Arith : The Undiscovered Planet
CHAPTER 17

The day came for Eric , Kelvin , Bryan and Jesse to meetwith Derek. Bryan and Jesse were very happy for Kelvin and Eric. As they wereabout going out , Eric got a call. A strange number was calling. He hatedinterruptions at a time like this and ignored the call . But his phone keptringing . Kelvin touched his shoulders and gave him the 'eye' that said ‘pickup and listen to what the caller has to say'. Eric sighed, there was no otherchoice but to answer the call. He did just that. He narrowly avoided barkinginto his phone.

“Yeah” Eric said with a dull voice. His face had turned adark hue, due to his suppressed anger.

“Its someone you may not know”. The caller said , slowly.

My phone was ringing for this? Eric asked himself. He wantedtelling whoever it was, to fuck off . But the caller interrupted his speech.

When Eric didn’t say anything, the caller spoke.

“Your whereabouts have been known by your adversaries. Foryour own good, do not go to the bridge as discussed with your dad, if you dothat, you’d meet with assassins. You know what this means. Was it a smirk heheard in the caller's voice?

“Who are you”? Eric spit out . “And why should I believeyour story”?

“Fine. Let me introduce myself. My name is Malik, Kennedy’sgreatest enemy”.

Eric lost his patience.

“And who the hell is Malik? How did you get my number? Howam I supposed to believe this? Could be you’re playing games, you know what,I’m not ready for any games”.

This had to come when he was about meeting his dad. Whowould betray them here? Was it the co-commander who had asked them to lay low? The funny thing here was Eric believedthis caller but he had to play hard, to believe. His uncle and Jesse touchedhis shoulders, They heard everything because the call was on speaker. They couldsee the caller was talking sense and so nodded at Eric, who did likewise. Heshrugged his broad shoulders.

“Did you say play games? Believe me when I start my games ,you’d know”.

“What’s in this for you”? Eric asked Malik.

“I was working with Lincoln, your dad’s hired detective . Down the line, he was shot. I’mhere to alert you Eric. For the record, I have gone into hiding because, a hit wascalled on me, just so you know . Now do you believe me or not”?

“I believe you Mr Malik” Eric said.

“You can call your dad now and can all of you meet me in DellonCement Factory”?

“Okay, thanks Malik, we will be there”.

And that was the end of the of the call, Eric had wanted toignore.

Eric signaled the others to come closer.

“We have a spy here” he whispered, “We have to be very smartin this , let’s just pretend we’re going to meet my dad close to the bridge ,okay”?

The others smirked and nodded at this. A very good plan.

“Your father must be waiting Eric, let’s go meet him .Hurray!” Bryan exclaimed, trying to throw-off whosoever was listening on theirconversation.

*********

Derek was in the hospital with Lincoln when Eric had called. He had to pinchhimself to be certain he wasn’t dreaming. Eric my son is alive! He was so glad.He wouldn’t be alone again. His life which had been on hold had started again.I can’t wait to see you son , he thought.

So that night, he was ready to see his son on the bridge asthey had discussed. He was beaming with smiles and asked the Dante to look afterLincoln. He told the doctor the reason for his cheerful demeanor, when Dantehad looked at him pointedly, maybe thinking he was on to something. As usual,the doctor was ready to do anything great for a friend. He did as Derek asked.

As Derek left the hospital, his phone rang. His son was calling.He’s very impatient to see me, Derek thought smiling.

“I’m on my way son”.

“Dad something just came up, can you come over to DellonCement Factory? I’m there waiting dad”.

Derek wanted asking why. But he would replace out when he got thereright? Eric knew the right thing to do .

“Okay son , I will be there”.

And he drove to the place.

************

It was a very emotional reunion. Father and son couldn’t letgo of each other. They were squeezed in an inseparable embrace. The otherslooked on smiling through tears at the fondness displayed.

“Son, you weigh more” Derek said laughing, when he attemptedto lift Eric and failed. Eric laughed at his father’s weak attempt .

“Your hair has increased in length son”.

They continued teasing each other. It was during the pauseof their embrace, that Derek looked at the others and saw his late wife’s twinbrother, Kelvin. It had been so long.

“I’m so glad for Arith. It kept you two for me”. Said Derekto Kelvin. Their hug was short but emotive.

“You didn’t change one bit Derek. You look just the same”Kelvin said.

“I should be telling you that, you didn’t age a day. As forme, after all these that I passed through , I agree” Derek said.

“Trust me, you didn’t. Just look like one of Eric’sfriends”.

Derek didn’t know if he was to believe Kelvin or not. Helooked at his son for clarification. When Eric nodded and smiled, he turned toKelvin and said:

“Hmmm, thanks if you guys believe so”.

“We know so” Kelvin and the others chorused . Derek laughedout at this . When Eric introduced his fiancée Jesse, Derek was ecstatic.

“I have finally met you sir…”

“Please call me Derek” Derek politely interrupted.

“Oh … Okay. Eric always spoke about you. I could evendescribe you without having to see you Derek”.

“Oh really”? Derek asked looking at Eric fondly.

Eric winked at his dad and both of them shared a secretsmile.

When Bryan was introduced, Derek said:

“The best thing in life is to have a friend you can trust . Thankyou for always been there for Kelvin, when he felt alone in your planet”.

Eric was glad his father didn’t ask of his mum, on seeing Kelvin.He already knew she didn’t make it. Eric was very impressed by his dad’scontrol. It would have been really sad if his dad had broken down after all themerriment.

Derek relayed the situation to Eric , and the others.

“Our adversaries went this far, only because they did notwant to be exposed? They had to murder people who got in their way”. Bryan said.

Everyone nodded.

“Well this situation, made you guys discover yourselves,your good friends, as you are now” Derek said looking at them, so proud.

This made them laugh, holding their partners.

A noise behind them , brought the merriment to an end. Eachof them thinking it was their enemy. But Eric being the ever adventurous oneamong them, turned back and saw a heavily built man coming towards them . Theman looked about sixty years of age. He looked Russian as well. if he was coming to ambush them, he’d alreadyfailed, because he it was five against one. Erik just stared daringly, at the man coming.

The others seeing Eric’s brave stance, followed suit, eachstaring at the Russian .

***********

Malik, had stood there for about one hour, watching thereunion. He watched as Eric and his dad acted like siblings. He could imaginethe sort of pain, Derek had gone through, when he thought he had lost his wife,son and brother-in-law. He had watched the other three, who were just lookingin on the scene. Malik saw when these other three joined in the merriment ; awonderful reunion, he thought.

It seemed they had forgotten his meeting with them. Well, hewouldn’t just stand by and not tell these people the situation. Although hisentrance in the scene would pause this wonderful moment, he had to make known tothese people who their real friends were. So off he went to meet them. He madesure to make some noises, at least to alert them of his entrance. And it gotthe desired effect.

***********

The Russian came to a halt before them and said:

“Hi , I’m Malik”.

At his introduction, everyone’s eyes looked at him withrecognition but Derek’s was laced with suspicions.

Malik decided to explain things to them.

“For the record, I am Kennedy’s bodyguard and technician”.Malik said looking at all and continued.

“I am on your side because, I was cheated by him in position.I have worked very hard to be in the I.S.E.A. I came before Kennedy, but he hadthe upper hand and used his influence to become the leader. When I saw Icouldn’t be the head, I went for the second-in-command position”.

“But you know what? I was demoted because he falsely accusedme of the death of Miranda; your wife Derek. There were footages of me strapping in Mirandabefore her space exploration. So Kennedy reported that I made the fatal mistakewhich led to her death. His son, Josh became the second in command. Thus Ibecame one of the technical crew. I would have resigned, but thought it wise toknow who really killed Miranda. And I did”.

“All these years, I had been watching, till I got the videoclips of Kennedy’s meetings , where they talked about their illegal dealings. Igot to Lincoln and gave him the clips, which he wanted giving to you Derek,before he got shot. I tried being subtle in my activities. But someone theyreferred to as the executioner, mentioned me. And that was how Kennedy orderedthe hit on me. I have been into hiding”.

Everyone nodded slowly, the picture clearer to them now.They were deep in thought. Malik looked at them and expected a particularquestion .He wouldn’t give the answer until he was asked. So he waitedobserving them.

“How did you get the video clips”? Eric asked. Well thiswasn’t the question he was waiting for. But he would definitely answer it.

“I am a technician Eric, I installed the cameras in theoffice, which was a very risky thing to do, but I did it all the same. I also usedear phones to listen to their conversations in the office from my hiding place”.

“That’s brave of you Malik” Eric said teasingly. But Malikjust stared at Eric , he was in a serious mode. So Eric shrugged, since hecouldn’t move the stuck-up man.

“A question for you, how did you get to my private detective,Lincoln”? Derek asked.

Malik smiled widely at this. This was the question he wasexpecting. So he answered:

“First of, Lincoln is an in-law to me. We’d never met beforethat incident. I knew him facially buthe didn’t. We got to meet during an incident , to tell you the truth, he wasnearly shot by me because I caught himeavesdropping on my associate and I”. Malik said walking around the room. Theothers just stood silent, starring at him.

“Now another question for you, Mr Malik, who’s thisassociate of yours”?

Malik smiled , here it is. The question that held manysecret answers. He opened his mouth and told them.

And this brought about a deafening silence in the room.