Kalberham understood what was going to happen, but too late.
«Stooop!» screamed Patrik to endure the pain he felt and a shock wave knocked all the people on the bridge to the ground.
An invisible tsunami of a second and then nothingness, silence all around.
He found himself on his knees breathing heavily, his arms straining at his sides. His eyes were lost in the air, while drops of sweat and tears ran down his face.
Selidar and Kalberham got up and joined Patrik, trying to calm him down.
«It's all right» the solaryan Guardian said firmly as he put his hand on the boy's arm.
Marco was still sitting by the wall trying to figure out whether it was appropriate to get up or not. Tadiero, who was the closest, had come off the worst. He stood up with his hand on his aching shoulder and the hair on his face turning red.
His cheek bled profuseley.
*
Poligon Dhaal was seated on the wall of the Armintala fortress on the planet Eta Carinae. He watched the mountain in which thousands of years ago Armintala, considered the first Guardian of history, had discovered the Flower of souls.
Pink Floyd's Goodbye Blue Sky was spreading in the air, while the warm evening sun dried a tear that he could not hold back.
The portable stereo CD that played that extraordinary music was the only memory left of his friend David Jones, along with a photograph of his wife and son Patrik.
Now that his son had been called to the trial of Kentaura, his father was not there.
Despite his efforts, he had failed to take him from the jaws of the planet Vortix, where he was trapped.
«Subterranean creatures do not deal with the Guardians» the Vortians replied. «Everything that falls on Vortix remains on Vortix» and this was law.
Attempting to enter the hidden world of the forbidden planet was impossible even for an experienced Guardian like himself.
The only thing that could interest the black creatures was Armintala's armor. The queen of the crawling mines of Bondor would have given anything to have it. Unfortunately, it was kept safe in Arkass by the gohtarma in person, and the war didn’t allow contact with what was, together with himself, the oldest Guardian.
At the end of the conflict it would be the first thing to do, David could not survive there long. Thinking of the words he should have said to the gohtarma, to try to claim the armor, he looked at the fortress of the black Guardians.
It was totally the same as theirs, two twin buildings divided by the sacred river that came right out of the mountain that contained the Flower. Even though the two sides had been in full galactic conflict for many years, Eta Carinae was, like Kentaura, a neutral zone.
For the safety of the Flower, fighting on the planet that housed it would be stupid and risky.
«Time has come!» said a voice behind him.
Poligon Dhaal turned off the stereo and turned to listen to what his faithful CK31, a synthetic being with increasing intelligence input, had to say.
«Kalberham is about to reach his destination and he will let the young Terrestrial face the siel trial»
«Arkassian tracks in the area?» Poligon Dhaal asked.
«No sir» replied the servant with a perfect English butler's tone.
«Good, Magellan!» The master smiled, showing his incisors, protruding slightly like a rodent's. «It will be good to go to the monitor room right now» he continued, handing the stereo to the servant. «Bring this to my quarters and join me immediately. Finally we will know the truth about the boy ».
«May I ask a question, sir?» The synthetic asked.
«Tell me, dear» answered Poligon Dhaal, walking beside him.
«Here sir, I wondered what the sound was that came from this transmitter».
The master smiled.
The CK31 was a machine that reprogrammed its knowledge and the way of interacting with others based on experiences and information that gradually came from the surrounding world. A kind of explorer of knowledge.
This is why David called him Magellan, as a great explorer of his planet.
«It's called rock music» said the old Guardian, with the expression of someone intent on explaining something he did not know much about. «The population of planet Earth listens to it for pure recreation».
«Recreation sir?!» asked Magellan puzzled.
«Yes, something to have fun or relax to during moments of leisure or rest».
He leaned on the droid's arm and closed his eyes for a moment. «I listen to it because it reminds me of our friend David, but this is called nostalgia. For a poor old man like me, dear Magellan, nostalgia cannot be cured».
«According to my information, nostalgia causes sadness, sir, so I don’t see anything recreational about it» replied the perplexed being.
«You know ...» old Poligon Dhaal tried to explain, «feeling nostalgia makes us feel close to people or pleasant situations that belong to the past, allows us not to abandon our best memories».
«But in this way what has been beautiful becomes sad!».
«Ahahahah». The master burst into laughter that confused the poor Magellan even more.
«Maybe you’re right, my dear friend» he said, still laughing almost to himself. «Maybe you’re right ...!»
The old guardian of Prisma entered the main building, focusing his eyes on the central monitor.
9
Patrik immediately realized that he had done something serious and he felt guilty but he could not control himself.
From the moment he woke up next to Marco before, he felt strange. As if his thoughts flowed faster. A strange intermittent force stiffened his hands, wrists and forearms, to the point that he had to close his fists to control himself. Moreover, the pain behind the nape of his neck did not leave him, and the information assimilated altogether had led him to the point of exploding. He didn’t understand how he had created that shock wave and this frightened him.
He sat down, trying to regain his composure, while Kalberham looked around, checking that nothing too serious had happened to people or objects.
Selidar looked at Patrik and, once he established that he was calm, began to stare at Marco without saying anything.
The two took a hint.
Marco stood up and sat down next to his friend, who was now staring at the floor almost absent.
«Hey ... all right?» He asked, trying to calm him down, resting his hand on his.
«Yes» he said, taking a deep breath, «I think so».
«What are you? An X-Man? Or did a radioactive spider bite you?!» Marco asked with a smile.
Patrik smiled looking into his eyes. «You are a jerk you know?» he answered, while his breathing slowly returned.
He looked in the direction of Tadiero.
Kalberham lit up the wound on his face with a strange pen, which slowly healed the damage.
Camilla, the strange little monkey, jumped on Tadiero’s wounded shoulders.
«Calm down darling» Tadiero reassured her. «It's nothing».
«I'm sorry» Patrik said guiltily. «I don’t understand what happened, I'm sorry».
«Ahahahah» laughed Tadiero, tying his hair in a showy ponytail.
«If you think you're going to wind up a Portiryan like that, you're way off dude». He approached the young man with a serene air and, kneeling down to look him in the eye, he said to him «Don’t worry, nothing happened. And your father gave me more strength that that. He even broke my nose, you know?» and so he pointed to his face.
Again, his father. He still did not understand.
He looked at Kalberham, who came up and touched Tadiero's shoulder. The latter understood and stood to one side. Explaining to the boy was not easy, not all together. But the time until Kentaura was not long and, considering how things had been put, he could not do otherwise.
«Patrik ...» he began to speak very calmly. «When we traced the Code many years ago, we and the Arkassians made a mistake. Thinking that the recipient was you
r father, him having your own genetic code, we took him from Earth as we did with you. Even then I arrived before them and, immediately realizing the mistake, I preferred to make him look dead to protect you. With a dead terrestrial recipient they would have stopped looking for you and this allowed me to let you grow up in peace».
«But where is he now? Why do you talk about him in the past?» the boy asked, almost afraid of the answer.
«Well, here ... your father is a very brave man you know ... when everything happened, and he understood the situation, he remained with us to fight the Arkassians. Going back to Earth would endanger you and your mother. He stayed here fighting alongside all of us, never thinking of himself».
Patrik was dazed. He didn’t know what to think.
His father was alive!
For years, without ever even contacting them, without ever reassuring his mother or him that he was fine. Two poor stupid people crying in front of an empty tombstone while he was a hero in outer space.
Patrik was tired of all these riddles. He took all his courage and with a firm voice asked «Is he still alive?»
«Patrik, it's not so simple» said Kalberham without looking him in the eye.
«How would you say that it is not simple?! It seems very simple to me: is he alive or not?» he asked again, annoyed and impatient at the same time.
Kalberham stood up staring at the monitor, trying to find the right words, but Tadiero anticipated this, annoyed by so much expectation.
«Yes, he is still alive» he said, while Kalberham froze him with his glare.
«You can’t know this, Tadiero, you cannot be sure!»
«With all respect commander, I'm sure!»
Kalberham sighed, although he continued to explain, although unwillingly.
«About a year ago the Arkassians were busy exterminating tribes on the planet Vortix. Your father was the head of the expedition to prevent carnage right along with our Tadiero here, who apparently is in the mood for revelation». The two stared at each other for a moment.
«During the battle your father ended up on the forbidden part of the planet, where the creeping creatures live, and we think he's a prisoner in the Bondor mines. Unfortunately there is no way to know for sure».
Patrik was furious at hearing those words. «My father has been a prisoner for a year or so, and you haven’t done anything yet?!» he asked, looking at them both.
«There is no way to penetrate without being attacked by the people of the subsoil, moreover the network of caves constitutes an impregnable labyrinth, it is impossible without the help of a guide» added Tadiero stifling a feeling of anger, and concluded, «without their consent the area can’t be entered!»
«But there will also be a way to get in there, right?!»
Patrik was desperate and incredulous. Within a few minutes he had recovered and returned his father, all this without even being able to talk to him.
He was angry, yes. All that time without a gesture of life was unforgivable, but this was something he wanted to discuss with him and would do anything to see his father again, even if he barely remembered him.
«There could be a way» said Kalberham, who at this point had all the boy's attention. «The queen of dark creatures wants something very precious».
«What?!» asked Patrik impatiently.
«The ancestor of the Guardians, Armintala, the one who discovered the Flower, the first messenger of the Code, has inherited his siel, which is guarded by the Kentauros, and his armor which is in the hands of the Arkassians. The armor is what the queen wants, she would do anything to get it».
«We must take it to her then, there is nothing else to say» said Patrik, as if it was enough to merely ask for it and the be allowed take it to its destination.
Tadiero smiled, almost moved by the naïveté of the terrestrial boy.
«The gohtarma, the supreme head of the black Guardians, keeps it as a relic. If it is admitted but not granted that you can see him, you will have to convince him before he or his followers kill you».
«I will find a way. I have to find it!» he replied promptly.
«Good!» Kalberham intervened. «This we will see, Patrik. One thing is certain, however, to approach the armor you will have to become a Guardian».
«What should I do?» Patrik asked.
Kalberham smiled.
*
Princess Myah entered her sister's quarters and sat down next to her. They loved each other a lot and the war, with all that it had involved, had brought them close.
But their characters were very different. Myah was set for command and military life, a trait taken from her father, while Alannah was to follow rules she did not really want to know. The fact that she was treated like a little girl bothered her a lot, and besides, her mother's death made her feel, very often, alone.
«Are you okay?» Myah asked her sister, lying on the bed and turning toward the wall.
No reply.
«Look, I know you're awake, so get it over with and tell me how you are» she said again, changing her tone.
Alannah smothered a smile to not expose her fake sleep.
Myah lost patience. She took her little sister's tail and began to pull it.
«There? Are you going to talk to me or do I have to pull harder, little hen mak? "
Alannah began to laugh and this made her even more nervous.
«Stop it!» she said without looking up. «If you came to give me a lecture too, I warn you, it is not that kind of day!»
«Weeell...» Myah answered, pleased to have gotten her sister's reaction. «I see the hen mak has overheated, maybe we need to put out a little fire». So saying, she took a bottle of water on the table and began to throw it over her sister.
Alannah whirled around, showing her canines and rising like a tiger ready to attack.
«Stop that, you idiot!» she said.
«Ahahahah...» Myah laughed heartily. «If I'm not mistaken, the hen mak will scream when she's laid the egg». She took the bottle again and splashed her sister in the face.
« I’ll hit you!» Alannah said jumping on her with a feline leap.
The two rolled on the floor, scratching and biting.
«I'll show you who the hen mak is, you demented idiot!» Alannah shrieked.
At that point the door opened and the two girls, panting and with their hair all ruffled before their eyes, stopped to see who had entered.
Hiylos stood there watching the scene with a shocked expression. He wanted to say something, but the words did not come. He looked up at the sky and disappeared beyond the door that closed behind him.
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing, leaning their back against the wall, exhausted by the fight.
«So, hen mak, are you okay or not?» Myah asked again, catching her breath.
Alannah smiled.
She adjusted her hair and the bandage on her shoulder.
«Yes, I'm fine» she said. «The wound hurts a little, but it will pass».
«The next time you decide to fight a pack of wolves, let me know ... maybe I can help get you out!» she said.
She wanted to scream at her all the rage for having risked her life in vain, but she said nothing. Surely she was already hurt enough for how her father treated her.
«I'm stupid» Alannah said, smiling and resting her head on the wall, looking at the ceiling.
«Nooo ... you're not stupid» said her sister. «You're a hen mak!»
The two laughed heartily.
«Come on, get up and let’s go to the bridge».
«Jokes?! I don’t want to hear anyone cursing, thank you».
«OK as you want. It means that I will watch a fight of the Kentauros alone ».
«Kentauros ?!» Alannah asked in surprise.
«The Terrestrial is about to face the trial. Don’t worry, they are so all taken by the event that your adventure has passed into the background ».
Myah stood up and held out her hand.
Alannah th
anked the heavens for having such a smart sister. «All right» she replied.
She grabbed her hand, got up and they walked out.
«I bet on the Kentauro!» she said.
«Me too...» said Myah.
They laughed again.
10
«About two hours to Kentaura, sir» said the helmsman, looking at the monitor as he corrected the ship's route.
General Greymar said nothing.
After the end of the connection with the gohtarma and the arkassian council, his thoughts had wandered for a long time. Mendicar would soon taste his siel, of this he was sure. He would no longer allow anyone to show so much disrespect.
«Perhaps it would be better to draw difficult trails, General» advised Darnar, the second in command. «We are flying with maximum visibility and soon Kalberham will know where we’re heading».
«And so it must be!» the general broke his silence. «Gohtarma demands that there be Terrestrial combat. In this way we will give the Olympia free access to the neutral zone».
«Free access, sir?!» Darnar did not understand.
«It's useless to play hide and seek with them». Greymar stood up.
«First they will arrive on Kentaura, then we will put an end to this farce. Soon you will need to be ready. Once the Terrestrial is dead, the neutral zone will no longer have any reason to exist and we will be the first to attack ».
«Does it not seem risky, general? We will not be the only ones there at that point. Virtually every twenty-one planet has a ship in that area. We could find ourselves outnumbered and outgunned».
«So much the better» said Greymar smiling. «We will immediately know who is with us and who is against us. This conflict has lasted too long. Arkassian control over the galaxy is basic to establish the balance of the galaxy itself. Very soon every single petal of the Flower will be aligned. Weaker beings like Terrans, Portiryans or Solaryans will go back to playing a secondary role. Us and only us, direct descendants of Armintala, will bring the Code to future generations. The weak perish in favor of the strong, dear Darnar. We are chosen by the Code, and the Code always knows where to go!».
Patrik Jones and the Code of the Universe Page 7
