Freedom Saga 1: Heaven's Light (17 page)

When the Mjolnir
came out of a gravity jump the scanners detected a small scouting fleet nearby.

“Arm all our
options,” Brian ordered.

“Are you
alright?” the Mjolnir asked as each system went on.

“Never better,”
he said. “But I can’t berserk anymore. It’s just me and you.”

“Arming cannons
and HV batteries,” the mobile suit said. “Do you wish to initiate the reflector
plates?”

“Ready them
immediately,” he said.

“Done,” the
Mjolnir said. “The enemy is holding position.”

“That’s to be expected,”
Brian said. “Please ready to send the next message.”

“Ready on your
mark,” the Mjolnir said.

Before speaking
he popped open a bottle of Kalaidian wine and drank some.

“This is Brian
Peterson speaking again. I’m sure those of you listening are amused to no end
that the first contact received is from another human being. If I’m right this
should reach Earth sometime in the year 2092. Let me clue you in on a little
secret. I’ve taken a drug given to me by the chief medical officer of the
Avoni, a Kalaidian woman named Celi. For the first time in almost two years I’m
able to think straight. Now that I’m normal the messages from now on will
hopefully make more sense. But given my current state I doubt that,” he paused
to take a sip of wine, “The Kalaidian people make the best wine I’ve ever
tasted. Yes, that’s right; aliens drink alcohol and all kinds of other things.
For example, the Shandi drink a heavy tea as beer. I didn’t complain when given
a cup because I hadn’t had caffeine in over a year. The reason for that is the
people who took me in, the Kalaidians, have a strange reaction to caffeinated
products. For them it acts as an aphrodisiac.” Brian laughed before drinking
some more wine. “Enough of that, I’ll end up being an alcoholic if I keep this
up. What I wanted to talk to you about this time is the multitude of alien
races I’ve met in my time in space. The Greys are as I’ve warned. The people
who took me in are called Kalaidians, and for the most part, they look a lot
like us. Because a plagued wiped out all of their males a century and a half
ago, I’m looked upon as a savior. So if you reach space and find a ton of
Kalaidians resembling me, you’ll know their attempts at mixing our blood with
theirs succeeded.” He took another sip from the bottle. “Another race I
mentioned is the Shandi. They look like huge snakes with arms and a humanlike
face. To be honest, they look kind of creepy if you’re not ready for it. More
of their philosophy is detailed in the data arriving with this message, but
they’re decent people.” He scratched his disheveled hair. “The next race is the
Malcovin and they’re a large bird descended race. In spite of their cawing and
obsession with shiny objects they’re a lot more human like than one would
think…”

“Brian, the
fleet is closing in on us,” the Mjolnir reported.

“Well, I guess
we’ll have to leave the rest to the data file,” he said. “I have another battle
to survive. This is Brian Peterson signing off.”

“The message has
been sent,” the mobile suit reported.

The ships launched
their Lances and surrounded them again. The lights flashed as they opened fire
with their pulse cannons. Brian piloted the Mjolnir and dodged as many as
possible while the shield took the rest. When the Lances closed in as the
Mjolnir returned fire with its pulse cannon.

“Deploy
reflector plates in power position,” Brian said.

“Of course,” the
Mjolnir said.

The plates
attached to the mobile suit popped off and flew into a cylindrical formation in
front of the pulse cannon.

“Activate dragon
wing protection field,” he said.

“Activating,”
the Mjolnir responded.

The new wings on
the Mjolnir extended outward and created a protective field around the mobile
suit. It slid the shield aside and grasped the pulse cannon with both hands
before bracing itself. The Lances continued closing and firing, finding the
shield around the Mjolnir was too much for their weapons. As their shots
battered the lone mobile suit’s shields, the cannon lit up and fired a blast
through the reflector plates. The normal sized red pulse was amplified by a
magnitude of ten as it blasted out the other side and flew through a number of
Lances. The pulse of energy ended its flight after slamming through a pair of
Confederation ships. Brian shifted the Mjolnir’s direction and fired again,
blasting through half a dozen mobile suits and another three ships. As he moved
to fire again the ships and Lances spread out as they continued firing. When
the Mjolnir fired another volley into their fleet the ships started firing HV
missiles. The shields outside absorbed the blasts but the shaking was immense.

“What’s our
currently status?”

“Our shields are
holding at eighty percent,” the Mjolnir reported. “At the current rate the
enemy will be wiped out and leave us at fifty percent.”

“I suspect they
don’t have the stomach for that,” he said.

Brian shifted to
attacking the approaching Lances. As they suffered damage or were destroyed
each tossed an explosive mine at the Mjolnir. The explosions covered the mobile
suit in light. As the smoke cleared the shields held but the outer hull was
dented by the pressure.

“Shift
reflectors to spread fire mode,” Brian said.

While the
Mjolnir dodged another pair of thrown mines the reflector plates opened up
holes in the cylinder shape to create a number of barrels.

“Done,” the
Mjolnir reported.

The pulse cannon
fired into the newly shaped cylinder. Instead of amplifying the pulse into a
large blast it forced it into a number of smaller shots and fired in all
directions. The Lances nearby suffered damage and pulled away. The
Confederation fleet retrieved their ships while laying down cover fire. The
Mjolnir moved to chase them.

“Let them go,”
he said.

“Are you sure we
shouldn’t purse?” the mobile suit asked.

“This is a war
of attrition,” Brian explained. “Despite our impressive showing our enemy has the
luxury of numbers. Retrieve the reflector plates and shut down the protective
field.”

“As you wish,”
the Mjolnir said.

* *
*

The main fleet
gravity jumped into the debris field the Mjolnir left behind. Baeron and Siata
watched as the mobile suit flew away.

“Sir, we’re receiving
the data on the Mjolnir’s new attack and defense systems,” the science officer
reported.

“Please put it
up on the monitor,” Baeron ordered.

“Yes sir,” the
science officer said.

The monitor
showed the video the Mjolnir during the battle a few hours prior. Everyone on
the bridge watched with great interest.

“The Mjolnir
isn’t glowing red anymore,” Baeron observed. “Why do you think he’d change
tactics and use the special weapons on his mobile suit?”

“He can’t
berserk anymore,” Siata said.

“Why couldn’t
he?”

“He chose life,”
she said. “The Teacher didn’t have the option.”

“What about the
display of light before?”

“For a brief
time he awakened,” Siata said. “Something happened to him during those moments.
From what I can see he had one card left to play if he wanted to live.”

“It was probably
something lieutenant commander Celi prepared ahead of time,” Baeron said.

“No doubt,” she
said.

“If he can’t
berserk it’ll only be a matter of time,” Baeron said.

“It was never
his intention to hold out forever,” Siata said. “His goal was to draw us out
here as a distraction.”

“So his allies
had time to prepare?”

“Precisely,”
Siata answered. “But we’ll catch our prey. Brian has crossed the threshold and
survived to tell the tale. I’m guessing he’s had a few questions answered as
well.”

* *
*

Grigon entered
Myden’s dark quarters onboard the Freedom. The old Malcovin made sure to close
the door behind him. After he did so the hooded Grey stepped out of the
shadows.

“Is it time?”
Grigon asked.

“Yes,” Myden
said. “Brian is about to be captured by the Confederation. We must prepare the
Maidens for the next stage.”

“All five of the
special models are ready to roll out,” Grigon said. “And the Freedom is almost
complete.”

“Can it fight?”

“It’s not at one
hundred percent,” Grigon said. “But if something comes up it is ready.”

“Very well,”
Myden said. “Once he’s been captured I’ll call everyone together. It’s time
they knew the truth.”

The Mjolnir gravity
jumped into another solar system the next day. It appeared near a gas giant
surrounded by asteroids and moons. Brian sat in the cockpit and finished off
the bottle of wine. Afterwards he cracked open an emergency ration and ate it
with little enjoyment.

“You’re not
drunk, are you?” the Mjolnir asked.

Brian laughed as
he ate. “No, Valis only gave me one bottle,” he sighed as he stared at the
food, “This brings back bad memories.”

“Memories of the
sojourn?” the mobile suit asked.

“Yes,” Brian
said. “I’d kill for a pizza right now. Hell, I’d take a Kalaidian salad.”

“There are times
I wish I could understand these things,” the mobile suit said. “I don’t have a
sense of taste.”

“That’s right
old friend,” Brian said. “Your energy comes from a gravity drive, not food. I
have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“Why not have Daes
to make you an avatar?” he suggested. “If you had a body like ours you could
experience so much more. By the way, is there a good place to hide?”

“There are a
number of places,” the Mjolnir reported. “Do you prefer moons or asteroids?”

“Let’s take a
moon,” Brian said.

“As you wish,”
the Mjolnir said.

The Mjolnir flew
into a crevasse on a large rocky moon.

“What kind of
signals are you picking up?”

“We’re receiving
radio and television signals,” the mobile suit said. “From what I can tell it’s
the 1950s.”

“Continue
recording,” Brian said.

“Is there a
reason why I’m doing this?”

“I want to hear
the voice of a human,” Brian said. “That and I have a home to return to.”

“Are you talking
about Earth?”

“Yes and no,” he
said. “Earth is a place I’d love to see one more time. But I doubt we’ll get
there. The home I’m talking about is where ever she is. Where ever they are.
Seles and the others mean too much to me to abandon them. When I was suffering
from the red eyed glare I wasn’t able to think about things in real time. I
couldn’t see what I was doing to hurt them. Now I know these things.”

“I miss them
too,” the Mjolnir said.

“I’m sure you
do,” Brian said. “We’re most happy when we’re with those we love.”

“What is
happiness?”

“Happiness…is
important,” he said. “Without it we can’t live good lives and often we don’t
know we had it until it’s gone.”

“Will I ever
come to know what it is?”

“I think you
already have,” Brian said. “That’s it! It’s time ready the next message.”

“Recording on
your mark,” the Mjolnir said.

“This is Brian
Peterson speaking again and my time on the run may be coming to an end soon. If
the timer is correct this should reach Earth in the year 2087. I wonder what
Earth will be like in that year? Have you unified as one, or are you still at
war? I doubt conflict has left you yet, but the door is opening. You see, each
of us is searching for something in our lives, a reason to live. For some it’s
to live under god. For others it’s to live in harmony with nature. There are
innumerable options but it stems from a common source. What we seek is happiness.
A place where poverty, fear, and hate has been banished to the dark ages.
Perhaps the utopia I speak of is unrealistic. Perhaps it can’t come true. I
know this and yet I can’t help but seek it. I don’t want perfection; what I
seek is a better world then the one we live in. I hope someday to look upon the
Earth and see a people not at war, but at peace. I say this because though I
haven’t been home in over a decade I still love our blue Earth. I love its
oceans and skies, rivers and mountains, with green forests and snowy ice caps.
You don’t know how beautiful the Earth is until you see it from afar. I hope
one day you can see the Earth as I do, as a beautiful blue pearl floating in
the darkness of space.” The image of Earth filled his mind. “This is Brian
Peterson signing off.”

“It’s been
sent,” the mobile suit reported.

Brian sniffed
the air before looking at himself. “I need a shower.”

“We’re low on clean
water,” the Mjolnir said.

Brian laughed. “I
was too busy awakening to keep track of stuff like that. Well, let’s find a
nice piece of ice and start processing.”

The Mjolnir flew
outside and scanned the area. “There’s an ice field only a hundred
ketres
away.”

“Let’s go,”
Brian said. He locked his exoskeleton’s helmet on. “Man, I need a shower.”

The Mjolnir flew
into an area filled with ice. The dark gas giant below loomed over the entire
horizon. In the distance the parent star shined dimly. Brian pushed the button
to suck all the air and pressure from the cockpit and took a step outside. His
feet magnetically clung to the Mjolnir as it took chunks of ice and crushed
them.

“How’s the
purity?”

“It’s close to
one hundred percent clean,” the mobile suit reported. “Nothing the filtering
system should have a problem with.”

Brian gazed at
the bands of clouds on the planet below. “This is amazing.” He grabbed a small
piece of ice and looked at it. The Mjolnir put the crushed ice into a valve on
its back. Brian gazed at the star in the distance. He walked up to the shoulder
of the Mjolnir and sat next to its head. “This is what I dreamed of when I was
young.”

“You wanted to stare
at ice?”

Brian laughed.
“No, I dreamed of being an astronaut. I wanted to see Earth from the moon. I
wanted to walk on the red dust of Mars. If I died right now my life would be
fulfilled.”

“What does it
mean to be fulfilled?”

“To be fulfilled
is to be content, or happy to put it another way,” Brian said. The dim sunlight
glinted off the lenses of the exoskeleton’s helmet. “When I look at planets
like this I realize just how small I am.”

“I’m not much
bigger,” the Mjolnir said.

“When compared
to the size of planets and stars we’re nothing more than specs of dust.” Brian
stood up and tossed the chunk of ice at an asteroid in the distance. “I feel
like I finally have some perspective.” The two sat silent for a while. After a
few minutes Brian looked at the planet below. “Mjolnir, are you picking up any
signals related to baseball?”

“The most
current data stream is showing something called the World Series,” the mobile
suit answered. “It appears to be between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn
Dodgers.”

“1953?”

“That’s the
year,” the Mjolnir said.

“Set all the
related games aside so we can listen to them later,” Brian requested.

“Done, by the
way, the water is ready for use.”

“Great,” he said
as he headed back inside. After the air and pressure returned he removed the
helmet and stepped out of his exoskeleton. He floated into the back room and
opened the tiny bathroom door. “Mjolnir, could you move around and give me some
gravity.”

“Sure,” the
mobile suit said. It started spinning and moving around.

A short while
passed as Brian showered and changed his clothes. He stepped into the cockpit
and put on his exoskeleton again.

“How was your
shower?”

“Great,” Brian
said.

The scanners
flashed on.

“I’m picking up
another fleet,” the Mjolnir reported. “It’s twice the size of the last one.”

“How far away
are they?”

“Seven hours.”

“Good,” Brian
said. He sat back in the pilot seat and rested his head. “I’m going to get some
sleep, alright?”

“I’ll wake you
if anything happens.”

“My body is
hoping nothing does,” Brian said as he closed his eyes.