CHAPTER 14
I found him sitting on the wooden bench in the courtyard of the house facing the lake. He did not notice my arrival or the sole of my military boots on the grass, he was concentrated looking for small shining bubbles on the water. Beside him, a beer warmed by spring sun. I stood right behind him to face him. Since my father was old. His shoulders looked tired. I turned around and sat on my piece of the bench.
- Your here? I asked.
-I came to see you, - I said looking also to the water-I leave tomorrow on a mission and do not know if I will return. You know how war is.
-You did well to come. When you come back, I will not be here. Do not be sad, I'll be fine, your mother is waiting for me and I desire to leave. I have something for you.
He rose with a bit of a problem and asked me to follow him. We entered the house. He went to an old cupboard in the dining room and from there took a wooden box with gold metal clasp. He reached into his pocket for a key. He opened the box and asked me to come to his side. Inside the box were hundreds of photos. He put his right hand and pulled out a few that were tied with a green ribbon. He put them in my hands. I started to look at them, it was all of my father in uniform, I never knew that he had belonged to the India Army.
I looked, he left me to see them in silence. When I finished, I looked up to ask. His answer was simple. It was not my war. I gave up everything for her. It was your mother who made me understand that it was not my war.
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I woke up with a ray of sun coming through one of the windows of the ship. A new sun was shining on me. I had reached my destination. I did not think twice and putting the diving suit on went outside. Sunrise began on the PEGASIS 42. The show was amazing. A sea a deeper blue than the one on planet earth. Behind me Yellow Mountains began to light up a reddish sky without clouds covered everything for miles as far as my eyes allow me to see.
I took the orange syringe I injected the vaccine. I felt my lungs were broken into pieces, my heartbeat quickened. My body twisted in pain. Until a black sand cushioned my fall. I do not know how long I was there, writhing, convulsing. My body reacting to the effects of the vaccine. I got back on my feet. The moment was now or never.
I opened the locks of my diving with my two hands and lifted the glass hull. My lungs filled with a breeze that caressed my face. I started laughing. A crazy laugh, on this new planet.
The PEGASIS 42 gave me a fresh start. I was giving it my first laugh. I plopped down on a rock. I tore my uniform, from this moment I will only be Jay. I sent a message through my intercom to NIRMANA 394.
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THE END??