Journey to Ohmani (Across the Infinite Void Book 1)

by Ashley Grapes

  “I can’t believe that about Bockie,” Talon laughed. “Who do you think she’s shagging?”

  Levi winced. “Yeah, this is where we end this conversation.”

  “Fair enough.” Ding. It was Talon’s phone. She looked at it and made a confused expression.

  “What is it?” Levi asked.

  “It’s Kierra. She wants me to meet her…says it’s urgent.”

  “That’s weird. She wants to meet with just you?” Levi was not comfortable with the notion, knowing Kierra’s feelings towards him.

  “Yeah, what should I say?”

  “It’s up to you.” He hoped Kierra wanted to talk Talon into attending Ohmani Academy High or something.

  “Hmm. I will hear what she has to say.” Talon typed a reply and her phone dinged again. “She says she’s been trying to text you too. She said to turn on the news.”

  “Ugh, I was hoping to avoid that. Seeing myself in hologram is so creepy. Let’s just get online and look at the headlines.”

  He picked up his tablet from the nightstand and opened the news application. Several stories were scanning across the screen. ‘Bombing Suspect is the Mother of Today’s Attempted Bombing Hero,’ ‘The Avondales: Friend or Foe?’ ‘Conference to Resume Tomorrow through Extensions,’ ‘Security Cameras Catch Jivine Holendough Entering Inde Rider Headquarters the Day Before Spaceport Bombing,’ ‘Levi Avondale Still to Compete in NSSA Competition through Anonymously Donated Life5000.’

  “Oh my…” Talon began saying after reading the headlines over Levi’s shoulder. She clicked the last headline and they began reading.

  “Levi Avondale made quite the speech today at Ohmani Spaceport. Whether or not his mother is innocent, he still continues to have a growing fan base. After making the announcement that the OSP has made it illegal for him to leave the asteroid, he vowed to return all the money that was donated to him for the trip to the competition. Not only has he raised over a quarter of a million dollars in the past hour to help his mother reach bail, but an anonymous Extension donation may make it possible for Levi to still attend the competition while keeping his feet on Ohmani ground.

  “The Life5000 hasn’t even reached the market, making Mr. Avondale the very first to use the Extension in public, and the very first to enter a sporting competition by means of machine. The Extension itself is a revolutionary design by Excorp, meant to sync better than any currently available. It is questionable whether or not extending on water is possible, but sources tell us that Levi was already preparing to explore the possibility in his Careers class at the Academy, where he would run an after school program teaching troubled children to surf. There is still no word on who made the anonymous donation. The Extension is being flown here as we speak to arrive through the Area 5 wormhole tomorrow morning.”

  “This is huge, Vi. This donation is probably from a midaki if it’s coming straight from Dedrake. It’s amazing.”

  Levi’s head was swimming and in two days he would have to be literally swimming in an Extension. He thought about how awkward it was to ‘walk’ and ‘sit’ in the Extension he wore to greet Mantys. How in the world was swimming and surfing going to work? “I know, there were a lot of ‘firsts’ in this article.”

  “Yeah, I wonder who it was?”

  “Mantys,” Levi guessed, although he wasn’t positive. “He said he was using this fame thing to help my mother…maybe this is just another move in the game. I don’t have his number. I’ll just wait until tomorrow to go ask him.”

  “You should go now. I’m kind of dying to know,” Talon chuckled. “Plus, while you’re gone Kierra can come over and I can find out what is so urgent.”

  “For you my love, I would do anything.”

  Ten minutes later, Levi was out the door heading to the Stellar Grand. He asked the taxi driver to drop him off in the back of the building. One of the employees was in the back taking a smoke break. His name was Silano.

  “Levi! We haven’t seen you in a couple days. Thought maybe you were hiding away in some secure location, what with all the spotlight,” Silano dragged in a strong Italian accent.

  “Yes, it has been quite the whirlwind. I’m actually not here to see Bockie,” Levi internally grimaced, “but Mantys. Can you tell me what room he’s staying in?” Levi asked.

  “Hmm. I’m not supposed to say. That’s classified. But,” Silano squinted, “I saw you with him on TV. You all are friends?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, follow me. You need an employee to get you up to his floor.”

  They made their way to the elevator and the man swiped his security badge on a scanner. A panel lifted on the elevator door and he started typing in a code on the keypad that shown.

  “You don’t need me to get back down. He’s in the room at the end of the hall. Hey…uhhh…can I have your autograph?”

  “Sure.” Levi signed the paper Silano withdrew from his trousers, happier that his signature was looking more and more like his actual name.

  He walked to the end of the hall and knocked on the door. When no one came to answer it, he yelled through the barrier.

  “Mantys? It’s me, Levi. Are you there?”

  The door cracked open to reveal Mantys’ face. “Levi! Hello. Good job today with the speech…knew you had it in you. What can I help you with?”

  Suddenly, Levi felt intrusive. Mantys was not opening the door, but continued to look at him through the sliver of the threshold. “I was just wondering if this mysterious donation was from you. I wanted to thank you.”

  He flashed a smile then. “Yes, it is from me. And you’re welcome. Good luck at the competition. You will do great. My team will be over to see you tomorrow. Good day now.”

  Levi felt awkward. Mantys was talking in short, hurried sentences like he was trying to end the conversation. Levi suddenly wondered if Mantys was safe. After all, someone tried to bomb the Stellar right after he arrived and then that man put the bomb right behind Mantys on the floor of the conference hall. Was someone in there right now with a gun to his back?

  “Mantys, are you ok?” Levi asked.

  “Yes, yes, have a good night,” he said, shutting the door. Right before he did a voice shouted from within the apartment.

  “Ro-Mantys? Come back to bed, we just got here.”

  He knew that voice. Bockie. Levi stood open-mouthed at the door, wishing he could have erased hearing her pet name for Mantys from his memory. Mantys cracked the door open a little more, and Levi could tell the old man did not have on any clothes. Levi started backing away slowly, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

  “Don’t tell her I was here,” Levi stammered, before running into a full sprint back to the elevator.

  He did not remember much of the ride home, but when he walked back in the door he was surprised to see the amount of people sitting in Bale’s living room — Talon, Bale, Kierra, and Axella.

  “Mom!” Levi ran to her and threw his arms around her. “It worked? The bail money was raised?”

  “It’s so good to see you,” she ignored his question and gave him a tight hug.

  Levi felt a little tension in the room and he noticed Talon looking at him sympathetically. “Is there something going on?”

  “There is something that you must be filled in on, yes,” Axella announced. “I would like to speak with you alone.”

  “Did someone die?”

  “Why are you always thinking someone died?” Bale said. “Are you okay using the bedroom Axella?”

  “Sure. Come on son, let’s talk.” Axella grabbed Levi’s elbow and pulled him back to the bedroom.

  They sat down on the bed, but Axella did not say anything. Levi took the moment of silence to deliver his own bombshell. “Mom, you will not believe who Bockie is…sleeping with. I am...,” Levi floundered trying to find the right word and Axella smiled slightly.

  “Mantys Ti?”

  “How did you know?” Levi asked confused. “Did she tell you? I had to find out in a rathe
r…disturbing way.”

  She gave Levi a sympathetic look. “I know because he is my father.”

  What was with this woman and her life-altering announcements? “What? You’re telling me that Mantys Ti is my grandfather?” He remembered Mantys saying Levi must have good genes. The old man had known all along. No wonder he was always looking out for Levi and his family. “That means I’m a quarter Sydces?”

  “No, actually. Levi, it’s time that I tell you the truth…the whole truth. I have not been honest with you and I feel horrible. I am kind of glad all of this has happened so that I don’t have to keep you in the dark any longer. It was wrong of me to do so.”

  Levi waited for her to continue. He had a feeling from her serious tone that Mantys being his grandfather was just a scratch on the surface.

  “Let me start at the beginning. Mantys Ti was the first midaki to ever visit Earth forty-five years ago,” she began.

  “But he said he was here before The Great Rescue? I thought he came to see if humans were worth saving?” Suddenly, Levi remembered that Mantys had told him he was the first midaki to ever visit Earth, but he had never specified when.

  “Yes, he came here before The Great Rescue, but it was way before. He was just a young man sent to learn about the human race secretly. The midaki had discovered our planet and were astounded at how alike the Sydces race was to humans and wanted to learn more. When Mantys came to Earth, he happened to stay at the very same hotel Bockie was working at…the one in Charleston. They fell in love and she became pregnant with me. When Mantys found out, he panicked. You see, Mantys broke midaki law by fraternizing with a human, thinking that it wouldn’t have even been biologically possible to get her pregnant, and so he abandoned her and went back to Dedrake, keeping his affair with her a secret.”

  “No wonder Bockie slapped him,” he said, remembering their violent encounter at the Stellar Grand. It made more sense now…why Mantys insisted on staying at that hotel upon hearing Levi say his grandmother worked there. He had also not mistaken the concierge desk with the front desk after all. That was probably the first time Bockie had seen Mantys since he left her forty-some years ago.

  “Yes, I’m sure she did. Mantys left her with a baby. But when the asteroid was discovered coming towards Earth, and the midaki had to decide whether or not to save us, it was Mantys’ testimony that was taken the most into account. He had spent the most time on Earth of any midaki. Who knows, maybe if he hadn’t fallen in love with Bockie all those years ago, his statement would have been different.” Suddenly she began to giggle. “Could you imagine if it was Bockie who saved the human race?” Her light-hearted second passed and she turned serious again. “Have you been told about the…peculiar reproductive system of a male Sydces?”

  “Yes, you do not have to have that particular discussion with me.”

  “Well, it happened to Bockie.” She paused and coughed uncomfortably. “Mantys’ DNA integrated with hers and she was forever tied to him. That is one reason why she has never loved another person. Mantys had not realized this, but how could he have known? They were the first.” She paused for several moments and then continued. “Mantys still loved Bockie, but knew what he had done was wrong. When he became sect leader of the DSO, he hired two people to watch over her and me…not only because he loved us, but because we were both a little bit of an experiment at the time. I was the first of my kind…a half alien. Those two people who he hired were Pila and your father, Levi.”

  Levi was stunned.

  “So, you are not a quarter Sydces. You are half,” Axella continued when Levi did not say anything. “Both Kaylen and Pila were in a witness protection program back on Dedrake and volunteered to come to Earth on the mission to watch over Bockie and me. They both needed to hide and they both had a background in the secret service.”

  “Oh, God. Is Talon my half-sister?”

  “No. Pila was already pregnant with Talon when she came to earth to watch over me.”

  “How is that possible? Talon is eighteen like me and you were in college twenty-some years ago. You said you met Pila in college.”

  Axella sighed. “Talon is not eighteen, she is twenty-four. For one, a Sydces pregnancy lasts three years instead of nine months, and two, their species develop slower and live longer. Indeed, Talon does not remember it, but she was actually two years old during The Great Rescue. Pila just put her in a grade that matched other human children.”

  Levi remembered having thought of Talon as a beautiful fledgling in middle school, seeming to bypass the awkward phase that her peers were experiencing. No wonder she felt different her whole life having to navigate the bedlam of teenage social structure with kids who were neither her age nor race.

  “So am I actually eighteen?”

  “Yes, dear. You were born four years after The Great Rescue.”

  “So why were they in the witness protection program?” Levi asked.

  “Pila had testified against a very dangerous man once, but that is all any of us know. As far as Kaylan, I never knew why he was in the program. He was very secretive about it.”

  “So they both came to Earth and it was their mission to stay close to you and our family? How did Dad end up becoming your husband and Pila end up becoming your best friend? Did they tell you the truth?” Levi asked.

  Axella gave a half-hearted laugh. “Hardly. They both pretty much manipulated their way into my life. I didn’t even know about Pila being a Sydces, let alone a spy, until Bale told me today in our lie detector test. I met Kaylen and Pila when I was in college. We were all three on the swim team. I thought it was by coincidence, but apparently it was all strategically planned. What wasn’t planned…for me at least…was that your father and I would end up together. By that time, The Great Rescue had already passed.”

  “So when did Dad tell you he was a Sydces?” Levi asked.

  “Not until long after you were born. Kaylen and Pila were supposed to keep me safe…and apparently they were told to keep me on the track to a fairly ‘normal’ life so as not to be found out. If the American government or the United Nations had discovered that a Sydces had come to Earth twenty years before The Great Rescue and impregnated a human, there would have been a huge scandal and, at that time, Mantys was a major world leader and did not want that. He also wanted to avoid all the experiments and testing I would have had to endure if my mixed heritage became known on either Earth or Dedrake. I had a swimming scholarship, you know. I was swimming for the University of Florida and was going to go pro. The Sydces are very good swimmers…it is in our genes. Mantys told Pila and Kaylen to keep me from swimming professionally in case I was found out. I wouldn’t have considered giving it up until I got pregnant with you. Your father and I married shortly afterwards and I ended up living the normal life I was destined to from the beginning.” Her eyes welled up with tears. “He manipulated me, Levi. I found this out when you were eight.”

  “But that’s when…” his parent’s got divorced, Levi thought.

  “Yes,” Axella confessed, following his train of thought. “I was so furious at Kaylan for lying to me all those years. I doubted whether or not he had even ever loved me or if getting me pregnant was just part of his mission to keep me from my dreams. Trust me, I love you so much and I could never regret having you, but I could not trust Kaylan after what he had done. He wouldn’t even tell me why he was in witness protection either. I couldn’t deal with all the lying and the secrets. Then when he told me about The Sacred Union I became even more infuriated. Can you believe he rather forced me to stay in love with him without even consulting me first! Despite every urge I had, I divorced him. It is my fault our family is broken, Levi...he never cheated on me. I just told you that so you would not want to see him.” Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. “I told Bockie everything, and that’s when she came to live with us. She was just as infuriated as I was.”

  A million thoughts were going through Levi’s mind. “But you never found out about Pi
la?”

  “No. She was probably so scared to tell me after what I had done to Kaylan. Who knows, I probably would have shunned her as well. Like I said, I did not find out about Pila or Talon until today. Apparently, you found out before me that they were both Sydces, and I certainly did not know Pila was a spy. Bale is the one who knew the rest.”

  “Where is he now?” Levi asked. He had been angry at his father all these years for all the wrong reasons.

  “I don’t know. I made him promise to never contact me again. I still love him, I guess because of The Sacred Union, but I don’t trust him.” She paused. “I’m afraid that you have it too.”

  “Have what?” Levi asked confused.

  “Kierra has been researching this for some time. She figured it out before anyone else. Have you ever noticed that women you sleep with are a little attached to you?” She started ringing her hands in true Axella-fashion.

  Levi’s eyes shot wide. He had been with several girls in his attempts to distract himself from Talon. He had been careful every time…except once. He thought back to the party last summer. “Oh, no!”

  “Yes, Levi. It might not be as strong of an effect, but you do the same thing as other Sydces men.”

  It made sense. Kierra had always been weirdly obsessed with Levi ever since their intimate encounter. Suddenly, he felt horrible. She didn’t really love him, it was just that he had biologically hand-cuffed her by accident.

  He ran out of the room and found Kierra petting Marion in the living room. “I am so sorry.”

  She looked up at him. “I know. I couldn’t understand why I was so drawn to you. I mean you’re hot but...Marco loves me.”

  Levi felt even more horrible. “What can we do?”

  “There is a cure for it. Gene therapy…”

  “I will pay for it,” Levi vowed. Unlike Mantys and his father, he would take full responsibility for the hurt he had caused.

  Kierra smiled up at him for the first time in a while. “That’s why I wanted to meet with Talon. I was going to warn her before you all…” she paused uncomfortably. “I didn’t know whether you knew or not but I figured it was not my place to tell you if you didn’t.”