Erica Olafson Journeys of the Tigershark Vol 9 Chapter 4 Dispersed
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Ciferus was right behind Lumis as they scrambled into the cave and used the Nexus point to return to Avondur.
Lumis had lost all his arrogance; the proclaimed Lord of Light was a shivering heap, kneeling in the fine dust that covered much of the Nexus chamber’s floor.
Shard, the supposedly indestructible weapon of light had been deformed and bent like a piece of lead. His new, Crea restored armor torn and in pieces.
When he was flung into the cave wall, he felt like an insect. He had been shoved by Geoan, and he had been hit by Balkurs. He had stood against and before powerful entities before, but never had he felt like this. He had been swatted away like an insignificant speck of dust. He was promised immortality and god-like might with the strength to shatter mountains, yet here he was on his knees feeling actual pain and something was dripping from the corner of his mouth and drooled to the floor, he was bleeding!
He lifted his head.”Who...”
Ciferus, who escaped physical confrontation brushed his right hand over his eyes and slowly turned to the exit.”A fool I was; doomed fools they all are. Luc, Baahl, Sata and the rest. The Dark One is not even complete, he has not fully resurrected and he is beyond anything and everything.”
He gave Lumis an almost pitiful look.”Go, Lumis go back to the Upper Realms and hide. Our quest ends here. The Dark One’s rise was prophecized and it is occurring, what has been ordained by all that was and is can not be prevented.”
Lumis raised his hand. “Wait...”
Ciferus did not wait, a dark red portal came into existence and the Netherworld dweller disappeared with it.
Lumis not only felt alone, he realized he was afraid. What he had faced on N’Ger would find him. It was not he who was hunting the Dark One.
He held up his bent sword.”Crea, mother of Creation. Why have you given me this impossible task?”
The entity answered.”I will mend your body and augment your strength. Not all the Tokens have been united, the WEAPON must be found.”
He groaned.”The WEAPON was with a woman and she was killed.”
“What happened to the cunning Vizir of great intelligence and hunger for power, I rescued from a doomed Precursor universe?”
“I am beginning to understand and I am realizing that you have not told me, educated me. I learned more from a Netherworld demon in a short period, than I learned from you in eons.”
“You are but a creature, elevated by me and bestowed with power, you are my servant. The purpose of your existence is to defeat and prevent the rise of the Dark One.”
“How?”
“Travel to the Eternal Plane, I will be there and so is the Voice of the Rule. The WEAPON must be found.”
--””--
The planet governor was certain his life and that of everyone else on the planet depended on how well the Dai before him was able to restrain himself. The red-skinned Dai Than warrior stared out of his yellow eyes with such intensity into his face, making Maresan fear for his very life.
“Commander Hi, I swear. I swear to you, I have nothing to do with your Captain’s abduction. Every resource available to me is yours.”
The Dai whispered.”Thank whatever Gods you worship, that I am wearing this uniform. Do you know what Dai can do to make a human talk? I don’t care about your resources, I will use mine. Should I find even the most remote involvement of yours, I am going to face a Court-martial and you will know how your intestines before you die. Now use those resources and find Captain Olafson!”
The oldest son of Baron Maresan spread his hands.”Look, Commander Hi. I am a former Union Fleet officer and I am not only on your side, but I am also a Union citizen, I am as angry as you about this.”
“Then what is done?”
“I have all security personnel looking for Captain Olafson. Union Police, Fleet Police and NAVINT are on their way. Assets of the PSI Corps are expected to arrive tomorrow.”
What at first, looked like a female X101 with silvery hair, but without the usual shiny chrome skin stepped into the planet manager’s office, was introduced by the gorgeous science officer of the Tigershark, who stood behind the aggravated Dai.
“This is Lt.Commander SHIP, your excellency. She and I have looked into your local Computronic.”
The artificial female had a smooth doll-like face and clearly artificial eyes with an eerie piercing quality.
“I have indeed done so and found several issues that co-relate with our missing Captain and all are connected to Sir Baran.”
“That is my deputy manager.”
“He also used to run things and was the planet governor before your father decided to elevate you to this position.” Shea said.”It looks he accepted a few rather large payments over the last few weeks.” Shea’s voice trailed off as Hans stomped in and made the spacious office of the governor feel a little crowded. The truly massive Saturnian held that very man like a doll in one of his fists, pinning the man’s arms to his body as if caught in a huge vise.
Maro Maresan’s desk unit flashed with dozens of reports from all over the planet. Calling him for advice and with bewildered faces, regarding Petharians and Y’All in Union Marine uniform squeezing and bullying pretty much everyone they came across. His father Baron Mersen Maresan calling and wanting to know what was going on. Apparently, he was inundated by requests for answers.
Maro was a retired Union Fleet officer and that meant he was not as easily flustered or intimidated by an unusual crisis.”Officers of the Tigershark, please give me a moment to focus. I am on your side, as much as you might have certain well-founded preconceptions about Thaurans, I assure you I am a Union citizen and more so a Union Fleet officer. I might be retired, but that does not mean I left everything including my oath behind. The disappearance of a Union Fleet CO is as serious as it gets.”
He pointed at Hans.”Why are you holding my deputy like that?”
“Because he is under arrest.” Hans said.”This is Sir Baran, his last name is Taros.”
The governor blinked confused.”So? I know that, why would that be a reason to arrest the man?”
“He is the brother of Theodor Taros, aka Admiral Taros.”
--””--
Senior Chief Hilbora was near death, he knew it. The restraints holding him were made of Ultronit. Not even a Petharian would have been able to break them. His moisture suit had been perforated many times and drained of the life-sustaining water, his kind needed.
Yet he had only one regret, he had been used to trap the captain and strip her of Suit and all weapons. That lad Lomasr seemed such a nice and competent fellow. He had been transferred only very recently while they were at Christmas Base.
That Thauran turned out to be a traitor of the worst kind. He was a Necro worshipper so it turned out. What Hibora could not explain was the man’s transfer to the Tigershark in the first place. The environmental engineer that held this post had been with the Tigershark, since the beginning of the second mission.
The chaos and problems caused by Admiral Taros, the dispersion of the Tigershark crew was responsible for the transfer of the Oromarl that held this post. Instead of getting his old assistant back, they sent him that Thauran replacement.
Now he was long enough in the Spatial Navy to know that these things happened, but the Tigershark wasn’t a regular Navy unit, not even the usual NAVINT X Fleet unit.
The crew had been handpicked by McElligott, Stahl, and Cherubim including him. So how in the world could a Necro worshipper, something that should have barred him from Fleet Service, manage to be assigned to the Tigershark?
In all his pain and misery he only hoped that the Captain would be okay.
His tormentors had lefty him. He was all by himself in a tiled room, attached with crude, but very solid Ultronit shackles to a stainless steel table that had been tilted upright.
They had used Neuro Rippers, Boiling Water and electroshocks on him. In all their activities they didn’t ask him any questions. One of the tormentors, a Thauran named Swybin told him that he simply loved inflicting pain on anyone especially associates of Captain Olafson.
He heard a steel door opening, the only door to this tiled chamber was out of his field of view. The white-robed being that came into view was a Kermac.
“Ah, the abdominal fish face is still clinging to life. I can make you feel much more comfortable. Get you water for your skin.”
Hilbora said nothing.
“Oh come on now, we have excellent intelligence this time. We know who you are Master Chief Hilbora, twentyone years in the Union Navy. Environmental engineer first, but your personnel files also reveal that you have propulsion certification and there is a classified part of your file.”
Still, Hilbora was saying nothing.
The Thauran picked up a sharp hook-like implement of a small table.”We Kermac are supposed to use refined and very effective psionic and neural persuasion methods, but I was always curious about the more crude ones.” He examined the needle-sharp tip of the tool with great admiration. “I am studying and collecting information regarding this for a lifetime. Dare I say I am an expert in inflicting old fashioned pain, caused by physical means.”
“Do you worst. Hilbora, Master Chief. 87599-H...”
“Oh, that is exactly what I will do, dear Master Chief. You see, I put great attention to the particularities of Union species. I know how to hurt an Ult. The fact that I find your kind particular disgusting and repulsive will add to my personal pleasure.”
The Kermac put the tool down and took a shiny rubber-like apron from a hook and put it on.”Physical torture is so messy, fish-face.”
As he tied the apron he said.”Your mind is conditioned and shielded and your personnel file contains a classified section in the specialization section. That is done for one reason only, you are Translocator tech certified.”
“No, I am specialized flushing Kermac turds like you.”
“Now I want to know every detail of Translocator tech. Being the one securing this secret guarantees a Wizard chair.”
The Kermac sunk the steel hook expertly into a nerve cluster, the pain blinded the chief and engulfed his mind.
The pain blanketed everything and there was part of his mind that told to reveal what the Kermac wanted to know, just to make the pain go away.
But aloud he repeated his name and service number. From within that cloud of pain, he heard the steel door open once again.
Through his blurred vision, he saw the Kermac look up.”Who...”
The Kermac’s face suddenly changed to fear.”What are you?”
Hilbora heard an artificial sounding voice.”I am “I am Luitenant Tyron Suit of the United Stars Spatial Navy. The standard protocol would compel me to place you under arrest. Due to your actions directly seeking to discover and obtain Translocator technology, I am no longer required to act under standard Naval protocol but the Critical Technology Protection protocol.”
The Ult chief, near the end of his strength, laughed weekly.”Secure leaks and prevent the proliferation of any tech deemed critical. Tyron forget about me. The Captain, she is in terrible trouble!”
Tyron came into the Ult’s view. The Kermac pointed a Neuro ripper at the Ult.”I don’t know what you are but I kill this Ult if you do not surrender.”
“Your feeble tech has been rendered useless. You caused pain and harm to a friend of mine, now it’s your turn.”
The Kermac agent did try to use his weapon but it was dead and drained of all energy.
A bubble of insubstantial iridescent energies emerged from the suits right arm and engulfed the Kermac. The white-skinned agent of the Kermac rolled his eyes up, the cheeks suddenly collapsed, the man aged in seconds until there was nothing left but a dissipating puff of dust.
Tyron rushed to the wounded Ult, the restrains withered away.”My friend, please stay with me. I am not equipped to render medical aid, but we are on a Union planet and there is a clinic nearby. I have alerted authorities.”
Hilbora’s voice was terrifyingly weak.”The Captain!”
“I don’t know where she is, Chief. We dead with that as soon as you are out of danger.”
“What happened to the Kermac?”
“Chrono-Acceleration. He was exposed to a subspace bubble of ten thousand years. He experienced the passage of time in full.”
The steel door was ripped out of its frame and two Union Police officers and a Med Bot arrived.
--””--
Before the Mega Tycoon headed for his ship, the Black Sirus. He once more descended to the lowest levels of the SII Needle. Down here past many levels of security and secrecy, where the real secrets of SII. If the Union public would have known only ten percent of the things that went on down here, SII would have been declared the greatest enemy of the Union for certain.
One of the Seenian Sentmacs, a machine that now used the name Balthazar Steelgrip waited for Schwartz to step out of the private Matter transmitter. As always the sentient android acknowledged the arrival of the immortal Tycoon with a slight voluntary bow.”Good Midday, Sir.”
“Same to you Balthazar.”
Rex Schwartz walked past the android who fell in line with the tall man.”The translation has made good progress, Sir. Looks like we can read the document soon. One of our associates embedded with the CLOAK unit protecting and researching the Library of the Fifth recovered a cipher key to Netherworld glyphs.”
Rex acknowledged.”Good news indeed. I am about to leave for Pluribus to attend a business leader conference on Fringe group Terror and prevention. I was informed Phil Decker took the case of the Assembly bombing.”
“I have inquired about him, Sir. Decker has a stellar reputation, but we left no traceable connections.”
While they were talking they had reached a massive elevator platform and stepped on it.
The platform started descending.
The sentient android was one of only five sentient beings knowing about Rex Schwartz greatest secret, and why this world had been chosen to be at the core of the SII business empire.
Rex Schwartz knew the true identity of those who sent the Guardian to Earth and had not rested ever since to unravel what was the behind it all.
Omni planet was not a simple garden world, a rock core planet that developed from a dust swirl around a young star. Omni planet was an artificial construct, disguised as a planet.
Its origin so ancient, that it had been moved to new star system four times.
Here far below the crust, the true secret of Omni Planet had been revealed to the Seenian Sentmac. This world had been the original Throneworld of the First Emperor.
An entity, chosen by the Voice of the Rule to become a Cosmic Elder and prepare for the rise of the Dark One and his Decision.
Balthazar was privileged to know about this truly cosmic mystery that had always been about nothing less than a quest to gain truly omnipotent powers.
The Emperor, the only Nnnth left behind. Deemed unworthy to join the rest to merge with the Arth to form a new definition of awareness and sentience, the Narth. Jealous and angry rejected the charge and task set to him by the Voice. Using his vast powers and Nnnth technology to forge the First Empire. A realm of control and might reaching across several Superclusters and thousands of galaxies.
The Emperor, so Balthazar understood wanted to attract the essence of the Dark One by this physical expression of power and control, but then over the millennia the Emperor developed the conviction that he was the next Dark One himself and that he, like his kind the Nnnth was ready to take the next step in evolution.
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He had been here once before, time of other realms had no meaning here. The ground he stood on, was a polished hard surface of highly reflective properties and stretched into every direction and into infinity. The universe with all its clusters and superstrings reflected in it from the infinite sky above this surface. This was the Plane of Eternity, a place beyond the Omniverse itself. Lumis remembered when he was brought here the first time. Then, he did not listen to the name of Lumis....
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Funsecsiev the Command wizard of the large Kermac fleet felt frustrated, a little scared and cheated. Frustrated, because he was not in control of the Celtest depot, nor did he have detailed information as for how it might be reached. Scared because he did not want to return to Kermac prime without a report of success and cheated because this mission if successful could have been the door to the Tower of Wizards and the lead position of a ministry. Without the expected success, his chances...
Har-Hi had finished his report and waited for Stahl’s response. There was none, at least not right away. The Old Admiral was staring at the Dai and then wiped his mouth. “You guys found the source of the Y’All?” “Yes, Sir we are quite confident that the Crucible is indeed that source. Along with my verbal report, I have transmitted all data we were able to gather. “While we are all confident, our Captain will succeed in destroying this source. She felt that this was a number too big for...
The Narth representative almost begged the detective to observe more and then asked Alegar and Egiull to tag along. The human detective had agreed with a friendly nod, and now all of them were sitting in an unmarked Sunblazer patrol flier that was just descending from its high altitude and approached Ms. Baldwin Town. A residential township on the North West region of the Government Continent. Egill who was no longer a newcomer to Pluribus actually knew next to nothing about the planet and...
“Circuit, are you there?” “Yes, Captain but there are green vapor things in Engineering.These things affecting the injector spear blades of both Chandelier diverters. We can’t tap TransDim energies right now and I switched to secondary power.” “Can we still lift off?” “Not at the moment Captain. Most of my engineering crew is acting weird and two have pulled the auxiliary reactor down into maintenance cycle. I need to contain them and get the reactors back up. We are on battery power...
“Well, we are well past GalNet range.” Circuit said sitting behind his console. He had insisted to come along, as this was a real Karthanian freighter and not my own marvelous ship disguised as one. I had contemplated taking the Tigershark, as the Janus mask could have been easily adjusted, but I wanted Har-Hi to have all its resources available, as I was convinced he had to face more than just old-fashioned atomic bombs. “Might be as well, Mr.Circuit. It will prevent me to call back every...
We didn’t have to fight the Merrimac destroyer. The mercenaries immediately signaled surrender. They all were Union citizens, and according to Hans, checking the files. They did have a notice to appear issued, but were still citizens and not yet charged with anything. The ship was bristling with illegal mil-tech, but it was registered to Nick Harlequin and not to any of the surrendering mercenaries. They also reported the demise of Chucky Harlequin and wanted to know if there was any bounty...
I knew I should have paid more attention to the Laurin Oghr, especially since I knew about the Bunthik subculture. The only excuse I had was the fact that I was drunk, but then this was no excuse because I should not have left my guard down like that in an environment that was less than familiar to me. I should have suspected the presence of more than one spy. If the situation was as serious as I believed it was, the opposing actors namely this Cam Elf-Na would not give up easily. All this...
The USS Braddock swung into orbit around one of the most mysterious worlds in the entire Universe, Narth Prime. She was the first Non-Narth vessel ever to do that in over a thousand years. Captain Mike Anderson was very aware of that. No active scanning was done. He gave strict orders not to activate any probing rays or scanners other than the passive ones needed for spaceship operations. The planet was as unusual as its inhabitants and reputation. It had no visible surface features from...
Shea tried to catch her breath, her suit was in restore and repair mode and the system assured her that it would be fully functional in less than an hour. Krabbel was not so lucky and her Archa friend was missing a leg. Hans and the Y’All and the marines were unharmed, except for a few bruises. The island was destroyed, and the shaft leading into the deep had collapsed. Hans was sitting by Krabbel who assured her that the Auto-Doc of his suit kept him pain-free and that losing a leg was not...
A muscular being covered with a brown shroud came running our way. It had a nonhuman snout sticking out from under his hood. What was exposed of him was covered with a short gray fur. In his right, he held an elegant looking weapon. It appeared to be an energy beamer of sort, he had fired it twice into the direction he was coming from. Now he turned and with it his weapon and he aimed at me. Lucky for me I was close, unfortunate for him, I had already drawn the Dai blade. I moved fast into...
Har-Hi was led to a Wisdom keeper, who was without question an old Dai. The revelation that there was a Dai was quite a surprise for Har-Hi. He had not expected that, but since he had become a Union officer and traveled with Erica, he had met and seen the unthinkable. Living dust clouds, planet surface covering creatures and a planet-bound, desert scavenging Dai. He had met Dai that were born in captivity and knew a Dai tribe leader was engaged in selling Dai Than as slaves. Meeting a Dai...
I had been in deep space before and knew how cold space was. Yet standing here on that frozen plane with these bizarre tooth or needle-shaped rock formations, with a bright star just over the horizon giving it all a bluish shine, made it look colder than anything I had seen before and I came off a very cold world myself. Not that I felt any of it, I wore a disguised Atas battle suit, made to look like a piece of undefinable alien hardware and I also wore Tyron Suit. While he assured me I...
I returned to the table where Har-Hi was talking with the former pirate captains and a former Union fleet petty officer, who had dealt with the Worm and now paid the price. “We need to get back to the ship, right away. “Har-Hi didn’t lose a second and got up, tossed a few Iridium coins on the table and was ready to follow me. Lemakr, the Togar said. “What about us, Black Velvet?” “I have all the crew I need and I am in a hurry, figure it out. “I was torn between showing them some sort of...
The disguised Tigershark dropped out of Quasi-Space and as it has become our routine just beyond the utmost Elfi said. “Looks like they had contact with our galaxy before. Communication is now possible. They respond to Squack.” I got up, Har-Hi held my mask. “You should wear it, it is part of your Black Velvet trademark and flair of mystery.” “You think I have that? I mean a flair?” “In spades, Captain and I begin to learn to like this Do suit, complete with mask. It gives me that...
The Thauran now known as Red Dragon cursed at the Situation and cursed his Sensor Operator.”You said you detected the Silver Streak in Orbit. Where is it?” “I swear to you it was there one second and now it’s gone. I think she went over the Pole. Adjusting for magnetic interference now.” “What a worthless idiot are you? Is she there or not?” “No Captain I cannot detect her ship anywhere in the system, maybe our Sensors were damaged.” “Of course your sensors are damaged. She can’t simply...
This situation reminded me of my first visit to Sin 4. I did not know where I was, brought here against my will. Abducted, stripped of everything I owned. I was once again bare feet, had several blisters and burn wounds. My hair was a mess, at least In didn’t have to go pee. Darn it thinking about it, made realize I actually did. I was still running across that landing field, not knowing where I was going, but I knew I still stuck out like a sore thumb, being the only pin skinned human. The...
I was sitting on the main diagnostic table of our sickbay. Cateria had taken me out of a regen tank just moments ago and was now examining me. “What did you do, Captain? Fight a blast furnace” I could not find the emotions to smile, Tyron’s demise was heavy on my mind. “What I faced was certainly hot enough to melt metal. “Har-Hi was standing outside the privacy bubble and said. “Whatever you guys did, worked the run-away Orlan equipment is inactive and we can no longer detect any random...
The USS Gromsmaro was not a supply transporter and not a unit of the Science Council. She was a full sized, late model Union battleship under the command of Captain Bronbohr, a four meters tall Vvolti. Bronbohr was not the most liked commanding officer in the Union fleet, but there was hardly one more correct or fair. His ship and crew were among the top ten vessels in the entire spatial navy in terms of response to alert times, simulated battle honors, efficiency ratings and so forth. The...
The news of Eric Olafson being on trial had reached Nilfeheim. First noticed by Lars Igvarhein the owner and operator of Nilfeheim Radio. That Eric had become Erica was not widely known, but his legend had grown. Isegrim, Siegfrieda, Exa, and Elenna had traveled to Hogun’s Tavern. The place was packed to standing room only. Hogun had his GalNet terminal active on GalNet One and the system displayed the proceedings on the largest field screen setting possible. Aunt Freydis was assisted by...
The latest development transmitted in the tightly packed guest room of Hogun’s Tavern was greeted with cheers and raised tankards. Gunnar Peerson said. “I guess we only hear now, what a hero our Eric Olafson really is.” “It is the strong arm of an Olafson and the sharp mind of a Ragnarsson paired with the virtues of a true Norse that is at the core of Isegrim’s firstborn that enables such deeds.” Proclaimed another. Isegrim shouted. “Mighty brother Hogun, open barrels and let your kitchen...
Rex Schwartz, now fully aware of his ancient dual personality, known as Invictus Rex had, of course, witnessed the approach and the initial attack of the Tomradi. He was confident, that the latest TransDim shields would hold against anything these aliens could throw at them from surface weapons. The appearance of these huge disc-shaped battleships however caused great concern. He brought along a sizeable army of Seenian Sentmacs. Cloned humans that had been altered to be the perfect...
After I was reunited with my friends and my ship we left Karthanian space and returned to the space dock of Fantlemo Brthail. The Karthanian engineer had returned with us. He told us, that with the First Engineer active, the old Guildmasters would be swept away; and he realized that he no longer wanted to be a Guild leader. He rather returned to Itheamh and helped rebuild it and run his space dock. In order to maintain our cover, he reverted to his alter ego of Fantlemo Brthail and only...