Page 84 of The Viking in the Vault
Then it slapped us in the face. Aliteralcorpse of a woman who followed him across star systems purely for the sake ofhoping he would be hers. And what the heck are you supposed to say about that?
Condolences! Sorry we found the body of a woman who was in love with you and died on a mission with you, sorry we were literally looking at her corpse. Do you want to talk about it?
It’s stupid to be jealous. I’m not sure if Iamjealous. Not exactly, at least. It’s more like…I didn’t realize how much Ragnar’s certainty in us was built on waiting: waiting for me, believing I was out there somewhere, crossing deep space to find me.
And Syf—she thought he was the one worth following.
I look over at him and he seems to sense me watching, his blue eyes meeting mine. Shadows flicker in their icy depths, one hand reaching for me and twining his fingers with mine. It feels good and reassuring at the same time that it feels like intense pressure—because he chose me before he even knew me, and I’ve known him for all of a couple weeks—days?—and now I’m being asked to decide?—
“You should eat, fenvarra,” he murmurs. “It’s been a long day.”
He withdraws his hand to riffle through his pack, and I can do nothing but watch as he starts putting rations and packed meals from home on the floor between us. Even going through what he’s going through, he’s still taking care of me.
So I reach out and stop him, stilling his hand.
“Ragnar…will you let me take care of you right now instead?” I ask.
He stares at me like he’s never even considered the possibility…then he slowly nods.
I take over, sorting through our rations. Ves, Davina, and Dr. Kallisto sit across the fire, the two professors talking while Ves openly gawks at us. I look over at them, frowning. “See something funny?”
Ves shrugs. “Just cute.”
Dr. Kallisto’s comm chimes suddenly, and we all go quiet and still, waiting for news. Her eyes are on the screen as she reads quickly and then taps out a response, sending it with a flick of her fingers.
“Well,” she murmurs. “Cosmia and Rishik have finished their preliminary scans of the pod.”
Ragnar goes rigid beside me. I take his hand and squeeze it, getting closer, reminding him I’m here.
“And?” Davina asks.
Kallisto meets Ragnar’s eyes. I know she’s not a warm person—she’s about as transparent with her emotions as a brick wall—but she softens just a little. “She didn’t suffer,” she says. “The pod’s stasis function lasted long enough to keep her unconscious through the failure. Whatever happened…she wouldn’t have felt it.”
A slow breath leaves Ragnar, like he’s letting out a negative emotion that’s been churning inside him. His grip tightens on my fingers, but he says nothing.
“That’s a small mercy, at least,” Davina says.
Ves, who’s pulled out their own rations, pokes at their food. “I know this is tragic—it really is—but isn’t it weird that she was there at all?” they ask. “Ragnar’s pod was fine, and I don’t think it was that close to Syf’s. Plus—how in the hells do that many cryo-pods get lost in an archive?”
Kallisto frowns. “There are some truly massive core samples in the sublevels,” she says. “Could be that the whole crew was taken into the Eiskammer without our knowledge, especially during the Nyeri’i Cataclysm when they were trying to acquire as many samples as possible with the fear that the Boreans would take us all out. They may have mistaken the ancient pods for anomalies and had no time to analyze them thoroughly.”
“But why did Syf’s pod malfunction?” I ask.
“Rishik and Cosmia found that the pod malfunctioned on initial escape, and was frozen with the others,” Kallisto says. “It didn’t happen recently. Which means…well, if others survived like Ragnar’s, they’re likely still down here and were dislodged during the earthquake.”
Ragnar frowns. “Did they determine if the pod detached from our ship prior to the crash?”
Davina cocks her head. “What do you mean?”
Ragnar strokes his beard. “Our ships were designed so some pods were on the exterior and others were on the interior—someof the crew was always meant to go down with the ship in case there was any chance of salvaging materials, while others would goout, seek help if possible.
Dr. Kallisto nods. “That would make sense. If Syf’s pod was on the exterior, it could have been lost before impact—detached before the ship even went down. But if it was internal…” She trails off, glancing at Ragnar. “Then the ship made it into the ice intact.”
Ragnar’s jaw clenches. “Or it nearly did.”
A heavy silence settles over the group. Because that means?—
“There could still be a wreck,” Ves finishes, their voice hushed. “Somewhere beneath us.”
