Ancient Hunter
Chapter 56

A chill ran down back to the tips of my fingers, which felt numb. A feeling of bile welled up in my throat as I began to see the seriousness of the situation.

“I would have spared you if I could,” Xenai said sympathetically. She turned her attention her voice hardening. “Well? What have you found out?”

Doctor Jennings stared at her. Xenai could have picked the answer from his mind. By using words she was reassuring me that she was on my side.

“The lieutenant’s DNA is a closer match.”

I visibly shivered at his words I turned back to Freyhilda my voice lowering.

“Freyhilda if a bond sister splits from her original Clan…” I trailed off not wanting to say more.

“Their DNA is altered to reflect their new status.”

The bile in my throat welled up and I ran from the centre of the bay. I never reached the airlock door. I fell to my hands and knees and threw up. I couldn’t wait while the door took its time to open. I wanted to flee leave this place. Go and hide never to be found yet I couldn’t do that too much was holding me here. I had to find my Keepers and then I had to bring justice to the Landottir. I heard some behind me putting a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Here wash your mouth out with this?” Freyhilda handed me a canteen of water.

I swilled the burning bitter flavour in my mouth. One of Freyhilda’s squad brought me a bucket.

Freyhilda put the bucket in front of me. “Spit in out in here.”

I rinsed my mouth and spit it into the bucket. The foul taste was still there. I washed my mouth out several more times emptying the canteen. I handed it back to Freyhilda.

“Thanks.” I was genuinely grateful for her help. I looked at what I’d done I sprayed the floor and wall beside the airlock door with the contents of my gut. By some miracle I hadn’t got any on my uniform or boots. I felt ill I just wanted to lie where I was and not move.

“I’ll get someone to clean that up?” Xenai commented.

I looked up to she her standing over me. Slowly and shakily I got to my feet.

“Sergeant Hollen help Gwen and follow me.”

She led us through the airlock to a room on the other side of the corridor directly opposite the airlock. It was a smallish room made smaller by the hulking Valkyrie in it. Three couches and a circular table filled the room. On the walls were a number of holo posters mostly to do with shuttle operation and the do’s and don’ts of shuttle piloting. This must be the shuttle pilots’ R and R room. A place for them to relax between shuttle missions. Freyhilda guided me to a couch and sat me down. My hands were shaking my face crimson I’d embarrassed myself in front of everyone. I felt so ashamed doing that my thoughts were in a whirl.

“Will you be ok?” Xenai asked me concerned.

“I’ll have to be,” I replied slowly gaining equilibrium.

The door slid open and one of the Human male crew appeared with a mug of coffee. Xenai took it from him and passed it to me.

“Drink this it will wash that taste out of your mouth?” Xenai glanced at Freyhilda “Sergeant will you and your squad step outside for a moment I want you speak to Gwen alone?”

“Aye ma’am,” Freyhilda said with a salute.

I was on my own with Xenai not knowing what to say or how to apologise from things. I had made a mess of things.

“I’m sorry I had to put you through that.” Xenai was apologising to me.

All I could do was nod I was at a loss as how to reply to that. Finally I found my voice again it sounded raw. I felt as if I’d swallowed a cactus. “You did what you had to do find the truth.” I was feeling better physically although my mind was still in turmoil.

Xenai studied me carefully she seemed to be mulling over something. “I’m not sure if you’ve come to the same conclusion I have? Sergeant Hollen was very through will her reports about the missing Landottir?”

I knew where this was going I hated the thought but I knew she wasn’t saying things without some proof. All I could do was nod again I didn’t trust myself to say the right words.

“It’s no coincidence we were attacked the moment we activated that crystal.” Xenai’s face screwed up with anger. “They must have been waiting in what ever their equivalent of hyperspace is?”

I couldn’t tell her what I didn’t know. Jennifer just transported me about the place without effort as did the Keepers. They could even do that while a ship was in hyperspace. “I don’t know how they did that?”

Xenai sighed. “I don’t suppose you could ask?”

“If it was Mouse or Digger yes. But Moon Shadow and Running Deer I don’t know if they would be able to. Well in a way we could understand?” I had to be truthful I couldn’t keep that from her.

Xenai looked at me and sighed. “No that’s too much to ask .We just have to figure this on our own. But it makes it damn hard to defend against that.” Xenai leaned forward her voice lowered. “They even breached the shields Lottie and the Thousand had designed for us.”

I didn’t know either it must have been a secret only known the Alliance hierarchy.

Xenai learned back. “I’ve come to the conclusion the these attackers were the same as the ones that attacked the Landottir all those years ago.” She waved her finger. “Not the one that breached the ship but the ships that they came from.”

“Why what reason?” My emotions were running too wild to form an opinion.

Xenai put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find the answers together that’s what sisters do. We might not be related by blood but I believe you are a sister of my heart.”

Her words finally got through to me. I had to be better than this I wasn’t an emotional wreck. I was better than that. Thirika and the other Valkyrie had placed their faith in me. I might be vaihdokas and not a full Valkyrie. I had the soul of one I had to show myself I could do this. I regarded Xenai carefully she had the faith to place me as head of her investigation team. I now had to repay that faith and do my damn job no moping about I had a job to do. “I’m sorry I ran off like I did.”

Xenai held out her hand to me. “Come on Gwen show me you Enari soul.”

I grasped her hand feeling more sure of myself than I had done for a while. It was as if I had been missing a part of me and now I’d found it. Xenai was strong for her size and easily pulled me up.

“We’ll see what Doctor Jennings has for us? Things may look horrific now but it is up to us to make it better.” She gave me a wink that almost had me smile. “Confidentially,” she said. “All that mess makes feel queasy. So I know the feeling.”

It wasn’t the body and the blood that affected me but the realisation that it was linked to the missing Landottir.

Xenai led the way back into the bay. Freyhilda’s squad taking up positions around me like I was some VIP. Captain Skerifa and the Clan Martin Valkyrie joined us I was surprised by that last bit.

“Mourn for the Clan later after you’ve destroyed those that did this,” Skerifa stated anger flickering in her eyes. She was referring to the creatures.

I guessed she was angry at whoever had done this. I took her words to heart she was nothing like what I’d heard about her Clan Mother. She was right I need to focus on the present and not dwell on the past. I glanced at Xenai seeing the pleased smile on her face she turned serious as she addressed Doctor Jennings.

“What have you got for us?” she said.

I stole a glance at the corpse. It was still wet with blackish blood the chest carved open with the organs on display. He had cut through the skull exposing the cranium underneath. I felt like a different Gwen detached and unemotional. Seeing the corpse as hunk of dead meat. The logical part of my mind told me that. Even though I felt uncomfortable with the change that had come over me. It was as if someone had turned a key switching off the emotions. I began to see things with a clearer head. It didn’t make it better. It just made the unpleasantness more palatable.

“A lot of odd things,” Jennings stated. He held up what seemed to be a heart but there was a crystal poking out of it. A clear crystal not a purple one.

“Most of the organs have these attached to them.” Jennings continued. “We have also discovered growth hormones.” He gestured to the corpse. “Who ever they were they were fed a cocktail of chemicals to accelerate body growth.” He glanced at the two female T’Arni with him both dressed in white suits the red blood drop of the Confederacy on their shoulders. “We have estimated the body age to be about sixteen years that is as the Terrans measure time.”

Gasps rose from the throats of those around him. I had to admit I ‘d been surprised by that. Briefly I wondered why I wasn’t reacting like I had been earlier. The Confederacy had adopted many things from Earth the calendar being one of them.

Jennings carried on with his report. “We can only speculate the purpose of the crystal.” He looked directly at Xenai before glancing at me. “We can only deal with the facts. We have screened both Jedra Martin and Lieutenant Hunter’s DNA. There is a match but not a full match.” He waved towards the corpse. “This one has a mix of Human and Ezaran DNA as well. Of all those we checked Lieutenant Hunter’s is the closest we get to the Valkyrie DNA which is the majority of the body.” He glanced at me again. “Lieutenant Hunter’s ancestor or one of them was the forebear of the cadaver.”

“Landottir, the missing Landottir,” I said. The pieces of the puzzle were falling in to place. But I couldn’t be certain of that as of yet. Part of me I was glad I was being analytical about this. I did wonder where the emotional wreck of earlier was. I felt as if I was a different person. Unbidden I felt my anger surge but not with the ferocity it normally did. I began to wonder if Xenai had slipped something into the coffee I drank. What ever it was couldn’t keep me for feeling angry enough to take on those that had done this. Freyhilda and her squad moved in their hands on my shoulders. Captain Skerifa and Jedra placed them on there as well.

“This is now a blood feud!” Skerifa declared. “The Valkyrie are going to war! May our enemies tremble at our coming.”

Whoever was the cause of this made a very dangerous mistake. I had a bad feeling I wasn’t going to like where this was heading.

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