Before he could say anything, the sudden noise of the tray falling to the ground made them wince.
Alannah, incredulous, stood in the doorway watching the scene.
The two raised up on their elbows, looking and smiling.
«I cannot understand why the little Princess of Solyar cares so much for us. Doesn’t she know that you and I are rocks ?!» Patrik said in the direction of the child.
The latter began to laugh.
«It's true! We are rocks» she replied in full swing. The two exchanged a high five.
Alannah with one movement reached Kaira and picked her up and then hugged her, with all the strength she had.
«You're an idiot, Patrik Jones» she said, smiling, with tears in her eyes.
«As always!» he replied, amused by the scene.
25
Navigation was milder after Kaira's awakening.
Marco and Tadiero were always together, sitting on the bridge to streer the Olympia around the galaxy.
Kalberham and Patrik tried to concentrate on training. To govern such a powerful Code was a thing of no small importance.
Little incidents happened that embarrassed Patrik. Dishes that fell by themselves, objects that flew before the eyes of everyone and small premonitions of events that would happen then or a few seconds later.
He was like the protagonist of an 80s horror film.
Marco tried to play it down every time, but it got worse. It was as if the distance between saying and doing things had been suddenly halved. Patrik didn’t understand it and he didn’t like it.
He had bad dreams. Marco was no longer sleeping next to him. He woke up one day with a bad cut on his arm and his friend next to him sweating and panicking. They decided it would be better if Patrik slept alone, at least for a while.
Another time Alannah felt herself being pulled from behind. Turning around she saw Patrik with his gaze downcast and his face suddenly lowering as his eyes met hers. She pretended nothing had happened and he understood.
«All right, boy?» Kalberham asked him after a while, but he seemed amused by the incidents.
«No!» he answered without hesitation.
«What's wrong?» asked the Guardian, obviously knowing what was plaguing Patrik.
«But don’t you see it?! I'm crazy. I cannot control myself. I could hurt someone, in fact, I already hurt someone» he replied agitated.
«It's normal» Kalberham assured him.
«It’s normal, my foot!» Patrik snapped. «I don’t understand. As soon as you removed the limiter, I felt that I was changing, but everything was ok. Now, since I came back from Kentaura, I feel I can no longer control myself».
«You see Patrik, all those who face the test on the sacred planet are destined to never return. Either they are killed by the Kentauros, or the planet transforms them and the people who they were before don’t come back. That place transformed every Guardian of the galaxy. The siel always transforms you».
«I'm glad to know that» Patrik said with a hint of sarcasm. «The problem is that I cannot control myself. What should you do now, eh? Lock me in quarantine?!»
«Ahahahah ... it will not be necessary, believe me. You will soon learn to control yourself, young Terrestrial, I assure you» said Kalberham, somewhat amused.
«Yes sure. But what do you know about how I feel?» he replied, annoyed by his teacher's laughter.
The cat sat up with his hands crossed right in front of him.
«I was about your age. Just back from Kentaura there was a parade in my honor. Without knowing how, I untied the general's daughter's bodice and left her naked from the waist up in front of a thousand people» answered solyar's Guardian, as if captured by a distant memory.
«Whaat?!» Patrik said, turning incredulously toward him.
Kalberham nodded his head, with the classic expression of one who admits yes, it was me!
«She was so beautiful that I could not control myself. We had spoken only in passing before. I was crazy about her».
«And what happened then?»
«What happened? After the ceremony, I was sentenced to spend a fortnight in the castle cells. I was ashamed like a thief. Just out of there, I would have left to never come back».
«And did you do it?»
«No. When I got out of the prison, I found her waiting for me. She approached me, and cracked my septum with a well-aimed punch. Obviously, I saw her coming and I could have avoided it, but I didn’t. That punch freed me, though I don’t think she ever forgave me completely. Even today, when she looks at me, I sometimes feel she still feels resentment for the story».
«Do you still see her ?!»
«Well, of course. She is my partner. We also have two beautiful children».
Patrik was shocked.
Kalberham had a family, and Patrik only knew it now. Who knows why but until then, he had imagined him alone and perennially focused on his Guardian destiny.
First the brother of Tadiero and now the family of Kalberham.
He felt a little guilty.
Since the beginning of that adventure he had focused on his priorities, on "his" mission to save his father and bring him and Marco back home safely.
But there was much more.
He had not thought about the fact that his fellow travellers had something to lose. Someone they loved and ran the risk of not seeing anymore.
Kalberham understood what the boy was feeling and approached him, looking him in the eyes.
«You'll learn to control yourself, Patrik Jones. You are very powerful and certainly it is not easy for you. I feel that the Code has in store for you something very big, perhaps bigger than all of us. But you see, no matter how powerful you can be, what you feel for the people you love will always be stronger. Concentrate. Use the gift you have for them. We are all counting on you».
The two smiled.
«All right, stripper of young girls» said Patrik, calmer and more aware than a few minutes ago.
The thunderous laugh of the solaryan helped bring serenity into his heart. He got along better with that other world than with many of his fellow men on Earth. Perhaps the meaning of the Flower was there to see.
«Look. This is my bandelai». And Kalberham showed Patrik the bracelet on his left arm.
«What is it?» he asked.
«This bracelet represents the union with my partner. She has one the same».
«Now that I think about it, Alannah is wearing a similar one, but she has two».
Patrik shivered coldly. Perhaps Alannah was already married or promised to someone and she had not told him.
«Of course she has two» Kalberham explained. «See Patrik, every solaryan woman, reached the age of fifteen, creates two equal bandelai. They have a unique, not imitable, embroidery. She will only give it to her partner who she thinks is worthy to be with her for life».
«Damn. Are there no divorces on Solyar?»
Kalberham smiled.
«Divorces?! This bracelet cost me a broken nasal septum, a fractured arm and two black eyes. Listen to me, Patrik Jones, when a solaryan woman chooses you, she does it forever».
«Sir, I'm sorry» Tadiero said suddenly through the speakers. «We have emerged from the flexion. Eta Carinae is in front of us».
«Good. We are on our way to you».
«What's waiting for me there?» Patrik asked.
«You're about to meet a really extraordinary kind of person. Poligon Dhaal has a lot to teach us all. He was, or better to say, he is a very good friend of your father. You will have the opportunity to meet other Guardians, which is always good. You'll leave this planet more aware of your powers, you'll see».
«I hope so» said Patrik with a little anxiety in his voice.
«Ah, I hope so too!» Kalberham replied immediately with a mischievous smile. «You know, it is one thing to tear off the bodice from a general's daughter but another thing is to take it from the Princess of Solyar».
Patrik’s face became a thous
and colors, but could not say anything. He just saw the face of that cat winking at him before he left the room.
*
That’s the planet that hosts the Flower of Souls. Together with Kentaura, it is another place where you will never find war. It belongs to all of us and to nobody. Whichever species attacked it would put its existence at risk».
Kalberham said this while they were all looking at Eta Carinae from space.
«It's incredible» Marco said, without taking his eyes off the spectacle, «they all look so similar to the Earth».
«Oh, of course. The twenty-one planets are very similar to each other. Abundance of water, a sun that warms them, a fertile land and a breathable atmosphere. Even the gravity is very similar».
«It's a miracle» said Patrik, almost hypnotized.
«Attention» added Kalberham to bring the two Terrans back to reality, «the system is not perfect. For example, oxygen concentrations are not always the same and suitable for everyone, and edible things for some species would be poisonous for others. For this reason, without consulting those who know more than you, I beg you not to eat anything that is offered to you. As far as oxygen is concerned, the system that allows you to understand all the languages of the galaxy also acts as a filter».
«Listen nice big cat, I will trust you for poisons and I thank you» said Marco amused, «but I do not think, seeing what I ate on board, as for food you know more than we do. For example, I'd give the little finger of my left hand for a nice, fat hamburger right now».
«Yeah ...» added Patrik, «maybe with a mountain of fries and a nice fresh cola!»
The two made fist bumps.
The other members of the crew looked at each other without understanding and this amused the boys even more.
«I want ketchup on fries!» Kaira said suddenly, raising her hand.
Patrik and Marco stared in amazement.
«You little girl, I think that you know more than you want us to believe» he said turning to the girl.
«At the controls, boy. We are about to enter the atmosphere» Tadiero said, intent on piloting with a different flight arrangement.
«Yes, sir» Marco answered immediately, performing a joking military salute and positioning himself at the commands he had been designated.
Patrik smiled and said nothing.
He didn’t ask for too many things now. He felt that some answers were about to be revealed to him on Eta Carinae.
«Wow! Is that the Flower?» he asked, looking at the huge city below them.
«No, Patrik. That is Liliah. The great capital that the Carineans built inspired by the Flower. Twenty-one sectors and a central body. All ships must register there, it's the rule».
«And those symbols on every petal?»
«Every petal is an area of the city. Within each area there is a green park which, seen from above, represents the symbol of every flower planet. On your siel, as on the others, there are the same twenty-one symbols that are repeated. It will be good if you learn them all, Patrik. Every Guardian must do it, even if it’s late for you. We start when we were just children».
«It will be good for me to write them somewhere».
«Here» Alannah said, holding out a strange piece of paper to Patrik, «I set the pattern with the writing symbols of your planet so you can read. Study it kid».
«Thanks» he replied. He wanted to respond to the provocation, but saw that she was laughing under her breath and let it go.
He liked that she was a little grumpy with him, it was part of the game of seduction that had been established for a while. By now he had surrendered to the fact that Alannah meant a lot to him and he would willingly get his septum broken by her if it was necessary.
At least so he believed, as he watched the two bandelai around her arm.
The ship landed on the dock at the flower's central body, while he was trying to memorize all the symbols.
*
The tailgate opened and the whole crew went ashore.
The city was ultra modern, with huge buildings that formed its shape. The mooring was located in the highest part, and from up there one could see all of the immense panorama.
«Even in my strangest dreams, I don’t think I ever imagined such a place» Marco said, literally hypnotized.
«Yeah ...» Patrik replied with no less amazement.
Waiting for them were three individuals with beards and hair bobs.
The one in the middle seemed an important type, because he was dressed differently and had white streaks that crossed his black hair and beard. The other two were certainly soldiers.
Strange blue spots under the eyes at the height of the cheekbones. Large almond eyes and venous hands with unusually long and pointed nails. Each of the three was accompanied by a kind of dog.
«Dianek, my friend, I'm glad to see you again» said Kalberham to the older man.
«Kalberham, welcome back. I followed your whole journey carefully, and I am glad that Eta Carinae can welcome you back to safety with your friends» he replied.
«Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Dianek, governor of the ancient city of Liliah, as well as my longtime friend».
The two squeezed hands smiling.
«So how are you?» Kalberham asked in a more confidential tone.
«Old, my dear» he replied. «Old and with a few ailments, like my faithful Rolan of the rest» he added, stroking the dog next to him.
Then he turned his gaze and made a huge bow.
«I pay tribute to Princess Alannah of Solyar».
«I greet you from all my governor people, and from those of my father, King Karmora» she replied with the class of a real aristocrat, which left Patrik stunned. He could never have imagined that Alannah knew the manners and voice worthy tones of a daughter of the crown.
He wanted to kiss her.
Now.
«So, has your father finally learned to cast a Melidian horn?»
«But governor, he assured me that the last time he was the one who won».
«Bad insolent liar ... He will hear me, as soon as I can talk to him!»
They both laughed.
«What you did inside the Spindorf was very brave. A true Solyar warrior princess. Without your intervention, things would have gone very differently. Perhaps now there may be a war. That old trickster should be proud of his daughter».
At the sound of those words, Alannah felt reborn. She looked at Patrik out of the corner of her eye and smiled.
The latter raised his eyes to the sky.
And who stand her more now?!
«I thank you Governor, but if Patrik was not there I would not be here now».
«Ah, right! Let's get to know this extraordinary character. Patrik Jones. I am more than honored to have such a gifted terrestrial Guardian here, as well as the son of the great man that is David».
«Thank you sir. Did you know my father?» asked Patrik in wonder.
«Did I know your father? My wife, who was pregnant at the time, and I would not be alive without him now. We owe a lot to David Jones. The whole galaxy owes a lot to David Jones».
Patrik felt a lump in his stomach and his eyes moistened. He wanted to cry and he would have done if Marco, who knew him well, had not intervened.
«Hello governor. My name is Marco Almisi and I am a friend of Patrik, as well as Olympia's pilot. May I ask you the courtesy, if it’s not too much trouble for you, to let our co-pilot, Tadiero of Portirya, land».
Kalberham and Dianek laughed.
«Small terrestrial microbe, you’ll pay for it» Tadiero whispered in his ear.
«Actually, a courtesy I have to ask you now» Dianek said. «See, my youngest son is dying to get a Patrik Jones imprint. See boy, you're kind of a hero here».
«Yes sure. But how…? What does "an imprint" mean?» asked Patrik, confused.
The governor waved a hand and a boy, also with bobbed hair, entered the platform with a strange kind of cat.
Behind him a beautiful
tall girl with long hair followed. The blue spots were evident again, under their eyes. She walked smiling with a small eagle on her shoulder.
The boy bowed solemnly and then passed a strange electronic dial to Patrik.
«You must lay your hand there. It's the proof he met you» Kalberham explained to the boy.
He did it and then leaned towards him.
«So, what's your name?» he asked.
«Daddy, Patrik Jones wants to know what my name is» the boy said in disbelief and surprised at Dianek.
«Good. Then answer, son».
«My name is David and this is my companion America» he said with a touch of pride, pointing to the animal that accompanied him.
Patrik and Dianek looked at each other and smiled.
«That's Armintala's siel?» the boy asked, looking at the Guardian's weapon.
He nodded.
«It must be very powerful».
«This depends on the warrior to which it belongs. Tell me David, are you a warrior?» asked Patrik.
«Of course!» the boy answered.
«Good. Stay in the neighborhood then. I might need you!» and he ruffled his hair.
«Dad. Patrik Jones needs me» he said happily to his father.
Dianek smiled.
Alannah remained motionless watching the scene. She didn’t believe that Patrik could be so sweet towards a child who, to say the least, adored him.
She wanted to kiss him.
Now.
«She is my oldest daughter, Chlomilia» the governor then said, pointing to the girl who accompanied the child.
She bowed and Marco decided that it was time to break the ice with that sweetie alien.
«Hello. But what are you celebrating today, the pet fair?» he asked, seeing the presence of all those animals.
«Ahahahah ... no!» she answered smiling. «We Carinean live in constant company of an animal that accompanies us everywhere. Each of these creatures reminds us of our bond with the earth and with the Flower of souls. We love them unconditionally».
Marco was hypnotized by the beauty of that girl and her words. Her voice came from a storybook and he decided he would live there with her forever. In order not to be weak, he took little Camilla from Tadiero's shoulder and squeezed it, so that the poor animal could not move.
Patrik Jones and the Code of the Universe Page 20
