His shoulder still hurt despite the bandage and the careful care of his droid. It was raining heavily and he had borrowed a strange cloak with a hood from one of the solaryan guards.
Before leaving he had gone to say hello to Kaira and the girl seemed quiet to him. This had cheered him up. He firmly believed that the mysterious creature had the perception of every danger that concerned him.
He had allowed only Billo to accompany him and now, poor thing, he was soaked like a sponge.
The gate opened before he had a chance to knock, and five orenian soldiers stood before him. Like those who had accompanied Greymar on Elsenfeld's meadow in Germany, they had a slightly scaled green skin and wore a brown uniform with black boots.
If they only had the chance, they would take him out willingly. He was sure of it.
«Terrestrial, you're to wait in the main Guardian room. Your animal can’t enter though. You will leave it here. You were kind enough to bring us dinner anyway» said what must have been the guard captain, making everyone else laugh.
Patrik took off his hood and smiled too. Then he took the siel and looked at him, bringing it up to his face. It immediately took life around his forearm.
«In seven seconds I pull your arms from your body and give them to my dog to nibble. He loves lizard's paws. But I’ll leave your tongue untouched, so that you can ask for forgiveness while you bleed to death».
This was not really his style, but Poligon Dhaal had advised him to show himself to be decisive and threatening with the Arkassians, those who did not give anyone a chance. The advice turned out to be sage, because the guards took a step back and immediately stopped laughing.
«Let them pass» said a voice a little farther.
A black Guardian appeared from the porch, ready to escort him.
«Yes, sir» the guards thundered, and they opened up, letting Patrik and his dog pass by.
The fortress was twin to the solaryan, built long ago, when the two factions were not yet enemies. The interior decorations were obviously very different. Drapes with the symbols of the arkassian planets were scattered here and there. A large statue of the gohtarma was placed in the middle of the garden and two columns were standing to attention right next to it.
Patrik immediately realized that, even if it was still day, there was nobody around. As if the arrival of the Terrestrial should not allow the enemy to let it be known what really happened in there.
«Why did you bring the animal with you?» the Guardian asked.
«He is my dog, Billo. He's just accompanying me, there's nothing to worry about. We're on Eta Carinae, you use it like that, don’t you?»
«Not inside an arkassian fortress» the other said quickly, taking off his hood and entering the elevator with him.
«My name is Lokkar, of the planet Melai».
He was tall, athletic and dark-skinned. The irises of his eyes were pale yellow and the pupils small and slitted. The upper canines were long and sharp. He wore a sort of beard, like a goatee. A braid fell behind his shoulders.
«Lokkar! You're one of the last chosen, like me. I am Patrik of the planet Earth» he replied, as if anyone in there was already aware who he was. «We are Spindorf's companions. I heard that your fight lasted very a very short time. Congratulations».
He said nothing and Patrik felt slightly embarrassed in that narrow space. He stroked his dog to try to pass the time and finally the doors opened. When they passed through the door of the Guardian room, Patrik wondered how exactly it was identical to that solaryan. The statues, the crescent steps and the figure of Armintala positioned in the middle.
They were all seated, just like some Roman senators, and they whirled around seeing him enter.
Gavinar stood up.
«Terrestrial, come on» he said.
Patrik approached and, once in front of them all, greeted them, freeing the siel, as Kalberham had taught him.
«An arkassian greeting from you can be taken as a lack of respect, don’t you think?» said one of the Greymar-like guardians.
«On the contrary, sir» he answered immediately. «I am Terrestrial. I don’t wear any tunic because I don’t belong to anyone, and nobody is now an enemy to me. For me everything is completely new, but in my culture greeting with the customs of those who host you is a sign of profound respect».
«Respect?» he answered him. «If I am not mistaken on your planet, you love to kill yourselves in your usual way. You are among the most ruthless in the galaxy. Is that how you respect yourselves?!»
Everyone smiled.
«The wars teach, sir» said Patrik, trying to defend his thesis.
«But first they kill» Gavinar replied abruptly, putting an end to the discussion.
Patrik decided not to insist. It was not needed.
He lowered his eyes in surrender.
Unexpectedly everyone stood up and returned the greeting.
«The gohtarma has accepted your request, young Terrestrial. You can talk to him since you've decided to come here. However, he is now in his regeneration room and you have to wait».
«Wait? How long?!» he replied confused.
«Until tomorrow's sunrise» Gavinar informed him.
«Whaaat? And what should I do here until morning?»
«We are not uncivilized like your friends want to make you believe. You can eat and have a place to sleep. Lokkar will come with you. You can ask him. Nobody will hurt you, this is our lord's order».
He had not really thought about this and rebuked himself for not having done it. On Arkass it could have been night, or the gohtarma could not be readily available. He should have communicated the moment of his arrival to the black Guardians, but he had been so impatient to leave the solaryan fortress that it had not even crossed his mind. The fear that the Council could change its mind had taken over.
«So be it» he said, accepting the condition, even if reluctantly.
If that was the only way, he had no other choice.
«I have to inform my friends».
«Lokkar will show you how to do it. Now go ahead».
The two went out with everyone's eyes on him.
The meeting didn’t last long. Paradoxically, the first contact with those Guardians who professed to be on his side had been much more difficult.
Lokkar showed Patrik his room and then escorted him to call Poligon Dhaal to warn him of the change of plans.
Melainian was not very talkative, he merely gave him basic information without creating any kind of relationship. Yet Patrik felt that he was different from the others, that he could talk to him to better understand those who served Arkass.
«Are you hungry Terrestrial?» he asked as they entered a large room full of people seated around the various tables scattered here and there.
Mostly they were soldiers from the five planets of the black coalition, some civilians and even some children.
A surreal silence fell when everyone noticed him. The feeling was that of a black rapper who accidentally enters a room at a Ku Klux Klan meeting in a Tennessee hotel.
Suddenly he felt a kick on his ankle and by turning on the siel he whirled around. A little boy looked at him in challenge, while who Patrik supposed was his mother a little farther down dropped plates, terrified by what her son had done.
She knew that hitting a Guardian meant death.
«Kid, why did you hit me?» asked Patrik in wonder.
«I am Elimak of the Planet Premi. I'm already a good hunter and when I grow up I'll kill you» he said firmly.
He stood there stiffly in his blue overalls, as if the challenge didn’t frighten him.
Patrik didn’t know what to say. That a kid kicked him he understood, he was the enemy and the impulsiveness of his age had done the rest. It was the death threat so deeply rooted in him that it disoriented him.
«Why do you want to kill me? I didn’t do anything to you. You know, it's not good that your father teaches you to hate at your age».
«My father is dead. The Solaryans
killed him» the boy answered again, with tears in his angry eyes.
Patrik and Lokkar looked at each other for a moment. All eyes were still on them and no one spoke. They were listening, intrigued, while the young premian mother was still paralyzed with fear.
Patrik bent down to try to eliminate the distance that is inexorably created between an adult and a child when they speak. He wanted to be kind and talk to him at the same height.
«I'm very sorry for your dad but you see, I'm not Solaryan, I'm a Terrestrial. Before you grow up, I hope this war will be over, so maybe you can teach me to hunt. I don’t know how to do it» he said, smiling, trying to reassure him.
Elimak looked at his mother without understanding and then turned again to Patrik.
«Are you really not Solaryan?»
«No» said Patrik shrugging.
«But everyone knows how to hunt. Didn’t they teach you at school?»
«On my planet, things go differently and we don’t hunt at school. So you're definitely a lot smarter than me».
The boy looked at Patrik intrigued, as if to understand if it was really so or if he was just kidding.
He noticed and smiled again.
«Now go back to your mother and don’t forget that you're the man of the house now» he told him, patting his head.
Lokkar stared at him for a moment. The person the Code had chosen to bring Armintala's siel was not as he had imagined.
The boy ran away, and he stood up under a sea of incredulous looks for the most unusual scene that had just happened. He felt that it would be acceptable for these people to take the boy's life for the affront he had suffered, and no one would do anything to stop it.
None of them.
It was terrible.
«I asked you if you're hungry, Terrestrial» Lokkar asked him.
«Patrik. My name is Patrik. And yes, the answer is yes. Billo and I are starving. What are you doing, you cook?» he replied, patting him on the shoulder.
Lokkar's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost, that amused Patrik a lot. He took his dog and headed for one of the free tables inside the adjoining room.
*
Alannah entered the room with a firm step and an expression that promised nothing good.
Marco and Tadiero were intent on revisiting the stellar routes and flexion trails that led to Arkass, while Kalberham spoke with Poligon Dhaal in front of the large window overlooking the valley.
«Can I know what jumped into your mind?!» she shrieked in the direction of the two Guardians.
They looked at each other without understanding. Even Tadiero and Marco stared at them, shrugging their shoulders in amazement.
«Alannah, do you want to explain to us what's troubling you, dear?» Kalberham asked her with a slight smile.
«What troubles me? Do you want to know what troubles me?!» she asked incredulously. «What does it mean that Patrik is in the arkassian fortress?»
Poligon Dhaal tried to say something, but he didn’t have the time.
«And not only that! Apparently he will spend the night with them. Are you guys out of your minds?!»
«Alannah, don’t overdo it» Marco said. «Patrik knows what he's doing».
«Aaaaah. But do you hear who's talking?! The best little friend that should be the first to prevent that other fool from doing such stupid things».
Marco was there to answer, but a nod from Kalberham made him stay quiet. To argue with a furious solaryan woman was a dangerous and useless thing.
«Of course! What could be expected from Mister I save the universe alone?! The mission of the suicide ambassador! Stupid idiot!»
«You will see that he will come back safe and sound» Poligon Dhaal told her, trying to reassure her.
«He will?!» she bellowed again. «They will you mean?! That idiot has also brought Billo. What did that poor dog do to deserve such an idiot master? Eh ?! This time if they don’t kill him, I'll do it myself!»
So saying she turned on her heels and, in a fury, slammed the door of the room on the way out.
All of them looked at each other for a few seconds without speaking and then burst out laughing.
«Well, I would say, it's serious» Poligon Dhaal said warmly.
«Yup. I would say so» answered Kalberham.
«I wonder how Karmora will take it. I don’t think he has foreseen such a thing».
The solaryan Guardian crossed his arms thoughtfully.
«I don’t think it will be easy for him, dear Poligon. Really I don’t».
*
Patrik tasted a couple of really bad things and then found something good to eat.
Billo, of course, ate everything that was before him.
«You are a truly disgusting being» he told him, seeing it devour everything with real gusto. «You're like a pig. And it seems I don’t let you eat at home».
Lokkar smiled, almost taken aback by the relationship that was so unusual between the two.
«You have a strange way of talking to your pet» he said, looking at Billo and its bizarre armor.
Patrik looked at him almost astonished. Then there was a sociable part in the guy, after all.
«It’s a friend. I know that from the outside people only see a pet, but as much as you can believe it or not, today I wouldn’t be here if it were not for him».
The Melainian looked at him curiously.
«On your planet what kind of relationship do you have with animals? Don’t you have some to whom you are more attached?» continued Patrik, hoping to create some kind of personal contact with him.
«My Ubohr. It's a type of bird of prey that I raised in the valleys near my home on Melai. I am very attached to him. We often go hunting».
The thing worked.
Patrik knew it wouldn’t be easy, but there was a way to communicate with him. It had to be there, he had known it as soon as they met.
«Can I see him?» he asked.
Lokkar was thrown by that request, but after a moment he got up to turn on the monitor next to them.
«Damn, but it's very big! What are you two hunting, Kentauros?!» Patrik said, looking at that huge bird of prey as tall as a man, with a strange colored plumage and sharp claws.
«Ahahahah. No, not Kentauros, but big enough prey» Lokkar replied, amused by the strange, all-terrestrial consideration.
«Wow, your planet is really wonderful» Patrik said, seeing some pictures of Melai on the video.
«Yes, it is» he replied, frowning a little.
«Let me see something else. I'm curious».
«Curious about what? Want to see how my people die? Do you want to see how the balance that no longer exists decided to condemn many of us?»
Lokkar looked at him defiantly.
Patrik stood up and approached to talk to him more closely. He had no intention of renouncing that little opening the Melainian gave him a moment ago.
«Lokkar, listen. I am Terrestrial. Until a few weeks ago we thought we were alone in the universe. What do you want to blame me for, tell me?»
«Patrik Jones, don’t believe you can try to kid me. I know very well who you are and how you were taken from the Earth, but your proximity to the Solaryans leaves no doubt. Your friends want to leave the Code like that, and that means death for a lot of my people».
«Even my planet risks a lot for this» Patrik stopped him before he could continue. «We are too many and we continue to increase. Those who are worse off, inevitably want to go where they can live better. Walls are raised and I don’t think much is missing when someone starts to shoot earnestly».
Lokkar had begun to listen very carefully. Patrik noticed.
«The resources of a planet are not infinite and we are already doing enough to make it die. The interests of those who take advantage of this overpopulation don’t stop at anything. Believe me Lokkar, continuing in this way we risk killing an entire planet».
The Melainian bent his head slightly as if he wanted to study his interlocutor better.
The Earthman seemed sincere after all.
«You tell me about the risk of tomorrow, I live with my people who die today» he said, calming the tone of his voice. «Do you really want me to believe you would be willing to force the Code, even though you know it could condemn many of your people to death?»
Patrik sat up thoughtfully and stroked his dog. The question of the century had been buzzing in his mind for quite a while now, creating a weight in his stomach that he would gladly give up.
«The truth is that I have no idea what the right thing to do is» he answered without hesitation.
«You have no idea?!» Lokkar asked incredulously enough. «The Code decided to give you the only siel that always gives access to the Flower, and you have no idea what to do? Well, wake up Terrestrial! There are people dying out there».
Then he approached and took Patrik by the collar, continuing to scream in his face all his anger. «My people die. My parents are dead. How can you say you do not know what to do, eeeh ?!»
«Here, take my siel. If you really have the solution to everything, you do it» he said Patrik hanging by the collar and held out his weapon without even trying to react.
Lokkar's punch hit him close to his lip and he fell to the ground.
The two looked at each other for a moment, then the Arkassian turned to the other side, putting his fists on the monitor's controls. He had hit the Terrestrial, thus ignoring the orders received not to touch him for any reason. He would be punished for this, he knew.
Patrik stood up, touching his aching lip.
«Many years ago someone forced the Code, believing that they were doing the right thing» he said to the young Guardian's back. «After all this time and all these lost lives, the galaxy thinks it's me that it needs to restore balance. Truly a beautiful claim! And as if that were not enough, apparently the only way to stop all this suffering is to cause more suffering. Deciding who lives and who dies. Really a nice claim! Come on Lokkar, tell me. Who is it that lives? And who is it that dies?»
The Arkassian didn’t turn around and said nothing, but Patrik knew that he was listening.
«And when in a hundred years my soul could be in an arkassian body or yours in an earthman body, who will have decided who lives? Who will decide who dies? Come on Lokkar. Enlighten me!».
Patrik Jones and the Code of the Universe Page 26
