Prime Valkyrie

by Michael-Scott Earle

  Madalena and I were going to have to time this perfectly.

  There was little I could do but watch and hope that the Prime Valkyrie knew what she was doing. I saw Persephone dive away from us, then arch up and launch a salvo of plasma balls at the two craft on her tail. The shots both missed, but the enemy craft had to bank horizontally and away from the direction she was heading. As soon as they turned away, Nikki pushed on the engine, and Persephone zipped past us like a ballistic rocket.

  I turned my head to look down at my boots and saw Persephone make a tight turn and then loop around toward us. I understood what the plan was, and I looked back toward the surface of the planet. The two other craft were swooping back around to come at Persephone, and they were already firing their plasma guns.

  We had maybe ten seconds to get inside.

  Persephone dove next to us, and I thought she was going to open up her top hatches, but then she flew down past us, and her back hatch spun open. Madalena’s thrusters engaged, and the purple wings sprouted from her back. I felt the heat of the flames on my armor, but it didn’t feel hot enough to melt the metal there.

  Our dive speed increased, and then we plummeted into Persephone's hold.

  I gasped as soon as we entered and the hatch twisted closed. The absence of screaming wind was more than welcome, but the feeling of being back on my ship was close to joy. Relief flooded through my massive muscles, and I felt a purr rumble through my chest.

  Madalena angled our flight toward crew stations on the side of the hold. Persephone was still banking, diving, and twisting through the air, and we had to float above the surface of the hold to keep from getting beaten to death by the floor or ceiling. After a dozen seconds, we dropped to the floor, and then we both strapped ourselves into the available stations.

  “Nikki, we are secured,” Madalena said as her helmet dripped away from her face.

  “Understood, Prime Valkyrie. I will head into orbit,” Nikki said.

  “Engage warp drive when we are clear,” Madalena said.

  “Yes, Prime Valkyrie.”

  “Wait, warpdrive?” I asked. “Where are we--”

  “Queen’s Hat,” Madalena said. “You told me you had someone you needed to speak to there?”

  “Yeah, but I was trying to find out the location of the Magate Order. We need to rescue my friends.”

  “Your friends will be sold at an auction in one of their various slave markets. I know where some of them are.”

  “Then we need to go to one of those first,” I said.

  “Calisto, change of plans,” Madalena said. “Set course for Red Eye - 13.”

  “Yes, Prime Valkyrie. Should I use warp or hyperdrive?”

  “Warp,” Madalena replied as her eyes met mine.

  “Understood. We need three more minutes to recalculate.”

  “Nikki, keep us alive until then,” Madalena said.

  “Persephone is faster than Dance to the Dirge, Prime Valkyrie, we have already lost our pursuers. I am taking a heading away from your father’s forces.”

  “Engage the warpdrive when ready.” The brunette warrior turned to me, and I felt relief pour off her.

  Or maybe it was my own relief that I felt. I couldn’t believe I was still alive.

  I looked over to the far area of the hold where the shuttles were and saw the craft we stole attached to the floor. I guessed that Lux, Hegeia, Waiola, and Uma were still strapped to chairs inside. It was far too dangerous to try to get to the bridge during a dogfight.

  I figured I didn’t need to be in my tiger-man form anymore. If we got into a battle now, it would be starship versus starship, and my combat prowess wouldn’t matter. I did want to spend a few hours talking to Madalena about the Draugr, her ship, Parnarta, and what was going on with all these assholes trying to kill me, but I was going to need to sleep as soon as I shifted. Warpdrive was a fine time to rest.

  I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the shifting g-forces of Persephone’s flight. I thought of the ocean again. I thought of the palm trees. I thought of the wind caressing my face. I imagined Eve sunbathing next to me on a towel, Zea drinking some sort of iced drink, and Paula and Kasta building a sand castle.

  Fuck. I wanted to see them again, and even though the desire could have brought me anger, it just caused sadness that turned my stomach to ice.

  I opened my eyes and found Madalena studying me with cold intensity. We stared at each other for a few moments, and then the armor began to drip and pool across her body. It slithered and trickled up to the amulet she kept on her chest, and the device began to glow blue with strange energy. She was wearing her tight bodysuit uniform under her armor, and I tried to keep my eyes from the curves of her breasts, her flat stomach, and her muscular legs.

  “I can feel your rage when you are a tiger. I still feel it now, but the beast is far away.” Her eyes moved to the armor at my chest and then flickered back up to my face.

  “That’s what they did to me. The guy in the video. They called him President Yu.”

  “Hmmm,” she said. “It feels like you, but not you. Almost as if you and the tiger share your body, but are different souls. I felt the pain when you changed. It was agonizing.”

  “I’m used to it,” I said as I closed my heavy eyelids. I didn’t want to look at her anymore, but it wasn’t because I didn’t enjoy looking at her. “How does your armor work?”

  “It is a relic of my people. Passed down from generations of Vaish.”

  “And you are the Prime Valkyrie,” I said.

  “Yes.”

  “That pretty much explains everything you do,” I said.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “No,” I laughed. “It really doesn’t explain anything. I was being sarcastic.”

  “Oh,” she said. “Adam, will you look at me again?”

  “Huh?” I pried open my eyes so I could meet her gaze.

  “I have disobeyed you. You asked me to stay away, but I could not.”

  “I’m guessing you have a good reason. Can you explain?”

  “When my father was born, he had a birthmark over his heart.”

  “Okay?” I asked when she paused a few moments.

  “It was in the shape of a cat, with teeth. The seers said he would rule our people until a snow leopard killed him. It would be a sign of change in the Vaish, and that we would unite the Nordar.”

  “You are fucking kidding me,” I said with a long sigh. I was putting the pieces together.

  “No. We have snow leopards in Niflheim, Svartalfheim, and Helheim. He ordered their mass annihilation.”

  “Then he watched the video of my shift.”

  “Yes, then he sent orders to the planet to have you killed. When you weren’t, he sent warriors to hunt you.”

  “Well, I’ve got bad news for you, Madalena. Your dad was a fucker even before I shifted. The men who gave me my starting equipment stabbed me, and the food in my pack was poisoned.”

  Her jaw clenched, and I could feel hot pulses of rage surge from her like stormy waves.

  “He is not supposed to interfere with a rite of passage. Let alone Odin’s,” she finally said. “When I found out that he put a bounty on you, I rallied my supporters in the clan.”

  “So that is why you are all fighting each other,” I stated.

  “Yes. I asked him to call off the attack and let you complete the rite, as you should be allowed to, but he is convinced you will kill him and take his throne. He has replayed the feed from the observer hundreds of times.”

  “You asked him to call off the attack, he said no, then what? You aren’t the kind of woman who someone says no to.” I gave her a smile, and she surprised me by returning it.

  “I was prepared for him to say no. Most of his admirals serve me. The others only serve him because they have submitted. Once I destroy them, he will not have his power base anymore.”

  “Sounds like a shitload of people are going to die,” I said.

  “It is t
he way of coup d'état,” she said with a shrug.

  “There isn’t another way? Couldn’t you challenge him to a duel? I could have sworn you said something about that--”

  “I did, he lost, but then he fled.” Madalena crossed her arms. “He is dishonored. I am the leader of the Vaish Overlord Clan now. We just have to dispose of the last remnants of his followers.”

  “But now you are here with me, and we are about to head to Red Eye - 13.” I crossed my own arms and fought to keep my eyes open.

  “I swore to help you,” she said. “I am submitted to you. You are my hus--”

  “But who is leading your ships? Who is going to catch your father?”

  “I have admirals. They will do the work. My promise to you is more important.”

  “But you have thousands of starships. We could hit the Magate Order and finish them off.”

  “This task will take many weeks, and Persephone will be able to reach Red Eye - 13, or any of the other slave trading stations, faster than all the other ships in our fleet. Even my father’s Shadow Eagle, or Dance to the Dirge, is not as fast as Persephone’s warpdrives. If you wish to wait, speak now, and I will stop Calisto.”

  “I don’t want to wait a second longer,” I said, “but I also don’t want to attack the entire Magate Order with only one ship.”

  “That is what I believed you would say. If we find the outpost where they intend to sell their slaves, we do not need to fight them directly. We can take your friends back and then return to Nordar - 13.”

  “Prime Valkyrie,” Calisto said over the transponder. “I am engaging warpdrives. It will take us twenty-nine minutes to get there.”

  “Engage,” Madalena said, and Persephone’s flight pattern immediately leveled.

  “That doesn’t give me much time to sleep, but I need to rest,” I said as I unbuckled myself from the chair. I stood on wobbly legs and hoped I’d have the strength to make it to my suite. The time on Niflheim had really exhausted me. I’d forced myself to stay awake after a shift, and I was paying for it now.

  “We can dock at Red Eye - 13, and then begin our investigation while you rest.” Madalena stood too close to me, so I took a step away.

  “No, wake me up when we dock, I need to find them.”

  “You are not angry with me?” she asked, and I was surprised by the bit of fear I felt come from her.

  “No,” I said, but in reality, I didn’t know what I felt toward the beautiful warrior woman. I was still pissed at her, but I could also feel her emotions.

  I knew she cared about me, even through her cold exterior.

  “You are hard to read. You are always angry. I will assist you in your room.”

  “No. Handle your crew. I will be fine. Give my friends rooms and work to do,” I said as I gestured to Hegei, Uma, and Waiola.

  “Adam, I am the Prime Valkyrie,” she said as she followed me out of the hold. “Let me attend to you. I will relax you so that--”

  “I don’t care that you are the Prime Valkyrie. I--”

  “You should care,” she interrupted me, and I could feel her anger again. Her face was still emotionless, but her eyes glittered dangerously.

  “Madalena, what you did to me was akin to rape. I know you keep telling me you are the Prime Valkyrie, as if I should be impressed, but I never wanted you to submit to me, and now you think we are married. I didn’t want to meet your father, and then I had to do some bullshit fucking rite, or I would die. I should be fucking angry at you, but you did something to me, and now I feel what you feel. I don’t know what you want from me, but I’m not going to love you. I want to find the women that I do love, and then I need to get ready to fight the SAVO. If you want to help, fine, but if you want to keep trying to convince me we are married, I’m going to end up disliking you.”

  She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. I could feel her disappointment, shame, and remorse. Her emotions overwhelmed me a bit, and I choked on a reply that I knew would make her feel better.

  The elevator door opened, and I stepped inside. Then I turned to face her. Our eyes met, but despite the turmoil in her soul, her face was emotionless.

  “Wake me when we dock at the station.”

  “Yes, my lord,” she whispered.

  Then the door to the elevator closed, and I rode it up to my room alone.

  Chapter 13

  “Adam,” a voice called to me through the darkness, but I couldn’t open my eyes until I felt someone shake me.

  “Yeah?” I groaned, but I still couldn’t get my eyes open.

  “The Prime Valkyrie told me to wake you.” It was Hegeia’s voice, and I finally managed to force my eyelids open.

  Fuck I was tired, and I felt like I’d been hit by a hammer in my chest, back, stomach, legs, and skull. Everything hurt, and I wanted to go back to sleep.

  “Why?” I muttered as I closed my eyes again.

  “We have just docked at Red Eye - 13,” Hegeia whispered. “She said you wanted to look for your friends, and that I should wake you.”

  “Yeah,” I said as my eyes opened. I wanted to sleep, but not even a fraction of the amount I wanted to find Eve, Zea, Paula, and Kasta.

  I slid my feet off my bed and stood. I hadn’t bothered to take off my armor, revolver, pistols, or ammo belt when I got to my room. At the most, I’d get half an hour of sleep, and taking off everything would eat into that time too much.

  “Thanks for waking me,” I said as I ran my tongue around my dry mouth and teeth. I tasted blood from my shift, so I walked into my bathroom.

  It was really damn hard to put one foot in front of the other, but I was closer to finding my friends than I had been since I lost them. I needed to push through this exhaustion.

  I grabbed my toothbrush and did the job in a few minutes. Then I rinsed out my mouth and realized Hegeia was still standing next to me.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Prime Valkyrie said not to report back without you.”

  “Ahh,” I said as I put my toothbrush away. Then I gestured for her to walk out with me, and we stepped from my suite.

  “Adam?” she asked as we walked down the hallway that would take us to the bridge.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you for taking us with you. You have honored us. We will serve you with devotion.” The pretty redhead smiled at me and brought her hand up to her heart.

  “You three helped me. I couldn’t have gotten here without you,” I said.

  “You are good man. Freyja blessed us when you walked into tavern.”

  “Freyja? That’s a new one. He like Odin?”

  “She, and no, different from All Father. Freyja is love, and beauty, and battle, and lust. All that makes us human. She has giant cats who pull her chariot. Maybe she sent you instead of Odin. Or maybe both.”

  “Okay,” I said as I ran a gloved hand down my face. It was no use arguing with these people about their gods.

  “We are thankful. Thank you for honoring us. We will serve you however you wish.” Hegeia smiled at me, and I knew what she meant with the last sentence.

  “I’ll need help on the ship. For as long as you three want to stay. You can leave at any time. I’ll drop you off where you want.”

  “Thank you,” she replied. “Maybe after we have paid our debt, we can be freewomen, but we are happy here now. With you and the Prime Valkyrie.”

  We walked past the elevator and into the bridge. Madalena, Nikki, Lux, and Mikhael were looking at a map of a space station on Persephone’s display, and Josefinna, along with the two women who I guessed were Milda and Calisto huddled together over one of Persephone’s gunner terminals.

  Madalena saw me and barked a word in the language I didn’t know. The rest of the crew shot to attention and turned to face me. None of them were wearing their armor, but their tight uniforms displayed impressively fit bodies.

  “Is that Red Eye - 13?” I asked after they had saluted. It was a stupid question since the desi
gn of the station looked like a massive spherical eyeball.

  “Yes,” Madalena said. “We are here.” She pointed at the glowing dot on the underbelly of the station. “There is one Magate Order ship docked over here.” She gestured to the other side of the station.

  “We need to go over there and talk to them,” I said as I felt the beast in my stomach growl.

  “We have been to this station once,” Madalena said as she pointed to the center of the eyeball design. “They have slave auctions in the main bazaar. We will find Magate Order scum there. We will separate a few from their group and then ask them about your friends.”

  “Let’s go,” I said as I clenched my fists hard enough to crack the joints.

  “My lord, Red Eye - 13 is an unsavory place. Will you take my advice?” Madalena looked at me, and I could feel her hope. Damn it, she truly wanted to help me and make me happy. It was hard to be mad at someone who felt the way she did about me.

  “Yeah.”

  “We should not leave Persephone unattended. Also, Red Eye - 13 allows each person to carry one sidearm, but no large weapons. They take no responsibility for any deaths that occur inside.”

  “So how many should we take with us into the station?” I asked.

  “Just two,” she answered as she gestured to Lux and Mikhael.

  “Alright. Just a single sidearm?”

  “Yes, we have stocked Persephone's armory with pulse technology.” Madalena smiled, and I realized she must have felt my surge of excitement.

  Who didn’t like new guns?

  “Let’s swing by the armory.” I was a bit surprised she only thought the four of us needed to go, but she might have thought there was a good chance that assholes might try to steal Persephone.

  “Josefinna, you have command until Adam returns. Kill any who approaches our dock.”

  “Yes, Prime Valkyrie,” the woman with the fiery red hair said.