by Per Holbo
***
The burning Yetten fighter disappeared right in front of the five friends in the stolen ship. One minute they were prepared to die, and the next minute there was nothing outside the window.
”What?”
Tjalfe stared dumbfounded at nothing.
”What just happened?”
”Thor happened, of course,” Loki replied and pointed out a tiny dot far away, ”He´s on the Alfheim doing every bit of the job for us.”
”Not everything,” Roeskva´s distant voice sounded. She had said nothing during the whole trip, but everything about her exuded an inspired tranquility.
”Here comes the commander,” she continued, pointing towards the cruiser, they had just escaped, ”and he is quite angry.”
They all looked in the direction Roeskva pointed. Out through the hole they had made a little while ago, a large round ship with huge guns on slowly exited like a whale searching for its family. Loki let go of the console and raised his hands.
”That´s it...,” he said resignedly, ”that one is out of our league. Our engines are done and we can´t outrun him.” Loki looked up and found Freya´s eyes.
”I´m sorry, but if Thor doesn´t come up with something spectacular here it´s over. I can´t do nothing more from here.”For a moment it roamed inside Freya that this may have been a part of Loki´s plan from the beginning and he that he had just being playing games all along, but a quick look at the screen confirmed his claim. The engines were almost dead and they had less than 10% energy left. It would hardly be enough for the trip to Alfheim and certainly not enough to engage in battle with a Yetten cruiser. She let down her shoulders down and holstered her gun. Then she sat on the edge of Loki´s chair and looked sad at the commander´s ship as it approached inexorably. In a few moments it would be within range and they could do nothing to stop it.
Roeskva was the only one not looking discouraged. She just observed out the ship as if it was a dog coming for its owners praise. As the ship came right up to the side of the Farbauter, they heard the familiar whistling sound of a transporter locking on. The ship´s interior disappeared and was replaced by the bridge of the cruiser and the commander, who stood with his hands behind his back glaring at them.
”Welcome home, kids. I have been out of my mind worrying about you, ”he said mockingly and waved at a few guards who immediately disarmed Loki, Sif and Freya. Then he threw his head toward the door and the guards left them.
“I wouldn´t do that, if I was you, Loki,“ he warned, “going for the gun on the table behind me, I mean. It would be a very bad choice. Even if you could manage to get pass me and grab it, I´ve set the security system to kill anyone carrying anything that even resembles a weapon and you would be vaporized in the blink of an eye.”
He sat on the edge of his table and observed the five friends with an appalled look in his eyes. What a pathetic bunch! Two human children, two Vane women and a once so feared Yetten warrior, who had changed sides and was now fighting for the Aseir. Pitiful!
Suddenly he lit up in a smile that would´ve melted the heart of any mother, if it had come from a Yetten commander and had a dash of brutality and a touch of his evil heart. Like a mass murderer plotting his next killing spree.
“I just realized something, kids. I never really introduced myself. How could I forget after all the fun we´ve had together? Where are my manners?”
He waited for a split second as he enjoyed observing their reaction. Then he got to his feet and exaggerated a bow accompanied by a flickering of his hand as if he was welcoming royalty.
“My name is Skrymer and this...” He made a gesture with his hand. “...is my home.” Then he paused and looked at Tjalfe and Roeskva. His eyes were narrowed and it seemed like they were sending bolts of lightning toward the children as he stepped up to Tjalfe.
“Well... I suppose it´s not as impressive as it used to be. You kids destroyed most of it when you had a bit of a tantrum, didn´t you?”
Then he changed back again and smiled heartedly.
“But still, it´s all mine,” he proclaimed and spinned around himself with his hands raised, “It can be rebuilt, it can! And when it is, everything in this ridiculous galaxy will be mine. Every human, every Vane and even every Aseir, who doesn´t bow to me as my humble subject, will be completely forgotten. Exactly as it should be with pitiful creatures such as yourselves!”
The last bit was mostly directed toward the children and Tjalfe unknowingly stepped back a bit. He was scared of the big Yetten, who was obviously not only very intelligent, but also quite insane.
Roeskva, on the other hand, was quite calm. She´d been standing still and listening to the madness coming out of Skrymer´s mouth without moving, but now she stepped forward a few paces with a defiant look in her eyes.
Skrymer looked at her, first with a confused expression, and then with scorn in his eyes. “Roeskva?” he said, “something you want to say to me?” He was quite amazed at the little girl´s courage and although he tried to hide it, his eyes revealed both surprise and something else, that resembled fear. Roeskva straightened up and put her hands on her hips in a challenging position.
”You better let us go, Skrymer,” she said bravely, ignoring Tjalfes whisper as he was trying to persuade her to back away, ”if you don´t, Thor will crush you.”
”Thor???” cried Skrymer and broke into a roar of laughter, ”he is dead, my silly little girl... You shouldn´t expect any more bravery from him. He is nothing more than an icicle out there in the vast emptiness of space...”
Roeskva shook her head with undaunted tranquility.
”Let us go, Skrymer,” she repeated with firm conviction in her voice, ”it´s your last chance ...”
Skrymer stepped close to Roeskva and bent down to look her straight in her eyes. He had the most dreadful appearance and anyone would have peed their pants out of fear at the sight of the big Yetten´s huge body leaning heavily against her, but not Roeskva. She showed absolutely no emotion, but just stared back in Skrymers eyes. Although Tjalfe was terrified of what might happen to his sister, he had to admit that he was a little proud of his sister. No, not just a little proud. Very proud! To think that she dared!
”No,” said Skrymer mockingly with his eyes fastened directly on the little human girl, ”You will not escape from here. Not ever... You will all die here in Skrymer´s Glove - my glove!”
He had barely finished his sentence, before a violent explosion shook the ship and it flew with smoke and sparks everywhere. Fragments of the ship's hull fell from above and formed a cloud of dust that was impossible to see through.
”Roeskva!” Tjalfe yelled, ”Roeskva, where are you?” He lay on the floor and fumbled with his hands in front of him. There was a lot of dust and dirt on the floor, but then at last he got hold of something hard. At first he thought it was a fragment of something from the explosion, but what he now held in his hand, was smooth and curved in a way that told him this item was shaped like this with a purpose. It was impossible to see anything, and he was beginning to realize that it would be long before he would be able to find his way using his eyes. It was useless to fight against it and he decided it was better to stay right there on the floor and feel his way. Maybe he could find Roeskva that way. He forced himself to keep up spirits as he fought his way through all the rubble. Although she did not respond, he knew in his heart, she was still alive. She had to be and he knew he had to hold on to that belief, if he was to have any chance at all to save her. Maybe she had hit her head and was knocked unconscious? The ground beneath him went slightly upwards and the rubble seemed more solid than before. He pondered a moment to turn around and climb the other way, but it seemed to be a bad idea. He had no way of knowing which way would be the better choice and if one path could be just as good as the other, the worst thing he could do was to change his mind over and over. So he continued, concentrated on listening for any kind of sound that could help him find his way. The way up the rubble was steepe
r for every time he put down a hand or a foot, but he continued undeterred, hoping to find his sister. His body changed from being almost horizontal to a more and more vertical position and he felt as if he was going up a hill of debris that was about as high as the graves near the village. A little further on, the ground beneath him began to flatten out a bit and all of a sudden the dust cloud disappeared. Tjalfe carefully turned around while clinging on to the debris that seemed most secure. He looked down so he could react, if it all suddenly slithered beneath him. Whew! Finally, he could sit down and lift his head. What a sight! Only the flat part right in front of him where he had just climbed up was free of dust. The mountain of debris went just a little bit downwards before it disappeared into a lake of dust and dirt. But the most amazing thing was right in front of him. Without realizing it, he had climbed so far up that he was sitting just below the ceiling in the great throne room. But wait? How could that be true? He had left Brimir in the Farbauter with the others and they had all been captured by Skrymer´s cruiser. How could he suddenly be back on the big warship? Then he heard a roar of madness and rage! It wasn´t coming from far away and it sounded muffled as if the sound came from a confined space nearby - and he knew exactly who made the dreadful sound...