Keeper Hunter

I was couched in the dark the vertical surface of a wall in front of me. The wall was too tall to climb. On the other side of wall the brewery and the river a few metres away behind me. I was dressed in a black jumpsuit tight in some areas and loose in others. It was the best I could do in the short time we had. A harness encircled my waist with a number of pouches and criss-crossed my back. My hair had been plaited and wound into a bun on top of my head Valkyrie style. Normally I wore in a ponytail or had it loose but that didn’t cut it with Hlanhildr. She had insisted I do things the Valkyrie way. I had my Seven Double ‘M’ in holster on my hip. I had a combat knife sheathed in the small of my back and a second tucked into my darkened shin length combat boots. On my head as a set of night vision goggles. I wasn’t on my own I was with two Valkyrie from Hlanhildr’s team. They couched with me silent as death. As much as I wanted backup from the Confed GF it had been denied.

General Osward of the 43rd GF stated “Plausible Deniability.” If things went south although he loaned us equipment we were using. That was his other statement “Stuff goes missing all the time.”

I strongly suspected he was related to Major Osward who I had encountered at the Jungle lab and again at the museum.

I’d positioned Guy at the south gate with a couple of Valkyrie. The ones with me were called Midne and Regitha. Leo and Inkassi were planting decoys in the transport hub. Inkassi had spent a lot of time working on them. I glanced at my comms I said that it was about 2am. It was time I lowered my goggles and powered them up giving me a better view of what I was doing. Reaching into a pouch in my harness I pulled out a rope unravelling the coils. On the top of the rope was a box with a rounded top. I carefully removed the top to reveal a bulb like end. It was a grappling hook but that was a bit of a misnomer. It was a bulb that held a fast drying glue with a number of filaments. The head would smash and the fast drying glue would attach the filaments to whatever object it touched. I rose and twirled the rope around my head. It would just be my luck if it smashed against me. I let go and watched the hook sail over the top of the wall. We waited in silence waiting for the glue, waiting for an alarm. Nothing, breathing a sigh of relief I tugged on the rope only to have it sail back over the wall it’s end a mass of dried glue and filaments. I dodged the end as it almost landed on top of me. I touched the wall it felt slick and oily under my fingers. Taking out a spare grappling hook I smashed it against the wall stepping back quickly to avoid splashing any of the glue on me. The mass of glue and filaments slid down the wall as the glue dried.

“That’s an unforeseen problem,” I muttered to myself. I glanced around trying to find a solution. “There’s no way we can get over this wall with the equipment we have?” I turned to the Valkyrie frustration heavy in my heart. “This is a no go?” I said to them.

“You need someone on the other side,” Regitha stated. She was a typical Valkyrie with the skin, eyes and attitude but she did speak to me respectfully well I was sure she was doing so.

She gestured to Midne. Suddenly both picked me up like I was light as a feather threw me upward. I hadn’t the time to scream as my fingers scrabbled for purchase on the top of the rounded top of the wall. It was just too slick. I was going to fall and fall hard I wouldn’t be walking away from this I’d be dead. I could envision going headfirst into the concrete. In the nanoseconds before I dropped over the edge I felt an intense itching beneath my shoulder blades. A gust of wind whipped past me sending me tumbling and somehow righting me so I’d land feet first. Broken legs would be the least of my problems. Somehow my descent slowed as if something was holding me back, It didn’t slow me enough to soften a hard landing. I crashed hard into the ground the breath leaving me in a rush. I staggered to stand only to fall back on my butt. The itching in my back faded as I felt strength returning to me. I put down my hand I touched something. In my hand was a long black feather the length of my hand. My mind said it was important so I kept hold of it putting it into a pouch on my harness. I tried to stand again but floor was slippery under my feet I slipped over managing to keep myself from landing hard on my butt again. I edged on my hands and knees slowly across the floor I was like trying to walk on ice. I carried on forward until I was on firmer ground. The slippery area was at least three metres across anything after that was plain old concrete. Another rope sailed over the wall and landed close by I had the presence of mind to grab it and hold. The weight of someone climbing the rope had me sliding across the floor and towards the wall. I braced hard difficult to near impossible in my current situation.

Regitha slid over the wall and fell only her hold of the rope saved her from a bone-crunching landing. She stood unsteadily on her feet her face flushed. “Silver?”

My anger surged like a switch had flipped in my head. “What the fuck were you thinking throwing me over the wall. I could have been killed!”

“I’d had faith you’d find a way Silver. Besides you were lighter than we anticipated.”

A heavily thud and cry of pain quickly stifled had my attention. Midne had been less lucky than her companion.

“My leg,” Midne groaned.

“See to her!” I snapped at Regitha. I shouldn’t have snapped but their throwing me over the wall had frightened the life out of me. I scrabbled to the edge of the slickness and stood.

“I’m going ahead.” The others were waiting for us to shut down the defence system and bring down the sensors all over the brewery, which was a size of a large town. Millions of bottles of beer were exported to the Confederacy that could mean millions of deaths if we didn’t find out what was going on here. I crept on my mind mulling over the stupidity of the Valkyrie. I didn’t know what kind of game they were playing but I was better off without them. Only luck saved me from a fate that could have ended this mission before it even started. I edged through the maze of buildings wondering why I hadn’t heard an alarm yet. We’d certainly made enough noise getting in. Slowly I headed towards the main factory. With a maze of ancillary buildings I realised that this would be a nightmare to assault. Little wonder General Osward wanted nothing to do with our mission. I had heard how his division had been decimated on a world called Anoxi. I stepped around the corner of what appeared to be a storage shed straight into the path of a female Security guard in a green uniform. I froze as the guard froze as well her hand on her weapon. The NV goggles had auto imaging so it was like daylight to me, I could see every detail of my opponent. I was facing a Valkyrie, a Palkkasir by the teardrop tattoo on her cheek. She stared at me as hard as I stared at her neither of us moving. The situation was on a knife-edge. I was taking a gamble but I hadn’t any other choice. Slowly I raised my arm and shook my bracelet clear of my sleeve.

“I’m not here for you Big Sister,” I said carefully.

The Palkkasir eased her hand off the butt of her pistol all the while she had her eyes on me.

“I’m hunting the associates of the one who killed Mother Sophronia Palkkasir.” I know I was risking it after the Palkkasir had hunted me on Alfheimir another puzzle to add to the mountain I was carrying with me. “Take any sisters there are here and leave.”

The Palkkasir said nothing she continued watching me and I was starting to feel uncomfortable.

“Please,” I added.

The Palkkasir eyes widened surprise evident on her face. “May many enemy fallen litter the ground at your feet,” she said suddenly.

“May enemies quake at the mention of your name,” I responded automatically.

The Palkkasir blinked. “Good hunting Little Sister,” she said placing her hand over her heart.

“Goodbye Big Sister,” I said mirroring her move. It almost brought a tear to my eye, it what Solstrid had said to me often. She’d called me Little Sis. I watched the Palkkasir leave wondering if I was stupid to do so. I didn’t want any more Palkkasir blood on my hands, or any Valkyrie blood. I still felt the guilt at killing the Palkkasir who had been threatening Miranda in cold blood. I was trying to atone for that and that weighed heavy on my mind. I stayed where I was for a moment then headed in the direction the Palkkasir was going. I was aware I had a time limit. I still had to find the control room and shut down the defences. We as a team had dallied away too long trying to get in. Time was my biggest enemy here I had a mission to complete.