The Infinity Formula

By Steven VS

The only thing that matters to fourteen year old Kyle Walker is his best friend and foster-sister Lily. So when his genius sister cracks the code to the Infinity Formula and they’re invited by the world’s most renowned scientist to the Formula’s unveiling, Kyle couldn’t be happier.
But when an enemy from Kyle’s past rises the scientist is assassinated before the crowd and Lily is kidnapped. With enemies all around, Kyle soon realizes he is stronger and faster than any boy could possibly be and, astoundingly, the Infinity Formula already has a real world application – him. Forging new alliances, Kyle must now race across the world to save his sister from the man who claims to know him, and his abilities, better than anyone in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven VS
• Release date: Nov 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310006586

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Kyle Walker didn’t look anything like his sister. Kyle was fourteen, though he looked slightly older, with dark eyes and thick, messy hair that hung slightly over one eye. He was dressed casually today in his faded jeans, The Flash t-shirt and grey sweater. He was built strong (a lifetime of foster care and having to fight off a dozen older, meaner kids can do that to you), but lean.

His sister, Lily, on the other hand, had grown too tall too quickly and, at thirteen, was more awkward than elegant. Her hair was a startling red, her thick rimmed glasses hiding nervous eyes. She, too, wore jeans and a T-shirt, though hers was about three sizes too big. Kyle had never seen his sister wear a dress - Lily had always chosen practical over pretty, at least that was what she told people.

Kyle and Lily didn’t look anything alike, but then that was to be expected. They were foster sibling (neither had ever known their parents) but had lived together in the same home for the past three years. Kyle couldn’t remember a time before Lily - she was all the family he’d ever had, or needed.

‘Come on, come on!!’ Lily tugged at his arm. ‘I don’t want to miss it!!’ There was a thick crowd in front of them, the shutters and lights setting off from dozens of cameras. Somehow Lily was pushing her way through and she was taking Kyle along with her.

'Are you crazy, we aren’t going to miss anything!' Kyle grinned at her enthusiasm and lifted her clear off the ground. 'Coming through! Heavy load!'

Lily’s face spun around in a microsecond. 'Heavy?'

'Ah… figure of speech…'

Lily seemed to sag a little and Kyle put her down. ‘I just can’t believe we’re here. I’ve always dreamed of it… and here we are.’ She stopped a few inches in front of Kyle. ‘It doesn’t feel real…’

Kyle put his arm around her. He was two years older, but they were almost the same height. ‘You’re the reason we’re here, Sis, you and that huge brain of yours.’ He hugged her affectionately and Lily perked.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Yeah…’ And then as though sparking instantly, she zoomed off.

‘Wait up!!’ he shouted, as a waiter passed him, almost spilling the tray of bubbling champagne he was carrying. ‘Oh, sorry.’ The waiter glared at him. Well, better make the most of it, thought Kyle, straightening up. ‘I’ll have two glasses of champagne. One for me and one for… my wife, the Duchess of… Eagleberry.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And I’m the Duke. Of Eagleberry, that is.’

‘Sir, if you’d like a refreshment, might I point you towards the bar area? I think they should have something more to your…’ he looked Kyle up and down. ‘…taste.’ The waiter sped off, weaving through the crowd like a magician. A moment later Lily re-appeared.

‘Are you coming?’ she asked, holding out her hand. She was practically dancing on the spot.

‘Sure thing,’ said Kyle, taking her hand. ‘Let’s go!’

When Lily had first scrambled into Kyle’s room jabbering at a hundred miles per hour about the competition he hadn’t been sure what to think. Lily was a genius, there were no two ways about it. Kyle was… well… not, but Lily had managed to explain it simply enough that he almost understood.

Professor Velen, a pioneer in the field of nano-technology (really small machines, Lily explained), was on the cusp of unveiling a world-changing breakthrough in the field. What’s more, she had hosted a competition where she put all of her formulas online for twenty-four hours, and whoever could come closest to solving the equation and working out what her breakthrough was, would be invited to London for the grand unveiling at the Fifty-Second Science World Expo.

Kyle hadn’t been sure what to say. He’d taken a closer look at the competition and it was obvious from the outset that this was not something for teenagers. It was aimed at adults, university students, scientists, engineers… but he wasn’t going to be the one to shatter her dreams. So Kyle had gone along with it, encouraged her - after all it was a worldwide competition. Even if you were the sort of person who had about ten letters after your name and a Nobel laureate, there was no guarantee you’d win.

But somehow - and Kyle would never know how, no matter how many times she explained it - Lily cracked the code, and in record timing. Before Kyle knew what was happening, they were invited to the World Expo in London - a far cry from their rickety flat in Devon. It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, though with a great deal less chocolate and a crazy amount of maths.

Still, thought Kyle, spying a passing waiter and deftly taking two eclairs. ‘Thank you, good sir,’ he said with a nod. There is chocolate…

Lily had taken out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. ‘I think we’re in the right place…’

‘Honestly, would you relax?’ Below them the World Expo was spread across an enormous auditorium as Kyle and Lily made their way upstairs to the V.I.P area where they’d been instructed to go. Gingerly, Kyle pried the crumpled invitation from his sister and smoothed it before showing it to one of the personnel. ‘Lily Andrews, contest winner?’ he said.

The man smiled, unclasping the barrier and letting them through. ‘Please wait here, someone will come shortly to take you to Professor Velen. Everything is free, so please help yourselves.’

‘Thanks,’ said Lily, nervously eyeing the three tables laden with food. Kyle suspected she wouldn’t have managed so much as a sausage roll. She was muttering something low under her breath, but Kyle knew better than to ask. This was just her process.

The music was blaring loudly above them with announcements every few minutes. There was an excitement in the air and even Kyle, who knew nothing about science, felt swept up in it. He went up to the bar, ready to order a coke, and that’s when he saw her.

Her.

She was lightly tanned, her auburn hair cut short and choppy. Her eyes were smoky, her tight leather jacket unzipped revealing a t-shirt adorned with a pierced heart. She stood at the bar, nursing a drink in one hand whilst jabbing rapidly into her phone with the other.

Kyle took his shot. ‘Interested in science?’ He sidled beside her, trying to get the waiter’s attention. Up close, Kyle saw that she couldn’t have been any older than sixteen.’.

‘We’re at a science fair,’ said the girl flatly, her eyes never leaving her phone. She took a sip of her drink. ‘Take a wild guess.’

Kyle grinned. ‘This place is pretty cool. Coke please.’ The waiter nodded, producing a glass bottle. It was ice cold. ‘Yeah, I’m pretty into science - some people call me a genius or whatever.’ He shrugged.

‘Is that right?’ The girl put down her phone, turning to him, her eyebrows raised.

‘Yeah, I sort of won this competition. Professor Velen. Ever heard of her?’ He raised his hand before she could speak. ‘She’s just this Nobel prize winning scientist, don’t worry about it. Anyway she put all of her equations on-line and I managed to solve them. It’s why I’m here.’

Now she looked intrigued. Got her, thought Kyle, mentally doing back flips. Boom…

‘That was you was it?’ she asked. She turned her head, ever so slightly, to one side. ‘You…’

‘Kyle.’

‘Beth.’ She seemed to hesitate for a moment before sitting down on the barstool and removing her leather jacket to reveal toned, tanned arms. ‘So tell me, how did you do it?’ She gestured for him to sit, and Kyle, as nonchalant as he could muster, complied.

‘Oh, you know - maths, science, a bit of luck.’ He made a non-committal gesture. ‘You don’t want to hear about all that. So who are you here with?’

‘‘No, I do,’ insisted Beth. She was smiling. There was something dangerous about that smile. ‘Velen’s work on nano-tech, how she managed to modify the genetic architecture so that it wouldn’t reject the nanite infusion - the Infinity Formula. That’s what you’re talking about right?’

Kyle blinked several times. For some reason everything had gone foggy. ‘Yeah,’ he muttered. Why does my mouth feel like it’s full of sawdust? ‘That old thing…’

‘Yeah… you have no idea what I’m talking about do you?’ said Beth slowly. She crossed her legs, waiting for him to respond. Kyle’s mouth flapped open… but no words were coming out. Come on, think Walker, think! He was losing her, and before he could salvage the situation, Beth slipped on her leather jacket and got to her feet.

‘Well,’ she muttered. ‘Thanks for wasting my time…’

‘No wait! I do know, I just… err… forgot!’ But she was gone, back to her frantic taps on her phone and ignoring him completely. Kyle sagged back down, taking a swig of his coke. ‘Smooth Walker,’ he said, screwing his eyes tight. ‘Real smooth…’

‘Kyle?’ Lily had re-appeared, a tuna sandwich in her hand with a half-hearted bite taken from it. ‘They want us to come.’ She glanced around. ‘Who were you talking to?’

‘No-one at all, sis,’ he replied. He got to his feet, finishing the coke. A little too quick. ‘Come on, let’s meet this Professor,’ he said through a brain freeze.

The man who had led them into the V.I.P area had re-appeared and invited Kyle and Lily to follow him. Soon they had left the main floor of the auditorium, and the World Expo, and were heading further into the building. The sugary music was now a distant rumble, the announcements barely audible.

‘This is Professor Velen’s office,’ said the man. He turned the brass knob of the door, placing a genial hand on Lily. ‘Don’t look so nervous dear, the Professor is very sweet and very much looking forward to meeting you.’

‘S-she is?’

They walked in to find an eighteenth century style study, the dying embers of a fire still crackling in the corner. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with heaving book shelves filled with tomes. A woman who Kyle presumed was Professor Velen was sat behind a Victorian-era mahogany table, the computer before her looking completely out of place in the archaic study.

‘You must be Lilyandra.’ The Professor, a woman perhaps in her late forties, arose to her feet, looking genuinely pleased. She had thick spectacles and was dressed smartly in a pantsuit, but for all she had achieved, Kyle was surprised she was so young.

‘Professor Velen.’ Lily was quivering, star-struck. ‘It’s an honour to meet you…’

‘My dear child.’ The Professor spoke perfect English but there was the slightest hint of inflection, French, German, Kyle was unsure. ‘The honour is mine. When I began the competition I did not think any would be able succeed, certainly not a child.’

‘She’s a genius,’ said Kyle. ‘There’s no two ways about it. I’m her brother Kyle.’

Velen looked up, clasping his hand as well. ‘Ah I see, and your parents?’

‘They couldn’t make it,’ said Kyle quickly. Lily averted her eyes., staring hard into the ground. The truth? Their foster parents hadn’t wanted them to go to London. It was too far, too expensive, but Kyle had known what it meant to Lily and had used his own money to buy them the train tickets. They had stolen off in the early hours of the morning before their parents could stop them.

‘Ah, well, no matter. Come, Lilyandra. We have much to discuss…’ The Professor ushered Lily through an archway into an adjacent room before turning back to Kyle. ‘Pardon my rudeness - this really won’t take long, but I would like to discuss with your sister alone. Just for a moment.’’

‘Go, go,’ assured Kyle. ‘Honestly, I’ll just relax here. Catch some Z’s.’

The Professor gave a curt smile before shutting the door behind her. Kyle twiddled his thumbs for a moment before setting off around the study. He sat down at the Professor’s table, tapping on her computer but it was password protected. He leaned back, glancing around… and was promptly bored. He couldn’t help it; Kyle had always had a short attention span. He glanced at the door Professor Velen had taken Lily through. How long were they going to be?

He sighed, realizing how stuffy it was in the study, and decided to open the windows.’. He released the catch and pushed them far out but as he did something dashed away, just out of sight. Startled, Kyle stuck his head out of the window catching the merest flicker of a person as they disappeared into the window beside his. There was a small balcony outside of the window and another beneath the one adjacent but between them was a distance some eight foot wide. No person could clear such a gap and yet for a moment, a split second, Kyle could have sworn he’d caught a flash of auburn hair… a tight leather jacket.

Beth?

CHAPTER TWO

He heard the door open behind him and hurried to shut the window, cringing as it slammed. A moment later Professor Velen and his sister re-appeared. Lily’s cheeks were flushed; she looked as though she’d run a mile.

‘I will see you both shortly,’ said the Professor. ‘I must go and prepare, but I have set aside seats for both of you at the front of the auditorium. Please come when you are ready.’ Kyle nodded, his mind still very much on Beth as Professor Velen turned to leave. Her hand clasped the handle, but she lingered, turning back with a soft expression to Lily.

‘Are you okay, my dear?’ she asked.

Lily gave a shaky smile. ‘Sure Professor.’ Velen looked as though she wanted to say more, but simply smiled and was soon gone.

‘So?’ said Kyle brightly. Lily looked up, her eyes misty and very far away. ‘What did the Professor say to you?’

‘She, well…’ Lily shook her head, a wild grin spreading across her features. ‘She gave this to me.’ She held out her hand, revealing something small and shiny, catching the light.

A ruby gleamed, encased in white gold that had been fashioned into the shape of a scarab. It was surprisingly light, held by long links of a platinum chain. ‘She gave this to you?’ Kyle held it up, watching the ruby spin. ‘Must have cost a fortune…’

‘She was so sweet,’ gushed Lily. Kyle handed the pendant back to her, his sister rubbing her fingers giddily over the precious rock. ‘Said I reminded her of herself when she was younger, that she had searched for someone like me for so many years…’

‘Searched?’ asked Kyle. ‘Is that why she hosted the competition?’ Maybe it really was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Lily looked up and her eyes seemed to gleam brighter than the precious stone between her fingers. ‘She wants me to come to Monaco with her.’ Her voice was low, but Kyle could feel the rush radiating from her. ‘Kyle, she wants me to help with her research!’

‘Is that… how can she… what did she…’ Lily was looking anxiously at him. What am I saying? ‘That’s incredible Lily!’ He pulled her in, hugging her tightly. ‘I’m so proud of you!’

She hugged him back, just as tightly. ‘‘Kyle… If it hadn’t been for you, I would never have…’

‘Forget all that.’ Kyle hugged her. ‘That big brain of yours, that’s what did all this.’ Lily grinned. ‘Just promise me when you make your first million, send a little my way. Deal?’

‘Deal!’

They headed back down to the auditorium where the final preparations for Professor Velen’s talk were under way. The main stage had been cleared and a vast screen now projected, blowing up the stage so that even those furthest back would be able to see with clarity. It seemed like everyone at the World Expo had descended into the small enclosure before the stage, the sugary music turned up even higher. Thankfully the Professor had been true to her words and a small area had been cordoned off for the V.I.Ps. Kyle saw some older men he recognized from the bar, all of them looking disgruntled. Vaguely Kyle wondered who they were as he and his sister took their seats. He’d been hoping to catch sight of Beth, but the mysterious girl, wherever she was, it wasn’t here.

They took their seats and Lily put the necklace on, the pendant lying tucked beneath her shirt. She was glowing and Kyle could easily see why. He had always known his sister was incredibly clever, but to think a Nobel prize-winning scientist wanted to work alongside her…’

The music had begun to fade as the lights went down. A hush spread among the crowd, the excited chatter falling as spotlights erupted, powerful beams blasting up one by one, flooding the stage.

‘Ladies and gentleman!’ a crisp announcer began, his voice reverberating across the auditorium. ‘Please welcome Professor Katrin Velen!’

Applause broke, with many of the crowd getting to their feet to welcome the Professor. Kyle and Lily arose as Professor Velen appeared on stage. She’d changed into a white turtleneck and jeans, a hands free microphone slotted on the side of her face. As she appeared on stage, her face was projected onto the huge screen behind her, the Professor smiling broadly. She allowed the applause to continue before settling it back down. Then she began.

‘When I was a girl, my