169-Valkyrie’s View: A Year Among the Stars
June 17th, 2552 Slipping along a slippery path
Part-time mechanic/sometimes suspect Kat James Reporting
So, it’s a good thing that Parataph do not understand my position here. It’s a good thing that I am surrounded by Einherjar since they showed up…
Last night around 02:00 SBT (Ship Board Time) while our fleet and that of the Parataph sat menacing each other, two Paratraph decided to slip into my quarters and remove me from the equation, they were followed by a third who was still trying to reason with them as they appeared, in the room – surrounded by Einherjar.
I guess they didn’t like the cookies.
One of my would-be executioners was the security man from our negotiations, the other was one of the stenographers. Oddly enough, the Paratraph trying to stop them— was Druckab – yeah, the Paratraph who tried to kill me on the Twilight of the Gods was actually trying to stop them.
As they came in, everything slowed down, I felt the pit of my stomach fall as I ducked, and pulled the room into the hall of mirrors with me. It turns out that all the equipment on the Gumbo wasn’t to help with the jump – it was to keep the pilot from doing what I did.
I didn’t just step into the well, I stepped into a well of wells, and as we hung there, we saw the fleet blowing up in mirror after mirror, after mirror – And it wasn’t just us or them – it was all of us.
I knew I had tapped into something I shouldn’t have been able to, but one moment we were there and the next I was falling. All I could see was destruction until I hit the deck plating and I was back in the bunk room with the Einherjar and three Parataph – and instead of continuing, they all stopped.
Everyone there had seen what I had seen and we knew we were seconds away from mutual destruction. None of us moved, none of us spoke, but we all reacted.
Stand-down orders were broadcast on every channel throughout both fleets. And that moment of stillness held until the vision faded and we were back in our own world.
The question of who started the war became inconsequential in comparison to the war that loomed closer— Druckab promised me he would return,then left, with my would-be assassins in tow.
Tower sat down next to me, the weight of his words was paralyzing. “You just saw a possible future- We just saw…”
I wish I had said something profound or enlightening but all that I could say was, “yeah.’
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