The Last Valkyrie Read online

  “Spearthrower has equipment that can detect radioactivity, but other than that, no. Those sensors are not detecting any radiation, which does not rule out the possibility that an atomic explosive might be shielded by a lead or gold-lined container; however, I doubt if the Koron would do anything that risky. What if you decided to open the containers while Spearthrower is still docked with the Koron station? There is another reason why I do not think they would try to sabotage the containers, Troy. Bogey2, the Koron ship, is continuing to head on an outbound vector, but it’s no longer accelerating. I’m also detecting other ships that have arrived in this star system over the past several hours, five of them to be precise. Two of them are decelerating even though they are still a long way from the station, and one is changing course and now appears to be headed for a rendezvous with Bogey2. I think it’s highly likely that a second Koron ship has been ordered to link up with Bogey2 in order to ambush Spearthrower as you leave the station.”

  Ronson shook his head. “I suspected that they might be up to something. Their sudden co-operation was just too easy. You said you detected five ships. What are the last two doing?”

  “They are still heading for the station, but they’re so far out that there hasn’t been time for them to contact the station and receive a reply back with instructions. I see that loading is almost finished, Troy.”

  Ronson nodded. The last container was being placed inside the hold as he watched. When the robotic arms had withdrawn, Val Ky Ree ordered Spearthrower to close the cargo hold doors on her own initiative since there was no reason to leave them open any longer. “Shall I pilot Spearthrower out of dock, Troy?”

  “Yeah, go ahead. I’m busy figuring out how I want to react to the Koron ambush.” Ronson laughed when Spearthrower shot out of the station docking bay at a high acceleration. Val Ky Ree definitely had a flair for the dramatic gesture.

  “One of the remaining two ships has just begun to alter course that would be consistent with joining the ambush group, Troy. The fifth ship is still too far away and won’t have received any instructions yet. Have you decided how you’re going to handle the ambush?”

  “Hmm. I can’t decide if Spearthrower should just dodge around them given that we can see them but they can’t see us, or whether I should make an example of Bogey2 by destroying it. What would you recommend?”

  “I would suggest that we test them to see whether our assessment of their intentions is correct. The station can still see Spearthrower visually. If it changes vector and then the ambush ships adjust their rendezvous point to match it, then we’ll know what they intend, and they’ll deserve whatever happens to them.”

  “I like it. Go ahead and adjust our vector, Val Ky Ree.” When Ronson saw the new vector that Val Ky Ree had chosen, he smiled with admiration. She could have chosen a vector that would have made it more difficult for all three Koron ships to rendezvous before Spearthrower got within range, but she had done the exact opposite. The Koron ships would have plenty of time to rendezvous and prepare for their ambush attempt.

  “The fifth ship has now reacted and is decelerating on its current vector. My interpretation is that those decelerating ships belong to other Compact species, and the Koron have told them to stay away from the station until the ambush is over.”

  “Makes sense.”

  With the estimated time until Spearthrower got within firing range being almost 25 minutes, Ronson had lots of time to ponder the wisdom of what they were about to do. Setting an ambush was clearly a hostile act, but Ronson reminded himself that humanity needed allies, and giving the Koron another bloody nose would very likely make them even more hostile in the future out of a desire for payback. The message that he really wanted to send to the Koron was that humans now had a technological capability so advanced that the Koron should think twice before antagonizing humans again. Destroying three more ships would just reinforce the implications of human offensive weapon technology that Spearthrower had already demonstrated by destroying Bogey1. But if Spearthrower waited until it was out of the station’s visual detection range and then changed vector again to head straight back to Val Ky Ree, it would effectively vanish into empty space, and that would leave the Koron wondering how the human ship had avoided the ambush. Did humans have a superior stealth technology or long range detection systems or both? Planting that doubt in their minds might pay dividends in the future at no cost to him. He told Val Ky Ree what he was now thinking.

  “A clever stratagem, Troy. The Warrior Code says that the best victory is one where the enemy can be convinced to become an ally. I approve of your plan, and I’ll bring Spearthrower around to a rendezvous vector with me as soon as I’m sure that the station can no longer detect Spearthrower visually or electronically.”

  Once Spearthrower was firmly on course for a rendezvous with Val Ky Ree, Ronson took the opportunity to get some sleep. He woke up just in time to watch Spearthrower gently enter Val Ky Ree’s hangar bay. The highly sophisticated robots aboard the larger ship took the containers off and scanned them with x-rays, gamma rays and magnetic resonance. Nothing unexpected was found. The contents were what the Koron said they were.

  “I imagine you’ll begin working on the weapon turrets now,” said Ronson.

  “Actually, no, Troy. Unlike everything else which could be repaired from the inside, the weapon turrets can’t. They have to be repaired by robotic units that are outside the ship, and that’s not possible when the ship is in hyperspace. My plan is to wait until we reach the Aesir home world and then work on the turrets. The food processing system can be repaired while we’re in hyperspace, so food will not be a problem.”

  “Why not just stay in this system and work on the turrets while your sensors keep an eye on the comings and goings of this Koron station?” asked Ronson.

  “I grant you that engaging in reconnaissance of this system might generate some useful data, but my primary conditioning is to serve the Aesir to the best of my ability. Learning if any are still alive on the home world as soon as possible is the best way that I can adhere to that conditioning. Detouring here for metal was a compromise that I could tolerate, but staying here any longer is something I can’t do. Please do not ask me to do that, Troy.”

  Ronson wondered if he was imagining hearing anguish in Val Ky Ree’s electronic voice. While he understood the potential that staying in this system had for learning about the Koron, he was willing to admit that he was curious to see the Aesir home world too.

  “I won’t ask you to stay here, Val Ky Ree. You must do what your conditioning demands. I feel privileged to able to come along on the trip.”

  Chapter Five:

  The trip to the Aesir home world took another twenty-one and a half days. The food processor was fixed during the trip. It was able to chemically analyze all Ronson’s remaining food items and chemically reproduce them. The results didn’t look anything like the originals, but the tastes were the same. Val Ky Ree also produced some Aesir foods based on chemical analysis already in her databases. Ronson liked some and not others. It was just too bad that everything that the processor produced was in the form of a semi-solid paste that looked like mashed potatoes in various colors. Ronson tried to store as much of his human food for as long as possible just to relieve the monotony of the processor paste, but eventually he had to use up the human food before it spoiled.

  He took advantage of the available time to learn the Aesirian language, both written and spoken. When he asked Val Ky Ree why he should be able to understand spoken Aesirian, she said many devices, doorways and public transit systems were voice activated and controlled. By the time the ship dropped out of hyperspace into the Aesir home world system, Ronson was conversant enough to be able to carry on a conversation with Val Ky Ree in Aesirian, to her obvious delight. He was on the Bridge when the ship dropped back into normal space. Val Ky Ree projected a tactical display of the system for him.

  “Any transmissions?” he asked in a hushed voice.

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nbsp; “None. I’ve scanned all frequencies, but I’m only picking up natural background noise. I’ve also sent ID and recognition signals. So far no reply.”

  “Would there normally be transmissions if the planet were occupied?”

  “Yes. At the very least, I would normally be detecting ripples in the fabric of what humans call the space-time continuum from some of the orbiting installations that were designed to send and receive FTL messages. I haven’t detected any FTL messages since you woke me up, but I decided that there might be a good reason for that given how long I was asleep. However, the lack of transmissions of any kind is a bad sign, Troy. We’ll know for sure in about half an hour. I’m accelerating as fast as I can to get into orbit quickly.”

  Ronson said nothing. He was feeling guilty about hoping that the Aesir really were all gone so that Val Ky Ree would be free to help humans exclusively. It was a selfish response that he rationalized by reminding himself that humans were almost extinct too and needed all the help they could get.

  It was clear even before Val Ky Ree dropped into orbit that the planet appeared to be deserted. The optics on Val Ky Ree’s ship were powerful enough that both of them could look at cities and see objects small enough that Ronson could have picked them up. There were no signs of humanoid life.

  “Whatever happened here must have happened long ago,” said Ronson. “Look at how big those trees are that forced their way up through the concrete, or whatever that white material is. There’s only a relatively small area in the center of that city that hasn’t been reclaimed by the surrounding plant life.” He paused and was surprised when Val Ky Ree said nothing. “I have to admit, though, that even in its current state, your home world and its cities are still pretty impressive, Val Ky Ree.”

  “I can see why you would think that, Troy, but I remember how it used to look when there were billions of Aesir living here. These cities now are only a pale ghost of their former glory. I’ve come to the conclusion that I won’t find any answers from up here. I could land the ship, but not near any of the city towers. If there are any answers, it’ll likely be inside one of them, data records for example. Are you still willing to take Spearthrower down there and see if you can find something, anything, that might give us a clue as to what happened?”

  “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss an opportunity like that if you paid me.”

  “Why would I pay you not to go down there, Troy? I want you to go down there.”

  Ronson laughed. “Sorry. That’s a human expression meant to indicate just how much I want to do this. What precautions will I have to take regarding micro-organisms, dangerous animal life or security systems?”

  “The ship carries environmental suits that filter out all micro-organisms while letting you breath the local air, which is compatible with human physiology by the way. The suits are made of a material that will adjust the suit’s height and width to your body. As for dangerous animal life, there was none near any cities when the planet was inhabited. The only really dangerous animal still living in the wild in the colder regions of the planet is a carnivore that would tower over you if it stood on its hind legs. It’s strong, fast and typically hunts at night to take advantage of its very good vision and sense of smell. It’s possible that they may have made their way down from the polar regions into the more temperate climate areas. I suggest you land Spearthrower in a city that is midway between the poles, and I’ll provide you with portable equipment including night-vision and personal weapons. Your best defense against these predators, if you should run into them at night, is to blind them with bright light. I’ll make sure you can do that. Warships were equipped to cover a wide spectrum of possible scenarios.

  “With regards to the question of security systems, I’m now orbiting over the night side, and I do not see any signs of power generation at all. If there’s no power being generated, then the security systems would be non-operational. If you do find that there is power being generated somewhere, then I’ll advise you on specific precautions to take regarding security systems.”

  “Okay, I’ll get started gathering the suit and equipment. Where to first?”

  It was almost an hour later by the time he had gathered all the equipment and loaded it onto Spearthrower. Val Ky Ree wasn’t exaggerating when she said that warships were equipped for a variety of scenarios. In addition to his personal gear, suit, weapons, night-vision goggles, portable food & water, communications, very powerful hand-lights etc., there was also a portable shelter, enough food and water to last for up to 15 days, although he didn’t expect to stay down there that long, and an anti-gravity vehicle with an open top that could carry up to four people. Ronson decided to call it the airjeep. The controls turned out to be so simple that Ronson was sure he could fly it without any practice or training. It had enough power that it could carry the shelter and supplies, and it would be ideal for exploring the very tall towers that no longer had power for their internal lift systems. When all the gear and supplies were loaded and stored away, Val Ky Ree backed Spearthrower out of the ship’s hangar bay and then turned control over to Ronson. By mutual agreement, he would take the craft down to a city near the equator and at a point on the surface where dawn had just arrived. This way he would have most of the first day to explore.

  The trip down made Ronson nostalgic for Earth as it used to be. It would be years before all the dust in the atmosphere that had been kicked up from the asteroid impact would settle out, and it would take decades, maybe even centuries, for the biosphere to recover. The irony of the situation did not escape his notice. Here was a still functioning world with no inhabitants, and the human race no longer had a functioning world to call their own. The idea of setting up a human colony on this world suddenly seemed like a damned good idea. Living inside an asteroid was not exactly the healthiest place to have and raise children. After he got over the Eureka feeling, he started thinking of the reasons why it wasn’t such a good idea. Most significant was the possibility that Val Ky Ree might consider this planet to be sacred. She might feel the same way about humans settling here as humans would feel about alien squatters taking possession of a cemetery. Another problem would be the challenge of trying to learn how to revive a civilization’s infrastructure that was far more advanced than anything humans were used to. Even with Val Ky Ree’s help, the technical challenges of getting things running again would be daunting.

  As Spearthrower approached the target city, it flew over what had to be the spaceport, and Ronson’s heart started beating faster at the sight of very large streamlined structures that had to be spacecraft. “Val Ky Ree, if this planet really has been abandoned, would you be willing to let us humans salvage some of these spacecraft?” Val Ky Ree’s response was not immediate.

  “I have no objection to the suggestion in principle, but I foresee some practical difficulties in actually making use of those ships. The ships you’re seeing are all at least ten times larger than Spearthrower and have all been designed to be piloted by synthetics like me. Adapting the controls so that humans could pilot them is possible in theory, but I do not have the technical knowledge to explain how it could be done.”

  After a pause to deal with his extreme disappointment, he said, “How large relative to Spearthrower would the largest ship be that does not need a synthetic pilot like yourself?”

  “Spearthrower belongs to a unique class of small craft capable of faster than light travel. It was intended to provide flexibility in terms of personnel transfers among and between fleets. All warships were large enough to require synthetic pilots, and all civilian ships with interstellar capability were large enough to also require synthetic pilots. There was simply no need for small, interstellar ships that could be piloted by Aesirians or humans. I understand your desire to give your people as much spacefaring capability as possible, Troy, but just remember that my ship has the necessary technical capability to build multiple copies of Spearthrower given sufficient quantities of the various metals and other mat
erials needed. Based on what I’ve seen from the Koron, humans don’t need Ragnarok-class Battle Cruisers like this ship in order to defend themselves from Compact races.”

  Ronson nodded. That all made perfect sense. After hesitating for a few seconds, he decided to ask the big question. “How would you feel about humans taking possession of this world as their new home?”

  Val Ky Ree’s response was also slow in coming. “Your question has more than one possible interpretation. Rather than getting tangled in semantics about word meanings, I prefer to explain under what circumstances and conditions I would agree to allow humans to live on Aesir. Your Earth will eventually become habitable again. Until such time as that happens, your people may temporarily live on Aesir as guests of the Aesirian Civilization, such as it is. You may take advantage of Aesirian technology. All I ask in return is that humans preserve what is left of the Aesirian Civilization here on this planet and protect the Aesirian legacy from exploitation or destruction by other races. Your people, when they live here, would be fulfilling a caretaker function if I understand that term correctly. Is that acceptable to you, Troy? I think it is very fair myself.”