by Per Holbo
***
Sif whizzed through the vast emptiness of space at a furious pace. Although she had nothing out there to help her get a bearing, let alone to get a reading on her speed, she had a clear sense that she was moving fast. Too fast. She had hit the wave on the last membrane slightly crooked and for a split second she had been sure that her body would be torn apart in the time lag between the fourth and fifth membrane. But then it was as if an invisible force pulled her through and saved her from certain death and now she was on the way toward the non-gravity pocket at a frantic pace. She turned around in her weightlessness and tried getting a visual on the inside of the final membrane, but no luck there. She was much further away from it than she should be and even worse: she could not see Thor or Freya either. I sure hope they are alright, she thought to herself. She knew there was no way she could complete this mission alone. None of them could. She had the equipment to find the kids, if they were here, Freya was their best card when it came to getting the kids off from their captors and Thor was the one who would bring them back to Alfheim safe and sound. She tried to weigh her options. Using the nozzles to go look for Freya and Thor? But what if there isn´t enough oxygen in the tank for it? On the other hand, this is all about Freya, Thor and the kids. How would she ever be able to look at herself in the mirror, if they all perished, just because she didn´t have the courage to lay down her own life to save them?
She made a quick decision and placed her hand on the nozzle controls, but then she paused... What was it, Thor had said to her just before they left? Continue, Sif, he had said. Go on, no matter what happens ... He had even made her promise... And Sif always kept her promises...
The nozzles burst shortly and she turned around to face the center of the non-gravity pocket inside which they hoped to find Tjalfe and Roeskva somewhere. She didn´t use her nozzles to gain speed. It wasn´t needed. In fact, she had more than enough speed already and she was more worried about having enough oxygen to decelerate quickly enough when reaching her destination, whatever she would meet there.
After a few minutes a small dot appeared to her eyes. It was far away but gradually, as she came closer, she could clearly make out the classic oval shape of Yetten crafts. The ship grew bigger and bigger and she grabbed the personal scanner from her pocket and pointed it forward in the hope that it might show something.
Nothing... Maybe she was still too far away? Then she had an idea and changed the settings on the equipment to scan not just for humans but also for Vane and Aseir DNA. Immediately a blip popped up on the small screen. Only one blip, so it had to be either Thor or Freya. She hoped it was Thor. Although Sif loved Freya as a sister, Thor was after all her husband and she could not bear the thought of losing him. She turned in the direction of the blip and opened the nozzles for half a second, but she had obviously underestimated how fast she was going. Instead of reaching the blip, she blasted pass the surprised Freya, who gave such a twitch that it quite visible despite of the thick fabric of her spacesuit. Sif turned around and prepared to move toward Freya, when a beam of blue-white light suddenly whizzed closely past her left ear! She frantically threw her head around from side to side trying to spot the enemy, she expected to hide somewhere close, but spotted no one else but Freya.
Then it dawned on her!
Freya made that shot! Was she the traitor? No, that couldn´t be true? Sif waved wildly to catch Freya´s attention. Then a second rifle blast! Sif could not believe her luck as the otherwise concise Freya missed her second attempt. She was just about to raise her own rifle and return fire when she remembered how pointless it would be to go into battle with one of the most able warriors of the combined Aseir and Vane fleets.
If Freya really was the traitor, she might as well give up right away. Sif would in no way be able to catch up with the experienced Vane that even Odin and Loki would rather try to avoid battling against. Her chances would be much better if she chose to trust that it was a mistake. She lowered her rifle, closed her eyes and waved one last time...
Nothing ...
Sif opened her eyes and saw to her relief Freya´s smiling face through the glass part of the helmet of her spacesuit. She smiled back and signaled with her hands that she had found the children with the scanner. Section three on the left.
Freya was satisfied. She had been right about what the containers were used for. She signaled back.
“Thor? Where?”
“Unknown,” Sif responded, clearly unhappy, “I fast through membrane. No see Thor.”
Freya´s brows frowned as she thought it through. Without Thor it would be much more difficult to transport the kids safely back on Alfheim, but on the other hand they could ill afford running out of oxygen while searching for him. After all, they had no way of knowing where to search for him and they didn´t even have a clue as to how far away he was. They didn´t even know for sure if he had gotten through the membrane safely. She made a quick decision in the hope that Sif would back her up without protesting too much.
“Mission first. Then Thor.”
Much to Freya´s surprise, Sif nodded in agreement. But what she didn´t take into account, simply because she knew nothing about it, was the promise Sif had made Thor just before leaving the Alfheim. And no matter how hard it was for Sif to accept the possibility that he may be dead already, she intended to keep her promise and go on.
They set off and went for the third section side by side as sisters at arms. Freya put the small magnet on the wall professionally guided by Sif. They had to be very precise for the kids to out of harm’s way when the outer wall of the section blew to pieces. BLAM!
The hole in the section was just big enough for the two Vane women to squeeze through. It was pitch dark on the other side and Freya turned on her torch lighting up the room in a dim red glow. It was completely empty in there, except for a couple of benches shoved up to the walls on each side of them and in front of them there was a huge and heavy door that seemed to be able to take quite a few punches without even being scratched.
Freya threw a shutter grenade toward the hole where they had come in, so they could blast out the inner door without being blown out again as the air from inside of the ship left in a hurry. The light from the corridor almost toppled in and it took a few seconds before their eyes adjusted. Then they took off their helmets and looked around. The corridor was empty, but further down they could hear footsteps rapidly approaching. They were just about to run down the corridor towards the place where Sif's scanner had found the children, when there was a loud crash and dust filled the entire area clouding their vision. Then came another bang and one and tremors caused them both to fall backwards into the room they had come from. Tumbling around on the floor between each other, they tried to get up, but now it was too late to run down to the children, as the footsteps had come too close. If they ran now, they would be discovered before coming more than just a few yards down the corridor. Instead they jumped behind the wall on each side of the door just in time to watch a Yetten soldier run past them. For some reason he didn´t notice the missing door. Maybe he decided it was a result of the recent blasts. In any case, they were relieved that he didn´t investigate the matter further. If he had, he would have found them immediately. Both girls stood still and listened. Freya was on the wrong side of the door to be able to see anything, but Sif had a clear view of the corridor and she kept her partner informed using hand signals.
“Stop children door.”
Freya interpreted the signals to be that the Yetten stopped outside the door behind which they believed the children were being held. Now what?
“Fire in the hole!”
They threw themselves hard on the floor and shortly after the explosion blew down the corridor throwing bits, pieces and dust over their heads. Immediately after the bang, they heard the Yetten shout.
“This is it, kids!” He commanded, ”Get out!” They looked at each other with fear in their eyes. The Yetten had to have decided that the intruders were proba
bly going to be successful and now they would move the kids to another location to prevent them from being saved. Freya crawled forward a bit to look down the corridor. The big Yetten soldier shooed the children out from their cell and pushed them in front of him in the opposite direction, away from Freya and Sif. This was it! They had to move fast, if they were to have any chance to complete the mission! Between them and the Yetten a piece of the ceiling had fallen down and a little closer she discovered a small indentation in the wall. Not a big one, but definitely big enough to hide behind. She motioned for Sif to stay ready, jumped out into the corridor and into the notch. Sif followed and threw herself behind the large piece of ceiling, where she took a shot at the Yetten, giving Freya a chance to get closer. The Yetten heard the shot and responded quickly. He grabbed the collar of both children and threw all three of them sideways into the adjacent corridor. Freya's brain worked full throttle as she calculated all the possibilities, she could think of. Then she ran towards the side corridor, somersaulted to the other side of it and squeezed herself against the wall making herself small enough to be out of sight. Sif immediately understood what Freya was doing and stormed across the corridor to the other side and squeezed in behind the wall on the nearest side. Now they were both standing at each side of the adjacent corridor. A brief look down revealed the Yetten, who stood with his back towards the children and a rifle in each hand aiming at the main corridor. Freya and Sif looked in wonder at each other. It really wasn´t like Yetten to put their lives on the line to protect others - let alone other races. But it certainly looked as if this Yetten soldier had decided to protect the children against their eon rifles.
”You won´t get them,” the Yetten yelled and fired his weapon, ”If you come in here, you´re dead!”
A strange sort of silence fell upon them through the noise of explosions and cut power cables frequently touching each other. After a while, Freya decided to try a new approach.
“Looks like we have a standoff,” she yelled, “you can´t escape and we can´t get in there.”
“You got that right!” the answer sounded, “if you come in here, I´ll shoot you before you can even get a glimpse of my ray gun!”
“So...” Freya tried, “any ideas?”
There was a short pause, before he answered.
“Yeah! You can leave!”
“Sorry, man! No can do!”
“Didn´t think so.”
Another short pause.
“Well, I suppose we should talk about it. One of you can come in here unarmed and negotiate - but you better be quick about it, before this ship falls apart. It´s just a matter of moments before it cracks!”
Sif sent Freya an astonished look. Then her face changed and her mouth opened slightly, the way she did, when something just occurred to her that she hadn´t thought of before. Slowly she put her rifle down beside her and got to her feet.
”No, Sif!” Freya shook her head wildly. What is she doing???
“I´m sorry, Freya, but I have to,” Sif said, “He won´t shoot. I´m sure of it.”
”You can´t trust the Yetten!” Freya begged, ”have you gone mad!”
But Sif didn´t listen. Instead she slowly moved out in the open giving the Yetten soldier a clear shot. There she closed her eyes and waited...
”Sif???” The big Yetten stood up, although still alert with his weapons ready to shoot if needed.
”Sif, is that you?”
Sif stood out in the open, quite vulnerable. But there was just something about that Yetten. Something she could not quite put her finger on and she was certain that she had never seen him before.
The Yetten soldier lit up in huge smile and started walking toward her with his arms lowered, but she took no chances.
”Wait,” she warned him as she grabbed her hand gun from its hiding place behind her back and pointed it at him.
”What...? - Whoa, Sif... It's me ... What are you doing? ”
Freya heaved a sigh of relief as she made her move and soon after stood next to Sif, aiming her rifle at the Yetten. Apparently, Sif had been the smartest of the two, tricking the Yetten to come out in the open and letting his guard down. Freya almost burst with pride. How Sif ever got the idea to try luring the Yetten into believing that she would listen and this way get him to expose himself was beyond her, but she had to admit it was one of the cleverest moves she´d ever seen. Maybe Sif had a special understanding of Yetten psychology?
At the sight of not only Sif and her hand gun pointing at him, but also Freya´s rifle threatening his life, the Yetten was really beginning to look frightened.
”Freya?” he said astonished at the development. He sounded despondent and depressed, but then he suddenly remembered something and lit up.
”Oh, yes, damn it! I completely forgot!”He put both his arms on the floor in front of him and straightened up slowly. Then he moved one hand slowly toward his belt and pressed an invisible button. Bzz! It flickered with sparks all around his body and suddenly it was no longer a Yetten in the uniform of the Brimir guards standing in front of them...
Freya and Sif stood with their mouths open and could not believe their eyes. Sif was the first to break the silence.
”Loki! We... we thought... we didn´t know...”
Tjalfe and Roeskva looked at least as surprised as Sif and Freya. They had both been covering themselves behind the Yetten through the whole thing, but now they slowly came out from their hiding place. At first with fear beaming from their eyes, but little by little a hesitant smile appeared on their faces.
”Loki?” Tjalfe finally managed to say. He couldn´t believe his eyes, but there was no denying it. The big Yetten, he had up till now thought was Fenrir, was now transformed to the appearance of the one and only Loki, who had interrogated him and his sister earlier. Loki said nothing, but just looked apologetically at Tjalfe and Roeskva while flinging his arms. Roeskva was just about to say something, but before she could open her mouth, everything changed and the next few minutes everything happened in a breath taking pace.
At the sound of boots coming closer, Loki was the first to act. He found the button on his belt and soon Fenrir appeared in front of them.
“We have to go! Now!” he barked, “I´ll take the kids, You will follow. But keep yourselves hidden. We have a better chance if they think I´m on their side.”
They did as he suggested, although Freya still had her doubts. Just the fact that he had somehow obtained equipment to change his appearance and make him look like whoever he wanted to, posed a risk to whoever his real enemies were. And could they in any way be sure this was even Loki? Nevertheless, they had no choice. With the Yetten having sounded the alarm, it would at least be less risky trusting him to be who he claimed to be. After all, what would be the purpose of trying to trick them, when it would have been a much better option to try stalling for time till the Yetten guards arrived? No, whatever the risk, this seemed like the safest bet. Should all of this turn out to be some sort of very sophisticated betrayal, they could always take that fight if and when it occurred. Right now it the most important thing was to get to the transporter room as quickly as possible, without being seen.