Heaven Saga 1: The Lost Hero (9 page)

Kivi nodded. “Be careful.”

After the elevator stopped she entered a hallway to
see Celi running to the bridge. She stopped and walked with Valis. “Where are
you going captain?”

“I’m going to the surface. Seles needs us and I’m
interested in this Brian,” Valis answered.

“I know captain, I’m interested as well,” Celi said.

“Have you found anything useful?” Valis asked.

“Because his species’ genetic structure is similar to
our own, I have a few ideas on what to do from here.”

Valis stopped, looking Celi in the eye. “You’d like
try and create Kalaidian males using Brian as a base?”

“Then I don’t need to say anymore,” Celi said as they
entered the shuttle bay.

“Let’s get down there before he gets himself killed,”
Valis said.

Brian turned off the computer. He went to Seles as she
slept quietly in the back of the shuttle.
She looks so peaceful right now.
He
brushed her face with his hand.
She’s really cute. Why not?
He thought,
kissing her on the cheek.

“I know you can’t hear me Seles, but thank you. The
last twelve days have been a lifetime to me,” he said as the closed the
shuttle’s back hatch.

He calmly walked in the snow and noticed the Malcovin
were indeed birdmen. They stood a head shorter than the average human with long
black feathers and black beaks. They moved with grace and speed with legs of
the reversed knee style. Their wings were very small, but their clawed hands
were quite dexterous. They wore brightly colored armor and carried long
barreled pulse rifles. They surrounded the human, unsure of what he was. He was
taller than a Kalaidian with long brown hair and facial hair. As the ring
closed around Brian he noticed a Malcovin with red plumes attached to his armor
approaching.

“I’m Lieutenant Giga of the
Rigika
. We’ve come
to except your surrender. Stand down stranger,” the birdman spoke with a high
pitched voice, filled with screeches.

Brian grinned. “So your name is Giga. My name is
Brian. I won’t let any of you take Seles. Leave now or die.”

Giga cawed. “You may be strange looking Kalaidian, but
you can’t beat us single handedly.”

Brian glanced around to see the Malcovin’s positions.
“I’m not Kalaidian. I’m just a lost traveler who found a princess on this cold moon.
I look Kalaidian, but I’m not one of them.”

Giga paced around the Terran, looking closely. “I’ve
never seen one of you kind. Just what planet do you call home?”

“Earth, but I believe your kind call it Terra Prime,”
Brian answered. He carefully slipped a hand under his cloak and began the
sequence to activate a pulse grenade.

Giga took a step back. “Did you say Terra Prime?”

“Yes, and I can’t let anyone know that fact,” he
answered. With a quick motion he threw the grenade into the snow.

Giga screeched out the command when a flash of light
and an explosion filled the area. Most of them were knocked prone with snow
blowing all around them. In the confusion they heard a single phrase uttered:
“Rakna
bel de cou”.
A red glow emitted from haze. One birdman fell as the glow
flashed to the next birdman, killing him.

“All troops retreat to the check point!” Giga
screeched as he retreated.

I feel something weird inside me.
Brian thought as he sliced the third birdman in half.
He sprinted into a small formation with the
rakna
blade and cut down
another five. Using cover from the snow he tossed the second grenade into their
midst, blowing a dozen away in the explosion. The remaining birdmen retreated,
firing pulse blasts at Brian as he followed them.  Giga, along with the few
troops left hid behind an outcropping. He pressed his com, “This is Lieutenant
Giga reporting.  A Terran named Brian encountered, we have suffered heavy
casualties. Request…” Giga’s report ended as Brian threw his last pulse grenade
into their hiding spot. Two remained. Brian walked towards the very afraid
birdmen as his eyes glowed blue.

“I’m sorry,” Brian said, grinning oddly. “It’s nothing
personal.” He decapitated the two foot soldiers with a spinning slash.

Brian touched his left shoulder.
One of their shots
got through.
Blood trickled onto the snow. He grimaced in pain.
I can’t
let that ship of theirs leave this moon with any information.
He saw the
drop ship close by and ran towards it in haste. As he came to the cube shaped
ship he noticed the back hatch was wide open. Standing at the top was a
Malcovin dressed in full armor, with blue and white plumes adorning his armor.
He walked down the ramp with a spear in hand.

“I am Commander Dragik. My Lieutenant’s last
transmission said your name is Brian, and that you’re Terran. Is this correct?”
the birdman asked.

“Yes,” Brian answered as he took a battle stance.

“I pray to the gods you’re alone Terran.” Dragik
pointed to the dead bodies lying all over the open plain. “My warriors were
nothing compared to you. Even protected in full armor and carrying the latest
pulse rifles, a single Terran was the death of them.”

“Dragik, your tactics were flawless. But your men
fought for a prize. I fight to survive, and that’s the most important thing to
my people.”

“Then let’s see who survives!” Dragik cawed loudly as
the spear he held began glowing. He charged Brian with the fiery lance. He
deflected the spear, thrusting his
rakna
blade deep into the Malcovin
commander’s chest. Gasping, Dragik dropped his weapon. The snow boiled into
steam as the glowing spear touched the ground. The birdman stood as the life
drained away in his eyes. He grasped Brian’s shoulder and took a small data
crystal out from under his armor.

“He said…you would come. With the Thunder gone, I was
entrusted…with this…for you. Use it well, and survive…Terran, survive…and claim
your title as the Dragon…,” the birdman’s eyes went blank.

Brian removed the blade and placed Dragik on the
ground. The birdman looked content in death. His eyes stopped glowing. He felt
the ache in his shoulder growing and saw he was bleeding badly. He shoved the
data crystal into his jeans pocket.
Who is the Thunder, and how did he know
I was coming to space?
He thought. As he began heading back to the shuttle,
he felt weak and fell to the ground. He rolled over and faced up. Barely able
to breathe he reached up with his bloody hand as if he could touch the sky.
So
this is what it’s like to die.
He thought, laughing.
I didn’t think it
feel so warm.
His hand fell back into the snow.
Was it worth it?
He
closed his eyes and thought of Seles.
Yeah, it was. Goodbye Seles.

* * *

Seles awoke and noticed she was alone. The pulse rifle
was on the ground next to her.
Where did Brian go?
She opened the back
hatch and walked outside. She saw another shuttle near as Kalaidian troops
spread out on the snowfields. She headed for the other shuttle and noticed
Valis was leading the ground party.

Seles ran over to them. “Captain, where is Brian!?”

Valis turned. “It’s good to see you’re alright Seles.
As for Brian, we haven’t been able to locate him. Our troops are moving towards
the other ship.”

An ensign ran over to Valis. “We’ve found the alien.
All of the Malcovin who landed are dead.”

Valis went to a nearby hill with binoculars in hand.
She surveyed the area near the Malcovin ship, seeing the dead bodies. “First an
entire Grey crew, now a squad of seasoned Malcovin mercenaries? What surprises
does this one have in store for me?” she asked herself.

A moment later a quartet of Kalaidians carried a
stretcher with Brian lying still. Seles ran to it.

“Brian! Are you alright!?” she reached out and touched
his unconscious body.

Celi placed a hand on her shoulder. “He’ll be alright
once we get back to the ship Seles.”

“I want to stay with him, okay?” Seles said.

Celi glanced at Brian, then Seles. “Just don’t get in
the way, alright?”

“Of course,” Seles said as they boarded a shuttle.

* * *

Seles stood outside Valis’s quarters and waited.
Exhaustion filled her eyes as she stared at the floor. The door opened.

“Come in,” Valis said, smiling.

“Thanks,” Seles said as they entered the room. After
the door closed the two embraced with tears in their eyes.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Valis said. “I was really
worried about you.”

“I know, I feel the same,” Seles said. “When we
crashed I didn’t know if the Avoni had survived.”

“Let’s be happy everything turned out for the best,”
Valis said.

“You’ve always been like my big sister,” Seles said.

Valis pulled away to compose herself. “I hate spoiling
the moment, but I need you to explain everything that happened during those twelve
days. What species is he?”

“His name is Brian,” she answered. “He claims to be
from Terra Prime.”

“He’s really a Terran?” Valis asked.

“Yes. At least, that’s what he says,” Seles said.

“His people aren’t supposed to be wandering the stars
for several centuries. How is this possible?”

“He was taken by the Greys against his will,” Seles
said. “He told me they’d experimented on him for years. As for his people,
Brian told me Terrans have the ability to explore their own solar system but
are still unable to travel between star systems.”

“What kind of a person is he?”

“Every time I thought I was going to die, he’d simply
smile and tell me that wasn’t an option,” Seles cleared her throat and tried to
emulate Brian’s voice: “No matter what it takes, I’m going to get you off this
cold rock.” He kept saying that to me Valis, and here I am, still alive after
all we went through.”

“He does sound different from the Terrans we’ve been
told about,” Valis said as she turned on her video monitor. “Before you left
the shuttle, did you check for anything?”

“You mean the escape shuttle?” Seles asked.

“Did you check it before you came outside?”

“No.” Seles looked at Valis.  “Should I have checked?”

“Before he left, Brian left you a video message. I’m
the only one who’s seen it so far, but I think it’s important that you see it
as well Seles,” Valis said as she turned on the video.

Brian appeared in the video: “This might be the last
message I ever leave, so let me say what must be said. In our short time
together Seles, I learned more than I could’ve ever imagined. I will also tell
you the truth behind my people’s strength. We will fight, suffer, and even die
for those we love and the ideals we believe in. Only once before in my life did
I felt that way, but it was lost to me. But now that’s changed. I have a reason
to fight, to live, and to exist. I believe in you Seles. I believe in the
future you’re striving for. I believe in the kind heart you’ve shown to me. You
gave me hope when I’d lost it. And so, I give the only thing I can to you: my
life. It’s the only thing I have to give, and so I wish you happiness in your
future. Goodbye Seles, our time together may have lasted only twelve days, but
to me, it felt like a lifetime.”

The video ended. Silence filled the room. Seles and
Valis embraced again.

“I don’t understand Valis. Why would he do such a
thing?” she asked.

Valis looked into Seles’s eyes. “Maybe he’s the Herald
we’ve been waiting for. For years we’ve prayed to Kali for someone to save us,
to save our future. He could be the one.”

“But if he is, he doesn’t know anything about it,”
Seles said.

“Even if he isn’t, it doesn’t matter. He’s proven
himself. Anyone who’s willing to do what he was will find a place amongst my
crew.”

Brian was unconscious on a bed in the corner of the
medical lab. Celi was busy with numerous computers in the room, while Seles sat
in a chair next to the bed.

“Did Brian tell you what species he is?” Celi asked.
She picked up a medical scanner and started running it over his body.

Seles brushed his beard with her hand. “He’s Terran.”

“I didn’t expect them to look so much like us,” Celi
remarked.

“He wishes to join our crew,” Seles said.

Celi finished her scan and input the data into the
main computer. “What would he be best at?”

Seles looked up from the sleeping Brian. “He was able
to learn our language, history, and technology fairly fast.” She paused in
thought for a moment. “I’m not sure to be honest.”

As Seles and Celi talked, Brian started waking up. He
heard their voices off in the distance at first, getting closer as he roused.
Looking to his left he saw Seles talking to Celi. They both noticed he was
awake.