Star Wolves (The Tribes of Yggdrasil Book 1) (18 page)

There was a table at the end of the room which could act as an altar. Hal stepped up to the altar and stopped. He bowed his head momentarily and gathered his thoughts. He looked up, as if to the Asgard, and opened his arms wide.

“Odin! Thor! Tyr! Heimdall, Freyr and Freya, and all the holy Gods and Goddesses, I hail you! Hear me now,” Hal then tore his shirt open, buttons popping, and bared his left breast.

“A gift for a gift!” He pulled the Alfar cledyff-dagger from his belt and began carving deep into his skin. Blood began oozing out of the wound, which was in the shape of the Valknut—three interlocking triangles—the sign of Odin’s chosen, the Einherjar. In ancient times, men would mark themselves with the Valknut as a dedication to Odin, hoping if they were slain in battle they would be chosen by the Valkyries, and so, join Odin’s host in Valhalla to aid in the battle at Ragnarok.

“Odin! A gift for a gift! I offer myself to you! Give me strength, let me destroy my enemy and hear their children weep. Grant me victory until the debt the Hrymar owe me is repaid. I name them—Hrymar! Nithings! Not worthy to walk the Nine Worlds.”

Hal wiped the knife off on his torn shirt and placed it back on his belt. He abruptly left the chapel and entered the hall where one of his marines, Tameka Harris was walking by. She saw his wound and drew in a sharp breath.

“Sir? Are you ok?” she asked.

“Carry on,” Hal barked.

Tameka watched as Hal walked away toward his stateroom.

T
heir plan was relatively straightforward
: the
Sleipnir
would jump up to twenty-four light years, which was about a twenty-four hour trip in hyperspace at their cruising speed of one light-year per hour. The
Sleipnir
was capable of more, at full military power, but at this speed she would keep pace with the rest of the flotilla, which would follow, but jump one hour short and wait for the Sleipnir to do reconnaissance, then jump back to meet them. This way they took sufficient precaution so they wouldn't jump unawares into a system full of Hrymar or other Pirates.

The first four jumps were relatively uneventful, in that there were no Pirates or aggressive species waiting to ambush them, but there were several astronomical phenomena which Eva and the other physicists studied and catalogued on the move. On the fifth day however, the
Sleipnir
precipitated out of hyperspace into an unoccupied red dwarf system.

“Captain, we have contact,” Eva reported, “I’m detecting a colony on the first planet. I’m also picking up signs of a nuclear fission reactor as well as several ships, all planet-side. I don’t see any ships in orbit or in the system.”

Eva and Hal both read over the detailed data on the star on the main view-screen:

“
A
ny laser detection grids
? Or any other kinds of active sensor nets?” Hal asked.

“Nothing we have detected so far, Captain” Eva replied.

“Ok, take us toward 4551 Arae I. Maximum stealth.” Hal pressed the comm button on the arm of his chair. “Crew, this is the Captain speaking. We’re going to maximum stealth and heading into potentially hostile territory. All crew to their stations. Marines, make ready. I don’t plan on landing, just doing some quiet recon, but let’s be prepared for anything.”

The ship lit up in a purple lighting which indicated they were in stealth mode. Red lighting was used to indicate general quarters and battle conditions and white, full-spectrum lighting was used the bulk of the time during the day shift (first and second shifts), and was aligned to New Midgard’s time. Dim blue light was used to indicate night shift, or third-shift.

The
Sleipnir’s
one-thousand tonne form slipped through space like a stealthy eel in a deep river, moving toward its prey.

In two hours they were orbiting as close to the planet as they needed to take detailed images, video and sensor readings. This was indeed a Hrymar slave trading outpost.

“Helm, designate
4551 Arae I
as
Hrymar Slaver Outpost - 1
.” Hal said.

“Aye, sir. Database updated,” Glaw reported. Helmsman Glaw was now doing double duty as astrogator since Nila’s
departure
.

It was an impressive facility, if not an impressive planet. The slaves couldn’t escape, as there was nowhere to go—unless they got lucky and stole a starship or shuttle. The planet, although terrestrial, was devoid of water or any other life. It wasn’t even a reasonable candidate for terraforming, in short—it was a hellhole.

Gina was standing on the bridge reviewing all the data on Hrymar Slaver Outpost-1. “Captain, this camp reminds me of the Siberian gulags from back in Earth’s 19th and 20th century history. The Russians, and later Soviets, shipped their most hated criminals, social dissidents, or just educated agitators, to these prisons, thousands of miles north of Moscow, essentially into a frozen nowhere.”

“Indeed, just like summer in Oslo,” he said evenly. What might have been a joke last week, was said very matter-of-factly. “Have we got a count of ships on the ground?”

“Yes, Captain,” Cadfael replied, “there are twenty-three assorted vessels. None of them dedicated warships, but all armed and armored to some degree. Most of them are in the 1,000 to 3,000 tonne range. They appear to be armored merchants.”

“Merchants my ass,” Hal said with a venomous sneer.

“With regards to the vessels, sir.” Cadfael tried to explain.

“I understand what you meant, Cadfael.”

“Yes, sir.”

Things were tense on the bridge. The crew was used to Hal’s even temper and positivity. Now there was a dark cloud hanging over Haldor Olsen, and that meant it was hanging over his ship and crew as well. They were patient with him, and there was no gossip—that had got back to him, at least. None of them had lost loved ones in the attack or confrontation yet, but they seemed able to empathize with their Captain.

“Captain, I have detected more of the nuclear fission reactors. There are four spaced around the corners of the settlement,” Eva said.

“Weapons,” Cadfael said.

“That would be my guess,” Gina added.

“Anti-ship weapons?” Hal asked.

“I cannot imagine any other reason for them to be so equally spaced on the periphery of the camp,” Cadfael said. “Also, there are no other signs of life, so nothing to defend against on the planet.”

“Ok. Gina, I want you to put together a mission-plan to take out all those generators. Let’s head back to the rendezvous with the flotilla.”

U
pon their arrival
at the designated rendezvous with the flotilla, Hal took the
Sleipnir’s
pinnace over to the
Gungnir
to meet with High Commander Artman and her staff to coordinate their next actions.

Steffen Willms met Hal at the docking bay. “Good to see you again, Hal,” said the diminutive man.

“Thanks, Steffen, likewise. Is the High Commander ready to get started?”

“Indeed she is. She and Xue are in the war room, let’s head up now. The other captains are conferencing in by video.”

This time, it was Artman and Xue who stood when Hal entered the room.

“Captain, how was the recon?” Artman asked, sitting back down.

Hal joined her at a chair across the table.

“Good, m’am. We’ve got our first contact. I’ve designated it Hrymar Slaver Outpost-1 in the tactical database.”

Hal presented the situation in broad strokes, as well as Gina’s detailed plan to take out the planet based defenses.

“Excellent,” Artman said, “once their defenses are down we’ll jump in and quarantine the whole system. I’ll have ships jump in from hyperspace at six points around the planet. I just hope your plan is executed on time. Too early, and we may get hammered by planet-side guns, too late and some of them may slip away to warn others. We need to get this right. I want to start setting the terms of our engagements. I want to take back the initiative at every opportunity.”

“Agreed, m’am. Gina’s team is top notch. They’re well trained, and have the best equipment we’ve ever fielded in a special operation. I realize I’ve not been on top of my game the last few days. I apologize for that- ”

“No need,” Artman interjected.

“Please, m’am, let me explain. I’m ready to do this. I’m focused. My team is ready. I’m ready. One-hundred-percent. I’ve grieved, and made peace with my loss in the best way I can. Now I want to make those bastards pay. I’m going to keep my cool until every one of them is dead.”

Artman seemed a bit shocked. She nodded. “Good hunting.”

T
he
Sleipnir
fell without a sound
, barely disturbing the wind as she settled like a feather on the ground, three-kilometers distant from the Slaver outpost. The planet’s surface was dusty, rocky and brown. It was truly an ugly place. Most planets had a few redeeming features. Even the lifeless Mars had an alluring beauty—not 4551 Arae I.

They landed at what was timed to be pre-dawn, that magic hour when most species were at their lowest energy, and either sleeping, or as inattentive as could be expected. Given the physiological similarities between Human, Alfar and Hrymar, the team hoped these assumptions held true.

Six marines, and an Alfar warrior, all wearing Recon Combat Armor with its ingenious active camouflage, exfiltrated from the belly of the
Sleipnir
. They ran at a casual pace of 30 kph toward their target. At five-hundred meters to contact, they split into four teams of two, with Gina, Cadfael and Doc Williams waiting and coordinating at the five-hundred meter waypoint. Hal monitored the situation from the
Sleipnir
.

The reactors were at the south-west, north-west, north-east and south-east corners of the settlement; all four were outside of the perimeter-fence surrounding the main compound.

E-4 Tameka Harris and E-1 Grigori Utkin, took the south-west corner. The area surrounding the settlement was flat and smooth. They assumed the location was chosen for its lack of craters and other obstacles, which made it an excellent strategic location for the settlement—visibility was superb around the flat plain. What was good for the defenders, conversely, was not good for the attacker. However, even without the benefit of natural cover, the active camouflage of their armor made them all near invisible.

Harris and Utkin approached a small out-building, maybe seven-meters on a side. Beside it was a cannon of some sort. With more time, Harris might have done a detailed examination to determine its type, be it laser, plasma, particle-beam cannon etc. With Harris covering him, Utkin pulled out a small handheld computer with a three-centimeter metallic probe, which he pressed lightly to the locking mechanism. The computer worked its magic silently, and opened the digital lock to the reactor room door, as evidenced by the gentle click of the lock. Utkin opened the door slowly, then entered the room briskly, followed by Harris who closed the door behind her. There were no guards, and they hadn’t expected any.

In the center of the room was a small nuclear reactor, ensconced behind some kind of clear shielding, and before that, were walls of controls and lights. They didn’t want to use conventional explosives on the core of the reactor which would have set off the equivalent of a dirty nuclear bomb. Hal didn’t want to risk injuring the innocent slaves, and they wanted to be able to question the Hrymar; instead, they brought Electro-Magnetic-Pulse charges which would disable the circuitry and shut down the reactor. In fact it would do more than shut it down, the EMP would physically melt small wires, chips and contacts, requiring major repairs before it could ever be operational again.

Utkin set the charge at the prescribed time while Harris kept watch on the door. Once the charge was set, the timer began counting down from fifteen-minutes. Now all that had to happen was for the other three teams to do their parts. Fingers crossed, Harris thought. They both slithered out of the rector room and made their way back to the first waypoint.

G
ina and Cadfael
were still lying prone and watched as Harris and Utkin arrived back at the first waypoint. The newcomers both lay down on their bellies beside the others.

Gina looked to her right at Tameka. “How did it go?”

“By the numbers, m’am,” Harris replied.

“Good,” Gina looked back toward the settlement and saw Vaughn and Coplin coming in, or rather detected them on her wrist-display as two green dots approaching the waypoint; they were barely a shimmer at a distance.

Vaughn gave her a thumbs up as they joined the group and lay down out of sight.

“Two down, two to go.” Gina said. She looked at the timer on her wrist-display:
13:24:01
Thirteen minutes to show time, she thought.

E
-3 Jomo Maathai
and E-2 Mathilde Ingolfsdottir were assigned the north-east reactor. Each of the rectors, and their buildings, were identical as far as they could tell at a glance. Maathai pulled out his small handheld computer with the metallic probe and promptly unlocked the door. Maathai opened the door and entered the room, followed by Ingolfsdottir. This room contained more than just the reactor. Chained to the far wall was a large black dog!

The dog, which could better be described as more wolf, was enormous—the size of a very large man, and definitely less friendly. It began barking immediately upon seeing the two enter the door.

“Shit!” They both said in unison.

“Quickly, close the door!” Maathai shouted.

“Will they hear it from here?” Ingolfsdottir asked.

“I hope not.” Maathai replied, and stopped what he was doing to consider his next steps.

Luckily the dog was tied away from the control panel where he needed to set the charge. Maathai began positioning the EMP charge.

Ingolfsdottir examined the dog more closely, who’s barking had now subsided in frequency and volume. The dog, wolf, or whatever it was, was very skinny—underfed for sure. Its fur was matted and looked generally unkept.

“The poor thing,” Ingolfsdottir said, “it’s not a guard dog, they just tied it here out of the way.”

A
lthough the bulk
of the camp's occupants were asleep, three Hrymar guards sat around a table playing some game of chance with a set of dice made from the bones of slaves.

“Altan!” said the largest of the three, “your fucking dog is barking again. Go and silence that bitch! Or I’ll do it permanently.”

Altan scowled sheepishly and got up from the table. The dog was a recent acquisition on one of their slaving runs and he hoped to sell it for a profit, but he had to admit, the bitch
was
noisy. Altan got on his jacket and breather and walked over to the north-east reactor room where he had her tied up.