Rise of a Valkyrie

Part 69

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Through a porthole, a patch of blackness resolved itself into a mess of geometric shapes as the shuttle closed on the cloaked Banshee. They entered the main hangar, and Rose felt her heart leap as she caught sight of the large drop ships clustered at the far end, Rangers in full combat gear wandering between them. When she limped off the shuttle, the crew, obviously assuming she had a good reason to be there, ignored her. She looked around wildly, wondering if she should ask to speak to the Captain.

"Rose?" a familiar voice called, and she whirled around to see Christie stepping off a smaller dropship, staring at her with an expression of pure amazement.

She looked fierce in her full combat suit and was carrying a strange-looking backpack. Rose limped over and hugged her friend.

"What are you doing here? Why are you limping? I thought your recovery was going well?" Christie said.

"Um, well," Rose began, "I put two and two together about you being out here, and then the Rangers deploying, and well I had to get out of the hospital to come over here, and I squatted four hundred kilos which basically destroyed my leg again—" Rose stopped herself when she realized that she was rambling.

Christie stared at her, then down at her leg.

"Well," Rose tried again, "I just wanted to be here, and I don't know, maybe I can stack supply boxes or something?"

"If the Banshee's Captain finds out about this you're going to be in serious trouble. You're basically a stowaway."

Rose's smile twisted into a crazed grin. "Okay, well, I might have to tell them that you told me you were coming to Caldera, which I'm pretty sure is a big no-no in the intelligence business, so... hah!"

Christie stared at her in amazement. "Who are you and what have you done with Rose?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Did Kayla brainwash you or something?"

"The doctors had me loaded up with horse tranquilizers for a while, so that probably turned my brain to mush. Anyway, can you tell me what's going on? When are you going in?"

Christie briefly outlined the operation, and Rose was appalled to learn what had been brewing under the surface of her planet. That so many colonists had been kidnapped to be turned against her own friends and family was terrifying, and she couldn't imagine how Kayla must be feeling.

"Jump off is still a few hours away," Christie said, "but I'm not going in on the ground. I have to sit on the ELINT—Electronic Intelligence—ship. I will be spending the entire battle scanning for enemy radio signals with this fun little toy." She slapped her backpack.

"That sounds awesome," Rose said jealously.

"Hmm," Christie replied, suddenly lost in thought.

"I guess Thandi is over there in a dropship. I probably shouldn't go over and say hi."

"Hmm," Christie said again, then looked around conspiratorially. "I have an idea. Come with me and we'll get you a combat suit.

"Won't people get suspicious?"

"Oh, they don't question intel girls—they generally have no idea what we're doing. Plus, my team leader is sat in the Operations center with a shoulder wound, and... well, she trusts me—hah!"

"Disobedience starts to grow on you, doesn't it?"

Christie grinned. "I know!"

Once she had gotten Rose kitted out and armed with a weapon, Christie brought her back to the hangar where she approached the pilot of her dropship.