Gates of Utgaard

Chapter 1: Tjalfe and Roeskva

See you again. Soon.

The voice was at the same time both far away and close by. Far away as if it came from the farthest end of the known universe and still so near that Tjalfe got the feeling that all he needed to do was to reach out there in the dark and grab the person, to whom the voice belonged.

I will see you again soon, the voice said, I promise. It felt so real, so present. But it wasn’t. Not entirely. The odor revealed it. Or rather: the lack thereof, because there was no smell. None whatsoever. Only the taste of metal on his tounge. Maybe it was no more than a dream? But about what? And from where? He realized he didn’t even know who he was. Remembered nothing. Nothing but his own name.

Tjalfe let his tounge move around inside his mouth and reacted with a grimasse as the vague taste of metal was accompanied by a nasty sensation at the tip of his tongue. A soft, almost sticky feeling like if a cape of slime carressed the surface of his tongue and tickled its way inside the sensitive pores. Eew! Nasty!

Booom! Although the sound came from very far away there was no doubt. It was an explosion. The ground beneath him shook violently and a jolt of pain stung him in the temple as his head moved from side to side and smashed into what had to be some sort of headrest on the chair he was strapped into.

Tjalfe opened his eyes but he still couldn’t see anything. It was pitch dark. Still, he sensed he was not alone in the room. Someone was there with him, right on his side. He turned his head right and could barely make out a figure sitting in a chair like himself. He wasn’t scared although maybe he should be. In this darkness there was no way of knowing what lurked out there in the nothingness. The figure was slightly smaller than he was, but that wasn’t really the reason why he was calm. Even that wich is smaller than you, can still be dangerous. She seems familiar, hethought to himself, she? is it she? how can I know for sure. Nevertheless he was sure. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in his mind, it was a she. There was no doubt in his mind that it was someone he knew either. But who? If she was staring at him the way he was staring at her she would probably see almost the same as he was: a figure sitting in a chair. And if she was, wouldn’t she be thinking just about the same as he was: who is that figure right next to me?

Tjalfe tried hard to remember. He had a clear sensation that it was there. Somewhere in the back of his head, somewhere in the middle of a pounding headache it was and all he had to do was find it. But the only thing popping up in his mind was ‘sister’ and that single word: ‘sister’ was accompanied by an agonizing jolt inside his head as if the word itself was causing the pain.

Eew... How disgusting! Now that his sense of smell returned to him a blast of acrid air hit him. The sharp smell of something burned rushed inside his nostrills and the searing sensation on his mucous membrane made his nasal hairs wince uncomfortably.

Booom! Yet another jar and a sting to the head! This time the explosion seemed to originate from much closer. It rumbled and shook beneath him and he realized he had to get away from here! Right now! But as he moved to get up his arms and legs wouldn’t budge and he sunk right back into the backrest. He paused for a bit, gathering his strength and then with an extra power effort he stimmed his legs as hard as he could against the foot rests while at the same time squeezing the left hand strap tight inside his hand and pulling it frantically. With his body in an akward askew position he focused all the rest of his energy on pulling his right hand out from its strap and with a swoop he was finally free. Now there was nothing to loosening the rest of the straps on the other arm and both legs and in no time flat he jumped out of his chair and over to the other chair. Of course! he suddenly realized. She was his sister!

Roeskva! He called out loud as he loosened her straps, You all right?

At first there was no response at all and he felt his stomach crouch with worry. She was his sister, his responsibility. That much he did know at least. The realization of this particular fact may have pushed his memory, because it rummaged in his head, as if something lay buried deep in the subconscious mind trying to get to the surface. The headache came again, but he ignored it as he sensed Roeskva moving a bit.

Hmmm...

What a lovely sound! What a relief! Slowly Roeskva came to and opened her eyes. Although Tjalfe could not see her face clearly in this darkness, her facial expressions were so boisterous when she opened her eyes that there was no question about how she looked.

Tjalfe! she said anxiously, your are bleeding!

He touched his temple and felt the blood flowing like a smudge on the side of the head with thin stripes slowly crawling down the cheek. Roeskva, who was now free of the chair, grabbed her small handkerchief and handed it to him. As soon as he accepted the small piece of cloth with the intent of wiping the blood from his skin, a huge blast traveled through what had to be a hallway or a corridor on the other side of the door. The walls and floor shook wildly and suddenly without warning a violent explosion blew the huge metal door from its hinges andthrew it towards them. Roeskva and Tjalfe barely managed to duck before the door flew over their heads slamming heavily into the two chairs which only a few moments ago were not quite as empty as they were now.

For a split second Tjalfe stared at the pile of bent metal, screws and bolts and then he turned his head in a jerk to face Roeskva. RUN! he shouted and grabbing her hand he pulled her towards the door and out in the corridor. The sight meeting them out there was mere devastation! Smoke and steam, damaged panels sparkling dangerously with electrical spikes that were the only illuminating source through the seemingly endless hallway. Fragments of the walls and floor lay jumbled in chaos and the intense stench of burned, melted plastic permeated the air forcefully entering their airways.

The scratching sensation of dust and gas invoked their reflexes and they coughed fiercefully as they fought their way through the destructive scene. Although Tjalfe had quite a bit of trouble seeing clearly, he found that there was still something very familiar about his surroundings. Ouch! Another jolt of pain sprung out in the back of his head. Ouch! And again. Ouch! The jolts splintered through his head as if someone was sticking a pointy object into one ear and out the other. Then the images emerged. As ships rushed past his inner eye with the speed of light disappearing in the dark of the night, they were replaced with images from days preceeding the present. His mother, his father, a huge ring with a stone in the middle. Frame by frame he got back his memory as a mother giving birth with excrutiating pain. A bustle through the head was followed by an image. Yet another rush and yet another picture. Pain by pain and picture by picture, he got to know himself better and better. Images of people he knew - no, wait, not just people, but something else as well. Someone looking like humans, only taller and more broad-shouldered than people. And there were images of ships sailing through the air instead of on water and they seemed to be fighting ferocious battles between the sun and the moon. And enemies abducting him and his sister taking them to a terrible place. But also friends who came to their aid saving them both from the gruesome giants. And finally he saw the chairs. Those strange chairs he and his sister found themselves in as everything around them went crazy.

His coughing got worse and out of the corner of his eye he could see Roeskva having even worse difficulties. She sank down beside him and although he fought to the best of his ability, he could no longer stand up. His legs were getting more and more heavy and finally they gave way under the weight of his body. Everything went black before his eyes and he reached out to squeeze the hand of his sister. She squeezed back. He then sensed a figure running down the corridor towards him. That's it! He thought to himself, all is lost. We're going to die! Neither he nor Roeskva were in any state to fight. Not even though their lives were at risk. The blurry figure came closer and stopped right between him and Roeskva and there was nothing he could do about it. But then, to his surprise, the figure reached down, grabbed him by his arms, and he felt how he was being lifted up and pulled away from the scene and down the corridor.

Chapter 2: Freya

Freya was furious! Why had they not woken her up, so that she could say goodbye to the children, before sending them on their way? Deep down she knew exactly why, but right now her anger was too massive and took control over her. It was almost impossible to get a sense of how much of her anger was directed at herself and how much of it was pointed towards Thor, Sif og who else had been there to say goodbye. Maybe she was not even angry at any of them, but only at herself? Alright, so she was tired after severeal days with almost no sleep at all and okay, maybe she really had needed to hit the pillows, but still… Sleeping for more than 18 hours straight was really not appropriate. It did not matter, how tired she had been! Sleeping away from saying goodbye to two of the most courageous children any Vane or Aseir had ever had the bliss of getting to know? It was no less than unforgiveable. As a matter of fact, she did not even have to say 'children' in that statement. Tjalfi and Roeskva were without comparison the most courageous she had ever met. Children or not, humans or not! No Asier or Vane, she could think of even came close to those two in courage!

And as these heroes were about to be sent on a journey that would require so much courage, that the mythical Battle of Vanaheim seemed like a picnic at the Ice Falls on Niflheim Primus, where was then the great Freya? At their side as she was supposed to be? Oh, no... She was laying lazily at her back eyes closed and mouth open snoring like a sawmill ... No, it simply was not good enough.

Fortunately for Freya her ability to ignore emotional complications was just as well known in the Aesir world as was her feisty temperament. She pulled herself together and with a few long breathing excersices she was once again in control of her emotions and concentrated on the task in front of her. She was to ensure the children from being detected by the Yetten until Alfheim reached into orbit and they could have them brought to safety in twenty-first century Scandinavia.

Although the equipment was pretty sophisticated this particular task could not be handled automatically. It required someone to control it, to make the nescessary regulations so that everything matched the changing circumstances. Not so long ago she had woken from her slumber discovering that the children had already been run through the brain cleaner. And now they both sat there in a coma-like state while they waited to begin the final part of the journey towards a safe place to live. Freya was not the only one who could do this job. Several others aboard the ship were perfectly capable but she had insisted on taking on the job herself. She felt she owed the children to be the one watching over them making sure that everything worked as it should. So, right after waking up, she had hastily taken a bath, put on her clothes and announced her arrival at the hospital ward. Now she sat in the narrow room with the tight security procedures closely observing the console screens and monitoring vital signs of the two sleeping children in their chairs.

Bridge to observation deck, it crackled from the loud speakers on the wall above her.

Observation deck here.

There is a blip on the long distance scanners, the voice sounded, for now it does not look like something to be worried about, but I thought you should know anyway.

OK, Freya answered, thanks for the heads up. What kind of vessel is it?

To early to determine, the helmsman on the bridge answered, I am not even sure it is a vessel. It might as well be a comet or a piece of rock floating around.

Recived, she said, Keep me updated.

Sure will. How are things there? T and R still out of mental reach?

Yeah, they are still sleeping like babies. How long till we reach our destination?

A little more than 13 hours. Providing we hold our current speed, that is. It would have been much faster, if we had jumped out of hyper space a little closer.

Yeah, I know. It would have been to risky, though. Someone could have sensed us on their long range scanners before we were ready to deliver our valuable package.

Even with Freyas long time experience using such expressions in order to not reveal too much to listening ears, it still was a rather strange feeling in this case. Talking about the children as a 'package' to be 'deliverede' had a somewhat condescendingly touch to it and she found it quite uneasening.

Under normal circumstances it would be natural to her. But this was different. There was absolutely nothing normal to all of this. Sfter everything that had happened to them, a very special bond had emerged. Not only between the children and the rest of the team. The team itself had been brought much closer than before, something that she would not have thought possible a few months ago. This particular team had always been special to her and she had been in many other teams. None of them had even come close to the family like ties she felt with these people. But even so, they were closer than ever before and as she thought about it, she had to come to the conclusion that it was not just a result of all they had gone through. There was something different about these human children. Something rare. Something she had never seen before. Tjalfi and Roeskva were amazing. I wonder what it is? Freya thought to herself, why are they different? What is it that makes these two so special? She just could not find the words to describe it, but there was a certain something to them. They had a very psitive influence on both Vanes and Aseir and Freya had observed on numerous occasions how even the most hard boiled elite troopers had softened in the presence of Tjalfi and Roeskva.

Tjalfi, who was one of the most intelligent she had ever met, often understood technical terms and their meaning, although he had no other training than what Thor and the rest of his team could give him. He even understood things about the ship with only a brief instruction that the ship's engineers had taken years to master.

And Roeskva, who had the most amazing ear for language and culture. In only a few minutes she was able to decifer and learn languages that usually took other months to learn even though they had gone through extensive courses to do so. And her ability to keep calm in the most stressing situation was completely puzzling. Her being there, even if she did not say or do anything, had a tendency to cover everything with a thick blanket of feeling safe and secure.

Furthermore they both had a heads-on courage that inspired Vanes and Aseir alike. Perhaps this was the main reason why Skrymer had seemed so scared when the children were his captives onboard Brimir? In any case they had something inexplicable going for them and they had created an odd feeling inside of Freya. A feeling that there was something extremely important in all of this. As if the universe itself had plans. Plans with these two human children right in the middle of everything.

Another crackling from the loud speaker woke Freya from her daydreamning state of mind!

Freya! Listen! Hold on to someth... was all she registered, before BWROOOAM! A very powerful wave of energy rippled through the hull shaking it violently making nuts and bolt rattle. She felt her body being lifted up and flew through the small room cracking her head against the wall. It almost felt as if a giant had taken Alfheim in his massive hands and shook it like a box of matches Freya being one of the matches inside. A match that had just had the tip of sulfur scratched off on th edge of the box. She barely got to throw a short look on the screen above her, where two human children were waking up in the dark. Then everything went pitch black.

Chapter 3: Loki

GET THEM TO THE ESCAPE PODS! NOW! Loki shouted and left the children to the safe keeping of the nearest trooper. The soldier obeyed emmidiately, grabbed the kids by their hands and dragged away with them.

Loki took the time to steal a short look after the children and then turned towards the other soldiers, who were busy tydying up and removing pieces of metal and other objects obstructing the passage. He waited for them to clear the way through the narrow corridor and then started yelling orders.

Secure our escape! Start the count down to auto destruct! Get me Freya! He practically barked his order pointing with his hands to each of them making it clear who was supposed to do what. The rest of you: follow me to the weapons depot. They will be bordering in a matter of minutes, so we need to be quick. Keep your eyes open at all times and remember to secure our 6!

With the small group of wide shouldered Aseir troopers Loki kind of slided across the floor of the corridor eyes hard squeezed and a determined look on his face. The same kind of proffesional attitude glowed from the soldiers who had their weapons ready pointing forward. They constatly made sure no enemy troops were in sight in any direction as they strode in haste towards their destination. Well there Loki punched the appropriate code on the side panel and at the sound of three short blips he ripped up the weapons locker and began handing out more powerful weapons. Finally he grabbed a few bags and threw them on the floor.

Fill them up! he commanded, Aeon rifles, granates, smoke screen. Take whatever you can carry. Our people need all we can give them. We will hand them out as we go! Now, move!

Back in the corridor they moved like there was no tomorrow towards the hangar, the most likely entry point for the Yetten bordering. As they went further down the corridor more troops fell in line and were handed all kinds of weapons and decoys. Loki kept barking his orders in a steady stream making sure everyone knew exactly what to do and every soldier obeyed proffesionally and prompt making them one joint force like a squid slashing out its arms in every possible direction and into every side corridor sweeping the entire ship for enemies. But then, as sudden as he had started it all, Loki stopped in a single jolt about 100 meters before reaching the hangar doors. A thought had struck him and he waved his hand in a sign to the soldiers to follow his example.

Listen, he whispered, do you hear it?

It went quiet as a tomb in the corridor. The soldiers stood in a freezed position like they were made of stone and made an effort to listen…

After a while one of them started moving anxiously. He looked at Loki and shook his head lightly. Sorry, he whispered, but I don't hear anything.

That's my point, Loki answered his eyes fixed in a distant look, it's quiet. Way too quiet...

The bombardement has stopped, the soldier replied looking at Loki with a puzzled expression.

When was the last time you experienced the Yetten holding their attack? Loki asked.

Again the soldier shook his head. Never? he said.

Maybe they want to keep the Alfheim intact? another soldier suggested, they... could be wanting something and... maybe they believe that something is here?

Every pair of eyes were directed at the soldier who came up with that suggestion. It seemed so unthinkable. Yetten who did not go all the way towards total destruction? No, that sounded wrong on so many levels, but none of them said anything. They were all waiting for Loki to kake a descision.

He considered the idea for a moment and then he sent them a sign to continue down the corridor. The group had now grown to about 50 men and walked in a steady pace forward while Loki kept wondering if the soldier could be right.

But what could it be? He thought to himself, what would the Yetten want to find here? Data from the log, maybe? Or scientific material? Maybe they believe they might strike lucky and find technical specifications on the Miolnir lying around somewhere in one of the labs? No... they couldn't be that stupid, could they? Thor would never make such a mistake. They'd know that! But what other explanation could there be to this unlikely behavior? They have to be focused on something of value to them... Oh, no! Wait!

Loki stopped so bluntly that the closest soldier almost crawled up his back before the group came to a full stop. Open mouth and upwards turned eyes the horrible truth was apparent to Loki...

No, no, no, no no! Why didn't I realice this earlier? Not something, but someONE! The kids! They're going after the kids! The Yetten still believe Tjalfi and Roeskva are the key to the Fyrkat Project!

TURN AROUND! He yelled. His voice sounded almost panicking and close to falsetto. He sped back in the opposite direction so fast that he passed every trooper on the way. CAPOOOM! The sound of a massive explosion made the soldiers react on instinct and with remarkable experience they all threw themselves on the floor. They barely hit the ground in a morter position on arms and legs stomach free of the floor to prevent internal bleeding from the tremors before a curled metal door flew over their heads! No more than a fraction of a second later a warm wind blew between them caressing their skin. Shortly after the wind changed its mind, shifted direction and dissapeared through a hole in the wall where the door to the hangar had been only moments earlier.

There was a brief silence – and then they heard them come trampling. The elite forces of Utgaard had a distinct sound when their boots hit the floor as their owners proceeded forward. That's our que, Loki thought to himself. From personal experience during his time as one of those brutal Yetten soldiers he of all knew how they handled prisoners of war.

GO, GO, GO, GO, GO! he ordered, MOVE!

Swiftly and with the precision of a swiss clockwork the Aseir soldiers divided into three groups taking turns securing each other's escape. One group continuously moving forward while another group covered backwards with a blanket of firing weapons and the third group running away from the hangar and the invading Yetten. A bit further down the corridor the running group turned around covering their comrades as they escaped. Shift by shift they went on down the corridor till they got to the first blast door, which they closed and welded tight. Then they changed their tactics and had only a small group running backwards while facing the way from which they had come and the rest of the soldiers pressed on shooting a free passage through the few boarding parties not making their entry through the hangar bay.

With Loki in front they finally got to the middle part of the main corridor where they turned around a corner and continued towards the escape pods. Every single blast door on their flight route was locked and sealed. This manouver wouldn't stop the Yetten, but at least these obstacles would slow them down a bit. Most of the way everything seemed to succeed. The enginieers who had designed the ship deliberately placed the escape pods in the inner part of the ship which had the least chance of collapsing while under attack, so it wasn't till they made way all through to the escape area the signs of the ongoing battle was visible. All escape pods seemed to be intact and only a few of them had visible damage. All pods? Loki was fairly puzzled. C-334 should have been here with the children by now..? Loki open a channel on his communications device.

C-334, come in.

No answer. Only the sound of battle in the corridors of the ship thumping through the thick doors and walls...

Chapter 4: Thor

Of all the experiences Thor had had since he as a young Aseir went through basic training at boot camp, this one was by far the worst ever. We will meet again, he had said to Tjalfi, We will meet again, soon. That statement was true but it was not the entire truth and Thor's heart was clutching at the thought of what the future would bring. In just a little while those children would be right smack in the middle of more dangers and even though he knew for sure that they would survive, he had no idea what so ever how thing would play out. He did not know what horrific scenarios they would have to go through before coming out on the other side. Sometimes ignorance is really a blessing, he thought to himself while walking down the corridor heading for the bridge. He knew they would eventually be all right and this knowledge was in fact the only thing he could think of to convince himself that he was making the right decision. If only he had known more about the children's fate... not in so many details, just the basic line. But he didn't. Even with the capacity of traveling through time there was a limit to what he knew. He still had to depend entirely on whatever his future self chose to tell him and it really made his job rather difficult. Every choice he made felt like throwing the dice, making his decision blindfolded while placing his complete trust in his future self and unquestioningly accept the sound judgement of his future self. It was definetely more than he had signed up for in his youth and it almost made his head spin.

At last he reached the door to the bridge and pressed a button on the panel.

Thor, he said to the device carefully adding plenty of air on his voice to give the device enough to work with.

Analysis commencing… it sounded through the loud speaker. Short pause. samples approved, opening door, the helmsman said and shortly after the door slided open.

At the bridge the helmsman sat watching the virtual screen above the console. He had a concentrated look on his face as he looked askance at Thor without lifting up his head. For just a short moment their eyes met and the helmsman nodded towards the screen.

Thor placed himself behind the helmsman and looked at the screen.

A vessel?

The helmsman shook his head.

I don't think so, he said, It's moving along a straight line and even though the size matches a Yetten cruiser, it is more likely a comet. A small one at that.

And if it is a cruiser?

The helmsman lifted up his head and looked at Thor with confidence and wonder.

What kind of business would a Yetten vessel have all the way out here? he asked, The Fyrkat Project has been shut down and there is no other apparent reason for them to jump out of hyper space this far from home.

Thor stood still with a pensive look on his face.

Call the observation deck and let Freya know about this, he finally said.

The helmsman lifted his eye brows in a puzzled expression but he quickly realised how serious Thor was. Lightly shaking his head he returned his focus on the screen in front of him.

Bridge to observation deck, he called. Freya responded immediately and they had a short conversation. Thor felt relieved when he heard the children were okay but he did his best to conseil it.

Keep an eye on the scanners, Thor ordered, let Freya know if there are any chances. I'll be going to the escape area to check if everything is okay down there.

Aye, captain, the helmsman answerede and opened the door.

Well out in the corridor Thor went in the driection of the escape area but he didn't get very far before he turned around a corner at a side corridor and went a bit down. He stopped at a wall between two doors and peeled of a panel. Behind the panel he pulled up a lever. Then he grabbed a couple of wires and cut thenm with a pair of tongs. Then he attached the two ends and pulled down the lever again. A jolt of electrical sparks and then a hidden door opened.

The room behind the door was small and there were no furniture in there. On the floor three square pillars went all the way up to the ceiling. Thor touched the middle of one of them with his index finger revealing a screen the size of one of their handworn consoles. All right then, he thought to himself. Letting all the air in his lungs out Thor began reprogramming escape pods 3 through 10.

As he had finished the job he sat down on the floor waiting for the chaos he knew would soon come. And he was right. Less than one hour later he heard the first sounds of war. Violent explosions hit the hull of the ship and Thor looked at his watch. Twenty minutes to go… Quite a long wait and right now he wished he could just skip the next twenty minutes. But he couldn't. He had to wait the old fashioned way before he could leave the room and meet Loki and the others in the escape pod area just like his future self had instructed him. So, he decided to spend the time thinking everything through making sure he had followed all instructions to the letter. The escape pod had been reprogrammed. When the Yetten EMP hit the ship it would cripple every single system onboard except for those eight pods. As soon as the entire system shut down he would meet Loki in the room with the escape pods and pretend to begin repairing pods 3 through 10 so that they could get away safely. He looked a his watch again. Fifteen minutes left. It was almost unbearable... When he had 'fixed' the pods Freya would arrive with the children and they would all jump into the pods and leave before the Yetten troops would succeed in fighting their way through the ship to where they were. Ten minutes... His future self had told him that everyone would survive the coming troubles, but when he had questioned him about the details his future self had been remarkably silent.

I can't tell you more, he had answered, we are already balancing on the sharp edges here. As far as we know, History is fixed and can not be changed. But only when it comes to the bigger lines. Some minor details may be flexible and if so, they could move in any and all directions. If I tell you too much, I know you will act on it and maybe cause a change in history for some of those involved. You wouldn't risk pushing everything out of balance, would you?

No, of course he would not want something bad to happen. As of right now he knew that both Tjalfi, Roeskva, Loki and he himself would survive and despite a desperate wish to know more about the fate of Sif, Freya and the others, he would never risk the children's lives on it.

5 minutes to go…

He began counting the seconds but it was very difficult. He simply couldn't concentrate. Instead his thoughts whirled around how he had met the children back in the day at Fyrkat. He had met Tjalfi first. That brave boy, who was the only one among his people to have the courage to approach Fyrkat. The boy had been standing there, waiting with the rest of the villagers and while the village elders were anxiously debating who they should send as their representative, as none of them dared, suddenly Tjalfi had let the fearful grown men stand and had begun walking towards Fyrkat and the gods. Within a very short time Thor had completely lost his heart to the smart boy, who had quickly shown a very remarkable intelligence. Tjalfi understood things about the Aseir technology that even some of the brightest young Aseir took years to learn. Of course Tjalfi did not have a very developed language to describe technicalities, but he had shown from the very beginning an amazing ability to take examples from his everyday life and use these to explain how Aseir technology worked. This was probably one the main reasons why Thor had decided to take Tjalfi under his wings and started teaching him, although it was an awful lot of risk to take.

And Roeskva? Well, she was amazing too. When the Yetten had attacked, this spiteful little girl had without any hesitation chosen to follow her brother all the way to the inner circle of the Fyrkat device.

Thor stole one last look at the time. Just one single minute left... He got