Heaven Saga 3: Sojourn Into Despair (4 page)

Brian
stood on the bridge of the Avoni. He looked out of place after being only a
pilot for a long time. In front of him were Zae and Baed at their usual
stations, with Jesela standing at the rear console. Zae turned around to signal
that his transmission would be heard throughout the ship.

“To
all remaining personal of the Avoni, we’re to lead an attack on the Grey forces
waiting outside this moon. Our mission is to divert their forces long enough
for the Daevoni, the Reinkar, and all of the Reiki vessels to escape. As soon
as they’re clear of the battle and have jumped away we’ll join them shortly
afterwards. All mobile suits assume formation J-1 and activate your defensive
shields to maximum output. If an opening appears you have permission to fire at
will.” He ended transmission and turned on a signal to Seles’s mobile suit.
“Have all the injured been evacuated?”

“Yes.
Good luck, and see you on the other side,” Seles said.

“To
you as well,” he answered before turning off the com. Silence followed as the
pilots scrambled and flew outside. They moved to the Avoni’s hull before
attaching themselves to it. One by one the Raknas activated their shields,
surrounding the Avoni in a powerful green particle barrier. Baed slowly flew
the ship towards the exit.

“This
must feel strange,” Zae said, glancing back at Brian. “Normally you’d be out
there in the thick of the battle.”

“It’s
true that this feels a little different Zae,” Brian said. “But to be honest, I
feel like I’m in good company with the three of you on the bridge.”

“Shields
are at maximum output,” Jesela reported. “It looks like this plan might just
work.”

“I’m
glad to hear it,” Brian said. “I wish we’d taken the time to overhaul the Avoni
before this mission rather than after it.”

“What
would the difference be?” Baed asked.

“The
shielding systems would mirror the mobile suits, but on a much larger scale,”
Jesela explained. “Not to mention the pulse canons would match the new
shielding system as far as power.”

“How
is this achieved?” Baed asked.

“By
adding another gravity drive we can do such things, at least, in theory,”
Jesela said. “They’re installing the new systems in place on Kivi’s new ship.
Only after its constructed can we actual know the difference between reality
and theory.”

“Sounds
complicated,” Baed said. “That’s why I’m flying a starship and you’re doing
what you do Jesela.”

“I
think of it the same way friend,” Jesela said. The Avoni neared the exit of the
moon. “The special system Daes put in place is detecting a number of anomalies
outside.”

“How
many are out there?” Brian asked.

“Looks
like about ten in total,” Jesela answered.

“That’s
the amount Valis predicted,” Brian said. “I’m amazed at her ability to predict
battle situations like this.”

“That’s
how she’s always been,” Zae said. “If she gets a look at her enemy just once
she can usually come up with a viable plan to defeat them.”

“Let’s
hope that it works like that Zae,” he said as the Avoni left the safety of the moon.

* * *

As
the Avoni moved outside, a number of Grey ships appeared from the darkness of
space and began their assault, firing energy blast one after another. The
Rakna’s shields held up while the Avoni steadily advanced into open space away
from the moon’s surface. The Grey ships single mindedly focused on the Avoni
while the other ships moved away from the moon’s surface and began gravity jumping
out of the area. Seles and the other Rakna pilots were using the same defensive
formation on the Daevoni, while Dreka and the Talons did likewise with the
Reinkar. A flash of light from gravity drive began covering their ships as
Seles watched the Avoni vanish.
Good luck.
She thought as the fleet
appeared in the next star system. Captain Ezra’s image appeared on all
Kalaidian monitors.

“Maintain
our formation until we have assessed the situation,” Ezra commanded.

“Yes
captain,” all Kalaidian pilots answered.

Seles
looked at the space in front of their position, where the Avoni would’ve been
had they jumped with them. She bit her lip nervously.

“Stay
sharp lieutenant,” Dreka said over the com in a reassuring tone. “He won’t die
that easily.”

Seles
looked at her com and shook her head. “How could you tell?”

“By
the way you’re flying right now,” Dreka responded.

“Thanks,”
Seles said.

* * *

“All
of the other ships have successfully left this system,” Zae said after checking
the scanners once more.

“Alright,
I think it’s about time we leave as well,” Brian said as a pair of Grey ships
exploded nearby.

Baed
readied the gravity drive when one of the Grey ships began flying towards the
Avoni in a suicidal charge. “I won’t be able to avoid it!” she shouted. As the
Avoni began the gravity jump, the Grey ship slammed into them, causing the main
drive to spin out of control. One by one everyone onboard fell unconscious from
the strange sensation of leaping uncontrollably though space. In the moment
when it seemed the Avoni neared its breaking point, the eyes on the Mjolnir lit
up and activated its gravity drive. It sent out a massive glow of green
particles and engulfed the ship. The veil of regular space appeared once more
as the Avoni ended its journey far away from home. Those on the bridge began
woke up with the ship’s systems half online. Brian stood up and ran over to
Zae.

“Zae,
wake up!” he shouted. She began stirring a moment later before running her hand
through her long green hair.

“I’m
alright,” she said as she went to her console. On the other side of the bridge
Baed woke up as well and held her head.

“That
was really strange,” Baed said. Brian walked over to her.

“Are
you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah,
I’m alright,” she answered before brushing back her long platinum blonde hair
and returning to her station. Brian turned to see Jesela standing up as well.

“I’m
alright,” Jesela said. “I’ll start calculating our position immediately.”

After
everyone had gotten their bearings Jesela called up a star chart.

“Where
are we?” Brian asked while looking at the map. Jesela called up the image with
a look of concern on her face.

“We’ve
jumped from this point to here,” Jesela said. The map showed they had moved a
significant distance further than a standard gravity drive would entail.
“According to the position of the stars we’re still inside the Alden galaxy. But
if the positioning is correct it’ll take us six months to reach Confederation
space.”

“Six
months!” both Baed and Zae shouted.

“Where
exactly are we?” Brian asked before narrowing his eyes.

“Deep
within Grey territory,” Jesela answered. “The main gravity drive’s out for the
time being.”

Zae
stood up. “What should we do? What can we do?”

“Survive,”
Brian answered. “Call the Raknas back and put everyone on standby. Jesela, get
everyone you can spare on the gravity drive. That’s your priority for now.”

“Of
course,” Jesela said before running off the bridge.

“Zae,
get me a detailed list of all remaining personnel on the Avoni.”

“Yes,”
she said as she called up the list.

“Baed,
look for a good hiding spot for us to go until we can figure things out.”

“Sure,”
Baed said. She flew the Avoni towards a gas giant nearby.

“The
list has been sent to the captain’s computer as well as your quarters,” Zae
reported as she turned to speak with him once more.

“I
can see you’re anxious Zae,” he said before standing between the two front
consoles. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Whatever
force decided to do so has separated us from our friends by a long distance.
How long it may take us to reach home is also uncertain, although I do have a
few ideas on where to start. But what worries me more than anything is where we
are.”

“Right
in the middle of hostile territory,” Zae said. “I pray they don’t have a
perfect surveillance system in place to cover their whole territory.”

“Let’s
hope,” he said. The headache he’d ignored started coming back.
Dammit, I
wish I knew what was causing this.
Brian thought to himself.

* * *

After
the light show by the malfunctioning gravity drive had ended, Celi stood up
alone in her medical lab. Looking out to the main room, she saw three medical
attendants were waking up. She went into the main sickbay. “Ensign Tria, Ensign
Laedi, and Ensign Mari, are the three of you okay?”

“I’m
alright,” Tria answered.

“A
little bump on the head, but nothing more,” Laedi said.

“Nothing
to worry about,” Mari said. “But commander, you have a cut on your head.”

Celi
brushed her hand over her head and felt some blood on her. “I’ll take care of
it in a moment. That gravity jump wasn’t normal, not at all.”

Brian’s
voice came over the come system. “All senior officers, please report to the
bridge.”

Celi
took a regenerator and ran it over her cut. “The three of you stay here until
further notice. I’m not sure what happened, but your services may be needed at
any moment.”

“Yes
commander,” the three answered as Celi left for the bridge.

Brian,
Baed, and Zae waited on the bridge for everyone else to show up. The first was
Jesela. She ran in and called up her work on the bridge’s main monitor. The
next to enter was Meldi, one of the two leaders of the Rakna pilots remaining
with the ship. A moment later Celi arrived.

“I
called all of you here to inform you of the situation,” Brian explained. He
motioned for Jesela to put their location on the monitor.

“That’s
impossible,” Celi said with shock on her face.

Meldi
had the same look on her face. “Are we really?” she asked.

“Yes,”
Brian said. “We’ve been stranded far away from Confederation territory. In
addition, the main gravity drive is down. And to make matters worse we’re the
only officers remaining onboard.”

“Seles,”
Meldi said. “Are you saying I’m in charge of the Raknas?”

“Yes,”
Brian answered. “As of now ensign Meldi, I’m granting you a field promotion to
lieutenant.”

Meldi
looked quite nervous as she saluted. “Yes commander,” she.

“So,
the worst case scenario has happened,” Celi said. “How are we going to get
home?”

“Without
the main drive it will take us several hundred thousand years to reach
Confederation space,” Jesela said while smiling sarcastically.

“Alright
Jesela, tell us the real timeline,” Celi said.

“Of
course,” Jesela said. She called up a number of models on the monitor. “If we tap
the Mjolnir’s gravity drive it’ll take us about two years to reach
Confederation space, barring any interference from the Greys. If we can find
some Aldenite along the way we can recharge the main drive’s particles, thus
shortening the amount of time to get home. Using that method it would take us a
minimum of six months to reach Confederation space.”

“Six
months to two years,” Meldi said.

“Given
that we’ll be away from any known allied vessels for a very long time, I think
it’s proper to inform the crew myself,” Brian said. “I want to explain to each
one of them the situation. There are a hundred and twenty two crew members
still onboard. I want to make sure everyone’s ready for this long journey.”

“According
to the command structure Valis put in place, Brian will act as the captain,”
Zae explained. “I’ll act as his first officer with Celi acting as the second
officer. Meldi, you’ll need to choose at least one other pilot to act as your
second. She’ll receive the same rank as you.”

“Myli,”
Meldi answered. “She’s the only remaining squad leader.”

Zae
motioned to continue. “Also, because we’re down to sixty percent of the full
crew, each crew member’s shift will be changed to eight standard hours rather
than six. This means we’re using the three shift system instead of the usual
four. As of now our food and water stores are at half stock, which means we
have another six months of supplies left. Until we can find an alternative food
and water source we’ll have to cut back to half rations. Brian’s also suggested
that we conserve power by shutting down all unoccupied crew quarters, as well
as for all remaining crew to pair together and share quarters.”

Baed
raised her hand. “What if we’re already in pairs?”

Zae
smiled. “Maybe I should have been a bit clearer. Junior officers will bunk in
quartets and trios where possible, all senior officers will share their
quarters with one other. If energy becomes an issue power rationing will be
further enforced.”

“It’s
going to be a bit cramped down below,” Jesela said.

“Most
definitely,” Meldi sighed, “And I thought getting a promotion was a good
thing.”

“I
want all of you to report what’s been shown to your subordinates,” Brian said.
“I’ll be by to speak with each crew member in the next few days.”

Meldi
saluted. “I’d better get down to the pilots and tell them what’s going on,” she
said before leaving in haste.

“I’ll
make sure to tell the engineering crew what the situation is,” Jesela said as
she headed out.

“This
seems so unreal,” Celi said.

“We’re
going to need you to keep an eye on the crew,” Zae said. “With the knowledge
that we’re stranded on our own with limited supplies it’s inevitable morale
will sink.”

“That’s
why I want to meet each one of them and talk with them,” Brian said. “I want to
make sure everyone’s alright mentally.”

“The
real problem stems from the fact that we were already on a long term mission
away from any civilized planet,” Celi said. “Of course the ship gives us all
the sunlight we need to survive, but the lack of space is going to close in on
us much faster. I’m not the only one who was looking forward to seeing the sky
from the surface of an actual planet.”

“No,
you definitely weren’t,” Zae said. “The thought of being held up in the Avoni
for another two years doesn’t sound enjoyable.”

“In
any event, we must keep an eye out on the crew,” Brian said. “Morale’s going to
be low and I don’t suspect it’ll be going up anytime soon.”

“I’ll
do my best to keep an eye on everyone,” Celi took Brian’s hand, “Speaking of
which, you’ve been putting off a physical for a long time now.”

“Zae,
take care of things while I’m gone,” he said as he followed Celi off the
bridge.

“Of
course,” Zae said as they left.

Once
the door on the elevator closed the headache became too much for Brian. He
knelt down, cringing in pain.

“What’s
wrong?” Celi asked. She took out her scanner.

“For
the last few days I’ve been having horrible headaches. I would’ve gone to you
earlier, but the situation hasn’t allowed for it,” he said. He stood up and
took a deep breath.

“Nothing’s
showing on the scanner,” Celi said. “What kind of pain is it?”

“It’s
like a migraine. All I want to do is close my eyes and curl up in a dark
place,” Brian blinked, “I’ve been able to force it to the back of my mind to
take care of things, but I’m afraid it’s getting worse.”

“Let’s
take our time and figure this out,” Celi said as the elevator opened on the
floor to sickbay. The two quickly headed to the lab. Celi started up all her
machines. “Please take off your armor.”

“Of
course,” he said before flipping the switch to step out of the exoskeleton.

“Go
ahead and sit down, this may take a while,” she said. Brian sat on the large
bed at the other end of the room.

“This
room feels like home to me,” he said. “It feels like forever since I first
awoke in this bed.”

Celi
positioned a number of precision scanners near the bed and aimed them at him.
“Once we figure out what’s wrong I can start an appropriate treatment. For now
I’ll give you a sedative to take away the pain.” She pulled out a small
injector and shot Brian’s left arm. He flexed his hand a few times.

“Thanks,
the pain’s starting to go away,” he said.

“How
have your arm and eye been doing lately?”

He
flexed his right arm. “It feels like the original to me. As for the eye, I’ve
gotten used to standard vision, but the other options still make me a bit
dizzy.”

“That’s
to be expected,” she said. “The arm is relatively simple to replicate. The eye
on the other end of the spectrum is a very specialized organ.”

“I’m
surprised the peoples of space haven’t developed cybernetic technologies more than
they have,” he said.

“It’s
not as surprising as you think. People fear technology and what it brings. The
real reason the Keinien androids were decommissioned wasn’t because there was
no need for them; it was the fear they would turn against the Kalaidian
people.”

“That
really sounds like paranoia.”

“It
was. But as for your statement, I believe nanomachines more than make up for
the concept. Remember what they do for you.”

“That’s
why the decision to go to half ration is so easy,” Brian said. “Unless we have
to cut down further none of the crew will notice a difference in their energy
levels.”

“True,
but our stomachs will grumble a little more,” Celi said. She turned to one of
her scanners. “What the hell is that?”

“What
is it?”

Celi
turned the monitor so Brian could an image of his circulatory system. “You see
the small blue blips?”

“Yes.”

“Those
are the nanomachines floating around in your bloodstream.”

“Then
what are those red ones?” he asked. There were a number of red blips showing on
the screen in addition to the blue ones.

“I’m
not sure, but I’m going to take a sample of your blood.”

“Sure.”
Brian noticed the look of concern on Celi’s face. “Tell me, what do you think
it is?”

She
took a draw of his blood and rushed to check it over microscopically. “I want
to make sure before I say anything,” she said with a faint quiver in her voice.
She looked at the sample closely under the microscope. “How is this possible?”

“What
is it?” he asked as he went over to her. She pulled away from the device before
turning away. He took a look himself. “I see.”

“The
plague that took our males from us has begun to affect you Brian,” Celi said.
She looked him in the eyes. “You’ve been under the threat of it since the day
you met us. I’m sorry I didn’t catch this sooner.”

“How
much time do I have left?” he asked.

“You’ve
entered stage three of the illness,” she explained. “The headaches are the
first symptom to appear. The next will include body aches and the gradual loss
of muscle control. After that your primary senses will begin suffering. In the
end you’ll have no feeling in your body and your senses will be shut off.”

“How
much time do I have left?” he asked again.

“Six
months to a year,” Celi answered with sadness in her voice. “That’s how long
it’ll take to become fatal.”

“How
long can I still be useful?”

“Using
what I can to treat you, I can likely keep you on your feet and working for the
next four months.”

He
took Celi’s hand. “I want you to keep this a secret. Until we can’t keep it,
please tell no one of this. I don’t want the crew to see me as a dead man
walking.”

“Alright,”
Celi said as she started tearing up.

“And
I want you to room with me. You can keep a close eye on the progression of this
disease.”

“Alright,”
she said as she wiped away the tears, gathering her strength once more. “I’ll
do everything in my power to make sure you don’t die. If there’s a cure for my
people then there must be one for you.”

“Thank
you,” he said. “But even if I die, please find the cure. My people will need it
someday. Make sure they live, they deserve that.”

“As
you wish,” she said.

Zae’s
voice came over the com system. “Brian, please report to the bridge as soon as
possible. We’ve found a good spot to repair the ship on a moon nearby, but we’re
detecting something that may be of interest to you.”

“I’ll
be there in a minute,” Brian said.

“Don’t
push too much,” Celi said.

He
put the armor back on. “If I’ve only got six months to live I’m not going to do
it lying down. Let’s fight this together and win.”

“Yes,
let’s do that,” she said as he went to leave. Celi immediately turned to her
computers and began the arduous task finding a cure.
I won’t let him die.