Mesopotamia - The Redeemer Read Online Free PDF Page A

His hands, though, seemed to move with a mind of their
own. They engaged the emergency system.
    Smoke was baffled. Could it be that
the malfunction had just vanished? Was the ship capable of fixing
itself? But before he had a chance to finish his thought, he was
forced to quickly maneuver out of the way to avoid a direct hit
from Flash, just as another one of Smoke's pilots marked Flash's
ship, the last remaining ship of the offensive force, as
destroyed.
    Truth commanded “Halt!” and the
exercise was over. Smoke's aircraft bore no signs of being hit. The
stress he experienced when dealing with the malfunction, though,
had caused his muscles to go stiff. He rubbed his arms, breathed
heavily, moistened the inside of his mouth and slowly began to
realize the gravity of his very presence. At the command of
'Return!' the pilots rejoined their spiral formation and slowly
cruised to a landing in the father ship.
    Like a proper Gnostic warrior,
Smoke had performed all the technical checks himself before
embarking on the ceremonial exercise. 'It cannot be that the
malfunction appeared and subsequently disappeared with no outside
intervention,' he ruminated over the incident. And nonetheless,
something disturbed him. 'Perhaps I did not examine my aircraft
with the sufficient meticulousness, or perhaps, in my excitement, I
overlooked a small but crucial detail.' From the moment that he
examined his vessel up until he entered the cockpit for takeoff,
Smoke's aircraft had been exposed and accessible. It was possible
that someone could have sabotaged it, but who would have wanted to
do that? In the little time that remained before the ceremony, he
remained alone on the landing field and examined his aircraft. He
discovered nothing; no malfunction and no signs of tampering. 'Very
strange,' he mused.
     
    The summer flies were at their peak
as they quenched their thirst courtesy of the sweating pilots, who
stood upright and motionless. Hundreds of junior soldiers
surrounded the parade field, shooting glances of admiration at the
chosen warriors and taking care not to look at the women behind
them. The women, like the Gnostic men, were captured at a young age
and were trained to worship the ideal of nullification in the
service of the Master of Light. They also took fertility inhibitors
as part of their morning blessing to the Master of Light. Some of
them never reached maturity due to the brutal conditions and others
were put to death if their counselors felt that they were not
sufficiently devout. They had a distinct purpose in the Gnosis: to
serve the sacred warriors. The women were responsible for the
economy of the compound and tended to all the mundane tasks as well
as the charge of raising the smaller children. They were forbidden,
however, from interfering in their education and resided in
complete seclusion from the men. Since creation was considered
impure, having children was forbidden. Kidnapping children who
easily lent themselves to reeducation was their only means of
growing their future forces.
    Gnostic women encountered men only
when they were required to provide sexual services or to
participate in religious ceremonies. In honor of the appointment of
the deputy to the commander, the women were permitted to come out
of their dwellings and behold him.
    “The troops will straighten for the
entrance of the ship's father. Lines straight!” ordered the
announcer.
    Everyone stretched upright, their
flexible flight overalls glistening in the sunlight. The crowd
rustled.
    Truth stepped slowly across the
square. He scanned the pilots, who stood erect in front of their
planes; the warriors of the badger units, standing beside their
hovercrafts; and the infantry, loaded with equipment and arms. They
were taut like a bowstring in anticipation of his piercing gaze. He
paused to question them, to test their preparedness for battle.
What are the coordinates you must recognize, how much time are you
permitted, what procedures will be