He took a step back.
“Who are you really, there aren’t many who have seen these men in person and most certainly not a pirate.”
Just then the concealed rock door burst into pieces as a gray Nul holding two TKUs burst into the room. From the opening a badly mangled brown robed being flew into the room and crashed landed with a sickening wet sound on the finely laid out table, blood dripping from it to the polished floor. Followed by the equally frightening TheOther. He held three TKUs and a chainsword.
The Purple Worm reacted quite fast and pulled a weapon from his belt , but dropped it as he felt the razor sharp blade of a Dai sword on his Adam’s apple,Har-Hi and Narth had appeared right behind him and I could tell Har-Hi was really fired up and barely able to restrain himself.
Shea came in holding her mysterious sword and used it to cut the cuffs away that restrained my wrists and while doing so whispered in my ear. “You are the most gorgeous looking damsel in distress, my dear Captain. Red Velvet and a purple cape looks good on you.”
Before I could scold her for that, a part of the wooden shelf toppled over with a thundering crash and a hail of wooden splinters. Revealing a previously hidden control room behind it. Hans being the cause for this holding another one of the small beings in his left, while tossing another clear across the room.
Hans stomped over and said. “Captain, the Compound is secure, no one escaped.”
The worm still having Har Hi’s sword at his throat was now peeled out of his clothing, behind Hans our Leedei came in the room.
Narth said. “He is well shielded indeed, but now that I do not have to restrain myself, I can confirm that is indeed Hector Vargas, formerly of Earth and one of the Immortals picked by the Guardian.”
Circuit appeared from the Control room and said. “Captain, Shea’s Code breaker worked. I am in his Computronic.”
The Purple Worm spoke for the first time and it was clear he was in shock. “This can’t be; this can’t be the end!”
Then he looked up and saw Krabbel coming in tossing another lifeless brown robed being in the room.
“The Archa, the Saturnian, the Dai….you are the former Olafson gang! You aren’t pirates!”
I said to him. “As I said, for being the leader of such a successful organization you are quite the moron. No we aren’t really pirates.”
He tried to laugh as he looked at me. “I am indeed a blind fool! I fell in love with…with …you are Olafson, the boy from Nilfeheim who likes to dress as a woman. I thought you died on Sin 4.”
I smiled at him. “Isn’t life full of surprises? Now you know why it just could not work out between the two of us. Not that I like being abducted, twice!”
His eyes flickered towards Narth and he said. “Keep out of my head! I am not subject to your petty laws. I have a mission to fulfill. You can’t defeat the worm. I will find a way to escape; I will slither between the cracks of your prisons. The worm is bigger than you all .”
“I am sure you will be replaced. Anyone with that spooky mask of yours can take your position and place. But I have a capable crew and very formidable contacts, they figure out how it works and we download every iota of information from your brain and roll that organization up from the top down, but it won’t be you.”
Narth said. “I just deactivated a suicide device implanted and he tried to activate it It would be advisable to scan him very detailed.”
He screamed. “You are the real monsters, you are the real criminals! You killed my friends. The Sand people suffered already greatly from Union hands and now you killed what is left. Don’t you realize the need for the Worm? Without it your Fleet becomes invincible and can do whatever it wants.
No one at the Assembly knows of the fact that a former admiral became a ruthless pirate and now will gain access to Celtest technology. You are here in violation of signed treaties. Treaties signed by the Assembly and no clandestine operation approved by the fleet can simply circumvent that. Don’t you realize that you are the criminals and those who sent you act beyond the laws. Union Court would have to find you guilty, all of you! It does not matter if it was sanctioned by your immortal Admirals. If Stahl knows about this then he too slipped and is no longer that beacon of righteousness you all say he is.”
While some of it had a ring of truth, I pointed at the shelves. “You got a lot of books around but I doubt you ever went to Union School. We are here by expressed will of the Union Assembly and details know to the Security Council. We are currently not assigned to the Union Fleet, but act under the auspice of NAVINT, who by Union law is permitted to operate anywhere outside Union space to do the same things you just quoted to be your motivation and agenda. We don’t need anyone or anything crawling between cracks It is the will of the citizens that keeps the Fleet in check and not some loon in a ugly costume.”
To Narh I said “Have Cateria examine him and put him in stasis, as soon as Circuit has all the data he needs, set a charge and blow this place up. Make sure we get all the details about the Seenian tech and his involvement with the Red Dragon. he seems to be a significant piece of the puzzle."
“No!" He screamed. "Don’t do this, my collection. These are books and art from Earth, irreplaceable!”
He was forced on a gurney of a med robot and fell silent as Cateria examined him.
I did not blow up the place. There was too much and a sizeable collection of Seeinan artifacts. We crated and packed the things Cateria, Narth and Shea deemed important but not without scanning and examining every piece. I had no intentions to take aboard some sort of Trojan horse. Since I didn’t want to explain to the other pirates what we were doing. I had the Tigershark repositioned. Sure enough the Red Dragon called as he noticed us taking off and I told him I would be back shortly, without much of an explanation. I decided to let him find an explanation of his own.
Surprisingly he did as we returned to the landing field the next day, when he called and said. “I just got word you actually bought this whole damn world. The Local Lord guard just informed me that we have a new Local Lady and that it is you, respect, respect. That is a serious bargain you made and I bet you inspected those defense forts. They alone are worth the price I heard you paid.”
I shrugged. “I wish I could claim that world for my own, getting into the Pirate base business might be quite lucrative after Sin 4 is gone, but that isn’t me, sitting on a dirt ball all day long. I acted for associates of mine, who offered me a nice sum to be the middleman so they may remain anonymous.”
He rubbed his masked chin and said. “Very smart, I guess you pulled that either for the Worm, they have this kind of money or perhaps the Dai who always wanted a planetary base.” He raised his hands.
“None of my business, anyhow, all I want to hear if you are still going to take part at our conference at Itheamh .”
“I am game, but I wait no more than 48 hours, then I take off as I am tired of sitting on planets. Your associate has his engines fixed by then I assume?”
“If not I leave with you and leave him and his junk boat behind.”
Har-Hi had told us how the other Dai had taken him to a bar and for a drink ; only to find out that the drink was spiked with something and he was taken into the desert. The invisible gas had affected him but he was able to do the same mental exercises we used in our martial arts training to fight the effects. He didn’t tell the worm that I was Eric Olafson and was able to keep the fact that we were Union a secret as well.
It was Cateria who suggested that my body chemistry had changed ever since I was stung by the Wurlag beast, something the Narth Supreme had done to save my life, and that explained why I was able to resist the drugs and the gas for so long, or survive the poison of a Stomper.
I went into my room made my logbook entry, dictated a report and activated my GalCom terminal. Elfi confirmed we were still able to receive and send. I placed a call to Admiral McElligott.
The Old Admiral appeared and he looked wet and wore a bathrobe. �
��You do have a talent of always calling at times when I am not presentable.”
He used a towel to pad his face and added, “I know you would not call if it wasn’t urgent. So go ahead.”
“I have an individual in custody we believe is the Purple Worm. Preliminary medical examination results support the claim that he is an Immortal, as the aging gene is completely missing and replaced by a complex gene craft that boosts the immune system, facilitates fast healing and so forth. His DNA also confirms to be genuine Terran. My CMO also can confirm his age."
This time McElligott actually fell of his chair!
I saw his hand grab the edge of the desk and moments later his eyes appeared as he looked into the visual sensors. “You have done what? ”
Before I could repeat, he said getting up. “Hold that for a moment. I got to get Richard on the line and find me a drink. I still can’t believe what you just said!”
Moments later the screen split three ways. Stahl stood on the bridge of the Devastator and Cherubim appeared to be standing on the crumbling spaceport surface of Sin 4. In the distance behind her I could see several huge modular Nanite Factories and an army of robots swarming all over the place carrying trash, and waste, clearing rubble and busting up the cracked surface.
Within the visual sensor pick up I could see one of the tall Stik.
Stahl greeted me and so did Cherubim.
The masked woman said: “Good to hear from you.” She made a gesture pointing at the scene behind her and continued, “Sin 4 is now called Wooorld, yes I said that with all the extra o sounds, that is what they wanted. Wurgus Engineers are on their way to fix that sun and, as you can see, Army Engineering Corps has already begun with the cleanup. It will take a few decades, but the two and more legged trash has already been taken care of. There was a little resistance here and there, as Marines are currently combing the extensive underground network, but nothing even worth mentioning.
Nestor, aka your friend Fusionbeam. was named the Planet Governor and P Rep by the Stik. They decided to rebuild a smaller, modern City, Keeping the Gambling and Fight Arenas alive, but legal, and the Sojonites are of course welcome to remain. It looks they will do just fine.”
Stahl crossed his arms. “Things at the Corridor have stabilized as well. The Shiss claim the attacks were made by an independent group of Shiss renegades and Dai Pirates and they had nothing to do with it and wish to maintain peace and to maintain all borders just as they were. We did neutralize four Dai Tribes, the rest had already turned back into Freespace before we arrived. Of course this is a load of BS, but we don’t know what the Shiss are up to. They have done all this for a reason.”
McElligott interrupted. “It is her, Captain Olafson, who supposed to give her report to you and not you to her!”
Stahl shrugged. “What could there be to report. I mean she only left Sin 4 a week ago and landed on Alvor’s Cove.”
McElligott said: “I suggest you both sit down. What she told me actually knocked me of my seat, and it wasn't just the fact that I was still wet from my shower and I also want you to go to Blue-Blue-Red protocol.”
Stahl went into the Captain’s ready room and Cherubim placed a high security privacy bubble around her and both Immortals reported secure protocol after a few moments. McElligott had me report again and after I was done, I showed them the ugly worm mask and images from our prisoner.
Stahl did sit down and Cherubim didn’t say a word. Finally it was Stahl who smacked his hand against his forehead. “Silly of us to commit billions in assets and countless man hours trying to find the Worm. All we had to do is send out Olafson and his gang and they do it, as a side job, not even really trying.”
Cherubim finally managed to say something. “I tried to capture and expose the Worm for almost as long as he has operated.”
Then she laughed. “He fell in love with you? Well I guess even the worm had an Achilles heel and his was a feisty blonde Pirate. I cannot imagine what he was feeling when he found out who you are.”
I didn’t feel like laughing and said: “What is going to happen to him? Will he get some special deal because he is one of you? ”
Stahl’s face lost all friendliness and he said: “She has a point there, my Old Friend. What will happen to him? ”
McElligott said, “He will receive a trial and our courts and legal system will decide what will happen to him.”
Cherubim said: “Let’s not be hasty. Captain Olafson made a good point when she said anyone could replace him with a mask like this. I think we should put him on ice first and roll up his organization with one of our agents acting the part before we make it public that we have him. This represents a great opportunity to roll up that Organization before it manages to grow a new head to replace the one we got.”
Stahl said.”It goes against everything I believe in, but she has a point. The Worm is buried deep and fighting him is not something I was successful at. He and his criminal organization is an enemy that eludes my methods of fighting and resolving things. It's not my thing to act in the shadows. This is why I agreed on your current mission. However I too believe we do not have to be in a big hurry and it galls me to admit that it has merit if he stays a little longer in stasis until Cherubim and my old friend can make use of the Information you obtained from him."
McElligott sighed. “If we start to have this kind of conversation with all our Captains we’ll never get anything done.”
Cherubim snickered. “If all our captains deliver these kind of news, we be out of business in a wek. Not all of your Captains operate under the guise of Pirates in hostile space, none of them managed to solve the Sin 4 Problem, add three new Civilizations to our Union and capture the most wanted criminal in our entire history.”
The Admiral of the Fleet smiled and nodded. “That is true; if you count it like that it sounds even more fantastic. But say, Ms. Olafson, in all that excitement, did you also mention you bought Alvor’s Cove?”
“Yes Sir, it seemed to be a good idea. I am not sure how we can end the misery of the Slaves here, but now that we have access to the planet I think something could be done. Besides there are strong indications that there is Seenian tech buried somewhere."
“That was actually quite an elegant solution. I will try to get Captain Sposhtrah and the Minerva to meet you before you leave Alvor’s Cove. I think he is still in the region. You can transfer Ownership of the Planet to him. He can also take the Worm and whatever else you need to send to us. For the time being we will keep Alvor’s Cove just as it is, but replace the local authorities with our people, slowly close the place down and start digging. "
Cherubim agreed and said."That there was Seenian tech stored pretty much unprotected and unknown on a Bone Yard planet of all things is quite disturbing news."
Stahl seemed unable to suppress his emotions completely as the sharp tone in his voice indicated. "Makes one wonder what else has been stored and forgotten, only to bite us in the proverbial butt decades later and stolen or sold for scrap."
McElligott made a sour face. "It happened under my nose and I take the blame and responsibility. I have taken steps to remedy this ever since Swybin's theft exposed this problem. Mothermachine and a team of Bellebee is going through all the storage manifests, catalogs and reports. We are also going physically through our inventories Every piece with potential unknown origin will be relocated to a new secure location or destroyed. I am personally supervising it and give you my word, something like this will not happen again."
Stahl relaxed. "Since Bellebee are working on it, I am satisfied indeed.They won't miss a paperclip. I should be glad it is you who works on a solution instead of scolding you." He turned to someone outside his visual pick up and then said to us."One thing is sure, Captain Olafson your reports are anything but predictable. The next time I think I sit down myself, the latest one almost knocked me out of my boots." He was about to terminate the connection then he thought about something else. "Once your current mission is over, Gi
rl. You and me go fishing and then I like to hear it all again and in more detail. Stahl out."
Cherubim said."I know he doesn't like or trust me much and perhaps you have similar feelings. His purpose is almost opposite of mine, but our goals are the same. I too promise you there won't be a fake execution. Vargas will pay for his crimes as everyone would under Union law." She too added something just before she terminated her connection. "The eternal warrior sees much of himself in you, but so do I."
Finally there was only McElligott. "Well there isn't much to add from my end. You certainly keep impressing us. Carry on."
Chapter 19: Onward
The Minerva arrived only two days and made planetfall in the early evening of the second day. That I had a connection to the slave trader was established on Sin 4. So I was not concerned about our cover as the golden gleaming ship sat down next to us and cargo bridge was established between the ships.
They took possession of the stasis box with the Worm and also took the simple paper document that made whoever held it the owner of the planet. We exchanged a little small talk and I was a little disappointed that Stahl wasn’t there this time. Of course I knew he was far away and busy at the Corridor but I still would have loved to talk with the Old Warrior face to face for a little bit.
Captain Sposhtrah suggested that I was seen with him, to further cement my reputation as a ruthless pirate and legitimize our connection, showing others that I was a close associate. So I accompanied him to the slave market.
On our way he said.“It is a devil’s circle. I am out here to secretly rescue primarily Union citizens from this cruel fate, but by doing it this way I am also causing demand. I am very glad you bought this hell hole. Now if we could do something to put the Mulwhur Trading Company out of business, that would reduce this vile trade at least in this region significantly.”
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 132