The Search for Gram

by Chris Kennedy

  “While I understand why you want to get permission, our need is urgent and cannot wait. We have already lost several ships, and we do not know why.”

  “If you don’t know why,” said Captain Sheppard, “how do you know he can help? How do you know he’s also not going to disappear or suffer the same fate as the rest of your ships?”

  “Because we believe in him,” replied the Aesir. “Hero spirits can do what no one else can.”

  “The fact remains that we can’t go with you without authorization from our chain of command,” said Captain Sheppard. “We will need to return to Terra to get that permission.”

  “Perhaps I did not make myself clear,” replied the Aesir. “Our need is most urgent,” he said, turning to Calvin. “We need you now. We do not have time to wait.”

  Emperor Yazhak the Third cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said, “but I may have a solution. What if we were to send one of our ships to Terra while you take the Vella Gulf on to assist the Aesir? We need to send a delegation to Terra anyway, and I will tell your Admiralty that I sent you on. I will also give them the reasons for your journey, and we will take responsibility for any costs arising from this mission. If they have a problem with you assisting the Aesir, we will send our fastest courier ship to let you know. Would that be all right, Captain Sheppard?”

  “It’s going to hang my ass way out in the wind if they decide I shouldn’t have done it,” Captain Sheppard replied, “but I don’t think we’ll come up with a better compromise. I know the Aesir were part of the Alliance of Civilizations before it broke up, so I’m sure they are worthy of our aid.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he made his decision. “We will go.”

  “Excellent,” said the Aesir. “Thank you very much.”

  “So, what is it you need from me?” asked Calvin.

  “We need a new Gram,” said the Aesir, as if that explained everything.

  Calvin looked puzzled. “A new gram? What’s that?”

  “Have you heard of Wayland the Smith?”

  “Wayland the Smith?” Calvin asked. “No, I can’t say I have.”

  The Aesir looked disappointed. “Has your race forgotten its savior so soon? We remember him, even if you do not. How about Beowulf and Grendel? Can I at least start there?”

  “I’ve heard of Beowulf,” replied Calvin. Captain Sheppard also nodded his head. “I had to read that book in high school. I don’t remember the story very well, but I think Beowulf was the hero of the story. Didn’t he kill Grendel for some Norse king?”

  “King Hrothgar of Denmark,” agreed the Aesir. “Go on.”

  “Umm...I’m kind of hazy after that,” Calvin said. “I think Grendel’s kid then came after him, and Beowulf killed the kid too. After that, Beowulf lived happily ever after. Is that close?”

  “Not really,” said the Aesir. “Beowulf actually killed Grendel’s mother in her underwater lair with a sword the legends say was ‘forged for a giant.’ After he killed the two monsters, the countryside was free again, and he retired to a life of luxury.”

  “OK,” said Calvin. “You obviously know more about him than I do. I didn’t even know he was a real person. I thought it was just a story. What does that have to do with Gram?”

  “Wayland the Smith made the armor worn by Beowulf,” said the Aesir, “and was responsible for re-forging the sword Beowulf used to kill Grendel’s mother. I know this to be a fact because Wayland and Beowulf were the same person. Wayland was an Aesir who lived on your planet. When he saw the need, he became the hero, Beowulf, in order to kill Grendel for King Hrothgar.”

  “What was Wayland or Beowulf, or whatever his name was, doing on our planet?” asked Captain Sheppard. “Was he watching out for us?”

  “No, nothing like that,” replied the Aesir. “He was one of our warriors, who retired to your planet after a life of combat. He had always been fascinated with the art of sword-making, so he retired to a planet as far away from society as he could in order to pursue that art. It was nothing more than serendipity that he was nearby when Grendel began terrorizing the local populace.”

  “Did he change his name to Gram afterward?” asked Calvin, still not seeing where the whole conversation was going.

  “No, he went back to being the sword-maker Wayland,” replied the Aesir. “In addition to the sword used to kill Grendel, Wayland made a number of other swords, including many named swords with famous histories. One of these was ‘Gram,’ which was the sword of Sigmund.”

  “So you need a sword?” asked Calvin.

  “Not exactly,” said the Aesir. “Gram had a long history, including being used by Sigmund's son Sigurd to slay the dragon Fafnir. We are once again beset by dragons, although I use the term ‘dragon’ not as a living creature, but as a metaphor for something so big and monstrous that it will take someone of supernatural abilities to defeat it. We need a new Gram to help us defeat our dragon. You are the new Gram we have been searching for.”

  “I’m your sword?” asked Calvin.

  “Metaphorically speaking, yes,” said the Aesir, happy to finally be making some progress. “The divination we conducted indicated we needed the reborn Gram.”

  “How exactly is a sword reborn?” Calvin asked. “You want me to reforge this sword?”

  “No,” said the Aesir, shaking his head. “We want you. When Wayland first forged his swords, he incorporated the essence of a hero into each. Over time, when the swords were broken, the life essences escaped them. We believe your essence is the same essence he used when he forged Gram.”

  Calvin barked out a laugh. “That’s not possible,” he said, looking at Steropes. “According to Steropes, I was too busy being Zeus to be hanging out in a sword...unless the Psiclopes were wrong.”

  “Actually, that explains a lot,” said Steropes. “There was a period when we were unable to find the hero spirit that we believe currently resides within you. If your spirit was captured and used to animate the sword Gram, it would explain why we weren’t able to find you.”

  “Blah, blah, blah, hero spirit this and hero spirit that,” said Calvin. “I still don’t believe any of that stuff. Besides, there is another issue we haven’t talked about that makes it difficult to help you right now.”

  “What is that?” asked the Aesir.

  “I don’t know how well you looked at our ship before you came down to the planet, but it is barely operational. It is in serious need of an overhaul to repair the battle damage that still remains from our last cruise. We stopped at Earth on the way here and replaced the personnel we lost in the war, but we’re still missing several of our fighters. If we are going into harm’s way again, I would rather do so with a full squadron. We have the pilots, but not the ships.”

  “I believe that is something we can assist you with as well,” said the emperor. “We owe the Aesir several favors, and it would not take more than a few days to replicate the fighters you need for this endeavor. That would also give our shipyards time to fix the remaining damage to your ship if we gave it head-of-the-line status.”

  “I would appreciate that,” replied Captain Sheppard. “One of our engines was a little twitchy on the way here. I would feel a lot better about going on this mission if we could get it looked at before we go. I don’t know how we will be able to repay you for the fighters, though.”

  The emperor smiled, showing a mouthful of very sharp teeth. “It is not a problem to have your ship looked at,” he said. “Nothing could be easier. As I said, we owe the Aesir. As to the fighters, just bring them back to us when you’re done with them. Without scratches, of course.”

  Officer’s Mess, TSS Vella Gulf, Grrrnow, 61 Virginis, May 17, 2021

  “May I join you?” asked Calvin.

  Steropes looked up. “Certainly,” he said, seeing Calvin was carrying a golden rod and not a plate of food. “Not eating lunch?”

  “I had something earlier,” Calvin replied. “In all the excitement over the Aesir showing up, I never
got to talk with you about this.” He held the two-foot long rod, a product of an ancient civilization, where Steropes could see. Calvin had been given the rod with the guidance to seek out rock formations like Ayers Rock on Earth. The computer avatar that had given him the rod had told him he would ‘know what he was supposed to do’ when he was near the formations.

  “What happened when you took the rod to Clowder Rock?” Steropes asked.

  “When I went up on the rock, the entire rod started glowing a bright red, and one of the buttons glowed too. When I pushed the button, the glow faded from both the rod and the button.”

  “And that was it? That was all the rod did?”

  “The only other thing that happened was this symbol appeared.” Calvin pointed to two wavy lines, one on top of the other, next to another symbol. The other symbol looked like a balloon with a string lying on the floor, with a cursive ‘n’ standing over it. “Do those wavy lines mean anything to you?”

  “No, not really,” replied Steropes.

  “Is that a ‘no,’ or a ‘not really?’” asked Calvin, who had long ago grown tired of the Psiclopes’ tendencies to avoid telling the Terrans everything they knew about a given subject. “Which is it?”

  “Well, I don’t know anything for sure,” Steropes hedged. “Before I answer that, when did the other symbol appear?”

  “Umm...I’m not sure. I don’t think the symbol was on there when I first got the rod, but I put the rod in my closet and didn’t pull it back out until we were headed to Terra for the final battle with the Drakuls. The symbol was there when I pulled the rod out, but I don’t know when it appeared.”

  “Hmm,” said Steropes. “My home world of Olympos had a formation like the ones you were supposed to find. I wonder if you got credit for the formation when Olympos went into the black hole.” The Terrans had accidentally set off a black hole generator that had consumed the Psiclopes’ home planet during the Drakul War. Steropes’ tone of voice indicated it was still a sore subject with him.

  “I don’t know,” repeated Calvin. “The symbol might have appeared then…but then again, it might have appeared any other time in the last six months too.”

  “The only things I have ever seen that looked like those symbols are two of the ancient Zodiac symbols. The reason I said ‘not really’ was that I don’t see how the ancient Terran Zodiac would be relevant to something from the Progenitors.”

  “Progenitors?” asked Captain Nightsong, walking up with a tray of food. “Is that a rod from the Progenitors?”

  “Yes,” replied Calvin. He felt reluctant to hand the rod over to the Aesir, so he held the rod where the alien could see it, instead.

  “Let me guess,” said Captain Nightsong. “A gate appeared as you were transiting a known system, and you went through it. You found a system that had all the planets in a line, and you were met by some sort of computer avatar from the Progenitors, a civilization that disappeared long ago. The avatar gave you the rod and told you to look for a certain type of rock formation. Is that what happened?”

  “Yes,” said Calvin. “How did you know?”

  “I have seen two of those rods previously. In both cases, that is how they were acquired.”

  “What happens when you complete the task or quest, or whatever the hell it is?” asked Calvin.

  “I don’t know. Both of the people who had them previously died before accomplishing the task. May I hold it?”

  Calvin handed him the rod, feeling a little better about him.

  “Only two symbols?” Nightsong asked. “You must have just received it.”

  “We’ve been kind of busy fighting the Drakuls since the avatar gave it to me. I was hoping to go around and get some more of the symbols, but I’m going to have to put it off to come help you.”

  The Aesir gave Calvin a wry smile. “In that case, you should try not to get killed. I have wondered about the reward for completing the quest for a very long time.”

  Calvin snorted. “As if I needed a better reason.” He shook his head and then said, “Hey, I’ve been thinking about what you said on the planet, and there are a couple of things that puzzled me.”

  “I’d be happy to answer your questions if they help you accomplish your task,” said Captain Nightsong. “What are they?”

  “First, you mentioned something about putting a life essence into the swords Wayland made. How does that work? Were the people he took them from willing participants, or does your culture condone stealing peoples’ souls?”

  “Neither, actually,” replied the Aesir, “although the full answer is much more complicated. Wayland didn’t just retire to your planet; he fled there when our people found out he was experimenting with stealing peoples’ life forces. What he was doing was against our laws and our beliefs, and it shocked all of us who knew him. When his experiments were discovered, he fled to your planet to hide. He would have been fine, but he spoke too freely about his sword. When he said it was ‘forged for a giant,’ it was. He had acquired it as booty in one of our wars against the frost giants.”

  “Frost giants?” asked Calvin.

  “Yes, the Jotunn are a historical enemy of ours and the likely cause of our current troubles. When the first of our ships disappeared, we thought it was due to a giant attack. The frost giants live on a number of planets that are generally too cold for us and spend most of their time fighting amongst themselves. Every millennia or so, a leader will arise who is strong enough to unite them, and they will make war on one of their neighbors. Unfortunately, that neighbor is usually us. They haven’t been heard from in about 1,400 years so we figured they were overdue.”

  “But it isn’t the giants?”

  “Not unless they have developed some new strategy that lets them sneak up on our ships and keep them from escaping,” Nightsong said. “That has never been their style, though. Normally, they prefer a direct approach and try to overwhelm you with brute force. They also believe in single combat, which is where Wayland got the sword he killed Grendel with. He took it from a giant clan leader he killed.”

  “You seem well acquainted with Wayland’s story,” said Calvin.

  “I should be,” replied Nightsong. “We grew up together, and he was my best friend. The day I had to kill him was the worst day of my life.”

  “You grew up with him?” asked Calvin. “Didn’t he live thousands of years ago?”

  “Yes, he did,” said Nightsong with a far-off look. “I am over 4,000 of your years old. We live longer lives than you, which tends to give us a slightly different view of the galaxy than most of the other sentient beings. We are less worried about short-term gains than long-term success, and rarely do anything quickly. The fact that this mission was put together so hastily is a sign of our unease at what is happening.” He paused. “You said you had two questions; what was the other?”

  “My other question is, if Wayland was an Aesir, how did he get away with it? I mean, how did he appear to be the human hero, Beowulf? Wouldn’t he have looked like you?”

  “You have to remember Wayland didn’t want to be a hero. Quite the opposite, in fact. He fled to your world to escape prosecution. He didn’t want the fame he thought would come from killing Grendel, but leaving Grendel unchecked had the potential to become even more of a problem. Wayland knew there was a Psiclopes’ mission on the planet, and if Grendel killed enough people, they would probably come investigate.”

  “Why would they investigate a monster killing some of the local people?”

  “Because Grendel wasn’t indigenous to the planet, and Wayland knew the locals would never be able to kill it on their own. He knew the monster would eventually kill enough people that rumors of Grendel would make their way to the Psiclopes, and once they heard about the monster, they would come to determine if something needed to be done about it. He went looking for Grendel’s lair, and when he found it, he killed Grendel. After the monster was dead, he found that it had some sort of projector that let its holder appear to be wha
tever he wanted. Grendel used it to appear human, so he could infiltrate human society when he wanted; Wayland also used the projector to appear human. Wayland went to the king and said that he would kill Grendel, then Wayland went back to the lair, cut off the monster’s head and brought it back to Hrothgar. While he was in the lair, Grendel’s mother showed up, so he killed her too.”

  “If Wayland didn’t want the notoriety, why did he approach the king?” asked Steropes. “He had to know that might make us aware of his presence.”

  “He thought the projector would defeat anything you had, and you wouldn’t be able to tell he was an Aesir,” said Nightsong. “Obviously it worked because you never found out about him. Why did he do it? He wanted the reward and the fame. He needed funding to continue his experiments, and he wanted the fame to attract heroes to him so he could kill them and enhance his swords. He may have been crazy, but he was never stupid. He couldn’t let an opportunity that good pass him by.”

  Squadron CO’s Office, TSS Vella Gulf, Grrrnow, 61 Virginis, May 17, 2021

  “Do you have a moment?” asked a voice. Calvin looked up to find an unknown lieutenant in the doorway. He swayed from side to side and generally looked uncomfortable; his eyes never left the surface of Calvin’s desk.

  “Yeah,” said Calvin, “this paperwork isn’t going anywhere fast. What can I do for you?”

  “Hi sir, I’m Lieutenant Bill Bradford, the new Department X officer.” He paused and then asked, “You’ve been briefed on us, right?”

  “Yes, we had a representative from Department X with us on our last mission. You guys go through the alien databases looking for technology you can adapt to our uses.”

  “That is partially correct,” the lieutenant replied, his eyes now at about Calvin’s chest level. “You are right in that we go through the replicator databases looking for things we can use, but when our forces have needs Terran technology can’t fill, we also look for alien technological solutions to fill them.”