidar sacrificed his life to protect you» said Kalberham, who had listened to the conversation. «He is a prince on the planet which he comes from. Perhaps the one place that has lost the most lives in the war ».
«I'm sorry» said Patrik, listening to those words, «But I don’t know about any war and I don’t understand what you want from me. Why am I here? Why are those people looking for me?»
Kalberham stood up and headed for Patrik.
«You have something special, terrestrial boy. How special we will know soon. On Kentaura we will see if those who believed so much in you will be repaid for their trust».
Kalberham and Selidar looked at each other.
«I apologize but can you tell me who the hell you are, where we are, and above all where are we going ?!» Marco asked in a contemptuous tone.
Kalberham looked at him curiously, «I remind you that your presence here was not planned, I warned you to get off but you didn’t listen and now I don’t know what to do with you».
«Perhaps it is no accident that he is here» Selidar said. «Remember, my friend, the Code always knows where to go».
«Yes, it could be» he replied.
Marco became impatient and approached him with an ugly face.
«Look, too tall cat in kimono, take me home and if you do well maybe I'll give you a box!».
«I’m not sure, but my instincts tell me you're threatening me, terrestrial!».
«My Hello Kitty is good. Now reverse the course if you don’t want me to pull your tail».
Kalberham smiled, raised his arm and with a dry movement, without even touching him, sat him on one of the side seats with his safety belt fastened.
«It will be good if you sit up, boy» he said, looking at him.
Then he turned to Patrik.
«You should teach your friend some manners. And then what the hell is Hello Kitty ?!»
Marco began to wriggle, but he could not undo his belt and free himself.
«You have to excuse him» said Patrik. «He's a good boy, but this is his Italian temperament» and he smiled in for fear that they would do him harm. He didn’t know what reaction these beings could give when faced with possible hostility.
He looked at his friend, who gave him an incredulous look, with wide eyes and an expression like "But where do you stand?!".
A strong jolt, like an earthquake, shook the ship and Patrik fell to the deck.
«What's up?» Kalberham asked the creature sitting at the controls.
«They fired at us» he replied, and looking at the monitor he added «It's Greymar!»
«Speed of flexion, Mr. Tadiero, now!»
«Captain, the computer has not finished setting the course».
«Do you prefer spending some time with the Arkassians?!»
Without waiting for the answer, Kalbe
rham turned to Patrik and said, «Sit down and fasten your seatbelt, we’ll dance a little now!»
6
Alannah was beating hard with her heels on the side of her thuni, an animal similar to an earthly horse if not for the small goat horns, the blue and white eyes, and the yellow streaks on a completely black cloak.
While she alternated the feet with shouts of incitement, in the mad rush towards the river that led to the palace, she knew well that she was asking the poor beast for its best, but this to the wolves of the caves of Pendar was of little interest.
She had been clever to escape from Hiylos for the umpteenth time, passing from the roof of the stables, but if she survived, her father would never let it go. Entering the caves just to get Valia's flowers, which her mother loved when she was alive, had been an unwary move. In addition, she’d done it without an escort!
Now the wolves were getting closer and the great valley didn’t show any safe spots on which to save herself.
She turned for a moment to see the distance between her and those beasts and, passing a small hill, she saw that at about five hundred meters, a tree high enough to take refuge had appeared from nowhere, near the path that led to the master bridge.
She felt the paining neigh of the thuni just as she turned the reins in the direction of the only anchor of salvation. One of the dogs had managed to cling to the animal's right rear leg with teeth and claws.
She took one of the daggers from the sheath of her pants and with a sharp slash wounded the wolf, who, with a yelp of pain, rolled onto the ground, pushed by the mad race of the solaryan horse.
In the meantime two other wolves reached their prey and, bitten on both sides, the thuni slowed down and then fell, throwing the girl to the ground. Alannah took advantage of their fury over the poor animal to start running towards the tree, which was now no more than a hundred and fifty or two hundred meters away.
Now she was followed by only two of them; with her left hand she took her other dagger too. She gripped the two blades, facing her forearms, as she had learned from her poor brother, ready to launch broad, clean cuts.
Patrik Jones and the Code of the Universe Page 4
