CHAPTER 19: I AM ME, WHO ARE YOU?
Hibiki was led to a deep cavern, lighted by dozens of torches that flickered in the dark reaches of the Cave. His escort left him, leaving him facing a sheer face, with a small light on top.
That is your destination.
"Let's go, then!" Hibiki started to climb, grabbing a rock face.
Ed gripped the chair arms as he closed his eyes and tried again. The three Dread pilots were in the same room, looking at the ever-growing map of the surroundings Parfait was excruciatingly carving out of her scans. Meia was worried that he would kill himself, but Ed hardly looked human now. She tried to not worry about him, but every other glance not at the screen was at him. He looked at her and grinned, squeezing her hand. She smiled and looked towards the screen.
"Bart, how are things on your end?"
"Nothing. I'm picking up new planets, but no life signs. But I'll search harder."
"Aye."
Ed's eyes glowed red as he put more of his mental power into the search mechanisms. The pilots were frightened at the way he looked now, save Meia. Seems all of his body was cyborg implanted, his skin transparent where it had not melted off. Nevertheless, many on board had come to accept this and Ed walked around openly in his cyborg guise. If anyone could see Bart now, he too was unlike himself. The Pegasus aura enveloped him fully, concentrating fully in his eyes , which scanned the multiple screens around him. Even with all these modifications, Hibiki was nowhere to be found. That is, until both Bart and Ed began speaking again with voices not their own.
"No good. Who do you think you are? Grow up! What are you, little boy?" Bart started yelling.
"I…I…damn! Who are you? Are you God?" Ed seemed to reply. The whine in his voice was very similar to a certain pilot.
"Ah, you are but a mortal man, primitive beyond understanding us."
"Then you're not God- you're alive?"
The crew and pilots listened to the conversation attentively, though Meia and BC both wanted to pull the plug on this conversation before the mediums were driven insane, but they both bit their hands, listening at the same time.
"What do you know of us? We are far older than you. Far, far older."
"And what?" a third voice came through, from Pyoro this time.
"You?" Bart's voice wavered.
"Yes, it is I. The one who gave himself to humans. I am the heart of this craft and am talking to you now through it. Remove yourself from my companion."
Bart was shaken in his helm room, as if struck by lightning. His eyes still glowed blue, but the voice was now that of the 'Nirvana' Pegasus.
"How dare you!" the first voice came through Pyoro now.
"I prefer this voice. And that of the one you are trying to hinder!"
"Me?" Hibiki groaned, reaching upwards for another rock.
"What is Hibiki? What is the strength of humanity? It will all come to nothing, nothing." Pyoro glowed red.
"I am one who has very little strength of body. All I can do-" Hibiki grabbed the next foothold, "-is be stronger ! There are many people I've met, many people I need to be strong for! What would they say?"
"They would say? Here is what they say!"
Hibiki shook his head, hearing words said by Meia, BC , Jura and even Rabat.
You do not understand! Meia shouted in his head, Don't speak for yourself with words borrowed from others! Rabat warned. Hundreds of other voices clamored for room in his mind, but Hibiki strengthened his resolve and waved the red mist away.
"Get OUT of my face!!" he screamed as he neared the pinnacle. The mist was now green.
"You who have existed beyond time, heed my words! Humankind is not as we are, eternal though we may be. They are indeed etched in time, waiting for little and ambitions run high in their folk, the young no less. I have dwelt with humans for over a century of their years. They are worth more than you know, my friend. Lay aside your grievances, whatever they may be. We are living, not immortal. Humans have a limited time in this universe and thus…and thus strive!" Bart yelled, falling to the floor as the Pegasus broke contact.
"Climb, Hibiki….!" he grunted.
"Hibiki…get to the top!!" Ed opened his 'real' eyes, "I've found him!!!"
Something had also possessed the three Dread pilots, with the three pointing to a spot on the screen.
"There," they said.
Ed ran the cursor over the spot, while Bart instantly sped towards the planet. The decisions taken were so sudden , that BC fell off her standing position , cursing.
"Who gave the order to move?" Bart ignored her and upped the helm speed.
The asteroid clamps broke off and the Nirvana sped towards the unnamed destination, the Delivery section hurriedly returning to the ship. The egg carrier was the last, not even able to dock properly, resulting in a spectacular (but harmless) crash into a pile of barrels.
"I used to do that in supermarkets….," a dizzy Gascgone rubbed her head.
The painting the old man (named Oosa Kokuberi) was making now comprised of a man with a blue victory symbol , red crab, white dragon, a black sword and shield and eight 'prayers' around him. Behind this man were two great golden wings, spread out like a majestic eagle perched on a mountaintop.
He is near the summit.
"The eight prayers, the black arms, white wings, red claw and also- the Blue Victory! This man is in the center of the universe!" Tatanka exclaimed.
Indeed he is. Is it not so, Utan?
Rabat's monkey jumped behind Oosa, nodding as she peered over the painting.
Hibiki saw what he was climbing for, a green globe slightly larger than him emanating. The red wave suddenly surrounded him, engulfing him in more pain and torture. His strength was now near its limit, though that was now ebbing. His mind drifted elsewhere again, to old memories and old places he knew nothing of. Ships breaking up in an electromagnetic storm. A blonde girl playing with him. People fearfully running towards pods of some sort. A woman taking him and placing him in one. And a face he barely recognized. But before he could say a word, the face was right in front of him. He felt an arm grapple him and hoist him onto the summit.
"Rabat!"
"Yes. That is my name now," he replied.
"What…what are you doing here, you rat?"
To Hibiki' s surprise, Rabat put his hand on his shoulder and looked mournfully at Hibiki' s torn clothes and wounds. He looked at the opening that led to the mountain's peak and turned back towards Hibiki.
"I was there too. Long ago, on that ship. Your mother, she put you in your pod when our ship was heavily damaged…"
"My mother? I'm from Talark! What mother?"
"Hibiki…we're not from Talark at all. We're the first generation of colonials. My pod came here, back when I was called Samuel Adams. I met the chief and Utan here. I tried climbing like you, but screwed up big time. Oosa told me someone like me would come and beat this peak. I didn't believe him and left, angry at myself. But I came back and he told me to find you. And here we are, in the center of everything."
"How can I be…."
"Science. Now go to the top and finish the job. You are the one the chief told everyone about. Your friends all know that you are it." Rabat began walking into the shadows, "the stage is set- declare yourself!"
"Tell me more!" Hibiki pleaded with Rabat.
"That old lady on your ship knows you more. You remember, the little blonde girl?"
Hibiki' s eyes went wide open. Magno was the little girl that made faces with him? The one he saw being dragged away by frightened parents? Maybe she knew all this time…maybe she didn't? Hibiki started laughing.
"Of course she knows!" he laughed out loud, smacking his forehead, "she knows everything!" His cheer returned to him, remembering all the cheek pulls and ear tugs the naughty girl would do to him, despite being only three years older. The hair twisting, the belly pinching….The cave glowed with the green Pegasus light , which made Hibiki smile and even giggle. The sunlight peering through the mountain summit also made him smile. He looked back at the disappearing figure of Rabat and then up at the sun.
"In your own words!" Rabat could be heard from far off.
Hibiki stood atop the mountaintop, seeing the vast canyons and gorges around the mighty peak. He took a deep breath and let out a powerful yell that pierced the morning skies. It echoed far and wide, but Hibiki kept on screaming. Not out of pain, but joy. He felt a great burden heaving itself off his shoulders, power in his arms.
"I am Hibiki Tokai!" he yelled to the heavens.
Oosa and Tatanka smiled and Utan cheered wildly.
Another true spirit is born.
As if by coincidence, the Nirvana pulled into nearspace , sending out one familiar blue fighter to pick Hibiki up.
"Mr. Alien!" Dita was almost in tears as she saw him proudly perched on the mountain top.
Later, when all was settled and Hibiki' s injuries healed, the people of the Voice gathered to say goodbye to Hibiki. Kokuberi handed him a green jewel that he placed on Hibiki' s forehead, and a cloth facsimile of the cave painting he had done. Hibiki had wanted to see Rabat, but he was not there at all. As time was short, Magno bid Oosa farewell and soon, the Nirvana set off, a white star in a reddening sky.
"Samuel…why did you not come with us?"
"I cannot tell him."
"Is the guilt still to heavy to bear, friend?" Oosa put his hand on Rabat's shoulders. Rabat looked darkly at the cave painting and sighed.
"Too heavy."
"You did what any father would have done, Samuel. Rest and be at peace. Truth is a strand that winds itself back together through time. He will know that you have searched long for him. I can say that no barrier lies between you now, save age."
Samuel remembered exactly what happened. The pioneer ship was losing power and was going to collapse at any time. The mass panic led to many rushing towards the escape pods and into cold sleep. Families were broken up, couples cruelly separated and children left to wander innocently. He and his wife held their only child close as they hunted for empty pods. He took the boy and placed him in a pod, which hissed all around him and sent him to the bliss of suspended animation. His wife pushed him into another pod as he screamed her name, pounding on the unbreakable glass as the gas slowly took him. An explosion sent her crashing into the glass, her last sight being that of her child, with her finger pointing at its pod. The last thing Samuel felt were the cold tears running down his cheeks as he too slipped away form the world. Next thing he knew, his pod was shattered, his right eye blind and he was on some desert world. And a monkey came up to Samuel Adams. Not long after, Rabat was born.
"There is a barrier. It's called trust, or lack of it."
"Say no more, Earth-man. You cannot judge how others in turn judge you. There will be time. Rest, and perform your new task in the morning."
"One more thing, Oosa . I know the blue victory, the red claw ,the white wings and the black armament. But what are the golden wings?"
"Of that I know nothing and will tell nothing." He fell silent.
The magnetic storm almost over, the Nirvana crew were ecstatic at the chance of finally returning home. Paiway even made the trek up to the bridge to see her home, as did many of the midshipmen. The news that Hibiki was a member of the first generation was a shock to everyone, not less to Magno who stirred long forgotten memories in her heart . She smiled, knowing that fate was on her side. For countless years, she prayed that she would be reunited with the little boy until eventually she forgot him. Everyone looked at him in awe now, proud in his footsteps and loud in his commands. Something was in him now, something no one could eject.
Ed was also healed of the wire-wounds, thanks in no small part to Duerro and Parfait's joint efforts. Meia and he were the last to greet Hibiki, joining the bridge party rather late. Bart was strangely silent, meditating in his chamber. Even BC couldn't get him to come out, to even Magno' s surprise. He was missing at meals and strategy discussions, though these were of little importance. The crew joked that he was afraid of castration if they landed on Mejale. The blue glow in his chamber was beginning to look like a cauldron of fire, though none dared approach it. The storm became thinner and thinner as the ship sped towards its home , the hearts of its crew high and their spirits higher. The storm made communication impossible, so Magno was counting on a shock appearance.
A shock she got. As soon as the storm abated, the Nirvana found itself the target of over a million guns and even more mines. A single message appeared on the screen.
THIS IS THE TALARK EMPIRE FLAGSHIP TODOROKI. CEASE YOUR COURSE AND SAY THE PASSWORD. YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO RESPOND. OR FACE THE CONSQUENCES. YOU NOW SEE THE CONSQUENCES.