Page 37 of Ulfar

Did I have it wrong? Was she never on the ship to begin with?

“I’m picking up a reading!” Djorn cuts in. His surprised tone shocks all of us, and I jerk to attention. “I had the idea to track the transmitter waves produced by the translators the surrogates use for the program. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to lock on to the signal. It’s faint, but if we follow it, I think we’ll find your girl.”

Hope surges anew. I peer at the star map Djorn has pulled up, showing a blinking cursor not far from where we are now. They must have had to stop to refuel, and that’s good news for us. Means we can still catch up if we hurry.

“I went ahead and put out a distress call for Sarah’s hometown, as well as a be-on-the-lookout request for the surrounding area. They won’t escape our clutches this time.” He cracks his knuckles, and I can tell he’s jonesing for a fight. He was there during our failed encounter too, and I’m sure he wants redemption just as much as I do.

“Go after them, Djorn,” Soren says, sitting back down in his chair. He clicks off the connection with the guardsman and pulls up the viewport. “Let’s show them the true might of Aesirheim.”

AWAKENING

SARAH

Idon’t know where I am. I don’t know how long it’s been. Everything blurs together, a muddled, sluggish dreamscape. Even when I’m awake, I’m not sure what’s real anymore. The drugs in my system make everything too fuzzy to move or even think. I remember choking down lukewarm broth, and I remember voices. Then there’s another sting at my neck, and I’m going under again.

One thing doesn’t change throughout my ordeal, however—and it’s the one sliver of hope I’m clinging to for dear life.

I don’t know if I’m hallucinating from the drugs or if it’s just a coping mechanism my brain dreamt up to shelter me from the trauma, but when I close my eyes, I see him. Hear him.

Ulfar.

He speaks to me. Holds my hand. Smiles down at me with that warm, forgiving glow that soothes my heart and stills my nerves.

But that can’t be real, right? I left him. Betrayed him, and Vi, and the ISA and everyone. My stomach growls, a fluttering down below reminding me of the life I carry inside me.

A life that is now forfeit to these monsters.

I try to cry out, to lift my arms and pull myself out of this hell, but a wave of dizziness crests and soon I’m falling, falling back into the void of nothingness.

I don’t know how long I stay like that. After a while, I almost welcome the oblivion. It means I get to see his face one last time.

* * *

I awakeat last to the sounds of a medical device beeping. The steady, high-pitched chirp grates on my fractured nerves, but I have reason enough to realize that means I’m probably in some sort of hospital.

I can’t hear the engines anymore, and I can’t hear the hushed voices of the Syndicate cronies gathered around me, discussing my fate like I was a choice cut of meat.

Am I...saved?

I try to get up and fail, my arms still too weak to support myself. Squinting against the glare of harsh fluorescent lights, I try to take stock of my location. It’s a small, sparse room, furnished with a bed, a side table, and a chair, but not much else. The door is closed and I don’t see any knob, but there’s a tablet mounted on the wall next to it.

I look around, trying to find the source of the beeping. The medical equipment I expected to see is nowhere to be found.

Still unable to right myself, I press a hand to my stomach, thinking about the child once more. Is the baby okay?

The baby is fine,a cynical voice in the back of my head says.They don’t care about you, only the child.

That’s the real cargo here.

I wince, a spike of pain cramping low in my gut. Before I have time to focus on it, the door slides open, and all my hopes of safety disappear.

Atraxia, leader of the Syndicate and all-around asshole, steps into the room with a tablet in hand and a self-satisfied smile on her face.

“Ah, good to see you’re finally with us,” she chirps. “We couldn’t have you awake in transit, lest you decided to fight harder for your little friends on Aesirheim. You understand, right?” She flashes me a smile with all her teeth, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

When I don’t answer, she continues. “We’ve run all the necessary diagnostics and I have to say, I’m impressed. The baby is practically perfect. Had I known that you’d be paired with an Aesir warlord, I would have put in a bid myself.”

I clench my jaw, trying to avoid saying something I might regret. For now, I want her to keep talking. It will help me get my bearings, and perhaps reveal some useful intel that will help me get out of here.

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