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_ Disclaimer: This story, the characters within it, the fictional names and places, the technologies, etc; the Universe in which this story is written is my own creation. In instances of ambiguity regarding the fictional status of something is concerned, work it out for yourself; if it is 100% (as defined as: Either entirely based in fiction or based on a theory or similar such production that is only hypothetical and so forth) made up then it is mine and you cannot touch it without asking me first and agreeing to my terms; if it is based in reality (as defined as: country names, historical events, objects and etc which currently exist or will do so in the next five to ten years and so forth) then my use of it in no way implies, claims or states (or is intended to do as such) ownership of such. When necessary or deemed appropriate, this author will reference/quote/provide legitimate reference to source material in the event of the use of something that is not of everyday use in writing (for example: a country name or historical event reference wont be referenced/quoted/etc unless a specific fact from a specific text or essay etc is used while statistics that are not made up or the guesstimation of this author, and other such things will be referenced according to their exact nature._

Many things from the contemporary day might/can/will be used as a creative medium, and as a creative medium only.

In short, use your brains and if you are not sure or want to point something out to this author, make contact and the issue will be resolved.

_ References: N/A_

_ Accreditations: ** __Tank Jaeger gets major credit for inspiring me with the idea to write a post-apocalyptic story in which the apocalypse is only a framing device (cf. Beneath the Skin) and for his general concept of Furries coming about as the result of Mankind playing with their genetic structure. He also gets points for writing such a good story that I felt compelled to join SF to tell him as much, and then to start uploading my own work.**_

_ Universe: The Last Good Thing_

_ Story: Tools of the Changers_

Kallukka Hagström's first memories were of his parents, his parents and their never ceasing lust for life. There was never a time when they did not seem to be laughing or smiling about something, which seemed odd to Kallukka once he was old enough to understand what they did for a living. The Hagström's sole area of employment was as Nekropole Stadt Dekonstruktion Kommissar; overseers in one of the many national programs to reduce, remove and recycle the vast tracks of cityscape that had been lacking in living inhabitants since before the Last Day of Miracles.

After the collapse of the old United Nations many of the old unions and treaties fell by the way side, discarded or forgotten in favor of survival. But once that changed and mankind no longer teetered on the brink of oblivion, the international stage scarcely resembled its previous self. The European Union tore itself apart, leaving in its place the Scandinavian Confederacy and a number of individual nations. Within this confederacy, the child of an Icelandic father and a Finnish mother Kallukka and his family lived, laughed and grew as Scandinavians.

The first thing to penetrate Kallukka's slumber was the smell of sea salt permeating everything. The second was the sounds of water lapping against the hull of the ship. What got him out of his bed was the sudden groaning of the ship and an echoing change in angle of the view out of the porthole. With an alarmed yelp of surprise Kallukka leapt out of bed, a childhood and adolescence of experience telling him to get to the bridge and find out what was happening to the ship. Opening the door to his meagre bunk, Kallukka was greeted with the sight and sounds of a crew at action stations and his most pressing answer was answered; there was definitely something happening. Joining the flow of half dressed crewmen and women he began making his way to the main bridge, where either his mother or his father would be the eye of the storm; two perfect points of calm and order amidst the chaos of a ship in peril.

'Left stairs, past the mess, Corridor 6, stairs again...' The long memorised directions didn't even become conscious thoughts as he followed one of the thousand different paths to a specific point on the ship. After nearly two decades of living aboard ship, sixteen of which had been spent learning and training, Kallukka's lack of a proper childhood had been substituted with the experience required to survive aboard a ship that spent most of its time in peril of one sort of another. Dashing through a series of open hatchways that served as an impromptu shortcut, Kallukka arrived at the bridge in a half the time it would have taken. Nimbly clambering through the bridge hatchway Kallukka noticed two things that were wildly out of order; first that both parents were on deck and second, that in front of them was not Svalbard as he had been expecting, but rather another ship.

"Unidentified ship, this is the S.K.F Ratatösk please state port of origin, course and destination. Repeat, state port of origin, course and destination." Looking up from the radio, Kallukka's father, Sumarliðiglared at his son only just arriving. "And where have you been boy?" In his usual manner, the glare itself lasted only the briefest of seconds before being replaced by a grin. Incapable of maintaining a straight face when faced with such a display, Kallukka flashed a grin of his own before replying with a practiced aloofness.

"I was sleeping, till the chop woke me up. I thought I'd best see if you needed my help steering the ship old man..." His father gave only an amused bark of laughter before returning his attention to the radio. Satisfied that their daily ritual had been completed, Kallukka turned to his mother at the helm leaning in to give her a light kiss good morning.

"Hyvää houmenta mama..."

"Hyää houmenta Kallukka, good to know you are well rested. We may need everyone before this morning is done..." Turning her gaze from the front view port for less than a minute, Onukka's eyes were full of the same roguish glint as her husbands; never prepared to participate in the verbal repartee between her son and husband, she never the less enjoyed it as much as they did.

"Oh? What's happening? Why are we not at Svalbard yet?" asked Kallukka with a stretching yawn. His mother's answer came in the shape of two nods of her head, first to the ship dead ahead and second to an un-manned station to the left of the main port, a weather console. More than a little curious, he went to the station and punched up the local weather, then the weather around Svalbard. Nothing unusual stood out until he moved the display to the area between the Ratatösk and Svalbard and discovered the reason for their taking a longer route. Between their positions the previous night and Svalbard, stretching for several hundred kilometres in all directions, was a spring blizzard.

Looking up in concern and moderate confusion, Kallukka indicated his irritation with a sharp gesture to the ship dead ahead. "So then what is the matter here? Can we not go around?" Looking at his father for an explanation and receiving only a repetition of the request for identification, the realisation slowly dawned on him. "You don't really think it would be a Feral ship... do you?" Even as he spoke the words Kallukka looked back towards the ship, lifeless and motionless in the water.

"It's not changed position for the last twenty minutes. No identifying marks, no signs of life. Even the engine is dead. We don't like the prospect, but going past that ship is the only way left to us to get to Svalbard..." The emotionless tone in his mother's voice was all Kallukka needed to hear; if his parents were serious about taking the ship past, then he would make certain that the crew stood the best chance it had should the worst happen. With a purposeful stride to the communications station and an agreeing nod from his parents Kallukka depressed the ship-wide announcer and spoke calmly into the microphone.

"All hands, all hands. Prepare for possible Feral boarding. Repeat, prepare for possible boarding. Arm yourself and man all action stations. This is not a drill, repeat..."

In the years leading to the close of the 21st century, gunpowder based weaponry began to rapidly decline, both in popularity and effectiveness. Medicine, at least prior to the cataclysm, had finally come on par with military technology and bullets were no longer enough for a guaranteed kill. By the turn of the century new methods of making war had been discovered; energy based projectile weapons, bioorganic explosives and ordinance, plasma and electromagnetic based defence systems. Automated war machines ceased to excel on the battlefield in the face of such technology.

Once the cataclysm began however, and the dead rapidly piled up, most such technology began to malfunction to the point where it became too unreliable and was phased out into obsolescence; at some stage in the process of the genetic cancer a mineral became present within the bodies of the dead and dying. Once decomposition began the mineral was released became airborne and began to gather within the cooling chambers, plasma spools and infecting the bioorganic constructs, much in the manner of dust.

Consequently, the term 'modern warfare' came to mean a more medieval approach to combat, rather than bringing to mind images of smarter and smarter automated bombs and mechanized weaponry. In the past armour and medicine were constantly striving to achieve a level playing field with weaponry; after the Last Day of Miracles the only difference was that armour and weaponry had changed places. The resulting technological pastiche somehow managed to keep itself balanced, even in the face of uneven breakthroughs and the whispers of mysticism returning to humanity.

"... This is not a drill. Prepare for probable Feral encounter." Ending the announcement Kallukka turned to his parents with a sombre look on his face and an arm pointing towards the hatchway. "If you are concerned enough to let me put the ship to action stations, then I am concerned enough to insist you both come with me to get ready." Standing by the door Kallukka waited for both his parents to depart before departing himself, signalling for two of the crew members to take the bridge. Satisfied that they were on their way to the armoury Kallukka made his way back to his bunk, his current state of tatted bed shorts less than ideal for the donning of armour. Without breaking step he entered his room and crouched down at the foot of his bed, throwing open the elegantly carved wooden chest that had been there since his earliest memories.

With practiced speed, Kallukka dressed himself in his pain-stakingly cared for black leathers; a set of light, but durable, armour to be worn under the heavier plate, chain and scale mails. Pulling on his second boot and double-checking the fastenings on the chest piece Kallukka looked at himself briefly in the mirror. 20 years old, just under six feet 2 inches and significantly more than slightly over the 50:50 genetic threshold; light grey hair that blends with the slightly darker body hair covering virtually every inch of his body, not enough to be a proper pelt but considerably more than the generation before his. Larger than average ears, several inches higher on his skull, tapering to a point and twitching of their own accord on occasion, with a face more lupine than sapiens. He was the pride of his parents, portraying more bestial traits than human exhibiting the shared dominant animal traits of his mother and father's mutated genetic lines. Satisfied that he had put all of the leather armour on correctly, he made his way down to the armoury to finish his preparations.

The Ratatösk armoury; two decks of armour racks and weapons, two maintenance stations, a medical bay and a training area. Currently filled with a constant flow of crewmembers arriving, collecting gear from their individual storage areas and leaving, allowing the next wave to swarm in. Letting himself move with the flow of people, it was not long before Kallukka stood at the combined storage area for his family, mother and father already well on their way to returning to the bridge; both clad in comprehensive scale mail and bearing a mixture of collapsible spears, arm mounted circular shields, a comparatively high tech re-curve bow and hip mounted quiver on his father and a pair of well used but cared for short swords on his mother. Without even looking over her shoulder she called out to Kallukka. "Your father is going to take up position in the main cargo deck; if previous reports of Feral attacks are accurate we cannot afford to leave it and the generator unprotected." Turning to face her son Onukka nods curtly, but proudly, at the sight of her son already prepared. "I shall be in the bridge and we have both agreed that you... Can take charge of the rest of the ships defence."

Looking up sharply from his own set of armour, Kallukka's face was a patina of excitement and confusion. "Why now?"

"You've done well at school and here on the Ratatösk. It's time that you show that to the rest of the crew; the Ratatösk may well one day be yours. Besides, this may be the last chance you get for quite some time." With a foreshadowing sparkle in her eye she looked towards the ascending and descending platforms, breaking into a half smile. "It would seem that you are about to become very popular..." Leaving her son to greet the tight cluster of arriving crewmembers that served as part siblings and part friends, Onukka silently prayed that no attack would come.

Shaking his head in one part confusion, two parts excitement and one small part annoyance at his mother's habit of surprising him with her mysterious comments, Kallukka returned to the matter at hand. Running through yet another long memorised list of instructions Kallukka went about fastening several layers of metal armour, over the top of his leathers. First was an intricately made chain mail shirt, tied off at the waist with a simple leather belt. Then, a series of interlocking plates for his legs, each one buckled securely at the back. After which, a calf length scale mail kilt of sorts is also fastened around his waist, protecting the otherwise exposed back of the legs but parted at the front to allow for easy movement.

As he was reaching out to being putting on his chest piece Kallukka felt a heavy had come to a rest on his shoulder. Resisting the urge to turn around and reveal that he had been taken by surprise, especially light of his mother's earlier comment, Kallukka ran through a mental list of the people large enough to put a hand on his shoulder and eliminated all those who would have no reason to sneak up behind him. The only result was: "Frederich?" Cringing as a second hand landed on his other should and effortlessly spun him around, Kallukka was confronted with the fearsome sight of who could have passed as part bear sans genetic mutation, a trait that only made him more bear coupled with a muted genetic line that had a predilection towards the ursine.

"If you are sure, don't make it a question!" Easily over 6' 4", Frederich was the closet thing to an Uncle that Kallukka had. An old friend of his parents, the ursine inclined man was one of the older crewmen of the Ratatösk. He had been with Onukka and Sumarliði before they were asked to fill their current positions, and when they had been offered the jobs he simply came with them. He had helped to bring up the young Kallukka, even to the point of training him in weapons once he was old enough. His only other concern, besides the Hagströms and the Ratatösk, was his long time lover Þór. His usual countenance was that of a warm heart surrounded by an otherwise stoic exterior. Looking up at him then, Kallukka began to genuinely wonder if he had something to offend the normally affable man.

"Bah! Take that look off your face; I'm only making sure you stay on your feet. C'mere..." With equally as little warning as when he arrived, Frederich enveloped the younger man in a tight hug. "Congratulations Kallukka, your parents letting you be in charge this time... The others are going to congratulate you too, as soon as they finish getting ready." Letting his young companion go free Frederich watched as Kallukka finished donning his amour, lending a hand when necessary to fasten hard to reach buckles. Between the two of them, it took Kallukka less than two minutes to finish. "Would you like a hand getting yourself prepared?" Kallukka gestured vaguely to the comparatively underdressed Frederich.

"Ah, no. I can manage well enough. You go on ahead. Sabina and the rest of your friends are waiting for you. I will see you soon enough..." With a brief, warm smile Frederich left Kallukka to retrieve his weapon and shield and reconnect with his childhood companions. Slinging his shield over one shoulder and hoisting his battle hammer off its stand with the other hand, Kallukka made his way towards the platforms bringing people in and out of the armory, a slightly bounce in his step at the thought of being able to see the close knit circle of companions he had built up on the Ratatösk.

The Ratatösk Vikings; the collection of young children had first earned their collective nickname when they had managed to band together and steal a shipment of fresh strawberries from the kitchens. Much to their surprise, the children managed to last a full thirty minutes of gorging themselves of the rare treat before being found out by their parents.

Since that day Kallukka, Sabina, the twins Braqi and Eirikur, Elsebø, Gabriella and ..ke had grow together, insulating the holes that each felt in their unusual life be it lack of siblings, other young boys or girls to connect with, even simply as fixed points in a life that could change at a moments notice. As they grew older, their bonds grew with them strengthening through the trials of growing up on the Ratatösk. So much so that in their late adolescence they fought together when the occasion called for it.

Sitting on a convenient tabletop, Sabina impatiently tapped her foot against her leg swiftly loosing patience with Kallukka's lack of urgency in finding them. In a vain attempt to not give in to her tendency to fidget she ran a hand over the fletching of one of her arrows, trying to find some stillness in its reassuring texture. Her attempt lasted almost three seconds before she slid of the edge of the table with an enviable avian grace.

"Where is he? What could be taking him so long!?" Whipping her head around to glare at the twins sitting calmly in chairs, their eyes closed in silent musings, and finding no obvious awareness of her ire Sabina spun her gaze around the gathering till she found a face to direct her concerns towards. "When did you see Frederich? Are you sure he said he was going to the armory ..ke?"

"Ja Sabina, I am certain. You are just anxious; he left before you and got back while you were ashore with your family. You have not seen one another for a long time... Though I can admit, it will be good to have us all together once more." Grinning widely at Sabina, the mouflon influenced teen's infectious cheer was only heightened at the prospect of having what people often called, not unkindly, his herd in one place again.

"That is a sentiment we can all share with you two..." Elsebø's soft timbre offset Sabina's more energetic soprano. "You are not the only one who is impatient with him Sabina, nor are you the only one looking forward to having all of us together again ..ke. Patience has lasted us thus far, it can last us for a while longer still..." Despite her outward serenity, a slightly by product of her 'older sister' position within the circle, Elsebø was just as perturbed as the rest.

Several minutes and many silent frustrations later, the doors to mess hall swing inwards to reveal the long awaited Kallukka, resplendent in complete battle armor. With a pent up joyous cry Sabina leapt from her reclaimed position atop the table and veritably flew towards Kallukka, wrapping her deceptively powerful arms around his chest and hugging him tight. "At last you make your appearance. We'd begun to wonder if you were actually on board..." Elsebø's smile ran straight to Kallukka's toes and slowly worked its way up his spine. When Elsebø smiled, she always meant it.

Returning Sabina's hug with as much abandon as possible when dressed in several layers of armor, Kallukka's breath was crushed out of him from behind almost as soon as Sabina let go. Looking over his shoulder at ..ke burying his face into his shoulder, Kallukka bore the unintentionally punishing hug as long as possible. "..ke... I need to breathe..." Letting go with a sheepish grin ..ke could only mumble and embarrassed reply. "Sorry... It's just really god to see you again..." Looking around in genuine surprise Kallukka slowly took in the emotions playing across the faces of his companions, it dawned on him just how much he had been missed.

"I'm not sure why you have all been pining away for... It's not as though I was going away forever..." The final straw came when Braqi and Eirikur stood up and without speaking a word to anyone hugged Kallukka from either side, their long arms sliding around him easily, the matter of fact resting of their heads against his body brooking no argument or further discussion on the matter. Sighing with the amount of emotion that the simple act of the twins had conveyed, Kallukka could feel the first of many tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

"I have missed this... All of you..."

"Bah! Don't go getting weepy on us now, otherwise we might all start crying and that's the last thing that we need right now..."

Grinning with an open faced, honest joviality, Gabriella walked purposefully up to the overcome Kallukka and wiped away his burgeoning tears. "It's good to have you home Kallukka."

Having made their reconnections with each other, the newly reunited Ratatösk Vikings made themselves comfortable in a back corner of the mess hall, Kallukka the unwitting centre of attention. For what seemed like an hour, but in actual fact was less than ten minutes, the most important details of his time away were recited and examined. For just a short while the circle of young adults were able to pretend that they were children once again, gathered around the latest of their number to have a wild adventure. But all too soon reality brought them back to the seriousness of their current situation.

"So, I hear that your parents have put you in charge of defending the ship this time, gods help us all..." Poking as much fun with her fingers as with her words, Gabriella did her best to keep the tone of their conversation light, but on track.

"Unh... Mama told me that this might be the last chance I get for a long while so either it is serious and they have no one else who wanted to do it, or they are not telling me something..." Kallukka said with an echo of his earlier irritation at his mother's strange pronouncement.

"Or perhaps they think that you are ready to have a proper position on the ship and are simply... Applying the pressure by implying that if you screw up, you wont get to try again anytime soon. Though, given the situation we face t'would be best that you didn't screw up!" Poking her tongue at Kallukka as he gave her a desperate look, Gabriella's own expression took a turn for the darker.

"In seriousness though, this will have been the fourth Feral ship since I returned and I hear, the seventh in half as many months..."

"It is worrisome, especially given their increasing proclivity for seiðr. I should hope that either this ship does not have Ferals aboard or that if it does; they have not managed to get their hands on anyone capable of seiðr. In any case, we have not heard from Sveasdöttir yet, so we may yet be in good fortune." Usually one not to give away too much in her words, Elsebø's apparent verbosity was as sure a sign as any that despite her outward appearances she was as concerned as the others.

Their conversation continued to discuss the prospect of what might be awaiting them, until an armored and armed Frederich made his entrance to the mess. Requiring the use of the entire double door, Frederich's form filled the entire doorway during the few seconds that it took for him to move through them. Looking around for Kallukka and the Vikings, he made his way though the increasingly crowded room with remarkable ease.

"Kallukka!" Calling out with a commanding tone, Frederich gained both the attention of his target audience and the attention of all of the Vikings. "The armory is pretty much empty and all the squad leaders are here and awaiting your command. We should probably prepare our deployment and inform the bridge that we are ready." Nodding with a maturity beyond his years, Kallukka made his way to a table at the heart of the mess-hall where a schematic of the ship was spread out.

"This is what we know thus far. There is a high likelihood that the ship that is the cause of today's festivities is a Feral ship. My father will take his squad and two others to the main deck. My mother will remain on the bridge, I want another squad to make sure nothing or as few things get to her and the other in there. If we loose the bridge, the generator or the armory things will get much harder for us. Now, this is how I want us to deploy..."

"You all understand your roles? Good, go take up your positions."

Watching what passed for the lieutenants of the pseudo-soldiers of the Ratatösk depart, Kallukka could not help but run through all of his choices and decisions in his head, second guessing everything he had just outlined to the crewmen that were relying on him for survival. Feeling considerably more anxious that he was prepared to admit to feeling, Kallukka turned to Frederich, seeking some kind of reassurance as to his choices for the lay out of their defenses.

"It is a good plan Kallukka, you are already doing your parents proud. So stop worrying about your capabilities and focus on the task at hand..." Smiling softly in reassurance, the large ursine influenced man clapped a heavy hand on his young companions shoulder. "Believe me, you are more prepared than others I have seen."

Somewhat mollified Kallukka turned to the Vikings and took in the sight before him; children that had become friends and family, no grown up and dressed for the defense of their only home. The thought was sobering, especially when Kallukka considered that they all still had the majority of their lives to live. How much would they have changed in ten years; five even? Left with a bittersweet sense of pride he moved to the radio communications station at the far end of the mess, contacting the bridge.

"Bridge."

"This is Kallukka. All combatants have been issued their orders and are moving into position now. Inform the captain that she may proceed when ready."

"Confirmed Kallukka. Good fortunes to you and you squad. Bridge out."

'Good fortunes to us all...' though Kallukka as he nodded towards ..ke and the rest of the Vikings. Understanding the signal, they departed leaving Kallukka alone in the mess. There was one last person that he needed to see before joining the Vikings; Sveasdöttir, the Ratatösk's venerated völva.

Much like the rest of the world, especially prior to and during the genetic plague, many a would be crewmember had been skeptical about the abilities of Sveasdöttir; right up until she proved to them just how real her and the powers she served were. A fearsome woman in ever regard, her history prior to her time on the Ratatösk was more or less a mystery. Disinclined to remedy that with anyone beyond her most trusted friends, Sveasdöttir's personal history as far as the uninitiated were concerned, began the day she came to the Ratatösk in dock at Oslo and bold facedly told Onukka and Sumarliði that she would be accompanying them. Much to the then crew's surprise, she was allowed on board.

Since that time, her legend aboard ship had only grown, so much so that even in the face of her oft-withering glare, many of the crew treated her as a communal grandmother. However, Kallukka's relationship with her became considerably more complex when she announced that he would begin learning from her. She emerged from her cabin and spent the day wandering around the ship, occasionally speaking to the children of the ship. Of all the children that she spoke to, only Kallukka seemed to fulfill her unspoken criteria. She took him to the bridge and announced, much in the same manner as her arrival on the ship, that she would begin teaching the young boy.

Many years on, despite the great amount of respect Sveasdöttir had earned from both Kallukka and the crew, there was still an air of apprehensiveness whenever someone came into her presence. Never more so was this true than when undergoing an audience in her own cabin. Walking down the corridor at the end of which lay her cabin, Kallukka began to run through his head the possibilities of the game they played; he would try to approach her door without her knowing, and she would without fail ask him to enter just before he could knock. This time, Kallukka decided to try a different approach. Moving as stealthily down the corridor as possible, he stood facing the völva's resisting the urge to knock. Slowly becoming more and more aware of how little time there was to spend on such puerile games he raised his hand to knock at the door.

"Come in Kallukka..." Sighing, but smiling he pressed his hand against the door and entered.