Chapter 5

Brodie had some free time, so he headed to the starport to check in with his friends. He pulled up to Loki’s Mischief and saw them exit the starship. Val climbed in through the back door while Erik walked around the nose of the transport and got into the front passenger seat.

“Go,” Erik ordered as he focused on securing his harness buckle.

Brodie had the transport in manual, so he stepped on the accelerator. The engine whine flooded the cockpit as they turned around and started back.

With the nav map zoomed out to show the planet, the city looked small. It was a tiny blue dot in the middle of a vast forest with threadlike roads spidering off to connect with other blue dots. But up close, it was home to nearly three-quarters of a million people. The two hundred thousand households were scattered over three hundred and fifty square kilometers, most of them hidden from the aerial view by the canopy of trees.

Once outside the confines of the starport, they plunged into the forest, encountering sporadic clearings for businesses or homes. Once on the road, Brodie engaged the autopilot and turned his seat around to face Val, and Erik did the same.

“I think I’ve made a mistake,” Erik said.

Brodie looked at Val, who intently stared out the window at the trees as the sun set. Granted, it was a beautiful sight, but he recognized she was throwing Erik to the wolves on this one. Brodie turned to Erik and raised one eyebrow in a silent question as to what he was talking about.

“I shared the rest of the ship plans you sent me with Loki.”

Brodie knew Loki had seen the plans for the Vuln drone ships because Erik had used them to automate most of the ship’s functions. That would allow a small crew to pilot his starship. Besides the exotic plans for the Vuln, he remembered giving him plans for the Yahve. Brodie didn’t think that would interest Loki because the AI should already possess that knowledge.

Then Brodie looked up at the ceiling because he’d also sent Erik plans for a rare Burel ship. The derelict had been found by a mining ship in an asteroid belt. Encounters with the Burel were few and far between because they were xenophobic.

They also were engineering wizards who’d cracked the energy weapon problem. Energy weapons drained a ship’s power, making them impractical. The Burel had solved the problem by utilizing two separate power plants that were minuscule in size compared to those of any other race. If someone else could figure out how to build them, it would solve so many problems. One of the biggest benefits would be freeing up the large space currently devoted to power generation, as free space was always at a premium on a starship.

Another mystery was their drives. The few scans the Norse had been able to collect showed massive power outputs, which allowed them to escape quickly because they could outrun anything that wished to chase them.

The Burel ship plan was probably top secret because the Norsemen held out hope that they might be the ones to figure out their technology. If they could, it would give them an enormous technological advantage over all the other factions in this part of space.

“Please tell me you didn’t give him the Burel plans,” Brodie implored.

“I found some strange-looking laser turrets in the storage hold. When I asked Loki about them, he said that he planned to ‘repair’ some of the turrets with these upgrades,” Val said to indirectly answer his question.

“Loki wants to know if you have any other plans he can review. He said it would speed up his ‘repairs,’” Erik said.

“Should we cut our losses, shut down Loki, and get a new AI?” Brodie asked.

Both his friends said, “No!” at the same time.

“Explain,” Brodie ordered.

“With the upgrades he’s made, I would put Loki’s Mischief up against anything smaller than a cruiser and expect to win,” Val said.

“Seriously!?” Brodie asked skeptically.

“It’s not just firepower. Loki is upgrading everything on the ship,” Erik said excitedly.

“You said you thought you made a mistake,” Brodie pressed.

“The mistake wasn’t sharing the ship plans. I told him about the weapons research facility on Mulheim. He wants us to go there so he can hack into their servers,” Erik said.

Val bit her bottom lip before sharing, “He might have hacked into the Goth ship.”

“F-me,” Brodie said. “They won’t be pleased when they learn that.”

“They do have better shielding,” Val said, letting him know what information Loki had stolen.

He’d been back home less than a week. Yet already his ship’s AI had shot down two ships, salvaged an unknown number of derelicts in the storage yard, and now absconded with Goth technology. This was his responsibility, and he needed to talk to his father about how he should handle it.

They found his grandmother puttering around in the kitchen when they got home. She now had three young girls to help her.

“Cut it thinner and be careful to make it the same size, or it won’t cook evenly,” Grandmother told the girl slicing vegetables.

Erik spotted another girl thinly slicing a smoked fish, Røkt Laks, and stole a piece.

“Erik Tor! I see you,” Grandmother sternly warned.

He stuffed it into his mouth and moaned. “You guys have to try this. Your grandmother has become a better cook now that she has help.”

The three girls all got wide-eyed for fear Grandmother wouldn’t be pleased. They all relaxed when she gave them a big smile and hugged them.

“It’s time for a break. Grab a round of cheese, the smoked fish, and bread,” she ordered her helpers. “Val, you know where I hide the good cider. Grab a jug so we can catch up.”

Then his grandmother faced him. Her gaze traveled down his body slowly, descending like an elevator.

“Your mother told me you’re too skinny. We’ll have to fix that.”

Some things would never change. Brodie’s grandmother had been saying that for as long as he could remember.

It didn’t take long for his parents to join them. Erik and Val had been fixtures in their home until they left for the academies. They’d beaten Brodie home by about a month but hadn’t come to the house to let his grandmother feed them.

Brodie leaned over to his dad when the conversation lulled and asked, “Do you have ten minutes?”

His dad nodded, and they walked to his office.

Bjorn was conscious of status, so his office was made of metal with wood accents. His desk was a massive slab of purpleheart with live edges that gave the room an industrial/rustic feel. His dad was fastidious, so it didn’t surprise Brodie to see a clean desk. Behind the desk stood two large flags. Of course, there was the axe and spear centered on a shield for the Norsemen. The other was blue and gold with a dragon’s head, representing their clan.

In his father’s meeting area, there were two long couches facing each other with a comfortable chair at the head. In between the couches was a wormwood coffee table. At the far end, there was a massive fireplace with a small fire burning. Bjorn gestured at one of the couches for Brodie to sit on while he took the head chair.

Brodie quickly filled his father in on what Loki had been up to, which amused his father. That was right up to the point when Brodie told him his AI had hacked the Goth ship.

“Send me the schematics,” Bjorn ordered, then paused. “Did Loki find anything of interest?”

“Val said they have superior shielding. I would guess Erik has been looking at the files, and I can comm Loki and see what he says, if you want.”

His father nodded, so Brodie connected to his AI. Before he could say anything, Loki interrupted him.

“Captain, hold one moment,” Loki said.

His communicator pinged, and he quickly read a message that had an app attached.

Loki: This is not a secure line. I am detecting someone listening to our conversation. I’ve sent you an app that will fix this.

Brodie showed his dad, who suddenly became stone-faced. That told him his father was concerned about this revelation. They were supposed to have the Norseman Empire’s best VPN, which had been sold as uncrackable.

The app took a moment to load and activate.

“You are secure now, Captain,” Loki said.

“Can you trace who’s snooping?” Bjorn asked.

“Greetings, Bjorn Erikson. Three parties were listening in: Gunderson intelligence, a pirate base in the asteroid belt, and the Goth ship. From the signature of the probe, either the Gunderson clan gave the pirates the technology or the pirates stole it from them.”

His father’s face flushed, and his eyebrows pinched together in anger.

“Let’s deal with the security breach in a moment,” Brodie said. “My father would like to know what you discovered from the plans you got from the Goth. He’s aware of the upgraded shields.”

“One component of their shielding you should install on all your ships is their counter to EMP attacks. They utilize small shield generators specifically designed to protect critical equipment throughout the ship,” Loki said.