Emily Jayne and the Kairos Codex

By J. A. Secker

Emily Jayne and the Kairos Codex is a speculative science-fiction novel set in a Milky Way galaxy that is filled with intelligent extraterrestrial life. It has strong and smart female characters in lead roles, who like science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It has strong and smart male character

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seven Stars Over Publishing Ltd.
• Release date: May 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778263217

J. A. Secker

J.A. Secker was born in northern Ontario, Canada, and grew up in Parry Sound, Ontario, on the shore of Georgian Bay. He has a B.Sc. in Applied Physics and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics and Astronomy. His astrophysics research focussed on globular cluster systems, galaxy formation and the cosmological distance scale. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Washington State University where, among other courses, he developed and taught an upper-year capstone course on the search for intelligent life in the Universe. In addition to writing and science, he is a nature lover, music lover, stereo enthusiast and vinyl record collector. He lives in Ottawa with his scientist spouse, their three daughters and Labrador Retriever. Emily Jayne and the Kairos Codex is his first novel. For additional information, please see: https://jasecker.ca/

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Characters

Emily Jayne’s family

Emily Jayne (EmJ) Lena Owen Hutchings

Leigh Ann Mabel Joseph Hutchings (older sister)

Angela (Angie) Richardson (mother, Sarah’s aunt)

Keith Hutchings (father, Sarah’s uncle)

Rex (canine sister)

Sarah’s family

Sarah Evelyn Eszter Spiller (Emily Jayne’s cousin)

Evelyn Spiller (mother, Emily Jayne’s aunt)

Graven Spiller (father, Emily Jayne’s uncle)

Emily Jayne’s friends and classmates

Lazar Hassan Emädi (mother’s name is Aleyna Emädi)

Samuel Robert MacLeod (mother’s name is June MacLeod)

M.R. Alexis (Lexi) Roussin

Julie Hanna Stanislawski

Erin Anne Travers

Danielle Maurille

Emily Jayne’s neighbours

Mr. Burns

Mrs. Helen Laird

Mr. Shawn Walker

Emily Jayne’s Grade 6 teachers

Ms. Ashley (math)

Mr. Kawai (home room and science)

Mr. McDowall (music)

Mr. Roger McEwen (principal)

Ms. McIvor (previous, Grade 5)

Police officers

Constable Steven Reed (Ottawa Police Service)

Inspector Kaitlyn Walker (Ontario Provincial Police)

Kabdhilinans

Cousin (Intragalactic Council on Emerging Civilizations)

Friend (Intragalactic Council on Science and Bioastronomy)

Nashirans

Major Anarawd

Commander Donadio

Nusakans’ adopted name

Cindy (n-sphere)

Ember (Cindy’s mother)

Alexander (Cindy’s father)

Thubans

Ms. Scaly (Major General of the Thuban military)

Junior

Chapter 1 » Rex goes berserk when our front door gets busted in, and I discover that Sarah’s in big trouble

Wednesday, April 8th

Ottawa, Canada

Earth

I’m Emily Jayne hutchings, and I know aliens exist.

I’m in the main floor laundry room. It’s dark and the only illumination is from a streetlight shining through a window in the adjacent mudroom. I push the damp bath towels and stinky socks out of the way and kneel with my ear to the cold-air-return duct. My parents’ second-floor bathroom shares this duct, and I can sometimes hear bits of their conversation. I know I’m guilty of eavesdropping, but it’s required.

Mom and Dad were acting weird at supper. Normally, we talk about cool stuff like math and gravity waves and solar flares. Sometimes we write and sketch on the whiteboard. But at supper today, Mom and Dad barely said a word, and there was strange eye contact going on between them. When she did talk, Mom asked me three separate times what I did at school today. When I asked her if something was wrong, she said, ‘No. I’m just tired.’

I’m here to find out what’s really going on, and I’m here for some much-needed practice. I can’t expect to be a math-expert code-breaking Alan-Turing-like secret agent if I don’t develop and maintain the basic skills.

The wind outside is strong and gusting, and so the siding on the house creaks, the flaps on the dryer vent rattle and the exterior door in the mudroom pushes and strains against the doorframe. These noises interfere with my eavesdropping, but they must happen in real spying situations too. I keep going.

Rex stands beside me with her body pressed against my right shoulder. She’s a border collie mix, that’s our best guess, and she understands this spying game. I didn’t have to teach her. She’s alert and her head is tipped slightly to the left. She’s listening and using her other canine senses. As soon as Rex thinks someone is coming or she senses danger, she’ll let me know and we’ll both bail out. If I’m touching her when it happens, I’ll feel her muscles tense a second before I sense her emotional response.

The wind gusts again, an especially powerful one this time. The mudroom door creaks as it strains against the hinges and frame, and it’s followed by a thump. Small static-electric-like shocks tingle on the back of my neck, and I know Rex is anxious. I have the butterflies in my stomach to prove it. She must be worried about the wind. Her concern seems to pass after a minute, and her focus returns to the spying game.

I try two techniques. I hold a drinking glass against the vent, and my ear is against the glass. At the same time, I press the microphone on the bottom of my iPhone to the vent. Later, I’ll compare what I hear through the glass with the sound recorded by my iPhone.

Evelyn said six, Mom says.

In four days? Angie, that’s crazy, it’s too much— Dad says, but then one of them turns on the bathroom tap, and I can’t hear anything over the noise of the running water. They turn off the tap, but it’s followed by a long period of silence, easily two minutes. I start to think they may have gone to bed, but Rex is still alert, so I trust her and wait a bit longer.

I just don’t know, Keith, Mom says.

We keep our fingers crossed and trust Evelyn, Dad says.

That’s all we can do, Mom says.

There’s another noise at the side door. It’s probably just the wind again, but Rex runs into the mudroom and stands facing the exterior door. There’s a loud thud and the door swings open. Rex lifts her nose to smell the air and instantly her fear washes through me. It’s terrible, like rapid-fire, piercing-cold shocks at the back of my neck; it’s intense and I scream.

Hide.

She wants me to hide, to protect myself, but I can’t because I’m too worried about her.

Adrenaline surges through my body. I run to the mudroom to help Rex, but I’m too slow. She crouches then launches herself through the open door and disappears outside into the darkness. There’s a thump as she hits something and then she snarls. Or something else snarls. It’s a terrifying sound, and I hope it’s Rex who made it.

I pull the door all the way open and step out onto the walkway, but it’s too dark to see anything. I reach inside and turn on the exterior light, but then I’m blinded and still don’t see anything. Rex! I yell. Here Rex.

Dad appears in the doorway. Are you okay? he asks. What’s going on?

Somebody kicked the door open. Or the wind blew it open. I don’t know. Rex ran outside. I heard her snarl, but I can’t see her anywhere! She’s terrified and I’m worried about her.

Dad steps outside with me and calls Rex, but she doesn’t come, and we still can’t see her. Just a second, Dad says. I’ll get my shoes and a flashlight and go look for her.

It’s cold, especially with the strong wind, but I don’t wait for Dad. I’m at the side of the house. Rex can’t be in the backyard, because it’s fenced and the gate is closed, so I run along the walkway to the front of the house. I stand in the driveway and call her. Rex! Here Rex!

And then magically she’s back. Panting, she circles me twice. Instead of sitting at my feet, she pushes against my legs, herding me into the house. We’re walking toward the door when Dad comes out with his flashlight.

Oh, thank goodness you found her, he says. Good girl, Rex. Dad pats Rex on her back and rubs behind her ears.

Inside the house, I sit on the mudroom floor and Rex sits beside me. She doesn’t roll on her back for me to rub her belly. She doesn’t lie down beside me with her head on my leg. She’s alert and watching the door. Her panic may be gone, but she’s anxious and unhappy and her heart is pounding.

With Rex safe, Dad inspects the door. I don’t see any damage around the door handle or the strike plate, and the wood around the deadbolt is okay. There are a few marks on the door. I think it’s dirt and grass stains.

Was it kicked open? I ask.

I honestly don’t know. I doubt it. The door’s pretty old, and it’s more likely that the latch bolt wasn’t engaged, and a gust of wind blew it open. He shuts the door, locks it with the deadbolt and turns off the outside light. But, in a situation like this, I must trust Rex’s instincts for your safety and security. It’s one of my rules. Never doubt Rex in a situation like this.

Dad looks at me and Rex and says, I’m glad that both of you are okay. I’ll get the locks checked and some sort of security system installed. Another layer of protection, just in case.

I don’t know what to think. Rex might be a scaredy-cat, afraid of the wind, or she might be an ace police dog who’s alert to evil that I can’t see.

It’s late, Emily Jayne. I thought you were upstairs in bed. What were you doing down here?

I have my cover story ready, but I never thought I’d need it. I couldn’t sleep, I say. It sounds shallow and thin coming out, but I continue with as much conviction as I can. I wanted to do a Sudoku puzzle, but my book was down here. And then it became a game: could Rex and I find the book without turning on any lights. We were searching the laundry room when the side door opened.

Dad raises his eyebrows, but just when I think I’m busted, he says, I hope you have better luck sleeping this time. Go ahead upstairs. I’ll get the lights and come up after you.

Okay. Night, Dad.

I grab my iPhone from the laundry room. Rex and I run up the stairs, past Leigh’s bedroom and into my bedroom. Leigh’s my older sister. Her door is open, but she’s not here. She’s only in Grade 10 but she’s already completed all the math courses offered by her high school. This is her first week at the University of Toronto (U of T). She’s enrolled and participating in an eight-week course for high-school-aged math whiz kids. She’s only been there for a few days, and I already miss her. At least she’ll be home for a visit in 16 days.

I turn on the light and shut the door. Rex leaps onto the bottom bunk. She curls into a ball and watches me. The lower bunk is a double bed and it’s where Rex and I sleep every night. I climb in and lie between Rex and the wall. I stay curled up with her until her heart stops pounding.

My room is perfect. I decorated the wall by my bed using math posters: the first 2048 decimals of pi; the sine and cosine functions; a low-resolution pixelated image of the great mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing. The wall with my window is covered in astronomy posters: my favourite constellations; Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise; colliding black holes and binary neutron stars producing gravity waves. And I have eight plastic planets and a plastic Pluto hanging from my ceiling; their colours match the true planet colours, and they glow in the dark.

I play the recording I made in the laundry room, but it’s not as clear as what I heard with my ear on the glass. That’s good to know. But what I heard is worrying.

Something is wrong and it involves my cousin and best friend, Sarah Spiller. I wish I’d gotten the full story, but at least I have a lead. I get up and turn off my overhead light. Suddenly I’m surrounded by my glow-in-the-dark planets. I get back in bed with Rex, and I use my iPad to send a message to Sarah.

I use the irrational numbers application I developed at the University of Ottawa #GirlsInSTEM camp during March Break. It’s a messaging app with an embedded video window, but what makes it special is that it keeps track when a user enters a prime number under 100 and any of my three favourite irrational numbers. Irrational numbers are ones with decimals that keep going forever and never repeat. My favourite three are the rock stars of the math world: pi, which is 3.141592..., the square root of two, which is 1.414213…, and the golden ratio, which is 1.618033....

Every time Sarah or I include one of these special numbers in a message, the iPad beeps. When one of us reaches a total of five of these numbers, the app explodes like a supernova and rings a bell three times. It’s such a cool idea, and I’m pretty sure it will go viral if I make it available to the public. But I need to get the audio to work before I do that.

I start the Irrational Numbers app.

EJH ... Sarah it’s me 3.14

EJH … pi

EJH … 1.618033

EJH … Wake up!

EJH … 1.41421

EJH … 3.1415926535

I hold my pillow over the iPad as the supernova explodes and the bells ring. I have to wait for 16 seconds before Sarah replies.

SS … Yawn

SS … Wow, I think that was a supernova explosion! what’s up cuz?

EJH … My parents are acting weird and I think there’s something wrong in your family. Is your mom okay? What’s going on?

SS … she’s okay but she’s worried about me because I’ve been fainting

EJH … That’s been happening for a month now. Are you extra sick today?

Sarah must have turned on her bedroom light because I can suddenly see her. She has dark brown skin, and her head is covered by black braids. A few of the braids hang down to her chin, and she has amethyst-coloured beads in some of them. She’s wearing an Algonquin College tee-shirt and lying on her back with her head on a pillow.

SS … I don’t feel sick

EJH … Then what’s wrong?

SS … Mom is insane with her record keeping as if I’m the only alien on Earth (yeah, well I guess I am). She has a graph and everything. I weighed close to 91 pounds for over a year but then a month or two ago I started to lose weight, no matter how much extra food I ate, now I only weigh 85 pounds

EJH … Maybe all aliens of your species lose weight at this age.

EJH … And 85 pounds isn’t bad. You only lost six pounds.

SS … well maybe but Mom got EXTRA worried today because I fainted again, this time after walking up the stairs to my bedroom, it was two times in one day

EJH … On no! :( Did you have any idea you were going to faint?

SS … not really but I was exhausted at school and my energy was low so I guess it makes sense

EJH … What makes you faint?

SS … well, I’ve fainted going up the stairs, I’ve fainted going down the stairs, I’ve fainted after standing up from the couch, and I fainted for no apparent reason. I was lucky and somehow didn’t get hurt when I fainted on the stairs, but when I fainted for no apparent reason, my ribs landed on a potted plant and they still ache

EJH … So the problem isn’t your weight loss so much, but the number of times you faint?

SS … bingo! It started at about 1x per week, then 2x per week then daily and today I hit 2x in one day, hence the concern, but it was okay because Mom went crazy and fed me a humongous bowl of my vegan ice cream with … maple syrup! :D :D :D

EJH … Lucky you ;)

SS … and Dad took me back to my doctor, for like the tenth time. He said the frequency of my fainting is alarming, and although fainting itself isn’t terrible (assuming I don’t land on a potted plant), it’s a symptom that my underlying condition is getting worse and that is a real cause for alarm

Sarah’s doctor is someone Aunt Evelyn has known forever. He’s someone she trusts with Sarah’s secret, and who’s willing to sign the certificates. This is important because Sarah needs proof of immunizations to attend school, but she can’t be immunized because she’s an alien. An extraterrestrial. I remember the doctor’s first and last test on Sarah, when he discovered that human medications could harm or even kill her. Because of this, he’s never given her a needle or taken blood. I don’t even know if she has blood. I’ve never seen her bleed, even though she’s fallen a few times.

SS … He said that the problem with my heart, his best guess is ventricular tachycardia, is what will likely kill me first

EJH … What the heck? Holy smokes Sarah, we need to figure this out.

SS … We’ve got some time, it’s not dire yet, I can probably handle 3 or 4 fainting spells per day ;)

EJH … And your doctor can’t treat you?

SS … my biology is similar but not similar enough and he doesn’t even know what to do next

EJH … I want to help you. What can I do?

SS … You could buy me french fries and oatmeal-raisin cookies :)

EJH … No, really, is there something I can do?

SS … well there’s always the impossible task

EJH … What’s that?

SS … Solve the mystery of where I come from, and make contact with my species :D :D

SS … just kidding, but really, we need to find them so I can get help from someone who understands what’s going on with me

Maybe I could do that. I have to do a project anyway for the Grade 6 science fair. I love math and astronomy, I’m pretty good at puzzles and I know a lot about space. I could interview Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Graven—I could even contact the orphanage—and find some new clues. It won’t be easy, but I could do it, I could find Sarah’s species!

I tell Sarah that I’ll solve her mystery and she’s happy. We laugh and imagine the aliens we’ll meet and the galactic-scale adventures we’ll have along the way. We say goodbye and then I quit the Irrational Numbers app.

My head is spinning with thoughts of aliens and Sarah’s health and intruders and spying, and there’s no hope for sleep, so I take some time to write in my diary. It’s new, and it’s so cool because it has Einstein’s field equations on the front. I have no idea what they mean, except that they are related to his theory of general relativity. I don’t understand that either; even the symbols in the mathematical equations are Greek to me. But I find the cover inspiring, and it makes me want to write. This is only my second diary entry. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what to write about. I think math topics are good, because I have fun writing about them. Then I think about Rex, and Sarah’s fainting spells and weight loss, and I know that I want my diary to help me remember things like this when I’m older.

It’s 11:57 when I finally turn off my lamp and lie down, but instead of falling asleep, this new information plays over and over in my mind. Sarah’s not only my cousin, she’s my absolute best friend and I love her to Pluto and back. I have to help her. I must discover and contact her species and decipher their language. I just have to. And I need to do it soon.

The glowing planets dim and then wink out one by one, and I imagine friendly aliens and smart scientific aliens and aliens doing cartwheels and enormous bowls of alien spaghetti and real lightsabers. But there’s a nagging suspicion at the back of my mind that I’m not smart enough, and I won’t be able to solve this mystery.

By 12:22 am I realise I’m completely unqualified for this task, and that all the scientists in the history of Earth haven’t been able to contact aliens. I’ll be a total failure and Sarah won’t get the help she needs. I wipe the tears away, but I think about Sarah dying and new tears wash over my cheeks.

Diary entry for Wednesday, April 8th

Dear Older Emily Jayne,

I’m full of emotions about Rex and Sarah tonight.

I met Rex in the spring, almost two years ago. We’d been camping at Driftwood Provincial Park, and when we got home there was a dog on our front porch. She was the strangest looking thing I’d ever seen. Her shaggy fur was mostly brown, with patches of white here and there. She looked a bit like a Border Collie. Maybe a regular Collie. But more like a mix between a Collie and a raccoon. In some ways she didn’t look at all like a dog. But like Dad said, what else could she be? Anyway, she was very cute in her own special way.

Dad was worried as we approached the porch that she was a stray and might be aggressive. But it was as if she understood Dad’s concern because she rolled over and looked at us from her upside-down position, with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth as she wriggled around.

And then the back of my neck tingled, lightly, like static electricity dancing across my skin, then boom, I knew Rex’s emotions and feelings. There was no doubt; she was happy and wanted to be friends. That was the first time I sensed her emotions, and it was a wonderful feeling. I understood immediately why humans have such a close bond with dogs.

I ran to the porch and sat beside her. Attached to a braided string tied around her neck was a handwritten word on the paper tag. It said, ‘Rex.’

She rolled onto her stomach and pawed the air near me. I held her paw for a moment, and then I rubbed her head and neck. She liked that. I told her she was a good girl, and she hasn’t left my side since. She was friendly, happy and playful. She was perfect and I wanted to keep her.

Mom and Dad weren’t sure at first, because they didn’t really want a dog. But later that day they changed their minds and went shopping for supplies. I didn’t know why they changed their minds, but I didn’t ask. I was just so happy. Then I started to worry because Rex had a name tag and I thought someone might try to claim her.

Luckily, no one did.

Moving on to Sarah, this is a poem I wrote for her years ago. It’s called My Happiest Day. I didn’t have a diary then, so I’m including it now. Older Emily Jayne, do you still remember the day we met her?

My Happiest Day

Listening to raindrops, too excited to sleep.

Up at five, with parents at the airport at six for a flight from hot Chile.

Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Graven holding hands with their new daughter Sarah.

She’s already three,

My new cousin Sarah, she’s pretty and she plays with me.

And now for some math. I discovered last night that it makes me happy to write about my favourite astronomy and math topics, so tonight I’m going to write about prime numbers. A prime number is a number that can only be divided by the number one and itself. For example, the number 5 can be divided by 1 and 5, but not by 2, 3 or 4. There are twenty-five prime numbers between one and one hundred, and I write them in a five-by-five square because it’s how I remember them:

Prime numbers are fascinating. The number 1 used to be a prime number. It seems like it should be, but mathematicians say it can’t be prime because of number theory and the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Two (2) is a prime number, and the only even prime number.

Finding the largest prime number is happening right now, and the largest one has more than 24 million digits. I have trouble imagining that number. But I get the idea. It takes massive computational effort and it’s very difficult to identify these super-enormous prime numbers, and the discoveries don’t happen too often.

I hope that one day I’ll make an important new discovery about prime numbers.

From the younger Emily Jayne

Chapter 2 » The new guy Samuel and my best friend Julie give presentations about their families, but what the heck? Samuel’s is better!

Monday, April 13th

Ottawa, Canada

Earth

It’s Monday morning and I’m in my Grade 6 class at Raymond Moriyama Public Elementary School. My solutions to the homework sheets from yesterday are on my desk, along with my notebook, ruler, three pencils and an eraser. I’ve placed them so they are aligned exactly with the edges of my desk.

Mr. Kawai is my homeroom and science teacher. He’s tall and thin, with short black hair and white skin, and he is infamous for always wearing the same thing: black jeans and a CBC Radio shirt. Mr. Kawai has the window behind his desk open a crack. When the wind gusts outside, it whistles as it blows through the crack.

Mr. Kawai takes attendance, leads us through the current Canadian news, and answers our questions during his 10-minute free-for-all Q&A period. It’s exactly what it sounds like: we can ask any questions at all, and he does his best to answer them. Why isn’t pink part of the rainbow? What did the Prime Minister do this time that was so wrong? What is the smallest country in the world? Who won the Stanley Cup in 1956?

I sit beside one of my best friends, Erin Travers. Mr. Kawai assigned the seats according to the last letter of the last name. Some of the kids complained about his way of choosing, but it made as much sense to me as any other system and I ended up beside Erin. I wasn’t so lucky with my other best friend, Julie Stanislawski, as she sits two rows in front of us. Julie and Erin are also best friends, and that’s convenient.

I walk to school with Julie most days. Occasionally, if the weather is horrendous, her mom or my dad will drive us. I used to walk with Leigh, but now that she’s in high school she takes the bus. I’d love to be in the same high school as her, to be able to see her in the hall and eat lunch with her, but I won’t get to. She’s four years older than I am, so she’ll graduate from high school the same year that I graduate from Raymond Moriyama.

Everyone in Mr. Kawai’s class has to do a presentation about their family. He scheduled three presentations on Monday mornings, and three more on Tuesday mornings. With 29 kids in our class, the presentations will take five weeks. I’m scheduled to do mine next week, on Tuesday April 21st. Today it’s Samuel MacLeod, Julie and Reggie Johnson.

I’ve been best friends with Julie since Grade 2. I know where she lives, I know her family and her adorable Chihuahua, Tara. I know the layout of her house, I know her cousin Emma, and I even know her grandparents. Her presentation will be so much fun to watch.

Samuel’s new at our school this year, and I don’t know