Blue Star Enterprises

Two weeks later, the Asgardian delegation arrived. It consisted of Katalynn's entire fleet, but only the Valkyrie would be accompanying Alexander on his trip to Sol.

Since he had been aware of their arrival, he had taken steps to ensure there was no knee-jerk reaction from the Blueridge.

Thankfully, Captain Rhys was a lot more level-headed than Willard. He actually contacted Alexander as soon as he learned of the warships.

"Mr. Kane, going by the fact that your fleet has met up with these unknown ships, I'm going to assume they were expected, and they aren't pirates?"

Alexander didn't miss the man's emphasis on that last word. "No, Captain, they are not pirates. They are delegates of the Asgardian Union, and they will be accompanying me on my diplomatic visit."

The man frowned at that. "I will need to report this to the Vice Admiral. You are aware that they will need transponders; otherwise, defensive forces may fire upon them without warning."

Alexander bobbed his avatar slightly in acknowledgment. "They will be docking at the ring, and I plan on adding transponders. Please ensure there are no hostilities between your people and my guests, and I will ensure the same from their side."

The ring was being used as a way to get off the ship by the sailors when they weren't on rotation to the surface. Alexander was fine with that arrangement, so long as they remained civil to his other guests.

Valkyrie docked with the ring, but the rest of Katalynn's fleet maintained an orbit around the planet after refueling.

He flew up to greet Katalynn. The wait wasn't long. Soon, the airlock opened, and Katalynn stepped into the zero-gravity environment of the ring along with her advisors. The woman looked mostly back to normal, but Alexander could still see signs of the ordeal she had gone through in the extra lines around the corners of her eyes and the slightly gaunt look on her face that made her features look much sharper. Not that she had been fat or pudgy before, but her face had been much more rounded. If anything, the change to her appearance made her look even more imposing since she hadn't lost her raptor-like gaze.

"Lagertha," he nodded slightly.

"Jarl Kane, it is good to see you again. I brought your ship back. It is aboard the Valkyrie."

He nodded his avatar once more. "I will have a pilot come up and retrieve it unless you have one who wishes to fly it to the hangar?"

She turned to her tactician. "Vyrik, would you do the honors?"

The man nodded before grabbing a rail in the corridor and effortlessly reversing his direction, back into the airlock.

The rest of the group made their way to the shuttle hangar. Their timing actually worked out quite well, they boarded the shuttle just as Vyrik reached the hangar with the rather sad-looking prototype.

"What happened to it?" Alexander asked in surprise.

"The stealth materials seem to break down in Asgard's atmosphere. That was just the damage from one day. Someone on my team quickly realized the problem and we moved the ship back into space."

The vessel looked like it was wearing a fur coat, with hairs of stealth material sticking out from all the panels. It probably wasn't an issue with the carbon, which was pretty stable, it probably came from the bonding process of the layers. He would have it brought to the surface via a fishbone ship and let Lucas look it over in his absence. Maybe he could figure out what had caused the material to fray like that.

Once Vyrik crawled out from beneath the ship and entered the shuttle's airlock, Alexander ferried them to the surface.

"I see your STO pest is still here," Katalynn said in annoyance as soon as she stepped into his office.

"They will be shadowing us the entire voyage," Alexander admitted as he sat behind the desk. If the woman was annoyed or surprised by that fact, she didn't show it.

Katalynn glanced around the room before looking back his way. "I like that you have your weapon situated right behind you. It's a strong statement. The rest is a bit much for my taste, but it fits you."

He nodded his avatar and gestured toward the seat in front of him. They had a lot to discuss.

"I assume you learned about the STO's mission from the Lokis?" Alexander asked.

"They are still active on Eden's End if that is what you are wondering."

Alexander frowned at that, but he wasn't surprised. Despite Pembrooke's best efforts, he hadn't been able to uncover the remaining Lokis. If they were sending messages, they were so encoded that even the computer wasn't picking them up.

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It was less than ideal, but he understood they served the Asgardian people first.

"I have one in lockup," he admitted.

"If they revealed themselves, they likely did it with a purpose. Probably to see how you would react to their presence. Most Jarls just ignore them, but some actively work with the Lokis. If you want my suggestion, release the one you have in lockup and tell them to work with you or leave."

"Would they even listen?" Alexander asked.

She shrugged. "Is it any worse than what you have now?"

He had to admit she had a point. He would rather have the Lokis on his side instead of working against him, even though that didn't seem to be the case at the moment.

"I'll think about it," he responded. "There are a few changes to the Valkyrie that need to be completed before we go into STO space."

"A transponder, I'm aware," she said in annoyance.

"That's one," he confirmed, "but I have another I am ready to share with you." He flicked on the holo on his desk and Katalynn quirked an eyebrow at the blurred image and text labeling what was hidden as 'Top Secret'. "This is the reason I wished to have a private meeting before we bring in your advisors. If you feel like you wish to bring them in on this upgrade, I'll agree, but I want you to make that choice yourself. Simply slide your ID badge through the reader."

Without hesitation, the woman did just that. She studied the small sphere on the screen and the accompanying text that labeled it a comm node.

"How long since you cracked FTL comm tech?" she asked.

"A little over five months," he admitted.

She gave a slight nod at that and turned to face him again after studying the image one final time. "I've had Asgardian engineers attempting to stabilize quantum-linked particles for years now. They aren't going to be happy when they find out you beat them to it."

"Wait, you knew how the Qcomms functioned?" Alexander asked in surprise.

"Not exactly. One of our scientists discovered, or rediscovered, the secret about eight years ago. From there, it wasn't hard to determine how the Qcomm functioned. Keeping the linked particles from falling apart after one use is what has stumped them so far. Are you planning on giving this technology freely, or selling it to me?" she asked.

"For the trip, I'm going to install a node aboard the Valkyrie for free. I will be selling comm nodes to the Union shortly. The reason for that is simple. The technology may need to be used as a bargaining chip in our negotiations with the STO, along with my pseudo-computronics and a few other discoveries I've made. I won't be sharing the secrets of how they work or how to manufacture them for the time being, but the corporations will figure it out eventually if they haven't already."

She laughed at that. "That's one way to put a target on your back. What do you plan on doing when the corporations come for you?"

"Fight if I must, but by the time they realize what's going on, I hope it'll be too late to stop the knowledge from spreading. I doubt it will come to that though. Omni is one of the richest corporations in STO space and they chose to make a deal with me instead of attacking, albeit one that was more in their favor or so they think. If they were forced to come to the table, why should I fear Qcomm or the other corporations?"

"I heard about that woman you captured, but the Lokis didn't have details. Still, they might just decide to send their fleets to eradicate you in an effort to keep their stranglehold on the market."

Alexander smiled. "That's why I have this." He played a recording from his early warning system of Char's fleet approaching Unokane. "I've covered every system from here to Varlen, and a few even beyond that with stealth satellites. These satellites extend all the way to the front line against Xin, and I plan on expanding it even further. Imagine having an entire network across all of Asgardian space?"

"You would be willing to do that and give me and the other Jarl's access to this information?"

He nodded. "I think it's pretty clear by now that my choice to join the Union was the right one. To ensure the Union continues to exist, we need every advantage we can get. I won't be sharing the stealth tech or comm tech right away, but I will be making these satellites available at a price anyone within the union can afford. Each node network can be linked to my already existing one for a small one-time fee, or each Jarl can establish their own."

"Hmm," Katelynn mused. "I would advise against that."

"What? Why?"

"Need I remind you of what Isbjorn did?" she stated. "While I agree that outfitting Asgardian ships and planets with these nodes will be advantageous, I think you should keep the existence of your stealth satellites secret. The advantage they provide will be critical to the safety of the Union, but it can also be abused by people like Isbjorn. If you need to share access, I suggest you offer that option to the Lokis. I may not always agree with their methods, but I can guarantee they have the Union's best interests in mind. They will guard that source of knowledge like they guard their others, with religious fervor. The Lokis will also know how to distribute that information the proper way without tipping off where it came from."

Alexander paused to think about her suggestion. His original plan was to keep the satellite network a secret for far longer, but the larger it grew, the more unwieldy it became. It was already becoming a hassle to manage for the few technicians that Krieger had vetted and he simply didn't have the personnel resources to maintain it if it grew much larger.

It wouldn't be so bad, but there was a lot more ship traffic in the systems Alexander already had satellites in than he had expected. And he hadn't deployed them in any truly populated systems yet. When he did, that information would leap by magnitudes.

He was building a new pseudo-computronic core to help with the workload, but that would only stretch his resources so far, which was why he had decided to offer the option to Katalynn. He never figured the woman would turn down the opportunity.

Alexander also had to assume the Lokis would probably get access to the network eventually if he gave Katalynn access. She was right, he might need to consider working with the Lokis. It just irked him that they showed up on Eden's End unannounced.

He had a few weeks before they departed, and he would use some of that time to speak with the Loki they had in detention. Now that he thought about it, Katalynn probably had one aboard her ship. "I will think about your proposal, I need to speak with the Lokis. Do you have one in your fleet?"

For once, the woman seemed uncomfortable with the question. Then she sighed. "I do. He has specifically asked not to meet with you, though."

"Me? Why?" Alexander asked in confusion.

She shrugged. "I don't ask why Lokis do the things that they do; that road only leads to confusion and madness, as the saying goes with my people."

Well, now Alexander was even more intrigued to meet that Loki. "Tell them it will be worth their time."

"If you insist," Katalynn stated. "I will relay the message, but don't hold your breath."