by Linn Schwab
“Oh? That’s interesting. What is it that you keep dreaming about?”
Robin rubbed her eyes and forehead. “I’m not sure. It’s like I’m dreaming of a place that feels familiar to me, but it’s a place I’ve never been to before.”
“Is it a scary dream? Is that why it wakes you?”
“It starts out peaceful, but strange. And then it gets scary.”
“Well, if it’s the scary part that wakes you, you’re not alone. That happens to a lot of us. It seems we all live with a great deal of fear. I guess that somehow comes through in our dreams.”
Robin’s eyes focused on Janine’s Archive Interface. “Are you doing another investigation?”
“Yes I am, as a matter of fact.”
“Did you come here to question me?”
“No, I just thought you might like some company. I don’t see any point in questioning you. Unless you happen to be familiar with the word ‘Valgrind’?”
Robin shook her head. “Valgrind? What does it mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a word that shows up on an old work order. It isn’t listed under ship names or any other official directories. No one I’ve talked to seems to have heard of it before.”
“Maybe it’s an Earth word,” Robin suggested.
Janine considered the possibility, then set her interface down on the tabletop. “Let’s find out.” She took a moment to run another search on the word, and said, “There does appear to be an entry in the Earth archives. It says, ‘Mythical gate to the entrance of Valhalla.’” She exchanged a glance of curiosity with Robin. “That’s interesting. I had no idea the name Valhalla came from Earth. Did you?”
“No. I thought it was just the name of our planet.”
Janine nodded. “Yeah, so did I. Let’s see what it says about Valhalla.” She ran a search for the planet’s name and read through several paragraphs of the entry. “This is actually quite fascinating,” she said. “As depicted in folklore, Valhalla is described as a gathering place for warriors who have been killed in combat. Apparently, the entrance was blocked by a gate known as Valgrind, which was supposedly quite difficult to open. Now if we could just figure out how that applies to us.”
“You don’t sound very hopeful,” Robin observed.
“Well,” Janine explained, “that’s because our Valhalla is a very real place, whereas the one described on Earth was apparently just a legend. It does seem like someone else was aware of that legend, though, and decided the name Valgrind was applicable to something out here. I’m just having a hard time envisioning what that might be. I don’t suppose you have any ideas?”
Robin frowned and gazed down at the tabletop. “No. I can’t think of anything that looks like a gate. The entrance to our Valhalla is just blocked by Sentinels.”
* * * *
In a small laboratory adjacent to the infirmary, Major Richards opened the vial of Dave’s blood and placed a few drops on an analyzer slide. She picked up the hand–held analyzer and fed the slide into one of its slots. A green light on the analyzer blinked several times, then a chime informed her the analysis was complete. She plugged the device into a computer terminal and scrolled through the results until she found what she was seeking. There were no indications of the virus in his blood. She realized there were two possibilities for this. Either he’d never been exposed to the virus before arriving on Volaris, or his immune system had eradicated all traces of it. Her next course of action was obvious now. She needed to get another blood sample. But she had to find a way to get one from him without making any mention of the virus. Since he didn’t seem to be aware of its existence yet, she decided it was best just to keep him in the dark for now.
As the major made her way to the infirmary, a feeling of queasiness began to overtake her. She paused for a moment to lean against a wall and attempted to identify what was bothering her. The answer didn’t take long to surface, but left her feeling somewhat surprised. She realized she was developing a fondness for Dave; the thought of treating him like a specimen was unsettling to her. He’s not just some unfeeling laboratory experiment. He’s a living, breathing, human being. Somehow I have to find a way to strike a balance between what’s best for us and what’s best for him. Vowing to herself never to do anything inhuman, she gathered her resolve and pushed herself onward, still pondering how to get another blood sample from him.
“You came back,” Dave said when she entered the room. “I was worried I might have scared you off for good.”
“Not at all,” she explained. “I simply have a lot of obligations to fulfill.”
“Oh. Are you the commanding officer of this base? That seems like it would be a difficult task to manage, seeing as you’re also a medical officer.”
“At the moment, I’m the acting commanding officer here. It’s not a role I would normally assume.”
“Ahh,” Dave said, “that explains it.”
“Explains what?” the major asked, wondering what he was trying to infer.
“That look in your eyes,” he said. “The look of someone who doesn’t quite feel at ease. At first I thought maybe you just didn’t feel comfortable around men. But perhaps it’s the role of commanding officer that’s making you feel a little off balance.”
He’s toying with me, the major realized. He’s trying to trip me up and trick me into revealing something to him. The revelation brought a smile of satisfaction to her face. It was somehow strangely gratifying to know she had managed to recognize his ploy. Now that I know what he’s up to, she thought, hopefully I can avoid giving anything away.
“If you’re still wondering about whether or not I’m married,” she teased, “I can tell you I feel married to my service obligations.” A sudden look of uncertainty in his eyes kindled a feeling of delight in the major. He’s wondering if I have him figured out. Now how long can I keep him guessing...
* * * *
Lunch time brought a break to the reassembly effort. After winding their way back down through the maintenance tunnels, Robin’s squad rejoined her in the cafeteria.
“What’s it like up there?” she asked as the others sat down with her at the table.
“Huge,” Katrina answered her. “Everything up there is just huge. There are cables as big around as my wrists, and chains with links that are almost the size of Michelle’s mouth.”
Michelle appeared slightly annoyed by the comment, but refrained from responding as the others laughed and giggled.
“You should see the guns,” Chrissy insisted. “They’re like giant tunnels. If you could lift one end of them up, you could climb inside them and use them as a slide.”
The younger girl’s youthful enthusiasm brought a smile to Robin’s face. “Did you get any of them put back together yet?”
“Not yet,” Caroline said. “We’ve almost got the first one done. I think once we know what we’re doing, it won’t take us as long to finish the others.”
Commander Eldridge walked through the serving line last, then sat down at an isolated table with Janine. “Any luck with the investigation yet?” she asked.
Janine shook her head. “Nothing conclusive. There are indications that Commander Stinson may have died on this station, and that her body may have been returned to Valhalla on a shuttle. Also, I learned that the names Valhalla and Valgrind both have origins in Earth’s folklore. Not that it sheds any light on things, but I thought it was an interesting development. But as for Commander Stinson’s intentions, I have no idea what she was up to. What about the gun bays? Were you able to learn anything new up there?”
“We won’t know until we have them all reassembled, but it looks as if everything we need is still there. I can tell you, though, that there’s no way those guns could’ve been removed through the hangar. They’re much too big to have ever been maneuvered through the station. She would’ve had to extract them directly through the gun ports. And that would not have been an easy task to accomplish. I suppose that could explain why the
y were never moved, though. Perhaps she simply gave up on the idea.”
As Janine prepared to ask another question, she noticed the commander was staring at something.
“Look over there,” the commander said, nodding her head toward the serving line. “Tell me if you notice anything unusual about Major Richards’ appearance.”
Janine looked over her shoulder. Major Richards was standing in the serving line, holding a tray of food rations in her hands. Her posture appeared more relaxed than usual, and her expression had transitioned from serious to cheerful. “She looks happy,” Janine observed.
“She does indeed,” the commander agreed. “Let’s hope that means she’s making some progress with our guest.”
* * * *
She likes me, Dave tried to convince himself as he waited for the major to return with his lunch. She’s trying to keep it concealed, but I can tell she’s definitely interested in me. If I can just find a way to end this stupid war, then maybe there’s a chance we can spend some time together. He laughed out loud to himself as he pondered the unfathomable whims of fate. Who would’ve thought I’d come all the way out here and meet the person I might end up spending my life with. The odds against something like that occurring must be beyond astronomical.
Major Richards walked into the infirmary carrying a tray of lunch rations in her hands. She set the tray down in front of Dave, then sat down on the cot across from his bed.
“So,” she said, “I believe when we left off, you were telling me about something called baseball.”
Dave smiled as he gazed at her face and hair, and tried to envision her wearing a baseball cap. He pictured her sitting beside him in the stands at the ballpark of his favorite team back home. The two of them had spent the entire morning playing a game of conversational cat and mouse with each other. Both of them had danced around each other’s questions by responding with a succession of nonspecific answers. But one of the tidbits he’d managed to glean from her was that baseball was nonexistent on her world. It wasn’t much to work with, but it was a start. He just needed to figure out where to go with it now. If he was ever going to see her in a baseball cap, one of them was going to have to share some information. Somehow, I have to get some answers out of her. We can’t just keep talking past each other like this.
* * * *
After several more hours of assembly in the evening, Commander Eldridge released her work crew for the day. They’d managed to get two guns completely assembled, and a third was already well under way. With enemy forces still skirting the tip of Pangea, test–firing the guns was out of the question. The resulting flashes could give away the station’s location. Any firing of the guns would have to occur only as a direct result of combat.
Though Robin had spent most of her day in the cafeteria, she remained there while her squad picked up their evening rations. As soon as they joined her at the table, she noticed one of them was unaccounted for.
“Where’s Mindy?” she asked the others.
None of them seemed to have an answer.
Caroline looked around in concern. “She was with us just a few minutes ago when we were coming back down through the maintenance tunnels.”
“Do you think she might have gotten lost in there?” Robin asked.
Phoebe laughed. “There’s no way! She seems to know every nook and cranny back there. Commander Eldridge even had to ask her how to get to the gun bays.”
Robin got up and walked to the next table, where Christy Allison’s squad was sitting. “Does anyone know where Mindy is?” she asked.
They exchanged a few tentative glances with each other.
Patricia looked at Christy and shook her head. “I haven’t seen her since the maintenance tunnels,” she said.
Christy sighed and set her spoon down, then stood up and gestured for Robin to follow her. “Come on,” she said, heading for the corridor. “I think I might know where she is.”
As Robin followed Christy out of the room, Chrissy jumped up and chased after them. “I wanna come too,” she insisted, staying close to Robin’s side.
Christy led them to an open access panel and into the station’s maintenance tunnels. “It’s this way, I think,” she said, trying to remember the path Mindy had shown her. She led them through a maze of mechanical components and managed to locate the maintenance lift.
“Are you sure she’s down here?” Robin asked as the three of them rode the lift down through the station.
“Pretty sure,” Christy said. “Once you’ve been down here, it’s something you probably won’t forget.”
The maintenance lift reached its destination and stopped. Christy led them to an open doorway leading to a room that seemed very quiet and empty. The instant Robin set foot inside the room, she gasped in terror and froze in her tracks. There appeared to be a gaping hole in the floor, leaving the room’s interior exposed to outer space. And Mindy was standing near the center of that hole, with absolutely nothing underneath her feet.
“Oh my god!” Robin cried in panic, quickly raising her hands to the sides of her face.
“It’s okay,” Christy tried to reassure her. “She’s not gonna fall. The floor is just transparent. Look,” she said, stepping onto the glass. “See? There’s nothing to be worried about.”
Robin glanced beside her at Chrissy then nervously forced herself to step forward. After stepping out onto the glass a short distance, she stopped and looked down beneath her feet. There was nothing but open space below her at the moment, but she could see the outer edge of Valhalla ahead. Mindy was still standing near the center of the room, staring down at the planet as if in a trance. Christy had already walked out to join her, but from what Robin was seeing, Mindy hadn’t seemed to notice she was there yet.
Satisfied that the floor was solid beneath her, Robin cautiously resumed moving forward. As her feet neared the outer edge of Valhalla, the planet’s image began to stretch. When she placed a foot down over the planet’s surface, the area beneath her became magnified as if she was standing on a powerful lens. Each step forward magnified a new section of the planet, while the area behind her shrank back to normal size. The effect was somewhat overwhelming at first; she struggled to shake off a brief dizzy spell. But a chance to see the planet in such great detail proved to be difficult for her to resist, and she found herself staring at Valhalla in awe as she passed overtop of its oceans and land masses.
“Wow!” Chrissy suddenly cried out. Robin looked back over her shoulder and saw Chrissy standing a few paces behind her. A look of wonder was firmly fixed on her face as she stared at the planet’s surface below. Within seconds, she was shuffling her feet across the floor to see how the image responded to her actions. She then started skipping and dancing about the room, giggling with delight as the planet stretched and squashed beneath her feet. Robin briefly considered asking her to stop, but decided she wasn’t really causing any harm and refocused her attention on Mindy instead.
The last few steps led Robin over a forest and left her standing at the base of a mountain chain. Mindy appeared to be staring down at the mountains with a look of intense concentration on her face. She seemed to be completely unaware of Robin’s presence. Even Chrissy’s giggling didn’t seem to distract her. Robin cast an inquisitive look at Christy, but she simply shook her head and shrugged in bewilderment.
“Mindy,” Robin said, waving a hand in front of her face. Mindy blinked and turned to look at her. “What are you doing here?”
Mindy appeared to be confused by the question and turned her eyes back to the planet again. She pointed her finger at a specific location, and said, “We have to get to that mountain, Robin.”
Robin looked where Mindy was pointing. There was one mountain peak that seemed to rise above the others. From above, it appeared to be capped with snow, very much like the mountain in her recurring dream. “Why?” she asked, stepping in front of Mindy to express her insistence on getting an answer. “Why do we have to get to that mountain
?” She grabbed Mindy by the shoulders and shook her. “Tell me, Mindy. What’s there?” she insisted.
“I don’t know,” she replied, “I just know we have to get there. I can just feel it. We need to get there, Robin.”
Looking down at the mountaintop again, Robin compared it to the one in her dreams and tried to determine if they could be one and the same. It looked similar but she couldn’t be sure. Even the outlines in her dreams had appeared to have slightly different features, as if they hadn’t been visions of an actual mountain, but rather just general representations. But the coincidence was just too great to ignore. She and Mindy both felt themselves drawn to a mountain. And neither one of them seemed to understand why.
Disturbed by the room’s apparent influence over Mindy, Robin grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward the exit. “Come on,” she said, gesturing to Christy as well. “I don’t think any of us should be in here.”
“But we have to go there,” Mindy insisted, stubbornly resisting Robin’s pull.
“We will,” Robin assured her. “I promise, Mindy. Someday we will. We’ll go there together. Both of us. But right now, we need to get out of this room. There’s something strange going on in here.”
As Robin pulled Mindy closer to the door, she noticed Christy trying to get her attention. “Robin,” Christy insisted, pointing a finger toward the center of the room.
When Robin turned to look behind her, she saw Chrissy standing motionless over the planet, staring down at its surface as if in a trance. “Get Mindy out of here,” she said to Christy. She then walked straight to Chrissy’s side and waved a hand in front of her face. There was no response from the younger girl. She tried again. Still no response. Curious to find out what she was staring at, Robin looked down at the planet’s surface. There were no mountains anywhere close to Chrissy. She was standing at the center of one of the oceans, gazing blankly at a vast expanse of open water.
“Chrissy,” Robin said in concern, “are you okay?”