Prime Valkyrie

by Michael-Scott Earle

  Madalena, Lux, Mikhael, and I walked toward the elevator. Hegeia stepped aside and bowed her head to Madalena, and the brunette woman stopped.

  “Thrall, continue familiarizing yourself with the ship.”

  “Yes, Prime--”

  “Her name is Hegeia,” I said to Madalena.

  “She is a thrall,” the brunette warrior woman said, and I felt her distaste.

  “Her name is Hegeia, her sister is Waiola, their friend is Uma.

  “Adam,” Hegeia said. “It is fine. If the Prime--”

  “If not for them, I wouldn’t be here with you,” I said to Madalena.

  “No, you would have crushed all that stood before you. I have viewed your--”

  “I’m not going to fucking argue with you about this, Madalena,” I spat as I looked at the rest of her people. “All of you need to call them by their names, or you can get the fuck off my ship. Get it?”

  “Yes, my lord,” Madalena said quickly.

  “Good.” I nodded to her and then continued to the elevator.

  Mikhael, Lux, and Madalena followed me into the lift, and we took it down to the bottom level. No one spoke during the descent, and we quickly exited once the door opened.

  We walked down the hall and into the armory. As soon as I set foot in the door, my mouth hung open and pleasure cascaded down my spine. The large room had finally been organized, with specific locations for armor, firearms, ammo, and equipment. The weapon racks were now all filled with deadly looking pulse rifles, laser pistols, shock shotguns, and all of our old equipment. I saw the weapons I acquired on Nordar - 13 - a secured on a rack, but my eyes were drawn back to the laser-looking pistols.

  “They are pulse weapons,” Madalena explained as she grasped one of the handguns.

  “How do they work? I thought all your equipment shot plasma, but they look like energy bullets.” The gun felt a bit too light in my hand, but it had an optical sight that flipped up as soon as I pulled it out of its holster.

  “The technology is similar. Plasma weapons run too hot, are too heavy, and do too much damage to a ship’s interior. Nordar weapons shoot micro bits of plasma driven by lasers.” Pride flowed from her, and I looked at the magazine at the bottom of the weapon.

  “Are they hard to maintain? How many shots?”

  “They require more upkeep than cartridge gunpowder weapons, but the weapons are lighter, shoot faster, and each magazine carries fifty shots.”

  “Hmm,” I said as I familiarized myself with the weapon. Lux and Mikhael had already grabbed their pistols, but I put the pulse weapon back in its holster and set it on the rack.

  “I’ll use my revolver for now,” I said. “I want to test fire the pulse pistol a bit before I take it into a hostile environment.” I figured that Red Eye - 13 would be filled with a bunch of people I wouldn’t mind putting a pulse shot or twenty into, but there would also be innocents around. I knew exactly how my massive revolver operated, and I trusted it.

  “It is an effective weapon,” she said with a slight nod. “I loaded your ammo belt with armor piercing rounds, but they might be overkill for this station.”

  “I obtained more ammunition and speed loaders, my lord,” Lux said as she pointed to a stack of boxes on the weapon table beside me. “You will find them there.”

  “Ahh, thanks, Lux,” I said as I pulled my revolver from my chest holster. I had yet to reload it from when Madalena and I escaped, so I snapped the thick cylinder out of the body, ejected the five thumb sized casings, and then reloaded it with a box I found on the counter. Then I removed my pistol holsters from my belt and added five speed loaders with non-armor piercing rounds. Madalena had put an additional five speed loaders of armor piercing ammo in my belt, but they had plenty of space because I’d taken out my pistol magazines.

  “I’m ready if you all are,” I said after I moved the revolver holster to my right hip and took off my chest webbing. I was trying to move as fast as I could, but my muscles were still exhausted, and I felt like my mind was in a haze.

  The three Vaish warriors gave a brief nod, and then we turned to exit the armory.

  We reached the hold half a minute later, and I saw Mildia and Josefinna standing at the entrance with their pulse rifles in their hands. Josefinna hit the hatch button, and it opened up to reveal the docking tube. The five Vaish warriors said nothing to each other as we left, but I gave Mildia and Josefinna a grateful nod.

  “Thanks for watching over Persephone,” I said, but neither of them replied. They did return my nod though, so I guess I was making a bit of progress.

  We walked to the end of the docking tube, and then Mikhael pressed a green button with “CALL” written on it. Unlike Queen’s Hat, the state and general cleanliness of this tube left a lot to be desired. It smelled like shit mixed with piss, there were piles of trash in the corner, and the tunnel was riddled with bullet holes. Dark red stains decorated the bulkhead in some places, and I guessed that the confined space had seen more than its fair share of gun battles.

  “Ye?” A voice came over a speaker located on the top of the door.

  “We’re from Persephone,” Mikhael said, and I noticed his accent sounded a lot like the voice coming from the speaker.

  “Why you here?” the voice asked.

  “Well,” Mikhael said with a nearly identical accent. “We told ye control tower that we were looking to acquire some specialty goods here. I’m sure ye can guess what we mean. We read the rules docket and are only carrying handguns.”

  “And you brought ye rhodium?” the man asked. “Raise it up so I can see it.”

  Lux pulled three small plastic bags out of her breast pocket and held them up toward the speaker. I estimated it to be about four hundred grams, and the sight of it made my stomach clench. It was a shitload of rhodium, but then I remembered the size of the Vaish armada. They probably had plenty of the rare metal.

  “Yeeh. That’s a good spot. Docking fee is ten percent.”

  “That’s fine.” Mikhael smiled up at the speaker, but I felt the beast in my stomach roar. These fuckers were going to take ten percent? How in the fuck could they do business? No one would be willing to dock here if they had to pay that much of their rhodium. I stepped forward and looked up at the speaker. I didn’t see the camera, but I guessed the fucker could see the rage on my face.

  Madalena grabbed my shoulder and pulled me close to her, I almost pushed her away, but I felt her emotions, and my understanding of the situation became clearer.

  “Eh? Looks like your armored buddy isn’t happy with our docking fees,” the voice said.

  “He’s fine,” Mikhael said smoothly. “We heard you have the best stock of luxury products here. The docking fee is worth it.”

  “I’ll open the door then!” the voice exclaimed. “Ye can pay the fee on the left side. I’ve got a window there.”

  The door to the dock slid open, halfway, got stuck and slowed, but then popped free and slid the rest of the way open. Mikhael and Lux stepped out of the docking tube, and then I followed Madalena out.

  We stood in a corridor some two meters wide and six meters long. At the end of the hallway was an open archway leading to the main thoroughfare of the harbor. I could see a throng of traffic out there, but the space where we stood was only lit by a single dim bulb, and anyone who wanted to look into this alcove would need to step into the archway.

  “Set ye rhodium on the scale here,” the man spoke to our left, and I turned to the window. He was a squat greasy fucker with a dirty uniform and an ugly leer. At first glance, the booth looked to be made out of the same metal as the corridor, but I could see clearly in near darkness, and I saw this was an after addition that didn’t look to even be attached to the wall it stood against.

  Two auto guns were fixed on the top of the booth, and they each had a pulsing red light beneath the barrels.

  “The scale,” the man prompted from behind the armored glass again, and I saw a dish placed on the edge of the booth.<
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  Without speaking, the four of us drew our handguns and fired.

  I wasn’t using armor piercing rounds, but the bullets were still massive, and they punched through the thick glass as if it was made of plastic. The man’s head exploded from the bullet at the same time as Madalena’s energy bullets tore through his chest.

  Mikhael and Lux each shot at the automatic guns, and their blue bullets melted each of them before they could fire at us.

  “Huh,” I said as I holstered my revolver. I knew what the three Vaish warriors were going to do as soon as Madalena tried to soothe my anger. The sensation was unlike when Eve communicated with me. That was more like her speaking into my brain. This was more like I knew what Madalena’s thoughts and emotions were as she thought and felt them. And through her, I understood Lux and Mikhael.

  It was really fucking creepy, but I could see the usefulness in combat.

  Or with lovemaking.

  Madalena turned to me, and I squashed the thoughts of her quickly. Fuck, I was tired, so my mind was starting to slip. We had a shit ton of work to do, and I needed to focus my energy on the task at hand.

  “No one seems to care we shot that piece of shit,” I said as I moved to the archway out of the hallway. The traffic in the harbor looked like the sidewalks of any typical megacity. Most of the travelers wore long coats, armor, or wide-brimmed hats which obscured their faces. A few of them were obviously parties of slavers since they pulled on either control collars or shackles that were attached to men, women, and children.

  “Fucking dickbags,” I growled as a pair of men walked past us with four women in tow. They were covered in bruises and stumbled after the men on shackled feet.

  Before I could even think, my fingers were wrapped around the grip of my revolver.

  “We can kill them if you wish,” Madalena whispered as her left hand closed over my right wrist. “Or we can focus on finding your friends. I will do as you ask, my lord, but killing every slaver on this station will take us some time, and I doubt it will help you find what you are looking for.”

  “Let’s find the Magate Order,” I said after a few seconds. I did want to kill every slaver on this station, but Madalena was right. The logistics were impossible.

  “I know the way to the bazaar,” Mikhael said, and he stepped around me and out into the thoroughfare of the harbor.

  I walked after him, and Madalena walked beside me. Lux brought up the rear, and the crowds of people seemed to part for us.

  We walked through the throng of people for five minutes, and I kept my tired eyes busy by glancing around me. I could smell the deceit, sleaze, and diabolical nature of this place. It reminded me of rancid meat, burnt cooking oil, and dried blood. The monster in my stomach was growling non-stop, and it took a chunk of my willpower to keep from shifting.

  Every single man we walked past glanced at Madalena. I saw their eyes roam over her athletic body, but then their gaze fell to her pistol holster. Most of them lost a bit of interest at that point, but a few of them smiled sinisterly. Each of those fuckers made the beast scream, and I felt a cold sweat begin to descend my back.

  “You do not need to fear for me, my lord,” she said as her left hand slipped around the armor of my bicep.

  “I’m not,” I growled.

  “Your words do not match your emotions.”

  “Your fucking submission hijacked my emotions,” I said, and then I yanked my arm away from her.

  “Yes. I know.” She sighed, and I felt her sadness needle through my armor and pierce my chest. “Can we speak more of it later?”

  “Whatever. Hey Mikhael, how long until we reach the bazaar?”

  “Another ten minutes,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Red Eye - 13 seems smaller than Queen’s Hat,” I said as I looked up and around the harbor.

  “About a tenth of the size,” Mikhael said, and then a figure in rags collided with the Vaish man.

  Mikhael brought his arms up, twisted to his left, and then tossed the man to the ground with a sharp movement. The rags fell away from the figure’s face, and I could see that it was an old man. He was missing an eye, but then Mikhael’s boot stomped his face.

  The surrounding crowd jumped away, and a few reached for their guns, but Mikhael paid them no mind as he reached down into the folds of the man’s clothes and pulled out his pistol. The man must have yanked it from Mikhael’s holster when they collided.

  “And a hundred times the idiots,” the Vaish man said as he slid his handgun back into his holster.

  The crowd seemed to realize Mikhael had just dealt a quick justice to the man who tried to steal from him, and the various hands grabbing at guns relaxed. We continued our walk, and the crowd moving in the other direction avoided us.

  “The bazaar should be at the end of this tunnel,” Mikhael said after we had walked for about ten minutes. The throng of humanity was still as dense as it was at the harbor, but the men seemed less interested in ogling my female companions, and more interested in reaching the marketplace quickly.

  “When I last saw them, they were wearing white robes,” I said, and my three companions nodded.

  “It is doubtful we would have picked the exact station they have taken your friends to,” Madalena said.

  “I know, but they will know what other stations that they might have taken them to.”

  “If they do not, there are other stations where we can look,” she said. “I will find your friends.”

  “Thanks,” I said, and even though Madalena already told me many times she would help me, hearing her saying it again did sooth me. Maybe she knew that, and it was why she kept reassuring me.

  The tunnel flowed into a massive domed room. The ceiling must have been at least six hundred meters up, but seeing the exact height of it was made difficult by the almost endless towers of buildings. These looked like slum dwellings, with each level made of welded together shipping crates, tube trains, or fitted parts of spacecraft. Each of the slum tower levels was connected by a variety of wooden ladders, metal scaffolding, or brick stairs. The structures looked too narrow to stay upright, but closer inspection revealed the very top parts of each were actually attached to the high ceilings of the station’s dome roof.

  There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to their construction. I imagined that they were built on top of each other to save space on the streets. There were actually a few ropes tied between the towers, and I saw dirty children crawl across the lines like monkeys. No one else in the station looked up with any concern at the kids dangling hundreds of meters above, and I quickly glanced back down to the street so I wouldn’t appear like a tourist mark for pickpockets.

  Mikhael led us through the throng of the crowd, and I tried to keep my tired eyes focused on the hands of the men and women we walked around. The stench of unwashed bodies was thick in the bazaar, and my sensitive nose protested every time that I inhaled. Then we passed through an alley of food vendors, and my stomach growled. The last time I’d eaten was with Hegeia, Waiola, and Uma in the tavern. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago.

  We moved past the food stalls, then entered a part of the bazaar with weapons vendors. The displays were only handguns, although most did have holoprojectors showing a variety of rifles. These stands were popular, and I overheard a salesman explaining to a buyer that he could pick the weapon up in the docking tube after he had paid for it. I guessed it was probably because the station forbade any weapons besides handguns inside.

  I was about to ask Madalena about law enforcement on Red Eye - 13, but then my question was answered by a group of five police officers walking past us. The men, or women, wore black metal plate armor that concealed their sexual identities. Short stubby spikes were coming out of their shoulder armor, and their chest pieces were painted with a red eyeball. They carried big shotguns with drum attachments, and their faces were covered with flat black masks.

  “Move along,” one of the armored figures growled when he saw me star
ing at his armor.

  “Got it,” I said as I turned away from them and stepped after Mikhael. The beast in my stomach wanted to kill all the fuckers in the armor, but that wouldn’t help me find my friends, so I ignored his complaint.

  We were almost at the end of the weapon vendor alley, and I could hear enthusiastic shouting up ahead of us. I suspected it was the main area where the slaves were sold, and I was proven correct a few moments later when we stepped into the plaza.

  The slaver blocks were also as I expected. There were some fifteen booths set up at the perimeter. The displays faced inward to the mass of bidders in the middle, and the crowd there shuffled from stand to stand as new slaves were added. On the side of each display booth, dozens of men, women, and children stood with some form of shackle around their necks, arms, or legs.

  “Fuck these assholes,” I growled as the beast raged in my stomach. I realized that my right hand was tightly grasping my revolver grip, but Madalena’s hand was over mine, and she leaned into my ear.

  “Save your anger, my lord. There is no easy resolution at the moment.”

  “I could put a bullet in each of these slaver fuckers,” I whispered back to her as my eyes danced to the men operating each booth.

  “You would run out of bullets, and Red Eye - 13’s security would attack us. We wouldn’t have the chance to question the Magate Order, and it will be harder to find your friends.”

  “You’re right, of course,” I said with a heavy sigh.

  Madalena gestured to Mikhael and Lux, and they stepped closer to us.

  “Adam and I will move clockwise from this position, you move counterclockwise. Do you both know what to look for?”

  “White robes or clothes?” Lux asked as her cold eyes scanned the crowds around the booths.

  “Yeah,” I said. “The insignia on their ship is a cross inside of a square that is inside of a circle.” I made the design out with my finger in the air.

  “I will look, my lord,” Lux replied, and Mikhael nodded.

  “Meet us at the adjacent stall,” Madalena said as she pointed across the plaza.

  “Yes, Prime Valkyrie,” they both said. Then they moved to our right, and I watched them disappear into the densely packed crowds.