Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  I darted around a console, while the first Y'All grunted at the second. The reason was clear; he ordered the other to go the other way so they could catch me more easily. It then ripped an instrument console out of the floor and tossed it into my direction, missing only because I managed to evade it in the last moment, but the desk smacked into the wall, pieces flying through the air, showering me with scrap pieces of metal and transpa-plast. I felt a sharp pain from my back, unable to see what hit me. I tried to ignore it. There was no time to check, both monsters were almost within reach.

  With my best effort I jumped over the console wreckage, rolled over my good shoulder, evading the left giant once more, but barely. It was only a matter of time and I would be caught. At the moment I was still faster, but everything to them was a weapon and their incredible strength made everything they tossed become deadly missiles.

  A red box on the wall caught my eye: "Fire Emergency", and behind it a sheet of transparent material a red painted ax!

  It took only a heartbeat to break the transparent pane and grab the ax. As soon as I yanked it out of the holding braces, red lights rotated and a green beam swept the entire room from a central emerging dome in the ceiling. Fire suppressor rays, designed to scan for heat and siphon energy from any fire or heat source.

  The ax started humming. It was equipped with a forcefield-cutting blade and it activated the moment I took it. I tossed the next-to-useless Kermac weapon.

  The first Y'All reached me and extended his upper arms. I swung the ax with all my strength! Neither laser nor Kermac weapon had much effect on them, but the fire ax blade sliced through the monster’s hand, cutting several fingers off. In all the chaos I laughed, more mad than anything. "Let's see if you rotten, Loki-cursed trolls can take a Viking with an ax!" And while I screamed I hacked into the reaching arms again, showering me with a spray of black blood. It stank horribly and burned like acid, but they bled! The Old Norse saying, "what you can make bleed you can kill", held true, even here. This Y'All was utterly surprised by his injuries and staggered a few steps back. More feeling than knowing, I sensed the other one was close behind me. I did not waste that opportunity but dove straight between the legs of the wounded alien hacking into what would be the Achilles heel of a human opponent. The humming of the ax went into a high pitch as it ground deep into the crystalline rock-hard substance that covered the alien’s body as a skin of armor. I was still on the floor and hacked like a maniac with all my strength and speed, twice more hacking into the hamstring areas of both legs. The Y'All screamed. It was the most disturbing and the most satisfying sound at the same time. It screamed more and staggered. I hacked into the other hamstring area and the giant fell forward into the other one. To my horror I saw the wounds I just inflicted already closing, but the giant Y'All fell and with both my arms I drove the ax deep into the dome-shaped skull. The Y'All thrashed, now on the floor. The second one had free room to reach me, but he seemed shocked by the fate of his partner and stood there for a moment, no longer than perhaps three heartbeats, a lifetime in a fight like this. I chopped down on his friend, jumping and evading grabbing arms, the third ax-blow split the skull wide open and the blade went deep! More blood gushed in a hot geyser from the horrible wound; the Y'All on the floor thrashed once more and then moved no more! That gave the other enough time to react and come close. I wasted a precious second trying to get the ax out of the wound. The ax was buried deep and trapped. It was ripped out of my hands and he caught me. His upper pair of arms clasped around my legs. That was it – I was done for! He would rip me apart down the middle!

  In that proverbial last moment, I saw the most beautiful sight I had ever hoped to see. Two Ultra Marines in Destroyer suits jumped into my field of vision as I hung down. The right one slammed his oversized armor fist, augmented by Mylar syntho-muscles and artificially added mass, square into the face of the Y'All and sent it tumbling back. Either that or needing his hands to face the Marines, the Y'All lost his grip on my legs and I was tossed right across the room, crashing with my good shoulder first into a console. I could hear my own bones cracking and this time I had a hard time ignoring the mind numbing-pain. Still, I was not out and stumbled to my feet, watching a Marine use his augmented leg to kick the alien into submission. Now more Marines and Cerberus robots flooded the room. I managed a very sloppy salute with the wrong hand as my right arm was completely numb, and yelled a scratchy "Semper Fi!" Now I noticed my left leg must have been broken or something. It sent a stabbing pain up my spine and then I think I passed out.

  INTERLUDE: CHURCH OF THE DARK ONE – TEMPLE OF THE FANGED SKULL

  The First Son of Darkness looked over the daily reports and tallied the weekly donations. He could delegate such a menial task, but he liked counting and adding the UnionCreds, Kermas and polonium coins. Physical wealth was still a powerful tool in the universe. The Church of the Dark One was only one of 732 religious associations worshipping the mysterious opponents of the Celtest, so said the legends and myths. Each of them had their own source of the truth and their own story, but the Church of the Dark One was older than any of them. According to GalNet this religious organization ranked on the 14,453th place in terms of size and influence within the Union. It was one spot above the snail and snake kissers of Uluntu and one below the Ratingos Dios Convutas, or in other words, not exactly one of the more prominent religions. But since the list of religious organizations counted over 14 million entries, the 14,453th rank was nothing to sneeze at.

  They had a steady and devoted membership. New members, births, deaths and those who decided to look elsewhere for religious truths kept numbers pretty much balanced, with a very slight tendency for growth.

  The First Son did not want his Church to grow much more. If they became too big they would be noticed. He, the Church, was not ready to step onto the big stage. When the time came, they all would flock to him and seek shelter from the wrath of the Dark Ones.

  He had spoken to the Servant of the Fallen Master. He knew of Lord Lumis and the Lords of Light. He knew of the Brotherhood of Darkness. He knew more than the Narth! He was certain of that! The Servant of the Fallen Master had told him of the 12 pieces of a galactic puzzle. When the Master was defeated the victory was only temporary. The Master’s enemies had divided the Master into 12 pieces and strewn them across the universe. Once the pieces were united once again, the Master would return. The Master was the answer to Order and Light! The Master was evil incarnate and darkness supreme and he, the First Son of Darkness, was the only one who held all the truth and all the answers.

  He looked up from his desk and his eyes wandered across the room towards the shrine. Inside rested an ordinary-looking stone, yet it was the only object in the known universe that the Master had touched himself before he was defeated.

  The First Son sighed and wondered how his special project was going. Agents of his had obtained the girl, she was now resting in dream stasis in the basement along with the former Admiral. Yes, soon he would get a hold of this Neo Viking. At first, he could not imagine what the reason was, why the brutish Norse who liked to dress up as a girl was of interest to the Narth, but then it all made sense. That Viking was related to the Nilfeheim planet representative and there were reports that this rep was friends with the Narth representative. So there was no real secret. Most likely his uncle had managed to ask the Narth to keep an eye on his nephew. Narth were so gullible and, with all their age and power, understood nothing of the human condition.

  He was Saresii, one of the most powerful talents ever to be born. Yet he refused to play the dress-up game or denounce his male nature. The Saresii elder managed the unthinkable and he was invited to Narth Supreme. It was hoped the Narth could help him develop his Psionic talent better than even the Saresii could. It was unprecedented; no other being was ever allowed to be on Narth Prime and stay there to learn from them.

  It was disappointing! The Narth never opened up to him, never showed him their cities and their treasures. He a
lso found that he was far more powerful than even the Narth Supreme! He showed them what he could do and they could not even keep up. His time on Narth Prime did not last long, the Narth told him to leave! He didn't mind, those self-important robe-wearing goons had nothing to teach him really. Well, he had to grant that their leader, the Narth Supreme, was about as talented as he was. No matter how hard he tried he could not overpower that man and, while he was concentrating, some of the others sneaked up on him and teleported him back to Sares. Well that was impressive, not even he could teleport over such a vast distance, but it probably took them all to do it, while he was able to teleport an entire light year!

  But while he was on Narth Prime he saw it! He found the key to true power. Might so incredible that anything else paled by comparison. A force able to shape the universe itself! The omnipotence of a god! There on Narth Prime he learned about the Dark Ones and saw and felt the piece of power the Narth guarded. Even from a distance the power was so absolute, so mind-shattering. How little did the Kermac know, how little did the Saresii know, compared to the knowledge and power of the Dark One. The Servant of the Dark One once hinted that this was the anti-power to creation and anyone wielding it would be a god. He would unite these pieces in his person - he would be God!

  The First son wiped his mouth. He had almost drooled on his financial reports. Remembering the feeling he had when his Psionic mind had touched the piece always made him do that.

  His assistants knew he did not want to be disturbed, but since one of his servants came anyway, it had to be important. "True Darkness is Peace, First Son," the assistant began, bowed deeply and waited.

  "True Darkness and Peace are the rewards!" answered the High Priest. "I know you would not dare interrupt me unless there are matters of utmost importance."

  "This is so, Chosen one! The Kermac are here to see you!"

  He did not have a chance to grant them entry; the two aliens pushed the assistant aside using telekinetics and floated towards him.

  The First Son smiled coldly under his hood. If they wanted to impress him with Psionics they would have to try much harder. After all, he was among the most powerful Saresii talents, his powers tested to be equal to those of the Narth!

  He looked relaxed and leaned back, but he picked up two blocks of pure polonium in rad-shield casings, each weighing 1000kg, and made them float over the Kermacs’ heads just to show them he could crush them if he chose to do so. Then the blocks floated aside and joined a stack of eight more in the back of the huge hall he also used as his office.

  Neither Kermac showed any reaction to this demonstration and came closer towards the desk. "I see you are playing with our last payment to you. We are glad we were able to provide you with toys so you can play and pass the time."

  "The usual Kermac arrogance. Thinking of others as children. We Saresii have moved our planets while you still competed with hullsk snakes for the dominion over your home world."

  "Let us end this discussion about doubtful history and let us proceed with the business at hand."

  "By all means."

  "We have not heard of our colleague and our mutual project. Would you know of any news?"

  The Kermac did not need to know everything so he lied to them. "Our plan failed the Admiral, our agent was caught by Union security and they perished in a short but violent space battle."

  "It might be true, as we can no longer feel his presence and that would mean his death! Then let us proceed to new points of interest. The Coven has joined the Union. We know nothing but faint rumors and a few old myths. Who or what are they?"

  The Son of Darkness shrugged. "I remember reading something about that in the Assembly News. I think it is a little planet of mostly female humanoids. No spaceships, no technology worth mentioning. You should be much more concerned about the Rehatoo. They also joined recently and they bring 500 planets and quite advanced robotic technology to the Union."

  The left Kermac looked at his companion and then said, "The Rehatoo were more or less ignored by the Narth and the Saresii. The Narth, however, were overheard saying that the Coven membership was of great significance!"

  "The Narth are over-estimated. They are like children when it comes to the human condition. They consider someone drinking a glass of water very important and then ignore a Saresii who can read the minds of 20 beings simultaneously."

  The Kermac did not elaborate anymore and one of them said, "We became aware that the Union obtained live specimens of real Y'All."

  That was news even to the First Brother. "Neither I nor the Worm, has heard about that!"

  "The Worm is not nearly as powerful as it claims to be, but it is the reason we are here. We want a meeting with the Purple Worm. We feel it is time we become more involved."

  "I am not an appointment-maker. The Worm is but one asset I use to further my own goals. Besides, no one knows who or where the Purple Worm is and how to get in contact."

  "We know you do! Such a meeting would be of great value to us and if you do arrange it there is a considerable amount of polonium that will be yours if you arrange it."

  "How much polonium?"

  "20 cubes!"

  Polonium was one of the most valuable materials in the universe and accepted as payment anywhere, even in places where they had never heard or seen UnionCreds or Kermas. A one-ton cube was exactly one million credits.

  The First Son was glad he wore a mask; he knew his face showed his reaction as he calculated the worth of the entire deal.

  "I accept your proposal. Of course I cannot speak for the Purple Worm but I am sure an arrangement can be found."

  "We knew we would come to an agreement."

  "Now, what is this about the Y'All?"

  "Additional polonium can be yours if you find out where they are kept and how they can be obtained or destroyed. There is also the matter of a small handheld device. That must be recovered."

  "So the Narth are right, you are connected to the Y'All. It is not entirely surprising as the Y'All never attacked Kermac assets during their last visit."

  "The rumors of Narth are of little value."

  "I despise the Narth as much as you do, Kermac. But Narth do not have rumors."

  "You have been accepted in their midst and you could have risen to utmost importance, yet they deemed you not worthy and, as a Terran would say, they kicked you out!"

  He pushed himself up. "I was not kicked out. I found there was little they could have taught me, and my powers are on par with the Narth Supreme himself!"

  It was the first time the First Son of Darkness heard a Kermac laugh. "So little do you know!"

  The dark-robed High Priest stabbed his finger angrily at his visitors. "And if the galaxy became aware that you caused or had the power to stop the Y'All attacks, a new war would surely be the result – with everyone against you. The peace contract brokered by the Golden Ones stands on fragile feet as it is."

  "You are to find out what the Union knows and where they keep the Y'All. Such information is also valuable and will be rewarded accordingly."

  "I will contact you the usual way, as soon as I know something."

  The Kermac left and the First Son leaned back in his chair, unaware that the Kermac had left highly-advanced nanites that scurried between the polonium blocks and began their preprogrammed task.

  He pondered the information. The Narth never did tell him why the Y'All came in regular 5,000 year intervals, bringing war and destruction to the galaxy. The Y'All were soundly defeated for the first time during the last war. Not in small part due to the Immortal Admiral Richard Stahl who returned with a huge alien ship and a wonder weapon, the Translocator Cannon. To this day no foreign power was able to obtain one or obtain information on how these weapons worked.

  Chapter 4: Field Class

  The first thing I saw when I regained consciousness was the face of a blonde woman smiling at me. She wore the white of the Medical Service Branch. "Good afternoon, Mr. Olafson. How do you feel?"r />
  I closed my eyes for a moment and thought I might have dreamed it all; I felt fine and had no pain at all.

  I sat up and said, "I am fine!"

  A spherical readout established itself next to her and she studied it for a moment. "You had quite a few broken bones, third-degree burns and a sizeable chunk of Duro-Plast sticking in your back; luckily it somehow missed vital organs and nerve centers. All in all, nothing problematic and you are as good as new."

  "Where is Captain Zezz, did he make it?"

  She kept smiling and answered, "Ask him yourself. He is right here!"

  I sat up and in a bed next right next to mine was the Shiss Captain and he too was sitting up. "I made it, Eric."

  "I am glad, Sir! What happened?" I didn't want to ask him about his brother Zuzzh because I was certain he was dead.

  But he said, perhaps guessing what I was thinking, "Zuzzh made it too, but he needs more time in the regen-tank. They are growing him new arms."