Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  “Thank you, Lt. Fective. Now, please get every available hand over here and help Mr. Narth and Mr. Hi and fine-tooth comb this ship. I want every Kermac in psi-shielded Zero Stasis with marine guards and robots watching them. If they so much as twitch, you have the authority to eliminate. I really don’t trust them.”

  Fective nodded inside his suit. “We don’t have much exposure to the Kermac at the LMC, but I went to Union school, and I never heard much good about them.”

  I held up my hand, showing two fingers. “I like Shiss, Pertharians, Klack, and even Y’All. I am the most un-biased Norse ever to step off Nilfeheim. I have Elly friends, get squiggled by Garbinis, get hugs from Archa and trust our Shail. I even did the spooky thing with a Narth, but there are two species, my spotted friend, I do not trust: Kermac and Thaurans. We are deep in Freespace and what do we find? Kermacs agitating a species of cows and very large squirrels. They have no business here in Freespace in the first place.”

  Shea looked up and smirked. “Well, technically we don’t either, but I agree with you on the rest.”

  With an elegant move, Warner the Holdian pushed himself off a panel he was working at and floated before me. “Those are not squirrels, captain. I don’t know what those big things are but what you call squirrels are Dolbarians. They have evolved from a once-lost Diobane colony and had the distinct fortune that their three planets and two systems were on the side of the Galactic Council during the last treaty conference.”

  “I stand corrected then, Mr. Warner. I must confess I am no expert, as we don’t have any squirrels on Nilfeheim, but I remember seeing something similar in the forests of Green Eden, but how are we doing on the ship’s systems? Can we get their life support going or do we have to move the entire crew of this big ship?”

  The little Holdian sighed. “As Lt. Circuit said, our tech stop fried whatever electronic systems they had and having a micro-load detonate in their computer core made a real mess of their mainframe.” The Holdian reenacted the explosion with a big gesture and was quite successful. “Give us three weeks and the original construction manuals and we might get them working again.”

  I sighed with a smile. “Then I better not keep you from your work.”

  He chirped and moved back to the open panel.

  Shea said. “I think we need another paralysator sweep, I can detect their neural activity picking up.”

  I blinked at my comm link and said, “Har-Hi, how far along are we on containing the crew?”

  “This bucket they call a spaceship had more than 600 crew members. Thankfully, our biosensors have no problem finding them. Narth thinks we got them all, except for the ones on the bridge, confined in a cargo hold. We also found 85 casualties.”

  “All right then, now all that is left to do is talk to them and figure out what to do.”

  To Shea, I said, “Let them come around. I need more information so I can decide.”

  It didn’t take long and what I assumed was the leader of the aliens recovered from the paralysator effect. He was still strapped into his command chair. His first impulse was to reach for a weapon as he saw us, but he stopped as he stared into four TKU muzzles at the same time. I am sure, however, it wasn’t the guns but TheOther holding them that made him think otherwise and freeze. He said something with a loud voluminous voice I did not understand. Shea spoke to him in Kermac and he nodded but said something in a language I did not understand.

  She begun with First Contact procedures and her PDD projected simple dots. First one then two then three.

  The bovine-looking alien understood and responded with guttural sounds. She made fast progress. He made a snorting, surprised, and somewhat frightened sound as Narth appeared next to me and I felt sorry for the alien leader. He’d had his ship invaded, saw a real Y’All with guns, and now a shrouded Narth appeared from thin air.

  Narth spoke to me on our silent mental connection. “The Kermac are stripped of all devices and sleep in Zero Stasis and the being before you is a Xandrao. They know of the Togar and the Jooltar but have never heard of the Union, the Shiss, or the Nul. From what I gather, they are on their way to visit Kermac Prime to discuss Galactic Council membership.”

  “Why aren’t they using their usual Psi tricks on them?”

  “I do not know for certain, but since I had to probe quite forcefully to get into the Xandrao mind, a certain natural resistance to psionics might be the reason.”

  Shea said, “He understands some Kermac, but they used translators of their now-defunct shipboard systems. I started language analysis but SHIP was faster; she downloaded the language data from one of the Kermac Beards. You should now be able to talk to them.”

  I turned to address the alien leader. “I am Captain Black Velvet of the Silver Streak. We are an independent group of beings seeking opportunities. Your ship was severely damaged in the altercation and lost all electronics. While my chief engineer tries to patch rudimentary life support functions, we still might have to evacuate your vessel. Your crew is for the moment secured but relatively safe.”

  He listened to me and I was sure he understood so I continued, “I wanted to spare you newcomers to this side of the Galaxy, but once I learned you are sympathizers and thralls of the cursed Kermac, I am no longer so inclined. I want to know what your plans were and what kind of scheme you and the Kermac have cooked up to cause mischief and mayhem.”

  The Xandrao snorted angrily but tried to keep his dignity and said, with his loud booming voice, “I am Shipmaster Noldra Dorrx and this is the First Ship of the emperor. We are on a mission of diplomatic importance. I will not declare anything else to a stinking pirate, who from the looks of it, seems to be a disgusting female. Not that your race seems to have many redeeming features. Go away, female, and find me a male and I might talk to him.”

  I got closer and put my finger on his wide snout. “You talk to me, or you talk to no one ever again.”

  He snorted and made a sound like I’d heard Fangsnappers make. “You are only tough because I am restrained and you hide behind the guns of your four-armed terror. You would never stand a chance against a Xandrao male, no one does. Not even that four-armed beast.”

  Just then, artificial gravitation came back on and some of the ship’s own lights flickered on.

  “Go ahead, Xandrao, choose the weapons. Right here and now!”

  “You are a weak female, hiding in armor and behind the muscle of your male slaves. You are a cowardly pirate. Go ahead tell your males to kill me.”

  Har-Hi sighed loudly. “Captain, this is not—”

  But I had already given the suit the emergency release command, and it disintegrated into assembly parts and basically spat me out.

  The Xandrao slapped on the restrain release that now worked again and lunged forward. He was almost as big as Hans and had his hands immediately on me. Instead of evading him, I grabbed him by the wrist and tried to execute an Aikido move that served me so well against the lumbering Y’All. It did not work as I hoped. The Xandrao was, I had to realize, a trained fighter and not a brawler. His other fist grabbed me by the throat. And, yes, once again, I was in trouble and it was trouble I could have easily avoided. I certainly did not act like a Union captain should act, and this was not how First Contact was made.

  He was squeezing the very life out of me and yet I found enough air to gargle, “Stay where you are!” to Har-Hi.

  I got angry, not so much about the Xandrao but about myself, but the bovine-like alien was really starting to piss me off. He had lifted me off the ground, I was holding on to his massive arm with one hand and stabbed my fingers into his right eye. He screamed in pain and as I feigned a second stab against his other, he instinctively raised his arms to deflect my second attempt. To do that, he let me go and I dropped, ignoring the throbbing pain of my squeezed neck and kicked upward as hard as I could at exactly that exposed feature of his anatomy we had talked about earlier. He was, it appeared, quite sensitive and groaned in an ear-shattering volum
e, He wiped his big arm through the air, a powerful swing, but far off target. An ax handle blow of mine across his wide snout, however, found its target.

  All my attacks had been done with all my strength, but had done little more than perhaps dazzle the alien.

  He lowered his head and swiped his sharp horns through the air, a perfectly natural move if you had horns like that, but unexpected. I managed to avoid his grabbing arms and the head swing that brought his horns into play by perhaps a hair’s width. In all this, I could have ended it easily. Narth was here and so was Har-Hi, not to mention TheOther. All it would have taken was a call for help.

  A blow of my fist against his forehead made me realize just how hard his skull was. It felt like punching a battleship hull.

  Yet I had to end this somehow on my own.

  The head swung to the other side while the Xandrao drove me backward as I tried to avoid his horn attacks and his fast grabbing attempts. He was fast; fast enough to prevent me from really getting away. He was mad and full of frustration and it was apparent that his kind were trained in hand-to-hand combat, perhaps almost as religiously as the Union marines did. There was not much room left to back up, and the head swung again … his big hands swinging with powerful blows. The only thing saving me was the wonderful agility my altered body seemed to have. Then I acted on an instinct, grabbed the swinging horns just as his neck was at the outmost swing, and I added all my body weight to twist it farther. I heard a crunching sound and the big alien groaned. Even the big Xandrao had to follow physics and his body had to follow the momentum. He crashed hard on the deck plating, almost burying me. I let go and rolled away in the last moment.

  The big alien was making strange gurgling sounds and did not try to get up. I came to my feet and with a coarse, laboring voice, I rasped, “Get up!”

  Har-Hi rushed by. “Captain, let it be. You broke the Xandrao’s neck. He is dying.”

  I wiped the sweat off my brow and tried to straighten myself into a more dignified position. “Call Cateria.”

  Only now, did I notice the bleeding cut along my left arm.

  Har-Hi shook his head. “Narth, get the captain to sickbay.”

  I did not remember the teleportation and realized I must have passed out. The next thing I remembered was seeing the face of my CMO, and she wasn’t pleased at all.

  “That was a close one, captain. I don’t even know how you kept fighting with a severely bruised larynx. The subsequent swelling caused asphyxia and Lt. Narth brought you in with not much time to spare.”

  I did not feel proud and as I sat up, I saw Har-Hi, Shea, and Narth standing there.

  Har-Hi had his arms crossed and said, “Captain, I say it right out and in front of everyone, this isn’t working. You are the captain and, for the most part, you’re doing a great job, but picking fights like that is anything but smart. You almost died, and in a situation that was not even remotely necessary.” He spread his arms. “You know we’d follow you to Hell and back, but I am the XO and I must say this.”

  I lowered my head and felt a shameful frown creep into my face. “I know, I can’t even say anything to defend myself. That was extremely foolish.”

  “Captain, the warrior in me is full of awe of your fighting skills, and I still can’t believe you almost killed that Xandrao, despite an almost lethal injury, but I am not just a Dai Than warrior anymore but a Union officer and you are no longer just a Nilfeheim Viking, but a commanding officer. I know we do things differently than on other ships. Your instincts and your style are usually head on—”

  He stopped, looked at Narth for help, then continued, “I love you like a brother and I don’t really know how to say it or what to say. Just be a little more careful.”

  Narth said, not using his mental voice but speaking aloud, “I tend to agree with Har-Hi, but once again these impulsive actions, guided by emotions and instinct all Narth find harder to fathom than the secrets of creation itself, have yielded surprising results.”

  I got up after Cateria nodded and I said, “All I can say is that I know I acted wrongly and I am sorry. I am aware that my actions were inappropriate and unnecessary.”

  Har-Hi said, “The problem is your action was not as unnecessary as we would like it to be, so we could use it to persuade you to take a different approach next time. The Xandrao survived, thanks to Shea putting him in stasis and Cateria saving his life. He hasn’t stopped talking about you and swears undying allegiance to you.”

  I took his hand. “I promise I will listen to you and try to be less impulsive.”

  He grinned. “Well, it would help if you stop picking fights with the wildest, biggest opponents you can find.”

  I noticed I was wearing just underwear and cleared my throat. “Enough of this unprofessional behavior and that includes, first and foremost, me. Let us get back to the business at hand.”

  Back in my usual outfit, I was still turning Har-Hi’s words in my head, knowing he was more than just right. I had reached the command chair of a Union ship much earlier than I could ever have hoped for. Men like Stahl and McElligott trusted me and, more so, my crew trusted me. I acted like a dumb flicker fish. I could almost hear Egill’s dry voice in my head. I sighed and entered the marine-guarded room where the Xandrian shipmaster was recuperating.

  He sat on a vari-matic chair, and as I entered he dropped to his knees.

  “I apologize, Captain Black Velvet, you have earned my deepest respect and I pledge my services to you. An apparent weaker female of an apparent weaker race has bested me, almost killed me without any weapons. You are indeed a mighty warrior. I will, without reservation, answer your questions and accept any fate you have decided to place upon me.”

  “There is no need to kneel, Shipmaster Dorrx. I acted out of proportion. I am not out to learn your secrets, but what business do you have with the Kermac?”

  “They are not the unchallenged masters they claim to be. I laughed at the Dolbarians just hours ago as they told me about the Big Four. I could not believe that there are Star Empires as big as the Dolbarians claim the Nul, the Shiss, or these Unions control. We had a hard time to really comprehend what the Kermac claimed about the Galactic Council.”

  “The Kermac are an old species and they made deception and controlling others to do their bidding into an art form. They do control a sizeable region, but they are far from being the unchallenged masters. They let others fight, work, and provide for them.”

  “I begin to understand but we are a proud people; we see there are others who are stronger and who control technology superior to ours. We have reason to believe the Togar are preparing to conquer us. I have seen reports and know these Cats love hunting and eating Xandrao. Our emperor thinks that we could make it a costly endeavor for the Togar queen, but we would still fall. We are in need of an ally who is strong enough to make the Togar reconsider.”

  He spread his big arms, the ones which had almost crushed me to death. “Captain Black Velvet, we are aware of our boisterous nature and officially we like to see ourselves as strong and unbeatable. I do not know if you have already talked to the prince, but if you have, do not heed him. He is a good prince but never an emperor. Our liege is not as naïve as the Kermac think he is and neither am I, but we considered serving the Kermac as it would be better than losing it all and ending up on Togar menus.”

  “I am a fugitive, a criminal, and a pirate bound to Freespace, but you might find a viable alternative to proceed to the Union. There, you would not need to be servants, but could be equal partners. Of course, Union membership must be applied for and new members must uphold Union laws. However, it would be better if you and your prince see for yourself and then provide your people and your emperor with the information you have gathered.”

  “I was informed about the status of my ship. It is not able to return or move ahead. Even if your magnificent robot engineer will be able to patch things. If our encounter is any indication what this region holds for us, without weapons and ener
gy fences covers, we will fall prey to the next pirate who is less honorable than you.”

  “I’ll find a solution.”

  ***

  “Another one?” McElligott said as I finished my report. “Not that I am complaining that you most likely prevented the Kermac gaining another Thrall species, but fighting a three-meter minotaur so he would change his mind and contemplate alternatives is not exactly the smartest way of doing things.”

  “I know. My XO already made this very clear, sir.”

  The old admiral rubbed his chin. “You are at the edge of GalCom range and pretty far from Union Space. I can’t send any Chimera unit to pick those Centaurs up, as they need to remain unknown and can’t escort a potential new member species to Union Space.” He suddenly chuckled. “I guess my last sentence was only funny to me. Chimeras and Centaurs … ah, well, let me think.”

  The admiral spoke with me over a 2D connection and the image was projected on a field screen. Because we were at the very edge of GalCom reach and already beyond GalNet, he could no longer establish an avatar. “I also would love to get my hands on those Kermac.”

  He rubbed his chin. “See if your engineer can’t patch that alien ship up, just good enough so it can limp to Auriga Xi and escort them until you know they are safe. We have got regular Union assets there, and they can’t go after you as long as you stay in Freespace. Then I’ll arrange a rendezvous with a Chimera unit to take the Kermac off your hands.”

  Circuit was sure he and his engineering team could get the Xandrao ship patched up enough to make it, but he needed at least a day.

  I briefed the Xandrao shipmaster, and he agreed with this course of action.

  I had both of our Gazelles fly a cloaked search pattern, to make sure no one else interrupted.

  Three days passed without incident. The Xandrao ship would be able to limp to trans-light speed and make it to Auriga Xi in five days.

  Back on the Xandrao ship, I shook the hand of the big alien.