Loki and Ingrid 39

My ship

“Wait, where the heck are we?” I look out the window of the little ship as I see some sort of satellite in the distance, “What system.”

          “No idea,” says Lyd, “But back off, I’ve got a ship coming in.”

          “Great.”

          “Are they lost? HEYYYYY SPACESHIP!”

          “Stop it, Lyd.”

          “What’s wrong, Ingrid. You’re one to talk.”

          “Yeah. So, what?”                        

          “You aren’t acting like yourself.”

          “I’m not myself. And you haven’t called me dumb yet, so…”

          “Fine, you’re dumb, and I don’t have time for this.”

          I back away as Lyd gets the controls ready.

          “Don’t shoot.”

          “What are you doing up here, Loki? Not your shift!”

          “Why is Ingrid up here?”

          “Ingrid can’t fly a ship—”

          “Can too! Sort of—”

          “You know damn well why she’s up here, she’s gonna tell me when to shoot and if something crazy’s going on! And if something explodes she’s gonna shut it down.”
          “Why are you so paranoid?”

          “There’s a ship coming in!”

          “Yeah? Did you try to make radio contact?”

          “No—”

          “Who’s there? This is the 9SS Valkyrie, over. Repeat, this is the 9SS Valkyrie. Over.”

          “Don’t be dumb, I don’t wanna die—”

          “Don’t shoot!—This is the 9SS Valkyrie, over.”

          “9SS Valkyrie, do you copy? This is the 360 Titan 07, over.”

          “That’s not good.”

          “9SS Valkyrie, do you copy? Over.”

          “It’s your own fault, can I shoot now?”

          “Hold on. 360 Titan 07, standby.”

          “Hold on, I’ve got a call coming in,” I say, “Should I answer it?”

          “Can I shoot them? I’m scared.”

          “Not yet, they might be useful, but keep your distance. And yes, answer it in case it’s Sif.”

          “Hello, is this Sif?”

          “No, do you know where she is?”

          “Thor? How did you get this number?”

          I hear radio static as Loki is still trying to figure out the Titan 07’s intentions. “Valkyrie, do you copy? Over. Repeat, do you copy?”

          “Sif gave it to me as a backup, is this Ingrid?”

          “Yeah, what do you need?”

          “Not glad to hear from me?”

          “Kinda in a pinch.”

          “Who’s ship is this?”

          “Lydvor’s—at least I think—I was kind of out—”

          “What?”

          “I was—”

          “What were you telling me about the infinity stone, Ingrid? While you’re here—”

          “Nothing.”

          “Nothing you say? But you were the one who called!”

          “Um, no time to explain right now. I mean, Lyd knows where it is…”

          “You’re in the ship with her?”

          “Yeah.”

          “Where’s Loki?”

          “Here, I forget if I told him.”

          “Told him what? About the stone?”

          “Yeah, I don’t want him to know…”

          (“VALKYRIE, DO YOU COPY? OVER.”

          “Titan 07standby.”

          “You’re stalling.”)

          “Can I talk to him?”

          “We have a situation?”

          “A Loki situation?”

          “No, not yet at least. Wish he’d just let her shoot them though.”

          “Shoot who? What’s he doing?”

          “I’m not exactly sure.”

          “Can I talk to him?”

          “He’s on the radio.”

          “What?”

          “He’s radioing the ship.”

          “What ship? INGRID?”

          “What do you need, you can talk to me.”

          “Better you than Lydvor, I suppose it doesn’t matter, but where’s Sif?”

          “I don’t know, I think she’s back on Asgard.”

          “Why don’t you know? She’s not answering any of the normal calls to Asgard or her ship…”

          “Um, like I said, I was kind of out.”

          “Can I talk to Lydvor?”

          “What?”

          “Put her on.”

          “Yeah, um, sure…LYD?”

          “Yeah?”

          “I’m putting Thor on the speaker!”

          “What now? Wait!”

          “Is this Lydvor?”

          “Yeah, whadaya want?”

          “Do you know what happened to Sif?”

          “Sif? Dragged Ingrid to my ship, said she had to go, wasn’t very specific, said we had to get off Asgard.”

          “Why, the crowds don’t like you, Ingrid?”

          “No, they—”

          Lyd gives me a look.

          “Well, yeah, but that’s—”

          “My old nemesis is back with this other bitch and they’re working for Thanos, crashed our party.”

          “Wait, there was a party? Why didn’t Loki invite me?”  

          “I can hear you, Thor!”

          “Valkyrie? What’s going on? Shavaaq, I think we got some big boys now, “Valkyrie, do you copy?”

          “Who’s this? No one’s hom—”

          “Wrong number, bitch!”

          “Lyd!”

          “Valkyrie, you aren’t fooling us, do you copy?”

          “I need to get through to Sif,” says Thor, impatiently.

          A female voice is on the radio now, talking to the first voice, “Did you get him?”

          “Possibly, but we may have gotten someone even bigger.”

          “Bigger than Laufeyson? I doubt that! And also, who is this Sif person?”

          “I don’t know about that, but we might not have Laufeyson…and his brother.”

          “Get them here alive.”

          “Yes, Shavaaq. Set up the trackers.”

          “Titan 07, this is Laufeyson, over. Titan 07, do you copy?”

          “Too late, they’ve got the trackers, idiot!”

          “Shut up, Lyd.”

          “I’ve been through so much crap to die now?”

          “Titan 07, this is Laufeyson, over. My brother isn’t here, over. Take him off the speaker, Ingrid!”

          “Alright, Thor?”

          “I’m still here.”

          “I don’t know where Sif is—”

          “I think she’s in trouble, whenever there is a crisis on Asgard, then still have an alert system set up, Stark helped me—”

          “I don’t have time to this, go to Asgard if you’re worried.”

          “Not possible at the moment.”

          “Details?”

          “None.”

          “Do you need to be rescued?”

          “No, but Sif, might. And tell me about that infinity stone, Ingrid.”

          “No. I’m sorry. It’s for your own safety—Thor? Thor!”

          “Shit, he hung up on you?” asks Lyd.

          “Yeah.”       

          “Titan 07, this is Laufeyson, over. Repeat, this is Laufeyson, over—”

          “They’re doing something to my controls—we’re getting closer!”

          “I told you to be careful, turn around!”

          “I’m trying!”

          “Valkyrie, surrender now, or—”

          “Titan 07, this is Lydvor Laufeysdottir and this is my ship, over.”

          “9SS Valkyrie, that’s interesting. Well, it’s not your ship anymore, please surrender. By order of Proxima Midnight.”

          “Shit.”

          “Now might be a good time to shoot.”

          “I can’t! My buttons are jammed! Wait, they’re shooting at us!”

          “Stop, they aren’t going to kill us, they want to bring us to Proxima, then Thanos—”

          “Yeah they’re gonna kill us. Screw this, I’m powering down.”

          “What?”

          “All my systems are down, you try! See?”

          “What are you doing, are you low on fuel?”

          “Well, there go the lights…it’s not worth it. They already got us. It’s your fault, if you just let me shoot…” Surprisingly, Lyd doesn’t sound angry, just defeated.

~~~

The young girl is sitting on the stool, her feet dangling as she hears footsteps behind her. Gadalia smirks, sitting down with her drink. “You’re a loser, Lydvor, always will be. Get off your ass, and get back to work.”

          “My legs hurt.”

          “You’re so whiny, oh, you have so many problems.”

          “I do, Gadalia, and it’s not funny.”

          “I’m native to Zephenare, an outcast since no one wanted me, I got rented out.”

          “No one wanted me either, and you’re lame.”

          “Don’t tell me that! You had your mom—”

          “Until I was five! Then I got abandoned on Jotunheim, you’re one to talk.”

          “You’re a loser, you always will be.”

          “That’s the best you can come up with?”

          “Yeah, get back to work, loser! You’re lazy!”

---

          Lydvor, now ten is scrubbing the windows of the dining hall spotless, for the thousandth time, it feels like.

          “Hurry up, new arrivals in thirty minutes, mandatory attendance, ugh.”

          “Gadalia, what a pleasant surprise.”

          “Hurry up!”

          “I’m working as fast as I can.”

          “Really, I doubt that!”

          “I swear!”

          “Okay, yeah, so new arrivals coming today, rumors some of them are Asgardian, funny that they have unwanted kids up there.”

          “Asgardians, ugh. So preposterous, or so I was told back home.”

          “Yeah, I met one once, she was a bitch.”

          “A bitch huh?” Lydvor has never said the word before, bitch. It feels so smooth, so natural, coming off her tongue. “Maybe that’s a good word for you.” She turns on the ladder, smirking. “Bitch.”

          “If you dare…” Gadalia’s expression is of pure malice, as she pushes the ladder….

---

A fourteen-year-old Lyd sighs, carrying her millionth load of furniture, soon to be filled with frivolous decorations for one of the parties for the rich people. She hates it. She hates every moment of it. But she has no escape. Her new friend, Gracia, has promised she’ll help her out one day, but Lyd knows not to believe such fantasies. “Lyd” is only a name for good people like Gracia, anyone else calling her that would resort to an immediate slap in the face. Her arms ache from carrying all the loads, and her back aches from that day’s lashing.

          She hasn’t eaten all day, and she feels dizzy, dropping her load on the ground with a loud thud.

          “Knew you’d be here.” It’s Gadalia. She stands over Lyd, her green hair looking sickly in the light. “Knew you’d fail. Better get those loads in or you’re gonna get it.”

          So tired, so hungry, so much pain…so empty. Lyd can barely think, let alone get up and pick up her load. “Gadalia…” she croaks, “Help me. Please?”

          “Sure, sweetie,” Gadalia reaches out her hand, and Lyd’s mind scrambles.

          “Oh, thank you, thank you, so mu—”

          “You thought I would help you, you little bitch? You thought your girlfriend would show up out of nowhere and help you—you thought that, didn’t you? Didn’t you!?” Gadalia cackles as her nails sink into Lyd’s cheek, the blood gushing out.”

          “You’re nothing but dirt,” Gadalia says, grinding her shoe into Lyd’s face. Nothing. So, I suggest you stop pretending to be something you’re not.”

~~~

“Did you think your little disguise would fool me, Lyd?”

          “Don’t call me that, Gadalia,” pants Lyd, “Don’t you—”

          “Ah, I love how I can finally do this to you and get paid for it,” smirks Gadalia. “You’re not talking, are you? Any of you?”

          I try to focus, as the pain of Lyd’s memory still lingers. I wonder what she saw from my memories. My parents and Calder? Loki and Nova? The infinity stones?”     

          “I gotta say, reading each other’s memories, that’s a real interesting tactic there, Gadalia.”

          “You think so, don’t you? You think so. I have to go with my superiors, but don’t worry, I’ll be back.”

          “I’m not worried.”

          As soon as she leaves, Lyd and I turn to each other, “What did you see?” We ask simultaneously.

          “It was really confusing actually—your brothers I think, and stuff about your parents—then it was some weird dark cell and there was this pink girl and she was trying to kill you and then there was this part with this weird forest maze thing and Loki was trapped in a thing and you were using a locket to talk? And then it was just a bunch of stuff with you and Loki arguing—and then there was the thing with your hand and some more stuff with your brother, intense stuff—” she hesitates, “And what did you see?”

          “You and Gadalia on Zephenare,” I whisper. “I saw you when you were little, and the time she knocked you off the ladder, and Asgardians…and,”

          “You saw it, didn’t you?”

          “Yeah.”

          “You saw everything, then.”

          It’s not a question. It lingers in the air.

          “I don’t know why it linked us like that. At least I was getting your memories and not Loki’s.”

          “Let’s not fire shots right now, we’re probably going to die. And also, a lot of them are two sides of the same story.”

          “I know, I was being annoying.”

          “Not a good time.”

          “I know.”

          “And Loki?” I ask, “What did you see, mine or Lyd’s.”

          “That girl knows some things.”

          “What?”

          “I got her memories?”

          “Gadalia?”

          “I don’t think that’s what she intended…she made the mind link to see what I knew about Thor and Infinity stones and Thanos and all that, but I was able to reverse the effect. I’m sure she didn’t anticipate that.”

          “Damn, I’d love to see inside that bitch’s head,” says Lyd, “What sort of stuff was in there?”

          “Well I saw a lot of unwelcome things with Thanos’ victims, and I saw her laughing and bullying Lyd, and—”

          “You’re hiding something.”

          “Fine. I know where the soul stone is.”

          “Tell me,” I whisper.

          “No.”

          “I guess you can’t argue with that, huh?”

          “Lyd, please.”

          “What is it with this infinity stone crap anyway?”

          “Enough, Lyd.”

          The door flies open as Gadalia returns, “Well, no one seems to know what to do with you, Ebony wants the satisfaction of killing you, Proxima wants you dead, Thanos wants you alive for information.”

          “Great. Now what?”

          “Shut up, Lyd.”

          “You don’t get the satisfaction of calling me that. Only these idiots do. But I can tell you one thing, I don’t know what these two know, but based on the memories, they are never, ever, going to talk, and neither am I.”

          “That settles it then,” says Gadalia, pressing a button, “This will slowly kill all three of you, combined with the fact that I have the keys, and you will never, ever escape. Ever.”

          I hear the door click closed, and her turning the key in the lock.

          After a minute of silence, Lyd says, “So, you aren’t going to try a charm or something?”

          “These coded chips prevent magic and sorcery. I have experience.”

          “What about mind control?”

          “That’s a whole different matter which requires close quarters with the enemy.”

          “So, there isn’t anything you can do? I’ll figure something out, bust down the door with my bare hands—or—” she falls to the ground in pain, “Guess I can’t say that!”

          “Don’t say anything.”

          “You should have let me shoot.”

          “You’re right, I’m sorry. One last colossal mistake. Ingrid, you’re small, can you fit in that heat duct?”

          “Maybe, but I’m not going to do that, that’s dumb.”

          “I told you to run away if anything happened.”

          “It’s a heat duct!”

          “Not worth arguing over, I guess. At least I get to be with you and Ingrid and not that bitch if I’m going to die.”

          “You like me now?”

          “No.”

          “I figured.”

          “You’re better than Gadalia.”

          “Everyone is better than her. Except Thanos—”

          “Don’t say it! Remember?” I yell.

          “It doesn’t matter and I’m not giving him the satisfaction.”

          “A lot of fuss over names today, it’s funny. It hurts Ingrid.”

          “I don’t feel anything.”

          “I know. You’re a stronger girl than me, and I want you to know that.”

          “That’s not true.”

          “Don’t lie to yourself.”

          “I know it’s not much, and your probably don’t like me anyway, but I want you to know you’re my friend.”

          “Well duh, what else do you call someone who you almost got raped with?”

          “I’m serious.”

          “Stop it. Leave me alone.”

          “Glad you two are getting along better than I ever did with either of you.”

          “That’s not true. For me at least.”

          “Ingrid, you promised me you’d run.”

          “I’m too big for the heat duct, you happy?”

          “Did you test it?”

          “Yes!”

          “No, you didn’t!”  

          “It’s a heat duct. I’m 5’4” and 120 pounds. I’m not a kid.”

          “Grapes.”

          “What?”

          “Could you fit grapes through a heat duct?”

          “Of course, you could, they’re grapes.”

          “I’m going crazy. I want some grapes.”

          “I want a chicken dinner.”

          “I want out, guys,” says Lyd, “You guys are dumb, I’m going to bust the do—”

          CRASH! I look up, only to see that the ceiling has completely fallen in, and a certain hammer is lying in the middle of the floor.