Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series)

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  The Marine said, “There are four cargo holds like that, ma’am! And there is one up front with live human prisoners kept in nightmare conditions.”

  I had to see it for my own eyes. He was right. The conditions on the cargo hold with the live slaves were an impression of horror. I was certain it would follow me for the rest of my life.

  They were stacked on metal shelves, wrapped tightly in plastic up to the head with hoses attached to body orifices to siphon body waste and to feed them garish-looking slurry. The groaning and muffled crying of at least 3000 victims was perhaps even more disturbing than the stench.

  I actually ran back to the bridge of the ship and grabbed the ship’s master by the throat. I tried to find words that could adequately express my feelings to him. I failed and said, “You will pay for this like no one has ever paid!”

  He tried to shrug and said, “What is it to you? You are a pirate and these are all Union humans. It’s just business, very good business, too. Let me go, and I’ll split the profit with you.”

  I didn’t even recognize my own voice as I asked, “Is this your company’s real business? Are there more ships like this?”

  His eyes glared at me. “The Togar are waiting for this ship. It is unwise to make the Togar and my company your enemies, Pirate. I have a GalNet terminal, and I called for help and described you and your ship. Help is on its way, so you better make a deal with me.”

  I still held him and said to Narth, using our mental connection, “Tell Shea and Three-Four to come over here and have them copy every bit of information off this ship’s computronics. Tell Krabbel he has the Conn, and you man your sensors and make sure we know when something or someone approaches.”

  Narth responded with, “Aye, Captain,” and disappeared.

  To the ship’s master, I said, “I really hope you called them because I’ll send them all straight to hell.” My mind was still seeing the images I had seen in his freight bays and the knowledge that I could not punish him accordingly filled me with a cold, different rage than I had ever felt before. It was not the sudden anger I often cursed and could quench with plunging myself head over heels into the fray. It was the realization that death was not enough, that the only thing that would satisfy me was to torture him, to make him suffer a long time.

  I said to him, “I am going to sell your load of human flesh to the Togar myself. I am going to fill them with disease, and when your filthy cat friends eat, the disease will spread, and they will die.”

  One of his bridge crew officers was a Togar and, like the rest of the survivors, restrained with memory tape and held like a weightless toy in TheOther’s fist. She hissed with wide-eyed panic, “You can’t do that; it would be genocide!”

  “Yes, Cat, you are right. No mercy. No remorse. I will descend upon your kind and make you pay! You Togar shall perish to the last, as my wrath knows no limit!”

  The shipmaster I was still holding struggled and screamed, “Please take away those black flames. I am sorry! I am so sorry, I had no idea hell existed. Please have mercy!”

  As if there was a vacuum inside his body, his eyes were sucked inside his skull, and his cheeks pulled in around his teeth and jaws. He screamed, and then he gargled with a dying voice, “The flames, the dark flames, please don’t…” His last words died on his bloodless lips, and he looked like a thousand-year-old freeze-dried mummy hanging from my fist. I felt like I had been a bystander and someone else had taken my place. It was like waking from a trance.

  TheOther who was holding the Togar said, “Captain, are you all right?”

  I dropped the corpse and said, “You better check the suits of these other officers. This one had some sort of suicide device on him.”

  He held the Togar up and before me and the cat struggled, trying to get away from me even while bound and held by a Y’All.

  TheOther said, “You sure impressed him as you can see!”

  I shrugged and said, “I wish we could really do that, spoil their food, but I doubt the admiral will let us.”

  I stood in one of our empty freight bays and watched my crew pile the spoils of our raid on the floor, while Sobody held a PDD in clipboard mode and took meticulous stock. There was a deep smile of satisfaction on his face, and I said to him, “You have a bazaar full of the rarest wares in the galaxy, and you look like a Viking boy in a harpoon shop tallying this plunder.”

  “Captain, this is so much more fun. It’s like opening a present and you don’t know what’s inside.” He pointed at the pile and said, “Seven rolls of Archa silk, nine barrels of Bandurian fragrance oil, an entire case of Saresii tea, porcelain, quite valuable antiques. Six boxes of highly illegal drugs, including at least a pound of Califerm and there is more, of course.”

  I was about to ask where the Holdian was when I noticed an open trunk and a fast-moving tail. “Mr. Warner, anything interesting in that trunk?”

  He appeared holding a small fancy blue bottle in his left paw and a peach-colored vial in the other. “Perfume and female underthings but no jewelry so far.”

  Sobody said, “Looks like Jaspan perfume. The perfume might be stale, but if the bottle is genuine, it’s at least two-thousand years old and quite a collectible.”

  I shook my head. “Is there any merchandise you are not able to identify?”

  He looked at me and then smiled. “Probably not, Captain. I have been doing this for a long time.”

  “Well, carry on then.”

  Sobody said, “Captain, can I make a suggestion?”

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  It would really help our reputation as pirates if our deeds became known. I mean we should tow the pirate ship to Brhama Port and sell it. The Mighty Nine is a well-known ship and us bringing it in would be a bold statement, not to mention make a nice profit. Would be a shame to let it drift or blow it up, you know.”

  Elfi called me over the intercom and said, “Captain, I have the admiral, as you requested.”

  “Pipe it down here, Elfi.”

  A field screen established itself before me and showed both Cherubim and the admiral, sharing half of the screen each. Even though Elfi had sent them a detailed report and visuals, I gave them a short oral report.

  After I was done, Cherubim said, “We think we know where Klotzky & Harris Freight and Export gets these humans. They run advertisement campaigns on GalNet, offering good-paying easy jobs to non-citizens, GalDrifts, criminals, and other similar groups. They promise them a new life with good conditions on a corporate colony with paradise-like conditions that sound too good to be true. It appears it is a trap to lure the fringe groups. We have alerted Federal Police and they going to execute a search warrant in short time.”

  The admiral clenched his fist. “Even though I think your plan has merits, I can’t condone it. We can’t poison the Togar, as much as their practices disgust us. Not a single Togar ship has ever attacked a Union ship or a Union target, as they know what will happen if they do. As far as we know, the humans they consume have been sold to them by others, and neither our morals nor our laws apply in their society. If we ever catch them on our side of the fence and doing anything of that sort, then we can act.”

  Cherubim said, “But this is why you and the other Chimera units are out there, working in secret to eliminate as many of the slavers, pirates, and traders as possible.”

  Again, McElligott spoke and said, “The Togar, so I have learned from the small community of these cats that live as Union citizens, actually prefer pork. Your friend Axel Enroe does his part to diminish their demand for human flesh by delivering pork to the Togar. Of course, he also makes a nice profit out of it, I am sure.”

  Cherubim said, “I am sure there will come a day when the Free Space Treaty is no longer valid, and we can freely send Fleets to patrol, and then things will change.”

  I had to agree, and I did remember Captain Lethra, the female Togar and Captain of the American Spirit and Axel Enroe’s private yacht. It was not so long ago and y
et it felt as if it happened a lifetime ago.

  The admiral said, “I have been in contact with your rich friend, and since the Galveston shipyards aren’t that far away, he will send three of his ships. One of them will tow the horror ship back into Union space, and we will take it from there. As soon as you see the Enroe units on your scanners, I want you to leave that area, as you are a pirate even in their eyes, of course. They do have strict orders not to engage anything and simply tow that ship back. However, they are corporate private units and are not under Fleet command. Corporate captains don’t like pirates at all, and your reputation is growing.”

  I told him about Sobody’s suggestion, and he said, “It is a good idea, and I think he is right. It would make your reputation more solid than the rumors we have spread. Go ahead and tow that ship to Brhama Port and sell it. Put the captured pirates in stasis boxes aboard the Bolgar ship so we can deal with them as well.”

  I acknowledged his orders, and he smiled at me. “Tell your crew you already made a difference, capturing the Mighty Nine and that K&H Corp ship and that we are quite proud of you all. How is that Golden passenger of yours working out?”

  “He has quickly become a valuable and reliable member of my crew, and I have changed my mind about him completely.”

  “Good to hear, carry on and good luck.”

  The Enroe ships had arrived, and we were on our way seeing them on the horizon of our sensors. We also noticed a group of four ships speeding toward the same location. Shea identified them as ships registered to the K&H Corporation. Most likely, the help called and mentioned by the dead shipmaster. I was tempted to turn around and shoot them all to pieces, but Har-Hi did his job well, keeping me in line and Hans was certain that the K&H ships didn’t want to mess with the Enroe ships. I hoped Dawn herself would execute everyone involved in that vile business and make sure they dangled a while before they died. This time, I actually wished I could be there as her assistant and would volunteer to push the switch. I didn’t like GalDrifts, but I knew from experience not all of them had chosen this lifestyle. Like my little Exa, who was born into it and had no choice. I was sure there were many more like her, who somehow fell through the social net of our society. They became prey of those with false promises, who lured them into a trap and sold them as meat. It was worse than slavery.

  It was almost scary how much my view of the world had changed since I left Nilfeheim. Was I really the same person? On the outside, I had changed so much that I was certain no one on Nilfeheim would recognize me, perhaps with the exception of Elena, who was among the first I shared my secret with. Looking down at my own chest, that now sported a set of female breasts, tightly arranged under thin black leather, I remembered the conversation I had about these with my stepsister in the yard of our Burg while we crossed blades.

  I realized it was the first time in my life I had a feeling of homesickness. I wondered if it was time for breakfast at the Burg. I could almost smell the fresh bread Midril would bake, and I could hear the sharp claws of the Nubhir Wolfs clacking over the stone floor in the High Hall for the best places under the big table. In all this time since I had left, it was still winter on Nilfeheim and Shortsummer was over two years away. The coldest period, however, was over, and our blue cold planet was now on its path closer to Solken, our sun.

  Yet I knew at the bottom of my heart that Nilfeheim was no longer my home. I could visit, I was certain, but I would never fit in again and never be more than a guest in my own home world.

  Narth entered my thoughts, not intrusive but like a welcome diversion. Even though the Narth society was alien to me, his mind was not. It had become a part of me, just as my Eric persona and Freya, as I called my female side. In many ways, the female side of me was more alien to me than Narth. Especially now that I lived and was perceived as a woman.

  Her desires and motivations seemed that of a different person altogether. It was as if I shared my very being with another person.

  Narth’s voice inside me said, “Yes, it seems as if you have shared Hugavh with a female of your race. You are the same and yet different when you are her. Yet your core is still Eric. You are more complicated than the chaos inside a black hole. Luckily, you will eventually become Narth, but I think you will be the first among us who will have an individual name.”

  “One thing is certain, my friend; all this is beyond the comprehension of a Neo-Viking. I have this strange notion that there is yet another someone inside me. Not you, not Freya, but someone else. When I do the meditation exercises you have taught me, I can almost feel something else, something that is asleep but it is there.”

  Har-Hi interrupted our silent conversation and said, “Captain, you should go to bed, you are falling asleep on the Conn. Not that this is a bad thing, but your shift is long over, and we are still more than seventeen days out of Brhama. We can’t get any faster as we are towing the Mighty Nine.”

  I straightened myself in the seat and said, “It is a good idea, Har-Hi, and I will heed your advice, but first I am going to the den, have a bite to eat, and a nice cold swim.”

  He grinned and said, “I won; there won’t be any cold water in the pool for a whole week!”

  I got up and stretched. “Teaches me to wager with a Dai.”

  Since ship time was equal to Standard Union, the ship was still on night mode. Most beings had a wake and sleep cycle. So, a steady day/night cycle was part of the ship routine as it was deemed better and healthier for the crews. During day cycle, the corridors were lit with light that simulated the same spectrum of a GIII star, but during the night cycle, the lights had a softer yellow glow and only every third light element was on.

  This was the reason I didn’t expect many to be in our den, but I found Sobody, the Holdian, the Shaill and two Marines sitting around a smaller green table put upon the side and playing a game that involved colorful round coins stacked before them and little sheets of paper they held like a fan before their faces. Well, in the case of the Holdian, it covered much of his upper torso and he had to hold that paper fan with both his little hands. One of the Marines was a Pethanian and in his hand, they looked tiny. The Shaill used the mechanical hands of his hover sled, as it had no natural hands at all.

  The human Marine jumped up and said, “Captain on deck.”

  I said, “Not here, Marine, as you were.”

  He sat back down.

  I looked toward the ceiling as I always did when I addressed the computronic and said, “Ship, can you let the galley know I would like something to eat?”

  “Yes, Captain. I’ll take care of it myself.”

  While the Tigershark had 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 cycle and for similar reasons, all fleet ships also had a real galley where food was prepared the traditional way. I had met our Chief Steward briefly as he boarded the ship on Richter Base and the ship’s galley was under the jurisdiction of the steward department. I also knew we had a Chief Cook, but I had not met him or her so far.

  I looked over Sobody’s shoulder and asked, “What kind of game are you playing?”

  He cursed with a deep smile of satisfaction on his face and said, “Polonium may kill whoever invented this game. It is a Terran card game called Poker and this smart Marine Corporal here has been showing us how it is played now for the last nine days. If we would play 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 took a step back in disbelief. “How could anyone win against those two in any kind of game?”

  The Marine now also grinned and said, “Because part of the game is how well you can bluff. Now, I can’t ever win against Lt. Schwartz or Ship again, as they now know how it is done, but I did manage to do so once, Captain.”

  “Maybe I need to try it myself, right after I eat.”

  Just as I said it a crew member I had not seen before walked i
n, followed by a stout-looking Elly wearing a white jacket and salt and pepper patterned pants. He was carrying a covered plate. The crewmember looked like a female X101, with the same chrome-colored skin, and I wondered why I had not noticed her before. Unlike Cirruit, she had shoulder-long hair very much like the silvery tinsel we used on Nilfeheim to decorate the Yule log. She wore Navy black and had the ensign rank bar on her collar.

  She greeted me and I immediately recognized the voice. It was Ship! “What do you think, Captain?”

  I smiled at her and said, “Very nice, 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 Mothermachine. She approved and is making me a real body that can directly link to my mind. Until we can pick it up, however, it is an avatar representation of Mothermachine’s design. Cirruit recommended that approach so my physical representation is above any legal challenges. With Mothermachine involved, no one will be able to challenge your decision to make me a person.”

  “Good thinking and I do like the hair. It looks very nice.”

  She said, “It is part of the newest X101 series improvement that has 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 and thought I’d take the opportunity to meet you in person. I am Petty Officer First Class Nanjo Eeeryt, and I am your Chief Cook. I noticed your preference for fish dishes and allowed myself to prepare you Terran French fish soup called Bouillabaisse and Norwegian Lutefisk with mashed potatoes, mashed peas, and bacon.”

  Remembering the Gelatinous Pulse Stink Maggots and the state dinner on Archilerb, I was not too keen to see what he fabricated.

  I changed my mind after the first whiff of the soup and, after trying a spoon, I was certain this was a close second to Midril’s Fin stew. He stood there watching me eat, and I noticed the poker game had stopped and everyone was watching me.