Chapter Thirteen

Goal

ERIC

The final ship exploded. He watched the battle from a long window running along the entire front of the hall. He wished he could be out there supporting Mark.

It was hard to believe that they started out by hating each other. Or at least he hated Mark. Looking back now, he sees how childish it was. He could remember two months ago, they were arguing in the empty dark balcony on the Mothership.

Now, they were forced to grow up and face the reality. They were in a war. People died every second, and the chaos was everywhere. If they didn't focus, they would die. That was it.

Now, looking at the battle through the window, knowing he couldn't do anything about it, he just hoped that Mark and the others were okay.

"Found you." He turned to face the person he was avoiding.

"Trix, how did you know where I was?" he asked.

"I didn't. I just figured you'd be here. I got the feeling you were avoiding me."

"I . . . I don't know what to say."

"It's fine. I was acting stupid. I shouldn't have given you that kiss. I couldn't think straight."

"I don't blame you. I suspected it for a while."

"What do you mean? I've only felt this way for two days."

"Oh . . ."

"One more thing. I think this Sajuuk figure might be real. What else could it be? We haven't died yet, so I guess . . . I was wrong back then. In the storage room, I mean. I do trust you, hell I even admitted how much I like you. We're alive, right here, alone in this hall. Why? Was there someone planning this all? I can't answer it all."

"You don't need to. Eventually, everyone finds the answers."

MARK

I was docked with Karu's ship for half the trip back to the Mothership. "Some day huh?" I asked as casually as if talking about the weather . . . the weather of Kharak. Oh right. Now I feel depressed again.

"Really. I had lots of ships come dock with us. Most of 'em so bad you couldn't tell what ship class they were. I remembered to bring an extra barrel of that carbon fibre material to repair your ship. So it's almost as good as new. Still need to get those boosters back on though."

"Yeah, not right now though maybe in a week. I want to catch up on some stuff and relax this whole thing over."

"Well when you feel like it, give me a shout. I'll be glad to help. Got nothing better to do now do i?"

"Oh really? I thought that you and Isel were—

"Right! You heard about that . . . uh . . . sorry for stealing your ex so fast."

"I heard the story."

"And you were right about her, every bit as annoying as you said."

"Ha-ha! She's your problem now, my friend! A little advice about her, just agree on it. I learned the hard way and well, though it would be pretty funny, i don't think you would want to."

We both laughed. Isel was trouble. I managed to keep her as a friend, because she's great at that. Anything more, she's a completely different person.

"Hey, what's that by the Mothership?" he asked.

I checked it out by using the camera-zoom tool and didn't like what I was seeing. It was about five minutes away at the speed we were going. "I-I don't believe it!" the remaining enemy ships were doing a kamikaze stunt into the hull of the Mothership. There were some getting blown up before impact, but many hit their target. There must have been four dozen in all. There were fighters everywhere. Though some were smashing into the ship, there were the few that were entering the hangar harmlessly as if in surrender for their defeat.

"Oh my," he must have seen it too. There were explosions on the hull. The ships were causing a lot of damage. It was horrible. They used themselves as weapons.

I couldn't take this. "Karu, release my ship. I'm going out there." He did, and without question. I think he was in too much shock to speak.

I got there in time to join the battle. It was hard with my speed disadvantage, but my skill made up for that. I'm glad to say that they didn't all kamikaze at the same time. They did it in groups of three or four. That's when we would attack.

I then arrived there, and remembered something. I was out of ammo. Idiot. I was useless.

"Red Leader? Is that you? I heard a man's voice call. What's wrong?"

"I just remembered. I'm out of projectiles." How stupid of a move was that? I just ran into a battle with people hoping I could beat them all without any help, and as it turns out, I can't fire a single bullet.

"Oh . . . then I guess we are doomed." He said disappointed.

"Hold on, I'll just go get a refill. Hold them off 'till I return." I flew down into the hangar in the fighter platforms at the top, and got out quick.

"No gas, no repair, just bullets." I yelled to the service guy. He took a piece of hull plating off, surprised by its extra weight, and dropped it with a clank! He scrambled to the floor and grabbed what looked like five rounded silver cylinders and dragged them over. Out of the hole, came what seemed like an infinite amount.

I'm not exactly sure what he did next, but he somehow connected the first few bullets to a part on the Ferin Sha and pressed a button activating something. I knew that it was a big spinning wheel that placed the projectiles evenly in a round continuous pattern that kept shooting with no delay. Soon enough, the thing stopped with the noise and I was full. Maximum capacity: one thousand shots.

And out I went, off the platform, down a few decks, and out of the blue glow and into the battle. They had managed to keep them off until I got there. Yellow Squad was hurting. I was there to help. I opened fire, and . . . out came the bullets. I was back in business. I took aim, and stopped the fighters not being blocked by the two squads. Blue was on the other side of the ship, so I didn't see them. I just hoped they could handle things.

I would say I take pride in my skills, I would even say I'm too good. But the truth is, I am. It's not a joke, or self-centeredness, or cockiness. It is the truth. I am good. Really good. Yellow Squad didn't even need to be there. I would come in from every angle and shoot down all the ships crossing my path. I freed up two wingmen and they covered me.

The numbers were slowly diminishing. Sure, a few got by, but not enough to be a threat. I knew by facts and calculations that if even half of these ships hit the Mothership, it would fall apart. We stopped that. Now, if all these ships hit, we would still survive. It was now a matter of picking them off.

We did. It was over. There were no more ships left. I went around to see that Blue Squad had made it too. We were done. We were headed for the docks. We were the last of the battle. In the distance, I saw the capital ships moving in on us, and to the very front of the Mothership, there was Jay and Karu. We were all out of this. Well not for certain. I didn't know what happened to Eric or Isel, I just hoped for the best. I had nothing left here, so I decided to head in to dock.

ARAZIS

She was forced out of her ship into a blinding blue room. The room was full. It was full or people. She saw they all had darker hair and skin from her own, all like the pilot of the black ship. Wherever they came from, it was very hot and bright.

There was a loud cheer. She had been dropped out of the ship onto a metal floor. The gravity of the room was lower than what she was used to, so it was easy enough to get back up.

She looked through the crowd to see, "The black ship." She whispered to herself.

"What?" one of the three people surrounding her had heard? She then realised they were focused on her, not what was going on.

The crowd was loud, but they were all cheering one thing: Mark! Mark! Mark! Mark! Mark! Who was this Mark person, she didn't know.

What happened then was odd to her. The crowd parted way but didn't silence. They kept cheering, but out of the center of the crowd came a face she had only seen once. It was the pilot of the black ship. The crowd was always staring at him, with joy in their eyes and enthusiastic smiles. She knew just then. The pilot was their leader. He was their inspiration. He was Mark.

She was falling from consciousness. She took a last look around to see that she had been gassed and was passing out. She kept her eyes on the pilot for as long as she could. She needed to remember his face. "You . . ." before she could finish, she was gone.

MARK

The crowd wouldn't quit it. I stared as Jay and Rob rolled the unconscious Nebulan out of the hangar. She wouldn't be waking for hours. I had time to finish up the welcoming party and take a shower, and still have loads of time.

I noticed something important just then. They were cheering my name. My name. I felt as if I had finally succeeded in making a name for myself. Like my people would stop calling me the son of Markus, and know me as Mark Soban. I felt relief as that huge goal was succeeded. It's what I've always wanted from day one on this journey, starting with pilot training. I surpassed my father, maybe not to the fullest of his greatness, but I was known now as Mark. Just Mark. Not through Markus. It felt wrong basking in the spotlight like this, but I decided after all the pain I've had to suffer, I deserved it.

This must be how my father felt every second of his life. It felt good. I felt important. I felt great. Most of all, I felt powerful. That was the best and worst. I had their attention and their spirits. Like the Great Wastelands, they would listen to me. But I didn't need a whole speech this time.

I wanted to stay, but I needed to do something I started before the alarm went off.

I wanted to finish my shower.

ERIC

He and Trix had stood there for a while, but the battle ended and the only thing to do now was rest up. They had no idea when the next would come. In an hour? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Time meant nothing to anyone anymore. They had no idea what time was day and what was night. People slept whenever they wanted unless they had jobs and shifts. Eric quit being a janitor a while past and relied on only his job as a fighter pilot.

He got to his room, sat on his bed and thought about the day. He thought about the fight, the problem with his ship—though he can only remember parts of it—and about the kiss. Trix said it was no big deal. To him it was. Why had she done it? They had only known each other for a short time. She only liked him for two days.

What happened? He thought. All this was a lot to process just then. He agreed to let his head get in the right place first. So he passed out.

MARK

The water felt even hotter this time than the last. It didn't really matter at the time. I was clearing every thought out of my head. It felt good. The last time I got to think for this long was . . . well can't even remember all too well. I think it was one of the times I went to the observation deck; or when I was down on the cryo-levels. Like I've said many times before, time no longer has meaning to anyone. Not just that, we've lost track of what month or what day of the week it is.

So much is different now. And to think back, knowing I wasn't even supposed to be here is very surprising. I've dealt with so much these past few months, or maybe it's been a year? I don't know anymore. I wish I could.

But I can't. Khar-Illum is no longer in sight. I used to be able to look back on the Kharak System, now, it's no more. I can't even see most of the stars that you could see from home.

I've been through genocide, war, destruction, lots of pain, the death of my father, the death of everyone else as well, I've met aliens whose sole purpose is to serve the Taiidan and destroy us, I've learnt of our horrible past through the Khar-Halla, I could go on down the list of negatives for hours. Though most has been bad, there has been some good out of it. I've made new friends that I know I can trust with my life, I've reconnected with old friends, I gained respect and a name for myself, I also found a new goal to bring us to Hiigara no matter the odds. I am willing to take on the empire by myself if I need to, which I know I won't because there are so many people on my side who would die for our continuity. I've seen it in my dreams. I'm not sure how that is possible, but I did. I saw our new home. It was beautiful. It was paradise even from space. That was something worth dying for.

I, who's only seen the desolate Kharak, though beautiful in its own right, now know of oceans spanning most of a planet and lush green continents with lights from civilization covering most of the night side.

Another goal I had just recently was to understand these Nebulans. Or at least talk to the one I saved. Or got captured. I saw her, it made me stop. She was Kushan. Or at least looked to be. They would talk about the evil Taiidan being the ultimate power in the galaxy. From what I've seen, it didn't seem likely. We only ran into one fleet. The one that destroyed my home. And we destroyed them as well.

I needed to talk to her. Not just for information, I wanted to know her. I'm not sure why, it usually wouldn't be the case knowing she killed Jeroll, and most of his squad. But I still wanted to see her and get to know her. I felt horrible about the loss of Jeroll, we had become great friends since John left on the Ifriit Nabaal. I knew he had family, I knew his sister, I met his friends as well, them all gone now too, I basically knew everything about the guy. And now he's gone.

Bu now, I feel like he red-haired enemy could one day become my friend. Don't ask me how stupid and unlikely that sounds because I know. I've heard it before about so many other mysteries I wanted to chase. The first time was when I discussed running away to the north to Jen. Of course she disagreed, I ran anyway. What I found was better than the life I had been living on that farm. I found my father, I found technology like none in the south, i found the life I had missed out on. My point being, though something sounds really stupid when first heard, it may turn out for the better. I'm not saying everyone should run across hot desert for almost a year, or that you might even find what you are looking for. What I mean is that if you truly believe in something, go for it. No matter the odds. But you need to be brave for that. I almost died in that desert, more than once. I dealt with poisonous venom, dehydration, sunstroke, swarms of deadly flies, desert predators, and most of all, myself. I was alone on a journey at twelve years old. I was going insane. I'm not gonna get into too much detail, but if you don't believe to have the strength, don't bother. Until you fully accept that you are going to lose everything, don't do it. That's just what I've been living by. That was the little bit of advice I learned on my own.

And I want to help this Nebulan also. They seem like confused and scared versions of us. Maybe they are.

I realised I must have spent well over an hour in the shower, so I got out. I was expecting to be instantly freezing. That didn't happen. It was almost as hot as in the shower. That was odd.

I got dressed, but it was boiling me. I walked out my room to see people wearing thin white muscle shirts or no shirts at all. They had shorts on. What the hell? What'd I miss?

I took off the thick sweater I had on and found a pair of shorts. I didn't have a muscle shirt, sorry I did but I was full of engine grease.

I walked out of the room shirtless wearing only sandals, boxers, and shorts. No one seemed to mind. Just the opposite. If I had on the clothes from earlier I would have been laughed at.

I asked around and apparently the kamikaze stunt damaged the cooling systems and it could be weeks before it gets fixed. However long a week is.

It was a long walk down to the prison level. A dozen elevators and two dozen floors later, I came across a large series of windows. There were people lined up all along the wall. None of them looked to be prisoners, but just observers. There were several bleach-white walled rooms with single prisoners being interrogated. They all had blond, red and even white hair. But they didn't look too old. Some did, but there were people in there that looked younger than me, with white hair.

The hall ran all along the length from bow to stern. Most people weren't wearing shirts just like I wasn't. it was hot. Worse than "Kharak hot". I walked for a minute then found Jay, Rob, and Bradley standing in front of a room looking sad. I got there and knew why.

The interrogator was whipping at her. He held the two foot-long whip in his right hand and was slashing at her. I couldn't hear what was going on. This was the first violent questioning I have seen in this hall.

"Oh Sajuuk!" I said a little too loud.

"I told them you wanted to be the first to see her, but they didn't care to hear it." Jay was always my friend. I knew he tried his best.

"After all I've seen us do; this is too barbaric for us. Even the Soban do not treat their enemies this way." Rob didn't sound too enthusiastic about it either.

"Is that even legal?" I asked

"They're not Kushan. Technically anything they do in there is legal. I don't like it any more than you three. But there's nothing we can do. If we speak out, we could get arrested." Brad made a point. But this was not right. They weren't Taiidan. They didn't destroy our planet, they were protecting themselves and who knows how many others like them. We were the invaders. We destroyed their lives. This should be our fate. This was not right.

"I can't watch this." I said and moved for the door. The two guards stood at the door blocking my way. They saw who I was and exchanged nervous glances. They were about the same height as me, so they weren't those impenetrable six-foot seven black-suit guards.

"C'mon guys, is this what we stand for? Is this what it means to be Kushan? Look at this! It's torture. I'm supposed to be a leader, or at least people think I will be, so how about I start?" they were really nervous now. People all around were staring at me. They gave me supporting smiles. That was . . . weird.

"Look, how about I put a word in so you can keep your jobs." After that, they gladly stepped aside letting me get to the door. It was a slide door, so I pressed the button after the two guards had their keys inserted. I walked right in.

The guy was a madman! He was yelling at her and even hit her across the face. The guards saw me and stiffened. These were those tall tough-guy guards. This plan suddenly seemed like a bad idea.