“Or changed them to work against us,” added Bergelmir.
“Go over this and learn what you can,” I said. “Pay close attention to any places that look like they might have been altered.”
“Or for missing pages,” added Bergelmir.
“Exactly,” I relied. “But for now, we need to get to the communications room.”
Almost on cue, there was a sharp knocking at the heavy steel door. I knew that it would have to be the Hrimthurssar. If the Eldjötnar had made it into our camp, there is no doubt that we would have heard the battle waging between the two groups of warriors. Although I firmly believed that the Hrimthurssar would not win, that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t go down without one Hel of a fight.
Opening the door a crack, I could see Thrym and his group. It looked to be the same group that we had spoken with in the cabin a few nights back. We opened the door to allow them inside and I noticed that there were a couple of additions to the group. The warrior Suttung was with them as well as Gnissa. I noticed that she was no longer walking with a limp. I also noticed the look she gave me when she came through the door. Who says Frost Giants are cold?
Once we had all assembled in the communications room, I poured myself a big mug of coffee and headed for the chair at the head of the table. After everyone had settled into their seats, I addressed the assembled group.
“Alright folks,” I began. “Let’s get this show on the road. I want each scout team to give a quick accounting of what they saw on their run. If you even think you saw a sign of the Eldjötnar, speak up and we can all discuss the possibilities. Alright, who wants to start?”
One by one, each team recounted their trip in detail. I noticed that before each of the Hrimthurssar would speak, they would glance at Thrym. He would give them a slight nod and they would begin their tale. I was starting to get the feeling that Thrym had already spoken to his people and decided what they could and could not tell us.
“So much for trusting each other,” I thought.
After everyone had spoken and all the information (that they were giving us anyway) was on the table, I leaned back in my chair to digest it all. I was already on my third cup of coffee and my mind was working overtime. If they were telling us everything (and that’s a big if), then we didn’t have a great deal to go on. No one had made any contact in any of the places that we had tried.
The only odd bit of information came from one of the Hrimthurssar teams. There was something nagging at the back of my mind about the way they had described the outskirts of the city of Springfield. I replayed his words in my mind, searching for the one comment that had piqued my curiosity. The phrase that kept running through my head was, “We were close enough to see the scorch marks on the buildings and read the road signs.”
“Wait a second,” I said, suddenly sitting up.
Instantly, everyone’s eyes were on me. No doubt, I looked like a crazy man just suddenly sitting up and barking that out. The thing was, if what I had just realized was right then something weird was definitely going on in Springfield.
“Hey,” I said, gesturing at Skrymir, “Tell me again what you saw when you entered the edge of Springfield.”
I noticed that he started to turn to Thrym.
“Don’t fucking look at him!” I bellowed, standing up and smashing my fist on the table. “If I wanted the edited version, I’d fucking ask HIM! Tell me what the fuck you saw!”
You could feel the tension level rise in the room as both sides glared at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.
“Answer the fucking question, Skrymir!” I snapped. “What did you see?”
“I stated that we entered the edge of the city, but saw no sign of the Eldjötnar,” he said, slowly.
I could see he wanted to turn towards Thrym, but was reluctant to push the issue with me. That was good. That meant that they were just as worried about what I would do to them as they were about Thrym. I could use that to my advantage.
“Go on,” I urged, my tone still razor sharp.
“We did not go all the way into the city,” he added. “There was a great many of the dead still moving around. We did get close enough to read the signs and see the scorch marks on the buildings and the rubble.”
“The scorch marks on the buildings and the rubble,” I repeated, slowly.
“Yes,” he affirmed. “That is what I said.”
“How much snow was on the ground, there?” I asked, my voice suddenly much softer.
“Actually, now that you mention it,” replied Skrymir. “I do not think that there was any.”
“Now isn’t that strange,” I said, addressing the entire room. “I mean, it’s been snowing like Antarctica here, but only fifty miles away there is nothing. Doesn’t that seem odd to anyone else?”
“Not really,” said Skrymir. “The air was just as cold, but the ground was warm. Is that not uncommon amongst your volcanic areas?”
“Yes, it is,” I replied. “I’ve seen pictures of hot springs and clear areas among the frozen areas of Iceland. The only problem is, Springfield isn’t a volcanic area. There aren't any hot springs for hundreds of miles.”
I noticed that comment got the undivided attention of Thrym and of several of his people. A few of them began whispering in hushed tones, quiet enough that I couldn’t hear them. Turning to Bergelmir, I was hoping that he could shed some light on this mystery that only the Hrimthurssar seemed to have any idea about.
“What’s that mean?” I asked, leaning towards Bergelmir.
“It is a good indication that the Eldjötnar may be in the area,” he explained. “It is said that when they come to Midgard, they will bathe it in fire.”
“Are they trying to create a volcano in Springfield?” I asked, shocked.
“It would so appear,” muttered Bergelmir. “It does, however, give us a place to begin searching for them.”
“Outstanding,” I said, smiling. “We have a target.”
Murmuring erupted around the table as everyone broke into little conversations. Only Thrym didn’t participate. He was too busy glaring daggers at me. Undoubtedly, I had just brought down his anger by forcing Skrymir to listen to me instead of him. I could see the fires smoldering in his eyes. If he had thought that he could keep me from noticing that we weren’t getting the whole story from him, he thought wrong.
As a Corrections Officer, I spent my entire career catching people in lies. If he thought that I wouldn’t notice the subtle cues he was giving his people and the half-truths that they were trying to spoon feed us, he must have been in for a rude shock. I doubted that he would be underestimating me quite like that, again.
I wanted to push the issue even further, but I could tell from the looks on some of the Hrimthurssar’s faces that I probably shouldn’t take the chance. It would probably be best to let everyone go cool off before tempers flared even farther and blood was spilled. Once that happened, any alliance we had would be gone. Although I didn’t have to like it, we still needed them on our side. I had to make myself remember, first the Eldjötnar and then we would worry about the Hrimthurssar.
Chapter Fifteen
Gathering Clouds
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.“
- Benjamin Franklin
Once everyone had left the communications room, I watched the Hrimthurssar until they had left the complex. Once they were gone, the rest of us headed into the dining hall to eat some breakfast. Karen saw us filing in and started filling some serving trays with food to bring to us. We had been in the meeting room for so long that we had missed the morning meal that had been set out for everyone else. Oh well, warm leftovers were still better than MREs, any day of the week.
Bergelmir sat down and opened the journal. I watched as he studied it intently, slowly turning the pages. Occasionally, he would flip back a few pages to check something. We all began filling our plates as he read. I filled an additional plate for Bergelmir and sat it in front o
f him. He nodded acknowledgement and continued reading, occasionally snagging a piece of sausage or a fork-full of eggs. He ate without really paying attention to the food.
We kept our conversations low to not disturb his reading. I quietly explained about the book to the others while Bergelmir continued to read. I noticed that Spec-4 looked at the book with an odd expression on her face, and then looked at me with a sad look in her eyes.
“Something wrong,” I asked her.
“Oh, nothing,” she said, shrugging. “I just have a bad feeling that whatever is in that book won’t bode well for us.”
“It never does,” I replied.
After several minutes, Bergelmir looked up with a perplexed expression on his face. Clearly, he was reading something that either didn’t make sense or had been completely unexpected. I gave him a moment to gather his thoughts before asking him to explain. However, my curiosity was killing me. Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer.
“What?” I asked, exasperated.
“I am not completely certain,” he said, not really explaining. “I keep finding references to someone that I have not heard of before.”
“What kind of references?” asked Spec-4.
“The journal contains orders and directives for the squad that this warrior belonged to,” said Bergelmir. “However, it does not say why they are seeking this person. It does say that they are concentrating their efforts on him.”
“Whoever it is, they must be important,” said Snake. “But if the Eldjötnar are lookin’ for his ass, he’s screwed.”
“Apparently, Loki is with this person,” said Bergelmir. “If they can find him, they can find Loki. Surtr intends to usurp control from Loki and claim all of the Nine Worlds.”
“Who is this person?” asked Spec-4, beating me to the question.
“I assume it is a human,” said Bergelmir. “Whoever they are, they go by the name Pensmore.”
“That’s an odd name for a person,” said Marko. “Almost sounds British and more like a last name than a first name.”
“Are you sure that the Eldjötnar are convinced that Pensmore is a person?” I asked, frowning.
“Is it not?” asked Bergelmir. “The Eldjötnar are convinced that if they can locate this man, he will be the key to finding Loki. They are scattering their scouts all over the map searching for him.”
“Then they will be looking a long time,” I said, chuckling.
“Why is that?” asked Spec-4.
“Because Pensmore isn’t a person,” I said, turning to face her. “It’s a place.”
“If it is on any map, they will find it,” cautioned Bergelmir.
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said, smiling. “It’s not a city or a town. It’s a building. Without the internet to help them, they won’t have a chance of locating it. It won’t appear on any map.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Marko. “How do you know about this place?”
“Because my youngest son is a big conspiracy buff,” I explained. “You see, a few years ago there was this unknown Billionaire who bought a bunch of land between Ozark and Highlandville.”
“And?” asked Spec-4.
“Well, he started building this massive castle called Pensmore,” I said. “Using some pretty cutting edge technology, this place was supposed to be earthquake proof, tornado proof, bomb proof and whatever proof. This place was supposed to withstand just about anything that could be thrown at it, short of a nuke.”
“That sounds like something Loki would do,” said Bergelmir.
“It gets better,” I added. “Supposedly, according to the conspiracy theory websites, they dug deep into the Missouri Limestone beneath it to create a massive underground structure as big as the building above ground. Maybe even bigger. They also were supposed to have made a network of tunnels, leading to the Gods only know where.”
“Again, very much like Loki,” said Bergelmir.
“Do you know where it’s at?” asked Marko.
“I know where it is, in general terms,” I said. “The place had heavily armed security and you couldn’t get anywhere near it. I’ve never gone out to see it, but I do know that every camera crew that tried was met by armed security and told to leave.”
“Paranoid much?” asked Bridgett.
“Obviously,” said Snake, “they were building something that they didn’t want anyone to know about.”
“The conspiracy guys claimed it was some kind of Illuminati-esque facility,” I said, “where they would rule North America after they took over, making the place the new White House.”
“That sounds crazy,” said Spec-4.
“I agree,” I said, “but now it doesn’t seem quite so crazy. Especially, if Loki built the place as his headquarters on Earth.”
“The Hrimthurssar were never told of this place,” said Bergelmir. “Loki directed us by messenger and by radio. I doubt even Thrym knows of this place.”
“I highly doubt it,” I said, shaking my head. “If he knew what Pensmore was, he would never have given us the book.”
“That is true,” added Bergelmir. “Perhaps he is hoping that since you are from here, you might figure it out and lead him to Pensmore.”
“That makes more sense than anything else we’ve thought of,” I said, nodding.
“What do you plan on doing about this?” asked Spec-4.
“Well, for one thing,” I said, glancing around the table at all of them, “no one tells any of them about this. This stays between us, for now.”
“Got it,” said Snake. “I’m not tellin’ those fuckers anything, anyway.”
“I think that pretty much sums it up for all of us,” said Marko.
“So, do we head for Pensmore?” asked Spec-4. “Or do we have another move in mind?”
“We’ve got to find out what’s going on in Springfield,” I said, shaking my head. “Loki can wait.”
“Why is the activity in Springfield so important?” asked Marko.
“Because if they do manage to set off a volcano,” I said, “we’re too damned close for comfort. If the lava flow gets this far, we lose everything. We can’t stop a lava flow.”
“So, we take a team into Springfield and locate the Eldjötnar,” said Spec-4.
“And we eliminate the threat,” I said.
“That’s going to be easier said than done,” she cautioned.
“The nature of the beast, I’m afraid,” I answered, standing up.
“So are we planning on rounding up everyone we can find and meeting them head on?” asked Marko.
“Nothing quite so dramatic,” I answered, shaking my head. “We really don’t have the kind of numbers it would take to go directly against them. What we’re going to have to do is go in with a small team and use guerilla tactics.”
“So, basically just us,” said Snake, gesturing at the assembled group of Einherjar.
“Pretty much,” I agreed.
“What about the Hrimthurssar?” asked Bridgett.
“We’ll have to play the game,” I said. “We’ll tell them I may have a lead on this Pensmore guy and tell them I think he might be in one of two places. I’ll let him choose which one to go to, but neither of them will be the actual location we’re heading to.”
“Do you think he'll fall for it?” asked Spec-4.
“I damned sure hope so,” I replied. “If he doesn’t, we really will end up fighting them both. If I can delay the inevitable, I will. I mean, I know that Thrym and I are going to fight. That’s just how it is, but I’d prefer to be the one who decides when and where.”
“Can’t blame you there,” said Spec-4. “When do we leave?”
“We’ll get our gear together today and leave first thing in the morning,” I said. “I want to take a couple of extra people with us to bring the horses back. Once we get close, we’re going in on foot and I don’t want to leave the horses to fend for themselves.”
“How are we going to get back?” asked Marko.
Considering the fact that we were going up against the most dangerous foe any of us had ever faced in the Eldjötnar, then we were going to have to deal with the Hrimthurssar AND Loki. Well, I just wasn’t overly optimistic about our chances of coming back at all. I wasn’t going to say that, but I seriously doubted that everyone hadn’t already thought the same thing.
“Improvise,” I said, with more confidence than I actually felt. “We’ll figure it out when the time comes.”
“Good enough for me,” said Snake. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
“Everyone, get your weapons and gear ready,” I said. “Go over everything and make sure it’s in tip-top shape. Take whatever you think you’ll need. On this hunting trip, we’re hunting the biggest game we’ve ever heard of.”
With that, everyone headed out to begin their own preparations with the exception of Spec-4. She stayed back and waited until everyone had left before turning back to me with a dark expression on her face.
“You don’t think we can pull this off,” she said, softly.
“What I think is that for good or for ill, this is how Ragnarok ends,” I said.
“If we’re lucky,” she replied, shrugging.
“I think that if we’re successful,” I said, “then Ragnarok will end. Loki’s plans will be stopped. But there’s only one problem with that.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“In all the tales of Ragnarok that I have ever read,” I said, not looking her in the eye, “even the Gods fall. Almost everyone dies.”
“Well, you said it yourself,” she said, trying to smile, “this time it’s different.”
“True,” I said. “Nothing is clear.”
That seemed to appease her. She turned to walk away, but paused and glanced back at me. I could see a deep sadness in her icy blue eyes. I think that deep down, she knew how this was going to be the end, as well. After all, Ragnarok is literally the Doom of the Gods.
Chapter Sixteen
Ride of the Einherjar
“There is no hunting like the hunting of man; and those who have hunted
armed men long enough and liked it never really care for anything else.”
Ragnarok Rising: Desolation: Book Five of the Ragnarok Rising Saga Page 19