Eric Olafson: Space Pirate

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  She whispered leaning close, “So you noticed famous Togar workmanship. It gets worse the farther away you get from the Queen’s Palace.”

  “I really don’t want to see a Togar engine room then.”

  There weren’t any controls to speak of; every Togar around us was armed. I wasn’t the only 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 credentials and let us pass.

  We took a flyer to the other side, where Oghar guards performed all the security-related tasks for the Kartanian, who as I learned, did not like to handle weapons and such matters where you needed weapons on their own and rather hired others to do it for them.

  Unchallenged, we reached the Kartanian side of the spaceport and boarded, much to my dismay, a Velorian freighter, brownish red and black ceramics and pretty much the same organic sea snail-looking hull as the slave ship, that most likely was still sitting on the landing field of Alvor’s Cove. This one had been maintained much better and didn’t stink as much.

  This time, we had a tiny passenger cabin for ourselves, barely enough room to stretch out, but we could close the door and have some privacy.

  I looked out the small viewport and saw Oghar and other aliens service the ships, disconnect service, and fuel transfer hoses and said more to myself than to her, “I wonder why there are so many Oghar here in Free Space. I thought they were a Union species?” I remembered Az-Az.

  She answered, nevertheless, “The Union Oghar are called Oromals and they are as loyal and dependable as any other member. The Oromals once belonged to the Oghar Empire before it fell apart into a dozen smaller kingdoms almost 8,000 years ago. The largest of these kingdoms, Oromals, joined the Union, I think about twelve-hundred years ago, but there are nine such kingdoms left in Free Space. Most OgHar-Hire out as mercenaries and laborers to other civilizations.”

  “You are much like Narth or Wetty. Narth, I think, tries to memorize the entire Encyclopedia Galactica and Wetty can remember the slightest details of anything she ever came across.”

  “I am glad Wetmouth found her place and friendship. She would never be happy as a Sojonit.”

  Shortly after she said that the Velorian lifted into space.

  Chapter 7: Netlor

  We managed to reach Netlor without incident or pirate attack, which would not have been unlikely in this region of space.

  As we debarked the Velorian ship seven days later, we were greeted by a warm yellow sun and the surrounding area beyond the landing field was green. Netlor had its own life and had oceans. The temperatures hovered around twenty-eight degrees, and that felt nice compared to the baking oven conditions of Alvor’s Cove or the freezing winds of Kaliment.

  Netlor was, just like Alvor’s Cove, in Free Space, but it was, so Mother Superior told me, well organized. While there was no real government, it was run by a consortium of several syndicates and a council of temple and faith leaders.

  Here on Netlor was the headquarter of a religious sect called the Church of the Golden Whispering Spirit of the universe. It had, according to the Mother Superior, several million members, not only on Union Side but also among several Kermac Thrall species and Free Space Civilizations

  The members of that church had to travel at least once in their life to this place and bathe in the light of the Whispering Statue.

  On special dates chosen by that church, the light of the statue was in alignment with the Heart of the Galaxy and a hundred thousand believers would arrive on Netlor and participate in these religious events.

  Of course, these pilgrimages were big business, and the syndicates that ran the hotels, shops, and restaurants in the planet’s only town, made sure pilgrims could travel safely to and from Netlor.

  All this I had learned from the Mother Superior while traveling here.

  The landing field belonged to a small spaceport; the field was clean Duro-Crete, and there was a fleet of open-top flyer taxis waiting for passengers.

  We took such a taxi right away and flew a short distance into town. Only a few buildings looked permanent; most of the town consisted of stacked pre-fab containers and tents.

  Mother Superior, in her Oghar disguise, acted a little like a tour guide and explained, “The actual light bathing ceremony only occurs once a planetary year, when the sun is perfectly aligned with a hole in this world’s tallest mountain and the sun itself is aligned with the center of the galaxy.

  “The light then hits the head of a gigantic statue, and the color prism installed in its head takes on different shades. The believers of this fate then stand in that light and believe to be blessed by the Spirit of the universe; they believe the light has curative effects and they can hear the universe whisper to them.”

  I shrugged. “To each its own, I guess.”

  The taxi dropped us off before one of the permanent buildings. I estimated it to be about seventy meters high, made of glass and Duro-Crete. It had a small version of the statue in its front yard, neatly groomed grass and a water fountain. A multi-language sign identified it as a hotel and welcomed guests and pilgrims.

  Check in was simple and we received a clean double bedroom with a view over the makeshift-looking town.

  She put the one bag of luggage down she was carrying and said, “Go ahead, enjoy the bath, and order room service.” She produced a black Credit Strip Box. “I think that belongs to you, and they do take Union Credits here.”

  It was the same credit box I had found in the damaged flyer on Sin 4, and I thanked her for keeping it for me. She touched her tusks in a typical Oghar habitual gesture and said, “I am going to do the same and then we are going to visit the local Sojonit temple to make a few calls and change our identities one more time. We should be on our way to Checkpoint 96 and Union Space in about two days.”

  “That is the best news I’ve heard in a while.”

  Refreshed and feeling much better, we left the hotel and took another taxi flyer. Leaning closer, she explained, “The last pilgrims for this season will leave soon, and we will be among them. Then this town shrinks to one-third of its size. Most shopkeepers strike their tents after this season and return with the beginning of the next religious season. Besides being the center of a religion, this place is also a playground for probably every intelligence service in this galaxy.”

  I asked, “Why, what is so special about Netlor?”

  “It’s a neutral ground for one. Services can meet, exchange caught spies, watch each other and use this place as a gate into the territories of each other.”

  She pointed at a tent with a sales stand attached to it. Sacks and boxes spilled out all around the front of the tent and a bluish cloud of smoke hung over it all. “That incense and spice dealer is also the field office of NW3 or, more precisely, of the Shiss Intelligence service Naxxxtuu-www. The dealer is human, and he does make good business on his incense, but he and his crew also send regular briefs to the palace of the first nestling, among other things.”

  She laughed as she made me look to an impressive modern tent with forcefield reinforced Intelli-fab canvas walls, neatly stacked wares and project-a-sign advertisement showcasing fruits, bread, and meat products. “Can you guess who is hiding behind that grocery merchant’s front?”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “Naval Intelligence, would that not be a little too obvious?”

  She nodded. “You got it right. It is the front for the NAVINT service, but then seven minutes ago, all these tents were just tents to you. I am sure NAVINT has other operatives around, but sometimes it is just as good to loudly proclaim your presence and thus attract lots of eyes and ears while you have friends of yours do something very quietly.”

  What she said made sense, and I pointed out a stack of three Universal Containers towering over most of the other tents and temporary buildings around. “This is probably the Kermac outpost, right?”

  She patted my shoulder. “Very good indeed, my young student. Tell me how yo
u figured that out.”

  “For one, it is taller than the others; it is a building rather than a tent. It is close to the Union Outpost and tall enough to overlook and watch the NAVINT tent. The keeper sweeping the front is a Turotonk; they are, if I recall, a Free Space species leaning toward the Basil, who are in turn a Kermac Thrall species.”

  I could not tell if she smiled or wanted to eat me with her big Oghar maw. “Lots of conjecture but all correct. The Kermac, the Shiss and many others cannot afford not to watch the fancy and flashy tent of NAVINT.”

  I sighed. “All I wanted to be is a starship captain, not a spy or counter-intelligence, and I find myself sliding down that path, being involved in more clandestine stuff than Nubor Santini.”

  She asked, “Who is Nubor Santini?”

  I watched her as she gave the taxi pilot a few coins and said, “He is the hero of a GalNet show that comes on every Thursday on the Action-Teen channel and he catches Kermac spies and such with his Ultra Power Team from Planet T.”

  She seemed amused and motioned me to get out as the flyer had landed in the middle of an alleyway between those rows of tents and huts.

  After we stepped off, she said, “You might not be Nubor Santini, but consider all that you experience now as a school of life and maybe one or the other thing you learn now about the universe will help you later when you are a starship captain.”

  I really missed having a pocket where I could shove my hands. This Togar costume, of course, had none, at least none for the hands, so I crossed my arms instead and said a little gloomily, “Right now, I simply hope I graduate or, if I am lucky, they let me repeat the month I missed chasing through Free Space.”

  She took my hand and patted it. “No worries, my Soja. Richard is keeping tabs on everything you do, and I don’t think he misses much, even if he pretends otherwise, or if you and I think he does not know about it. He let you command that big tub, and I am sure there is a ship command for you somewhere down the line. You are still young, very young, and it might take years, sometimes decades, before they offer you a command chair and you got to fill the time till then doing something.”

  “You know the admiral well?”

  Her voice had a solemn quality to it as she said, “I think no one knows the Eternal Soldier well. He is as much an enigma as he is the rock and the unshakeable foundation; there is no one in this universe I respect more.”

  I liked her even more after she had said that.

  While we were talking, we did not walk very fast and without apparent hurry along the gravel-paved alleys between tents and huts.

  Merchants and dealers praised their wares with coarse voices, and pilgrims in golden cloaks and frocks rushed in every direction. She explained to me that a running person or someone in an apparent rush would draw more attention than a relaxed strolling person.

  I looked at her and said, “What made you decide to become a spy? I mean besides being the Sojonit leader.”

  She spread her arms. “Only a very few perhaps choose to be in this business. Usually, it chooses you. Spies are made by others; it’s not a choice, and it is an old game that is played behind the shiny facades of civilization since time begun. I sort of slipped into this business, and I believe if our Union wants to survive and stay on top of things, we have to play it, too. Now I want us to play it better, dirtier, and more efficient than all the others, do you know why?”

  She didn’t really give me time to answer as she said, “I love our Union as much as you do. It has its faults and isn’t perfect, but I have been around for much longer than even the Eternal Soldier, and I have not seen anything like it since I left Sares Prime a million of your years ago.”

  I gasped, “You were talking about yourself when you told me the story of the Sojonites. You found the Rainbow Place, right?”

  She started walking, and I followed her over the unpaved gravel and dirt. “Yes, I was one of the Saresii who left Sares Prime with our last space ship.”

  The realization that she was that old made me wonder who she really was. I didn’t doubt her word one second. In my own short life, I had met several immortals, but the age of everyone I had ever met combined did not come close to her lifespan.

  She gestured to a big pink tent with a large Sojonit Goddess statue about two hundred meters ahead and said, “That is where we are going.”

  After walking another hundred meters or so, she said. “You are very quiet suddenly. Have I frightened you? It is not often I reveal this aspect of me.”

  I answered, “Frightened? No, I am not frightened, but deeply in awe and really unable to understand it, to put my mind around it, even though I believe you.”

  Only now, I noticed she had her hand on my back and said with a warm tone in her voice, “You met immortals before, have you not? Egill, Ekhard the ancient keeper, McElligott, Richard Stahl, who takes particular interest in you. There are your Coven friends and of course the Narth. It is conceivable that you, too, will go this lonely route eventually. If you do indeed join the Narth, then your age is no longer measured in years or even centuries. I think the Narth don’t even count or perceive time as the rest of us does.”

  I never thought about that and said as we closed on the Sojonit tent, “Narth is my friend on a level I can’t explain, but I am not sure if these metaphysical things he says always mean something to a human. I am a simple Neo-Viking of Nilfeheim. How could I possibly become a Narth? I know so little of them, and they are so completely alien. And besides, Egill does not count. He is only something like four-hundred years old, and how can Ekhard be immortal? He is dead.”

  “After what point do you think immortality does count? Your distant grandfather, especially after he received help from the Saresii, can get as old as he wishes to be. Ekhard simply didn’t want to live anymore. That’s how immortals mostly die, by the way, they simply don’t want to live anymore after losing everyone they knew, after they fulfilled whatever task they had or by no longer really fitting in.”

  I listened to her and then said, “You know much more about me than you let on.”

  She didn’t respond to that directly but said instead, “You still think in human terms, Eric; you’ve barely begun your second decade. Even by human standards, you’re barely an adult. Understanding will come when it is time to understand those things.” Then she laughed. “Yes, you are a child of your world, but you have long ceased to be simple, my young friend.”

  I frowned and said, “Not that I mind the company of immortals and all that, but I wish all of you would stop talking in this cryptic fashion. I always feel like I am getting an answer but too stupid to get it.”

  She laughed. “No, my Soja, not too stupid. Too impatient, and too young. No worries, once you get to be my age, you will find out there are still as many questions and things you don’t understand as when you started. There are still times, maybe not as many as there used to be, where I feel the same way. Especially after talking to a Narth.”

  With that, we entered the Sojonit temple tent.

  Inside, it smelled just like in the temple on Sin 4. It was a fresh, feminine perfume not as sweet and thick as the smell of the incense candles I still remembered. It was cool, and a typical Sojonit in the standard pink uniform sat behind a frilly desk and greeted us with a voice as frilly as the desk. “Welcome, travelers; leave the sorrows and tribulations of the outside world behind. May the Goddess Sojo bless you with a joyous journey into the blissful heights of sexual ecstasy and carnal satisfaction we servants of the Goddess will provide to you.”

  Mother Superior said in a strange language I’d never heard yet perfectly understood, “I am the Mother Superior.”

  The Sojo got up only to bow deeply. “Your neural patterns are indeed those of our most exalted leader and your aura matched the one on file. Welcome to the Netlor Temple of the Goddess, Mother Superior.”

  She touched a flower-like inlay on the artfully decorated desk surface and a pink sheer-looking curtain flickered with pur
ple energies and vanished. The seemingly wispy curtain was actually a holo-disguised TransDim forcefield. This innocent-looking large tent could probably withstand the onslaught of a large caliber FE-cannon.

  The tent was about the size of a Nilfeheim three-family home.

  Behind the main entrance were several separate service chambers arranged around an indoor pool filled with perfumed water gurgling from an illuminated color-changing water fountain. Two Sojonites bathed in it with a human customer.

  He paid little attention to us.

  We entered the service compartments, separated from the main interior by heavy curtains; she closed the curtain behind us, and I could hear the fine humming sound of an invisible forcefield establishing itself. The room was filled with satin pillows, luxurious carpets, the light came through the crème-colored canvas walls, giving the illusion they were indeed just thin fabric tent walls. There was a kitschy-looking, elaborately styled divan with satin sheets and more pillows. The entire divan, big enough to accommodate three Perthanians, slowly lifted and revealed a steep spiral staircase.

  After descending the staircase for more than ten minutes, I almost got dizzy doing it. Walking through a narrow corridor, we passed a solid-looking Ultronit door and into a comfortable, cool and modern furnished lounge.

  Before the Ultronit door hummed shut, I turned and saw the entire corridor shrink and turn to solid rock!

  The Oghar female shimmered into the form of a Saresii and the now far too big leather and steel outfit simply fell all around her to the floor. She motioned toward the now closed door and said, “The power we use to shift forms is not limited to our own bodies. If we are together and link our abilities, we can affect other matter, too. To affect such vast quantities of matter, we use Saresii Psi enhancers and predetermined patterns. That, of course, is the short version of an explanation how this works.”