Return to Project Valkyrie Index
The text will reflow, so adjust the browser to a comfortable reading width and enjoy.
Project Valkyrie
Chapter 12 - Dastardly Deeds in the Dark
Thyra spent a couple of hours examining the jump drive and digging into its component parts. She was inclined to believe that part of the work had taken place before the old man would have seized the vessel. Many--most--of the parts in the drive were customized. This was a prototype or a one-off. Something still felt off, but she couldn't put her finger on whatever was bothering her.
Mimir had confirmed that he was able to plot a jump a full hundred parsecs away, which matched the fuel capacity. At a guess, it seemed as though this drive was the same size as a jump 1 drive, only instead of doing a single parsec, it had a hundred times the range. Unbelievable.
When she finished examining it, she made her way down to the lower deck and examined the power plant in more detail. It was not a fusion plant at all. It generated a tremendous amount of energy for its size, though. At a guess, five times what a similarly sized fusion plant could manage.
Based on everything that she could see via scanning it with instruments from engineering, her hypothesis was that it utilized antimatter. It required no fuel whatsoever, yet generated energy.
Of course, it might require more antimatter to be added at some point, and that would have to be examined more carefully, particularly since she had no idea where the old man would have gotten antimatter to begin with.
The problem that she was having with this was that there were clear signs that there had been another power plant here before, because the fuel connections for a fusion plant were present. The fact that they were capped indicated that the old man had removed the original and replaced it with this.
Antimatter power was far beyond anything even dreamed of inside the Imperium. She didn't know what technological level that would be, but even Vincennes didn't have that tech as something they were working on, even in prototype, according to the literature that she was able to access in the library.
Where had the old man gotten such a thing? Even having knowledge about it was unheard of. The parts were well designed and obviously not modified. Frankly, the tech looked mature. This unit wasn't a prototype, unlike the jump drive, which was less well put together.
That was another mystery that she would hope to solve, given time and the ability to find out more about the old man. Wherever he had come from, he had managed to exceed the technological capabilities of everyone in this area of space. His knowledge of robotics, faster-than-light travel, and now antimatter power was proof of that.
It was also proof that one could be a genius and an ass at the same time.
She went back up to the jump drive and went over it again in more detail. Knowing what she now knew, she was able to find some parts that had been replaced after it was constructed, and they didn't seem to be handmade. The old man had made modifications to this drive after he had stolen the ship. That implied a knowledge of whatever this new jump technology was that he also shouldn't have had.
Who had he been? Why had he stolen this vessel? Why had he built her? All excellent questions without easy answers.
Thyra eventually gave up looking just after midnight and went to the lounge. She cooked up a small meal in the galley and sat down alone at one of the tables to eat. She now knew where she had to remove a container to dump the tea that she had earlier, and it was large enough to hold a full meal. It seemed that she would be able to mimic a biological being quite well.
She had also taken the time to fully examine her body. For all intents and purposes, she was completely biological from any external viewpoint. There was no aspect of her that did not seem to be so. That explained all the sexy clothing that she was in the process of getting rid of because the old man had obviously used her for more than just a platonic companion on his journey.
The knowledge made her angry as she hadn't had a say in the matter. She had almost certainly been limited by programming that made her compliant, so there was no consent.
Would she have given her consent if she could have? Somehow, she doubted it.
That didn't mean that she wouldn't find someone in the future that she would want to experiment with or perhaps even form a durable relationship with. She had all the necessary parts to enjoy a fulfilling sex life if she chose, though she could never bear children. She was cleverly designed to mimic a human woman, but wasn't one.
The thought didn't bother her that much. Perhaps it should have, and perhaps it would be problematic as she matured, but she was literally only a day old. There was plenty of time to figure that out as her worldview expanded.
The meal she had prepared herself tasted wonderful, and she had to compliment the skills she had in the galley for that. Her steward skill was quite high, and it seemed she was able to utilize it to prepare excellent meals. She had no need of consuming them, but upon reflection, she decided that they served a real purpose in grounding her in her new life, so she would continue to do so. She would also sleep when the opportunity finally presented itself.
Once she'd finished her meal, she prepared herself for the delivery. The down port was still busy, but all the parking areas around her ship were now occupied, and it seemed that everyone had turned in for the evening. There would undoubtedly be somebody moving around late, but as long as she took due care, she should be able to avoid anyone seeing things that they shouldn't.
As the cargo was already loaded aboard the runabout, she used the ship's passive sensors to look around the area and determined that there was no one in a position to see the cargo hatch opening or her departing. She would have to do this a total of four times and would need to be very careful each time she did so.
After activating the active camouflage on the runabout, she opened the hatch and ordered the pilot brain to take her out of the ship. As soon as she was clear, she remotely closed the cargo hatch back up, and then she waited. If anyone had seen anything odd, she wanted to know about it sooner rather than later.
There was no indication that anyone had, so she moved on to the next step: crossing the demarcation line between the down port and Murphy proper. If those weapons emplacements saw anything unusual, she felt confident that she would be the very first to know about it, so that needed to be avoided at all costs.
As she approached the fence, the runabout's passive sensors--which she was linked into--easily picked up the sensors scanning the skies for intruders or other things of note. There was no indication that the runabout had garnered any attention, and considering the expense of the active camouflage system, she hoped it was good for sneaking past them.
Since they were looking to the skies, she instructed the pilot brain to go above the fence with only a few meters to spare and then to head back down to ground level. From there, she moved at a relatively slow speed away from the down port.
There was no indication that the perimeter sensors were being focused anywhere near her, but she didn't relax until she was far away from them.
The address she had been given to deliver the cargo to was at a business park away from the city center. It wasn't in a rural area, so there shouldn't be anyone around after dark, which was likely why the client had chosen that location.
She'd had an opportunity to review the information she'd retrieved from the Travellers' Aid Society about Dr. Linh Ae Sorensen. The man was a specialty doctor who installed high-end cybernetics for the government and well-heeled clients. There was no indication in the records that he was part of the criminal underground.
She supposed that--in a sense--he wasn't. If one could pay off those who would be concerned about that sort of thing and get them to look the other way, then he was just another man willing to bend the system to his will.
That actually made dealing with him safer because someone with a criminal record might be tempted to do something to save a large amount of money, whereas he might be disinclined to take the risk. She supposed she'd find out in short order.
When she arrived at the business park, she circled around it for about ten minutes, scanning everything with her passive sensors. There was a security car at the far end of the park, but it didn't seem to be at all interested in doing more than driving around the public areas. Whatever the security guard was doing, it was obvious his presence was there simply to deter anyone who was only casually thinking about breaking in.
Not seeing anything that caused her concern, she approached the parking area that she'd been instructed to use, turning off the active camouflage before she came around the buildings and onto the site. No need for them to wonder how she had become invisible.
When she sat down in front of the loading dock, one of the large bay doors slid up along rails, and a man stepped out. He was dressed in dark clothing and wore sunglasses even at this late hour. They were likely advanced tech, and he wouldn't be blind. He looked around and then gestured for her to come in. The runabout was small enough to get through the bay doors easily enough.
Thyra instructed the pilot brain to take the runabout in and then turn around so that she was facing toward the exit before it settled to the ground. Then she opened the hatch and jumped down, scanning the area with her enhanced vision and hearing. She sensed no one else present.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Kade," the man said evenly. "I work for Doctor Sorensen. You're Thyra?"
"That's me. How are we going to do this, and how do we make certain that my cargo doesn't wander off before I get paid for the delivery?"
"Easy enough. Every time you leave cargo, I pay you for it. You can verify that the money is good before you get the next load. The last four tons will be paid for by Doctor Sorensen himself because it's in exchange for gear that your ex-husband ordered."
"He's not my ex-husband," she said, putting her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes in annoyance. "He's dead, so I'm his widow."
"Whatever. I just want to get this deal done so we can all be on our way."
"Then why don't we unload this so you can verify that it contains what you're looking for and pay me? Let's do this by the numbers."
"Fine by me. I've got a loader over here that can get them out."
She looked over at the forklift and nodded. "That works."
Getting the four dtons of cargo out of the runabout only took a couple of minutes, and Kade quickly verified that the cargo was what was expected and paid her six hundred and twenty-five thousand credits per ton. Then she was on her way back to the ship.
Thyra took great care going back into the down port, but there was no indication that she was seen. She took the runabout up on top of the ship and remotely instructed the cargo loaders inside the upper cargo area to bring out four tons of the secret cargo--which meant two two-ton containers--and load them.
She decided that the final trip would be the four tons that were being paid for by Sorensen through an exchange of some kind. She didn't know what it entailed, but it would undoubtedly be something that the old man needed. To her, it would probably be useless, but she hadn't had any say in this either.
That meant that load number three was only two tons, but Kade didn't seem bothered by that. He paid for it and informed her that he would let Doctor Sorensen know that she was on her way to get the final load.
It was a bit of a risk, but she decided to fly higher on the last trip in. She couldn't fly nap of the earth all the time and needed to be certain that the active camouflage was as good as advertised.
It was. There was no indication that any of the sensors probing the skies saw her.
Thyra got the last of the cargo loaded and headed for the final handover. She already had all the money she could expect, and her bank account was flush. Still, she was curious what the old man had bargained for that was worth so much money. It was probably something obscure, but she might be able to find some use for it. At the very least, she would have kept the bargain and established herself as someone with a good reputation.
Once she got inside the bay and Kade had unloaded everything, she waited for Doctor Sorensen to arrive in a cargo vehicle where he was the passenger. It pulled in through the same method she did since it was a grav vehicle. It was big enough to hold all of the cargo, she noted.
The tall, thin doctor climbed out of the passenger side of the cargo truck and smiled at her. "It's good to see you again, Thyra. I'm sorry to hear about Cyrus's passing. He was a good business partner, and he will be missed. You have my condolences."
"I'll manage. Somehow."
"I'm sure. Kade and my associate will unload the last four dtons of your cargo and the gear I'm trading for it, and then we can all be on our way. If there is anything that I can do for you while you are here on Murphy, simply ask. I'm willing to provide references to people who might be able to provide some less-than-legal cargoes that should prove profitable for you elsewhere."
She nodded. "I'd like that. Thank you."
Thyra watched as the two men unloaded the cargo van. There were two small containers that she estimated would contain about half a displacement ton each and a larger one that could hold a full dton. There wasn't much to it, so it must be very valuable. Kade had been unloading the runabout, so they were ready to close the deal.
That was when she heard something unusual. A lift deeper in the building had just turned on.
"Are you expecting someone?" she asked, turning to look at the interior of the building.
Sorensen looked at her quizzically. "Excuse me?"
"I just heard a lift inside the building."
The man looked over at Kade and gestured toward the door. "Go check it out."
That's when the exterior door started rising, and two men rolled underneath it. Both of them had pistols in their hands and masks on their faces. "Nobody move!" one shouted.
Well, this was an interesting change in circumstances. It looked as if they were being robbed.