by Per Holbo
***
With Loki and the kids in front of them Freya and Sif sneaked through the many corridors of Brimir. They hid here and there where they had the opportunity and actually managed quite well not to be discovered most of the way. Only once it almost went bad. Loki had come around a corner holding the kids firmly in their collar and since he did not have a free hand to signal the girls to hide from a group of onrushing guards nor had the chance to shout a warning, suddenly Freya and Sif found themselves in full view for the security group to see them.
They stiffened and held their breath as the group turned a corner a little further down the corridor without spotting them.
“Move on!” Loki barked as if he was commanding the kids, but in reality it was meant for Freya and Sif. They set in motion immediately and shortly after they were standing outside the door of the transporter room. Loki placed himself facing the door and let the kids go. With his one hand he signaled Freya and Sif to stop and with the other hand he waved to open the door.
The two guards who had been placed in the transporter room as an extra security measure flew up with their weapons ready, but at the sight of a Yetten they believed to be their superior, they lowered their rifles with a snap!
They straightened up and saluted with a flap over the heart with the left hand, the common greeting in the Yetten fleet. Loki aimed at them with his stolen service revolver and shot them down one by one, before any of them could react.
Then he waved Freya and Sif inside and ordered them to guard the door while he grabbed the console and entered the necessary information.
”How are you going to get us out of here?” Freya asked, ”Alfheim is too far away for the transporter.” Loki did not move his eyes from the console as he responded in a somewhat cryptic reply.
”I have an appointment with an old friend who does not know anything yet.”
Then he turned around and held out his hands towards the children, who grabbed them without hesitation. He glanced insistently at Freya and Sif.
“Hold on!” he commanded. Sif left her post at the door and took Tjalfes hand, but Freya wouldn´t comply. Instead she aimed her rifle at Loki and sent him a skeptical look.
”I don´t trust you,” she said sharply, ”how can we be sure you are not a traitor and will lead us directly into the hands of the Yetten?” Sif was surprised. Admittedly, Freya was skeptical by nature, but Sif had a feeling she could trust Loki with her life.
”Freya?” She said questioningly, ”what´s going on?”
But Loki knew exactly what was going on.
”She thinks I was the one who shut down the shield the day Tjalfe and Roeskva were abducted by the Yetten,” he said quietly.
”Freya?” Sif repeated. Freya nodded.
”Besides Thor and me, he´s the only one who has access to change the basic codes on Alfheims computer,” she explained without removing her rifle or her eyes from Loki.
”I certainly didn´t do it and I sincerely doubt Thor would ever risk destroying his research ... So, who else is left, Sif? ”
Sif was distraught. It was really at the final call if they were to get away and she could not believe that Loki had something to do with Tjalfe and Roeskva being abducted by the Yetten.
”There has to be another explanation Freya.” She tried, ”Loki could never put all our lives in danger this way! He´s our friend! He is Thor´s friend!”
”There is no other explanation, Sif,” Freya cut her off, ”Loki is our traitor!”
”No, he´s not, Freya, come on!” Sif looked distraught at Freya. Then she looked at Roeskva and Tjalfe and finally at Loki, who still held the children´s hands. He let them go and spread out his arms in resignment.
”Freya´s right,” he said quietly. Sif turned her head with a jerk and looked frightened at Loki while she squeezed Tjalfes hand till it hurt. Loki still looked at Freya, as he continued.
”I changed the codes ...”
Sif could not believe what she was hearing. How could Loki ever do such a thing?
”But I´m not a traitor, Freya,” Loki went on, still with his eyes directed towards Freya´s angry face, ”I was acting under orders ... from Odin! ”
Now Freya looked surprised. That certainly was not the kind of excuse she had seen coming.
”Yes, of course you were,” she said kindly, but her sarcasm was not very well hidden, “Odin just asked you to change a few basic codes on some key systems aboard Alfheim, right before you disappeared at the Fyrkat device with your Yetten friends...”
“Actually, no,” Loki explained, “he ordered me a long time ago. Just before Thor´s previous trip to Earth, before we even began building the fortress.” He paused for a moment and looked them all in the eyes one by one to give them time to understand what he was saying.
“It was before Thor returned to Svalinn with the preliminary data he´d collected from the experiments with the Fyrkat device,” he continued hoping that Freya would deduct the consequences. She didn´t. But Sif did.
“Freya?” she said reflectively, “Loki never got the codes to Alfheim. He was the captain of Svalinn till it was destroyed. After that, he was officially instated as the new captain of Alfheim, but he never got onboard. We just assumed he had the codes, because it was the most natural thing, being the captain. But he disappeared before coming onboard - he never received the key codes!”
Freya tightened her grip on the rifle, but her eyes began to wander... She felt doubt nagging inside. Loki was not trustworthy, that much she knew for sure. He had never been in all the years she had known him. On the other hand, Sif was right. Even though Loki had officially been appointed Captain of Alfheim as they lost Svalinn, the codes could not have been transferred. And even if he had been able to provide them through shady contacts in the Aseir domain, he hadn´t set foot on Alfheim since the day he disappeared. She knew this to be true, because she had herself been supervising the repairs on Alfheim, which had been done through the entire test of the Fyrkat device. Yet she was very reluctant to give him the benefit of the doubt. She wanted to be absolutely sure.
Sif´s brain was working overtime to figure out a way to get out of this mess and at the same time she was fighting to suppress the urge to cry. She couldn´t bear the thought of Loki being a traitor. But it was even worse if he was not and Freya ended up shooting him anyway. Not just because she had compassion and wanted him to live for his own sake, but also because she felt he was crucial to their chances of survival - both Freya, herself and the children. They needed Loki, if they were to escape. He was the only one who could fix the transporter and boost its range. Of course! That was it! This was what she needed to convince Freya to let him live!
”We need him, Freya,” she cried frantically, ”He is the only one who can reprogram the transporter!”
”Nonsense!” Freya swept her off, ”You can do that, Sif. You have more than ample understanding of how it works. You can fix it. ”
Sif stepped closer to Freya and shook her head her eyes firmly fixed on Freya´s.
”No, Freya, I can´t. The console can only be used by Yetten. It’s part of their security system in the same way only Vane and Aseir can use ours.”
”So? Short circuit it or something. Isn´t that the sort of thing you usually do?”
”Not this time, Freya. If I start tinkering with the energy crystal, I might blow us to smithereens,” Sif explained, ”... the explosions could have made the ship´s energy system unstable.” She stepped right up to Freya and stood very close as she put her hand gently on the rifle and moved it downward.
”The console will accept Loki´s DNA, Freya. It is the best way. Even if I could tamper with the security system, it might take too long and we wouldn´t get away in time before the whole ship is blown apart. ”
Much to Sif´s surprise Freya didn´t resist, but let her pull the tip of the rifle towards the ground. Freya nodded.
”Okay, then ..” she said lips tightened and eyes narrowed as she sent Loki a
defiant look, ”but I´m watching you, Loki! Even the slightest mistakes and my rifle and I take a chunk of your stomach. ”
Loki nodded and stretched out his arms again. They took each other's hands and disappeared in a whirlwind of sound and light...