Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (13 page)

“All
Novas and shuttles from the surface have reached orbit,” Zae reported.

“Good,”
Valis said flatly. “As soon as they’re onboard get us out of here.”

“All
shuttles accounted for except the one lieutenant Mira was in,” Zae said.

“Mira,”
Valis said with fear in her voice.

Baed
turned to the others on the bridge. “I’ve received a call sign from Mira.”

“Good
girl,” Valis said.
That means she was able to surrender.
“Zae, contact
the other ships and tell them to escape to the planned point.”

“Yes
captain,” Zae said as she turned back to her console.

“Are
you alright?” Kivi asked while piloting the Mjolnir.

Brian
braced himself against the wall and held his head. “I think I’ve got a
concussion.” He slid to the floor, looking quite out of it. “Mjolnir, set command
systems to Kalaidian,” he said before slipping back into unconsciousness.

“Thank
you.” Kivi watched the systems switch over to the Kalaidian language, while the
pilot’s seat shrank. She checked the radar and saw fifty enemy fighters chasing
them. Kivi checked the drive systems and noticed few of the meters showing red.
It doesn’t look like this we reach escape velocity.
She turned the
Mjolnir about and fired a pair of shots at the enemy formations, destroying a
dozen fighters. Thirty eight remained when a light class vessel joined them.
She glanced over at Brian.
Who did he piss off for them to be chasing us
like this?
She fired another pair of shots into the enemy formation and
took down six more. They closed in with pulse blasts skipping off the sand near
the Mjolnir. An alert came up on the radar from something heading towards them
from the east. She smiled, seeing weather interference.
A sand storm, thank
the goddess. I can lose them in there.
She turned the Mjolnir and flew at
full speed towards the swirling wall of sand covering the horizon.

* * *

Seles
stepped out her Novaguard, seeing the dejected looks on her subordinates’
faces.

Myli
looked to Seles. “Do you think they’ll come back?”

Seles
nodded with confidence. “Remember, the Mjolnir can gravity jump by itself.”

“Are
you alright lieutenant?” Kaela asked.

“I’m
sure they’re okay. I need to go see the captain right now. And remember, even
though we’re back in the Degan system our enemies may have allies nearby.”

“Yes
lieutenant,” her subordinates answered.

Not
bothering to remove her flight suit Seles quickly made her way to the bridge.
The crew was visibly down. Rarely had a battle planned by their captain gone
wrong, and even more rarely was she handed a thorough defeat. They had escaped,
as well as most of their allies, but no one doubted this was a defeat on their
part. Seles was close to the bridge when Jesela stopped her.

“Did
Mira make it out?”

Seles
lowered her head. “Her transport was shot down.” She could tell Jesela was
worried. “I’m sure she’s alive.”

“Why
did this happen?”

Seles
took her hand and looked her in the eye. “That’s what we’re going to figure out.
Before leaving orbit Mira sent out a surrender call. She might be uncomfortable
in the hands of the Shandi, but her position on the Avoni is likely known to
the enemy.”

“I
hope you’re right,” Jesela said, still looking worried.

* * *

The
Mjolnir flew into the sand storm as Kivi took a deep breath and closed her
eyes.
Remember to long ago, when I lived in the desert.
The Mjolnir spun
through the wind and sand, flying through without any effort. A series of
blasts from their pursuers came through and knocked the giant to the ground.
Kivi turned the mobile suit around and aimed.
I won’t let them take us
prisoner. I can’t let the Mjolnir fall into the hands of my enemy.
She
opened her eyes, now glowing light blue. Time slowed down for her. She aimed the
cannon and fired, knocking a score from the sky. The sand began to kick up
fiercer than before as she aimed for another shot. While the Mjolnir aimed, a
large pulse blast coming from a light class ship hit the rifle, blasting it in
half. She gritted her teeth while drawing the sword from the back of the
Mjolnir.

“Use
the storm as cover,” Brian said as he pulled himself up. He looked at her eyes.

“I
want to…,” Kivi was stopped by Brian.

“I
know you want to continue fighting.” He stumbled over and put his hand on hers.
“Let it go and run.”

She
looked at the enemy formation stopped at the edge of the sand storm. She
blinked a few times before the glow faded from her eyes. “What was I doing?”

“I
didn’t think it was possible but it appears that it is.”

“What?”

“You
can enter the berserk just like me.” He looked at the enemy formation. “You can
lose them, right?”

“Yes,
our phase cloak is fully functioning.” She activated the cloak, with the
Mjolnir disappearing into the storm as it flew away just above the ground. “You
said berserk, how is that possible?”

He
shook his head. “From what I’ve heard Seles and Mira both entered it when I was
taken by Delne. For a long time now I’ve suspected that many of your kind can
enter the berserk state, not just I.”

“Why
was I snapped out of it so easily?”

“I
think it has to do with something like hearing a friend’s voice telling you to
stop. Seles was able to calm me.”

* * *

Seles
walked onto the bridge and saw everyone at their consoles. “Where’s the
captain?”

Zae
looked up. “She went into the planning room,” Zae turned back to her panel,
“I’ve never seen that look in her eyes.”

“I
think it’s the first time we’ve ever been driven away from battle like that,”
Daes said.

Baed
quietly steered the ship, looking quite distant. “I hope they’re alright.”

Seles
put her hand on Baed’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, they’ll come back.” She turned
to the planning room and went inside. Valis stared at the planet Kalmar with
great intent, flipping through a number of hypothetical battle scenarios.

“I
had a feeling you’d come to see me.” Valis turned the hologram off. She stared
into the air with darkness in her eyes.

“What’s
wrong?”

Valis
laughed. “Tell me Seles, do you know what we’re fighting for?”

“Money,”
she answered.

Valis
struggled to hold back her tears. “I sent scores to their death for money. It
wasn’t even for a righteous cause. They went to their deaths to fill the
coffers of the House of Kein, and nothing more.”

Seles
hugged her. “They’ll be alright Valis.”

“I
know. But still…” she trailed off.

“Have
faith,” Seles said. “Kali brought him to us and I can’t believe she’d let him
go so easily.”

* * *

Mira
and the twenty two surviving soldiers from the Kalaidian group were escorted
far underground into a holding area. Although the space was small, the Shandi
provided reasonable accommodations and food. After a long wait Shiken Ka came
down to see them himself. Standing outside the main force field and flanked by
a pair of guards, he called for Mira to come to him. Looking annoyed, she made
her way to the front.

“Make
sure all of you stay alert,” Mira commanded. “We don’t yet know what they’re
going to do to us, so be ready.” She threw her white sash on, the sign she was
a medical officer. “Why did you call me?” she asked.

“I
don’t wish for you to look like that.” Shiken looked quite smug. She shot him
an even dirtier look. “Well, if that’s how you’re going to be I can’t help it.”

“Are
you here to mock us?”

“No
my young Kalaidian, I’m not here to mock you. I came to inform you your ship has
successfully fled and our scouts have spotted the Avoni in the Degan system.”

It
must have gotten pretty bad to leave us behind.
Mira thought
while standing silently.

“Worry
not, for you will fetch a high ransom. Tell me, do you know anything about the
Terran? Brian is his name, if I remember right.”

“What
about him?” She couldn’t hide the concern in voice and face.

“I’m
curious to know more about him.”

“You
won’t beat him. Even if he has to fight a thousand of your troops alone he
won’t be defeated by you.”

“That’s
some confidence you have in him. What if I told you I had my best me working
him over for information?”

“It
wouldn’t work,” Mira answered flatly. “A few months back I healed wounds on him
so terrible that it would’ve have killed ten of your best men.”

“What
do you mean?”

“He
was subjected to the
Kai
. He survived a day alone with Lady Delne
Raekar.”

Shiken
narrowed his eyes. “If what you say is true than I have much to fear. No Shandi
ever survived a single night with that witch Delne‘s kiss.”

“Then
you know of the
Kai
?”

“Yes
young lady, I know of it. It’s said anyone who survives that darkness is doomed
to enter it themselves. If your
Maigar
has survived and not gone mad,
he’s indeed stronger than I suspected.” Shiken then turned and started towards
the elevator upstairs.

An
ensign came from the group. “What was he getting after?”

Mira
smiled. “They didn’t catch Brian, now I know it.”

* * *

Far
from the Shandi complex Brian and Kivi rested inside the Mjolnir. The sand
storm raged outside while the giant was half buried in sand. Ahead, a small
mountain range stood on the horizon.

“What
do you think we should do now?” Brian asked as he checked the Mjolnir’s
systems.

She
noticed a number of system gauges reading red. “Assess our situation.”

“It
looks like our enemy’s hit something important.” Brian sighed, scratching his
head. “We’re going to have to find somewhere with cover.” He looked to the
back. “I need to open up the gravity drive to see why we’re losing particles.”

Kivi
joined him, looking at the back. “That’s not good. Without Aldenite the gravity
drive is nothing more than a fancy gravity engine.”

“You
fly,” he said while shaking his head. “I’m still not right.”

“Alright,”
she said as she started up the engine. She shrugged the sand off of the giant
and flew towards the mountains. It took her a few minutes to find a shrouded
area where they could hide. He put his helmet on.

“I’ll
go outside and open up the back,” he said.

Kivi
took the moment to stretch.

Brian
went out the front hatch with a howling wind filled with sand blowing all
about. Climbing his way around the waist, he moved up the back of the Mjolnir
near the top of the back, just below the neck and shoulders. After pressing set
of buttons in a specific sequence the engine cylinder popped open. He examined
the glowing engine inside.
Looks like the second and third conducting lines
are torn.
He held himself against the wind and reached in with to shut the
lines off. Closing his eyes, he felt the right spots and shut the engine down.
Taking a look, the glow was gone. He closed the back hatch and made his way
back into the cockpit. Closing the door behind him, Brian took off his helmet.
“Try rebooting the engine system.”

“Sure,”
Kivi said as she flipped the switch, turning the systems off for a moment, with
darkness filling the room for a few seconds. The lights came back on, and the
red started to disappear from the gauges. “Looks like whatever you did is
working.”

“I
had to disconnect the second and third conducting lines to the main drive. That
means we’ll only be able to go up to sixty percent of full power.”

She
put a hand on his shoulder. “You rest for a while, I’ll stay on watch.”

“Sure.”

Brian
woke up in the room behind the cockpit and banged his head against the wall.
Dammit
Kivi, can’t you fly more gracefully?
He thought as he opened the door to
the cockpit.

“It’s
good to see you awake,” Kivi said as she flew the Mjolnir through blazing
desert.

“Next
time, take it easy,” he pointed at the wound on his head, “You nearly killed me
with that last move.”

She
laughed. “Sorry about that. I was flying a bit low and ran into a tall sand
dune.”

“So
where are we going?”