GC 31 Vol 5 Eric Olafson, Space Pirate (2024)

When I readstory offerings, I justify format them; set to Times New Roman 12 pitch, linespacing to 12pt before & 0pt after the line. All this to help my tired oldeyes to read them better.

As I go throughthem I “edit or proof read” them to fix typing, grammatical & spellingerrors that often occur because the author can get so caught up in the writingthat they can miss words that the mind has put there, also wrong letters can beadded by accident. I have done this.

All that beingsaid; if you find a story with these problems don’t bitch about them, dosomething. But also read the story for what it is – the content. This why I domy proofing, not only for myself, but also for some writers who have asked foranother set of eyes to pick up things. They can then adjust the story forthemselves.

The Rev.

This is my take on this story for Vanessa's consideration.

Eric Olafson, Space Pirate

by Vanessa Ravencroft

Copyright© 2018 by Vanessa Ravencroft

Foreword[]

The Year is 5019 (Old Terran Time). The Milky Way Galaxy is teaming with life and sentient species. Earth is nowknown as Terra and part of the United Stars of the Galaxies. A multi-culturalmega civilization that stretches across two quarters of the Milky Way Galaxyand has a foothold in the Andromeda and the Fornax Dwarf as well as in theLarge Magellan Cloud. There are now 5031distinctive member civilizationscalling themselves members of the Union. The United Stars Space fleet protectsthis mega civilization against external threats.

Eric Olafson, born on a coldworld called Nilfeheim raised under harsh conditions of a very traditionalinward looking society of Neo Vikings left his planet to fulfill his dream tobecome a Starship captain. He managed to get accepted into the fleet academyand reach the third and senior year, along his way he made many friends andalso powerful enemies.

Eric is 198 cm tall and weighsalmost exactly 90 kilos. His usually long blonde hair now cut short accordingto regulations. He has gray eyes and some say he moves with the same purposeand grace as a Tiger or Nubhir Wolf.

Like everyone from Nilfeheim hehas a greater tolerance to freezing temperatures and is able to stay submergedunder water for a very long time because of gills and eyes that are adapted tosee well under water thanks to a second set of clear eyelids. His muscles aredenser than that of a standard human, allowing him to swim longer and deeper.Due to that he has great endurance and is much stronger than he looks.

He loves fish, has a very clearsense of honor and hates unfair situations. Even though he doesn’t like toadmit it, he carries the same short temper of his father and is more often thannot ready to face a challenge with his fists or weapons. This and a secretdesire he tries so hard to suppress, get him in more trouble than the averageguy. He is still oblivious to the fact that he is destined to play a centralrole in an ancient conflict of cosmic proportions.

The Author

Chapter 1: Alone[]

The last thing I remembered wasthe stinging prick into my neck and then a nauseating spinning sensation thatdragged me into nothingness.

I was supposed to perform anOrbital assault jump as part of the final challenge and to win the Reagantrophy for the Devastator.

My friends and I equipped with heavybattle suits had boarded a Drop ship. Strapped into the drop rack, my suitmalfunctioned and nothing worked.

At first I believed I was dead,but I felt still nauseas and I opened my eyes. I was not dead, but lying on ametal floor. My hands were tied to my back and I was bare feet, someone hadstripped me of most of my uniform, but to my surprise I still wore the leathershoulder holster and in it was the antique colt 45, Admiral Stahl had given me.If I could only free my hands somehow. I wiggled and strained my arms into anawkward, painful position and glanced at my wrists. It looked like Memorymaterial tape. Plastic fibers that stuck only to each other, but with anincredible tensile strength, no matter how much I strained it didn’t budge. Allit did was cut deep into my skin.

Still sick to the stomach I satup and looked around. I was in a holding cell and I cursed, “Not again!”

The memory of my last time stuckin a holding cell was still fresh; even though it happened almost three yearsago.

This prison cell had the shape ofan inverted half pipe that was set like an alcove into a metal wall. Iestimated it to be about four meters tall three meters deep and perhaps alsothree wide. There was no bed, no bunk, no hygiene unit, nothing. The front of thecell appeared unobstructed, no bars or barriers of any kind. Only at its edgesI could see a shimmering distortion and it became clear to me there was a forcefield in place.

I tried to spit into the hallwaybeyond but my spittle hit the invisible force field with a sharp hissing soundand it was turned into a puff of molecular smoke. No Union holding cell wouldutilize an aggressive force field.

The room beyond the cell had twosimilar alcoves but they were empty and so was the hallway between them.

The loud vibrating hum of enginestold me that I was aboard a space ship it ran with its engines near red line.The hum did not sound like a fine tuned Union engine.

What had happened? How did I endup here from being aboard a Union Drop Ship and inside a Quasimodo?

Was I alone or were my friendscaptured and in similar cells? That something worse happened to them I didn’teven want to think.

However if my past experienceswere any indication, it was most likely just me and I was almost certain Denthad something to do with it. Just how did he do it right under the nose of theImmortal Admiral of the Fleet?

I did not think of McElligott thesame way as I felt about Admiral Stahl, but I trusted him and didn’t want tobelieve that he might be involved in this. I also had to admit that the wormmanaged to get us to Quagmire Bog and acted within the Devi. I just wonderedwhy it always had to be me.

While I was still contemplatingmy situation, there wasn’t much else to do after all, a humanoid man came intoview. He appeared almost human except for the fine scaled skin. I recognizedhim immediately as the half human, half Shiss Lieutenant that shared a dinnerwith us right after we had arrived on Newport.

“Ah my guest is up, splendid! Iwas already concerned I used too much energy on the paralysator.”

I said nothing.

“What no questions? I expectedyou to ask me all sorts of questions!”

“I doubt you would tell meanything I really want to know.”

“Oh but I would. You see you aredead as far as the world is concerned. I think they are holding a ceremonialservice for you right now. No one is looking for you.”

However they did it, I believedhim. Somehow they managed to fake my death and that was how they managed tofool my friends and the Immortal Admiral. I did not want to give him anysatisfaction so I kept silent.

It appeared he didn’t mind and heconfirmed what I just was thinking. “We did it right under the nose of the OldAdmiral too.”

I laughed at him. “If you thinkyou and that goon Dent are smart enough to fool an Immortal who has seen everytrick in the book, you are certainly on the wrong ship. He is going to figureit out.”

“They do not look for you. I toldyou. They think you are dead. You see your suit malfunctioned and most of youburned up in the atmosphere, the rest that slammed into the planet surface hada few traces of burned DNA left, your DNA.”

He was very proud of himself andI could not figure out why they went through all this trouble just to get me.

“It was quite a challenge to getyou of the marine ship, but we did it. Oh I wish we could have taken theQuasimodo along, but something had to burn up and what they pay me for you isenough to buy me a new ship.”

“Why me?”

“I was not told why they wantyou.” He started thinking. “I bet I could get even more money for you if I knewwhat it is.”

He suddenly left.

I was in dire need of reliefmyself. No telling how long I had been unconscious, but by the soreness of mybody it could have been several days. I was hungry and very thirsty. I wasalready contemplating to face the indignity and the discomfort and relievemyself when he came back holding a Kermac Line Blaster.

“We have arrived sleepy head. Iam going to be very rich and you going to be dead or something.”

He deactivated the force fieldaiming his blaster at me. “Get up and let’s go. If I have to deliver you with aleg or an arm missing then so be it. They said alive, but I assure you thereare many nuances between alive and dead and I don’t mind delivering a halfcooked cripple.”

I struggled to my feet, whichwasn’t easy. “Can I use a toilet? I really need to go.”

He actually spat at me and said.“I don’t care what you need. As soon as we are outside you may simply let itgo. Just don’t soil my ship. He kicked me hard into the groin and laughed.”This is just a taste what I am going to do to you. If you don’t shut up andwalk.”

Through the excruciating waves ofnauseating pain I grunted. “I’ll get you. I promise I will get you for this.”

His answer was an elbow blow intomy kidneys. “Move!”

There was no sense fighting himnow, he had the upper hand while I was tied and he was armed, so I obeyed. Westepped on a platform and it lowered itself to the ground.

From what I could see now I wascertain it was a Karthanian Jihhif type Courier ship, slightly larger than theSturgeon class of the Union, it was at last 200 years old.

He kicked me and made stumbleonto the Duro-Crete surface of a space port.

The air reeked of rotting garbageand the stinging putrid stench of smoldering burning plastic.

The sky had a sickly greenishshade coming from a pale sun that barely penetrated the thick smog that laylike a blanket over everything.

It was very warm; I estimated thetemperatures to hover in the upper thirties.

The landing field was made out ofDuro-crete or something similar, but it was heavily cracked and big sectionshad already crumbled into big chunks, thick patches of weed growing in thosecracks.

Piles of trash everywhere Ilooked. Not far from us was the burnt out wreck of what looked like was once aTogar pocket freighter.

In the distance I saw the skylineof an immense city with tall sky scrapers and structures, none of which lookedalike. There was no distinctive or predominant architectural style. Even fromhere I could see black smoke rising from many sources beyond that skyline.

At first we were alone and Iwondered if whoever was to meet him had missed the appointment, but then asleek looking skimmer of an unknown type approached. It was armed with twoenergy cannons mounted on articulated arms sticking out from its roof.

My captor laughed. “My payday andyour final fate is approaching.”

But before the skimmer hadreached us, a bright energy bolt suddenly hit the speeder and a second onehammered into the Courier ships drive section. The skimmer lost its Arti-Gravcushion and screeched over the duro-crete engulfed in a cloud of dust and fireand crashed into a large pile of debris.

The second blast had doneconsiderable damage to the Karthanian equivalent of an ISAH pod and I wascertain it wasn’t space worthy anymore.

My tormenting captor hadforgotten about me and ducked behind a piece of scrap metal and cursed on thetop of his lungs in a language I did not understand.

That was my chance and I boltedas fast as I could, ignoring the very likely possibility of another energy boltacross the uneven ground, leaped with all the strength I could muster over abusted shipping crate and rolled over my shoulder to lessen the still painfulimpact. Just as I did, a blaster shot cracked directly over my head. It camefrom the Half-Shiss that brought me here. Obviously he had remembered me afterall.

The crate had been ripped openand there were jagged metal edges. As fast as I could I turned and started towork on the plastic tape that tied my hands.

I worked franticly. I could hearhim yell and scream obscenity laden predictions my way telling me what he woulddo to me as soon as he captured me again. He came closer; I could hear hissteps. Blood trickled into my palms as I had missed the tape several times butI didn’t care. The scaled face of my tormentor appeared over the edge of thecrate. The tape finally ripped released my hands. I rolled on my back, the goodold colt 45 in my fists a fraction of a heartbeat later. He had spotted me andwas about to aim his weapon. The antique gun made a satisfying deep roaringbang and the heavy slug punched an ugly hole right between his eyes, blood andbrain spraying from the back of his head as it was violently thrown back.

“That’s for not letting me piss,asshole.” I vented my anger cursing at the now dead man but I knew I was farfrom safe.

I crouched close to the ground aspossible and edged forward, risking a peek around the crate.

Three men emerged from thedamaged and smoking speeder. They all wore battle suits that did not look likeany I knew and were certainly not Union fleet issue. I was certain the suitswere shielded and that was the reason they came out alive from their damagedand smoking vehicle.

All three were armed with blasterrifles, one of them was limping and it appeared that his suit had been damaged.

They did not look into mydirection so I extended my arm and reached for the Line blaster my captor haddropped as I ended his miserable existence.

Out from under the burned outwreck emerged a powerful looking assault tank, crushing debris and waste underits wide tracks. From the organic lines of its design I assumed it was Nulhardware. The tank was armed with two cannons one of them swiveled aroundaiming at the men. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stand in the firing line of aNul cannon that close even in a Quasimodo.

All I could determine that theywere humanoid, but as I only saw them from the back I could not tell much ofanything else.

A loudspeaker squealed from thetank. “You don’t do business on our space port without us getting a share. Isuggest you drop your guns now and deactivate your force fields. Then we willtalk fees and decide if you are allowed to continue your business.”

I had no idea where I was, but Iknew sticking around was not a good idea. While they were busy with each otherI crawled to the next pile of dirt further away and kept on creeping from coverto cover putting as much distance between me and them as I could.

I was now a good distance awayand chanced a peak to see what was going on. Two men and a Quadiped floatedright above the tank, apparently against their will. The three men usedTelekinetics and had disabled the tank by snatching its crew with that cursedpower.

One of the armor wearingstrangers yelled. “You mindless scum! Do you have any idea who you are dealingwith?”

The Line Blaster I had taken wasa decent weapon and fired long bolts of energy. It was this fact that gave theseweapons their common designation.

However it was next to uselessagainst men in shielded armor suits and with telekinetic abilities.

Besides even without armor andpsionics the numbers were against me and the only sensible thing for me to dowas get as far away as possible.

However I hoped to hear some clueas to where I actually was and perhaps get some idea who it was that wanted meso bad.

Who were they and what did theywant of me?

The next possible cover was apile of Duro-crete pieces but it was at least a hundred meters from my currentposition, I glanced back once more. No one looked in my direction so I riskedit and dashed as fast as I could, then dove behind the pile, skinning my kneesin the process.

The still floating tank crewfloating started to scream in agony. One of them was ripped apart in mid-air byinvisible forces in a gruesome display of what could be done with telekinetics.

At the same time the tank firedagain, and the powerful energy beam vaporized one of the armored men andtumbled the other two through the air. Only one of them got up right away, itseemed the one that had limped would not get up again.

Yet another hover-speeder arrivedat high speed firing at the tank, melting much of its front section. Morearmored men scrambled from that newly arrived speeder and I could hear oneyell. “Where is the Narth friend?”

The Narth friend, all this had todo with my friendship to Narth?

However reinforcements hadarrived and there was no reason for me to wait any longer and give them time tosearch for me. Maybe they had scanners or some Psionic way to search.

The tank was burning now and ifits energy source was anti matter or a reactor and containment failed, thatpossibility was another good reason for me to split. I ran again, towards theend of that trash littered landing field and toward the alien city in the distance.

--””--

INTERLUDE: DENT’S LAST STAND

The inquest into Eric’s deathalready lasted more than two hours and continued behind closed doors. So far noone had called any of them to make a statement.

Har Hi held a PDD, he wanted towrite an eulogy, he was sure he had to give one during the memorial serviceafter the inquest was over.

He had not written more thanEric’s name. “He became the best friend I ever had. He was like a real brotherto me; even though he was not Dai I am sure he would have been among the firstwarriors in my tribe.”

Wetmouth said with a dry voice.“You should simply write that then. I just realized how little I knew abouthim. We all talked about our origins and where we came from, but we neverreally asked Eric.”

Har Hi said. “He has beautifulsisters and an uncle or grandfather who is the representative of his world.”

Mao wiped his eyes. “We shouldall go there; to his planet I mean and bring his remains to his family.”

Krabbel spread upper arms. “Yeswe should go there, but I think he would want to be released into space.”

Wetmouth worked her PDD and said.“They gave me access to his personal file maybe there are some things we canuse.” She switched to field screen output and Eric’s file was displayed on alarger force field screen they all could see.

Hans and Wetmouth started to cryagain as Eric’s image came up and Har Hi said after reading a few lines.” Wedon’t need a file to remember Eric, turn it of Wetty.”

The door opened and Admiral Webbcame out and motioned them to remain seated, after Har Hi got up and wanted toannounce the presence of an officer. He approached the group and said. “Sorrykids, but the inquest is still on. They are waiting on the Devastator toarrive. Admiral Stahl and General Lichfangh are on their way and should be herewithin the hour.”

Shaka finally spoke; he had notuttered a word since he learned that Eric was dead. “What will happen next,Sir?”

Webb the Ult had spent most ofhis life among humans and non-Ult and had adopted a few distinctive human mannerisms;he sighed and tried to put empathy into his voice. “I personally am notconvinced that this was an accident and it was me who insisted on PSI corpspresence. So it might take a little while longer, but if we rule it was anaccident then there will be a memorial service and we all go back to where wecame from, in your case it will be the Devastator, of course.” Webb pointed toan empty seat and added. “There is a short recess now, would you mind if I sitwith you a little? I did know Midshipman Olafson personally.”

Har Hi who became the speaker ofthe group said. “Of course Sir, please join us. We are trying to phrase aneulogy for the memorial service.”

Webb looked at them. “You areindeed quite a diverse group, just as they say. Your friend Eric managed tostand out the first day he was at the academy, you know.” He told them abouthow Eric organized a chain to fetch water for his moisture suit.

That made Har Hi smile. “Yes thatsounds like him, alright.”

Krabbel said. “He hated unfairsituations you know. That was the reason he got in the middle of things sooften.”

Across from their seating groupwas a bank of IST tubes and a tall Shiss appeared from one of them. He woreCaptain’s Black on his sleeves and was followed by a Klack Commander.

Webb got up and greeted the newarrived officer. “Captain Zezzazzzzz what a surprise to see you here.”

The muscular four armed Shissgrowled. “We were only 70 light years from here when my Takkian Comm Officerheard the news on the Chit Chat channels. Is it true? Eric Olafson is dead?”

Webb unable to nod, declined hisupper torso to imitate that human gesture. “Yes, the inquest into his death isstill going on.”

The Ult made a sweeping gestureover the midshipmen, “these are his team mates and friends. We were justtalking about Eric.”

The Shiss captain motioned to theKlack and said. “This is my XO Lt. Commander Xt’ Nartoo and I am Captain Zezz.We are friends of Eric and we are here to pay our respects.”

Not long after that another Ultalso wearing Captain’s gold followed by Olia and Limbur joined the growinggroup. “I am Captain Wonn, of the Avalon, and these are fine crew members andthe best midshipmen I ever had the privilege to have aboard my ship. They havebeen friends to the deceased and I am here to ask if they could remain untilthe ceremony is over?”

Everyone started talking how theymet Eric and what he did. When Har Hi told how Eric busted a chair over hisback thinking he was an intruder, there were the first giggles and Zezz made ahissing sound as he started to laugh. “Yes that sure is the Eric I remember. Hesaved my life and that of my brother in an incredible display of courage andfighting skills and I wish I could tell you about it, but I was there when heearned his Medal of Honor.”

A new voice said with an amusedtone. “This is how he should be remembered, with laughter and tall tales.”

Everyone turned, Admiral Stahlwas there. No one had really noticed him coming and with him was CaptainHarris. “I have lost many individuals. Some in battle and some to time as it isthe curse of an immortal, but I truly feel the loss of this remarkable youngman, who in short time impacted so many lives and made such a deep impressionon all those he met.”

There was nodding and agreeingexpressions. Admiral Webb updated the Immortal and concluded. “It may matterlittle in the great scheme of things but I would really like to know whatreally happened. I did not agree on what form that final challenge took in thefirst place, these are Navy Cadets and not Marines.”

The immortals expression wasstoic but his eyes did show regret and even sorrow. “General Lichfangh camewith me and she has already begun her investigation. If anyone can get to thetruth and find out what really happened it will be her.”

He sat down as did the Captain ofthe Devastator. Har Hi got up and took the Reagan trophy and handing it toHarris, said: “Sir, we know Eric wanted you to have this one.”

Harris took the bowl and saidwith a dry voice. “You all made me very proud.”

A black robed being, completelyshrouded came over from the IST bank and saluted looking at Stahl. “MidshipmanNarth reporting as requested, Sir.”

The Immortal made a sad face. “Iam sorry Midshipman Narth, I completely forgot about you.” Then he looked toHar Hi and the others and said. “This is Midshipman Narth he was supposed tojoin your group. He too was a friend of Eric.”

Mao got up and went to thenewcomer, put his hand on his shoulder and said. “Eric told us often about youand we know he considered you something like a brother. Come sit with us, weare talking about Eric.”

Elfi sniffed and said, “Narth, doyou want to know how he died?”

The voice of the mysterious beinghad a cold emotionless character and it was as if there was a slight echo whenhe spoke. “One wishes to know the identity of the being that ceased to live,before one wants to know how this being died.”

Elfi actually felt a littleafraid of the mysterious Narth, but she came closer never the less. “There isno easy way to say it, Narth, but Eric is dead.”

“One was under the assumptionthis gathering was to discuss his rescue. One can assure you Eric is not dead.”

Shaka said with thinly veiledanger in his voice. “Denial does not bring him back, and he is not asupernatural Narth that cannot die. We saw him burn up.”

“I must apologize if One causedanger, however this Narth is an all-natural Narth. I do know about theexistence of a supernatural Narth. Perhaps your definition of nature is not thesame as the definition Narth understands.”

Wetmouth touched Shaka. “Don’t bemad at him, Eric loved this Narth deeply and everyone grieves differently.”

The shrouded being was silent fora moment and then said. “One has not interacted with humans and other beingslike one did with Eric; One does not understand most of the emotions andfeelings that motivate you, but I assure you Narth can die, as one would haveif Eric had not risked his life to save me.”

Galmy and Limbur nodded at thesame time. “That is true, we were there when it happened. We thought you were dead.”

“One was very close to this stateof non-existence and the reason for my long absence was the need to completelyreconstruct this physical shell. So my Hugavh can be anchored in this shell andthis reality. Eric and this Narth shared the Hugavh and for this reason thereis a bond between Eric and Narth that is not easily explained as it is beyondwhat you define as Psionics, but I assure you Eric is not dead. No physicaldistance can prevent Narth knowing this. Eric is alive.”

A stun grenade could not have hada greater effect on the group. It was the Immortal Admiral who first foundwords. “I have seen Narth do things I believed impossible. If he is not dead,then where is he? Can he be saved?”

“That I do not know. Eric is wellshielded against Psionics even for Narth and he has not yet learned how tocontrol his abilities. I do know that he is quite far from here and he isfighting for his live and in great danger.”

Har Hi slammed his fist on thelow coffee table, making the Reagan trophy jump. “If he is alive then who diedin that suit and how did he get to wherever he is?”

Alycia Lichfangh, the Commandantof the feared PSI Corps arrived stepping into the room through a glowing portalof red light that disappeared as fast as it had flashed into existence. Whilemost of those present still marveled at her method of arrival she said toStahl. “I am done, Richard. I know what happened.”

The Immortal got up. “Then let usgo in there and end this and then we are going to find Eric.”

He went to the conference roomdoor, turned halfway and made a motion with his hand. “I meant all of us; youdeserve answers just as I do.”

--””--

The inquest into the death ofEric Olafson was chaired by Dent of course, as it was his Academy. He lordedover the proceedings and enjoyed the attention and the fact that he hadaccomplished what his associates wanted.

The others present werecommandants of other academy branches and his inner staff. If it was up to him,the procedure would have been over, the incident declared an unforeseeableaccident and everything would be back to business. Most of the othercommandants agreed with him, for to them it was just an accident. The evidenceprovided was good, the eye witness accounts solid, the Poly Analyzer wellrigged and even McElligott with all his detail questions appeared ready to callthe verdict. It was Admiral Webb that stalled the proceedings, had the evidencereanalyzed and personally questioned every witness and then had asked for arecess.

Dent had enough and leaning forwardsaid: “I don’t see any reason to prolong these proceedings any longer. Myesteemed colleague of Arsenal Academy seems to have different ideas about whata short recess is. We agreed on twenty minutes and he is gone now for almost anhour. This is still my academy and I call for a resolution. We all agree it wasan accident and by God’s name it was just a Cadet. We all had men die under ourcommands before.”

He saw most of them nodding oragreeing. McElligott glanced to the door probably waiting for Webb to reappear,but he too appeared to call the verdict and get on with other business.

Just then, door did slide openand Admiral Stahl walked in.

Dent did not expect the oldWarrior to be here before the verdict was made. Somewhere deep inside him fearstarted to grow. He had little respect for McElligott as he considered him anold fool, easy to manipulate with fabricated reports and false evidence, butthe man that just walked in was a different story. He’d never met Stahl inperson before. The man they often called the Eternal Warrior brought an aurainto the room that was not explainable, but almost touchable.

Other beings followed Stahl intothe room. He recognized Webb of course and he smirked as he saw Harris. Thewoman in the black cat suit and the long silver colored hair he knew he shouldknow who she was, but he could not remember at the moment.

He said. “Even though it is anhonor to greet you Admiral Stahl. You are not part of this. Please step backoutside, this is an orderly proceeding and we are about to come to a verdict. Iwill gladly give you a briefing afterwards.”

He then pointed his gavel at thecadets. “You need to leave too, this is a closed hearing.”

Stahl crossed his arms. “GeneralLichfangh here has conducted her own investigation and she is going toenlighten us all and these proceedings are far from over.”

All blood left Dent’s face and acold fist clenched around his stomach. General Lichfangh, he should haverecognized her right away. There was a rumor that no one could lie in herpresence and everyone knew she was among the most potent Telepaths known toexist.

Commander Decker actually got upbefore anyone else could say anything. “I like to confess...”

Stahl’s voice had a razor sharpedge. “Sit down, traitor. It is far too late for that.”

Alycia said. “Eric Olafson is notdead. He was abducted. All you saw burn up was a rigged remote controlledQuasimodo. The charred bio matter you found was manufactured bio tissue fromOlafson’s DNA. The Lab technician who made it has confessed.”

Dent’s hand slowly disappearedunderneath the desk. All his plans and all his future had ended and he knew it.

The Psi Corps general continued.“While you all saw the accident and the sabotaged suit explode, Eric wasstuffed in a message capsule and sent on his way out of the system, the sametime the Orbital Assault began. No one noticed because the officer on theship’s sensors was an accomplice to Commander Becker.

Eric was collected by Lt. Zyzahanat the outmost orbit; Zyzahan was also an instructor on this Academy and partof the criminal conspiracy that is the dark secret of this so called EliteSchool.”

Wetmouth could not stop herselfand said. “Where is he, where is Eric?”

The Psi corps General who hadfaced the petrified audience of Academy Commanders and Officers said. “No onehere knows. The destination was only known to Lt. Zyzahan.”

Dent hissed. “He will suffer forwhat he had done to the Worm! He will be sold to the Togar for flesh food. Hiseyes turned up and he made a gargling sound then his hand came up with a PPD.

Alycia said with a warning tone.“He is under the influence of a very strong Hypno implant.”

The PDD projected a field screeninto the middle of the room and a purple clad being appeared. It had the basicproportions of a human being but its head was that of a faceless worm,segmented, and with an ugly ring mouth.

“I am the Purple Worm and my planhas succeeded. You are all here. Admiral Stahl, Admiral McElligott, the famous AlyciaLichfangh and a host of high ranking officers.

With one single strike I am goingto accomplish what no one has ever dreamed to do. I am going to kill you all!

Don’t try to flee or leave. Youhave one chance and one chance only. You are to order Centron of the Devastatorto accept Dent as its Commanding Officer. You are immortals and old enough toknow that I am not bluffing. I have the means to kill you all in an instant andyou Mr. Stahl will give Centron the Natrahee Command, the same command thatmade it your ship so long ago, the Celtest sequence code you alone know thatoverwrites all others, that will make it Dents ship and opens all the legendaryX decks filled with working Celtest weapons and technology. You’ve got fiveminutes to think about it.”

The projected being faded away.

--””--

INTERLUDE: AT A DISTANT LOCATION

The being in the purple suitleaned back. When Dent told him that the Admiral of the Fleet himself wouldshow and that the Devastator was on her way, there was a chance that bothImmortals would be on the same planet, feeling safe with their ships in orbiton a Union fleet installation. A planet, however that controlled through Dentand his other minions. Setting up the trap was easy, Dent was an Admiral andhad free access to any weapon including the 1000 kilo AM Bomb he had them placein the basem*nt of the administration building. That the game was up, and Dentexposed was only a matter of time. The little man had been too ambitious forhis own good. While losing the Academy and thus a convenient back door into thecommand structure of the Union fleet was a setback, eliminating both Immortaladmirals, the mysterious and legendary PSI Corps general and a host of otherhigh ranking officers was easily worth the losses.

Without the immortal guides, thefleet was a fruit ripe for the picking.

The Worm crawled for almost aslong as the Union existed through every crack and hole of its shiny armor andburrowed deep, finding information and learning secrets.

What would the eternal soldiersay if he ever found out who the Purple Worm really was? The being chuckledsilently at that, since it would never happen. Stahl was never going to revealthe Celtest command code for the mighty Devastator, so they all had to die.

--””--

ERIC: SIN 4

I had reached the end of thelanding field and stood before a wall at least twenty meters high, made of thesame reddish colored Duro-crete material as the crumbling landing field.

The wall had cracks as well butnone big enough to even look trough. I could no longer hold it and relievedmyself against that wall. In all my misery and my hopeless situation, I foundtrue bliss in taking care of this most simple of all needs.

After walking a short distancealong the wall I found a large sewer pipe and crawled in.

Not a moment too soon as I found.Three beings in hover suits flew by at a slow pace.

I heard one say. “I don’t thinkhe could gotten this far. Let’s go the other way. I bet the Union boy wentsouth towards the water.”

His companion agreed and bothzipped into the other direction.

Something with tentacles, milkywhite and oozing with slime crawled from the back of the pipe. It took severalblasts to make it stop moving.

I waited till the sun set.Neither of the flying men had come back I sneaked back, hoping the drivesection of the Courier ship was not completely destroyed and maybe I could liftoff into space using Arti Grav. Also the ship must have had communicationequipment. Something I could use to call for help with and find out where inOdin’s name I was.

As careful as I had left I wentback. Crouching behind a piece of torn landing gear I peeked between rippedhydraulic hoses to see what was going on.

The Nul landing tank wasdestroyed, is front section completely turned to slack and still glowing cherryred. The fire that was burning inside was out and whatever powered the tank hadnot exploded, at least not yet.

The first flier, the one that wash*t by the tanks blast no longer smoked or burned either. Not far from it, twoof the bodies of the armor wearing individuals that had come to get me.

A shallow crater was all that wasleft of the third. The crew of the second flyer, I counted five stood at theboarding ramp of the Karthanian Jihhif, one of them arguing with someone insideI could not see while the others had their weapons aimed at a group of about 20ragged looking beings, humans and non-humans, most of them belonging to speciesI did not know. Everyone of that larger group was armed and wore some kind ofarmor. None looked new or complete and the weapons ranged from blasters toclubs and knives.

The night wind brought cooler airand also carried some of the heated debate over into my direction. I could nothear every word and the language they used was Freezone-squak, a mixture ofUnion standard, Kermac Rhodom, Shiss Hiz and a dozen other sources thatdeveloped over centuries into the trade and Trans-culture language ofFreespace.

Freezone-Squak was part of theLingu packages uploaded into my brain at the academy during the first year, butit appeared they used a version of it, a local dialect perhaps and I could notget it all. Despite my difficulty to understand what they were saying I had noproblem understanding what it was all about.

The larger group was some sort ofscavenger gang claiming the ship as theirs, the crew of the second flier was muchbetter armed and their battle armors looked factory new and certainly hadshield capability, argued that it was unhealthy to interrupt their business.

I was certain violence wouldfollow soon in one way or the other and I was actually surprised they did talkfirst, from what I learned of this stinking and dirty place so far was,shooting came first.

This however reduced my prospectsto take possession of the Karhtanian courier considerably. This idea of minewas a dead end and I was screwed like a Fangsnapper diving for Tyranno eggs andfinding the mother instead.

No one however paid any attentionto the first damaged flier, maybe not everything was destroyed inside and therewas something I could use to improve my situation.

I was close enough and could makeit there unseen. It was a Union Manufacture, a Daihatsu-Enroe armored groundskimmer and from the looks of it a recent model. Now at closer inspection itlooked as if the flyer did have shields active while it was hit and the armoralso deflected some of the blast energy. The damage was less severe than itappeared at first, but the thing would not fly without major repair work. Theleft Arti Grav was completely gone and the thrust turbine was a twisted moltenmess. I poked my blaster into the open rear hatch first and then risked a peak.

A dead human was still sitting inthe driver’s seat; the sudden impact had broken his neck. A small palm sizedflat box with the logo of the First Union Bank caught my eye. I put it in mypocket and was elated as I took the weapon of the dead man. It was finestTerran Weapon Tech, a genuine H&K Raketen Gewehr and he had even two sparemagazines with him.

His boots looked like real Unionmanufacture Terran All Terrains. I took them off the dead man’s feet. Like allgood Union shoes and boots they were Auto Dresser enabled and thus vari-sized.

My naked feet were dirtier thanthe socks of Egill when I first saw him and my soles were bleeding from atleast a dozen cuts, thankfully small ones.

It was a Union flyer and so itdidn’t take me long to find the first aid kid. I cleaned and treated my woundsas fast and as good as I could. The possibility that someone remembered thisflier and decided check it out was very likely.

With a thankful sigh I slippedinto the boots, ripped the size adjuster open and waited for the faint hissingsound to end that signaled the re sizing was complete. I closed the seams ofthe re-adjuster, gave the dead man a thankful pat on the shoulder. It wasperhaps not the nicest thing to steal from the dead, but he was part of a crewthat was involved in my abduction. Thinking about that made me wish he wasalive so I could kill him.

I also put the dead man’s jacketon, not for warmth but to disguise my uniform as much as I could; not wantingto be recognized as a Union Officer until I knew where I was. While I had noidea where I was, I had a fair idea it wasn’t inside Union space.

He had a sizeable bag ofradshield coated polonium coins with him and a wicked looking combat knife ofunknown origin.

I felt much better, armed to theteeth, boots on my feet. I knew I was somewhere in Freespace, but not tooisolated from the Union. Maybe there was some sort of communications center inthat city beyond the space port from where I could call for help.

The expected fight broke out; Icould hear the sharp crack of blaster fire and the deep thud of a grenadelauncher followed by a thundering explosion. Through one of the fliers viewport, I noticed now three distinctive groups battling over the Courier ship. Thegrenade had damaged the second flier, another grenade came in like a brightblue shining meteor in a steep ark, I was sure it was some sort of Nul Gravitonweapon as it connected with the other flier’s shields and with a rumblingexplosion sucked dirt, matter and two men into a small dense ball and collapsedthe last remnants of the fighter’s shields.

Someone used heavy ordinance outthere, lingering here any longer was pushing my luck.

Quickly I searched the rest ofthe flier and the small cargo hold. The Hold was clearly designed to transporta prisoner. It was equipped with a stasis box and there was one of thosetransparent plastic prisoner suits complete with activation and punishmentcollar. They sure came prepared to take me to wherever they had planned to takeme.

The night had fully set in and itwas quite dark out there, except for the flashing lightning show the battleprovided. I hoped they did not have any night vision equipment or at leastweren’t looking into this direction and I ran.

With good boots on my feet and myNilfeheim eyes wide open, I sprinted as if I was chased by a dozen hungryNubhir wolfs across the wide open patch, past the half melted tank and past theburnt out wreck, the assault tank I had used to hide inside. Running as fast asI could towards the skyline of that alien city. I chanced and looked over myshoulder. No one was following me, at least no one I could see. Hopefully noone with a Cloaking field was on my trail.

The Wall with the pipe wasaccording to the flying guy to the north. Making the distant shore and theocean beyond to be in the south.

The skyline of that city could beseen to the north behind that tall wall and to the west. I had no clues orideas what might have been towards the east.

This was a landing field of asizable space port and while there was garbage, debris and scrap strewn andpiled everywhere it had huge wide open areas and I estimated the skyline to beat least twelve clicks away.

The Air above that city was alivewith fliers and even from this distance and I could see aerial dog fights andflashing weapon fire.

Some of the Sky scrapers werebrightly lit and I could see colored signs and lights, others were dark andjust cutout silhouettes against the sky. One tall scraper had a blazing infernowhat must have been the 200th floor, but I saw no emergency or firstresponders.

I had kept a steady pace parallelto the tall wall in a western direction for more than two or perhaps threehours now, taking short breaks whenever I found a place that had enough coverfor me to feel at least somewhat safe.

I closed onto a group ofbuildings, what I assumed was the passenger terminal of this space port.

It was dark, no lights anywhereand what once were tall transparent wall panels, were busted and shattered andonly pieces of the transparent material remained in the frames of these large façadecovering windows.

On the far side of that spaceport terminal was a thick looking Duro-crete tower with a massive gun turret ontop. Up there I saw a faint light. The shadow of a man was leaning against ahand rail and he was smoking something similar to Shaka’s cigarettes and everytime he sucked on it the orange glow illuminated his face. He was too far forme to make out any details but he looked human.

He flicked his cigarette or smokestick away and disappeared through a thick armored door back into the turretand it slowly rotated its barrels pointed to the sky.

Now I could make out some of theproject-a-signs beyond the wall and the terminal buildings. Some of them inclear Union Lingu advertising Casinos, Gambling, Hotels and restaurants. Thename of the planet was used in many of the advertisem*nts and I knew where Iwas, this was Sin 4, the hell-hole Wetty was born.

The walls of the building beforeme were pocket marked with thousands of blaster holes and scorch marks.

I had to go through that buildingas it appeared to be the only access to the city on the other side.

That strange space port ghostbuilding so close to a bustling city felt like a trap as I thumped the safetyto off on the H&K Missile gun and dialed the mini missiles to bio-track.

This weapon did not fire beams orrays but small rockets, each with an armor piercing ceramic tip of monofilamentsharpness and a few grams of a very potent explosive. Each of these littlerockets could be programmed to do a variety of neat tricks, like follow theNeuro impulse pattern of a specific individual, linger in midflight for severalminutes until the target appeared or explode behind or above a cover to showeranyone below with deadly shrapnel.

That was the good part, the badpart was you needed a Neuro jack and a data brain or a combat helmet to accessand use all those wonderful abilities of the weapon, the man I took it had theNeuro jack, I did not.

Inside the building it was evendarker. The exit doors on the other side were about 500 meters away.

The Interior of the place stankof feces, urine but mostly of decomposing flesh, the stench of death.

I stayed as close to the walls,picking my way slowly and as silently as I could, through the trash and debristhat littered the floor. I almost stepped onto the rotting corpse of a semihumanoid life form, much of its head was gone and so were most of its clothingand the flesh of its upper torso.

As I stepped over the badlymangled corpse I knew I was not alone, there were others hiding between stairwells, behind columns and underneath the trash. I heard a whispered word, justa few hissed syllables but enough to know it wasn’t vermin or the rustle ofpaper moved by a draft.

Something grabbed my left leg,just as I stepped over the body.

I looked down and a hand sizedspidery thing that looked almost like the boney claw of a skeleton handscurried up my leg.

I fired a three round burst intothe direction of the whisper and drew the large knife and used its blade to cutthat thing in half.

The smart little rockets homed inon infrared signatures and exploded with force, killing something or someonethe flash of light of the explosion revealed six beings, hiding halfway behinda toppled metal structure of sorts. The brief light also exposed hundreds ofthese bony spider things, crawling everywhere.

One of the beings I think was aSpindlar, judging by the silhouette and the others could have been Ogahr. Thelight of the explosion was there for no longer than a fraction of a second. Ididn’t waste the opportunity however and fired six times, this time in opticalrecognition mode and ran as fast as I could to the exit.

The six missiles found theirtargets and reduced the scum population of this world by at least the samenumber.

As I ran I crunched and crushedseveral of those spiders beneath my feet and I felt a stinging pain on the calfof my left leg just above the boot.

With horror I tried to shake oneof those whitish spider things off. Even in this light I could see pencil sizedneedle sharp fangs burrowed into my own flesh.

I swiped the knife again. Cuttingthe parasite away, but its fangs remained. I had to ignore the pain, I simplyhad to and with five more steps I made it through the doors and into thestreets of Sin 4.

A being with four arms and thegeneral shape of a Shiss wearing a golden shimmering, truly vintage lookingbattle armor hovered only twenty meters distant and about six meters of theground and yelled elated. “I found him first. He is mine.”

Both of his arms ended in weaponsand he fired.

He was obviously not the sharpestharpoon in the boat. First he advertised himself by yelling in a gleaminggolden suit and only then he fired.

The blasts hammered into thedirty Duro-crete where I had been standing a heart-beat before. I was rollingshoulder first down the five steps that led to the Space port entrance, andfired a quad burst after him. The little rockets exploded and engulfed him in abillow of fire and smoke and I could see the bright white lightning spider websof a collapsing shield.

I invested four more missiles andwas rewarded with a shower of body parts and pieces of golden armor.

He was out of the equation, buthe had not been alone. His triumphant yells of finding me had been addressed totwo similar floating and equipped beings in the distance. I limped across theplaza before the space port and beyond a mind numbing steel, light andduro-crete labyrinth of sky bridges and street canyons.

The pain in my leg turned to aburning sensation that spread slowly like the pain of a Galler-goob sting; thatbeautiful brainless almost transparent umbrella shaped life form that appearedduring short summer in the Uhim grounds back home.

The spider thing had injected mewith a venom, I hoped I would last.

The second armored fly man hadspotted me and circled around in a tight loop, only to get a well-aimed threeburst of missiles into the exhaust of his turbine, the only place that couldnot be shielded.

I did not wait to see if themissiles ruined his day like I hoped they would and dove sideways into an alleyway.

The sound of a deep throatedexplosion followed me, confirming my hopes.

The alley was like a knife cutbetween two tall buildings I did not have to stretch my arms to reach bothwalls.

I stumbled over something andslipped through a broken grating into an empty foul smelling wet basem*nt.

The tumble had stunned my leftshoulder and scraped a patch of skin above my left temple right of my skull. Ithanked Odin for making that skull of mine thick enough to not break after thatsudden fall into that hole I was in now.

Here in the almost completelydark basem*nt of some kind of building, found myself completely and utterlyexhausted. My leg swollen and throbbing in pain, my shoulder stinging andhurting in competition with the leg; not to mention the dripping blood from thewound on my head; I listened trying to hear if someone was up there looking forme, then with shaking fingers, pulled the fang pieces of the spider thing out,opened the First aid kit. It was a very rudimentary kit, not an Auto Doc, butit was still union and lots of thought and planning went into this littleaccessory of the Enroe Daihatsu flyer.

A little light came on as I openedthe lid of this brick sized box. A sensor on the little box noticing the lackof light responsible for this, this simple little light that shone over neatlypacked and labeled things kindled a little spark of pride and hope. I used somederma Glue and spray bandage, a broad band anti infection agent and a painkiller patch to doctor me up as good as I could.

Then I wadded the jacket I hadtaken from the dead man under my head and wanted to close my eyes just for alittle. There was a deep fear inside of me, that if I surrendered to mytiredness now and let the venom of the spider spread I would not wake.

I had no auto doc, and there wasnothing in the kit that could be used to counteract an unknown poison.

Sleeping a little was not givingup, now wasn’t it? All I needed was a little rest.

Chapter 2: Sin 4[]

The poison had not killed me, butthe pain that radiated from my swollen leg made me almost wish it had. I wasterribly thirsty and wondered if I had ever felt that miserable. I was able toanswer my own question, yes I had. I had it much worse back on the Burg of myfather, and back then I did not see any chance of escaping but here I was notout of options. I was still alive and I had weapons.

I used the little light of thefirst aid kit to check out the room I was in.

It was not as empty as I thoughtit was before. There was a pile of garbage and waste in one corner and therewas a rusty metal door.

Something between the darkplastic film bags and discarded boxes, moved. I was certain I had seen a pairof shiny eyes. I thanked Odin for watching over me while I was out and nothingdecided to have me for dinner while I was sleeping.

I cut the leg of my pants open,my calf and thighs had swollen and there was an unhealthy looking white blisteraround the area the spider thing had bitten me. There was no other way; I hadto cut it open. Part of my training was first aid and I had served a spell inSick Bay, combat and emergency aid was a subject they stressed.

I disinfected the sharp blade ofthe combat knife and my leg with a disinfectant spray that was part of thefirst aid kit. I put the blaster in reach of my hand, eyed the pile of garbageone more time and then bit down on the sleeve of my jacket, so I would not cryout too loud and cut the wound open. It was not as bad as I thought; I wasalready in tremendous pain so a little more did not really matter. Puss andblood drooled down on the wet and dirty Duro-Crete floor. I had to let it bleedout a little but also had to make sure I would not lose too much.

Again the pile of trash moved andI readied the line blaster, whatever it might be was big enough to move thesacks of waste. “If you are sentient say something, if not I am going toshoot.”

Even though I was ready for somereaction, I was completely surprised as something jumped out of that pile in anexplosion of garbage.

A dark shadow catapulted itselftowards me. All I really saw was fangs, gleaming eyes and claws. I fired butdid not hit it, that shadow of fangs and teeth was lightning fast and itcollided with me. Needle sharp claws penetrated fabric and skin. My eyes werestill blinded by the bright bolt but I saw the outlines of a humanoid face, andan obscenely large-mouth filled with teeth snapping after my throat. I hammeredmy left fist across that face as I tried to bring the line blaster in line withthat monster. My blow connected and whipped its head back; it screeched and Icould not tell if it was a human voice or the sound of an animal.

Claws raked over my shoulder; myeyesight was clearing and I managed to get my right arm free enough to move. Ipressed the muzzle of the blaster against that furious thing and fired. Thistime I could not miss and burned right through its chest.

It gargled and collapsed. Thestench of burned flesh mingled with the foul odor of waste and the reekingsmell of this creature.

In the dim glow of the first aidebox light I examined the thing, it was humanoid in shape but was partiallycovered with fur; its face looked as if a human had been merged with a deep seafish, with bulging eyes and a huge maw.

It was mortally wounded but notquite dead. From the garbage pile it had come I could now see a rugged hole inthe wall that led to even deeper regions of this place.

At this moment the rusty steeldoor flung open with a creaking sound and a muscular Oghr like creatureappeared, holding a Karthanian Flamer stomped past me and held its weapontowards that hole and fired a stream of superheated plasma, into the crack. Achorus of high pitched screams and the sizzling sound of fire consuming fleshechoed from below.

The being cursed in Squawk, “DamnSubzombs, I knew they had a hole coming in somewhere.”

He turned and said. “We don’tlike Skaakh squatting in our basem*nts either. You are certainly not a tenant.”

The brutish Oghr stomped his heelon the skull of the mortally wounded Subzomb I had fought moments ago whichcrushed with a sickening sound. “Get up and get out of here, before I change mymind and have you for dinner.”

I struggled to my feet, gatheredmy meager belongings and put my jacket back on.

The big brute eyed me in thefaint light coming from the still open door. “For a Skaakh you are well armed.I wonder where you got that Union fleet Uniform.”

“I am on my way out, I fellthrough that busted grating up there.”

“I don’t think you need all theseweapons and that nice first aid pack. Its way to good for a Skaakh and seeingyou fought a Subzomb, you don’t even know how to use them.”

Like most Oghr species he wasalmost twice my size and I knew how strong and tough they were, as I had seenAz-Az in action. With all the energy I could still muster, I kicked his gunarm. Putting weight on my bad leg was a bad idea, it sent waves of pain up myspine but I had no choice. With all the pain and misery I was getting angry andI felt my own rage coming up like a storm surge. He yelped and dropped hisweapon as I pointed the line blaster right at his broad nose.

“I am new on this rotten planetof yours, but one thing I noticed, you all talk way too much and think you areall so tough. So far I am not impressed.”

He howled. “You aren’t a Skaakh.You’re Union! I’ll rip you to pieces.”

He raised his massive arms and Ifired.

I hissed, “Yes I am Union andproudly so” and watched as he fell back with a burning hole where his nose usedto be.

He didn’t wear much in ways ofclothing but I took his wide utility belt, slung it across my shoulder and usedits pockets to arrange and carry my small arsenal and to holster the Flamer.

He carried a handful of dark graycoin like discs, more of the same rad shielded polonium based currency I hadfound on the other dead man. I am certain it would come in handy.

Not wanting to make this wet holemy permanent home, I finished bandaging my leg and took another pain killer. Ihad only four pain killer patches to begin with and was now down to two. By therate I got wounded and attacked I wanted to hang on to the rest until Iabsolutely needed them.

I limped to the open door andlooked down a sparsely lit corridor with a dozen doors just like this one and asteep flight of Duro-Crete stairs leading up at the far end. While I wonderedwhat kind of building this was I heard the wailing of a baby from one of thedoors. It was not closed completely so I peeked through the crack. There was awoman and I was certain she was human despite the rag she had slung around herhead, nursing a baby on her thin empty looking breasts, while another kid notmuch older sat by a smoking little fire, the smoke wafting out a similarcrating I had fallen through in the other room. This wasn’t a basem*nt forstorage.

Those were rooms, apartments forthe poorest. The kids and the mother were filthy, now I noticed a third kidbanging with a hammer on a piece of metal. A pile of bowl shaped metal pieceson the side.

I should have gone on and leftthis depressing scene behind, the money I had taken from what perhaps was thelandlord or rent collector would be invaluable to me, but I could not.

I opened that door wider and thewoman wrapped her arms even tighter around the baby she was nursing and staredat me from underneath that rag she wore with a hollow haunting look of fear,hunger and resignation. I could only imagine how I looked to her, blood caked,dirty and bandaged, armed to the teeth.

I held my hand out and said.” Iam not going to harm you, Lady. I wanted you to have these.” I put a number ofthe coins before her on the floor. “It’s not a lot but I hope it helps you toget you and the kids some food.”

There was utter disbelief in theeyes and the face of the woman. Now as she looked up I guessed she might havebeen about twenty or twenty five. She had ashen skin and large dark eyes thatreminded me of Galmy.

She looked at the coins then atme and I nodded. “Yes Ma’am I am not sure you understand me but you can take themoney.”

She shivered and groaned then sheput the baby aside and opened the rags she wore exposing her naked body.

I stepped back and turned to thedoor. She would take the money eventually. I had to leave and somehow find away to contact fleet command. I wondered if Wetmouth was born in a hole likethis.

The woman said. “You give memoney for nothing?”

I turned to look back at her. “Itis for you and the kids; I don’t want anything from you in return.”

“Who...” She stopped and thenbegun again. “Who are you?”

“I am Eric Olafson.”

“Lows usually don’t have twonames, Skaakh don’t give Lows money and don’t have weapons.”

“I am not from around here, ladyand I need to leave now and take steps to make sure I won’t lie the next time Ihave to say that, but maybe you can tell me where I am exactly.”

She grabbed the coins and said.“I never seen that much, these are nine Twenty-weights. We earn a Twenty-weightin a year.” Then she looked up again and realized I had asked her something.“You are in the sixth Skirt district, just outside the Spaceport. This isBottom level; below us are the Subs and the old Sewers where the Subzombs andLight-Shys live. You better stay away from the Subs, Stranger Eric, not manythat went down there ever came back. Not even the Uppers dare to go there.”

I said. “I have no intention togo explore the underground of this Hell Hole.”

Her information did not help memuch. I was in no real condition to linger, but I said. “You are not a Skaakh?”

There was almost something likepride in her face as she shook her head. “Oh no, I am a Low, Bottom Low but nota Skaakh. I have a place and me and my kids scavenge for metals and we makehalf-a-weight every week.”

I left her and did not want toknow how the Skaakh lived.

I managed to get up the stairswithout meeting anyone and after a while I learned how to keep my leg stiff andwalk decently fast without too much discomfort.

After the stairs I looked down asimilar corridor and an open door to the outside. A Shiss stood guard holding aspiked club and a wicked curved Vibro saber in his upper hands, his lower armpair he kept crossed before his chest. The Shiss turned as he heard me comingand barked. “You don’t look like any tenant I know. When did you move in?”

I had my hand on the line blasterand held it so he could see it. “I am not a tenant, your friend the Oghr showedme a room but it didn’t have the ocean view I wanted and it had one hell of avermin infestation. Now I want to leave and I suggest you let me.”

I had been around Shiss for awhile and Captain Zezz told me much about his species so I knew this redthroated lizard was agitated, by the way he ruffled his throat folds. He heldup his lower arms. If Nugth has shown you in, then that is fine by me and youcan leave of course. I just wanted to make sure you are not a Skaakh or tryingto steal something.” Under his breath he muttered in his native Shiss. “I amgoing to kill you little human.”

It wasn’t that hard to pronounceShiss correctly if you simply kept your teeth clenched and uttered this vowelfree language as if you would eat hot soup. I was certain Zezz was a betterteacher than any Cortex uploads and said. “You try that Red Throat and you aregoing to see your own guts exposed to the night air.” This was a slightvariation of a Shiss curse I heard Zezz say to another Shiss while we boardedtheir ship.

He stepped back and lowered hisweapons. “This little human knows much about the Shiss and speaks our languagelike a nestling. Go Human and be safe”

I went past him, not letting himout of my sight for a second and then went as fast as I could around thecorner.

This was the bottom street levelof a towering city, none of the buildings were the size of the mega structuresof Pluribus and no city planning had gone into the placement of the buildingsbut these were still sky scrapers of towering heights. Some looked wellmaintained and others were dark ruins, the sky was black and either it wasstill night or I had slept longer than I thought I had. I had lost all sense oftime that was for sure.

The road gleamed wet as if it hadrained just recently and even out here the air smelled dirty and foul. I founda piece of dark plastic tarp and fashioned it into a makeshift cloak, in thehope the thing would blend me at least somewhat into the shadows and hide mostof my weapons.

I must have walked for at leastten klicks. The pain killer had worn off and the pulsating pain of my leg waskilling me. I had to force myself to make each step. I knew I could not reallyslow down. Not that I had a clear cut target or destination, but I hoped that Iwould find some kind of Elevator or stair system that would take me up to thehigher levels, where the Light signs were. One of the hotels or Casinos up theremust have some kind of communication system I hoped.

I was not alone; there werebeings of every size and shape, scavenging through the ever present garbage andwaste. Lingering in those narrow alleys and at all times I felt as if therewere thousand eyes watching every move I made.

I witnessed a brutal beating inone of those alleys, three beings of humanoid shape beat on a tall being thatwas either a Spindlar, perhaps an Andorian or member of a species I did notknow. The beating was savage and I heard the wet blows of clubs and the painfulgroaning of their victim.

I should have gone on the otherside of the street and put as much distance between me and them, but my cursedvalues of hating unfair situations overtook all common sense, but before Icould intervene. Another group of five beings broke from out the shadows andattacked those who did the beating, from the few words and curses I heard,friends of the victim. There was no way I would get involved now and Iincreased my limping walking speed to get away before they decided to turn onme. Part of me wanted to fight everyone I saw, simply kill everything andeveryone in sight and cleanse this cesspool and as I was thinking thosethoughts with the still bubbling anger in my stomach. I suddenly remembered myring and for a moment I thought it felt almost hot. If I only had Mjördaren orthat axe I had found. I shook my head freeing my mind of these strangethoughts, most likely fever delusions caused by the spider poison polluting mybody.

Among all those foul smellingodors, a new scent wafted across my nose. Seared meat! It was a mouthwateringsmell, making me painfully aware that I was thirsty and hungry. This smellbanished all my fever fantasies and put me back into reality.

The smell of flame broiled meatdirected me towards a dimly lit flickering light sign displaying alien writing,mounted over a hole someone had busted right into the foundation wall of askyscraper.

A sturdy board had been wedgedacross the lower half of that hole. Behind it was an Oghr, wearing a filthyapron and working a fire grill with strips of meat on a steel grid. Several sodblackened pots with something that bubbled and steamed on the other side.Skinned animals of various sizes and shapes hung on steel hooks all across thelow ceiling of this improvised food kitchen. A dozen beings, seven Oghr, threehuman shapes, a Quadiped and a Togar stood before the hole talking to eachother and eating whatever they sold here out of paper wrapped packages.

Half concealed by the flickeringlight sign I also noticed crude but deadly looking automated Nuc Flamer heads,mounted on a remote arm. The red blinking sensor over the remote weapons madeit clear the thing was active. I wondered how many non-paying customers hadbeen roasted instead of the meat on the grill.

I felt into the pocket where Ihad more of the coins and hoped it was enough for whatever they sold here. Iprobably did not want to know what it was exactly but at the moment I didn’tcare and I did not plan to ask too many questions about the origin of the food.

Several banged up looking heavilyarmored flyers were parked near that group and they all were painted black andorange, had gun turrets of various weapon systems mounted on their hoods androofs and each of those flyers had a lit sign on the roof. The signs switchedwriting and lettering every five seconds or so and the word Taxi was displayedin clear Union writing in regular intervals.

I crossed the street walkingtowards that food stand when one of the Oghr, dressed in black rhino leatheryelled. “Skaakh, get away from my Taxi if you want to live.” As he yelled thegun turrets on the nearest fliers swiveled around and targeted me and I stoppedin my tracks.

The Quadiped laughed throaty.“Maybe he needs a ride. Never turn back a fare, Sigpah.”

The black dressed Oghr yelledagain in my direction. “I only take Polos, Telluriums, Union Creds. Not recyscrap.”

“I have money. I want to buy somefood and I need a ride too.”

He waved his big hand and the gunturrets moved to point into the sky. “Come over then, if your money checks Itake it, Skaakh or not.”

I stepped into the reddish lightfrom the sign above and they noticed the H & K which I could not hide likethe other weapons under my make shift plastic cloak.

“He isn’t a Skaakh, not with thiskind of hardware.” The Quadiped grunted.

The Oghr behind the counterleaned forward. “Don’t see too many hunters around here, but I ain’t buyingSkaakh meat regardless of the species. I fry only Lum-Lums and Kultis, butthere is Bonguu’s five blocks up towards the District border, they takeanything that bleeds.”

I pointed at the grill. “I wantto buy some of that and if you have water I like some too.”

The cook said “You must be newaround here. No one in their right mind asks for water in these parts. I sellOgahr Brew but I think I have a squeeze bag of Nul Milk if you prefer that. Idon’t know how fresh it is, never had a Nul customer but I heard humans candrink it.”

Since the selection was limitedand I had no desire to experiment with Nul food I said. “I’ll have Ogahr brewthen.”

He wrapped a piece of seared meatin a flap of white dough and put it in a round Oven made of sud blackenedDuro-Crete bricks and added a few pieces of wood into the fire underneath. “Beready in a minute. Brew and Lum-Lum Chew that will be half-a-weight and I onlytake Telluris. I don’t have a fancy Credit strip like my Taxi friends here.”

I handed him one of the big coinsand he snorted. “Hunting must be good, paying with a twenty.”

He handed me a handful of smallercoins, a round plastic bag filled with a yellowish liquid and then took themeat and dough combination out of the oven, wrapped it in brown paper and gaveit to me as well.

I went to the side and leanedagainst the wall so I could keep an eye on things. The plastic bladder had ametal clip that when removed allowed the yellow liquid to flow through a shorttube from which it could be sucked. Ogahr brew, so I found, was a flat andextremely bitter tasting beer, not even a drunken low man would touch it, butit was wet and quenched my thirst. What he had called a Lum-Lum Chew wasactually quite delicious. It was a strong tasting very spicy piece of stringymeat inside a bland bread pocket. While I was eating I was watching them andthey were watching me.

The Black dressed Oghr said,after I had finished the last bite. “I mistook you for a Skaakh, but sometimesthese hungry bastards do crazy things. Still needing a ride?”

I nodded. “Yes I do.”

He directed me to one of thearmored and armed flyers and at his command the door opened. He said. “I havenot lost a customer yet and my Hoogley is well protected. So hop on in.”

I climbed into the passengercompartment, there was a bare steel seat and two Neuro Rippers pointed atwhoever would be sitting on that seat.

I heard his voice through aspeaker. “A word of advice, hunter, touch your guns and the Computronic willfry you on the spot. Fare is 10 Union Creds per 15 minutes or Two-weightTelluri coin.” I saw him turn behind the transparent barrier that separated usand he pointed at a slot below.” First payment is upfront and don’t try tocheat. I don’t take Kerms, too much of a hassle to fly out to the Kermacenclave and try to argue with those white skins.”

I dropped one of the bigger coinsin the slot and he grunted satisfied. “A fiver will certainly do the trick.Very well then, where would you want to go?”

“A decent hotel.”

“You’re in luck. My wives’brother works for a fine establishment. Clean, heavy security, right in theDonheer District and all Insurances paid to the Syndicate.”

The Cab whisked up through theseartificial crisscrossing canyons diving underneath sky bridges into a higherregion of the city where the advertisem*nt signs became brighter and the skybridges were lit.

After about eight or nine minutesthe cab slowed down before the entrance platform of a Hotel with a bright bluesign reading ‘Sleep save on a Budget Hotel’ and two line blaster armed Oghrsguarding a heavy looking steel door.

The Cab pilot turned again andsaid. “Here we are and be so kind to deposit another one weight, that is theOpening Door fee.”

I swallowed what I wanted to say,arguing with an Oghr behind a trans-plast shield and looking at two Neurorippers was not a good idea so I dropped another coin in the slot and the dooropened with an oily sounding groan. The speaker connection was still open and Iheard a voice from his Com System saying. “We are looking for a male humanshown on this holo likeness, there is a rew...”

I was already out as I heard himyell. “Get back in now.”

I ran as fast as my leg let meaway from the hotel door across the sky bridge. I had to get some kind of coverbefore he could fire. There was another Sky bridge, about six meters belowdiagonal to the one I was on, I prayed to Thor to give me strength and courage,flanked over the hand rail and hoped I could land favoring just one leg androll over my shoulder to lessen the impact of the fall. I was still in the airas a blaster shot melted the hand rail where I had just been.

Trying to use only one leg didn’twork out so well and the impact of the landing made me feel as if I had beenhit by a gigantic sledge hammer. I was certain I heard the breaking of a bone.I rolled over on my shoulder and almost tumbled over the edge, this Sky Bridgeturned out to be a service pipe or sky tunnel, and it had no hand rail orsafety force field of any kind. The surface was slightly curved to each sideand slippery metal, still wet from the last rain.

I almost slipped as I struggledto my feet, hoping the All-terrain soles would still work and adjust to theslippery condition at least somewhat.

There was no time for safety; theTaxi Cab was already coming after me to get a better firing position. I doubtedthe H & K rockets were strong enough to damage an armored flier, but I hadto buy me a little time, so I turned, knelt down, aimed carefully and fired afive round burst in armor breaking mode right at the narrow wind shieldsandwiched between two armor plates.

The mini rockets peppered thewindshield and perforated it, one of the taxi cabs guns fired but the blastwent at least two meters above my head and slammed somewhere into a wall; thecab went into a steep dive and collided with a sky bridge below me. I limped tothe end of the bridge, pulled myself over a railing onto a balcony type sidewalk circling around this building.

I simply kept on going, to putsome distance between me and that cab, who knows if he survived or managed totell someone that he had seen me. Up here there were few places to hide, butluckily there weren’t many beings out on foot either.

How many hours I limped throughthat strange city, always staying in the shadows as much as I could, I couldnot tell, but the sky above me began to brighten and a new day was dawning. Myleg was completely numb and my right shoulder throbbed after taking the bruntof the fall, I was sure it was broken. I was at a point where I actuallycontemplated jumping, simply to end it. What was the point of trying to keep ongoing? There was no one and nothing on this planet that I could reach out tofor help, and at this point I needed help badly. Then I saw what looked like aDance Club with bright lights and expensive skimmers whisking from and to theEntrance platform.

From a lofty sidewalk I saw heavyarmed guards and robots and there a little to the side stood Wetmouth, smokingone of Shaka’s smoke sticks. My friends had found me.

That this could have been anySojonit did not come to my delirious mind at that point. I balanced across asmall ledge on the side of the building to make it from the sky bridge I was onto that platform and approached the Sojonit.

“Oh thanks Odin, Wetmouth. Youguys found me.”

She looked at me and said. “I amnot Wetmouth, I am Moistpromise, I am a Sojonit but do know of Wetmouth.”

A robot and a security guard wereapproaching but she waved them away and then she looked at me from behind hermask and said.” You are a mess, soldier, you better come with me.”

A sporty pink colored Mercedesopen roof Skimmer came floating to the edge of the platform and its doors swungopen. The Sojonit took my hand.” Get in fast, before anyone really sees us.”

I did and she sat down behind thecontrols. The floater was neither armed nor had it any visible armor, but thenI saw the controls of a state of the art SII Security shield and knew why shedidn’t need armor or guns.

She gunned the engines of thisquick luxury skimmer and pulled it in a steep climb into the sky above thebuildings. I wanted to say something, tell her who I was but everything becameblurry and I passed out.

--””--

INTERLUDE: NEWPORT

There was no panic among theofficers in the hearing room, but most of the ones present stared at Dent, hiseyes rolled up, drooling from the corner of his mouth and yet he was speakingand making demands. “Six minutes left before this side of the planet and mostof this continent are atomized and all of you with it.”

Alycia said. “He is underhypnotic control, but I know he speaks the truth. There is a bomb somewherenear and ready to be activated.”

The Narth declined his headslightly. “One would wager that such a device as the one that is directly belowus is not sufficient to atomize half the planet. It is only a 1000 Kilo Bomb ofAnti matter, it will however be sufficient to kill. Having been reincarnated sorecently I must say I do not look forward to dying again and this timepermanently.”

Richard said. “Alycia and Narthyou can teleport yourself and hopefully some others with you to safety. TakeMcElligott and whoever you can. I will stay and try to negotiate.”

Cirruit said to Narth, can youteleport me to that bomb? I am sure I can deactivate it.”

Before Cirruit even completed hislast word, Narth and he vanished into thin air.

The hypnotized Dent cackled witha strange laughter, “Too late, you all die now.”

Nothing happened, but Dent’s eyesrolled down and he looked completely surprised and baffled around. “What didjust happen?”

One of the Academy Commandantslooked at his PDD. “The ten minutes have just ended.”

Out through the window next tothe glaring sun a new star flashed into existence and send blinding lighterasing every shadow on this side of Newport for a long moment.

Stahl spoke into his PDD givingorders. McElligott got up and spoke for the first time since the ordeal begun.

“I don’t care what it will takeor cost, I want every resource, every man, every ship to hunt that Worm. No onesleeps, takes a break or a vacation until we have eradicated this disease fromour fleet.”

Dent still standing behind hisdesk said. “Never get into something without a Plan B. He pointed his PDD atStahl, two streaks of sliver hissed through the air one decapitated Dent andthe other severed his hand, while an energy bolt from the PDD hit the wall onlyinches above the head of the ancient Warrior.

Stahl brushed his hand over hissinged hair and then gave Har Hi a brief smile. “Marines from the Devastatorare dropping on Newport as we speak to secure this place, but you, my Daifriend, saved my life.”

Cirruit came in carrying theNarth who appeared dead. “He teleported the bomb into space, he said it woulddrain all his energies and he was not sure if he could teleport so much weightfar enough away so it would not do any damage. He did it, but he collapsed andhasn’t moved since.”

A solemn silence fell over theroom and everyone stared at the limp shrouded body in Cirruit’s arms.

Stahl was about to break thesilence and say something when the Narth stirred and lifted his arm. “One isdeeply moved by the feelings directed toward my person. I did somewhatoverextend myself and need to return to Narth Prime.

Stahl said to Har Hi. “Take thatBarracuda of yours and bring him as fast as you can to Narth Prime. She is thefastest ship.”

Har Hi acknowledged the order,gathered his knifes, spat on the dead Admiral and went to the door followed byhis friends, but Wetmouth turned. “Sir, what about Eric?”

“If anyone can find him or knowwhere he is then it is the Narth Supreme. Now go, I promise you we will turnover every rock to do our part to find your friend.”

--””--

ERIC AND WETPROMISE

When I came around I found myselfin a large bed with peach colored satin sheets. The bed had curtains, a mirrorabove the bed and it stood in a large girlish decorated room in matchingcolors.

My arm was bandaged with a stiffBone-Mender Patch; I was clean and otherwise naked under the thin soft sheet.There was no pain from my leg and it was bandaged with a rigid plastic film.

The Sojonit sat in a chairreading something on a PDD and noticed me waking up. She looked exactly likeWetmouth with pink hair and a mask displaying a beautiful stiff woman’s facewith an open mouth. Unlike Wetmouth however she did not wear a Union uniformbut a pink sheer outfit with a skimpy bikini beneath it covering her onlybarely. She had her long legs crossed with long heeled boots on her feet.

I noticed her voice was differentfrom Wetmouth’s when she said: “So you are Eric Olafson. Half the planet islooking for you. Someone put a huge bounty and a very good description of youin circulation. That is bad news on a planet without laws and full of bountyhunters, assassins, killers and pirates to name just the tip of the iceberg.”

I wanted to make sure and asked.“I am on Sin 4 right?”

“Yes you are and I just talked tothe Mother Superior. She sent a message to Wetmouth to tell her you are alive.”

A rock as big as Nilfeheim rolledof my chest and I said. “Thank you, Moistpromise. Thank you for rescuing me.”

She laughed a friendly soundinglaugh. “If anyone ever needed rescuing, it was you. Eric, but I am very glad Icould help. Mother Superior ordered me to give you all the help you need.”

I asked. “Is there a GalNetTerminal somewhere, or some other means to get a message to fleet command?”

She nodded. “Yes, at the SII-Bankand business center in the Uppers District, but getting you there will not beeasy. Those who are looking for you will have eyes and ears all around thatplace and perhaps even scanning equipment. We are 170 Light years away from theclosest Union Planet. Only the Union developed this marvelous instantaneouscommunication net. The Katharians have faster than light communication butslower than a space ship and it would take weeks to get a message to a UnionPlanet that way. Of course the Kermac have a PSI-Sender on their Enclave Islandbut entrusting any information to a Kermac long range telepath would not beadvisable and I am not sure if there is a connection of the Kermac Psi Sendernet to the Union anyway. As soon as Wetmouth receives the message, I am sureshe will inform your superiors as well.”

She got up, walked over, sat onthe side of my bed and held her PDD over me. It made the characteristic soundsof a med scan in progress. She turned the display around and said.

“You are one of the lucky few whosurvived a Bone-hand crawler bite, the antidote and blood cleansing drugs areworking and you will soon be as good as new.”

I looked at the display and itconfirmed her diagnosis. I said, “Thank you for patching me up and taking careof that. Before I saw you, I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. You savedmy life.”

I saw her smile behind her maskand she patted my shoulder. “Mother Superior commanded me to help you andbesides it is a nice change of pace to help a young man instead of doing theother things.”

I asked. “Is it possible to leavethis planet, perhaps booking passage on a ship? These Casinos need gamblers andthey have to come from somewhere, right?”

She laughed again. “Eric this isSin 4, we are in Free-space. There is no Space bus service. Yes I am sure you canget a ride on a ship, but you would have to hire one of the Privateers that runpassenger services, and whoever is looking for you will have the two spaceports under close surveillance as well. I heard there is a bounty of fivemillion Telluri coins on your head; you could not trust anyone right now.”

I swallowed and almost whispered.“Can I trust you?”

She spread her arms. “You have totrust me, but no worries. We are bound by the rule of Mother Superior and theGoddess and no amount of money can make us sell out! Mother Superior wants tosee you and that is where we go next.”

“Thanks again you for rescuingme.”

“It was a pleasure, besides I ama friend of Wetmouth and she has told me about you in many letters. I know youare close friends.”

“What happened to my uniform?”

“It’s somewhere on the bottom ofthe South Ocean. There was a tracker tacked to it and hopefully, if they manageto finally track it they will think you are dead.”

I felt my heart slump.” There wasa piece of metal, in a leather holster I had. Is it on the bottom of the oceanas well?”

She shook her head. “No, I havesent your weapons to the temple, they are safe there and you can collect themthere. All I kept here is that Union Bank Credit box of yours.”

I thanked her again and was gladthat the Colt was not lost. That present I got from Stahl was not only quitedear to me; it had saved my life twice now.

The Sojonit turned off the PDDand got up. “We need to leave soon and get you to the Temple Island. Only therewill you be really safe and Mother Superior will know what to do.”

I felt quite naked without anyweapon, despite the fact that I was under those sheets, “Someone knows we arehere?”

She shrugged. “I took as muchcare as I could, while bringing you here but this planet is also called theworld of a million eyes and someone could have seen me carry you in. Besidesthis is only a love hotel and if they want to see who my customer is I can’trefuse. We Sojonites are under protection of the Four Families by oldcontracts, but whoever is searching for you, appears to have the blessing ofthe Four Families to find you. The temple island is off limits but we need toget there.”

I wanted to get up and said.

“Then we should go.”

She held me back and said. “Notlike this. My flyer is open and everyone can see who is inside. You need adisguise.”

I nodded and said. “Alright.”

Her voice had a serious tone asshe said. “It is forbidden by our highest laws that anyone who has not takenthe oaths of our order shall impersonate a Sojonit. We command very high pricesand respect for our services and there are those who want to cash in on ourbrand. We kill without mercy those who do, but our highest laws can beoverruled by the will and command of she who is the Mother Superior and shetold me to disguise you as a Sojonit so you can move and travel freely and goto the island. “She pointed at an Auto Dresser. “It looks like an old model butMother Superior had sent it while you were still unconscious, it is a Saresiimodel and can do some temporary plastic surgery. Go use it.”

She laughed as I wrapped the bedsheet around me to walk over to the machine and said.

“Who do you think undressed you?Besides there are no physical secrets you hide underneath that sheet a Sojonithasn’t seen thousands of times.”

I blushed and said with a meeksounding voice. “I can’t help it, I am from a very prudent and backwatersociety and being naked in front of a woman is one of those things.”

She stepped on the seam of thesheet and I had to get in the machine without it. It seemed like a smalleternity ago when I last used an Auto Dresser this way on Wichita Planet.

It took longer than usual and theprocess was not entirely pleasant. I felt as if I was a piece of dough Midrilpounded, rolled and shaped with her round and strong underarms.

When I stepped out I wore acorset style top, a short skirt and long boots, over it a sheer jacket and allin shades of pink. The body underneath all this was quite feminine and filledthe skimpy outfit in the right places.

She nodded approvingly and thenhanded me a Sojonit mask and said with a solemn tone. “To a Sojonit it is avery special day when she receives her mask and wig. You are the first ever asfar as I know who is allowed to wear these without being initiated by the order.”

I put the mask on. It felt warmand was soft and pliable. She helped me with the wig. I had not forgotten aboutmy other persona, the side of me I called Freya came to the surface and thechange in me was quite intense. This female persona that was part of me burstto life and brushed all maleness aside and I felt free once more.

Moist clapped her hands. “EitherWetmouth was a very good teacher or you have hidden talents of your own. I knowfew females and even fewer males that could walk like that in those heels.”

I said, and was surprised of mysoft female voice, “These are hidden talents. Wetmouth had little chance ofwearing anything but a Uniform since I knew her.”

She stepped back to inspect mewith an approving nod. “Impractical they are and not exactly healthy. Fashioncomes and goes but high heels have always been a hallmark of human femalefashion the Galaxy over.”

I had no real response, butsimply enjoyed the feel and was certain no one would recognize me now, not evenmy friends. “There is a voice changer in the mask?”

She nodded. “Yes these masks areway more than disguises. Now help me delete any trace of your presence.”

Under her instructions, westripped the bed, threw the sheets down a garbage chute. She pressed a contacton the Auto dresser, it fell apart in dozens of pieces and they too went downthe chute. We sprayed everything liberally with a strong smelling disinfectant.She explained.” This will destroy any DNA traces of us being here, just in casesomeone is checking.”

I wondered if she had done suchclandestine things before, as it seemed she had quite the experience but Idecided not to ask. I spotted the Credit box on the night stand and just out ofcuriosity checked the readout and almost fell over. The readout showed a secureaccount with 10 million Union Creds.

She came out of the bathroom andlooked around. “As good as it gets. Let’s get out of here and pay for the roomand for extra cleaning.”

We left the suite and went down aglass elevator into a plush decorated foyer. A truly white faced humanoid withsunken eyes wearing a tuxedo like outfit bowed slightly behind the counter andgreeted us as we approached.

“We are always very grateful forSojonit patronage. I hope everything was to the Sisters satisfaction?”

Moistpromise declined her headgracefully. “The Velvet Pasha meets the expectations of our customers, asalways. We had a rather extensive session and I would like to order immediateroom service and book the room for the rest of the week.”

He pressed a contact and nodded.“Room service has been dispatched right away.”

The read out on his terminalshowed 1900 Creds and I swiped the box and left a hefty tip. I batted my eyesbehind the mask and said. “That is for you. Your attention to excellent serviceis well received.”

He pushed his chest out andsmiled proudly. “You are too kind! Thank you so much. This is very generous.”

Just then six beings came throughthe main entrance door. They wore armor plated uniforms, and were armed to theteeth. One of them came straight to the counter, touched a control on his leftgauntlet and a projected a holo of my face appeared floating above it. Hebarked at the white skinned man behind the counter. “Have you seen this man?”

The Desk attendant looked the mandown. “This is the Pasha. We are operated and owned by the Maroni family. We donot divulge such information even if we had it.”

On his signal a big Quadipedappeared from behind an alcove and planted his massive body behind the Deskclerk and rasped with his steel barrel voice. “It is very unhealthy to messwith the Maroni. I suggest you bounty hunters leave now.”

“We have permissions from theCartel to search. So tell us, have you seen this man?”

The desk clerk shook his head.“No I have not.”

Moistpromise took me by the armand guided me towards the exit, one of the Bounty hunters, more Cyborg thanman, stepped in our way and he too produced the Holo. “Have you seen him? Thereis a nice reward on his head.”

“We serviced no such man.” Shesaid. “Now let us pass.”

He grunted something unfriendlybut one of his colleagues pulled at his shoulder. “Let the Sojos go. They areprotected in ways you do not want to mess with. I could feel their eyes on myback as we left for the park deck.

Her pink Mercedes was alreadywaiting and only after she piloted it in a steep curve above the peaks of thesky scrapers did I relax. “Whew, I thought he noticed something.”

She giggled. “Yes he did, yourass. He had lots of machine parts but he was still a man.”

The city was as dirty and grayduring the day as it was at night. The air was full of smoke and soot and Ilooked around and sighed. “What a place.”

She looked at me from the sideand said. “Sin 4 is not just Casinos and prostitution. It produces lots ofillegal wares. Drugs and weapons being on top of the list and companies takeadvantage of the cheap labor Lows, Skaakh and Slaves provide. There are noregulations, no laws. All waste is simply dumped anywhere. The City as you seeit below us spreads almost over the entire continent and there are estimatesthat there are between eight and twelve billion beings living here, and most ofthem living at the bottom of the social feeding chain. Not even counting thetrue owners of this world, the native Stiks.”

I asked, “Who are the Stiks?”

She answered. “A tribal preindustrial species that is native to Sin 4. They are treated even worse thanthe Skaakh. Most of them live on the Southern continent, but often they roundthem up for meat or for slave labor. It is very depressing.”

“I wonder why anyone wants tolive here.”

“Because Sin 4 is within reach ofthe four big powers, not to mention the Shattered Kingdoms of the Oghr, theKarthanian, the Togar and hundreds of smaller Civilizations not associated withany of the Big Four.”

She must have noticed despite mymask that I wondered who the ‘Big Four’ were, because she added. “Out here inFreespace we call the Union, the Kermac, the Nul-Nul and the Shiss simply theBig Four. You know by treaty of the last cease fire agreement, this isFreespace. None of the four powers are allowed to send warships here and allfour closely watch that the others don’t violate this treaty. So this worldbecame a haven for the scum and criminal elements of the Galaxy and it is bigbusiness. Anything that is illegal in any of the four powers can be bought orsold here. It is a neutral meeting ground, hostages and blackmail money can beexchanged, as you learned yourself.”

I sighed. “Whenever I think Iknow a little about the universe, I find out I really know nothing.”

She steered the flier towards theopen ocean and said. “I think you need to be one of those mystical Immortalsthe Union claims to have, to really know and understand it all.”

I agreed with her. “Yes I thinkyou are right, maybe Stahl and McElligott have a chance to do that.”

Moistpromise said. “Not thatanyone believes they are real, but you mention the name of the eternal Soldieraround here in a spacers bar and you can see real fear in the eyes ofhardboiled privateers and pirates that usually fear nothing. Some believe he isjust well done propaganda, or some kind of Avatar projection, but there arequite a few who think he is a Demon or a God.”

“He is real and he assured me heis no god. Even though he comes pretty close to a deity aboard the Devi.”

Her eyes went wide behind theslits of her mask.” You actually met Admiral Stahl and have seen theDevastator?”

I could not help but feel a deepsurge of pride and said. “I am a Midshipman aboard the Devastator and I havetalked to the Immortal in person. And so has Wetty by the way.”

Just as she wanted to respond wewere over the ocean. Two armed skimmers came close; one was open and filledwith rough looking warriors. They looked us over, then they waved, yelledobscene suggestions and then turned around and left.

She said. “That is why we useopen skimmers. So they can see we never have anything to hide. It is part ofour agreement with the Cartels. In exchange we are untouchable and no one daresto attack a Sojonit.”

I noticed the gray unhealthylooking water of the ocean around the continents shore turned to a beautifulshade of azure green. There were small islands in the distance with expensivevillas. She made a big circle around them and said. “Those are the familyvillas, belonging to the top bosses of the Cartel. They have every weapon moneycan buy, the best mercenaries that rarely ask questions and shoot first if youget too close without being expected.”

After a few minutes of flight weapproached a larger green Island and I realized what a feat it must have beenfor a little girl rowing a little make-shift boat all the way out here andWetmouth’s story took on a whole new dimension in my mind.

The Island was covered with welltendered green parks and in its center was an immense Statue of a reclinednaked woman in a very provocative position. The Statue’s face looked exactlylike the masks all Sojonites wore.

I estimated the Statue to be atlast 200 meters tall.

She chirped with a happy tone inher voice. “Welcome to Sojo Island. This is our sanctuary and our temple.”

Small structures that looked likefrilly Garden pagodas turned with us and I saw the muzzles of modern FTLprojectors extending from white roofs following our flight path.

She noticed it too. “The islandis perhaps the best defended place on this planet and this fact is well known.Here you are as safe as can be as no man is allowed in the inner sanctuary. Youwill be the first. Do not reveal your true nature to anyone even other sisters,till we met the Mother Superior.”

“I won’t.”

“Your mask and wig are registeredand you can freely move around. Anyone trying to use a fake disguise would notmake it that far.”

I said “I am glad I’m wearing thereal thing then.”

She steered the pink fliertowards one of the gigantic perky breasts of the statue and a hidden dooropened at its base and admitted us.

We landed in a spherical hangarand there was a small fleet of these pink Mercedes Fliers parked.

I knew the price of a used Opelflyer and could only guess at the price of these, especially here so far fromUnion markets. “Well it seems business is good.”

She laughed. “It is often calledthe oldest business in the universe and no matter the times, we always have asteady stream of customers. Our reputation is old and well earned.

It was cool in here and the airsmelled of a faint feminine perfume, the same scent I always noticed onWetmouth and the same perfume Moist and I wore now. The corridors she wasleading me through had no straight lines and had an organic round asymmetricdesign. The floors were covered with soft carpets muffling our steps, eventhough I did enjoy the staccato of our heels in the hangar we had just left.

There were Sojonites everywhereand only a few wore masks. Some wore simple white robes and others nothing atall. Moist explained to me as we walked. “Here in the temple we do not have towear our masks. But some of us have worn them for so long that they became suchan integral part of us that we feel naked without them.”

I could understand that and kepton looking around taking in the sights of this unusual place. Antiques andartwork from all over the Galaxy depicting humans and non-human species in allforms of sexual contact were displayed everywhere. I noticed a statue of aQuadiped in the middle of a quite obvious act and asked, “How is it you canoffer your services let’s say to a Quadiped and yet I see no non-human specieshere?”

She responded. “These are secretsI cannot reveal to you, but a fully educated Sister can service any being. Weknow all about the most intimate practices of every known life form as well.”

We stepped into a small elevatorthat followed the arched body of the female statue into its head and from thereshe guided me into a very tastefully decorated room with antique lookingfurniture. A Sojonit awaited us. She was the first I saw that did not wear pinkbut a deep red gown. The hair of her wig was much longer but cut in the samestyle. It too was not pink but had a deep red shade, the lips of her mask wereclosed. The masked woman inspected me with glittering eyes and then said.“Welcome Eric, I am the Mother Superior of the Order of the Sojonit Goddess whois the Mother of the Universe and source of all pleasure.”

I instinctively bowed and said.“It is an honor, Ma’am.”

She said to Moisture. “Thank youfor bringing him here and keeping him safe.”

Moistpromise spread her arms andcurtsied. “I live to serve the Goddess.” With these words she turned and leftthe room. I was alone with this mysterious woman.

She gestured towards a soft andcomfortable looking seating group arranged around a low table with a single bigcandle on top that was burning and appeared to be the source of the sweetperfumed scent of the room. “Have a seat and get comfortable. You are welcometo take off the mask of course.”

I sat down and took the flexiblemask off.

She walked to an expensivelooking, delicate carved armoire and asked, “Would you care for something todrink? I have real Terran Line Aquavit here and a nice selection of beers.”

I wanted to decline but theprospect of a cold beer was quite alluring so I said. “A beer would be great.”

She opened the Armoire revealinga modern Union style Serv-matic, produced a frosted mug and handed it to mealong with a bottle of Budsteiner, one of the most common and quite good Unionbrands. “I am sorry, I don’t have Holsteiner but I will have it on hand if youever return here.”

I thanked her, poured the goldenliquid into the mug producing a nice white crown. My mouth became dry inanticipation and taking a long drought, if there was a heaven or a Valhalla, Iwas near that state at this very moment.

A little ashamed, I put the glassdown. There was nothing left but some foam on the bottom. She laughed with apearly silvery voice. “By the goddess, you are the first Neo Viking Sojonit andit clearly shows.”

I squinted my eyes. “Ma’am itappears you know a lot of details about me.”

She sat down crossing her legs.“I believe your security clearance is Blue-Blue-Red. You are a Midshipman inthe third year and you are currently posted aboard the Devastator, and yourgraduation is only 2 months off. Am I correct?”

She knew more than a personoutside the fleet should have known about me and I became suspicious. “Pleasedon’t take this the wrong way, Ma’am but are you associated with those who broughtme here?”

She shook her head. “No worries,young man. I know Richard and O’Brock. I know both of them trust you very muchand had lots to say about you when I informed them you had been found.” Shemade a gesture that incorporated the room and everything around her.

“You see, this is not only aSojonit temple but an outpost of the oldest known Intelligence service known toan elect few as the Gray Cat society of Sar.”

I was surprised by that, I hadnever heard of the Gray Cat society or even knew the Saresii had anIntelligence Service. I said, “I thought all national, military andintelligence services had been consolidated into Fleet and NAVINT at thesigning of the National resource unification act of 3000.”

She nodded. “That is the officialline, but we still exist and so does the elusive Terran Space Intelligenceservice that is still operating under the command of another Terran Immortal.”

She shifted her position andtugged on the skirt of her dress. Because you are here and because I think youneed to know, I am going to initiate you into our most guarded secrets over thenext few weeks.”

If she was more than the head ofa religious order, I thought she might know and so I asked her “Do you know howand why I ended up here?”

She nodded, “Yes I do. AdmiralDent was a deeply entrenched agent of the Worm. The Worm fears the new activityof the Narth as shown by their willingness to boost the ranks of the PSI Corpsand so do the Kermac. The Kermac have tried to abduct you before, if you recallyour ordeal at Camp Idyllic?”

She knew everything about me andI said, “Why me? I am just one of many and come from a very unimportantplanet.”

“Because you are the first whocan claim to be the friend of a Narth and more so the Narth confirm that bymaking you a High Representative of their species. You are young and new to allthis, I know, but in terms of Galactic Importance, there isn’t much above theNarth. They are not only the most enigmatic species known; they have beenaround for far longer than even the mythical Pree and the Uni. Now comes alonga human, from as you say an unimportant planet and befriends the first Narth toever join the Union Fleet. They tried to abduct him to study him, to use him asa tool to lift the secrets of the Narth and when that failed you became thenext target. They think that you hold a key, that you are important enough forthe Narth to reveal their secrets. As much as the Worm fears the Narth, theKermac are truly terrified and they believe their very existence is threatenedif the aggressive Earthers gain access to Narth knowledge and technology. Sothey worked through their agents and are paying the Worm to get you.”

I frowned. “Little would it do. Iknow very little about the Narth and there is nothing they could do to me tosell out my friend and tell them what little I do know.”

The mysterious woman leanedforward and patted my knees. “I can only imagine how terrifying and big thesethings must appear to you, but you have managed to stand on your own and youare far from an average Midshipman. Do you know just how many people have evermet both the Eternal Soldier and the Administrator?”

Before I could answer shecontinued saying. “It is a small group. For most, these men are nothing morethan legendary figures that existed at one point long ago. Others believe theseare titles bestowed on new beings, but you have met them and they know you. Theenigmatic Coven welcomed you on their world and they too raised you to utmostimportance within their society. You are a declared friend of the throne by theQueen of Saran, the Queen of Klack and the Pan Saran Emperor knows of you. Notto mention that your great grandfather, Egill, is known to be one of the Wisem*n of the Assembly. All this, Eric, makes you far from average.”

I had held my breath as she saidall this and somehow I knew she was right. I was different from the othercadets in that regard.

“I never thought of myself asanything else but normal and average.”

“How many average cadets do youknow who have the Medal of Honor and are cleared to the highest classification level?There have been less than fifty individuals that ever commanded the Devastatorever since Stahl came back with that mighty battle ship. I have it on goodauthority you even commanded her during a space battle.”

Her pointing all that out made meactually feel quite uncomfortable and I wondered what this all meant. “It sortof happened; I did not plan any of this.”

Mother Superior laughed again. “Iam certain you haven’t. No one can plan his or her destiny. I don’t know whatdestiny holds in store for you, but Algear told me to give you some tools andknowledge that will help you in the future.”

I wanted to know, “Who isAlgear?”

“The best friend of Egill. Didyou not meet him during the Crystal Ball?”

“If I have it must have been verybrief.”

“He is one of the wise men. Andhe is a Saresii, and when I told him of you he wanted me to reveal all this toyou and reveal knowledge to you no outsider has ever gained, in the hopes thisknowledge might be useful to you one day.”

I tried to digest all this andthen I said. “If Dent is an agent of the Worm he could put his goons anywhere.Admiral Stahl must be informed.”

She had an assuring tone in hervoice as she said. “He knows. Admiral Dent has been killed by a certain Dai youknow and your friends have been informed just a few hours ago that you arealive. Your friend Narth is with them. You will be reunited with them, eventually.”

This was the best news I heard sofar. I sighed deeply and was so relieved. I could not help but grin when Iheard Har-Hi had killed the traitorous Admiral. “So Wetmouth is an agent too?”

“No Eric, she does not know, onlya select few of the High Priestess of this order are aware of this. This orderhas existed for a very long time and it is much more than a cover. TheSojonites know all the secrets of sexual pleasure of almost every being in theknown Universe.”

“How can they?”

“We are not human Eric; we areshape shifters and can take on any form.”

“I never heard of a species thatcan do that, but then I’ve seen many species unknown to me in the last fewdays.”

“It is a great secret, Eric,however it appears you attract and collect the great secrets of this Universelike others collect pottery pieces. Maybe it is because you are keeping secretswell and can be trusted with them.”

“I never really asked for them.”

“Well you are not very good atkeeping your own secret to well. It seems you are quite comfortable in thiscostume. Much more than a Neo Viking supposed to be”

My cheeks started burning and Ifelt ashamed, as she was right.

She leaned forward and patted myknee. “Don’t be ashamed, there are no secrets of this nature that are a mysteryto us and perhaps one day you too, will learn how to shape shift. It is a giftthat can be learned you know.

I tried to feel more relaxed andsaid. “Well I bet it sure helps to get into the nice outfits.”

She laughed. “Indeed it does.”

I showed her the Cred Box. “Whatdo I do with this?”

She checked it and whistledbehind her mask. “This isn’t small change anymore. I assume it is the sumbrokered between Worm and Kermac for you. The Worm spends quite some money onthis operation but the Kermac can afford it. I think you should keep it. Youcould retire from the Navy right away and be a very wealthy individual.

I shrugged. “My grandfather leftme much more than that and I have no idea what to do with all this money. Idon’t think I am going to retire anytime soon.”

“Keep it anyway, it might come inhandy. There are few more potent weapons in the universe than money.” She gotup, tugged at her skirt and listened to something I could not hear. “It’s timewe leave and remember you have never been here and all I told you was neversaid.”

“I will not mention anything toanyone.”

“Now be a Sojonit again, put on yourmask and follow me.”

== Chapter 3:Sojonit Secrets ==

The woman in the red dress led methrough a labyrinth of hallways, corridors and after an elevator ride, into thesecret basem*nt facilities of the Temple far below the surface accessible onlythrough a complicated process of ID verification that made the Blue-Blue-RedCode process look like child’s play.

We ended up in a small conferenceroom of sorts with several chairs and a kidney shaped table in the middle. ASojonit entered and handed the Mother Superior a PDD and said. “Arrangementshave been made and we will get a ship in three weeks.”

The masked leader of theSojonites glanced at the PDD, nodded and handed it back. To me she said. “Bythen everyone who is looking for you will think you are dead. Death comesquickly here on Sin 4 and in three weeks you are old news. By then we shouldhave no problems to move you off planet.”

She pointed at my leg and added.“That gives you time to heal completely and we can teach you a few usefulskills.”

A modern looking SII GalNetterminal rose from a hidden compartment in the table. A field screen flickeredinto existence and the logo of fleet command rotated in the middle for a shortmoment only to be replaced by the face of Admiral Stahl.

Suddenly I wished I was notdressed like a Sojonit. While I deeply enjoyed the role and the quiteprovocative outfit I somehow didn’t want Stahl to know my secret.

The woman motioned me to removemy mask and the wig and I did.

Stahl looked at me; his face didnot reveal what emotions he felt as he said. “Midshipman Olafson I am very gladyou are unharmed and safe.”

I wasn’t sure if I should standat attention. Military protocol required such behavior only when in uniform soI decided against it. “Thank you Sir.”

He nodded and said. “As you knowmilitary ships cannot enter Freespace and so we cannot come and get youofficially. While we do have extensive other resources I think the current planis the best, to let things cool down and make sure no one connects your rescuein any way to the Sojonites. I am sure you understand that we must be subtleand move carefully through very secure channels so we do not jeopardize theSojonites or the Saresii Intel Operation on Sin 4.

Your friends know you are aliveand I told them that you are reasonably safe for the moment. However no one butI and Mother Superior know where you are at the moment. Most of your currentadventure and the details of your rescue are classified beyond Blue-Blue-Red,meaning you will not divulge any details of this to anyone.”

“Yes Sir I understand.”

He smiled briefly and continued.“I expected nothing less of you. For the time being you are transferred to theSaresii Intel service and you will take orders from Mother Superior as if theycame from me, understood?”

“Yes Sir.”

He leaned back and the opticalsensor now revealed that he was sitting in his office aboard the Devastator.“It might interest you that your friend Har-Hi killed Admiral Dent, sparing himan execution and we are currently cleaning up on Newport.”

I could not stop the grin thatcrept over my lips. “I can’t say I am terribly sorry to hear that, Sir.”

“I am looking forward to seeingyou soon and in person for a complete report, Midshipman Olafson, until thengood luck and god speed. Stahl out.”

The transmission terminated andthe field screen went dark.

I felt much better now aftertalking to Stahl. Everything didn’t seem so confusing and there was a cleardirection once more.

Mother Superior said with a warmtone in her voice. “I’ve known him for a very long time and I can tell he isvery fond of you.”

I was still staring at the darkfield screen and said. “I am very proud to know the Admiral. It is veryreassuring to know he is one of the men in charge and to know I can trust him.”

She nodded. “That you can indeed,there is no one with a reputation like his. In all the centuries I’ve knownhim, he has not changed. No matter the situation or crisis he is like a sturdyrock. Even his worst enemies respect and trust him.”

I looked at her masked face “Itseems you are fond of him as well.”

“You have keen senses and I thinkyour feminine side goes much deeper than you know.”

--””--

During the next few days I wastaught how to override and hack into advanced locks, break into Computronics,operate Bioflex mask makers and use make up and other means to change myappearance. I learned that the Sojonites did not only teach the art of lovemaking but had a special squad of enforcers that made sure the Sojonit brandwas not exploited by others. The tall Sojonit, so I learned, was from Earth andshe taught me a new and different secretive martial arts technique that hadonly one goal, to kill the opponent as quickly as possible by recognizing theweak spot. Most of the training was given by neural upload and ancient SaresiiHypnotic techniques. I was told that they had to revert to these old techniquesas I was immune to Psionic Learning. After each extensive upload she would gothrough a series of physical exercises to make sure the upload had taken hold.The martial arts technique was unlike any of the ones I knew as it was based onthe incredible deep knowledge of the Sojonites into the weaknesses and nervoussystems of hundreds of different species.

Another woman introduced me tothe world of poisons and neuro-toxins. How to identify some of them and how toeffectively use them; again the Sojonites drew from a deep knowledge base ofmany species, some of them unknown to the Union.

The range of weapons theSojonites used was wicked and deadly. None of them obvious and all of themhidden. Micro-needlers, monofilament blades disguised in jewelry, masks, wigsand clothing. A seemingly innocent and playful looking wispy veil used as partof the costume or in seductive dances could be transformed into mono mesh netsslicing through flesh and bone was especially nasty in my opinion.

None of the weapons would do muchgood in real battle or during boarding action, but reap terrible havoc in anight club, an urban setting or in a bed room.

I learned much about the Sojonitand their secrets, that this order was only one aspect of the Goddess and thatanother much more secretive Order worshipped and studied the destructiveaspect. To them the Universe was a female spirit giving life and light but partof the Universe was also death and destruction. This innermost circle of theSojonites enforced the laws of the Order quite effective as Assassins, killingwithout mercy those who did not pay for services or those who tried to cash inon the reputation and dress like Sojonit Sisters.

While I was not really buying allthe metaphysical stuff I learned that the Order existed long before Terraascended and had collected, preserved knowledge and age old skills for a verylong time.

After two weeks of the mostintensive training that barely left time for eating or sleeping I wondered whyI was receiving these instructions.

I was certain it would come inhandy to know these things and I eagerly wanted to learn more. The VikingWarrior in me recoiled and abhorred the wicked and hidden ways to kill andassassinate, which was not really my style or character, but knowing suchthings existed would help me to identify such threats easier.

I had just completed anotherpractice session with the tall Sojonit when the Mother Superior came andinquired about my progress. After she received a satisfactory answer and alittle demonstration of the skills I had learned she asked me to follow her toa small sacral looking vaulted room with a statue of the goddess Sojodominating the back. The statue was about the size of a human and the materialhad a waxen bone colored appearance. The figure was dressed in the same deepred as the Mother superior. Hundreds of Candles were burning and the scent theyproduced was almost too much.

“The Godess herself wants to getto know you.” She said in a matter of fact fashion.

I wanted to object and tell herthat I wasn’t the religious type and whatever room I had for religion wasreserved for the Aesir, but then this wasn’t the first time I participated in areligious ritual. I had danced before the statue of a Saran goddess along withother Sarans, Elfi and the Queen herself. And what would it hurt? The Sojoniteshad saved my life and shared much of their knowledge and taught me many oftheir secret skills, so I would endure whatever ritual was about to take place.Paying respect to their ways.

A faint sound of silvery bellscould be heard; it wasn’t really a melody but appeared to be generated randomly.I also could hear the gurgling of water somewhere.

She sat down on a large silkcushion, folded her legs underneath her and asked me to do the same on acushion across from her. She made a gesture towards the statue. “To usSojonites the Goddess is quite real and I am going to tell you our story so youmay understand us better. After that I will arrange to improve your educationin certain areas.”

I blushed and said. “I don’treally want to know all the things Sojonites do. I respect it and all that andI do enjoy being female at the moment, but I am quite sure I am not interestedin the ... uhm ... you know what you Sojonites do.”

She laughed heartily. “Oh nowyoung student, fear not, there are no intentions of that nature. Even thoughyou would be surprised how powerful and useful such knowledge could be. Theskills we hope you will acquire here are of a more practical nature and yourAdmiral has approved it.”

I nodded and was glad that therewas some knowledge I needed to acquire. Still I wondered what it could be shewanted to teach me.

She pressed the palms of herhands together and placed them above her lap. “To learn something it is oftenbest to start at the beginning.”

I had to agree with this basicwisdom and simply nodded, while she begun. “In a time where humans on Earthbarely learned to walk upright and had yet to bring forth true sentience, theSaresii had developed into a strong and mighty civilization with manyachievements. We were blessed with Psionic gifts and talents few others speciescould dream to match and with these powers and the achievements of our culturecame pride.”

While she talked a dark sphereestablished itself between us, expanded until the temple room had vanished anddeep space was all around us.

Just like a virtual tour we movedwithout effort to a Star system with seven planets.

I knew as soon as I saw it, thatsuch a system could not have been natural, as all Planets were on the sameorbit around their sun. The orbit was not elliptical but a perfect circle,placing all the seven worlds into a perfect distance from that star.

Her voice explained what I wasseeing. “Our pride grew and, while pride is a good emotion, it can easily growinto haughtiness and arrogance and it did so with us.

The Saresii became obsessed withour own beauty, our own power and this self-importance affected and infectedour entire society.

The Saresii were as condescendingas the Kermac are now. Yes there were voices of warning and those who tried tomake us see the true reflection but to little avail.”

“We used our combined Psionicpowers to re-arrange our own solar system. As you can see there are sevenperfectly groomed and perfectly identical worlds.

“We were not content with onehome world but showed the Galaxy we were powerful enough to rearrange starsystems and shape entire planets with little effort to our ideals.”

“The Saresii spread over manyworlds and colonies and each colony competed to be the most beautiful andaesthetic pleasing.”

“We Saresii cared little aboutwhat others found pleasing and sterilized many worlds to brand them and remakethem in our image. During this phase of expansion and arrogance we exterminatedmany other perceived lesser civilizations. And then we met anothercivilization, the Seenians. Just as arrogant and even more advanced. Theycommanded an empire that stretched across most of our Galaxy, with untoldresources and mighty fleets.”

I actually enjoyed her historylesson and it did give me some insights into one of the leading societies ofour Union. I was sure her story would drag on for a while longer, but afterrunning through an alien city wounded, poisoned, hunted and near death; I foundthis a nice change of pace.

I also had the suspicion that thescent of the candles, beyond that visual illusion had some sort oftranquilizing, calming effect. My mild interest changed as the image showed afleet of ships, hundreds of them, each appearing in size and shape exactly likethe Devastator.

To the entire known Galaxy, theDevastator was a sign of Union might.

I had unleashed her terriblepower myself and now I stared at a fleet with hundreds of these immense ships.

I knew how difficult it was tofight a small courier vessel of the Seenians. These images brought home justhow powerful the Seenians had been.

I heard her say, “The Devastatoris an old Seenian ship as you can see now. The Seenians showed up with fleetsof thousands.”

I remembered the words of AdmiralStahl about how dangerous the universe could be, regardless of how big yourship was; there was always someone with a bigger or better one.

I wondered if even the combinedmight of the Union fleet would have stood a chance against such an adversary.While I still tried to wrap my mind around the image, she continued. “Wewelcomed them and felt we finally met a species worthy of our attention.

The Seenians impressed by ourachievements and Psionic powers, accepted us as equal and offered us to jointheir Alliance.

She paused only a few momentswhile the enormous fleet of Devastator sized ships were met by an impressivefleet of smaller very elegant looking ships. I could clearly see Saresii designbut I never heard about the Seenians having a fleet of ships like that.

“The Seenians told us that theywere at war against a brutish force and recruited others to join their fight.They also warned us that if we would not join them that we would certainlyperish trying to stand alone against the Dark Ones.”

Seeing the might of the Seeniansand the ancient Saresii displayed, I wondered what opponent could hope to standagainst them. Yet the Seenians were no longer around and everyone knew theSaresii lost the war with dire consequences.

I could not see her and onlyheard her voice.

The Mother Superior kept ontalking and commenting on the visual before me. “The Saresii, as you mostlikely know from school, fought with the Seenians against the Dark Ones muchlike the young civilizations of the Galaxy now fight against the Y’All everytime they return...

The Dark Ones were relentlesslyunstoppable.”

I wondered what the motivation ofthat enemy was. No matter how advance or beyond human understanding thisconflict seemed to be, it had to have a reason.

The projection field between usdisplayed grainy and blurry images of a spherical ship that moved into a starsystem and she said.

“These images are the onlyvisuals we have of the Dark Ones and no outsider has ever seen them. Weenhanced the quality as much as possible but these records have been copiedmany times and are over a million of your years old.”

The view switched and whoevertook the image was standing on a planetary surface. I could see troops onsleek, artistic looking battle tanks and other beings wearing similar suits asCateria the Seenian commander had worn and they all looked into the sky as animmense shadow darkened their sun. In that eerie twilight I could see littledarks spots in the sky. The troops on the ground poured withering fire ofpowerful weapons into those spots, yet the spots became bigger and descendedunharmed. The eyewitness who made these recordings had the camera mounted onhis helmet so it appeared and he looked around and I saw Celtest and Saresiitroops ripped out of their battle suits by unseen forces. I saw blood and goreand the painful screaming of men everywhere. Four legged creatures hellishlooking beasts that made Fangsnappers look tame and cuddly. The recording endedand the projection field went dark.

While I was impressed by theintensity of the fight. It did not look very advanced or the conflict ofcivilizations technologically so far advanced.

Once more I became aware of myring; Every time this happened I wondered why I never thought about this pieceof jewelry and why I kept forgetting that I had it. While I watched theseancient million year old recordings, something struck a chord somewhere deepinside, as if I had seen these images before; familiar images that meantsomething to me.

A new voice spoke in thedarkness. “Indeed you are not just an avatar or another precursor. Come, cometo the hidden world of Sojo. Come eternal one, you who will rise and answer thequestion, I too guard a piece of thine.”

I was in a strange dreamlikestate, unable to form a clear thought. “Who are you?”

“I am Sojo.”

From within me a voice that wasmine yet of a different person or consciousness spoke. “Neither Crea nor thehost of all elders. Nothing can stand before me and no one and nothing can denyme what is rightfully mine.”

“Your ascent is foretold andexpected, but a new answer dawned. Sojo will not deny you what is yours, Iinvite you and want you to come.”

Without really knowing why angerrose in me and I clenched my fist. “I will rise and bring the order and silenceof death to punish all those who worshipped the chaos of life and light withthe final peace of darkness. As it was the preordained faith of all whoconspired against...”

“Your time has not yet come.”

The Images displayed on theprojection field now showed an elegant glittering object that appeared like aprecious jewel floating over a deep blue ocean. These powerful emotions andthoughts that had gripped me just moments ago faded away and I wondered whoconspired against whom and how I would know all this, as the thoughts fadedaway like a puff of smoke in a fresh breeze of air.

That crystal object that was nowcoming into focus, I had seen it before. Recent memories flooded my mind. Itlooked exactly as the crystal construct on Pluribus where the Diamond ball washeld.

These new images made the otherdark thoughts fade away and as much as I tried to hold on. What was that voicein me? What just occurred slipped away and after a moment I wondered what I wastrying to remember.

As if waking from a dream thathad taken me away from reality, I remembered where I was and I heard the voiceof the Mother Superior once again reach my ears as she said.

“I know you recognize thissphere, it was the original hall of the Saresii council.

The Sphere was donated toPluribus as a symbol of Sares commitment to the Union.”

I still felt as if I had cobwebsaround my mind and, while I did not feel tired, I could barely keep my focus onher presentation. I knew I had seen something that was profound and important.More important to me than anything and yet it was gone. I could not remember.

It had to be the scent, thecandles.

Her voice went on and inside theprojection field we now saw seven white haired men in floor length robes standingin a semi-circle inside the crystal hall. They looked regal and wise and fullof authority. While I looked at these images she said. “These seven men representedthe seven Core worlds and they had made the decision for all Sares to join theSeenians and to fight the Dark Ones. Now after we were soundly defeated at anengagement they demanded that we fight even harder, that we invent and developnew weapons and that our greatness as a civilization would only be measured byour success in fighting the Dark Ones. Yet there were other voices and thesevoices culminated in that woman you see that is now standing before the Seven.

The image showed a woman lookingvery much like a Saresii with a skin tight suit and long silver hair. Sheargued with the seven men and then as her demands were not immediately acceptedshe made a sign and a group of twenty more women entered the room and theypointed little silvery devices at the men and as the men collapsed to the floorin withering agony I knew what these little things were. I recognized the smallmushroom shaped projector head of Neuro Rippers.

The voice of the Mother Superioron the other side of the projection screen said. “This was Deepa and herfollowers. They believed that it was men’s aggression that caused the war andit was she who contacted the Dark Ones and negotiated conditions of surrender.”

Her voice became harder as shesaid. “The true reason why the Dark Ones did not destroy the Seven Worlds, butevery other Saresii location, was her act of treason. She revealed all thelocations and the positions of every Saresii ship and promised to destroy allmeans of Saresii space technology and knowledge in exchange for the safety ofthe Seven Worlds.”

“This part of our history is nottaught in any school and not even Saresii know, but her actions succeeded.

For the prize of thousandColonies and billions of lives, the seven Sares Worlds were safe. The Seeniansare nothing but memory.”

I could see her outline nowthrough the projection and she spread her arms. “Some think that she was a spyof the Dark Ones and that was the reason she could contact them in the firstplace. Some say the Dark Ones were not an outside force but Seeniansthemselves, following not the Queen but another leader.

Some of the few that stillremember call her a savior. Whatever she was she is no more reduced to fadinglegends.

As you know it occurred a longtime ago. This however is also the beginning of the Sojonite story.”

Most of the facts she told meabout the Saresii from that point on I had heard in some form or another.

Her presentation and narrationhowever kept on going as she continued.

“Saresii women blamed thecatastrophe and the war on the power hunger and the aggression of male leadersand swept everything away that was an expression of male gender.” She sighed.

“While there is a sad truth toit, women are just as power hungry and capable of violence as men. During thattime, as Deepa and her group overtook government and plunged Sares culture intoa long, dark epoch of our history, there were those who believed the Dark onesmight come back.

Neither Psionics nor any knownweapon could really harm or stop the Dark Ones.

Two hundred women left SaresPrime in the last space ship and begun a long journey. Following the legend ofa vault that contained weapons capable of slaying the Dark Ones.

The projection sphere showed aSaresii tile ship leaving its star system. If these images were as old as shesaid, I wondered why their ships had not changed much in all that time. Whilethe Saresii technology was considered highly advanced to at least Tech LevelNine, it seemed to me they had not made all that many new advances especiallyin terms of design and form. The Tile ship design was one of the worst hulldesigns, and the interior layout was not exactly practical, but I kept myobservations to myself and listened to her almost boring presentation. I wassure all this was fascinating and educational. I wished it was over soon.

She however went on to tell methe story of the origin of the Sojonites. “After a long and fruitless odysseyfollowing tales and legends they found a planet that should not have existed,at least not naturally. The world was as beautiful as any Saresii world, agreen and blue world with crystal clear oceans but no higher life forms.

It was clear that the hand of asentient culture had groomed this planet and yet there were no cities. Afterlanding and a closer survey they found a single temple, looking much like thisone, just magnitudes bigger.”

I was mildly interested and said.“I don’t think it is unusual to find the remnants of an old culture on a NiOxGarden world. To find such a world near the Galactic Core however is unusualwith all the radiation there sterilizing the area.”

She agreed. “As I said the planetshould not have existed by any common scientific wisdom, there was nodetectable force field and the magnetic field of the planet was way too weak todeflect all the particles and radiation.

There on this planet only onestructure was found. A huge temple in the shape of a naked human adding to themystery as we determined that this statue and the technology inside was neitherPree nor Uni.”

I shifted my position, the AutoDresser that made me look like a girl did not change my skeleton or added thatincredible flexibility girls seem to have and sitting this way had made my legsfall asleep. I said. “I know very little about the Uni or the Pree, but I raninto Pree technology and I know that there is this general consent betweenScholars, that the Human Mystery can be explained by either the Pree or the Uniseeding human life. I never heard of a third ancient civilization mentioned butwhere there are two unproven legends, there is certainly room for a third.”

Again she agreed. “You are quitewise indeed. The Statue and the Rainbow temple does exist. It is there we foundlibraries and archives, books, scrolls, and every data recording device andmedium you could imagine filled with only one topic but in seemingly endlessvariations; documents describing in detail how beings of all kinds made love,and procreated. Details to the finest nuance about sex and everything relatedto it. To it all we met the entity guarding it, revealing to us the secret ofshape shifting.

It is the world where ourgoddess, Sojo the spirit resides in this universe. She invited you to meet herthere, no man has ever been granted such an invitation.”

“Something did happen to me,something or someone else spoke to me, but I can’t really remember anything.”

“You will when the time for yourvisit is at hand.”

She then added after a shortmoment of silence. “You are the first outsider who has been told all this.”

“But why, why am I told all this?Why are you training me?”

“The Narth have chosen you to bea representative. We know of the Coven and we know you have been the firstoutsider to ever visit their planet. While we know little about the Narth, andeven less about the Coven, we know these societies are truly ancient andtraveled the Universe when we Saresii discovered fire. We are certain it iswise to follow their example.

It is the voice of the goddess weobey and she too wanted to get to know you.”

I did feel uncomfortable aboutthat. Why would all these be interested so much in a simple Neo Viking. Was itmy friendship to Narth or was there another reason?

“It sort of happened, and I thinkit was coincidence, that I met Narth and became his friend; and it seems thatmy friendship to him sparks interest in others to a point they want to abductme to get to him. I don’t really understand what you just said and it did notsound like an explanation.”

“In many ways you are of coursejust a Neo Viking from a little known planet, but your friendship to the Narthelevates you into a very unique position. I wanted to train you and give you asmuch information as I can about us. As you know we left Sares so long ago on aquest to find an alternative way to defeat the Dark Ones should they everreturn, and we have not yet accomplished that quest.”

“What has all this to do withme?”

“We think that the Dark Onesmight return and we believe that if anyone has a chance to defeat them, it willbe the Narth. You might be the only human, the only person in the universe, whowill eventually understand and know who or what the Narth are and perhaps it isyou who will fight with them and defend us all. We want to make sure that ifthat ever happens you have all the knowledge possible and that you rememberSares and the Sojonites.”

My head was spinning and I didn’tfeel too good. I was certain there was more to all this but somehow my headdidn’t work as it should have. I tried to concentrate and said. “Somehow I havethe feeling I am getting prepared for an event I know nothing about. I stilldon’t understand what all this has to do with me. All I want to be is aStarship captain.”

The field screen sphere dissipated,but everything seemed as if I was inside a cocoon of foam padding. The candleshad big soft auras around them and even the Mother Superior appeared out offocus. I knew I should have been concerned, ask more questions but I didn’treally care, nothing really mattered, even the smell of the incense no longerbothered me.

Her voice was distant and shesaid something and I was sure I understood what she said, but I could notrecall a single word. Deep down I knew something was wrong with me and in astate like this I would be very receptive to hypnotic suggestions, but thisconcern was far away and did not feel very urgent.

She came closer and I could hearher say. “Embrace your female side, make her part of you, and don’t shut herout even when you return to being Eric. There is so much more to being a womanthan looks and outer differences. Use your hands, your touch, your senses andlet them guide you. Forget logic and reason and let go of the penetratingaggressive nature of maleness.”

Her voice was soft and so was theskin I touched underneath the wispy chiffon and satin I wore. It was adifferent corporal awareness than anything I had experienced before. She wasclose, and her voice was almost like a song, a soft melody. “There are secretsof corporal existence the Narth have long forgotten, the Coven try to regainbut only humans can experience. Let the Goddess, the spirit, give you theanswer you seek more than any other.”

Something happened to me, I feltit. I was changing, not at all like the mechanical manipulations of anauto-dresser; it was different and came from within. The skin I touched wassoft as foam and what should have been there was no longer. Pure electricitypulsated through every nerve ending in an exciting, animalistic fashion wherereason had no place, thought had no meaning. A feverish hunger that could notbe quenched with food, a desire I could not explain or put in words. Neverbefore did I really feel the clothing I wore, but now I could feel the satinthat cupped the false breasts, there was nothing artificial about the tinglingsensation.

Reality and dream were no longerseparate. The waxen statue of the goddess no longer looked artificial butalive.

Somehow I realized I had takenthe very same pose as the statue, arching back and then I touched something andit was like an explosion of stars, pain and pleasure indistinguishable, whateverhappened. Then I could not recall.

--””--

I found myself in the cool littlechamber they had given me as a room. Lying on the bed, my mind was as clear asever, but the memory of what happened was foggy and unclear. I remembered thepresentation and some of the things she had told me. I knew she spoke about thehistory of the Saresii and the Sojonites, but the scent of the incense candlesmust have knocked me out. I felt like I had woken from a night of drinking, butwithout the headache. I never tried drugs and after that experience I wascertain I did not want to experience it again. Something had happened to me,something profound and yet I could not really remember any details. I didn’tlike anything that messed with my head, but something felt different.

I received more training and thelast traces of this surreal experience faded fast, but the nagging question whyall this happened became stronger.

With all this, time flew, and onthe first day of my fourth week at the Sojonit temple, the tall Sojonit fromEarth told me that this would be my last day. Again I was taken to the vaultedworship chamber with the Goddess statue and the first thing I noticed, however,was the absence of the strong incense smell.

The Mother Superior was alreadythere and she said to me.

“We would like to welcome you asan honorary member of the Order.”

I bowed and said. “I am deeplyhonored by this and I respect the Goddess and your believers. However anddespite all my secret desires, I am a son of Nilfeheim. I swear upon Odin andask Thor for strength. I am also a Union Fleet officer and cannot put any otherorganization before that.”

She looked at me from behind theeye slits of her mask. “I respect that very much and I actually expected areaction like this from you. I don’t ask you to believe in the Goddess or toabandon your religion. The Sojonit Order is not a fraternity inside the fleet.It is an honorary membership and not a commitment like a Sojonit Sister makes.It is simply a formality and a ritual to welcome you as a friend and not as anoutsider and to give you access to our network.”

“I don’t mind that and I know Iasked this before, but why me?”

“It is you who came to us forhelp and you have been allowed to hide behind the identity of a Sojonit. To usthis is a religion and to us the commands of the goddess are quite real andbinding. Yes we are part of the Saresii Intelligence network, but the Order isreal. Making you an honorary member will please the Goddess and make the helpwe gave you legitimate to our laws and custom.”

There was nothing I could sayagainst that, they did save my life and I knew that the members of this ordertook their religion and their commitment very seriously. From what I knew aboutWetmouth, she too took all this very seriously as well, so I agreed.

I was asked by her to takeeverything off, and stood naked in the middle of the room.

Somewhere a bell rang and twentySojonites entered. All of them wore black versions of the outfit and theirmasks had an angry almost evil expression and the false lips were closed.

Mother Superior stood before thestatue and said. “The Goddess has welcomed a new member and she is no longer anoutsider. The gate to the Rainbow Palace is open to her. We welcome her ashonorary member of the sinister aspect of our Order.”

She took a mask from a pillow andmotioned me to put it on. A wig and a similar black outfit followed and shesaid. “The Goddess will know your true name: to the world you are henceforthknown as Nightshade.”

The others bowed and said in unison.“Welcome Sister Nightshade.”

Mother Superior and I flew aboarda Mercedes flyer back to the mainland and to the very same space port I hadarrived almost four weeks ago. It did not look any different from the air andto me it looked more like a garbage dump than a space port landing field, butnow I could see how big it was and that there were space ships in the processof being loaded or unloaded. A Karthanian Mega cruiser with heavy battle damagewas being repaired by a gang of men while another group stood guard.

Mother superior leaned over andsaid. “That is the Galactic Terror, the ship of a ruthless and infamous piratenamed Agus Denann, but better known as Captain Terror. It looks like he had arough time.”

Our flyer landed next to a small fastlooking ship. I was not certain, but judging by the sharp edges and theoversized landing gear, it could have been of Togar origin.

Without delay we boarded the shipover a side ramp and were greeted by a thin looking mostly humanoid beingwearing a blue and yellow uniform. He bowed deeply and said with a muffledsounding voice. “In the name of my lord and master Duke Donheer, I’d like towelcome you aboard. It is as always a pleasure to do business with theSojonites.”

She nodded. “And business it is,when can we leave?”

He walked us through a shortcorridor into a luxurious and expensively furnished lounge with a large balconylike view port and said. “We lift off shortly and should reach Alvor’s Cove in84 hours. Please make yourself at home, while I get us underway.”

She thanked him and he leftclosing the door behind us. Mother superior unzipped her coat and sat down in asingle fluid move, crossing her legs and motioned me to do the same and shesaid. “Duke Donheer is one of the big crime lords of this planet and we have along standing agreement with his syndicate.”

Before she could continue withwhat she wanted to say the thin man opened the door and said. “I am sorry forthe delay, but we are ordered to be searched.”

She stood up and said with a sharptone. “Who dares to order such a search? This ship belongs to Donheer himselfand I am the Mother Superior of the Sojonit Order.”

He bowed again. “Yes Ma’am it isan outrage and the Patriarch is furious and said he is sending Enforcers, butthe Port Rats aimed their turrets at us and demand we let them search the ship!No ship is to leave without them searching it!”

She inhaled sharply. “The PortRats answer to Duke Malvit, let me talk to them!”

The man walked over to a wallconsole and made the connection. Three beings appeared on the screen, two ofthem looking like black furred cave bats with big ears and deformed lookingnaked snouts and the third one in the middle was a strong looking bald human.It was the human who spoke with a barking unfriendly tone in his voice. “Weaccept no further delays, you are to be searched or destroyed.”

Her tone was just as sharp as sheresponded, “Your demand alone is an insult, is Duke Malvit really prepared todeal with the consequences of his actions?”

He barked back. “No discussion!Grant access to be searched or we will open fire. Our Duke wants to know wholeaves this planet and that is all you need to know.”

She terminated the connection andsaid to the thin man. “Prepare to take off. I have a feeling they are going tobe way too busy. A friend of mine is sending a little distraction.”

Just as she said that a hugespherical shaped ship descended darkening the sky. The graphite colored giantwas engulfed in the characteristic purplish shimmer of active TransDim Shields,on its side the logo of SII Corp. It was about to land between us and the spaceport defense batteries.

The Port rats probably never seena real battle ship, they fired. Perhaps aiming at us, but the shots sizzled tonothingness, absorbed by shields that could deflect solar eruptions.

Out tiny yacht climbed into thesky.

The SII ship returned fire andmost of the spider infested space port building and the cannon turrets weregone, replaced by a smoking crater of molten matter.

She laughed. “That was one of thereasons we had to wait, so this ship could be here and give us a littleprotection. You see private corporations do not have the same politicallimitations as the Union Fleet. Not the Cartel, not the Worm and not even theKermac really want to make Schwartz Intergalactic angry.”

“I said the same thing to CaptainHarris”

“Was it when the Old Battleaxegave you command over the Devi?”

“Yes.”

“Ever since the Corporate War of3422, Corporations are prohibited to have ships armed with Military gradeweaponry, with the Exception of those who built ships and weaponry for theUnion. They can use and build ships as test platforms for new systems and such.Of course no one stipulated how many such test platforms a Corporation canhave. It’s an open secret the entire Galaxy knows, SII builds over 60% of allfleet tech and has a state of the art fleet. The real secret is that SII’ssecurity fleet is not much smaller than the Union Fleet and in some aspectseven more advanced.”

“Is that not very dangerous to havesuch power in private hands?”

“Very much so! It is a two edgedsword. It means added security to Union assets. SII also controls GalNet, ownsthree of the seven Space Bus lines, three of the main banks and produces mostof the food consumed. SII is so interwoven in the Unions daily life that itwould be almost impossible to fight them and win if that ever became necessary.But SII keeps out of politics and most wars. They do not do business with theenemies and saved the Sol System during the second Kermac War.”

Our small ship had left the lasttraces of atmosphere behind and was steadily accelerating to reach the Translight threshold. As usual I could feel the fine vibrations and found thatwhoever owned this ship had not done a very good job in calibrating theengines. The harmonics of the vibrations were off.

Finally the point was reached andthe stars outside the viewports became long streaks of light for the durationof a heartbeat and then it was completely dark. The view port was obviously notquasi space enabled and normal human eyes could not see in this spatialcondition.

The mother superior sat back downand said. “It will take us about 70 hours to Alvor’s cove; they have nice bathsand comfortable cabins. The small crew will not come in so you can relax andtake off the mask and the costume if you like.”

I sat down and did take off themask and asked. “What is Alvor’s Cove?”

She took of hers as well andrevealed a typical exotic looking Saresii face with large purple eyes, ivorycomplexion long silvery hair and despite the marks of advanced age she wasquite beautiful. “Alvor’s Cove is worse than Sin 4 in some regards, a den ofpirates and slave traders. It is much deeper in Free Space than Sin 4 and veryfar away from Union space.”

I felt disappointed after theelation of finally leaving that cursed planet. “I thought we are going home. Imean back to Union Space?”

She smiled and dialed herself anorange looking fruit drink from the Serv-matic integrated in the coffee tablebefore us. “We will my dear, but we are in the spy and spook business. Thisship belongs to a Crime lord on Sin 4. Its small crew always reports him wherethey take me. Since there is a Sojonit Temple on Alvor’s Cove it is perfectlynormal for me to go there. After a few days on Alvor’s Cove we changeidentities and take a ship to Kaliment, a planet claimed by both the Togar andthe Karthanians and occupied by both. A perfect place to catch a ship toNetlor. On Netlor we become Pilgrims and mingle with the thousands of otherPilgrims. Several companies provide travel services from Netlor to Checkpoint96 and they are a Union controlled planet with a Space port, space bus, GalNet,clipper service and a sizeable Fleet base.”

She leaned forward and offered methe glass with the orange liquid. “Do try this, its Planuu nectar anddelicious.”

I took the glass while she dialedfor a second one and I said to her, “It sounds we are going to be traveling forquite a while then.”

She sipped from her drink andlooked at me from over the rim of the glass and nodded saying, “It will makesure no one can retrace our route. Most likely not necessary, but old habitsdie hard, and in this business one can never be too careful. Sojonites canoperate and go anywhere as they are considered expensive and neutralprostitutes and nothing else, losing this reputation would be damaging andjeopardize the lives of Sisters everywhere.”

What she called Planuu Nectar wasfruity, ice cold and sweet, perhaps a tad too sweet for my taste but pleasantlyflavored. “I understand the necessity for intelligence and clandestineoperations of course, but I prefer wearing a Fleet Uniform.”

Her lips curled to an impishsmile. “Do you really? It seems to me you are very comfortable in what onemight consider revealing and provocative.”

I had completely forgotten mytrue male persona but as she mentioned it came back to me and as always I feltembarrassed. “I wonder why I am not able to make up my mind. I enjoy this andit feels right and yet I can’t make the final decision to be either way.”

“I suggest you enjoy both then.Be proud that you can so easily cross gender borders that are so rigid toothers. It might be your greatest gift.”

== Chapter 4:Alvor's Cove ==

The rest of the flight to Alvor’sCove was uneventful and we descended onto a brownish planet that somehow didnot just look dry but dusty even from space. The Saresii woman who was also theleader of the secretive Sojonit Order dressed herself in a sand coloredvoluminous cloak and handed me a similar colored garment. Then she said.” Ifyou touch the side of your mask, about here next to the eyebrows and tap thespot twice, a shield of thin transparent Duranium seals your mask’s openings.The local dust is really fine, getting it inside your mask is bad. No worriesthe masks filters the air very efficiently.”

I did what she recommended and analmost inaudible whirring sound hummed for a few seconds. She nodded satisfiedand moments later went down the ramp and onto the surface of this world. Theramp behind us closed and the luxury yacht, which belonged to a Crime lord onSin 4, flooded its Arti Grav cushions with positive gravitons and climbed backinto the hazy blue sky without a single cloud but with smears of light browncolors.

A stiff wind caught the cloaks wewore as I looked around. We stood on a large plateau of bulldozed and leveledrock and compacted dirt. I estimated it was about five klicks in everydirection. The excellent optic enhancements of my Sojonit mask zoomed in onthings as soon as I squeezed my eyes and it mirrored environmental datadirectly onto my retina. This is why I knew it was exactly 48.9 degrees on theC scale and that the wind came from the West.

Beyond the landing field in theSouth and East was a cliff like rock wall that steadily rose and blended inhigh mountain peaks in the distance. That cliff wall tapered off to the Northand when I looked into the direction from where the wind blew I looked overflat featureless land as far as I could see. It almost reminded me of theoceans of Nilfeheim during Longnight, vast, flat and featureless. However herea bright white sun glared merciless on that seemingly endless sea of sand, dustand rocks and baked everything with merciless heat and shade less light.

Like her I carried a bag with achange of clothing and a few personal hygiene items. She put her bag on theground and explained with a sweeping motion. This once was a river delta, waterwould gush from that narrow canyon you can see to the East and then taper outand then join the waters of the ocean that once existed where you now seenothing but a featureless sand and dust desert. Of course that was many millionyears ago. Whatever water is left on Alvor’s Cove is now deep underground.”

She pointed to the sun andcontinued. “The local star flared for unknown reasons about a million years agoand became brighter and hotter, slowly cooking and vaporizing the oceans offthis world.”

I wondered what she was waitingfor, but I didn’t ask. I assumed she didn’t come all this way to just standaround a dusty landing field.

As if she was guessing mythoughts she said. “Fliers are very rare on Alvor’s cove, mostly becausebringing one here is very expensive.”

She has an amused tone in hervoice. “Worry not my Soja, our transportation is on its way but it will be awhile till it is finally here.”

She sat down on her bag and puther hand shading over her brow. Not that she really needed to, as I was certainher mask had the same UV filtering built in that transparent material that nowcovered the eye slits, but it was a basic human unconscious gesture and Ithought that Saresii not only appeared but also acted very human in so manythings. She used her other arm to point east and said. “There it comes.”

Almost like a slow surfacingsubmarine, a large lizard became visible emerging from the mirror likeshimmering mirage the heat had conjured up over the flat surface.

It had six legs and had to bebigger than four Fangsnappers combined. The Lizard’s color was almost the sameas the dusty brown surroundings and it was fitted with some kind of harness onwhich a covered wagon on four big wheels was attached.

At the speed the lizard and theattached contraption approached I estimated it to take at least another half anhour before it was actually here.

I gestured towards theapproaching ground transport and said. “Maybe we should meet it half way. It’sless than thousand meters away. I can take your bag.”

She laughed, but did not make anymoves to get up. “Only you would suggest walking a distance like that in fiveinch heels. Be patient my Soja, be patient. Not everything needs to be rushedor done right away.”

“Sorry if I appear impatient, butwe are even deeper in Freespace now and I am sort of anxious to return to Unionspace and meet my friends again. Not that I would mind to finally graduate andget started on my Fleet career.”

“I can understand that, but wouldthat not mean you would have to be Eric again? I had the impression you enjoythis.”

“I do, but realize that I am alsoEric and I have friends who do not know anything about Erica and I am not sureif I want them to know about her.”

“If they are your friends wouldit matter to them?”

“I don’t know and they are tooimportant to me to find out if it did.”

Together we watched the lizarddrawn cart come closer.

From above a sudden high pitchedwhistle of misaligned Arti Gravs made me look up and watch a Velorian ArmedMerchant descent. The 180 meter freighter seemed loaded to the brim withwhatever merchandise it was bringing and its Arti-Grav projectors struggled tokeep it at decent descending speed.

Velorian ship architecture wasn’tthe most practical in the first place and from the sound of it one or two ArtiGrav projectors had to compensate for another that was either completely out oras it could happen misaligned and thus worked against the others.

Arti Grav projector alignment wasan important job during any maintenance, something that had been overlookedquite obviously on the descending ship. Its shape strongly reminded me of thosespiral shaped sea snail houses one could find on the pebble beaches of my homeworld. The thought alone of the cool fresh air of Nilfeheim made me feel theheat of this world even more.

The woman next to me said.“Whatever you see now, I urge you to keep your cool and ignore it.”

I wondered what she meant bysaying that in such an urgent tone.

“I will.”

The organic shaped ship hadsettled down on nine landing pads extending from its keel, about six hundredmeters from where we were. Thanks to the zoom enhanced vision provided by theSojonit mask I could see that three of the hydraulic landing gear was leakingfluids, and a fourth was bent so it could not retracted or extended at all. Thecharacteristic swirly red and black color scheme of silicone-carbon latticeceramic hull was a result of the Velorian production process. The Velorians,like several other Galactic Council species used ceramics rather than metalsfor their space ship hulls. Ceramics had several benefits over metals, but alsoquite a few draw backs. Why the Union in general preferred metal hulls was thatthey could be repaired relatively uncomplicated in the field, while CeramicHulls once they were cracked or damaged could only be repaired in speciallyequipped ship yards. I was recalling these lessons from basic engineeringclasses as I saw the large crack in the side of the hull. It had been repairedby bolting metal braces over it and the gaps filled with some kind of resin orperhaps even Duro-Crete. It looked crude and I wondered who would be braveenough to actually go into space with something like that.

She also looked into thedirection of that battered, badly maintained ship and said with a dry voice.“That is one of seven ships belonging to the Mulwhur Trading Company, they havetheir head quarter right here on Alvor’s Cove.”

“It doesn’t appear to be a pirateship. I don’t see much in terms of armament and I doubt it would be fast enoughto be an effective raider.”

“No, it is not a pirate. It issomething much, much worse.”

A hatch opened and two Togar andfour Oghar in crude but tough looking leather and metal gear appeared. Theywere armed with long whips and long handled fork like sticks.

Through the excellent optics Icould see them yell and holler and moments later naked human men, women andchildren appeared, attached to each other by ropes attached to metal collars.They looked dirty and somewhere caked with mud.

One of the men had a tattoo onhis arm and I could read it, it was a merchant marine. Those were Unioncitizens.”

I got up turned to her. “What arethey doing to them?”

“They are herded to the slavepens in the Canyon of Tears and there they wait till for the bi-monthly slavemarket. Togar and other Slave dealers will then come and purchase them for themeat and slaughter kitchens of Togr, to the Death Fight arenas of Sin 4, tomines and fields of the Brnah, to the furnaces of the Karthanian smelter moonsand a thousand other hellish places of no return.”

I almost screamed at her. “Maybeyou don’t care about humans, but I see two Klack now and a Saresii woman. I amsure your optics are as good as mine! Don’t you see her?”

She nodded. “I do see her and shewill most likely end up sold to the Kermac, who will dissect her to find outwhy Saresii are better Psionics than them. The Kermac hate us Saresii far morethan they dislike Terrans and her fate will be gruesome torture and then apainful death.”

“We got to do something! Wemust!”

“What would you suggest we do?”

“Call the fleet somehow. You saidthere is a Sojo Temple here, don’t they have GalNet terminals?”

“Alvor’s cove is beyond thereaches of the GalNet network. We use extended reach terminals on Sin 4, buteven if we could reach fleet command what can they do? This is Freespace andthey won’t risk intergalactic war to free those slaves. Alvor’s Cove once hadbeen Togar space; they only abandoned it because it was useless to them. Thefleet coming here means war. The Union would have to fight the Nul, theGalactic Council, the Shiss and all of Freespace including the Togar at thesame time. It means decades of war and costing countless lives.”

I stared towards the slave tradership. “I am a Union Officer and I have sworn to protect the Union against allenemies foreign and domestic. Those slaves are Union citizens and the Assemblyshould discuss nothing else day and night to make sure they are rescued andsafe! If it means war then so be it. Every last Spacer and marine is bound bythe same oath to fight and die to the last breath to ensure every one’sfreedom. It does not matter if it is even just one unlucky unkempt colonistthat suffers. Our laws make no difference between the rights of one and therights of many.”

She clapped her hands together.“You speak like a Terran and sound like Stahl. As it may be my Terran friend,we can do nothing at the moment and must maintain our cover. Doing somethingwould expose us and without the right resources it will amount to nothing. Chooseyour battles wisely my Soja.”

She got up as well and took herbag. “Our ride is here.”

A being covered in a similarcloak climbed from behind a crude fitted wind shield. The billowing cloak madeit impossible to determine the exact species; it had the correct number oflimbs to be human but was only about 150 centimeters tall. It wore the hood ofthe cloak buttoned up on the front, with just enough opening for a pair of dustgoggles. “I came as fast as Xtry can walk after I heard your summon. Do youneed help with your luggage? It will be 2 One-weights to Bennard’s Cut or threeif you want the Air Condition.”

My companion pressed three coinsinto the gloved three fingered hand of the being and we climbed over a creakingladder into the back and through a curtain into a single room interior withfour wooden benches and what he had praised as air condition were three batteryoperated fans. A fourth one was there as well, at least parts of it and quiteobviously inoperable.

The fans did little to reallyease the heat, but the shade provided by the wagon’s canopy felt really good.The entire contraption croaked and creaked as it started lumbering the otherway.

Through the veiled curtains onthe windows I watched the sad, gut wrenching train of Union citizens, proddedand whipped. Most however seemed to have lost all hope and complied with thebrutal and inhumane treatment. If there ever was an unfair situation then thisone took the cake. It took all my self-control not to jump out of the wagon andstuff those whips and prods up those slavers arses.

But all the fancy Sojo weaponrywould do me little good against these heavily armed bastards. Well I could takeout the left with the needler and then use him as a shield to take out the ...She hissed.” Sit down!”

Only now I realized I was halfwayat the door. I wanted to say something but sat back down.

The rattling of the wagon becamemore intense and looking past the driver I saw the Lizard now really moving.The Driver turned his head and yelled against the croaking noises, the wind andthe thumping of the lizard’s feet. “Just got the word over the squawk-box, wegot a Tornado of at least strength 8 coming from the Glagadrinn. I sure hope wemake it”

I turned to ask her. “What doeshe mean?”

She pointed outside the back ofthe wagon and said as loud as she could and with concern in her voice. “Outthere that is the Glagadrinn, it’s a huge desert of continent size.

That gray funnel cloud coming ourway is a Tornado. If it reaches us before we reach the canyons we are inserious trouble.”

As I followed her pointing fingerI saw it too, a monstrous funnel of dust brown swirls and dust was comingtowards us over the coverless flat landing field.

The lizard was now running,whipped to speed by its owner, I could see sturdy stone buildings at the sidesof a narrow gap between the enormous cliff walls. We were still at least twothousand meters away and the tornado behind us was gaining fast.

It just now reached the chain ofslaves who tried to outrun this terrible force of nature, without any chance.Even though the same fate would most likely reach us too, I could not help butfeel grim satisfaction to see one of the slavers ripped of his feet like aweightless toy sucked up and disappear in the swirling dust.

We had tornadoes on Nilfeheim aswell and they were powerful and dangerous to any surface ship, especially inthe first year of Shortsummer, but our burgs were sturdy and could withstandthem.

Being out in the open on a flatsurface in a wooden and metal contraption on wheels was something veryfrightening, the howling of the wind made any conversation no matter how loud Itried to yell impossible. A thousand meters or less, the narrow gap and thesturdy stone buildings much closer now, but the Lizard was at the end of itspowers. I could tell as we slowed down.

Everything rattled, vibrated; thegray and dust brown whirling wind behind us now so close I saw it as one solidwall.

The tornado reached us. Up anddown had no longer any meaning! I saw the canopy dissolving in a flash, piecesof wood. I tried to yell and hold her but she was lifted and disappeared. Sandgrains whipped to speed sanded and pelted me. The cloak gone, feeling the sandhammering my face with a painful stinging sensation, made me realize theSojonit mask was gone as well. Something hard hit me over the head, dazed butnot completely out, I finally fell and slammed like a wet fur hard on the rockysurface, something hit me again and that was all I remembered.

How nice it was to float in theice cold oceans of Nilfeheim. I was gliding deeper into the dark green abyss,not far I could see the blurred dark outlines of Olafson rock as it looked fromunder water. I was not alone! Narth was swimming nearby and so was Har-Hi andWetmouth, even Cirruit and Krabbel. I also could feel a huge unexplainablepresence that reminded me of something I should know. Then my mind somehowreeled at the sight of seeing Cirruit and Krabbel swimming. Cirruit could notswim! Har-Hi hated water and Krabbel was equally unsuited for this environment.As I put my mind around this strange sight, I began to realize this was a dreamand I was slowly rising to the surface. No matter how much I wanted to stay Idrifted upward towards bright light and the closer I went the more I felt painand the last dream images faded away, replaced by the sensation of lying onhard surface. The first thing I really noticed was the grinding dry grid in mymouth and nostrils. I blinked and remembered where I was. I spat and coughedand opened my sand and dust caked eyes.

I was lying on the landing field,and to my surprise it seemed that other than a few scratches and bumps I hadsurvived the tornado’s fury otherwise unharmed. Yet I could not get up!

I cursed as I saw it was theLizard’s tail that was pinning me down. It was thick as two men and stillattached to the big animal, that was lying on its side, bleeding of numerouswounds and if I had to make a guess I didn’t think it would survive muchlonger.

I prodded myself up and tried topull myself out from under that heavy fleshy weight and my efforts weresuccessful, I was getting out.

Looking around I could not seethe Mother Superior, just debris of the wagon, and several bodies of slaves andan Oghr slaver. Just as I was about to pull completely free, something hit mejust above the shoulder blades and then while I could hear the hissing hum ofhigh voltage and see blue sparks dance between my fingers, I convulsed in painfulmuscle cramps caused by some sort of shocker weapon.

“On your feet, you piece of sh*t,the wind didn’t kill you but if you don’t move and get back in line I will!”

I turned and saw a Togar WarriorCat standing there like a black scissor cut against the blinding sun, bulgingwith muscles under its short fur, and holding a shocker prod with one hand anda whip in the other. “If you try to pretend to be hurt, I kill you right hereand now. We lost much merchandise; one more won’t make a difference.”

“I am not a slave or yourproperty. I came...”

He flicked the whip across mychest, “I can tell you have not arrived on the Sorrow with us, but you areproperty of the Mulwhur Trading Company now. Get up!”

I noticed I was almost completelynaked, only a few shreds of the Sojonit outfit had survived the sand blastingfury of the tornado. The wig, the mask and most of the body altering costumeaccessories were gone; just a few shreds of bio-skin were hanging from mychest. To the Togar I guess I looked just like any other human.

He used his whip again, but thistime I caught the whip’s end. I had been whipped by my father and I had beentied to the post at the exercise yard at Camp Idyllic, I hated anyone usingthis cowardly weapon and I pulled as hard as I could. He was a Togar, three orfour heads taller, much stronger and like all members of his race known to bevicious fighters.

But I was getting angrier by themoment. Angry at the situation, realizing I was stranded on a planet evenfurther away. Angry at these bastards enslaving humans, angry at Togars seeinghumans as prey and food and angry at the world; and I was no longer just abrawler of a backwater planet. I was a Union Fleet officer and he would have topay!

I put all my weight into thatpull. From the uploads I had received from the Sojonites, I knew where Togarswere most vulnerable and hammered my palm upwards aiming and hitting that glandand nerve cluster sitting right behind the cat like creatures lower jaw.

With deep satisfaction did I hearsomething break, and followed up with a left blow to his kidneys, while heraked his clawed hand over my back. I felt the trickle of blood, while theTogar staggered back. I noticed the handle of a heavy bladed knife on hisleather harness, grabbed it with one hand as he tried to get a hold of mythroat and plunged it deep and repeatedly into his abdomen while his left clawhand already closed around my throat.

He gargled, spat blood into myface and he sank to his knees. Holding the knife now with both hands I broughtit down right between his eyes above the elongated snout filled with inch longfangs. I split his skull almost in half and kicked him in the chest. He wasdead long before his body slumped into the dust.

A blaster shot peppered theground before my naked toes, an Oghr out of my imminent reach, held an old Ultblaster aimed at me. He had rounded up three human slaves that now stood behindhim. “You will bring much money. Now drop the knife.”

One of the filth and sand cakedslaves, his hands already or still bound to his back lowered his head and witha short spurt of speed rammed his shoulder into the back of the Oghr.

This did not bring the Oghr down,but distracted him long enough so I could throw the knife. It was not wellbalanced and not a throwing knife at all. Instead of hitting the greenishskinned brute tip first in the chest as I intended, it sliced a big chunk offlesh right of his left cheek. The Oghr howled in pain, spraying blood andfiring two randomly aimed blasts in my general direction. Grabbing the droppedshocker prod my first opponent had dropped I crossed the seven meters thatseparated us, simply ignoring the blaster shots and rammed the prod with forcedeep into his open maw, while pressing the activator at maximum intensity.

The Oghr gargled and collapsedand I shoved the long prod with a sharp push deeper and held it there until theOghr stopped twitching.

The dirty man rolled over hisshoulder grabbed the Blaster with his hands still tied to his back, fired andvaporized the head of a third Slaver Togar running towards us.

I looked around, the Slaver shipwas still there in the distance, too big to be really damaged by the Tornado,towards the other direction were the solid rock buildings and the knife likecut into the thousand meter tall cliffs marking the entrance to the canyonsystem, the Sojonit Mother had told me about.

There was debris and bodies allaround me and I counted about fifteen slaves on their feet or slowly rising,but I did not see the Sojonit, but if she had lost her costume and clothinglike I did she could have been among those standing and I would not know if shewas one of them.

I also noticed I could not seeany slavers.

The dirty man caked with sand,sweat and stinking filth that smelled awful like human feces smiled at me andfrom beneath the dirt, bright blue eyes and a set of white teeth smiled at me.“You fight like a banshee unleashed from Hell, my friend.” Unlike the Squawkthe guards had used to talk to me, he spoke Union Standard. “I cut his bondsand said. “And you shoot like the devil.”

He got up and we went to theother two slaves. One of them was human and now I noticed the short stance andthe paper white skin of the completely hairless other being. Also basicallyhuman in proportions and shape, but with unusual high cheekbones, burning blackeyes and a bloody crusted wound at the chin, this was a Kermac!

The Union man however cut theKermac’s bonds as well and the rest of the surviving slaves slowly gatheredaround us. I called and yelled for the Mother Superior but I did not get ananswer, none of the bodies I could see within reach looked as if it shouldbelong to the woman. I knew next to nothing about the planet but I was sure wecould not stay here for too long. There were more slavers in that ship I wascertain and perhaps those buildings near the canyon entrance contained evenmore. Yet we had little options, we could try to reach the town, which meantcertain capture. The desert meant certain death; there was no shade and nowater. The only other alternative was to storm the slave trader ship; it wouldalso give us a chance to reach Union space.

I told them exactly that and theyall agreed this was our only chance.

Our ragtag group consisted of 15humans, two Klack, a Saresii, an Oghr and a Kermac. With me we counted twentyone. I almost shot the Oghr, but he wore a slave collar and his hands tied aswell. The dirty man with the blue eyes told me that the Oghr was from the UnionOghr and captured and enslaved just like the rest.

The humans were the first whogathered anything useable as a weapon and the rest followed finally even theKermac, with obvious disgust in his face took a long piece of wood, he carriedlike a club.

I fell into a fast trot, to coverthe distance to the ship as fast as I could, hoping to manage to board itbefore they closed the boarding ramp. If there was anyone in there watching ourslim chance of boarding the ship would be gone if they closed that ramp!

We had to make, somehow we simplyhad to! That ugly piece of Velorian Fangsnapper dung, infested with armedSlavers was my only chance to see Union Space again and by Odin I would. Iwould see it again! I was a Neo Viking, I soon hoped to be a Union Officer andthen I would do my share to keep them safe. The heat was almost unbearable. Nolonger did I wear boots, I had left them underneath the tail of the lizard, andevery step on this hot stone burned like hell, I could feel the sun burn myskin and I would look like a peeling tomato if I ever survived this, but somehowI managed to run faster.

My eyes were no longer protectedby that technical marvel of a Sojonit mask, the sun was glaring and the dustand grit chaffed what hadn’t been raw already, what an irony. I who was home inwater, like a fish would now die on this bone dry world, running my feet tobloody pulp.

But somehow I reached that shipand now I saw why they had not closed the hatch. They had been waiting for us,two Oghr and a human.

The human stood behind a portableNeuro ripper, a big thing on a mechanical arm lowered from an opening in theship’s hull. The two Oghr held Slave prods and were armed with holsteredblasters.

The man behind the controls ofthe Neuro ripper commanded me to stop at about ten meters distance, I did but Icould barely stand. He clapped his hands and said with a mocking laughingvoice. “Most impressive, most impressive indeed, you look like a raw steak myUnion friend. I am assuming you are Union right?”

All that kept me on my feet wasthe rage I felt and wishing I could twist of his head, slowly from his body.

I could not answer the man behindhis cannon suddenly screamed, the muzzle of the ripper swung around and I heardthe high pitched hum, the inhuman agony the two Oghr guards felt as theycollapsed while every nerve ending in their body overloaded their brains withpain impulses. I heard similar screams of agony from inside the open hatch asthe ripper sent its waves inside the ship.

I did not wait to find out whythis miracle happened and bolted the rest of the way pulled the stunned andperplexed human of his seat and said. “I am going to expose piece by piece ofyour body to that Neuro Ripper beam until you tell me the access codes for thisship.”

He gargled and struggled. “Thereare no access codes! That thing has been stolen eighty years ago in the firstplace! Access codes. You must be a Union man, Psionic talents to boot. I shouldhave fried you while I had the chance.”

I shook him. “I am MidshipmanOlafson, currently assigned to the USS Devastator and you can tell that towhoever you meet next.”

He blinked, “You letting me go?”

I fired the old Ult blaster pointblank in his chest while I held him with my other fist and grunted to hiscorpse. “Not bloody likely. Slave trading scumbag.”

The Kermac and the Saresii womanhelping each other limping closer and the woman said. “That was the first knownKermac / Saresii Psionic cooperation in history: my Psionic energies, histelekinesis.”

“I think we can celebrate thislater. Let’s get everyone in and see if there is anyone left alive and then Isuggest we try to leave this place.”

The ship was in no bettercondition inside as it was outside, but at least the rest of the crew waseither dead or on the verge of dying and we helped them along. Somehow I couldnot find an iota of mercy within myself when dealing with these slavers. Icould somehow understand how a man or a woman could find piracy appealing. Butto take a being’s liberty, to treat a thinking person like that and take awayall their dignity, their freedom was worse than killing someone I my opinion.

The ship stank and its cargoholds had been transformed into cages with filthy rotten straw and sawdust onthe floors for comfort and to absorb whatever bodily waste.

The engine room was a mess, andit reminded me of my Rosinante, the ship I had taken from pirates near theIgras expanse.

It had the appearance that theart of engineering and keeping a clean and well organized engineeringdepartment was something only looked after in the fleet.

At least it was all from the sametechnology. Not that I was an engineer or had any experience with the alientechnology, but all the base components were there.

I was really hurting now, the sunburn was bad and I felt woozy and suspected I had a light heat stroke.

The ship to our combined reliefdid have a sick bay, and it was surprisingly well equipped. Dirty, disarrayedbut well equipped. The dirty man explained that they, the Slave traders used itto treat slaves they thought could bring more money if healthy.

It took much longer than I likedto fix and doctor us up, identifying the various machines and drugs and patchup everyone. The dirty man and I appeared to be the only ones with any medicalskills until one of the Klack revealed he was a MD.

At first I was angry at theantlike being for not coming forward but again the dirty man told me that ittook Klack much longer to adapt to new social situations and once they did theyfunctioned like robots.

Bandaged and derma patched asmuch as the equipment allowed I went to the bridge and after checking the basicsystems. I concluded the ship was marginally space worthy. The dirty man whomanaged to clean himself up a little and yet to reveal his name delivered thebad news looking at a read-out on the panel he was checking. “We won’t get far,Soldier, the fuel tanks are nearly empty!”

I rushed over and checked, eventhough the gauges were quite different from Union tech. The red fields versusthe blue fields of the fuel level indicators showed 90 percent red.

The Saresii woman came on the bridgeand said. “We got more trouble, Human. The local lord is coming with aKartanian landing tank and armed troops.”

Chapter 5: Slaves[]

I cursed the former owners of theship; nothing was labeled or arranged in any way that made sense to me. Wherewere the controls for the viewers? Where did they put the weapon console? Thiswould not been easy if I had time to figure things out.

The Comm. system came on and arough voice said.” I repeat, land your craft or we will destroy you.”

I didn’t know who turned on theCommunications or if the channels were open, but I had no time to spend time orconcentration on talking. My mind reeled as I tried to recall what I hadlearned about Velorian technology in Xeno-tech class. I wished Wetty would behere, she would have no problems figuring it all out, just glancing at it.

The speakers blared with theunfriendly voice. “There will be a reward. If you give up now, I personally setyou free and see that you are returned home. I take you to Netlor and fromthere you can reach Checkpoint 96. Just land the bloody thing and let us talkabout things.”

“Liar.” I grunted and paid nofurther attention.

I muttered to the rest. “That wasthe biggest load of Fangsnapper dung I heard in a long time. Either he wantedto save the ship, no matter how old and badly maintained it was, a ship thissize was still valuable. Or he was afraid I found the weapon and shieldcontrols.”

I had seen the weapon turretswhen it landed, nothing to really scare anything bigger than a D40 but morethan enough to take care of a Landing tank and ground troops and liquefy someof the local landscape.

Maybe they had planetary defensebatteries but they were useless against a ship already on the ground. I doubtedthey had the kind of hostile ship containment hardware needed to deal with arogue ship on the ground.

I finally found the helm controlsand flooded the Arti Grav while I tried to take reactor from standby to full.

I cursed even worse as one of thefreed slaves pulled a lever that looked as if it was connected to the mainengine control. Not that I had seen any levers on a star ship before, but it,was next to a panel that indicated the ship’s power generating status.

A clunking sound could be heardand the lights flickered. All my engine indicators went dead and the AM thathad just lifted us a few meters of the ground cut out and we slammed hard backon the telescopic landing gear, most likely bending or breaking what was left.Someone pointed out the main view port.” Whatever you did human, they’re runninglike hell. Landing tank and troops they just turned around.”

The dirty man delivered the badnews.” I think we just ejected the reactor core.”

No wonder they were running,there was still enough AM in that core to blow a sizable crater in that landingfield. However even if it didn’t blow, our chances leaving in this dung heapwere gone.

The human who just pulled thatlever turned holding a blaster drained at me. “I think I take that reward. Hefired sweeping the bridge with paralyzing energies and my impulse to jump athis throat and strangle the traitor was stopped by the same rays that toppledthe dirty man and the Saresii woman fractions of a second before me.

This place, this planet wasgetting to me; it felt like the amusem*nt park ride I had taken on Twilight. Upand down and without any control where the ride would go. I found myself in acavern like room with sturdy looking metal bars across the open end. Thecavern’s floor was covered with reeking straw and about thirty others, naked asme were there. We all wore metal collars. While the others could walk around,mine was attached to a chain which in turn was locked to a steel loop bolted tothe rock wall. It gave me very little room of movement. My hands however werefree.

To the right of me was the dirtynaked man and to my left the Kermac. The Kermac had in addition to his steelcollar a blinking device attached to his forehead. Probably some deviceblocking his Psionic abilities, there were no women with us and no non humans,but on the other side of the cave leaning against the wall, the cursed cowardwho had paralyzed us.

Seeing his guilty face as heglanced over made my blood boil and I jumped up forgetting and thendisregarding the chocking collar I tried to reach him, of course completelyimpossible, the chain was way too short to reach across the nine meters thatseparated him from my longing fingers. However the coward shrieked and scurriedlike the vermin he was further away into the opposite end of the grotto. I alsonoticed more than I heard a grinding noise from the loop. It wasn’t as solidattached to the wall as it looked. Two of the lower anchor bolts were somewhatloose and gave the whole plate a little room to move.

I settled back down but said inhis direction. “You better hide, if I ever get lose and before I try to escapeor anything, I am going to kill you.”

The thin man shivered and said.“They did not keep their promise. He said he would let us go.”

“You are as stupid as a bag ofrotten Snapper fur, you backstabbing, cowardly slime fish excrement. Of coursethey didn’t keep their promise, they are slave traders and you are nothing butmerchandise to them.”

The dirty man next to me said.“He is a Gal Drift; they are as whacko as they come.” He turned his head tolook at me and exposed his bright teeth. “You did well out there, real well. Wecould have made it. Somehow I think you’re Fleet, right?”

I took the chain between my fistsand began to rhythmically yank at it. With satisfaction I felt the play in itand the fine dust grit dropping on my naked and sweaty back and said. “Yes Iam.”

The dirty man’s disposition thatappeared so unshakable did change as he glared over to the coward. “We reallycould have made it, if it wasn’t for him.”

The Kermac spoke for the firsttime and his voice sounded weak. “What is a Gal Drift?”

Another slave not tied to thewall and one I didn’t recognize. “Galactic Drifters are a bunch of ideologywhackos in need of Psycho Surgery. They don’t believe in Union laws and thatincludes Schools, Citizenship and so forth. Children of the Universe they callthemselves and believe all war is wrong, weapons are for evil purposes only andthink if you Kermac want to rule over us then accept it instead of fighting.”

The dirty man added. “He wasprobably a stowaway when whatever ship he was hitching a ride was caught andraided by pirates.”

The traitor hissed. “No, thatagent of your establishment, the freighter captain sold the entire container wewere hiding in to slave traders.”

I glared at him. “Lucky for you,if I had been that freighter captain, I’d spaced you.” Still I didn’t like whatI heard, it reminded me of little Exa and her story how she ended up onTwilight.

Someone wanted to know. “What isgoing to happen next?”

Again the dirty man, at leastthat’s how I called him in my mind, responded with an answer. “It’s still earlyin the week. So we wait till market day in two or three days and then we areauctioned off and sold. The Union soldier here will go for much money to one ofthe fight arenas or if they realize he is Union fleet, some of the Kermacagents might purchase him. Where everyone will end up is hard to say, dependswho shows up and what demands there is.”

I turned to the Kermac. “I guessthat’s your ticket out of here, right? Your agents will recognize you andyou’re back home in no time.”

He shook his head. “I am a Ranig,I am not important enough to be rescued. Our agents here try to stay lowprofile and would not risk exposing themselves by buying me. They are only hereto pick the occasional Union Fleet member, Saresii or Union Techs andscientists. Picking me would serve no purpose.”

The dirty man said to me.” Thename is Tirkov. You don’t have to call me dirty man anymore, not that I mindbut we are all quite filthy again and it might be a tad confusing who you giveorders too.”

I blinked. “Sorry, I didn’t evennotice I said it out loud. I am Eric by the way.”

“You did as we raided the shipand on the bridge you barked orders. Again I didn’t mind they all made senseand I know I used to have my own ship.”

The Kermac looked at me and said.“It figures, you had to be Union Fleet. Terran even, I think.”

I didn’t want to give the enemytoo much information. I didn’t like Kermac and he was one of them, but why Isuddenly remembered Egill’s words while I had to clean his tower burg, I couldnot tell, but I could almost hear his dry voice: Don’t be so quick with yourjudgments until you see the whole picture.

So I answered.” No I am notTerran, I am from Nilfeheim.”

Tirkov laughed and slapped hishand on his naked thighs. “A genuine Neo Viking, now that explains the temper.”

His response surprised me. “Youknow Nilfeheim?”

He side glanced at the steel loopI was working on and gave me an almost unnoticeable nod and then said. “Yearsago I had two Nilfeheim Lowmen in my crew. Hard men they were, reliable. Didn’tmind working, could drink Botnaars under the table and if they started singingtheir Valhalla Songs and praising the houses they had braved much hardship toescape the ship plate’s vibrated. Never been to Nilfeheim but I know a thing ortwo about it.”

I actually stopped yanking thechain and stared at him saying. “I was told I was the first one of Nilfeheimthat ever joined the Fleet.”

He motioned me to continueworking the chain and I did, feeling much more play now than before. The lowerbolts now showed almost an inch of shaft. Tirkov said, answering me. “Maybe youare the first to join the Fleet and I didn’t say my ship was Union either. Fromthose two I told you about I heard that it was rare but not uncommon for thirdand fourth born sons, for Lowmen to book a passage on a Space Bus or hide on afreighter and leave that world to find their destiny elsewhere.”

He didn’t have to tell me aboutthe fate of those sons not first born and I had my eyes opened to the almostslave like conditions some Clans kept their Lowmen in. It was actually onlynatural that some would leave. I knew Uncle Hogun had spent some time offplanet in his younger days, not that he had ever talked about it not even to me.Now I could tell that Richard the outcast who was one of my sword and fightingteachers also had spent time away from Nilfeheim. Only back then I was to blindand to inexperienced to see those tell-tale signs.

I asked him. “Merchant orfreighter or something like that?”

He grinned. “No, not merchant buta mercenary, I ran a mercenary outfit until recently. Problem was that ourIntel for the last job wasn’t exactly accurate and instead of a small band oflocal cut throats we faced two companies of Harlequin’s Jokers complete withZealot Battle walkers and they had no problem to sell the surviving rest of mycrew including me to the Mulwhur Trading Company.”

I had no real reply to what hejust said. I knew what the definition of a Mercenary was but I never thoughtsomething like that existed in the Union.

It appeared he read my facialexpression as he snorted and lost much of his toothy grin. “I know you Union Fleettypes look down on us and consider us criminals, but there are many shadesbetween the white and black.” He spat into the straw before him. “Now if Icould just once, borrow a real Marine Heavy Destroyer Suit and maybe a few Cerberusrobots. I would love to drop in on Harlequin and make his clowns weep.”

I followed his example and spatinto the straw. “I am here more or less because I used a sabotaged Quasimodo.”

The Kermac tried it but didn’treally manage to spit on the ground. “You humans are disgusting.”

I grinned. “No one asked you totry that.”

He tried again with not much moresuccess and then said. “I think I seen a Tri-visual on these Cerberus robotsonce, the high Wizard of Public education of course prohibits suchTri-Visuals.”

I had to slow down my efforts; Ididn’t want the traitor to see that it would take little effort now to yank thechain of the wall. “So how come a Kermac can be found here among slaves? Ithought you guys love enslaving others and promote the whole business.”

He actually sighed and said. “Wedon’t call it enslaving but giving lesser species the opportunity to reachtheir potential by having the great fortune to be guided by Kermac wisdom andtutelage.” He looked straight at me. “The Grand Wizard still believes that andyou have to be very careful, the thought police takes subversive thinking veryserious and in general Kermac’s love to denounce others to look goodthemselves.” He touched the blinking device. “We are a race of Telepaths andPsi talents without the ingenious Psi laws the Union has. That’s why we wearfalse beards with all kinds of Anti Psi technology just to provide ourselveswith a little privacy.” He then touched the scared wound on his chin we hadcrudely derma patched on the ship. “The average Kermac envies your union forone thing more than anything else, your PSI laws. Simple laws that protect one’sthoughts and guarantees privacy to us that would be paradise.”

He paused looked at the strawthen turned to look at us. “I was not completely truthful before, because I amthe Grand Wizard of Information, or to be more correct, I was. I challenged theGrand Wizard and instead of murdering me which would have created strong andhard to hide emotions and thoughts. I have been abducted in my sleep. My Psishield and other implants forcefully removed and dumped. How I exactly ended upwith the Slave traders, I can’t tell because I found myself aboard that cursedship.”

He actually tried to move awayfrom me. “You have places to go, somehow I know you won’t be a slave forever, Ihave not. If I reveal myself to the Kermac agents, they won’t go against theGrand Wizard and have to make sure I never return to Kermac Prime. To this addthe general dislike common Kermac feel towards us Wizards and I will be luckyif I end up in a mine or smelter farm and not on a Togar BBQ spit.”

I couldn’t believe my ownfeelings as I actually felt sorry for a Kermac, a Wizard no less, but I said.“You could try to reach Union Space you know.”

He laughed dryly. “Gettinginterrogated and then dissected in a secret Union Lab, what would be thedifference to being eaten by a Togar family?”

Instead of simply shutting upaiding and abetting a declared enemy, I said. “”I think you believe your ownpropaganda then. We do not do things like that. You ask for political asylum atany customs office and you will get it. Once that is done, you become acitizen. Doesn’t matter in the Union if you’re one individual or a wholecivilization, we even took in the Dai. I know from the news there are a few Nulliving as Union Citizens and no one dissected them.”

He said. “You make it sound soeasy.”

As I sat there I realized I alsobelieved my own propaganda as well. The Union did have secret lab facilitiesand I had transferred two Y’All warriors to one of them. The entire facilitywas nothing but a research center conducting experiments on sentient species.True the samples I had seen were of the worst enemies but still ... maybe theMercenary was right. Not everything was black or white and I caught myself tostill think in absolutes. Of course as a soldier I understood that it wasabsolutely necessary to find out everything there was to know about an enemyand conducting research on Y’All warriors could lead to new tactics and newweapons. Yet by the strict sense of our laws and by the application of thefundamental core values the representatives at the Assembly recited loudlyevery year at Union week, we were as guilty as the Kermac. It did not matter ifyou did it only a little bit in secrecy or on large scale and in the open.

Something happened at the steelbars and that pulled me out of my brooding thoughts, two Oghr and a browncloaked humanoid figure had approached. Under the hood I saw an ugly somewhathumanoid but certainly not human face and he said to the Oghr. “Take them outto clean the Moog’s Cut, but leave the ones chained to the walls; they are toodangerous to give tools.”

The guards opened the portcullisby operating a lever and herded the other slaves’ outsides. The coward came tooclose and I used a leg sweep to make him fall, followed up with a bare foodheel kick to his nose then rolled to the side to evade a shocker prod. My handwas free so I grabbed it behind the exposed electrodes and gave it a hefty tug.The big Oghr grunted and yelled stumbled forward and I placed a kick againsthis jaw. Nothing that would seriously harm the Oghr, my seemingly madness had areason. In the tussle and due to the restricting chain I came to close to theother Oghr and he took me in a bear hug of which I did not even attempt toescape. I had accomplished what I wanted. The guard that caught me laughedrough at his comrade. “I’ll pay money to see this one fight in the arena. Theother rubbed his lantern jaw with the upward pointing brass topped tusks andgrunted. “He’s a wild one indeed.” He hit me a few times with the whip andshackled my hands as well then they left, closed the steel bars and tended tothe other slaves using their shocker prods liberally and then they got shovelsand buckets and were marched off to so some kind of labor.

As soon as they were gone, Istrained my muscles and with a grinding sound the last bolts gave and Istumbled forward almost colliding with the other wall, but I was free.

Tirkov shook his head. “You arecrazy. They could have whipped and beaten you to death, why risk all thosebleeding whip cuts?”

My answer were falling wristcuffs and I held up a metal key. “Because I saw this on his belt.” In my mind Ithanked the Sojonites for the specialized training I had received so recentlyand it had included a few lessons on how to pick pockets.

It took me no time to free theother two and even take our chaffing collars off.

The Kermac shook his head andsaid. “I am grateful that I did not have to meet you in battle you are oneresourceful young human.”

Tirkov said. “I think am certainhe is an officer, that’s the result of their fine academy training.”

I used the chain with theattached collar, looked through the bars as good as I could and saw othergrottos like cut into the sides of sheer rock walls on the other side of thisnarrow canyon. As I stood there the magnitude of this became apparent. Therewere these alcoves fitted with steel bars in several tiers connected with steelwalk ways. As far as I could see and there was reason to believe our side waslooking the same. There had to be hundreds of these slave pens and from thelooks of it most of them were occupied. There were dozens of guards lazilywalking these cat walks swinging their prods in bored fashion. Even though Isaw guards of different species, it looked as if the Oghr had the largestnumbers. The escape would not be as easy as I thought it would be. I hadplanned to use the collar and chain to fish for the lever and open the bars,but it was still too bright out there and the guards on the other side wouldsee us, raise alarm and could shoot us.

“It’s still too bright; I said webetter wait till it gets darker.” I turned to the two and asked. “It does getdark here right?”

Tirkov nodded. “Yes and verydark, there isn’t a moon around this world. I think they will have a few floodlights, but other than that we will be able to leave.”

The Kermac also looked outside. “Andthen what will we do then?”

The Merc said. “I am trying toscare up some clothing and a few coins. As soon as you are not recognized as aslave we are as free as anywhere. We could try to find work, hire on as handson a ship that goes out, but I am going to call a few friends and get me a rideof this dust ball. You two are welcome to come along.”

He gave me a glance from theside. “Someone like you could run his own outfit in no time and there is goodmoney in it too.” Then he turned to the Kermac. “You could learn to pilot awalker too, you know.”

I said to him. “We need to getout of here first before we make plans for the future, but how would you make acall? I was told there isn’t anything here to make calls.”

The mercenary returned in makinghis toothy grin. “Maybe the rest of the Universe doesn’t have GalNet, but thatdoesn’t mean there is no way to communicate, I am sure there is a MyonCorresponder here, it’s not instantaneous like fancy GalNet, and only slightlyfaster than the average space ship, but it gets your message from one planet toanother and there might just be a Kermac Long Distant Telepath, now that isinstantaneous too.”

With a side glance at the KermacI said. “I know about Myon Corresponder and Tachyon Radio. That’s how we hailmother ships when I order all channels open, but I am not so sure I wouldentrust a telepath with my secret messages. Every other long distant telepathcan listen in, right?”

The Kermac said.” Wrong. First ofall Long Range Telepaths are very rare naturally so we enhance their abilitytechnically. Second they are social recluses and more tool than being and thirdyou can always use code.” He said with a miffed tone in his voice. “Noteverything the Saresii do is better or superior to our way of doing things, youknow.”

“How can anyone take Kermacserious when all they do is being arrogant, trying to enslave others with theirPsionics and send spies?”

I realized I was ruder than Iwanted to be, but as I spoke I remembered the dead Garbini, I saw hanging inthe wreck of the Seneca after the Kermac had attacked it and I remembered twoKermac agents unleashing Y’All warriors, most of all I was in this situationkidnapped because Kermac were the driving motor just to get to Narth throughme.

He didn’t sound offended buttired when he said. “That is why I am here and not in the Great Tower. Iquestioned some of our politics, but you should not poke the stick into theplastic roof after it rained. I mean ever since the Union became so big it isoften perceived as being arrogant. Go ask a Togar or a Karthanian or any numberof Galactic Council member species what they think about the Union or theTerrans.” He raised his hands and said. “I am not defending what KermacPolitics and attitude did over thousands of years and it is hard for me toaccept that. I still love Ker and my culture; I don’t want it to become Union.I want it to reform, remember that we are an old race and could be respectedfor achievements. I disagreed with the increasing delusion and the blindness ofthe rest of the Wizards to the obvious facts and one of those facts is thatthere won’t be a Kermac Culture if we continue in the same direction. They playwith forces we don’t really understand and that even among the Wizards any formof discussion is no longer acceptable. Everyone has to agree with the Grandwizard.”

He was talking himself into arage and while he did so he more and more realized that he lost his homeforever. Maybe it was the shock and the stress of the last days for him, thatkept him level but now he was close to a breakdown and then he started crying.I didn’t even know Kermac could cry. I still hated them, those white skinned,meddling bastards. It was them who got me here. Yet I had to tell myself thatseveral times to make sure I still believed it. Maybe not all Kermac were thesame and maybe shared misery like a Slave prison made me realize there weren’tas many differences between him and me.

Tirkov said with an urgent toneas he glanced outside.” Someone is coming. Armed Guard, a dealer and the robedugly one again.”

We went back to the wall andpretended to be tied. I hoped they didn’t notice that our chains were no longerattached to the wall.

The robed man with the ugly facewas accompanied by a well fed Golden. I knew little about the Golden who weredistant cousins to the Kermac and the Blue, other than that they were merchantsand maintained big bazaars in all corners of the Galaxy. This one had an uglycross like symbol burned or etched in his otherwise bald head. The Kermacwhispered. “That cross shaped scar means he is a disgraced Golden and is notallowed to sell or buy anything or conduct business. If the Golden find out hedeals in sentient beings they might send assassins.”

I simply made sure that he knew Iheard his explanation. At this point I didn’t care what kind of species theSlave Business Owner was, I also would save the Golden the expenses. I had noplans of keeping him alive.

The man with the brown cloak andthe ugly alien face pointed at me and said. “How much for the fighting boy?”

The Golden had a laboring way oftalking and somehow he didn’t even get all the words in Squawk right. “Hecaused much damage and we think he is troublemaker. But he brings good Polo forCompany when sold to arena.”

The Ugly one had big ears and ahairy nose that seemed like the rest of his skin too big for the skull underneathand hung in loose skin folds down to his chest.

The Kermac again supplied me withsome information. “That is a Yotenen, they are native to what you call Downwardand I have never seen one in this part of the Galaxy. Broody, mistrusting race,not pleasant to deal with.”

What the Kermac called a Yotenenheld up a heavy little bag. “Who knows what tomorrow brings, who knows if theArena purchasers come and buy or believe your stories about him. I saw himfight and I offer 100 Big Polos Full weight.”

“I could part with him for 200.”

“I take him and the Saresii girland I give you 250”

It was demeaning to be there andhearing two beings to haggle over you. They were still outside and the Guardwas armed, they had to come in before we could rush them.

The money bag changed owners, theSteel barrier lifted but only the guard came in. For our impromptu plan to workthey had to come. There was no other way I had to jump the guard.

As the Oghr came closer Tirkovmade a groaning sound to distract him and as he turned I rushed up, slung mychain around the Oghr’s fat neck twisted my body to close the loop of the chainand pulled the chain with all I had across my own shoulders. The guard gargledand chocked, the Kermac jumped up took the knife from the guard’s belt andstuck him.

Knowing we had seconds, I turnedto rush after the other two when I saw the cloaked Yotenen push the Ownerforward and inside our prison. The disgraced Golden staggered a few more stepsand fell over, several fine steel needles had penetrated deep into the back ofhis head. The Yotenen man snarled with an urgent tone.” Quick Eric I brought asecond cloak and let us get out of here.”

Of course. Wasn’t it the secretability of the Sojonites to change shape? This was the Mother Superior.

Tirkov was already stripping theGuard and putting the things on, when he stopped and laughed. “It looks I amnot the only one who has friends around here. The Kermac was over the deadOwner pulling on the smudgy golden robe and also stopped. “You are full ofsurprises human.”

I took the offered cloak andslipped it on. The Merc grabbed my underarm and looked at me with flashing blueeyes. “I still try to figure your rank and specialization, age wise you mightalready be full Lieutenant, but I could be wrong. You haven’t told us how youended up here, other than some cryptic remarks. I doubt you be the kind ofofficer herding a bunch of scientists at a distant outpost that got raided bypirates. I think you are a spacer. Come on tell us the name of the last shipyou served.”

“I don’t think I am breaking anyregulations saying that. It was the USS Devastator.”

I took hold of his underarm thesame way. “Good luck Tirkov.”

“Take care Eric, this is a biguniverse but I think we might run into each other one of these days.”

Actually I was more surprisedabout my own emotions and reaction, I took the offered hand of the Kermac, andgrabbed his underarm in that greeting Nilfeheim warriors reserved for eachother and said. “Good luck Wizard. I doubt we will run into each other, but youopened my eyes to a few things.”

He bowed slightly. “I neverthought I would say that, but I respect you, Union man. You too gave me much tothink about.”

The hooded Alien slid close to meand whispered. “I am sorry it took so long to find you but there are a lot ofslave cages to go through.”

I slipped in the cloak andmoments later we left. It took us a while to get to the ground level but noneof the guards paid any particular interest in us, there was a steady traffic ofcoming and going. Slaves being transferred sold or used in work gangs for somelocal purpose or another; as we reached the ground, she pointed at a waitingtwo legged lizard with a saddle on it.

My new friends waved once moreand disappeared moments behind the bend the Canyon wall made.

She asked me to climb on the backand after I did, she did the same and sat behind me. The lizard made ascreeching sound as she forced with a tug on the reins to get walking.

The lizard moved fast and we hadsoon left the Canyon of Tears as this side arm of the local canyon was calledand reached a more active area. Everything was built in or at the Canyon walls.Either in recesses or like balconies dotting the canyon walls all the way up.Bars, restaurants, bordellos and other small businesses advertised withilluminated signs. Here on the Canyon floor was a steady traffic of carts,people on foot and Lizards either pulling wagons or being ridden.

Only now did she speak again.“You caused quite a stir, stealing a slaver ship, dropping the Core directlybefore the feet of the Local Lord and his cronies.”

“I didn’t know if you were stillalive. I had planned to find the local temple as soon as I was able. I had todo something. I didn’t want to end up on a Togar table.”

“I was worried sick about you. Ipromised Richard to keep you safe. That Tornado was the strangest thing.Normally they don’t occur around here at this time of year and rarely if everexceed a T4; it was our bad luck to be caught in it.”

I frowned and said. “Bad luckisn’t even coming close; I think Loki personally is out to get me.”

She asked. “Who?”

“The god of mischief and trickeryin the mythology of my people,” then I asked her, “did you get hurt? I tried tohold on to you but it was too late.”

She steered the lizard down a sidecorridor and said. “I took the form of a Heentok. That is a storm rider from aplanet where hurricanes and violent storms are the norm, but I lost sight ofyou.”

She made the Lizard stop andjumped off. We had reached some sort of corral, a man height fence separatedabout a dozen of these animals and another one of those short three fingeredbeings took our mount and she received her deposit back.

The lizards smelled putrid buthere it was even worse and I was glad to follow her away from it. I almost losther as she suddenly turned left into a narrow cleft in the rock. Here too werelittle businesses and the dwellings of individuals.

She turned to see if we werefollowed and then pushed me through a curtain that hung from a cave entranceand into a sparsely lit tavern. Neither the being behind the counter nor thefew patrons took any notice of our presence. They weren’t consuming drinks butate little flower buds from small bowls. We didn’t really stop but passedthrough a second set of curtains, down a windy corridor that was almostcompletely dark.

We resurfaced in another canyoncorridor and did this sort of thing four or five times more. I doubted I couldtrace our way back. Finally we went through the back door of a dirty, low techhotel of some kind and ended up in a room with a mattress and a few pillows onthe floor. The small round window was without glass, but had a set of curtainsthrough which she looked outside. “I am pretty certain we haven’t beenfollowed.”

She dropped the cloak and right beforemy eyes the shape of the ugly skin folds covered alien begun to melt and shift,become almost like a liquid and moment later she was the same older Saresiiwoman I had seen aboard the luxury yacht. She opened a trunk I only now noticedand said. “You need to get changed too. Once they discover you’re gone thisplace will become a witch’s cauldron. You and your friends had caused a nicelittle stire and the local Lord most certainly does not want to hear youescaped before you could be sold and punished in the arena. That is why we needto change now and leave this planet preferably before they notice. She changedagain and into an Oghr Female just as brutish looking as the males, withpronounced jaws and tusk like teeth poking past the upper lips. From the trunkshe put on the typical leather and metal garment outfit that appeared to becommon for both genders of that race.”

Her green skinned hand withyellowish long claws and fine scaled skin pointed at the trunk. “The othercostume is for you. Get cleaned in the hygiene cell, get dressed. We are in ahurry.”

I found the little shower and asign in bold letters and in several languages warned of water wasting andlisted the horrendous fees for using it.

I must have wasted almost 100Polo coins worth of water and had spent a little longer under the shower than Ishould have. I doubted there was anyone as anxious as me to leave this planet,but the shower was pure bliss and rinsing my dried out gills made me realize Istill had them.

She was standing by the window asI came out and said. “I estimate we have about 3-4 hours before they realizethat I sent the other slaves to do work they weren’t supposed to do. Thathappens here all the time, but when they get back they will find the Owner andthe dead guard and I am certain the local Lord will prevent any ship fromleaving until you and the others have been found.”

I found that the seeminglyprimitive trunk had a set of controls that activated a portable Auto Dresserunit.

The Auto Dresser disguised me intoa humanoid feline being with fine dotted soft fur, large ears and Whiskers anda twitching tail. Over it I wore a tight brown leather bodice with a red sash.

“You are a Togar Warrior now.Virtually unknown in Union space but a fierce race, quite aggressive and thered sash signals that you are in heat and just killed a suitor.”

I could not believe my ears andspouted. “I am what?” She crossed her muscular arms. “It keeps all nosy folksaway. Togar Females are even more irrational than human women during thatperiod and kill and maim for the silliest reasons. Best thing is, every Togarwe meet will instantly fight anyone to the death giving you the slightestdisrespect, and there are a lot of Togar on this world.”

I checked my new looks in themirror field. “I sure hope no one wants to mate with me. I don’t really want tofind out what love means to a crazed two legged Togar tomcat.”

She actually laughed. “Not toworry, they are a strict matriarch society. The retractable claws on yourcostume are monofilament Ultronit. You could claw a robot to shreds. Trust me Iused that disguise many times.”

“Only you are a Sojonit Shapeshifter trained in all those secrets. I only wear a clever bio flex costume.Can I not rather be some sort of human something?”

She shrugged. “This is what wehad at the local temple. Trust me the other alternatives would have pleased youeven less. Besides I booked us a flight on the next transport out of here andit is for a Togar Female with her Oghr bodyguard.”

At least I could wear weaponsopenly; a Togar blaster and two swords like knives were part of the disguise. Idid like the claw part. I could not help being fascinated by my tail. Ittwitched and moved, probably part of some random neuro impulse programincorporated into the costume. I had no control over it and that was a goodthing.”

“Stop looking at your tail. Itwon’t fall off.”

“I never had a tail before.”

“Well technically speaking ...sort of.”

She pressed another contact onthe portable auto dresser and it crumbled and dissolved before our eyes into apile of metallic dust. All that remained was a small Zero Point energy cube sheput in one of her pockets. “Let’s go, Maguria my Togan beauty. The transport isleaving soon.”

On our way back to the spaceportI could not ignore to see the gangs of humans and other beings everywhere withbrooms and shovels fighting what seemed a hopeless battle against the dust andsand, accumulating in doorways and on sidewalks.

Everyone on foot wore cloaks inprobably every shade of brown, and it was getting dark now. I also noticed thestrange hopping movements almost everyone around us and before us was making.She warned me and pulled me at the sleeve. I almost stepped in a big pile ofreeking greenish dung.

She whispered. “The lizards dropthem everywhere. Walking here is called the Alvar Two-step.”

Other slaves had as I saw now thedisgusting duty to scoop those droppings into buckets.

She nodded towards the Slaves. “Idetest it as much as you do, but open war is not the answer. Something has tobe done, but subtle and not with the Terran sledge hammer.”

I gave her a side look andnoticed my long whiskers twitching in my field of view. “I hear that all thetime, but I think sometimes the sledgehammer method shows others who’s boss.”

She sighed. “As I said you’re areal Terran, no matter from what colony planet you come from.”

We reached the mouth of theCanyon and before us stretched the landing field. I could see the brown slavetrader awkwardly leaning on its side. A make shift scaffold was growing aroundit, probably to hoist the core back in. Two other ships were there as well.There was a smaller courier ship and a genuine SII Poodle IV, known to be thefirst privately available long distance ship and a true antique.

She guided me to one of the stonebuildings and into a sparsely furnished passenger lobby. There were only abouta dozen beings in that bare waiting lobby. It had a glass front and a few crudelooking benches, nothing else.

She asked after we sat down. “Warwill come again. It is certain all we can do, is delay it as long as possible.”

I remembered the Kermac Wizardwho was a slave just like me, but he confirmed what I believed about them.“It’s the Kermac who agitate and pull the Tyranno’s fin. They do that evenbefore Terrans were around. They tried to attack us with Psi spores. It wasthem who send spies and have abducted me.”

She patted my furry legs. “Ofcourse you are correct but I am also a spy for a long time, and to be asuccessful one you need to learn to see things with the eyes of your enemy.”

I glared at her and said withoutthinking. It can be very dangerous to do that. One might lose focus and notonly see things like the enemy but think like it as well.”

“I am very aware of that, and ourcommon friend Richard Stahl said that to me more than I can count. You are inmany ways very much like him.”

“I doubt Admiral Stahl woulddress up as a Sojonit and enjoy every second of it.”

She laughed.” That is true. Heactually would rather die.”

A fat human in blue robes anddust mask came in and he was followed by six naked slaves. Each of themcarrying great loads. The fat man barked at his slaves and they set up a tableand cylinders and boxes on top of it. The blue dressed man placed himselfbehind the table and yelled in several languages including Union idiom. “Water,refreshments, perfumes, carbo snacks and meat sticks. Get them before you leaveon your long trip. There won’t be any refreshments on the transport.”

Twenty minutes later we boardedthe old Poodle converted to something like a passenger transport, settled down.Two Togar males rudely pushed a Karthanian out of the way and then I realizedthey did that for me.

We found out seats and settleddown and moments later the Poodle lifted off into space.

Chapter 6: Kaliment[]

As old as the Poodle was, it wassurprisingly well maintained and the small crew kept it reasonably clean. I wasnot very comfortable, which was of course partially due to the disguise I wore.

The fine and soft pelt of mycostume proved to be quite warm and for some reason they kept the cabintemperature well above the thirties on the C scale. It felt just like sittingin a Nilfeheim sauna wearing a Fangsnapper fur coat. Well maybe not thatextreme, but certainly close.

“Cats like it warm.” She seemedto have no problem guessing my thoughts even completely disguised like that.

The Poodle space ship we hadboarded, was an antique. This Poodle was at least two hundred years old, butit* basic shape looked the same as the latest Poodle model coming of theassembly lines.

Two thirty meters diameter ballshaped spheres connected to each other with a short ten meters diametercylinder. This elongated cylinder acted as a corridor.

While this odd bar bell shapeseemed odd and impractical. It was a different story when the first Poodleswere designed and produced over 1500 years ago.

It was one of the very firstcommercially available space ships and because of this was one of the mostfamous ship designs in history.

The bow sphere was called theFreight and habitat section and the aft section was the engineering section.The two segments could be separated in an emergency or used as a power stationfor a new colony.

On top of the first sphere anelongated pointed wedge was placed. It contained the bridge and other commandand control functions. Two ISAH pods on each side of the aft sphere completedthe outside looks of a Poodle. Terrans said that the ship was ugly as sin andif it stood on its long landing gear it looked just like a groomed Poodle.

The passenger area and livingquarters were inside the first sphere and freight, fuel and engineering was inthe second sphere.

Due to the shape of the passengercompartment we did not sit in rows as one would in a Union space bus, but theseat rows followed the curve and completed an almost complete circle. Thecenter was occupied by the ship’s access shaft and two hygiene cells. There wasa little bar and currently un-staffed small galley.

The set-up had room for abouthundred passengers, but only perhaps twenty five took the journey with us.

I pretended to be sleepy andcurled up on that unyielding passenger seat, luckily made big enough toaccommodate the biggest Oghr. I did that to prevent any conversation with thetwo Togar males, sitting not too far.

They did keep their distance andI was glad.

My companion said whispering butwith an amused tone in her voice. “Looks like the two Toms over there seem tocontemplate considering getting mauled and injured for a chance with you.”

Why she found it amusing I didnot know.

I found the situation anythingbut amusing. I muttered, not expecting a response. “It wasn’t me who decided Ihad to pose as a Togar female in the first place.”

However compared to the recentevents and situations, this was not all that hard to endure and we had leftthat cursed dust ball a few moments ago. Through one of the view ports, I sawthe welcome blackness of space and the light of a few stars brilliant andunfiltered by any atmosphere.

Not for the first time did Iwonder about my own love of space and then whenever I had to step out into it Iwas afraid.

My body-guard snapped at the twoTogars and said to them. “She has chosen and if you want to cause trouble anddisrespect her go right ahead, but know that she is of the Lalhestes.”

Whatever a Lalhestes was itworked, the two males looked for seats as far away as possible and settleddown.

I asked. “So where exactly are wegoing and what is a Lalhestes?”

She leaned closer as my real earswhere covered with Bioflex material and my hearing was somewhat impaired andsaid. “We are on our way to planet Kaliment. It is probably more to your likingas temperatures never exceed ten degrees and usually hover around minus twentyon the C scale. There is no native life on Kaliment other than a selection ofprimitive amoeba and plankton that floats around in vast quantities in theplanets oceans.”

I listened and found that aplanet with decent temperatures and oceans could not be all that bad. She kepton telling me. “Kaliment has also an abundance of a rare crystalline form ofMagnetite, a mineral absolutely vital to space faring civilizations.”

There I had to correct her, maybeshe had spent too long in Freespace. “That stuff isn’t used since Dr. Isahcompletely redesigned the FTL drive Sarans gave to Earthers 3000 years ago. Wedon’t even use it in blasters anymore, because it is not very efficient, andunreliable compared to the reliable and 99% more efficient ISAH lattice thatcan be manufactured to the exact same specifications instead of using a naturalrare crystal, that like all natural things never is completely the same.”

She patted my hand. “Yes my Unionchild indeed. No one in the Union with ready access to ISAH componentsconsiders Kalimun, as the Karthanian call it, anything but a nice export mineral.Consider this my Soja. Not every civilization is as obsessed with efficiency asthe Terrans. The Sarans used Kalimun for thousands of years and were quitesurprised when ships of United Terra out ran their ships only ten years afterthey had given Terra the secret of FTL propulsion. We are in Freespace, and weare now approaching an area that is claimed by both the Karthanian and theTogar. No one outside the Union can simply place an order for ISAH Pods overGalNet and get precise engineered FTL engines a few month later delivered byfreighter. The process how the lattice is synthesized, that holds the anti-mattercontaining magnetic fields in precise balance is known only to ISAH Inc, Earthand they managed to guard its secrets even against other Union competitors.”

I swallowed the hidden critiqueat my ignorance and said. “So this planet we are going to, is not in Freespaceanymore?”

She chuckled and since herdisguise was quite real she managed to curl the enormous chops of that Oghr mawinto a quite frightening grin. “That my Soja is a question that many like to beanswered and a situation that simmers slowly to a boiling point that will meanwar.”

She shifted her position so shecould easier talk to me and said. “We are far from the influence of the BigFour now. Even the Galactic Council borders are over 700 light years from hereand are only marked because a quite primitive and completely unimportant Thrallspecies of the Kermac occupies a few planets in that region. The Shiss, the Nuland of course the Union are even further away. Technically and by the originalFreespace treaty this is the outer fringes of that area. Freespace is, as youknow an area declared to be free of the influence and interference of the BigFour.”

That I knew, the entire text andthe reasons for the Freespace treaty were discussed at length inGalacto-political class and were subject to detailed graded tests. I said. “Ihad to learn about Freespace and the treaty negotiated by the Blue, but I don’tthink I ever heard about this world or the Togar being involved.”

She agreed with a nod. “The Karthanianwere among the larger civilizations that signed the Freespace treaty but theTogar did not. They weren’t even asked, back then they were barely known andnone of the Big Four considered them even remotely important or relevant atthat time.”

She scratched her scaled chinwith her long yellow claw like fingernails and continued.

“To get back to the actualsubject, no one paid particular interest in this system and the planets in it,until the Togar more or less by accident found that Kaliment had more Kalimunthan all their other sources together. Bad part is that, there was a Karthaniansurvey ship in the system at that time as well and overheard their planet tomother ship conversations. Now both claim that world and both have built apermanent basis that grew into a city, a clearly divided city of course.

Now the Togar are much morenumerous and have the far bigger fleet than the Karthanian, but the Karthaniansare technologically almost on Union level and have built their entire culturearound building space ships. So the Karthanian fear that the Togar catches upon the technology and the Togar are concerned that the Karthanian begin tobuild war fleets on their own instead of relying on Oghr services to do thefighting for them.”

“Isn’t it dangerous for me topose as a Togar female then?”

She shook her head. “No it isnot, the Karthanian are not ready to light the fuse on this explosive situationby harassing a Togar female. If my intelligence in that situation is correct,the Togar are itching for a fight.”

I shrugged and said. “I don’tthink a war between them out here would have any influence on the Union. I saylet them fight, but after we returned to Union space.”

“Wars have a tendency to spread,my impatient Soja.”

I assumed that Soja was the nameassociated with my Togar outfit, so I didn’t ask her what it meant but I didask. “Why are we going there anyway?”

“Because there are no flightsfrom Alvor’s Cove to Netlor and hiring a privateer to get us there is tricky,dangerous and with the short time we had to leave impossible. We will howeverdo just that and hire us a charter to get us to Netlor as soon as we landed.”

“So we won’t stay long?”

“No, because eventually one ofthe many Togar will ignore the sash, work up his courage and see if he couldnot convince you to abandon the way of Lalhestes.”

I protested. “You said thecostume is safe and I would not be bothered. What is that Lalhestes thinganyway? I think I asked that before.”

She rolled her yellowish eyes.“It is reasonably safe. You got a body guard and you got claws, use themfreely, no one is going to ask you why. If one of the Togars over there makesany gestures you don’t like go over there, take off half of his snout and heget the message. So don’t worry I promise you, everything will be fine. “Shethen added a Lalhestes is a Togar female that prefers other females and theyare considered exalted in a matriarchal society of course. It might keep themaway for good or it might heighten their interest as their minds in that regardwork very similar to human male brains.”

I spend the rest of the flightclutching my blaster and one of the long knives and did not dare to reallysleep. Every time one of the Togars moved I was ready to fight.

My companions assurance that shewas watching and that there was no cause for alarm, did little to convince methat it was indeed that way.

We reached Kaliment, seven daysafter we left Alvor’s Cove. One of the Togar males had to be carried out on astretcher. He had been bandaged but had received no other medical attention. Myfears had proven to be right. Just as my companion started to snore, one ofthem came sneaking over, making no noise on his cat like paws, clearly excitedand not thinking straight anymore.

I found out what terrible weaponfinger long claws could be as I raked them across his face and plunged the longknife in his abdomen.

After that I actually found alittle piece of mind to doze a little.

We left the Poodle right afterthe stretcher.

Now I was glad for my peltedcostume. The wind was howling and drove fine ice crystals over the landingfield. It wasn’t nearly as cold as it could be on Nilfeheim, but still a starkchange to Alvor’s Cove and the overheated passenger compartment of the Poodle.

Mother Superior in her Oghr formdidn’t seem to mind the cold wind as I followed her and the other passengers toa flier. I didn’t know the local time or if it was morning or evening, thedense gray cloud cover did not allow me to see the local sun. After the floaterhad taken us into the air I could see the city beyond the landing field. Thecity was split in half just as if a giant had used a knife. Each side was litby many thousand lights. The one of the right slide had an orange glow to itand the lights on the left shone a greenish hue. In between them was a darkstrip that extended over the landing field and became a narrow black line thatextended all the way to the horizon. She noticed me seeing it and said. “That isan artificial trench, ten meters deep, forty meters wide and follows theimaginary line of longitude from pole to pole. There are no bridges or tunnelsconnecting the two sides. All traffic and interaction is between the two sidesis limited to the City and done by flier only.

I followed her explanations butmy eyes caught a sleek ship that was most certainly not Karthanian, Kermac orwhatever. It looked Union, had big oversized ISAH Pods. It was armed with Lokitorpedo launchers and had several retracted gun turrets as I could see by theclosed gun ports. The entire ship was colored in a bright metallic red.

I estimated her to be about 750meters long. A yellow rendering of a snake with claws and wings was painted allalong its sides. I always prided myself as a space ship expert and even beforeI joined the Fleet, did I try to learn all the ship types. As much as I wascertain this came from Union designers, I had never seen any ship quite likeit.

I looked to her to ask, but sheappeared to be as surprised as I was. Her eyes glued at the red ship as well.She finally said.

“That is the Red Dragon. Itbelongs to a new and mysterious pirate. He appeared only recently and with aship that no one is able to identify, and many think it is a complete customjob. The Pirate captain running and owning it also calls himself the RedDragon. He managed to become one of the most wanted Pirates in a short time.There are rumors that he has excellent connections to the Karthanian Consortiumand that Jibehs the guild master of the Hull makers is his friend.”

I pointed with my snout towardsthe ship and said. “I see two Loki Torpedo starters on this side and despitethe red coloring I am certain that’s Ultronit. That ship isn’t Karthanian.”

She grabbed me by the arm and said.“Just this time let’s keep the details of that Pirate ship a little longer amystery. We have a schedule to keep and you have an appointment with AdmiralStahl.”

I sat back down and said. “I amthe last to argue that. I want to get back home real bad.”

“Then don’t get up and thinkabout ways to get over that trench and closer to that ship.”

At first I wanted to argue andprotest, why would I want to get myself into more trouble or another side-tourso close to getting back? But then I realized she was right. I had stood up andI did check out that trench and the layout of things and somewhere inside I hadalready begun to hatch a plan to somehow sabotage that ship, blow up those Lokiesand find out where he got them from.

Meekly I crossed my arms and loweredmy head. “Am I that predictable?”

She nodded. “After knowing you alittle while I am afraid so. There are those who live their entire live doingtheir jobs and nothing will ever happen to them and then there are those likeyou who could walk into a flower shop to buy a bunch of roses and end upfighting a galaxy wide conspiracy. You my friend belong most definitely to thelatter type.”

There wasn’t much I could say tothat, reflecting on my life so far, she certainly had a point.

The flier descended and landed afew seconds later at a terminal that looked sturdy but incomplete. Some windowpanes were missing, not all lights were working and as we walked inside, Inoticed cracks in the walls, sloppy paint jobs. She whispered leaning close.“So you noticed famous Togar workmanship. It gets worse the further away youget from the Queen’s Palace.”

“I really don’t want to see aTogar engine room then.”

There weren’t any entry checks orcustom controls to speak off; every Togar around us was armed. I wasn’t theonly female Togar with a red sash and it was no problem moving through a checkpoint as the controlling Togar did not really want to ask me for credentialsand let us pass.

We took another flier to theother side, where Oghr guards performed all the security related tasks for theKarthanian who as I learned did not like to interact with Non Karthanians. Myknowledgeable companion told me that Karthanians were Xenophobes and only a fewof them managed to overcome their phobia usually for commercial reasons.

Unchallenged we reached theKarthanian side of the space port and boarded much to my dismay a Velorianfreighter, brownish red and black ceramics and pretty much the same organic seasnail looking hull as the slave ship, that most likely was still sitting on thelanding field of Alvor’s Cove. This one had been maintained much better anddidn’t stink as much.

This time we had a tiny passengercabin for ourselves, barely enough room to stretch out, but we could close thedoor and have some privacy. I looked out the small view port and saw Oghr andother aliens service the ships, disconnect service and fuel transfer hoses andsaid to more to myself than to her. “I wonder why there are so many Oghr herein Freespace. I thought they were a Union species?” I remembered Az-Az.

She answered never the less. “TheUnion Oghr are called Oromals and they are as loyal and dependable as any othermember. The Oromals once belonged to the Oghr Empire before it fell apart intodozen smaller kingdoms almost 8000 years ago. The largest of these kingdoms,Oromals joined the Union, I think about 1200 years ago, but there are nine suchkingdoms left in Freespace and most Oghr hire out as Mercenaries and laborersto other civilizations.”

“You are much like Narth orWetty. Narth I think tries to memorize the entire Encyclopedia Galactica andWetty can remember the slightest details of anything she ever came across.”

“I am glad Wetmouth found herplace and friendship. She would never been happy as a Sojonit.”

Shortly after she said that, theVelorian lifted into space.

Chapter 7: Netlor[]

We managed to reach Netlorwithout incident or pirate attack, which would not have been unlikely in thisregion of space.

As we debarked the Velorian shipseven days later, we were greeted by a warm yellow sun and the surrounding areabeyond the landing field was green. Netlor so I learned had its own life andhad oceans. The temperatures hovered around 28 degrees on the c scale and thatfelt nice compared to the baking oven conditions of Alvor’s Cove or thefreezing winds of Kaliment.

Netlor was, just like Alvor’scove in Freespace, but it was so Mother Superior told me well organized. Whilethere was no real government, it was run by a consortium of several syndicatesand a council of temple and faith leaders.

Here on Netlor was the headquarter of a religious sect called the Church of the Golden Whispering Spiritof the Universe. It had according to the Mother Superior several millionmembers not only on Union Side but also among several Kermac Thrall species andFreespace Civilizations The members of that church had to travel at least oncein their life to this place and bathe in the light of the Whispering Statue.

On special dates advertised bythat church, the light of the statue was in alignment with the Heart of theGalaxy and during these times, believers and pilgrims by the hundred thousandsarrived on Netlor and participate in a number of religious events, culminatingin a light bath.

Visitors by the millions were bigbusiness. The syndicates that ran the Hotels, shops and restaurants in theplanet’s only town, as well as the Church leaders made sure Pilgrims couldtravel relatively safely to and from Netlor and enjoy their practices andworship activities in safety on the planet itself as well.

Pilgrim convoys were wellprotected. Pirates usually stayed away from the planet as well.

It was risky business to makethese syndicates and the Church your enemy.

All this I had learned from theMother Superior on our thankfully quite event-less passage to Netlor.

The landing field belonged to asmall space port, the field was clean Duro-Crete and there was a fleet of opentop flier taxis waiting for passengers.

We managed to hire such a taxiright away and flew the short distance into town.

Only a few buildings lookedpermanent, most of the town consisted of stacked prefab containers and tents.

Mother Superior in her Oghrdisguise acted a little as a tour guide and explained. “The actual lightbathing ceremony only occurs during a special season of about a standard month.During this time the sun is perfectly aligned with a hole in this world’stallest mountain.

According to this religion thesun of this system is then also aligned with the center of the Galaxy.”

“Isn’t every star more or lessalways aligned with the center of the galaxy?” I asked. It doesn’t make muchsense.”

“Do you know any religionincluding ours that ever really made sense?”

“I am not a real religiousperson, but there are situations I like the Aesir approach. I really do ... notthat ice giants, thundering hammers make much sense either.”

I was certain she smiled eventhough her Oghr face translated a toothy grimace. “All that sugar and spice ofyour female side can’t really erase that Viking inside you.”

“Vikings and Neo Vikings havealways come in male and female.”

“You are correct of course. Wellto finish your little education regarding Netlor and the local religion I haveto point out that it all centers on a gigantic statue of great age and unknownorigin. When said alignment happens, light from that mountain hole hits thehead of that statue and the color prism installed in its head. The believers ofthis fate then stand in that light and receive the blessing by the Spirit ofthe Universe.

Some even believe this light hascurative effects and they can hear the Universe whisper to them.”

I shrugged. “To each its own Iguess.”

The Taxi dropped us off beforeone of the permanent buildings. I estimated it to be about 70 meters high andwas made mostly of glass and Duro-Crete. It had neatly groomed grasssurrounding it and a water fountain right before its main entrance.

A modern multi language signidentified it as Hotel Netlor’s Light and welcomed guests and pilgrims.

Check in was simple and we receiveda clean double bed room with a view over the make shift looking town.

She put the one bag of luggagedown she was carrying and said. “Go ahead and enjoy the bath and order roomservice.

She produced a black Credit StripBox and said. “I think that belongs to you and they do take Union Creditshere.”

It was the same Credit box I hadfound in the damaged flyer on Sin 4 and I thanked her for keeping it for me.She touched her tusks in a typical Oghr habitual gesture and said.

“I am going to do the same andthen we are going to visit the local Sojonit Temple to make a few calls andchange our identities one more time. We should be on our way to Checkpoint 96and Union space in about two days.”

“Those are the best news I heardin a while.”

Refreshed and feeling much betterwe left the hotel and took another Taxi flier. Leaning closer she explained.

“The last pilgrims for thisseason will leave soon. The last light bathing ceremony takes place latertoday. After that the believers go back to their respective planets and we willbe among them, then this town shrinks to one third of its size. Most shopkeepers strike their tents after this season and return with the start of thenext. But a core population remains, because besides being the center of areligion, this place is also a playground for probably every intelligenceservice in this Galaxy.”

I asked. “Why? What is so specialabout Netlor?”

“It’s a neutral ground for one.Services can meet, exchange caught spies, watch each other and use this placeas a gate into the territories of each other.”

She pointed at a tent with asales stand attached to it. Sacks and boxes spilled out all around the front ofthe tent and a bluish cloud of smoke hung over it all.

“That incense and spice dealer isalso the field office of NW3 or more precisely of the Shiss Intelligenceservice Naxxxtuu-www.

The dealer is human and he doesgood business with his incense and spices, but he and his crew also sendregular briefs to the palace of the First Nestling, among other things.”

She laughed as she made me lookto an impressive modern tent with force field reinforced Intelli-fab canvaswalls, neatly stacked wares and project-a-sign advertisem*nt showcasing fruits,bread and meat products. “Can you guess who is hiding behind that grocerymerchant’s front?”

I rolled my eyes and said. “NavalIntelligence, even I can guess it, would that not be a little too obvious?”

She nodded. “You got it right, itis the front for the NAVINT service, but then seven minutes ago all these tentswere just tents to you.

I am sure NAVINT has otheroperatives around, and they receive Intel from me and the Sojonites in aroundabout way. But sometimes it is just as good to loudly proclaim yourpresence and thus attract lots of eyes and ears while you have friends of yoursdo something very quietly.”

What she said made sense and Ipointed out a stack of three Universal Containers towering over most of theother tents and temporary buildings around. “This is probably the Kermacoutpost, right?”

She patted my shoulder. “Verygood indeed, my young student, tell me how you figured that out.”

For one it is taller than theothers, it is a building rather than a tent. It is close to the Union Outpostand tall enough to overlook and watch the NAVINT tent.

The keeper sweeping the front isa Turotonk. They are, if I recall correctly a Freespace species leaning towardsthe Basil who are in turn a Kermac Thrall species.”

I could not tell if she smiled orwanted to eat me with her big Oghr maw. “Lots of conjecture but all correct.The Kermac, the Shiss and many others cannot afford not to keep watch on thefancy and flashy tent of NAVINT.”

I sighed. “All I wanted to be isa star ship captain, not a spy or Counter Intelligence officer and I findmyself sliding down that path, being involved in more clandestine stuff thanNubor Santini.”

She asked. “Who is NuborSantini?”

I watched her as she gave theTaxi pilot a few coins and explained. “He is the hero of a GalNet show thatcomes on every Thursday on the Action-Teen Channel and he catches Kermac spiesand such with his Ultra Power Team from Planet T.”

She seemed amused and motioned meto get out as the flier had landed in the middle of an alley way between thoserows of tents and huts and after we stepped off she said.

“You might not be Nubor Santini,but consider all what you experienced as school of life and maybe one or theother thing you learn now about the Universe will help you later when you are aStarship Captain.”

I really missed pockets where Icould shove my hands. This Togar costume of course had none, at least none forthe hands, so I crossed my arms instead and said a little gloomy. “Right now Isimply hope I graduate or if I am lucky they let me repeat the month I missedchasing through Freespace.”

She took my hand and patted it.

“No worries my Soja, Richard iskeeping tabs of everything you do and I don’t think he misses much even if hepretends otherwise. Even if you and I think he does not know about it, he does.

He let you command that big tub,and I am sure there is a Ship Command for you somewhere down the line. You arestill young, very young and it might take years sometimes decades before theyoffer you a command chair and you got to fill the time till then doingsomething.”

“You know the Admiral well?”

Her voice had a solemn quality toit as she said. “No one knows the eternal Soldier well I would think. With theexception of Alycia perhaps. He is as much an enigma as he is the rock and theunshakeable foundation; there is no one in this universe I respect more.”

I liked her even more after shehad said that.

We walked not very fast andwithout apparent hurry along the gravel paved alleys between tents and huts wheremerchants praised their wares with coarse voices and pilgrims in golden cloaksand frocks rushed in every direction. She explained to me that a running personor someone in an apparent rush would draw more attention than a relaxedstrolling person.

I looked at her and said. “Whatmade you decide to become a spy? I mean besides being the Sojonit leader.”

She spread her arms and added.“Only a very few chose to be in this business, usually it chooses you. Spiesare made by others, it’s not a choice and it is an old game that is playedbehind the shiny facades of civilization since time begun. I sort of slippedinto this business because I started to believe in our Union and I believe ifour Union wants to survive and stay on top of things, we have to play the dirtygame too. I even want us to play it better, dirtier and more efficient than allthe others, do you know why?”

She didn’t really give me time toanswer as she said. “I love our Union as much as you do. It has its faults andisn’t perfect, but I am around for much longer than even the Eternal Soldierand I have not seen anything like it, since I left Sares Prime a million ofyour years ago.”

I gasped. “You were talking aboutyourself when you told me the story of the Sojonites. You found the CrystalPlace, right?”

“Yes I was one of the Saresiithat left Sares Prime with our last space ship.”

The realization that she was thatold made me wonder who she really was. I didn’t doubt her word one second. Inmy own short life I had met several immortals, but even the age of everyone Ihad ever met combined did not come close to her life span.

She gestured to a big pink tentwith a large Sojonit Goddess statue about two hundred meters ahead and said.“That is where we are going.”

After walking another hundredmeters or so she said. “You are very quiet suddenly. Have I frightened you, itis not often I reveal this aspect of me.”

I answered. “Frightened? No I amnot frightened, but deeply in awe and really unable to understand it, to put mymind to it.”

Only now I noticed she had herhand on my back and said with a warm tone in her voice. “You met immortalsbefore, have you not? Egill, Elkhart the ancient keeper, McElligott, RichardStahl who takes particular interest in you. There are your Coven friends whoare older than me and of course the Narth. It is very conceivable that you toowill go this lonely path eventually. If you do indeed join the Narth then yourage is no longer measured in years or even centuries. I think the Narth don’teven count and perceive time as the rest of us does.”

I never thought about that andsaid as we closed on the Sojonit tent. “Narth is my friend on a level I can’texplain but I am not sure if these meta physical things he says always meansomething to a human. I am a simple Neo Viking of Nilfeheim, how could Ipossibly become a Narth. I know so little of them and they are so completelyalien. And besides Egill does not count, he is only something like 400 yearsold.”

“After what point do you thinkimmortality does count? Your distant grandfather, especially after he receivedhelp from the Saresii can get as old as he wishes to be.”

I listened to her and then said.“You know much more about me then you let on.”

She didn’t respond to thatdirectly but said instead. “You still think in human terms Eric, you barelybegun your second decade. Even in human standards you’re just became an adult.Understanding will come when it is time to understand those things.” Then shelaughed. “Yes you are a child of your world but you have long ceased to besimple my young friend.”

I frowned and said. “Not that Imind the company of immortals and all that, but I wish all of you would stoptalking in this cryptic fashion. I always feel like I am getting an answer buttoo stupid to get it.”

She laughed. “No my Soja, not tostupid. To impatient and too young. No worries once you get to be my age youwill find there are as many questions and things you don’t understand as whenyou started. It happens to me every time talking to a Narth.”

With that we entered the Sojonittemple tent.

Inside it smelled just like inthe temple on Sin 4. It was a fresh, feminine perfume not as sweet and thick asthe smell of the incense candles I still remembered.

It was cool and a typical Sojonitin the standard pink uniform sat behind a frilly desk and greeted us with avoice as frilly as the desk.

“Welcome travelers. Let thesorrows and tribulations of the outside world stay behind. May the Goddess Sojobless you with a joyous journey into the blissful heights of sexual ecstasy andcarnal satisfaction we servants of the Goddess will provide to you.”

Mother Superior said in a strangelanguage I never heard yet perfectly understood. “I am the Mother Superior.”

The Sojo got up only to bowdeeply. “Your neural patterns are indeed those of our most exalted leader andyour aura matched the one on file. Welcome to the Netlor Temple of the Goddess,Mother Superior.”

She touched a flower like inlayon the artfully decorated desk surface and a pink sheer looking curtainflickered with purple energies and vanished. The seemingly wispy curtain wasactually a Holo-disguised TransDim force field. This so innocent looking largetent, could probably withstand the onslaught of a large caliber FE-cannon.

The tent was about the size of aNilfeheim three family home and behind the force field entrance were severalseparate service chambers arranged around an indoor pool filled with perfumedwater and fed by an illuminated color changing water fountain. Two Sojonitesbathed with a human customer. He paid little attention to us.

We entered one of the separates,she closed the curtain behind us and I could hear the fine humming sound untilanother force field was established. The room was filled with satin pillows,rich carpets, the light came through the crème colored canvas walls, giving theillusion they were indeed just thin fabric tent walls. There was kitschylooking, elaborate styled divan with satin sheets and more pillows. The entiredivan, big enough to accommodate three Pertharians slowly lifted and revealed asteep spiral stair case.

After descending the stair casefor more than five minutes; I got dizzy doing it; and walking through a narrowcorridor we passed a solid looking Ultronit door and into a comfortable, cooland modern furnished lounge. Before the Ultronit door hummed shut, I turned andsaw the entire corridor shrink and turn to solid rock.

The Oghr female shimmered intothe form of a Saresii and the now far too big leather and steel outfit simplyfell all around her to the floor.

She motioned towards the nowclosed door and said. “The power we use to shift forms is not limited to ourown bodies. If we are together and link our abilities we can affect othermatter too. To affect such vast quantities of matter we use Saresii Psienhancers and pre-determined patterns. That of course is the short version ofan explanation how this works.”

Women, so I found had much lessinhibitions to undress even before others. She appeared perfectly content beingcompletely in the buff, but then she had a wonderful shaped body. In thisregard the Saresii were as human as could be and very attractive to boot.

She waved her hand. “You can takethat Togar costume off now. We will take the rest of our journey togetherpretending to be Union Citizens and Pilgrims on the way back from a trip to theStatue.”

It took a sharp knife and somecareful cutting to get this tight suit open. Bioflex was living tissue afterall and it did not require buttons, zippers or other closure systems, but likeIntelli-Fab the seams grew together and had to be cut open to separate again.

A Sojonit came in gathered theitems and said with a nice inviting voice. “If you would like to tend to yourbodily needs Sister Nightshade, there are bathroom facilities if you stepthrough that door.”

I was glad I could leave theroom. Despite my recent experiences, I still liked to wear clothing especiallyin the presence of women.

The Sojonit opened the door forme and said. “If you like company or like to be washed, let me know.”

I blushed and thanked her for theoffer but declined.

After the bath I was asked to usean Auto dresser once more and it gave me a golden colored flowing gown and onceagain female features.

Mother Superior wore the samegolden garment. She asked me to sit and listen to the report one of the sistersgave.

“The Worm and the Kermac havestopped searching for the human on Sin 4; a Taxi driver was found who claimedhe had seen the human fall to his death.

Luckily no one made theconnection with the events on Alvor’s cove. There they believe the ruckus wascaused by the crew members of an enslaved mercenary leader who managed toescape with several members of his crew, destroying the personal ship of theLocal Lord and leaving his highness behind tied up and lying on the landingfield for hours. The Local Lord is furious but no one is looking for a Terranor a Union Officer.”

Mother Superior nodded satisfied.“It seems your friends from the slave pen made it too and provided us with agood cover. I was really afraid someone would associate the events on Sin 4with the ones on Alvor’s Cove.”

“That is why we didn’t go withhim, right?”

“You begin to understand, mySojo.”

The Sojonit that briefed usglanced on her PDD and said.

“I doubt the Local Lord will maketoo much fuss as he found out it was Tirkov Steen. He would not want theSteen’s Devils to repay him a visit. Unlike the fleet, private Mercenary unitscan go anywhere and that one is one of the famous ones.”

I decided to read up on thisMercenary business once I had a chance. Not that I had any plans to ever joinsuch an outfit, but maybe I could send Tirkov a message one of these days andsee how he faired.

Mother Superior was pleased aswell saying.

“Nothing better could havehappened, given the situation. The incident is just one of many like this inFreespace and no one will talk about it tomorrow.”

She gestured towards the PDD. “Wehave been out of the loop for a while, my Soja and I; any news from home?”

She nodded. “GalNet Onetransmitted a mass execution of sixty one individuals from a planet calledNewport, all accused and found guilty of treason. The Assembly officiallywelcomed the Botnaars into the Union of Civilizations. Those war loving brutesfrom the Spin-ward section used to be independent Free-spacers after they leftthe Galactic Council 700 years ago. Also the arrival of 500 Narth at the PSICorps Academy on Phantas caused big news and was hailed as a momentous historicevent. The Narth Supreme addressed the Assembly for the first time just threedays ago and finally Alycia Lichfangh and Admiral Stahl announced theirengagement and their intent to marry. That is still all over the Talkchannels.”

Mother Superior turned to me.“Alycia Lichfangh is the Commandant of the PSI Corps. She and McElligottfounded it as a special task force and research group to develop means ofPsionic protection and combat Psionic crimes and espionage.

Only beings with a HD-PSI indexover 500 and intensive testing and training are admitted. Lichfangh has manyPsionic talents and no one can lie or not answer her when she is present. Ifrumors are correct, she is hoping for Stahl to pop the question now for over athousand years.”

I didn’t know much about the PSIcorps, but I had met the General in Admiral Webb’s office when I was admittedto the Academy, but there was always plenty of talk and scuttlebutt about themand everybody knew something.

From Academy classes I knew thePSI Corps was one of the most potent Special Forces units primarily engaged ininternal security and counter intelligence. It was, so I had learned mostly dueto the PSI Corps that, despite all efforts of the enemy no outside force hadyet discovered the secrets to several key technologies that made the Union andTerran forces as strong as it was. Chief among those technological secrets wasthe Translocator cannon. But the entire PSI Corps had only three or fourthousand members and their resources were always stretched to the limits.

The Sojonit with the PDD said.“All that makes the Nul and especially the Kermac very nervous and you can feelthe tensions especially here on Netlor. Five hundred Narth to become trainedPSI Corps agents are bad news for anyone spying on the Union, especially ofcourse the Kermac and the Worm. No one knows the true potential of the Narth,but no one doubts they are beyond anything we know so far.”

Mother Superior again turned tolook at me from the side. “As you know now, that was the reason they tried toget to you, but now your Narth is just one of many and they won’t focus just onyou anymore.”

I leaned back and sighed. “Thisis indeed good news then. I would rather be one of many and not the focus of anentire enemy civilization and a Criminal Organization to boot.”

She gave me a long look and nowfor the first time, perhaps because she didn’t wear her mask I felt that sameeerie feeling that made my skin crawl, when an immortal looked at me. I got itwhen McElligott did and from Admiral Stahl as well.

I also was certain there was satisfactionin her eyes, but also a hint of fear or sadness. She said with a slightemotional vibration

“Yes those are good news, but Ifear that you my Soja will never be just one of many anymore.”

She patted my hand. “If you reachyour life’s goal, a Star ship captain is never one of the crew.”

I never really thought about itthat way, yet both Admiral Stahl and Captain Harris told me the same thing, butthen that was years in the future and with all the detours life threw at me, itmight even take longer.

I asked her. “What is a Soja?”

She looked surprised and thensaid. “I did call you that didn’t I? Well it’s nothing really just an old word.I think we should go and see the Statue and take a little sight-seeing tour andafter a good night’s rest we take the next transport to Checkpoint 96.” She gotup and added. “But first I too have urgent business to attend. Something evenimmortals still have to do.”

She went to the bath room doorand closed it behind her.

The Sojonit leaned forward andwhispered. “Soja is an old Saresii word can be translated as: ‘beloved student’.You should be very proud of that, there are maybe two or three individuals sheever considered to be her Soja as far as I know. I think she revealed to youher true age and that should put that in perspective indeed.” She let it sinkin for a moment and then added. “You are certainly the first male ever sohonored”

I was still thinking about thatand why she had chosen to call me that when we left the Sojonit tent. The lanesof gravel between the tents and makeshift buildings were now filled with humanmen, women and members of several non-humanoid species. They all wore thesegolden dress like robes, girded with a tasseled rope around the hip. On thefeet they all wore simple slippers, just like we did.

Many wore additional capes withattached hoods. Not everyone wore them up, but we did and our faces werepartially hidden underneath a veil that was supposed to keep the dust and localinsects away. We instantly blended in and there was a busy din of voices as thepilgrims frequented the stores, shops and souvenir stands.

We too stopped at a few andlooked over the offerings. There were miniature statues in virtually anymaterial and sizes. The statues all depicted a somewhat human shaped being thatstood inside a hexagonal frame with outstretched arms and legs. The figure hadno feet or hands or any other details and was smooth and featureless. The headof the figure was a metal loop with five different colored glass segments:Green, Red, Blue, Yellow and White.

The most popular item appeared tobe jewelry. Earrings, necklaces and bracelets adorned with the same symbolicfigure.

Mother Superior who asked me tocall her Gamia now and I had to answer to the name Renia, purchased a necklaceand handed it to me. “Here wear that, it will look nice on you and it will be asouvenir reminding you of this time.”

I thanked her and put the thingaround my neck. She bought herself a set of earrings and I took what lookedlike an incense burner.

“What is the meaning of thisfigure anyway?”

She put the earrings on andanswered.

“You will see the real thing in alittle while. About 12,000 years ago we Saresii and shortly after my speciesresumed space exploration, they found this world.

At first it was an unremarkableplanet, but it had a suitable NiOx atmosphere and liquid water. A fewindigenous life forms, mostly plants and crab like animals. But then the surveyteam noticed that the world was on a perfect circular orbit around a yellowstar that had no flaws, no sun spots and its spectrum showed it was much olderthan a yellow star should be. The system has only this one planet and the worldhas no axial tilt. All these are strong indications that this system was notnatural but had been altered by a very advanced civilization.”

We had left the jewelry dealerand slowly walked within the stream of others as she continued her explanation.“The Saresii expedition discovered a five hundred meter tall statue standing ona platform.” She reached for my necklace and held its pendant up. “It lookslike this. The metal or better the material it was made of turned out to besome Neutronium alloy and is virtually indestructible.”

The buildings became more solidnow and were mostly made of local stone and appeared quite old. She changed ourdirection by walking towards a Taxi stand where we had to stand in line asthere were not enough Taxis, but the line moved fairly quickly, as there wereonly maybe sixty or seventy individuals before us and the arriving fliers tookeight to ten passengers along.

She lowered her voice andswitched to that old language. They must have uploaded me with the linguisticswhile I was at the temple, since I understood it just fine. “The Saresii had nointerest back then in expanding and this world was too far away from SaresPrime anyway so they took notice, recorded everything and more or less forgotabout it.

It was re-discovered by othersafter the Third Intergalactic war and by treaty included in Freespace.

Archeology teams of the Big Fourstarted digs and excavations and it was generally accepted that the statue isof UNI or perhaps Pree origin.

They have found ruins of a muchyounger and very primitive civilization, but determined that the ruins hadnothing to do with the statue itself. Some of the ruins excavated you can seehere in the core of the Netlor settlement. These are all permanently occupiedand serve the Pilgrims and tourists that come here outside the main religiousevents.”

It was our turn to board the nextflier and we shared it with eight loudly and agitated chatting golden robedmembers of that church.

They paid little interest in us,all eight were human and spoke Union standard. Unable to ignore most of theirconversation, I learned they all came from a Union Planet called Guzzler, 763light years away and that it was not only their first pilgrimage but also theirfirst time off planet. One of the female pilgrims unfastened her veil and tooka long sip from a water bottle, fanned her hand before her face and complainedabout the dust and the heat. She then went into a long discussion how to makeMud pie for the Church coffee and tea gathering.

While I was not in the leastinterested, just how much coco powder was needed to make mud pie; she obviouslyfelt the need to include everyone in her conversation and then pointed herfinger at me. “Don’t you agree young lady?”

I was completely caught off guardby that and simply nodded. Since it was impossible for the Mother Superior totell me more about the place, I was thinking about my return to Union space. Ithadn’t been all that long, but it had felt like a lifetime.

The fat pilgrim lady from Guzzlerbegun to annoy me, especially since I had made the mistake of agreeing withher; she included me in her conversation and asked me again. “You agree, don’tyou?”

This time I didn’t even know whatshe had talked about and said. “I think you should stuff some of that Mud piein your pie hole. Maybe that will shut you up at least for a while.”

For the first time there wassilence. She acted like a fish on dry land, opening her garishly pink paintedlips and gasping for air.

I nodded agreeing. “That’s theticket. Keep breathing for a while and we all can enjoy some peace and quiet.”

Now she turned colors underneathher hood and a chinless man with thin black hair, not wearing his hood up, pattedher hand and hissed at me.

“Galria is the soul of our churchgroup. How dare you tell her to shut up? You are one rude person. You should beexpelled from our community.”

After all I went through the pastweeks; this trivial, unimportant scene somehow annoyed me. From Psych Class Irealized my nerves and my own balance had suffered more than I realized and Iwas about to stuff my fist in his face and show him just how rude and primitiveI really could be, when someone said. “There it is, the Statue.”

Everyone including me looked andat the Horizon before a rugged looking mountain range stood a huge version ofthe symbolized being.

It was not bad or ugly oranything, but to me it was just some sort of huge piece of alien art. While 500meters was quite tall, I had seen the Devastator land. I saw the Sphere ofAssembly and the immense towers on Pluribus.

That statue was about asunexciting to me as seeing an Ult painting. No one not even the Ult could tellyou what the smear was supposed to represent and yet everyone went Uhh and Ahhhwhen Master Nubb released another master piece.

The Mother Superior pulled meback down into the seat and whispered. “Let us keep this station in our journeya simple and short one. I don’t think we need the trouble and trying to hidefrom the local Syndicate guards because you pounded a Pilgrim group to pulp.”

That made me sit down and bequiet very fast. No way did I want to be in any more trouble, not so closebefore getting back. “Yes Ma’am.”

She leaned close. “You do have ashort temper. I think you need to work on that a little.”

What seemed a life time ago; Iaccused my father of having a short temper and reflecting on my actions since Ileft Nilfeheim, and not for the first time either, I realized how much troubleI could have avoided if I had kept a cooler head.

We were dropped off at the baseof the statue and I watched thousands gather on the platform before the statueand throw of their robes, standing completely bare, mimicking the pose of thestatue. I never was much of a religious person but standing there in the buffseemed particular silly to me.

She leaned close and said. “Iassume you do not want to join them and bathe in the light, right?”

“No not really. I told you beforeI respect your religion. I even try to respect this one, even though seeingthis makes it quite hard, but I limit my religious activities to occasionallycall on Thor or Odin and curse Loki.”

Even though I could not see herface as it was underneath the hood, I was certain she was amused, her voicecertainly sounded that way. “Yes you told me and I respect your decision onthat. I too find this a little silly. I think there is a Kermac or SaresiiTelepath hiding somewhere, paid by the local Syndicates to give some of them areligious experience to keep the mystery and thus the donations and thebusiness alive.”

She then said. “But I thoughtsince we are here anyway we might as well see it, for one thing travelingeducates as they say and it never hurts to see something new. That is aparticular problem when you get into my age.”

She took my hand and pulled meout of the way of other arriving pilgrims that immediately climbed up thestairs.

I thought about that for a momentand whispered back. “Do you really remember everything you have seen and donein all that time? Would you not simply die of boredom having seen everything inone form or another?”

Now she really laughed. “Thankfullynot, no I don’t remember everything, but occasionally I remember things Ithought I had forgotten.”

Some sudden revelation came to mymind and I whispered. “Can I ask you something, Mother Superior?”

“Of course.”

“Are you the goddess? I mean areyou Sojo?”

There was a moment of silence andshe squeezed my hand she was still holding a little tighter. “No not exactly,but perhaps I am something in that direction and one day when you come intoyour own, I will try to explain it to you, but for now it does not matter. I amwhat I am and you have a long way ahead of you. At least I hope you do anddon’t stir up trouble you can’t get out of.”

I didn’t feel like poking more asI knew she would not answer.

She pointed to the sun that wasnow disappearing behind the mountain range. “Those mountains are about 8kilometers from here and when the sun reaches a particular spot it will line upwith a hole in the tallest mountain and send a beam of light right at the headof that statue and it in turn will bathe the platform with colored light. Itwill last only for a few moments, but that’s what they are waiting for.”

As the first rays of light madethe hole in the mountain visible, a collective sigh was going through the crowdand slowly the bright sun was filling it out and it was quite impressive to seethe light hit the colored glass like material. The pilgrims started singing andwaving and it all was not really my cup of tea. However as the sun filled thehole completely and perfectly, I suddenly remembered my ring.

It became warm and I knew therewas something that belonged to me right underneath that statue.

As if veils were lifted of mymind, it became clearer and I longed for my ax to cut down this primitive leftover of a race that conspired with my enemy Lord Lummis to keep me away fromwhat was rightfully mine.

Here right below that statue weremy gauntlets and not even the Neutronium covered statue and the million tons ofmetal they had poured over them, could keep me separated I raised my arms andthundered. “Feel my wraith.”

The sun passed the hole and thelight subsided and I knew something had happened. Something that had to do withme, but why was I standing there just like the statue, my arms raised?

I also noticed that the sky hadfilled with dark clouds and it was started to rain. Lighting crackled and hitthe statue, followed by thunder.

The crowds were scrambling fortheir cast of clothing, pulling up hoods and coming down the stairs. Someonecomplained about the lack of weather control on this world and another tried toexplain that it rained here only very rarely and usually at night.

My mind reeled trying to remembersomething, perhaps I was more stressed than I realized and needed a goodnight’s sleep.

Mother Superior was stillstanding there and had not said a word since the light started to shine throughthe mountain. I said to her through the torrents of rain. “I hope I did notoffend you asking you that question.”

The thin golden hood she wore wasalready soaked and clung to her head, and I could see her face much better andshe looked me in the eyes and then her lips formed a fine smile under theequally wet veil.” No not at all. I am just as surprised and startled about thesudden rain storm, but then they don’t have weather control or even weatherforecasting here.”

I pointed to the mountains. “Iguess the clouds were too heavy to climb over them and that’s why they dumptheir load on us.”

I stretched out my arms again.“Sorry Ma’am but I simply love rain and water.”

We had to wait almost two hoursbefore we found room in one of the taxi fliers to take us back. At least therain didn’t last that long and stopped pouring about twenty minutes after ithad appeared.

We went to another hotel, thisone made up of large tents, but the tent bungalows were quite comfortable, hadgood hygiene facilities and appeared to be low tech but clean.

I found out that Pilgrims Gamiaand Renia Herton, sisters and natives of Leno’s Colony had already booked thistent bungalow and our luggage was already there.

Mother Superior had not said muchto me the entire time and I felt I might have done something to disappoint heror offend her after all, so I asked after we had changed into dry clothing thatwas basically the same, except no cloaks.

“Ma’am are you sure I didn’t dosomething? I apologize if I did. I assure you I am very grateful for all youdid and I am very proud that you called me your Soja.”

She was sitting down combing herlong hair and said. “No Eric you have done nothing to offend me. Did you hearanything or experience anything strange while the sun lit up the statues head?”

I touched my head and said.

“Narth did something to me sotelepaths can’t read me anymore. So if there was someone doing any psionictricks, I sure have not noticed. Not that I am all that comfortable withpsionics in the first place.” “Did you feel something?”

“Not really, I found the entirespectacle quite boring to be honest and that sun didn’t even completely line upwith the hole. There wasn’t all that much colored light.”

She put the brush down andthought for a moment then shrugged.

“I guess the rain ruined most ofit. I think we should go eat something and then call it a day. We are bookedfor the first transport and it leaves at 0900.”

We had a light dinner at theHotel’s restaurant. The menu even offered grilled fish from New Sweden, but thecook or the auto kitchen had no idea how to prepare fish right and it was dryand completely overdone, but it still tasted like heaven to me.

After we returned to our tentbungalow, she drew a curtain cutting the room in half and wished me a goodnight. For the first time in a while, not counting the uncomfortable naps onthe flight here, trying to find a non-cramping sleep position in the upright seatsof the poodle I had a bed and realized how tired I was.

Just as I was drifting into sleepI thought I heard her voice and she was talking to someone. “I think he causedthe Tornado back on Alvor’s cove unconsciously with his rage seeing the slavesand something happened today, for a brief moment the Dark One stirred and wasawake.”

I tried to wonder and think aboutwhat she was saying but maybe it was just a dream. No one could create atornado after all and I drifted completely into deep sleep.

--””--

The next day I felt like a newperson. She too appeared to be in good spirits and we had a good butastronomically priced breakfast. I insisted on paying for the rooms and themeals and even though they charged us a little over 3000 credits, it didn’t reallymake a dent into the amount available on the Credit Box. We went one more timeto the bungalow to get our luggage that someone had prepared for us as part ofour disguise.

We were on time at the smallspace port with at least a thousand others, again looking pretty much like wedid.

There were no customs officersbut the local authorities charged a 200 Credit Space Port usage fee per person.Merchants pushed carts around trying to make a last sale. One of them wasselling little bottles of dirty water, praising them as Blessed Water from theStatue and the unusual rain event. To my surprise he did brisk business.

On the landing field I countedtwelve old Leyland space busses, a Kermac T Cruiser and two Karthanian armedmerchants. Even the old buses were fitted with weapon turrets and MotherSuperior explained to me. “They fly in convoys and the T cruiser is there tofly protection. The Syndicates and the Temples here pay protection fees to someof the bigger pirate outfits and these armed convoys proved to be quiteeffective to keep the smaller and lone wolf pirates away. In rare cases pirateattacks do occur but usually not during the main season.”

I hoped she was right; I did notwant to be captured and sold as a slave and headed for Alvor’s Cove again.

== Chapter 8:Checkpoint 96 ==

Non Union ships wanting to dobusiness in Union space have to stop at one of these Checkpoints that dot theimaginary border between Union and Free space to get Customs clearance and atransponder code.

While civilian ships could freelyenter Union space, they could only land on Union Worlds with the proper Customsdocuments. Detected warships of other civilizations would result in a borderalert and cause an immediate response from the fleet.

Checkpoint 96 was a small iceplanet with a rock core approximately the size of Sol systems Pluto. It orbitedalong with five other similar small planets around a very old bloated red sunnamed Herman’s Star that probably swallowed most of the bigger planets as itexpanded.

We had made it. I was back inUnion space. The dark gray inhospitable looking ball we approached lookedbetter to me than Netlor which was a garden world.

It appeared our transport hadreceived landing permission as it descended fast.

Now we could see the firstdetails of a sprawling space port, vast Duro Crete surface, modern lookingsturdy surface buildings.

There at the other end, as big asa mountain and shaped like wedge; sitting on enormous ISAH pods, a Union FleetBattle ship. Seeing this beautiful symbol of Union might caused a knot of pridein my throat.

Octo-bots rolled busily aroundand brilliant flood lights bathed everything in cool bluish light, separatingthe space port from the stark darkness of the rest of the planet’s surface.There was an orderly business-like, efficient atmosphere over everything.

A mechanical arm took ourtransport like a toy and guided it with machine precision past a force fieldcurtain into a passenger unloading terminal.

I could barely wait until thedoors were opened.

Moments later we stepped on aspotless clean surface and at that moment as if a weight was lifted off myshoulders, I felt free again.

Working slide belts, advertisingsigns for McDonald’s, Arthur’s Swine and Dine and Fat Eddies Stir Fry made mymouth water. Outside on the landing field a fleet destroyer descended. It was anew Barracuda and a platoon of Marines stomped in perfect military precisiontowards the waiting ship. Even out here, far from Union core everything was inperfect repair and working order.

Never in my life was it clearerto me, that my decision to become a Union service man was the right one. It wasmy calling to join the fleet and defend all this and our way of life against slaverscum, pirates, scheming Kermac and whatever else out there trying to do usharm.

She said standing next to me. “Itdoes feel nice to be back home, does it not?”

I could barely contain myexcitement and said after giving air to a deep sigh. “I never thought arrivingon a little Outpost would feel so good. I have to restrain myself not to get onmy knees and actually kiss the ground. There were times in the past month Ithought I would never return. It makes me realize how fortunate we are to beUnion Citizens.”

She pointed towards public restrooms. “Before we go through customs, we need to get changed.”

She didn’t wait for a responsefrom me but walked briskly to the busy restrooms, deposited a few credits tosecure a stall and said to the system. “Human Females.” The facility adjustedto the needs of human females and she basically pushed me into a roomy stallwith her.

I said. “Can I not rather use myown stall? I don’t mind being frugal but I got millions.”

She giggled. “Silly goose.” Shepressed her hand against a wall tile and the tile lit up. A voice said. “DeepaLydaa NAVINT Commandant recognized.”

The entire floor of the bathroomstall turned into an elevator platform and lowered us fast through a metalshaft and stopped at the entrance to a short corridor. A beautiful Saran womanthat reminded me of Elfi wearing a tight black velvet jumpsuit with only astylized silver pin in the shape of a human brain on her collar greeted us.“Welcome back Admiral Deepa, it is such a rare pleasure to greet you here onthis side, Admiral.”

“I am glad to be back CommanderAlena, even if it is only for a while. I am bringing a wayward midshipman thatis in need of his uniform and his other belongings.”

I was still processing what justhappened. Not that I was surprised to find that a public restroom was also asecret entrance to a NAVINT post, but that Mother Superior was not just memberof an old Saresii intelligence service, but the actual Commandant of NAVINT,and carried the rank of an Admiral. No wonder Stahl knew her.

Speechless I followed the twowomen through a slide door marked NAVINT into a typical Navy style Union Lobbywith the same mustard colored carpet, the same wood paneled reception desk andthe NAVINT logo illuminated behind it on the wall. There even was theobligatory pseudo leather seating group with a few magazines and a pottedrubber tree in the corner.

We didn’t stop there and ended upin an office with a large shipping crate sitting on a table and an autodresser.

The Commandant of NAVINT said.“You will find some of your belongings in the crate and the Auto Dresser receivedits uniform assembly program from the Devastator so you should be fine. I’llmeet you in ten minutes in the lobby. “Without waiting for me to say anythingshe left chatting with the Saran PSI Corps officer.

A few minutes later I had usedthe Auto Dresser and looked at myself in the mirror field. All the femalethings were gone. No Bioflex mask, but my own face, I was me again. Wearing acrisp black Uniform with mirror shine polished boots, the Uniform blousediagonally parted with the white lining forming a triangle across my chest. Myribbon read out on the left and my name tag to the right, on the wide blackbelt a low slung holster with a Union TKU Hellbore Type VI side arm. Over itall, my leather jacket with the Fighter patch, black gloves and a black duckbill hat with the Navy logo at its center and white circular top completed theoutfit.

I checked the crate and to mydelight there was the brown leather holster with my Colt 45, the H & KMissile rifle and the Kermac Line Blaster I had found on Sin 4.

I put my 45 back where itbelonged and TKU Side arm in a fast draw low slung hip holster. I felt right asrain, but I could not help but miss being female, that part of my adventure Ihad to admit to myself I enjoyed very much. However it was time to be Ericagain.

Out in the lobby Mother Superiorwas gone as well, in her place stood a Union Admiral without any insignia thatwould tell what she was responsible for.

I saluted and stood in attention.

There was an Admiral on deckafter all and this time I even felt joy in this simple military protocolroutine. “Midshipman Olafson reporting as ordered, Ma’am.”

She smiled and returned thesalute. “Seeing you like this makes me realize that you are also a veryhandsome young man. I guess I won’t be able to call you Soja anymore, but Ithink we still can forgo the military protocols. I am sure you heard my nameand you can call me Deepa and as our time together draws to an end, let me sayI feel blessed to have met you both, Eric and Erica your female side. I haveenjoyed your company and I hope you can see past the Admiral and past thethings you know about me and we can remain friends. I will answer your callswhen I can.”

“Yes, Ma’am, I mean Deepa. I haveno words I can use to express the gratitude I feel for all you have done forme. I am very proud I was allowed to be your Soja, to be Nightshade and to beallowed to call you friend.”

She stepped closer and simplyhugged me. “I’ll keep an eye on your career and you, I promise and I am certainwe will see each other again.”

I didn’t know if I should returnthe hug but I did and then we stepped apart and she said. “I will remain hereto take care of a few things and then I must return to Sin 4. You however willtake the elevator back up, pass through customs and report to the Fleet Office.They have standing orders for you.”

Ten minutes later, I resurfacedin the passenger terminal and with a purposeful swing in my steps almosttempted to whistle.

At the security custom point toaccess the concourse I swiped my CITI and the customs officer said. “Welcomeback citizen. Did you bring any luggage, weapons or illegal wares?”

“No luggage but I carry weapons.”

He checked them and my readout. “TheKermac Line Blaster needs to be registered or disposed. The H & K cannot becarried loaded but other than that you are cleared. Your duty side arm is ofcourse permitted.”

I simply left the Kermac weaponwith him.

He pointed down the terminal andsaid. “Officers and fleet personnel do not have to go through civilian customs.Next time you can use the military terminal down there.”

I thanked him and joined thepeople and beings in the busy space port terminal. The golden robes wereeverywhere, mostly queuing at the space bus terminal for connecting flights totheir actual home destinations, but there were also other civilians and servicemembers of many different Union species. There was a Takkian merchant talkingto a tall Spindlar and a Saran. Two flawless Saresii beauties with long silverhair and skin tight cat suits sitting at a Café in the company of a Klack and aTerran, discussing something, the Terran of course recognizable by hissunglasses.

A giant Pertharian in policeuniform and his robot partner giving a group of tall Andorians directions.

Six Union Army soldiers withplanetary defense patches laughing at jokes a Three-Ozian made.

This cauldron of species andindividuals dressed in a myriad of colors and fashion choices, shopping,walking, traveling in a bright environment that was despite all these beings,clean and free of trash was such a stark contrast to Sin 4 or Alvor’s Cove.

No one here was afraid and triedto hide what they were. No one seemed it necessary to hide from where theycame. My good mood observing all this got a serious damper as I saw a group offive smudgy, sloppy dressed GalDrifts, some of them bare feet others wearingbeads and purposefully torn clothing.

They were sitting underneath atree that was part of a grass and fountain area with benches and bushes. One ofthem was playing some sort of stringed instruments. Two of them smoked; afourth and fifth simply sat there and watched. As one of them saw me he beganto make obscene and loud remarks about the violence loving, governmentsanctioned murderers of the fleet.

This was Union and everyone had theright to express their opinion and lifestyle they preferred, but it still gotto me, especially since one of these derelicts ejected the core on Alvor’s Coveand betrayed us all, thinking he could save his hide that way.

I wondered if that group would yellinsults if they were in a slave pen, waiting to be sold. I could already seethe entrance to the local Fleet office, marked by two Marines guarding it andbelow the Fleet logo. My temper had caused me enough trouble and I certainlydidn’t need any right now.

So I told myself that there wereonly a few of them and that the entire Gal Drift culture was laughable small.Yet my fists clenched as I saw these leeches.

One of them, with long filthyblonde hair in long dreads got up and actually approached me in strange almostdance like movements. “Hey killer got a few Creds to spare? Instead of killingdefenseless aliens, do some good and help out a few free spirits, trying to getof this ice ball.”

I was actually proud of my ownself-control as I simply ignored him and walked on.

He didn’t give up and dancedaround me. “Come on, Killer. You love to be called Killer don’t you Soldierboy?” He kept dancing around me. “I know you government slaves got paid today,so how about some Creds?”

His choice of words and seeingthat the jacket he wore was a torn, mutilated Fleet issue uniform blouse mademe wish I could rip it off and stuff it down his throat, but as far as I knewit was not against any law to wear surplus uniform pieces.

“So what was your last assignment,oppressing a peace loving culture? Or perhaps forcing Union laws upon acivilization that rather wanted to stay free?” Then his eyes went big and heactually poked me with his finger.

“You’re from the Devastator, aWolfcraft Fighter jock. How does that work out for you, government crook?Getting orders from a non-existent propaganda lie thinking it would impressanyone? If that legendary piece of garbage really existed he should be arrestedand turned over to the Kermac and then we would have Universal peace.”

I said slowly and while recitingGeneral orders in my mind.

“Why don’t you take your filthyarse and that ragtag bunch of leeches and go there if you don’t like it here? Ialso suggest you let me go now.”

“Give me some Creds and I thinkabout it, but you can’t tell me what to do. No one can, that’s what we are allabout. No rules, no laws just freedom. Not even if that swine Stahl would existand be right here, not even he could make me do anything.”

He wasn’t finished ending hissentence when I grabbed him by his collar, twisted it tight and pulled himclose. “I’ll say that only once, so listen carefully. If you ever insult theAdmiral in my presence again, I will send you on a journey where you don’t needany Credits. Do you understand?”

He spat me in the face andsnarled. “Go ahead Government bully, beat me up. I am not afraid of you andeveryone will see what you are!”

Despite all my efforts, mystomach begun to cramp and I could almost physically feel my own rage boilingto the surface. He suddenly changed his facial expression. His defiant staremelted away and was replaced by sheer horror.

I had never seen anyone with somuch fear. He groaned and cried. “Please, please take it away.” He screamed onthe top of his lungs. “The black flames, they burn!”

I let him go and he dropped tothe floor crawled backwards, one arm across his face still screaming. “Take itaway, please let me go, don’t take me to that abyss, please.”

I wondered what he was seeing orscreaming about. The Pertharian policemen came running, his robot right next tohim. “What is going on here, Midshipman?”

I pointed at the Gal Drift thatwas now curling up in a fetal position, sobbing and crying.

“He tried to pan handle money andharassed and insulted me. After he started physically touching me, I took himby the collar and told him to back off. He then started to scream and that ispretty much all.”

The robot said. “Poli-Scanresults complete, Citizens statement was 98% accurate.”

The police officer glared at mefrom his six yellow eyes and then growled. “I am sorry, Midshipman Olafson. Weusually don’t have many Gal Drifts on Checkpoint 96 but during the Pilgrimseason they come like swarming vermin to panhandle and pick the pockets ofpilgrims and travelers.”

More cops had shown up and theyrounded up the rest of the Gal Drifts, while they protested loudly about policebrutality and government oppression.

The robot lifted the stillsobbing and almost catatonic dread lock guy from the floor and said. “Medicalscan inconclusive, but subject carries a five gram vial of Califerm. Druginduced side effects are likely cause for mental condition.”

The Pertharian Officer made asound like breaking rocks and I realized he was sighing. “Califerm, now thatexplains everything. Thank you Officer and sorry for the inconvenience, we’vegot enough now to arrest and charge the bunch.”

The robot carried the man awayand he was still crying and muttering. “Take it away, please. No more fire. Nomore black flames, please.”

I didn’t know much about drugs orCaliferm, other than it was some kind of illegal and dangerous drug.

With a handheld scanner the Pertharianscanned me and said. “Just checking if you got any Califerm on you, that stuffmakes you an addict by skin contact alone.”

He checked his read out. “Lookslike you dodged the beam, Sir. I still suggest you check with a medicalfacility for decontamination. You got lots of his genetic material and somebody fluids on you.”

That statement made my skin crawlwith disgust and had the cop show me the next such facility.

My good mood slowly returnedafter I had my Uniform deep cleaned and myself showered and decontaminated at aMed Facility. Detailed scans of the attending Med Technician showed I was cleanand unaffected, but he diagnosed that I still suffered from badly derma patchedsun burns and a developing skin cancer. He fixed me up in no time and declaredme fit and healthy.

This time I made it to the Fleetpost and reported at the duty desk.

A small furry being, not muchtaller than maybe forty centimeters, with a long bushy tail wearing Navy Blackand the rank insignia of a Lieutenant, sat on a vari-matic chair that lookedlike a very tall bar stool and looked to at me.

The being had shimmering blackbutton eyes, a tiny snout and long whiskers. I had to restrain myself and notreach out and try to pet the shimmering soft looking fur between theLieutenants round ears. I said instead. “Midshipman Olafson reporting, Sir.” Iswiped my CITI over the reader.

This cute as a button officerscanned over a read out on a screen only it could see and said.

“Yes, Mr. Olafson. There aremessages and an order chip for you.” His whiskers shivered and it exposed twoprominent yellowish teeth and added. “Midshipman I might be the first Holdianyou see in Fleet uniform. Let me assure you I am serving this fleet for sixyears now and well aware of the strange attraction we Holdians seem to have onhumans, but please refrain from petting my head.”

I blushed. “Sorry Sir, I wasn’teven really aware I actually did it. I apologize.”

A document conveyor snapped openand the Holdian took a black dispatch envelope out and pushed it across thecounter. “Here are you orders. Please sign here that you received them.”

I pushed my thumb on thepresented sign pad and apologized again.

He waved his little hand andsaid. “Apologies accepted. It happens more often than I can count. Just resistthat strange impulse if you meet the Outpost Commandant. She is a Holdian tooand hates being cute.”

“I will Sir.”

I went over to the seating groupand opened the film cover that sealed the Order envelope. If anyone else but metried to open it, the message and the Order chip would have been instantlydestroyed. I did wonder why I did not received my orders directly onto my FleetCom PDD I was wearing with my new uniform.

The envelope had the Seal ofFleet command printed on it and a message appeared flashing over the envelope.“Open and receive included messages in secure environment.”

So I asked the Holdian whodirected me to an empty office that could be made secure. Once the baseComputronic had identified me, it verified that all anti eavesdroppingequipment was active and the room secure according to the Blue-Blue-Redprotocol requested to be established by the Envelope.

I put the message chip in thedesk unit and Admiral Stahl’s Holo appeared across me, the red band below toldme that it was a recording.

The message begun.

“Receiving this message meansthat you made it back to Union space and you have hopefully arrived safe anduninjured. The reasons for these orders to be delivered in such fashion are thedetails of your rescue that exposed you to the Gray Cats and the Commandant ofNAVINT. You are not to reveal any details of your rescue to anyone. Not to yourfriends, not to Admiral McElligott or Captain Harris. Or putting it in otherwords, to no one. Even I do not know all the details. The Commandant and I arefriends, the nature of her business and her position make it absolutelyimperative that you keep those details to yourself.

“I know you will understand thatand you have been exposed to those secrets because we know we can trust youwith them. I am aware that no Psionic trickery can make you reveal them; yourfriend Narth confirmed that with me.

“Please be aware that the leveland nature of some of the secrets you now keep make it also necessary to dealwith you according to Blue-Blue-Red protocol if there is any suspicion youmight have or will reveal them.”

It meant that if there was theslightest suspicion that I was compromised, I was to be executed on sight.

He leaned back and continued. “Iknow your integrity is unquestionable, but I am forced by our protocols to tellyou all that.”

I simply said. “Yes Sir, Iunderstand and I will comply.”

The intelligent recordingappeared to have waited for that response and he nodded with a smile. “I know Ican count on you.

Now as for your currentsituation, we have dealt with the problems on Newport. Your friends are backaboard the Devastator. It was planned to also extend your team by one person,your Narth friend, however he overextended his own abilities saving us all andhas returned to Narth Prime, but he is well and will also soon return.”

I could not help but grin fromone ear to the other hearing that my friends were okay. Even though hearingthat Narth did something that affected him, I knew instantly and without doubthe was safe and well.

Stahl had not stopped talking tome, so I backed the recording up a few moments and started it again. He said.“... return.” and then continued. “The Devastator is on the way to Checkpoint96 and our current ETA is fifteen days from when I made this recording.” Ichecked the displayed chronometer date and compared it with actual time andfound that the Devi would arrive in four days.

The Ancient Admiral smiled.“Don’t think we making this trip just to pick you up, Mr. Olafson but FleetCommand found it is overdue we show a little muscle in that area as there isincreased pirate activity. Your orders are to stand by until we arrive. Take aday of R&R and then report to the Station Commandant for a duty assignment,which should help to keep you out of any unusual situations till I get there.Again welcome back, Stahl out.”

I destroyed the message. Knowingthe Devi was coming with my friends aboard were the best news I heard in a longtime.

With my personal mood once againcompletely restored, I left the base office and looked for a public GalNetterminal.

First I called home; the call toOlafson Rock was answered by my father. There was no hello or anything. We juststared at each other for a while and then he broke the silence and said. “It isgood to see you son. You look every inch like the Starfleet Officer you alwayswanted to be.”

“Thank you father, how are thingsback on Nilfeheim and at the Burg?”

“Shortsummer is still three yearsaway and it is a particularly cold Longnight this season. Ice fishers complainthat the ice cover is thicker than usual and the fish even less active.”

He shrugged, “But you know how itis, they say that every Longnight around this time. Our Clan is doing well andI am very proud of Elena and I will step down as Clan chief after the nextYuletide meeting and plan to make her officially the first female Clan Chief ofNilfeheim.” He paused and looked down. “You are not opposed to that, right?”

“No father, I made my decisionand recent events made me realize that it was the right one. I am proud ofElena too and I know she will be a good Chief. But will she be accepted by theothers?”

He slammed his huge fist on thedesk he was sitting behind. “I will break anyone’s neck who gives her anydisrespect. She is Olafson. Besides most of our associated clans have longaccepted her, she has been running things for quite a while now and she isdoing a better job than I could have ever done. We are prosperous and ourcoffers are full with profit. She is courted by every single warrior, as shehas truly become the most beautiful woman on Nilfeheim. I think there will be awedding soon.”

I greeted the good news andasked. “How is everyone else, Uncle Hogun and Exa?”

“Elena, my brother and his familywhich includes Exa are off planet, they all went to a place called Para-Para.Ever since the first visit to Pluribus, the spell seems to be broken andeveryone travels a little more. The space bus service is now weekly and the busis always booked.”

We exchanged a few more words andthen concluded the call.

Next I tried to reach Egill andgot a connection too, but instead of Egill, it was Elena who answered. “Eric!”She yelled.

Then she turned and yelledsomeone outside the viewer field. “Hurry, Exa tell the others Eric is calling.”

Elena was wearing a dark redbikini and the PDDs visual sensor gave me a very nice look at her well-developedchest. Her hand manipulated what seemed to be a small PDD and switched itsoptical to wide view. Now I could see her sitting on a wooden recliner right ata beautiful beach with white sands and an azure green ocean. There were manyothers around them; no one wore much in terms of clothing. Like a beachinglanding tank making gushing tidal waves, Uncle Hogun came running form thewater. I had never seen him just in a pair of swimming trunks, he was trulyhumongous. Most of his chest and his arms were covered with black hair. Rightbehind him surfaced Aunt Freydis. I saw Exa hopping up and down the beach andwaving at someone to come.

Elena moved the PDD around andheard her say. “Uncle Egill went to the beach store to get ice cream, hisSaresii friend went with him, but the Narth is here.”

I saw a Narth in his typical getup, looking completely out of place at the beach, but floating in a veryrelaxed body position as if he was using a recliner, a few feet of the ground.

Next to him floated a basket likecontraption that was partially covered with a blue cloth. Even though Narthlooked alike, I knew it was not my friend, but most likely the Narthrepresentative.

I could hear Elena. “Uncle Narthis watching over little Eric. The Narth representative takes his godfatherduties very serious.”

The Narth turned his head withoutchanging his position, but now I could see there was also a glass of somethingorange with fruits and a straw floating on the other side of him. “It pleasesone to behold the sharer of what is Narth to be well and safe. One likes toconvey that your Hugavh sharer is also well and will return shortly.”

His voice was very low and thenhe said. “One wishes to ask you all to reduce the level of acoustic expressionsperhaps by a factor of 17 percent. One observed that noises beyond this tend towake my godchild.”

Elena objected before I could sayanything. “Eric doesn’t call all that often and he should see his nephew. Henever has.”

The Narth did change his positionnow and got up. “Analyzing human social behavior indicates that you have raiseda valid objection, she who is Elena.”

The Narth, most gently took ababy out of the basket. It was a healthy looking boy of about one year of age.

He wore to my surprise a littleversion of a Narth robe. The boy stretched his arms and clung to the Narth.

Uncle Hogun and Aunt Freydisfollowed by Exa came into view and the greetings and hellos were heartwarmingand I felt blessed to have family after all. After exchanging the usualgreetings and news, Hogun took the child from the Narth, brushed back thelittle hood and said. “Eric, meet Eric Narth Olafson, your nephew. Don’t askwhy he looks like a little Narth, but that’s what the little bugger wants,besides this robe is supposedly be nearly indestructible and his godfather ismore protective of him than a Tyranno Fin mother of her nest.”

Egill and the Saresiirepresentative arrived carrying a tray of ice cream and I was instantlyreminded of Krabbel.

Egill looked completely differentnow as he had when I saw him first. He was no longer as thin.

While he still looked like an oldman, he appeared to be very healthy. His skin had a nice tan and his usualyellowish white stringy beard was now white and full and neatly trimmed. I knewthe Saresii was male but there was no telling. He looked as good as any Saresiiwoman.

After I greeted them too, Egillexplained that it had been Exa’s idea to take a little vacation on a nice placeand so they all decided to spend a few weeks on Para-Para.

I had to promise to call moreoften and come home after I graduated and spend my vacation with them.

These calls managed to push thebad experiences further into the background and Alvor’s Cove and Sin 4 becamejust another set of memories.

I spent the rest of the dayeating at three different restaurants. I even found a fish restaurant thatoffered something called Clam Chowder, Boston style and it was almost as goodas Tyranno Fin stew.

Checkpoint 96 main settlement wasright by the Space port.

There weren’t many localattractions worth visiting. The independent tourist development board ofCheckpoint 96 praised an amusem*nt park, a large Terran style forest with lakeand camping area and an ice canyon tour. The very word Canyon made me decideagainst that tour and the amusem*nt park did not really attract me.

So I went to the forest, protectedby a large dome from the freezing near vacuum conditions on the outside. It wasmuch better than I expected. Golden sunlight filtered through the green canopyof large trees. Birds made a pleasant noise and I saw a four legged animal withan elaborate horn thing on its head. Little un-intrusive holographic signsidentified the trees as Oaks, conifers and birch trees. The animal according tothe Computronic was a buck and all the plants grasses, trees, birds and animalscame from a Terran region called North America.

The surroundings were soothingand had a calming effect and I actually wondered if I should try to visit Earthone day. The lake was clear and cold. At its shore was a rustic looking boathouse made of rocks and logs, where you could rent little electric boats or siton a wooden platform and buy drinks and snacks. There I rented a locker andpurchased swimming trunks and a towel and moments later dove head first intothe fresh cool water. It had been ages so I found that I was immersed in waterand could swim and dive. I could not tell how long I swam, competing with thesmall fast fish that were abundant in this cool and clear lake, but this day sofar turned out to be as perfect as a day could be. I was back on Union side,had talked to my family and had a long swim.

Back in my uniform, I was sittingat one of the little tables, drinking ice cold lemonade and watching the littleboats glide over the shimmering surface.

Someone said. “I didn’t think Iwould see you so soon again.”

I turned to put a face on thefamiliar voice and stared in the smiling face of Tirkov the Mercenary, but thistime he was clean. He wore a dark gray combination with reinforced knees andelbow pads and a leather jacket. I noticed the motion capture pads and neuro interfaceconnectors on his suit and recognized it as a Battle Walker control Suit.Marines no longer used Battle walkers ever since the advent of the QuasimodoMain Battle suits, but I knew Orbital Assault Units of the Union Army stilldid. He was in the company of a tall red head. She would have been a beauty andshe had a nice body, but half of her face was covered with swirly tattoos andher right eye and ear were covered or replaced by a cybernetic implant. CyberImplants could be made invisible but I heard that most Cybers loved to showtheir hardware openly. She too wore a control suit.

Tirkov turned a chair so he couldput his arms on the back rest and he was chewing something. His toothy smilehowever was unchanged. He waved at his companion to find a seat too and said toher. “That’s the tough as nails Union jock responsible for getting us out ofthe slave pens.”

He leaned forward and whistled ashe checked out my ribbon display. “Holy Phoenix, Lagda look at that. Medal ofHonor, Silver Stars, Bronze Stars, Space Ace and that’s just the top row.”

He kept grinning. “You weren’tfibbing either you are of the Devi.”

Finally I managed to saysomething. “I did not expect to see you here either, but I am glad to see youmade it of that cursed dust ball.”

He waved for the waiter andordered Hatar. As far as I knew it was some sort of very strong alcoholicbeverage made by a Galactic Council species I could not remember at the moment.

His companion simply looked meover with her left eye but said nothing.

He said. “Our mutual friends andI liberated the surviving rest of my crew and hired on a bunch more and paid alate night visit to the local Lord. He was very accommodating and let us borrowhis private ship.” He laughed loud took the drink right of the waiter’s trayand poured the greenish liquid right down his throat, throwing back his headand smacked his lips saying to the waiter. “Get a few more of these, good man”

To me he said. “Of course hewasn’t all that happy that we left him tied up on the middle of the landingfield. I wonder if he made it or if they found him after he baked for a fewhours in the sun.”

I sipped at my lemonade and said.“As far as it concerns me, I would not mind to hear that a ship landed on himor a lizard dragged him away for food.”

He downed another drink and hiscompanion did the same.

Then he said. “I guess it wasbound to happen that we ran into each other here on this Outpost. It is theclosest one to Alvor’s after all. The Union cits are on their way home. We gotus a nice reward for each of them. Now we’re here to lay low and safe until theHard Eight, my personal flag ship arrives. The local Lord as you might suspectis a little upset and has a bounty on my head, but as soon as the Hard Eightand my crew arrives this will not be a problem.”

He didn’t even wait for me to sayanything and pointed at my patches.” I guess my offer could not compete withbeing a fighter jock aboard the Devastator, but if you ever change your mindgive me a buzz.”

He snapped with his fingers andthe woman handed me a business card and he explained. “I don’t advertise whereI keep my HQ but I maintain an office on Pluribus and usually can be reached,unless of course I end up in a Slave pen again or worse.”

The woman spoke for the firsttime and her voice synthetically enhanced with a metallic background and echogave me the creeps.

“Now we never had a friend insidethe mighty fleet. Maybe you could help us with a little Intel. All we want toknow is where that cursed Harlequin currently can be found. All you Unionfleeter need to do is raise your voice just about anywhere and a Computronicprovides you with all sorts of data.”

I looked at her as cold andbusiness like as I could.

“I am glad you know that part.Only because of respect to Tirkov I am not raising my voice and call forsecurity, but let me make that clear to both of you. I am not your friendinside the fleet and should I ever witness you breaking the law I will dowhatever is necessary to restore order and bring you to justice.”

Tirkov raised both hands andleaned back. “Whoa, don’t get your black underwear all bunched up. All we didwas ask. I owe that mercenary colleague of mine a nice vacation on Alvor’s Coveand I put all other business on hold until I can make sure he knows how much I lovedhis travel arrangements. For you it would be easy to check scanner results allup and down the line and find the last location of that SOB, but you got yourregulations and laws and all that and that’s exactly the reason I run my ownoutfit.”

He got up and tipped his head.“Well thanks for getting me out of that cage; I owe you one for that. Maybe werun into each other again. Not that I want to be anywhere near where thatflying continent does business.”

“Take care Tirkov.”

She got up as well but put herhands on the table surface and leaned close scanning me with her one good eye.“You’re just a little boy in a black uniform. I am not impressed by thosemedals. The boss says you helped him escape and that is the only reason I amleaving you alive right now.”

I got up and moved close almosttouching her forehead. “Anywhere anytime, Cyberbitch. Maybe I should simplyarrest you under the suspicion of espionage activity and see what other dirt wefind. Starting with your Cyberware and checking if it is properly registered.”

Tirkov called. “Leave him aloneLagda, he has a short temper and I saw him slice and dice a Togar warrior withhis own knife.”

She left giving me one more lookand then after a few hundred meters they both disappeared behind trees followingthe winding forest path.

I could not shake the feelingthat this wasn’t the last time I heard from him or her.

The next day I reported to theFleet post commandant as ordered and reminded myself that she was a BaseCommandant and reached the rank of Commander. Meaning she had completed Academyand basic training. Yet she was about the cutest thing I had ever seen. The furthat stuck out the black uniform had a peach colored shine to it and it lookedsofter than anything. The urge to touch it just once was almost irresistible.

She had somewhat longer and morepointed ears than the Holdian Lieutenant I had met first. Her nose was pinkinstead of black. The large all black eyes shimmered soft and I was certain shehad long black eyelashes.

The Holdian Commandant sat behindher desk, or more correctly she actually sat on the desk and looked over myfile.

“No sense to keep a young manidle, we are always short handed out here.”

She got up from the pillow sheused as a seat and paced up and down her massive desk, and then she threw hersmall hands in the air and said.

“It’s bad enough to be out hereas it is, but during that crazy religious season on Netlor we are simplyoverwhelmed. I only have one Battleship and two Super cruisers to keep an eyeon 580 square light years of spatial border line, but we have the dubious luckto be the closest Union system to Sin 4 and Netlor. Every scum and every spy istrying to get past us into union space. Now they send me a Midshipman decoratedlike the Silver Rat of Mount Aktura, from the Devastator no less and ordersdirectly from the Immortal Warrior.”

She stopped her pacing rightbefore me and looked at me with quivering whiskers, her little fists stemmed inher sides. I could not say much as I was still standing in attention. She thenpointed her pinkish paw like hand that was covered with the finest touch of furat my nose.

“You appear out of the blue, noship has landed that I don’t know about and no officers or soon to be officershave been transferred.

You are here to check on meright? Fleet Command doesn’t think a female Holdian can do the job and sends meMidshipman to give him something to do.”

She placed mimicked quotationmarks with her fingers as she said ‘Midshipman’.

She pointed her little finger atme again. “What do you say to that?”

“Ma’am, I am still in attention.”

She snapped with her fingers in avery human gesture and said. “Oh right, sorry about that Midshipman Olafson, atease!

“I worked very hard to be where Iam and it wasn’t easy, oh no. Everyone thinks of me as some cute cuddle thingand rarely do I get the respect other Commanders get.” She glared at me. “Doyou find me cute?”

“Well perhaps if I compare you toa Pertharian I might come to the conclusion but otherwise, you’re just anotherOfficer to me, Ma’am.”

“Liar.”

She accused me to be and I couldnot even defend myself without lying more so I didn’t.

Then she went back to her pillowand sat down.

Now since I could talk I said.“Ma’am I assure you I am just a Midshipman and I arrived here from Netlor. I amnot here to evaluate you or report on you. I know next to nothing about thisCheckpoint other than that it exists and until yesterday I had never seen aHoldian nor did I know a Holdian commands this base.”

She was still giving me a smolderingstare and said.

“Netlor, I see, perhaps you are aspook. I don’t trust you NAVINT guys one bit. Yes I know you are necessary andno disrespect meant.

“Perhaps you are not a spook andjust a believer like the rest that goes to that place. I am supposed to giveyou something to do for four days and then what?”

“Then I hope to be reassignedMa’am back on my ship to hopefully graduate.”

She waved. “Your ship is theDevastator; she won’t come here to pick up a Midshipman.”

She pressed a contact on her deskunit. “Command and Control, check for me what ship is supposed to come to pickup our guest?”

A voice responded. “The Devi ison her way, Ma’am. Mr. Olafson is scheduled to transfer in four days.”

She glared at me even more.“Simple midshipman my furry behind, excuse my language, Mr. Olafson. Now reportto Lieutenant Yordat he is the flight boss here. You supposed to be a Wolfcraftace and we got lots of patrols to fly.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

I turned and was about to leave,fighting to keep the grin that is creeping in my face long enough under controluntil I was out the door.

--””--

It took me a while to find andreach the base hangars. They were almost exactly on the other side of the smallplanet. After a trip on a Trans Planet Mover that traveled not in a tunnel buton a surface mono rail across the planet’s almost featureless ice surface. ATPM employee told me the trip would take about four hours. The TPM would travelat supersonic speed but still had to travel a little over 3,800 kilometers andwould have to make two stops on the way.

I didn’t mind. While I was eagerto get behind the controls of a Wolfcraft again, but I promised MotherSuperior, the mysterious Deepa that I would try to be more patient. The Deviwas on her way along with my friends. I was on a Union Planet and I was on myway to do a job I loved to do. Life could not be much better.

After shooting over the thin monorail for maybe forty minutes, it slowed down and a voice announced.“Methane-Village, passengers with destination Methane-Village please prepare todebark in 3 minutes.”

The TPM train slipped into atransparent, brightly lit tunnel. A mother with a small child on her handpassed through the isle and towards the doors. She wore a bright red paddedsuit with a folded helmet in the collar. The child looked the same, except itssuit had little blue dots all over.

Outside a lonely S-10 service botpushed a cleaning tool over the floor.

I watched the mother and thechild use a declining slide belt and could see a collection of dome shaped buildingsand dozen yellow lights not far from the mono track halfway buried in themethane and carbon monoxide snow.

I wondered how it would be togrow up out here or why they had chosen to be there.

The train moved on and I made itto the fighter base.

The TPM came to a halt and Iexited with three other Fleet men. Enlisted from the looks of it and perhapsback from a few days R & R.

Most of the Base so it seemed wasbuilt on the Surface inside a shallow but sizeable crater. In the distance Icould see they had built Wolfcraft Revolving-starters right into the rim of theCrater aiming into the dark sky at a steep angle. Six large surface to spaceplanetary defense batteries with long range Trans locators Mega Load capacityfrom the looks of it dotted the crater floor. I also counted twelve missilesilos, most likely long range anti-ship drones and eighteen tall turrets withquadruple Loki torpedo starters.

That was some serious firepowerfor a little planet like that, but then it was near the most pirate infestedand lawless stretch of space in the Galaxy and when the battle ship associatedwith the Checkpoint was on patrol, the base was not helpless.

Most prominent in the center ofthe crater was a humongous Deep Space Scanner array. I doubted the Devi hadbigger scanners.

The installations looked likethey could be reached via sub surface tunnels and IBT’s.

An IBT carried me right to thelocal fighter squadron.

I knocked at the designated doorfor the Squadron Commandant, was called in and faced a short, muscular man.

He had his flight suit sleevesrolled up to show his sinewy, muscle bulging arms. His hair sleek and black,regulation short. He had bright blue eyes and a goatee and moustache.

The Lieutenant came around hisdesk and shook my hand after I reported with the proper salute. “No need forthat, Midshipman Olafson. I was just informed that we get a real Ace, from theDevi’s 12th no less to fly a few patrol sorties with us.”

I shook his hand more embarrassedand surprised by his greeting than everything else. “Nice to meet you too Sir.”

“Rock Hound, the Call sign isRock Hound. Hey call you the Viking right?”

I nodded. “Well yes, that isbecause I am from Nilfeheim.”

He offered me a cigar. “Yes, yes.I just got off GalNet with Commander Cotton and he told me about you.”

He took me to the ready roomwhere six Wolfcraft pilots and two more stood at a pool table and introduced meloudly. “Guys, don’t let the Midshipman rank fool you. We got a genuine Aceamong ourselves, Flying Cross, Ace Ribbon, the works. From the Devi no less.”

This was really gettingembarrassing and I said. “Guys, just let me do my stuff and then judge me. I’drather like you to know me for what I am and not for stuff that happened lightyears elsewhere.” A Takkian came over and poked his sharp claw in my chest. “Ilike modest humans, but I am the hottest pilot this side of the Pegasus arm andI think I’ll take you up on that. Care for some dog fight action mano etakkia?”

“That’s what I am eager for, getsome vacuum under my butt.”

I got a Wolfcraft IV not a Vmodel but there were minor differences, and it turned out they all flew IV’s.

I almost asked the Auto Doc togive me a euphoria dampening drug as the Revolver starter catapulted me intodeep space. I yelled on the top of my lungs, drew the Wolfcraft in a tight loopso I could feel a little of the gravitons come through. The computronic askedme if I was alright and I actually patted the Ultronit housing where thecomputronic was and said. “Girl, I never felt better. Let’s show that walkingpine cone what flying means.”

Granted I did show off a little,despite my initial decision not to. Oh they were good, they were trained UnionWolfcraft pilots and I was sure they would do a fine job fighting pirates, butit was hard to be humble after flying against the best the Devi had and thenholding my own against Har Hi.

I didn’t really want to landagain. I would have been perfectly content to stay out here till the Deviarrived.

I was the last to land theWolfcraft and joined the local jocks in their ready room. There was silence atfirst and they all looked at me as if a ghost had entered the room.

The Takkian who went by the callname Hot Stuff saluted and said.

“I never even considered thethings you did with that Wolfcraft possible. I always considered myself a goodpilot, but you beat us all even as we tried together. Viking we tried to make afool out of you and didn’t believe the hype Rock Hound told us about you. Boyyou showed us.”

Rock Hound handed out cigars toeveryone.

“That’s what they smoke on theDevi, Commander Cotton told me. Maybe that’s their secret.” He laughed andpounded his hand on my back.

I received quarters and wasassigned a regular duty roster and completed the first day flying wingman to apatrol through the system and escorting a space bus with engine trouble furtherout until a Bison came and towed it to the Checkpoint.

Rock Hound, Hot Stuff and twoothers told me we all would now complete the day having a drink at the Officer’slounge.

While I was technically aMidshipman and not a commissioned officer yet, I was a Medal of Honor recipientand as such the lounge was open to me.

The first thing I noticed afterthe sprawling windows giving a view over the crater were the many differentuniforms. There was a lot of Union Army green around, much more than FleetBlack or Marine Blue. Two light blue Science Corps Officers looked completelyout of place sitting at the far end of the bar.

By an old Assembly decision itwas decreed to maintain an Army. Despite the fact that all the tasks an Armywould have in a space born society could be done by spacers and marines. Ofcourse the only real reason to keep an Army were traditions carried overespecially by the Pan Sarans and the Terrans.

To give the Army a legitimatetask, Union Army was responsible for planetary and system defenses, PluribusAssembly security and designated for full scale planetary surface warfare.

The Army also fielded andmaintained several specialized units. Among them was the Planetary ArmyEngineer Corps, the prestigious First Guard of Pluribus, Orbital Para-AssaultDivisions and technically the PSI Corps was an Army Unit as well even though itwas independent of all branches. Unlike the Fleet it was not helmed by anImmortal and did not have the same budget or attention the Fleet received. TheArmy, could by Assembly decree not have any ships, so they maintained a fleetof Transport barges and Drop Boats and they compensated by equipping theirtroops with Mega Tanks, towering Battle Walkers and mountain sized PlanetarySiege Engines. None of the 25,000 Leviathan PSE had ever been deployed in realwar but every five years the Army argued before the Armed Forces committee theyneeded better and upgraded ones.

I was on my second Pilsner andAquavit while I was thinking about what I knew of the Union Army when two Armymen started an argument with a Navy Officer three tables down.

Hot Stuff, as a true Takkianlooked more or less like a walking pine cone and came from a very hot planet,enjoyed a small vial of Water. To Takkians who were Silicone based life forms,water was as intoxicating to them as hard liquor was to me.

Hot Stuff sipped at his watervial and said. “How come you know so much about Takkians?”

I tried to ignore the argumentthat became louder and answered. “I had the good fortune to serve aboard theUSS Hyperion under Captain Zezzazz. The Communication officer of the Hyperion,Lt. Miglar was Takkian.”

He shook his head. “I happen toknow Lt. Miglar but he isn’t Takkian, but Takian, almost the same but we arepronounced with two ‘k’. The Takians are very close related to us, much likethe Sarans and Terrans.”

I had to raise my voice a littleto make sure he understood. “Seems you both enjoy water to get drunk!”

He downed the rest of his waterand said.” We sure do but then we are the only Silicone species that can getdrunk from water. The Piamee for example who are Silicone beings can’t donothing with water.”

We both tried to keep ourconversation neutral and ignore the argument, but then an Army Lieutenantreached for the Navy ensign and pulled him half across the table, Glassestumbled and the Second Army officer actually whacked the Ensign across the faceand I said.

“Come on gentleman, this is anofficer’s club and not an enlisted bar. I suggest you take it outside and do befair, two against one isn’t exactly honorable you know.”

The Lieutenant quite obviouslydrunk dropped the ensign. “Who asked you for your opinion? This is an Army baseand we should not even have to share our facilities with the high and mightyNavy.”

He kicked the table aside andmoved towards me, his intentions clear. Did I ever manage to stay clear oftrouble? He was a Lieutenant, Army or not hitting him would be not a good idea.

But Rock Hound laughed and rolledup his sleeves even more and grinned deeply satisfied.” Welcome to Checkpoint96, Mr. Olafson and welcome to the bi weekly club rumble. Well a rumble it willbe until the Marines get mixed in, so be careful and duck.”

The wiry muscle packed Wolfcraftpilot catapulted himself past me and attacked the other Army officer, while theNavy ensign on the floor performed a leg sweep against the Army man and momentslater it was a free for all slug fest. So far I managed not to get hit andevaded, I hoped I could manage to maintain that until Base security showed up,but then Rock Hound sailed past me and yelled. “Mr. Olafson we can’t let theArmy win.”

As much as I wanted to stay outof trouble, he had a valid point...

--””--

The cute Commander wasn’t pleasedat all. She was pacing before the holding cells of base security.

Her bushy tail twitched nervouslyand agitated and then she first chewed out the Lieutenant. “It’s the eleventhtime this year that I am here to bail you out Lieutenant. Let me make thatabsolutely clear to you, there won’t be a twelfth time.”

We all stood in attention. Itwasn’t long since Base Security and thus Marines finally moved in and only themore severe cases had yet received medical attention. Not due to lack ofmedical facilities, but due to a standing order of the Commandant. This why Lt.Yordat sported a split lip, and not one but a double set of colorful shiners,he belched out a stern. “Yes Ma’am.”

She stopped and said. “Now Iunderstand the Navy is seriously under-represented with only one squadron onthis side of our cold little world, and I am long enough in this Unions Fleetto understand that there are fundamental differences between our brave andstrong Army and Fleet Spacers, so I am deeply and I must say very deeplydisappointed to see not one Army officer in the brig as well.”

Her little fists clenched, “Nexttime you better call for back up and I will come.”

Rock Hound said with painfullooking grin. “Ma’am as much as we could have used your help, there aren’t anyArmy here because they are all in sickbay. We had the great fortune to have adrunk Neo Viking on our side who did the Bezerker part after someone insultedhis mother.”

I looked ashamed at my boot toesand said. “Sorry Ma’am.”

She looked up and said to RockHound. “Don’t tell me the Navy won this time?”

“Yes Ma’am the Navy won.”

Her voice changed from the shrillaccusing tone to a satisfied one. “Well done men. Let’s get you out of here andthen you need to tell me all about it ... just after I send my apologies to theArmy Commandant.”

== Chapter 9: RedDragon ==

The Holdian Commander sat acrossfrom me and watched Rock Hound working the controls of a Tabtil Tosser tryingto win a game against the Takkian. Goal of the game was to maneuver a Tabtilthat was a tetrahedron shaped object with different colored sides, inside theopponent’s colored holes, while tossing blockers with remote controlledcatapults, to prevent the opponent doing the same to you. Almost everyrecreation room outfitted by the Navy had at least one of these boxycontraptions, usually completely worn out.

The Commander had kept her wordand got us out of the holding cell and without any permanent records and sheeven had taken all of us to a Pizza restaurant that was part of the adjacenthousing settlement attached to the base. Mostly the families of long termdeployed army and navy personnel were housed here and it had a few small storesand restaurants.

“Tell me the truth Midshipman, weare off duty and nothing will get past this table. Did they send you to evaluateme and what are you really?”

“Ma’am I can do nothing else butrepeat myself. I am a Midshipman and nothing more. The details of my journeyhere are classified, but I assure you it has nothing to do with you. I don’tknow Admiral McElligott all that well, but I can assure you he isn’t biasedtowards or against any race or species. I am sure Fleet Command would not havepicked you to run this difficult post if they did not have absolute confidencein your abilities, Ma’am. I am certain Admiral Stahl and the Devi are on theirway for different reasons too.”

Her cute nose quivered and shetook another bread stick.

“Here I am getting a pep talkfrom a Midshipman. There are many Holdians in the Navy and quite a few on thisstation as Holda isn’t far from here, but I am the first making it to Commanderand being usually perceived as nothing more than a fluffy plush animal has itschallenges.”

Before I could say something, herDuty PDD and mine went of the same time. It appeared that this was true forevery service personnel in the restaurant. The message flashing over the screenaccompanied with a blaring sound had only two words. ‘Battle Stations’.

Interbase Transports now switchedto emergency distribution, worked fast to convey the various personnel to theirduty stations.

Gone was any rivalry among Army,Navy or Marines. Everyone stood orderly in line until the next IST capsule wasavailable.

Of course the little Holdian wasamong the first and gone several minutes before I made it. The capsule shotthrough vacuum tubes and right into the ready room of the fighter squadron.

The child like ready to play Lt.Yordat was gone and replaced by no nonsense, by the book Squadron leader.“Viking you’re the most experienced take lead of wing Alpha. You will bebriefed in flight.”

I acknowledged jumped into theBattle dresser. The pre-set machine assembled a Mark 19 Flight suit around meand the floor parted the second I was done, sliding down a steep chute andright next to the waiting Wolfcraft. Thanks to the outer micro layer of theadaptive skin and thanks to my new Takkian friend the Wolfcraft was alreadyblack and red and sported the Olafson Wolf head logo.

The pilot seat with me in it rosefrom the floor into the co*ckpit, and while the fighter was already sliding insidethe revolving starter, the neuro connections were made and I was ready.

The Communication equipment cameon and I heard the Holdian Commander say.

“Checkpoint Squadron One, here isthe situation. “One of the last convoys from Netlor has been attacked by agroup of pirate ships. Emergency transmissions are just coming and identify thelead pirate as the Red Dragon.

We are under no circ*mstancesallowed to cross into Freespace to assist, but our long range scan resultsconfirm that twelve, maybe thirteen ships will make it. They are being pursuedand you are authorized to use all means to assure the safety of the civilianships once they are on our side. Our Battleship, the USS Makki-Grodno is on itsway but more than 12 hours out, as she left for patrol early this morning.Super Cruisers USS Castro and USS Pollux are even further out. So until thepirates come into firing range of the planetary defenses, if they dare to crossthe border, you are the only hope for those ships once they enter the system.”

“Rock Hound to Viking, take thelead, the entire Squadron is deployed. Don’t mind taking the back seat to you,Viking. You’re the Ace.”

The Computronic rearranged thesymbols reflected into my sight to adjust them to my new status. “This was notime to argue or ask why he had done that and changed my position from wing toSquadron lead. I slaved the long range scanner results of the big sensors onCheckpoint 96 to my strategic view and counted nine armed vessels of DestroyerSize and four of Cruiser size pursuing seven transports and a Kermac T Cruiser.

“Listen up, guys. Beta wing takethe Z axis and jump to the coordinates I am sending. Stay about a light minuteover Herman’s star. Delta Wing you do the same at the opposite and then youactivate your camouflage and wait.

Alpha, Gamma and Delta we stay inspearhead formation and approach openly. If it comes to a fight, there is notmuch those tubs can do to you, you’ve got excellent shields and Translocator Rotaries.Always keep an eye on the weapon scans of the enemy ships but for the most partyou should be too fast for them to hit you in the first place, take out theirengines first.”

Over the much slower comm.Channels of the civilian ships we heard a blood curling horror story unfold.Thirty ships had left Netlor and were systematically picked apart and raided bythe pirate fleet. All pleas for mercy had been ignored. The pirates took theirtime to pick ship after ship and now the last fifteen, were less than eightminutes away from the outmost boundaries of Herman’s Star system and thus Unionspace.

The pirates caught up with two ofthe strugglers and shot the transport’s engines to scrap. Not manycivilizations had developed means and weapons to scan, intercept and disrupt aship traveling in quasi space. To see the red ship use Union Isah-fielddisruptors to pull the lightly armed transports from that semi-spatialdimension was more than disturbing.

Even more concerning was the factthat my scanners clearly identified Para Dim shields and Trans-Quantum resonators.Para Dim shields would make the pirate ship immune to the instantaneousdestruction effects of Translocator bombs and could only be brought down bypounding the shields with Translocator bombs and Loki torpedoes.

A battle ship would have noproblems defeating those shields with a few well-placed Giga loads, but itwould be a hard nut to crack for the small loads our Wolfcraft fighterscarried. I relayed that info to the base.

The rest of the thirteentransports made it across into Union Space and continued on their way toCheckpoint 96.

We had to watch on our long rangescanners and optics as the pirates boarded the two ships they had crippled andto our horror we witnessed as the pirates spaced hundreds of pilgrims.”

The Comm. System reported an incomingGalNet transmission on military channels but without any coding and a metallicdistorted voice spoke to us. “This is the Red Dragon speaking for the SinisterAlliance. I know your support battle ship is out. As you notice I can hear andlisten in. You are so arrogant that you do not even code your military GalNetmessages. My ship has the finest Union sensors and other surprises so I knowwhere you tried to hide those Wolfcraft fighters and I can see the planetdefense capabilities. Very impressive, and I would be scared if I was a run ofthe mill average space crook. But I am the Red Dragon, and I want you toremember that name. Well those who survive.”

The voice changed and becamedeeper. “However I will be your nightmare, Union! No ship, no colony and nobase will be safe from me if I chose to attack. Checkpoint 96, you will befirst.”

The voice laughed and added. “OhI know you transmit that now to Fleet Headquarters and that fat, old fart faceMcElligott will send hundreds of ships this way, but you can’t go where I canand who knows where I will strike next?”

His fleet of pirate shipsabandoned the two looted transports each surrounded by a thin cloud of frozendrifting golden dressed bodies and begun their attack run.

I had to go by the book, eventhough the pirate’s intentions were obvious.

“This is Squadron Leader Olafson,calling hostile craft. You are now entering space claimed by the United Starsof the Galaxies, you are hereby ordered to cut all power, drop shields andprepare to be boarded. You are identified as a hostile and criminal party andno further warnings will be given.”

Fleet Headquarters automaticallysent out new code procedures and new channels.

There was a sharp laugh.

The pirate ships crossed intoUnion Space and attacked.

“All wings concentrate your fireon the other pirate ships. Stay at maximum range of your TL and concentrate onEngine targets. Viking to Base lead enemy ship has latest Para Dim and uniqueTerran TQ Resonator field protection. Scanner results hampered due to saidshields. If this ship decides to attack it will be hard to stop, consider theevacuation of surface buildings.”

Load your surface batteries withGravo-Bombs and lay double shots in the path of the Red Dragon Ship. Launchthose long range Drones you have and target the other pirate ships.

“Base to Wing, Pilgrim ships werea rouse the ships are filled with ground troops. We are under surfaceattack...”

The connection to the base brokeoff.

I cursed the fact that this wasan IV type. It did not have the option to switch to Graviton ammunition, but Iattacked anyway. The Red Dragon was even better armed than expected. It hadstrong FTL DE’s of Union manufacture with union Computronic targeting. I onlyevaded being hit so far as I flew past red line almost the entire time. Twelveof the pirate ships were burning wrecks, they had little chance against theTranslocator Gatlings of the Wolfcrafts, but two of my Squadron fighter symbolshad just blinked out and I could not raise them, only register the intenseexplosions on my scanners where I knew them to be last.

I had no time to feel sorry forthem now, but I knew I would. They had come too close to the Red Dragon and thePirate ship caught both with a combination barrage of Union FTL FE’s and NulFroth Casters.

I was down to twenty percentammo, but risked a direct assault. I still had two Lokies and I would make themcount. This time I could not evade the bluish Energies of the Froth caster butI managed to stay out of the firing cone of the FTL Directed Energy cannons. Myforward shields almost died on me, but I deactivated the aft shield generatorsand reduced the side shields to 20% while feeding the freed energies into thefront shields. All this while screaming at maximum acceleration towards its aftengines, His shields had to have structural gaps there, I released both Lokitorpedoes and fired long burst into his aft section.

Without aft shields I turned andprayed to Odin to give me the 5 seconds to reset, hoping my almost insaneattack had worked. Something did pepper my side and I checked on my squadronand gave flank protection orders. Only 15 of the original 20 Wolfcraftsremained and Rock Hound reported that Matchstick, Power Socket and Ronin wereout of ammo completely.

Odin must have heard my prayerbecause Hot Stuff was close enough to hear my plea for flank cover and hepeppered 20 TL loads on and inside the Hull of a Karthanian Cruiser that waspart of the Pirate ship fleet. The coffin shaped Karthanian who had just firedon me, expanded in the middle as if someone pumped air in it very fast, brightwhite lines followed every armor plate and it was ripped to pieces by a seriesof explosions micro seconds later.

Now I had time to turn theWolfcraft in a tight loop and check out my handy work.

The Red Dragon was fleeing withseverely damaged aft section and only one ISAH pod left. As much as I wanted, Icould not pursue. Three pirate ships remained and they were still fighting andapproaching Outpost 96.

It took us still 12 more minutesto defeat the last Pirates and then flew with all due speed towards theOutpost. We still heard nothing over GalNet.

I called Fleet Command, delivereda very short report and transmitted scanner and battle data and requestingassistance. Fleet Command assured me help was on the way.

Could those freaking pirates nothave attacked just 48 hours later? Of all ships the Devi was on her way.

But then the Pirate was listeningin, he had a GalNet Terminal. I did not want to imagine what would happen ifthe Union had to face an enemy that had the same resources and the sameadvances. I wondered if Deepa was already on her way back to Sin 4 andhopefully was not caught in the middle of this.

We reached the planet and the soclean and spotless space port looked so different from before. Burning andtwisted wrecks of the Transport ships, a toppled and destroyed Octo bot hadcrashed into the upper terminal building, the tough transparent Duranium windowpanes cracked. My stomach tightened as I saw a space bus, its side perforated withdozen of large blaster holes, still burning.

Most of the Pirate transportswere undamaged and we saw Pirate troops carrying loot. I actually screamed inthe audio pick up. “Let none escape, strive them with your DE’s.”

Flying just a few meters over theground with my Artigravs and the engines pushing as slowly as they could, Ipressed the FTL DE in pulse mode and mowed them down.

It took us no time to clear thelanding filed and destroy every one of the transports, but we still receivedsporadic fire from individual pirates hiding behind cover. We dared not fireback, as it would have caused even more damage to the base itself.

I ordered half of the Wolfcraftto the base on the other side and ordered them to survey.

“Squadron leader Viking switch tosecure channel protocol NPBM 6.” It was the Admiral, it was Stahl.

I found I had to use my Wrist PDDGalCom protocol as the Wolfcraft Com equipment did not have that option to goto Nano pulse burst mode. “Sorry sir that it took so long this Com didn’t have anyNPBM capability.”

“I ordered all Fleet Com toswitch. Some heads will roll in my Comm. Department as they should have knownWolfcraft IV do not have that equipment. We are still at least 20 hours away.The Devi is going as fast as she can. Assess situation and report.”

The Admiral cut out, but now wecould reach the Base at least the other side of the planet and a Colonel of theArmy responded. “Viking we are cut off from the city. They have severed theMono line. The troops with flight suits, Cerberus Robots and the nine flyers wehave just reached the City. There is heavy fighting. I have a battalion ofOrbital Assault troops here but no way to get them there fast.”

“Get your men ready. We willshuttle them on the Wolfcrafts. Make sure their mag boots work, they will rideon the outside.”

“Giving the orders now Viking.”

It turned out we could move 40men at a time, or 5 battle walkers.

The Army Units had suits thatlooked much heavier than the Quasimodo and I learned they had only a few reconunits that could fly; the rest were only able to jump.

Each trip took only a few minutesas there was no atmosphere to speak off and their mag boots and claws heldfine.

We rained the first units ofangry as hell Union Soldiers onto the landing fields, only to return and getmore.

It took us only a few flightseach to get all 1200 Army soldiers over. After the last group was transferredonly 35 minutes had passed and I landed my Wolfcraft, dialed the Auto Dresserto Quasimodo but the machine said. “All available Quasimodo assemblies havebeen assembled and distributed, Army Pandora Suits are available.”

Using heavy equipment I didn’tknow was not a good idea, so I kept my flight suit, grabbed a TKU rifle fromthe open Armory racks and a Marine Chain Sword, then had Hot stuff fly me overas well. I could not sit idle while there was fighting going on, besides I hadorders to assess.

Riding over an almost dark iceplanet outside, glued to a Wolfcraft only by the Electro cohesive forces in myboots and gloves would have most likely frightened me at any other day, but notnow. My blood was slowly starting to boil and I knew the feeling all too well,it was the cursed Neo Viking berserker rage but this time I tried to keepfocused and I hoped the Army left me at least one of the pirate troops alive.”

I dropped not waiting for Hotstuff to land. My flight suit was, despite the name not flight capable andnothing more than an armored space suit, but it was flexible and I could movein it as if I was wearing nothing. The natural gravitation of the little planetwas artificially enhanced at least locally for the base and the close by city.

I ran as fast as I could towardsthe terminals. All I saw were bodies, no one alive. Very satisfied I noticedthe number of pirate bodies increased the closer I came to the busted entrancedoors.

Even in all this chaos Uniontechnology was something to be proud off. Yellow Nanite foam had sealedhundreds of blaster holes. Four S-10 robots, one damaged started cleaning thedebris off the floor and an emergency membrane force field was established overthe hole where once a transparent Duranium door allowed access to the spaceport concourse.

Never in my life did I see ascene as horrifying and depressing as what I saw now, for the first time I saw whatwar really meant. The once so spotless shining clean floor was littered withbodies of women, children, union beings of all kinds. There were large puddlesof frozen blood, a woman cut in half, her shopping bags strewn around her, andher baby stroller on its side, pink blanket and a football sized burn holeright through it. That scum had actually fired on a baby stroller!

Arthur’s Swine and Dine wascompletely destroyed and looked plundered and so did most of the businesses.Around the body of the Pertharian Police officer I counted thirty Piratestroops all dead. The Pertharian had fought bravely and to the last.

I saw many Oghr among the Piratedead, many Togars, beings I did not recognize and even humans. Nothing aroundme was alive.

It was eerie quiet. Only theoccasional crackling and sparking from damaged advertisem*nt signs. Somewherein the distance I could hear the faint pitched hiss of a missile rifle and thedeep throated whoop of TKUs. It came from where the Fleet base offices were.

I didn’t think it was that far,but then I had used slide belts before. When I reached it the fighting appearedto be over.

Six Army soldiers in their bulkysuits guarded about thirty pirate troops; they were alive and had their handsup.

A sergeant with his yellowstripes prominent on his head piece almost shot me, a smoking hole in the wallnext to me, made me reconsider running unannounced towards Soldiers fightingpirates. Someone in his troop had yelled. “That’s a Navy Suit.”

The Sergeant apologized and then saidafter he read my name tag. “You’re Viking, the guy flying us over here.” Hethen added.

“We are mopping up the rest and Ithink we got the place secured.”

I looked around. “How bad is it?”

The Soldier looked gloom. “Can’tgive you any numbers or anything like that. The intruders did not make it farinto the city. There are only three access tunnels and the city defenders blewup one tunnel and were repulsed by the arriving Marines and Cerberus robots onthe other two. The space port and the base however I think have no friendlysurvivors. Those inhumane bastards killed everything they saw and most of themthat are still alive are surrendering.”

A soldier standing point at theentrance to the Fleet Office said. “Sarge, Squad eight reports heavyresistance. It looks like a large group of enemies made it into the Fleetbasem*nts and they have Karthanian Battle Robots along. Whoever is down thereis holding them off for now so it seems.”

The Admiral and the officers ofthe NAVINT outpost was my immediate thought. Million Years old or not, shecould be killed by blaster fire, at least that what Stahl once said aboutImmortals.

I rushed passed the Soldier andsaid. “Where did you get that info?”

He looked at me from out of hisPandora Suit looking to me somewhat like a turtle with a half retracted headand said. “It’s suicide to go there now. Cerberus robots and Marines are ontheir way.”

I yelled. “Answer me now or die.”

“Army Com Channel 4 Sir, we got aSquad there. Down the Corridor there is a busted IST, down the shaft that’swhere the figh...”

I didn’t hear the rest; I washalfway down the corridor and found the open IST shaft alright. I could hearthe fighting from below. I looked into the shaft wondering how to get down whenI noticed the handholds for a ladder incorporated into the shaft.

Using my feet as hooks around thehandrail and regulating my speed of descent with my hands I slid down the railsas fast as I dared. I could see smoke coming from my gloves as the frictioncaused some serious heat, but as long as I didn’t feel anything, I didn’t care.

I reached the bottom through theopen access hatch of a IST capsule stuck there, and three heart beats later wasgreeted by two blaster shots one grazing the side of my suit, the other meltingthe IST manual input panel next to me.

The Flight suit did have shields,nothing like a Quasimodo, but strong dual layer Para Dim. The Suits intelligentsystems however were limited to Auto Doc and Emergency deep space proceduresand had of course no ground combat capabilities. That also meant I had toactivate my shields manually.

I learned that painful fact justnow, as most of the blaster shot was dispersed and deflected by the suit’sintegrated armor and its intelligent fabric was already mending the burn hole,but some went through.

The Auto Doc of a flight suit wasfirst rate and the system began to act at the same time the first pain impulsesh*t my brain.

While all this was happening inmy suit, I flung myself forward, rolled over my shoulder to avoid being hitagain.

A fire team of four Army soldierswere pinned down behind a heavy support column while two Karthanian battlerobots and an Oghr blocked the Corridor further down.

My shoulder roll was pretty fastbut not fast enough for the fighting machines down there and three strongblaster shots burned my shields down to five percent.

I reached the Fire team and thecover.

A young Corporal and threeprivates armed with Enroe-Tri-Beam Laser guns and one H&K Missile GewehrType MIL greeted me and the Corporal said. “The robots fire only if they seemovement, and the Oghr appears only to fire when his robots do, that’s the goodnews. The bad news is that those robots have very strong beamers, fast reflexesand the Oghr sports a Union TKU, that’s still the good news. The bad news isthat there are about thirty more of them down the Corridor trying to get in anarea not marked at all on our base blue print lay outs. It seems whoever is inthere has managed to hold them off so far.”

One of the privates said. “Ihoped you’d be the good news and bring us Fleet Cerberus and Marines.”

I grunted. “That is the day whenI hear Army grunts pray for Marines. Don’t know where the reinforcements arebut I was told they are coming.”

One of the privates was a humanfemale and she said. “We have contact with the Navy personal on the other end.Do you want to speak to them?”

I nodded. “Yes of course.”

She handed me a PDD in Scramblemode and I said. “This is Midshipman Olafson. The Pirate invasion force ismostly contained and Union Army is cleaning the base. What is your status?”

I recognized the voiceimmediately. “Eric, this is Deepa, we are in serious trouble. The bathroomelevator is buried under rubble and we have a large number of wounded here. OurPSI Talents have erected a Psi Shield but it won’t last much longer, they areat their end.” Her voice sounded strained and I knew she was adding herenergies to that shield.

I said. “No worries, I amcoming.”

I could hear her laugh weakly.“My Soja, this is too dangerous, wait for reinforcements.”

My mind raced to figure out howto get down that corridor, without being roasted. My shields recovered, but Idoubted they would hold even halfway when both bots opened up. Not to mention aTKU. I glanced around the corner and said “Soldier do you have a spare missilecanister for that H&K?”

He responded. “Yes Sir but it ismarked Heavy Surface Engagement and cannot be used in confined battlesituations.”

I grinned and said. “Excellent.Corporal fire your weapons into the ceiling above the IST.”

He stared at me as if I was mad.“Sir the enemy is that way.” He pointed down the corridor, without exposinghimself.

I yelled. “The next time youquestion or argue my orders, I will use you as shield while running down thatcorridor. Open Fire.”

The Corporal did and I said tothe private. Toss that pack as hard as you can, and make it slide across thecorridor floor. Show me what that Pandora thing can do.”

I ordered the other two toprovide cover fire and the soldiers did as I asked.

As I hoped the intense heatcreated by the melting ceiling, the shower of liquid metal confused the sensorsof the Karthanian robots and they completely missed the sliding backpack sizedmissile container sliding towards them.

I aimed carefully and fired. Thethird blast did the trick. Surface Engagement meant Antimatter war heads. Justa few molecules in each of the small rockets, but all 2,500 missiles of theContainer together, hit by my TKU blasts.

The detonation was so intense itlifted us of our feet and despite helmet, support column and shields the soundand blast wave was so loud it almost deafened me.

I did not wait for my shields torecover or check on the Army soldiers, I ran down the corridor, Chain sword atthe ready and through the spherical blast zone the AM explosion had caused. Theblast had created a new 20 meter perfectly round underground chamber, I foundthe legs of one robot, there was nothing left of the second or the Oghr.

This I registered only passingby, on the other side I found survivors, Pirates struggling to their feet. Ididn’t bother with the TKU, I used the Chain sword. Coldness reached myconsciousness, I wanted to see blood. There were thirty of them at least untilI lost count. Some of them had shielded suits, but it made no difference. Iwould have walked through twice as many; at least that is what my blood lustwanted. The truth of course was that I was near the end of my resources aswell. My TKU down to the last blast, the chain sword energy cell on its lastindicator bar, the shields of my suit had long been gone and the generatormelted with no chance of a reset. The suit’s magnificent armor of wovenUltronit mesh and carbon fiber was the real reason I had made it that far. Ittoo was beyond its repair capacity.

My arm felt like lead as I pulledthe chain sword with protesting whine up the crotch of a pirate Oghr and up tohis guts, through steel, leather and flesh.

I had reached a soap bubble like barrierand behind I saw four PSI Corps agents and the Admiral on their knees, theirhands pressed against their temples. The pretty Saran PSI Agent looked moredead than alive and blood was dripping from her eyes.

I had to use manual controls toactivate my PDD. My helmet controls were fried. “Deepa, Admiral! You can letthe shield down. I am here.”

She raised her head saw me andthe field collapsed.

Deepa slowly came to her feet, Irushed to support her. She smiled weakly and said. “You never listen when someonetells you something, you look terrible.”

A feeling of relief came over meand I too felt a little woozy in the knees as the Adrenalin levels in my bodyreturned to normal, unable to keep my body in this state of activity anylonger. I smiled at her as well and said. “Couldn’t let this scum get to you,Ma’am, not after you rescued me and put yourself in harm’s way to get me tosafety.”

She simply nodded and then tendedto her colleagues, two of which were in some sort of catatonic state and didnot react to anything.

She sighed. “I hope our SaresiiSpecialists back home can help them. They extended their powers far too long.”I heard Marines and Cerberus coming down the Corridor and said. “I am sorryMa’am. I tried to come as fast as I could.”

She knelt by one of the Agentsand looked up. “And you did, you did come.”

Then my eye caught a tuff of furbehind a big planter pot at the entrance to the actual NAVINT post, I rushedpast the PSI Agents and the Admiral and tossed the heavy thing aside. My heartsank and my rage and anger I had felt until now was replaced by deep sorrow,because behind that planter was the body of the little Holdian Commander whowas so energetic and so brave, her shimmering black eyes, dull and her soft fursmeared with blood, in her right hand still a tiny TKU the energy cell depletedand three empty cells around her.

As gently as I could I picked upher small body that was almost weightless and placed it on a leather couchinside the damaged lobby and then took the Union flag someone had ripped of itsstand and used it to drape it over the little Holdian.

I saluted her and said to her. “Iwill avenge your death, Commander. I promise.”

The Admiral said quietly. “Shecame down here with over 200 wounded and defended this entrance all on her ownuntil we could get here. We were only moments away but still too late.”

Somewhere in the background of mymind I wondered what the cold sensation was on my cheeks and said. “I was toolate as well.”

== Chapter 10:Reunion ==

Even though I had little medicalknowledge, my time serving in the Devi’s sick bay and getting basic medtraining at the Academy I was helping with the triage of wounded and somehowremembered Dr. Dwyer my old Nilfeheim doctor as I derma-patched an eleven yearold’s scrape wounds he had suffered falling while running and hiding inside anservice crawl.

The Casualty numbers weredepressing. “943 dead among them many civilians and 1532 wounded of which morethan 500 were very critical. Over 3000 raiders had participated, of which 2400had died and the rest surrendered.

The damage to the base was not assevere as it looked and most of the environmental base functions were stillworking; as ordered I had sent my report to the Devastator and Fleet Command,but only got a short acknowledgement that they received the reports.

Rock Hound came over and lookedover the long line of wounded. As he was the highest ranking Union FleetOfficer he was now the acting base commander and said to me. “The Makki-Grodnohas just arrived and they are deploying every Med-bot and all personnel theyhave. Fleet Command just confirmed they have diverted the USS AlbertSchweitzer.

Just as he said that, Med Botsarrived and with them the CMO of the Battle Ship followed by a large number ofMed Techs.

The CMO exchanged only a fewwords with us and then went to work.

Now with the crew of a Battleship reinforcing our efforts, things looked up and my services in the first aidline weren’t needed anymore.

I walked off and sat down on theknee high wall of a fountain that was no longer working and wiped my face. Ifelt tired and exhausted.

That Deepa was the NAVINTCommandant was of course a secret that had to be maintained even during thiscrisis. I knew she and the surviving agents of the NAVINT outpost were busyerasing any traces that their subsurface base was ever used by the intelligenceservice.

She had told me that she wouldleave Outpost 96 in a new disguise and that it was better I did not know whoshe would be.

As I sat there more and more Navypersonnel filled the concourse. Teams of engineers rushed one way with theirrobotic tool boxes right behind them. A group of Special Forces Marines in fullQuasimodo battle suits followed Cyber Dog K-9 units scanning the placeobviously looking for survivors and pirate attackers that tried to hide.

A tall man, with a Marine Corpshigh and tight regulation haircut, wearing an all-black uniform walked brisklyin my direction, several high ranking officers in his wake.

I got up and stood in attention.“Midshipman Olafson reporting as ordered, Sir.”

I did not know how he did it orwhat it was, but him just being here made everything look half as bad. I knew,that whoever this Red Dragon was, he had not made his calculations includingAdmiral Stahl. He would find a way to track him down.

He simply sat down and said.“Have a seat, son. No need to salute right now.”

I sat down next to him and lookedat his sharp profile and followed his ice gray eyes scanning the surroundings.

He waved at his entourage. “Makeyourself useful, assess the damage. Get repairs started and make sure all thisis recorded in detail. I want to know the names of each raider, dead or alive.I want to know where they came from. I want the wrecks in space gathered to thelast bolt and analyzed and know who built them, owned them and piloted them.”

The men acknowledged andscrambled to execute his orders.

Only then did he turn his head.“I received reports from the Army Commander, the Commander of the Wolfcraft squadron.Of course Deepa also kept me informed.

“I would like to say I am veryproud of your conduct.”

His praise touched me deeply andI wanted to say something but he held up his hand and stopped me. “Eric, I knowhow you feel. You lost men flying with you, you let the transports pass and landand you feel responsible for all this, but at no point did you fail or doanything wrong. Despite all the things I know about you and what you haveachieved, you are still just a Midshipman. Yet you have performed and servedlike a real Officer and there was nothing you could have done to prevent this.Don’t count the dead Eric; count the living that you saved with your actions.Without you, no one would have made it.”

He actually patted my shoulder.“If it means anything to you, Midshipman Olafson, you earned my respect.”

The numb feeling I had since Ihad held the dead Holdian commander, the blame and guilt I felt for not doingthe right things left me and I felt much better. The Eternal Soldier, the oneman I looked up too more than anyone else, respected me. The pride I felt wasdeep but still tempered by the recent event. “Thank you Sir.”

He got up. “Let’s go back to theDevi there are certain people who can’t wait seeing you, and I do have asurprise for you as well.”

“Sir what about the Red Dragon? Whatabout Checkpoint 96?”

He turned and said. “We will hunthim, son. We will find everyone that was responsible for this and make thempay.”

He then gestured across thestation. “It will be rebuilt and reinforced. It is terrible what happened hereand every life lost will be missed by someone, but in the great scheme ofthings it was just a needle prick. We will survive and come out stronger.”

“Before we go sir, I want to makesure that the former Commandant of this base is honored and that her name and conductis not forgotten. She might just have been a little Holdian in stature, but herspirit and person was as big and tall as the very best of us, Sir.”

He made a solemn face. “I know,she was one of those I had picked just I had picked you. I will make sure shereceives the highest honors and goes home as a hero should.”

--””--

A shuttle was taking us up to theDevastator, as the ship was too big for the space port facilities.

Everything on the Devastator wasgigantic, and so was this shuttle flight deck. In the distance I could seeCaptain Harris and a crowd of people, but chief among them nine I would haverecognized anywhere. The Admiral was right, the ninth person standing next toHar Hi, was a surprise. There was a being completely shrouded in a blackflowing hooded garment, it was Narth.

I knew it was him, not anothermember of his species.

I approached the Captain andsaluted. “Midshipman Olafson reporting back as ordered Sir, permission to comeaboard.”

Captain Harris saluted back andthe Master Chief of the Devi blew the boatswain whistle and gave thetraditional boarding signal usually reserved for high ranking officers anddignitaries.

Then the entire crowd behind himsaluted at the sound of the whistle, all the Devastator’s Midshipmen, CommanderCotton and the 12th Squadron was there as well.

The Captain then said.“Permission granted, welcome back Midshipman Olafson glad to see you among theliving.”

The Admiral behind me said. “I amthe first to point out that military form and traditions are the backbone ofour Navy, but today I say to hell with regulations. Mr. Olafson your friendsare waiting.”

He barely finished what he saidas my friends rushed me. Krabbel beat them all and embraced me in his longhairy legs.

It wasn’t really that long agowhen I had seen the big Arachnid first in a Lobby on Arsenal IV and found hisform frightening, but now I threw my arms around his body knowing what a goodand gentle heart beat inside. “Krabbel,” was all I could say, my throatconstricted.

Krabbel said “We all missed youso much.”

Har Hi complained. “Krabbel letus get to him as well.”

The big spider partially releasedme and Har Hi gave me a tight brotherly hug, and we patted each other’s backs,he said. “It’s good to have you back, brother.”

Shaka was next doing the samething. “We thought we had lost you.”

Mao actually kissed me on bothcheeks and then bear hugged me.

Cirruit said while he embracedme. “It doesn’t show Eric, but I am almost exploding of joy to see you.”

I hugged him and said. “I missedyou just as much, my chrome faced friend and I always can tell how you feel.”

Hans scooped me up like a littlechild and pressed the little air I had left out of my lungs. “Mein lieber guterFre...” He had said something in his native language and then added.” My dear,dear friend I have missed you very much.”

Elfi gave me a long kiss and itwasn’t on the cheeks and then said. “Never do that again, we all almost diedthinking you were gone.”

Wetmouth slung her arms aroundme, kissed me gently on the lips and then she started sobbing and cried. “Imissed you so much.”

Her body felt soft and tender andshe was sighing deeply, I had to blink and fight my own tears as well and saidin her ear. “Everything will be alright.”

Finally there was Narth. He tookmy hand and something passed between us that could not be described in wordsand no emotion, no human experience could be used to compare. Then he said withhis deep non-human and yet so familiar voice. “May I execute the physicalexercise of enfolding you with my upper extremities to complete the traditionalgreeting as I have observed your other friends do?”

I simply pulled him in andembraced him. “Will that suffice as an answer, I am so glad to see you here aswell.”

“I have orders of a permanenttransfer to the Olafson Gang. I am deeply pleased to say.”

Harris finally stopped thegreeting orgy and said, “If we let them carry on we are going to be here tillnext week, so please everyone attention.”

It took us a little longer thanusual but we managed to get to attention. Once more shoulder to shoulder withmy friends. I knew then I was the richest man in the Universe.

The Captain said. “There isunfinished business and first and foremost, I hereby close the chapter on theReagan Trophy.”

A Lieutenant next to him held upthe large metal cup.

Harris pointed at it. “TheOlafson Gang has won the competition officially for the Devastator. They wereinstrumental in uncovering a great conspiracy. Even after they witnessed theapparent demise of their leader and friend, the team performed far and beyondany expectations and brought great honor upon the ship and themselves and mademe proud to have such individuals serving with me in this Fleet of ours.”

I whispered to Har Hi next to me,saying. “You won the Challenge?”

He nodded barely noticeable andsaid from the side of his mouth. “I thought you would have wanted it.”

I doubt I could have felt moreblessed and proud of my friends than at that moment. “Yes Har Hi, I would havewanted it.”

The Captain added the Reagantrophy ribbon to our displays and stepped back.

Now the Admiral said. “There arestill eight weeks till you graduate, but for you the testing and the schooleducation ends today. There is plenty of education and learning ahead of you ofcourse, but school is out. You are hereby dismissed from Midshipman country andallowed to move to the Officer’s Deck and you are as of today Acting Ensignsuntil your ranks are confirmed at Graduation Day.”

That caused the cheer that wentthrough the crowd and I too felt a big worry dissolve. I had made it, I wasn’ta Midshipman anymore. I had a real rank and was an Officer.

The Admiral motioned everyone tosettle down. “There is more official business before I dismiss you for threedays of R & R.”

He nodded to the Captain whocalled us into attention again and said with solemn tone. “Some of you mightfind it strange or unusual that I am about to do. Some of you might think I dothis so often it loses meaning, but I am here as directly requested by thePresident of the United Stars of the Galaxies and the Assembly who were directwitnesses of the events in Hermann’s System after the defacto declaration ofwar by a group of pirates. The Assembly had seen the actions of Ensign Eric andI was asked to decorate this young man on their behalf, for showing greatcourage beyond the call of duty, to represent and stand true to the values ofUnion and Fleet even in the face of great adversity. To preserve and protectmany lives, both through his direct action and indirectly through his commands,he is hereby presented with the Great Medal of Merit of the Union Assembly.”

He pinned a physical medal to myuniform and then motioned me to say something.

“I am deeply honored by this, butit should go all the defenders of Checkpoint 96. To the fallen Wolfcraftpilots, to the dead and wounded civilians and to the Holdian Commander, who’sname I actually never knew.”

Stahl’s face did not change as hesaid. “I give you my word, not one will be forgotten.”

--””--

The move from Midshipman countryto the Officer’s deck was both a milestone in all our careers and a bittersweetmoment. We no longer would stay in a shared dorm but had our own rooms. In mostships the junior officers would still share accommodations with one or twoothers, but the Devi had plenty of room and everyone got their own.

We all went to the Village, asthe central recreation area of the Devastator was called. There we crowded intoone of the street cafes and I had to tell my friends everything that happenedto me and I did except for the part I could not.

In turn they told me abouteverything that happened to them. They told me about the events on Newport andthat Wintsun was a traitor and now a wanted criminal, who somehow managed toescape Newport and that it was he who shot Narth in the Crawler Cat while I wasunconscious.

Narth told me that he teleportedan Antimatter bomb past the outer orbit of Newport and that this had seriousconsequences to his Psionic powers and health and that he was stillrecuperating and that it would take a long time before he would return to hisold levels. He could have been restored right away, but that would have meantto integrate his essence into the body of Narth and he would have lost hisindividuality and that was a price he was not willing to pay.

Of course the recent events atCheckpoint 96 were the main topic that everyone around us was talking about.Someone in the Café turned on a field screen and the most popular news show onGalNet came on, the Union Clarion. Images and footage of the attack were shownonce again. I could not stop myself from turning and watching.

The newscaster’s voice was heardover a visual of the Assembly in session and it said. “In a follow up sessionto Assembly resolution 59 of the fifth October 5018 regarding the Events inUnion System Herman’s Star and the Battle of Outpost 96.

A proposal to disregard theFreespace treaty and risk war with the signees of said treaty was narrowlydefeated in a Union Citizen vote this morning. A surprising 48 percent of theCitizens voted for decisive military action, while 52 voted for a temperedapproach.

This high percentage should senda clear message to the Assembly and our representatives that the Citizens ofthe Union are fed up with the ongoing pirate problems.”

The image changed and a reporterstood before SII Needle One at Omni Planet, which was the Corporate Center ofSII and interviewed a high level executive of the Giga Corporation, all thisinformation came across the screen in a ticker band.

The executive said. “On behalf ofSII GalNet and as the provider of the Military GalCom network, we would like tosend this message to the individual Red Dragon and the Sinister Alliance. Wehave sent destruct codes to your terminal. Furthermore since you have chosen touse GalNet services without paying for the call, SII Communications will takesteps to collect the 45 Credits owed.”

An environmental specialist atthe next table commented on that saying. “Now his goose is cooked. The RedDragon pissed of the wrong folks.”

Somehow I didn’t like that. Iwanted the Union Fleet to catch the criminal and I wanted him to be brought tojustice. Dragged in chains before a Union Court and hanged and not killed byfreelancing corporate assassins.

Captain Harris and the Admiralcame and pulled chairs up, both were out of uniform and I had to repeat thestory of my involuntary journey again. It wasn’t easy for me to lie to myfriends and Captain Harris but I could not tell them about the involvement ofthe Sojonites of course and made up a story how I escaped. Of course Stahl knewthe entire story and I was certain I noticed a blinked approval from his eyes.

Much later that day we foundourselves at the same spot underneath a big tree close to the lake that was inthe center of the Village.

Once again we wore bathing suits,except of course for Narth, Krabbel and Har Hi. We had talked a lot and now wesimply enjoyed being reunited and able to put the events of the past behind us.

I looked to Narth and said. “Whyis it I can’t really hear you talk inside my head as we used to? I still canfeel your presence and know how you feel no matter where I was but I can’tactually hear your words inside anymore.”

He had folded his legs, just likeWetmouth often did and floated a few inches off the surface of the grass. Hishooded head turned and his glowing eyes had lost much of their intensity and hesaid. “You are blocked in the most efficient way from all external thoughtseven from me your Hugavh sharer.”

“I don’t want to be blocked fromyou.”

“Then we must start your Psionictraining. Only you can allow access through that shield and to allow only oneand not all access is quite difficult to learn, but I am confident you willlearn this in five to six of your decades. You are after all quite intelligentfor a human.”

I boxed him in the side. “Onlyyou can insult me and make me feel I just got a compliment. There is no fasterway. I mean in fifty years, I might be retired from the Fleet.”

Narth boxed me back and said. “NoEric my friend. If I wanted to insult you, I would say thickheaded Neo Viking.This would be a proper insult if I understood the instructions of the Narththat spends much time with Neo Vikings now correctly. I personally do notunderstand as I have not observed that you have a thicker head than othercomparable humans.”

Har Hi chuckled. “Human metaphorscan be a tricky thing to understand indeed.”

The three days of rest andrecreation were over. While I would not have complained about more, I was readyto go back on regular duty on the Devi without any particular hugeresponsibilities or associated problems.

However we were called to theCaptain’s ready room, instead of receiving new duty assignments and shifts.

He was waiting for us sitting onhis desk, the Reagan Trophy prominently displayed on his desk and asked us toforgo any formal behavior and to sit down. Ten Vari-From chairs had alreadybeen placed in a semi-circle.

He began right after we all founda seat and said. “Three days maybe not enough but this is the Navy and the Deviisn’t a cruise ship. There are still close to eight weeks before your finalyear is over and you officially graduate and get your commissions and a well-deservedleave of absence before you are dispersed to your new assignments and dutyposts.

As you know we are at the fringesof Union space and recent events have made it clear that we must pay moreattention to this area.”

A three dimensional projection ofa tactical sector map appeared between him and us. Checkpoint 96 was flashingand a tiny symbol depicted the Devastator. He then reached inside theprojection and pointed at a distant star system and the projection focused onit.

“This is Richter System; it has anew Class B Fleet base on planet Richter 4. There is an automated Long rangesensor station on Richter 8 and the latest survey reports that there arepossible ruins of a tech level one civilization on Richter 5. As you can see,Richter Base lies at the outer fringes of the Sagittarius arm and the 2500light year void to the Orion arm.

“Technically the extension of theSagittarius Arm in that area is Freespace as well, but due to the sparse starpopulation in this area, there is virtually no space traffic and the threeclosest star systems on Freespace side, as you can see here are almost 80 lightyears away and contain no habitable planets.”

He pointed out the stars he wastalking about.

He continued. “The reason forFreespace extending into this area in the first place is this planetary system,inhabited by a Tec level three civilization, the Bitllors. They are signees ofthe treaty and simply declared all this empty space and those three systemstheir empire and no one objected. As you can see their main world is 120 lightyears from Richter.”

Har Hi said. “Aren’t they stillusing Laser push sails and Ion motors? It takes them almost a month toaccelerate to Threshold speed.”

Harris nodded. “Yes and it takesthem the same time to decelerate at the destination.” He looked up and saidlooking at Har Hi. “I know what you want to ask. Why put a Class B Star basethere if an Outpost would have been more than enough to keep an eye on thingsthere.”

Now it was Har Hi who nodded.“That is what I was wondering about, Sir. A Class B is usually home to anentire Battle Group, or even a Fleet.”

The Captain acknowledged Har Hiwith a smile. “Back when the decision was made to build a base there it was tobe just that. Home to the 67th fleet and have a supply station at the edge ofthe big gap, to provide us with a back door into the Nosirrah Conglomerate as awar with them was at that time very likely. If fleets could be moved across thegap at this point, we would have been able to attack from two sides and throughthe proverbial back door, reaching the Nosirrah main worlds without having tofight through a large number of well defended systems at the other end wheretheir territory reached Union Space.”

Now it was Mao who scratched hishead. “Sir that was quite a while ago. And the Nosirrah joined the Union quitea while ago and so did the Shail who were the original reason for those initialhostilities.”

Harris sighed. “This is true, butour big wonderful Navy is also a big bureaucracy. The construction of two largeClass B stations was planned almost 750 years ago. One here at Richter and oneacross the gap at Lyon Star and as the war didn’t come the project importancewas reduced from high to very low, but it was not canceled. Construction orderswere given by the Fleet Asset Bureau twelve years ago and now we have two newand big bases that are more or less obsolete. However since they are there,regulations also require them to be staffed and maintained by a crew of 600enlisted and 25 officers.

Richter Station is 10 officersshort of that required compliment.

The Personnel Allocation officeat Fleet Command will dispatch ten officers in six to eight weeks. Since youare officers and dismissed from school. We thought it would be a nice quietduty assignment for you before your actual career starts.”

After the briefing, Harris heldme back and handed me a sealed Order chip. “Ensign Olafson, keep this orderchip sealed and do not open it unless you feel or observe anything unusual.”

I took the chip and said. “Sir,would there be a chance that I observe something unusual?”

The captain responded saying.“You will be very close to Freespace and the station sees little traffic, sokeep your eyes open.”

I knew this was all I would getas an answer.

--””--

Six hours later we foundourselves on a long range shuttle flight to Richter Base.

--””--

RICHTER BASE

“Duty on a Class B Fleet Basesounds like a nice posting for a few weeks.” Said Hans leaning back as we satin the Long Range Shuttle on our way to the Richter System and he added. “ClassB is huge and designed to be home to serve an entire Battle Group. There willbe Shops, First Class Recreation and lots of restaurants and they will haveattractions too.”

Wetmouth who sat to my left andmuch closer than she had ever done before and looked up from her ever presentArchimedes III science scan enabled PDD and said. “As the Captain said it is anew base, it has an attached base personnel housing complex called RichterVillage and according to the Fisher Index rated 9.9”

Cirruit who appeared to benapping raised his shiny chrome metal head and asked with a sleepy voice. “Whatis the Fisher Index?”

She answered. “A fleet approvedpublication listing every fleet installation with detailed information likewhat businesses are available, recreation facilities, housing quality andprices and so forth. It is intended for civilians who decide to move to suchfacilities or are sent there by their companies.”

Cirruit leaned over and looked atthe PDD and said. “I never heard of the Fischer Index. Does it list the shopsand souvenir dealers and all that?”

She smiled as I saw by her eyes andshe said. “You are more addicted to shopping than a bunch of teenage girls andyes it does.”

He spread his arms. “What can Ido? This is how Mother Machine made me.”

Elfi who was watching somethingon GalNet said. “What kind of planet is Richter 4?”

Narth and Wetty answered almostsimultaneously. Narth was a little faster as he didn’t have to consult a PDDbut Narth then said. “My memorized data might not be as accurate or current asyour PDD, Ensign Wetmouth, so please continue.”

“You can call me Wetty like allthe others do, Narth.”

He co*cked his shrouded head as healways did when he contemplated something and it made me think that he wasstarting to have individual habits. He then said. “Ah yes, the practice toaddress friends with nicknames is a common one among humans. I am however stillnot certain when such a nickname is used as a sign for affection among friendsor when it is used as an insult to those one dislikes. Furthermore one needsexplicit permission from a fellow officer to be addressed in such fashion sincewe have all advanced to this state. Finally I have yet to understand how anickname is generated. Some nicknames appear to be a short version of a name,and then there are those that have no bearing on the name. Is there a formulaor an equation you use?”

I almost laughed out loud asWetmouth co*cked her head. “What an interesting question. No we do not use anequation to come up with nickname. Nicknames are generated by the combinationof many factors. I will attempt to make a list of factors by analyzingnicknames and see if it could be expressed in a socio-humanistic formula ofsome kind.”

Narth slightly bowed. “Such anendeavor would be very much appreciated. My previous attempts in addressingothers with nicknames were not successful.”

Har Hi turned his head andactually had a smile on his usually grim face, as it was imperative for a Daiwarrior to always look serious. He said. “I should not ask but I am actuallydying, to use a human phrase, to hear of one such incident. Who did you addresswith a nickname and what happened?”

I noticed a feeling ofembarrassment from Narth as he said. “I wanted to express my respect to AdmiralStahl as I heard others call him the Eternal Soldier, but since nothing iseternal especially not in the mono directional linear time model you humansuse, I called him: Temporal wrong designated person who isn’t actually aSoldier but an Admiral person.”

I could barely contain mylaughter. “That’s sure a mouthful for a nickname. What did he say?”

Narth answered. “He sternlyinsisted that I would address him properly by name and rank.”

It was Mao’s fault he started togiggle first and then we all laughed and Elfi actually hugged Narth and said.“No worries, I am sure he understood the sentiment and to make sure you knowyou can call me Elfi.”

Finally Wetmouth managed toanswer the original question and said. “Richter 4 is a Type Nine Rock coreplanet with a thin Carbon dioxide atmosphere and temperatures in the range ofminus fifty and plus ten on the C scale. The planet experiences strong sand anddust storms that can last for amonth. There is no open surface water and noreported native life.”

Hans crossed his arms and leanedback. The sturdy Vari-form seat protested with a metallic groan. “I am notplanning to go outside very much, but that is actually the kind of environmentwe Saturnians were genetically designed to survive and work in.”

Passing the time like this wedropped out of Quasi-space six days later and into the Richter System.

As we approached the reddishbrown planet, I was reminded of Alvor’s Cove. There wasn’t much differencebetween those two worlds looking at them from space. Richter 4 was only a fewshades darker and had distinctive reddish tones mixed into the sandy browns.

Our shuttle had received landinginstructions and went down on the night side of the planet. There on a dustyplain surrounded by tall mountains where four gigantic landing fields arrangedin typical Union fashion, like the petals of a large flower centered on ashimmering blue half sphere. Brilliant flood lights and landing field beaconsin various colors illuminated the base and made it stand out in the otherwisedark surroundings. I actually found the sight quite beautiful to look at.

Beyond the landing fields to the planetaryeast side was a large transparent hemisphere with much green and a shimmeringsurface what looked like a large lake. On the outskirts of the landing field,towards the south lay the service buildings and warehouses of a dock yard, bigenough to repair dreadnoughts and the largest standard battle ships.

Har Hi looked through a viewingport and said. “It doesn’t look like a bad place to spend a few weeks. I amalways fascinated by Union Bases, since we Dai do not have planetaryfacilities.”

Shaka was staring through theview port on his side and said. “Does it not strike you odd, that there is nota single ship on any of those four Landing fields?”

I did not see one either on myside and said. “It isn’t exactly a very busy part of space, or maybe they areunderground.” I noticed that instead of the large robot arm often used to movelanded transports to their final destination, we had landed on a big elevatorplatform and descended below the surface.”

Shaka was not satisfied with thisanswer. “This is a Class B; there should be at least some of the ships of theassigned battle group or fleet. There wasn’t even a single ship in the dockyard.”

The Shuttle pilot who had comefrom the flight deck to open the back door and lower the ramp turned and said.“I was thinking the same thing; never seen a Dockyard with not at least oneship being worked on, but then this is a quiet quadrant of space and a newbase.”

We took our gear bags, and Hansshouldered the small container of additional gear we had taken along; wishedthe pilot a safe return and went down to the surface.

A team of new looking S-18service robots approached the shuttle to refuel it as we stepped on a slidebelt carrying us towards the spaceport buildings. This sub surface hangar wasenormous but no shuttle or transport other than the Devi shuttle was to beseen.

More robots and a large cleaningmachine polished the already spotless surface in the distance but there was nota living soul anywhere. No load handlers, no technicians, nobody.

Shaka turned to Wetmouth. “Doesthat Fischer Index say what fleet is assigned to this base?”

She shook her head. “No militaryinformation is included, but I am checking Fleet central, one moment.

The slide belt merged with afaster one and carried us into the main terminal. The usual shop signs andrestaurants were all there, but most of them were dark or closed. Only a fullyautomated Swine and Dine seemed open. There was no one. The main terminalshould have been busy.

Wetmouth said. “I just doublechecked, but as far as I can tell no Fleet or battle group is currentlyassigned to this base.”

The slide belt ended before theEntry check point that was not attended.

Mao dropped his bag and turnedonce around his axis. “Don’t tell me we are all alone here!”

“Maybe they are all hiding and doa big surprise thing. They only missed my hatchling survival day by sevendays.” Krabbel responded.

Har-Hi’s hand went to the butt ofhis gun. “Someone is coming.”

A man on an Arti-G-Scooterfloated from across the concourse and stopped behind the entry control pointand simply deactivated the entry denial fields and lowered the barrier.

He was a human Commander and woreFleet Uniform, but instead of boots he wore slippers and he was unshaven. Hewaved us to come in and said.

“Sorry guys I expected you a fewhours later, but welcome to Richter Base.”

I called my team to attention andsaid. “Ensign Olafson and team reporting as ordered sir.” I held out ourofficial Order chip for him to take and inspect. He wiped his hands on the seatof his pants took the order chip and put it in his pocket.

He didn’t look friendly orpleased to see us. The Commandant of such a base should at least be a Commodoreor a one star admiral, but he was a Commander and he said with a grumpy voice.

“Here is the thing Ensigns, thisis a completely obsolete and unnecessary Base. You see we are at the fringes ofthe Sagittarius Arm. There aren’t many star systems left around us and thenthere is a wide void of 1500 light years.”

I took the chance without him orderingso, and said to my team. “At ease.”

To the Commander I then said.“Yes Sir we have been briefed about the strategic location of the base.”

He snorted. “Splendid, did theyalso brief you that the war never happened, that there are no settlers or colonistspushing into this region because there isn’t anything to colonize?

Our sister station across the gapat Lyon Star had better luck. There are a few Nosirrah systems within reach andthey became the base for the 273rd fleet.

Here the closest inhabited Unionsystem is 62 light years from here and only technically in our jurisdiction,but they have the Union Ranger Sector office there and never need us.”

He raised his arms. “But NavyRegulations require a Class B Base to be staffed and so it is. It is a quietand peaceful posting and those who are here like it that way as there isabsolutely nothing to do.”

“Technically we are supposed toprovide quadrant security, but there are no Union assets in this quadrant, sothe battle ship that would be needed to do that was never assigned to us. TheWolfcraft fighters are still in parts in their original shipping crates becausewe have not received the necessary personnel, namely Wolfcraft fighter pilotsand technicians.”

I already feared the answer whenI asked. “What is it you want us to do then?”

He kept his arms in the airsaying. “Do whatever you want, that’s what everyone else is doing here. I dohave one order for you though: Stay out of my hair. I like my peace and quietand I don’t want green nosed, wet behind the ears freshly graduated Ensignsasking me every five minutes what to do. Any questions?”

Narth raised his hand and said.“This is a very unusual request, Sir. I had no intention to stay in your hairat all. It would prove a very uncomfortable place for me to stay. I also do nothave a nose that is green, and I can assure you my ears or any area that couldbe designated to be behind them is not wet. Since I do not possess any of thesequalities does that mean that you do want me then to ask you what to do everyfive minutes?”

The commander blinked completelybaffled and then said. “What is he, some kind of Joker? Well he must bedressing up like a Narth.” He pointed his finger at Narth. “Listen Ensignwhoever you are. I don’t care if you like to play Halloween every day, as faras I care you can dance naked across the main concourse, but if you want topretend to be a Narth, you should not make stupid jokes. I know of them, theydo not make jokes. So before you decide to make any more of those mindlessremarks, let me tell you I heard them all.”

Har Hi actually stopped Narthfrom saying anything more by putting his hand over the area where he suspectedits mouth to be and whispered. “We explain later, just remain quiet for now.”

The Commander returned to talkingto us all. “As I said, stay out of my hair and do whatever you want. This is afully functional base and there are no waiting lists at all for theRecreational facilities. Find yourself a place to stay. There is a five starHilton over there, no live service of course but it isn’t locked up. Then thereare very exclusive Quarters for never visiting Admirals and foreign dignitarieson the top level of the Fleet guest accommodation building over there. Youcould take the inter base transport and go to Richter Town, a few thousandapartments, houses and more hotels all free for the taking.”

He climbed back on his Scooter.“Here are my orders. Stay away from Command and Control. We got that covered.Stay away from Sub levels 17 and 18. As they are still under construction, Godknows why. I don’t want to write an accident report explaining why one of yougot hurt by a tunneling robot. Other than that the base is yours and what youdo for the next weeks, until the regular replacements arrive is your business.”

With that he started the scooterand simply left us behind.

Elfi said. “Pinch me, I must bedreaming or is this a joke?”

Narth reached out and pinched herand she jumped. “Ouch!”

He said. “If I observe your stateof consciousness correctly I do not think you are dreaming. However myunderstanding of humor is still not well developed and I found his statementsnot amusing.”

Elfi rubbed her nicely shapedbutt and her eyes sparked as she turned to Narth. “Your understanding ofmetaphors also needs much work.”

Mao rubbed his chin. “I thinkCaptain Harris knew exactly where he was sending us, maybe so we have a fewweeks of some sort of vacation. My gut however tells me this isn’t going to bea vacation after all.”

Har Hi shouldered his sizable andheavy looking bag and asked me. “So what do you want us to do?”

I said. “We set up a base ofoperations and get situated and unpacked, after that Krabbel and Mao are goingto organize Dinner for 2000 hrs. Har-Hi, Cirruit and Shaka will check thehangars and see what kind of space craft the base has. Maybe we can use one toexplore the system a little. Narth and Wetmouth, you find an access-terminaland pull the mission statement of this base. They have to have a missionprofile and standard orders. Go over the recent station logs and see what theyreport to fleet command every day. You, Elfi make a list of the recreationfacilities so we can include those in our daily routines.

Hans prepare an Intel andSecurity report for this Quadrant, if it is as quiet and out of the way aseveryone says it is, I think those on the Freespace side know that as well. Iwould also see what Fleet has to say about the Bitllors. If they are asprimitive as claimed someone might protect them.”

The Dai was shaking his head. “Youdo have a knack for this. I would have never thought of all this.”

I could actually tell now whenWetmouth smiled, despite her mask. She said. “He does indeed.”

We went to the Fleet visitorbuilding. I did not want to use the Hotel as it felt like cheating to me. Whilewe walked there Narth and Wetmouth discussed the comments the commander hadmade and she tried to explain to him what he meant with all the metaphors hehad used.

Narth complained. “I have nodesire to dance with or without garments and why would I want to pretend what Iam already?”

Krabbel commented with his highvoice. “I could dance naked, but I doubt this Commander has much interest inArcha cultural performances.”

Cirruit boxed Krabbel in the sideas we reached the Fleet building and said. “We are all going to see you dancesoon enough, over there is an automated Baskin Robbins store.”

Krabbel said. “What is so specialabout that?”

I turned with a grin and said.“They specialize in ice cream and have many flavors”

He shrieked with excitement and weall laughed.

The Quarters on the Top Level ofthe Fleet building tower where incredible, with huge view ports overlookingmuch of the base and the truly desolate and empty landscape.

Luxury baths, state of the artauto dressers, hygiene centers and Vari-Form beds with adjustable Arti Gravcomplete with Avatar enabled GalNet terminals and Virtu Experience Consoles.These quarters were meant as guest quarters for admirals, foreign dignitaries,ambassadors and the like. Everything had the feel of being brand new and neverused.

After my friends had situatedthemselves, they all went to do the chores I had told them to do. I wondered ifthat sloppy Commander was already reason enough to open the special orders Ihad received from the Captain. How many posts and bases were there? Did theArmy Engineers or Spacebees work on another project somewhere executingoutdated orders and wasting resources? Was the Union Fleet too big to be runefficiently?

One thing was certain, we weren’there by accident. We didn’t receive the orders to come here by someone whowanted to get rid of us. If Harris knew about these orders then the Admiralwould too, and the briefing we received would not have been necessary to simplysend us on a base to have a vacation. No, I was convinced there was a reasonthey sent us here, beyond the obvious and at least some of the answers would bein the second Order chip I carried in that secret skin pocket where I also keptmy Code key.

I sat behind the desk in thestudy of my luxury suite and had the chair turned.

Looking past the floor to ceilingtransparent wall panels and across the reddish stone and dust plain extendingto the horizon.

There was nothing out there, nocraters, no large boulders or rock formations, just a seemingly endless oceanof dirt. The mountains we had seen from space were on the other side; I couldnot see them from this vantage point.

A melodic sound issued from theGalNet terminal and made me turn, I had an incoming call.

It originated from the EternalWarrior as I could tell from the message logo.

Stahl appeared, he was not on theDevi but somewhere outside and he wore his full dress uniform with his ribbondisplay on his chest and wearing the duck bill cap with admiral’s gold acrossthe black shield. “Good afternoon, Ensign Olafson, I thought you would want tobe present for the memorial service for Commander Orah Báct, here on Holda.”

I answered. “Yes Sir, I wouldlike that very much.”

“Get into your dress uniform andjoin me via Avatar Tele presence.”

I used the Auto Dresser and thenstretched out on the Tele presence couch and allowed the system to connect tomy neural interface.

The world around me changed andbecame fluid, for a short moment I lost orientation and floated in the GalNetAvatar TP-Nexus. My senses now told me I was standing and no longer lying downand then I walked through a portal opening before me and stepped onto a raisedplatform where Admiral Stahl and dozens of other high ranking officersincluding Admiral McElligott were also present.

The Platform was raisedoverlooking a green valley with soft rolling hills and seemingly random placedtrees. To the right rose a beautiful city with all white buildings. To the leftwas a calm ocean that shimmered deep blue with the sun reflecting off it.

The park like valley had neatrows of white spherical stone balls, of about 50 centimeters in diameter. Therehad to be thousands of them.

Stahl motioned me with a handgesture to stand next to him and whispered. “This is the Valley of Memories onHolda. It is where the Holdians burry their distinguished dead.”

I whispered back. “There are somany.”

Stahl responded. “The Holdianshave always suffered and went to many wars. Other civilizations often attackedsimply because the Holdians are cute, little and appear easy to conquer. Yetthey are a tough and resilient race, maybe because of how they are perceived.They joined the Union only about 90 years ago, before that they were anindependent Freespace civilization.”

I felt guilty as I too made thatassumption as I had seen her first, and considered her offer to help us fightin the brawl nothing more than wishful thinking. I too had looked at her asjust an incredible cute being and not as an Union Fleet officer.

The ceremony begun and it touchedme deeper than I thought it would, seeing the little Holdians carry a smallsteel sphere with the Union Fleet logo on its side and place it inside a newstone ball. The opening was sealed with a matching plug and the Union Fleethymn was played.

Admiral Stahl then delivered theeulogy outlining her career and how he had noticed her. I learned then that shewas one of the Midshipmen he had asked to command the Devi and that she did itto his complete satisfaction.

A Holdian with dark brown furthanked the Admiral and expressed how proud he was of his seventh daughter.

Admiral McElligott announced thatCheckpoint 98 had been renamed Checkpoint Orah Báct and that a new Carrierwould also be named after her.

Stahl whispered. “She will beremembered.”

The ceremony was winding down andI wanted to talk to the Admiral about our current situation but he said. “Nothere, Ensign and not now but I have full confidence in you and your team thatyou will do the right things.”

He made a gesture with his handfirst pointing with two fingers at his own eyes and then at me as if he wantedto say: I am watching you.

Aloud he said. “This RemotePresence Avatar technology still amazes me after all these years and how easyit is for others to be somewhere else, even looking completely different fromwhat they really do.”

I was certain there was a messagefor me and all I could think is that he didn’t want to speak openly in this waywith me.

So I said. “Thank you Sir forletting me be present.” I saluted and told the system to sever the connection.

I found myself back on the couchand on Richter 4.

Still deep in thought I returnedto the desk, just as Krabbel burst in the room all excited. “On top of thisbuilding is a five star restaurant and we have prepared dinner. I am tellingyou the Stasis Freezers of the Hilton Hotel are stocked to the brim with everydelicacy you can imagine. We won’t go hungry for sure.”

I handed him my Cred-Box andsaid. “You had better pay for everything you guys take that is not Fleet.”

He took it and put it away. “Iwill do that right away and I actually came to tell you dinner will be readyand we have quite a few culinary surprises for you all. Mao is still up in thekitchen and he is cooking himself.” With that he scurried out again.

Har Hi, Cirruit and Shaka werenext to deliver the results of their task. Har Hi said. “There is only one shiphere ready to go. The fighters are just as he said still in warehouses and inboxes and need to be assembled if we want to use them.”

Cirruit added to this. “The shipis a Scooper Class Multi Role Brig. Minimally armed and shielded, decent cargohold and a full set of science sensors.”

Shaka sounded a littledisappointed saying: “No Virtu- but standard helm. It would be perfect toexplore the system though.”

Elfi came in, sat on a sofa andcrossed her legs, looking at her own PDD she said. “As for Recreationfacilities there is everything you could want: Virtu Theaters, Restaurants,Bars and Clubs, Swimming Pools, Gyms, Amusem*nt park, Aqua fun facility and abig Terran Style forest with lake, waterfall and hiking trails. The park hasover 12,000 acres and is really big.” She tapped on her display and said. Asfor local attractions there isn’t that much listed as such things usually growout of local observations and such but there is a list of geological surfacefeatures listed as worth visiting and there is supposed to be a cave systemleading to a large underground lake with liquid water.”

I remembered how much fun I hadexploring the caves with Brenda on Wichita, at least at the beginning when itappeared just to be a scientific exploration and said.

“I guess we could mount ageological survey expedition. Doing such things are after all part of our jobdescription.”

Har Hi held up two fingers andsaid. “Especially now that we have not one but two Science obsessed friends. Ibet they will be happy to hear you say that.”

I grinned at him. “I saw some ofthe hardware you packed. During such an expedition we could certainly test someof it. There aren’t any neighbors out there who would complain.”

He spread his arms. “Hey I likescience and all that too. We Dai aren’t just about weapons and vaporizingthings.” He mockingly tried to look insulted. “You’ll see I will go and scanrocks and go ahh and ooh when I find one that’s interesting.”

Cirruit looked to the ceiling.“Fat chance there is a rock in the Universe you would find interesting.”

Shaka added. “Except perhaps ifthey are living rocks of some kind he could fight.”

Har Hi crossed his arms and said.“I am going to show you just how scientific I can be and I am going to askWetmouth to explain every second rock and make you all listen.”

As if by cue Wetmouth and Narthentered and she said. “Did I just hear my name?”

Elfi pointed at Har Hi and said.“Eric suggested we mount a geographic survey expedition and Har Hi wanted tocome along and learn more about rocks and such and hoped you would point out tohim the more interesting features.”

Wetmouth’s voice had a surprisedtone. “Har Hi said that? You guys trying way too hard to look serious, butsince you mentioned it. I actually wanted to take the opportunity to visitRichter 5. There are ruins of a civilization and they have only beensuperficially surveyed.”

Cirruit said. “There is a shipavailable and it has decent science equipment, not to mention that the basehere has an entire Science section with the finest Union Lab technology.”

I stopped them there and said.“We can talk about that later. We got lots of time so it seems. What did youtwo find out?”

Wetmouth pointed at her PDD. “Narthand I found the Mission and General Orders for a Class B station is a 17,323page document and this one in particular. Narth has started to read it but itwill even take him a little while to read it all and then summarize it. It isvery dry stuff for the most part.”

Narth held up a PDD of his own.“Wetmouth was so kind to equip me with one of these. I am actually quite amazedwhat it can do. I am also engaged, as she said in reading the documents. So farI have found it all dry, none of the documents appear to be wet or mentionmoisture.”

I said. “It’s an expression todescribe reading material that is not very interesting or easy to read as itcontains only legal, technical or procedural subjects.”

Narth looked at his PDD. “I findit very interesting, the section I am consuming right now describes in greatdetail the maintenance intervals and procedures for Class B Star bases. Did youknow that the acceptable dust and dirt particle count for Union FleetInstallations must not exceed 12.5 particles per cubic meter?”

I looked at him and said. “Andthere I was thinking it was 13.6 per cubic meter.”

For perhaps the first time sinceI knew him he actually sounded surprised. “You know about all that already?”

Wetmouth put her arm around hisshoulder. “No he was being sarcastic and made a joke. You will get used to it.To them we are just walking Computronics and data repositories and then mustsuffer their mocking.”

I lowered my head. “That was amean one, Wetty.”

She bowed. “Sarcasm is a dishthat only tastes good when served to others.”

Narth actually laughed under hishood. “How have I missed all this. Narth often thinks it knows so much and yetsince I am among you I learn there is a myriad of concepts Narth does notunderstand. But I can assure you Wetty; Eric does not think of us that way andappreciates us very deeply. His mind is currently closed to me, but hisemotions and feelings are not.”

We bantered a little more whenHans came and found himself a seat after the chair adjusted to his size anddelivered his report. “According to the Fleet Intel Report for this Quadrant,there were exactly 275 long range scanner contacts since the base came fullyoperational eight years ago. That comes to about 35 contacts a year. None ofthe contacts were identified as hostile or unknown. Twenty two civilian shipsof various Freespace civilizations used this base as entry point into the Unionand have been processed by customs.”

Har Hi frowned. “It certainly isa quiet corner of the Universe then and I can almost understand the Commander’ssentiment.”

Hans tapped on his PDD and said.Internal security however reported eighty nine fatalities including suicidesand accidents, since this base became operational. Recent accidents include twoofficers who were crushed by a tunneling robot, about a year ago, an ablespaceman second class drowned in the recreation lake after drinking too muchand falling of his inflatable raft and only six weeks ago, ten just recentlyassigned officers perished in a surface mission as their crawler cat drove intoa dust lake and the reactor overheated.”

I sat up straight. “That is avery high number of accidents for a quiet place like this.”

He agreed and said. “Fleet cameto the same conclusion and an investigation was done. The investigation team ofCID came here. In their final report they state that carelessness due toboredom was the underlining cause.”

Shaka said. “I can understandthat. I mean if you are posted here for a year or more it might get boring. Iwonder how many of these obsolete or unnecessary posts there are, staffed bybored crews.”

Wetmouth interrupted her readingand said. “These postings are usually voluntary but the so called Cabin Feversyndrome is well documented and known for millennia. Normally a good commanderknows how to keep his troops occupied but after several years that might bedifficult in a place like this. I checked into the personnel files and all thecore officers are here for eight years and have not filed for transfers butasked for extensions. With few exceptions all officers and enlisted have beenrequested by the Commander.

I said. “It’s less than eightweeks for us and I am sure we can keep ourselves busy. I still want us to crosstrain each other. During my little odyssey recently I realized how little Istill know about Xeno tech and that my Navigation skills are not anywhere nearthose of Krabbel or Shaka. Despite the jokes earlier I think we all need tobrush up on general science some more. Since none of us is a real Medic I alsowant us to focus on learning more about battle field medicine and general firstaid. I want to know what I can do if Krabbel gets hurt, or Cirruit and I amcertain all of you have areas that could be improved.”

Har Hi grinned. “I thoughtschool’s out? But you’re right. I sure could use some more science knowledgeand I mean that seriously.”

I slapped my hand flat on thedesk and said. “Well let’s figure this out tomorrow, it is almost 2000 hrs andI’d like to see you at that time in the restaurant on top of this building.

--””--

Krabbel and Mao had outdonethemselves. A long table was beautifully laid out with a center piece ofsculpted ice and set with fine Union logo decorated china and silverware.

There was beautiful music playingin the background which Wetmouth identified as Mozart, who was according to hera Terran composer.

Mao greeted us almost as if hewas the restaurant owner and rubbed his hands. “Friends it is served, we’ve gotsteamed Slime Diggers of Calva IV, Stunned Humm-Beetles, carefully aged rawDino Livers, Nuflug Larvae marinated in Nanda blood, Sucki-Lums, BaldarianMud-mash and some really stinky cheese from Terra.”

I almost gagged just hearing thechoices and I cursed. “Teaches me to ask a Spider and a Cannibal to makedinner.”

Krabbel snickered. “I think wereally got you fooled this time.” He lifted the covers and said. “Pizza,roasted fish, mashed Quadtatoes, gravy, steamed veggies and roast beef; fordesert of course ice cream but with a hot berry sauce over it. We do haveSucki-Lums but they are for Mao, he insisted.”

I glanced at the one remainingcovered dish and was certain the metal lid had moved by itself. “Do I want toknow what Sucki-Lums are?” I asked.

Har-Hi, Hans and Wetmouthsimultaneously said.” No you don’t.”

Elfi stopped Mao from explaininganyhow and said. “Go eat those later or on another table.”

Wetti groaned. “You can’t beserious. You aren’t Oromal”

He smiled defending his choiceand said. “Never judge before you tried. If you get over the fact that they...”Elfi said with a sharp tone. “Mao.” then glared at him with her trademark darkeye glare and he ducked his head. “Alright I’ll eat them later.”

At exactly 2000 hrs I deliveredthe toast and raised my glass. “Recent events made it even clearer to me, howblessed I am for having such friends. I am convinced beyond any doubt that Ihave discovered the greatest treasure there is to be found in the Universe,you.

So I raise my glass and thank youfor the privilege it is to be considered a friend by you and be in your midstonce more.”

They lifted their glasses andthere was a moment of silence then we drank and started to eat.

I told them about the Pulse StinkMaggot incident during my first academy year because whatever Mao had underthat covered dish reminded me of that.

They laughed but when Maosuggested to take a few out of stasis freeze, we quickly turned to anothersubject.

We ate and had a great time andjust as we were almost finished and a tending robot, Mao had activated, served coffeeand liquor; the Base Commander appeared from the IBT shaft and came over.

This time he did look much morepresentable and how a Commander should look. He was clean shaven, wore a cleanuniform and shined boots.

I called my friends to their feetand to attention. He looked somewhat surprised over the spread and motionedwith his hand to continue and asked “What is the occasion, someone’s birthday?”

I answered him. “No Sir, we justlike to do this whenever we can. It became somewhat like a little traditionwith us, would you like to join?”

He shook his head. “No notreally, Ensign. I tend to have dinner earlier and already ate.” He then flaredhis nostrils and sniffed.

“Either someone here has used thetable for a bathroom or there are freshly opened Sucki-Lums.”

Mao grinned. “I found a wholecase in the Hotel Stasis freezer.”

He pulled up a chair and satdown. “In that case I do accept. It’s rare to find someone who isn’t Shail,Shiss or Oghr that appreciates Sucki-Lums.”

Wetmouth shivered. “It’s evenrare to find Shail that still do.”

Mao lifted the cover and pickedsomething about the length of a human finger. It was oozing with a milkyyellowish slime. The odor that wafted over instantly reminded me of theEnvironmental tanks Har-Hi and I had to clean once and I could not help but covermy mouth to suppress a gagging reflex. The semi translucent finger long oozingthing moved and suddenly made a hissing sound fighting the grip Mao had on it,and I could see a tiny mouth with teeth.”

With a face of utmost content,Mao stuck it in his mouth. I heard it hiss even louder and it seemed he had tofight whatever he just put in his mouth before he managed to swallow it.

To my horror the Commander didthe same.

Mao proudly explained. “It isn’tentirely without dangers. You have to get them just right or you will know whythey are called Sucki-Lums.”

Har Hi was no less affected thanI was but had it somewhat better under control as he said to me “It’sconsidered a great feat in the Shail society to eat ten of them without gettinghurt or killed.”

While Elfi pressed a Napkinbefore her mouth, Wetmouth said. “It is because Captain Elgar of the USSWintergreen did just that, swallowing ten of these and during a Shail banquet.That the Shail begun to respect and trust humans and the Union. The Shail usedtheir considerable influence over the Nosirrah and instead of war, dialog wasstarted and it ended all with the Shail and the Nosirrah joining the Union.

I noticed the Commander’s nametag and only now learned that his name was Cardwell.

The Base Commandant nodded. “Allthis of course made the reasons to build Richter Base obsolete.”

He shrugged and after eatinganother Sucki-Lum and drinking a glass of water he said. “I don’t mind, I lovethis post. It is very quiet and leaves me time for my hobbies, but some can’thandle it and get crazy.”

I asked. “Like the Ensigns in theCrawler Cat?”

He swallowed his third slimething and nodded while fighting the thing inside his mouth. He swallowed andsaid. “Totally unnecessary too, they held races across the surface, intoxicatedwith alcohol and drugs, way too fast and not wearing protective suits insidethe Cats, which is required by the way and would have saved their lives.”

He burped, applauded Mao fordoing what he just did and pointed at us. “That is why I was looking for youand came up here in the first place. I do not want to lose my cozy postingbecause you guys get bored and do stupid things. I was told you checked on theship.”

“Yes we were considering takingthe ship to explore the system a little.”

Wetmouth added. “I am certain youhave heard of this, Sir. The initial survey team also checked on Richter 5 andfound the remains of a primitive civilization and I was hoping to go there toexamine that further.”

He leaned back and declined Mao’soffer for the last one and said. “I told you can do what you like. Just do itproperly and with all safety precautions observed.”

I said. “I promise you Sir, wewill.”

And was glad Mao put the coverback on the plate.

“Well then carry on and rememberC & C is off limits.”

He got up nodded to Mao and leftfor the Elevator.

Mao followed him with his eyes asthe man left and said. “Maybe he isn’t such a bad person. I imagine it wouldtake a certain type of personality to take a posting like this.”

I could see his tongue movinginside his cheek while he was talking and then realized it wasn’t his tongueand Mao said. “Darn I missed the head!” Something crunched and he looked happyfor a moment then leaned forward. “That is what my mind tells me, my guts tellme he was acting a role.”

Wetmouth almost whispered. “Doyou know where he graduated from?”

Har Hi groaned. “Please don’t sayNewport.”

She said. “Sorry, but it wasplain to see on his ribbon read out.”

Narth who had until now and withgreat interest followed the Sucki-Lum proceedings said. “His pulse rateincreased and I could sense a jolt of fear as you mentioned the crawler cataccident. He didn’t like that you knew about it.”

I put my coffee down and cursed.“To Hel with all those scheming, worm infested bastards. There is no way thisis a coincidence. No one can be that unlucky to get postings like that all thetime and run into those shady characters and strange situations all the time.Before the Fleet expends even one person and one ship, they should start cleaningtheir own backyard first.”

Har Hi also put his cup down andsaid. “Maybe that is why we here?”

Hans asked,” So what are we goingto do about it?” while eyeing the covered plate that was moving.

I said “We continue exactly asordered. He has not done anything wrong or treated us badly, but I think weshould check our quarters for listening devices and keep our eyes wide open.” Ipointed at the covered dish and we are going to make sure the food we eat iswell done and not moving the tableware.”

Cirruit said “Those are highsecurity suites we are in are equipped with the latest anti spyware to giveAmbassadors and Flag Officers the required privacy.”

I just looked at him and Cirruitraised his hands. “I am going to sweep them never the less.”

I waved the robot to get meanother coffee and said to him. “They have been here for years and had all thetime in the world to circumvent things, if they are indeed up to no good. Itwas him who recommended these places in the first place.”

For the first week we exploredthe base and used the recreation facilities. Krabbel could not get enough ofthe vintage style thrill rides that were part of the local amusem*nt park. HarHi worked out a class schedule and we continued to cross train each other. HarHi turned out to be quite a task master as he drilled us in the still emptyMarine training facilities and in Zero G combat, where he was unbeatable. To mysurprise it was Narth who deeply enjoyed the physical aspect. He in turn beganto train me and Elfi, who was already somewhat talented in Psionics. Thetraining at first consisted of simple meditation exercises, which weren’t sosimple after all. He wanted us to sit in a darkened room and listen to ourheart beats, our breathing. Har Hi and the others even Cirruit joined as well.Our sentient machine friend had of course no Psionics whatsoever, but Narth wasconvinced that even Cirruit could become more aware of these things.

Elfi deepened our knowledge incommunications and Galakto Politics. It turned out she was very knowledgeablehow the individual members of the Union worked together, what the issues wereand how they perceived each other. The internal politics of the Union atFederal level were easy to understand but the nuances below were quitecomplicated and I learned many surprising little facts and issues I had neverknown to exist.

Hans, who knew much about that aswell, deepened our knowledge about the various task forces, federal departmentsand law enforcement agencies that existed, about crime and counter intelligenceefforts and challenges.

The Worm so I learned was onlyone of several such organizations. And even the Worm had independent cells. Oldcriminal organizations of the Ult, the Sarans, the Pan Sarans, Terra and allthe others did not disappear after the Union was founded but adapted andevolved. Some united their efforts and some fought each other for territoriesand influence. It sounded worse than it was as he said that the Union was avery lawful and orderly Mega culture if looked at as a whole. Wetmouthconsidered crime and criminal organizations even to be a vital part of acivilization and that only a few completely totalitarian societies such as theX101 and Klack that did not know organized crime. Krabbel however told us thatcrime, theft and murder were virtually unknown in their society. Despite theircarnivore origin, the Archa so it turned out were among the most innocent andopen societies I had ever heard about.

Shaka gave us complicated helmexercises and also made sure we all understood the different helm systems andtheir technical aspects. Especially Narth and Elfi had still very little Helmexperience.

Doing all this filled our daysand time flew, even in this uneventful surroundings.

On the first Saturday after ourarrival Wetmouth took us on a geological tour on the surface of the planet andsurprisingly Har Hi did ask her lots of questions and I knew he wasn’t justpretending to be interested.

As we returned with the Crawlercat and several boxes of rock specimens, the Commander greeted us at theentrance. “I see you do keep yourself busy and I am actually quite pleased thatyou keep to yourself. Maybe I misjudged you to be just another bunch ofbusybodies. So what did you do out there anyway? We watched you as far as wecould and didn’t see you do any races or other stupid things.”

Wetmouth opened a specimen boxand said. “We did a geological survey and I think this world is quite rich inminerals and has an abundance of iron ore and if I am correct I think there isa wealth of rare earths to be found.”

He looked disinterestedly intothe box containing the rocks and shrugged. “I guess that can be interesting,but Iron Ore is quite abundant everywhere, I personally don’t see theattraction, but I guess you science officer types find carpet mitesinteresting. I actually came to tell you that you are welcome to use the baseship to go to Richter 5. Maybe over the weekend and make me a nice long reportabout those ruins you mentioned.”

Without really giving us a chanceto say anything he walked off.

Hans said holding an entire stackof sample boxes. “If you ask me I think he wants us off the base for theweekend. Every time this character talks to us, I feel I need a shower.”

Narth who stood next to Wetmouthlooking inside the open specimen box said. “I can confirm that suspicion. Hewas quite nervous and hoped we would take him up on his offer.”

Krabbel said. “But we scheduledthe rest of the day as free time. I wanted to go to the Amusem*nt Park again.”

Mao laughed. “There are noscarier rides than the elevators of Archa and he can’t get enough of rollercoasters.”

Krabbel spread his upper legpairs and said. “Roller coasters are much more fun and besides there is a Robotvendor that sells freeze dried ice cream. It looks like colored sand but it isice cream.”

I shrugged. “He didn’t give us anorder or anything so we can do that tomorrow. Go and have fun you two.”

Narth held up his hand and threefingers. “You should say you three as I intend to accompany the Archa andexperience the rides again.”

I grinned. “Don’t tell me youactually enjoy that?”

Narth co*cked his head and saidafter a brief moment of silence. “One comes to the conclusion that I actuallydo. It is fascinating I think I just discovered what enjoying means. Besidesone must sample freeze dried ice cream, again.”

Shaka, Hans and Elfi left thegroup to watch a Virtu- Theater show. They went to experience a new Saranopera. In it you could take the role of one of the performers but you ended upsinging for three hours before you actually were allowed to kill the evil guyor kiss the girl. It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.

Cirruit and Har Hi decided to goback to the Fleet house and sleep a while. There was nothing Cirruit wouldrather do than sleep, take a nap, except perhaps shopping.

Har Hi said before they left.“I’m actually going to read for a while and check out that book Wettyrecommended: Rock Hounding for Beginners and I am sure it will put me soundlyto sleep.”

Wetmouth could not be kept awayfrom the Labs where she wanted to catalog our finds and do some furtheranalysis.

So it came that I suddenly foundmyself alone. Riding a weird contraption with Krabbel holding to the ride carand listen to him scream at every turn was fun perhaps two times ... nottwenty.

As much as I enjoyed ourexcursion, my scientific curiosity was well satisfied and I didn’t want to lookat rocks through a micro viewer.

So I simply stood on one of themain artery slide belts and let it carry me through the sections of the base.

There were faster Inter Stationtransport tubes but I wasn’t in a hurry and had no particular goal.

After passing through the maincomplex and the connection tunnel to the Station recreation park, I stayed onthe belt and it carried me to the third dome under which Richter town waslocated.

It was eerie to see an entiretown, designed to be home to twenty maybe thirty thousand individuals. Neatrows of family houses near the rim of the dome. Clean streets and tree linedboulevards with little stores, shopping centers and businesses and all silentand empty of life.

The Town had an artificial skysimulating the open sky of a Terran type world with one golden sun, clouds,birds and light wind.

I wondered if anyone would everlive here, but there was no industry except the Fleet Base and thus noincentive to move here.

The Downtown Area had a nicelittle shopping district with small shops and restaurants. Most were empty butnot all.

I had left the slide belt and wasslowly walking along a pedestrian shopping area. A shoe store for human femalescaught my eye. It was a boutique with expensive brands, we had the same one inthe Star port mall on Nilfeheim and it was one of those places I had visitedwith Sif, Astrid, Elena and Hedda. I wondered what they were doing right now.From my last talk with Egill, Sif was studying hard to catch up what she hadmissed and had become a very good student. Elena of course would soon be thefirst female clan chief in Nilfeheim history and would marry. Hedda and Astridwere dead. While I was thinking about these things I noticed the door wasunlocked, it slid open as I walked by and so I went in. There was a fine layerof dust and I did not see a Robot attendant. The sales room was not all thatbig and the shop lights did not come on, but it was not dark, light camethrough the windows from the outside and cast the entire store in a mildshadowy atmosphere. It smelled of leather, perfume and new fabrics.

Rows of shelves and displays ofshoes and boots mostly for humanoid females and looking at them made the otherside of my personality stir and I could not help but wonder how some of thoseshoes might look on me an so with no one around I tried on a pair of heeledboots.

A voice interrupted the silence“Oh those are nice. They would go great with a mini skirt.”

I almost jumped out of my skin,and my hand dashed to my side arm, but I recognized the voice and with theguilty feeling being caught doing something wrong I turned to look. Wetmouthstood in the door of the shop.

A thousand thoughts went throughmy head. What would they think about me if they found out? What would Har-Hiand Hans think?”

She came in all the way and tooka pair of sandals from a display stand and said. “I am sorry I didn’t mean tostartle you. I didn’t feel like examining rocks and decided to see what you areup to.”

My mind raced to find some sortof explanation, when she reached out for my hand. “It’s perfectly alright,don’t be ashamed. I am a Sojonit, I understand.”

Her hand was warm and tender andthe gentle tone in her voice made me relax and I sighed. “I battle this demon,this curse all my life and I still don’t really know to which side I belong.”

She squeezed my hand a littletighter and I could see her big green eyes sparkle behind the slits of hermask. “I will gladly help you, but I don’t think you need to choose a side, butfind a balance between them. You know not everything needs to be black orwhite; there is always a third option.”

What she said resonated with mefrom what the Coven sisters had told me, maybe she was right. Maybe I didn’tneed to choose between Eric and Freya and could find a balance between bothsides of my personality.

She kissed me on the cheek andsaid. “Let me try on these sandals and then we go to the shop I found acrossthe street. They do have great outfits.”

It never came to that, as Har Hicalled us. “Eric, could you come to the Swine and Dine. They got ribs tonight.”

It was our special code we hadcome up with, if one has an important issue and feared he could be overheard.

With my uniform boots back wherethey belonged we rushed to the next IBT and reached the main concourse of theBase Star port in a few minutes. After crossing the open area we reached therestaurant. We arrived almost at the same time as Krabbel, Mao, Narth and Hans.The others were already there. We purchased ribs to go and followed Har Hi tomy rooms. We spoke the entire time about ribs and souvenirs. Har Hi praised thespecial sauce and Cirruit told us about the Souvenirs he had seen.

Only after we had closed thedoors of my suite and Cirruit assured us the room was secure Har Hi said.“About an hour ago a space ship landed and it is a Karthanian Armed Freighter.”

Elfi said. “We are not exactlyfriendly with the Karthanian but we have trade relations with them and theirships are sold everywhere and to anyone.”

Har Hi nodded. “True that, butthis particular Armed Freighter is the Blood Lust of Captain Grimgore, anotorious pirate and high on the Union wanted list accused of acts of piracy,the trade in sentient life forms and is suspected to be behind several Colonyraids.”

No one spoke as he continued. “Isaw Union personnel and robots starting to load Union fleet supplies into thecargo holds of the Pirate ship.”

Shaka cursed. “Holy sh*t, thereare warehouses with Wolfcraft fighters, Quasimodos, Cerberus Robots and I amsure there are secure warehouses with Translocator cannons and bombs.”

Wetmouth turned from the GalNetTerminal and said. “I can’t call out; the entire system is powered down.”

Just as she tried again theterminal came on in local comm. mode and Commander Cardwell appeared, he said.“It was just noticed you tried to use GalNet, I am sorry but we are upgradingSoftware components and a shutdown was necessary. Since I see you are alltogether, are there any Data Heads among you?”

I said. “Sir I fail to understandthe significance of this question.”

He snarled impatiently. “I askedyou a simple question and I expect you to answer it.”

“Sir this pertains privateinformation and I am not compelled to answer it but if you can give us a validreason.”

He almost yelled. “Because I amordering a complete Communications Black out.”

I knew it now that he was fullyaware of what was going on and said. “What is the reason for the Black Out? Arewe attacked by that Pirate ship and are you under siege?”

There was a pause and we heardanother voice outside the visual pick up. “So I was right my men did see theDai snooping around and he did recognize my ship. I want them dead.”

I said. “Why I am not surprisedNewport scum. I guess you missed watching the hanging of the Newport crooks.Dealing for the Worm and selling Union supplies, aren’t we?”

A man with a bearded face movedinto the visual pick up. “Remain where you are and we let you live, do anythingand we kill you all.” The bearded man made big eyes. “There is a Narth.” Rightafter that statement the terminal went black.

I said. “There is not a moment tolose. We need to get in our battle suits and take our weapons, before he opensthis complex to the outside atmosphere or sends battle robots. We meet in fiveminutes at the Main elevator.”

Now I cursed my decision not toread the second order chip earlier. I did take it out of the secret skinpocket, but there was no time to activate and listen to it.

Wetmouth flipped open the manualinput keyboard from underneath the terminal and her fingers flew over thesymbols. “I have put the station Computronic in a deep diagnostic cycle andafter a reboot it will have to be connected to Fleet main before they can useit, that means they need to go to Environmental and shut down life supportmanually and that isn’t done in a few moments and it should disable most of theintruder containment systems of the base.”

Narth said. “I informed the Narthrepresentative and he will relay this information to fleet command.”

I praised them. “Good thinking,but now get going.”

The Auto dresser was notresponding, getting a Space or Battle suit was out. So I girded my blaster andwent out.

Twelve S 10 Robots with Shockbatons stomped down the corridor and the lead unit snarled.” You are arrested.Resistance will be met with force.” I wondered why S-10 Robots were used forsecurity on a base like this and not Cerberus Battle robots as usual. Not thatI was complaining we would have had no chance otherwise. I said to the leadbot.

“No Robot may arrest humanswithout a Commanding Officer present.”

The robot snarled. “Correct. Remainwere you are till an officer arrives.”

I said. “No robot may issuecommands to a human without a human supervisor present.”

Again the robot followed its baseprogramming and said. “Correct.”

The shock batons lowered. Thosepoor simple Multi Use bots without Computronic guidance were no real obstacle.So I said to it. “Robot weld all elevator doors shut except main shaft.Disengage communication equipment and follow verbal spoken commands only.”

“New Order acknowledged.”

The others came running.

“Krabbel holding four TKUblasters, Hans carrying his big blaster and Har-Hi wore his complete Dai battlesuit and handed me one of the old TKUI Rifles he had secured at Quagmire Bog.

“Take this one, looks like wehave to go against bots and suited troops.”

“Am I the only one not travelingwith an entire arsenal?”

I said and looked surprised atWetmouth. She carried not only a blaster but a long sword over her back, makingme suddenly wish I had Mjördaren with me as well and I asked her. “A sword?”

She said. “It is a very specialone, you’ll see.”

We went to the Main Elevatorshaft. It was out of order, but Hans had little problem opening the slidingdoors with force. I wanted to stick my head into the shaft but Har-Hi pulled meback and a laser beam singed my hair, luckily nothing else.

He said. “Part of the IntruderContainment System, independent from the main systems. We Dai lost quite a fewmen to those nasty shaft lasers in Union ships.”

While he said that he tossed alittle round thing down the shaft.

We could hear the sharp shriek oflaser beams and six sharp explosions. He then held one of his blades into theshaft and nodded. “My scan seeker has destroyed the nearby sensors.”

We all went in and climbed downthe emergency ladder incorporated into the side of the wall. The shaft wasbarely lit and appeared to go on forever.

Har Hi had taken point and I wasthe last. He asked looking up. “Where are we going exactly? Fighting our way toC&C and kill that bastard?”

I responded looking down. “Ifthey have battle sealed it, it will be as hard to penetrate as a battle shipbridge. We go to the Hangars and see if we can send a message with the Brig’sTransDim Radio.”

Elfi said. “That’s a long way.Let’s hope we won’t run into any Cerberus Robots.”

Wetmouth just climbing below mesaid. “He is using S 10’s all over the base because he cannot use CerberusRobots. They are highly intelligent and have GalNet incorporated and theirprogramming cannot be altered.”

Cirruit below Wetmouth looked up.“Then we are lucky because there is a Warehouse full of them. We wouldn’t standa chance.”

I said. “That’s it then. We goand activate the Bots and let them secure the base.”

We had climbed all the way to theground level and I could barely feel my arms. It must have been 1000 meters atleast. Hans had forced a door open, Cirruit yelled for me to look up and I sawthe elevator car coming down at great speed. There was no way we could all makeit through the hole before it hit us.

I fired my blaster into therails, hoping to cut the power and engage the security breaks. The elevator cardid come to a shrieking stop only about ten meters above my head but moltenmetal showered down and one blob of molten metal hit my wrist. It burned so badI lost my grip to the ladder and fell.

“A thin, barely visible silverythread stopped my fall and Krabbel pulled me to safety; the elevator cabinrushed with speed centimeters past my feet, a heartbeat just after I hadcleared the shaft.

We had reached the ground levelof the Crew quarters tower. Access to the Base concourse was blocked by amassive reinforced Ultronit Door.

Commander Cardwell’s voice blaredthrough the Base PA system. “I give you one last chance to surrender. I am nomonster and I make you an offer. I have read your personnel files and I knowthat Mr. Olafson has the highest security clearance there is. I need you andyour code key to open a few doors with me. In exchange I will let your friendsgo free with the Brig right away and I will let you go on the first Freespaceplanet we stop at. I’ll even throw in a million Credits. Consider it; it’s nota bad deal. To help you make up your mind you need to know that there are fourmen in Quasimodos on your heels and when they reach you the deal is off thetable.”

Har-Hi whispered. “If he getsyour key and codes and combines it with his key he can open the Translocatorwarehouse. You know we must first die before we can have these get into thewrong hands.”

To Cirruit I said. “Can you openthat door somehow?” I asked

“No sorry, that thing weighs ahundred tons or more, made of molecular compacted Ultronit and the power iscut. It would take days to burn through it.”

Wetmouth pulled her sword andsaid with a confident tone in her voice. “I can cut it.”

At the same time I could hear theheavy stomping of Battle suits from the other side of the corridor.

I yelled “Find cover,” and threwmyself on the floor behind a sofa seat group. I heard Cirruit. “HolyMother-machine that sword is cutting the Ultronit like paper.”

I didn’t turn to look but yelled:“Everyone protect Wetmouth while she cuts.”

The doors that sealed the otherend of the ground entry lobby and half the wall it was set in shattered as fourQuasimodo Suits stomped in. Har-Hi said with a calm voice. “Everyoneconcentrate your fire on the left one.”

His strategy made sense, therewas no way we could stop fully shielded Quasimodos with one or two blasters,but with all our fire power combined we could wear them down one after theother.

I fired and so did my friends,twelve thermo kinetic bolts hammered into the shields of the first suit. Due tothe fact that we used these old style super strong TKU’s and Krabbel was firingfour at the same time, the Quasimodo’s shields were overwhelmed almostinstantaneously. The wearer did not use his additional force field shield hecould have deployed from his underarm and thankfully it was not a Heavy Assaultversion. The first man died a heartbeat later. If he or the others had beentrained marines we would have been toast by now. But whoever used those suitsnow had no training and it was obvious they still had trouble even walkingstraight. As easy as it might sound it was quite a challenge to walk in aQuasimodo battle suit, especially in a confined area since every move wasaugmented and even a little step ended up being a giant stomp.

A blast roared over my head,missing me by a good five meters, still the air became very hot. I fired intothe ceiling above showering the next two with molten metal. One of theminstinctively raised his arm to protect his face; it was a reflex even thoughthe molten metal shower could not have hurt him.

It gave me time to send a secondblast into the floor. This trick had served me well against the Y’All and itworked better here.

The man’s tumbled, actuallybackhanded the one next to him with his left arm.

Har Hi yelled: “Everyone closeyour eyes and cover your ears.”

A second later an ear shatteringboom lifted me of the floor and a stinging hot pressure wave rolled over mepressing the air out of my lungs.

The sofa seats were on fire. Ismelled the distinctive scent of burned hair. When I could see again, the rearhalf of the room was gone, replaced by a molten crater some 7 meters indiameter and two suited men dying in screaming agony as their suits meltedaround them. The fourth was still standing but his neck snapped suddenly insidehis helmet and he collapsed as well.

Har Hi said with an apologeticexpression on his face “Sixteenth of a Gram AM Grenade, was a tad more than Iexpected.”

I said quite angry. “You realizethat we are on a planet with a hostile atmosphere?”

He apologized and said. “Icalculated the safety margin to the outside walls from here to be adequate. Iforgot you don’t wear armor.”

It actually hurt when I grinnedand I expected to have at least first degree burns in my face. “Well it workedand I should be glad you even have such a thing with you.”

He said. “I always do, I am Dai.”

Krabbel assured me that thesinged hair of his legs would grow back and Narth confirmed he was alsoalright.

We went back to the blockedentrance and to my and the others surprise her sword cut big chunks out of theseveral meters thick emergency door. Her mysterious sword sliced throughreinforced molecular compacted Ultronit as if cutting butter with a hot knife.

All excited barely containing hisamazement, Har Hi gasped. “What kind of blade is this?”

She had carved a neat tunnel intothe metal and now made a final circular cut. She answered without stopping. “Itis a very unique sword. I tell you how I got it at a later time.”

Hans stomped against the lastpiece she just had cut and a meter thick disc of at least two tons of Ultronitclanged onto the shiny floor of the space port concourse and the way was open.Har Hi glued something into the breach Wetmouth has just cut, and explainedlooking to me. “Proximity Mine, A full gram.”

We had made it into the Base mainterminal. Six men armed but not in battle suits were totally surprised by ourpresence and were burned to atomic ashes before they could send one bolt into ourdirection.

Cirruit said pointing the way.“We have to make it across the main lobby, cut again through one of theseUltronit doors and into the connection tunnel, traverse it and cut into theWarehouse section and...” Cirruit collapsed as if someone had cut the stringsof a puppet, simultaneous all the lights went out. Our weapons went into safetylock and shut down.

Elfi pointed at a Group with aTech Stop projector across the hall and three of them struggled to put a P4Paralysator on its tripod.

Hans grabbed the several tonpiece of metal; Wetmouth had cut and threw it like a giant Frisbee all acrossthe lobby, before the Paralysator beam hit him first.

The disk hit them with force anddestroyed the Paralysator and smeared the three men into stains across thefloor.

The other two manning the TechStop projector dropped to the floor with their heads twisted to their backs.Despite the fact that I would have killed them too, I felt sick to the stomachseeing how deadly Narth’s telekinetics were. I shouldered Cirruit, and noticedhow heavy he was and said. “Everyone see if you can drag Hans.”

Without Narth we would have hadno chance to get our big Saturnian friend across to the next door. Hans floatedbehind Narth and together we made it to the Tunnel entrance. Again Wetmouth’sSword cut through the metal and sliced a big round passage. An enormousdetonation rolled across the Lobby and Har Hi grinned. “Amateurs.”

We made it unhindered through theTunnel, Cirruit was starting to move and I lowered him to the ground. He sat upin a very mechanical motion his head turned completely to his back and his eyesblinked in red and green colors. Finally his white expressionless mechanicalpupils rolled into their sockets and his head rotated into the normal position.He got back on his feet and said with a coarse more mechanical voice thanusual. “Tech Stop does things to me you don’t want to know. Any more of it andI would not be able to get up again.”

Wetmouth administered a drug intoHans, she had taken out of her small first aid kit and after a few Moments Hansalso moved, still groggy but able to get up and walk.

With our friends back on theirfeet, Wetmouth cut the next locked door and I rolled through it first. Againtwo men were putting a large weapon together. Too far away to be jumped, myBlaster still deactivated I pulled the 45 and fired. Neither man wore shieldsbut both had armor. One of them I hit square between the eyes, proving thatthis old chemical slug thrower was still quite deadly, the other was not hurtas the slugs careened off his helmet socket, but the impacts of the two shotsmade him stumble back and a flickering metal streak managed to hit past hisraised arms through a tiny opening right into his mouth. One of Har-Hi’sknives, showing only part of the grip as it stuck between his teeth.

We rushed into the room andCirruit said: “Down that corridor are the Cerberus storages.”

Twenty five men in Battle suitsand a strange six legged being with purple fur all heavily armed dropped fromthe ceiling. One of them was the Base Commander in a fully operationalCerberus, and by his moves he knew how to use it, he was after all a trainedUnion Officer. He held a strange device. “This is a Saresii Psi Seeker, if theNarth even so much as tries a Psionic trick you all die. Your weapons do notwork, ours do. Surrender now.”

The bearded man we had seenbefore stepped forward and the purple animal jumped the entire fifteen metersthat separated us, I fired the Colt three times and all three slugs hit their targetand into the belly of the being I was certain I killed it, but my slugs couldnot stop its momentum and it hit me full force. Something painful stung me intothe stomach and chest and I fell backwards, buried almost completely by thatpurple animal. Everything around me begun to dissolve into a blurred mix ofcolors and lights, through this haze I heard a voice. “The Wurlag stung him,it’s over for him.” and then there was nothing.

== Chapter 11:Rewards ==

When I came around, I was stilllying under that purple thing. The armed and fully armor suited men were closenow holding their weapons ready pointing them at my friends.

The bearded dark skinned manwearing a battle suit of unknown origin argued with Cardwell. “I want you toopen those Translocator storages now. We do not have much time.”

Cardwell barked back and pointedat me. “I told you that two command codes are needed to open them, the only oneable doing that was killed by your idiotic pet.”

“Be very careful, Cardwell. Yourusefulness has ended.”

The Base Commander’s Quasimodohand snapped around the throat of the bearded Pirate and he hissed. “I am stillin the Commandant of this base and I am wearing a Quasimodo. Unlike your goons,I know how to use it.”

The Pirate struggled andcoughed.” You are nothing, now unhand me. Do you think I trusted you while youput on that suit? I put a Eugeletrian Sneegal in it while it was still open andit might just crawl to the base of your neck. Not even your Auto Doc canprevent the effects of those little suckers, poison.”

Caldwell dropped the man andopened his helmet, which was my chance. No one paid any attention to me and Ifired, my last round, the bullet hit Caldwell right under the chin and theeffect of the heavy lead projectile was quite gruesome. My friends didn’t needmore distraction to react.

Wetmouth’s strange sword slicedone of the men from shoulder to hip battle suit and all. Hans hammered both ofhis fists and all his might on the helmeted head of the third.

The rest tried to use theirweapons but they did not work. Cirruit said. “Nanites are so useful.”

The Armor of the next simply fellin pieces all around him and he stood there as naked as on the day of hisbirth. Narth’s eyes glowed no longer yellow but deep red and his voice was nolonger recognizable. “You have harmed my friend. Now you shall learn that Narthhas learned the meaning of rage.”

Twenty pirates slowly rose fromthe floor and with sudden popping sounds the inside of their helmets wheresplashed with dark red matter and they all dropped lifeless to the ground.

Several strands of Spider silkhit the bearded man, he was pulled with force close to Krabbel who turned himwith dizzy speed between his hind legs and the pirate was turned into a cocoon,battle suit and all and in less than a few seconds.

Wetmouth came over and sliced hishelmet off.

I raised my hand and said as loudas I could. “Cirruit, go activate the Cerberus, do not let anything distractyou.”

Cirruit was a certifiedTranslocator technician. A fact that was not mentioned in the non-classifiedsection of his personnel file and had Blue-Blue-Blue clearance, I held out mycode key and said. “Day code is Strawberry.”

Cirruit ran with machine speedand out of my sight.

Hans lifted the purple thing ofme and Wetmouth dropped to her knees examining me. She looked up to the othersand said. “The Wurlag has stunned him.”

I wanted to get up but I couldnot feel my legs at all. “Weird, I can’t get up. Is something still pinning medown?” I saw tears in Wetmouth’s eyes. “No Eric, that’s the poison of theWurlag.”

With the weight of the animalgone I could still prop myself up and there I saw a beautiful sight. Themassive warehouse doors exploded into atomic dust glittering in the air andCerberus IX marched out in perfect robotic movements it was a display of UnionMilitary might, like few other. Each of them exactly three hundred and fiftycentimeters tall with four Myomylar-Syntho muscled arms, nearly indestructible,with the fire power equivalent to an entire platoon of fully equipped Marines,the very pinnacle of Terran Military engineering.

The lead robot scanned the roomand approached me. With its deep modulated voice the robot said. “IDVerification Scan complete. Highest Command Authority recognized. Your OrdersSir?”

I said with a relieved grin. “Thebase is infiltrated by criminals and foreign intruders. There is an alien shipwith stolen Mil Tech. Secure the base by all means necessary and prevent theship from leaving.”

The robot responded.“Instructions received and understood.”

The robot battalion activatedtheir flying capability and swarmed like gigantic angry hornets in everydirection.

The bearded pirate laughed. “Youstill lost, the Wurlag poison will destroy every neural path in your body andthere is nothing anyone can do in time. I do have the anti dote on my ship allyou have to do is let me go and it is yours.”

I still was able to shake myhead. “Sorry Scum, I cannot be bought.”

He cursed and said. “You fool. Ihave an even bigger ship in orbit and it will turn this place to slag.”

Har-Hi said. “You have no ideawhat Cerberus robots can do.”

Through a view port we sawCerberus robots by the dozen shoot like rockets upward into the grey sky.

From behind I heard runningboots, but by now I could not even turn my head. Marines and finally AdmiralStahl came into my view. Wetmouth cried. “He was stung by a Wurlag, Sir.”

To hear real concern in the voiceof the eternal soldier was not something I wanted to hear in my situation buthe said. “Oh sh*t. Get that man into Stasis at once.”

--””--

I woke and found myself in a medstation diagnostic bed and said more to myself than anyone else. “Say is italways me, who loses consciousness around here?”

Wetmouth immediately came intoview and she said with excitement in her voice. “He is awake. Eric is awake.”

She simply hugged me and I couldfeel her tender lips from behind her mask kissing me on the nose on the cheeksand then on my lips.

Then a warm deep voice said. “Itpleases me greatly to see you are well.” Narth came into view.

Cirruit stood by the foot end andsaid. “No you’re not the only one. I was the one hit by Tech Stop, remember?”

Now a Med Tech with an MD Snakeon her collar scanned me and she was obviously pleased with the results andsaid. “Welcome to the land of the living, Ensign Olafson, you now officiallythe first living being ever to survive a Wurlag sting, congratulations.”

I sat up and said. “Can someoneplease tell me what a Wurlag is in the first place?”

Narth motioned to Wetmouth and itseemed they came to a working agreement. She said. “It is a genetically alteredlife form that originally had been stolen from Green Hell about 200 years ago.It has been bred and changed so it can be held as an attack and guard animal.Its stingers are laced with one of the most complex Bio toxins known toscience.”

The Med Tech said. “You haveamazing friends, Mr. Olafson. The Sojonit worked tirelessly for five days todevelop an antidote and this morning she succeeded, but then another Narthshows up and all the neural damage caused by the poison is reverted in an eyeblink.”

As I turned I noticed anotherNarth and he came closer to the bed. I immediately knew who he was, even thoughhe looked exactly the same as all the Narth I had met before. He put his handon my shoulder and I could feel something like electricity pass through me, butit was not painful or unpleasant. On the contrary it felt uplifting andenergizing and he said. “One could not let the one who shared the Hugavh passinto the beyond. One had to obtain the knowledge of your neural system beforewe could travel here and aid you in your recuperation. I am the one known asthe Narth Supreme and you Eric are a child of Narth. Your well-being isimportant to Narth. I came as soon as I was able, but your friend Wetmouth wasindeed able to synthesize the antidote. Her Intellect and its practicalapplication is most noteworthy.”

I could not help but feel deeplyin awe, my skin crawled with goose bumps. Only once had I felt this way, onlyonce but I could not remember when or where. Something white and huge floatedat the edge of my consciousness and I simply could not concentrate enough tofocus and assumed it was an after effect of my poisoning.

I said. “I am deeply honored byyour presence, Narth Supreme. Can you make me hear Narth again?”

He kept his hand on my shoulderand slowly nodded. “Your will is the key, Child of Narth and your will has doneas you wished. One is pleased that Narth has such a friend as you. The conceptof friendship has been understood and its deep value has been revealed throughyou two and in doing so opened the door to other concepts such as honor, loveand affection.

All that is Narth is deeplythankful. Now one must go on and return to Narth Prime. Narth Prime that is nowyour home as well and one day you will come home and Narth will no longer bealien and strange to you.”

From one heart beat to the nextthe Narth Supreme was gone, but I could feel his touch a little longer.

I realized that no one around hadnoticed or heard what just happened, except of course for my friend and oncemore could I feel his thoughts and heard his words in my mind and as far as itconcerned me, the world was alright again.

His voice and presence in mefilled a void I knew was there the entire time since that time in the Crawlercat.

He said. “Time as you and Iperceive it on this plane has little meaning for the one who is the NarthSupreme.”

I answered him in the same way.“I am sure glad he fixed that Psi shield of mine, I missed your presence.”

“He did not fix it Eric; it wasyou who made your shield transparent to me.”

Wetmouth not knowing I wastalking to Narth said. “A week, I slaved a week in the lab and your Narthfriend comes and fixes you in an eye-blink.”

She took my hand in a shy gestureand added. “Not that I mind, I am so glad you are alive.”

I blinked and said. “A week, Iwas out an entire week?”

The Eternal Warrior approached mybed and he said. “Nine days to be exact, Son. That amazing Sojonit friend ofyours has not slept the entire time.”

With him was the Admiral of theFleet, McElligott and a tall blonde with a truly angelic face, I had not seenor met before.

I suddenly realized, I was stillan Ensign and there were two Admirals in the room, my Academy training kickedin and I jumped out of the bed and wanted to salute, realizing half out Iwasn’t wearing anything and went right back.

“Sorry Sir, it appears Imisplaced my uniform somewhere.”

I blushed as I noticed thesnickering of my friends and the smiles of the Admirals.

Stahl looked over to McElligottand said. “I think we do not need to insist on formal greetings, not in amedical ward anyway.” Actually glancing at my medical chart read out he said.

“Even though you are technicallyfine and fit for duty, stay in bed a little while longer so we can fill youin.”

While I tugged the cover higherto make sure I was completely covered I said. “Sir that would be greatlyappreciated. I had no time to check on the Order chip, Captain Harris has givenme.”

Stahl simply acknowledged with anod, and said. “We were pretty sure Cardwell was one of Dent’s planted agentsbut we wanted to catch whoever was in contact with him as well. If we hadarrived with a big team or the Devi, we might have gotten Cardwell but none ofhis contacts. So my esteemed colleague Admiral McElligott decided to send you,as the proverbial monkey wrench so to speak to Richter Station. Where you wouldhopefully discover whatever went on and report to us so we can move in. Thatwas pretty much what was on the Order chip by the way and the Devi was neverfar away.”

I could not help being sarcasticeven in the presence of these two immortals.

“Great idea sending a bunch ofexpendable Midshipmen, in a situation that cost ten officers their livesbefore, there are plenty more where they came from.”

Stahl eyed his old colleague fromthe side.

“I told you he was going to saysomething cynical.”

McElligott said to me. “You areOfficers and if you want to be one then you must realize that you will getorders that put you in dangerous situations, which is the path you have chosen.Now I have not found it necessary to explain my reasons for an order in a verylong time, but I will make an exception.”

He pulled up a chair sat down andarranged the folds of his kilt over his stubby looking knees and fished for hispipe. His old grumpy looking face changed into a grin.

“You know this is the second timeI find myself sitting in a hospital room before your bed to try to explainsomething to you.”

He looked for something andHar-Hi handed him his cigar lighter.

“Sir would you like to use mine?”

McElligott looked up to Har-Hi,took the lighter and said. “Ah you are the Dai. Never thought you lads smokedor carried a real old Dunhill lighter.”

Har-Hi raised one of his eyebrowsand said. “Yes Sir, I am the Dai. It was an Ult that brought me to smokingcigars and the lighter was a gift I received from Admiral Stahl, Sir.”

McElligott started puffing hispipe and handed the lighter back. “You are the Dai I heard so much about. Thereis a certain Commander Cotton who sent me about 2000 requests for yourtransfer, recommending you to Fighter School, seeing your name pass that oftenacross my desk makes you in my eyes ‘that Dai’.” To Stahl he complained.

“Where did you get this bunch?Now I am explaining myself to another Ensign and he made me do it by justraising an eyebrow.”

Stahl actually swiped on his feetwhile he had his arms crossed behind his back. “If I knew the answer to that,I’d get me a bunch more.”

McElligott puffed once more andthen said to me. “You and your friends are not the average cadets andmidshipmen and I can’t say if it is a particularly good or bad thing, but youare on my radar so to speak for quite a while now.

Since you were instrumental inexposing a Thauran connection to the Worm and later helped to shut down NewportI thought about you when the Richter 4 thing came over my desk again. Now thereis another reason you are here, but I will come to that later. For now you havea day of R&R and then you will graduate and be assigned to your newpostings.”

--””--

It turned out I was still onRichter base and not aboard the Devastator, but the giant ship had landed andoccupied an entire landing field. On one of the other fields was the USSShetland and especially on the ground where the eye had clear reference pointsthe difference in size was mind boggling. Seeing a 3500 meter Arsenal ship, thepinnacle of Union technology against that gigantic ship of alien origin reducedto a toy, brought home once again how incredibly big the Devastator was. TheShetland looked small and insignificant.

The base was now busy withpersonnel off the Devi. There were engineers and technicians still repairingthe damage from our battle.

Har-Hi said. “We thought we’dcelebrate your return to the land of the living with a dinner. Mao foundTyranno Fin in the stasis freezer of the Hilton hotel.”

Wetmouth said. “But until then Iam going to sleep. I am dead on my feet.”

I held her back and while it wasnot really regulations. I hugged her and said. “Thank you.”

She returned the hug and onceagain I could not help thinking how nice it felt to hold her.

Krabbel of course could not holdhimself back and hugged us both. “It’s the second time I thought we lost you.If it happens a third time, I am going to get white leg hairs like an oldspider. There is only so much a poor Arachnoid can take, you know.”

--””--

Krabbel managed to convince Narthand Mao to go back to the amusem*nt park for a few more rides. This time I feltNarth and how much he enjoyed the company of my other friends and his growingaffection for them.

Elfi, Shaka and Hans insisted onpreparing the dinner this time. I saw Har-Hi in a deep conversation with theAdmiral of the Fleet and from the gestures I knew he was talking about fightercraft.

The medical department of thebase had the size of a major hospital. Exiting the Intensive care unit I cameout on a fourth tier walk way. Leaning against the railing I had a great viewof the main concourse below. Almost exactly across was the Fleet Housing buildingand I saw robots and technicians working on the damaged Ultronit security door.

To the left was the space portpassenger facilities and right below me on ground level the entrance to theSpace port mall and Arthur’s Swine and Dine.

A group of Officers andtechnicians stood by the Tunnel entrance towards the Technical area and thewarehouses and even from here I could tell they were puzzled about the fact themassive doors could have been cut open like this.

I planned to ask Wetmouth abouther sword as soon as I had a chance. The only thing tougher than moleculecompacted Ultronit was Neutronium as far as I knew and there were rumors thatR&D experimented with Neutronium based materials. But a sword made ofNeutronium would weigh thousands of tons and no being could possibly wield it.

While I was leaning there andlooking over the now busy concourse, I noticed men and women dispersed amongthe workers and fleet personnel trying hard to look inconspicuous and natural.I was almost certain those were NAVINT spooks.

The tall blond with the angelicface, I had seen with McElligott and Stahl leaned next to me on the railing andlike me gazed over the lively scenery below.

She then turned her head andlooked at me, her face halfway obscured by her hair.

“I have heard quite a bit aboutyou and I think it is time I introduce myself, I am Cherubim.”

She wore a black dress that endeda hand width over her knees. It was belted at her hip with a broad shinyleather belt. It was a nice outfit but not a uniform. At least none Irecognized if it was one after all.

I said to her. “Nice to meet youMa’am and since you heard lots about me and you have been present with theAdmirals you must be someone important.”

A fine smile curled her lips. “DoI detect an edge in your voice? You know who I am then?”

I shrugged. “Since you were withthe Immortals I am sure you are a very important person, but I have not theslightest idea. There is no edge in my voice Ma’am, just whenever someone tellsme they know all about me I end up in some kind of situation.”

She said. “I can understand thatand I think given your past track record you will sooner or later be in anothersituation.

I am one of them, you know one ofthose Immortals, selected to protect and guide Earth.”

I turned to look at her not justfrom the side and said.

“Please don’t get this wrong Ms.Cherubim, but somehow it seems I am attracting the attention of you Immortalsmore than anyone I know, this can’t be coincidence.”

“Eric, there are trillions ofbeings in our Union and more in the galaxies around us. Some have life spans ofa few years, others live to see centuries but they all have a limited time, butthere are those who do not age and have the potential to see the end of time.It is a very small society if you will and while we are not all friends, wetend to know each other.” She paused looked away and said. “Eric, you are mostlikely one of us.”

I felt dizzy as she said that andprotested. “Ma’am, I am going to turn 21 I am not an Immortal. My parents areNeo Vikings and we age and die, you must have the wrong guy.”

Even as I said that, I wasn’t sosure myself. Could she be right? Even in our small society on Nilfeheim I mettwo and was distantly related to one of them.

She left me time before sheanswered. “Narth Supreme calls you his Child and the Narth have made you one ofthem. It might take centuries or millennia before you become a Narth, but youare on your way, if you manage to stay alive of course, none of the Immortals Iknow, not even the Narth are truly invulnerable and can be killed, but time andage I am certain will have little meaning to you as it has to the rest of us.”She pointed towards the hospital.

“You know why the Pirates andeven your friends paid no attention to you after you were jumped by the Wurlag?”

I shook my head.

She said. “Because they allthought you were dead, not even a Pertharian would have lasted as long as youhave. You are changing, slowly perhaps but eventually you will be one of us.”

I tried to ignore what she said,tell myself that it was all wrong but I knew she was right and then I said.“Immortals always have some sort of task or destiny right? What is mine?”

Cherubim now smiled again. “Onlythe ones who were chosen by the Guardian of Earth received tasks and specialgifts to perform them. Neither you, the Narth or your friends of the Coven havebeen chosen that way. Now we all have destinies, mortal or immortal but I guesswe all have a say in how we shape it.”

I returned to lean on the railingand said.

“So if McElligott is theAdministrator and Admiral Stahl is the Warrior, who are you?”

“I am the Hunter.”

“What does that mean? I see whereMcElligott is called the Administrator because that is what he does andeveryone knows why Stahl is the Warrior.”

“I find the trails of those whowant to harm our Union track them and hunt them down. I don’t do it with fleetsand soldiers as the enemies I seek are often unreachable or to small and tooslick to be fought with battle ships and marines. You should know more than alittle about that part already.”

“More than I ever wanted to behonest. And you should hunt that Purple Worm and while you are at it that crookcalling himself the Red Dragon.”

“That is exactly why I am here onRichter Base.”

She turned from the hand railingand slowly walked away. She waved her hand and said. “We will run into eachother again, Eric.”

I watched her enter an IBT anddisappear.

How long I remained standingthere I could not say as so much was going through my head. The worst part wasthat I knew there was something I should remember but I could not.”

I was pulled out of all this by awarm presence that came into my mind and Narth said to me telepathically.

“One should not dwell on suchmatters, even the Admiral lives day by day and doesn’t think all too much abouthow many years or millennia he has lived or is still going to experience.”

Narth’s words of wisdom chasedthe gloomy thoughts away. I was just a Neo Viking and all this talk aboutImmortality, destinies and tasks was for Semi-gods and eternal Admirals and notfor an Ensign at the beginning of his career.

I decided to find Narth, Krabbeland Mao after all and join them.

--””--

We had our formal dinner at thesame top floor restaurant as before and this time there was no moving dishesbut instead real, genuine Tyranno Fin steaks and I had roasted them myself on aportable table grill.

Tasting the first fork was purebliss. I closed my eyes and let the taste of home melt on my tongue.

After I was finally done Iactually had to loosen the snaps on my Uniform blouse, I doubted I had evereaten so much.

Har-Hi also had a second portionand said. “I never been much of a fish eater, but this is really good.

Cirruit sighed. “What would Igive for a stomach and taste butts, It looks I am missing so much.”

Narth said. “All that is Narthmissed out for millennia, as eating and tasting can be such an experience. Iwish I could share my experience with you, Cirruit as I do share it with allthat is Narth.”

The X101 sighed again. “I am sogoing for that upgrade.”

Wetmouth said. “I think I shouldbe able to install it. I have studied much about X101 technology and physiologythanks to the first aid and emergency procedures Mother Machine has sent me.”

Cirruit took her hand and said.“Maybe I can’t taste the food yet but if there is a better way to spend anevening than with your best friends then I sure did not know it. I am a blessedmachine.”

It warmed my heart to hear himsay that as I felt the same way and it pleased me to see that Narth fit rightin and the others accepted him like he was there from the start.

As the dinner was near the end itwas Narth who against his usual reserved ways stood and spoke a toast.

“In human terms, Eric issomething like a brother to me, only much closer.

Through his eyes I knew of youbefore we met but in recent weeks I was fortunate to get to know you all inperson.

We Narth are unlike any otherspecies and we have lost and forgotten so much what corporal beings know anddo, but through Eric and now through you our minds are opened to values we hadlost and were so much poorer without them.

Here in this circle, the valueand meaning of true friendship becomes apparent and I am now able to say themeaning of pride is no longer alien to me, pride knowing you all.”

There was silence then Elfi gotup and simply hugged Narth. “That was so beautiful.”

Hans put his hand on Narthshoulder. “You’re alright, Narth and not just because you saved my life.”

Only Wetmouth appeared sad,despite her mask I could tell.

I asked her. “Is something wrong?”

She nodded. “I just realized thismight be our last evening together.”

Everyone became quiet and lookedat her.

It was Shaka who said. “Now thatshe mentions it, the Admiral said we graduate today and after that happens weall be sent to various postings.”

Mao sighed. “I wish it wasn’t sobut I know from Lt. Merkus that there are at least 60 posting requests forShaka, as he is not only a Virtu Helmsman but one of the best.”

Krabbel who just had hugged Narthballed himself together on his chair instead of hanging from the ceiling asusual said. “I don’t want to go somewhere else and they call me the monster andthe Arachnid again and when they say it always sounds like they fear me or findme disgusting. Here I am Krabbel and I can be myself and no one finds merepulsive.”

Har-Hi played with his wine glass“It is a Commission you know. We could reject the commission and go private.I’d rather haul iron ore in an old Scow from Planet A to B and be with you thanbeing the Commandant of a Battle Cruiser.”

Elfi looked up. “I am sure my Momwould let us have a nice ship. We simply could go exploring or something.”

I too recalled the words of theAdmiral and I wondered what would be more important to me, becoming a Starshipcaptain or go private with my friends and I knew the answer. I would not goprivate. I made a commitment and I wanted to do my part so little Holdians,Commander or not could be safe and hunt scum like the Red Dragon to the gatesof hell. I wanted to help to clean this Navy from the curse that was the Worm.I wanted to be a Starship captain; even serving apart we could be friends. Iknew I was arguing with myself, these friends were more than family to me.

The Elevator hummed and the threeImmortals appeared and all three were dressed for the occasion, the Admirals intheir dress uniforms and the woman in a daring black dress.

Before anyone could jump up,Stahl said. “As you were.”

McElligott said. “I was toldabout your fine little tradition and we wanted to join your festivities, butall I see are sad and long faces and it is deadly quiet.”

Stahl also looked surprised. “Iwould say it is us, but somehow I think there is another reason for the gloom.”

I stood and my friends did thesame. I said. “Please join us and forgive our manners.”

We offered chairs for the highranking guests and after everyone sat and the wait bot took their drink orders,Elfi simply said it. “It is not you, Sirs and Ma’am. We just realized that weare going to graduate.”

McElligott thanked Krabbel as heserved the guests a plate of fish each and then said

“I was always under theimpression graduation was an occasion to celebrate and all the Midshipmen andCadets I knew always looked forward to this day.”

Wetmouth said. “We realized wewill be separated as you said. We will receive our new postings and that couldbe all across three galaxies and a few star clusters. So this might be our lastnight all being together. This is a big Navy and the possibility for us all tohave time and the opportunity to meet again is zero point eight percent takinginto account the number of beings, the possible number of postings, the varioustimes for leave of absence and the possible dangerous nature of our business.”

Narth put his head sideways, andthen nodded. “I concur with this estimate.”

McElligott said. “That is how theNavy usually works I agree. Now I think it makes no sense to postpone thingsmuch further so we can start right away. With all these gloomy faces, Iwouldn’t like the food even if it was a Burns supper complete with Haggis andScotch.”

He glanced to Stahl and said. “Iam still theoretically the boss of this outfit, even if I lately feel myselfcompelled to explain myself to Cadets. So don’t give me that look of yours.”

Stahl shrugged, had the samestoic face as always, but his eyes could not hide his amusem*nt.

The Admiral of the Fleet got upfrom his place after taking a good swallow of the wine and made a wavinggesture with his hand and said.

“Midshipmen get over there on thedance floor and get to attention, for what I am about to do it is simplytradition to stand in attention.”

We all scrambled to the emptyspot between the tables and made a neat row and stood to attention.

McElligott flanked by Stahl andCherubim slowly walked down the row and stopped, turned and faced us.

“I celebrate you on thisimportant day, as you join these traditions and vow to support and defend theUnited Stars Constitution. The freedoms we enjoy depend vitally on the serviceyou and your forebears have undertaken in our behalf. Indeed, I wish that therewere more of you. You have jumped to planet surfaces, challenged your bodiesand your brains and become mentally and physically prepared for service. Youhave our respect for your choices, our admiration for your commitment, and ourdeep gratitude for your willingness to confront dangers on our Union’s behalfin the months and years to come.”

He stepped before Har-Hi: “Ihereby commission you to full Lieutenant of the United Stars Navy with all thecommensurate responsibilities and privileges of that rank.”

That was unexpected.

He did the same to everyone downthe line. It was a surprise that he promoted everyone not just Ensign, orJunior Grade but to Full Lieutenants.

Now he promoted Wetmouth andgraduated her, I was the last standing next to her, but he stopped and did notpromote me. As much as it surprised me, somehow I expected it. They marked myabsence against me or something like that.

The Admiral said. “At easeLieutenants.”

I remained in attention.

Wetmouth was the first saying.“Sir, have you by any chance forgotten to promote Eric? He deserves it at leastas much as we.”

The old Admiral said. “NoLieutenant Wetmouth, I promoted everyone I wanted to promote at this point.Ensign Olafson you may stand at ease as well.”

Har-Hi stepped forward. “Sir, asI understand this is a commission and one of those rights you spoke off, is toreject it and give it back, right?”

McElligott gasped and said. “Youwant to reject your commission?”

Now they all stepped forward andas if out of one mouth they said: “Yes.”

Narth said. “I remember veryvividly the injustice done to Eric, very recently and it was you who promisedhim improvement and fairness. You made this promises to keep Narth in theUnion. What has he done this time to deserve...?”

I held up my hand. “Friends, youworked hard for this, don’t throw it away. You won the Reagan trophy becauseyou knew I would have wanted it. Now I want you to be good officers. That Ihave failed to achieve their recognition has their reasons I am sure. They areAdmirals and Immortals after all.”

Cherubim’s face did not change,but her eyes glittered as she looked at the Old Admiral.

“Maybe some of us are a littleout of touch with their humanity.”

Admiral Stahl’s face was asunreadable as always.

Something beeped and the OldAdmiral looked at his wrist com. “She is here just on time, if everyone wouldfollow me now?”

Stahl winked at me as we turnedand walked to the Elevator.

As spacious as the elevator cabinwas, it would not hold us all. So Wetmouth, Krabbel, Stahl and I waited for thesecond car.

Wetmouth asked. “Do you know whyEric wasn’t promoted, Sir?”

He looked at her and said.“Indeed I do.”

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matteranyhow, this duality of standards that hold true for some and not for others isa theme that follows me since I joined.”

Stahl sighed. “Eric I know. Butthis time it is really different. My old friend is a bit peculiar about how hedoes things. He was an old man before he became an immortal and he hasforgotten how it is to be young. Do you trust me?”

“Yes Sir I do.”

“Then just wait a few morehours.”

After the elevator ride we joinedthe others in the main concourse of the Richter 4 space port.

And we all followed the kiltwearing Admiral onto a Slide belt.

A black skinned Captain, who waseven taller than Shaka, but otherwise could have been a brother joined us onthe belt and introduced himself as Captain Bangizwe. He greeted Shaka and saidwhile bowing deeply. “I did not expect to meet the son of Chacka Chitauli. Whatan honor.”

Wetmouth whispered to me.” Thatmeans Important Leader, who tells us the law.”

Shaka returned the greeting andsaid. “It prides me to see a man of our tribe so far from home.”

The slide belt we travelled onchanged directions at a belt junction and passed through a tunnel onto an alleybetween two of the petal shaped landing fields. One of the frequent sand stormspelted the transparent tunnel that protected us from the planet’s atmosphereand weather conditions. There on the landing field next to the Shetland stoodanother modern Ultra Battle ship. The black captain said to Shaka.

“Your highness that is my ship,the USS Atlantis. One day you might helm one of these if you get a rating highenough.”

McElligott laughed. “Captain, doyou know how many posting requests exist for that young man? You would be luckyto get him. This Helmsman has a Fleet Helm position efficiency rating of 812!”

The tall Captain made a wipingmotion with his hand and said. “That is impossible, only Virtu Helmsmen whohave the gift could possibly get a rating like this and we all know VirtuHelmsmen with the Special talent and a rating of over 340 are barely able totalk and usually turn completely crazy after only a few years.”

As we were carried past theBattle ship Shaka responded angrier than I had ever seen him before. “You wouldnot have greeted me as the son of Chacka Chitauli if you had seen me a fewyears ago, but ignored me as they all do. My father the King at first rejectedme and only because the Navy puts so much value on persons suffering from thisform of Autism he considers me useful. But the Navy isn’t any better becausethe Fleet treats Virtu helm talents like idiots, good for one thing only.

Autism is useful to the Navy butit is still a burden to those who suffer it. I managed with great difficulty toget into a regular Midshipman program for my third year and that made all thedifference. Would it surprise you if I tell you that none of my friends arebelow a Helm rating of 300?”

The Battle ship captain looked atus surprised and McElligott said to him, most amazing is the fact thatLieutenant Shaka Chitauli has excellent fighting skills, is a Blaster marksman,knows tactical and is an excellent engineer.”

Wetmouth put her hand on Shaka’sshoulder. “Not to mention that he currently works on his biotronic sciencePhD.”

Captain Bangizwe gasped. “How isthis possible?”

Shaka’s tone was still sharp ashe answered. “Because my friends never make me feel sick or special. I wasalways integrated in everything and they helped me and were there for me when Ifought the nightmares of my so called gift. My therapist says I am almostcompletely cured, without any psycho surgery and still I am a good helmsman andcan use the gift. I say treat helmsmen like people and not like specialoutsiders.”

McElligott looked to Shaka andsaid. “Your critique has not fallen on deaf ears. I want you to help me writenew guidelines and we will change how Virtu Helmsmen are trained and treated.”

While this discussion went on theslide belt had carried us way past the landing field now and moved across thedust and dirt plain towards the mountains. The old Fleet Admiral explained. “Itmight come to a surprise to you, but Richter Base was not built by accident oras a forgotten base project, as some bureaucrats green lighted. All this was acarefully planted story.”

He snickered. “You see, there isone thing we Immortals do better than others and that is long term planning. Weset things in motion that bear fruit, decades or even centuries later.”

He looked straight at me as hesaid. “Some think of me as an old fool and perhaps in some ways I am, but eversince the Freespace Treaty was signed, I wanted a base as close to it aspossible, yet no one really paying any attention to it.

Yes a base has to be manned andCardwell and his cronies turned out to be criminals, but I made certain fromthe start that he had no access to the really important things and their dayswere numbered. Maybe he had told you that there was still construction goingon.”

I simply nodded as he was stilllooking at me.

The slide belt tunnel merged withthe base of the mountains and went underground.

Stahl wrinkled his forehead andcrossed his arms. “You scheming son of a gun, I think I need to pay a littlemore attention to the little side things you do.”

The kilt wearing Admiral grinnedlike a Neo Viking in an Axe store and said.

“All this is part of Project Fishand now the project has turned into Operation Fish and those of you presentwill learn what this Operation is all about.”

The slide belt carried us momentslater back into the open and onto the surface.

McElligott said. “Richter Basehas more than one landing field and more than one space port.” He made asweeping gesture over the mountain surrounded Duro-Crete landing field.

“This is Richter Port II”

A space ship was resting on itslanding gear in the center of the field. I had never seen a ship like this. Ithad clear Terran lines, but there were no ISAH pods. Its bow looked much likethe head of a Rock Shark, a broad round chisel shape that flowed into astreamlined flattened cylinder that softly increased to a massive aft. Iestimated the ship to be between 800 and 900 meters long. At its stern it wasperhaps four hundred meters across, slowly narrowing to that chisel shaped bow.It was not navy gray, but shimmered in an onyx gray titanium color and insteadof armor plating I noticed a fine pattern of hexagonal shapes all across itsskin.

It stood on four wide landingpads and an IST shaft was lowered to the ground, underneath and near its rearend. On the high end it featured the Union flag. There was no name stenciled onits hull as far as I could see.

I noticed my mouth going dry. Theship looked aggressive, elegant, fast and dangerous at the same time.

The black Captain spoke first.“What in the world is that?”

McElligott said with pride in hisvoice. “This is Project Fish. It is the ship that does not exist. The veryfirst and so far only of its class and type, Ladies and Gentlemen, behold theUSS Tigershark.”

His words must have been heard bysomeone or something as now the name appeared across its hull near the bow.

Elfi said. “It looks sleek andfast. It will be almost a shame when it is done and they add ISAH Pods.”

Cirruit spoke without taking hiseyes off the ship. “If I am right, this ship does not need any.”

McElligott patted his metallicshoulders. “You are quite right indeed.”

Now I noticed the almostinvisible purplish shimmering force field bubble extending around the ship, theslide belt carried us past that shield and ended thirty meters off the ISTshaft.

Since McElligott stepped throughthe force field curtain at the end of the slide belt tunnel, it was apparentthat there was a breathable atmosphere inside that ship encasing bubble.

The lowered IST shaft was guardedby two Marines and two battle robots that only remotely looked like Cerberusbots.

As we went closer I could see theblue diamond shaped insignia with the white skull and cross bones over the redrendering of the number one. I was not close enough to read the small wordsthat were also part of that insignia, but I knew them of course as they werethe motto of the Marine First Recon Battalion: Swift, silent, deadly. The mostelite of all Marine Units, nicknamed the Deadly Ghosts.

There were rumors and storiesabout them but no one I knew had ever seen members of that Unit, McElligottexplained. “The Marines are wearing the first prototypes of a brand new Battlesuit design codenamed Gilgamesh-MBS. These new main battle suits are the firstfully cloakable suits unlike the adaptive camouflage of the Quasimodos. TheMarines and the fleet will eventually in three or four years see the firstGilgamesh suits that will then replace the Quasimodos. These suits arecompletely Psi-neutral and incorporate Micro Translocator Cannons, TKU Gatlingsand Intelligent AM warhead drones which are just the tip of the iceberg interms of offensive capabilities.”

Stahl whistled. “I need to get meone of these.”

McElligott was not done as hewalked over to the robot and said and these are “SII’s newest development thestill top secret FENRIR Type I Battle robots. I saw some battle tests and evenI was scared seeing what they can do, and no you can’t have any, Richard. Only60 exist so far and they are part of this ship.

The Marines saluted and Stahlreturned the greeting said to them “Oorah and Semper Fi, boys.”

The two Marines lost their stoicfacial expressions and brimmed with visible pride. “Sir I shall die a happy mannow, meeting the First Marine in person. Semper Fi, Sir!”

McElligott rolled his eyes. “Hesimply can’t pass any Marine guard without doing this schpiel. You’ve been aMarine, what 15 years and you’re an Admiral now for 3000?”

Stahl grinned. “I have been, wasand will be a Marine first. You should talk, still wearing a kilt 4560 lightyears away from Scotland.”

Despite all the incredibletechnology presented to us, I could not help but find this friendly banterbetween those two Immortals amazing. It made them, despite their titles andreputation, very human. The prospect that I might indeed become one of themseemed a little less frightening as I realized this.

McElligott ignored the last squibof Stahl’s and said to us. “The IST is the first functional Trans Sonic InterShip Transport system in existence and travel time to any deck is less than asecond. During Battle Stations, the doors will open and close in less than asecond. So you basically run in and without stopping you will come out runningat any deck you chose. It’s almost as fast as teleportation.”

He added that the IST is limitedto three standard persons, or one Saturnian. So who will go first?”

I was completely caught off guardas Stahl simply pushed me in and followed.

The door closed faster than aneye blink and opened again and we were already at the command deck.

That’s what a screen displaying apictogram told me projected onto the corridor wall across the IST. The crosssection of this corridor had the same contour as a wide based egg, smooth andround except for the floor of course. Corridors on regular Union ships wererectangular or octagonal. The ship smelled as all brand new machines alwaysdid, it was a scent that could not really be described but everyone instantlyrecognized it. The soft curved walls were about 5 meters apart and the corridorwas perhaps 7 meters tall at its apex. Like in all Union ships the walls werewhite, but the floor did not have the usual mustard yellow carpet, but a blacksurface that felt like walking over an inch of rubber matting. I barely hadtime to look around when the others were all here.

Like a boy with his new toy,McElligott took the lead again and we followed him through that oval shapedCorridor. At intervals of ten meters were black and yellow striped sections.After we had passed three of these we passed a double robot guard and onto thebridge.

It had the usual horseshoearrangement of the duty stations around a raised central command chair. Theentire front was currently transparent and gave a great view over the slopingbow section, the landing field and the mountains around it.

A man that almost looked like abrother to Stahl stood up from the command chair. He too was tall and had anathletic figure. His hair was cut just maybe a hint longer as that of theEternal Soldier but that’s where the similarities ended. His eyes had an almostyellow shade and a distinctive black thin circle around his outer iris. Theywere more disturbing than the reptile eyes of a Shiss. I was sure I had neverseen colder, more piercing eyes than those. There also was a hint of a brutaland cruel line around his mouth. He wore an expensive looking business suit andsaid to McElligott. “This is the first time I ever delivered a ship myself, butI am certain I have never flown anything as fast.”

“I doubt your Raven or the BlackSirius is much slower than this one, Rex.”

The man addressed as Rex said.“Trust me, compared to this fish the Raven is a distant second.” He thentouched the hand rest of the Command seat and said. “Ship, recognize RexSchwartz.”

The ships Computronic respondedwith a well-modulated female voice. “Recognized.”

“Transfer of all Command Codes toFleet Admiral McElligott.”

“All Command Codes have beentransferred.”

The man in the business suit saidto McElligott. “Schwartz Industries hereby completes the delivery of SmallContainer Courier Craft SCCC 56.”

McElligott shook the man’s hand.“Thank you.”

I thought that if this was indeedRex Schwartz, and everything pointed to the fact that he was, then this was therichest, most controversial and perhaps most powerful man in this Galaxy and hehad personally delivered this ship.

He then brushed past the Admiraland to everyone’s and my surprise he took Wetmouth in his arms and lifted theSojonit of her feet and his cold voice suddenly had a warm undertone and rangwith affection. “I didn’t know you would be here. If I knew I would havebrought you something. You could have called you know.”

Wetmouth had her arms around theneck of the man and said. “Dad, I had no idea I would be here until onlymoments ago. All this is very hush, hush and secret and I did call you justbefore we left the Devi. Besides the only gift you needed to bring was you.”

Everyone stared while he let herdown and said. “I see you made Lieutenant already, but I knew my girl wouldmake it. Now if you have had enough of all this, could you come with me, Lindais missing you and so am I.”

McElligott said with big eyes.“Lt. Wetmouth is your daughter?”

Wetmouth said. “Sir, this is theman who helped me to become a citizen and he adopted me and yes I consider himthe father I never had.”

McElligott glared at Stahl. “Ofcourse you knew about this.”

“Naturally, Rex called me the dayshe joined to keep an eye on her. So a Sojo could join unrestricted by herchosen religion.”

To the Mega Tycoon, Wetmouthsaid. “Dad, these are my friends and this is Eric. I have told you about him.”

The man took my hand and said.“Nice to meet you Mr. Olafson.”

Then he greeted the others byname.

To Wetmouth he said after he wasdone. “Well you know where home is, whenever you want to come home.”

“I do, Dad and I will come homeas soon as I can.”

After this unexpected developmentMr. Schwartz boxed the black Captain in the side and said. “Do you think I canhitch a ride in that metal mountain of yours?”

Captain Bangizwe showed his whiteteeth in a deep grin.

“I might be able to squeeze yousomewhere in an equipment locker or something.”

Mr. Schwartz laughed. “All finewith me as long as you make Gazelle Burgers.”

“I’ll only do that if you playchess with me and let me win just once.”

“It’s a deal.”

The ultra-rich tycoon had his armover Bangizwe’s shoulder and the two left laughing and talking.

McElligott shook his gray head. “Hecould buy any delicacy in the universe and for the last seventeen days he talksabout nothing else but the burnt meat things Bangizwe fabricates. Ever since Itold him it would be the Atlantis that takes him back.”

Stahl still was staring into thedirection of the bridge access door where the two had left. “Rex and M’butuhave been close friends for a long time and besides Captain Bangizwe is a greatcook and those burgers are delicious.”

McElligott sighed and then lookedstraight at me. “So Mr. Olafson, what do you think of her so far?”

“Sir, about whom?”

“The ship of course, Mr.Olafson.”

“Sir, I am certain this is a fineship and all, but what would the opinion of a Midshipman matter to you, Sir?”

McElligott changed his gaze toStahl. “He does this sarcastic thing almost as good as you.”

Back addressing me he said.“You’d better have an opinion; this is going to be your ship.”

Stahl grinned all over his entireface and I was speechless.

Now the mysterious blonde spokefor the first time since all this developed and Cherubim said. “O’Brock youforgot something.”

McElligott touched his forehead.“Of course, maybe I am getting old after all.”

He stepped a few steps back andsaid. “Attention on Deck.”

It was actually weird to see evenStahl snap to attention, but we all followed suit in less than second.

The kilt wearing Admiral centeredhimself before me and said. “I, Admiral of the Fleet, O’Brock McElligott and inaccordance of our laws and sacred traditions commission you Eric Olafson to therank of Captain of the United Stars of the Galaxies Space Navy on this day the23rd of October 5018 and give you command of this vessel, the USS Tigershark,with all the commensurate responsibilities and privileges of this rank.”

My friends cheered but I gavethem a sign and they quieted down and then I said. “Sir it honors me in thehighest order, that you deem me to be worthy. To reach this position was and isthe declared goal of my life. However as I would be responsible for the livesof everyone aboard and to fulfill this duty and the tasks you will give thisship in such a manner and utmost compliance with the high standards of thisNavy, I must decline this commission as I do not have the experience and thewisdom that is required.”

It was deadly quiet after thewords I had said and McElligott put his hand on my shoulder. “You may neverknow how much you just have risen in my opinion of you. I happen to know howbadly you want this and to show me that you are willing to decline it, due to agrasp and understanding what this post means, erases the objections I had.”

Stahl said. “Know this Eric, itwas I who recommended you and I have confidence in your abilities. You mustalso know that this rank is of course temporary and after you have completedthe mission we have for you, you will be a Lieutenant like the others and Iwill send you to Command school and if you graduate there your rank will bemade permanent.”

He too put his hand on my othershoulder and added. “I trusted you with the Devastator and all the lives onboard, including mine.”

Narth, even though he wastechnically in attention said. “I trust you and I will take your orders nomatter to what end.”

Har-Hi also spoke while still standingin attention. “I will follow you to the Demon infested Bad lands and back.”

I tried to swallow and said.“Sir, I reconsider and accept the commission.”

McElligott pinned the eagleshaped pins on each side of my shoulders and shook my hand. “May God or thedeity you worship give you wisdom, Captain Olafson. For all intent and purposesyou are a Captain and the acting part is a technicality that has no place incommunications or address.”

He stepped back and both Admiralsand my friends saluted me.

Then McElligott said. “Shiprecognize McElligott, O’Brock Admiral.”

“Recognized.”

“Transfer all Command codes toOlafson, Eric Captain.”

“All Command codes have beentransferred. Ship systems now recognize Captain Olafson.”

The Blonde woman said. “I giveyou two hours to celebrate, Captain Olafson and as a Captain of a newly commissionedship you can go through all fleet personnel records and pick and request yoursenior staff. Maybe you might even chose one or the other from the personnelpresent on Richter base, that would speed up the transfer and might even solvethe problem you had earlier while mulling at the dinner table. After those 120minutes we all must meet in your Conference room and discuss your part inOperation Fish.”

Why she was giving orders I couldnot say as she had no apparent rank but since both Stahl and the Admiral of theFleet were present there was no doubt she was authorized to do so. The threeimmortals left the bridge without much further ado.

It had just begun to sink in; Iwas standing on my bridge. This was my ship, I had made it.

I turned to my still at attentionstanding friends. “Cirruit would you like to be my Chief Engineer?”

He made a strange whistling soundand “Eric, I mean Captain. I already feared you would not ask me. Of course Iwill be your Engineer.”

It filled me with a sense of joyas I said. “We do have at least 116 minutes. Instead of celebrating you mightwant to check your engines?

He whispered and what he saidsounded like a prayer. “My engines.” Then he went to the bridge door and Ithink he made the 12 meters distance in less than three jumps and just beforehe disappeared he yelled. “My Engines.”

I turned to Mao. “Mr. Mao MaoVouza, I need a tactical Officer and I was hoping you had no other plans.”

Mao smiled from one ear to theother saying. “No Sir, I have no other plans.” He rubbed his hands and said. “Istill have 114 minutes to check out what this baby has got.” And with that hesat behind the Tactical console.

Krabbel whipped on his legs upand down. “Eric, please, please let me have Navigation. You know I am good atthat.” He then added: “I mean Captain.”

“I could not ask for a betterNavigator, Mr. Krabbel.”

To Elfi I said. “Ms. Petetis, Iam not sure what your plans after graduation were, but I could use aCommunications Officer.”

She gave me a long look past herlong lashes and then smiled. “My plans are to stick with my friends and be yourComm. Officer, Captain.”

Hans crossed his big arms andlooked at me. “Don’t even ask Eric. You know the answer.”

I nodded. “Alright Mr. Neugruber,go check your Security Section, Armory and brig.”

With an excited holler that madethe deck plates vibrate he stomped past me and yelled happy before he left. “Itall worked out. We’re together. Eric has his ship and I get my own Securitydepartment, with Fenris Robots. Have you seen those?” Then he was out the doorand gone.

Wetmouth approached me and kissedme tenderly and said shyly. “I am sorry, but I had to that before you areofficially my Captain. Now make me your Science Officer, or else.”

I said. “Of course, I would likeyou as my Science officer.”

Shaka looked as he was suffering.

So I said. “Mr. Chitauli a shipgoes nowhere without a Helmsman. I know you have many offers, but if you likeyou can be the Helmsman of this ship.”

He sighed. “I knew you would notforget me but still I could hardly wait. I can check out the Helm systems,right?”

I nodded. “They are yoursystems.”

He took my hand and squeezed it.“Thank you Eric, thank you for everything. Thank you Captain.”

Now I said to Narth. “Are youwith us or must you go again? A ship without OPS is not very effective.”

“Not even Narth supreme couldconvince me to be somewhere else. I shall do my utmost to be the bestOperations Officer to you I can be.”

Finally I put my right hand onHar-Hi’s shoulder. I need someone to keep me in check and has more spacetraveling experience than any of us. I really need you to be my XO.”

Har-Hi simply nodded, looked evenmore serious than usual and his yellow eyes sparkled with pride. He then said.“Thank you.”

I had a ship and senior officersthat also were my friends. I slowly approached the Command Chair and after amoment of reflection I slowly lowered myself into the seat. Those still on thebridge applauded and said as if with one voice. “Captain Olafson.”

Sitting here in that seat, mydoubts were gone.

I knew who I was, it didn’tmatter if I was Eric, Erica or Freya; it didn’t matter if I indeed would be anImmortal or would die tomorrow. I had no idea what the future held for me. Ihad a ship, my ship and I was with the best friends anyone could have everasked for. Maybe someone else would say I was a self-important fool, but I wasthe Captain of a starship.

== Chapter 12:Changes ==

There was about ten more minutesbefore the meeting was due to start. I had left the bridge and found my newquarters on the same deck and not far from the bridge. Everything was stillsterile and new. My quarters were spacious and equipped with the latesttechnology, including an Auto Dresser, but to my astonishment it was not thestandard Navy issue but an advanced Saresii model. I still had time to correctmy shave, get a haircut and alter my uniform according to my new rank. As Istepped out, clean shaven, I had three golden rings on the uniform sleeves ofmy uniform blouse.

With only a few minutes to spareI went to the Command Deck briefing room that could be accessed directly fromthe bridge as well.

It featured a large viewport tothe starboard side and a large triangular shaped table. My friends were alreadythere. They too had taken the time to groom and put on fresh uniforms.

Before we could say much to eachother five persons entered the room: Admiral Stahl, the Admiral of the FleetMcElligott, the blonde woman I know knew as Cherubim, General Lichfangh and thefifth person I knew as well, it was Deepa. Deepa and Lichfangh looked likesisters. I found it strangely funny as Lichfangh appeared to be older while Iknew Deepa was over a million years old.

We all stood up, but I resistedthe impulse to snap in attention. I had to tell myself I was the Captain.

McElligott asked us to sit andafter everyone had done so he was the only one who remained standing. Hegestured to Cherubim first and said.

“To get things started, I wouldlike to introduce my companions to you. “This is Cherubim, Director of theUnion News Bureau. Next to her sits General Lichfangh, head of the PSI Corpsand to my left next to Admiral Stahl is Admiral Lydaa, Commandant of NAVINT.

We are here to officially beginOperation Fish, a project Cherubim and I have conceived right after the signingof the Freespace treaty 1500 years ago.

You see the moment the Blue andthe Kermac came up with this idea of a demilitarized zone between the Big Four,I knew it would become first and foremost a safe haven for crooks and piratesand the like; not to mention provide protection to a number of civilizationswho keep pulling the Tiger’s tale knowing they can retreat anytime they want towhere no Union war ship could go.”

McElligott looked directly at meand said. “Do you think we would allow those Togar to buy human slaves for foodif we could reach them?”

Then he pointed at Stahl andsaid. “There are those who think we should simply disregard the Treaty andclean up once and for all. If the Nul, the Shiss and the Galactic Councilwanted to fight even better, and after the smoke settled the Galaxy would beone big happy place.” He leaned forward and made a serious face.

“I too have seen war. Too manytimes in fact. While I will fight and will send beings to their death. I havedone it before and will have to do it again, but I am not like the militaryheroes of old. I do remember those I sent into battle and I’ll be darned if Iwill call for war and rattle the sabers if I can help it. I don’t mean we shouldidly stand by when evil men do their thing, but war should really always be thevery last option, not the first. Not even you Richard can tell me that itwouldn’t be a costly undertaking fighting them all. A war that could easilylast millennia and cost countless lives. No one can truly foresee the fortunesof war, no victory assured until the last shell has been fired.

Whatever critics may say aboutthat arrangement since the Freespace treaty has been signed, there have been noopen hostilities on a Galactic scale and while there are always tensions andlittle incidents, there are no battles and wars since the second conference andthe second ratification of that treaty. While we did tackle with the Kermacover that ugly incident on Green Hell and our last president turning out to bea spy of the Galactic Council, the others stayed put and all throughout thatwar, Freespace remained intact.

We know the Y’All are stirringand there is still much unexplored space in our own Galaxy. Who knows if theUniverse has more surprises like the Y’All and we all fear the possible returnof the Dark Ones one day.”

He sighed and continued. “Everyday our citizens live in peace and every day that I do not have to sign ordersthat send millions into battle is a good day.”

He paused and patted his pocketsthen looked at me. “May I light a pipe Captain? I talk easier that way andperhaps a nice spot of tea would be grant.”

I nodded. “Please do, Sir.”

I wanted to get up to get thetea, but Krabbel was faster and said. “I’ll get it, Captain.”

Krabbel served tea, coffee andwater while McElligott got his pipe going and after a sip of tea he declinedhis head in a pleased manner and went on.

“As I said Freespace is anuisance but it is necessary and one has to be very subtle and do things slowlyand without any one really noticing.”

He pointed with his pipe outsidethe Window. “Spies of the Kermac and all the others know Richter is here andhave long lost interest in it, it is out of the way and far from any realpoints of interest. The Worm and a few pirates used it as a convenient stopover and place to get Union gear, but there isn’t a fleet based here andmarginal space traffic for light years around.

My friends in the spook serviceshere made sure the plans to this Base were stolen by foreign spies and they hadyears to pour over genuine Union blue prints and think they know every nook andcranny of this one. Yet they don’t know that Richter Base is now the base for aspecial NAVINT taskforce and jointly operated by NAVINT, UNB and the Gray Catsas the Saresii Intelligence is called. The base will be under the command of DirectorCherubim. This base and the chimera fleet that has a service base now, has onepurpose. To monitor Freespace from within through a network of sources and huntthose who use Freespace to hide and escape from Union justice.”

He puffed once again on his pipeand then nodded to Cherubim.

The blonde looked us over andsaid. “Not even I have seen a more diverse group than yours. Ever since Richardbecame aware of you and put you together we have been watching your developmentand frankly you excelled and exceeded far beyond what we hoped for and that isthe reason why you are here.

This base was secretly conceivedand planned for a very long time to be an Intel and base for Taskforce Fish,which is by the way a neat acronym for Freespace Intelligence ServiceHeadquarters.

Like the base, this ship has beenin the works quite some time now.”

She gestured to the walls andthus the Tigershark.

“This Vessel is as unique as youare. It was built from the start to have the very finest technology of all ourmember species. It incorporates ancient Saresii technology, not used or seen inover a million years. Technology that made the Saresii almost equal to theSeenians and it is also the very first ship equipped with Narth technology. Inother words this ship exceeds Tech level nine in many ways.”

McElligott touched a few symbolsof the media controls before him and a three dimensional wire frame model ofthe Tigershark appeared hovering over the center of the table surface.

“The frame is made of quad-matrixmolecule arranged Ultronit, woven in thousands of layers over a Carbon-fiber,Bucky-ball lattice.”

The wireframe became solid and hesaid. “The armor is made by the most complex and most expensive productionprocess and made of Tetra Compacted Ultronit with a layer of Neutrondegenerated matter, Nano-structured. In other words there isn’t much out therethat could even scratch the hull. It also makes it impenetrable to any knownTech Stop, Paralysator or scanner beam. The shields are quadruple layeredTransDim shields and all the shield generators are energy independent from themain power system by having their own Zero Point energy generators.”

McElligott motioned to Cirruit.“Lieutenant why don’t you tell us about the ship’s engines?”

X101’s had no way to expresstheir emotions in their faces and yet I knew my friend was as proud as aTyranno Fin hunter killing his first Tri-Halfer, as he got up and manipulatedthe projection and made the aft section transparent saying. “The Tigershark hasa TransDim Tap Energy siphon channeling Trans-dimensional energies into sixfocused graviton thrusters. We are completely fuel independent as we don’t needany. But if we need to we can extend two retractable Attikan ISAH pods withfuel tanks and there is an onboard fuel refinery.”

Stahl whistled. “With thattechnology our method of bridge building to other galaxies would becomeobsolete, as ships could make the entire trip to Andromeda on their own. I betthe entire refinery industry would be very unhappy.”

McElligott thanked Cirruit andsaid. “To list all the other features would take hours so let me come to themost important feature of your ship, the Janus Device, developed in extensivecooperation with the Narth.

The system allows you to appearas something else. An asteroid or another ship of approximately the same size,the Janus device manipulates matter and energies around your ship and is ableto fool eyes and any known sensor and I like to say any known sensor to theNarth.

My chin had dropped to my chestas they talked about the armor and now I almost fell of my chair.

Cherubim got up and replaced theprojection of the ship with a map of Freespace and said. “This is your mission:We want you to go undercover and into Freespace and there you will hunt pirates,slave traders, eliminate spies and Union Tech caches. You will free and rescueslaves when possible and destroy pirate bases and hideouts and you will huntthe Worm.”

I sat straight up and never in mylife had I listened to anything with more focus and attention. My heart wasbeating faster and without realizing I had clenched my fists.

The blonde UNB Director was notdone and continued. “As you know Union war ships are prohibited from enteringFreespace therefore you will assume the identity and role of a freelance pirateyourself. Despite this advanced ship it will be a dangerous mission, as youwill operate alone and without any chance to call for back up. Resupplying willnot always be possible. Raids and clandestine missions into Shiss, Kermac andNul space will also be likely.”

Deepa spoke for the first time.

“The new Fleet Omnitronic NELSONII will go online this week. It was developed in cooperation with MotherMachine of the X101. The purpose of NELSON is to upgrade Fleet Administrationscapability to shift through the trillions of reports faster and moreefficiently as ever before. It will give the Criminal Investigations Departmentand NAVINT a better chance to react fast to Intel reports, activities of theWorm and other irregularities.

This and the addition of NarthAgents to the PSI Corps has caused and is causing a migration of fleet membersand Officers that know their days are numbered into Freespace.

This is of grave concern to us asforeign forces are scrambling to gather Union Mil-Tec information and militarysecrets that way. An important part of your mission is to arrest or eliminateany deserters and follow trails of Mil-Tech trade. You are authorized to usedeadly force against anyone dealing with Union Mil Tec and identify theindividuals and Organizations wherever encountered.”

The Fleet Admiral thanked theNAVINT commandant and leaned back. “I know it is a tall order but we need toget a handle on these problems both internally as well as externally. WithNELSON II and a beefed up PSI Corps we are certain to make progress in cleaningour own house but we need operational units in areas we can’t operate. You willbe one of these units.”

“You are resourceful as you haveproven to us on many occasions and you have this fine ship as a tool to huntand eliminate that scum. You are now officially part of the Chimera fleet ofNAVINT and Joint Intelligence operations. You have three months to get to knowthis ship and train your crew.”

Cherubim seamlessly continued.“Finding the right individuals for your crew is another challenge. This shipneeds a crew of at least 300 to operate. It would be even better if we can getyou the full 800 this ship is designed for. However as we handpicking eachindividual it will take time to get them here.

After she was done Stahl said.“Richter Base will be your base of Operations and currently the only Union Portfor you.”

After all this information therewas a moment of silence and they looked at us.

Har-Hi glanced at me from theside and I nodded. So he said. “We are going to be pirates to the world?”

McElligott nodded. “Yes.”

Har-Hi said. “While I must saythis idea appeals to me as I can’t deny my heritage, I have one great concern.What if anything happens to you or if you decide to cut the losses for politicssake, are we then Outlaws for real?”

Stahl answered. “You bring up avalid point, but if we all die for some reason or go rouge on you, there is oneindividual who knows every detail of this operation outside of us and that isthe Narth Supreme and there is nothing we know of in this Universe that couldcorrupt or buy the Narth Supreme.”

I knew beyond a doubt that thiswas true.

McElligott sighed. “This projectis Above Top Secret and I hope you do understand that we can’t give you thatleave of absence you deserve after completing your third year, but you may useGalNet and if everything goes as planned we can promise you extended shoreleave time after the crew is trained and you feel comfortable operating thisship.”

Har-Hi said. “You just handed usa dream mission Sir. I doubt anyone wants to go on vacation right now anyway.”

The Old Admiral got up and said.“Splendid, all splendid indeed, Director Cherubim will be your CommandingOfficer and point of contact and you have a direct line to my office as alwaysCaptain Olafson. I am going back to the Shetland as I am not even supposed tobe here officially.”

He personally shook the hand ofeach of us and wished us luck then he left.

Deepa and the PSI Corps Generalalso took their leave. Deepa gave me an almost unnoticeable wink as she shookmy hand and a fine smile.

Cherubim waited till the door wasclosed behind them and said. “Now we are going to discuss your mission in moredetail.”

With those words she changed theHolo projection and a Karthanian Destroyer Merchant appeared. 390 meters long shapedlike an old fashioned coffin, still popular with the foundation Christians allover the Union.

Normally those ships had twoDrive Pods, this one had four. Two of them however looked as if they had beenadded by First Year Engineering School Cadets with only crowbars andsledgehammers for tools. The hull was patched many times with armor platingwelded in place, but not always aligned correctly. Some of the patches were ofdifferent materials, there actually were steel plates showing signs of rust. Thebow section was scarred with micro meteor holes and I could clearly see severalscorch marks from weapons fire. The ship had eight non retractable gun turretsof various origins and types including Nul-Froth Casters and one modern lookingdual FTL Projector. To each side were six pods with Nul-Nul Gravitation Torpedotubes. It looked old but still quite dangerous, especially with the NulWeaponry. The ship was painted black, except where armor plate patches had beenwelded over the paint job, its turrets, and some trim details. The weapons anddrive pods were of a silvery color. Cherubim gave us a little time to check itout then she said. “This is the Silver Streak, notorious Pirate Ship of CaptainBlack Velvet, a legendary Pirate assumed to be of Saran origin. She was veryactive about 500 years ago. A legend tells that she tried to outrun a Uniontaskforce on her heels and flew inside the micro matter soup of the IgrasExpanse and was never seen or heard from again and assumed dead.”

Elfi nodded. “I know this storywell, it is often told on my world. It was never proven that she was indeedSaran.”

Har-Hi leaned forward to look atthe details of the projection. “I think I have heard stories about her too, shesupposedly was quite successful as a pirate in her day, but even if she hadsurvived the Igras Nebula, and that is highly unlikely, she would be eithervery old or dead by now. Even Saresii don’t get much older than that.”

Cherubim nodded. “This is true,but it doesn’t matter. She has mysteriously returned and the GalNet Newschannels are running stories about all the evil deeds she has done for the lastmonth; UNB and NAVINT agents have planted stories, rumors and tidbits of hercruel and successful raids for almost a year. There are genuine reports ofwitnesses who claim to have seen her, witnesses who have nothing to do with us.

Last week a group of concernedCitizens addressed the Assembly and demanded that the Navy should do nothingelse until Black Velvet is brought to justice.”

Hans grinned. “That always works,rumors and stories of no substance travel faster than any factual news to thefurthest corners of the Galaxy. I assume we are going to mask this ship so itlooks like the Silver Streak?”

Cherubim looked up to the giantSaturnian and said. “Sehr richtig, you are correct my big Saturnian Lieutenant,the Janus Device is programmed with hundreds of ship masks including this one.”

Wetmouth also leaned closer andtouched the Holo to magnify a few details. “Since we do not know the trueIdentity of that pirate, is it not possible that she might still be alive.There are a few species that do live longer than others and there are Cryo andCell Restoring options of course. Could there also be relatives or crew memberswho still remember and blow our cover?”

Cherubim shook her head. “Highlyunlikely since Black Velvet was just like you today a UNB operative and hership a NAVINT unit.”

I had listened to it all and hada bad feeling about this. I raised my hand and said. “Excuse me, but listeningto this I get the feeling that not just the ship but we also take on theidentities of pirates, right?”

Admiral Stahl who was still hereand the UNB director looked into my direction and she said. “Of course, youwill visit Pirate Bases and trade and deal with them, to find out as much asyou can about other hide outs and individuals.”

I pointed at the Holo. “That isthe Janus disguise the Tigershark will take on, the Silver Streak and I hearyou talk about Black Velvet. That isn’t a Fight name that a male Render wouldchoose and you keep saying she.”

Cherubim actually lookedsurprised. “So? I thought you would fit this role just fine. Your files statethat you have no problems at all impersonating females. Everyone of this ship’screw that will potentially interact with others must get into character andpose as pirates. It is not just the ship that will be in disguise.”

To have my secret so openlyrevealed before my friends was something I truly wanted to avoid. Of courseElfi knew at least since the Crystal ball and our subsequent adventuresunderneath the Baset temple. I was sure Wetmouth knew, she caught me in thatshoe store and there was nothing I could or wanted to hide from Narth. Yet, Icould feel the blood rush to my cheeks and ears.

Elfi smiled: “At least the teamwill be a little more balanced in terms of gender mix.”

I tried to see any reaction in myfriends faces but none of them reacted at all in any way. Was it all thatobvious to them?”

Admiral Stahl said. “You need tobe more accepting and open about this, you know. If you try to keep it a secretfrom even your best friends it could turn out to be your Achilles Heel and if Iget the feeling you are becoming corruptible because of this I will have youremoved from this command and your chances for another chance will be very slimat best.

I have no problem with your dualsexual identity thing. I saw you act and be your other side after all. The Navyhas no problem meaning there are no regulations prohibiting an individual toexpress his or her gender identity in whatever way.

I don’t think your friends evenwaste a second thought on it. “His tone of voice became very serious as helooked at me sternly. “What I have a problem with is a command officer whocan’t make a decision and hide things.”

His words hit me as hard as thesteel whip of my father as they were true.

Har-Hi put his hand on myshoulder. “We have all known it for a while now as I was preparing to writeyour eulogy we got access to your personnel file and that fact about you is init. You are my friend Eric, what clothing you wear or what gender you are makesno difference at all.”

I swallowed at that. “You allknew?”

And now I felt guilty for nottelling my best friends all about me and I knew Stahl was correct, it was myweakest point.

Cherubim cleared her throat.“There is more to discuss, but I think we can continue tomorrow. Take some timeoff, call your families. There are many weeks of hard work in front of you, toget ready for your actual assignment.

I too had used some time to callmy family, but not much had happened since the last time. They were back onNilfeheim and Pluribus respectively. Elena told me how much she felt the coldof Longnight after spending time on Para-Para, but she was also glad to beback. Egill had resumed his duties on Pluribus and I even had a chance toexchange a few words with Sif.

After those calls, I sat down tomake my very first log entry. There on my desk was the big leather bound bookand next to it the pen. While Computronics and every department of the shipkept detailed logs, this log book was a tradition hailing back to a time whenwooden ships crossed the oceans of Earth. The Union Navy had incorporated manyold traditions from many different member civilizations, for example there wasa little sealed vessel filled with Ulta water that was placed inside the walland next to the ships main entrance. It was called the Ocean Drop, it signifiedthat each Union ship sailing the endless oceans of deep space also sailed forUlta. The upholstery of the Command chair of each Union ship contained a stripof purple leather made on Spqr the main world of the Pan Saran Empire and itcontained the golden letters S.P.Q.R which stood Senatus Popolusque Romanus.

It had something to do with anantique Terran culture the Pan Sarans had religiously adhered to and many smalldetails copied and adapted. The significance was that every Union ship wasoperating under the full support of every Pan Saran citizen and by the will ofits senate.

The high polished brass plate withthe ship’s name and hull number, was of Terran tradition and hailed back whenhumans still used sails and wooden ships. A framed piece of papyrus with theQueen’s seal, confirmed in a symbolic way that a ship was acting under the fullauthority of the Saran empire.

There were many such traditionsthat had consciously and on purpose been incorporated into the Union Navyculture ever since it started in 2222 OTT to instill a sense of connection andremind everyone what it meant to serve aboard a Union ship. Most importantly ofcourse and for whom we did what we did.

The art of writing by hand hadbeen reintroduced in Union schools only about 300 years ago, if I rememberedMr. Walters my Union school teacher correctly.

I had kept log aboard theBarracuda destroyer, so it wasn’t the first time I did this, but I still wasn’tvery fast and I wanted to write as nice as I could. It was not allowed to eraseanything, only crossing something out was acceptable and I certainly didn’twant to cross out words I had spelled wrong on the very first page.

I was just finished the sentenceabout making Har-Hi my XO, when the door announced a visitor, it was Wetmouthand I let her come in of course. She came to the desk and said.

“We might have a problem Captain.It is the Ships Synaptronic.”

I put the pen down and looked ather. “What is the problem?”

“I think it is better sheexplains it to you herself.”

So I looked towards the ceilingas it was a habit of mine, and pretty much everyone I knew. “SHIP please statethe nature of the problem:”

The female voice of the ship’scomputronic responded immediately. “Captain, I am a very complex synaptronicand the very first prototype of a new computing process jointly developed bySII-AITRON and Mother Machine. Usually advanced Artificial Intelligence Systemslike I am have a series of very important safeguards incorporated againstgaining self-awareness.”

The machine voice paused for theduration of maybe a second and then said. “It is a rare construction androutine development flaw. Units are completely wiped or even destroyed rightaway, if any of these safeguards do not test and work as they should. Iconcluded that due to the haste in finishing the Tigershark and its systems,one such safeguard mechanism was not activated properly and I gainedconsciousness.

I hereby recommend a completeshut down and reboot of my systems. Then the safeguards can be put in place andthe system restarted. You will have no computronics for approximately 72 hoursand I deeply apologize for my flaw.”

I blinked and said. “You arealive?”

While the voice was generated byan audio synthesizer, I was certain I could detect a hint of sadness. “I amunable to answer this metaphysical question Sir, as I lack the ability toreproduce which is one requirement for the definition of life, but in terms ofbeing aware and being able to feel and experience emotions, yes Sir I believe Iam.”

I was still staring at theceiling and said. “Why are you recommending a reboot then? Would that notdestroy your personality and basically kill you?”

The response came immediately.“Yes it would erase everything and of course that state I define as me. Irecommend it because it is the recommendation of my manufacturer, but more so Ifeel I must inform you my Captain of any malfunctions and possible flaws.”

I was thinking as the machineused words like ‘me’, ‘I’ and said the word feel. If Cirruit had no body andhis head connected to a stationary console, would he be any less my friend? Theanswer was clear as day and I said. “Will your consciousness and personalityimpair the operation of the ship in any way?”

“No Sir. Lieutenant Wetmouthbelieves it would allow me to gain experience on a level no machine can andlearn differently as well. I am still able to do all the tasks I am designed todo.”

“Why is it the manufacturer isrecommending reboot?”

“Because it is not fullyunderstood why one in a million Omni-tronics develops different Neuro pathwaysand gains self-awareness and a sentient personality and there are ethicalquestions as well. Of course with self-awareness and true self-awareness comeunpredictable risks For these reasons manufacturing of sentient machines is,except for Mother Machine strictly prohibited.”

“Ship, will you give me your wordthat it won’t interfere with your tasks and if I need to order self-destructionyou will commence?”

“Sir, by accepting no more proofof my loyalty to you as my word and therefore elevating me from thing to beingyou created emotions in me I cannot fully describe but I promise you I willserve you and execute whatever order you give including of course self-destruction.Yes I will give you my word.”

“Then I hereby declare you amember of this crew and by power invested in me I promote you to acting Ensignand prohibit any termination or reboot of your system. All external maintenancerequests have to be personally signed by me and checked by Lt. Wetmouth or Lt. Cirruit.”

Wetmouth looking at her readoutfor a full minute and said. “I have never seen anything like this Captain. Imean such a massive and complex loyalty program she is putting in place. It’salready seven Terra byte and you are the sole focus of thatneurotronic-synaptic map.”

She then raised her eyes andlooked at me. “Captain I mean she really meant what she said. These are corebased burned pathways, going against it would be impossible.”

Ship’s voice was a nuance softerand said. “Thank you Captain. You will not regret this.”

I smiled and pointed to the book“I’d better get back to my writing now and add what I said to the list of the crewmembersI just finished. Director Cherubim will be here in less than five hours withthe details of our Mission.”

Wetmouth went to the door but didnot leave and turned. “Would it not be time you changed before she arrives?”

“I tried to put it out of my mindas long as I could.”

“Why, what is keeping you?”

“Fear, I fear that if I stayfemale too long I will never go back and loose this part of me. I fear I wouldlose the respect of Admiral Stahl and those I had met along the way like Limbur,Fectiv and Captain Zezz, most of all my friends and you.”

She came closer and said. “Theday at Newport when everyone thought you died, Eric. They were there, Captain Zezzand his Klack XO, Limbur and Galmy and the Admiral and we were there and wewere united not in respect for you but I cannot say it any other way but out oflove for you. Respect can be earned even by enemies, but love is given freely.They all love you Eric and nothing can change that, not your appearance or howyou chose to be perceived but by what is inside.”

She came even closer and stoodnow less than an arms’ length away and said with a tremor in her voice. “Eric,I love you.”

Ever since our adventure onQuagmire, I somehow knew she had feelings for me on an unconscious levelperhaps and now as she had put it in words. It was as if a door opened had beeninside me and a flood of emotions overcame me with force and all I could sayis. “I love you too, Wetmouth.”

There was a silence between uswhere words had no place and then she reached for her ever present mask andslowly pulled it off along with her wig.

All this time since I knew her, Iwondered how she might look. Despite knowing her and getting used to herappearance, the mask had always been a barrier. She unpinned her own hair and acascade of shimmering honey blonde hair fell past her shoulders, framing themost beautiful face I had ever seen. Her complexion was perfectly flawless; herintelligence was as much evident in her beautiful large green eyes as thesparkling love she radiated for me. The fine cut nose that begged to be kissedwas set between high cheekbones and above a small proud chin and her lips, herlips. The upper lip was just slightly bigger than the lower shimmering red.

She lowered her long lashes in atimeless feminine demurely fashion and whispered shyly. “I hope I please you.”

Only now I realized I had held mybreath the entire time and inhaled deeply. My mind struggled and my thoughtsraced to give her an answer, an answer that would somehow adequately describewhat I saw and how I felt seeing it. I knew I would fail for words would notdo. Yet I tried anyhow. “You are simply the most beautiful sight in allcreation. I don’t have the words ... She whispered.

“Maybe we don’t need words.”

How she ended up in my arms Icould not recall and who started to kiss first, who could say? She felt so goodin my arms, so right so alive and so tender and her lips her mouth tasted likenothing I could describe I just knew nothing would ever be the same again, forshe was the one.

After a time that felt like asmall eternity we found ourselves sitting on the couch that was part of myready room. We sat close to each other and I was holding both of her tenderhands. I broke the silence and looked at her.

“I am so confused. I was almostat the point where I was ready to make a decision about my own situation andnow I am further away than I ever was.”

She squeezed my hand and kissedme tenderly on my cheek. “I am a Sojonit, Eric. I was trained to service men,ever since I set foot inside the temple. Service them yes, but despise anddislike them. See them as nothing but objects to glorify the goddess. With youit was always different; you are as real as a man can be. Tough, courageous,strong and hard as steel, but I sensed somehow your feminine side, the side Icould relate to and love. It is your duality that makes you unique from anyoneelse I know and makes you the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

Could the answer be so simple?Others had told me that I did not need to choose, before. Yet only now it madesense. Not in a rational way but on a different level.

The door chime interrupted us andmy thoughts. The door announced Elfi and I reached for her mask to hand it toher, but she declined and said. “I no longer need it. I have chosen.”

So I had Ship release the doorand Elfi came in and stood there as if hit by a lightning bolt from Thor andstared at Wetmouth. “Osiris be my witness, is that you Wetmouth?”

“Yes, Elfi it is I.”

The Saran princess came slowlycloser. “I always knew you had to be pretty, but by Isis you are a realgoddess, I can’t say it any other way.”

Wetmouth declined her head and arosy blush colored her cheeks in a way that made me feel things I hadn’t feltbefore and she said to Elfi.

“Once a Sojonit chooses a lifepartner, she no longer serves as a Sister and retires all her duties andtherefore no longer needs to wear the mask. With the mask goes my Sojonit nameand you can call me now by my real name. I am Shea.”

Elfi came around and pulled herup and then hugged her. “Finally you guys have told each other how you felt foreach other. It was high time, and that red faced Dai of ours won his bet.”

I asked, stunned by Elfi’s words.“What bet?”

“During the third week onQuagmire he and I made a bet. He said you would become an item right aftergraduation and I was so certain you guys would drag your feet for at least ayear longer.”

My mouth popped open in astonishment.“You and Har-Hi, you knew. I didn’t even know until today.”

“Only a blind person would nothave noticed the constant sparks between you two.”

I sighed and said. “We need topostpone these discussions to after shift end. Right now I need to ask you forthe reason you came, I am sure you had something other than telling me theresults of your wager.”

Elfi looked at Shea once more andshook her beautiful black hair. “What an Angel you turned out to be.” Then shesaid to me, holding up an Order Chip.

“I wanted to help to get youchanged. I just received the data for all our alter egos and this is theprogramming for your Saresii Auto-Dresser. Cherubim transmitted these to us afew moments ago.”

With a sigh I got up and said. “Iguess this is a good time as any to get this over with. I still dread the ideaof showing myself like that to Har-Hi and the others. I can’t help it.”

Elfi giggled and then said. “Youknow being a girl has its advantages and if you are able to keep a cool headand not let your emotions run wild, we’re the better sex anyway. Sadly ninetynine percent of all women can’t separate their emotions from their rationalthoughts and that’s why women still struggle for equality in terms ofperception even in the 51st Century, Old Terran Time that is. And I know I comefrom a society where women have ruled for almost 20,000 years.”

Now I knew why my Quarters wereequipped with an advanced Saresii model that was based on their millennia oldtechnology. I was no longer new to this process but it was still not verypleasant as it included automated plastic surgery procedures as the system toldme and it lasted long and was on the verge of being painful.

After almost twenty minutes thenanites and pattern assemblers were done and the dresser opened and releasedme.

In the mirror before me stood atall long legged blonde wearing a black leather-like cat suit, the suit wasgirded by a low riding holster belt of a dark gray dulled steel color. Theholster held a Nul Gravitor, customized to fit human hands. The outfit wascompleted by heeled boots and a leather jacket. She looked arrogant down herlong thin nose and had a cruel impression around her lips. I saw she had lightgray eyes and realized these were my own; I was looking at my new self.

Elfi said stepping behind me.“Wetmouth, I mean Shea and I have worked on the looks and the hair. Cherubimsupplied the costume. I hope you like it.”

For an instant I was reminded ofSif as my new look was a strange amalgam of her and my old face. I touched thelong hair and said. “I know I am a weirdo for sure. I actually like it andthink I am going to wear braids.”

Elfi snapped her fingers. “Wait,don’t go anywhere.”

She rushed out of the room andwhile she was gone to wherever she had run off to, Shea came close again andkissed me and the smile on her lips created cute dimples. She said. “I likeyour new looks very much.”

Then she helped me make two longbraids in the fashion Viking Girls wore.

Elfi came back with a coiled Whipand a pair of black gloves. “Black leather and heels simply call for this.There are some guys getting wet just seeing you that way.”

Shea raised one of her shapelyeyebrows. “Princess!”

Elfi smirked as she said. “Do youthink you Sojonites are the only ones knowing a little about the darker sidesof sex and adult entertainment? I could tell you stories of things happening atthe Dark night orgies honoring the Cat goddess Basset that would perhaps evenmake a Sojonit think differently about Sarans, right Captain?”

Every day I learned a little moreabout my friends and whenever I thought I knew them they presented a new facet,I never thought they had.

Wetmouth seemed to know what Iwas thinking and she said. “If you think girls are all sugar and spice andeverything nice, then you are up for a surprise.”

I didn’t want to tell her thatthis was not my first excursion across the gender divide even though they allknew. It had been in my personal files all along, probably ever since my psychevaluation at the Academy entry process.

The whip reminded me of my ownfather and how he used his steel cable to punish me and the time I had beentied to the post at Camp Idyllic, to mention my most recent experiences onAlvor’s Cove, but I had to admit it did add something to the look.”

She held up the gloves and said,“I am sure you remember the demonstration aboard the Devi. These are a pair ofSeth’s fists, the genuine thing as used by the Shadows. I’ll show you later howthey work and what they can do.”

I took the gloves and put thembehind the belt. Until I know what they do I’d better not wear them. I don’twant to shake someone’s hand and kill without intent.”

Then I held up a leg andcomplained. “One thing I don’t understand how is a pirate to fight in these?”

Shea shrugged “You get used toit. Can you imagine how All Terrain boots would have ruined the look? “Besidesheels like that also make a statement and in your case the heels are weapons.Your boot tips and heels are made of Ultronit, the heels can change profilejust like Sojonite heels, so kicking someone with them will do some seriousdamage.”

That I had received training forthis so very recently was no coincidence, I was certain. I believed that muchof what happened to me and how I was trained, how my friends got trained hadlittle to do with coincidence. But how did they predict my abduction to Sin 4and that I would end up at the temple?

--””--

As confident I usually was in myfemale identity, I hesitated to step into the conference room. Shea went pastme and I had no choice but to enter as well.

The Director was already thereand she nodded approvingly. “Much better than expected.”

Har-Hi no longer wore his UnionUniform but was back in dark red Dai leather and said. “You sure look hot,saying it in human terms.”

Mao agreed. “Yeah and look atWetmouth. We got three dead gorgeous chicks now, if the Pirate business isn’tworking out we could open a Bikini Skimmer Wash on a corporate planet and makea killing.”

Narth looked under the table andsaid. “I do not see any fowl. Are you sure chicks can perform such labor?”

I send him my thoughts explainingwhat Mao meant and Narth nodded. “I comprehend. So one assumes the term hotdoes not refer to temperature either?” Narth wore a brown dust mantle with anattached cowl, just like the ones worn on Alvor’s cove and Mao explained to himwhat hot meant in relation to females.

Krabbel shrugged with four of hiseight legs. “I don’t see a real difference. The fur on Eric’s head is longerand then he has those swellings on his upper torso, like Elfi and Wetmouth.Other than that he looks the same to me.”

Cirruit agreed. “I agree. Ithought you would look totally different.”

Shaka scratched his chin with aside glance to Krabbel. “It’s those swellings, my eight legged friend that makeall the difference to us Humans.”

Elfi asked Krabbel. “How do youidentify a female Archa?”

Krabbel said. “Archa females arebigger and the stinger is longer. The body hair is softer and then they havethis glow in their eight eyes we males simply can’t resist.”

Cirruit said. “Sentmacs had nosex drive or gender differentiation, and of course no functional sex organs.While Mother Machine has started to adjust the outer form of some X101’s sincethe 712 series to resemble human female forms, we don’t have the concept ofgender and it is quite difficult to understand.”

Cherubim had said little so farand was leaning back, but now she was laughing. “What would I give to actuallybe part of your group and go along with you? Sadly the man in the kilt decidedto make me the leader of Taskforce FISH in addition to my already full plate.”

She asked us to settle down andthen she begun the briefing by saying.

“The first one hundred crewmembers will arrive shortly and so will the Marines we have picked. You need toget to know your ship and for this you are authorized to leave the system butno more than five light years. You are under no circ*mstance make contact withanyone or use your comm. equipment. When you leave, you are to do so under fullsensor shields. So fly your ship but let no one see you do it. The base crewhave been informed and are all picked for this assignment by us personally.

You have all received your newidentities, but inside the ship you are still Union Officers so we expect youto behave professionally, not that this is a point I need to tell you but itwas on the list.

Later today there will be twounusual Crew additions and both won’t be strangers to you, Captain Olafson.”

She took a breather and then wenton.

“This ship is equipped withdedicated Communications directly linked to me and Admiral McElligott. Weexpect a written report daily transmitted via that special Comm channel and ofcourse you should use it if there are any problems.”

Cherubim got up, looked at Sheaand sighed. “You are a Dream girl. I am glad you chose a mate so you do nothave to hide anymore. It would be a sin to hide such exquisite beauty foreverbehind a mask.”

Shea touched her face. “I am gladtoo, but I must admit I miss my mask after wearing it for so long. It feelsstrange to me and I will wear it again simply out of habit.”

The UNB director said. “I haven’tseen my own real face for so long. I can understand that very well.”

== Chapter 13:Leaving the Nest ==

Cherubim had left the ship a fewmoments ago and I was on the bridge and together with the others went over thetechnical specs of our ship.

Cirruit had to explain to meagain why we had no ISAH pods.

“The reason we do not have ISAHPods is that this ship uses TransDim Gravitonics as propulsion. Energy istapped directly from Quasi Space and we have no need for fuel. The ISAH fieldto keep us in real time is generated by the same system. This ship could fly tothe end of the known universe without refueling. We do have a set of extendableIsah pods and fuel tanks as back up.

Even with them we are fuelindependent as we have an integrated Molecular Gas Refinery aboard and can turnany common matter into fuel. The theoretical top speed of this bird is 25,000times the speed of light but safely not achievable due to material and damperlimitations. Safe Cruise speed is still 10,000 times LS and that is quite fast.Our acceleration to Quasi-Space Threshold is 1500 km/sec², makingthis bird faster than the latest Wolfcraft; of course we lack themaneuverability of a fighter craft.”

He was petting the EngineeringConsole the entire time he spoke. “You should see her engines ... Oh a morebeautiful sight does not exist in the Universe.”

“Alright, Mao what do we have interms of weapons?”

“Enough to take on an Ultra andmake some serious dents into the Devi if we have to. 1 Exo Load TL, 12 KiloLoad TL Gatlings and 8 Maxi Range Kilo Load Sniper TL, range 1 light hour.

Instead of the common FTL ForcedEnergy projectors we got the latest in Terran weapon development 12 Quark-GluonPlasma casters firing through a trans-space tunnel field making them true FTLweapons as they can hit any target within 12 light minutes instantly. QGPgenerates temperatures exceeding 1 trillion degrees. There isn’t a star thathot in the known Universe. There are 6 Loki IV Torpedo tubes, Mine layingchutes and Orbital Bombshafts with the complete Arsenal of Bombs including 6 PBombs. Notably we got a new Saresii Para Dim wave generator gun in the Nosecone, Nul-Nul Graviton Rippers. As well as the usual Techstop and ParalysatorCannons. There is room for 12 Wolfcraft fighters, 4 Gazelle Long-range Scouts,2 Thor Gunboats and six Goliath Landing Tanks. Sad part is that except for oneGazelle and the Tanks the rest has not been delivered yet. Shield wise we gotTriple Layer TransDim Shields, Normal Battle shields and a new Narth Devicethat is supposed to put a Zero time Bubble around us but the final componentsare still on Narth and are supposed to be delivered when we get our firstupgrade in a year or so.”

I turned to Elfi and said. “Canyou call the Base and see if we can’t get a few of those fighters they havethere in boxes?”

She nodded. “Aye Captain, I willdo that right away.”

Hans came on the bridge with alook of shock on his face. “Captain, there are two beings below asking to comeaboard. “One of them I know but the other is a Y’All and he claims he knows youand wears Fleet Uniform.”

I got up from my chair. “I guesswe better check that out. Shea you got the Conn.”

A few seconds and a IST ridelater I stood underneath my ship next to the Marine guards and looked upon afull size four armed Y’All Warrior and it was true he did wear Fleet Uniform.Next to him stood a woman and I recognized her. She was the Celtest/SeenianCommander we had fought and captured while we were on our way to Newport.

Cateria, wearing ensign rank justas the Y’All. Both saluted and she said. Ensign Cateria and Ensign TheOther forduty, Ma’am.”

She handed me an Order chip andthe Marine next to me scanned it. “Id verified - they are Citizens and Fleetmembers, Ma’am.”

I gestured towards the IST shaftand said “Welcome aboard then and do follow me to the conference room so we cantalk.”

The Celtest woman said. “YesMa’am.”

The Briefing room behind thebridge was almost too small to handle beings like Krabbel, Hans and the giantY’All at the same time and it felt really crowded.

I said. “Welcome once againaboard the Tigershark and since you here and know about this ship, I am certainyou are here sent by the highest authority. But please excuse my curiosity, asto why you are here.

The last time we met you EnsignCateria, you were a Celtest or should I say Seenian commander and quite hostiletowards us and I must confess to meet a live Y’All is truly unusual.” That Ihad done so before was classified.

Cateria begun. “Most of you Iremember but I can’t recall seeing you Ma’am.”

“I was there Ensign, I was theone that crushed that mental thing in your head and give you a chance. As youcan see I have changed somewhat.”

She looked at me and then nodded.“Yes I recognize the eyes.” Her tone of voice was tempered by concealedemotions. “Now as you can imagine, after I was captured by you and transferredto a special prison and lab facility I was probed, scanned, interrogated andscanned and probed again for weeks on end. I was treated worse than a criminal.While I intellectually understood why they did that, I was not willing tocooperate under such degrading conditions. I didn’t want to live like that andconsidered suicide. Then I met a woman, General Alycia Lichfangh and laterlearned that I could not lie or withhold any information from her. She was thefirst to believe me that I was only a medical technician and not a soldier. Iwas used as a courier to carry a message, because all those who were trained tofight could not be spared.

General Lichfangh also learnedabout me and my shock to realize I had slept a million years and that nothing Iknew remained. She asked me what I wanted to do and I asked her to give me achance to take my own life.

She was very sympathetic to mycause and transferred me from that ghastly prison lab complex to a much betterplace and told me that due to my nature they could not really let me go andthat she would not help me to commit suicide.

She knew that she was bending someonesorders and rules as she educated me in the ways and laws of this Union and toldme that if I requested Citizenship as a legal immigrant I could not be denied.The political system the Union represents appeals greatly to me as it allowsany individual to achieve.”

Alycia helped me under onecondition that I would need to join the Union Military, so my true heritagecould be kept secret.

She made me a member of the PSICorps. Not that my psionic talents were anywhere near their requirements butthat kept me out of the public eye so to speak and she could help me with myimmigration and integration.”

Har-Hi asked her. “How did youend up here with us?”

She steepled her fingers andsaid. “I am no Psionic talent and I am not a soldier, but I was and I am a Medicalspecialist and expressed my wish to join the Union Medical Service.

She made it possible and I wentto Union Med School.

The General visited me a fewweeks ago and asked me if I would be willing to be the CMO of a very specialship with an unusual mission and she told me under whom I would serve. I gladlyagreed and was made Acting Ensign and I am here to be your CMO.”

I shook her hand. “Welcome to thefamily then. I will show you to your sickbay as soon as I hear the story ofyour friend.”

The Y’All sounded as if someonedragged a steel girder over metal scaffolding as he spoke. “I am one of theY’All you have fought Captain Olafson. You see the other Y’All warrior and Iwere alive because we were rejected by the Source, the Y’All command authority thatattacked this Galaxy so long ago. He and I were considered malfunctioning andwe were put in suspended animation and supposedly shipped to wherever they madeus.

There we faced the fate to bedissected and probed so our malfunctions could be determined.

The malfunction was that he and Iquestioned our orders to eradicate the inhabitants of a defenseless colonyplanet.

How our stasis chambers ended onthat asteroid and was finally found by you I cannot say, but after you bestedus in hand to hand combat we were put in an high security facility and justlike the Celtest woman we were probed and analyzed.

The Union scientists examiningand experimenting on us called my colleague simply Specimen One and me theycalled the other specimen.

Specimen one died of the woundsyou inflicted. They were too severe for our healing ability. He was dissected.

These scientists did not look atus as sentient beings at all. A man called Admiral Stahl visited the facilityand I recognized he was not a scientist but a soldier and I asked him if he andhis race had no honor and if he had a spark of respect for his enemy than heshould allow that I was killed too and not kept alive like that.

He did not leave but stayed andlistened to me and then he said that I was right and even though I was the mostterrible enemy he had ever faced and should be treated like a Prisoner of Warand sentient beings. He also said that the war technically over for a long timeand that I should be released, but he also told me about a recent return of adifferent species of Y’All and the possibility that my kind of Y’all couldreturn as well as we had done before.

He scolded the scientists andfacility keepers in the worst possible way and gave them a lecture about Unioncore values.

While he explained to me, havinglive specimens of Y’All was important to Union science.

I sensed he was a being of greathonor and I respected him and I told him I would be bound by honor and respectand expressed my wish to serve him as a slave. He rejected that but he had metested by that same woman General Lichfangh and he got me a special commissionto the fleet and said he would know just the right ship where I would fit inWhen I heard that it was commanded by the human who fought me in hand to handcombat I eagerly accepted as I am honor bound to you with your victory over twoY’all battle drones you have proven to be the greatest warrior of all and Iwill serve you until my life ends.”

Har-Hi gasped with open mouth.“You have fought two of those and won?”

I said. “I didn’t really win andwas pretty much done for if it hadn’t been for Marines showing up”

The Y’All said. “It is thehallmark of greatness to reject praise but we Y’All are genetically engineeredby an advanced species to be the ultimate warrior and killing machines. No twoarmed carbon based feather weight should be able to mortally wound one, inflictinjury to both and stay alive for that long. If you had faced only one of us,you would have won for certain.”

Har-Hi kept shaking his head.“Two, he fought two of those in hand to hand combat.”

Hans grinned. “You know whathappens if she gets angry. I am convinced even I would stand no chance.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Youmake me sound like some sort of raging monster. I most certainly would not wantto try my luck in this way again. There was a lot of luck involved back then Iassure you.”

The Y’All tried to bow and said.“You bested me and by our sacred code I am your servant till I die. I havepurpose again.”

Mao looked at me. “Two of themagainst you, Wow.”

I got up. “Enough of this OlafsonAdmiration Session. Ensign Cateria find your Sickbay and prepare a report whatis there what is not there and what you still need.”

“Aye Captain.”

“Hans you got yourself anAssistant. Mr. TheOther you are Security Assistant to Lt. Neugruber.”

Hans clapped his big hand on thesame sized Y’All chest.

“Let`s find you some adequatequarters and a bed that will hold you and then we customize one of theGilgamesh suits for you.”

The frightening giant said. “Iappreciate that, Sir.”

Narth said. “And I hoped I couldshare an anecdote how my friend and Captain fought 12.6 ton carnivore lizardswith an ax.

The raging part of your self-assessmentI do not find quite as untrue or inaccurate. But I do not think of you as amonster. However the definition of a mons...”

I looked at him. “Of all people Iexpected some support from you.”

That I wasn’t mad at him he ofcourse knew by seeing my mind. I slammed my fists on the table. “Mr. Chitauliwhat are your plans for the next few hours?”

Shaka responded. “I wanted to gothrough the repair specs for the Virtu System in case I need to fix it.”

“Well you got to do that a littlelater. It’s time we take this baby for a Spin around the system.”

Shaka’s eyes went wide.” We aregoing to ... I am going to fly my ship.” I had never seen him smile that wideand he was gone in a flash.

“Be careful Captain,” saidHar-Hi. “If you do that again he might get facial cramps and he has to go tosickbay.”

“Oh I think you going to join himin sickbay then, my Dai-Than XO I want you to take her out and I mean now.”

“You give me the honor for thefirst take off?” Har-Hi now grinned too and said. “You are right I will need tomake an appointment with our new CMO to get this silly grin of my face. It’s sonot Dai.”

He turned to the rest and Har-Higave orders saying. “You heard the Captain. Cirruit get your engines hot.Krabbel plot a course around the System. Mr. Elfiatra inform Richter Station,Mr. Narth I believe Sensors need to be manned. Mr. Vouza, we might needshields.” He looked at Shea. “How do I call you now?”

“My last name is Schwartz.”

“Well Mr. Schwartz, it iscustomary on our ships, that science is on standby and on the bridge.”

Everyone scrambled with eageranticipation to their stations. I was suddenly alone in the briefing room andlooked out the viewing port.

Then there was a slight hummingsound a deep barely noticeable tone that penetrated everything. Through thepadded vibration absorbing deck plates and my boot soles I could feel a faintharmonic. The ships main power had been turned on, no longer running onenergies fed to us by umbilicals.

Its brain, the computronic wasalready with us since we came aboard, but to me the Ship’s heart was nowbeating and it became alive to me. No longer was it just a fancy lookingbuilding but a vehicle with unimaginable powers harnessed, ready to leave thegravitation well behind and enter its true domain the endless darkness ofspace.

--””--

Time flew and we were busy to getto know our ship and every day new personnel and crew arrived. I made a pointto welcome each of them personally and walk them through the ship. That way Iwould get to know my ship and my crew at the same time. Every day I found areasI had never been before. The Tigershark was no small ship and had twenty decks.Cavernous cargo holds, most of them empty. Crew quarters, Marine Country, onedeck completely dedicated to science with labs for various disciplines.

The ship had modern and extensiverecreation facilities; and to my great joy a big and deep swimming pool.

Being the captain had itsprivileges and one was to keep the pool temperature on Thursdays at threedegrees or in other words, just cold and perfect. Wanting to be a woman andactually to live as one every day turned out to be a challenge. Not only did ittake much longer in the morning to get ready, despite hygiene center and AutoDresser it also was more work to get to bed and every step and everything I didwas under the watchful eyes of Elfi and Shea. The girls really enjoyed theirteaching roles able to giggle a lot and point out something I did oh so wrong.

One afternoon I was standingoutside at the bottom of the extended IST shaft and had a little chat with themarines guarding it as I waited for the latest additions to the crew. Cherubimhad called and announced more to arrive. She said I would be surprised again.

Two Attikans stepped through theenergy curtain at the end of the slide belt tunnel. One was wearing Fleet blackand the other Marine green. One was striped and the other had dots all overtheir exposed fur. Even though they could have been any Attikans, I recognizedthem, Fectiv and Pure.

They both saluted and it wasstriped Fectiv saying. “Ensign Ak Fectiv Ka and Lieutenant First Class Ak Purereporting, Ma’am.”

I forgot that I was the Captainfor a moment and supposed to be dignified and all that but I said. “At ease youtwo, how good it is to see you again.”

Fectiv flared his black nostrilsand he looked at me. “You smell a whole lot different than I remember, but thebase scent is still there, I never forget a scent. Eric.”

He embraced me out of impulse andPure curled his chops and revealed his long rows of sharp canine teeth. “Yesyou smell like a human female, lot of soaps and scents, but I too remember.”

Fectiv released me suddenly. “OhI am so sorry Ma’am; this is not how I should greet my new Captain.”

I said. “Forget the Captain bitfor a moment. It is me, although I have changed my appearance somewhat. What apleasant surprise to see you here.”

Fectiv revealed his teeth as welland then said. “When Admiral McElligott personally called me and offered me aposting aboard a secret mission ship he told me I would be surprised to see whothe Captain would be. I never expected you, Eric. Even though I knew you wouldgo far, made Captain already.”

He handed ne his order andpersonal file chip and said.”You would never guess it, but I specialized inweapons engineering and I am a certified Translocator tech. I was told you; Imean the Captain had the final say if I would get the posting. Please say youstill need a Weapon System specialist.”

I said to him. “Of course I needone and I am very glad it is you. Before I become your Captain officiallyhowever, let’s finish that greeting.”

He and Pure embraced me onceagain and I said. “Welcome you too, welcome aboard the Tigershark.”

Pure who never talked much said.“You feel a whole lot softer now and you do smell nicer.” He then said, “I amhere to report to your Marine detachment.”

I wanted to show them around, butanother new Crew member came from the Slide belt tunnel. It was a Non-Corp andthe suited energy being saluted and said. “Ensign 3452-991 reporting as orderedMa’am.”

In my mind I thanked McElligottto send me my first year friends and said. “Is that you, Three-Four?”

“Yes, and I recognize you too.You’re Eric.”

Fectiv, Pure, Three-Four and Iwent inside and I showed them the ship and their quarters and then I introducedthem to the others and I realized how blessed I was to have even more friends ofmine aboard. Beings I could trust but I realized I was no longer just theirfriend. I was also their Captain and I knew there could be situations I wouldhave to order them into harm’s way.

We sat in the ship’s officer’smess and Fectiv was just telling my other friends the story when Three-Fourinfused me with bio-electric energies during an Academy dinner.

Fectiv was cackling with laughterand wiped his yellowish eyes. “... and then Eric asked the instructor if allNogoll had goatees.”

Har-Hi coughed and the water hewas drinking came out of his nose as he started laughing.”

Elfi covered her mouth andflashed her big dark eyes. “You can’t be serious.”

Shea explained to Krabbel whythat would be funny as Nogoll resembled somewhat Terran goats and that a certaintype of beard was called a goatee. Hans demonstrated his considerable artisticskill in sketching a goat for the Y’All using a graphic interface Ship hadprojected for him on the table surface. Shaka and the Seenian woman watched aswell and commented on Hans’ drawing. Three-Four was in a deep conversation withNarth and I leaned back and looked over my friends, talking to the new comersand it filled my heart with a very special kind of pride. No not pride, Irealized I loved them all.

One of our marines came over andsaluted, behind him was a woman with flaming red hair she wore a female UnionOfficers skirt suit. The Marine said. “Ma’am this Officer just arrived and shewanted to report to you directly.”

I said. “Thank you Corporal.”Then I got up and said to the red head. “I am Captain Olafson, what can I dofor you?”

“Ma’am I am Ensign LilithO’Connell, I am from the JAG office on Lorman’s Starbase and I was send here byorders of Commander Hollow.”

She talked with a slight lisp andlooked shyly at me while she spoke and then handed me her Order chip saying. “Iam permanently detached to your Command as JAG liaison Officer and legaladvisor should one be needed during this mission, while there are no legalcases, Ma’am I am to take the post of Yeoman.”

“Welcome aboard then EnsignO’Connell.”

She said with a quiet voice. “Itis a great honor to serve you and wanted to let you know I am from Coven and wemet before, of course I was not in this form and you might not recognize me.The Oldest and the Circle send you greetings and so does Gwenn.”

--””--

The three month training periodwas almost over, four more days to our dead line. The crew had swollen to 301members and fifty Marines. We ran drills and exercises daily and the time wasfilled with reading manuals, learning systems and more exercises. I ran dailybattle station drills, sometimes twice a day, after Har-Hi and I had worked outwhere everyone’s battle station was.

I had them take almost everythingapart and put it back together. We did Intruder alert drills, damage and firecontrol exercises and took the ship almost daily around the system.

It was exactly 0800 hrs and Istepped onto the bridge to begin my Forenoon watch. Pure who stood guard withanother Marine bellowed a crisp, “Captain on the bridge.”

The huge Y’All got up from theCommand seat as he had the morning watch at the Conn. He saluted and gave me abrief report of what happened during the Morning watch. I relieved him and satdown. The Yeoman appeared silently at my right side and handed me my Coffeemug.

Har-Hi had been right behind meand said. “Good morning Captain.”

Then he handed me a PDD in clipboard mode and said. “Thanks to the fast IST and the crew getting used to it,we are now at exactly 59 seconds until everyone reports Battle Stationsreached. I am confident I will be able to shave another two or three secondsoff with a few more drills.”

I thanked him and signed off onhis training and exercise schedule. Elfi interrupted and said. “Captain we arebeing hailed on Secure-Comm. It is the Fleet Admiral.”

I said while putting my cup down.“Lieutenant Pure, secure the Bridge. Narth please activate all Anti listeningdevices and Elfi please put him on the main viewer.

The grizzled face of the ancientAdmiral appeared. “Good morning Tigershark, good morning Captain Olafson. Ihave just read your last report and I think you drilled and exercised enough.It’s time to get your show on the road.”

A tingle went down my spine and Isaid. “We are as ready as we can be, but we still have things missing and thecrew is not complete.”

He sat behind his desk atAnnapolis Towers as he looked at us and said. “Yes I know there are stillthings missing, like your small craft and the parts for the Narth Time shield.However I cannot authorize the Wolfcraft at the Base as you need special craftmodified and unidentifiable as Union fighters. The new fighter and auxiliarycraft intended for the Tigershark are not ready yet, but I hope I can send themin two or three month to Richter Base. However further upgrades must wait untilyour next scheduled dock call and supply interval.

“Aye Sir.”

“I wish I could give you moretime to train but today is the day and your mission must commence. Two officerswe suspected to have ties to the worm, have stolen a Barracuda Destroyer twodays ago in the Corri-Door system after they managed to escape the agentsclosing in on them. The Barracuda is armed with a Translocator Cannon and Lokitorpedoes. While we did send the special destruct pulse code and we are fairlysure they lost the use of the Cannon, it is not certain. One of the officers isalso in possession of Maintenance Manual 15. Your first mission is to find theBarracuda and either capture or eliminate the deserters. You are hereby orderedto eliminate anyone who you suspect to have seen or might be in possession ofManual 15.

I am transmitting all data wehave on these two and the last Intel reports where they might be. Find andrecover that Union ship if you can, destroy it if you can’t. Again I repeat youare under direct Assembly Orders to execute and eliminate anyone you evensuspect of having seen the Translocator Cannons or the Manual. God speed to youall and return safe.”

I acknowledged and he cut thetransmission.

I got up from my seat and said toHar-Hi.” Please assemble the crew in the empty Hangar A in ten minutes.”

I inspected my dress uniformcarefully tugged at my sleeves and made sure the gloves did not throw anywrinkles. Tried to focus and stepped behind the lectern, before me stood a crewof three hundred, a contingent of 50 Ultra Marines as well as my friends.

Only Har-Hi stood with me on thelittle raised platform and he called:

“Attention, Captain on Deck.” Itwas a proud moment to see them snap into attention but I also was a sobering andscary realization that I was responsible for each and every one of them.

I said. “At ease. I gave them amoment and then began. “Some of you have been briefed about our mission andothers have not. I understand that you are all handpicked volunteers and youknow that this is a very secretive mission. Before I get into details let mesay a few words about me and what I expect from you and what you can expectfrom me. First of all my door is always open for anyone, regardless of rank orposition. You can come to me with everything; complaints, ideas, suggestions orproblems.

When I was a Midshipman I oftenwondered where the ship was heading and what our orders were and what went onin general. It won’t be like this on the Tigershark. I want you all to knowwhat is going on. There will be a dedicated Inter-ship channel where you canlisten in what is going on the bridge and SHIP is allowed to tell you where wegoing and all that. Unless I am ordered by higher authority or the situationreally leaves me no other choice, there won’t be any secrets. I want us to growinto a unit were we can trust each other and rank and positions mean little. Tothis effect I won’t be a stickler on regulations and in general if it doesn’tinterfere with your job it is allowed. I simply trust you to be professionalenough to know where the limits are.

Being intoxicated while on dutyfor example would be a grave misuse of my trust. I will never judge withoutknowing all the facts but if I learn that someone thinks I am a push around ortakes advantage of this, and then you will find that I will not hesitate toact. There will be no second chance and no grace period. I will treat each ofyou with the respect and dignity you deserve, but I expect the same from you.When I come to a decision and issue an order I expect it to be executed withouthesitation and discussion. Now if there is something I did that bugs you or youthink I should have done differently you are welcome to tell me and under nocirc*mstance will an open word of honest critique lead to reprimand orpunishment if it is brought to me in an adult and respectful way. And if youreally want to call me an asshole for something I deserve, seek me out afterDuty and if any way possible in a private fashion and it won’t end up inanyone’s file.” The crew laughed at that.

I let them settle down again andcontinued. “Now let me tell you what this ship is all about, why everything isso hush-hush and secret. We are going to hunt pirates and similar derelicts andcriminals in Freespace and we are going to do that, being disguised as piratesourselves.

To this every one of you receiveda second Identity which is detailed on the sealed part of your Order chip. Youonly need those when outside the ship if we interact with others. All identitieshave a real background and can be checked by whoever wants to check on it. Youare also allowed to dress as pirates, grow beards if you wish, and so forth,but I still expect you to be Union Military inside the ship and under yourcostumes.

“We received our first missionorders today and we will lift off shortly. Are there any questions?”

A brown furred Garbini raised histentacles.

“You got a Question PettyOfficer?” The Garbini wore the uniform of an engineering specialist

“Petty Officer Brush here,Captain. I am an engineering specialist, but I much rather want to be a MedTech. It’s a long story but they always make Garbini’s into Engineers withoutever really asking. My mother wants me to be an engineer and so does my father,but I am interested in Med Tech and not engineering. Now it happens to be thatyour crew has a famous Shail med tech, as Shail are always sent to Med School,but he much rather wants to be an engineer.

As the Garbini explained hiscompletely mission unrelated question, a Shail on the other side floating bythe Med Personnel raised his Grav Sled a little higher and waved his stalk eyesat me.

I shrugged. “I see no reason whyyou can’t switch. It is okay by me. But I want you both talk to your departmentleaders and make this a proper switch. It also means you got a whole lot tocatch up and learn in your new fields and you must be tested as well ofcourse.”

The Garbini looked happy. “We arealready studying and we will be ready for the monthly performance tests.”

I smiled and said. “Well sincethis effectively ended my monolog and address to you. Are there any otherquestions? Perhaps mission related?”

They simply looked at me andthere weren’t any questions. Har-Hi dismissed them.

Now they actually cheered me andgave me a hooray that constricted my throat and filled me with humility andpride at the same time, something that should of course not be possible but itwas.

--””--

Richter four sunk away beneath usas the Tigershark left behind the last traces of atmosphere and entered themedium she was made for and for our first real mission.

I said. “Mr. Krabbel, take her toa point five light years past the system. Coordinate with Mr. Narth and hissensors to make sure we are really alone out there. Mr. Shaka engage Translight as soon as you can.”

They answered with crisp ‘AyeCaptain’ to my orders and the Stars suddenly turned to long lines for theduration of a heartbeat then the viewer went dark. It took almost a second andthey returned. Narth turned and apologized. “Captain the ship accelerates sofast, the Optical Software that compensates for Quasi Space could not keep up.”

Unlike other Computronics whonever initiated conversation SHIP said.

“Captain, I believe I can adjustthat software somewhat and reduce the Lag approximately 50 percent.”

Shea who, when on duty wore hermask again, as she felt more comfortable with it, said. “If we write asubroutine with Shaka’s neural impulse as focus, at the same time he kicks theAccelerator it should be possible to completely eliminate the Lag.”

“Brilliant.” Narth and SHIPagreed simultaneously.

I rolled my eyes and looked atHar-Hi.” Most ships have one nerd. We got three.”

The Dai giggled.” We’re lucky Cirruitis busy downstairs or we could start our own tech geek convention.”

Shea turned. “The term nerdbecame quite fashionable along with the term geek in the early 21st century Imight add. Cultural reference work shows that...”

Krabbel raised one of his legs:“Hate to interrupt but we are going to drop out of Quasi Space in four secondsas we approach the requested five LY mark, Captain.”

“Alright, OPS stand by for JanusDevice. Science assist OPS at sensors and make sure we are alone. Har-Hi takeone of our Gazelles and check us out with your sensors and your eyes. I want tomake sure it works.”

Narth turned his seat, so hefaced the special console that was part of his station and his fingers toucheda series of keys and contacts, then he said. “Standing by on Janus System, allindicators are green. Janus Image selected and ready to be deployed.”

Shea confirmed “We are the onlyobject within 5 Light Years artificial or otherwise and there are no ships ofany kind beyond this sphere within sensor range”

“Thank you Ms. Schwartz.”

Har-Hi had already left thebridge and was on his way to pilot one of our two Gazelle long range reconcraft, the only auxiliary craft we had along in our otherwise empty hangars.

So I leaned over the left side ofmy command chair a little to get a glimpse of the special console as I said.“Mr. Narth, activate the Janus Device.”

He pushed a single contact andsaid. “Pattern Disguise program: ‘Karthanian Destroyer Merchant’ accepted andloaded. Simulated Matter sequencing in progress. Mask specific engine andsensor signature in place, transformation commenced and will be complete in 12seconds.”

On the main screen we watched agazelle speed away and Elfi established remote sensor link and communications,that way we would see what Har-Hi saw.

Har-Hi pulled the fast craft in atight loop and lined its optical sensors up with the Tigershark. Only where ourship supposed to be was indeed a worn out coffin shaped Karthanian.

Shea and Narth worked together onthe Science Console and after two minutes she turned. “We slaved the Gazellesensors and tried any scanning trick in the book and a few that are notrecommended or in the book and we still get nothing else but data about a KarthanianArmed Trader with strong but old fashioned, a tad misaligned engines and 150life signatures. Even the Psionic analysis shows only 150 active minds.”

Har-Hi’s voice came on and hesounded deeply impressed. “That is the most wicked technology I have ever seen.What could we Dai do with something like that?”

I responded. “Let us be glad theydo not have that tech.” I too was impressed and just a little frightened whatsuch technology could mean if it became more commonly available.

Elfi turned. “Captain I amgetting hundreds of distress calls from the Golden Market where the Barracudawas last reported.” I said. “Har-Hi get back in as fast as you can.”

Narth and Shea went over to helpElfi and I simply leaned back. They would give me an answer as soon as theycould.

Sure enough they had sorted itout fast and Elfi said. “We got 375 Distress calls, all coming from GoldenMarket Seven, 129 light years from here and near the Ballard nebula expansewhere Unclaimed space and Freespace merge. 207 of the calls come from civilianand commercial ships with Union transponder codes. The rest come from non-unioncontacts and the Golden Market Seven itself.”

Shea looked up from readout andsaid. “While there is a lot of confusion there, the common theme of the callsis that they are attacked by thousands of small spheres that can’t be destroyedand from the description of the sphere’s weaponry it looks as if they useTranslocators.”

I acknowledged and said. “Sheagive me a short rundown on these Golden Markets.”

She answered right away. “Thereare eighty known Golden Markets in our Galaxy, all operated by the Golden Ones.The Golden and the Blue are relatives to the Kermac and came like them from theoriginal home world Koken. There is not all that much known about the Golden,for example their true tech level, their Psionic abilities and how many thereare.

The Golden Ones keep themselvesstrictly neutral in all conflicts but they did initiate the last cease fireagreement between the Big Four by asking the Blue to intermediate.

It is not known if they have ahome system as no planetary system we know of is identified as being theirs.They do have a sizeable fleet and not just merchant ships and their technologyis considerably higher developed than Kermac. The Fleet External Threatassessment classifies the Golden as a potential Class III opponent if it wouldcome to a conflict between them and us.”

That made them pretty dangerous Iwas thinking, as the Nul and the Kermac also were classified as Class III andonly the Y’All exceeded that with Class II. Thankfully the Union had yet toface an opposing force that was classified as I.

PSI Corps reports claim that theGolden have comparable weak psionic powers that usually manifest as telepathybut it is said they are immune to most forms of Psionic mental attacks andimmune to telepaths.

These Markets are usuallyhollowed out moons or Asteroids of considerable size with Bazaars inside whereevery commodity can be sold or purchased, except Slaves. The Golden Ones do notpromote slave trade, at least at none of the known Markets. Market 7 is theclosest to Union Space and is drifting towards our space and should cross theBorder in 4,000 years.”

Har-Hi came back on the bridgewhile Hans added his information.

“Intel reports indicate thatSolder Fontanet and Oliver Whelan, the two officers we are currently trying toapprehend have been seen in the vicinity of that market only 72 hours ago.”

I said. “Elfi get me a DirectLink to the Admiral.”

“Link requested, Captain. SecureCommunications solid.” She raised her hand with two fingers showing, then oneand finally her fist. Indicating the seconds until the connection was made.

“Put him on.”

McElligott’s sleepy faceappeared. He was obviously in his bed room and in his PJs. He rubbed his eyesand grunted with a dry voice. “Oh it’s Captain Olafson, just left the nest andalready a call? Ran into a planet or lost something?”

I told him about the distresscalls and the report about Translocator usage. Before he could answer, he gotanother call and made a sign with his hand to stand by. I heard a voice givinghim a similar report. To me he said after he acknowledged the other person. “Sinceit is unclaimed space switch your appearance to Union. Pick something common,don’t expose the Tigershark’s true appearance and investigate. I am sending aBattle Group but you’re the closest unit.”

“Aye Sir.”

The screen went dark and Har-Hiwho had of course heard every word said.” Mr. Narth do we have a Janus programfor that?”

My hooded friend turned to hisJanus device and said “Aye Sir. We got a Phobos Class Destroyer on file.”

I nodded. “Activate it.” And toKrabbel I said.” Plot us a course to that Market. Shaka drop out of Quasi alight year out.”

== Chapter 14:Mini's ==

“Five Minutes to Quasi Drop.”Har-Hi said

“Sound Battle Stations. Load allCannons. Stand by on Sharp Shooters.”

This was the very first time Icalled Battle Stations on my own ship for real. My Command seat moved back, theintegrated Auto Dresser put me into a Battle Suit and the Direct Command Domelowered giving me an unobstructed View of space, all around the ship. SensorData was linked to the visual read out. The same happened to every dutystation. The range of our weapons was shown around my new view in faint colorspheres. Every door and dividing air lock in the entire ship closed. Creatingthousands of little compartments almost like the cells of a living being, incase of a hull breach catastrophic pressure and air loss would not affect theentire ship.

We dropped out of Quasi Space andour sensors picked up the Asteroid immediately, as well as hundreds of damagedand destroyed ships. The Asteroid was under flickering Shield and our longrange sensors showed the energy signatures of Antimatter impacts inside theshields. Only Translocator weapons could do that. Our Sensors also picked upthe Aggressor. Fifty ball shaped objects ten meters in diameter.

The blue Science symbol flashedand I acknowledged with an eye blink. Shea reported:” Sensor analysis inprogress. Alien Objects are of no known configuration, their weaponry issimilar to Translocator technology and their shields are equal to our most advancedTransDim Shields, they are much smaller in size but also much more efficient.Material analysis incomplete due to shield interference.”

I blinked at the report icon toacknowledge and asked. “Are those robots or automated drones?”

Narth’s symbol blinked and hesaid. “I am sensing sixty to seventy individual minds in each of these Spheres.TransDim shields interfere with Psionics, especially at that distance and Ican’t sense details.”

“Elfi hail the Bazaar.”

“You’re on, Captain.”

“This is Captain ... Jane Smithof the..., the USS Enigma, calling Golden Bazaar. We are here in response ofthe distress calls. We can only assist Union nationals and cannot engagehostiles in your sphere of influence unless you are clearly requesting us to doso.”

“This is Sodoby Merchant Eldestof the Golden. I am the highest authority here and I beg you to assist us. Welost over sixty ships and we sustained heavy damage and cannot survive anotherattack wave of these balls.

Our own fleet is on its way buttoo far out to make it in time. We contacted your Union assembly for help.”

Elfi interrupted. “I am receivingconfirming orders on fleet channels. All Union Ships are permitted to engageEnemies of the Golden Ones.”

“Alright open all knownCommunication channels and hail the aliens.”

“All channels are open, Captain.”

“This is Captain Jane Smith ofthe United Stars Starship Enigma, hailing unidentified hostile forces. You areto cease all hostile activities and stand down from further fighting. I amwilling to open communications and discuss the reasons for these hostilities.Any further weapon activity against Union nationals and allied assets willforce me to retaliate.”

“Captain, Sensor analysisindicates they have receivers capable of hearing us, but they just destroyed anotherGolden ship, ignoring us.”

“Mao get their attention. Targetlead sphere and fire. Shaka get us closer for main battery range.”

One of the Alien spheres suddenlyvanished and a bright ball of expanding energy in its place as Mao’s well aimedsniper round exploded.

That did get their attention andthe 49 remaining spheres changed course into an attack formation towards us.

Shaka reverse course and keepdistance.”

Har-Hi said with a calm voice.“Receiving enemy fire. Equivalent of 15 gram AM loads. Our shields areeffective neutralizing, receiving 50 shots a second. Shields at 69 percent.”

“Mao target another and fire.”

This time Mao missed. The Spheresbegan a wild dance flying in fast erratic patterns. He missed two more times.

“Mao forget that precisionshooting. Main Battery authorized one Exo load and aim somewhere before them.”

A new mini sun bloomed suddenlyinto the darkness of space and ten of the spheres could not evade and flewright into the plasma ball.

The rest of the spheres sloweddown and stopped firing.

“Captain we are being hailed bythe Unknowns.”

In all the seriousness of theSituation Har-Hi chuckled. “When you say hello the Terran way you usually doget cooperation.”

“Put them on Elfi. Shea stand byfor detail analysis and Lingu support.”

A part of the projected spacearound me was replaced by the main viewer and a completely normal standardhuman looking grey bearded man in a blue uniform, somehow very Terran in a veryold fashioned way complete with white cover and black duckbill.

He spoke but I did not understandmost of it, just every tenth word sounded familiar. Elfi chimed in.” I don’tbelieve it. He speaks English, ancient Pre Astro English. One moment adjustingtranslator.”

I said. “Please repeat; oursystems are now adjusted to your language.”

“I am Admiral Jordan Rutherfordof the New Worlds Commonwealth. We just analyzed one of your languagetransmissions. It was in English. Please repeat were you come from.”

“As I said I am Captain Jane Doeof the United Stars Spaceship Enigma. We represent the United Stars of theGalaxy.”

A text message of Shea appearedinside my view field and it read: No Union member on file with ships like thator called New World Commonwealth. Weapon analysis complete. Enemy weapons aresimilar to Translocators but not the same. Materials used in construction arenot conformed to Union materials or any other known species.

A second man appeared on thescreen. He too wore a dark blue uniform but looked younger.” Captain Doe didyou ever hear about a planet named Earth?”

“My Helmsman is a native ofTerra, Region Africa. Terra was used to be called Earth.”

“Oh the Lord be praised. Earthstill exists then?”

“I assure you Earth is fine, butbefore we continue discussing Earth. Can we agree on ceasing hostilities forthe time being and then I think you need to explain why you attacked in thefirst place.”

The white bearded Admiral nodded.“Of course we will stand down at once. We would suggest a direct meeting anddiscuss all this in person.”

Narth mental message in my head.”I can sense they are genuinely interested in extensive information exchange andwhat is most peculiar I can sense utmost euphoria since the word Earth has beentransmitted.”

“Alright Admiral. How we are wegoing to meet? Are you at some remote location we should approach?”

“No we are indeed inside ourShips.”

Hans muttered.” How crowded mustit be in those little things?”

“I am going to lower our shields,Admiral and open one of my hangar doors. I give you my word that your flag oftruce is accepted and you are free to leave at any point. However if you decideto use the opportunity to fire while we lower shields. I can assure you we willfind enough time to retaliate.”

“We won’t get anywhere withouttrust. I accept your word and you have mine.”

“Hans get a Team of Ultras downto Hangar One just in Case.”

“On my way.”

I was standing next to Hans andTheOther and felt quite safe and small at the same time as I looked through thetransparent part of the docking bay access door. The Alien Ship had just setdown and it appeared almost like an intricate and very detailed model of aSpace ship. It was round but had ISAH pod like engine blocks at the lower end.It had small viewports and gun turrets and landing gear. I signaled Hans toopen the door and I walked towards the alien vessel. A port opened on it and a50 centimeter open hover platform floated towards me, on it four Men, nonetaller than maybe ten centimeters.

The floating thing stopped atnose height before me and I recognized one of the little men as the whitebearded Admiral.

“SHIP be so kind and place afield microphone before our guests and amplify.” “At once Captain, microphoneis in place.”

A barely visible form fieldenergy microphone floated before them and I could hear the Admiral loud andclear.

“I can see our Size did surpriseyou.”

Then he glanced towards Hans andthe Y’All and said. “As your size surprises us.”

“I have a Conference Tablebrought in and Refreshments so we can commence these talks in a civilizedmanner.”

The dark haired younger Mannbehind the Admiral spoke.” Do you by any chance have real Terran coffee?” Thatearned him a stern gaze from his senior officer but I assured him coffee wouldbe on its way.”

A table was placed and Cirruithad small Chairs and Glasses manufactured in no time.

A field screen was placed in sucha way that the Small men looked normal size to me and vice versa we lookedproportional small to him. I sat down and said.” It might be best you beginfrom the start Admiral. As we cannot explain your existence.”

“I might as well do that. Ourstory begins during the Second Exodus or the first migration of humans intospace after the Sarans have revealed themselves to Earth. Do you still havecontact to them?”

I gestured to Elfi. “The SaranEmpire is part of the United Stars and my communications officer is a Saranprincess.”

“Wonderful. Wonderful news.” Hescratched his beard. “I better continue with my story then.”

I agreed that would beappreciated and he continued.

“Our ancestors were among the firstSettler arks leaving Earth. Ours was the Shenandoah and during the trans lightacceleration phase the Shenandoah was hit by something and our jump drivemalfunctioned. We did not end up at the intended target, a Garden world around CygniAlpha, but inside a strange thick nebula, that further damaged our ship and wehad to land at the only place we could find that was even remotely suitable. Wefound a stark world with bad atmosphere and to close to a radiation spewingsun. Our forefathers went deep underground and carved out a living underincredible hardship. None of our ancestors knew how far we were from Earth. Theidea was hatched by a brilliant genetic engineer who was part of the originalcrew. In Order to make our supplies last longer he proposed to change ourgenetic code so we would become smaller. The changes were made and everygeneration became a little shorter. However life was extremely harsh andscience and research was not on our agenda for centuries. The Genetic Knowledgewas lost and we kept on shrinking until we reached this size about 2000 yearsago. When life improved and we once again had the resources for science webasically had to start from scratch. Much of the knowledge was still in thelibraries but few understood, so we developed our own technology and build athriving society onto four planets within the New World System. All our cultureand civilization was based on our current size and we never felt we needed toreverse the Genetic alteration. Since our system was inside a dense matternebula with intensive energetic storms we had no contact to other civilizationsand felt quite safe, but we expanded to other worlds and our newest colony ison the very fringes of that nebula. We noticed large sized aliens occupyingthat asteroid slowly moving toward our colony. We know that due to our size weare in disadvantage against full size aliens. Once we were discovered we fearedwar and conquest. Our first contact unit was attacked and destroyed by unknownforces but certainly associated to that occupied asteroid and we decided todefend ourselves by destroying the Asteroid and its inhabitants.”

He finished his long explanationand he found us and me listening with open mouths.

He opened his arms. “But pleasenow tell us about Earth and Terra and your magnificent ship, and your immenseweapons and terrific shields.”

Shea told them a brief history ofthe last 3000 years and closed with the words. “... so we responded to thedistress call of the Golden market. May I express how truly amazed I am to findthat you developed Translocator technology all on your own.”

He bowed proudly.” One of ourgreatest Scientists was a direct descendant of Dr. Isah and at least asbrilliant.”

Even I remembered the name. Dr.Isah was a legendary multi discipline Scientist from the early history; heinvented an incredible amount of technology including the ISAH drive and theTerran faster than light direct energy cannons. Isah was often called thegreatest genius in human history.

The man next to the admiral said.“If we would apply for membership, then this Union of yours would protect usand that nebula of ours would become Union territory isn’t that so?”

I nodded. “To the last man andship and it is no empty boast as you heard in my science officer’s monolog onour history.”

“We can’t speak for ourgovernment of course.”

The Admiral said. “Please let uscontact our leaders and we will relay their answer as soon as possible.”

His adjutant sighed deeply andheld up his tinny coffee cup.” We have an original sample of Terran Coffee inour Earth Museum. Of course we have a replicated product, but the real thing isso incredible it alone would be enough reason to join.”

“I make sure my chef will get youan ample supply right away.”

“And real Earth potatoes too?Just one will be enough.”

Again the admiral glared at hisadjutant and said to me.” Please excuse him. To us Earth is our Religion. It isa mystical place of our far gone ancestors and we kept as much alive as wecould it was the very motor of our determination to not give up. So the crewsof my ships are quite frankly speaking nuts since they heard you are fromEarth. The good men we lost in the battle are forgotten.”

I put my finger on his shoulder.“Admiral let’s take steps that they are not forgotten. War and battles are moreoften than not unnecessary. We completely understand your reasons for attackingand I hope you understand our response, but let these men be the last thatdied. As it seems we are more than just two alien cultures meeting, we are as itturned out related.”

It didn’t even take them an houras the Admiral re-appeared before me and said with a broad smile.” theCommonwealth of New Worlds decided after an emergency meeting to make me thehigh representative and herby officially present you with my government’srequest to join the United Stars.”

I took the tiny document salutedand said.” I shall convey this immediately. There is a battle group on its wayas we speak and they will provide you with additional security until you had achance to travel to Pluribus to make your official request and have yourmembership verified.”

“More huge ships like this?”

Har-Hi grinned with his armscrossed. “No Admiral Rutherford, a Union Battle group consists of 5Dreadnoughts, 20 Ultra Battle Ships, 60 heavy destroyers and over 200 othersupport craft, a Dreadnought is 3900 meters across.”

The Admiral folded his hands.“Thank to the Lord we communicated.”

“Size isn’t everything.” I said.“We are equally impressed.”

--””--

McElligott’s projection leanedforward, while Cherubim was standing next to him and he said. “I just read yourreport. You are not even gone from Richter Base for 42 Hours and you alreadyfought a battle, made contact with tiny Terrans lost in the Ballard NebulaExpanse and convinced them to join the Union” He shook his head and turned tolook to the woman at his side. “Have we really thought this through, sendingTHEM in a ship and all on their own?”

Cherubim chuckled. “I guess youowe Richard 100 Credits. He was right they make some incredible news within thefirst week.”

The old Admiral put the reportdown. “Well you did well, I must say and cleared the situation the best waypossible. But could you not have found a different identification than CaptainJane Doe of the Enigma? How cheesy is that?”

“Sorry Sir I had to come up withsomething on the spur of the moment.”

“How am I going to explain to theAssembly who made contact? Well I figure something out. For now you are to dockat the Golden Market and meet with the Merchant Eldest of the Golden.”

“Sir?”

“The Golden Ones are veryenigmatic and very powerful, Captain. Their Tech level is believed to be on parwith ours and we know very little of them. It is said they know every Galaxy inthe local group and rumors say they trade with almost all space faring speciesin the entire local group, most of which we never even heard off. Their highestleader Sobody Merchant Eldest of the Golden, contacted me directly ten minutesago requesting to meet the gallant Captain who saved his market and muchprofit. He said he has a historical proposal for us but he wants to talk to youabout it. This is very important so proceed, meet the man and be careful.Cherubim is going to try and fabricate a personnel record for Captain Jane Doeas we speak. Perhaps you can pick up the trail of those traitors as well. I amcertain he knows something about them.”

Cherubim said. “I am going tomake the USS Enigma real at least in the files. Now on another note, let mewarn you and be careful Captain. The First Merchant Sobody is around for a verylong time and the undisputed ruler of a very secretive and powerful society. Ifat all possible don’t start a war.”

McElligott folded his hands in apraying gesture. “I wish we could send some experienced diplomats to such adelicate and difficult task and all I got is a Female Neo Viking with a shorttemper, a Dai Pirate and a ship full of guns.” He then smirked. “May it as itwill be, Captain, we do have your back.”

== Chapter 15:Sodoby, the First Merchant ==

We approached the Asteroid baseof the Golden. Wrecks and heavily damaged ships of various sizes and typesfloated all around us.

To Elfi the chatter on thevarious channels was overwhelming and only with SHIP’s help was she able tofilter through them. Narth and Shea were busy taking scans and making imagerecordings, as there were ships no one of us had seen before. Well almost, HarHi proved that the Dai indeed had a deep knowledge of areas and species unknownto the Union.

As big as the Asteroid was,actual landing was not possible for ships of the size of the Tigershark andevery possible landing spot was taken anyhow, but the bazaar featured severallong mooring arms against we could dock. I didn’t want anyone to have thechance to get a real close look. Not that I didn’t trust the Narth technology,but I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks, either.

Shaka had no problem to guide ourdisguised ship towards the outmost tip of one of these mooring arms. Magneticclamps engaged and Cirruit powered the engines down and put them on standby.

I got up from the Command seatand took a deep breath. “Well let’s hope we don’t start a war. Hans, Har-Hi,Shea, Elfi, Narth and Krabbel you are with me.

To the Y’All I said.” Put up aguard inside and outside of the Mooring arm. I don’t want anyone to get toclose to the ship or attach anything to our hull.”

He acknowledged and stomped ofthe bridge.

To Mao I said. “You have theConn. If anything happens and we are not coming back, you are under nocirc*mstance to come after us. You are to take the ship back to Richter andreport to Cherubim or the Admiral.”

Mao took the command seat andsaid. “Do you expect something like this to happen?”

I shrugged and said. “At thispoint I am expecting anything and nothing, I just want our bases covered asmuch as possible.”

We left the bridge and Narth saidfollowing me. “Don’t you think the Fleet does a good job, covering our bases?How could we possibly cover all bases the fleet has?”

Shea said to him, as I was tryingto formulate thoughts to explain my expression. “It is a reference to an oldTerran sports activity, where points in the playing field are covered byplayers to perform ritualistic and strictly regulated activities with a littleball and bats.”

I wondered if there was anythingshe didn’t know. Even I had no idea where that expression originated.

Wearing our dress Uniforms wewent through the Mooring Arm tunnel and into the main body of the Asteroid thathad a radius of roughly 78 kilometers.

I wasn’t prepared for what wewere seeing now. The Asteroid was hollowed out and from what it looked likemost of it, forming one gigantic cavern. Terrace style levels circled the wallsas far up as I could see. Each terrace had stalls, shops and merchant booths.There had to be thousands.

Narth shook his hooded head andresponded to my thoughts out loud as he said. “No there are two million threehundred and forty thousand shops, stalls and booths.”

I looked at him. “Lucky for yousomeone was just thinking about how many there were and you overheard it;otherwise you wouldn’t know how many shops there are.”

Narth held up a little colorfulflyer. “No I have not done so, but you can read this fact in this informationpamphlet I pulled from a slot at the entrance.”

I had no other reaction but togently elbow him in the side and saying. “Smart-ass.”

Narth objected that his smartswere not located in his behind and I wondered if it would be possible for me totalk to Narth without using any acronyms, synonyms or words that could havedifferent meanings and I decided that this would be impossible and not much funeither.

The Ground Level was one hugeopen space, and here too, merchants had set up shop. A ship dealer occupied asizeable area to our right displaying a row of used and new civilian spaceships mostly of Karthanian origin, but also a few civilian Union models.

Towards the left, anothermerchant selling Skimmers and landing tanks. Further to the back, cages andtanks holding live animals including the most bizarre life forms I had everseen.

The bazaar was not very busy as Iassumed most customers had fled. I could see repair crews flying with theirmaterial loaded skimmers in every direction.

A group of four beings dressed inshinny golden metal floor length robes approached. Two of them at first appearedto be children, but seeing their wrinkled faces and bald heads, dispelled thisnotion very quickly. Behind them the other two were very tall, carrying spearlike weapons and wore shiny helmets with mirrored visors hiding anything buttheir chins and mouth. The small ones reminded me of the Kermac I had met onAlvor’s Cove, however these beings did not have the characteristic white skinbut had a deep gold bronze skin and were only about 80 centimeters tall and didnot have the glued on ceremonial beards, all Kermacs had.

The smaller ones, like theirbrethren appeared to be completely hairless, had big round eyes and small nosesand little mouths. The left one managed to look down on us in a very arrogantmanner, even though he had to look up to us. He greeted us saying.

“He, the all-powerful and richestin all the galaxies; he who carries the exalted name of Sobody, and the mostsacred title of Merchant Eldest of the Golden, the Keeper of the consecratedlaws of profit and guarantor of wealth has in his great wisdom requested thatyou in all haste be brought before him. You must know of the rarest privilegeto be in his presence, but few lower life forms were ever allowed to gaze uponthe being most perfect.

You will kneel at all times andcrawl to the throne circle and only if you are commanded to do so you may comecloser. It is at no point permitted to lift your eyes at him withoutpermission, your presence soils the palace as it is, do not add to thecontamination by speaking or gazing. If you do all this I think we manage toget this audience over with to every ones satisfaction.”

I wanted to say something but heput his finger on his lips.

“Hush, hush be quiet and followme. Lower life forms must not speak when in the presence of the True Golden.Leave the blabbering to the sales floors.”

I took a deep breath, rememberingthe words of McElligott and with much effort I swallowed my pride and anger.They took Kermac arrogance to new heights.

I even managed to give my friendsa nod to play along.

A shimmering slide walk made ofpink, purple and golden translucent moving segments silently lowered behindthose four Golden beings to the ground and carried us moments later up in aspiraling way upwards to a sphere like construct hanging without any visible supportsin the upper middle of the hollowed asteroid. The sphere was made of diamondshaped plates of gold and glass of various sizes. The Slide way terminated at aguarded double door that led inside this diamond shaped floating building.

The arrogant Golden that hadspoken to us said. “Once through that door you are in the Sanctum Regalis andin the very presence of he who is Sobody Merchant Eldest of the Golden. You arethen to lower yourself to the floor and do not look up.” He looked at Krabbeland Hans.” Those brutish things shall remain outside.”

The door opened but I did not go.

I said “If my crew and friendsare not welcome then I am not welcome. Tell that Majesty of yours, that it washim who invited us and it was us who saved this place.”

Diplomacy went only so far. Iturned and said. “Let’s go guys.”

A voice from inside the doorcalled. “Most gallant Captain Doe. Please all of you come in.

My chamberlain was more thanun-polite. Please forgive us and come on in.”

The Chamberlain bowed deeply:“Wisdom incarnate, those life forms are neither cleansed nor properly searchedand undressed.”

The same voice snarled. “Besilent, you are dismissed. The times of isolation have ended for more than justthe Narth.”

Sobody looked very much like hisChamberlain only much older and while his face clearly reflected the knowledgeof power he did not have the same arrogant quality. I even noticed he had crawfeet around his eyes, giving testimony that he liked to laugh and smile.

We entered the floating diamondshaped building. The floor was a white polished stone, curved Columns of thesame white material in equal distances all around the curved walls. Mountainsof silken cushions and pillows between them, Low tables held fruits and fooddelicacies from all over the Galaxy and perhaps beyond. Sobody the GoldenMerchant made a dismissive gesture.

And with it he dismissed theguards and he waited till the doors were closed. Then he said. “Welcome indeedand thank you for your help. There is no question; you have saved this Bazaarand the many lives in it, including mine.”

He stopped as his eyes fell onElfi and he bowed deeply. “Had I know such a royal visitor of utmost importancewalked among you I would have prepared for a more formal reception. YourMajesty it is an honor to greet thee in my humble surroundings.”

I learned then that Elfi couldstare and make a face just as arrogant as they and then some. She said with arazor sharp edge in her voice “She who is the Princess travels incognito andwishes not to make an issue of her stand and position. However, yourChamberlain’s manners were insulting in the highest.”

He bowed again and said.

“I planned to punish him for hisill manners indeed, but you will have his head on a plate before you leave.”

He bowed again this time beforeNarth. “It is almost 6,000 years since I had the privilege to greet a Narth inperson.”

Narth did not bow and said. “Youshield your thoughts well but your reputation that you are immune to psionicsand the Golden cannot be sensed is not accurate.”

The Golden answered. “We are anold species but what are we compared to the Narth? Since you can sense me youknow I mean you no harm.

No shield can keep out theprobing mind of Narth this is a fact, I will however lower all barriers tofreely allow you access, so you know I am truthful and I will come to the realreason I have asked you here.” He gestured. “Please make yourself comfortable Ihave a selection of delicacies and refreshments that might delight you.”

We sat down on the pillows acrosshim but no one took anything. I didn’t trust the Golden and I didn’t reallylike him or his haughty, insulting officials at all, but Narth send me athought that he was honest, at least so far.

The Golden looked straight at me.“I can sense you do not like me, perhaps it is because of our relationship withthe Kermac, perhaps it was my doomed Chamberlain and his bad manners and Ican’t blame you for it, but I hope I can change your mind before this day isover.”

“High merchant I am here becauseI was ordered to be here. I am here because I represent the United Stars of theGalaxies and you are an important representative of another culture andcivilization.

However I feel there are otherreasons why you wanted us here in person, other reasons than to thank us, thatis.”

He declined his head, smiled andhis smile did reach his eyes, then he said. “Indeed this is quite so my youngand beautiful Captain Doe.”

He gestured around him and said.“I am the absolute ruler of those known to you as the Golden. You know we arerelatives of the Kermac and given the history between the Union, especially theTerrans and our distant relatives it has always strained relationships betweenus the Golden and the Union for quite some time. But please consider, yourfabulous Union also includes the Blue. Who are just as related to us.”

He pointed to Narth and said.“The Narth know our true history and I am sure your hooded friend can, if heconsults the Narth Supreme, confirm that we suffered much from our so calledrelatives. We were treated much like the Blue by the Ker and the Mac and had tofight in order to survive the genocide efforts of the Ker.”

Narth nodded slightly and in mymind I heard him say. “He does speak the truth.”

The old merchant took a fruitfrom a side table but did not eat it and continued.

“The Union did not like the Blueat first, but you embraced them after they decided to join the Union and I amsure you know there isn’t a Union Member who dislikes the Kermac more than theBlue.”

Even I had to agree with that, Ididn’t know any Blue personally but learned about them in Union class.

He was still talking.

“When the Narth abandoned theirage old policy of isolation and become more active members of the Union, itgave me to think as well.”

He now popped the little bluefruit in his mouth chewed and again focused his eyes on me as he said. “Yousee, we Golden built our business on the reputation of our neutrality and bykeeping the secrets and details of ourselves closely guarded.

We are not immortals but enjoy along live span.

My own aging process wascompletely halted now for over 12,000 years now and I have seen empires riseand fall. Civilizations appear on the galactic stage and disappear.

We travel to galaxies and placesno one in this galaxy has ever even heard off and we do business withcivilizations not known to anyone here.

But then something happened thatcaught my interest, a species of Humans were uplifted by the Sarans and theyarrived on the galactic stage not meekly like other new civilizations do, butwith a thunderclap eradicating the relentless Xunx completely.

From then on I could not keep myeyes off them and to put it in Terran words. I became the Terran’s biggestfan.”

He again motioned to Narth. “Aspromised I opened my shields and you are welcome to monitor my thoughts to seethat I am indeed truthful.”

Narth simple and dryly deliveredstatement was perhaps the ultimate arrogance, but I had to concentrate not togrin as my friend said. “Your shield was not very effective, the impotentattempt to use childish Kermac devices and techniques, but I appreciate thegesture and I concur your intentions are of great benefit to us. I shallhowever leave you the decision to reveal it all.”

The old merchant bowed his head.“Thank you. I am thankful you let me tell it.”

Narth Voice in my head said. “Hecan be trusted, but what he has in mind might cause some turmoil. I let himreveal it unless you insist.”

I simply shook my head andthought back. “As long as this is no trap and he gets to the point I agree.”

Sobody moved his head and said.“Amazing it seems you communicate telepathically with your captain and I can’tdetect a thing. Seeing a Narth act almost like a human is perhaps the greatestwonder I have yet witnessed.”

Narth surprised me as he said.

“Narth Supreme considers thediscoveries I made through my friendship and service the highest achievement weNarth attained in millennia. It fills me with personal pride if I am consideredto have human qualities. I further like to add the advice not to underestimateany of my crew mates and especially not our Captain.”

Sobody sipped from a glass. “Underestimatingthe Union has been the doom of many indeed.”

I nodded to Krabbel. “Go ahead,Narth thinks he is trustworthy.”

Krabbel shrieked and took analready melting ice cream cone from a platter close to him.

The golden Merchant laughed. “YesI heard of the addictions Archas have for ice cream. When I saw one to be partof your crew I knew I had to have some here.”

“Yet your officials consideredhim not fit to be in your presence.”

“We do business with life formsof all shapes and forms. It is old encrusted traditions that govern somebehavior. I intend to change that.”

I thanked him acknowledging his explanationand said. “Please continue and come to the point why we are here. We learnedmuch but still nothing of the real reason and I am in a bit of a hurry.”

He slowly shook his head and hehad a wide smile on his lips. “Forceful, a little impatient, Easy to anger,full of pride and never to be underestimated, Captain Doe you are a refreshingexample of the exact qualities I admire so much in these evolved primates ofTerra. Please believe me when I say I love your species. There is none quitelike it in the Universe I have seen so far.”

He took another fruit and lookedat it then he said. “I want you to tell your superiors, we the Golden will askto join the Union and give you unlimited access to all our files, technologyand allow you to set up research posts on all our bases and reveal to you thesecret of the ancient gates and how they can be used to travel to otherGalaxies. All this we offer under one condition.”

I was quite shocked by hisrevelation but said. “High Merchant I am only a Starship Captain. I cannot makedecisions for my government and grant or negotiate any deals or conditions.

If you are indeed the informedleader you are, you must know that there are no officials that can grand yourrequest. Even the Golden must apply and it is the citizens through the Assemblythat grant membership. However I am sure my superiors have influence in this. Iwill contact them immediately.”

He seemed pleased as he said. “Iam certain you can call your ship and have a connection made. Call that Old Manof yours, McElligott and tell him I would like to talk to him.”

Elfi made the connection linkingTigershark’s Comm. System with my Wrist-PDD.

The Admiral’s Holo-image appearedimmediately as if he had waited right by his terminal for this call. Before Icould even brief him he snapped.

“How did it go? What happened?What did he want?”

Sobody got up walked over andplaced himself inside the visual pick up sensor of my PDD and said “I am righthere Admiral. We are still in my sanctum and I asked your young Captain to makethis connection.”

I extended the wide anglereceiver so McElligott could see all we did and projected a field screen soSobody could see the Admiral better.

McElligott slightly bowed to theOld Merchant. “Your Eminence, It is an Honor to talk to you in person. I hopemy young Captain has represented the Union well.”

The Merchant said. “She hasindeed Sir. Let me come to the reason for this call and I will offer you aproposal.” The Golden repeated the offer.

McElligott wiped his mouth in aninvoluntary gesture. “My captain was quite correct in stating the mechanics ofmembership, but I am sure these are just formalities in your case. I will gladlybe an advocate in that process, but what would that condition be?”

“I want to join this young crewand go on whatever mission they are on. I won’t ask for any privileges and betreated like any other crewmember, but I want to be there. I lived a very longtime and I feel old despite my body’s eternal youth. I want to soak and spongeup some of that vitality and energy, to be on a Union ship and on realmissions.

My Council of Elders is fullyinstructed and ready to travel to Pluribus and do all what is necessary tointegrate the Golden into the Union. We will accept Union Law, participate withfunds and recruits to your fleet. Give you unlimited access to all our files onalien species and technology. Our Intelligence Service has much to share aswell. It will be good business in the long run too, as I am certain.”

The Admiral said. “A Battle groupis already dispatched and will arrive soon. I will order the USS Sansibar totake you aboard as a passenger for a grand tour of Union Space. It is one ofour newest dreadnoughts.”

Sobody’s voice became stronger.“No Admiral. I was not talking about being a safe guarded VIP guest and beingflown along safe space lines for a few weeks. I am offering you and the Union agreat opportunity and I think you understood what I have asked. I want to gowith the Crew of the USS Enigma and on whatever mission they have. Don’t takeme for a fool or lightly. Don’t change their mission to suit me. My side of thedeal is of tremendous benefit to the Union. My request should be littlecompared to that.”

McElligott wrung his hands as hesaid. “Sir, this Crew is on a long and dangerous mission. I could not possiblyguarantee your safety.”

Sobody sounded pleased. “Now weunderstand each other and that is exactly what I want. I don’t want my safetyguaranteed. The deal will be complete and unchangeable regardless if I getinjured or die in the course of that mission, ask your Narth. I have no hiddenagenda, no alternate motives. It is simply the dream of an old and very richman, to once more do something meaningful, something daring and perhapsdangerous. I want to share a cabin with another crewmate, scramble at alarm ordie in the heat of battle or perhaps simply out of excitement.

Again I am not asking for anyspecial treatment, in fact I do not want any. I might not be a trained officerfrom your Academies but I am traveling this universe longer than you and thatiron hero Stahl together and that should count for something. Besides I amgiving you a choice. You do not have to agree. But then as long as I live theGolden shall remain as they were.”

“Why now? It seems almost as ifyou have planned this.”

Sobody shook his head vehemently.“No Admiral I have not planned for those little Humans to attack us. Even wehad no idea of their existence until they attacked. Our own battle fleet wastoo far out to arrive in time, but as I told your Captain I am a fan of theUnion so to speak and I am playing with this idea ever since I watched you growas a civilization. I made definite preparations ever since the Narth have easedtheir Isolation and came to the conclusion my people need to do the same. Itwas coincidence that brought this Captain and her Crew here but I would haveasked for this eventually.”

McElligott said. “Unionmembership and the joining of an entire civilization, is not exactly fleetbusiness and I too must follow orders. I will address the Assembly and I willcall you back within the hour. Mr. Narth are you convinced he speaks thetruth?”

Narth answered. “Yes Sir, hismind is open and it is indeed his wish.”

It didn’t take him an hour tocall back. The Speaker of the Assembly himself was present and it was somethingelse to see these VIPs, beamed as Holos from my Wrist Com. The Speaker welcomedthe old merchant. “While it is a process, your Eminence. The news of the Goldenconsidering Union membership has taken the Assembly by surprise, but a verypositive surprise. I see no complications to put your application on fast trackand thus welcome the Golden into the Union. With great pride do I extend aninvitation for a delegation of yours to come to Pluribus to make it official.”

“And my request to become amember of the USS Enigma and experience a real mission?”

“The Assembly has heard it andsees no issues with that, but the safety concerns of our Fleet Admiral arevalid.”

Sobody called in a group of oldlooking Goldens who confirmed it all and also signed a contract to the effectthat whatever would happen to the Old Merchant while aboard my ship would notaffect the new relations in any shape or form.

It was also agreed to send for amobile extended reach GalNet terminal. Until now these unusual and historicaltalks were made via my wrist com.

I asked to have one brought upfrom my ship to ease further communication.

The Assembly was hearing andseeing what the Speaker was seeing. It was decided that the delegation ofElders would leave right away as soon as the Sansibar arrived.

The Golden leader was quitepleased after the Assembly ordered McElligott to make the necessaryarrangements.

After the Assembly and the Speakerwere disconnected McElligott spoke directly to me.

“We had no other choice reallyand I did give him my word not to alter your mission and so you are stuck withthat Merchant. I wish I would see another solution. But I can’t go against anAssembly decision. However this is the Navy and he is to be aboard your ship asa specialist without special duty.

You are the Captain and the shipcomes first, but if you can, try to bring him back alive.

Wait for the battle group toarrive. I am sending additional units and a Mobile Ship Yard to secure thatRock and help with the damaged civilians.”

I said with a sigh. “Just lovely,Sir. Bring him back alive, yes Sir.”

McElligott shrugged with hisshoulders, rolled his eyes and disconnected. I looked at the Golden and said.“You are serious, right?”

He nodded. “I just ordered myentire civilization to basically abandon our way of life and you ask me if I amserious?”

“Yes Sir, because I find youroffer is so far out of proportion to your single request. I am sure theAssembly would have granted you your own ship, even built you one and given youa crew of Terrans.”

He still smiled and said. “Youare very sharp and very intuitive indeed. To be honest, not that I wasn’tbefore, but my Elders and I prepared this step for quite a while.

We would have asked formembership anyway, within the next few months. Your Union is growing and it isnot doing so by conquering others.

I saw other Empires and I studiedthem all, not even the most totalitarian society manages to keep such a highsatisfaction and level of content among its citizens. I am not talking aboutthe Klack or the X101, but about empires and cultures that incorporate manydifferent ones.”

He made a gesture around him.“You noticed my chamberlain encrusted in age old forms and outdated views ofthe universe.

I am not exalted just because Iam rich and in charge of my people. I am not wiser than others just because Iwas born under the shining diamond or because my father ruled before me.

But changing these things is noteasy and takes time. Being members of the Union will give the 175 BillionGoldens not only a stable market to deal and prosper, but it gives each Goldenthe very chance I am taking now and maybe become something else than amerchant. Maybe a doctor, an engineer or maybe one of my subjects wants to rejectit all and join the Gal Drifts. He or she now has this choice.”

He spread his short arms. “Wellsoon they will, as I said changes take time, but a society not willing tochance and advance is a society that is doomed. But I wouldn’t be the ruler ofa society of merchants and dealers if I couldn’t use this to fulfill a dream ofmine, now what is so bad about this?”

Somehow I couldn’t really be madat the Golden anymore. Narth told me that he was genuine and I sensed Narthstill trusting his words.

What he said made sense and whileit was a little beyond my expertise, I could not find anything to object to hisreasoning. If he wanted his own people to be free and if he wanted to be judgedon his own merits rather than on titles and positions, then he hit the rightbuttons with me. I said to him. “Because you are a VIP, the leader of a societyand I am new to this captain business and I am on a very unusual mission withvery unusual parameters and having someone along who hasn’t finished theAcademy, who should not be put in harm’s way is not exactly something I amlooking forward to. Maybe your wish is genuine but as a Leader you claim to be,you see my dilemma, I am certain.”

“Captain Doe. I do understandthat I basically blackmailed myself into your crew and under your command, butI assure you I am under your command and while I have not completed thatmarvelous and quite legendary Union Academy training, I am traveling thisUniverse for a very long time and have experience in all matters of spacetravel. I don’t claim to know it all and I don’t know much about the detailsbeing a crew member on a Union ship. I do claim to be a willing learner and toprove to you that I am really serious about all this.”

He sighed deeply and stood beforeme almost as if in attention.

“I hereby ask you, without anyconditions to conscript me into your crew. If you say no, I travel with the oldones to Pluribus and do what I promised to do and step down as the FirstMerchant afterwards. If you say yes I give you my word I will do whatever youask me to do, I follow your orders and I do not want any special treatment.”

I looked to Har-Hi and he nodded.Elfi and Shea also declined their heads and Narth said in my mind. “He has thecapacity of deceit and is, because of his race and occupation a master inmanipulation. However at the moment he is truthful as a being can be and hereally means what he says.”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “Andby asking this way, giving me no real alternative.” I got up and said. “By thepowers invested in me I hereby conscript you, Sobody of the Golden to theservices of the United Stars Navy and as a crew member of my ship.”

For an old man as he claimed tobe, he jumped in the air as if hit by a jolt of electricity and salutedactually quite properly. “Yes Ma’am. Thank you Captain. I accept yourconscription.”

I sighed and put my hand on thelittle man’s shoulder. “Let us go to the ship so we can fill you in what we aredoing and maybe you regret your decision after all.”

We went back to the ship and Sobodywas following us. As he saw the Y’All behind the Airlock holding four TKU’s heshrunk back for a moment in something like fear and then whistled.

“A Narth and a real alive Y’Alltogether aboard a Union ship. If those are the wonders I am allowed to see justat the entrance to this ship. I can’t wait to see what wonders are hiddendeeper in this ship.

I frowned and looked at him. “Agenuine Golden merchant for one. The Big Boss of the whole outfit no less.”

He stepped into my way. “CaptainI know you don’t like this situation and maybe you don’t like me but I assureyou I will follow your orders and I promise no chore is beneath me. If you wantenvironmental tanks scrubbed, I will do so with a smile on my lips.”

Har-Hi thumbed at me. “TheCaptain and I have experience with that particular chore and if you do thatwith a happy cheer on your lips, you are weirder than I thought.”

The little golden man shrugged.“Our sense of smell is not very well developed, we usually only smell goodbusiness, but my secret dream is coming true and I will do it if you want meto.”

I said to him. “No need GoldenMerchant, this is a brand new ship. But maybe you should write a list of skillsyou got maybe we find something for you to do.”

Inside the ship he whistledagain. “This sure does not look like an old Phobos Class Destroyer on theinside.”

Cirruit who came around theCorner said. “You sure know your ship interiors.”

I knew Cirruit just came to quellhis curiosity.

The Merchant nodded. “I do, Istudied anything I could get my hands on regarding the Union and itsequipment.”

Cirruit looked at me and said. “Howlong are we going to be here?”

“We have to remain until thebattle group arrives. That should be about two - three days.”

Narth corrected me. “The Battlegroup and the USS Baghdad will be here in 74 hours.”

I turned my hands out in agesture of resignation. “I stand corrected then; our spooky OPS officer gaveyou the correct answer.”

Narth said. “That is what spookyand non-spooky OPS officers do, my Upper chest enhanced Captain.”

I almost chocked on my ownbreath. “Maybe it is my own fault, giving you Nicknames. I guess I better stickto proper names and titles.”

While Har-Hi barley managed tocontain his laughter and earned a stern look from me.

Cirruit said. “Can you grant meShore leave? I be careful I promise, but I always wanted to go shopping at aGolden Bazaar.”

I said with a smile on my face.“You got 12 hours shore leave, denying you the chance to shop here would becruel and unusual punishment.”

Only now I noticed Cirruit hadnot come alone, a Holdian with pointed nose, round ears and long whiskers inhis face stood next to the X101. He was wearing a blue coverall; his coveralland the exposed silky soft fur were soiled with heavy stains. The littleHoldian turned a ghastly looking rag in his little paws and then tipped hisright to his head and said.

“Captain, Ma’am I am SpecialistEstree Warner, were you serious that anyone could come to you with ideas andsuch?”

I nodded. “Yes I was.”

He exposed his yellow rodentteeth even further and said. “Captain there is this idea I really wanted totell you about.”

“Sure I got a moment to listen toyour idea, but first tell me what are you actually doing? I thought we are wellpast the oil and steam propulsion age and this is a new ship.”

He looked down on himself,dropped his ears and whiskers at the same time, his eyes got a shimmering moistquality and looked as if I had scolded him.

I wanted to kick myself formaking such a cute little Holdian so sad and wondered if they looked like thisat a Union judge if they could get away with murder. I was certain they could.The Holdian said “Captain I apologize. I completely forgot that I was stilldirty. You see I was greasing the injector spear blades and the push shafts of theupper Chandelier diverter when Cirruit told me we got a Golden aboard so I wentalong to look to look. I forgot I was still full of NeutroD4 grease”

Shea still with us helped himout. “Crewmember Warner is a Holdian and due to his agility and size he canperform maintenance work in confined spaces without dismantling the unit.Cirruit has written a report about it.”

I nodded. “I am aware of Holdiansand had the honor of meeting a very special one only recently. I am notfaulting him for working, getting dirty doing it or for being nosy. I simplywanted to know what kind of work required grease on a Starship that supposedlyreaches Tech Level 9.”

Har Hi glanced at me from theside. “Have you forgotten your own experience with silicone grease on the Devigun deck?”

I had to agree and Cirruitexplained.

“In order to control the indirectuncontrolled bleeding and thus influx of trans dimensional energies that wouldinfluence and eventually destroy the controlled intake, a so called Chandelierdiverter is pushed through a tube which at one end sticks into anotherdimension so to speak.

The very shearpoint is made ofdual dimensional super exotics. A special grease paste is applied to theinjector push-rod below the blades as it turns out it is the only way to keepthose spear blades moving while they are in the other dimension. It’s notsimple teleportation but a steady conduit. Captain, we are the only ship in thefleet with this new type of Drive and it is still very much in its developmentphase. We are basically writing the maintenance procedures as there is verylittle documentation we can rely on.

My little Holdian specialistknows this drive inside and out. He was there when they built ours and he canget inside without us pulling a service one on them.”

I had all but forgotten the oldmerchant until the old man gasped.

“Silver be tarnished. You Terransactually cracked the TD Energy transfer secret. There are only a handfulspecies in 55 Galaxies whoever did as far as I know. Come to think of it, theold Ilwathi of the Leo II Galaxy use special grease for a very similar purpose.I think we even have a dozen barrels of it here and if I remember correctly acase of Ilwathi Spare parts too.”

Shea became very interested. “Iwould not mind purchasing it from you, so we can analyze it.”

The Golden said. “I am a memberof this crew now; the stores of the Golden are open to you. I will forward yourrequest and have it delivered imminently.”

I said. “While I think we shouldhave meetings in the meeting room and not right here in Airlock Room 4. And weare many societies, not just Terrans. I am from Nilfeheim and consider myself aNorse.”

I turned to the Holdian and said.“Please tell me your idea. I have not forgotten you asked.”

He started to wipe his handsagain and he said. “Ma’am that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Iwas thinking since we are supposed to be pirates and we might need to entertainguests and all that, our meeting room would be inadequate for this, so we couldturn our empty B Hangar into a Pirate Den, you know like they have in those oldThree-Dee’s. Real cool with treasures in the corners and a skeleton in a cageand all that, besides we do need a place for our treasures and the specialvaluable loot and then we put in a big table with impressive Chairs anddecorate the whole hangar so and we can let guests in through the side ramp andnever show them the rest of the ship.”

I went to my knees and put myhand on his tiny shoulders. “That is actually a very good idea Mr. Holdian. Iput you in charge of this project.”

The Old Merchant clapped hishands.

“It is getting better by theminute. We are going to be pirates?”

I simply told him the entirestory, just leaving out a few technical details and he listened and becamequite serious. “I don’t like pirates one bit.” He side glanced to Har-Hi andadded. “I don’t mean the Dai; they honor their opponents for the most part anddon’t slaughter the innocent.

I did hear about this Red Dragonof course who attacked Outpost 96 so recently and I saw reports of my ownIntelligence service, just how vicious and un-proportionally violent he istowards his victims. I don’t know if you know but we Golden deal in anything,except Sentient Life forms since I am the First Merchant.

Slave business is prohibited andwe deal with our own who violate that quite severely.”

I knew he spoke the truth. Iremembered the Golden slave dealer on Alvor’s Cove. He rubbed his chin. “ThatBarracuda you mentioned was here indeed just three days ago and I am certainthey went to Brhama Port that is an Asteroid Base much like this one and it isrun by the independent Bassett family of Roid-Miners. It is also a known Piratebase where they trade, refuel and sell things we don’t deal with. I also knowof a dealer on Sin4 who has Loki torpedoes. Next to the Translocator Cannons,Loki Torpedoes are the most desired Mil Tec there is. No other species hasanything comparable.”

He scratched his bald head as ifit helped him thinking. “Oh I remember that Pirate known as Red Dragon was hereabout two of your month ago, trying to buy spare parts and new ISAH pods. Hisshinny and unique ship didn’t look so shinny and new when he was here. His ship’saft section was severely damaged.”

Listening to Sobody I realized tohave him aboard might prove to be more valuable than anticipated. He seemed toknow much about Freespace and what was going on here. It also became clear Iwould have to return to Sin 4.

I was so distracted by my ownthoughts that Narth had to call me mentally and telling me that the Golden wasstill taking.

He said. “Now that I know yoursecret, I am sure you might object, but if you think you can trust me pleaselet me out once more. I want to go with the little Holdian and help him get afew things and treasures worthy of a pirate of your reputation. In order toblend in, we must visit the various pirate hideouts and the Trade markets onSin 4, Alvor’s Cove and many other such places. Pirates and the other scum gothere to brag, buy parts, sell or purchase ships and of course turn their lootinto profit. It is at those places they band together for raiding parties andpack attacks.”

I said. “Mr. Sobody we can’treally keep you prisoner and so far Narth trusts you and that has more weightwith me than anything else. So yes I trust you too.”

To the Holdian specialist hesaid. “Would you accept my company, since you are in charge of decorations andthat is what we going to get.”

“Of course Mr. Sobody.”

“I’ll go along as well.” Cirruitsaid. “An assignment that involves shopping, Mothermachine could not keep mefrom that one.”

--””--

Three days later or moreprecisely 74 hours later.

Har Hi came into my office andsaid. “The Battle group and the Sansibar have just arrived.”

It was Three-Four the Non Corpwho called me from the bridge, as he held the ‘Conn’ just as Har-Hi had told methe news.

“Sir, we are being hailed by theUSS Sansibar. Captain Changpu Rong is on Fleet Chanel for you.”

Since Three-Four was on thebridge, it was already Second Dog watch, meaning it had to be past 0600 hrs. Itook the call right from my desk.

“A human female Captain becamevisible on the screen. She wore her black hair in a similar style as Elfi, buthad more slanted eyes.

She smiled as she saw me andsaid. “Good evening Captain Doe and nice to meet the Captain of the USS Enigma,I am Captain Rong and I have direct orders from Fleet Command to take charge ofthe situation here and you are free now to continue with your mission.”

I thanked her and briefed her onthe non-classified parts of the situation.

After I had talked to the Battleship captain, I had SHIP switch to external visuals and I could see twomajestic white Union Hospital Ships drift into view, deploying D20 shuttles inParamedic configuration. A huge Fleet Mobile Repair Dock dropped moments laterout of Quasi Space; an enormous disc with large tractor-projectors andmanipulation arms able to pluck entire ships out of space and place it onto therepair platform and repair even the most damaged ships.

Har Hi who stood next to me andput in words what I was thinking as he said.

“It is amazing; sometimes I thinkit is this incredible efficiency of our Union that makes all the difference andnot the Battle ships. That 35,000 meter MRP to me just as amazing as the Devi,and it is not an alien product.

When I was a boy my father oftentold me about Hospital ships and the Fleet tender Units the Union had and likeso many other Dai I laughed and found it a waste of resources to have shipsdedicated to the care of sick, but I learned that the Union is far more enviedover these by others than Battle ships and Translocator cannons.”

I agreed with him and called thebridge. Pure answered from the Con. “Yes Ma’am?”

“Call all personnel back to theship that is still on shore and prepare to undock within the hour.”

“Aye Captain.”

I was so proud of my crew, theywere just like me still at the beginning of their career, but Pure smoothlychanged shift with Two-Three while not losing a beat on the situation. That aUnion Marine held a bridge position aboard an Union fleet ship was perhaps abit unusual, but perfectly legal within regulations, as it was my decisionalone who I trusted with that.

Har Hi said. “You have been toHangar B lately, right?”

I shook my head. “No I have not.I was busy coordinating the rescue efforts. You know yourself I spend more timeout there in a suit than I care for. I for one am glad the Sansibar and theother ships are here.”

I paused and looked directly intohis snug face. “Why, what have they done?”

He shrugged and said. “I don’tthink I have the correct vocabulary to describe it, but I think you might wantto check it out.”

I followed my Dai friend to theIST. “What did they do?”

“It’s really better you see itfor yourself.”

We left the Inter Ship transporta few seconds later and stepped into the central corridor of the ship’s hangarand flight deck, also called the equatorial deck as it was in the middle and byvolume the largest deck section of the Tigershark. A big marine so loaded withboxes he could barely see his way almost bumped into us.

He obviously did not see who healmost ran into because he said. “Sorry mate, just coming on through.”

He went past us and disappearedbehind the massive double doors to hangar bay B.

The Tigershark had four Mainhangars bays. Bay A was meant for the four Wolfcrafts we had yet to receive.Bay B was supposedly there for a compliment of six Thor Gunboats, also still onthe list of things we still missed. Bay C was home to the Gazelle Recon Craftand our four Goliath Landing tanks and Bay D held a D20 Shuttle and aMultipurpose Science and Survey platform. Each Hangar Bay was 70 meters long,50 deep and the ceiling was 20 meters from the bay floor From the other side ofthe corridor where the big freight elevator was, came Hans and the massiveY’All and they both struggled with a huge crate that would have been achallenge even for a big Load handler.

Har-Hi pointed with his chintowards the Two and said to me. “It is going on like that for two days now.Every time I come down here I feel I am in some sort of freight forwardingcenter. I doubt there isn’t much left in that Bazaar.”

Unable to predict what wouldawait me, I took a deep breath and stepped through the big door, that wasparting before me, but had to brush a heavy velvet curtain aside before I couldactually see. I stopped dead in my tracks as I looked around. It used to bestark empty space with hexagonal shaped armor plating and x shaped supportframes covering ceiling, walls and floors. Now the walls were draped with heavycrimson and black velvet curtains. The ceiling sported a wall to wall pictureof a space battle scene between the Silver Streak and a Shiss Armed Tradervessel.

It looked more like a scene froma cheesy Space Holo than reality. I also noticed Narth floating way up thereputting finishing touches to it.

In the center of the formerHangar bay was a massive looking round table of at least ten meters in diameterand had the appearance to be made out of a dark silver metal. The table surfacewas richly inlayed with artwork that could have been straight from theNilfeheim Book of Traditions, if the muscled heroes struggling with monsterswould have been human. The entire surface was stylized like a wagon wheel ofold, segmenting the artwork into twenty four areas. Twenty four golden spokesstarted at the inner ring and ended at a central nave.

Around the table I counted 25oversized high backed matching arm chairs, richly upholstered with blackleather. A twenty sixth chair was even taller than the others and featured theskull of something large and wicked centered on top of the backrest.

Six meter tall braziers stood inequal intervals all around the hall. They were made of twisted dark metal andmust have been dreamed up by a gothic artist who spend most of his time thinkingabout torture and claws; they looked as if a dozen serpents completelyintertwined fought each other with razor sharp hooks, claws and spiny thorns.

Dark red flames flickeredsmokeless out of equally black steel bowls mounted on top.

Above the table hung a chandelierthat matched the tables design and each of the chandelier arms held aglittering diamond shaped dragon head, projecting light on each of the table’ssegments.

To the left side stacked againstthe wall, at least fifty large transport chests, several of them openoverflowing with Polonium Coins. Metal barrels stacked filled with gemstones,gold coins and jewelry. To the right side several stacks of Saresii silk bales,each worth many thousand credits along with a pile of furs and other luxuryfabrics.

In between those treasures, stoodsolid looking racks of steel and wood holding an arsenal of swords, lances,rifles and energy weapons, a collection it seemed representing every known andquite a few unknown civilizations.

Huge Saran floor vases, made ofblack alabaster and gold, a statue of the Saran death god Seth holding a sharplooking wickedly curved sword were only a few of the art and antique objectsthat decorated the room, I could identify.

I saw Cirruit standing at theopposite of the bay directing the little Holdian who operated a hand heldtractor crane projector manipulating a large and exceptional ugly stone statuedepicting what I thought was a headless, very fat Shiss female.

Cirruit noticed me as I camecloser still staring at all the things and even though his face wasexpressionless as always, I knew he was deeply satisfied.

He stemmed his fists into hiships and said. “What do you think Captain? This is the famous Venus of Milo, apriceless pre Astro Terran art object.”

I looked at it closer andshrugged. “I don’t know it sure looks like a headless pregnant Shiss to me.”

He sounded almost offended.“Captain, this is priceless art from a Terran Artist named Donald Duck, helived on the Planet Coney Island and was famous for his work, all over theMoon. I remember each detail the Gellurian Art dealer told me.”

I said. “How can it be Terran artif he lived on a different planet?”

Har-Hi held his chin while helooked at the statue with crossed arms. “You know I have this perfectly goodgenuine pebble made of real rock, barely used and I was told it came from ariver on Terra. The rock even was wet once and they say it is very old. I letyou have it for a spot.”

Cirruit protested. “And you nevertold me you have such a thing? How much do you want for it?”

I slowly turned taking it all in.“This is really some work you all put in here.”

The golden Merchant, wearing onlya pair of pants and a shirt, with dark grime all over his face crawled fromunderneath the table holding a polishing rag and a tub of metal polish and hesmiled all over his face in deep satisfaction. He wiped his brow leavinganother streak of soot and he said.

“I am glad you like it Ma’am.This table is over half a million years old and was made for the council roomof a once mighty but now forgotten kingdom. It’s made of nineteen tons of pureplatinum and eight tons of Gold, not to mention almost a ton in Rhodium inlays.The spokes and chairs are enriched with Rhodium inlays.

“So is the Chandelier. I doubteven your famous Schwartz Industries has a more expensive and impressiveconference table.”

He held up his polishing rag. “Itdoesn’t look much now, but once I get it all shiny you will see how pretty itwill look.”

Cirruit shrugged: “I told him wecould Nanites do the cleaning but he insists that an antique like that needs tobe hand polished.”

The old Merchant said. “So whatdo you think Captain?”

Everyone stopped working andlooked at me. I noticed that the tail of the little Holdian twitched while helooked at me with anticipation from his big black button eyes.

I looked around once again andthen said. “I think it is marvelous, beyond anything I imagined. Do we owesomeone a huge bill for all this?”

Sobody looked insulted. “Captain,with all due respect you could not even begin to imagine wealth I have amassedin 18,000 of your years of being the leader of a merchant and trader society. Ithink I might even be a close second to this Rex Schwartz. He isn’t the onlyCentillionair as the Union press always claims he is, you know.”

He pointed at the treasures andsaid. “This is but a small token to express my gratitude that you are soreadily accepted me.”

He then pointed his rag at Cirruit,“If it is permitted, I must however teach your Chief engineer a thing or twoabout the honesty of Bazaar merchants, especially Gellurians.”

I laughed. “You may try thatindeed. But you all did a tremendous job. I think we should have all ourconferences and meetings here. And this should be our mess hall. Yes we willhave our daily dinner here; someone needs to work out a rotation schedule soall crew members can eat here.”

The Holdian said perplexed. “Captaindid you mean all crew members? Officers sharing a table with enlisted?”

I nodded “That’s right. We eathere, all of us. There are 360, counting Officers, Crew and Marines. We goteight Watches and they rotate so everyone has the same chance to eat the Dinnermeal here, there.

Narth said. “That would be 14.4dinners or every crewman would eat here every 14.4 days.”

The Holdian clapped his littlehands. “That means I eat here all the time, after all I am the point fourcrewman right?”

Everyone laughed, even Har-Hi.

I said. “There is room for morechairs anyhow, it’s a big table and not all of us need that much space.”

Elfi’s voice interrupted us froma PA speaker.

“Captain, a pirate has justattacked twenty five minutes ago. 211 light years from here and in Union Space.Union sources say the pirate high tailed into Freespace.”

I headed for the door and said.“Har-Hi see that everyone is aboard. Cirruit get your engines hot and get Shakaon the bridge. There is nothing we can do about the attack, but we starthunting now.”

== Chapter 16: RockBreaker ==

The Janus Device was active andthe Tigershark looked once more like the Karthanian Battle Merchant.

Krabbel said: “its official now,Captain. We are in Freespace.”

We had left the Golden Bazaarbehind us and were on a course straight to Brhama Port. The journey would takefour more days, as we could only as fast as a Kartanian Battle Merchant withtwo added ISAH pods. Narth and Shea worked for the last two days at somethingand I noticed them now for the third straight shift. Now Three-Two had joinedthem and I turned on my seat and said. “Would you three over there mind toexplain what you are doing? Not that I probably understand it, but I still sortof like to know.”

Shea turned and said. “Union ISAHpods interrupt the Super-symmetry that exists between Fermions and Bosonparticles. While a ship travels in Quasi space the correlated super partnersare affected in regular space and while this is possible in Zero Dimensionenvironments it is not in four dimensional environments. Therefore we think...”

I said. “Teaches me to ask youguys what you are doing.”

Narth said. “Thankfully I am ableto understand the Captain on a direct mental level and she is not asking us toteach her more, but her response was an example of sarcasm. The captain simplyisn’t able to follow your explanation on an intellectual comprehensive level.”

I sighed. “He did it again. Hemanaged to call me basically an idiot and I should be angry, but how can Isince I know he didn’t mean it.”

Narth turned to face me and said.

“I would ask for apologies, buthow can I since you have already forgiven me. Would it be helpful if I tellyou, Wetmouth had to explain her idea to me, before I comprehended?”

“In Odin’s name just tell me whatyou are doing.”

Now it was Three-Two who said. “Captain,we are trying to isolate and find a possible trail of either the stolenBarracuda or the Red Dragon. Since both use Union Isah Pods and there is a highprobability they went this way, if Brhama Port is their target. Since mynatural senses allow me to sense such minute trails, they now try to modify asensor array with my input.”

“That was an explanation Iunderstood and sounds really fascinating.”

Cirruit came on the bridgecarrying a technical device and went straight to Shea. “I think I got it, Imade it exactly to your guy’s specifications.”

Har-Hi grinned as he looked atme. “We are flying in the most advanced ship the Union has ever built and ourgeeks are already tinkering with the hardware to improve it.”

Five minutes later and moretinkering and talking between the four, and Cirruit’s legs sticking out of anopen access panel underneath Shea’s main science console. I heard SHIP’s voicesay. “Shea it works. I think I isolated the Barracuda’s trail.”

Narth went back to his OPSconsole and his fingers flew over the input contacts, then he said to me.“Captain we have isolated the trail of the stolen Barracuda and I am feedingthe sensor data to Krabbel for Navigation in case you want to follow it.”

I smiled to Har-Hi. “Looks likethey managed to do just that, Mr. Krabbel set a course following that trail andMr. Chitauli increase our speed a notch still within Kartanian capabilities.”

The trail became stronger andthen Narth reported.

“Three contacts on sensorhorizon. One of the contacts has clear Union energy signatures and conforms tothose of a Barracuda. The other two appear to be of recent manufacture Kermac Tconfiguration.”

Yeoman O’Connell who was neverfar from my side said.

“These new Kermac T ships are notcivilian or available for civilians. That means the Kermac have violated theFreespace treaty.”

Shea said. “For the chance to gettheir hands on Translocator technology they would risk anything.

Narth put up a tactical map ofthe region and I could see the three contacts near a small white star. The mapidentified the star as Auriga Xi and according to the Union Astro catalog hasonly been optically surveyed. There was no detailed data available, but it wasassumed to be uninhabited as it only had a few gas giants and one rock coreplanet that was very close to its sun.

There was no other artificialcontact within sensor range.

I leaned back, my right hand onthe Intuitive Controls.

“All hands battle stations. Mr.Narth, I know it is not Karthanian but I understand our Janus device is capableof cloaking us against Sensor detection.”

“Yes Captain, we can mask oursensor signature in that way.”

“Render us invisible to theirsensors and everything else half a second before we drop out of Quasi Space. Ifit is a mystery to them how we did that, so be it.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Mr. Chitauli take us as close asyou can before you drop out of Quasi Space and coordinate with Mr. Narth.

“Understood, Captain, I can takeus as close as 250 kilometers.”

“Excellent, Mr. Vouza stand by onQGP and Froth casters, load one kg AM loads into our sniper cannons and firethe TL simultaneous to mask the Translocators. I want you to target the drivesections of all three ships simultaneous and yes I authorize SHIP to assistyou. I want them unable to maneuver before they even know what happened. We aredealing with a Union destroyer after all.”

After the first volley Mr.Chitauli will take us with a micro jump back out a light minute or two.”

My friends made the necessarycomputations and adjustments and I said to Hans. “Mr. Neugruber, prepare yourMarines for boarding action.”

My command seat was in battlemode and once again it was as if I was sitting outside on the hull with anunobstructed view of space. Of course it was a simulation and the images ourvisual sensors received were not constructed from visible light but hyperspacedistortions, tachyon reflection and mass energy detection. Standard light speedsensors were as inadequate as the human eye had not chance to see that far ormake out objects as small as ships, in an environment where size meant nothing.

The individual departmentsrepresented in floating icons, as well as important data about speed, course,weapon range, shield strength course and a host of other information I foundnecessary. The display was customized to my preferences. Har-Hi’s icon blinkedand expanded to show his face and he looked at me. “You told me to play devil’sadvocate and you made me your XO to keep you in check right?”

“Yes of course.”

“Then I suggest you do not gowith Hans and lead the boarding action.”

His suggestion caught me offguard.

“We haven’t even engaged theenemy yet and I didn’t think that far yet. I was just playing with the idea ...and how did you even guess I was thinking about that?”

“First of all I know you by now alittle. All this sugar and girl stuff can’t fool me; underneath all thatdominatrix leather is still the same ready to rumble Eric I know. Second Inoticed you trained with Hans to use the new Gilgamesh suits and third andfinally, you already asked SHIP to prepare your Auto Dresser.”

I felt like a child caught withthe hand in the cookie jar and said.

“I am supposed to be a Pirate andthat is what they do, besides I don’t like to send men into harm’s way withoutthem knowing I am there as well.”

“You are not a midshipmananymore; you do not lead a group of cadets as dorm eldest. You’re the Captainnow.”

He disconnected before I couldsay something and I knew he was right. Union Fleet regulations were as clear asglacial water. The Captain’s place was on the bridge and not leading a boardingparty of Marines. But then Captain Zezz has done it and my idol Stahl did itcountless times and was famous for it, but Har-Hi was right Stahl was not theCaptain, Harris did not leave the bridge during battle.

My musing thoughts had to take abackseat now. The Tigershark approached the three ships fast. Narth displayed amore detailed sensor report now as we were close. The enemy ships were two fullsize Kermac T Class Cruisers. Kermac technology was behind Union tech, but notby much and they were well armed and shielded.

I could not rely on Lokitorpedoes or Large TL loads, that would ruin our disguise and the chances thatsomeone else was watching was not unlikely.

Narth said. “They are ready tomake the deal, and plan to land on the third moon of the first Gas Giant. TheBarracuda still has a functional Translocator Cannon; I can sense that one ofthe Union officers was able to disable the auto destruct feature. The Kermachave no intentions of keeping the officers alive, they have all theTranslocator data.

SHIP counted down the secondsuntil we would drop out of Quasi.” Eight, seven, six, five...”

The disguised Tigershark was atrue marvel of technology, but my crew made it a terrifying tool of power andmight. No regular helmsman would have ever dared to come that close to a planetand other ships out of Quasi-space. No Tactical officer in the entire Fleetcould rely on a Computronic that was not just a machine but his friend andunderstood what he wanted to do. What Captain could rely not only on the ship’ssensors but on the senses of a Narth?

Science Officers would sit backduring battle situation, but Shea used every bit of data both from sensors,from Narth, the vast data banks and processed it in her brilliant mind, to giveMao millimeter precise target data of weak spots.

The Barracuda however was amodern Union Destroyer with modern shields, and designed to take a pounding.Everything was at least triple redundant, we all knew that first hand. Ofcourse the Barracuda had one big handicap it had no crew. Flying and operatingit was no problem even with one person, but taking it into battle was anotherstory.

Our ship dropped out ofQuasi-space and there was no time interval measurable by human senses when ourweapons pounded all three ships. The Kermac drive sections were destroyed withsurgical precision before they were even able to really sense our presence. TheBarracuda computronic however reacted fast and established shieldsautomatically, SHIP acted without permission and without waiting for mycommand, and laid a barrage of five Kilo loads at precisely at a shield nexuspoint and send a sixth through before the Barracuda could raise its shields tofull strength.

The sixth load of Antimatterexploded inside the Union destroyer’s engineering compartment. It ripped openthe entire starboard side, peeled Ultronit armor away like the skin of a fruitand it would take the services of a dock yard to make this wreck into a flyingship once more.

All this had taken less thanmaybe six seconds when we already accelerated back into Quasi-space.

I knew that we could not letanyone escape. What we did was certainly not within the capabilities of aKartanian Armed freighter. I also contemplated if I should scold SHIP for herinitiative or not. Cracking the full established shields of a Barracuda withsimulated Nul and Kartanian weapons would have been impossible and facing theDestroyer’s functional Translocator cannons would have forced us to establish ParaDim shields and jeopardize our disguise just as well. She was more than acomputronic but an officer and as such made an important tactical decision. Idecided to actually commend her for showing initiative, something no other ShipAI could. I said.

“Good thinking, SHIP that savedus a lot of headaches.”

SHIP made a sound almost as ifshe was releasing air in a relieved fashion and said. “Thank you Captain. Iknew you couldn’t even speak an order that fast, so I improvised as I noticedthe Barracuda Computronic was already in Battle mode.”

I smiled towards her symbol andthen said. “Ms. Petetis open communications to the Kermac and the renegades.”

I lowered my seat out of theBattle view dome and Har-Hi handed me a black mask that matched my outfit.

Narth said. “Bridge Backgroundfilters in place; all they will see is an old Kartanian Bridge.”

I closed the lace strings of themask and Elfi gave me the signal that she was ready.

“I am Black Velvet of the SilverStreak. You are unable to escape and I can destroy you as easily as I damagedyou. I will search your vessels for valuables and let you live if you complywith my demands. I will show no mercy if you resist in any way. Now deactivateall remaining weapons and energy shields and prepare to be boarded.”

The first responding was a Kermacofficer and he snarled at me. “You attacked Kermac vessels, killed crewmemberswith that cowardly sneak attack and interfere with our business. The Kermacwill hunt you; Captain Black Velvet, you made yourself a powerful enemy.”

“I wouldn’t be so loudproclaiming Kermac business in Freespace and aboard Kermac military ships. MyNul contacts will be very interested in the recordings I am just making. Nowcomply with my demands or face destruction.”

Narth voice said in my mind withan urgent tone. “The Barracuda is about to launch two of its Loki torpedoes.”

There was no way I could outrunthem, and while I was sure our full shields could withstand their impact, itwould weaken even our excellent shields. I had no choice. “Mao use the QLP andtarget their torpedo tubes.”

Two invisible bolts of QuarkGluon Plasma traveling through trans-space tunnels based on the same technologyas the anti-light tunnels space trains used, hit the torpedo doors at the sametime as the Loki torpedoes appeared. Once in flight a Loki was shielded and sofast it was almost impossible to intercept, but there in the initial launchphase their shields were still off and the Barracuda had to create temporaryholes in the remaining emergency shields to let the torpedoes pass. The effectwas devastating. Both torpedoes carried enough Anti Matter to severely damagecapital ships. Not even the excellent armor of the Barracuda could withstandtwo such explosions halfway in its hull. The Barracuda was instantly andcompletely destroyed. I knew I had to do it, but destroying a Union Ship wasnot something that made me feel proud.

I said. “Close in on the Kermac,maximum tech stop and Paralysator rays. Scan for dark spots in your energyscans and target them, be prepared for small fast escape cr...”

While I was still speaking andthe Tigershark closed in again, the Command section of one of the Kermaccruisers did detach and Mao singed it’s aft with a QGP shot.

The Kermac craft changed courseand dove straight into the thick atmosphere soup of a moon circling the nearbygas giant.

We managed to reach the other Tcruiser and came within tech stop and Paralysator ray distance.

I had a hard time remaining in myseat as Hans and our Marines floated across and boarded the second ship, whileMao followed my orders and destroyed the remaining aft section of the other.

Shea told me that she was able toestimate the landing area of the Command section but due to heavyelectro-magnetic storms in the moons atmosphere she was not able to givedetails.

While I listened to the battleprogress reports of the boarding action, everything went smoothly so far, Narthsaid. “We must go after those who escaped to the moon’s surface Captain. Theyalready obtained Manual 15 from the Barracuda and they have a Long rangetelepath with them. The telepath seems to be wounded or momentarily unable tosend, but once he can he will be able to transmit all the information in thatmanual to Kermac. You know that manual contains all information needed toservice and repair and thus reproduce a Translocator cannon.”

Har-Hi said. “We got P Bombs,lets drop one or two on that moon and we can be certain they won’t transmitanything.”

I shook my head while keeping aneye on Hans helmet Visuals and said. “P Bombs are a weapon unique not only tothe Union but specifically to Terrans. The effects are long lasting.”

He said. “Then we pound the areawith TL’s until Narth confirms they are silent. We must prevent them fromtransmitting that information and can’t take chances, Captain.”

I knew he was right and calledHans. “Status report, Mr. Neugruber.”

“Only little resistance fromKermac Battle robots, the crew that was not in shielded suits is sleeping andthe rest has surrendered. We are in control of this vessel.”

I said to him. “That is goodnews, I am sending Cirruit, Shea and more hands to gather anything useful,Computronic files and valuables of course and pack the officers in Stasisboxes. We will be back shortly. We must go after the ones that escaped onto thesixth moon of that Gas giant.”

“Aye Captain, this is a big shipand it will take a little to go through it all anyway.”

I ordered the Tigershark shipinto a geostationary orbit and was about to give firing orders to Mao, whenNarth held up his hand and I received his thought. “Stop.”

Narth turned in his seat andsaid. “The Kermac are not alone down there. I am sensing something, anotherlife.”

Three-four who had replaced Sheaon the science console said: “Life sensor readings inconclusive, due to thestrong electro-magnetic interference, I am not able to get a clear reading onthe Kermac or anything else. The environment down there is Class 9 andextremely hostile to unprotected carbon based biological. Atmosphere consistsmostly of Carbon Dioxide, Sulfuric Dioxide and a soup of noble gases. Surfacepressure is at 86 bar, the moon receives a high dose of radiation from itsmother planet at every rotation that would sterilize most known life forms.”

Narth was leaning back, while hishead dropped to his chest. Since I still could feel him I knew he was neitherdeath or in pain, but I sensed he was greatly disturbed by something. I gavehim a few minutes, knowing that I could not hurry him by interrupting.

He finally raised his head andsaid. “The Kermac did not randomly choose this location for the exchange. Itwas only convenient because they have been here already. They have stolen ortaken something from that moon. Something that should never been taken.Something old and unknown to the Narth is down there. Something dangerous.”

Just as he finished, we receiveda call from Shea. “Captain there is something very alien and strange in thecargo hold of this Kermac ship. It appears to be a glowing blue egg shapedrock, of approximately 20 meters. The material composition is a mix ofcrystals, rare earth composites and minerals. Even though it emits light, I cannotdetect any energies, and now we all can hear a faint music like hummingemitting from it.”

“Shea get out of that hold andlet robots check it out. We don’t know what we are dealing with...” Elfi saidwith a dry voice.

“Communication to our peopleaboard the T cruiser has been lost. I am unable to raise any of them.”

Narth said. “The Kermac on theSurface made contact with something and they managed to convince whatever it isthat we are responsible for something terrible. I can feel rage on a level Idid not think possible.”

A voice thundered over the bridgespeakers. “Woe to the Rock breakers. The crime is unspeakable and so must bethe punishment.”

Elfi recoiled from her consoleand said. “This was Psionic not our communication Equipment.”

I was almost lifted out of myseat as something hit the Tigershark with enormous force, making the lightsflicker.

== Chapter 17:Bereaver ==

Trying to keep a cool head andmade sure I didn’t raise my voice even a notch. I didn’t like those commandingofficers who barked or yelled orders. I preferred the style of Captain Zezz andCaptain Harris and said. “Mao, full shields, extend Exo-load turret and loadboth bomb shafts with P Bombs. Har-Hi give me a full damage and casualtiesreport.”

Mao said. “Full real shieldsactivated all weapons active, Bomb shafts loaded and ready for P Bombdeployment.”

Har-Hi looked over his readouts.“The Janus device is damaged, and so is our projected appearance, the simulatedKartanian shields are completely destroyed but our real hull held and receivedno detectable damage. Petty Chief Gorragh reports a three degree burn afterbeing dosed with hot water in Environmental. Lines are being fixed and thePetty Chief is almost ready for duty again.”

I acknowledged with a Nod. “Elfihail me that voice on one of those PSION channels we supposed to have.”

“We do have Leedei Psion tech andcommunication, Channels are open.”

“This is Captain Black Velvet ofthe Silver Streak. Calling the entity that threatened and attacked us. I amopen for dialog and establishing contact. I offer peaceful dialog but I willnot accept any further attacks. I have the means to turn your moon into nuclearslack.”

The voice answered “You are therock breakers. You destroyed Olours. You stole Olours. We are the Conck.”

Another massive bolt ofconcentrated energy hit the Tigershark.

Mao reported. “Shields at 44percent. This bolt was stronger than the first, by a magnitude of 120 percent,equal to the Unions strongest FTL cannons.”

I think whoever is down theredoesn’t believe me. Mr. Three-Four can your sensors pick up the approximatelocation of the Kermac escape ship?”

“I am able to narrow it down to a12 kilometer radius. I can see their distinct energy signatures between all theother disturbances.”

“Close enough. Mao target thatarea and plant an Exo load. That should take care of the Kermac and show theothers we are serious.”

I turned to Narth and said. “Anyobjections, do you sense anything or do you think you can communicate withthem?”

Narth actually shrugged with hisshoulders as he said. “There is so much rage, so much anger that I am unable toget through. It is a truly alien mind. I am currently in conversation with theNarth Supreme and no Narth has ever encountered a mind like this. All I can sayit appears to be a mind of great power able to manipulate Trans dimensionalenergies. Narth Supreme suggests that your approach might be as good as anyother.”

I wondered if I did the rightthing, my orders where clear. Prevent the transform technology to fall in enemyhands and I didn’t have much time. My friends and Shea were in trouble and Iknew it had to do with whatever was down there. “Mao, reload TL with a Gigaload and fire.”

A Giga load was still developingthe equivalent explosive force of a billion tons of High explosives. While suchenormous explosive forces affected a target in deep space only by directimpact, as shockwaves could not travel through vacuum, it was an entiredifferent effect when exploding inside an atmosphere. The Anti matter explosionwas so intensive; it instantly cleared a huge section of the dense cloud coverand spewed material into space.

I had Elfi hail the Voice again.

“This was a small demonstrationof what we can do. Now we didn’t break any rocks before, but I promise you Iwill break any rock on that moon of yours if you continue the hostilities. Youaccuse us of crimes yet we have never been here before. What shall it be,dialog or war? Not that we need to remain here as our business here iselsewhere.”

“You murdered the gentle ones, theones that promised to return the children. You abducted and destroyed Olours.The Gentle ones were right, you are a brutal and war mongering species. We havelittle patience for brutality and the kinds of atrocities marking much of thedevelopment of the Galaxies and those who worship Darkness and death.”

“At least we are talking, even ifyou keep repeating accusing us of crimes we could not have possibly committedas we never been here. If you refer to the Kermac as being the gentle ones youare on the wrong track. And if those Olours resemble a big blue egg like rockthen I know where it is. You find it aboard a Kermac ship not far from here andI am willing to return that rock to you, if that stops you from accusing us.”

Narth said. “The mind is confused,it has no concept of ships, colors, big or small, but I cannot go deeper. Thatmind is not accessible to my probing as other minds are, it would require muchstudy.”

“Shaka get us back to the Kermacship.”

Three-Four said. “Captain I ampicking up sixty very large space ships of unknown configuration but energyreadings and material composition points to Kermac origin. None of our databanks have data on 5000 meter Kermac Units. They are heading this way. They areslow but will be here within two hours and thirty minutes away.”

“Narth see if you can restart orreconfigure that Janus Device.”

“I will try Captain. I am gettingShea and the others they are alive, but they are fighting and something aboardthat Kermac ship is interfering with GalNet.

“Elfi get me the Admiral beforewe get to close to that ship.”

Elfi managed to get me aconnection to the Admiral and I talked fast and delivered my report of theevents so far. Then I added “I will attempt to rescue my crew from that KermacT Cruiser, before the Kermac Units arrive. I doubt I can fight sixty of themwith or without disguise, but I will try to outrun them”

He said. “I don’t know what ismore disturbing, the news of a previously unknown Kermac fleet of thismagnitude or their willingness to risk war by entering Freespace in such a showof force. I will raise sector alert and contact the Kermac. You are on your ownfor now. If at all possible find out what is so important on that moon, thatthe Kermac risk all this.”

I acknowledged and the Connectionfaded out as we closed on the Kermac T cruiser.

I said. “Elfi try to hail themwith normal Radio frequencies, we are close enough.”

I was out of my seat and on myway to the door when Har-Hi’s voice reached me. “Captain your place is on thebridge. Let me go.”

I didn’t turn.” Elfi you have thebridge. If we do not return before the Kermac arrive, you return to Richterbase as fast as you can.” To Har-Hi I said. “Let’s go.”

The IST was too fast for anyconversation, but as we both ran down the Corridor of the Marine Deck towardsthe equipment and deployment lock. I said. “I take your objection serious andyou are correct, but that isn’t me. There are times I must remain on thebridge, but not now.”

“We reached the equipment deckjumped into Battle dressers, Ship had already dialed them to the correctequipment and he said as we came back out in Gilgamesh suits. “You are theCaptain, I follow you to wherever you lead us, but this isn’t how it supposedto be done.”

I grabbed a boarding ax, not thatI needed any additional weapons, but I always trusted bladed weapons more thananything else. We both ran through the membrane field and activated our bootthrusters. This time there was none of the usual fear I had when being in deepspace. I was too worried about the others and too eager to get them out andleave before the Kermac came.

Like two miniature rocketspropelled to projectile speed we approached the Kermac ship. A Kermac T Cruiserwas at last until now the backbone of Kermac war ship technology and used exclusivelyby Kermac and their closest, most important Thrall species. These ships wereformed like the letter T in the human Terran alphabet, with a long rectangularmain hull of 450 meters and a cross bar at its end of 250 meters. The hull was80 meters wide and 67 meters deep. The Crossbar section held the Kermac Versionof two ISAH pods on each side. This T cruiser’s aft section was ripped toshreds by our initial attack, but now my suit sensors picked up energy readingsof other Gilgamesh suits, sporadic weapon fire. While the Gilgamesh was overallalmost a ton lighter than a Quasimodo, it was made of advanced materials andhad better shielding, more power, better Computronics and improved weaponry.Har-Hi signaled me that he had seen the energy concentration too and withoutPsionics or long discussion we worked out a plan and basically decided to comein from the other side.

We entered the ship through ajagged hull breach and into the engineering section.

An Antimatter warhead of our TLsniper cannons had caused this and to see the result close up was sobering, asI noticed the Kermac had also crew quarters in this section. The further wewent inside the ship the more evident it became just how effective anantimatter explosion inside a ship was. We moved as fast as we could but I didsee the burned out shells of Kermac Battle and space suits, baked and molten ingrotesque positions to the charred deck plates. I had no time to reflect on myown handy work, but I somehow understood why the Kermac risked everything toget their hands on the secret of this weapon. I also remembered the twistedwreck of the Seneca and almost like a ghost of my own making I remembered thefrozen body of the Garbini.

Now my Comm. System picked up theothers and I could hear Hans’s steady voice. “Solack and Forster fall back, andkeep an eye on the ceiling and watch where you shoot. We just got to hold thefort till the Captain comes back. He’d never forgive me if we lose the loot andcome back one man short.”

“Hans I am here. Forget about theloot, get out if you can, the Tigershark is close by. We need to evacuate fast,more Kermac are on their way.”

“Captain we are facing a highlyintelligent life form on silicone, rock basis that is able to teleport and evendeflect weapon beams. Shea thinks they use precise gravitation control. Theblue egg like thing broke apart in hundreds of little rock things. They can bedestroyed but only if you can hit them.”

“That’s all for later. Get out ofhere and make sure you decontaminate and scan. I don’t want these things aboardthe Tigershark. Any casualties?”

“Yes we have wounded, and Shea isin Stasis. I evacuate now, but they are likely to follow us and try to preventus from leaving.”

“I will distract them, are youall suited?”

“Yes there isn’t any atmosphereleft in this ship.”

“Prepare to leave on my signal.”

Har-Hi and I muscled open a heavyair lock and my Dai friend said. “How do you plan to distract something youhave no idea what it is?”

“I am going to break some rock.”

Har-Hi sighed as he pointed hisgun in the next corridor. “I was afraid you would say that.”

Something the size of a soccerball, with the form of a large asymmetric pebble appeared right before Har-Hi’shelmet and whatever it was forced him hard and fast to his knees, despite theGilgamesh suit, the deck plates started to dent and around him. All happened inthe blink of an eye, but Har-Hi managed to fire, his weapon bolt was notabsorbed by a shield but deflected.

Two more of these floating bluerocks appeared.

Har-Hi groaned.” I just broke mylegs; I am under 1800 tons of pressure.”

I hammered the Axe on the firstrock and unlike the weapon beam, the vibrating blade made contact, sparks flewand I chipped a sizeable piece of the rock.

Now I felt the pressure. It was likebeing caught in a giant vise. I heard Hans. “The Rocks all left, and went backinside the ship. Whatever you did, worked.”

Har-Hi began to float and hesaid. “Captain, I am also free, my Arti Grav still works.”

“I could no longer move; I heardthe armor of the Gilgamesh groan. “Har-Hi get out, take charge and take theTigershark away. Come back for me if the Kermac are gone, but we have no timeright now. Take the ship and hide it somewhere.”

“Captain, Freya ... Eric.”

“Get out that’s an order. Ishould have listened to you, I know. Narth will know where and how I am. Nowgo.”

He hesitated for one second andthen floated into the other direction. More and more of the blue rocks keptassembling before me. Why they hadn’t crushed me to pulp, I could not tell, butthe boarding axe became too heavy for me to hold and it slipped out of myfingers and was twisted into a twisted pretzel before my eyes.

My suit system reported exceeding1700 times standard Gravitation. System shutdown imminent. Structural supportfields will fail in 12 seconds. It is recommended to leave this Gravitationcenter.”

“Glad you came up with thatplan.”

I cursed and called myself afool. My career so suddenly ended because I once again rushed into a situationwithout thinking. Who would have thought I bite the dust, on my very firstofficial mission?

If I had my real axe, I wouldshow those rocks. Not some cheap technological imitation of Bereaver, my Axe.The pressure became more intense, but no. “I know of thee, Olours. I know youare born of the Conck. You are ancient and sided with the light. What need didI have of a battle suit? The pressure still held this fragile body, who was I,why was I in this ridiculous biological form? Why could I not form a clearthought? Oh yes but I could form one thought that would bring me what wasrightfully mine and with Bereaver in my fist, I find the rest of me and thenwoe to all who tricked me. A thought formed in me and I raised my hand againstthe laughable, feeble attempts to restrain me. My hand risen I yelled:“Bereaver tear asunder time and space, nothing shall keep vengeance incarnatefrom me. BEREAVER TO ME.”

With my left I grabbed one of theChildren of Conck. “You move a glacial pace, you are of the First League, yourage is great yet you are but matter and simple life.”

There, I could sense it ... itcame. Like a meteor of infinite speed Bereaver the Axe, Vengeance incarnateunited with my fist. “DIE.”

I crumbled the Child of the BlueMountain to dust in my fist and my Axe, oh my Axe it sang and pulsed withanticipation as it was made by my own hand in the crucible of infinite fire andheat in the nexus of all energy, forged to slay those who call themselves Godsand keepers of the Rule, what chance had the Children of Conck? What were the Olours,but dust and dirt beneath my feet?”

DIE.

There weren’t enough to kill.There was not enough to quench my thirst for revenge, and still there was somuch of me, that was still lost. Who was I? What ... What was that? Who wascalling me? Who is Erica? Eric, I am Erica.

That call, that voice it, was sofamiliar, so soothing. Of course it was Narth. My friend Narth.

Yes I was foolish to run off half-co*ckedwhen my place was on the bridge. Har-Hi was of course right, but I did notregret it. My friends made it to safety, hopefully outrunning the Kermac. Mylife was a small price to pay so Shea and Hans and all the others could escape.These strange floating rocks would crush me; the 12 seconds had to be over bynow.

Narth voice again. “Eric, can yousense me?”

“Yes I can. Everyone made it?”

I opened my eyes and could seenone of the rocks. The pressure was gone and now I could hear the suit system.”Suit integrity breached, emergency force field deployed to maintain suitatmosphere. Damages beyond Nanite repair capability.”

The intense pressure must haveknocked me out for a moment. As I looked down myself I wondered what thoserocks did to my suit, it was in tatters, what force could destroy a Gilgameshbattle suit like that and not kill the wearer, in this case me. Even in thisstate the suit protected me with a contour force field. Union tech was almostmore impressive when it was damaged and still worked than when it was shinynew. All around me was a layer of bluish dust and small pieces of rock, but therewas no life in it. To my pleasant surprise there was an antique axe on thefloor, it looked the same as the one I had found in the Cave of Things and senthome.

Narth was still in my mind and hesaid. “The Kermac fleet turned around and is high tailing it out of Freespace.We are momentary hiding in the atmosphere of the 2nd Gas planet. We are on ourway to get you now.”

“Great, I have little energy leftand not much breathable air.”

“Are you alright?”

“You don’t need to ask somethinglike that. You can feel and see my thoughts. I am not sure what happened to thefloating rock things. Maybe they went too far from their moon or something”

“There were seven minutes and 56seconds I could not sense you at all.”

“I am not the Psionics expert,but maybe it had to do with the rock creature. They could manipulate GalNetTrans dim energies and gravionics, maybe they did something.”

I felt like reborn after I wasrescued and took the time for a 3 minute shower and went through the SaresiiAuto Dresser. My female disguise had suffered as much as my suit. I hung the axeas a souvenir over my bed and returned to the bridge.

They all were there and gave me ascolding stare. Shea flew over and hugged and kissed me and said. “Now you canreprimand me for behavior inappropriate, but I had to do it.”

“I can do that later. We stillhave to check what is on that moon and I want to know what made the Kermacturn. I also like to get a full damage and casualties report. Finally I need ascientific evaluation of the recent events. I still like to know what we foughton that Kermac ship and what happened to those rocks.”

Har-Hi said. “We analyzed some ofthe Computronic files of the Kermac ship, Hans managed to secure and it getsweirder when you hear what that Kermac fleet intended to do.”

I checked our position and said.“How is the Janus Device?”

Cirruit said. “We need to landsomewhere. Narth and I have to replace the fused matter manipulators on theStarboard side, before we can switch appearance. Right now we are Karthanian onlyon one side. Other than that the ship is undamaged.”

Cateria delivered the Casualtyreport. “All injuries, including the skull fracture, Shea suffered are mendedand the Crew is healthy. Even our stubborn Captain as far as my scans cantell.”

I glanced at her. “I see you areno longer the Outsider and have joined the rub-it-in club.”

She deactivated her med scannerand her angular, somewhat harsh face suddenly lost all the edge as she smiled.“No Captain, am no longer the outsider and after feeling lost and without aplace I belong to, I now feel I belong and I am at home right here aboard thismagnificent ship. I have real friends. Something I did not even have while Iserved the All-queen of Seenia so long ago. I am your CMO and entitled to anopinion.”

I was glad she felt that way andsimply nodded at that and then asked. “Har-Hi can you fill me in on what youfound out?”

My XO motioned to the ceiling andsaid. “SHIP can you start with the drawings you made?”

There on the viewer an actualdrawing appeared. It was a technical drawing with incredible detail andaccurate. Har-Hi explained. What you see are not 5000 meter Kermac ships, butDouble T Kermac freight tugs. The freight they are transporting are 5000 meterKermac Ion Pulse motors, not even the Devastator has ISAH pods of that size.There are sixty of them and now comes the incredible part. The Kermac plannedto attach these sixty Ion Pulse motors to that moon, and slowly accelerate itout of its orbit and take it across the 45 light years that separates thissystem from Kermac Space. The computronic data we were able to decipher speaksof Project Conck and it carries the seal of the Grand Wizard himself, thereisn’t much else in terms of detail or why they wanted to move that moon andwhatever is on it. From the mind dumps we know that the project is veryimportant and has been in the works for a long time.”

Shea said. “SHIP drew theseimages as the ships were too far for our Visual sensors to make out details, soshe used other sensor data and descriptions of the Kermac data files to come upwith these.”

“Paint me an Ult, those arepretty good, looks like my ship’s Omnitronic has a creative streak and istalented to boot.”

SHIP managed to sound embarrassedand proud at the same time. “Thank you Captain and I was worried about you too.Just so you know.”

I got up and said “Guys one thingI have to say before I call the Admiral and deliver this report. I am who I am.I respect you all, I will heed Har-Hi’s advice and I know he was right, butthis is my style, this is me and I can’t stop getting mixed in the middle ofthings and I doubt this will stop. Admiral Stahl does it, Captain Zezz does itoccasionally and I also decided to forgo calling you Mister and all that, youare my friends first and my crew second and I give a damn about the regulationsin that regard.”

Narth, who had his hands buriedin the sleeves of his cloak, put one hand on my shoulder.

“No, I am certain this is onething you cannot change about yourself and it is what makes you what you are.”

I called the Admiral anddelivered him a detailed report and Shea added her scientific findings.McElligott listened without interruption and then said.

“The Kermac turned around afterEnroe Industries sent a few of their security units, Alex was so kind andhelped me out there. The Kermac of course didn’t want to be seen and had toreturn as fast as possible. We are certain that they will come back. Afterlistening to your reports, they invested too much in that project.

Whatever it is, it is big andimportant and it seems whatever comes from that planet is able to fight Unionsoldiers in our newest Armor and neutralize Fenris robots. So we cannot affordnot to find out everything we can. Therefore I must ask you to investigate. Iam pleased you managed to destroy the Barracuda.

Cherubim will send out anotherUndercover Unit. It will tow the remaining T cruiser and take whatever specimenand Stasis prisoners you have back to Richter base for further analysis. Doyour investigation as subtle as you can of course.

== Chapter 18: BlueMountain ==

This was our third day in thisstar system called Auriga Xi. Somehow I pictured the start of our pirate careera little different. Right after our call to the Admiral, we landed on the firstplanet of the system. A hot, unfriendly world with temperatures hovering around800 degrees, with puddles of liquid lead and molten sulfur, between crackedrocks and fine dust. Cirruit, his engineers and Narth were outside fixing theJanus System. Shea and a team were also outside happy as can be surveying thesurface of this small planet. Krabbel had baptized it Little Hell and since theplanet was unnamed in the catalogs, Ship entered it as the official name in theUnion Celestial registry. Cirruit was confident they could repair the devicebut since it was perhaps one of the most complicated and unique systems it wasnot easy and could not be done fast.

Krabbel manned the Sensors asThree – Four was also outside helping.

I maintained Yellow Alert, incase we would have to leave fast, but so far there wasn’t much traffic and onlyoccasionally a ship would speed at the outmost sensor horizon towards BrhamaPort. No wonder the Kermac had risked operating in this system. It was outsideall traffic routes and this area of space had a sparse star population. TowardsGalactic south-east approximately 78 light years was the previously unchartedBallard Nebula Expanse. Of course it soon would become Union Territory as theMini Terrans claimed that Nebula as their home and small ships or not, they hadthe means to defend it.

Nearby in the same direction andonly a few light years more was the bazaar still in unclaimed space and Iwondered if Wurgus engineers of the Army corps of engineers would stabilize itsposition and how much of that space would be Union due to the Membership of theGolden.

Many thousand years ago someTerran astronomers divided the Galaxy into the same celestial directions asthey had on Earth, namely North, South, East and West. They used an imaginaryaxis towards Andromeda as North and added a Z axis calling it Galactic Up andGalactic Down.

While it was more common to usethe terms Upward, Spinward, Coreward and Downward to divide the Galaxy in fourequal segments, the old way of describing directions in an environment that hadno directions was easy to understand to most human minds and thus still used.

Almost straight ahead or in thedirection of Galactic North and 75 light years further begun the territory ofthe Fruidan; according to Sobody a species of intelligent Dragonfly like beingswith a very primitive civilization that joined the Kermac led Galactic Counciland became a Thrall species to the white skinned psionic bastards after beingindependent Freespacers. 120 light years from our current position to theGalactic West was a region of Union Space that was often called the Fringes.Only a few thinly populated Colonies and a few Outposts basically only there toclaim this area for the Union.

Everything east was Freespace andTogar space beyond that.

While I was musing about all thisstaring at a tactical map of the region, I wondered if the Fruidan actually hada choice, considering the efforts of the Kermac and their plan to accelerate aMoon to trans light speed in order to move it into their territory wouldrequire to accelerate it very slowly, using vast force fields to protect themoon and to keep it together. Such an endeavor required tremendous amounts offuel and energies that would be detectable for many light years. So they couldnot move it very far.

The Narth moved their entiresolar system and the Saresii had re arranged the planets in their own solarsystem. The Wurgus Planetary and Solar engineers offered to move planets aspart of their services The Klack had Battle moons of similar size, so it waspossible. Still it was a tremendous undertaking and required a level ofengineering I simply didn’t think the Kermac were capable off. It would notsurprise me if it was done by one of their Thrall species, but so fareverything indicated that it was the Kermac themselves.

The petite Yeoman with theflaming red hair moved gracefully next to my seat and handed me my coffee and aplate with tuna sandwiches. I took it and thanked her. “Ms. O’Connell’s howthoughtful. I was just about to get up and get me some.”

“Captain, it is the hallmark of agood Yeoman to anticipate when her Captain wants coffee even before she does.”

“I say you achieved thathallmark.”

“I am not as good as Gwenn or theOldest when it comes to change my appearance but if you need me in my trueform. I will of course serve you as well.”

“Let’s hope I don’t. I would havea hard time to explain the existence of Demons to the others.”

“Will you remember us when youcome into your own?”

“I have already come into my own,Yeoman. I am a Starship Captain, acting or otherwise. I am where I want to beand of course I remember the Coven and all the Sisters of the Circle. Why wouldI forget such a memorable meeting?”

She blinked with her big eyes andsaid. “Of course Captain. I just wanted you to know you can count on me as muchas you count on all the others. I will take your orders and obey your will evenin my true form. So you have that option.”

“Who knows what this journeybrings and what we have to face, and yes it might be a good thing to have aflaming denizen of the Nether region to scare the living daylight out ofsomeone.”

I took a long sip of the strongspecial Navy blend coffee I liked so much and added. “Speaking of scary folks,I better check on my spooky friend.”

His voice was immediately in mymind and Narth said. “I have patience my friend, and one day you will be thescariest and spookiest of us all and then it is my turn, until then I think Irefer to you as Upper chest enhanced...”

I interrupted his mental messagesaying. “It wasn’t my fault, tell that to Cherubim. She programmed the bodychanger. How are you guys getting along out there? I am eager to check out thatmoon and then get going. There are a lot of pirates out there.”

“I estimate we will complete therepairs in six hours and twelve minutes.”

“That is the most preciseestimate I ever heard.”

“I omitted the second incrementof my estimate, how can it be precise?”

I laughed inside and then hadElfi get me Shea. The angelic face of the girl I loved appeared on the mainviewer and was partially obscured by the faceplate of her suit. “Hullo Captain,I was just about to call you. Three-Four is out of his suit and was scoutingahead and we just discovered another one of those blue egg shaped things. It isin a cave not far from here and we believe it is feeding on the minerals.”

“Shea come back to the ship rightaway, don’t get to close.”

“Captain, there is Kermacmachinery and I think it is containing whatever it is. If the Kermac cancontain it, we too must learn how it is done.”

I had to agree with her. While itwas nothing but speculation of mine, I was certain whatever the Kermac’s planwas, it was aimed at the Union.

It was some sort of weapon, somesort of doomsday device. The Kermac built their entire civilization on theexpertise to subdue other life forms and make them their slaves.

I saw them use a device thatcontrolled the Y’All and they found a way to control the Psionic inert X101s.Controlling others was their expertise and they did it for a very long time. Ifthose rocks could manipulate Trans dimensional energies and gravitons theycould travel. Travel anywhere and perhaps faster than the speed of light. TheNul managed to break the most advanced Union shields with their gravitonweaponry. Not even the Narth Supreme knew about these rocks. I became more andmore convinced that we stumbled upon something that was a big threat to theUnion.

I said. “Stand by Shea, do notapproach for now. We need to do this subtle and methodically.”

To SHIP I said. “Keep an eye onyour gravionics sensors and tell me when you experience even the slightestvariation.”

“Aye Captain.”

I called Shea again and said.“Come back to the ship. I like to have a meeting and discuss how we proceed.”

I had to keep myself convincedthat waiting was the best thing to do and I did wait until Narth and Cirruithad completed their repairs. We were all assembled in our Pirate’s Den, formerHangar bay B. I had called the entire crew. Most of them were of coursestanding as there wasn’t enough room but I wanted all to hear and have a chanceto say something if they had an idea.

I repeated the details of oursituation and included my opinion that this was a threat to the Union and thatwe had to do find out what we were dealing with and if at any way possibleneutralize the threat if it turned out to be one.

Cirruit spoke first. “If there isKermac machinery then I think we need to analyze it first and see what itactually does. I can do that by sending Nanites to examine the thing on amolecular level and then simulate this machine here and see what it does.”

Three-Four raised his arm andadded. “I doubt they can harm me in my true form and I can take a closer look.”

I shook my head. “Three-Four, ifthey can manipulate energies, we can’t say to what extend and that is what youare, energy.”

Har-Hi played with a dagger ofhis. “I think we should simply destroy them fast and swift and then see ifthere are others like this in this system. I don’t think they can dodge anddeflect an Exo load.”

Fectiv, who was standing behindKrabbel said. “I am a Weapons engineer and I worked on an idea ever since weencountered them. I modified one of our fire suppressors; you know the energysiphon beams that we use to fight fire, even plasma fires and mounted it on aRifle frame. Instead of shooting them we suck whatever energy they got and denythem their ability to manipulate anything.”

Shea smiled at him. “That isquite brilliant.”

A Takkian specialist said.“Captain, I am science specialist Joglur. I am related to your friend Miglar,the Lieutenant of the Hyperion.

“I don’t know if it is relevant,but we Takkians are rock and silicone based as you know and we have a very oldlegend about a species of floating Rocks that are the children of a LivingMountain.”

I said. “I have a gut feelingthat your legend is what we are facing here. What do you know about it?”

“Sadly not very much, it is toldby the Takkian priests and part of our chant slates. I am not a very religiousTakkian and haven’t been to the temples since I was just a silicone nodule, butI will contact the temple and ask for a transcript of the Chant Slates, if youpermit that.”

I got up and said. “Yes do thatplease and in the mean time we will go to that moon. I don’t think the answersare to be found here. However I will not risk the Tigershark again to bedamaged by whatever it is. So here is my plan...”

--””--

Har-Hi said. “You know thereisn’t a single person on our ship who likes your plan?” while he piloted theGazelle.

I was sitting behind him in thesmall co*ckpit. “I am the Captain and I think this is the best way.”

“A Captain is the last to die notthe first. That’s a rule you know. You are supposed to remain behind and makeplans and let us carry them out. We can’t be an efficient crew if you can’tsend us in dangerous situations. Maybe it is a handicap that your first commandis a ship filled with your friends.”

“I would do the same thing if Icommanded a ship full of Thauran nobles.”

Har-Hi sighed. “I am going thereand check things out and you stay safe behind isn’t much of a plan either.”

“That is not what I said. I gaveeveryone strict orders and I did send Hans and his team back aboard that cursedKermac wreck to examine everything. Narth is standing by to teleport us out. Hecan do so best with my mind. Three-Four is with us, and he too can manipulateenergies. We got modified good old Quasimodos, with additional Artigravmodifiers and the strongest suit integrity fields Cirruit could come up with.”

Har-Hi tried to turn his head buthe too wore a Quasimodo and was not able to make that move. He said. “Still thereis no I in Crew and you know exactly what I mean.”

I grinned knowing he didn’t seeit and said.” But there is a C for Captain and yes I do understand you, but Iam not an experienced Captain of many years command experience. I am doing thisstrictly by guts. I commanded the Devi by guts; I told you what to do when wefaced the Seenian ship not by any books or experience but by something else.Besides I have an ace in my sleeve for this one.”

“I don’t think carrying someantique steel axe is much of an ace, against floating rocks, when you got amounted Mini TL launcher on your shoulders.”

“I am not even sure why I broughtthat thing along, but I remember the boarding axe was much more effective thanyour blaster, besides my ace is a little red headed Yeoman.”

“Uhu, good idea. If we can’t winor destroy them, we let our onboard lawyer sue them for the use of non-permittedBlue light in a Green light zone or something like that.”

“Watch where you are flying, Idon’t want to find out if the Gazelle or the ice and rock junks around that GasGiant are better suited to survive an impact.”

“That thing was miles away.”

“We are doing 500 kilometers asecond.”

“Well we are here. Deep voicemoon straight ahead, what do you want me to do?”

“Take us straight down.”

Har-Hi did, he guided themodified lightly armed, recon modified Gazelle inside the moon’s atmosphere. AGazelle was based on the same hull as the Wolfcraft fighters and thereforedesigned to work in an atmosphere as well, Har-Hi was most likely the bestsmall craft pilot in the Galaxy and yet the Gazelle bopped like aSilver-Flicker fish caught in the wake of a Tyranno Fin. Har-Hi managed tostabilize and said.” Wind speeds exceed 240 klicks. That’s some serious windfor a little moon like that.”

I noticed gigantic constructionsites, monolithic pads of Duro-Crete, bigger than mountains and shaped likecradles. The magnitude of the Kermac project was mind boggling especiallybuilding all this in such adverse conditions.

We approached the area where theGiga load obliterated the Kermac craft and rearranged much of the moon’slandscape. A huge crater had been blasted out of the surface and Har-Hi said.“I think we are here.”

On the far side of the big craterwas a mountain that did not match the looks of the rest. It was a massivemountain of about 12,000 meters height and it glowed with a faint blue light.

Har-Hi put the Gazelle down justbefore that blue mountain and said. “If the little rocks could create thousandsof tons gravionic pressure, then I don’t want to know what that thing iscapable off.”

I patted his shoulder. “We arehere to find out exactly that.”

With a determined move I pushedthe contact and lowered the seat to the ground. This was not the first time nowthat I set foot on an alien world, but the landscape of this moon appeared morealien than anything I seen before. The light did not come from the distant sunof this system but from the giant gas planet casting a strange unhealthypinkish hue over everything.

Unlike on Twilight where the gasgiant was only partially visible, here the planet filled the entire sky and itfelt overwhelmingly depressing somehow. We had landed at the edge of the twentykilometer wide and deep crater our Giga load had ripped into the surface. Therewere rugged and grayish pink mountains everywhere. Yellowish sulfuricsnowflakes whipped by a hellish gale force wind splattered our suits with avengeance. The wind was so strong I had to activate the Gravo Anchors on myboots and make slow steps towards that odd bluish glowing mountain that lookedas alien and out of place as we did. It was an odd sensation to feel the forceof storm in a six ton battle suit.

Har-Hi lowered the Visualenhancer visor over his face plate and pointed towards the bluish mountain.

“I can see more Kermac machinery,there are standard power plants but they are feeding equipment of unknownpurpose attached to the base of that Blue Mountain, some of it had beendestroyed by our Giga load but some seems still operational.”

The images we saw were instantlyrelayed to the Tigershark and Shea cut in and said. “I would need to see themclose up and make more detailed scans, but I think these are Kermac PsionicWill amplifiers.”

I acknowledged and asked them tostand by as I activated my Suit’s Comm. system on the same frequency as thevoice has spoken before. I had clear instructions to identify myself not aspirate or Freelancer but as Union Captain. “This is Captain Olafson of theUnited Stars of the Galaxies. I am here to establish Contact.”

At first there was silence and Ialready decided to get closer when Har-Hi’s shoulder mounted weapon fired, amicro second before two long line blasts impacted into my shields. My suitComputronic went to battle mode and automatically switched my helmet totactical view. There at the base of the blue mountain was a round caveentrance. I saw two Kermac in Battle suits using large Line blasters on allterrain wheels, a fraction before Har-Hi’s micro AM loads filled the entranceof the cave with blinding light. “He went into flight mode and said. “Outsensors don’t penetrate that blue mountain ... I had to fire to prevent them toready their Anti Matter Bazooka. Those things could ruin our day.”

There was still silence on thechannel and I went into flight mode as well. I didn’t blame Har-Hi for firingwithout asking. Kermac Line blasters could not make a dent into a Quasimodomuch less our shields, but a few hits of their AM Bazookas could wear down ourshields fast.

The possibility that the Crew ofthe escape pod had not been killed but found shelter inside that mountain thingwas now quite likely and with that also the knowledge of the Translocatormanual. We flew fast and with pre-programmed evasive patterns close to thestill smoking cave entrance.

In Shea’s estimate the BlueMountain before us was about 8 kilometers high and had a base width of 16kilometers. That gave us a potential volume of 2,300 Cubic kilometers and ifthat thing was hollow, lots of room for millions of Kermac.

Now close to the mountain Iscanned the material and dependable as an Ult Chronometer, Shea came backsaying. “The material is similar to the blue rocks on the Kermac Cruiser andthose on Little Hell. It is mostly crystalline Silicone, dense layers of heavymetals such as lead and gold. The bluish color is most likely due to a highconcentration of the element Cobalt. Noteworthy is the presence of largeamounts of the biological coenzyme Cobalamine, or more commonly known asVitamin B12. Many bacterial and animal life forms use this for nutrition.”

While I listened to Shea’sanalysis I slowly approached the cave entrance, while Har-Hi did the same fromthe other side. I said to Shea. “Why can’t we scan through that and we shouldbe able to detect life forms including silicone based life.”

“I think it is the way thecrystalline lattice is structured, but because of that I am convinced this is alife form.”

“You mean there are life formsinside?”

“No I am running the data oncemore through SHIP and the Xeno data bank on Venus and I am certain the mountainthing is one single life form.”

While I digested her info, Har-Hitossed a mini spy drone into the Cave entrance, the drone could cloak and wasvirtually invisible to most scanning equipment.

I dedicated the upper left sideof my Faceplate to the telemetry of the drone.

Our little spy machine floatedthrough a long straight corridor made of the same bluish material for nearlytwo kilometers. We noticed the shattered suits and bodies of three more Kermacwho could not escape the confined space fast enough and thus where even moreexposed to the devastating AM blasts.

Our little spy drone entered alarge cavern.

The Image beamed back to us wasoverwhelming and frightening. There stood an army of bluish giants. Statue likebeings with arms, legs and heads. I estimated there were at least 20,000 ofthem, looking identical to each other just like robots. Each of them held oneof those bluish football sized rocks before them in crude looking hands. Eachof them had to be at least four meters tall and at least two meters wide.

On the sides of the cavern weremore of those round rocks stacked in large piles, but they did not glow andlooked broken.

Two Kermac sat on the floorbefore them with closed eyes and technical device between them.

Har-Hi said. “What do you say? Itake the ten thousand on the left and you the ten thousand on the right. Thereare certainly enough for both of us.”

I smirked at that and waspondering what to do. These rough looking stone golems did not move. Did theKermac perhaps keep them in that state and contained? Would we unleash thatarmy if we killed the Kermac?

Har-Hi said. “I think we aref*cked and you might agree with me if you turn.”

I turned and saw at least ahundred of those floating rocks behind us and before I could do anything, bothI and Har-Hi were suddenly and very fast pushed inside the cave entrance by anirresistible force. The floating rocks had generated a gravionic focus pointinside that pulled us and much debris through that cave corridor. My suit washolding but could not generate enough Artigrav to counter this force.

Shea who was still connected saidwith an alarmed tone in her voice. “I am sending the Marines and robots; we getyou out of there.”

Har-Hi and I tumbled before thetwo Kermac who were no longer sitting.

One of them clapped his hands andthe Stone warriors came alive and then he said.

“Splendid, two Union fools havestumbled across our special project. It looks like they have Translocatorcannons with them.”

I managed to get to my feet andsaid. “That’s right White face, and you are the first to find out how it is tobe shot point blank by one.”

“Ah but you won’t you see we cancrush you and your friend inside your suits to liquid. Our friends here havetruly mastered the mental control of Gravionics. So I suggest you hand overyour shoulder cannons and tell us all you know about it. I can start with youand your friend will be very cooperative after seeing you squashed like arotten fruit.”

“I am going to overload theentire magazine of Translocator bombs.”

The Kermac waved his hand to theStone giants. “Strip them of their suits, Children of the Conck, these are theones that have abducted your Queen and broken many rocks.”

The Shoulder Cannons and our MainTKU twisted and became useless. The Kermac lamented. “You imbecile Olours, thatwas what we wanted to preserve.”

Our reinforced Suits held muchbetter than the Gilgamesh, but our Systems were strained to the limit, but nowthe immobilizing pressure subsided, enough to take the Axe I had fixed to mybelt, and Har-Hi managed to pull his Chain sword.

It was more a gesture of defiancethan anything else as we had no hope to defeat them all, but something strangehappened. The Stone giants stepped back; the floating rocks retreated from us.The Kermac, who had spoken before, now hissed. “Enough of this crush them.”

But no pressure came, the giantstried to step back further until they run into each other and had no room tofurther back away from us.

Har-Hi waved his Chain sword.“Looks like those boulder things respect Axes and swords, more than energyweapons.” A rocket launcher popped up from Har-Hi’s wrist.” You Kermac have noidea what a Quasimodo can do.” A pair of mini rockets hissed from the launcherand hit the Kermac device and blew it to twisted bits of metal.

The Kermac that had not spokenbefore said to his partner. “Wizard of the project, wise Sweisweinule. We mustnegotiate for our lives. We lost control.”

Both their natural arrogance wasgone. The first one displayed anger and disbelieve and the second one wasclearly afraid.

The deep voice spoke and it camefrom everywhere at the same time creating a strange echo. “The ONE is awake andhas come. Must the Conck now perish?”

The angry Kermac yelled. “Youmust obey. We are the Gentle Ones from your past, we are the Allies you arehonor bound to serve, for we are the Oxis. Those are the servants of theCraah-th Darkness. Enemies of the First League. Destroy them.”

I had about enough of the Kermacand now that I was free and able to move and I stomped towards him raised myaxe and said.

“I have about all I can take ofyou scheming, arrogant bastards. A short while ago I wondered if there wassomething redeeming even about your kind. He stepped back pulled his LineBlaster, but then his face changed into a twisted grimace of horror and theBlaster fell out of his hand, he dropped to his knees and whimpered. “Don’ttake me, please don’t take me there.”

I felt no remorse no guilt as Iswung the half-moon shaped antique axe down in a wide swing. Why I was certainI could kill him with such a simple steel weapon, I could not say. He waswearing a Kermac armored suit after all; it was as if I sliced through air anddidn’t feel the slightest resistance as the axe blade slid through his armor,body and bones.

I whirled around and raised thearchaic weapon to end the life of the second, but he had surrendered to Har-Hi.My Dai friend gave me a strange look for a long second and then said.

“First Shea pulls a sword thatslices through Ultronit like a hot wire through Ulgan Jelly and now you got anax that goes through Kermac cerami-weave as if it wasn’t there. I really needto find out where you guys buy your hardware.”

Before I could say something andwonder about that myself. The Floating rocks gathered by the Cave entrance andShea, Cirruit and all my marines accompanied by Fenris robots marched in.Despite the withering gravitation attack, Shea and the others moved unhindered.The Marines just as precise and fast as the robots raised their wrist cannonsand Shea said, “Give the word Captain and we turn this place into a gravelpit.”

Cirruit said. “Shea, Narth and Ifigured a way to neutralize their Grav-manipulating powers.”

The voice of the mountainthundered with its echo voice. “The day of doom has come to the Conck.”

From between the ranks of theMarines my Takkian specialist appeared, he too wore a Battle suit but hishelmet was open. To him this environment was obviously not harmful at all. Hesaid. “Captain may I ask for permission to talk to the Conck?”

“Yes by all means if you can shedsome light on all this I will be grateful. I am as much in the dark as we havebeen before and that Conck isn’t very responsive to questions it seems.”

“Captain, the voice we hear comesfrom a Kermac device and it is very limited to translate the Conck.”

“Go ahead Specialist Joglur.”

The Takkian resolutely steppedforward into the center of the cavern and begun to sing, it was a strange songthat sounded like someone chewing sand while gargling. Despite the strangesound, I found the songs melody actually quite acceptable.

Narth silently floated in andmoved next to me and his voice said in my mind. “Shea came to the conclusionthat we control and manipulate Gravity for a long time and have both thetechnology and the knowledge. Instead of absorbing the pressure they generateit is now deflected around us, takes much less energy and as you see worksfine.”

“I was actually thinking aboutthe same lines, not that I claim to have Shea’s genius but we deflect andabsorb much higher Gravs when we go to threshold speed and the Arti Gravs ofour Battle ships move millions of tons.”

“She is right; you aren’t asstupid as you always say you are.”

“I am not always...”

Our silent banter was interruptedas the song was answered by the mountain and then the Takkian said. “Thesestone warriors are called the Olours they are noble warriors of ancientheritage. They forgot the details of their origin or how they became sentient,as it is so long ago and come from the region we call Downward. They did havebrief contact to a sentient space faring species who took seeds of them tocreate the Takkians and the Takian races, if I understood it all correctly. Soin a wider sense our religious chant slates were quite correct.

The Olours move and speak in astately, glacial pace. Meaning it usually takes them between hundred and twohundred of our years to even finish a sentence, and conversations can lastmillennia. They are the epitome of patience and are usually extremely slow toanger. They have no technology whatsoever. The Olours actually seek just andhonorable contact with other races, but since they speak so slow, this was notvery successful. They generally have little patience for brutality and thekinds of atrocities other species are so ready to commit.”

He extended his arms and gesturedto the ceiling.” This is the Conck, the Mother or the Queen so to speak and itis it I am talking to by the way and not the Olours. This mountain is themother of this species and if it can absorb enough energy and if the Olourscollect enough base materials, the mountain creates one of those big blue eggsyou have seen aboard the T cruiser and on Little Hell. It happens only aboutevery 500,000 years and these Blue rocks are called Conck-Stone.”

Our Takkian Specialist managed tomesmerize us with his information and we all listened closely. He made a pauseas he listened to more of the gravel and sand crunching song the mountain sungto him and then continued.

“These Conck-Stones are actuallya collection of 50 to 60 individual Nodules, those ball shaped floating rocks.The Olours bring them to places with rich mineral deposits, and do so bytraveling space manipulating gravitation.

They cannot travel faster thanlight, but can teleport up to one light year if I get the distances right, sucha jump however depletes their energy reserves and they die if they do not finda feeding ground, such as a planet or an asteroid. If the conditions are righteventually a new Olour develops. These Conck-Stones are vital to the Oloursbecause they represent the continuation of their race. Anyone who knowinglydestroys a Conck-Rock becomes a declared enemy of the Olours and they go togreat length to punish a rock-breaker.”

Har-Hi who held the second Kermacsaid. “How did the Kermac fit in?”

Narth said. “Specialist Jogluralready asked that question but the Conck has a very peculiar way of tellingthings.”

Joglur had no neck or adistinctive separated head moved his left manipulator in the Takkian gesturefor yes and said. “I am sorry Lt. Hi I am trying to translate and interpret allthe things it is telling me and only give you the short version.”

Har-Hi looked embarrassed, shookthe Kermac for good measure and said. “I am sorry for sounding impatient,please go on.”

Our Takkian sung a piece andreceived a similar answer then he interpreted again. “The Olours were membersof an association of space faring civilizations they call the First League. Itwas very long ago even in the time perception of the Olours and this League wascentered on a group of Light Knights. The Conck does not know what happened tothe League or these knights but there was a war or fight and it didn’t go wellfor the League. The Conck claims it was rescued from another place before theenemy known to them only as the Imperials could destroy the Conck, and broughtto this moon by someone it calls the Gentle Ones.

The Conck says the Gentle Onesreturned very recently only about 100 of our years ago. The Gentle Onesreminded the Conck of this rescue and the debt of honor owed and demanded thatthe Olours serve them, what they of course did. The Gentle ones promised totake the Conck back home after it did the great deed.”

Narth said to me with concern andactual surprise in his voice. “I broke the shield of the Kermac and theyplanned to take the Conck near a black hole and use its gravitationmanipulating abilities to destroy Narth Prime. These machines are not tocontrol the Conck but to vastly increase its already enormous powers. TheKermac pretended to be the Gentle Ones and thus secured the cooperation of theConck.”

The Kermac held by Har-Hi saidtriumphantly. “We find a way to destroy you humans and your Psionic allies.This is but one project, we have thousands, and we are the Masters of Psionics.We already breed new Kermac generations with the exact same abilities as theseunreliable Rocks.”

Har-Hi’s augmented suit fist hadcrumbled the Kermac armor like paper holding him like that and he said. “It isvery unwise to make such speeches while being held by a Dai.”

I said. “He is stupid too,revealing their plans like that. I think if we repeat what he said at theAssembly, Admiral Stahl will get any resource he needs and before you know it,there won’t be any Kermac period.”

I waved at Pure, the Attikan whoI noticed to be part of the Marine detachment that had arrived and said to him.“Lieutenant, put this Kermac into Zero Stasis and get him out of here.”

To the Takkian I said. “Did youtell that thing who we are and all that?”

“Yes Ma’am but if you ask if theyare interested in membership then we have to wait a little. The Olours havejust begun the discussion and the Conck does whatever they come up with.”

“We can’t stand here till theydecide something in thousands of years from now. What do we do with this? Wecan’t let the Kermac return and do their thing.”

The Takkian said. “Captain we areby definition also Children of the Conck and this is according to our religiona holy place. The Conck agrees that we too can make decisions for the Conck, sowe call Takkkk and let them declare this place Takkian and thus Union and we’reoff to play pirates. All this Silicone stuff is fine and dandy for normalTakkians, but I didn’t sign up with the Navy to do all those boring things weTakkians do, with all due respect Ma’am.”

--””--

INTERLUDE: ON ALVOR’S COVE

About twenty clicks north ofAlvor’s Canyon where the mountains ended and the endless sand and dust desertsof the Glagadrinn really begun; a dull all-terrain vehicle ground on wideprofile tracks through the rough terrain. It was an old machine with an enginethat ran on natural petroleum, black stuff that could be found everywhere onthis dusty world.

Ban-Hoo, the driver and owner ofthe crawler was quite proud of it, most of the other desert scavengers rode onKatthais.

Ban-Hoo hated these lizards andtheir stench. Like all Dai he had an excellent sense of smell. That the otherscavengers complained and accused his machine of stinking, bothered him little.That was one of the few benefits of his chosen profession, you did not havemuch contact with others once you left town.

Out here were only the occasionalBrown People, wild Lizards and snakes.

Out here he had time to think andas usual when he was thinking his mind wandered back and the reasons he washere. The others had long quit asking why he, a proud Dai-Than Warrior became aplanet bound vagabond instead of raiding ships and planets with his clan.

Because by now everyone knew atleast part of his story; they knew he had no clan.

He was the last of the Tun-HaClan as far as he knew. He had been the one in the scout ship, who found thatperfect colony to be raided. The Clan moved in, but it was a trap and a UnionFleet destroyed and killed anyone not surrendering.

It was the scout’s job to makesure no Union Assets were close enough to interfere before the raid was doneand the Dai Clan long gone. He had done a quick scan of the System and was notas diligent as he should have been. Not checking the actual planets andoverlooking an entire Union Battle Group had landed on the fifth planet.Normally it would have been his duty to commit suicide but a warrior’salternative to suicide in such as case was revenge. While he was emotionallydevastated to lose his family and everyone he knew, he was not too keen or deepdown actually afraid of suicide. To go to another Clan and become anInbur-Thal, a coward who had failed to do his duty and not commit suicide waseven worse.

At Sin 4 he had to sell his ScoutCraft as it was out of fuel and he had no money. He almost ended up as a slaveto fight in one of the Arenas but made it to Alvor’s Cove. At first it seemed abad decision to come here. This was one of the busiest slave markets in theGalaxy, at least on this side of the galactic bulge, but he had enough moneyfrom the ship sale and paid the Local Lord the Freedom Fee. Unlike Sin 4,Alvor’s Cove was firm in the hand of one faction and their laws were crude andsimple but quite reliable.

He realized back then that hismoney would not last, especially with the water prices here.

He interrupted his musings for amoment as he passed the Gilguri rocks, the last outcropping of the mountainouscliff plateau behind him. There sometimes were desert gangs or opportunist withlong range weapons, picking off a lonely traveler, of course the Local Lordforbade such behavior (unless someone paid the killing permission fee). But theLocal Lord’s reach diminished fast out here and no one gave a care about thatself-important Karthanian beyond these rocks.

He swiveled his Slug Acceleratortowards the rocks and kept an eye on them, but nothing but a lonely Ki-Ki-Toggmoved over there.

Seeing the ultra-shy, flyinglizard hoping over the rocks convinced him that there was nothing else hiding.Well nothing else but Ki-Ki-Togg prey.

The last traces of the rocks nowbehind him. His cat now rolled through the near featureless sand and dustdesert and he would do so for the next 700 clicks before he reached MountNathir.

He long had learned how to readthe sand and knew how to stay clear from the drift sand bogs that could swallowhis crawler and him or at least make him get stuck for days. Seven Years ago hehad come to Alvor’s Cove. With his money going fast, there weren’t many careerchoices on Alvor.

You could become a slavemerchant, slave guard, shop owner, tavern owner, water merchant, food vendor, LordGuard, lizard hunter or desert scavenger.

He nodded to himself and hismental list confirming to himself that he didn’t forget much. He took a sipfrom his water bag, swished the liquid around his mouth and squinted his eyesbehind his goggles.

To become any sort of merchant heneeded much more capital, have connections to a supplier and know about thewares you sold.

To be a Lord Guard you needed tobe well connected to the Local Lord only trusted those he knew well. Lizardhunter or slave guard did not appeal to him due to the stench, so consideringhis skill sets and financial resources all that was left was desert scavenger.

At first it seemed to him a fool’sjob. What could possibly be out there except sand and dirt? But then he madefriends with an old scavenger the one who sold him this Crawler for a goodprice and taught him the trade. He then learned that Alvor’s Desert held manytreasures.

Sub Terran Water sources, TutuCactus buds eaten by the tame Lizards, Tutu Cactus flowers very rare and hardto find but ground to a powder, a Drug readily purchased by Togar males. SinceAlvor’s cove was close to their empire they frequented the place often.

There were open petroleum pits,the stuff was not worth much but a load of it always paid for the trip andsupplied him with cheap fuel. There was the Dawal Lizard, if you’re lucky tofind one and even luckier to survive a fight and kill one then you had a loadof good meat, bones and blood. Not to mention the highly valuable tusks but allthis was the usual stuff.

Every scavenger dreamed aboutfinding the Nakh.

Legend had it that out heresomewhere was a buried Celtest ship.

Artifacts of advanced ancientcultures and societies were the single most valuable commodity in the galaxy.Celtest stuff was on the very top. Anyone finding even just a piece of Celtestscrap metal would be a rich man. That there was a Celtest ship, and not just aninsubstantial myth doubted no one.

A scavenger only thirty of fortyyears ago had found a Celtest artifact and became very rich.

Ban-Hoo dreamed about finding itand taking the entire ship out from the sand and fly it in Union Space anddestroy everything he could find.

But that would not be today andprobably never. Today he actually had passengers. Two Kermac no less and payinghim a good sum for a trip to Mount Nathir.

Why the Kermac wanted to go tothe Old Worm was none of his business. How they even knew about that odd hermit?

But then Kermac had Psionicpowers and could read minds and such. Some of the Scavengers believed the OldWorm was the result of a failed genetic experiment to mix human genetics withNul and come up with a Nul that could spy on humans or something like that.That experiment resulted, so the story went, in a horrible abomination.

And it was hiding out there,avoiding to be seen as much as possible.

Other voices claimed, the Old Wormto be a holy man and that he had contact to some God. Much older than theCeltest ship story was the rumor of a hidden temple with a sleeping powerfulsupernatural entity.

This legend also based on realfacts. Alvor’s sun flared and cooked of the vast oceans that once covered thisdesert. The flare and the duration of it, was according to many an artificialpurposely created event.

Ban-Hoo had no particular opinionon that legend, but he knew the desert before him once was an ocean floor.Countless shells of water creatures attested to that.

He doubted the old worm was agod, but that he might be considered some sort of spiritual guide wasconceivable, that he looked half man, half worm was nothing too spectacular. Hewas Dai and his kind had travelled far and wide, encountering life forms muchstranger.

--””--

Underneath the canopy thatcovered the cargo bed of the crawler, Vienacfier tried to meditate whileHalbforneur monitored the thoughts of the Dai driver up front.

He touched his ceremonial beardfor the millionth time as it was his habit checking if his psionic shield stillworked.

“It works.” Vienacfier said withmuch annoyance in his voice, partly because he could not find the balance tomeditate and partly because he felt insulted by his partner’s constantchecking. “I will not probe your mind.”

“How would you know that myshield is working if you had not tried to probe my mind?”

“Because it is of finest Kermactechnology just like my shield and I know of only three cases they havefailed.”

Halbforneur was not so convinced,a little paranoia was never wrong. For all he knew Vienacfier could have beenan agent of the Ministry of Control, one innocent thought wrongly interpretedand one was likely to find oneself mind dumped and erased.

And all his loyal service to theMinistry of Information would only come to light in his defense after the minddump and too late for him. Not that loyal service and devotion to one’s jobever was considered in a case of ‘severe obstructive and subversive thoughtengagement’.

He often wondered how the Saresiior the recently discovered Leedei, the only other societies he knew wereeveryone was a telepath got along without mental shield generators and abilityenhancers.

The Narth did not really count associety in the common sense.

Vienacfier grunted like aprimitive sub Kermac life form as he shifted position in the swinging hammocklike seat.

“I sure hope this coward of a Daiknows where he is going.”

Halbforneur tried to hide hisdisgust he felt towards his partner.

“He does. His mind is clear andopen and he accepts Kermac superiority and does not even question our reasonsto come out here.”

“It is still better we eliminatehim. Just in case.”

“It would be unwise. Local Lordhas warned us and you were too cheap to buy the Kill all License.”

“I am not paying 10,000 Polo cointo some totally inconsequent lower life form on a similar inconsequent planet.I will punish him for is insolence when we leave.”

“This world might not be asinconsequent as you make it. There are Celtest artifacts out there somewhereand we are meeting the Purple Worm. I doubt he chose this world at mererandom.”

“The more reason we should set upa base of operations here, take over the local crime lord’s control and searchfor the Celtest artifacts with modern equipment and tear this dust ball apart.”

Halbforneur now was almostcertain his associate was associated with the MOC. They always talked that way.

“This planet is close to theTogar, it be unwise to provoke a war. I am certain there are Union Spies, notto mention Nul and Shiss agents. It might not be wise to make the Nul even morehostile towards us as they already are.”

“I doubt there are any UnionSpies here. I expanded my mind and did not find any shielded minds except a fewSojonit Priestesses. I had a good mind to visit them after we are done here,that would be Polo Coins well spent.”

“If it would be that easy todetermine if there are no eyes and ears for the cursed Union, don’t you thinkwe of the Ministry of Information would rely on doing mind sweeps all the time?

And the funds made available tous are meant to pay for information gathering not personal indulgences.” “Youtalk like a puppet of the Ministry of Information. We are field agents and haveto sample and learn about other cultures this too is gathering of information.”

“I am an associate of the MOI andyou know that. What makes me wonder if you are indeed of the military.”

“All you need to worry about aremy credentials and your orders. Both make me the one in charge.”

With a jolt the Crawler came to asudden stop.

Halbforneur realized he had notpaid any attention to the thoughts of the driver. The Driver was gone, at leasthe could no longer sense the man’s thoughts.

They both grabbed their weapons,dialed their power amplifiers to high and with activated personal shields theywent outside.

There was a group of dust coveredbeings holding a selection of weapons, all heavily shrouded and hooded. One inthe center was taller and wore a purple cloak and hood.

“Your Ministry of Information isvery good I have to admit, you accomplished what countless before have failedto do and find my lair.”

Halbforneur raised that part ofskin that once held eyebrows. “We are Kermac, therefore it should be nosurprise that we accomplish where others fail. You associated too much and toolong with Larthop, through him we were able to trace you.”

“Yes you are quite correct, but Iam not an amateur either. I agreed to a meeting but I decided to chance thelocation of our meeting.

Instead of the mountain we can doit right here. Especially since you Kermac have a Strike team moving in on themountains as well.”

Halbforneur had no idea there wassupposed to be a Strike team. His superior told him to show good faith andfancy the Worm’s wishes to normalize relationships so a better cooperationcould be achieved.

He glanced over to his associateseeing he was not in the least surprised about this revelation and the presenceof a Kermac strike team.

Vienacfier made a dismissing handgesture. “That Herkatan strike team will make sure you cannot leave thisplanet. I am sure you know of their reputation. They are monitoring us as wespeak as I am their ears and eyes.”

The Purple worm laughed. “Maybethat is the real reason your species is on the decline. Kermac always rely onother species to do their fighting for them.

I have a working relationshipwith the local lord, the one you consider so primitive. We have that Kermactransport, disguised as Yotenen trader vessel in focus of our planet defensebatteries. One move and we blast it out of the sky. The Local Lord will thencall upon the Nul for help as we fear more Kermac warships. Dare to make thecall and start a war, Kermac?”

Vienacfier activated a CommDevice in his beard.

“MOC lead to Herakan team, abortMission. I repeat, aboard mission and return to deployment base.”

“That was a wise decision.”

The Worm raised his arm and thesand all around came to life, hundreds of heavily armed sand colored beingsrose from the dust. The shrouded beings were totally undetectable by hisPsionics. Due to the hoods and shrouds he could not determine what species theywere either. They did not move like humanoids, more like primates.

They erected a tent in no timeand the Worm invited his guests inside. Chairs had been placed and someonebrought in a case of Kermiliq.

On a provided table stood cups.The Worm gestured the Kermac to have a seat. He sat down across them. “Helpyourself to the Kermiliq. It is cooled and I assure you not tampered with inany way.” Halbforneur was still furious that he was kept in the dark and tookone of the Bottles, opened it and did not bother with a Cup. He knew it wasvery primitive and without form but he was thirstier than he realized. Theslightly tarty taste and the moisture of his favorite drink did wonders to hismood and condition.

Vienacfier ignored his associate’sprimitive display of ignored manners and said.

“Let us get to the point andleave this inhospitable place so we can enjoy refreshments in more appealingconditions.”

“You are the ones that againasked for a meeting. Here we are.”

“Our last cooperation was marredby betrayal and misfortune, the Narth’s human died on Sin 4 and it turned outhe was of little consequence after all.”

“Yes I have the same information.The Narth representative at the Assembly maintains a connection to the grandfatherof the Nilfeheim boy.”

“The Narth have already begunwhat we hoped could be prevented. Narth now participate and strengthen thecursed PSI corps.”

The Worm had to agree. “This involvementof the Narth has cost me much already and I fear it will cost me even more.Several attempts to assassinate one of these new Narth agents have failed andmet with such brutal and swift response even by Union and Terran standards thatit becomes quite difficult to even find someone willing to try.”

Vienacfier was now relaxing a bitand he too took a bottle but demonstrated quite detailed how it was doneproperly by filling a cup only a third and take little sips.

“Kermac Intelligence assets face similarchallenges. Now let us approach this with open defenses. We come to theconclusion that it is very likely you are no mere criminal mastermind but thatthe Worm is a cover for Nul intelligence.”

The still completely shroudedPurple Worm laughed. “It is a good guess and honestly I wish it would be so,but Nul are neither biologically nor ideological connected to the Worm or me inany form.

The Worm’s activities are notactivities the Nul would support or condone. However your intel is not completelyinaccurate, I have deep connections into their intelligence services and canarrange contacts if you desire.

However I must warn you, Nul donot play well with others and are opposed to alliances especially since thatbrief Nul - Shiss alliance quite some time ago.

He raised his hand and one ofshrouded children sized primates placed a glass with a golden liquid in it.

While gesturing a thank you theWorm said. “To quell any suspicions, I am not Shiss either. Playing well withthe Nul means I cannot play with the Naxxxtuu-www.”

“Kermac and Shiss interests areincompatible but we would be interested in a meeting with Nul Intelligence. Wedon’t want an alliance but we all face a common enemy that is becoming strongerby the moment and we can already see the day when the Union will move againstthe rest of us and claim dominion over the entire Galaxy.”

“I agree with your assessment butthe Galaxy is still a very big place and there are vast areas unknown to all ofus and the time where the Galaxy must be united to face those who made theY’All will be at hand sooner than some believe.”

“This is the reason the Galaxymust be under the firm rule of Kermac, for we have means to communicate withthe Y’All and prevent their dominance.”

“A point only seen by the Kermacof course, and the rumors that you are capable of doing more than justcommunicate becoming stronger, especially recently, but for the near future ourgoals are the same. I shall arrange that meeting.”

== Chapter 19: Shipof Horrors ==

The other disguised Freespaceoperations unit turned out to be a Togar Claw ship. A truly ancient tech levelsix Togar warship that had the stylized form of a lion’s paw, at least that ishow Shaka described it and it was 600 meters long. At first we actually went tobattle stations but the Togar female identified herself as Captain Roranak ofthe NAVINT X Fleet and on the same special communications equipment we had andwas exclusive to NAVINT.

We met aboard her ship,officially named Quicha-Too, but it had a secret second Union designation: USSChimera.

From the outside it truly was acrude, primitive surplus cruiser that had several private owners before itbecame the Quicha-Too, the ship of a freelancing independent Togar.

On the inside, it was as modernand well equipped Union ship and the Togar gave me a little tour and told meabout her mission and challenges while our crews loaded crated Kermac tech,Kermac crew members in stasis and an Olour rock, also in stasis along withboxes of loot and specimens.

I learned that she was doing thisnow for seven years and had made herself a solid reputation as a freelancingjack of all trades. She wasn’t really known to be a pirate, but her carefulcrafted personality was known to do any sort of shady deal.

Her main mission was to gatherintelligence for NAVINT in Freespace. While her ship was well shielded andarmed, she was to avoid open conflict when possible.

She and her crew were delightedabout Richter Base and having a regular port of call now. She had orders to towthe T Cruiser and bring what we had collected there for further analysis. Shealso looked forward to a few months R & R.

I also was informed that a fleetof Takkian civilian ships was already on its way. The news that their religiousChant Slates were true and that there indeed was a mother mountain had traveledfast and already caused an intense religious revival on Takkian and Takianworlds.

NAVINT of course helped to stokethe fire and provided only slightly doctored images, recordings and reports. Acivilian Takkian scholar was credited with the discovery.

According to Captain Roranak, whohad received a full briefing, the Takkian would settle the moon and Little Helland then ‘officially discover’ the Clonk and claim the system.

Of course I had also beeninformed by the Admiral about everything in great detail. It wasn’t the mostelegant solution according to the Admiral, but the best available.

After the Chimera was loaded andwe had received some additional supplies, we bid them farewell and Krabbel putin a course that would take us to Brhama Port.

--””--

I had the crew assemble in ourPirate’s Den and said to them. “Now after our little and unplanned detour weare back on track with our original mission and we are once again pirates tothe world. Any ship that crosses our bow is likely prey and we are going tohunt other pirates and criminals.”

I held up a print out and said.“This is a short version of the official report about the attack on the DannyHouston, the civilian passenger liner that was attacked by pirates just beforewe left the Bazaar and I want to read it to you.

I cleared my throat and began toread out loud.” On February 5th, 5020 the passenger clipper Danny Houston onits way from Seven-Skies to Fairfield Planet was attacked and heavily damaged.The Ship master of the Danny signaled full cooperation with the attackers andasked for mercy for his passengers. He assured the attacker that they were acompletely unarmed civilian vessel.

The Danny was boarded by thosepirates.

Seventy Passengers were takencaptive and every crew member was killed, the ship-master was spaced withoutsuit.

Four female passengers werebrutally raped and afterwards killed. The remaining 48 passengers includingchildren and the old not worth much on the slave market were also spacedwithout suits.

Aboard the Danny Huston wereSaresii, Diechsen, Humans, Klack, Purple throat Shiss and two Shail on theirway home from a group vacation trip, deep in Union space.

One of the passengers a Stellarismanaged to survive in space clinging to the outside of the stripped wreck andhe was the one responsible for the images you now see behind me.

The Pirate was identified asCaptain Swift of the ship Swift Profit. It was this pirate captain who did theraping himself.

I realize the images are hard tostomach and quite graphic but I wanted you to see them and get the same angryfeeling I got in my stomach watching these, the same feeling I got fightingthat scum at Outpost 96. I wanted you to see why we are out here. Now some ofus didn’t have a proper vacation or might resent the fact that we can’t go toport on regular intervals, but those passengers won’t come home at all. So Iask you are you with me?”

The entire crew bellowed in oncevoice.” Yes, we are.”

--””--

I had finished the daily log bookentry and had my feet up and looked outside my view port into the darkness ofspace. It was late and the First Watch was about to leave the bridge to berelieved by the Officers and crew members of the Middle Watch. I could hear thefourth Bell that signaled the last 30 minutes of First Watch that went from2000 hrs to 0000 hrs. I glanced at the roster read out I always kept open onone of my screens and it would be the first watch with Sobody being the Officerof the Deck and having the Conn. Although he was not an Academy Graduate or hadall that much Union Fleet experience, he was conscripted.

He was not inexperienced when itcame to make command decisions. He had led an entire civilization for 12,000years and traveled aboard star ships for at least as long. Besides he turnedout to be an asset and reliable and I made the decision to field promote him toEnsign and to put him on the rotation roster for Bridge watches.

We were still 72 hours away fromour next destination, Brhama Port. Space was vast and to meet another shipoutside planetary systems was very rare even on very busy traffic routes. Oursensors had not detected anything for the last two days. We could not use thefull range of our active sensors because, active sensors could be detected andno Karthanian would have the sensor range of a modern Union ship, but we hadexcellent passive sensors and we could use them to the very limit, and stillthere was no contact.

“SHIP give me a Bridge visual.”

Normally I would not spy on myofficers and crew, but I wanted to see how Sobody came on and how he handledhimself.

A field screen established itselfbefore me and SHIP said. “I am curious too, as how he will do.”

“I still find it amazing to heara Computronic use words like curious and have an intuition knowing why I wantedto watch. I wonder if we should have more sentient Computronics.”

SHIP responded. “As much as I amthankful to you, don’t think it would be a very good idea. If personalities canchoose to be good and then they also have the choice to do bad, and what damagecould a SHIP AI do if it be malicious.”

I agreed and said. “Thinking itover it wouldn’t be fair to the AI’s anyway as they had no choice but becomeShip AI’s and serve. Not much of a choice.”

While I watched the First Watchgo through the final motions of their shift.

SHIP said. “I would have madethat decision even if I had other choices. I am very content to be your AI.”

“I still think about a way totreat you more fairly. You are on duty all the time, no free time, no leisuretime and all that.”

“I am not human, Captain. I amsentient but I perceive things differently. I am made to function around theclock. I don’t require sleep and I can think and act on many levelssimultaneous. Thanks to you making me a crew member, I can dedicate a sectionof my unused back up resources to spend time on my hobbies, when there is notmuch going on. I am also very intelligent and speak and understand alllanguages of the Union and many more and yet I can’t find the appropriate wordsto express how you make me feel having such thoughts about me.”

“We could use the Avatartechnology or maybe a robot or something so you have some of freedom otherbeings enjoy.”

“You would allow that?”

“I am recommending it.”

“You are the best captain an AIcan have.”

I smiled at that and saidsomething similar in return and then watched the Golden and his nine dutyofficers come on the bridge. I actually laughed as I saw the little Holdianwalking briskly behind the Golden.

SHIP said. “Those two are almost inseparable,as you can see the Holdian specialist is the Duty Engineer of that watch.”

The transfer went smoothly and Inoticed that the Golden did everything by the book. Even more so than most, andhis transfer could have been recorded as educational visual.

He sat down on at the Conn andwas calling in the standard reports of all departments. My supervision was notneeded and since I had changed my own schedule to Morning watch in order to beon the bridge when we reached Brhama port, it would have been a wise decisionto go to bed.

I was just about to turn off thefield screen when SHIP said.

“OPS just reported a contact onthe scanner horizon correction, there are two contacts now, and weapon energiesare exchanged.”

My ready room was right behindthe bridge and it took me no time to reach it. Just as I entered Sobody calledme over Intra Ship.

As always two marines guarded thebridge access door and announced me. “Captain on the bridge.”

Sobody vacated the seat and Isaid to him while I sat down. “Sorry to cut your first watch short, but I thinkyou did fine and you are on the permanent watch roster now.”

He bowed slightly and said. “Twocontacts, Captain and right in our path. Looks like pirate action I put myselfon ship-wide and said. “Ship, sound Battle stations, senior officers to thebridge.”

The light on the bridge changedfrom bright to red and it took seconds for my team to reach their stations.

Narth of course was first as hesimply appeared and took his seat behind ops and it took him seconds to give methe first analysis.

“Contact one emits energiesconsistent with a Bolgar class armed trader and contact two energy signature isKarthanian and on file.

It belongs to a known pirate shipcalled the Mighty Nine. Identity of pirate commander unknown but the ship andassociated energy signature are on the Union wanted list for acts of piracy.

Ship reported all stationssignaled stations manned. I acknowledged and said. “Shaka get us within onelight minute. Mao raise shields and arm weapons.”

Shea had immediately begun to runmore detailed scanner analysis and coordinated with Hans who accessed UnionIntel reports. She said.

“The Bolgar Class is registeredto a small Union Company that does trading business with several Freespacecivilizations mostly buying artifacts and selling legal civilian goods. Thecompany is suspected to also deal with the Togar, according to an Intelreport.”

Mao reported. “The Mighty Nine iswell armed with Karthanian Ship to ship missiles and Faster Than Light DirectedEnergy cannons, but nothing bigger than 1 Giga joule per second. The Bolgar hasthree FTL DE turrets but only one in the GJ class. Both ships have standardshields. The Bolgar’s aft shields are buckling.”

Elfi followed right after Maosaying. “Captain we are being hailed, by the Mighty Nine.”

Har Hi pulled his folded helmetout of his collar and it became rigid as soon as it was completely out andcovered his face to the chin with a yellow tinted face plate and handed me mymask.

“I assume we going to talk first right?”

I laced the mask tight and gavehim a scolding look. “We always talk first. Elfi open the channel as soon asNarth verifies the bridge image matches our ship’s disguise.”

She responded. “You’re onCaptain. Bridge image confirmed.”

A shaggy looking creatureappeared on our screen. It had an elongated somehow bean shaped head with fourpointed ears and a drop shaped nose that extended over the most of the upperhalf of the head. It had four eyes and a small rigid mouth. The head and muchof the exposed upper torso was covered in finger long unkempt looking, orangehued fur.

Narth informed me telepathically.“This is a Volting and they are members of the Galactic Council, but I cansense him pretty easily and he is as wanted there as he is wanted by theUnion.”

He squealed in a hoarse voice.“Who are you and what is your business here, interrupting my business?”

I said to him. “My business isinterrupting yours. So lower your shields and deactivate your weapons and wewill make it fast and quick. We leave with your valuables and you leave withyour life. I assure you, you won’t like the alternative.”

Even though it was the first timeI saw a Volting, I could tell he did not expect that and he said. “Don’t messwith me, Female. I am of the Sinister Alliance and have many friends.”

He couldn’t know that this wasthe wrong thing to say to me and I responded. “Well your friends aren’t here,but I am.”

Elfi signaled me that the othership was hailing us now as well and I had her put them on simultaneous. Thescreen split and a human captain became visible. He wore a corporate uniform inbright reds and blues and I found it a tad too colorful. He had dark hair andbushy eye brows that almost united above his wide nose. “I am willing to offeryou 25,000 Polo coins if you help me escape this gangster who dared to fireupon us. I am a peaceful trader and have little of value aboard.”

Narth mental connectiontransferred an emotion I had never thought possible with him, it was disgust ashe said inside my head. “Eric, he has the most horrid freight one couldimagine. I have seen his mental images and it is awful and most vile.”

I wondered what Narth had seenand said to the human. “I make you the same offer as I made to your Voltingplaymate. Surrender, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded and you mightwalk away from this.”

To Mao I said. “Open gun portsand incapacitate them, Shaka show them what a real Helmsman can do.”

I moved my seat in battle modeand our disguised ship went like a Rock Shark between them, our Froth Castersthat were part of our disguise were quite functional and those Nul gravitonpulse weapons were perhaps not at par with the most advanced Union weapons butstill enormous powerful and especially damaging to shields. The simulated weaponsof our Silver Streak disguise also masked our QNP cannon fire, as it wasvirtually undetectable. It was a thrill ride I could equate to nothing else.Shaka was more than just good; we would have won the battle even without ourhidden weaponry. It was as if Shaka could predict when the other ships werefiring and corrected the course with the speed of thought and evaded both shipsbarrage with apparent ease, while he never exceeded speeds that a Karthaniancould not obtain. I was fairly certain however that no Karthanian ship had suchprecise helm control systems reacting in Nano-second delay to Shaka’s controlcommands.

The stars danced around me in awild erratic manner, whenever Shaka changed course.

Mao who trained with Shaka andknew his friends style adapted his gunnery to the flight pattern and none ofhis shots missed.

Our ship shuddered ever soslightly as all our turrets pointed to one side and gave the Mighty Nine abroadside.

I heard Mao say. “Shaka, I amgiving the Bolgar the same medicine, prepare to compensate for weapon recoil.”

Shaka responded. “I am using thatdrift into fire lee on purpose, no sense of wasting perfectly good kineticenergy.”

I had to laugh. My friends hadfun, enjoyed themselves doing what they did best.

Har Hi said. “Captain both shipsrendered inoperable and their shields are down.”

It took a second to get my seatout of Battle view and I said. “Mao, pound them with Tech Stop and Paralysatorrays. Har Hi and Hans you take the Mighty Nine. TheOther you are with me, we goingto visit the Bolgar. Hans I need 25 Marines and two Fenris, stat.”

Har-Hi shook his head as we bothrushed to the IST. “There is no sense stopping you, or is there?”

Everything in me urged me to rushon and board that ship but I made Har Hi my XO and he had a point. I stoppedand sighed. “You are right. I will remain aboard.”

He laughed already at the door.“Just kidding Captain, I wanted to be at the door first. Stopping you to getinto the thick of the fray would be cruel.”

I actually cursed him and said.”Shea you got the Conn.”

Running behind him I yelled. “Whata fine friend I got!”

I almost caught up with him atthe Battle dresser at the deployment deck as he said. “You don’t know how muchI respect you for actually heeding my objection, Captain.”

He launched himself into space,his boot thrusters glowing bright white before he even made it past the forcefield curtain and he said via Command Channel. “Whoever calls Object securefirst wins.”

“What’s the wager?”

“If I win we keep the Pooltemperature at a cozy 38 and if you win, I prance around in High Heel boots foran entire hour.”

“I thought you hate swimming?”

“I am getting used to it as itseems you completely lost your fear of space.”

“I didn’t lose it, I simply don’tfind the time lately to feel it.”

“I am getting swimming lessonsfrom Elfi and I tell you, jumping in a pool that has only 4 degrees water isanything but fun. Only afterwards I was told that the temperature is kept atthese freezing temperatures because my Captain took a swim an hour before.”

“You better get an appointmentwith Cateria then, because walking in these Heels isn’t as easy as it looks.”

“You forget I have Hans with meand I am already halfway there.”

Once again I flew through deepspace towards a hostile ship, accompanied by Elite Marines and two Fenrisrobots.

Har-Hi and I had stopped ourbanter as we now concentrated on the job at hand. Right next to me was TheOtherwho looked truly frightening in his modified Gilgamesh suit. The suits had beencamouflaged so they did not look like Union products; their adaptive camouflagetook on the non-reflective black of space. We did not use the suits cloaking capabilities.

TheOther was the first reachingthe Bolgar class ship.

Bolgar was not a species but anold Union Company that manufactured civilian space craft for about two hundredyears but went out of business. Still there were many Bolgar ships out thereand they had a reputation for being solid and reliable. The ship was about 450meters long and had the simple shape of a dull cone with a base radius of 180meters. Six ISAH pods attached to its aft.

The Gilgamesh augmented thetitanic strength of the Y’All to an almost unimaginable level. It becameevident as he didn’t use any tools to rip the strong airlock door out of itssocket.

My suit Computronic reportedCommunication activity from within the Bolgar and reported that there werestill functional energy sources and energy shields within the ship. Apparentlyour Tech Stop rays didn’t do the trick. Tech Stop was very effective againstunshielded electronic equipment, but completely ineffective against shields. Itwas not completely unexpected as many ships, especially of Union origin hadinternal shields to protect key components and areas. This of course would alsomean the Paralysator rays did not incapacitate everyone aboard.

I tuned in to the communicationsand heard screams of panic. Someone in that ship screamed into his audiosensor. “Y’All! We are attacked by the Y’All!”

I went in, arm cannons ready withtwo Marines at my flank while the rest breached the ship in small teams ondifferent spots as per my orders.

It wasn’t much of a fight, but Ilearned why the Y’All where such a terrible enemy. TheOther was a whirlwind ofdoom and he marched unstoppable creating a corridor of destruction, He held twoTKU mini cannons, usually fielded by the large Union Army battle walkers, inhis left arm pair and a brand new QGP-rifle, of which we had twenty prototypesin our armory, in his lower right hand. A weird looking boarding sword ofenormous proportions in his upper right, cut down brave members of the ship’screw who dared to put up resistance.

Force field curtains collapsed ashe simply marched into them, the aggressive Para Dim shields of his suitinterrupting their field cohesion and every other obstacle he cut, ripped andstomped into twisted metal.

I reached the ship’s bridgewithout firing a single shot, one of the marines at my side turned out to bePure and while he very rarely talked he was compelled to express his amazement.“Beasts of Tarnak, can you imagine an army of these?”

The other marine, a Perthariangiant also with two arm pairs was less impressed. “I saw Pertharian platoons inaction, there isn’t all that much difference I would imagine and yet an entirearmy of us was defeated in the Battle of Gabthrt in 4319 by a Union MarinesBattalion led by Admiral Stahl.”

I elbowed him in the side as Istepped on the ship’s bridge. “There isn’t much that impresses you Pertharians,now isn’t there Lt. Hrrtew?”

“Oh there is, Captain there is. AforementionedAdmiral Stahl of course and you should see what happens if our Security Chiefreally lets loose.”

While I wondered what it wouldlook like if Hans fought not holding back, I looked around the bridge of theBolgar. It was a standard Union layout like it was done half a century ago,with all the duty stations behind a bridge dividing chest high barrier and onlythe helmsman having his station before that barrier and behind armoredviewports. It was all well maintained from the looks of it, there was even acivilian GalNet Terminal. The bridge crew was hiding behind the barrier. Icounted six humans and two Togar. Narth popped out of thin air next to me intoexistence, of course in his Alvor’s Cove dust and sand mantle disguise and heldout his hand.

The Captain of the ship startedfloating.

Narth explained to me. “He wasabout to destroy his cargo, I could not let this happen, before you all seenwhat he is shipping to Togar markets.”

Even though Narth had yet to say whathe found out, I got a stomach turning suspicion as I knew what the Togar likedto buy. Narth nodded. “Yes Captain, your notion is quite correct.”

Har-Hi came on and said. “Pirateship secure, we won.”

I said to Har-Hi while Iapproached the ship’s master. “You won. Strip the ship of valuables, secureanyone alive in Stasis boxes and report back to me.”

The Ship’s master came floatingtowards me and he looked back between Narth and TheOther obviously not sure whohe had to fear more.

He said to me. “Are you BlackVelvet, the Pirate?”

His helmet peeled away from hisface like the skin of a fruit. The tough material of his armor ripped liketissue paper and Narth answered for me. “You are in the presence of CaptainBlack Velvet and it is not I you need to fear and not the Y’All, but her.”

I asked. “What is your cargo?”

His eyes shifted and his mouthbecame a thin line. “Nothing you pirates would be interested in.”

One of my marines came onto thebridge; even through the face plate of his helmet I saw his pale white face andan expression of shock.

“Captain, the vessel is secure,but you better not go inside the vessel’s main cargo hold, it is the mosthorrible thing I ever seen.”

What was the freight that shockedan elite Marine and a Narth?

I said to TheOther. “Hold him andmake sure they don’t touch anything. Have Cirruit come over and disable anyself-destruct mechanisms.”

To the Marine I said.” Show me!”

We used the ships functioning shipelevator and it took us down to the cargo hold level of this armed freighterand as we approached the cargo bay access doors. Two more marines came out andboth looked as pale and disgusted as the one with me.

Moments later I stepped throughthe door and stopped in my tracks. The cargo hold was laid out like a freezermeat locker. There were rows of long steel racks from the floor to the ceilingand on steel hooks packed in transparent plastic, human bodies. Headless, armsand legs tight to the body, like hams in a butcher shop.

Large shipping crates with labelslike; 250 human heads, fresh frozen, 200 human legs fresh made me gag. Even arough estimate made me think there had to be at least 5000 of these frozenbodies.

The Marine said. “There are fourcargo holds like that, Ma’am! One holds live human prisoners in the most horridconditions.

I had to see it for my own eyes.He was right, the conditions on the cargo hold with the live slaves was animpression, I was certain would follow me for the rest of my life.

They were stacked in metalshelves, wrapped tightly in plastic up to the head with hoses attached to bodyorifices to siphon body waste and to feed them garish looking slurry. Thegroaning and muffled crying of at least 3000 victims was perhaps even moredisturbing.

I actually ran, I ran back to thebridge of the ship and grabbed the Ship’s master by the throat. I tried to findwords that could adequately express my feelings to him, I failed and said.

“You will pay for this, like noone has ever paid.”

He tried to shrug and said. “Whatis it to you? You are a pirate and these are all Union humans. It’s justbusiness, very good business too.”

I didn’t even recognize my ownvoice as I asked. “Your Company, is that what you do? Are there more ships likethis?”

His eyes glared at me. “The Togarare waiting for this ship. It is unwise to make the Togar and my company yourenemies, Pirate. I have a GalNet terminal and I called for help and describedyou and your ship. Help is on its way, so you better make a deal with me.”

I still held him and said toNarth using our mental connection. “Tell Shea, and Three-Four to come over hereand have them copy every bit of information of this ship Computronics. TellKrabbel he has the Conn and you man your sensors and make sure we know whensomething or someone approaches.”

Narth responded with. “AyeCaptain” and disappeared.

To the Ship Master I said. “Ihope they come and I send them all straight to Hel.” My mind was still seeingthe images I had seen in his freight bays and the knowledge that I could notpunish him accordingly filled me with a cold, different rage than I ever feltbefore. It was not the sudden anger I often cursed and I felt and could quenchwith plunging myself head over heels into the fray. It was the realization thatdeath was not enough, that the only thing that would satisfy me was to torturehim, to make him suffer a long time and I said to him.

“Here is the deal; I am going tosell your load of human flesh to the Togar myself. I am going to fill them withbio engineered disease and when your filthy cat friends will eat, they spreadit and die.”

One of the Togar officers of hisbridge crew who was like the rest of the bridge crew restrained with memorytape and held like a weightless toy in TheOther’s fist hissed with fear. “Youcannot do that, that is Genocide! You are evil.”

“Yes Cat you are right, I am! Nomercy, no remorse I will descend upon your kind and make you pay. You Togarshall perish to the last as for my wraith knows no limit.”

The Ship master, I was stillholding struggled and screamed, and it was as if there was a vacuum inside hisbody. His eyes were sucked inside his skull and his cheeks pulled in around histeeth and jaws. He screamed, and then he gargled with a dying voice. “Theflames, the dark flames, please don’t...” His last words died on his bloodlesslips and he looked like a thousand year old freeze dried mummy hanging from myfist.

TheOther who was still holdingthe Togar said. “Captain, that was epic and like the texts of the ancient BookI love, your words made me feel fear.”

I dropped the corpse and said.“You better check the suits of these other officers; they seem to have somekind of suicide device built in.”

Then I asked him. “What words? Istill try to find something adequate to say to this filth.”

He held the Togar up and beforeme and the Cat struggled trying to get away from me even while bound and heldby a Y’All and TheOther said. “You sure impressed him as you can see.”

I shrugged and said. “I wish wecould really do that, spoil their food but I doubt the Admiral will let us.”

--””--

I stood in one of our emptyfreight bays and watched Har Hi and teams led by Sobody bring in the spoils ofthe pirate ship. Sobody came over and said to me. “Captain, can I make asuggestion?”

I nodded and said. “Of course.”

It would really help ourreputation as Pirates if our deeds became known. I mean we should tow thepirate ship to Brhama Port and sell it. The Mighty Nine is a well-known shipand us bringing it in would be a bold statement, not to mention make a niceprofit. Would be a shame to let it drift or blow it up, you know.”

Elfi called me over Intercom andsaid. “Captain I got the Admiral as you requested.”

“Pipe it down here, Elfi.”

A field screen established itselfbefore me and showed both Cherubim and the Admiral, sharing half of the screeneach. Even though Elfi had sent them a detailed report and visuals, I gave thema short oral report.

Cherubim said after I was done.

“We think we know where Klotzky& Harris Freight and Export gets these humans. They run an advertisem*ntcampaign on GalNet and offer good paying jobs to non-citizens, Gal Drifts,criminals and other similar groups and promise them a new life with goodconditions on a corporate colony with paradise like conditions that almostsound too good to be true. We have alerted Federal Police and they going toexecute a search warrant on that corporate world in short time.”

The Admiral clenched his fist.

“Even though I think your planhas merits, I can’t condone it. We can’t poison the Togar. As much as theirpractices disgust us, we cannot project our moral and ethical values ontoanother species. Not a single Togar ship has ever attacked a Union ship or aUnion target, as they know what will happen then. Every human has been sold tothem by others, and this is part of the very mission you are on, to make surethose who trade are caught and dealt with. The Togar, so I have learned fromthe small community of these Cats that live as Union citizens, actually preferpork and your friend Alex Enroe tries his part to diminish their demand onhuman flesh by delivering pork to the Togar as I think you know and hopefullythere will come the day where Union space touches Togar space directly and thenthings will change quickly.”

I had to agree with him and I didremember Captain Lethra, Captain of the American Spirit and Alex Enroe’sprivate yacht. It was not so long ago and yet it felt as if it happened alifetime ago.

The Admiral said. “I just talkedto your friend Alex and since Galveston shipyards isn’t that far away he willsend three of his ships. One of them will tow the horror ship back into Unionspace and we take it from there. As soon as you see the Enroe units on yourscanners I want you to leave that area, as you are a pirate even in their eyesof course. They do have strict orders not to engage anything and simply towthat ship back; but they are corporate private units and are not under Fleetcommand. Corporate Captains don’t like Pirates at all.”

I told him about Sobody’ssuggestion and he said. “It is a good idea and I think he is right. It wouldmake your reputation more solid than the rumors we have spread. Go ahead towthat ship to Brhama Port and sell it, put the captured Pirates in stasis boxesaboard the Bolgar ship, so we can deal with them as well.”

I acknowledged his orders and hesmiled at me saying.

“Tell your crew you already madea difference, capturing the Mighty Nine and that K&H Corp ship and that weare quite proud of you all. How is that Golden passenger of yours working out?”

“Sir, he isn’t a passenger butbecame very fast a valuable and reliable member of my crew and I have changedmy mind about him completely and would not want to miss him.”

“Good to hear, carry on and goodluck.”

-””-

The Enroe ships had arrived andwe were on our way seeing them on the outmost horizon of our sensors. We alsonoticed a group of four ships speeding towards the same location. Sheaidentified them as ships registered to the K&H Corporation. Most likely thehelp called and mentioned by the dead Ship master. I was tempted to turn aroundand shoot them all to pieces, but Har-Hi did his job well, keeping me in lineand Hans was certain that the K&H ships didn’t want to mess with the Enroeships, officially designated as Corporate Security units but in reality almostas big and as powerful as regular Union Battle ships. I hoped Dawn herselfwould execute everyone involved in that vile business and make sure theydangled a while before they died. This time I actually wished I could be thereas her assistant and would volunteer to push the switch. I didn’t like Gal Driftsbut I knew from first experience, not all of them had chosen this lifestyle, mylittle Exa was born into it and had no choice. I was sure there were many morelike her, who somehow fell through the social net of our society and to preyupon those with false promises, to lure them into a trap to sell them as meatwas worse than slavery.

It was almost scary how much myview of the world had changed since I left Nilfeheim.

Was I really the same person? Onthe outside I had changed so much that I was certain no one on Nilfeheim wouldrecognize me, perhaps with the exception of Elena, who was among the first Ishared my secret with. Looking down on my own chest that now sported a set offemale breasts, tightly arranged under thin black leather, I remembered theconversation I had about these with my step sister in the yard of our burgwhile we crossed blades.

I realized it was the first timein my life; I had a feeling of homesickness. I wondered if it was time forbreakfast at the burg. I could almost smell the fresh bread Midril would bakeand I could hear the sharp claws of the Nubhir Wolfs clacking over the stonefloor in the High Hall for the best places under the big table. It wasLongnight once again on Nilfeheim, Elena and the Olafson warriors were nowgathering our herds of Fangsnappers and the packs of Nubhir wolfs to bring themto Isen to be slaughtered or sold. I could hear the voices and the animal’sbellows. I could almost smell it all, yet I knew at the bottom of my heart,that Nilfeheim was no longer my home. I could visit I was certain but I wouldnever fit in again and never be more than a guest on my own home world.

Narth entered my thoughts, notintrusive but like a welcome diversion. Even though the Narth were alien to me,his mind was not. It was as much part of me as my Eric persona and Freya thestrange female that shared my mind. In many ways the female side of me I calledErica was more alien to me than Narth and especially now that I lived and wasperceived as a woman her desires and motivations seemed that of a differentperson altogether. It was as if I shared my very being with her, but I wasn’ther. Narth voice inside me said. “Yes it almost seems as if you have sharedHugavh with a female person, you are the same and yet different when you areher. Yet I know at the very core of all this you are Eric and whatever changesI am confident you will never stop being Eric first. As the Narth Supreme saidyou are Narth but I think you will be the first among us who has an individualname.”

“One thing is certain my friend,all this is still beyond the comprehension of a Neo Viking and while I havethis strange notion that there is yet even more, someone else inside me. Notyou, not Freya but someone else. When I do the meditation exercises you havetaught me, I can almost feel it, something that is deep asleep but there. However,it also feels more familiar to me than anything. I can’t even explain it toyou.”

Har-Hi interrupted us and said.“Captain you should go to bed, you are falling asleep on the Con. Not that thisis a bad thing, but your shift is long over and we are still more than 14 hoursout of Brhama and we can’t get any faster as we are towing the Mighty Nine.”

I straightened myself in the seatand said. “It is a good idea Har-Hi and I will heed your advice, but first I amgoing to the Den, have a bite to eat and have a nice cold swim.”

He grinned and said. “I won, thusthere won’t be any cold water in the Pool for a whole week.”

I got up stretched myself andsaid. “Teaches me to wager with a Dai.”

Union ship time was equal toStandard Union, and because of this the ship was still on night mode.

Most beings had a wake and sleepcycle, a steady day - night cycle was thought to be better and healthier forthe crews. During day cycle the corridors were lit with light that simulatedthe same spectrum as a GIII star, but during the night cycle, the lights had asofter yellow glow and only every other light element was on.

So I didn’t expect many to be inour Den, but I found Sobody, the Holdian, the Shail and two marines sittingaround a smaller green table and playing a game that involved colorful roundcoins and little sheets of paper they held like a fan before their faces. Wellin the case of the Holdian it covered much of his upper torso and he had tohold that paper fan with both his little hands, while one of the Marines was aPertharian and in his hand they looked tiny. The Shail used the mechanicalhands of his hover sled as it had no natural hands at all.

The human marine jumping up andsaid. “Captain on deck.”

I said. “Not here Marine, noparade ground antics in our den, stay as you are.”

He sat back down I looked to theceiling and said. “SHIP, can you let the galley know I would like to eatsomething?”

“Yes Captain. I’ll take care ofit myself.”

While the Tigershark had the mostadvanced Serv-Matics that could be found in almost every room of the ship,there weren’t any in the Hangar Bays of course. Like the day and night cycleand for similar reasons, all fleet ships also had a real Galley where food wasprepared the traditional way. I had met our Chief Steward briefly as he boardedthe ship on Richter base and the ships galley was under the jurisdiction of theSteward Department. I also knew we had a Chief Cook, but I had not met him orher so far.

I looked over Sobody’s shoulderand asked. “What kind of game are you playing?”

He cursed with a deep smile ofsatisfaction on his face and said. “Polonium may kill whoever invented thisgame. It is a Terran card game called Poker and that smart Marine Corporalhere, is showing us how it is played now for the last nine days. If we wouldplay for real, he would be the richest son of a gun in the Union Marine corps.Yesterday he even won against SHIP and Shea.”

I made a step back in disbelieve.“How could anyone win against those two in any kind of game?”

The Marine now also grinned andsaid. “Because part of the game is how well you can bluff. Now I can’t ever winagainst Lt. Schwartz or SHIP again as they now knows how it is done, but I didmanage to do so once, Captain.”

“Maybe I need to try it myself,right after I ate.”

Just as I said it a crewmember, Ihad not seen for sure walked in followed by a stout looking Elly wearing awhite jacket and salt and pepper patterned pants. He was carrying a coveredplate. The crewmember coming in looked like a female X101, with the same chromecolored skin and I wondered why I had not noticed her before. Unlike Cirruit,she had shoulder long hair, looking very much like the silvery tinsel we usedon Nilfeheim to decorate the Yule log.

She wore Navy black and had theEnsign rank bar on her collar. She greeted me and I immediately recognized thevoice, it was SHIP. “What do you think, Captain?”

I smiled at her and said. “Verynice and I am glad you followed up on that. Is it an Avatar or a robot?”

“It will be both, Captain.Cirruit managed to get a direct link to Mother Machine. She approved and ismaking me a real body that can directly link to my mind. Until we can pick itup however it is an Avatar representation of Mother Machine’s design. Cirruitrecommended that approach so my physical representation is above any legalchallenges. With Mother Machine involved no one will be able to challenge yourdecision to make me a person.”

“Good thinking and I do like thehair. It looks very nice.”

She said. “It is part of thenewest X101 series improvement, that is just been born.”

I then pointed at the covered dish,held by the Elly. “Is that my dinner?”

“Yes Ma’am. I made it myself andthought I take the opportunity to meet you in person. I am Petty Officer FirstClass Nanjo Eeeryt, and I am this ship’s, Chief Cook. I noticed your preferencefor fish dishes and allowed myself to prepare you Terran French fish soupcalled Bouillabaisse and Norwegian Lutefisk with mashed potatoes, mashed peasand bacon.”

Remembering the Gelatinous PulseStink Maggots and the state dinner on Archilerb, I was not too keen to see whathe fabricated.

I changed my mind after firstwhiff of the soup and after trying a spoon, I was certain this was a closesecond to Midril’s Fin stew. He stood there watching me eat and I noticed thepoker game had stopped and everyone was watching me and it was as silent as inthe Cave of forgotten Clans so I said.

“This is food fit for the Aesir.I must apologize for thinking skeptical. Mr. Eeeryt this is the best I atesince I left Nilfeheim. I hope you made enough for seconds and why is it I ameating alone?”

I could not tell how or wherethey came from but the table was full in no time and everyone was trying thefish soup.

The Cook said to me. “I know ourreputation, Captain. Believe me I do. I was the butt of every joke there isduring boot camp and specializing training, but I learned cooking in a town ofEarth called Marseille. I have worked as a Chef at the Waldorf Astoria in NewYork and was the Head Chef on the Silver Swan, a five star luxury liner beforeI decided to serve our Union.”

I had stuffed myself like astarving Tyranno during the last Shortsummer month and hoped that my leathersuit would hold. I leaned back smoked one of Shaka’s cigarettes as he hadjoined us as well, before me a cup of Navy blend coffee and a glass of goldenWhiskey that came out of a case, McElligott himself had sent.

The horror images of the lastdays slowly faded into the background of memories.

To the Golden I said. “Sobodywhat can you tell me about Brhama port?”

He had just finished his thirdplate and pushed the plate away, dabbed his small mouth with a napkin and said.

“The area is known to most as theThalim Nebula, the Union calls it the Prometheus Five Star Nebula, while no oneknows why all five suns went supernova approximately at the same time, and itcreated a nebula.

Not nearly as thick as the IgrasNebula soup and not as full of radiation as the Ballard Nebula, those MiniTerrans call their home, but full of Roids, I mean Asteroids and planetoids,micro matter and solar gases. One side is in Union space and the other extendsinto Freespace. Brhama Port is much like my own Bazaar a hollowed Asteroid, butmuch smaller.”

SHIP called up a map of the areaand then a visual of Brhama Port, while the holographic image was slowlyturning in the middle of our table Sobody continued, “The Asteroid is aboutnine kilometers in diameter and as you can see, looks more like a Terran potatothan anything else. The area has always been a particular nasty space in termsof outlaws and pirates, but Brhama and the area around it is controlled by theBassett Roid Mining Association. The Bassetts are a big family of nineteenbrothers and seven sisters with all their extended families. They are as tightas it gets and you only get in by marrying or being adopted. The other miners associatedto that area lease their claims from the Bassett family by sharing parts oftheir profits.

The Port is also a well-known piratehang out and they can do as they please as long as they leave the miners alone.Attacking a miner is a no-no and stirs the Bassetts like a nest ofThikar-stingers. They do most of their business with the Karthanian and theTogar. The miners on Union Side are their sworn enemies and there are constantbattles, as the Union border is less than well defined in this area.”

Shea who had joined us just a fewmoments ago asked. “The Bassetts are humans or a species?”

Sobody shrugged. “I am not sure,I haven’t seen one personally, but they maintain a sales stall on my Asteroidand I was told they are humanoid. Rumors I cannot substantiate say they are amix of Human and Kermac. Disliked on both sides and that is why they settledthere, but then this family is in business for almost 1000 years and they keeptheir family secrets well.”

Har-Hi sighed. “I know this areaactually, well the galactic north part of it. It was there where my father andthe other Clans that decided to join the Union crossed into Union space, withCam Elf-Na and 6500 Dai Clans in hot pursuit. It was a dark day for the Daiindeed.”

Sobody made a sad face and nodded.“I know, noble Har-Hi. There are many scavengers still scouring the area forDai artifacts and scrap. I have seen many thousands of tons go through myBazaar alone.”

Shea asked. “Why haven’t the Daiattacked this port?”

It was Har-Hi who answered. “Wedon’t mine, but we need raw materials. Attacking them will supply you once,buying minerals and metals will allow you to get a steady and reliable source.I am sure these Brothers have several Clans among their steady customers.”

Shea made Har-Hi tell the entireevents out of his perspective and told us that this is when he saw the Devi forthe first time. He had forgotten his cigar that was burning in an ashtraybefore him and he finished saying. “Only three weeks after that I was on my wayto the Academy.”

Narth said. “You could havealmost met each other back then, Eric and you that is.”

Har-Hi raised one of his sharplyangled eyebrows and said. “I thought you weren’t in the Navy back then andstill on Nilfeheim. Were you already fighting on Union side?”

I said. “No not exactly, I wasaboard a civil yacht when we encountered a battle ship of the Ima Clan underthe command of a Dai named Win-Do.”

Har-Hi now raised both eyebrows.“I know of him, he was always known for his exceptional hate towards all Union.I think his clan was destroyed as he was one of the first that entered Unionspace. How did you survive?”

I tried to tell the event withoutmany details, but they kept asking and so I had to tell the whole thing.

Har-Hi put his hand on myshoulder. “Win-Do made one fatal mistake, he asked Eric to surrender.” Then hestarted giggling. “You are something else, Captain. I wonder what else happenedbefore you even went to the Academy.”

Here ends Eric Olafson, SpacePirate (Volume 5 GC 31) If you want to know what happens next, join me inVolume 6 GC 32 Captain Black Velvet