Ancient Hunter
Chapter 55

I woke from a less that restful sleep to a familiar voice calling my name. I opened my eyes to see Freyhilda at the foot of my bunk well out of arms reach. I guessed that she was being cautious in case I reacted the wrong way.

“Problems?” I asked her climbing out of my bunk and reaching for my boots.

“Captain Xenai wants you in bay eight,” Freyhilda answered.

I gave her a look noticing that she and her squad were in full combat armour. Only Freyhilda hadn’t put on her helmet. They all had the Coil Assault Guns strapped to their chests.

“You know why?” I was worried that Xenai hadn’t had enough rest. I worried with all the trauma her telepathy had to deal with. I had given Thorda the telepathy suppressant drug so she could rest without her mind being overwhelmed. I picked up my holster and strapped to my waist. I felt ready for action but one thing still nagged me.

“I can’t very well take that with me?” I said gesturing to the Valkyrie Guardian sword on the floor beside my bed.

“Frialmold and Rodrifa will watch over it. Me and the rest of my squad will be your escort,” Freyhilda assured me.

I did wonder how her squad got away with it that. They seemed to be following their own orders. I was sure it didn’t extend to being my escort. I guess them being Valkyrie and the fact I was with the Silver Guard had something to do with it. That and the fact that they seemed to think I was the Clan Mother of the defunct Landottir Clan. I had a bad feeling that the Elders would ratify it and that had been the reason they had refused Mother Ronja’s plead for me to join her Clan. I felt a frisson of frustration that they couldn’t have told me from the start.

I had no idea where bay eight was. “I’m afraid you’ll have to guide me I’ve no idea of where that was. The Valorous Star an ex-Imperial Capital Cruiser donated to the Alliance had sixteen bays.

“Neither do I,” Freyhilda replied. Her forearm had an in built comms unit. She tapped that and a holo map appeared above it. “We go this way.”

“I’m glad someone has their head on straight,” I said getting a blank look from Freyhilda. I’d forgot that the Confeds did know Imperial idioms. Some did, but not it seemed Freyhilda. I’d often had to explain my words to Jervic because he hadn’t understood what I’d said. Kelli on the other hand had been born on Paranova an Imperial Colony.

“Move out sergeant!” I ordered.

“Aye ma’am!” Freyhilda replied.

I could live with that at least she wasn’t calling me Mother Gwen. She was acting as if I was a real Alliance officer and not a pretend one. Then it was Xenai that had given me my uniform. With that thought in mind we left the quarters and hurried down the corridor.

I followed Freyhilda seeing that in places the ship showed signs of heavy fighting. The floors and walls covered with bullet holes and scorch marks. We halted while Freyhilda consulted her holo map. The ship was a maze and I’d only seen a small part of it. Finally we reached our destination. I knew it to be the place as two Marines guarded the entrance. A heavily built extra wide door opened to reveal an airlock. The shuttle bay I’d normally taken was a lot smaller. Even the entryway into the shuttle bay where the Marines on the Ariadne trained had been smaller. I made a few friends on that ship while I ended up investigating a murder. A frame up of a dead woman and a plot to kill the Marines on the ship. Unfortunately the Navy had taken over that investigation so I never saw the end results. At the other end of a short airlock was another more substantial door. Again Marines guarded this one Xenai was certainly taking security here seriously. I had to wait for the outer door to shut before the inner one unlock and opened. I was sure this was the first time I had encountered this. It must be that serious. The bay was massive it was one of the ships larger bays. There was enough space to sit two dozen shuttles comfortably. It was empty of any shuttles or those drop ships that they used. At the opposite end to where I was standing were the huge hanger doors that led to space. In fact it was only the hanger doors that kept out the vacuum of space left me more than a little apprehensive. Close to the hanger doors were a number of Marines in full combat armour. They seemed to be guarding a number of black what seemed to be body bags. My blood ran cold on seeing them. In the centre of the bay it looked as if someone had ripped equipment out of a Medbay. There was a lot of machinery and I could just about make out a metal table with a trough running around its edges. A number of people were gathered around the table. some Alliance personal and a few Valkyrie. They were the easiest to spot towering over the Humans, T’Arni and Ezarans. Spotting Xenai I crossed over to her Freyhilda’s squad trailing behind. As I got closer I noticed something on the table. I ignored it my eyes on Xenai worried about her health even though I was glad to see her up about. That last time I had seen her was when Thorda laid her on a bed in her ready room.

“Ma’am” I said to Xenai with a smart salute. A Confed one, hand at a angle to the eyebrow.

Xenai glanced in my direction. I could see the weariness in her eyes. “Good of you to come as soon as you could Lieutenant Hunter. We have an odd conundrum we could use your help on?”

I noted she was being formal I guess she was playing to an audience. “I’ll help any way I can Captain Xenai.” I replied.

“Doctor Jennings needs a blood sample.” She indicated an older Human in a white coat a blood drop within a circle on his shoulder.

His hair was cropped short and greying his face looked craggy and sun burnt.

“Blood sample?” I said and sighed no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t stop myself repeating others’ words.

Xenai gave a nod to the group of Valkyrie in civilian clothes. I instantly recognised Captain Skerifa Samdar. I noted she was wearing a green and yellow sash around her waist. I noted that, while an other Valkyrie had stood back. A younger Valkyrie stood with her. The younger Valkyrie was wearing a red and silver sash. She was a Martin, Miranda’s Clan and possibly an ally. While I was looking at the Valkyrie, Doctor Jennings came up to me. He was wearing his medical gauntlet.

“If you don’t mind?” he said taking my hand in his. He made a small prick in my thumb and took a drop of blood from it deftly transferring it to a slot in his gauntlet.

I assumed he was analysing my blood. I began to worry he’d pick up that my blood wasn’t normal even for someone that wasn’t full Valkyrie.

“He’s only looking into the Enari constituent in your blood.” Xenai assured me. Most T’Arni called the Valkyrie that it was their original name before they encountered the ‘Marco’. A pre-Empire explorer ship the one that had brought Miranda to Alfheimir. Xenai knew about my Keeper blood and the nanobots. To be truthful I’d rather have Kelli do this than some stranger, enough knew my secrets as it was.

I used the time while I waited for the assumptions the doctor would make to take a closer look at the table that they were all gathered around. I froze cold filling me and blinked hard in disbelief. There was a corpse on the table no ordinary corpse. Its head and feet extended beyond the edges of the table. Its skin was white almost as white as snow seemingly to be semi translucent. Black veins radiated around the parts of the body I could see. I noticed other details it was a male it was that evident from the naked corpse. He was also bald no hair anywhere. He was a taller than a Valkyrie and broader than one. I stepped closer to Xenai my voice lowering.

“Why do you need my blood sample. I would rather have Kelli do it?” I was sounding my concerns over exposing my Keeper DNA more than I had to.

“Kelli isn’t qualified Gwen,” Xenai stated.

“To take my blood,” I said and instantly regretted taking that tone with her. Kara Martin certified her as a doctor?” Kara was a member of the Silver Guard and one of the three Silver Guard agents on our danger fraught trip to Melanos. She was also the ship’s doctor. Runa was the obvious Silver Guard while Leadra the half Ezaran and Kara were in the background. I’d only met Leadra after a bumbled plot to implement me in a plot to kill Runa. Looking back at now it was a laughably incompetent attempt to frame me. At the time I considered it a dangerous situation to be embroiled in. I brought myself back to the present.

Xenai shook her head. “As a qualified forensic examiner. He was on board the Axon when it was attacked.

“But why my blood in particular? You do know it contains additives?” It was a more subtle of referring to my Keeper DNA and the nanobots I had in me.

“I am aware of that!” Xenai said sharply then soften her tone. “Which I why I’m monitoring Doctor Jennings’ thoughts. I’m trying to find answers.” Xenai took a deep breath I could hear the sadness there. “I’ve lost over a hundred and seventy- three of my crew and there’s another three hundred injured.”

I felt a bit of a heel taking an aggressive tone with her. The crew of the Valorous Star was just over a thousand losing that many was a big hit on her and her reputation.

I turned back to watching Doctor Jennings unable to express my sorrow. He was studying the data he had gathered on his gauntlet holo. Walla had a whole set medical equipment in her dead niece’s bedroom. She never once queried my odd blood. All she concentrated was the bloodstained cloth I gathered form the Prophet.

“Captain we have a better match. The cadaver contains Clan Martin DNA.” Jennings said looking up from his holo.

My eyes were on the young Valkyrie Martin. I was beginning to see a pattern and didn’t like the way my thoughts were going. I suspected the truth too mind-blowingly horrific.

“Is that why they need my blood?” I said my thought out loud. “That thing has Valkyrie DNA?” Which was why they’d brought in the Valkyrie from the Martin Clan. I think they were looking for a specific blood type.

I must have been heard since Xenai answered. “Yes,” Xenai said. “I’m sorry we had to involve you.”

I felt sick to my stomach. “You know don’t you?” I couldn’t finish the question my mind was racing. All Clans had specific tracers in the DNA that marked them out as of that particular Clan. It was the stipulation of being a Martin. Thirika had confirmed what Miranda had said she’d had to go through to create her Clan. I remembered what she had said when she formed her Clan. Because she needed new members apart from increasing births. She had gathered exiles from other Clans and after background checks welcomed them into her Clan. But first they had to have their DNA changed to make them Martin. I found myself turning to Freyhilda glad that she hadn’t commented on the situation. With her helmet on I could see her expression. I hated to do it but I had to ask her.

“Do the Hollen have specific DNA that makes them Hollen?” I should have taken more interest in Walla’s work when she used my blood to prove the Prophet was an impostor.

“All Hollen’s have the same DNA markers that make them Hollen. If a Hollen goes to another Clan their DNA is changed to the make up of the new Clan.”

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