Keeper Hunter

We had to wait two days before the last of the Marines left. It was raining out and the water was dripping through the windows of the former Security office. Luckily for us Jean’s squad had helped us make this place move liveable. I’d been grateful for that and even more grateful I hadn’t encountered that blue suited man again. I wanted to go full Valkyrie on him for what he’d put us through. They had covered a couple of windows with plastic and even provided us with two camp beds. More comfortable than sleeping on the hard concrete floor. Copper had brought a portable power unit with her and had rigged it to the building. We had lights and running water a big plus in my mind. The only thing we lacked was heating but that was outside either of our scopes and would probably kill the power unit. We had a fire to cook and boil water I wasn’t about to drink it straight from the faucet. Copper had rigged up a comms unit and set it to use the comms tower. Copper sat on the camp bed a despondent expression on her face.

“You ok?” I asked her.

“I’m worried about Zenobio and his family. I know your friend said she’d look after them yet…” Copper’s voice trailed off she looked at me uncomfortably. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Jean keeps her word,” I stated. “Of course you have your doubts. Jean won’t let anything happen to them.”

“I know it’s just…” Copper said.

I understood her worry, mine was about the Keepers. I had a feeling something bad had happened to them. I had to get back I had to find them. But I had to tolerate these delays. I wasn’t about to rush in headfirst. Then was the other worry Jean had told me before she left that a crystalline ship like a giant quartz crystal had blasted through a heavy cruiser crippling it. Somehow like Alfheimir it was the Prophet it even sounded like the same. I had a bad feeling I’d be encountering that ship again. I had used the comms to warn Alfheimir and Lady Broaden. I hadn’t got the lady herself this time I just passed the message and hoped it got to her. It was the same when I tried to call Thirika. She was busy so l left her a message.

I decided to change subject before I got too maudlin. “How long until you can send another message to your friends?”

“Four hours,” Copper replied.

“Get some rest,” I told her we’d both been unable to sleep.

“I can’t.”

“Copper, get some rest I’ll get you up in plenty of time. I’ll keep watch.”

Copper stared at me a worried look on her face. “You think they’ll come back?”

I knew she was on about the Separatists. “No,” I lied. I wasn’t sure if they’d do something. One thing I was certain of was that they were in disarray with the departure of their so-called leader. “I just don’t like surprises.” The truth, I really did want to punch that blue suited man for what he had done. He had put both of us in danger. For myself not so much but I was still angry that he decided Copper was collateral damage in his scheme of things.

“Ok I’ll rest.” It was the first time she had admitted she was tired.

I watched while Copper slept. The rain continued to fall bringing with it a slight chill. Leaning against an empty windowsill I stared out into the rain.

Sometime later I woke Copper. “Copper it’s time to get up?” I said to her softly.

Copper woke with a start and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. I handed her a cup of coffee. Coffee that Claire had given me before she left. It was better than bland boiled water I wasn’t about to trust the unfiltered water.

“Thanks,” Copper said with some feeling.

“You’ve got about a half hour before your transmission.” I told her.

“Thanks again,” Copper said sipping her hot coffee.

Copper perched herself on the concrete counter as she attached an earpiece and checked her microphone was working. “This is a tight beam transmission,” she told me. “The ship’s called the ‘Independence’ and we’ve only a thirty minute window to transmit in.” Copper focused on her mike breathing deep calming breaths. She was tense I could tell it wasn’t fear. “This is Copper calling the Independence please respond?”

We waited as minutes ticked by. I just wanted off this world.

“Independence here!” an unfamiliar voice said. I saw Copper wince that had been loud enough for me to hear it outside her earpiece.

“Do we have a go for a pick up?”

That was the bit I didn’t really understand about Copper’s friends. It appeared that Copper’s friends had an ID that allowed them through the cordon around the planet.

“Affirmative clearance has been granted,” The unknown voice boomed out.

I reckoned they could have just shouted down from wherever their ship was and we could have heard it. Heck I believed the whole planet could have heard that voice.

“Good pick up at the usual place.” Copper visibly relaxed she seemed more cheerful. She turned to me. “They’ll be here in a few hours.”

“I’ll get my gear together.” I’d be finally leaving for the Confederacy yet my mind was filled with worry.

“I just want this to be over. Lady Broaden assured me that this would be the last and I’ve paid my dues?” Cooper said to me.

Cooper hadn’t said much about that. “Dues?” I said and cursed myself for that.

She shrugged. “Lady Broaden told me if I did this I’d be free to live my life.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant. “What do you mean by that?”

It was a minute or so before she answered. “I don’t know to tell the truth I hadn’t thought that far ahead?”

I couldn’t reply to that so I looked out the little slit of a window. “It looks like the rain seems to be stopping?” I said absently.

“Good,” Copper sounded relieved by that. “I didn’t want to do it in the wet.”

“Do what in the wet?”

Copper got down off the counter and straightened up. I followed as she exited the office and went to the ATV. We’d parked it in the square it back to the office. Copper opened it up and took out a box from inside. I watched on confused as she opened the box and pulled out a bunch of frieze dried flowers. The colours as vibrant as the day they were picked. Copper stood there with her gaze on the flowers and then pulled them out of the box. Her face was composed but I could see a single tear trickle down her face. Without a word she turned and marched off.

We walked to the cemetery I following her as we passed the grave markers and headed to the memorial. Copper stood for several minutes her lips moving with no sounds coming out of her mouth. She then knelt and gently placed them at the base of the memorial. She stood again and turned to me crying silently tears streaming down her face. Copper sniffled and wiped the tears with her hands.

“They’ll be gone the next time I come around this way,” she said sadly.

Something troubled me as I gazed at the memorial. I did want to ask seeing the state Copper was in but I had to ask my investigative nature wouldn’t let it rest. “Are you really Alanna Cuivre?”

“Yes,” Copper replied as if she had been waiting for me to ask that.

“And that your name on the memorial plaque?”

“When they built the memorial. That was down to Lady Broaden I asked her to add my name. My heart and soul died here. Although Phedra gave me back my heart but my soul cannot rest in peace.”

I could easily relate to that both Solstrid’s and Mother Sophronia’s souls rested uneasily within me. I hadn’t found Vanessa yet and couldn’t do that until I resolved all the other issues that had got between her and me. I silently vowed to get back on track once I found the Keepers. “The Valkyrie believe in something similar. You carry something dear to you, which contains your soul. In the Valkyrie case the item that contains your soul is returned to Alfheimir.”

Copper started at me. “Oh, I didn’t know that. Does that go for people like you?”

It sounded like I was being insulted I didn’t think Copper was doing that intentionally. “People like me?” I said interrupted ominously.

Copper’s face flushed. “Sorry,” she stuttered. “I meant those that aren’t true Valkyrie.” Again her face flushed her voice stuttered. “Sorry I meant…”

I cut her off before she fell into the deep hole she was digging for herself. “I know what you meant,” I replied a little too bluntly. To tell the truth I wasn’t that sure. It was a possibility that something of mine would be returned to Alfheimir. The Valkyrie believed it to be true. I knew Miranda would want it to be done even if she was a Human or a former Human. She had been altered by the Elders to fit into the strict criteria needed to stay on Alfheimir. Well a person more Human than I technically was. I was also the last of the Landottir Theo hadn’t foresworn his Clan like the other survivors had done. The Elders had wiped his memories and made him think he was Human. The Elders went as far as hiding his Valkyrie DNA that was until they had awoken it in me. They had inadvertently woken my hidden Keeper DNA as well. Something I never knew of until I had gone to Saros. It wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on or to talk about it even less.

“Can we head back now?” I asked. I shouldn’t have been so short with Copper.

Copper shook her head. “I’ve got one more task” And with that she walked down the rows of grave markers touched each as she went and saying, “Sorry.”

Her voice was harsh with over use when she finally finished. We walked back to the Security office in silence.