Read Online Star Wolves (The Tribes of Yggdrasil Book 1) by Hugh B. Long - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Hugh B. Long
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answer.
“Senior-miner Folant, please report."
Silence.
Heledd continued attempting to contact Folant on the ship's comm system to no avail.
----
H eledd became very concerned . She received no response from Folant in thirty desperate minutes. Repeated attempts to make contact were fruitless. She decided she would don her EVA suit and see what happened to Folant.
Heledd was normally a calm person. Mining asteroids was a routine activity, and usually uneventful. Though she was young, most considered her very well composed, but today her composure was being put to the test. She could feel her hands shaking as she put on the gloves of her EVA suit. They snapped magnetically to the arms, despite her trembling. She snapped shut her helmet and checked the instruments on her suit’s wrist panel—all was normal.
Maybe he had a suit malfunction?
Heledd repeated Folant’s journey and was soon inside the damaged vessel’s airlock. She closed the external hatch, and felt the atmosphere being pumped into the chamber. Her suit’s sensors indicated it was breathable, but she decided it would be best to keep her helmet on, just in case that was a mistake Folant made. Maybe the atmosphere inside the ship was contaminated?
She scanned the corridor with the light mounted on her suit. Nothing—just a long hall leading to a chamber at the end. She pulled her weightless body through the corridor by a hand rail, mounted on both right and left sides.
Suddenly, gravity kicked in, and she was yanked to the floor, knocking the air out of her lungs.
Looking up and trying to catch her breath, she saw a man holding a weapon of some kind. He said something she did not understand, then saw a flash of dark purple light.
----
H eledd struggled to clear her mind as she regained consciousness. It was like trying to stand up with a great weight on her shoulders. Her EVA suit was gone, and she wore only her thin green jumpsuit.
Her eyes registered a dim light and she saw figures moving around in front of her. She heard screaming. It was Folant. He was pleading in the old tongue, Yggdrasi, instead of Alfish. She wasn’t fluent in Yggdrasi, but she knew he must be pleading for his life. His tone was enough to tell her that.
As her mind cleared, and her vision along with it, she almost wished she were unconscious again. She saw Folant on the wall opposite her, bloodied and battered—they were torturing him. Heledd felt panic suffusing her body, mixed with a numbness, and a desire to take action, all at the same time. Being in pain is one thing; watching a friend in pain while you are unable to help, is quite another.
One of the men looked like an Alfar. He was stocky, and grizzled, with a heavily scarred face—and he was approaching her. “Ah, so you are awake. Good. Perhaps you will answer our questions. Your friend has been unwilling to do so.” The scarred one looked her up and down with a cruel smile. He was tall and powerful looking, like an Alfar warrior, but his skin was a sickly pale-blue, as though he’d never been outdoors.
Heledd was not the most attractive female, and she knew that, but the creature’s lascivious inventory of her body, replaced panic with dread. He turned abruptly and looked back at Folant. “If you are not afraid for your safety, perhaps you care for hers? No?”
Folant looked up wearily, impotently.
Her captor wheeled quickly back toward Heledd, the back of his hand connecting hard with her face. She was stunned again. She could feel warm blood trickling from her nose and pass her lips. Her cheek pulsed with pain.
She and Folant were restrained upright in some kind of harness. There were straps, and odd lights around each of the vertical bays. It looked like there was a bank of six bays on Folant’s side, and probably on Heledd’s as well.
“I am sorry,” the scarred man said to her, “I do not want to damage my merchandise , but your friend is very vexing.” He turned back to Folant. “I want
“Senior-miner Folant, please report."
Silence.
Heledd continued attempting to contact Folant on the ship's comm system to no avail.
----
H eledd became very concerned . She received no response from Folant in thirty desperate minutes. Repeated attempts to make contact were fruitless. She decided she would don her EVA suit and see what happened to Folant.
Heledd was normally a calm person. Mining asteroids was a routine activity, and usually uneventful. Though she was young, most considered her very well composed, but today her composure was being put to the test. She could feel her hands shaking as she put on the gloves of her EVA suit. They snapped magnetically to the arms, despite her trembling. She snapped shut her helmet and checked the instruments on her suit’s wrist panel—all was normal.
Maybe he had a suit malfunction?
Heledd repeated Folant’s journey and was soon inside the damaged vessel’s airlock. She closed the external hatch, and felt the atmosphere being pumped into the chamber. Her suit’s sensors indicated it was breathable, but she decided it would be best to keep her helmet on, just in case that was a mistake Folant made. Maybe the atmosphere inside the ship was contaminated?
She scanned the corridor with the light mounted on her suit. Nothing—just a long hall leading to a chamber at the end. She pulled her weightless body through the corridor by a hand rail, mounted on both right and left sides.
Suddenly, gravity kicked in, and she was yanked to the floor, knocking the air out of her lungs.
Looking up and trying to catch her breath, she saw a man holding a weapon of some kind. He said something she did not understand, then saw a flash of dark purple light.
----
H eledd struggled to clear her mind as she regained consciousness. It was like trying to stand up with a great weight on her shoulders. Her EVA suit was gone, and she wore only her thin green jumpsuit.
Her eyes registered a dim light and she saw figures moving around in front of her. She heard screaming. It was Folant. He was pleading in the old tongue, Yggdrasi, instead of Alfish. She wasn’t fluent in Yggdrasi, but she knew he must be pleading for his life. His tone was enough to tell her that.
As her mind cleared, and her vision along with it, she almost wished she were unconscious again. She saw Folant on the wall opposite her, bloodied and battered—they were torturing him. Heledd felt panic suffusing her body, mixed with a numbness, and a desire to take action, all at the same time. Being in pain is one thing; watching a friend in pain while you are unable to help, is quite another.
One of the men looked like an Alfar. He was stocky, and grizzled, with a heavily scarred face—and he was approaching her. “Ah, so you are awake. Good. Perhaps you will answer our questions. Your friend has been unwilling to do so.” The scarred one looked her up and down with a cruel smile. He was tall and powerful looking, like an Alfar warrior, but his skin was a sickly pale-blue, as though he’d never been outdoors.
Heledd was not the most attractive female, and she knew that, but the creature’s lascivious inventory of her body, replaced panic with dread. He turned abruptly and looked back at Folant. “If you are not afraid for your safety, perhaps you care for hers? No?”
Folant looked up wearily, impotently.
Her captor wheeled quickly back toward Heledd, the back of his hand connecting hard with her face. She was stunned again. She could feel warm blood trickling from her nose and pass her lips. Her cheek pulsed with pain.
She and Folant were restrained upright in some kind of harness. There were straps, and odd lights around each of the vertical bays. It looked like there was a bank of six bays on Folant’s side, and probably on Heledd’s as well.
“I am sorry,” the scarred man said to her, “I do not want to damage my merchandise , but your friend is very vexing.” He turned back to Folant. “I want
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