Page 92 of Alien Viking's Plunder

“All the pieces will have landed in a straight line,” Josie said, remembering some orbital mechanics. “Once you find the stern of the ship that Siv and Sigurdr clung to, you can take a map and mark that and the place where this bow piece landed. Not this spot, but up there, where we hit the ground first.” She pointed up to the side of the mountain. “Draw a line between those two points, and near that line you will find all the other pieces.”

“I will do that when we get back home,” Bragr said. “You seem so sure, it has to work.”

Josie kicked at the big piece of theKraken’s bow. “Why is it carved like a dragon head, anyway? Your shield on the ship had a dragon on it, too.”

Bragr sent a brief glance to the east. “I will tell you about that some other time. And in some other place.”

They pulled and lifted the bow onto the shortship, leaving only space for the two of them.

“Some honeymoonthisis,” Josie panted, out of breath from the heavy lift. “All we do is learn languages and pick up trash.”

Bragr tied the bow down with thin ropes. “I thought you enjoyed learning languages. You sound like you do.”

“I really do,” Josie admitted. “Especially teaching them. You’re a terrible student, but you’re a great linguist. It’s incredible how you do that.”

“I suppose Iamsomewhat incredible,” Bragr said modestly as he got into the shortship. “But so are you.”

“If the Earl of Hjalmarheim says so, then who am I to protest? Now we’re going to the stone hut, right?”

“We have to replenish the food and firewood, and I want to check on the pyre. There may be pieces that should be buried.”

They flew fast over the mountains and down into the wooded valley. In less than an hour they traveled as far as they had walked in two days.

It had snowed since they’d been at the dome-shaped hut, and their tracks could only be seen as soft indentations.

They got crates and wickerwork baskets and pots out from the shortship and carried them inside, putting them in their proper places.

Bragr grabbed Siv’s ax and went out to chop wood. Josie followed him out into the sunshine. Straum was being unusually bright, and one of the energy beams had clearly gotten closer.

“Bragr,” she called and looked up. “Does it usually look like that?”

He shielded his eyes. “I’ve never seen it like that before. You can’t see Straum anymore, just the beam. It fills the whole sky!”

“It’s pointed almost directly at us,” Josie said, getting nervous.

Bragr draw Brisingr from its scabbard and held it up. “Holy Zhor!”

The whole blade’s edge was sparkling silently in every color of the spectrum, looking more like fireworks than a sword.

Josie looked away from the sun. Her shadow was only a dark patch right beneath her because most of the sky was a brilliant blue light. The silence just made it more eerie. “I don’t like this, Bragr.”

“Nor do I,” the Viking said. “Let’s get home. If there’s a Shine happening, I want to be with my people.” He put the ax back in the hut, and they got into the shortship. Josie noticed that jumping in was effortless, as if she was becoming stronger. The pulsar had to influence the neural lace.

“The shortship moves faster than before,” Bragr said as they speeded away from the hut, up the hill towards the coast. “Straum gives more power.”

“Just as long as it doesn’t kill us,” Josie said tightly.

They didn’t say more until they saw the jarlagard in the distance. People were milling around, many staring at the sky.

They came to a halt and jumped out.

“Is it the Shine?” Bragr asked.

“It looks like it,” Heidran said. “And it feels like it. Old bones like mine aren’t well-suited for a Shine. They ache.”

“Then go inside,” Bragr told him. “Get under a solid roof.”

“It’s no help, Chief,” the arch shaman said. “I have tried. But the power of Straum goes through everything.”

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