Freedom Saga 3: The Dawn of Liberty by Marcus Johnson

got an idea.”
    “Now
what would that be?”
    “A
pizza,” he said. “My stomach has been empty for far too long.”
    “I’d
be happy to make one,” Seles said before kissing him again.
     
    * * *
     
    Mira
and Celi looked over the data in the med lab of the Freedom. Both shook their
heads in disbelief.
    “I
didn’t think it was possible for a life form to change its genetic code,” Mira
said.
    “All
theories up till now pointed at such,” Celi said.
    “What
about you?” Mira asked. “He said you awakened once, so did your genetics
change?”
    “No,”
Celi said. “I’ve done a number of checks since then and nothing is different.”
She stared at the data. “Perhaps once isn’t enough. Remember, Brian has done
that dimensional thing more than a few times now. The other factor would be
time. He’s been berserking for over a decade now, and at a prolific pace. For
us it may be years before anything manifests.”
    “That’s
what I think,” Mira said. “What about on the home front?”
    “The
scientists back home have isolated the chromosome that makes him male,” Celi
said. “The goal has always been to mix as little as possible. The more factors
put into mixing species the more likely we’ll have experiments like the Greys.”
    “I
saw enough of the footage you obtained to be sickened for a lifetime,” Mira
said. “What about half-breeds?”
    “Seles
has said she’d like to have children with Brian someday,” Celi said. “But true
half-breeds are a long way off. In spite of our similarities humans and
Kalaidians are different species.”
    “It’s
easy to forget that,” Mira said. “Has Brian told you his half of the equation?”
    “No
he hasn’t,” Celi said. “Does he want sons or daughters?”
    “He
thinks of Mjolnir as his son now,” Mira said. “He told me he’d like a pair of
daughters.”
    “He
really said that?” Celi asked.
    “He
said his household when he was a child was three sons, a mother and father,”
Mira answered.
    “If
only our people had such a problem,” Celi said with a sigh.
    “I
agree,” Mira said.
     
    * * *
     
    Valis
and Kivi stood together in the docking area of the Columbia base. All around them
engineers ran to and fro fixing everything.
    “There
are moments in our lives when we are tested,” Kivi said.
    “Is
this one of those moments?” Valis asked.
    “Yes,”
Kivi answered. “For Brian it’s a test to survive, for us it’s a test of faith.”
    “Is
it our faith or Kali?” Valis asked.
    “I’d
say both,” Kivi answered.
    “You
look more confident than the rest of us,” Valis said. “I have to admit even I
don’t know what to believe.”
    Kivi
looked her old friend in the eye. “Raulno was banished from the north because
his queen was killed when he couldn’t protect her. His fate was death in the
deserts of the south and yet, he endured. He fought his way across the wastes
and united the Southlanders. In only a few years he conquered the southern
continent and set out to invade the north. After a long and bloody struggle, he
was crowned the first and only king of our people.”
    “Our
history books say no such thing,” Valis said.
    Kivi
laughed. “Our history books were written by the bitter females who undid what
he made after his death. My point is Raulno refused the destiny he was given
and forged a new one. Brian will not fall now, not to this. If he is to die it
will be in the fire of battle. I say this because he’s proven fate wrong every
time. When he was taken from his world he resisted. When he and Seles crashed
he survived and fought off a contingent of Malcovin troops with no real
training. When the Avoni was stranded in the Grey’s territory he led the crew
through hell all while suffering a terrible illness. No matter the trial, he
always lives. Even in moments when I know he’s seeking death, part of him will
never accept it. Brian wants to write his own story, not live someone else’s.”
    “He
wants