Page 7 of Alien Viking's Plunder

She reached the main rotunda in the station, and her heart sank in her chest. The aliens had boarded the station in many places, and now there were blonde, horned giants running around all over the place, laughing and talking cheerfully to each other as they made their way further into the station.

She spotted Security people too, but some were on the floor and some had plainly given up the fight before it had started. She ran over to a group of them who were still up, being ignored by the attackers.

“Where is everyone?” Josie asked.

“Spread all over the station,” one officer said, gingerly touching a big bruise on his cheek. “This happened too fast for anyone to make any kind of defense. And what can we do, anyway? They’re eight fucking feet tall!”

“We can totally take these guys,” Josie assured them. “I knocked out two myself. Come on!”

“The only order we were able to get before the comms went out was to let these guys do their thing and not interfere unless they start killing,” sighed another. “We don’t have any weapons that work on them. The batons don’t make much of an impression. And we don’t want to provoke them into using those swords. We have no means to use deadly force.”

“We’re not prepared for this at all,” the first said. “Nobody expected we’d ever be raided by fucking space Vikings.”

“Can’t we—” Josie began, then spotted the blue-eyed raider in the distance. He was exchanging jokes with some of his men, but he was also looking for something. When he spotted Josie, his face broke into a big grin.

Josie felt a spear of ice settle in her stomach. That was a predator’s grin. He was looking forher.

She ran again, towards the control section. The horned man called behind her, laughter in his deep voice.

Shit.If he was going to hunt her down, then she’d have to fight him. But he’d seen her fight, and he seemed a more thoughtful man than the others. He might have understood that Josie was more than she seemed.

3

- Bragr -

Bragr saw her in the chaos, despite the darkness. The whole station was ringing like a bell as his warriors plundered it.

“There’s gold, Chief,” one of them said in passing, carrying alien-looking containers on his shoulders. “Just there for the taking.”

“There’s every metal you can think of,” said a shieldmaiden, tapping the roll of copper she was carrying. “These small aliens must be some eager miners. This whole place is so full of goods I wonder how they can move around.”

“Then relieve them of their burden, Ragnhild,” Bragr said and slapped her on the shoulder, trying to not lose sight of that other female in the crowd.

She was running now, away from him. He walked after her, aware that the corridors in this space station had a low ceiling where it was hard to run without hurting his head.

The female ran with light and fast steps, her hips swinging because of their ungainly width. The roundness of that behind! The smoothness of her face! And she moved with such speed that there had to be something special about her. She was as swift as analfrand as alluring as ahuldr. Perhaps, he thought to himself, that’s what she was. A huldr, a woman of irresistible beauty, who would lure any man close into her arms and only then show him her real, troll-like nature before locking him up underground forever.

No, a huldr wouldn’t fight. He had seen this one fight two of his largest huskarls, his most ferocious warriors.

And she hadwon.

It boggled the mind. It had been incredible to witness, a spectacle so delightful that it had just about stunned him. A small female, beating up two of his huskarls while barely trying! Certainly females could be fierce fighters — he had several shieldmaidens among his most trustedherjere. But this little alien was different. She wasn’t used to fighting, he was sure of that. There was no swagger, no getting the measure of an opponent before she struck, no posturing, no base stance she returned to. This one simply threw herself into battle without hesitation, the way untrained people would when threatened. But it plainly worked for her, when she could move as fast as that.

She had passed into a corridor, and Bragr followed, speeding up to a crouched jog. He should take part in the plunder, but he had to know more about this female.

Already it was clear that none of the other aliens were like her. They didn’t fight, and they most certainly didn’t win. She had the warrior spirit, and there was fire in her eyes. There was something different about her, something that filled Bragr with curiosity and desire.

The corridor was dark and tight, and he had to keep his head down. Up ahead it forked, and he picked the left one at random.

Ah, there she was, standing still to see if he followed.

“I am coming for you,” he called. “I will take you to Hjalmarheim!” His voice echoed from the walls.

She bolted off into another corridor, and he followed.

But she had deceived him — she was standing still just behind the corner, and when he came around it, she slammed the thin end of her stick into his stomach.

It hurt, but Bragr was half-prepared for this trick and he slapped the stick away. But he was still out of balance, falling forwards and grabbing the female at the same time.

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