An Untitled Novel

Basil sat in his truck that had just been loaded onto a boat in the Arkepello harbor. Tuning out the constant movement of the waves and the conversations of those standing around his truck he spoke with ACE who was instructing him on how to relay signals from his PDA via radio waves. Of course, however, this would only work if he were to find a radio in the Redcap capital he could use capable of reaching the Arkepello. Otherwise, he would most likely be unable to contact ACE during the outing as the PDA’s wormhole like communication did not work without being able to calculate the fourth variable of one of the devices at the facility and its terrestrial radio capabilities would not reach the distance between the Redcap Capital and the Arkepello.

Outside of his truck, though he lacked awareness of it, was the beginnings of a beautiful sunrise painted with a warm glow of oranges and reds as the sun slowly rose over the ocean and began illuminating the Arkepello port. Basil was suddenly distracted as a sailor tapped the driver’s side window of his truck. “They’re finally hear, let’s get moving.” Jarvis, Niles, and Jace all arrived, and after Basil motioned toward the back of the truck the four went over to place their luggage in its covered bed. “There’s not going to be a lot of room up there, place anything you don’t need for the ride in the back” Basil stated as the three began to take a few things out of their luggage and put the rest into the truck. The four began to make small talk as they returned to the cab of the truck and the ship began to leave the port.

“What’s this?” Jarvis asked while pointing to Basil’s backpack as he climbed into the passenger side of the truck. “Huh? My backpack. Why?” Basil asked somewhat confused. “You put our stuff in the storage compartment” Jarvis stated, before asking “So why is your stuff up here?” Basil couldn’t place Jarvis’s tone, being unsure if Jarvis was making an active attempt to conceal animosity or intentionally expressing animosity with an air of plausible deniability. Regardless, Basil tried his best to sound neutral to avoid harsher feelings that could make a very long drive feel even longer. “It’s just got a few important things in there I want to keep up front: first aid, emergency supplies, snacks, and tools. The rest of my stuff is back there too.” Jarvis responded with a mute and apathetic stare, but after a quick pause just shrugged.

Sunrise soon became day as the crew arrived at the docks on the landfall opposite to where they had started, and day became evening as the long drive through the countryside became a slow crawl through the crowded streets of the Redcap capitol. Throughout it all Jarvis seemed willing to put hostilities behind him. Basil was very glad to be on better terms with him, and the four had talked for hours on what felt like every topic they could have. “The gate’s just up ahead” Jace stated, before she leaned forward from the back seat and followed it up with “There’s a lot more people here than last time.” Basil could see a very tall gate that concealed everything behind it aside from the start of a sunset above and brought the truck to a stop. “Can’t go any further, too many people” he replied as the four looked on hoping the crowd would thin enough to get through.

Several guards by the gate seemed to notice the truck’s arrival and began working their way through the crowd, but as they slowly got closer Basil noticed they seemed either annoyed or angry and were holding their weapons out in a high ready position. “Do they usually act like that?” a suddenly nervous Basil asked Jarvis. Jarvis just shook his head before asking “What did you do?” in a somewhat nervous and slightly accusatory tone. Niles leaned forward as well, voicing his nervousness. “No, something is wrong, they’re definitely angry and headed our way.” Basil’s elbow serendipitously brushed his holstered pistol and he began to speak quietly to Jarvis. “There’s a gun in the glove box, do you know how to shoot? We may need it if things go bad.”

“The what?” Jarvis asked, much more nervous than before. “The glovebox” Basil replied, slightly annoyed, before pausing and clarifying “The lever there, you can pull it and it’ll open the container.” Jarvis immediately started to bend over and reach for it, before Basil realized what he was doing and shouted “Not now!” Basil instantly could tell the closest guard picked up on the fact Basil had been saying something in anger, his facial expression tightening and his hand getting a better grip on the bayonetted gun he possessed. Basil quickly tried to look more composed to avoid further tipping off the soldiers before speaking in a whisper. “Only if we need it, don’t even look in the direction unless we do. I don’t know much about these guys, but I can tell you that if you pull out a weapon they WILL start shooting at us.”

What felt like an eternity passed, but eventually the guards had mostly made it through the crowd. Basil continued to do his best to look calm while nervously making glances over to Jarvis to make sure he wasn’t doing anything stupid. Eventually they approached, switching their rifles to a low ready position and Basil rolled down the window. He began to say “Hello-,” but was cut off by the closest guard who barked out an order. “You four are to exit your vehicle and be seized for the impersonation of Amigosian diplomats.” The guard seemed to have equal parts anger and annoyance in his voice and Basil immediately started trying to defuse the situation. “Sorry sir, there must be some sort of mistake” before quickly picking his invitation up and handing it out the window.

The guard looked at the document for a considerable amount of time, and while Basil waited for a response the other three in the truck handed their invitations to Basil who passed them along to the guard as well. The guard silently read through them all, saying nothing with a blank expression on his face. “You’re Basilious, but you arrived in an Amigosian vehicle?” Basil was caught off guard by the question. “Wait, do Amigosian vehicles look like this? This isn’t an Amigosian truck, I’ve been very interested in seeing one to compare technology, but I was told I likely couldn’t visit Amigoso.” The guard shrugged while motioning to somebody by the gate. “I’ve never seen an Amigosian personal vehicle, they’ve only been described to me. But I was told you had a device that could transport you instantly, so why are you traveling with Arkepellians?”

“The device doesn’t work quite like that, it can only go to certain locations and I have to go the rest by other means. The closest I can get is Arkepello and then the rest I have to travel like anybody else, which is why I’m traveling like this alongside some Arkepellian friends.”

Another man who had been approaching from the gate arrived, wearing a uniform that Basil could assume indicated he was of higher rank or of some other importance. “May I see the invitations?” he asked the guard who had originally approached. Jarvis’s nervousness seemed to switch to annoyance and seeing the new official he spoke in a pompous manner. “I am the lead representative of Arkepello, under the authority granted to me as such you are to quit this rabble and let us proceed at once.” The new official read through the last of the documents before responding to Jarvis’s outburst.

“Greetings, I am Weston Brayden, captain of the Redcap Capitol Police. I apologize for the mistaken identity, please bring your vehicle through the gate and meet me on the other side.”

“Is anything wrong?” Basil asked, feeling a little relieved at the nicer tone, though unsure of what Brayden intended with the meeting on the other side of the gate. Brayden, now making an expression Basil could interpret as either mild suspicion, intrigue, or both, replied with a short “It’s only a matter of accommodation and of personal curiosity” before pausing quickly and adding “Nothing to be alarmed about.”