Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (21 page)

Valis
narrowed her eyes. “Let’s get to the point. What deal did my
Maigar
make
with you?”

“None
Captain Valis,” he said. “Brian’s an honorable warrior and hasn’t forsaken you.
I asked him to fight beside my forces.”

“So
you didn’t force him?”

“No.
As I said, I asked him to fight. He took command of the other prisoners and
helped my injured soldiers. I wasn’t expecting him to do that.”

“That’s
part of his personality,” Valis said. “He knows little of the feud between our
peoples.” She closed her eyes before sighing, “So if it’s not about a deal with
Brian, why did you come?”

“I
came to ask for an alliance.”

“What?”
Valis asked.

“I
know you were not expecting me to ask of this, but the Terran has shown our
peoples can work together. I probably don’t have to mention I know what’s about
to happen on Dega Jul.”

She
paced around Shiken, sizing up the Shandi. “What’s about to happen on Dega Jul?”

“The
Duchess plans to destroy the Kein family,” he answered.

“I
already know this.”

“I’m
sure you do. But what you probably don’t know is that they’re planning to
attack within the next seven days.”

“Are
you sure of this?” Valis asked.

“Yes.
My spies have been feeding my organization information constantly as of late.
The Duchess knows if she doesn’t act soon the High Council will make a
decision.”

“Do
your spies know where they’ll strike first?” Valis asked.

“They’re
on it right now,” Shiken answered. “That’s all I can say for now.”

“Thank
you,” Valis said. She held out her hand to shake his and saw the cut on his
hand.

“This
is the greeting custom Brian used,” Shiken remarked.

Valis
smiled, “Kalaidians traditionally bow to greet one another, but since it was a
Terran who brought us together, I thought using his people’s way was best.”

“He
won’t betray you Captain Valis. Now that he’s my brother by arms and by blood,
I will favor Brian’s decisions.”

“You
seem quite taken by him,” Valis said.

“Yes,
but for another reason. Long ago the Teacher came to your people and said one
day he’d return in search of aid. Brian’s the one to fulfill that task. The
same may be true of my people. He’s the one we’ve waited for and forgotten, the
Knight of Aquarius.”

“Are
you sure about this?” she asked.

“Once
I confirm it I’ll send you the details on this hidden piece of my peoples’ mythology.
Watch him Lady Star, and follow the path he walks. His footprints in the sands
of time will be the path to the future.” Shiken took his falchion back and
sheathed it in a blur.

“Why?”
Valis asked as he turned to leave.

“Brian’s
eyes glow with the starlight path,” Shiken explained. “That man is no longer a
man, but something much more. I see something in his eyes, something other than
just the
Kai
. I see a greatness that shames even the pride in my heart.
Where he goes, I will follow.”

“You’d
follow him even if that leads to your death?” Valis asked.

Shiken
smiled as the back hatch started to close. “Though time may move forward and
stars will perish, I never see a day when that man’s soul will die. His body,
perhaps, but his will shall endure forever.”

The
Mjolnir landed in its assigned space in the cargo bay as a number of engineers
ran over for maintenance. Seles changed the command language back to English
before looking at Brian.

“I
doubt I’ll be flying this for a while,” she said.

“What
do you mean by that?” Brian asked as he opened the hatch. Looking out, opposite
of the Mjolnir stood a giant nearly as large with a more fluid body design. The
other Kalaidians began their work on the mobile suit.

Mira
patted him on the back to get his attention. “Looks like you‘ll have some
competition.”

“So
what do you think?” Seles asked. “That’s the prototype Phase Rakna. Daes keeps
calling it the Zero though.”

“Have
you given it a test flight?” he asked.

“Not
yet. Daes still has to finish the Q-Drive’s filtering system,” Seles said they
took the elevator cord down.

Valis’s
voice came over the com, “Lieutenant Mira, I’d like to speak with you in my
quarters right away.”

Mira
looked a little confused as she emerged from the Mjolnir. Seles looked up as
Mira took the elevator cord to the ground.

“Did
you do something wrong?” Seles asked.

“Not
that I know of,” Mira answered. She dusted off the sand on her clothes. “I
guess I’ll see you two later.” Mira took her leave. She smiled and waved at
Brian as the door closed behind her.

“Strange,”
Brian said before wincing. “That fall isn’t agreeing with me at all.”

“Then
let’s get you to Celi,” Seles said as she led Brian by the hand.

* * *

Mira
hit the buzzer on Valis’s door.

“Come
in,” Valis said as she opened the door. The large room was dark, lit only by
the monitor on the computer.

“What
can I do for you Valis?” Mira asked curiously.

“Explain
this,” Valis said before changing the monitor to a picture of Mira Kein a
hundred and fifty seven years earlier.

Mira
shook her head. “I was hoping you’d never find out about that.”

“It’s
not difficult to figure out once you’ve mentioned it to a few people,” Valis
said, walking up close to Mira. “How is possible you didn’t age?”

“When
the accident happened my father sealed me away in a secure location to heal in
cold sleep. Unfortunately, he died without telling anyone where I was. So I
slept Valis, I slept for a hundred and fifty years. I don’t know exactly how I
was discovered but I found myself in the captivity of some Reiki scientists. I
spent maybe a year under their care as they studied me. I escaped to find I was
on Dega Jul. I was alone, confused, out of time. I was taken in by Jesela and
trained at the Kein academy to be a medic.”

Valis
stepped closer and ran her hand behind Mira’s ear to check for the mark. She
grabbed the captain’s hand.

“Don’t
touch me!”

Valis
backed away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Tell me, what’s the secret you’re keeping
with Brian? He knows something and won’t say anything about it.”

“That’s
between him and me,” Mira stared Valis down, “I won’t say anymore. If I must I’ll
leave.”

Valis
backed off after seeing the battle was lost. “On another subject, you do know
you have rightful claim to our family’s title and wealth. Veda would have to
recognize your position within the family.”

“Long
ago I gave up my name. I live only for my friends now,” Mira said. “Anyways,
Veda was always better at running the house.”

“I
take it that you don’t care for the intrigue?”

Mira
nodded. “That’s the nice way of putting it. I was nearly killed the first time
because of family intrigue; I want nothing more to do with it.”

“Thank
you,” Valis said. “I promise to not say anything to Veda or the others about
you Mira, but in time they will find out about you.

“I
know,” Mira said. “Someday soon I’ll have to face reality, but for now, I’ll
hide in the shadows.”

“Alright,
you can go now, but please send me that report quickly.”

“Of
course,” Mira said as she left the room.

Valis
sat in thought of a long while. She felt the Avoni gravity jump as she did so.
Taking another sip of wine, she stared at the pictures of her youth and gazed
into Queen Celestia’s image.
What should I do?
As she stood up to look
at the picture up close her eyes were drawn to a new picture on the far end of
the shelf, one with the image of Brian before the High Council. Her fingers
stretched over his image, with a smile coming over her. As she was did so a
message came over the com.

“All
officers report to battle stations,” Kivi commanded.

“Captain,
it looks like we’re surrounded,” Zae reported.

Next
to the Avoni were three Kalaidian vessels, as well as Shiken Ka’s pair of ships,
the Gigos, and a smaller, light class ship. Zae rolled the picture of the
monitor and showed a number of ships positioned around their small fleet.

“I’m
counting six Jckta class vessels and three Geld class ships. All enemy ships
are launching their smaller attack vessels,” Kivi reported.

Valis
sat in thought for a moment, calculating what to do. She drew up a quick
formation and sent it to the main monitor. The formation looked like a triangle
pointing down, with the three Kalaidian ships at the front, the Gigos in the
center and the Avoni at the rear. She moved the screen to show where they were
supposed to go.

“I
take we’re in the rear because of the Mjolnir?” Kivi asked.

Valis
smiled, “Yes. We also have another ace up our sleeve.”

“The
Zero’s complete?” Kivi asked.

“Yes.
We’ll deploy the Mjolnir to support the smaller Shandi ship. Seles and the
Novas will remain behind to guard the Avoni.” Valis stood up and put her hand
on Zae’s shoulder. “Send the battle plan to the other ships.”

“I’m
on it captain,” Zae answered before delivering the battle formation to the rest
of the ships. It only took a few seconds for the other ships to move into
formation, following Valis’s lead perfectly.

* * *

Seles
noticed the alert and headed to the fighter bay when her wrist communicator
went off.

“Seles,
please head to the Zero and deploy immediately,” Valis commanded over the
communicator.

“It
hasn’t been tested yet,” Seles said as she headed to the cargo bay.

“Daes
has assured me everything’s ready,” Valis said. “If we’re going to test it,
it’s better to try it in a real battle. You’ll lead the defensive position with
the Novas.”

“Yes
captain,” Seles said as she went into the cargo bay. A number of engineers were
scrambled about to making last minute adjustments to the Mjolnir and Zero. Daes
ran over to Seles and handed her a flight suit.

“Valis
always does things like this at the last minute,” Daes said.

“But
that’s part of the fun of serving under her,” Jesela said as she joined them.

“Was
Brian already here?” Seles asked. She finished zipping up her pilot suit.

Daes
nodded. “I gave him a replacement set of armor. You’ll find the Zero’s systems
are complete and the Q-Drive is fully charged.”

Seles
placed her foot on the elevator cord. As she was taken to the cockpit she
noticed a number the engineers hard at work making four more Phase Raknas.
How
many new engineers did Valis hire for this?
She thought as she entered the
cockpit. It looked identical to the Mjolnir’s, save that it was sized for a
Kalaidian. She activated the mobile suit’s systems and quickly checked all
functions. She noticed a gauge showing the operating time remaining. She closed
the hatch and opened a com channel outside.

 “Everything’s
good to go Daes.”

Daes
and the others backed away to let Seles walk the suit to the exit port. The
Mjolnir launched first and headed for the smaller Shandi ship. Seles moved the
Zero into position and launched into space. She flew to the head of the
Novaguard squadrons and turned on her com.

“This
is Seles calling all squad leaders.”

“We’re
here,” Myli said.

“I’m
a little jealous of that new craft you have their lieutenant,” Kaela said with
a wink.

“I
think all of us are really,” added Meldi.

Seles
smiled. “I wish each of you had one as your craft, but it’ll take some time and
a lot of money.”

“Anything
special planned?” Myli asked.

“No,
take standard defensive positions around the Avoni. Anything major becomes my
target.”

“Yes
lieutenant,” all of them answered.

* * *

“It
appears they’re using the battle plan I predicted,” Riga said over the com.
Dreka sat in the cockpit of his completed Talon.

“That
means their weak point will be the smallest ship,” Dreka said.

“That’s
the most likely spot for your quarry,” Riga said.

Dreka
cawed. “Good, I look forward to fighting him on even terms this time.”

“Even
isn’t good enough,” Riga said. “You must defeat him or we’ll lose this battle.”

“In
the name of my grandfather I’ll have my vengeance,” Dreka said.