The Search for Gram (2 page)

Princess Merrorritor stared open-mouthed at the flame dancing on the Aesir’s hand. “Why doesn’t the flame burn you?” she finally asked.

The Aesir, who had introduced himself as Captain Salvan Nightsong, smiled. Generally humanoid in appearance, the Aesir was shorter and thinner than a normal Terran, and Captain Nightsong would probably have been able to pass as a Terran...if his skin hadn’t been a light shade of green. He had also just called a flame into being, another giveaway he was definitely
not
a Terran. Although Calvin had been told Captain Nightsong was an Aesir, he couldn’t help but think of him as an elf. It was probably the pointy ears poking out from under his long, blond hair.

“The flame doesn’t burn me because it is my friend,” the Aesir said. “Hold out your hand,” he instructed, “and you can hold it, too.”

“You don’t have hair on your hands, but I do,” said the Mrowry princess. A race of felinoid warriors that looked like Bengal tigers, the Mrowry were the Terrans’ closest allies. The blacker the Mrowry, the higher up the individual was in the royalty. All of the Mrowry in the room were a solid ebony. “Won’t the flame catch my hand on fire?” asked the princess.

“No,” said the Aesir, “it won’t burn you. It is a special flame.” He put his hand next to the Mrowry’s paw and blew gently. The flame hopped over to the princess’ paw and began to dance rhythmically, but did not burn the young Mrowry.

“See?” the princess said, holding the flame out to Calvin, “I told you the Aesir were neat!”

“OK,” said Captain Nightsong, scooping the little flame out of the princess’ hand, “I need to talk to the adults, and the flame needs to go back to its world.” He cupped his hands around the flame and blew gently into them; when he opened them again, the flame was gone. Despite the different cultures, everyone could tell the look on the princess’ face was one of abject disappointment.

“Run along, Mimi,” said the emperor. “You can talk with our guest later.”

“If I have to...” she said as she walked to the door with her head down, dragging her feet.

“You can sit next to me at dinner,” said the Aesir, “if your grandfather allows it.”

“Can I, grandfather?” she asked, life coming back to her voice.

“Yes, you may,” replied the emperor. “Now,
run along
.”

Happy again, the princess bounded out of the room on all fours, stopping only to close the door.

Lieutenant Commander Shawn Hobbs, or “Calvin” to his aviator friends, had arrived at the home world of the Mrowry a few days before. The hero of the Terran war with the alien Drakuls, he had been given a few days of rest and relaxation, as well as some time to follow up on a quest an ancient civilization had given him. He returned from the quest to find the Aesir officer waiting for him although he had no idea why. He had never even seen one of the elves before.

“What can I do to help you?” Calvin asked.

“We have encountered a foe that is beyond us,” replied the Aesir. “Our elders conducted a divination, and it was determined we needed to look outside our realm for aid. All of the signs point to you...we need your help.”

“A divination?” asked Calvin.

“Yes. When we are faced with a decision that will have a major effect on our civilization, for good or ill, we conduct a divination. It is a means by which we attempt to foretell the best course of action. In this case, we were not shown the answer we were seeking, but our king had a vision of this planet, and someone walking around the large rock formation on the grounds of this estate. When I arrived here, I was told you and the princess were out walking around the rock. The vision showed a humanoid, not a Mrowry, so I believe you are the person we are looking for.”

“I thought you were fighting the Teuflings,” said the emperor. “They have never been more than you could handle before.”

“That war ended,” replied Captain Nightsong; “however, just after the Teuflings surrendered, our ships began disappearing in another quadrant.”

“Well, I’m happy to do whatever I can for you,” replied Calvin. “What do you need?”

“Steropes told me you have the qualities of a hero,” the Aesir said. “We are in need of one, and we would like you to come to our star system. Our king would like to enlist your aid in determining what is going on.”

“Just me?”

“No,” replied the Aesir with a smile, “we would like to have your ship and crew come as well. It is likely the troops you lead will also be needed.”

“Are you aware I am not the commanding officer of the ship?” asked Calvin.

The Aesir’s eyes opened slightly in surprise. Calvin hadn’t realized how green they were. “You aren’t the commanding officer?” he asked. “I assumed the ship in orbit was your vessel.”

“It
is
the ship I’m stationed on,” replied Calvin; “however, I am not its commanding officer. I’m just the officer in charge of its fighters and space marines.”

“You are in charge of both at the same time?” asked the Aesir. “How are you able to do both?” He shook his head in wonder. “It is obvious you are indeed the one we have been searching for.”

“How that happened is a long story,” replied Calvin, “but it was mostly a long progression of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“See?” asked Steropes. “Just as I told you, he
is
a hero spirit. They always find a way to be where they’re needed, just like being here for you.” A member of the Psiclopes race, Steropes appeared human, except for the fact that he was only three feet tall, and his head was much larger than normal. Steropes was one of three aliens who had made first contact with the Terrans almost three years previously and had helped guide their actions ever since.

Although the other two Psiclopes had their own agenda, which only roughly paralleled that of the Terrans, Steropes had proven his loyalty during the recently completed war against the Drakuls. Among their many differences, the Psiclopes also believed ‘hero spirits’ were born when needed to help pull civilizations back from the brink of anarchy. Although Calvin didn’t believe in the concept of hero spirits, it appeared the Aesir was familiar with it.

Captain Nightsong nodded to Steropes. “I agree.” He turned back to Calvin. “You are indeed the person we are looking for. You will need to have your commanding officer bring your ship to our home world.”

“I’m his commanding officer,” said the other Terran in the room. A large black man, he had proven as good at making decisions as the commanding officer of the Terran Space Ship (TSS)
Vella Gulf
as he had when he was the quarterback for the U.S. Naval Academy’s football team. “I’m Captain James Sheppard. Lieutenant Commander Hobbs is going to need authorization from more than just me; he’s going to need authorization from our chain of command on Terra. I’m sorry, but it’s not my personal cruiser. We can’t just go running around the galaxy, no matter how much you want his aid.”

“While I understand why you want to get permission, our need is urgent and cannot wait. We have already lost several ships, and we do not know why.”

“If you don’t know why,” said Captain Sheppard, “how do you know he can help? How do you know he’s also not going to disappear or suffer the same fate as the rest of your ships?”

“Because we believe in him,” replied the Aesir. “Hero spirits can do what no one else can.”

“The fact remains that we can’t go with you without authorization from our chain of command,” said Captain Sheppard. “We will need to return to Terra to get that permission.”

“Perhaps I did not make myself clear,” replied the Aesir. “Our need is
most
urgent,” he said, turning to Calvin. “We need you
now
. We do not have time to wait.”

Emperor Yazhak the Third cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said, “but I may have a solution. What if we were to send one of our ships to Terra while you take the
Vella Gulf
on to assist the Aesir? We need to send a delegation to Terra anyway, and I will tell your Admiralty that I sent you on. I will also give them the reasons for your journey, and we will take responsibility for any costs arising from this mission. If they have a problem with you assisting the Aesir, we will send our fastest courier ship to let you know. Would that be all right, Captain Sheppard?”

“It’s going to hang my ass way out in the wind if they decide I shouldn’t have done it,” Captain Sheppard replied, “but I don’t think we’ll come up with a better compromise. I know the Aesir were part of the Alliance of Civilizations before it broke up, so I’m sure they are worthy of our aid.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he made his decision. “We will go.”

“Excellent,” said the Aesir. “Thank you very much.”

“So, what is it you need from me?” asked Calvin.

“We need a new Gram,” said the Aesir, as if that explained everything.

Calvin looked puzzled. “A new gram? What’s that?”

“Have you heard of Wayland the Smith?”

“Wayland the Smith?” Calvin asked. “No, I can’t say I have.”

The Aesir looked disappointed. “Has your race forgotten its savior so soon? We remember him, even if you do not. How about Beowulf and Grendel? Can I at least start there?”

“I’ve heard of Beowulf,” replied Calvin. Captain Sheppard also nodded his head. “I had to read that book in high school. I don’t remember the story very well, but I think Beowulf was the hero of the story. Didn’t he kill Grendel for some Norse king?”

“King Hrothgar of Denmark,” agreed the Aesir. “Go on.”

“Umm...I’m kind of hazy after that,” Calvin said. “I think Grendel’s kid then came after him, and Beowulf killed the kid too. After that, Beowulf lived happily ever after. Is that close?”

“Not really,” said the Aesir. “Beowulf actually killed Grendel’s
mother
in her underwater lair with a sword the legends say was ‘forged for a giant.’ After he killed the two monsters, the countryside was free again, and he retired to a life of luxury.”

“OK,” said Calvin. “You obviously know more about him than I do. I didn’t even know he was a real person. I thought it was just a story. What does that have to do with Gram?”

“Wayland the Smith made the armor worn by Beowulf,” said the Aesir, “and was responsible for re-forging the sword Beowulf used to kill Grendel’s mother. I know this to be a fact because Wayland and Beowulf were the same person. Wayland was an Aesir who lived on your planet. When he saw the need, he became the hero, Beowulf, in order to kill Grendel for King Hrothgar.”

“What was Wayland or Beowulf, or whatever his name was, doing on our planet?” asked Captain Sheppard. “Was he watching out for us?”

“No, nothing like that,” replied the Aesir. “He was one of our warriors, who retired to your planet after a life of combat. He had always been fascinated with the art of sword-making, so he retired to a planet as far away from society as he could in order to pursue that art. It was nothing more than serendipity that he was nearby when Grendel began terrorizing the local populace.”

“Did he change his name to Gram afterward?” asked Calvin, still not seeing where the whole conversation was going.

“No, he went back to being the sword-maker Wayland,” replied the Aesir. “In addition to the sword used to kill Grendel, Wayland made a number of other swords, including many named swords with famous histories. One of these was ‘Gram,’ which was the sword of Sigmund.”

“So you need a sword?” asked Calvin.

“Not exactly,” said the Aesir. “Gram had a long history, including being used by Sigmund's son Sigurd to slay the dragon Fafnir. We are once again beset by dragons, although I use the term ‘dragon’ not as a living creature, but as a metaphor for something so big and monstrous that it will take someone of supernatural abilities to defeat it. We need a new Gram to help us defeat our dragon. You are the new Gram we have been searching for.”

“I’m your sword?” asked Calvin.

“Metaphorically speaking, yes,” said the Aesir, happy to finally be making some progress. “The divination we conducted indicated we needed the reborn Gram.”

“How exactly is a sword reborn?” Calvin asked. “You want me to reforge this sword?”

“No,” said the Aesir, shaking his head. “We want you. When Wayland first forged his swords, he incorporated the essence of a hero into each. Over time, when the swords were broken, the life essences escaped them. We believe your essence is the same essence he used when he forged Gram.”

Calvin barked out a laugh. “That’s not possible,” he said, looking at Steropes. “According to Steropes, I was too busy being Zeus to be hanging out in a sword...unless the Psiclopes were wrong.” 

“Actually, that explains a lot,” said Steropes. “There was a period when we were unable to find the hero spirit that we believe currently resides within you. If your spirit was captured and used to animate the sword Gram, it would explain why we weren’t able to find you.”

“Blah, blah, blah, hero spirit this and hero spirit that,” said Calvin. “I still don’t believe any of that stuff. Besides, there is another issue we haven’t talked about that makes it difficult to help you right now.”

“What is that?” asked the Aesir.