Free S.O.S by Will James

myself.”
    The man got up and moved.
    *
    Further along the boat sat Father Tom on his way to the Greenwich Observatory on a mission of discovery. The strange symbols that had appeared in the church were spread on a piece of paper in front of him, resting of his knees. They seemed to him to look like star patterns, though he couldn’t for the life of him work out which stars they could be. After hours futilely spent trawling through hundreds of photos of constellations, he had decided to seek professional help. The nearest place that he could think of had been the Royal Observatory and now he was on his way, trying to find some answers.
    The boat docked at Greenwich pier and Father Tom joined the queue to disembark. He was behind a small group of tourists and ahead of a young girl with flame red hair. She stood out as she seemed distracted, almost as if she wasn’t alone and it puzzled Tom; there didn’t seem to be anyone with her. He made his way up towards the Royal Observatory, to the South building, following the tourists, battling against the rain with only a rain coat and no umbrella and lost sight of the girl on the way. He went into the Astronomy Centre and wandered aimlessly for a while, looking at the space exhibition, fiddling with the interactive parts, ambling without finding out anything that he wanted to know.
    *
    Dev loved his job. He worked part time at the Royal Observatory, just assisting in the Astronomy Centre, but he loved to get involved with the kids and answer questions and talk about Physics whenever the opportunity arose. He knew that the other people who worked there avoided him because they considered him weirdly geeky, but he didn’t care. He loved just being part of the Weller Space Galleries, staring at the meteorite 4.5 billion years old and watching endless videos of the unfolding cosmos. He liked to watch the people too, see them baffled at first then excited as they began to understand the exhibitions and have some idea of the expanding universe.
    Today he stood and watched them file through. There had been a school party who he’d helped discover the secrets of ‘Anvilled stars’ and now he was watching a priest – an old guy – at least he looked old to him – wandering around, looking at the exhibition, obviously trying to figure out something that was beyond him. Dev smiled; Adam and Eve possibly? He flicked his gaze across the room and coughed as two teenagers began touching the screen. They looked up and he shook his head. They moved on.
    â€œExcuse me, but I was wondering if you’d be able to help me?”
    The voice sounded tired and frustrated behind Dev and he turned, having to look down slightly at the man who had asked the question. The priest. Up close he looked younger than he did from a distance and he was smiling.
    â€œI’ll give it a go,” Dev said. “What did you want to know?”
    â€œSomething about...” Father Tom pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his raincoat. “This!” He held it up and Dev leant forward to look at it. “I haven’t a clue what it is, but it looks like some kind of constellation to me.”
    â€œMay I?” Dev took the paper and turned it upside down. He stared at it for several minutes. “Where did it come from?” he asked.
    â€œMy church,” Tom said. “I discovered these symbols drawn onto the wall of my church last week, probably by some vandal, but they fascinated me.”
    â€œHmmm...” Dev was staring and thinking hard.
    â€œI’m curious to know what they mean; they seem an unusual thing to graffiti. Do you think they could represent a star sign?”
    Suddenly Dev’s face changed. “Hang on, erm...?” He looked at the priest.
    â€œTom, Father Tom.”
    â€œHi, I’m Dev. Can you hang on a minute Father Tom, I think I know what this is!” Dev strode off with the paper in his hand.
    Ten