Valkyrie Reborn, S1 E1

[Esplandia]

Governor Garaenyx Malnalys woke up and went about his early morning routine. He had a hot stimulant drink followed by twenty minutes of contemplation while listening to a beautiful instrumental composition from a classic composer. He then went out on his balcony and looked at the lights and flowing traffic of the station’s promenade.

Lamplight, as the original builders of the station called it, orbited around an orange gas giant, and even now the station was passing out of the nightshadow into the sunlight of the planets dayside, part of the station’s 34-hour daily orbit.

The Governor had been leading the inhabitants of the station now for fourteen galactic years (nine and a half years on his homeworld) and he’d continued the tradition of keeping the station out from under the authority of any larger power, including the Dominion. Even though the Dominion officially claimed all this space, they were content to let the station continue to operate independently, as long as the bribes kept finding their way into the right hands.

The chime to the front door sounded and Garaenyx cursed loudly. He’d hoped for a few more minutes before the demands of governance came calling. He walked to the door and swiped his hand over the sensor-lock, opening the door for whoever was calling.

The doors wooshed open revealing his aid, looking sheepish at having interrupted his superior.

“What?” Garaenyx asked irritably.

“A ship has arrived and requested permission to disembark,” the aid stammered.

“And this was worth bothering me about? Let the docking master do his job.”

“Um, well, it’s a warship, sir.”

“Lead with that information next time you useless worm,” Garaenyx growled. He grabbed his coat from the entryway closet and stormed out, his aid following quickly. “Who’s warship is it?” the Governor asked. If it was the Ithorian military he’d have to bow and play sycophant until they decided to go away. Anyone else and they could very well be in trouble. He wondered how many privateer ships were currently docked or in port that they could scramble into a defense if need be. Not a lot, he assumed, and what was there would cost him a fortune to reimburse if it came to a fight.

“No one knows, sir,” the aid answered, uselessly as the Governor could have expected. “The markings are alien, and the design doesn’t match any known nation. Their captain claims to be something called a Terranid, and he says he, uh, ’Comes in Peace’.”

The Governor clicked his tongue in response. What kind of deception was this so-called Terranid trying to pull. “Did this Captain have a name?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, yes,” the aid stammered. “James Morrison is what he said. His ship is called the Valkyrie Reborn.”

 

[Esplandia]

The Dock Master read over the tactical report on the alien spaceship. He didn’t like what he saw. The ship was heavily armed with a massive forward gun that he tactically assumed was for orbital bombardment. The ship’s hull bristled with weapon ports and the dock master assumed there were more guns his sensors couldn’t find as no energy source could be read in the guns. The ship appeared to be here peacefully.

An energy shield surrounded the ship but his report speculated it was a passive defense as the power output was too low to stop continuous fire.

He studied the image of the Terranid Captain and tried to ascertain what kind of a person he was. He was humanoid, much like the Ithorian’s, but hairier. This male, Captain Morrison as he called himself, had a thick beard and long curly hair. His skin was a different hue than the Ithorians; instead of blue it was pinkish. He found himself comparing the newcomer to the Ithorians, but he felt that was probably not gonna help him decide what kind of creature this Terranid was.

At that moment the Governor entered the room, one of his aids trailing behind. The dock master’s brood clan began to click their mandibles together, rudely speaking of the Governor, but the dock master waved them to silence with his claws. He didn’t want any of his underlings to get the Ithorian mad. They complied and scampered off to perform their duties elsewhere.

“What are we dealing with?” the Governor asked, stopping to stare at the ship which was being shown on one of the monitors.

The dock master activated his vocal growth and answered, “She has a lot of firepower. Not a big ship, but very deadly by our estimates.”

The Governor made an uncomfortable glance at the voice growth, likely in response from to the growly voice that came out of it. The dock master ignored the Ithorians discomfort. The growth allowed him to communicate with vocal species, and few of his own kind would accept the growth. It was Uthmed to his people. Modifying themselves was seen as a sin, and by doing so they would lose their place in Khamlut. But the dock master was already an Ibzorth, as he had eaten a clan-mate in the Zinny ritual, a horrible crime. He’d accepted the voice growth as penance so that he could at least have a place in Uxmag when he died.

“Do you think they’ll cause trouble?” the Governor asked. “Are they dangerous?”

The dock master wondered how the Governor expected anyone to have that kind of information, but he kept his contemplations to himself. “There appears to be no immediate threat. Their ship is very powerful though. Our station defenses would be no match. I’d warn caution, but do not make them angry.”

“Don’t make them angry, huh,” the Governor scoffed. He was silent for a minute, looking st the ship, contemplating the face of the alien captain. He sighed a couple times, and huffed a bunch more for good measure. “Alright here’s what we’re gonna do,” he said. “We don’t know how many of them there are, and we can’t risk letting them overrun the station. Contact this guy and tell him he can come aboard, but that he’s gotta limit the number of his people on the station to only a handful, say four, at a time. That way we don’t risk making them mad and they can’t overrun us.”

The Governor seemed very pleased with his cleverness so the dock master gave his agreement. He’d relay the message to the awaiting aliens. After the Governor left the dock master’s brood clan began hurling insults at the departing Governor, their mandibles clicking furiously. This time the dock master joined them.

 

[Esplandia]

The populace of the station was intrigued about the unidentified aliens that had arrived so a large crowd had gathered in the landing dock to try and get a look. Governor Malnalys Head the station guards disperse them. Still a couple curious dock workers continued to mill about and the Governor let them be as long as they looked busy.

The alien landing craft came through the hanger doors and glided to a stop before gently touching down. As it vented some kind of coolant the Governor looked the vessel over. To him it seemed predatorial, like a flying insect, waiting to ambush its prey.

A hatch opened on the side and a ramp extended to the ground. Four figures emerged and walked purposely down the ramp. They made a quick look around the dock, seeming to pinpoint the location of everyone there, before than fixing their gaze on the Governor and his small entourage of guards.

They were a motley group, the Governor thought to himself. And not all from the same species. The two in the lead were obviously of the same kind, though one had a lot of hair on the top of his head and at the bottom of his face. The other had little hair, and was mostly bald except for a single growth that stretched around the back of his head from one ear to the other.

The other two were of a different species. One was tall and lithe, with long pointy ears, powerful hind legs, and a long tail. The last was a grizzly looking beast, with dried and wrinkly skin, and an arm that appeared to be both mechanical and biological though obviously not his original appendage.

All four looked tough to the Governor, veterans of some conflict he guessed. They approached purposely and stopped silently in front of the Governor.

“Welcome,” Garaenyx greeted them. “This is Lamplight Station. I am the Governor of this little outpost.”

The hairier of the two Terranids bowed in response, and then introduced himself. “I am Captain Morrison, of the Valkyrie Reborn.” He then turned to his bald associate and introduced him. “This is my associate, Isaac Wolfstern, and my acting second-in-command.”

He then introduced his other two crew mates. “This is Sariah Sun, my navigator.” She also performed a bow for the Governor, Boeing quite low, her tail rising up to counter balance. “And my chief engineer, Og Novadek.” The last one just curled his lip up at the corner but otherwise made no other move.

Garaenyx welcomed each one and then immediately got down to business. “So I was informed you were looking to purchase supplies for your ship.” He motioned for the four to follow and he began leading them out of the hanger. The Captain walked beside him but the other three trailed just behind. Garaenyx’s guards then took up the rear.

“We have a full list,” the Captain said. His second passed up a data pad and the Captain passed it to Garaenyx. Garaenyx was surprised to see the information was already in Ithorian. It was a long list but certainly doable.

“How do you intend to purchase all this?” The Governor asked. He was quite certain this alien didn’t have any currency that he’d recognize, let alone accept.

The Captain must have read his mind because he immediately brought the issue up. “The only currency I have is what is called the Galactic Buyers Denomination, and while it is backed up by the Trivanion Banking Corps, they don’t operate out here. Instead I was looking to make a trade. We have, in our cargohold, certain processed materials that may be of value.” He pointed to the pad that the Governor still held. “Press the red dot in the corner,” he said.

The Governor complied and another list appeared. This one showed a catalog of numerous materials: metals and elements. It was an interesting list and the Governor began calculating their worth when he realized what this list meant. Some of these elements could have significant reactions when exposed to each other. “These are weapon’s materials,” he said in shock.

The Terranid smiled. “Some of the finest weapons grade materials that could make a opportunistic man a lot of wealth.”

The Governor was starting to like this Captain. These materials would fetch a high price on the black market. It was dangerous but the Governor was sure he could do it.

“We should talk later about making a deal,” Garaenyx said genuinely. “I think we’ll be good friends. In the meantime, you should tour our station, see what we have to offer. If there’s anything you need, within reason, just tell the shopkeep to charge it to me.”

 

[Esplandia]

Captain Morrison watched Governor Garaenyx depart to attend to station business and he allowed himself to sigh a little in relief. He was an exceptionally greedy man, which would play into the Captain’s hands during negotiations. As long as their bluff wasn’t ever called.

He turned to his three crew members. “Well that went better than expected,” he said.

Isaac Wolfstern chuckled. “James, you’ve outdone yourself. Bravo.”

James rubbed his hand through his hair. “Now we just need to conclude our business before they realize it’s just us, and not a giant crew.” He paused as they boarded a rail tram that would take them into the market ring of the station. They took a seat and settled in. “I’m gonna keep buttering up this Governor,” he continued. “You’ll come along,” he said to Sariah.

“Yes, sir,” she said as she adjusted her tail for more comfort. “Is it because I’m a friendly face?”

“Precisely,” James answered. The tram stopped to take on more passengers and he turned off his translator to speak in Terranid. “Meanwhile you two will look into this report. Find out who made it and where the Triveridium is located. If we can find a source out here all our troubles go away.”

Isaac looked to the towering alien at his side. “Maybe having Og along isn’t the best idea. He might scare the locals.”

“I’m hoping he intimidates anyone who doesn’t want to be helpful. No offense.”

“None taken,” Og said flatly. “I’m also gonna check out their technology. See what we can engineer to use on the Valkyrie.”

“And we have a plan,” James said as the tram came to a stop at the market. They all disembarked. “Let’s just make sure to look like tourists for a bit.”

 

[Esplandia]

Lamplight’s market ring was a bustling, busy place, though James couldn’t help noticing the number of empty stalls and stores. The place had obviously seen better days, yet their was still an air of hurry to the people shopping there. It was a sight to behold. The station’s market was larger than many Terranid stations were.

They took their time checking what the place had to offer, even taking up the Governor’s offer to charge a few purchases to his account. Though they kept it to a minimum. Just enough to look interested in spending money.

The Governor has set up a meeting for the dinner meal time, where James would meet some of the station’s leaders and negotiate the trade and possible future commerce. When the time came he and Sariah took the Tram into the central administration ring of the station, leaving Isaac and Og to carry on with their own assignment.

 

[Esplandia]

Sariah leaned forward in her seat as the tram took them into the center section of the station. Captain Morrison sat across from her deep in thought, his brow furrowed.

“Are you worried?” She asked.

He didn’t look up as he answered her. “This place is everything we’re looking for. And if things don’t work out, where else can we go?”

Without hesitation she answered, “It’ll work out.” And she meant it. “They’ll accept your deal.”

He finally looked up and intensely met her gaze. “You still believe in me then?” He asked earnestly.

“A couple setbacks aren’t gonna make me doubt you now.”

He smiled appreciatively. They’d been flying together now for what seemed a long time. Two wars and countless victories and defeats. And now here they were deep into the reaches of Inaius playing the odds again.

The Tram came to a stop and the Governor was waiting for them, this time flanked by a number of other well dressed station officials. A couple of them were Ithorians, but most were a varied group of species, all completely alien to Sariah.

Garaenyx clapped his hand together pleasantly. “I’ve got us a private table at the Skyview, the best restaurant on the station,” he said. “We can discuss business there.” He then motioned to his two guests to follow as they walked down a wide hallway decorated with red leafed trees.

This part of the station was nicer, cleaner, less crowded. The hallways were wider, and it was more like a city, with tall building spires reaching up into the space. The hallway’s ceilings were glass and looked out towards the orange gas giant they orbited.

The Governor talked to them about the station as they walked, giving a bit of history. “Lamplight was built over two centuries ago by unknown architects. We don’t know whether they abandoned it or lost it. Still it’s been continuously occupied by one power or another. And while we technically fall under the control of the Ithorian Dominion, we continue to maintain our independence from them.”

Sariah perked up her ears at that but remained silent on the subject. One more thing to investigate if everything went according to plan tonight. They soon arrived at the restaurant and Sariah mentally prepared for the coming negotiations.

 

[Esplandia]

The little trade shop was packed full of odds and ends, each with a little placard saying where each piece came from and what period. It was an odd assortment of antique art and old rusted machinery. None of it was recognizable to Isaac, and little of it actually appeared to be valuable.

But he wasn't here to shop. He made his way to the back of the shop where the proprietor, a furry rodent looking alien with splotchy patches of fur, sat looking at a screen, watching some kind of brutal sport. Og Novadek followed a few paces behind Isaac, but then milled about as soon as he spoke to the shopkeep.

'I'm looking for a Vrex Amug Et,' Isaac said. The shopkeep ignored him and continued to watch his game. Isaac sighed. It was going to be one of those days. He reached out and unplugged the screen.

The shopkeep screeched and yelled at Isaac. 'Baghu, I watch that.'

'I'm looking for Vrex Amug Et,' Isaac repeated.

'Pah, that's me. I am he.' He followed that with a long string of expletives that Isaac’s translator couldn't keep up with. The little furry alien then stopped when he saw the lumbering hulk of Og move closer. 'What you want?' He asked, slightly more polite.

Isaac pulled out a data device and brought up a geological report. He then showed it to Vrex Amug Et. 'This report was sold to a merchant acquaintance of mine. He acquired it from someone else, who acquired it from someone else. I've tracked the original seller back to you. Do you recognize it?'

Vrex looked at it, sniffed, then wrinkled his nose. 'Maybe. What's it to you?'

'I'm trying to locate the original surveyor.'

'How much that information worth?'

Og stepped forward and leaned towards the desk, speaking for the first time and causing the shopkeeper to scrunch down a little. 'Who was the surveyor?'

The shopkeep screeched again and buried his hands in his claws. Isaac rolled his eyes. Og might have intimidated the little creature too much. He went to motion the Mercavian away when a voice spoke up. 'I'm the surveyor.'

Isaac looked towards the voice. A woman stood in a doorway at the back of the room. She was an Ithorian, dressed in plain brown clothes, and her hair was unkempt.

'Leave poor Vrex alone,' she said in a stern but kindly tone. 'He sells my surveys for me from time to time.'

Isaac offered his apologies. 'Og doesn't mean to be intimidating,' he said. 'He just looks that way.' He then presented the woman with the data pad. 'You surveyed this planet?'

She looked it over. 'Yeah. Small lifeless moon. Some iron and nickel. Not enough to attract a mining consortium, but maybe something a small time prospector might take a crack at. A couple other elements. Why?'

'We're interested in one of those other elements,' he said. He took back the data pad and highlighted the specific element before showing it to her.

'Triverdium?' She asked skeptically. 'It's pretty much worthless. Why do you want it?'

'We're actually interested in one of its isotopes. It powers our ships drive. We have the capability of turning the base element into the form we need. From this survey there seems to be a significant size deposit there.'

She still didn't seem convinced, but she looked over the information anyway. 'It's possible. You'd need to perform a more in depth survey. Does your ship have the equipment?'

Isaac shook his head. 'No,' he answered. 'It's a warship.'

She was quiet for a moment, she tapped a finger against her nose, likely in thought. 'If you're interested I can perform that survey. I have the equipment, just not a ship at the moment. I have reasonable rates.'

Isaac looked at Og, who just stared back at him. 'We'd be willing to hire you but we don't have any local currency.'

She just shrugged. 'I'm sure something can be arranged,' she said. 'What's your name?'

'Isaac Wolfstern,' he answered. 'This is my associate, Og Novadek.'

'My names Raenenna Aertigar,' she said.

 

[Esplandia]

The Governor served a grand feast for his guests. Sariah and Captain Morrison took a moment to run a handheld device over the food, scanning to make sure the food would be edible for both of them. The station’s leaders watched bemused, and then laughed amicably when the scanners gave a positive.


They all sat to eat and made pleasantries during the meal. Morrison enamored them with tales of the Terranov Republic and the Century War, but expertly avoided discussion of the current affairs back home. There would be time for that.


Sariah engaged an older man of some insectoid species in conversation about stellar cartography (which he called Astrocartography) and she found herself thoroughly enjoying the discussion. “I’ve served as the Valkyrie Reborn’s navigator since it was constructed,” she informed him.


“A high position for someone so young,” he said admiringly.


Sariah laughed pleasantly and then leaned in and whispered, “I’m actually 270 years old.”


The insectoid rattled his mandibles, a motion that Sariah had learned meant extreme delight. “Almost as old as I,” he said.


The meal progressed well and Sariah found herself liking most those in attendance. Some seemed scheming and overly eager (and the Governor was obviously not well liked), but most were pleasant and enjoyable. She kept thinking to herself that this place might very well work out.


When the meal ended and everyone had leaned back to let the food settle, Governor Garaenyx took a moment to make a short toast. “To the opportunity of good trade and warm friendship.” Everyone drank.


“Now about those raw materials you’re looking to trade,” the Governor said, getting down to business. “Is this a one time deal or are you looking for future transactions as well?”


“The deal is one time, but our associates in the Travanion Corporations are always looking for new markets,” James answered.


“Who are these Trivanions?” Asked the insectoid.


“They’re close allies of the Terranov Republic. They provide all sorts of economic and commercial enterprises. Including raw materials as well as hard goods and technology. We can act as intermediaries on their behalf.”


The leaders whispered among themselves for a bit, some asking more questions about logistics. James provided what answers he could.


“What we are looking for is a place for Terranov settlers, workers, and traders to set up an outpost in this region,” James continued from the answer he’d just given to a question. “Lamplight, from what I’ve seen has room to spare. There’s also a number of moons and planetoids in this system where colonies could be set up as well.”


The Governor leaned back in his chair in contemplation. “How many people are we talking?” He asked.


“A couple thousand, though that number could grow. I’ve already shown you the trade opportunities. The presence of my people will help expedite the process.”


This set off another round of discussion and questioning, but it was clear the majority were excited at the prospect.


“We will tentatively agree to your proposal,” the Governor said. “Until all the details are hammered out I’m happy to say we have a deal.”

 

[Esplandia]

The shuttle left the station and flew towards the Valkyrie Reborn in a curving arc. The four occupants sat in silence for most of the trip. Captain Morrison was lost deep in thought, while Og and Isaac sat in silence.


Sariah ignored them as she piloted the shuttle, making sure the correct control inputs were put in at the right time. In only a couple minutes the hulk of their ship started to fill the forward windows.


“Well our task went well,” Isaac said, breaking the silence at last. He looked towards the Captain in expectation.


“Give me a full report when we get back,” James answered. Isaac didn’t look pleased with the answer but he grunted an affirmative. James picked up on the tone of the grunt and looked up at his second. “We’re in business,” he assured him, “but I’m still being cautious.”


Isaac wasn’t fully reassured by the answer, but he just shrugged it off. “Alright.”


The conversation had to end anyway as the shuttle came up alongside the Valkyrie. Sariah input a command and the shuttle bay doors on the ship opened. She piloted the transport in and landed gently, metal touching metal in a loud clank.


They exited the shuttle and were met with a deafening silence. The ship seemed so empty after the busy hubbub of the station. To Sariah though it felt refreshing. It felt like home.


“Abby,” James called out, breaking the silence, “tell me what the station’s doing?”


A feminine computerized voice came over the loudspeakers. “They tracked your shuttle on its approach and then scanned the bay while the doors opened. I let them do so as you instructed.”


He turned to his three companions and had a smile on his face. “That should wet their appetite.”


“And that’s a good idea?” Isaac asked.


“If we hadn’t let them they’d think we were hiding something and they wouldn’t trust us. If they didn’t try to scan inside the ship, I’d think they were planning something and I wouldn’t trust them.”


“And now we trust them?” Og asked, obviously not buying the Captain’s reasoning.


“No,” James answered bluntly, still smiling, “but for now both sides are being at least being honest.” He put his hands on his hips, and leaned back stretching. “We’ve got some work to do, so let’s get to it. We’ll have a sit-down in four hours. Then will see where we go from here.”

 

[Esplandia]

When Raenenna Aertigar stepped out of her small survey shuttle and onto the deck of the Valkyrie she was surprised to see only one person there to greet her.

“Hello, I’m Sariah,” she said, greeting Raenenna as she stepped down. Raenenna returned the greeting, taking a moment to look around. The ship seemed dusty and cold, odd for the hold of a warship. And quiet too. She’d been on many starships and none seemed as empty as this one.

“The Captain asked me to escort you to the mess hall,” Sariah continued, leading her across the shuttle bay and out into the ship.

“How large is your crew?” Raenenna asked, trying to sound casual.

Sariah smiled mischievously. “Four,” she answered.

Raenenna was shocked. That meant the total number of the crew was the same number as those who’d come to the station. Everyone had been worried about too many of these Terranids flooding the station all at once, but that was apparently baseless.

“How do you maintain a ship this size with only four people?” She asked Sariah.

“Most of that’s automated. And Abby takes care of that.”

Now Raenenna was even more confused. Even though she’d only met two of the crew, the names of the others were already common knowledge. Gossip travelled fast on a station. None of the newcomers had been named Abby. Was she being lied to about only four crew members?

She decided not to pry too much. She’d find out soon enough. They stepped into an automatic lift which took them from the shuttle bay to the deck with the mess hall.

As they stepped out Raenenna felt an odd sensation as if the ship was being simultaneously stretched out ahead of her, and also becoming transparent. She felt like for just an instant she could see all the way through the ship, it’s bulkheads and interior, and caught a glimpse of twinkling stars beyond. And then it passed. She put a hand out, grabbing the wall to steady herself.

Sariah looked at her sympathetically. “Looks like we just phase jumped,” she said. “I guess the Captain didn’t want to sit around the station too long.” She gestured down the corridor they were in. “Down this way. Everyone will meet us there.”

 

[Esplandia]

A cold lifeless rock blocked out the view through the bridge windows. Brown and unassuming. A place to easily be looked over. Yet under its surface was the key to independence from the New Terranov Order.

James stared intently at the moon while the ship’s scanners attempted to penetrate the surface to get a reading.

Nothing of interest came back. He hadn’t expected it to.

He turned to Raenenna. “Completely uninteresting as far as planetoids go.”

She just shrugged. “That’s what I thought, but all the magnetic interference below the surface intrigued me so I took a core sample. All that Triverdium was causing it. Still that’s not an element of worth out here.”

“That’s because you’ve not discovered its properties yet,” he stated. “That is life and freedom for us.” He gestured at the moon spinning slowly in front of them.

She made no response. They hadn’t shown her any of the science behind their phase drive so she remained skeptical.

Her personal device beeped and she looked at it. Readings were coming through. They’d sent her pod out, which had more specialized scanners, and it was now returning readings.

She showed it to the Terranid Captain and he was quite pleased with the data.

A couple more scans was enough to verify what James had suspected. This was a very rich deposit.

He entered a command into a terminal and a second later some kind of craft was streaking away towards the surface.

“What’s that?” she asked him.

“A constructor probe. It’ll build us a bioshelter as we take more samples.”

“We’re going down to the surface?”

“We did come all this way. We’ve gotta take a closer look.”

 

[Esplandia]

Valentine’s boots crunched in the layer of course grit that covered the surface the lifeless moon. The constructor probe had built up a large dome, completely translucent with only the outline from the stars twinkling against a dullish gray surface. A single bright point directly overhead marked the location of the Valkyrie up in orbit.

The planet itself was a ruddy, in some places almost amber. While the constructor had also pumped a good bit of breathable air into the dome, Valentine wore a respirator to filter out any microscopic particles that could be floating in it. It was warm inside the dome, warmer than the rest of the planets surface, but only warm enough to keep the three members of the landing party from freezing.

Isaac was already up ahead, piloting a small power suit as he scanned over the surface. He found a suitable place and using a laser began slicing into the rock surface. Valentine walked away from the landing ship and began collecting rock samples, picking up pieces and bits as he put them into small containers. Raenenna followed a few paces behind and seemed more impressed with the dome overhead than the rocks below.

“Aren’t you worried about a reaction from his laser,” she asked indicating Isaac drilling. “If this element is as reactive as you say?”

Valentine looked up for a moment bemused, before bending down and picking up a piece of red and yellow shale. “You said it yourself, the element is useless. It’s that isotope we need. Which doesn’t occur naturally. We have to make it.”

Raenenna seemed appeased by the answer and wandered away, heading directly towards the wall of the dome. As she approached she was surprised to see that the dome was only a few millimeters thick, lined with some kind of framing that looked like gossamer. She almost didn’t want to touch it but found herself unable to resist. The dome actually rippled as she touched it. She’d expected it to feel solid, maybe brittle, but it gave to her pressure like a plastic. But it didn’t give much and it felt strong. She’d definitely have to ask more about the process. These Terranids had technology that could be revolutionary.

Meanwhile Isaac continued to drill while Valentine scanned across the surface. Truthfully he knew very little about what his scanner was telling him, but the information was vital for Abby to begin processing it. And it would be vital for the eventual mining operation that they’d have to set up.

Valentine looked up as the sound of the laser diminished and Isaac turned it off.

“I’m through,” he called. “I’m taking a core sample.” He removed the laser from the arm of the power suit and replaced it with another attachment which was slung on his back. Standing over the whole he’d created the new attachment began to extend and after a few minutes he pulled it back up, drawing out his sample and placing it into a steel tube. He did this three more times, repeating the process.

“Location one wrapped up,” he said. “Moving on to the second.”

During this process Valentine acknowledged his reports and updated. He continued to transmit the data from his own scans. As he sent the next batch of data the scanner lit up red with an alert and then the connection went dead. He expected static but there was none. Meaning the connection had been terminated from the ship’s end. He looked up to the Valkyrie’s position. Now there were two bright spots up above. A new one, bigger than the Valkyrie, raced across the sky. Small little flashes of light streaked from the new arrival and struck the Valkyrie, which glowed as its shields absorbed the impact. The ship was under attack.

 

[Esplandia]

“Phase breach detected,” said the voice of Abby over the ship’s internal comms. Sariah looked up from the screen she had been studying and read the display. As Abby raised the shields the sensors scanned the new arrival.

TERRANOV VESSEL. PREDATOR-CLASS. WEAPONS CHARGED. JAMMING SIGNAL DETECTED.

Sariah picked up the comms and called down to engineering. “Og, we’ve got company.”

“How could the NTO have found us?” He asked in his gravely voice. She heard him rapidly tapping at a keypad and a minute later the Valkyrie’s engines began to rumble to full power.

“I don’t know,” she said. Then she directed her next query to Abby. “What ship is that? Can you identify it?”

There was only the briefest of pauses before Abby responded. “That is the Sentinal Wind. Commanded by Sub-Commander Gerald Dreyfus.”

Sariah didn’t know Dreyfus personally, but she’d heard about the ship. It was considered to be the deadliest of the newer NTO ships with a full array of advanced weaponry. She didn’t know what to do.

Og must have sensed her hesitation because he spoke over the comms. “The ship is yours, Commander.”

This was enough to get her in gear. “Abby direct all power to the repulsion shields. Prepare countermeasures. Og,” she called to the engineer, “bring the second reactor to full power.”

“That will take approximately two minutes.”

She watched as the Sentinal Wind bore down towards them, coming in at a curved arc, it’s forward guns pointing to strafe across their Portside.

She recognized the maneuver. They’d used similar against the lumbering hulks of the Drovaktum’s warbringers back in the day. Arc in for a damaging run then get behind and have the aft cannons knock out their drive.

“He thinks the captain is on board,” she said excitedly. Dreyfus was expecting a different adversary and his strategy was to cripple the ship. The only defense against the maneuver was to turn the engines into the enemies strafe, and Sariah had no doubt this sub-commander was expecting that.

“Og how much of a charge is there in the phasedrive?”

“Enough for a .12 second burst.”

“That’ll have to do,” she said as the first impacts from the enemies weapons hit the shields. She had no intention of reacting as expected. Enemy fire crashed into the shields and Sariah swung the ship’s engines around to face the incoming ship, feigning the expected defense. The Sentinal Wind took the bait and a barrage of torpedoes streaked across space, bearing down on the Valkyrie’s exposed rear. And then Sariah activated the phasedrive. The ship stretched and thinned, the stars twinkled through a transparent hull and then everything rushed forward, and the ship phase jumped.

But then they were back in normal space, the jump to short for the ship to fully enter phase space. Alarms blared across the ship as the stress of an incomplete jump contorted the ship.

---

Valentine watched the battle and felt like he could visual how it played out. The arriving vessel raced towards the Valkyrie in a classic manouver, one he himself had pioneered back in the day. And he saw his own vessel turn to bring its own engines about, ahead of the attacking ships aft cannons.

He held his breath, also seeing it was a trap and figuring the attacker likely had torpedoes ready to launch. He watched the light show above him, waiting for the crippling blow to strike. But then a blue light enveloped the Valkyrie and it seemed to stretch away and in a second it was gone.

Valentine smiled. “Very clever,” he said as he realized Sariah had made a short jump. He sighed in relief.

And then he heard a distinctive hiss as a laser cartridge warmed up, and he threw himself to the ground as the blast woodshed through the air where his torso had been a moment before. The beam struck the ground a hundred paces ahead, just short of the domes wall, and melted the rocky surface.

Valentine rolled again, coming up to his knees and drawing his own weapon in one fluid motion. He pointed it at his attacker.

Isaac Wolfstern was already bringing his powersuits drilling laser to bear again, but Balentine didn’t hesitate. He depressed the trigger and sent a plasmid bolt crashing into the drilling lasers casing.

There was a electrical whining and then the laser shorted. Isaac held the dead weapon pointed at his captain. Valentine trained his pistol on his first officers head.

There was an eerie silence, and Valentine saw Raennena staring in shocked disbelief.

“You told them where we were,” Valentine said breaking the silence.

Isaac only shrugged, his powersuit comically eventuating his movements. “I want to go home.” That was all he said. He stated it with such finality.

“They’ll never let you. You’ll be executed as soon as you arrive.

Isaac sighed and spoke as if he was explaining a simple concept. “Not if I turn over the Valkyrie Reborn, the single most advanced piece of hardware ever built by Terranid hands. A ship with a Hyug Core and a true AI.”

Valentine almost shot him there and then. “You told them about Abby?”

“I told them very little. Just our location and crew composition. As little as possible really. Gotta keep some information so they keep me around.”

“Why?” Valentine asked.

“Why!” Isaac repeated, anger coming into his voice. “You think we can build a new life out here? I want to see my house again. My family. I followed you through two wars and all we’ve gotten from it is exile. And a price on our heads. I’m sick of it all.”

“You’d betray me? Sariah and Og? Just so you can go back to living under a totalitarian regime?”

“You don’t get it. I’m tired of fighting and running. I want to live in peace.” He looked up to the top of the dome. A grim smile twisted his lips. “Looks like the battle’s over. What do you think, James?” he looked back down. “Time to...”

His last words were cut off when Valentine depressed the trigger again and shot him through the head.

 

[Esplandia]

The Sentinel Wind took no time in reacquiring the Valkyrie's position, it curved around before once again bearing down on their prey. The phase jump had only taken them a few thousand kilometers from their previous location, but it was enough for Sariah to jump into action.

"Abby, arm aft plasma cannons," Sariah ordered, entering in commands to bring the ship about. "I'm bringing engines on line. Og, give me all the acceleration you can."

The Valkyrie also came about, bringing its nose to face the oncoming NTO vessel. Once they were heading towards each other she gunned the engine and the ships raced at each other on a collision course. In a few seconds they'd collide unless someone blinked. But Sariah had no intention too, so with only a second to spare the Sentinel Wind banked away. Sariah paralleled their turn and as the ship passed their aft she fired both plasma cannons.

The shot was true and passed through the enemies shields at the weakest point and a series of internal explosions knocked the ship out of the fight.

Sariah brought the ship back into orbit over the habitat dome on the moon and restored communications now that the jamming signal was gone.

"Captain," she said, addressing an angry looking Valentine. "Enemy ship has been disabled. I don't know for how long. But looks like we're in the clear."

"Not yet," he answered. "But that will be rectified. Raennena and I are returning to the ship. We're done here."

He ended the transmission and Sariah did not miss that he never mentioned Isaac.

 

[Esplandia]

Valentine returned to the bridge and followed after the Sentinel Wind, still hurtling through space it’s engines still dead from Sariah’s maneuver. The Valkyrie took little time in catching up.

“Og, status!” Valentine called down to engineering as they came within weapons range.

“Our short jump has caused some structural damage and there appears to be an electrical short somewhere. Perhaps Isaac could help locate it.”

Valentine didn’t hesitate to respond. “Isaac isn’t with us. I’ll send Sariah and Raennena to help.”

“I see,” Og said, his tone showing some confusion. But he asked no further questions.

Sariah moved to leave in search of the short but Valentine waved for her to stay. He stared through the viewport as they came closer to their enemy. The Predator class had similar design lines to the Raptor, but they were bigger and more heavily armed. The Valkyrie has one because of the upgrades they’d made to the ship over the past few years. He felt a tinge of pride that the older model had outgunned the newer one.

“Would you like me to open a channel?” Sariah asked.

Valentine remained silent. He didn’t want to send all the souls aboard that ship to the afterlife. Yet they knew where the Valkyrie was. Perhaps they even knew why they were interested in that moon. Had they reported to the NTO high command? Valentine didn’t think so. No the captain of that ship was after glory and he didn’t want to share it.

“Their shield status?” He asked.

Sariah entered commands into the sensor control station. “Completely failed,” she read the information. “Looks like shield powers been rerouted to life support and fire suppression.” She looked up at the ship in the viewport. “I guess I did more damage than I thought.”

Valentine turned away from the viewport and stepped over the the weapons control. “Bring on the Antimatter cannon,” he ordered, bring the Valkyrie to bear and lining up his target.

Sariah looked at him in shocked disbelief, but only for a second. Then she moved to comply. She stepped to another counsel and typed in the necessary commands. She waited for a response and when the computer gave her a ready signal, she informed the captain.

He didn’t even wait. As soon as the firing sequence was ready he fired the shot. Within a few moments the enemy ship was imploding in on itself. Over three hundred hands on the other ship perished.

 

[Esplandia]

“The structural damage will need a stardock for repair work,” Abby said over the ship’s comm. “She’ll be out of commission for at least a month.”

Valentine splashed some cool water on his face. He’d taken a minute to freshen up while they waited to retrieve their equipment from the moons surface. “You mean you’ll be out of commission for a month,” he said in response.

“I...yes,” Abby said. Her voice was always monotone but Valentine had long ago picked up on the subtle ways she expresses herself. Her pause told him she was still uncomfortable with referring to herself as the ship. But she could not live without the memory core snugged away on deck 3. That was the heart of the Valkyrie and Abby.

“The Trivanions will help us out. We did just open up a rich new market for them.”

There was a statically silence before Abby asked, “Sir, what happened to Isaac?”

Valentine towels off his beard and hands. “I suppose it’s time to address that. Call everyone to the conference room. I’ll talk to them there.”

“Even the Ithorian?”

Valentine thought about it. He didn’t know much about here but she deserved at least some sort of explanation. “Yeah, Raennena too.”

---

Valentine explained Isaac’s betrayal as quickly and succinctly as he could. He did so without showing much emotion, but truthfully he was deeply hurt. Isaac had been a close friend. They’d served together for many years. But he wasn’t going to let his hurt show. Not right now.

“I can’t believe it,” Sariah said. Valentine put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She’d known Isaac as long as he had.

“That’s why you destroyed the ship?” Og asked. “Because we couldn’t let them report back.”

“It’s happened, and it can’t be undone,” Valentine stated. “What’s important now is where we go from here.” He turned to Raennena. “We are fugitives from our own kind. Enemies of our people. Now you know. We need to repair our ship, but we’ll take you back to Lamplight first.”

“No hurry,” she responded quietly. “Your ship is more important.” Valentine was thankful. She was turning into their first true friend out here so far from home.

He looked at his remaining crew. Og and Sariah, the last survivors of many battles. He was struck by how much he’d truly lost. He dismissed his two crew mates and his one passenger and then returned to the bridge.

Raennena found him staring thoughtfully out into the black of space.

“I understand being driven from your home,” she told him. He smiled back appreciatively. “I’m not on Lamplight by choice.”

“You’ll have to tell me about it,” Valentine said in earnest.

Raennena took his cue and looked out at space, lost in her own thoughts. “They’re not ready for you,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. She shrugged. “The Lamplighters. The Dominion. Inaius.” She gestured at the stars beyond the ship. “You’re not just looking for a place to escape to, you’re looking to build something. It won’t be good for the rest of them.”

“You want to join us?” He asked, already guessing at her response.

“No, but I do want to help. You’re not the only one looking for some kind of vengeance. I have my own scores to settle.”

“Then we can definitely help each other.” He stepped away from the viewport, turning his back to the stars. “Abby,” he said addressing the ship.

“Yes Captain?”

“Lay in a course for Trivanion space. Minimum of five jumps. Let’s take her easy getting there.”

Abby responded by powering up the phasedrive and in just a moment the sickening feeling of being stretched thin came over them and then they were away.