The Hidden Treasure of Darfor

Patrick and Saleek found themselves in a large, square room containing no windows of any sort. There were a couple of sizeable tables and a handful of chairs. Behind one of the tables sat a small figure who was wearing an expensive looking suit. He wore dark sunglasses for some reason that was not immediately obvious and he could be heard clicking his teeth together as he watched Saleek and Patrick carefully. Behind him were two mercenaries who were dressed in body armour and armed with rifles, which they pointed lazily towards the floor. Once the human and lyan were standing in the middle of the room, the lead mercenary walked out and shut the doors, leaving his two friends in body armour to guard them.

  ‘Well, now,’ said the small person sat at the table. ‘What do we have here?’

  He looked at Saleek, then at Patrick, then at Saleek again.

  ‘It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Saleek?’

  He spoke in between making clicking sounds with his teeth, which Patrick found somewhat unnerving. His species was unknown to the human; he had light, yellowish skin and no hair anywhere on his head or hands, which were the only parts of his body visible. His dark glasses completely covered his eyes and his nose was rather sharp and pointy. The creature’s lips were thin and they barely concealed his dirty but sharp teeth. He looked very skinny; Patrick guessed that could not weigh any more than about eighty pounds. Whoever he was, he seemed to be the one in charge of the whole dig site.

  ‘Sure has. It has been far too long. And that is my fault for being away too much.’ Saleek spoke with a clipped tone and was surprisingly polite as he addressed the man in the expensive suit.

  ‘Well, it is of no great importance as long as you have been busy doing your work. I trust that is the case, Saleek?’

  ‘Of course. Absolutely.’

  ‘Then it matters not. Now then,’said the small person as he turned to face Patrick. ‘Who have you brought for me?’

  Patrick gulped involuntarily but tried his best to maintain an air of calm and a facial expression of neutrality.

  ‘This is my off-world contact as promised. He is interested in acquiring some of the artefacts you have obtained,’ explained Saleek.

  ‘What is your name?’ asked the man in the expensive suit.

  For a moment, Patrick froze. He could think on his feet reasonably well, but he wasn’t sure exactly what sort of situation this was. He didn’t know what part to play or how to act. He was caught between giving his real name or quickly trying to think of a fake name to give. He suddenly realised that he had been silent for several seconds and if he took much longer to respond, it would look suspicious.

  In panic, he simply said quietly, ‘Patrick.’

  Then, after clearing his throat, he repeated a bit louder, ‘Patrick. My name is Patrick.’

  He attempted to convey confidence in his body language but he wasn’t sure if he was fooling anyone, or simply appearing a fool himself.

  ‘”Patrick”. That is an unusual name. What species are you, Patrick?’

  ‘I’m human.’

  ‘I am not familiar with your species. From which planet do you hail?’

  ‘I’m from a small planet in the outer fringes of colonised space. It’s called New Earth.’

  The small man considered this for several moments in silence.

  ‘Very interesting,’ he eventually continued. ‘Apparently, news travels farther than I had ever imagined. Tell me, Patrick, have you come all the way from the outer fringes to Nexus One just for my artefacts?’

  Patrick got the impression that he was being judged, his true reason for coming to Nexus One under scrutiny.

  He quickly replied, ‘No. I have come to Nexus One for other business arrangements. However, after speaking with Saleek, I am very interested in acquiring your artefacts.’ Then, as his confidence grew, he added, ‘If the price is right, of course.’

  Patrick did not see, but Saleek smiled as the human said this.

  ‘Of course, of course,’ said the man in the expensive suit. ‘Well then, shall we get down to business?’

  He motioned for one of the mercenaries to bring him a black container which was resting on another table. The mercenary did so quickly and efficiently.

  ‘What we have here,’ said the small man, ‘is something exceedingly rare. It is rather difficult to put a price on such a fine specimen, but I will show it to you before we start discussing the finer points of this transaction. Behold...’

  And like a miniature magician, he opened the container with a smooth movement of his right hand. Patrick wasn’t sure what he expected to see in the box, but what he saw was definitely not it. It resembled a large chunk of rock, with several smaller pieces of rock embedded in it. That was it. Patrick blinked a few times in surprise, then glanced at Saleek, who was smiling as always, then returned his gaze to the rock in the black container.

  This is it? This is the priceless artefact that requires so much security to protect? A hunk of rock? Thought Patrick in disbelief.

  ‘Now, this has only recently been excavated. It is extremely well preserved and believe me, if it weren’t for the dampening field around this room, there would be thousands of people trying to get hold of it right now,’ explained the man in the expensive suit. Patrick was confused.

  Does that mean that it generates some kind of signal, or electromagnetic field? Is that why the dampening field is necessary, to block the signal that the thing produces? But it’s only a rock, not a piece of technology. How can a rock produce any kind of signal or field?

  Patrick suddenly felt out of his depth. He had made it this far, everyone seemed to be buying his story of being an off-world businessman, but this he did not understand. What was he supposed to do?

  He became aware that everyone seemed to be waiting for him to do something, be it make a move or say something. Unable to think of anything else to do, Patrick leaned forward to get a better look at the specimen on display. He squinted as he peered down at the lump of rock. It was slightly irregularly shaped, but whether that was due to design or being buried underground for thousands of years, the human couldn’t tell. He could, however, see the small stones embedded in the rock more clearly now, and he could see tiny symbols and possibly writing of some description etched into them. They were different colours – most were red, some were blue, a few were green and the remaining ones were yellow. Upon closer inspection, he could see that it might be an intriguing artefact, if one were interested in archaeology and ancient history. Patrick doubted whether all this secrecy and security was necessary for such a small and innocuous-looking artefact though, unless he was missing something important. He had a nagging feeling that he was, and that thought frustrated him to no end.

  ‘May I touch it?’ asked Patrick cautiously.

  The man in the expensive suit looked at him for a moment, before replying, ‘That can be arranged. One moment, please.’

  Without any spoken or motioned cue from the small man, one of the guards swiftly stowed his rifle and fetched a handheld device from a nearby bag which was on one of the tables. The handle of the device was thin and was attached to a much bulkier, box-like shape at the end. The guard stepped towards Patrick, who had to control the urge to step back and retreat.

  Remember, act like you belong here, thought Patrick to himself.

  As the human held his ground, the guard stopped and said, ‘Hold out your hands, please.’

  Patrick did so. The guard pressed a button on the back of the device and suddenly Patrick’s hands were bathed in a deep green light. There was a mild sensation of warmth but no pain whatsoever, the human noted.

  ‘A small precaution. This device sanitizes your hands and removes all traces of bacteria, viruses and radioactive particles. I’m sure you understand. We can’t risk contaminating the specimen with anything which might damage it or alter its properties. Well, not until after it has been sold, at any rate,’ explained the man in the expensive suit.

  His thin, pale lips parted in a rather unpleasant-loo
king smile. Patrick wasn’t sure why but this man gave him the creeps. He felt sure that he couldn’t trust him, and since he didn’t see any way out of this situation by himself, he decided that he had no choice but to trust Saleek and hope the lyan didn’t betray him.

  ‘Of course. No problem,’ responded the human calmly.

  The mercenary clicked off the device and the green light vanished. He set the device down on the adjacent table and returned to his original position just behind the small man, brandishing his rifle once more. Patrick carefully and slowly placed his fingers around the artefact then he gingerly lifted it out of the black container. He felt like he had been tasked with examining the most fragile and valuable fabergé egg ever to be created. He daren’t even begin to imagine what these people would do to him if he dropped it. Without even being aware of it, he held his breath as he examined the specimen. Patrick realised that the artefact was quite light, much lighter than he had imagined. It was also faintly warm, which he did not expect. The main body was course and rough to the touch, but in contrast the embedded stones were smooth and almost glossy. After a few more moments, Patrick cautiously put the artefact back in the black container.

  ‘So tell me. What do you think?’ asked the small man sat behind the table.

  Patrick could almost feel the man’s eyes narrowing as he regarded him, although he couldn’t see them behind the sunglasses that he wore.

  ‘It is very impressive. Very impressive indeed,’ said Patrick, unable to think of anything else to say. The artefact was indeed interesting; he had certainly never seen anything like it before. But then again, he had never been on a proper archaeological dig site in his entire life, much less handled some ancient artefact before.

  ‘So I take it you are interested in purchasing this specimen?’

  Patrick instantly glanced at Saleek, hoping that the alien would give him some indication of what to do. The spiky lyan nodded slightly, as if to say ‘Just do it’.

  Patrick returned his gaze to the small man and said, ‘I am.’

  ‘Excellent. Then I will let you have it, for the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand credits.’

  Saleek flinched slightly as the asking price was revealed, but quickly regained his composure. Patrick, on the other hand, nearly choked in shock.

  He coughed several times and said feebly, ‘Excuse me.’

  Patrick didn’t have anywhere near that amount of money, not even in his secret account.

  Sensing the human’s hesitation, the small man said, ‘You have to understand how rare, and thus valuable, this item is. Plus, the amount of effort and resources it cost me to excavate it from this dig site is also significant. What I am offering is a perfectly fair price, all things considered.’

  There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, then Saleek piped up.

  ‘Forgive me, Mr Vallan, but when last we spoke about this particular specimen, you mentioned a figure in the region of twenty thousand credits. What has changed that has resulted in the price increasing more than tenfold?’

  ‘Let’s just say that certain things have been brought to my attention and as a consequence, I have had to increase the price. It’s still very reasonable. Many businessmen on Nexus One alone make billions of credits in profit per year. Some even make trillions! A mere quarter of a million is not that much to pay, but if this is a little out of your league then please say so. There’s no need to be embarrassed. I have other parties who are interested in this particular item so I can simply sell it to one of them instead.’

  Patrick remained silent, allowing Saleek to take the lead in this part of the conversation.

  ‘Well then, may I ask what things have been brought to your attention that forced you to change the price?’ asked the lyan.

  The small man, who was apparently called Mr Vallan, replied, ‘You may not. I have never questioned your ways of doing things, Saleek, and you are in no position to question mine.’ Then he added, ‘The price is two hundred and fifty thousand and it is non-negotiable.’

  Whereas before Mr Vallan’s demeanour was rather polite and calm, it had now turned somewhat hard and unforgiving. Patrick suddenly became very aware that the two mercenaries behind Mr Vallan had raised their rifles slightly. They weren’t pointing at anyone – yet – but they could be brought to bear within a second or less. He began to feel his muscles tense as he sensed that this conversation was not going to end well.

  ‘Of course,’ Mr Vallan continued, ‘there is no pressure to buy if you feel that the price is not right for you. If you so wish, you may simply turn around and leave.’

  Patrick got excited, just for a moment, at the prospect of being able to leave this place while he was still breathing and ambulatory. He glanced at Saleek, who did not meet his gaze. The spiky alien was staring hard at Mr Vallan, possibly in annoyance.

  ‘And you are certain that you cannot sell this artefact for a credit less than two hundred and fifty thousand? Is that right?’ asked Saleek.

  ‘That is correct. As I have just stated.’

  More awkward silence followed, with Patrick and Saleek exchanging glances with each other. After a while, Mr Vallan said, ‘I’m afraid I am going to have to rush you on this. As I have already mentioned, I have other people coming to see this specimen for themselves. Are you interested in making this purchase or not?’ It seemed like he was beginning to lose patience with his two “customers” standing in front of him. He started making more clicking sounds with his teeth, which only served to further unsettle Patrick.

  Suddenly, Saleek said, ‘Come on, Patrick. This is a joke. Let’s get out of here.’

  He turned on his heel and was about to make his way to the door through which they had entered the room, when the mercenaries standing behind Mr Vallan shouldered their rifles and pointed them straight at Saleek. There was a loud click sound as they both primed their weapons, which sent a shiver down Patrick’s spine. For a moment, everyone in the room froze before Mr Vallan interrupted the silence.

  ‘Now, now, Saleek. Don’t be hasty. We can’t simply end a business meeting like that and you know it. Patrick, I can see what Saleek wants, but what do you want? So far, you have let him speak on your behalf. Tell me, are you interested in buying this item?’

  Patrick didn’t know what to do for the best. On the one hand, buying the artefact was out of the question, he simply did not have enough money and that would be found out within seconds via a quick credit check. However, he wasn’t sure how this person would react if he declined to buy it and asked to leave. He certainly did not let Saleek go when he wanted to leave.

  After pondering his limited options, Patrick eventually said, ‘Interested, yes. But capable, no. I’m afraid this is rather, as you yourself said, out of my league. I am only a small-time businessman and I do not have the funds to make such a purchase.’

  He was surprised by how fluidly the words came out of his mouth, and how good they sounded as well. He could have almost passed for an intergalactic business mogul spouting lines like that.

  Mr Vallan brought his hands together and leaned back in his chair. He made a peculiar sound, which might have been his species’ version of a sigh.

  After a few moments of silence, he said, ‘Very well. To be honest, I suspected as much from the moment you walked in here. And...,’ he paused as he turned to look at Saleek. ‘Thank you for being more professional and considerate than your spiky friend here. He could stand to learn a few things from you about dealing with people.’

  The tension in the room dropped slightly and the guards both decided to lower their weapons. Patrick breathed a large sigh of relief. He suddenly felt very tired indeed.

  I just want to get out of here and get back to my hotel room. Hell, I just want to go anywhere but this place! He thought to himself.

  ‘There is, however, one small matter that must be attended to,’ said Mr Vallan, leaning forwards and resting his arms on the table.

  Patrick’s heart sank, whilst
Saleek’s eyes narrowed and he said, ‘And what would that be?’

  ‘The matter of the non-disclosure agreement to which you must both consent.’

  ‘”Non-disclosure agreement”?’ repeated Saleek. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I would have thought it was obvious to businessmen like yourselves,’ said Mr Vallan, staring hard at both Saleek and Patrick as he spoke. ‘I have an extremely valuable item for sale which is also incredibly rare. I cannot simply let everyone within thirty Galdrekks know of its existence and value, otherwise many people would try to steal it or somehow obtain it through unscrupulous methods.’

  He paused for a few seconds, sighed and resumed talking whilst making clicking sounds with his teeth, possibly in irritation. Patrick shuddered as the clicking became rapid, occurring between every word that the small man spoke.

  ‘I am forced, therefore, to take certain precautions to protect my assets, which brings me to this non-disclosure agreement. Before I let you both leave, you must both agree to never say anything about this meeting to anyone whatsoever. The penalty for breaking this agreement is rather...harsh,’ said Mr Vallan, as he smiled and revealed foul-coloured but razor-sharp teeth.

  Patrick did not like the sound of that at all. Since he had no reason to tell anyone about this, Patrick was prepared to consent to the agreement, as long as it meant he could leave immediately afterwards. Saleek had a fairly neutral expression etched onto his face but Patrick could tell he wasn’t happy with the way that things had gone down. He began to worry what the spiky alien might do – it didn’t seem like a particularly smart move to piss off the guys carrying the big guns, at any rate. The human took a deep breath and silently prayed that Saleek would not do anything foolish.

  ‘So, as I’m sure you can imagine, it is in your best interests to comply with such a simple request,’ finished Mr Vallan, looking smug.

  There was a moment of silence, before Patrick said, ‘I am prepared to consent to this non-disclosure agreement.’ Then he added, ‘Provided I am free to leave straight afterwards.’

  Mr Vallan’s thin, pale lips curved upwards into a sinister-looking smile.

  The guy looks like a predator, trying to decide whether to play with his meal a while longer or dig in and swallow it whole, thought Patrick, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable indeed.

  ‘Of course,’ said Mr Vallan. ‘And what about you, Saleek?’

  Saleek shoved his hands in his pockets, gave a sarcastic smile and replied, ‘Well, you see, I’ve been after a specimen from this site for quite some time now. After all these months, I’m finally within reaching distance of one, only to be told I must pay an exorbitant fee in order to lay my hands on it.’

  Then his expression turned rather fierce as he said, ‘I think you know my answer to your question, don’t you Mr Vallan?’

  Suddenly there was a muffled thump from somewhere outside the room. Moments later, this was followed by a large explosion which rocked the walls of the room and rattled the tables and chairs.

  ‘What was that?!’ exclaimed Mr Vallan in shock, standing up.

  The mercenaries immediately shouldered their weapons and pointed them straight at Saleek, who was grinning. It was then that the lighting went out and the room was plunged into total darkness.

  Patrick instinctively flung himself to the floor and covered his head with his hands in an attempt to protect himself. He could not see a thing, not even the floor in front of his face, although he could feel it – it was cold and uncomfortably hard against his cheek. Whilst he could not see a thing, he could hear numerous sounds. First of all, there was the sound of table legs and chair legs scraping against the floor. Then there were overlapping voices shouting aggressively, accompanied by weapons fire. The muzzle flashes of the rifles illuminated the room for split-seconds, before the room was once again swallowed by darkness. Patrick tried to see what was going on, but it all happened so fast it was difficult to follow. He thought he could make out Saleek running, jumping and kicking. He saw Mr Vallan apparently dive for cover behind a table. He saw the mercenaries wildly spraying shots in seemingly random directions, their faces contorted into expressions of anger or fear or perhaps a mixture of both. Suddenly there were two loud thumps and the commotion stopped as suddenly as it had begun. There was an eerie silence for the next ten seconds or so, but to Patrick it felt like an eternity. All he could hear was a ringing noise in his ears and the rapid thudding of his heart in his chest.

  All of a sudden, the lighting came on again. It was muted, not as bright as it had been before, but everything was visible again. Patrick blinked several times to try and get his eyes to adjust to the change in light. He suddenly felt a hand grabbing him from behind. It was surprisingly strong and before he knew what was happening, the human was back on his feet. He spun round and saw that the hand belonged to none other than Saleek. He had a stern expression on his features and in his other hand, he held the artefact that Patrick had been examining mere minutes ago.

  ‘Saleek? Wha-Wha-’ stammered Patrick, unable to get his words out.

  ‘I know this is all a shock to ya, but we gotta get outta here right now!’ said Saleek firmly as he released his grip on Patrick. He had dropped the formal tone which he used to address Mr Vallan and was now back to speaking normally.

  Patrick turned away from the spiky alien and surveyed the room. Chairs and tables had been knocked over, some flung against the walls. The two mercenaries had been knocked unconscious and were both lying on the floor, their bodies twisted into unnatural positions. Mr Vallan was cowering behind an upturned table, still making faint clicking sounds with his teeth. The black container was empty, the artefact now in Saleek’s hand.

  Patrick turned back to Saleek and said, ‘What do we do?’

  A voice interrupted, ‘You won’t get away with this, you two!’ It was Mr Vallan, screaming from behind his cover. ‘I’m going to hunt you both down and kill you for this treachery!’

  ‘Whatever, dude,’ breezed Saleek casually, seemingly unfazed by the threat. ‘We’re gonna be long gone by the time anyone realises what’s happened!’

  To Patrick, he said, ‘Come on, this way,’and he lead the human to a door on the other side of the room, the one which Mr Vallan and his guards must have come through.

  Patrick gingerly stepped over the unconscious mercenaries, trying not to accidently step on their outstretched limbs. The door opened with a quick push and the lyan and human darted through and were gone.

  Seconds later, Saleek popped his head round the doorway and quipped, ‘Oh, by the way. Pleasure doin’ business with you!’ before leaving once more.

  Mr Vallan howled and screamed various threats in frustration, but before long they faded into the background noise as Saleek and Patrick sprinted down another long corridor, heading for the nearest exit.

  Chapter 5