Ragnarok-ARC

by Patrick A. Vanner

  As the assembled officers rose and began to move toward the hatch, she called out.

  "Commander Ruggs, could I have a moment of your time, please?"

  "Certainly, Captain," he said, stepping to one side of the hatch as Lieutenant Green and Commander Denton passed him, leaving him alone with Alex.

  "Close the hatch."

  When he had complied with her order, she indicated the chair Heron had just vacated, waiting as he took the seat and settled into it.

  "I think we may have a serious problem, Tony," she began without preamble.

  "What problem, ma'am?" She could see he was trying to figure out which of their current problems she was speaking of. This, unfortunately, was a new one.

  "We may have a traitor on board."

  "What?!" he shouted incredulously, snapping upright in his chair. "Why would you think that, ma'am?"

  Alex was pleased to note that there was no disbelief in his voice, only intent curiosity.

  She told him about Admiral Stevens' theory and her own observations regarding Groombridge 34.

  "And that makes you think that we have a traitor on board now?"

  "In and of itself, no, but add to that the fact we lost external comms the very minute we needed them most, and, well, coincidence can only explain away so much."

  "That's true, but it could have been someone from Folkvang station, maybe someone on one of the courier-boat crews. Or it could actually be a coincidence."

  "Possible, but if it is someone onboard the Valhalla, it's someone who came over from the Fenris, much as it pains me to say. Until today, I would have taken a shot at any person who accused any member of that crew of treason. As a matter of fact"—she gave him a sheepish smile—"I did just that. But unfortunately, the possibility still remains."

  "Okay, I can see that. What do we do about it?"

  "There's not much we can do right at this moment. We can't afford to make wild accusations, or even let anyone know what I suspect. But we can't just ignore it, either. So, to that end, I want you to get with Captain Optika and have him station guards at vital and sensitive locations. You can tell him it's to make sure our civilian guests don't get into any trouble, which is the truth. Just not all of it."

  "Yes, ma'am." He rose, but stopped behind his chair, gripping the back of it. "I sincerely hope that you're wrong about this, Captain."

  "So do I, Tony," Alex said sadly, shaking her head. "So do I."

  Chapter Thirty-one

  USS Valhalla

  October 14, 2197

  0323 z

  Sol

  Alex sat in her command chair, sipping coffee and trying to chase the cobwebs from her mind.

  Three hours of nightmare-infested sleep didn't do much for me. I don't feel very rested, but I do feel a bit better now, more focused.

  Sometime around twenty-three hundred hours, Tony had stepped into her office and made a pointed suggestion that she might want to get some sleep. Especially if she thought that there might be trouble before they managed to make it out-system.

  She took his advice and managed a quick cat nap on the couch in her office. She hoped she wouldn't make enough noise to be heard through the hatch as the dreams took hold.

  Looking around the command deck, she saw that all of her crew were at their stations. She didn't catch any nasty glances directed her way and was pleased to see that they all looked somewhat refreshed. She had sent them all off to get a hot meal and some sleep a short time after their meeting.

  Alex didn't know when an attack might come, nor did she know when. She wasn't even positive that there was going to be one, but all of her instincts screamed at her that there would be. She had learned to trust her instincts years ago. At least they'll be ready for it if it comes, she thought, still watching her crew work.

  She got up from her chair and walked over to stand behind Lieutenant Commander Tucholski, who was seated at the navigation station.

  "How do we look, Jeff?" Her use of his first name and her hand on his shoulder were meant to reassure him.

  "Well, ma'am," he began without looking up from his calculations, "situationwise, I've got those jump plots you wanted up and ready to go. Once we have an exact position, I'll put in the last bit of data, and we're out-system. As for how we look sensorwise, Commander Denton and I have managed to get our drive envelope and engine signatures pretty close to that of a heavy cruiser. Any Sallys come looking for an easy target are going to be in for one rude surprise."

  "Very nice." She leaned in to take a closer look at the calculations on his display. "What are you working on now?"

  "Oh, those are the jump plots, ma'am. I'm double-checking them now, just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Don't want to end up in the wrong place."

  "Keep up the good work, Commander." She patted his shoulder one last time and moved on to the next station. She spent the next half hour working her way around the command deck, talking to her crew.

  She had nearly made a full circuit of the command deck when the quiet atmosphere was broken.

  "Contact!" Lieutenant Junior Grade Green's deep baritone echoed from the bulkheads.

  "What have you got, Lieutenant?" Alex asked quickly, moving back to her command chair.

  "Looks to be two Sally heavy cruisers," he answered her, continuing to refine his sensor data. "I think they saw us first, 'cause I didn't see them until they lit off their drives and went active."

  "Well, if that's the case, I don't see any reason not to announce our presence." Alex smiled as she began to strap herself in. "You are free to go active, Lieutenant. But keep in mind, we're just a lowly little heavy cruiser trying to escape the system. Make sure you adjust your sensor strength accordingly."

  "Yes, ma'am." He, too, smiled, looking forward to when they would drop their deception and show the Xan-Sskarns just what they were about to fuck with.

  Those are pretty damn impressive sensors those cruisers are packing to pick us up this far out. I hope that's the case, because if my suspicions are correct, and they were waiting for us, they might have a few surprises planned for us.

  "Give me a best-guess estimate as to how long until we're close enough for them to figure out that what they think they've caught really isn't a heavy cruiser."

  She waited, calmly sipping coffee, while he punched commands and information into his board.

  "I think we can keep them suckered for another forty-five minutes, tops."

  "Thank you, Lieutenant. Keep me apprised of any changes, please."

  Forty-five minutes until they were no longer able to maintain their deception. Alex felt confident in that estimate. She doubted anyone on board knew more about Xan-Sskarn sensor capabilities than Green, and that included Heron and all of their guests.

  She began a countdown on one of her displays.

  "Petty Officer Hurst, give me a plot centered on the Xan-Sskarn ships. Extend to include our position, plus fifty thousand kilometers," Alex called out in a firm voice. She had not yet switched to giving her orders over the battle net.

  "Aye, aye ma'am. Putting it up on the projector now."

  The projector at her feet hummed to life, forming a holographic sphere before her.

  "Add Lieutenant Green's point of detection based on current speed and heading."

  Petty Officer Hurst acknowledged the order, and Alex watched as a bright yellow line coalesced into view, bisecting the sphere.

  Concentrating on the projection, Alex stroked her chin, planning her next move carefully.

  "Captain, would you like to sound general quarters?" Tony's voice came quietly over her earpiece.

  "Not yet, Commander," she murmured back. "I think we can let the crew get a little more rest before things start to get interesting."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  She could hear the resignation in his voice. Looking over at him, she gave him a small smile to reassure him that she knew what she was doing. Turning back to the projection, she continued to stare at it, wondering where the
next surprise would come from.

  Stroking her chin again, Alex punched a command into another of her panels.

  "CAG," she called softly into her mike.

  "Kaufman here," came the quick reply.

  "CAG, we've got two Sally heavy cruisers on sensors, sitting right on the wall directly in front of us. I want you to prep the Lokis. I want three of them deployed in front of us, screening us. The other two I want as outriders. Let me know when they're ready for launch."

  "Aye, aye, ma'am."

  Alex cut the connection and continued to watch as the time until detection counted down. Ten minutes later, she heard Kaufman's voice in her earpiece.

  "Lokis ready for launch, ma'am."

  "Excellent, CAG. Wait one." She muted her connection and turned to face her navigation officer.

  "Commander Tucholski, calculate an acceleration change that will drop our speed to seventy-five percent of maximum for a Loki, five minutes prior to Lieutenant Green's estimation of maximum Xan-Sskarn sensor range for positive identification."

  Tucholski repeated her order back before turning to his board, entering in the parameters she had just given him.

  "I have our new acceleration profile, ma'am."

  "Time between new profile execution and the five-minute mark?" she asked, feeling her pulse quicken. She was beginning to set her pieces for the endgame.

  "Coming up on one hour seventeen minutes."

  "Execute new profile at that mark."

  "Roger, ma'am," he said, keeping his finger poised over the execute command. His finger stabbed down as he called back to her. "New profile executed. One hour seventeen minutes until five-minute mark intersection."

  Nodding her approval, Alex unmuted her connection to Commander Kaufman.

  "CAG, launch the Lokis in one hour ten minutes. Have them accelerate to full speed for five minutes then cut back to seventy-five percent power. At that time, they will go active."

  "Lokis, dancing vac in seventy minutes. Aye, ma'am."

  Alex cut the connection and picked up her coffee, taking a sip before speaking.

  "And now, people, we wait."

  This time, we're not shot to hell and desperate to escape. This time, we're the ones with a surprise or two up our sleeve.

  * * *

  Sitting in his command chair, Ki-Xarn Pi'Hosin watched the display as his tail, extending from the opening in the back of the chair, absently swished back and forth. It seemed that the orders he had received from Vice Commander Si'Lasa were more than the paranoid supposition that Pi'Hosin had thought they were.

  "It would seem that our estimable vice commander is correct once more. There is indeed a ship attempting to flee the system," he said to his command crew. "These Dry-Skins disgust me. Abadoning their home to save their own pathetic hides."

  The sounds coming from the crew at their stations was a mixture of approval of their Ki-Xarn's words and loathing of the actions of their enemy.

  "Tesh, send a communiqué to the Deep Waters and inform them that we have detected the enemy and, upon my honor, will prevent their escape," Pi'Hosin ordered his communications officer. "Then inform the ki-xarn of the Crashing Waves that he will support the Dark Clouds in our battle against the Dry-Skins, but the honor of the kill shall be ours."

  "By your command, Ki-Xarn," came the hissing reply.

  * * *

  Exactly one hour later, Alex snapped up in her chair and broke her silence.

  "Commander Ruggs, sound general quarters!"

  "Aye, ma'am." Tony's voice seemed relieved. "Sounding general quarters."

  Screaming alarms filled the Valhalla, and, throughout the ship, men and women rushed to their battle stations. It was time for some payback.

  Alex let the alarms continue for another minute before silencing them.

  "Commander Albers, shipwide, please," she said, connecting to the communications net.

  "Shipwide, aye."

  "Attention all hands, this is the captain. We are about to engage two Xan-Sskarn heavy cruisers that have foolishly placed themselves in our path. I know by now you are all aware of what has transpired here in Sol within the last day. The loss of Home Fleet, the loss of Folkvang station, the loss of ships and lives. Of friends and loved ones. I share your pain and grief, and my soul cries out for vengeance just as yours do. Some of you may be wondering why, if I share your desire, we are leaving the system. I will tell you why." Alex felt her pulse quicken, and a primal urge to rend and tear began to grow in her heart.

  "I do not wish to simply kill a few Xan-Sskarn ships, nor do I wish to just kill the Xan-Sskarn that led the attack that caused the deaths of our comrades."

  Her voice dropped to a growl.

  "No, my friends, I wish to kill so many Xan-Sskarns that our name becomes something to fear, something that is only whispered in secret in the dark. The name Valhalla will become synonymous with death, and whole generations of Xan-Sskarns will curse the day they called us forth upon this galaxy. For we will become vengeance, and we shall strike down any Xan-Sskarn that crosses our path."

  She didn't see the fire that burned in her crew's eyes. She didn't have to; she could feel it burning into her, feeding her fire, giving her strength.

  "We cannot accomplish that here. Not now. The Xan-Sskarns have won today. They have won their war. Our war is just beginning. We will go out and wreak such death and destruction on them that they will find the cost of this victory too high to pay. But pay for it they shall. In blood."

  Alex closed her eyes, and for a fleeting moment saw her ghosts before her. When she opened them again, she finally saw her new crew, their hungry eyes boring into her soul. She knew then that she would be leading most if not all of them to their deaths, but this time they would not go alone. Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

  "And we are about to collect our first payment."

  She took a deep breath before snarling out her last order.

  "All hands, prepare for battle."

  * * *

  "Has there been any change in the Dry-Skins' profile?" Pi'Hosin demanded of the ki-tesh at the sensor station.

  "No, Ki-Xarn, they remain on the same course, and there have been no unusual energy emissions or communications from them. They must see us, but have done nothing to avoid us."

  These Dry-Skins make no sense. First they try to escape, but when their path is blocked, they do not try to evade conflict but continue on directly into it. Maybe there is some fight left in the hearts of these animals after all. But it will do them no good.

  "Tesh," he said, turning to the communications officer again. "Inform our pilots that they will engage as planned."

  * * *

  "CAG!" Alex barked into her mike. "Launch the Lokis."

  "Launching now, Captain." The fire was evident in his voice.

  "Commander Tucholski, once those Lokis are in position and have gone active, I want you to drop the disguise."

  "Drop disguise upon Loki activation. Aye, ma'am." His voice, too, was thick with emotion.

  "Commander Ruggs, coordinate with Heron and prepare your damage-control teams. I want them in place and ready to go."

  "Setting up DC net now, Captain." Tony's voice was different than the others had been, and when she looked into his eyes, she could see that he was finally really seeing her for the first time. Seeing the warrior that had led not one but two willing crews into the mouth of hell and brought them back out again. She gave him a wolfish smile before turning back to her panels.

  Alex continued to issue orders, getting updates on readiness, times, and distances to engagement ranges.

  "New contact! Multiple incoming," Lieutenant Green's voice practically sang out. He was finally getting the vengeance for his family he had craved for so long.

  "Plot it," Alex ordered into scanning's net and watched as the new contacts resolved in the projection. Four Xan-Sskarn fighter squadrons were closing in on them: two from starboard, the other two from port. She took note of the ti
me till intercept. As close as they were, she knew that they had to be lying doggo, waiting for them.