Page 3 of Berserkr
Just like every Vikingr on the Valkyr and the Huginn, I'd submitted a sample and was now waiting for a call from the agency. About fifty Vikingar had found their mates already. What had started as an experiment had now turned into a well-organised procedure. The agency brought the women - unaware they were about to meet aliens for the first time in their lives - to their local airfield, where they'd board a shuttle to the Valkyr. Until recently, Steff had then led the orientation process, but now that her belly was swollen with Njal's child, another Peritan had taken over. At first glance, Holly was a little gentler than Steff, but both females were forces of nature that barely a Vikingr could withstand. Holly was mated to Errik, the warrior currently named as Acting Captain of the Valkyr. Just like me, he wasn't happy in his role. Steff's baby couldn't be born soon enough so that Njal could take over once again.
Once the women had spent a few days getting used to life on the Valkyr, they were introduced to their matches. For some couples, it was love at first sight. For others, it took days or weeks until they officially became mates. What would it be like for me? Would I be one of the males who took their females there and then, claiming them as theirs? Or would it be a long, drawn-out process that would lead me to the edge of insanity?
We'd almost lost one male to thefýst already. Once Vikingr males met their mate for the first time, thefýst began; an unquenchable desire that would drive them crazy. Only claiming one's mate could end thefýst and save the male. It was rare to ever end in death, but with our species still at the brink of extinction, we couldn't afford any avoidable deaths.
A message appeared on the large viewscreen in front of me. Even on the observation deck I couldn't escape from my duties as Acting Captain. With one last look at Peritus, I opened the message. It took me several clicks before I comprehended what I was reading, and even longer to decide how I should feel about it.
They'd found a mate for me. My very own female.
I wanted to scream with joy and weep with frustration. I didn't have time for a mate right now. I was barely able to keep up with all the duties of my new role. If I reacted to my female like Njal had, this would end in a catastrophe. He'd attacked us, blinded and confused by thefýst. Njal was a strong warrior, one of the strongest I'd ever fought, but I was a berserkr. I could summon strength beyond that of a normal Vikingr. I'd trained all my life to hone my body into a weapon. With the secret rituals passed down over hundreds of generations, I could become stronger than Njal, stronger than anyone on board this ship. If thefýst affected me like Njal, it would take steel chains to keep me from killing my friends, my fellow warriors. And who was to say that my mate was safe from me?
I couldn't let it come to this. I'd have to claim her as soon as I could, before thefýst started in earnest.
In the beginning, we'd thought that only meeting one's mate face to face could set off thefýst, but Errik had proven that seeing her on screen was enough for the first symptoms to emerge. So I had to be fast. I couldn't watch her until our first meeting. Couldn't even risk looking at an image of her. And then, once we met, I'd mate with her. She'd understand. Would have to understand. I couldn't risk the crew of this ship, not even for my mate.
I called the agency. Pam answered at the first ring, clearly expecting me.
"Congratulations," she greeted me with a wide smile. "It's your turn, Rune."
Ever since ascending to my Acting Captain role, I'd communicated a lot more with Hot Tatties, getting to know Pam and her staff. She was a warm, friendly female mated to a Peritan male. Her best days were past her, but she had a natural beauty to everything she did.
"Do you want me to tell you about her?" Pam asked.
"No," I snapped harshly before she could utter another word. Pam stared at me in shock and confusion, although there was also anger simmering in her dark green eyes. "No," I repeated more gently, "I cannot know anything about her. Don't show me her picture. Don't even tell me her name. I don't want to risk thefýst starting prematurely."
"Is that even possible? I've not heard of it being caused by that."
"I can't risk it. Just tell me, when will she come here?"
"I can try to get her on the next shuttle to the Valkyr, so in three days from now. Of course, that depends on whether she wants to do that. I've not heard back from her yet."
My stomach clenched at the thought of my mate rejecting me.She had to agree to come here. If she didn't... well, I was friends with Torsten, whose hacking skills were legendary. He could break into the agency's database and get my mate's location for me. But that was only an option as a last resort. For now, I'd have to trust that my female was as desperate to find her mate as I was.
3
Laurel
It had all happened much faster than any of us had anticipated. I got the call from Pam only two weeks after I'd returned to London. She'd found my soulmate. Or so she said. We'd laughed about it in the office, wondering how many women actually believed that crap. As much as Pam seemed to believe in her own pseudo-science, I'd done some reading after my return. Soulmates were a myth. They didn't exist. And if none of the big universities had found evidence, what were the chances that a small Scottish dating agency succeeded where they'd failed?
But even though I was now almost certain that I'd not get a big headline about soulmates, there was still the issue of the disappearing women. Another girl had vanished last week. Her parents had been suspiciously unwilling to talk to me, but I was going to try again. First though, a trip to meet the guy chosen for me.
During our call, Pam had only asked whether I'd be prepared to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to get to know my match. She'd not mentioned the destination, but I'd gulped when she'd said I'd have to commit to stay an entire month. That didn't go down well with Nicole, especially since I'd be researching during that trip. The magazine would have to pay me. To keep up appearances, I'd told Pam that I was excited and was willing to go on that mystery trip. In reality, I didn't plan to stay longer than needed. Only until I had the evidence that Hot Tatties was involved in the women's disappearances. Then I'd leave, publish my story, before informing the police. And just like that, my career would be established once and for all. This was the break I'd been waiting for. I could feel it in my bones.
Unfortunately, there weren't any flights from London to our unknown destination, so I had to travel up to Scotland once again. This time, it was only cloudy, but it looked like rain wasn't far off. I hoped we'd go somewhere warm and sunny. Lying on a beach while Nicole paid my bills sounded very idyllic indeed.
A young woman held up a sign at the train station. I almost ignored her until I realised that Laurel Knight was me. It would take me a while to get used to this new pseudonym surname. Sometimes, if the topics I was researching were different enough, I reused the same alter ego two or three times, but this one was new. Using a different first name always screamed for trouble – it was hard to react to it when called – so I'd decided to only switch my last name this time. In the past two weeks, I'd further worked on Laurel Knight's identity, fleshing out the details I'd stated on the Hot Tatties questionnaire. Luckily, Pam had said that we didn't need a passport for where we were going. With their focus on kilted guys, we'd likely end up in the Scottish Highlands. Ugh. More rain. I wanted a beach and a tan line.
The woman introduced herself as Michelle and led me to a silver minivan waiting outside the station. Three other women were already waiting inside, two of them as blonde as my wig, the third looked like she had Southeast Asian roots. I took the seat behind the driver while Michelle loaded my suitcase into the back.
"Do you know who you're matched to?" the youngest of the women, barely out of her teens, asked me immediately. "Oh, and I'm Keira."
"Not really, the letter only mentioned his name. Rune. Weird name, but maybe he's not from around here?"
"My match's name is Knutr," Keira chattered away. "No idea if I pronounced that correctly. I was hoping they'd send me a picture of him, but Pam said it's a surprise. They don't want us to be biased based on the guys' looks."
"I hope mine looks like the men from their ads," one of the women behind me swooned. "You know, red-haired, muscle-packed, wearing nothing but a kilt. I know he'll likely be a boring guy in a suit, but a girl can dream."
"Aye, dream away," Michelle called out from the back. "I reassure you, your matches don't just look stunning, they also have the most amazing personalities."
