Chapter 4

Bob told Martin that he was stupefied when he first met the boy. What was the brat doing in the mine? What was so special about him that they had put him in there bypassing the age limit? Bob was so curious that he started an investigation of his own. He couldn’t find anything out, though. He was tipped off that he shouldn’t stick his fat nose where it didn’t belong. And yet, Bob managed to sniff out one interesting detail. The boy had been brought to the mine alone. Why would the skinny little boy enjoy the privilege to be exclusively delivered? Besides, Flitz was not ready for the deliveries that day. It was his day off, after all. He must have been drunk and put on the wrong formation… «At the age like his, skeletons must take him for one of them.» – Bob tried to come up with a joke.

«Hmm, it sounds logical… Listen…» – Martin drawled like a conspirator: – «Why don’t you apply for an investigator? The investigation department is in dire need of you and your skills.»

Bob smiled sheepishly, failing to detect a hint of sarcasm:

«I don’t think investigating crimes is for me… I am a softie at heart. You see, I still need to grow a backbone.»

Martin laughed again and patted the chubby friend on the shoulder:

«I love it when you laugh at yourself!»

Fortunately, he lost his curiosity after Bob’s explanation. The mysteriously disappeared and no less mysteriously found boy was none of his concern any more. Bob wasn’t lying much, anyway. Kyon had really been delivered alone.

Bob took the papers out of his backpack in a matter-of-fact way.

«By the way, take the reports. You will see that no biggie happened last week…»

Martin threw the stack of documents on the shelf with no enthusiasm. He didn’t even take a look at them:

«I’ll take care of it later.» – He beckoned Kyon to approach him: «Come here, boy. I’ll change your formation. »

Kyon came up to him. Martin rummaged through the high shelf under the ceiling and pulled out an unusual device that looked like brass-knuckles. He put the device on his hand and pressed it against Kyon’s formation. The symbol on his forehead lit up and began to tingle as if tiny needles dug into his skin.

«All right, it will do for fifty more years.» – Martin cracked his fingers. Then he pointed to the bun and motioned Kyon to the door: – «Take a bun and take a seat outside.»

Kyon went out, letting the old friends talk in private.

Martin gave Kyon the impression of someone who knew what he was doing and who was not accustomed to back out from the intended path. He evoked respect. However, his friendship with Bob was rather superficial. They were no real friends, just tell-me-something-interesting buddies.

Kyon was standing at the door, leaning against the wall and fidgeting with the bun, deep in his thoughts.

{I need to learn the local language as soon as possible. Ideally, it would take a couple of books. I can’t go on playing the fool forever.}

Rogash was obediently sitting outside. He tried to rush inside as soon as the door opened, but the two guards blocked his way.

Kyon commanded firmly:

«Place!»

Rogash froze.

Unfortunately, he did not know any other commands in the local language, and to train a dog anew… On second thought, why not?

Kyon went away from the vigilant guards and got the dog’s attention with a fragrant bun. He made a circle with his finger:

«Spin!»

The dog obediently began to chase his own tail and received a piece of the bun and Kyon’s reassuring smile for that.

The experiment was getting even more fun:

«Roll over! Stand! Fetch the compass! Drop the pickaxe!» – The dog received a sweet reward after each command. What a smart fur ball! {Is he a dog at all? No way… He has a horn, after all. He must be smarter than some mongrels on streets.}

«Anger! Growl! Attaboy! Good job!» – When Kyon was three years old, he read a book about animal weaknesses: where and how to stroke and pet them, the best ways to feed and train them. But this dog surpassed all his expectations.

Rogash tried to fish out more treat in every possible way. His master gave him only tasteless gruel… Once in a while, he pampered his pet with a special treat. Rogash loved dog chocolate so much he could move mountains for it.

The guards were pretty far away, but they chuckled appreciatively at the dog’s tricks from time to time.

Kyon took a deep breath and resolutely ordered the moment the guards turned away:

«Attack!» – He pointed his finger to the guards and made an aggressive gesture to push the boundaries of the dog’s obedience.

It took some time before one of the guards noticed the dog running in their direction. He told his companion in a constrained voice:

«They say a dog is man’s best friend. I hope this huge one without a muzzle is running to have a nice chat…»

However, the dog was approaching like an attacking rhino. The guard was ready for the attack. He jumped away and kicked the animal in the side.

*bam*

The dog flew off a couple of meters, whining loudly. Then he hobbled to Kyon, limping, his tail between the legs.

«Son of a bitch! Did you see it?» – The outraged guard returned to his post.

«It was love at first sight. Haha!»

Kyon patted Rogash sympathetically on the head and examined him carefully. The blow was powerful, but the ribs seemed to be intact. He felt sorry for the fur ball that voluntarily put himself under a heavy boot to get a piece of bun. But he had honestly earned the rest of it.

«What’s going on here?» – Bob showed up in the doorway.

On the way to the hospital, the supervisor could not stop talking. The storm over his head had cleared up at last, and his excellent mood added to his talkativeness:

«Martin is a good man, a real professional…»

Martin worked as formacist and applied formations.

Kyon carefully listened to the fat man, trying to figure out the unknown dialect and recording every phrase in his mind. When he had gained enough knowledge, he would rewind everything in his head.

Rogash walked next to Kyon, limping and gratefully taking occasional scratching behind the ear.

Kyon could figure out from the tone of the guards’ voices that they lied to Bob, telling him that the dog had rushed inside, and they had to punish him. {They won’t get away with it.}

Bob glanced at the wounded animal, visibly displeased, and muttered something under his breath. Regrettably, he was a peace-loving man and preferred to avoid quarrels. Moreover, the guards were of his rank. The only thing he could do was to grumble bitterly.

The “two men in the corridor (to say nothing of the dog)” approached the doctor’s office. At that very moment, a big muscular guy squeezed through the door. He gave Kyon and Bob a dark look and left without saying a word. Kyon noticed a formation on his forehead.

{Are branded fellows allowed to roam wherever they please?} – wondered Kyon.

Bob squinted his eyes at the burly man.

«It’s Byron… He’s been coming to the hospital too often lately.» – Bob muttered under his breath and shook his head.

The fat supervisor wouldn’t admit even to himself that the unpleasant feeling choking his chest was nothing but jealousy. He was a decent family man, after all. His beautiful Tamara was waiting for him to come home, cooking delicious dinner, ready to encourage him with a kind word.

They had both been working hard, saving most of their money for Niva, their daughter. Her tuition at the best school in the Kingdom was expensive, and their savings were not enough. Every second month was a long holiday, and Bob was obliged to find an additional part-time job. No rest for the wicked, he would rest in his sweet dreams…

When Bob entered the doctor’s office, he asked suspiciously:

«Byron has been ill too often lately. Are you having a love affair here?»

Martha looked away and immediately changed the subject:

«Well, how did it go?»

«…You won’t believe it. Martin is back!» – Bob noticed with annoyance Martha’s little trick, but he decided to let it go.

«No way! And what happened to Flitz?» – Martha was pleased to hear the news. Martin had left only positive emotions, unlike Flitz, the pompous moron.

«He has left for family reasons! Martin gave the boy two days of rest, so he’s at your disposal.»

Martha let out a squeal of glee and threw her arms around Bob’s neck:

«Thank you! I am so happy it all worked out all right…whew…»

Kyon didn’t pay any more attention to their chatter. He went to bed, tired. There was plenty of time until the evening.

Soon there were only few people left in the hospital. The new bald patient was sleeping. Martha was rustling papers in her office.

When it was time for changing bandages, Kyon said in a broken foreign language, looking bored:

«To read something…»

Martha was surprised to hear his voice finally!

«Hold on. I have a little something for you.» – She left and rummaged enthusiastically through her office. Then she handed Kyon a small shabby book. – «Here you are. There is nothing else here to read. I will find something for you tomorrow.»

The book was called “Prodigy.” The technology in this world was ancient. The text was typed on a typewriter.