Eric Olafson First Journeys Vol 2 Chapter 2 Consequences
- 3 years ago
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I came to my senses and realized even before I opened my eyes I was naked and my hands had been tied to my back. I opened my eyes and looked into the face of a blue skinned Thauran teen with coppery metallic hair. “Hey Exa, your rich benefactor is awake.”
Then he turned back to me. “Now listen carefully, Rich Citizen Kid. We are the Port Roaches, the most bad ass gang on all of Twilight and I am the Roach King. You caused one of my roaches to be arrested. I don’t like that.
You interfere with my business and I don’t like that even less.
Now little useless Exa here, tells me you like little girls and pay for food and you got money. You can improve your situation by letting me see how much money you got on your credit chip and then I want you to transfer every micro cent into my credit strip. If you do that I let you live, release you, naked but alive up in the port and you can go back to whatever dirt ball you came from, poorer but alive.”
“I don’t believe you. You can’t let me go after I handed you my money. Union Police will tear this moon apart if they hear of a kidnapping, I am sure you know what the penalty for everyone involved is. It isn’t dust camp.”
There were four others similar dressed and dirty as the Roach king and Exa who was the smallest and most fragile looking of them all.
One of them said. “He is right King. This ain’t stealing anymore. We’re in deep trouble; they will hang us for this.”
Another squeaked. “I’ve seen a public hanging and I sure do not want to go like that. It was horrible, the guy was charged with murder and he kicked his feet for almost five minutes before he died. Roach king let’s cut our losses and let the guy go.”
“You all shut up. We did the deed and now we reaping the spoils. I am in charge here. This guy is rich. That is our ticket out of here. We all will have money and eat and sleep in real beds.”
The tallest of the bunch crossed his “You are in charge because you drew the black rock out of the bag. We can call for a new draw anytime.”
The others yelled. “We have a right to vote on that.”
I stoked the fire. “I sent a distress call with my PDD just before that lying brat sent me dreaming. I am sure if Port security can’t find me they call in Union Police or even Marines and Fleet Security. Taking a fleet member hostage is about the worst you could have done.”
Exa almost cried as she said. “He did tell me he was on his way to Arsenal. That’s Fleet HQ.”
Another boy said. “Messing with the Fleet, King, are you crazy? I am out of here. They bring in the PSI Corps to find him and anyone responsible for his death. There is no place we can hide from them.”
The tall one hissed “I quit. I go to the Filth Flies. They may not have a nice cave as we do but they stick with stealing.”
The Roach King screamed in a fit. “Alright let us discuss this but not before that rich boy. I kill him myself so no one is going to be hanged other than me if it ever comes to that.” He herded them out and closed the rusty door.
Now I had time to check my surroundings. I was in a small utility room. There were big pipes and hand wheels on one side.
The walls were made out of natural rock and I assumed this was some sort of maintenance chamber for the water supply systems. Across my current position the other side of the room was a railing about hip high and a sign attached to it read Fresh water holding tank 12. Pre-treatment.
I could see the wave like reflection of water at the rock ceiling.
The door croaked open again and the Roach king came back. “You will tell me the access code to your PDD and transfer the money.”
“No.”
“You still think you have a choice, rich kid.”
Two of his friends came in. “What we are going to do?”
“We toss that piece of shit in the water like we did with Serg and make him talk. They all talk after that.”
They dragged me to my feet, and over to the railing, now I could see a big and deep water tank fed by a pipe at on one end and grating covered drain at its bottom about ten meters below the surface.
The Roach King came close to my ear. “You see that Rich boy? That is real cold river water and it is deep.”
I had to bite my lips to make me sound terrified.” I can’t swim.”
“Swimming isn’t going to be your problem, shit. Getting air to breath however is.”
Someone kicked me in the knee pits and I dropped rather painful with my naked knees on the steel grading and two of them pushed me head first over the rim of the tank into the water, holding my legs. After only one minute or so they pulled me back up. “The PDD code, now.”
I knew I was acting real badly and as if I was out of breath and terrified.” No.”
They dunked me again and not much longer then the first time.
One of them whispered. “We are not really going to kill him are we?”
“Shut up you pansy.”
Then he leaned forward. “The next time I dunk you it be much longer. Maybe twice as long as before. The Access code now.”
I shook my head. “No if I do you kill me.”
“I do if you don’t.”
He dunked me again. I kicked them harder this time and I slipped out of their grip. I expelled all the air form the lungs kicked little for show and then let myself float. I could not help but grin to myself.
But then it was my own stupidity brought me into this situation in the first place and that was no reason to smile.
I kept playing dead. I heard them say.” If his body clogs the intake the engineers come down and find him they going to investigate.”
After about ten or fifteen minutes, they used a pole to get me and fished me out.
“We got to throw him in the river. Now get his clothing and the PDD so if did make that call they think he fell in the water or something and hopefully the river will drag him halfway around the terminator before they find him.”
The Roach King laughed dry “The word will spread that I am not afraid of killing. At least something good came out of it. Don’t forget to cut his ties. If they suspect a murder they investigate even harder.”
I risked a peek as the king came back with my things and the PPD. The other cut my bonds. The King said.” Go dress him.”
“I’m not touching a dead naked body, eeew.”
“You do or you going to be the next naked dead body.”
The Roach King laughed again and went out the door.
The one left behind cursed and turned me on my back. I kicked him as hard as I could directly under the chin, his head flung back and he actually lifted off the ground smashed backwards into the metal armatures behind him and slipped to the floor leaving a bloody smear on the pipes, he did not move.
I dressed as fast as I could and then took the knife and wanted to activate my PDD but someone had pried of the energy pack, probably to sell it. I opened the steel door a crack and peaked through.
There was a dimly lit corridor with two big pipes in the middle running into both directions. I could see the feet of someone behind the two pipes on the other side and risked opening the door a little wider. The corridor had been carved into natural rock. The corridor and pipes seemed to go on forever in to one direction, but ended at an elevator door in the other direction, only about fifty meter or so.
Now all I had to do was sneak up to that Elevator door and disappear and take the next possible space bus and leave Twilight as far behind as I possibly could. That was the sensible, logical and right thing to do. That wasn’t me however; I could not let this attempted murder on me go unpunished. I wanted to explain to that Roach King that I did not enjoy his kind of hospitality and had the strong urge to repay him with a typical Nilfeheim answer to such things. Calling it an urge was of course way more civilized than I felt.
This overwhelmed my better judgment and I was sure my aunt Freydis was right and following the heart was sometimes better than following the mind.
I was equally sure it wasn’t the heart I followed.
Of course it was a pile of Nubhir poop, following my instincts rather than what I should have done was the reason I was down here in the first place.
I wondered how many million passengers passed through Twilight every day and the worst thing ever happening to them was perhaps an overpriced meal or a stolen shopping bag, but I had to slide headlong into trouble on the very first stop on my journey. I wondered what would have happened if I had stopped at Holstein? Or if I would ever make it to Arsenal.
I sneaked out, the soles of the marvelous all terrains adjusted from metal floor to rock floor and I was able to walk silently. I climbed a short ladder and pressed myself as flat as I could against the incredibly dusty and dirty top of the metal pipeline. Then I inched myself forward ... I could smell the metal paint in my nose and the smell instantly reminded me of the old steel rafters of Hasvik ... There on the other side of this corridor dividing pipeline was a crack in the tunnel wall about forty centimeters wide and I guessed perhaps 100 centimeters tall. Very likely the entrance to the Nest of the Roaches Exa had described to me.
Not the Roach king but one of the older boys stood right next to it. I recognized him being the other guy I had first seen up in the space port lobby after I had grabbed Exa.
Some sort of homemade looking gun leaned next to him against the wall. I figured he was supposed to be a guard or look out, but he was a very bad one. He played with some sort of hand held game that made cartoonish noises.
A good guard would be right here on top of the pipes able to see in both directions on both sides of the pipes, without exposing himself.
Obviously neither strategy nor tactical planning went into choosing guard or guard position. I got into a crouching position and jumped. I landed right on top of that useless guard and slammed the guy hard to the ground He groaned and got my knee deep into his stomach pit. He made no other sound as he went limb, I looked left and right but there was no one. I dragged him under the pipes and stuffed him as far as in the crevice between lower pipe and rock floor and then checked his weapon.
It was some sort of pipe with a plastic stock. A cylindrical pressure canister attached to the top appeared to contain a pressurized gas intended to drive a piston to expel a ten centimeter long steel spike. It was a one shot deal and I had no idea how accurate or how strong it would be. Peeking inside the crack I saw a natural cave of about twenty meters circumference. I could see three roaches and the King. He was sitting on an elevated office swivel chair. The cave was lid by two light elements very rudimentary wired into the lights of the corridor outside.
One of the roach boys shoved Exa towards the King and I heard him say.” It was all your fault the things went bad. It was you that could not run fast enough and got yourself caught by that rich boy. And thanks to that drowned friend of yours, my best man Benjamin will be sent to the Dust Mines. I got five of the Roaches left. The others left to go to the Flies and all because you could not do even do a little thing right and use the Lights Out-stinger before he had a chance to use his PDD.”
She cried. “Please don’t make me do it again.”
“Oh but you will. My blue pecker needs cleaning. it will teach you a valuable lesson to obey and do what I tell you to do.”
One of the bastards forced her on her knees and the Roach King dropped his pants. I fired the crude weapon and the bolt nailed him through the left shoulder into the back rest of his chair.
As fast as I could I squeezed myself through the crack, rushed up and used the empty weapon like a club, hammered it across the head of the tallest, then I buried the dull end of that dart thrower with all force into the stomach pit of the other.
I kicked and hit them till none of them moved.
I looked around but did not see anyone else. I readied for a swing and said. “Your reign ends today Roach king. I take your filthy head of.”
“Stop it right there Citizen.” Bright light filled the cave and the edges of the crack in the wall began to glow white hot and a heartbeat later four armored Police men with blasters stomped in and crowed the small cave.
“Citizen drop that Air gun and let me scan your CIT.”
I complied.
The tall Roach I had seen when I first regained consciousness, appeared behind the cops.” I told you they abducted a Citizen. Do I get my reward now?”
“Run fast and disappear before we decide to arrest you after all, which should do for a reward.”
The policeman in front of me wore a bulky looking Ultronit segmented armor with Police stenciled across his chest. Two bright lights mounted to each side of his helmet made my eyes water and I could barely see a thing.
“You are Eric Olafson of Nilfeheim?”
“Yes Officer.”
“Please tell us exactly what happened. Be as detail specific as possible.”
So I told him pretty much everything that happened since I landed.
One of his colleagues looked at a hand held device
“The Poly Analyzer gives his story a 99. 21 percent truth level. Cyber Legal shows all green. Citizen has acted in clear self defense and self-preservation. No laws have been violated by the Citizen.”
I said angrily. “What I said was all true not just ninety nine percent.”
He turned off the glaring lights and said. “Mr. Olafson, we would have accepted seventy five percent. This machine can never give one hundred percent due of sampling errors, adjustments and calibration issues. I never have seen anything close to your results. I’d buy Big Ball from you and think it’s a good deal. So I assure you we do not question one word you said.”
His partner scratched his chin. “You sure cleaned house down here. Three dead, two seriously injured and that after being almost drowned to death.”
“Three?”
“The guy in Fresh Water Tank access room suffered a basilar skull fracture. The one you stuffed under the water pipeline has a crushed rib cage, and this guy right here blunt trauma to the temple, that cut his lights for good. The other is about to take the final trip and the Roach King bleeding a good deal.
I wasn’t very proud of my sad record. “What do I have to next?”
“Whatever you like you are free to go.”
“What will happen with them?”
“The ones alive are old enough and will be charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. I doubt the judge or the Jury will take long to come to a verdict. We got three witness accounts, Poly Verified and physical evidence. I figure they will be hanged in a week or so. The girl, well she is according to my Bio scanner twelve years old and a minor, but there is no family or verifiable place of origin. No worries she will go back to Mother Moore and then be on her way to Slammer Moon. She will be a real good citizen by the time she is eighteen.”
Exa starred with a hollow expression on her small face at the floor.
“Officer is there any way to prevent that? I mean her going to the Slammer moon?”
He tapped his PDD.”Well she is a Non Cit and technically if she paid her fines for her long string of theft charges, Legal Central could agree to a good will bond. Meaning she can turn herself in. But who would want to pay the 600 credits for something as worthless as her?”
“She is a sentient being and she should be priceless instead of worthless just for that reason. I guess the shiny and good Union has a dark and dirty Underside after all.”
“Nothing is perfect Citizen, besides we have places and institutions to deal with such, like Mother Moore and the Social Bureau.”
“I am going to pay her fines.”
He shrugged. “It’s your money Citizen, but she will be out in the Port Concourse tomorrow and steal and beg as soon as you are gone. She never keeps her bail condition.”
“Not if I can help it, Officer.”
I paid her fines and Legal Central verified that she was free to go, but has to report to Mother Moores within 48 hours.
I put my hand on Exa’s shoulder and said. “Let’s go girl.”
On our way to the elevator she said. “You are not angry with me? Do you want to kill me now that you bought me?”
“The idea had crossed my mind when you sent me to dream land, but you are a child and you did what others told you to do. I didn’t buy either.”
“Do you want me to clean your pecker?”
I shivered in disgust. “Of course not Exa and I am promising you we find a way so you never have to do that again.”
A Police man stood by the Elevator. “Press nine and it gets you to Sub-Level Nine Sir. From there you can find an Inter Port Transport to get you all the way up.”
“Thank you Officer.”
“Great work, Sir. Word will spread like wild fire and keep the ruts in line for a while. Teaches them to mess with a Viking Pirate”
“They still call us Pirates after all that time?”
He shrugged. “I guess it was the only thing your planet really did to stand out for a while. No worries Citizen a little bad-ass rep goes a long way these days.”
I sighed and shrugged and pushed Exa in the Elevator.
Then I said to her. “We still have a deal, right? You show me around and will be my tour guide and in return I pay you to take a bath and then we find you something better to wear as well.”
She looked up to me. “I will keep my bargain this time, I promise.”
“Good enough for me.”
“How did you survive the drowning?”
“It’s hard to drown someone who can breathe water.”
“Like a fish?”
“Well I was told more like a Sea turtle but basically yes.”
The Vertigo Bridge was an amazing sight. About fifty meters wide, about twenty high and according to Exa, exactly 1600 meters long. Except for the Metal frame work and slide ways on each side, the bridge was completely transparent. Rain pelted the roof. I could see the City on the other side.
Children were lying on the floor pretending to fly. Locals walked or used the Slide ways without hesitation, visitors and some tourists clearly stood out as some of them hesitated to take the first step. There was laughter and shrieks.
Exa walked a few steps out and said. “3000 meters below us is Twilight River. The river carved this canyon out of the very hard granite rock. The River fed by the perpetual rain and the canyon are almost 6000 kilometers long, making it one of the longest rivers on any known planet in the Union. It has the longest stretch of white water turbulence and there are 321 waterfalls of which the Skull Mist Veil seventy kilometers up river from here is the widest and the Giant shower 200 klicks downriver the highest with a 1400 meter drop. Twilight River is visited by over 6 million white water sports enthusiasts and we have thousands of river water sports related clubs, associations and equipment manufacturers.”
The river ends in the Foggy flats, and from there the water evaporates and ends up in rain again. The steep rock walls glistened wet. Dense green forests lined both sides; the river itself appeared like a small band of green snaking in a crackly line as far as I could see into both directions.
She turned. “Are you coming or are you afraid? We could use one of the Cable cars or the Swing tram. Or if you do not like heights at all we can of course also use the new Trans Planet Mag-tube.”
“No I am not afraid. It is the first time I actually see another world and I was taking in the sights.”
I followed her and now I could see a big A frame steel construct in the distance connecting the two sides and dozens of capsules attached to the apex of the A frame with thin cables swung back and forth.
She said. “That’s the swing tram. It belongs to the Amusement park and connects both sides of the park; there are no absorbers or anything. You feel the full effect of the swing and it is along with the bridge the most popular attraction.”
“You really know your stuff and you sound like a real tour guide”
She smiled proudly. “Sometimes I get lucky and visitors look past the dirt, and then they hire me as a tour guide and I can earn some credits in tips.
She pointed through the floor. “The river below teems with fish. None of them are native as there is no local animal life but they were brought in from other planets. Do you want to go fish? It also is very popular.”
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I arrived at Corri-Door nine days after I had left Austin. The System was on the very edge of Union space. The declared space Kermac/Galactic Council space begun right beyond its helio pause towards the gneral direction of the galactic center, or in te old astronavigation terms, towards Galactic East. Two so called transit corridors, marked only by marker buoys and defined by the Armistice treaty that ended the last big war originated from here. One of these corridors connected Magnitude,...
The Swing Tram was something else. Passenger cabins suspended on a long cable released from a docking port swung across the Canyon and clinked into a similar port on the other side. For a short moment I felt weightless then at the base of the swing several gee pressed down on me while the rock wall came rushing towards the capsule. The docking station was cleverly disguised behind a holo image of rock. People were screaming as loud speakers transmitted crashing sounds and even though I would...
After a day of class room instructions there was another dinner. Instead of China and silverware, there were rectangular stone slaps and long thin hook like utensils. The Nogoll Instructor mounted his floating disc and said. “You will learn to use the utensils of other cultures as well. While there are Fleet standard procedures for everything and Fleet standard utensils we want you to experience as much as possible about other cultures. If we can use the sum of our cultural knowledge to help...
I went down the narrow stair case to find out if there was a God living in the Old Man’s basement. Now I had reached the bottom of the narrow stair case and it expanded into a large natural grotto. The old man had a very large, and from the looks of it a natural Sub Pen under his rock. It was cold and moist and without my light it would have been pitch dark. There was no god and no mystery down here. At least there wasn’t any more garbage either. I did for a moment see a movement in the water...
Mr.Flensburger was now gone for a week and we had a new teacher. Mr. Walters was his name and he was much different to the jovial and gentle Mr. Flensburger. He was stern and had a no nonsense approach. This Monday morning, right by the main doors I saw Yngve Lofdahl waiting for me. He had a busted; bleeding lip and his left eye was swelling. Like me he was wearing a fur vest over a linen tunic that reached halfway to the knees, linen breeches and boots. Usually he always looked like he wore...
The Devastator had excellent recreational facilities and offered something for almost any taste, but the most liked recreation area was called The Village. It was a small down town area complete with shops, cafés, micro breweries, night-clubs, restaurants, Virtu-show halls and theatres. The sky appeared real with moving clouds and a warm yellow sun. It would even rain or snow once in a while. The Village centered on a park with grass, trees, flower patches and narrow duro-crete walking paths....
The place was called Shanties Swallow and it was not far from the main landing field of the Class E Spaceport of Shale Blue. Shale Blue was technically a Union world at the furthermost fringes of the Thauran Empire in the Spinward sector of the M-0 galaxy, but it was indeed a fringe world. The Thauran noble family that controlled the world, the Peribar resided on a world twelve light years distant. Pulam Peribar, the third son of Baron Persor of Peribar was the man in charge, but that was...
“No I don’t, but I gave everyone shore leave including Cateria.” While I said I had a strange feeling about that and tapped my PDD.”SHIP, do you know where Ensign Jolaj might have gone?” “Yes, Captain. She was summoned, along with Dusty to the Personnel office of this base.” I got up, tugged at my sleeves and said to Har-Hi.”I don’t like this. Why would they be summoned while neither Cateria nor I were informed.?” Har-Hi got up as well.”Let us go to that Personnel office then and find...
I was still as tired as a Tyranno during Longnight when the lights came on and a voice barked via the PA system: “0400 hours Cadets rise and shine. 0430 is Breakfast. At 0500 you will receive your first class in the Elbhard Auditorium.” And we found ourselves in said Auditorium at that time an hour later. Clean, fed and still tired. Again I tried to find a place in the back, so I could perhaps close my eyes for few moments. The Pan Saran Officer was already there. “Good Morning Class.” We...
Prelude Part 4: Volund 4999, OTT The crumbling walls of Olafson Burg were no longer on his mind. Volund was now the steward of Ragnarsson Rock. Erik Gustav had kept his word and had given him the stewardship and rule of all that was Ragnarsson on this world. There were tanneries in the extensive basements, several Nubhir farms on the permanent ice of the southern polar region, and large Fangsnapper herds. Best of all, there were five modern and well-kept fishing boats and three hunting...
The Hyperion approached Arsenal IV just as Captain Zezz said with only eight hours to spare before I had to report for my third year posting. The extended time of my stay aboard the battle ship appeared to have gone by even faster. The Klack XO touched my face with his antennae. “You have been outstanding at the OPS station. I have seen many others struggle with that position.” “Thank you Sir. Your guidance and the tutor ship of the other bridge officers was the real reason I managed.” To...
The Space bus came out of FTL and approached the blue and white sapphire sphere that was Nilfeheim. I had 6 month before I had to return to the Academy. This was my home world and I was longing to take a long deep dive and feel the fresh cold water all around me, it was of course still Longnight. That I had left Nilfeheim just a little over a year ago was something I could hardly believe. So much has happened since then; it felt I had been gone for much longer. “I wonder how Nilfeheim is...
“No need to be afraid First Daughter!” the Old man said and the gun spun out of Freydis hand and floated in mid air. “I am Egill Skallagrímsson, the Eldest. I am sure some of you have heard of me. My friend here is Elkhart the First Keeper of Hasvik. We are not here to harm you, arrest you, kill you or stop you from what you are doing! We came because this world of ours is in grave danger, because we too believe it is high time all citizens of this world are heard and because together we are...
Sodoby occupied his very own office aboard the USS Tigershark. He had several readout field screens open that hovered over his desk. Sodoby took his job as quartermaster very serious, especially now as the Admiral of the fleet had made it official. Until the Spatial Naval Reform of 4012 OTT, a quartermaster was the enlisted member in charge of the watch-to-watch navigation and the maintenance, correction, and maintaining the charts and information stored in the NAV-tank. That enlisted...
I tried to get up and managed but I was stiff as a frozen snapper fur in Longnight, I was more sore than I realized and colder than I ever was. This time he let me get in. The door led into a short tunnel shaped corridor passing through the tall massive rock wall. Judging by the length of the tunnel, the walls must have been at least 10 meters thick. The steel door swung close behind us, making absolutely no sound as it did. Two boys perhaps my age, wearing dark long fur coats were behind the...
The commander stood at the window of his spacious office overlooking the lake and jungle with his hands clasped behind his back watching a group of cadets struggling with a heavy wooden log. They had to carry it over an obstacle course and only by working together could this task be achieved. This ancient time tested exercise promoted team work, group coordination and leadership. This exercise had been used by Navy trainers even before the Galactic Ascent on good old Earth. Of course it...
“Have we been hailed?” Harris shook his head.”No not yet, but the sphere is transmitting genuine Union Transponder Codes.” The screen changed and a hooded Narth became visible. The Comm. Officer looked at his console and shrugged. The Narth spoke. “This is the USS Narth. “There was a pause and the Narth moved his shrouded head as if he was looking at someone then he nodded and said.” One hopes to be forgiven, by the one who has command. One was uncertain of the correct address. It is the...
I had slept a few hours at Uncle Hogun’s and went to the clinic to check on Litfas Arnske and I found him, in a low gee bed. Two elders, Adolph Lindbergh and a young man perhaps two three years older than me was with him, most likely Sif’s brother I had not yet met. As he saw me, he first smiled and then his face dropped. “You have saved my life, and it looks like my very own daughter has tried to end it. The daughter I promised, my honor is in shambles and I am not sure I want to live...
The lights flickered and Astrid said.” Looks like his Tech stop has trouble to get through our armor and hardened systems. She then pried open an access panel and said.” I am sure I can fix this!” Her hands pulled chip connectors and reset them and then she turned. Eric flip open your left armrest. Beneath is the Code sequencer. They could not have altered your Command Codes, without your permission! All they did is bypass it and tying in their own!” I did and pressed my hand on the now...
We arrived in Halstaad Fjord and were greeted by a group of elders accompanied by twenty beefy looking men, all were dressed in the traditional Neo Viking way with leather vests and trousers and shirts. They all wore identical helmets and swords and all were dressed in the same dark brown color. Egill was also with them. As we stepped ashore he said to me, I know what happened, Eric and I will take it from here. You may have noticed the men; these are the first members of the Nilfeheim...
Jolaj was no longer bound and her fur was once again as white snow. She was treated like a princess, but there was no doubt, she was a prisoner. They did not allow her to leave her quarters. She learned that the ship was not a Togar product, but a luxury yacht made by Enroe. None of her captors had given their names, they simply identified themselves as the Resistance. A group she had learned called themselves, Children of Malmoru.” The female, with a light brown fur and puffy cheeks,...
When I came around, I was still lying under that purple thing. The armed and fully armor suited men were close now holding their weapons ready pointing them at my friends. The bearded dark skinned man wearing a battle suit of unknown origin argued with Cardwell. “I want you to open those Translocator storages now. We do not have much time.” Cardwell barked back and pointed at me. “I told you that two command codes are needed to open them, the only one able doing that was killed by your...
Swybar lounged in the comfortable chair behind the conference table aboard the Red Dragon. Soon the requested supplies would arrive and make him a very dangerous man. The table was laid out with a light dinner. Both of his associates had joined him and both of them had been very respectful and lauded his genius. Swybar loved it when others realized just how smart and resourceful he was. Even the disguised Kermac treated him like an equal, as it was proper. He was no fool however and knew...
Green Eden appeared to be a beautiful green, white and blue sphere. From space it looked as inviting as any garden world. The transport descended through moderate clouds and approached a heavy forested land mass. We landed on a simple dirt field that had been cleared in the jungle. At the edge of the dirt field I saw a collection of primitive looking buildings made of wood. There were no machines, no robots, no ships or vehicles and no one waiting for us. Someone from the flight deck...
I took a shower as well and used the Auto Dresser and then checked my messages as I saw she was still in her part of the suite. There were two messages waiting. The first was of Egill and Sif. Egill had changed much, he wasn’t as thin anymore and his hair and beard was clean, white and well trimmed. He did not wear braids and his clothing was all black leather with broad silver seams. Sif also had changed; she was much more a woman than a girl now. Her facial expression seemed even cooler...
In this complete darkness. Something inside me made me close my eyes, just as I did riding on Tyr’s back. I could sense my surroundings, felt every heartbeat of Plemo and I learned that Elly had two hearts. I felt the stairs and the faint electric residue in the lamps. The stairs transformed with a metallic hum, into a steep declined slide. Plemo had no warning and was sliding away before I could warn him. I managed to hold onto the hand rail and prevent the slide, but Plemo and most likely...
I saw the Yokuta running towards the podium and my first response was to the dagger they had given us with the uniform. Of course I had a blaster, but my reflexes were still geared toward sword and knife. A burning foreign thought exploded like a yell in my mind.” Stop!” It was a telepathic command and while it was given I knew it had been said by a commanding officer. My hand froze, before perhaps a microsecond before I was to throw. The Yokuta ripped off his snouted gray head, ears and...
Wulf activated his cloak and put the suit in flight mode. Like a human missile he flew towards the ware house. Another energy beam emitted from the alien craft and slammed into the ground, where he had been a second ago. “Rusty, activate weapons and open remote control. He slaved the ships weapon control to his suit and a pair of green crosshairs appeared before his eyes. As soon as he lined up the cross hairs he pressed with his thumb on a small contact on the side of his index finger and a...
The woman that stepped through a shimmering portal of dark red light, had dark grey skin, long white hair and wore a skimpy outfit which was an odd combination of bikini, medieval armor, and wispy veils. Her eyes had no pupils but glowed in the same dark red light as the now dissipating portal. Stahl suddenly remembered Sunday school and stopped himself to actually make the sign of the cross. However, he was never really intimidated, by anyone. The Eternal Warrior got up, like the old...
Hans and Mao had received UWASPS. That stood for ‘urban warfare protective security suits’. Not the Quasimodo super bulky frontal assault battle armor but a sleek body shaped suit with a vast array of sensors, very smart weapon systems and advanced stealth and camouflage capabilities, normally only used by NAVINT Counter Intelligence and Elite Special forces. Much of the suits capabilities were highly classified and a source of professional pride to those considered good enough to wear...
Cherubim had left the ship a few moments ago and I was on the bridge and together with the others went over the technical specs of our ship. Circuit had to explain to me again why we had no ISAH pods. “The reason we do not have ISAH Pods is that this ship uses TransDim Gravitonics as propulsion. Energy is tapped directly from Quasi Space and we have no need for fuel.The ISAH field too keep us in real time is generated by the same system. This ship could fly to the end of the known universe...