Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince (14 page)

“If my father was the one to reset you then my hunch is that we know the password he set for the memory dump.”, Kevin said.

“How?”, Keele was excited now.

“The pen drives were encrypted too. We used ‘juliakean’ as the password. It is my parents’ names.”, Kevin said.

“Can you spell it?”, Keele asked sitting down on a chair nearby.

“Yes. j-u-l-i-a-k-e-a-n”, Kevin said.

Keele listened to the password carefully and then sat patiently without uttering a word. It was clear he was running some algorithms inside. He finally said, “That is the right password Kevin. I have access to the memory dump now. I am going into sleep for a few minutes, do not try to wake me up and do not reset me again.”, Keele said in an excited tone.

“What? When did I…”, Kevin has questions but Keele fell asleep before Kevin could finish his sentence. Kevin looked at Tomiri as a fallback who explained that bots do go to sleep when they are processing their memory.

Several minutes passed by. Tomiri ordered some wake while they waited for Keele to wake up. Kevin grew restless with every passing minute. Tomiri tried calming him down but he himself was now too excited to know the truth.

Keele woke up finally. He quickly walked around the room to verify that there was no one in the room except for them. He then came back to where Kevin and Tomiri stood looking at him curiously.

“These are indeed your parents Kevin and the baby is you.”, Keele looked deeply into the eyes of Kevin and said, “You have the same eyes as the baby in the picture has. I can confirm this through your retina scans”

Keele continued, “Your parents arrived on Peele on 3rd May, Earth time and stayed with Boriri in his house. They spent the two nights in the same room where you spent your nights on Peele. Your mother was over 8 months pregnant at that time, I could see it all through her body.”, Keele seemed to be reminiscing.

Kevin listened to what Keele was saying but kept looking at the photographs. Keele continued while still reminiscing.

“We all came to Mone on the night of the 5th. The identity of your parents was a secret. Only Boriri knew about it. He told me only later when he left them with me. The day after he left, on 7th, we got an invite from Cabori for lunch. I wanted to ask Boriri before going but I couldn’t reach him. I remember distinctly, she kept insisting on meeting your parents that same day. At last I had to agree.”, Keele wanted to continue but Tomiri interrupted him.

“Cabori who? Soboro’s wife?”, Tomiri asked.

“Yes”, Keele responded.

“So that is why I feel like having seen them?”, Tomiri recalled finally why he remembered Kevin’s parents but also grew sad by it. He turned to Keele and looked into his eyes. He was ashamed by what Keele now knew.

“It was her, Kevin. She was planning to have your parent’s killed.”, Keele said after a pause.

“What? But why?”, Kevin asked with frustration.

“I don’t know. This is a new information for me as well. I just believe that she must have been the one who planned it.”, Keele said. He went ahead and explained why he believed so.

“That day, when I arrived with your parents to the royal palace, she was waiting for us in the garden. She greeted us with a lot of respect and kindness. She already knew that your father was a royal descendant and offered to help him win the next elections. That is when I had my first doubt, I was a bit curious that she knew about your parents. Boriri hadn’t told anyone outside his circle, not even me until a few days before. So how could she know it?”, Keele paused.

“So, what did you do then?”, Kevin asked.

“Since Soboro had divorced her before his death, she was no longer a royal. So I was free to analyse whatever she said and check if she was lying. I found that my doubts were not misplaced, she was indeed lying a lot that day. I couldn’t understand why she was lying. When I asked her who told her about their identities, she said it was Boriri himself. It was a lie, of course. I feared the worst and took your parents away as soon as I got the chance. I don’t have hard evidence yet but I believe she conspired against your parents’ lives.”, Keele paused.

Kevin didn’t know what to say. He listened to this shocking revelation as Tomiri backed up Keele’s theory. He said, “That woman was a big mistake, and Soboro knew it. He even tried correcting it in his last days but it was too late. She destroyed the royal family.”. Tomiri’s eyes filled with tears of anger as he said those words.

There was a silence after which Keele continued his story, “We went back to Boriri’s apartment but your mother insisted that they should go back to Earth. I told her that it was too late for her to travel at such high speeds. She was already in labor, I could see it though her body. I told them that It would be difficult to deliver the baby on the shuttle back to Earth. They will have to wait till you were born to begin their journey back home.”, Keele said.

Tomiri was listening keenly to what Keele had to say. As soon as Keele paused, Tomiri asked, “Did they wait, then? Was Kevin born here, on Mone?” Tomiri again appeared hopefully excited. He desperately wanted Kevin to be a hum.

Kevin looked at Tomiri and then at Keele. He wanted Keele to answer the question. Keele, on the other hand, was no less anxious. He had just discovered the memory and was still trying to understand what it all meant. Narrating it to them was also helping him go over it for the first time.

“Yes, they did. He was born in my arms.”, Keele responded with a smile. He was reminiscing again.

Tomiri took a sigh of relief and sat on a nearby chair. Keele had just confirmed that Kevin was actually born on Mone, which made him a Hum. The remaining strains of doubts that Tomiri had about Kevin being a worthy royal were now gone. He said, “This is the best news I have heard in ages. Forgive me my prince for ever doubting you.”

Kevin wanted to challenge him. He wanted to say, “Why my being born here is more important to you than my genes?”, but he didn’t. He knew this wasn’t a time for philosophical discussions.

“Proctor, we cannot let this news out. Let me talk to Boriri first.”, Keele said.

“First complete the story, Keele.”, Kevin insisted.

Keele began again, “Once you were born, your parents prepared to leave. Your father wanted to stay back and wait for Boriri but your mother feared for your life too much. She knew that if found, your father and you both would be killed.”

“Her fear were not baseless.”, Kevin said, defending her mother. He wanted them to know that his parents were indeed found and killed. At least that was what he believed.

Keele continued, “So, I made a plan. I told Kean that if asked, I would have to reveal the fact that a son was born to him. To conceal this truth, it was necessary that he reset me before leaving. I also told him how to do it and that is when we took this picture.”, Keele stopped and turned to the images displayed.

“And you don’t remember anything after that, right?”, Kevin asked. He wanted the story to continue but knew that Keele was helpless.

Keele was too busy watching the screens on Kevin’s table so Tomiri responded on his behalf.

“Of course he doesn’t. Boriri found him lying there when he came back. His body was badly damaged because in the reset state, these bots cannot preserve their organic parts. That is why I prefer mechanical bots. They are a bit naive but they are not high maintenance.”, Tomiri said lightly.

Suddenly Keele turned to Tomiri and said, “They have escalated the seize to level 3.”

Tomiri was surprised at first but then went back to being calm. He replied, “So what? We were not planning to go there anyways, right? The elections have begun.”

“What seize? Are you guys talking about Nole?”, Kevin asked.

Keele now turned to Kevin and said, “Yes. The seize of Nole was a level 4 seize, Kevin. Which meant Hum spacecrafts were not restricted to fly in and out. But a level 3 seize would not spare even hum spacecrafts.”

“So what? Boriri stopped me from going anyways, why does this escalation matter?”, Kevin still didn’t understand why this was a big deal to Keele but he grew anxious.

“Boriri frequently visits Nole in his spacecraft.”, Keele said in a depressing tone.

Kevin now understood what the problem was. Tomiri too looked concerned now. He left saying, “I will find out what happened.”

“Are you saying that Boriri is on Nole right now?”, Kevin asked as soon as Tomiri left.

“Yes. He frequently visits Holum and others there. He goes there to help them.”, Keele replied.

“But, he himself told me not to go. That it was too dangerous. Then, why did he…”, Kevin asked, his concern for Boriri was apparent now.

“Because he cares. This is not the first time he has put his life in danger for this cause.”, Keele replied.

“Don’t be silly. Why would his life be in any danger. The roco bots don’t kill, right?”, Kevin hoped that Keele was exaggerating.

“They don’t kill innocent, unarmed beings, Kevin. You are right. But, they still will carry out their orders. They will shoot down his spacecraft if that is the only way to stop it from leaving Nole.”, Keele clarified.

“What orders? I thought they are on Nole only to monitor.”, Kevin argued.

“That is right, they still are. They are not on an offensive. However, they would not allow any human spacecrafts to leave Nole’s atmosphere.”, Keele replied.

“What if a spacecrafts tries to leave?”, Kevin asked.

“They would bring it down. I have already told you.”, Keele replied with a hint of frustration.

Kevin grew anxious now. He understood that with the siege escalated to level 3, even Boriri’s spacecraft would be attacked.

“But, they would warn him before attacking. They should.”, Kevin said. He was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

“They would warn, but only those who are entering the siege. Anyone who is coming out is a potential threat. The siege’s primary objective is to allow nothing to leave.”, Keele responded.

“But then, they should ask the spacecraft to go back to Nole. Why would they attack without a warning?”, Kevin asked.

“You are right. That is the protocol, Kevin. They should ask the spacecraft to go back but I am afraid Igogo planned this too well. It is not a coincidence that the escalation has come at the exact time when Boriri is on Nole. The commanding officer of the roco bots, who answers only to Igogo, is responsible for issuing warnings to the spacecrafts and has the final authority to attack. At stage 3, the roco bots would not hesitate to attack if he asks them to.”, Keele replied explaining the situation.

Kevin understood the situation now. He realised that the real failsafe was the bots’ protocol to not attack an spacecraft under normal circumstances. But now since the bots are authorized to attack, their commanding officer could potentially exploit the situation.

“What are his chances?”, Kevin asked with despair. He knew there was nothing he could do.

“None, if the roco attack.”, Keele responded.

They both looked at each other in silence.

A few moments later, Tomiri walked in. He started speaking as soon as he entered, “The humans seem to have captured two hum spacecrafts on Nole. The escalation is a result of that. I am afraid Boriri will have to wait on Nole.”

“He already left Nole 30 minutes ago.”, Keele replied.

“Is he in orbit yet?”, Tomiri asked.

“No, I have been trying to reach him but it seems he is on the other side of Nole.”, Keele replied.

“I guess, it will have to be a royal rescue then!”, Tomiri appeared to be excited but it was not evident why.

“What? Can you help rescue him?”, Kevin asked.

“No, not me. But you can.”, Tomiri smiled.

Kevin didn’t understand what to say. Keele replied with some frustration though, “Royal rescue? Kevin can hardly fly a spacecraft and even if he could take a neuroject with all its firepower, there is no time. The fastest royal spacecraft would take hours to reach Nole and Boriri needs us there in the next 40 minutes.”

“The neurojet doesn’t need hours, not if he flies it in neuro mode.”, Tomiri said, trying to imply what was understood to be impossible. After all, it was established that Kevin would never fly the neurojets in neuro mode.

Kevin said with frustration, “You know I cannot. I wish I could but I cannot.”

“And why is that, my prince?”, Tomiri asked with a smile.

“Because they don’t have my brain map.”, Kevin replied. He looked at Keele for a moment to confirm but Keele seemed distracted by another thought.

“And, why do you think you don’t have your brainmap?”, Tomiri continued with his line of question.

“Because I was not born...”, Kevin began with the reply but stopped. Could Tomiri be right with his reasoning? He turned to Keele. At the same moment, Keele looked up towards Kevin. He had a smile now, very similar to Tomiri’s.

Tomiri had a confirmation now, he began saying as he walked slowly towards Keele, “This dumb bot wouldn’t be worth the tiniest screw it has inside him if he was present when you were born and he still did not brain map you.”.

Keele grabbed Tomiri with both his hands and hugged him. He then released him and said, “You might have just saved Boriri!”.