Valkyrie Hunter
Chapter 18

I woke with the sun just creeping over the horizon. I yawned and stretched my aching back. I noted wryly that I’d left a trail of drool over the console. Not the first time I’d done that. I got out of the seat and entered the passenger compartment. The two women were asleep. I crept past them silently and used the washroom facilities to wash the dregs of sleep from my eyes and to do the necessary. It was a tight squeeze in such a confined space. I stepped back out into a wall of silence. Miranda sat on her bed glaring at Ella. Ella sat on her bed not looking at anything. I sensed that this wasn’t like the last time they argued. That was banter this was far too serious for that. I had to stop this now.

“Will you two cut that out!” I growled at them. “I want those seats back up and the both of you strapped in?”

“Of course,” Miranda said sounding contrite. Her next words had an edge to them. “We can continue this once we are on our way Cinderella.”

“I only did what I did to help you,” Ella said to her.

“You did?” Miranda words were filled with sarcasm.

I blew up I didn’t know where my flash of anger came from. “Shut the fuck up both of you!” I snarled. “I’m not in the mood for your shenanigans.” I brushed past them abruptly and went into the cockpit.

I sat at the controls and took a depth breath. I shouldn’t have blown a fuse like that and it had me worried. I tapped the console and was rewarded by green lights across the board. A couple of the reds had turned amber. I powered up the engines glad to feel the shuttle answer my commands. I grasped the control stick and we lifted.

Suddenly something the size of a Doberman and with more legs than I could handle slid down window.

“Shit!” I shouted. Any anger I was feeling quickly dissolved into cold in the pit of my stomach.

“Problems?” Miranda asked sounding concerned.

“How big do those wood crawlers grow?”

“They can grow to the size of an average human. They only get aggressive in the heat of summer. Just be glad it’s winter and the cold makes them sluggish and they hibernate. Had it been summer I would have chosen another route.”

I stared at her unsure if she was joking. It looked like she wasn’t. I pulled up the shuttle a few more metres and set it to hover. I wasn’t going to stay of the ground with that thing running about. I hate spiders at the best of times but one that big would have had me screaming in terror.

I had to ask the question. “How come I haven’t heard of them before?” I’d been on Alfheimir for over a year and nothing like that had come up in my conversations with Thirika. Even when she lectured me on the dangers in the forest she had never mentioned them.

“Because they are only found in this forest. They can’t live in any other ecosystem. If you take them out of the forest they die. A few have speculated they adapted themselves only to live within base of the mountains. They are hyperaggressive species and sometimes clans send hunters as an initiation challenge. A lot don’t come back.” Miranda gave me a look. “Our clan does not do that, it is a barbaric way of ensuring the strength of the clan.” She gave a sigh. “It’s another layer of deterrent to keep the curious out of the mountains.”

“You certainly don’t like visitors?”

“Not as such. We aren’t encouraged to have visitors. The Old Ones are supposed to spend the rest of their lives in quiet contemplation. The fewer that know about us the better.”

“Runa did.”

“Runa?”

“Runa Hrutdottir.”

“Oh the Silver Guard. Yes, they know about us, them and the Elders.” Anger edged her words.

“I think that’s enough of that,” I said to Miranda. “Strap yourself in and we’ll get out of here.”

I powered the drives and we headed out over the forest. Abruptly it ended like someone had taken a knife and cut a line. We flew over pastures, fields of crops and the occasional farm. I was relieved to see more familiar territory than an endless forest. We passed over roads I even saw a number of mag-lev stations, which was a surprise I hadn’t known how extensive the Valkyrie mag-lev system was. I felt a little ashamed about that. Earth had more that enough opportunity to build the underground high speed floating rail system but had never bothered too expensive. They’d rather spend the money on the nobles’ frivolities. We flew on passing over villages and towns. The bleep of an alarm had me alert. The sensors had picked up two unidentified shuttles on an intercept course.

“Trouble incoming,” I shouted out.

“Where?” Ella said from the doorway. She entered the cockpit and sat in the co-pilot’s seat and stared at the info on the sensor console.

“Vectoring in on our course,” I said to her quietly.

“Might be the escort Triple ‘M’ asked for?” She didn’t sound convinced which didn’t bode well for my self-confidence. “But be cautious,” she added.

“Head back and strap yourselves in this could be a bumpy ride?”

“If it is dangerous?” Ella warned me. “Land and we’ll deal with it then. If they comm don’t mention Triple ‘M’. ”

“Ok,” I replied. At least this time we were better armed and Ella was wearing armour she had taken from the Palkkasir.

A voice suddenly spoke over the comms. I almost jumped out of my seat at that. I should have been a lot calmer.

“Land and identify yourself!” A voice ordered.

I wasn’t going to do that despite what Ella had said. I decided on a name for the shuttle on the fly. “This is the Albatross, that’s a negative on landing.” I called out over the comms.

“I repeat you will land your shuttle.”

“Negative!” I shot back. “You have not identified yourselves. I will not land!” I added in USE. “You must think I’m stupid?”

“Albatross do not assume no one else speaks Terran,” the speaker said in USE.

Before I could reply to that another voice interrupted. “Albatross this is Airspace Control continue on your present course. Do not deviate from this course or you will be fired upon.”

“Affirmative Airspace Control, continuing on present course,” I answered.

I keep a careful eye out as the two shuttles converged on my position. I was ready to take evasive manoeuvres in case they proved to be hostile. What did worry me I hadn’t heard a peep from the others. Ella and Miranda were keeping quiet, too quiet.

“You ok in there?” I called back.

“We’re fine,” Ella answered. “Whatever you do, do not say that Triple ‘M’ is on board.”

I understood that she was repeating the warning from earlier. The shuttles flanked us keeping pace with the shuttle I had inadvertently called the Albatross. I guess the name would stick. Suddenly one of the shuttles pulled slightly ahead. It had a larger than usual shuttle door. It slid open to reveal an armoured Valkyrie with the biggest coil gun I’d ever seen on a plinth pointing at me.

“Shuttles do you think I’m going to be scared into landing. You have another thing coming. So forget it!”

“Albatross this is a warning to what will happen to you deviate from the course you are on.”

“Yeah,” I responded automatically my words dipping with sarcasm. “You know the saying the bigger the toy the less satisfaction with the real thing.” I hadn’t meant to say that but I wasn’t about to let them intimidate me.

Suddenly laughter crackled through to comms.

“That’s a good one Albatross. I’ll remember that one.”

The other shuttle pulled back and we flew on our escorts flanking either side.

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