VenatIO (Book I Of The IO Series)

XIX

DAY ONE

2012 HOURS

LOCATION- EARTH, BARNSLEY, ENGLAND

"88,72,88," Michael said. I nodded waiting for him to continue, "The only coding formula that is working on this is the 64th one and it still says bal."

I looked at him blankly while Jaz agreed with him. I hadn't ever taken a coding class; I was more manpower than brain power. Understanding what they were saying would require focusing on the rushed classes they provided in preparation for the venatio. And I hadn't concentrated.

"Uh, what about the other code formula's," Ty asked.

"Well, there's Buf, Nuh, Wat, Qay, Tut and Dsa," he said reading off the paper in front of him.

"And that makes a lot of sense," I muttered.

"I'm clueless too, Phye" Eli said from opposite me as he saw me shaking my head.

"Me too," Alex said suppressing a smile, "You would think Michael being the definition of flirting and trouble would be dumb, but he's got a brain." I laughed.

"He is a total nerd, always was," Eli said looking at Michael talking to Jaz and Ty. I rolled my eyes at Eli. He had calmed down a bit after the message we had gotten from the Imperfectus and now was back to his old charming self.

"We've tried every possible decoding method I've learnt, and all the words have been searched on the internet and it's coming up blank," Ty said looking up from Michael's paper.

"Why don't we try the Jupiter coding one," I asked, giving a glance to Eli.

"We did, it's the tut one," Alex said looking back at the paper.

"What could it mean," Jaz asked.

"I don't know, maybe you could check it out on the laptab thing in front of you," Eli said, "Isn't that what you're supposed to do with it?" I looked at him confused at what exactly he was trying to say. Then it clicked and I burst out laughing.

"Do you mean the laptop," I said in between my laughter.

"Same thing," he said, looking at me defiantly.

"Totally the same thing," I said then more soberly looked at the rest of them and asked, "But seriously you have a laptop in front of you and you're asking us the meaning of a word, that sounds like onomatopoeia."

"Well," Alex asked as Ty opened the laptop and searched it.

"Well, it says um... The Tshwane University of Technology," He said slowly.

"Move it," Jaz said, pushing Ty out of the seat.

"Umm, a movie on the side, production Morocco, description," she murmured under her breath reading the page, "Boy... Tutankhamen, Egyptian King." I lean in reading it along with her. We were getting somewhere now. She presses the more information button.

"Found it," she yells right into my ear, I turn around and glare at her.

"I happen to have ears, you know," I huffed.

"King Tut," she says pointing at the screen.

"So," Eli asked clearly as confused as I was right now.

"Got it," Michael said smiling as the confusion washed away from his face.

"Got what," Alex asked.

"He's a King, a rich history of them in our world," Ty says.

"Egyptian, the greatest Kingdom and a time of hardship," Jaz said looking at me, I still did not understand, and I clearly wasn't the only me looking at Eli.