Rune
Being the Acting Captain of the Huginn had its perks. Like being able to commandeer one of the males under my command to spy on my mate. I couldn't do it myself, too worried that the fýst might claim me. Young Skarn was intelligent, innovative and utterly uninterested in females, which made him the ideal candidate. I'd given him control over several camera drones with the instruction to report to me at least three times a day. His first report had stated that my mate had met Michelle from the Hot Tatties agency and was now on the way to the shuttle. I'd immediately called Pam, furious that she'd outsourced the task of welcoming my mate to one of her employees. After seeing her in bed with red eyes and nose, puffy cheeks and an awfully hoarse voice, I'd accepted that Pamela was in no shape to work. She would have passed on her Peritan illness to my mate, which would have been completely unacceptable.
I paced back and forth in my cabin, unable to focus on my tasks. I should be on the bridge, should be on hand in case my crew needed something. But I couldn't let them see me like this. I was a berserkr, trained to be fully in control until the moment I let go, turning into a raging storm of blades and blood. If they realised just how close to losing control I was just now, they'd report me to Njal. As much as I didn't like my new position of power, I enjoyed the perks. I had a bigger cabin, I was served first at mealtimes, and I could turn Skarn into my eyes and ears. If I was demoted to my previous role, I'd have to spy on my mate herself, risking the onset of the fýst.
The cabin was bigger than what I was used to, but it was still not big enough for proper pacing. The Huginn was a larger ship than the Valkyr, built to house not only us Vikingar, but also our future mates and offspring. It still had that new smell of barely dried paint, no matter how often I told the ship's computer to simulate the scents of Jörð. Salt and flowers, the smell of my childhood. I'd grown up in a rural area by the sea, our house built into a windswept cliff face covered in millions of tiny flowers that somehow withstood the storms.
I was about to tell the Huginn to add more salt to the scent in my cabin when someone banged against my door. I'd locked it to give me some privacy. I slammed my hand against the opening mechanism, dreading what I'd find on the other side. It sounded urgent.
Skarn was breathless, red-faced and frantically waved his holo tablet. "There's an emergency," he huffed, stumbling into my cabin. "She's hurt."
Time seemed to stop. My body turned cold while my mind grew icy sharp.
"What happened?" I demanded tonelessly. There was no emotion in my voice, nothing to betray the turmoil inside of me.
"See for yourself-"
"No!" I growled, turning away from the holo tab. "Tell me. I can't look."
"It looks like she's broken her ankle. The drones are having trouble flying in the Peritan rain, so I didn't see the actual accident. The shuttle pilots are debating what to do. If they leave the bridge, they'll expose themselves to the females prematurely. But the females aren't strong enough to bring your mate inside without risking further injury."
"Patch me through to the pilots," I commanded. My heart was beating fast. My mate was in danger. I'd not even met her yet, but it felt like my world was about to end for a second time. How could this be? How could I feel so much for her already before I'd even seen her face?
Skarn typed on his pad and the large viewscreen in my cabin flickered to life, showing the two pilots on board the shuttle. To my relief, they were still on the bridge.
"Captain Rune, we were just about to hail you," Arne greeted me. "We can't reach Captain Errik and were told not to disturb Captain Njal."
I wanted to shake my head at there being three Captains at once. It was confusing and unnecessary. If only Njal had kept his dick in his breeches.
"Report," I said, the coldness spreading through my body. While we were talking, my mate was out there in the cold, injured, maybe dying. I didn't know enough about Peritan physiology, but I knew that they were much more vulnerable than Vikingar.
"One female tripped and is unable to walk into the shuttle. Do you want us to go out and take her inside? This shuttle doesn't have a separate exit from the bridge, meaning we'd have to pass through the passenger cabin. The other females would see us, which goes against the rules set by the agency. Or-"
"Stay where you are." I didn't recognise my own voice. It was as cold as the rest of me. "Tell the dating agency employee to stay with the injured female. We will port them."
"Port them? But that's-" He saw my face. "Yes, Captain Rune. We'll let her know. I suggest we wait to depart until they've been ported to the Valkyr, that way they won't be in any danger from the shuttle's exhaust fumes."
With a nod, I ended the transmission and turned to Skarn. "Port them to the Huginn's medbay. It's got more advanced equipment than the Valkyr."
"But-"
I glared at the young male and he shut up. "Yes, Captain."
Trusting him to do his job, I hurried towards the medbay. The Huginn was a brand new ship with all the latest tech that credits could buy. Us Vikingar were the richest species in the galaxy, after we each got a share of the combined wealth of our planet. As much as I wished that our home had never been destroyed, right now, I was happy that we could afford the best of the best. I wanted my mate to be not just in good, but in perfect health. The machines in the medbay would fix her injury as well as any other underlying issues she might have.
I got there at the same time as Klav, an unmated male who knew the most about medicine out of all of us Vikingar. Njal was planning to send him to the Intergalactic University to become a real medical officer, but not until the male found his mate.
"I heard we've got a casualty incoming," Klav said with a lazy salute. "Do you have further details?"
"It's my... it's a Peritan female. She's injured her foot, I don't know anything else either. She and another Peritan will be ported here momentarily."
Klav gave me a strange look, but I ignored him. I'd not spent much time in this part of the Huginn. Vikingar rarely got sick. We'd not been in a proper battle in over a rotation. Not a single raid. If it hadn't been for the prospect of females, the crew would have already rebelled. We'd never gone this long without at least a minor scuffle. Njal planned to eventually use one of the two Vikingr ships to go on raids, while the other would stay in orbit around Peritus to fulfil our duties. In return for guarding the planet, we had access to their females. Well, any female registered with that dating agency.
A bright flash was the only warning we got before two females materialised in the centre of the medbay. One was standing, the other sitting.
I turned away, realising I should leave now. The fýst would start as soon as I properly laid eyes on her. But I couldn't. My mate was injured. I had to be with her. If I left now just to make it easier for myself, what kind of male would that make me? A hrafnasueltir, a coward. I was many things, but never a coward.
I took a deep breath and faced the two females once again. Klav was already pointing his med scanner at the sitting female, his face scrunched up in concentration. I forced myself to only look at the other female, Michelle from the agency. She met my gaze and gave me a tense smile. We'd not met in person before, but I'd talked to her virtually a few times.
"Hey guys, this is-"
And that's when the screaming started.