Discovery

“..Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me..” (Psalm 23:4) says Blake to Jacob as he reads him a scripture from the Bible, a religious book popular from Earth.

Jacob is to be discharged from the hospital in a day. He will be recovering in his quarters with the care of Ingrid. Blake notices that Jacob’s face looks full of color and less hollowed out than last week.

The nurse comes in to give Jacob some medication. It is time for Bake to excuse himself to go to his mechanic job. His teachers have been lenient on school work as of late due to the Pirate attack, but next week classes resume in full operation. Blake can already feel the mental drain that will cause. Soon enough he will graduate from school. Most students who pass their job placement test graduate school when they are eighteen or twenty depending on the coursework their job requires. Only some jobs like Engineer require more special years of schooling. Most jobs can be learned on the job and trainable courses are available after basic coursework.

Blake logged into his mechanic portal; today he is working on the laundry rooms. Mostly routine checkups on equipment. He finds this work to be mind-free and even a creative realm of its own. When he is fixing a machine he thinks of all the processes and parts that go into the machine. In a way, he finds comfort in this.

There are still housekeepers working in the laundry area when Blake arrives to work. He works on the washing machines that need to be checked on. After fixing the gears of the machine and messing with the time display, he moves on to the folding desks. The folding desks help quickly fold clothes by machine instead of all by hand. Blake finds the problem in the folding belt and replaces it. After all that work is done, Blake grabs a to-go meal from the cafeteria to take to his room.

Noodles and green peppers sound appetizing for dinner. Blake retires to his room. Slurping his noodles and crunching his peppers, Blake enjoys his meal. He leans his head back on his wall. Suddenly his father’s words ring in his mind.

“...follow your heart.” the words revolve in his head until they make him dizzy. Blake touches his chest to steady himself.

He feels his heart-shaped necklace and pulls it out.

He never paid much attention because he had it since his father departed. Heart. This is a heart. Upon closer inspection, there is a number on the back. Black always thought it was the jewelry's number to identify the piece, but what if not?

The tracing number. Blake’s heart stops. Why had he not thought of this before?

Blake quickly pulls out his handheld and looks up at the ship’s tracking system. He plugs in the numbers and waits a while.

Result: Match Location: Jupa Galaxy, exact location: Unknown coordinates sent

His jaw drops.

All this time his dad was traceable. What was his father doing in Jupa? That is one of the farthest to be civilized by man. It is rather uncharted. With his heart and mind racing, Blake takes deep breaths to calm himself. He does not want to tell anybody about this. At least he finds nothing. He must go and find Jonah on his own, but Alex will surely want to tag along, so will Lily. Oasis needs them there, but Blake wants to be selfish for once in his life. He figures he might need Alex’s help to pilot a spaceship to the location but that would mean Alex is leaving behind his training. Blake is not sure if he can ask him to do that.

Blake sends a message to Lily and Alex.

“What’s up?” Ask Alex.

“I traced my dad and need your help,” says Blake.

“Really, where is he?” says Alex.

“How?” says Lily.

“I traced the numbers on my necklace. He is in Jupa; I am going to take a spacecraft to that location,” says Blake.

“I am coming,” says Alex.

“Me too,” says Lily.

“No, you need to stay here and keep your studies,” says Blake.

“Alright,” says Lily at last.

“I am only asking Alex because I can not pilot by myself,” says Blake.

“When do we leave?” Ask Alex.

“Let me forward the tickets to Central Station and we are set,” says Blake.

“How will your parents react?” says Lily.

“Pissed,” says Alex and Blake in unison.

Upon reaching his room Blake buys a ticket for the Outer Belt Red to Central Station. Blake forwarded the information to

Alex’s handheld. The hard part comes next. Telling Rex about his departure.

Knocking loudly on the door, Blake stands back until the door is swung open.

“Come in,” says Rex.

“Can we talk, it is important” says Blake.

“Yes Blake what is it?” says Rex.

“I am leaving Oasis. I found a tracking number for my father,” says Blake.

“You found it,” says Rex.

“You knew about it,” says Blake loudly.

“Your father made me promise not to tell him until you were ready,” says Rex.

“How.. how long were you going to lie to me,” says Blake.

“I am sorry Blake,” says Rex.

Blake steps out the door. All this time Rex had acted like the innocent benefactor in his life. When really he was holding onto information to find his father. Blake steps into his room to prepare his bag.

The next morning Alex and Blake step into the small merchandising craft that will take them to the Outer Belt Red’s station. The merchandising craft is dark gray and oval-shaped. It is spacious for the two of them, but there are no passenger seats. So they must stand. The ride is a short thirty minutes to the station.

On the station is a commotion of workers and merchandise. There are also spacecraft of all types. Some are passenger types. They will be boarding one of these. They get their ticket and board an oblong spacecraft. Seats inside give comfort for the long journey ahead. There is also a plug-in for devices. A waitress walks by to ask for their order.

“Good day, what refreshments would you like gentlemen?” asks the waiter.

“Lemonade,” says Alex.

“Sparkling water,” says Blake.

“Certainly,” says the waiter.

“Fasten seatbelts take off in five minutes,” says the pilot.

Lemonade and sparkling water arrive at their seats.

Alex and Blake lurch forward; they head towards the unknown.