The Elves trust no-one after being enslaved and nearly wiped out by the Ragnarok before the New Peace that resulted from the Uniting. They are a very sneaky race, and all know the ambassadors are truly spies to keep tabs on us more advanced races.
The current one is also the most playful of the lot, Jania. She doesn't even try to hide that she is to gather information to report to her people. She'll even make a show of stealing things like iso-pads with a grin on her face saying, “I'm just going to take this, and put it in my pack,” knowing it to be worthless to her people since it would dissolve into base proteins if tampered with or any disassembly is attempted. And unlike the others, the woman has made many fast friends in Valhalla, including myself and always has a smile, oftentimes devious, on her lips.
I cringe to think about what Jania could do with an Olympian bow, as the hand-carved hardwood one she carries, she can fire three times faster than even me, and her unassisted aim is almost on par with mine.
Her eyes brightened like her smile when she saw our group arrive at the terminal, and she moved with fluid grace toward us, her eyes locked on Samantha as she put a seductive sway in her movements. She chirped out, “Ladies.” Then gave a silly bouncy curtsy to mother. “Majesty.” And her voice took on a purr that made us all struggle not to sigh as she offered a throaty, “Samantha of the Asgard, you look as fetching as ever, my heart stutters in your presence.” She wiggled her brows and Sam blushed head to toe and buried her face in Brunie's back.
Our half Ragnarok growled at Jania who giggled heartily, grinning like a child with a favorite toy. The blonde Elf opened her mouth to speak but got distracted as she hopped over to a table next to us. “Oooo, are these for anybody? I'll just hold onto this for safekeeping,” as she picked up a small plasma weapon, sliding the sidearm into the belt on her shapely hip.
Then she smiled a dare at all of us to say anything about it. I just sighed. She was either the best or worst spy ever. I was still undecided as to which.
Mother didn't know what to think of being called Majesty by the Elf and seemed too stunned at her audacity to dare her to say anything about her taking one of the weapons laid out for our defenders.
Aphrodite pushed up beside me, her hair deep pinks with purple and gold streaks. She's seen the files on the Elves of Alfheim but Jania was the first one she has ever seen in person. And if her hair was any indication, she found Jania both arousing and fascinating.
With her lithe form, wavy blonde hair with pointed ears sticking out, and the vine-like, tribal raised scars fashioned on her delicate cheeks like tattoos, Jania must look like Aphrodite candy.
Before I could stop her, Dite was saying with an almost sexual moan, “And who... is this delectable woman? I could just eat her up.”
I opened my mouth but the Elf, who I swear was unflappable and almost as much of a tease as the Goddess of Love herself, matched her hungry tone, “I am Jania Sure Step of the Ljósálfar, and if you are an example of the wares that Olympus has to offer, I might just take you up upon your offer to... what did you say? Eat me u...”
“Jania!” I blurted, and the Elf giggled in glee.
And Dite, instead of taking offense over the veiled insinuation that she was a whore selling her pleasures, giggled instead and draped herself on my arm, placing her head on my shoulder and almost moaning into my ear. “This one, I like. She's deliciously wicked.”
I muttered to myself, “Just great, now there's two of them...”
Essa and Brunie made an admirable attempt to interpose themselves between the playful Elf and Sam, but the Elf almost pirouetted between them to come up at Sam's side, hugging onto her arm... almost possessively as she draped Essa's scarf, which she had somehow pilfered in the evasion, around her neck. “Hi, gorgeous.”
Sam again tucked her hair behind an ear bashfully as she squeaked out in a tiny voice, “Well met, Jania.”
Then all the teasing bled out of the newcomer's tone as she asked while standing almost protectively at Sam's side, “So what is it that has your mother calling for me to step across the World Bridge to this land of the Olympians, Samantha of the Asgard?”
Sam was effectively rendered mute by this blonde with the seductively pointed ears who teased her relentlessly. Though I think there is more to it than meets the eye, the way the Elf patted the young Ember's hand. I gave the poor girl mercy as I prompted, “Girls? Why don't you show the surly, pointy-eared Elf to Arina and Zeus, so they can discuss the possibility of our fold to Alfheim.”
They nodded in synchronicity as Sam squeaked out like a Terran mouse, “Ok.” And I had to scoot her into motion when she just stood there. Essa and Brunie were watching Jania like hawks as they all headed back inside. I grabbed at the Elf when I felt an arrow being pulled from my quiver as she moved by.
She easily avoided my grasp as she chuckled out, “Ooo this looks pointy. I think I'll take it for when I need stabby things. Lots of things out there need stabbing.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled at the little thief, and she scrunched her nose at me as she continued to hug Sam's arm as they led her along. Tyching Elves are too cute for their own good.
Three thirdborn men came jogging up with crates marked with the firstborn seal, indicating tactical priority items that could only be issued by a firstborn or our leaders, The Two. Mother nodded and Hephaestus placed a finger on the electronic thumb latch and didn't even flinch when the needle jabbed out to stab him and read his blood.
He sucked the pad of his thumb to remove the blood from an already healed puncture and said to Hera, “Once we determined we would be escaping through the Asgard Bifrost, the limited supply of charged jump packs were sent through the event horizon to Valhalla. We kept eight in reserve here in case of emergencies.”
Before anyone could speak he added quickly, “I assumed four for the Bolt, since Zeus used it when Artemis had returned to us with the Olympian men she and the Asgard had freed from the thrall of the Titans.”
Hera was nodding as she pulled out a couple of the packs to turn over in her hands to examine. She said absently, her voice low, “We've used so many in so short a period of time. And with our Citadel jump drive recharging...” She exhaled and looked from Hep to Kara, and prompted hopefully, “Will four be sufficient for whatever plan you have? Or will you need more?”
She was uncomfortable having our greatest weapon, the Bolt of Zeus, discharged. I understood as it was a formidable last ditch weapon if the Citadel ever got overrun. That she was still willing to give up more than four packs showed the danger of what Kara offered everyone, every time she took to the field against the enemy... hope. Hope was a drug and was just as dangerous for those who had it as to the enemy facing it.
Kara was saying as she took the two Hera was offering and draped the belts over her shoulders, then took two more out of the crate, fastening one around her waist, and the other joined the rest over her shoulder as she said with more confidence than she should have, “I'll make it work.”
Inatra and Intark were moving toward us, Inatra stating, “We will come with you, Kara. You need warriors at your back.”
She shook her head as she moved away from everyone and said, “I'll have one of Asgard's most valiant fighters at my back. I've been filling her in on my plan. You are needed here.” Then before anyone could say anything she asked the air, “Pegasus, are you at the coordinates?” Then she inclined her head at us all, fire in her eyes as she slapped the jump pack, and with a whump, she was gone in a pocket of folded space. She had jumped!
Inatra was standing there, her eyes unfocused and working, as mother and Hep were inquiring where Kara had folded to. I prompted my Ragnarok sister, “Ina?” Her eyes caught mine and she made a flicking motion with her fingers, and communication channels and deep space scans bloomed in my vision as well as tactical plots, including Pegasus' own sensor feeds.
I took a step forward as I gasped. Pegasus' engines were whining and straining as target
ing data bloomed. She was rapidly approaching an object, spinning wildly in space which glowed the same blue as nano lattice. I gasped out, “Kara!”
I was peripherally aware of everyone turning to me. I watched as the valiant Windrider kicked over with maneuvering thrusters, her superstructure groaning as the inertial dampeners tried to compensate for what the data was showing as fifty G's of deceleration while one of her main doors opened to the vacuum of space. Kara shot through the opening and slammed into the far wall, her nano lattice flaring even more brightly than it had been moments before as it kept her alive in the deadly environment of space.
I took another step forward, and I heard Dite asking, “Artie? What is it?”
Exhaling in relief I said, “It's Kara, she just joined Pegasus,” when I saw the plucky Valkyrie stand up and shake off the collision with our mechanical friend.
I heard gasps around us and then I was chuckling with Inatra when Kara said over the Whisker Net that created a microscopic Einstein Rosen Bridge for near realtime, faster than light communications, “Piece of cake.”
Kate often said that and I always found it odd, but it was funnier still that Kara used it just as easily. I sometimes forget she had been stranded on Earth for five thousand years and picked up a lot of their peculiar vernacular.
Then the Valkyrie said, “Give me a moment to catch my breath and Pegasus and I will get busy up here. Make sure Arina puts the time we are going to buy to good use.”
Our venerable mechanical friend chimed in with a message scrolling in my vision, “Pegasus fly fast in the big dark. Pegasus no be caught, too sneaky.”
I thought to her as I thought of my Verr, “Yes you are too fast and clever for those Titans.”
She sent back, “After tricking Titans, we go fly when Pegasus gets home?”
I smiled and nodded to myself. “I will fly with you anytime, Pegasus. Stay safe. Love you.”
The response made Ina chuckle. “Pegasus loves Artemis too. No worry, silly Kara is smart hunter.”
That she was. I blinked away most of the overlays and looked around, everyone was staring at Inatra and me. I exhaled and said, “Kara and Pegasus are going to be going into action soon. Let's get to the control room where we can monitor them.”
Aphrodite blinked in disbelief. “She was able to fold into such a small moving vehicle in space? The calculations must have been...” She hesitated when Ina snorted and stalked past me toward the doors.
I sighed and looked between her and a quite interested Hephaestus and Hera. “No, she just folded into open space in Pegasus' path. The Windrider caught her.” Their wide eyes showed that they thought Kara was just as crazy as I thought she was for pulling a stunt like that.
Then I shuddered, knowing this wasn't her first or even second stint in space without protection, and she barely survived the prior instances. She's pretty sure she actually didn't survive the first time, but her Verr wouldn't let her pass to the ages.
Their looks of incredulity had me smirking as I shrugged and said, “She does things like that.” Then added with a touch more pride this time since I was now among their ranks, “She is Valkyrie.”
When we arrived back in the control room, all eyes turned from a conversation with Jania to us. Inatra and I were grabbing overlays in our vision and flicking them to the consoles and holo-displays. Information bloomed and Ina stepped into the main holo grid and clapped her hands then threw them wide. A representation of the Olympian system bloomed around her as she stepped away.
Courses and trajectories were plotted for all of the natural and unnatural objects in the system. Some were estimated, like the Star Killer locations and refined as data streamed in. Pegasus had been over a light hour in front of them and pulling away at the time Kara joined her. It would have taken days for the enemy to catch her, but as it was, Jotunn tech still couldn't make sense of Asgard ability to harness magnetic force, so couldn't see through Pegasus' cloak.
Our allies were slowing to a stop at unimaginable speeds up there. So the information lag on the enemy locations was only an hour delayed. This FTL data relay was a complete game changer.
I could actually feel the strain on Kara's body even with the inertial dampeners on Pegasus working beyond their capacity, and it amazed me that I could actually feel Kara through the nanite link.
Kara's voice sounded in the control room, “Olympus, this is Kara, do you read? I have rendezvoused with Pegasus. We are slowing now and will engage the enemy when we come to a relative stop.”
Zeus was blinking. “Engage the...” He made a cutting motion with his hand to mute our outgoing feed, “She is but one woman, what does she think she can do against two Star Killers? She can't defeat them.”
The Three Embers turned to him together and Samantha said like she was confused as to what father was saying, “She isn't silly enough to think she can defeat them, only slow them. And the Titans are afraid of her, so they will be cautious.”
Apollo snorted in disbelief from his tactical console and said, “The Titans? Fear one small warrior woman? She may be mighty, but that blade on her back will not give them pause.”
Thea stood up, towering over everyone again and said in a soft tone which belied her size, “She is right, the Titans do fear her, but not because of her blade nor her might. They fear her mind. For she was able to wake me from the Fog of Ages that ancients fall into. She convinced me there was a better way to live, and that there were others we could share our eternities with instead of blindly following our Queen. They fear that this Valkyrie could be the catalyst to cause others to start to believe there is another way. That she could get other Titans to walk away and embrace the other races instead of just fighting this endless war.”
Then she spoke more forcefully, “She represents... change. And for that, Rhea cannot afford her to live.”
Then Arina slashed the air and coms crackled to life again as she pointed at their course vectors showing Pegasus was just about at a standstill relative to the projected course and velocity of the incoming enemy. Kara's voice was asking, “Olympus? Hey Pegs, are you sure we're connected to...”
Arina blurted, “We read you, Kara.”
Kara exhaled in relief and said, “We are about to move into position.” Then her holographic representation looked up and over to the children. Her smile was warm and sad as she told them, “I'm so proud of you all. Tell Kate I'll be home before she knows it.”
Then in a flash, she vanished, and so did the plotted course and vectors representing Pegasus's flight path from all of the displays.
Chapter 2 – Diversion
Everyone was frantically going over all our data feeds as Zeus was bellowing, “Get her back! What's going on?”
I realized I was holding my breath when I exhaled forcefully as Arina stood and blurted, “There!” She was pointing at the oncoming enemy as their flight data refined while timestamps put the incoming streams at near realtime, with less than a second delay. But that was impossible unless...
Arina grabbed the air and curled her fingers and pulled them apart like she was trying to pull the fabric of space between them apart. The impossibly huge, lead Star Killer bloomed to fill the space with uncanny detail. How were we getting such detailed scans? Even Asgard tech, which could give impressive detail, had a bit of feedback because of the mithreal armor that the Titan Vessels were clad in.
Then I saw it as Arina highlighted a friendly green icon on the surface of the vessel, like a tiny gnat on a dinosaur's back. There were gasps all around as Dite blurted, “They're on the hull of the enemy vessel! She must have used another jump pack!”
All of our screens bloomed back to life as Pegasus' new data feeds updated, and Kara's face bloomed beside the icon. She had that look of a predator on her face, and that depthless fire in her eyes as she smiled slowly while looking at the gargantuan ship they were riding on. She growled out, “Raugh!”
Every Asgard joined me as we respond
ed, “Raugh!”
I was so very happy to see my impulsively reckless sister was still with us.
Hera stepped closer to the holo-display, her eyes scanning all of the Asgard data streaming all around the images displayed. “Now, young Asgard, would you care to regale us with your plan to delay the approach of the enemy? Arina, the Whispering Breeze has already shared with us that no Asgard vessels possess weapons.”
After a short delay, Kara smirked with a surety only she possessed, and said simply, “Please stand by. I'm going to knock on their door.”
Leto strode into the control room, her eyes glued to the screens as she moved toward tactical, “Going to knock on... is this Asgard woman insane?”
I glanced over toward the woman who may or may not be my true mother. Nobody will confirm the rumors that it was she, and not Hera who had birthed me when Zeus strayed from mother. But if it were true, it would make me a secondborn who was raised as a firstborn. The only thing that gives me pause in putting any stock into those rumors is that like all firstborns, I have abilities none of the lesser-borns possess. I can pull the bowstrings of both Wrath and Justice, the most deadly weapons Hespestus has ever built. And my unassisted aim is unmatched among all Olympians, even with computer assist.
I tried not to see the look in her eyes that she got every time she looked at me and assured her, “If it were anyone else then I would say, yes. But she is Kara, the Wild One.”
Before any discussion could be had, Kara's voice crackled out on an unsecured channel, her voiceprint glowing red instead of green on the readouts. “Approaching Titans, this is Kara, the Wild One, First Valkyrie of Asgard. This is a protected planet, please halt your advance and retreat back through the gateway and out of this star system. If you do not comply, then I will be forced to take action.”
Alfheim Page 3
