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

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  It turned out Greifen was right. The Elhir who were the mortal enemies of the Olafson clan dropped the Fangsnapper from the deck of a Cargo Floater into our back yard. Since Clan wars were now officially outlawed, feuding Clans looked for other ways to get at each other. The whole matter was dragged before the Elders. The Elhir claimed it could not be proven that it was them, but if a single Fangsnapper would make such trouble to the Olafson Clan they would gladly train them in real combat. I knew father and the other seniors of our Clan would already brood over a way to retaliate.

  My back was burned, but not as badly as the last time when father poured boiling water down my back to punish me for using warm water for a bath, and Midril tended to it with ointment after she came back from the Union Hospital with a brand new arm they had grown her. She never spoke about the incident, but she took care of the little girl now and she made sure I got a share of the good things that went to the Family Hall."

  It was now almost a year after the Fangsnapper tore through the kitchen when Greifen sat in the Kitchen nursing a tankard of warmed ale with a generous helping of Midril's secret herbs and spices she gave to those who got the cold and judging by the bright red nose and the numb voice of Greifen he was very sick or perhaps had a tankard too much.

  I was there as well sitting in a corner scrubbing the big kettle, because it was Wednesday and Midril would make Fin Stew.

  "It's a shame how our Old Sire treats his first born!" Greifen said sipping at his ale looking at me but talking to the cook." He ought to get the hide of the Fangsnapper he killed and be celebrated for his first kill. I don't know many full grown men who would willingly go against one with just a kitchen knife."

  She stopped cutting Tyranno meat into cubes, wiped her bloody hands on her apron, her left hand was pasty white compared to her other until the pigments would adjust and she said." There are many things going on in this Burg that never happened while our Old Sire was still here, but unless you want to challenge him for Clan chief and fight him you better keep quiet and drink your ale."

  "I would fight him! There are more than one who would but he wields that wicket steel cable and you don't even get a chance!"

  "That and the fact that he is stronger than you and humongous as all the Olafsons."

  I pushed the clean kettle to its spot and left the kitchen. It was better I didn't hear those things. I knew they would soon start talking about the Fair Lady as they called my mother and I would cry and that could not be, a boy my age was not allowed to cry. Warriors never cried. Besides the school floater would arrive shortly and the weather was nice so I could wait outside before the walls and the main gate.

  The best day in my life was when I turned seven and I could go to Union School being away from the Burg and away from my father was like breathing lighter air.

  Everyone had to go to Union School. That was Union Law and it superseded local law. Union School was such a long part of our society that it too became an Old Tradition and therefore was good.

  At school I learned that Nilfeheim was a Water-World and that we all originally came from a Planet named Earth and settled here long time ago.

  Our teacher was an Off-Worlder, a person that was not born on Nilfeheim and it was immediately apparent as he was a grown man and didn't have a beard.

  Solken System was only one of many Solar Systems that belonged to the United Stars of the Galaxy, usually only referred to as the Union.

  Humans and Nonhuman species belonged to it and space ships travelled between a huge number of worlds and places.

  One morning he told us that every Union Citizen had rights and was bound by a higher law. Higher than that of the Elders and the Traditions on Nilfeheim, laws my father broke as he killed another Union Citizen.

  But that didn't matter much. No one would call the Rangers and have my father or anyone else arrested for some local problem.

  It was just my luck that in my class was not only Sigvard of the Elhir Clan and he his brought family induced hatred towards me from the first day we met, but also the brothers of the Oseberg Clan, who hated me for my Ragnarsson blood, lucily they were two grades higher and I did not see them all the time. There were twenty-seven Boys in our class. Girls received their training in separate classes. Every morning at six thirteen, the school skimmer would arrive and pick me up and after gathering everyone for my class, drop us of at Nilfeheim Federal School 34, which sat on top of a tumble of huge boulders barley above the waves.

  Unlike the old Burgs and the traditional houses in the town, the school building was of modern design with lots of large windows. All federal schools and the Med Centers were kept in excellent condition by the Union government.

  From the air the school building looked like a huge silvery letter C sitting flat on top of gray boulders surrounded by the deep green churning waves of the Ocean. The inner area of the C was the school yard and also where the floaters would land. The open side was closed off by a mount of rough rocks reaching almost as high as the flat roof of the two story building.

  Dietmar, the thin man who flew the school floater greeted me as usual with a toothy grin as I climbed into the floater to find my usual seat right behind him." Good Morning, Eric. Take a seat at your station and arm all weapon systems! It seems the Shiss are up to no good this morning!"

  "Yes Sir. Arming Translocator cannons and Loki torpedoes!" I said climbing the stairs to the second deck and sitting down on the seat right above him. Of course the School floater was not armed and there were no Shiss anywhere near Nilfeheim. Dietmar just knew about my dream to become a Starship captain once and since he was one of the few Neo Vikings who ever went beyond our system, lived on other worlds for many years and had even been to Earth.

  I was the third kid he picked up on his morning route and the other two were already in the final grade. Almost sixteen, ready to take the Ancient Challenge and become fully accepted men of our world. Of course they would not speak to someone who just turned twelve and made it to fourth grade and completely ignored me.

  Dietmar would pick up fourteen other kids and then fly the final seven-hundred miles to our school usually close to the water surface and at top speed. I loved this part, because if I put my face real close to the front view port it was almost as if I had Freya's feathered cloak and flew like Loki.

  Nilfeheim had no birds and none of the local life forms could truly fly. (The Silver-Flicker Fish could glide some distance if it jumped above the waves, using its wide fins.) I had seen real birds however during our last Virtual school trip to an Earth Zoo.

  My brothers would of course not use the School-skimmer. That was for commoners and poor clans. They were flown to school by Harkun, my father's manservant in our family floater. I had never even seen the inside of our floater. This was just one more of the demeaning things my father did to underline to everyone who he favored. It did not bother me since I much rather flew with Dietmar than with arrogant stuff and old Harkun anyway.

  The school floater landed in the inner area of the big C along with other school and private floaters and everyone went inside.

  Right by the main doors I saw Yngve Lofdahl waiting for me. He had a busted; bleeding lip and his left eye was swelling. Like me he was wearing a fur vest over a linen tunic that reached halfway to the knees, linen breeches and boots. Usually he always looked like he wore brand new stuff as his mother took great care before he left home, today his tunic was ripped and his breeches dirty.

  Yngve's family belonged to one of the newest clans who weren't older than maybe two or three generations. He was much ridiculed over this fact. That he was perhaps the physical weakest boy in the entire school was not helping either. That his father ran a successful sea weed farm and trading business and that they lived in a very nice house in the City meant little to the others. Yngve's parents were not as strictly Tradition minded and their home featured many off world technology items. For which I envied him. "Who beat you up today?" I asked more or less knowing the answer.
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  He shrugged and wiped the blood from his lips. "Annar and Gunnar, the twin brothers did it this time but they were egged on by Sigvard."

  Fighting, brawling was prohibited on school grounds and strictly enforced. "So they are going to be in real trouble if the teacher asks what happened to you."

  "I can't. Sigvard said he kills me and his clan will attack my family and beat up my parents. I will take the detention I am going to get for not speaking but I am not telling anything to Mr. Walters."

  I sighed and said." We still have some time. Let's go to the washroom and see if we can fix you up a little. You know the teacher could give you up to 20 days in single detention!"

  He shrugged and sighed at the same time." What can I do? Our Clan is very small and far dispersed. We have no Burg we can defend and whatever they do to my family, the Circle of Elders will rule in favor of the Old Clan."

  We had reached the bath rooms, no one else was there as everyone else was getting ready for class and he started washing his face and putting a cold towel on his eye." I know you got a raw deal with your father, but you are Olafson and have Ragnarsson blood. The Elders are made up of men of the old clans and the Traditions are always interpreted in favor of them, always!"

  "Maybe I should tell what happened!"

  "You are out of your mind. The Osebergs can't wait for you to do anything stupid to have an excuse to jump all over you and Sigvard hates you because he is jealous of your Clan!"

  "I am not afraid of them. There is nothing they can do to me that has not already been done to me much worse at home."

  He tossed the towels in the recycler and we both headed for class as we had little time to spare and Mr. Walters was a stickler for punctuality.

  "You know sometimes I think I should be more afraid of you than Sigvard and his gang!"

  I gasped at his statement." What do you mean by that? I have never hurt you!"

  "Of course not, but you are driven insane by your violent father and one day you may snap and do something really unexpected."

  We entered class and everyone was turning and looking. Annar pointed at him and hissed." You say a word and we going to kill you and take care of your parents the old fashioned Viking way!"

  Gunnar the twin brother of Annar grinned deeply. "I would kill myself if I had a looser father like that. A weakling like you and who had ever heard of the Lofdahl Clan?"

  Yngve clenched his fists but slid in his chair and said nothing.

  It was my nature. I could not stay quiet and said." Whoever heard of the Peerson Clan? You just challenged a friend of the Olafson Clan and you threatened to attack his home. I wonder what your father will say if he hears you declared Clan feud with the Olafsons without your Clan Chief saying so!"

  Annar became pale. All this old Clan stuff was beaten into me on a daily basis and it was easy for me to use it in an argument like that. Despite the fact that it was quite true and Annar would be in a world of trouble.

  At that moment Mr. Walters entered the class room.

  Walters was almost as massive and strong looking as my father, but he did not have a beard and kept his grey hair closely trimmed to the skull. He wore he usual gray three piece suit and a white shirt underneath. Despite his bulk he could move quickly and completely silent and appear right behind you when you least expected him and thought he was clear across the room.

  "Why are you still standing Mr. Olafson? Is there something wrong with your seat or are you planning to leave my class?"

  "No Sir!"

  "No Sir! Is a good start but not an answer! I asked you a distinctive number of questions!"

  He suddenly made a half turn and scolded Sigvard, who was silently snickering." Since you find that funny , tell me how many questions did I ask Eric?"

  Sigvard's smile froze on his face and he shrugged." It's none of my business what you discuss with this Outcast."

  "Wrong answer! I just made it your business and I know you heard every word since you found it funny!"

  He pulled his Personal Data Device from his breast pocket. Something he only did for theatrical reasons, and said." System, record three negative marks against Sigvard Elhir and the same Number against Eric Olafson."

  The Device responded with acknowledging beeps.

  "Now be seated Mr. Olafson and good morning Class!"

  Everyone responded at the same time and 32 boys said." Good Morning Mr. Walters."

  He went up to his desk and turned. "Today is the 14th of July 4994 Old Standard time. Do you know what happened exactly 500 years ago on this date?"

  He looked over the class and his eyes found Yngve who tried to hide as much as he could by keeping his head down.

  "We will discuss the significance of this date after Mr. Lofdahl gave me an answer to the question I am going to ask. Keeping your head down like that could mean you try to hide the facial evidence of tears, lipstick or a fight. Since you are Neo Vikings two of these options are most unlikely. You don't cry and you are not allowed to interact with girls at this stage!" He came closer and commanded sternly." Look at me!"

  Of course Yngve did and his eye now was really swollen and turning color.

  "Now I see clear evidence of a fight on you and since it is you I doubt I find similar traces on anyone else's face."

  Gunnar could barely contain his giggle as he heard that remark.

  Mr. Walters did not turn." I was making a logical deduction. Mr. Lofdahl is physically incapable of defending himself against one, much less two or three opponents. That does not mean I think of him any less. I do not have to point out that his mental abilities far outshine anyone else's."

  The teacher returned to his desk and pulled his PDD and said." You all know or should know why fighting is prohibited on school grounds. You have been instructed on your first school day and many times since. On many other Union schools in the Galaxy this is just one rule of many and not all that important. Here on Nilfeheim the Union School board found it necessary to make it the number one rule." He pointed at Gunnar." Tell me why!"

  Gunnar was no longer smiling and got up." Fighting among pupils and outside of supervised fight classes is strictly prohibited to maintain order and to guarantee a safe and violent free environment to all students."

  "And because you Neo Vikings are one stubborn bunch that likes bashing others over the head. The Circle of Elders has given the Union School unrestricted control over the education process and approved the School rules. By breaking these rules you break both Union law and the Ruling of the Elders. All this is very serious and for this reason I am turning off my PDD and I give you all a chance to clear this issue here in class. Fail me and disappoint my trust and I will turn this over to the principal."

  He sat down behind his desk." I know of the set of traditions that rule this society. However this is Union ground and that means for example that Mr. Lofdahl and everyone else here is under the protection of the Union. He was attacked under our watch and harmed. He could now insist on Federal Police taking his case!

  He looked directly to Gunnar." Federal Police could come and arrest everyone involved and put you before a federal court. If the court finds that Mr. Lofdahl was injured or perhaps black mailed and threatened it could decide on hefty fines, on forced resettlement of the guilty party to a penalty colony a so forth."

  He leaned back." Most of you think your Clans are very powerful and the Circle of Elders as the final answer. None of you ever even glimpsed the power and resources of the Union and what it truly means to be a Union Citizen."

  Gunnar who was still standing said." Sir, it was me and my brother. We roughed Yngve up a bit this morning."

  "It was my brother and me!" The teacher corrected and then nodded." I already deducted that much. "

  Mr. Walters said to Yngve. "Go to the school nurse and come back when she is done with you!"

  "Yes, Sir. Mr. Walters."

  "You will report this afternoon to the detention teacher for sixteen hours for not immediately repo
rting the incident."

  Yngve nodded and left the class room.

  Gunnar sat down.

  "I have not given you permission to sit!"

  Gunnar bolted back up.

  "Since you came forward. I want to hear your explanation why you did that. What honor was there to be found by you two attacking one? I thought warriors honor was much important to you!"

  Gunnar's face turned red." It was Sigvard who told us to see how far we could go. Yngve's clan is weak and new and Sigvard thought we could earn us a few extra credits."

  Sigvard hissed loudly. "Traitors!"

  "Gunnar and Annar Peerson you are going to report to the Groundskeeper Office and offer 30 hours of your free time to assist. If you complete your penalty I shall keep my word and there will be no record kept. "

  Both brothers nodded in unison. "Yes, Mr. Walters we will do that."

  Annar added. "Thank you Mr. Walters."

  The teacher raised an eyebrow." Your insight is noted and you may take 10 hours off your penalty."

  He then went over to Sigvard. " You however will report to the principal right now!"

  Sigvard got up." You Off -Worlders think you can do anything! "

  With this he left the class room.

  The teacher activated the display board behind him. "Due to the events of today I am going to change the subject of our class today. Instead of history we going to make a little Virtual Excursion and visit a session of the Member Assembly at Pluribus."

  He pointed at me." Mr. Olafson. What can you tell me about Pluribus?"

  I got up as fast as I could." It is the name of a Sun and a Solar system with six planets. It is the seat of our federal Government."

  "Indeed it is. Pluribus Unum is the first planet in that system and it is where all members sent their representatives to meet and discuss all matters of state and union and to make decisions."

  The classroom went dark and the display board showed a yellow sun in deep space and the image started to surround us and soon it was as if we sat in an all transparent space ship and approached a bright spot that soon turned into a planet.