Chapter 1: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-1/ 

Chapter 2: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-2/

Chapter 3: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-3/

Chapter 4: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-4/

Chapter 5: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-5/

Chapter 6: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-6/

Chapter 7: https://markcheverton.com/the-algae-voices-of-azule-chapter-7/

The Algae Voices of Azule

Chapter 8

The corridor was empty, as were most of this wing; few people wanting to get near anyone with the Voices. They stood in hallway deciding what to do, where to go.

“Come on,” Billy guided them. “The exit’s this way.”

“No, we can’t go out the main exit,” Charles said, stopping Billy with a gentle hand on his sandy blond head. “We have to go out the back. We need a service exit, but which way.”

Billy turned to face his father, then closed his eyes and reached for his Gift. Probing ever so gently with as little psychic power as possible, Billy felt for the exits at the back of the hospital. Many were locked, most guarded, but he found one where the service robots went for maintenance. This exit was unguarded and open, meant only for machines. Opening his eyes, he smiled at his father.

“I found the exit! Over this way!” Billy said proudly, pointing in the direction they must go.

“Wait!” Charles said sternly. “Did you just use your…Gift?”

Billy nodded.

A frown came across Charles’ face.

“I don’t like that,” Charles said sternly. “I don’t like it when you use that. Don’t do it, unless I tell you, understand?”

Bill nodded again, the sparkle of proud achievement gone from his eyes.

“Charles, be nice,” Diane said, putting a hand on her husband’s shoulder.

Charles looked back at his wife and forced a smile, then turned back toward Billy, a scowl still on his face.

 “Why do you hate the Gifted so much, father?” Ali asked.

Charles just grunted and turned, facing the direction Billy had just pointed.

“Let’s go,” Charles snapped, angrily. “Billy, you lead, fast and quiet!”

Billy led the way through the labyrinth of antiseptic white corridors, most completely empty. They could see a few rooms were occupied; likely more Voices, but most were just vacant. The long-term patients were taken away to facilities set up to care for them, but more accurately to just ignore them.

Few people had money for healthcare these days. President Macab made sure that the rich and powerful had access to the best doctors and medicine. Those that were useful to his machine of oppression, like algae men, also had healthcare, but limited. These days, sick people went to neighbors and friends for homemade cures or black-market medicines, with few coming to the hospitals; too many questions could be asked. With Inquisitors and Macab’s security forces always present, it was best to be unseen and invisible; and right now, Charles and his family were anything but invisible, especially since his oldest had just had a miraculous recovery. Government forces would be looking for their family everywhere.

They reached the service exit without incident. Cleaning robots stood near the doorway, motionless, their many mechanical arms folded across their chest, the different cleaning attachments at the end of each arm just lying in wait for some dirty room or spill to bring them back to electronic life. Charles stopped the family before going outside.

“Now listen, here’s the plan,” Charles said in a whisper, eyeing the robots with suspicion. “We head home and get what we need, just what we need, and then find a place to hide for a while. When they find that Inquisitor back there and Frank magically cured and gone, President Macab will mobilize his security forces looking for us all over the city. We have to find somewhere to hide until the situation cools off. You three kids, keep your heads down, while we’re on the street; we don’t want to attract any attention, and those eyes of yours are attention magnets. Any questions?” Charles looked into his family’s scared faces, each uncertain about what’s going to happen to them, to their family; Charles’ face showing no emotion, just stern resolve. “Then let’s go.”

Shoving the door open with his broad shoulder, Charles stepped out into the bright sunlight of Azule’s dual suns. There was a slight breeze coming in from the ocean, bringing with it wafting scents of algae and salt. Charles sucked in a huge helping of the fragrance, wishing he were back out on an algae harvester, pulling in valuable green algae from the nets, and then exhaled, leaving that life behind.

The back of the hospital was deserted, with dilapidated and broken robots scattered about like discarded toys; a junkyard of mechanical body parts. Charles moved quickly through the robot mortuary, not looking back to see if others were following, careful not to brush against any of the silent outstretched metal arms. Ali followed close behind, with her brothers and mother close on her heels. Her eyes darted watchfully from robot to robot, unsure if they were about to come to life and ensnare them; but they stay still.

Pausing at the end of the building, Charles looked cautiously around the corner, his worried eyes looking for pursuit. All seemed normal. People were going about their lives, trying to stay unnoticed and unseen by the government that oppressed them. The occasional security officer could be seen walking down the sidewalk, the normal look of distain and disgust for the people he was supposedly protecting painted firmly on their faces. Groups of soldiers rode in armored ground speeders, their angry eyes scanning the crowds for some excuse to leap out and enforce President Macab’s will.

Charles breathed a sigh of relief. All was normal; apparently no alarm had been sounded, yet.

“OK, now everyone ready?” Charles asked, as he turned to face his family.

The four scared faces of his wife and kids just stared back at him, all terrified.

“Can’t we just stay at home?” Ali said in a meek, whiney voice. “Close all the windows, lock the doors?”

“Home will be the first place they’ll look for us,” Charles explained. “That’s why we need to get there fast, then hit the road and hide somewhere else.” He paused to look into Ali’s worried eyes. “It isn’t home anymore.”

“Not home…but…”

Diane put an arm around her daughter and gave her a gentle hug.

“It’ll be alright, dear,” she said with her most reassuring motherly voice. “Your father will figure a way out of this mess, you’ll see. Isn’t that right, Charles?”

Diane gave her husband a stern look; it went unnoticed.

“We have no time for this,” Charles said, turning his back to look around the corner again. “Come on, let’s go, everyone stay together, don’t run…just walk calmly.”

And at that, Charles walked around the corner, leaving his scared family to shuffle quickly after him, Diane’s arm still around Ali’s shoulders.

The family followed Charles as he wended his way through the people on the sidewalks. Holographic signs glowed bright over shops and cafes, the three-dimensional images floating over the doorways like magic images conjured up by wizards. Usually, Billy would have been gazing up at the holograms in wonder, the realistic floating images drawing him into the stores, but today they seemed to lack their alluring nature; Homer’s sirens gone mute. Occasionally, the family ducked into various stores or cafes when military hovercrafts floated by on the street, but in general, all was as it should have been, organized chaos on the streets of Azule City.

“Why aren’t they looking for us?” Francis whispered to his father; he’d move up to walk next to him.

“I’m not sure, but I’m not complaining. The doctor must have pulled the Inquisitor into the closet, or closed the door, or something.”

“Why would he do that? Take that risk for us?”

“Maybe he has no love for Inquisitors,” Charles suggested, “who does? Maybe he dislikes President Macab as much as everyone else and wants to secretly help us escape?”

“Maybe he’s part of the Resistance?” Francis suggested.

“Shhh, don’t even say that,” Charles said in a whisper. “Don’t let anyone hear you say Resistance. Just uttering the word can raise suspicions. We don’t want to get involved in any of that nonsense…resistance or revolution. That’s someone else’s troubles, not ours.”

“It’s everyone’s problem,” Diane said softly from behind, “ours, too.”

“We have enough problems right now, Diane, we don’t need to take on the government, too,” Charles said sternly. “Let’s just get home and get our stuff.”

They walked on in silence, taking smaller side streets and garbage-strewn alleyways, until they reached their goal; home. Ali and Billy both ran to the front door of their bakery and threw it open, bursting into the shop. It was still as they had left it, the smell of baked goods filling the air, a plate of cinnamon cookies on the counter, loaves of bread piled high in baskets; all was as it should be. The rest of the family followed the twins, Charles’ eyes darting about the room looking for threats, then closed the curtains on the front windows and switching the holographic sign over the front door from OPEN to CLOSED.

“Everyone, go upstairs and get whatever you need!” Charles said in a commanding tone. “Take one backpack. Put in it only what you can carry. Ali, Billy, clothes only, no toys. Francis, get some tools out of the tool locker, anything that can be used as a weapon; we may need it. Diane, you and I will get supplies for everyone, food and water. I want to be out of here and leave this place behind in five minutes, now everyone, go.”

The family just stood there, unmoving, the shock of what they were abandoning finally hitting them. Home…they were leaving their home…forever. Ali started to weep, then Billy did too. The twins wrapped their arms around each other as their bodies shook with their guilty tears.

“I caused this,” Ali said between sobs, “made us lose our home. If I hadn’t attacked the Inquisitor, then he wouldn’t have been at the hospital. It’s all my fault.”

Francis stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his brother and sister.

“No,” he said in a strong, clear voice. “This was my fault. If I hadn’t fallen into the blue algae, you wouldn’t have even been at the hospital. I fell in because I was trying to impress father, show him what a hard worker I was…and look what it got us. All this,” he extended his arms to gesture around him, “our home, gone. No, this was my doing.”

Diane moved to the children and hugged them, enveloping them in her arms and in her love. She hugged them tight, trying to squeeze their troubles away; it didn’t work.

“This is nobody’s fault, it just is,” she said to her children. “We’ll find a new home, somewhere else, a better home, right Charles?”

Her husband just grunted and moved into the kitchen, collecting loaves of bread and wheels of wax coated cheese, stuffing them into a large canvas bag.

Diane sighed and gave her children another hug.

“Go, do as your father said, and collect your things so that we can leave as soon as possible.”

The children separated, wiped tear-stained cheeks, and headed upstairs. Once they were gone, Diane walked to her husband who was still filling the canvas bag with food.

“You could have been a little more supportive, Charles,” Diane chided. “This is the only home the kids have known. This is a big deal for them, leaving this behind, all the memories, their toys, personal belongings…everything.”

“They don’t get it, and neither do you,” Charles snapped then lowered his voice. “We’re in some serious trouble here. If the government catches us, we’ll all go to prison or even worse and never breathe free air again.” He paused to pull his wife to him, so that they were eye to eye. “We attacked an Inquisitor and gave him the Voices. How do you think the government will respond to that? The Inquisitors are supposed to be unbeatable, and a ten-year-old girl just took one out. What do you think Macab will do with that?”

“Maybe just let us go away? Keep it quiet?”

“Are you kidding me?! He’ll want to get his hands on Ali and figure out how she did it then turn it into a weapon. He won’t stop, until he’s tortured every scrap of information out of our daughter, and then likely tortured all of us, as well. This is bad. We don’t have time to worry about some toys, or our comfy home. Run and hide, that’s what we have to worry about now and forever. Get that straight in your head because that’s our life now…run and hide, run and hide.”

Diane nodded her head and sighed. She could hear the truth in his words and knew that he was right. She didn’t like it, but knew he spoke the truth.

“OK, what do you need me to do?” she asked.

“Go upstairs and get us some clothes. I’ll keep packing up some food. Grab any money you have tucked away, we’ll need everything we can find.” Charles explained.

“We can stop at the bank and pull out some cash.”

“No,” he said. “They can trace that. We have to take only what we can put our hands on right now, and figure out the rest later.”

“OK, I’ll be quick.”

Diane headed for the stairs and took the first few steps, then turned and looked back at her husband.

“Just take it easy on the kids, Charles. Right now, they need some hope, and you need to be the one to give it to them,” she said, then turned and headed upstairs.

Charles nodded, considering her words, then went back to collecting food.

In ten minutes, Diane and the kids were done packing and were all downstairs. Charles went through what was in each backpack, taking out frilly blouses and sweaters from Diane’s and Ali’s backpack and replacing them with rugged shirts and coats. He took out electronic games from Billy’s pack and replaced it with some of the tools that Francis had collected, distributing the weight among the men, he’d said. Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Everyone froze, all eyes on Charles.

“Quick! hide the backpacks and look natural,” Charles said quickly.

The kids move quickly, stashing packs in the kitchen, stuffing them into cabinets and closets. The knock sounded again, this time a little harder, more insistent. Charles took a step toward the door then stopped when a voice sounded from the other side.

“I know you’re there, answer the door, quick.” There was a pause then the voice continued. “Charles…it’s me, Paul.”

Charles moved to the front window and peaked between the curtains, tension visible in his posture. He then relaxed when he saw who it was at the door and quickly opened it. On the other side of the door was Paul Dirac—the crystal merchant across the street—the man Ali had saved from the Inquisitor.

“Quick, let me in!” Paul said as he shoved himself past Charles and into their home. “Close the door.”

Paul went to the windows and peeked around the curtains to view the street outside. He then breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to relax, a little.

“What are you doing here?” Charles asked.

Paul Dirac looked haggard and scared—his clothes wrinkled and dusty. There were worried circles around his eyes, their white blood-shot and raw.

“I’ve been hiding all day from the Inquisitors,” Paul explained, “waiting until things cool down a bit, so that I can get out of the city. I was almost ready to leave when we heard about you and your family.”

“Heard? What did you hear?” Diane asked, now stepping forward to stand next to her husband.

“The report just went out that you attacked a doctor in the hospital then assaulted an Inquisitor. Are you crazy, attacking an Inquisitor?”

“Wait a minute,” Billy interjected. “We didn’t attack the doctor; he was fine when we left.”

“They did it to him,” Charles said with an edge of anger in his voice, “Macab and his security forces. They punished the doctor for our escape; probably beat him to within an inch of his life.”

“They also say that you took one of the patients,” Paul continued, “something about your oldest son, with a contagious virus?”

Just then Francis stepped into the room after stashing backpacks in the kitchen. Paul saw him and instantly noticed his completely blue eyes. Moving cautiously, Paul walked closer to Francis, his eyes glued to the young man. He looked down and noticed the boy’s fingers; the nails shaded blue. Stopping a few feet from him, Paul examined the youth, visually inspecting every part of him, recording every aspect of the blue algae into his mind.

“So the rumors are true?” Paul asked to everyone in the room, but mostly to Francis. “You survived the Voices and woke up.”

“I didn’t just wake up, Billy and Ali woke me up, with their Gifts.”

Francis ignored his father, but gave his brother and sister a wink; they smiled back.

“Now it all makes sense,” Paul said, stroking his chin with one hand.

“What makes sense?” Charles asked, moving to stand in front of Paul.

“Macab, he really wants to get his hands on your kids,” Dirac explained. “They’ve mobilized the Inquisitors to find you.”

“Oh no,” Diane moaned, sadness filling her voice.

“It didn’t make sense to us why President Macab would want you so badly, but now I understand. You see, Macab just abandons those who get the Voices. He ships them to some kind of a holding facility and leaves them there to die. The number of algaemen who come down with this is staggering, much more than the public realizes, and President Macab just lets them waste away. If it got out that there was a way to save these men, Macab would be a hero.” Paul paused to move back to the window and peer outside once again. “And if it gets out that a couple of kids took out one of his strongest Inquisitors, their reign of terror might be weakened. He has to make an example out of you all.”

“What do you mean us?” Ali asked, stepping forward to confront Mr. Dirac. “You just said it didn’t make any sense to us. Who are us?”

“That’s a good question,” Billy confirmed. “What’s going on here?”

“I guess it’s safe to tell you now,” Paul said as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room. He gestured to the other chairs in the room and waited for all of them to sit down, then continued. “Us is the Resistance. I’ve been a member of the Resistance for years. We have groups here on Azule that try to interfere with Macab’s operations. We’re always plotting ways to get rid of him, but obviously we haven’t been too successful.”

“He’s still here,” Billy noted.

“Exactly,” Dirac confirmed.

“Billy, be respectful!” his mother chided.

“Sorry, mom,” Billy said.

Ali snickered.

“Enough!” Charles commanded, he then looked straight at Paul. “Can you help us get out of the city? Find somewhere to hide?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Paul said. “I owe this family a debt.” He looked at Billy and Ali and smiled, then continued. “The Resistance wants me to take you someplace safe. They want me to take you to Haven.”

“Haven? What’s Haven?” Diane asked, as she moved to stand next to her husband, then grabbed his hand and held it tight.

“It’s a safe place for people who are …aaa… wanted by the government.”

“Is it far?” Billy asked, excited to see this new, secret place.

“No, not far,” Paul answered. He turned to Charles. “Here, give me your wrist computer.”

Charles extended his hand and pulled up his sleeve. On his left wrist was what looked like a simple watch, but with buttons all around the edge, each glowing a different color, and a center display that showed the time. The computer did many things, like monitoring heath, or pulling up information on the net, or displaying video and data, …, t could do many things, but most importantly it could be used for navigation. The wrist computer could tell you where you were and tell you which way to go. Most adults had them on Azule; it was how you communicated and stayed connected.

Paul input map coordinates into the computer quickly, clicked a few additional buttons, then put his wrist computer up against Charles’. He waited a second for them to link up, and then stepped back.

“There, I’ve put in the coordinates of Haven into your computer. I’ve also disabled the tracking system, so that Macab can’t track where you are.” Dirac explained.

“What? They can track us through these?” Charles asked.

“They can track you in numerous ways. If you have phones, leave them behind. Any electronic games should be left, as well.” he explained. “Macab has tracking chips put in just about every portable device that is made on Azule.”

“Why would he do that?” Ali asked.

“Because he’s a paranoid, power-hungry dictator,” Paul explained. “He doesn’t care about anyone or anything, except himself and his greed. Did you know that he’s the richest person on the planet, no in the whole solar system? That’s because he controls the power crystal mines on Kryos, and everything uses power crystals; it’s our source of electricity and the economic foundation for our entire society. That’s where he sends the Gifted he captures, to Kryos to work in the mines. They get worked so hard that life expectancy on Kryos is five years or less.”

“Is that why the Inquisitors are always looking for Gifted all the time?” Ali asked.

“Yes,” Paul answered. “The Gifted are the only ones that can mine the crystals. Their psychic powers help them to tell the difference between good power crystals and bad or unstable power crystals. It’s a dangerous business, and one of the many reasons the Resistance is trying to get rid of Macab. He’s an evil man and has to go.”

“Paul, we appreciate your help, but we aren’t looking to be part of some kind of revolution,” Charles explained. “I just want my family to be safe.”

“Well, like it or not, you and your family are wanted by the government. You’ve been identified as enemies of the state, as terrorists, and if caught, you’ll be tortured for information and then set to the mines, or worse.” Paul paused to let that sink in then continued. “You’re part of the Resistance now, whether you want to be or not. The Resistance and Haven is your only chance for safety. Now, are you coming with me or not?”

Charles considered his words then scanned the faces of his family. They were scared, no terrified at the thought of being caught by Macab and his brutal Inquisitors. He had to take care of them, keep them safe; it was his job. It seemed he didn’t have any choice.

“Fine, let’s go.”

“Yeah!” Billy blurted excitedly, drawing an angry glare from his father. Ali giggled and elbowed her twin in the ribs, which drew a similar glare, then a smile from her father.

“OK, here’s what we’re going to do,” Paul explained. “They’re looking for your entire family, expecting you to stay together. We’ll split up into two groups. I’ll take Diane and Frank with me. Charles, you take your twins. I’ll take the west road to the edge of town, Charles you take the east, toward the Guardians. Just keep going east and follow the coordinates, you’ll find Haven. I’ll be circling around the city and meet you there. You’ll have to steal a ground speeder. Take something that looks beat up, that won’t draw attention. Remember, once you’re at the edge of Azule City and outside of the spider line, don’t get out of the ground speeder. There are piranha spiders all over the place in the Outlands, and you don’t want to mess with them. Stay in the ground speeder and keep moving. Got it?”

They all nodded.

“Let’s go!” Charles said, motioning Frank to retrieve their bags.

Everyone shouldered their backpacks and stood ready. Paul went out first, making sure the street was clear then motioned Diane and Francis to follow. Charles waited for two minutes, then opened the door a sliver and peered out into the street. Just as he was about to head out, the sounds of a child crying stopped him. Closing the door, he turned around and found Ali in tears.

“What is it? You’re scared?”

“Of course…I’m…scared,” Ali replied between sobs. “But it’s not that, it’s that…we’re leaving our home, never to…return again.”

Now Billy was starting to cry. He hugged his twin sister and looked about the room.

“You remember that time the flour fell on my head,” Billy said to Ali, “and the time I rolled all your dolls down the stairs.”

“How about the time you fell and banged your head, and pretended you lost your memory so that you didn’t have to sweep the kitchen,” Ali added.

“Yeah, and the day mom baked her first loaf of bread.”

“It was hard as a rock,” Ali added and then started to laugh and cry at the same time.

“I’ve always felt safe here,” Billy said with a sniffle. “Even after the other kids were picking on me, this was my refuge, my haven.”

“Yeah,” Ali said, her sobs subsiding. “The smell, I’ll miss the smell of mom’s baking, the fresh bread and cookies. Those smells always made all my problems feel insignificant ‘cause I knew I was safe and accepted here, even when I knew that we were different; it didn’t seem to matter. This was home, a place of unconditional love and acceptance, a place of safety.”

“Home?”

“Yeah, and now it’s gonna be gone forever. All these memories, everything we have, everything we had,…gone when we go out that door. No more home, and it’s all my fault,” Ali sad solemnly.

“No, Ali, it’s not your fault, or my fault, or anybody’s fault,” Billy explained. “It just is, right dad?”

“Come on, let’s go,” Charles grumbled, a total lack of compassion in his stern voice. “We have to get moving if we want to escape the city without getting caught.”

He turned and opened the door again, then motioned for his children to follow.

Ali and Billy turned and looked at each other, then wiped the tears from their cheeks and headed for the door. Billy left first, following their father, but Ali paused for a moment and looked back, scanning their home for the last time, memories flashing through her mind in a torrent of images and emotions. Another tear seeped from her eye and rolled gently down her soft cheek. She wiped it with her sleeve, then turned and closed the door, their home gone, forever.