Pellan Vell motioned the next Galactic Union officer forward as he approached Peter. “Lieutenant Commander Sigmundsson I would like to present Helka Odinsondottir. She is part of our data analysis team.”

“Pleasure,” the woman extended her hand. Even though she was rather tall for an average human, Peter’s height dwarfed her five foot 8 inch frame. She had a classic nordic appearance with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a loose braid that hung on one side of her head. The braid did not match the formality of her uniform. It was looser with small wisps of hair framing her face. Her eyes matched the iced blue of the glaciers of Iceland. Her uniform was in stark contrast to her pale skin tone. The uniform was a coat and pants set made of what looked like black leather. The cut however wasn’t the sleek lines many others wore but looked more like a functional coat one would wear outdoors. “Please call me Helka,” she stated and gestured to one of the nearby shuttles.

“This should be fun,” she said as they walked to the vessel. “Do you like jokes,” she asked him. “If so I have one.”

“Two spies walk into a shuttle. They don’t say anything. Just exchange glances.” The joke ended by her reaching the shuttle entrance and giving him a subtle eye glance to take two seats in the back. There was nothing hostile or deceitful in the act. In fact it was far more playful making fun of the odd situation they were in. Both Helka’s career path and Peter’s tended to be more cloak and dagger. She had never been introduced to another spy so blatantly and then told to go play nice and answer questions. Usually it was the other way around were she found a target, earned their trust, and got the information she needed.

Moving to the back of the shuttle in the seats she indicated, Helka sat down. “I do hope we will talk over the next few hours. Random eye glances can be so hard to interpret.”

Helka Odinsondottir