The Blake Equation- Discovery

by David Savieri

  ‘I’m really sorry you missed it then. You must’ve missed a lot,’ Hayden asked. ‘How long where you on that ship?’ He added before quickly realising that perhaps he shouldn’t have.

  ‘It is over,’ Kel replied, acknowledging Hayden’s concern. ‘I was there a long time.’

  ‘You were a slave?’ Just the sound of it made him feel uncomfortable. In this day and age he couldn’t understand how that could be so but then he realised he wasn’t sure just what day and what age he was actually in?

  Kel didn’t answer straight away, her eyes glazed over as she relived for a moment whatever it was that she went through.

  ‘I planned my escape for a long time. They took me from my home just after my born day -’ she paused to move her hair out of her eyes. ‘- I am due for another soon.’

  ‘You were there almost a year!’ Hayden’s skin crawled. ‘I really hope they didn’t hurt you?’

  Kel turned her head away. ‘Did worse to others.’

  Whatever had happened to her, Hayden knew she felt no remorse for what had become of them at the mighty mechanical hands of their metal friend. He respected Kel immensely for saving his life and bringing him to Kuhl-Agev but his respect grew twofold when he realised just how long she had survived on that stinking ship.

  A whooshing sound came from the silver tube and a door slid gracefully open to reveal yet another Kuhlian, this time luxuriously clothed in an olive green robe adorned with even more ornate patterns. He adjusted a thin equally fancy hat that fit loosely to his tall head. Flanked by two guards that were even burlier than the previous two, the politician’s ceremonious garb gently billowed as he walked toward them.

  ‘This is not Munspac,’ she whispered as she stood and Hayden followed suit. Grand chancellor Tej extended his hand and placed it to his chest as all the others had done. The guards also.

  ‘Highness... I am Locei Tej; Grand Chancellor of Kuhl-Agev, Governor of the Devonian system and I welcome you.’

  His voice was smooth but older sounding and like Feebru, his English was perfect but for a Kuhlian inflection. Like Feebru, he had an elongated face but unlike him, he was missing the welcoming features. The Grand Chancellor instead, had small shiny ball bearing-like icy grey eyes and dark highly arched eyebrows. A long, high bridged almost triangular nose drooped slightly over a small mouth, completing a wrinkled though somewhat distinguished face.

  Tej only acknowledged Kel with a slight nod and she reciprocated the scant greeting with an equally scant smile. Kel was confused. She’d now heard it a few times and was more than a little confused at the title with which he had addressed her new Earthling friend.

  ‘Where’s my watch?’ Hayden wasted no time in asking.

  ‘Your?’ The Grand chancellor seemed surprised by the abrupt question.

  ‘My - time - keeper,’ Hayden enunciated, tapping the top of his wrist.

  ‘Ah,’ the chancellor realised. ‘Your locator.’

  ‘My what?’

  Tej stood directly before Hayden, his body angled away from Kel. The guards remained by the door and looked impatient.

  ‘You express surprise. You did not know it was such a device?’

  Hayden shook his head. He had no idea.

  ‘You were told never to take it off?’ Tej added.

  Hayden nodded.

  Your exact location was needed at all times-your father made it so.’

  ‘My father?’ Hayden asked excitedly and Tej immediately lowered his head to look away.

  ‘I served with your father for a great long time.’

  Hayden wanted desperately to know more but the chancellor quickly changed the topic. ‘Shortly after we tractored your shuttle in, another ship arrived.’

  ‘Sepians?’ Hayden asked.

  ‘We thought they could have been but they would know they could not get past the sentry-sats.’

  ‘Who then?’

  ‘We allowed the ship entry but sent a number of agents to follow who or what were to disembark.’

  ‘Who or what was it? ’ Hayden pursued uneasily.

  ‘We were not sure. We lost the single occupant in the crowds around the transport station but our men followed you though, followed very closely. It was not until you left the regen-tank and were eating at Wadum that he made his move on you and we made ours on him. He tracked you. When at the med-centre you removed your clothes, we took the device on your wrist in the hope that it would lead him directly to us.’

  ‘You suspected this would happen?’ Hayden probed.

  ‘It is important in this most vast universe, to be prepared.’

  ‘Did it work?’ Kel asked.

  ‘Yes, but unfortunately you were seen by him in the building before we could make you come with us. Feebru was to see to it that you remained. The only course of action was for us then to pursue him as he pursued you.’

  ‘Who was it that pursued us?’ Hayden asked exasperated.

  ‘Pursued you.’ Tej straightened and stared directly into Hayden’s eyes. ‘And you are soon to face him.’

  ‘Why would anyone want to hunt you? ’ Kel asked and Hayden gulped uncomfortably at her choice of word.

  ‘Hunt is a bit strong. I don’t think anyone is hunting me?’ He looked at Tej for reassurance but received none.

  Unsurprisingly he didn’t like what was happening and he was sure he was too young for the duties he felt would soon be thrust upon him.

  ‘Does that mean my family knows where I am?’

  ‘No. I am sorry. The locator has a maximum range of ten to twenty thousand.’

  ‘Then how did he find me?’

  ‘That is what we need to discover.’

  Hayden looked even more perplexed. ‘You mean to tell me that you don’t even know how he found me?’

  ‘That is correct,’ Tej answered, whilst looking a little put-out by Hayden’s line of questioning. ‘There are many things in this universe that cannot be attributed to any particular thing. We have done our best to understand how this may have happened to you and ..’

  ‘I’ll tell you how it happened!’ Hayden angrily interjected. ‘I was with my family on the Copernicus trying to figure out what exactly my life had turned into and then I was pulled through the ceiling of my cabin by a disgusting squid man only to be passed up into that Sepian pirate ship!’

  The grand chancellor listened quietly, knowing that Hayden needed to vent.

  ‘If I hadn’t met Kel and she hadn’t programmed that mechan to assist in our escape, I’d still be there now! We’d still be there now!’

  Tej looked Hayden over again and then did the same to Kel.

  ‘Hearing your story leaves me feeling much relief that you are safe.’ He turned toward Kel. ‘- And hearing what you did fills me with much gratitude. You are truly to be rewarded for what you’ve done.’

  Kel shrugged. For her it was enough to be out of that floating cesspit and on her way home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Hayden and Kel followed Tej as he directed them.

  ‘Be careful, Hayden. We do not know who else has been told of your arrival?’

  ‘I don’t understand? Who else would even want to know?’

  Tej stopped walking and turned with a fearful look. ‘Oh, young highness - a great many.’ The door in the silver tube slid up and all three entered. Inside the elevator it looked not much different from outside except that the walls were concave rather than convex with no buttons or controls anywhere. ‘Ut,’ Tej commanded in Kuhlian and they started to rise immediately.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Hayden asked.

  ‘Up,’ Tej responded dryly.

  ‘Won’t anyone give me a proper answer to anything?’

  Kel playfully nudged Hayden in the side and the chancellor gave her a dirty look. ‘I answered all questions you asked of me,’ she said, arms crossed staunchly. Hayden acknowledged that fact then pushed her playfully on the shoulder and Tej closed his eyes and looking at Kel, did so with what looked like a
little contempt. He remained silent until the elevator stopped.

  The door was barely opened when the chancellor had already made his way almost to the other side of yet another dark room.

  ‘Where are we now?’ Hayden asked, squinting through the darkness.

  ‘We are about to depart,’ Tej informed them.

  ‘For where?’

  Tej had disappeared into the gloom when all of a sudden Hayden and Kel heard a few more words spoken in Kuhlian and the space they were in began to be bathed in another soft green glow.

  Hayden looked about them and saw that they were on another ship’s bridge! Another spaceship! That made four in not as many days.

  ‘You must be seated,’ Tej requested, directing them toward two streamlined looking chairs very similar in shape to those on the train. Hayden took the one to his left and Kel sat behind him.

  Tej stood on a metre wide recessed round glass platform that glowed the same green as did just about every other piece of instrumentation, save for a few blue and red lights scattered throughout the room. As they watched, a thin podium rose up from where the chancellor stood. Stopping just above his waist height and he took hold of the controls now made available to him.

  Kel reached forward toward Hayden, trying to get his attention. When he craned around to look at her, he noticed that she looked distressed but before he could ask her what was wrong, they felt the rumble of an engine and their seats tightened around them.

  Out of habit, he looked down to where his watch had been and seeing it gone, declared to himself that whatever its real function was he didn’t care. He loved that timepiece and he had to get it back. A large view screen opened before them and both were surprised to see that they were already underway.

  They could see the bright lights of Tika twinkling below them through port and starboard portholes. Hayden wanted to but didn’t ask the chancellor where they were headed as he knew he’d either get no response or have some smoke screen blown in his direction.

  The false sky above them seemed unnervingly close but Tej looked comfortable enough at the controls to fill Hayden with a certain degree of confidence.

  Looking around, the ship’s bridge was one quarter the size of the Copernicus’ but it was far larger than the cockpit in the commandeered Sepian tender. Tej seemed to be the only crew member aboard so Hayden asked him if he was but he wasn’t answered. It had become tiresome for him asking questions that weren’t answered or only told that the answer would be revealed.

  It was infuriating.

  The design of the bridge fascinated him. All lines were smooth with no sharp angles and he liked it as nonsensically it was homely in an alien sort of way.

  Organic.

  ‘Where do you think we’re going?’ Hayden asked Kel.

  ‘We are leaving Tika,’ Tej announced not taking his eyes from the view screen.

  ‘Why?’ Hayden responded. ‘Surely you have somewhere in the city you can protect me? I mean, if I do need protecting like you say I do?’

  ‘We can also keep you safe away from Tika I assure you.’

  Hayden couldn’t really ask anymore as he didn’t know anything about those things and he didn’t want to upset this Kuhlian who was trying to help him.

  Watching the viewscreen, they could see what looked like the bright outline of a rectangle getting very slowly larger and they were headed directly toward it.

  ‘A door? Isn’t that a bit risky, chancellor?’ Hayden questioned when he realised what it was.

  ‘Risky?’Tej questioned in return, his eyes not leaving the view-screen and Hayden wasn’t sure if he understood the terminology or just didn’t hear him properly.

  ‘I mean, having a secret way out could also be a secret way in.’

  ‘It is protected by a shield frequency that only our craft use. We will get you away from this place and into very safe hands.’

  The confidence in the Grand Chancellor’s voice was soothing. The transport sped up and Hayden could feel more pressure pushing him back further into his comfortable seat. He looked across at Kel who looked as if she was sleeping soundly.

  ‘Are you awake or asleep?’

  ‘Awake,’ she groaned.

  ‘I think I’m too excited ..’ Hayden whispered, only to hear her groan again, ‘- to sleep.’

  It was commonplace for her to be flying around in space-ships. Not to him, though. Not yet anyway.

  The exit rapidly approached and as it did, he wondered just what other things they would encounter beyond the dome?

  ‘How are you feeling?’ Tej asked him.

  ‘Fine,’ he replied, not very truthfully. His arm felt much better but he himself felt so very weary and lost. He’d never been away from his family for so long without any contact.

  ‘The mechan?’ Hayden asked the Grand chancellor. ‘Is it with us here onboard?’

  ‘Your machine has been stowed,’ Tej replied blandly and almost disappointedly. Hayden didn’t like how the Chancellor referenced the mechan as it had become more a mechanical friend to him now.

  The ship started to slow as it approached the exit which was opened wide enough to accommodate it. Tej, using great concentration, maneuvered close to the walls of the gap, firing small boosters to get into position. Once the prow of the ship had passed through, Hayden tried but couldn’t see how close the hull was getting to the opening’s sides and persuaded himself that there would be instruments that could tell Tej exactly where they were and that it wasn’t as dangerous a maneuver as it seemed.

  Thankfully, the ship had advanced slowly enough under expert guidance that they had passed through and out into the darkness of Kuhl-Agev.

  The wild Kuhl-Agev.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  ‘Are you sure you know what’s out there?’ Hayden asked after what seemed like ages in the little ship. ‘Are you sure you know where we are?’ He felt a little uneasy asking that last question.

  The view-screen looked as if it had been turned off ,but it hadn’t.

  It was dark, far darker than the false sky had been and Hayden strained to see anything at all.

  ‘We must remain unseen,’ Tej informed. ‘We will fly without lights to avoid any potential danger.’

  ‘I thought you said the planetary defenses would take care of any intruders?’ Hayden then whispered to his friend. ‘Have you been out here before, Kel?’

  There was no answer from behind him so he asked her again and still there was no answer. ‘Chancellor?’ Hayden whispered. The Grand chancellor looked past him toward Kel.

  ‘She sleeps.’

  Hayden had never seen it so dark outside. The only thing he could make out at all was the glowing greenness of the bridge.

  ‘When will we arrive at wherever it is we’re going?’

  ‘Very, very soon Highness,’ Tej announced curtly, stepping away from the control podium, making another adjustment to his clothing. The chancellor then walked aft and ordered them to follow, his console quickly returning to its original position in the floor. ‘Make haste,’ he beckoned, adjusting his robes again and fiddling with his hat. ‘We are here.’

  The chairs released them and Kel woke with a start but she stood up immediately when she saw that Hayden had. They remained there silently with the sound of the engines winding down. Hayden and a very tired Kel tried to look out the view screen but even if they could manage to see anything at all, a metal shield lowered from a bulkhead to cover it from the inside. The chancellor looked agitated at the rear of the small bridge. ‘Make haste. Make haste. We must make haste.’

  Hayden followed him while Kel remained still, looking on at her friend strangely and wondering again if she’d heard Tej correctly before when he addressed her friend.

  They found themselves in a wooden room with another wooden floor and wooden walls and a wooden ceiling.

  Tej moved across that room to a door highlighted against the darkness by four long red lights in the edge of the wide frame.

  Hayden
and Kel followed and waited by his side. The door opened outward and they found themselves in an immense hollowed out tree that was the largest that Hayden had seen in his brief time on Kuhl-Agev and judging by Kel’s look of astonishment, she was surprised, too. ‘Never have I seen this,’ she said, the awe in her voice echoing as she moved toward the centre, spinning slowly around to take it all in as best she could. ‘Never have I even heard of this,’ she added, her voice oscillating as she spun.

  The cavern was bathed in the same light as was cast from Tika’s domed ceiling through many irregularly shaped and sized windows of fused stained glass, lending the space the atmosphere of an organic cathedral. The immensity of the place was emphasised further by the fact there were only three people in it.

  ‘Your manservant is to look after your every need, your highness,’ the chancellor said quietly, leaning at Hayden’s ear and adjusting his robes again, this time not for vanity but because they were picking up dust from the floor.

  ‘My manservant?’ Hayden repeated, a little disgusted at the concept.

  ‘Feebru,’ Tej answered. ‘Feebru will see to it that you have all you need.’

  ‘I don’t want a “manservant”,’ Hayden raised his voice in protest.

  ‘It is the way it has always been,’ the chancellor calmly responded. ‘Feebru is here at his own insistence.’

  The Grand chancellor then called for Kel to follow him. He looked Hayden over from top to toe. ‘You see to it that you get rest.’

  ‘After that tank I feel fine. I don’t think I’ll need any more rest for quite a while.’

  ‘You may do as you will but tomorrow is going to be a trying day.’

  Tej bowed then glanced at Kel as she yawned widely.

  ‘Your friend it seems, feels differently.’

  Hayden realised that he’d better get some sleep as soon he’d be facing whoever it was that was after him. It was bad enough he’d been captured and almost enslaved or whatever by the Sepians but to know he was to confront a conspiracy involving him, a conspiracy he knew nothing about, let alone adding in his own self that he was unsure of. He’d need to be on top of things as best he could. As they all walked off to their quarters, he asked Tej questions of the architects of the cavern and questions of the ancient Kuhlians who he found out had made it. They’d walked out of the great wooden hall and down a corridor that moved in a very wide arc. They moved through another few doors until as they neared their beds for the night, Tej told Hayden what must have been the barest outline of Kuhlian history ever told.