Grimalf listened through the tale, not interjecting a word. He didn’t condemn Harald for his actions but didn’t heap praise on him either. When Harald finished the story, Grimalf quietly said. “That sounds like it sucked, my friend.”
“It did. That it did,” Harald said, surprised into a sad laugh by his friend’s choice of words.
“You were up there reminding us to recall the lessons we’d learned in Valhalla, a short while ago,” Grimalf said.
“Yes? What about it?”
“I was just thinking… Your tale sounds like an old saga. Full of drama, pain, victory, suffering, defeat, and honor. Maybe you’re more like those ancestors you talk about than you might think,” Grimalf said.
Harald chewed on the thought for a moment. It was ridiculous, of course. But then again…
“Thank you, Grim. I’ll think about it,” Harald said.
But Grimalf had already taken his leave. Harald was alone once more, left to stare out into the stars. Somehow they didn’t feel as empty as they had a short while before, and neither did his future.
17
Dust and bits of ice swirled up from the ground as Sam’s fighter settled to Triton’s surface. She was the first one down. Eleven other fighters were all landing nearby, scattered about the rocky terrain and looking like just so many additional boulders. The last six Wasps remained with the Hermes to provide her an escort. Sam shut down most of her systems, keeping just enough power running through the Wasp to maintain her computer and radio. Funny, that computer was almost like life support for her, now. If it failed, she would potentially die. Maybe they could retrieve the hard drive before it took some kind of damage. Perhaps not. But it was juice flowing through the computing system that housed her mind that kept each of them functioning.
“I’m down. The other fighters are landing now. You’re a go for Operation Tyr,” Sam said over the radio.
“You’re hereby banned from naming operations from here on out,” Max replied.
She’d explained the reasoning behind the name - that was her mistake. Tyr had stuck his hand into Fenris wolf’s mouth to prove there was no trick involved in his capture. This had allowed the other gods to finally chain the wolf. But the daring effort Tyr made came at a cost. Fenris bit off his hand.
It seemed appropriate for this venture. The Hermes was the hand being stuck into Fenris. The aliens couldn’t help but react to such a juicy target once they became aware of it. Sam just hoped that the Hermes wasn’t bitten off in the process. Max agreed it was worth the cost if his distraction allowed her to complete her mission. But they’d already lost enough lives. Sam was done with losing more.
Hours slid by as they waited for Triton to continue its orbit. Sam watched the timer tick down. Triton’s orbit swung just outside the ring’s position. Every one hundred and forty-one hours, Triton would pass the ring and continue on its way. This time, though, the moon carried a payload that was going to give the aliens one hell of a surprise.
In the meantime, Sam had far too much time to sit and think. The things Xiang had said - they all made sense, from a certain point of view. He echoed some of the same fears she’d already had. It was a sure thing most of the other pilots had to be having many of the same misgivings. How were they supposed to put their lives on the line fighting for a world they didn’t even know would accept them if they survived? Morale had an impact even on the digital. The will to win mattered more than almost anything else. She needed a way to help resurrect that.
The answer was in the same legends she’d talked about with Max and Xiang. It wasn’t enough to be pilots in the UN space force. Not anymore. They needed to be something else. They had to take on an identity that would carry on the sense of purpose Harald had begun to inspire the night before, and change it into an even more powerful emotion.
Finally, the timer ticked down to zero. By now the Hermes should be over Neptune’s north pole. Max would hammer away at the minefield, carving a hole through it and making as much noise as he possibly could. With luck it would draw the alien ship and their fighters away from the ring. Meanwhile, her Wasps wouldn’t have to worry about the mines anymore. Triton’s orbital path should be clear. Even if the aliens were re-seeding the moon’s orbit every time it went by, there would still be a brief window where they could fly directly toward the ring in relative safety.
“All right, let’s do this. Ghost Wing, sound off when you’re airborne,” Sam said.
“Ghost Wing?” Grimalf asked.
“We needed a unit name. It seemed to fit,” Sam replied.
“I like it. We are ghosts. Returned from the dead to scare the hell out of our foes,” Tyrin said.
“We’re more than that. We are the Einherjar, coming out of Valhalla to save the world from forces that would destroy it,” Sam proclaimed.
She was worried that someone might chuckle and get them all laughing. No one did.
“You know, that does fit the story, doesn’t it?” Grim asked.
“Weren’t you just saying that our tale sounded like a saga?” Harald said. “Seems like you’re not the only one. It’s a good name, Sam. A good fit. If we’re the einherjar, we have much to live up to out here. Let’s make this happen, people!”
All twelve fighters were aloft. They stayed close to the moon for a little longer, letting it mask their presence as each fighter’s scanners picked up more information about what was going on.
The Hermes was easy to spot. It was making all the noise Sam could ask for. One missile after another exploded in empty space. Each explosion would clear a broad swath of any mines that might have been there. The Hermes wasn’t moving especially fast, but it didn’t have to. The point wasn’t for Max to rush forward into the fight. His job was to draw the aliens away from the ring.
It looked like it was working, too. The alien mothership and a score of fighters were racing toward the Hermes. They’d be in firing range in sixty-three seconds. Not a lot of time for her people to get the job done and get clear before the Hermes was engaged. It was time to move.
“Let’s go, Ghosts!” Sam said. She activated her primary drive and blasted clear of Triton’s surface toward the waiting ring.
It wasn’t far, astronomically speaking. They would close to torpedo range in just a few seconds. But if they wanted to get some shots through with so few ships, they needed to be just about on top of the thing before they fired. The closer they were, the more difficult it would be for the aliens to stop their shots before they hit.
“Contacts near the ring,” Xiang reported.
Fifteen of them, small craft that looked like the ones she’d seen before. They were outnumbered and outgunned. It was going to be a shootout Sam wasn’t sure they could win.
“Stand by on torpedo launch. Soon as they’re at risk of nailing us, we fire, regardless of what range we’re at,” Sam said.
“Won’t do much good unless we’re close,” Xiang warned. He was right. They’d already seen the alien defenses at work. They were impressive.
“If we get blown up before launching, it helps no one at all. We’ve got one shot each. Make them count,” Sam replied.
The alien fighters soared toward them. About the same time as they reached maximum torpedo range, the aliens fired a pair of missiles each. The deadly weapons shot away from the fighters, closing the gap toward the Wasps ever more rapidly.
“Railguns, take out those missiles,” Sam said. She ran the math through the computer. The missiles would hit her formation when they were still a little farther away than she’d like, but they ought to be close enough. “Fire torpedoes on my mark.”
After that, there was nothing to do but wait. Shooting the railguns at this distance wouldn’t accomplish anything but wasting bullets. This was one way where space battle differed from a battle on the ground. In the fields of Valhalla battle was usually a hot thing, two forces slamming into each other until one of them crumpled.
But out in space it was a different story. Lags of a
minute or more where the two sides just faced off against each other and waited while the gap slowly closed were normal. Adjusting her mindset from the one to the other was hard.
“It’s time. Fire torpedos!” Sam said. “Then full evasive. Use your railguns and thrusters to avoid those incoming shots.”
Twelve torpedoes unlatched from the hulls of her fighters. Unlike the smaller missiles they had mounted on each wing, these torpedoes were powerful enough to put a serious dent in any ship. They ought to be large enough to at least tear big chunks out of the ring. Ideally they could blow the thing up entirely, but at the minimum they had to do enough damage to delay its completion a little longer. Even a few days delay might swing the war.
Missiles spat toward her fighter. Sam threw the Wasp over into a roll, weaving around one shot. Her railgun fire took out another. To her port side she saw something explode and hoped it wasn’t one of her fighters, but she didn’t have time to check. Another missile had latched onto her, following at just a hundred feet or so back.
“Shit, I can’t lose it!” Sam said.
There was an explosion so close it rocked her ship. Sam was sure for a moment that she’d been hit, but her ship was still at nearly a hundred percent functionality.
“You’re welcome,” Harald said, soaring past her. “How many times have I saved your ass now?”
“We’re keeping score? Sam laughed. “I wasn’t aware it was a competitive sport!”
“Everything in life is a game,” Harald replied. “And I’m in the lead on this one!”
Sam was out the other side of the missile attack, still speeding on toward the ring. The torpedoes were just closing on the alien fighters. Another few seconds and they’d rush right past, nailing the ring for good. It was working!
Then the alien ships all moved in unison, dashing directly at the torpedoes. They dove straight into the teeth of the explosive devices, each fighter turning into a small fireball. Two fighters blew up trying to stop a single torpedo, but most of their shots were being taken down by a single enemy each.
“They’re committing suicide!” Grimalf said.
“Giving their lives to defend what is theirs,” Xiang said. “I can understand that. Even respect it.”
Sam could hear the disappointment in both their voices - she was feeling the same emotion. What should have been at least a crippling blow against the ring was now just wasted ordinance. But they weren’t through yet! The timer for how long the Hermes had before the aliens were dangerously close ticked away in front of her. There was still time. Maybe not enough to have the massive effect they hoped for, but it might just be enough.
“Fire all secondary rockets and railguns as they bear. First wing, you’re with me taking out the surviving enemy fighters. The rest of you close with that ring and try to mess it the hell up a little,” Sam said.
“Got you,” Grim replied.
Sam targeted the lead enemy and sent a burst of railgun fire toward it. The enemy ship jerked to the side, dodging her shot, but lining it up perfectly for Harald’s missile. The ship exploded in a flurry of light. Just a little longer and they’d have the thing…!
The ring loomed in front of her ship. At a distance it just looked like a bright point of light. From the nearer vantage Sam could tell how enormous it really was. Every spaceship Earth had could fly through that ring side-by-side with room to spare. If they were building that to enable an invasion, how many ships were they bringing?
Small ships rushed from spot to spot on the ring, continuing construction even while the place was under attack. Humans would have pulled all their workers into safety. These aliens hadn’t bothered, and that disturbed Sam more than she wanted to admit. There was self-sacrifice, that she could understand. And then there was the wanton disregard for life she was witnessing firsthand.
That workers were crawling all over the thing wasn’t going to give them a stay of execution. She fired her small missiles at the ring itself. This time there were no fighters to block the shots. Another dozen missiles joined hers in flight toward the ominous-looking structure. The flashes of light as each rocket smashed home were blinding on her camera and obstructed the rest of her scans for a brief few seconds as well.
When the explosion cleared, the ring was still there. It didn’t appear to have been damaged at all.
18
Dana had at long last fallen asleep on Thomas’s lap. He looked down at her face, drinking in the memory of this moment. He cherished these times. She was less than a year old, but in no time she would be much older. There was too much of her young life that he’d already missed, despite his best intentions otherwise. An admiral paid a hefty price for his rank, Thom no less than any other. It meant far too little time to spend with his daughter - or his wife, Keladry.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked from behind him.
Thom turned his head to smile at her over his shoulder. “Just wishing I could be here more often. You know. The usual.”
It was sad that he missed so much time with them, but he worked hard to make what time he had the highest quality he could. The people he loved gave him the drive to keep going even when things seemed most hopeless. At the end of the day, if Thomas were honest with himself, he’d admit that the reason he fought so hard wasn’t for humanity - it was for his family, to ensure they had a future.
“Any word yet?” Kel asked.
“No. But I’m expecting a final report any minute now.” He’d informed her of the Xiang issue. Kel had fought against him in the last war. She’d been even more skeptical than he was about the idea Choi had survived as an upload and then happened to find his way back out of the computer game just in time for the alien invasion. It did sound like an incredible story, but it was just the sort of complicated plot Choi enjoyed.
“What will you do if it turns out it really is him?” she asked.
“The only thing I can. I’ll go stop him. Again. Hopefully this time it’ll take,” Thomas said.
His wrist communicator chimed with an incoming call from Fairhaven. This was either good news or bad. Either way, best to face it head-on. He tapped the control to answer the call.
“Stein here,” he said.
“Admiral. We’ve gotten the data back on the subject you asked us to research. I don’t want to go into detail over an unsecured line, sir - but we’ve confirmed the hypothesis,” Fairhaven said.
“Are you absolutely sure?” Thomas asked her.
“Yes, sir. There’s no doubt.”
Damn. Well, that was the end of his peaceful interlude here at home. It was time to get back to work already. “Understood. I’ll be at the Intrepid within the hour. Meet me there. Pass along orders to the Hermes - they are to immediately withdraw from combat. Maintain a watch on the enemy, but do not engage them until they receive new orders.”
“Understood, sir. See you soon,” she said.
“Stein out,” Thomas said, and cut the connection.
“You’re taking the Intrepid out early,” Kel said. It wasn’t a question. She knew him well enough to predict what he had in mind.
“It’s almost ready. Not all the secondary systems are running yet, but it’s close enough. I need to get out there. It’s been confirmed. Xiang is Choi Xiang, the deadliest man I’ve ever met,” Thomas said.
“But not as deadly as you, love. You’re still here,” Kel said.
Thomas still didn’t know if he was around because he was better, or just because he’d gotten lucky. Which didn’t really matter. Choi was back in the game. That was bad news for everyone.
“The Intrepid is the only way I can get out there in time to act. I only hope it isn’t too late. We have no idea what Choi might be up to out there. He’s already three steps ahead of us. If these are the same aliens he had contact with while he was president, who knows what he might be able to do?”
“I’m not arguing, Thom. I agree. We need to go.”
Thomas frowned and looked down at Dana. She was still s
leeping, her small face blissfully unaware of everything going on around her. He wanted more than anything to be able to protect this child and her mother. They’d argued over the issue of deployment more than once. It was bad enough if one of them died while away on a mission. If they both deployed together and the worst happened, they could leave Dana an orphan in one fell swoop.
“We discussed this before she was born, Thom,” Kel said, sensing his hesitation. “We’ve set up caregivers who will take her while we’re away. And people to care for her in case we don’t come back. But you need me out there.”
“Best pilot in the UN Navy,” Thomas said, leaning forward to give her a kiss. She smiled and accepted the gesture. “I’m not debating it. You’re CAG for the Intrepid. You earned that spot, and honestly I wouldn’t want anyone else in charge of our fighter complement in such a dire situation.”
“You just wish there was another way,” Kel added in a soft voice.
“Yeah. Very much so.”
“I feel the same way every time I see you go into danger too, you know. It’s part of our jobs. We take risks so other people don’t have to,” Kel said.
“I just hope Dana doesn’t end up paying the price.”
“If we die defending her and she lives to grow up because of what we did, then she’ll know she had parents who cared enough to give everything we had for her,” she replied. “It is the most worthy gift someone can offer. She’ll understand. But let’s not get so morose! You really think there’s anything we can’t handle, together?”
She slapped him on the shoulder and he laughed. Kel was always good for bringing him out of a bad mood. It was impossible to stay gloomy around her. Thom leaned in and hugged his wife, the baby wriggling a little between them. He held her for probably a few seconds longer than he really needed to. But this - this sensation of love, of family, this was something worth remembering and holding on to.
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