by Hugh B. Long
Hal shook his head, “Gina, thank the gods you were there! If you hadn’t been on that ship, everyone would now be in their hands. I can’t imagine anyone doing more.”
“Thanks … I just keep wondering what the hell they’re doing with our people, Gina said.”
“We need to find out,” Zelinski said, “I would like to live in peace with these aliens, but if they want to capture our people, then to hell with that!” He slammed his fist down on his desk. “I’m sorry, I don’t have much experience dealing with such things. Crooked politicians and slippery lawyers are my usual opponents, and I understand how to work around them, but this?” Zelinksi shook his head.
“Boss, I’d like to request the prisoner be sent back here to Alfheim. I think the Alfar may be able to help me understand this prisoner. They are distantly related after all,” Hal said.
“Sure. I was planning to do it eventually. Ms. Russo will accompany the prisoner. She was coming to Norvik to build a local security force, but I think that’s going to have to wait.” Zelinski turned to Gina. “Ms. Russo, effective immediately, I'm assigning you to assist Haldor Olsen on an indefinite basis.” He turned back to look at Hal. “Also effective immediately, Hal, you will be tasked to build a team and assess this new threat. I’ve been authorized by President Rukundo to reactivate your commission as an 0-5 in the SID Stellar Fleet—that’s the same rank when you left.”
“Yes, sir, it is. I would be honored.”
“Of course, you may be addressed as Captain on your ship.” He turned to Gina, “Ms. Russo, I would like you to command a squad of Marines for Hal and help with security issues, so I’m going to reactivate your commission at the rank of O-4, which was your final rank in the Marine MPs when you mustered back into civilian life.”
“Yes, sir.” Gina whipped her body to attention, and gave a crisp salute to both men.
“At ease, Ms. Russo, I’m not in the military,” Zelinski said with a smile. “I’ll try to find a decent ship for you, Captain,” Zelinski said, emphasizing Haldor’s new shipboard title. “Please let me know what resources you need aside from ship's standard crew—I’m sure whatever ship we find will come with the requisite crew required to operate it. Whatever we don’t have here on New Midgard, we can requisition from Fleet.”
“Good to know,” Hal said.
“The plan is to have the prisoner on Alfheim in about four weeks, I suggest you two start building your team. If you need people or special equipment from Earth or New Midgard, let me know by tomorrow morning so I can have them on the same transport to Alfheim as the prisoner.”
Hal and Gina both saluted sharply. “Yes, sir.”
“I told you, I’m not military, you don’t need to salute me,” Zelinski said.
“Yes, Boss,” Hal said, “but I need to start practicing.” He grinned.
* * *
After Governor Zelinksi left the conference, Gina re-directed the call to a private office where she could continue her discussion with Hal. He saw Gina walking in front of the camera before she sat.
“Ok, there we go,” Gina said.
“I think we’re probably going to have to engage first in some recon. I want to learn more about these Hrymar, and also where they live. Saeran mentioned she had coordinates of their original planet, Niflheim. So we’ll try that area first.”
“Sounds like a good idea, sir.”
“Wow, it’s been a few years since anyone has called me sir. I think we can ditch the formalities until we’re on the ship with the crew. Sound good?”
“Yes, sir - Hal. I’ve only been out of the core six months so it might take me a bit to get used to not calling you sir,” she replied.
“No worries, I’ll cut you some slack.” He smiled, “I haven't had a chance to look at your service record, but judging by your actions on the Sparrow, I think I’m in good company. I think it goes without saying I’ll rely on you for anything security related or to manage any ground action, and I’ll be running everything on ship.”
Gina nodded. “Yes, sir…I mean, Hal. Sounds perfect. Bit of overkill having an 0-4 command one squad, but that’s fine. I like an 0-4’s pay better than an E-5’s,” Gina said with a big grin, eyebrows raised.
“I bet. Ok, let’s do this. You go away and draft up a plan with required resources to support the security and ground forces, and I’ll focus on ship board requirements. Write up your recommendations, and we’ll meet by stellar-comm first thing tomorrow—Alfheim time—to discuss. Sound good?”
“Sounds great. I’m looking forward to working with you. I wish it were under less tragic circumstances, but to be working with Magnus Olsen’s family is quite an honor.”
“So I keep hearing, but I appreciate the sentiment. I look forward to getting to know you better as well. Let’s sign off and get to work.”
* * *
The following morning, after he’d reviewed Gina’s recommendations, Hal made his way to the Llangernyw stellar-comm to brief Governor Zelinski on the plan.
Light flickered on the stellar-comm viewing screen and a bedraggled Governor Zelinski greeted the pair.
"Good morning, Governor," Hal said.
"Early morning, Hal, very early morning."
Hal saw Gina standing beside the Governor, but she’d already been up for hours, and was fully caffeinated and wide awake. “Sorry to impose," Hal replied.
"That's ok, Hal. What goes around ... " Zelinski smiled wickedly.
"I'll be on my toes.” Hal keyed up a list of names and items, and displayed them on the screen," Governor, I think we have a handle on everything we need in the near future."
"Ok, walk me through it."
"Let's start with the bridge crew. I'd like a primary pilot for the vessel we get, with myself and Nila Johar acting as backup pilots. We already have a navigator, Ms. Johar, I'd like two engineers, one gunner, an astrophysicist, and a steward. I'd also like to keep a linguist and cryptographer on the team. Gina will be my third in command, as well as directly supervising all marines. I’ll need you to find me a first officer with starship experience.”
"Now all I need to do is find you a vessel. Any color preference," Zelinski said with a wry grin.
Gina nodded and smiled, "Governor, I'm fond of red. It's the Italian blood sir."
* * *
Two days after Hal and Gina had submitted their requirements, Hal was to meet up with Governor Zelinski and Ambassador Saeran via stellarcom. When Hal arrived at the stellarcom building in Llangernyw, Saeran was waiting to join him.
In a private meeting room, their interstellar conference call was connected, and the faces of Gina Russo and Governor Zelinski were displayed on the conference room view-screen.
"Good morning, Governor,” said Saeran. “Nice to see you again, though I regret it’s under present circumstances.”
“Thank you, Ambassador. Likewise. Allow me to introduce Gina Russo.”
Gina nodded. "Good morning to you, m'am.”
“Thank you for your brave rescue, Ms. Russo,” Saeran said.
“Hal,” Zelinski said, “I think we have a great team for you. Still working on the ship, but we'll have one assigned in the next few days.”
Saeran handed Hal a data pad. "On here you’ll see a list of people assigned to each of the roles you require. I sent a copy to Governor Zelinski and Ms. Russo before the meeting”
Hal nodded
Saeran continued, “Each of them will be housed at the Heyrn Coedwig Starport. We have set aside accommodations for each member and a meeting room for the whole team."
Hal began scanning the list, then paused, "Eva Joubert..."
“Yes, she’s replacing Talfryn as your Physicist. Do you know her?" Saeran asked.
"Not well ... I met her a couple of years ago," Hal lied. He knew Eva very well indeed. In fact he’d almost proposed to her when they were both at University. He kept scanning the list.”Cadfael?"
"Your combatives officer,” Saeran replied. He can also assist Gina with
surface combative issues. Do you have objections?"
"No, not at all. He seemed solid."
"Hal, I want you and your team to have some time to get up to speed with some new weapons and tools the Alfar are making available to us," Governor Zelinski explained.
"Ok, what are we talking about?"
"Powered-armor for starters. It's incredible. I read the specs last night. You'll also have access to a few new types of energy weapons. Rifles, sidearms etc. it's all on the data pad, along with a training schedule, " The Governor leaned in towards the monitor, his image growing larger, "Hal, we're going to use this mission as a proving ground for a new branch of the armed forces spanning Earth, New Midgard and Alfheim. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Given this new threat, there are major changes underway across all three systems. Not to mention these new bridges. Damned inconvenient timing."
"Understood, sir."
Chapter 7
In an open and rugged field, Hal was decked out in an olive-drab suit of armor. He crouched, took a breath, then burst forward running. He sprinted for a few seconds then leapt over a massive ditch. His body soared and his legs flailed, as if to gain more traction in the air. He landed gracefully, both feet solidly planted, his body in a crouching position.
Hal stood up and pulled of his helmet, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his left hand. "Well, Cadfael, I have to say, this Recon Combat Armor is amazing!”
The powered-armor dynamically moulded itself to the user's body. The surface color and reflective properties changed actively in response to its surrounding environment.
Cadfael also pulled off his helmet, no sweat apparent on his brow. "I am glad you find it worthy, Captain. It doesn't have the armor or auxiliary firepower of the heavy infantry Powered Battle Armor, but with extra speed and stealth, it meets its mission objectives."
"Indeed it does. That ditch is over ten-meters wide. I feel like an Olympian in this suit! Or maybe a Norse god?" Hal cracked a wry smile.
"Freyr would be proud, Captain," Cadfael said evenly.
“Just call me Hal when we aren’t on the ship or in front of others, ok?” Cadfael nodded “Ya know, it's hard to believe all the functionality that’s packed into this thing, and how comfortable it feels. I have to give a hand to Alfar engineering," Hal said.
"Thank you, but the credit is not ours alone."
"Oh?"
Cadfael nodded. “Indeed, it was engineered jointly with the Dvergar."
They began walking toward a small Alfar aircar.
"I've been meaning to ask, what do these Dvergar look like? The name means dark-elf in Old Norse and Yggdrasi, correct?”
"The reference refers to where they live—underground. They are in fact, extremely pale. They live entirely underground on a relatively high gravity planet, so they evolved to be stouter than we Alfar or you humans."
"Ah, ok. So you have a lot of contact with them?"
"We trade extensively with them and we often consult with them on engineering projects, and in many cases, purchase technology from them.”
"I look forward to visiting Svartalfheim someday. I'd like to see their wares, " Hal said.
"That is doubtful."
Hal furrowed his brow. "Why would you say that?"
"The Dvergar do not allow visitors to their home world. All of our trade or dealings are conducted on space stations or other planets they control—a network of trading posts. They typically confine their trade with other worlds, to one location per trading partner. That way if their partners are hostile with other parties, they do not meet at the same trading post."
"Very interesting bunch.”
* * *
Garbed in a plain white robe, Devrim sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell. He was in the interior of a massive organic structure—some kind of plant he guessed. Plants on Niflheim tended to be very short in stature, due largely to the fact everything grew underground and didn’t have boundless skies to grow into, such as there were here.
He thought he might feel panicky about now, but he was unusually calm. His mission was to find humans, and he had indeed found humans. Though he had hoped to bring back prisoners, not become one himself, but Devrim was confident he would find a way out. Other Hrymar might have become enraged, but not Devrim. In times such as these, his weaknesses in fact were his greatest strength; without the benefit of typical Hrymar physique and prowess, he was forced to cultivate an all together different skill-set.
He had never seen a Ljossalfar before his capture, so it was surprising to him how similar they looked, though they were distant cousins after all. They looked much the same except in the skin; due to a lifetime underground or in space, the Hrymar skin evolved had evolved into an attractive pale blue, occasionally tinged with green, while the Alfar were a bit pinkish, much like these Humans.
Hrymar preferred to call them by their common name—Alfar. They felt the name Ljossalfar, which meant light-elves, gave them a superior attitude, and put them above their other cousins, the Svartalfar, also known as the Dvergar—the dark-elves. The Hrymar—the children of the frozen rime—felt the Dvergar were the ones entitled to a little respect. At least they were distinguished engineers and weren’t too noble to employ slaves; this made them an important trading partner for the Hrymar.
These holier-than-thou Alfar were weak and pathetic. If not for their small numbers after the schism, the Hrymar felt certain they would have dominated all Alfheim, and a much broader swath of space. Hence a burning hatred for these unworthy cretin was fostered from one generation to the next.
The intense light was a problem for Devrim. Hrymar had excellent low light vision, and could see in near absolute darkness, yet in these bright, above-ground conditions, he was nearly blind. His captors had been quick to recognize this sensitivity and saw to it his cell was not lit. During the interrogation sessions though, they employed bright lights designed to cause him discomfort, and he supposed, to throw him off balance. Yet he held fast, and told them only what he wanted them to learn.
Thousands of years had passed since the schism, consequently the Alfish language diverged and the language now spoken by the Hrymar was mostly unintelligible to the Afar, and vice versa. Thankfully, both branches of the family tree, as well as the Dvergar, had maintained their ancient common tongue—Yggdrasi. It had been spoken by all the tribes of Yggdrasil, which included the humans, Ljossalfar, Hrymar, Dvergar, and even the gods and jotuns themselves. It was also believed the local land spirits, or wights, also spoke Yggdrasi, although their sightings were rare. Legend said this language, as well as the runes, were gifts from the gods.
Devrim heard the door to his cell opening, a nearly silent swooshing sound, followed by a brilliant light, blinding him. The guards were back for the next round of interrogation.
* * *
The Alfar guard holding a portable light looked back at Hal. “He speaks Yggdrasi, so use English if you don’t want him to understand.”
Hal nodded. He peered into the dimly-lit cell. It was perhaps three meters by three meters, and was a chamber inside one of the great trees. The cell floor was flexible, almost like a rubber mat he thought. He tested it with his foot, pushing down to see how big a dent his foot made.
“The cell floors are grown to be softer than regular floors, that way a prisoner has a more comfortable place to sleep,” said the Alfar guard.
Brilliant, Hal thought. The Alfar authorities explained the prisoner showed no hostile intent in the two days since he had been transferred from New Midgard, and was close to the size of an average human male—maybe five foot, seven inches, and one-hundred and fifty pounds. Not at all imposing to Hal, who was six feet tall, two-hundred pounds, and well trained in close quarters combat. Due to lower than Earth gravity, most of the Alfar were tall by human standards; most males were around six-feet two-inches, and about two-hundred pounds; females averaged six-feet and one-hundred and twenty-five pounds; a very graceful race indeed. It was intriguing to Hal
how these Hrymar had diverged physically from the Alfar over the millennia.
The prisoner crouched in a back corner of his cell, knees up to his chest, arms around his knees, eyes closed. A classic defensive posture. Initial interrogation had revealed his name was Devrim.
Hal entered the room and had the guard seal the door behind him. He carried a small portable light, very dim, with just enough light to see Devrim, but not enough to cause him discomfort it seemed. Hal lowered himself in the corner diagonally across from Devrim.
“Hello,” Hal began in Yggdrasi, “my name is Haldor Olsen.”
Devrim opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the dim light. "I am Devrim,” he replied guardedly.
“I’m sorry we have to meet under such circumstances, Devrim.”
Devrim didn’t respond, he just looked at Hal, as if sizing him up.
“I hope the Alfar are treating you well,” Hal said.
Devrim said nothing.
“Devrim, I want to know more about your people, why they attacked us. We have no history with the Hrymar, so we are a bit confused as to why you attacked our transport.”
Devrim said nothing.
With a furrowed brow, Hal continued. “The Alfar say your tribe broke away from Alfheim thousands of years ago. Is that correct?”
Devrim decided to answer the former question. “The strong conquer the weak. Such is the law of the Universe,” he said evenly. “Why does this surprise you?”
Now we’re getting somewhere Hal thought. “In animals, and lower evolved forms of life, Devrim, yes, I would agree. Civilized people protect their weak.”
Devrim had a look of disgust on his face. “And so your species continues to grow weaker, is that not the law of nature, human?”
On a purely Darwinian level, Hal couldn't argue. Humanity did protect their weak and allow them to live and reproduce, where in a more barbaric civilization, they would die and not pass on their genes. But that was on a purely physical level. Humans now needed to evolve their minds and spirits to live in greater numbers; intellectual and social evolution was crucial to a society wanting to expand. Purely physical evolution was suited for a narrow range of environments. What would Darwin say if he could see the numbers on Earth now? Or the life beyond Sol?