Sven shrugged. "We just were stronger and better warriors and so we had the right to take it."
"Well since the Union Fleet was stronger than your pirate boats and arguing entirely by your logic, they had the right to bomb you. But your forefathers where given a choice, no one forced them to join. The choice was cease all pirate activity and remain isolated on this planet of yours with no contact with others at all, or to join the United Stars and accept Federal Law. Your forefathers didn't even debate one hour and filed for membership."
As he turned to the window Sven leaned over to Peter. "One of these days I'll stuff his face with my fist. That arrogant Off-Worlder, such a wimp has no right to teach us anything!"
Mr. Flensburger turned. "So you want to stuff my face and you think I am a wimp. I accept your challenge, this is what you Vikings do right?"
Sven looked around as if he wanted to make sure everyone heard the same. "You can't be serious. A tap of me would kill you, besides fighting is prohibited in school."
"Fighting among students is, indeed. Now let's call this a demonstration and again, I accept your challenge, Mr. Espeland."
I said, "I would not do it, Sven. He's from New Algiers."
Sven snorted in my direction. "When I am done with him, you're going to be next. Your father will give me a great reward if I twist your head off."
Gunnar yelled, "He might be an enemy of our clan, but by our laws and traditions. Eric was pronounced a warrior born by the Elders and he saved my life! I will not sit idle while you insult a Viking Warrior. I will kill you!"
Sigvard Elhir, glared at his direction. "You lift an arm for the Olafson and I will break your neck before we meet before the Elders."
Sven got up, showing everybody his muscles and then stepped forward towards the teacher. "I am going to rip your head off, Mr Flensburger. Then I will take care of a few others around here!"
Mr. Flensburger was totally calm and relaxed and smiled. "Then do it Sven and don't talk too much! You challenged me and all you do is boast and talk."
Sven literally flew forward and swung his huge fist. Mr. Flensburger caught Sven's wrist and stopped the punch right before his nose, then twisted it fast and in such a fashion that Sven had to go to his knees. The smaller teacher held the massive arm of Sven with no effort and said to the class, "You see Sven, on New Algiers we have a gravitation of 3.6 that means my muscles are 3.6 times denser than yours and before I became a teacher, I served the Navy and received intensive combat training. It does not have to be an Off-Worlder that teaches you, but every teacher in Basic School has to be a Citizen with a service record."
He still held Sven by the wrist and kept his arm painfully twisted and explained to us in his usual soft voice. "Because of this special deal your Planet Representative has managed to get for Nilfeheim, you are Citizens after you graduate but do not have to serve the 22 month in a Federal Service as is required for almost all other Union Citizens. No Neo Viking ever served in the fleet or in any of the other services as far as I know and thus cannot become Union Teachers." He put a little more pressure on the twisted arm. "Now I could break every bone in your body without losing a drop of sweat."
Sven groaned in pain. "I am going to kill you!"
"It is unwise to make threats to someone holding your arm in such a fashion." Mr. Flensburger twisted a little more and this time Sven yelped in pain. The teacher let him go.
Sven immediately lunged forward but the teacher stepped aside in a swift, elegant move and grabbed Sven by the shoulders, added to the momentum and made him crash into the wall. Sven shook his head dazed, got up on shaky legs and turned raging with anger, pulling his Harpooner Knife. I jumped up and so did almost everybody.
Peter yelled. "This is not honorable. He beat you fair and square, put your knife away!"
Sven's face was deep red and he pointed the wicked knife at Peter.
"I will slice you like Tyranno-bait, after I am done with that Off-Worlder!"
I jumped forward holding my chair like a shield. "Mr. Flensburger get back!"
Sven laughed. "Splendid! Your Father will reward me if I kill you. He'll give me a boat for sure!"
Flensburger was completely calm. "I appreciate your assistance Eric, but let me finish this. I ask you all to sit back down. I also give you Sven a chance to sit down and we will continue with our discussion. Do that and we forget the whole situation. However if I am forced to take that knife from you, you will be expelled from school."
"No one takes my knife and I could care less if I fail your stupid class."
"I didn't say fail class. I said you will be expelled."
Sven attacked and again Flensburger moved fast. He got hold of Sven's wrist again, just like before and with his other hand he grabbed Sven by the throat. Sven gargled, the knife fell and Mr. Flensburger lifted Sven off his feet holding the heavy teenager by the throat without any visible effort.
"You had your choice and you made it. Now I have no other choice. You are expelled! Do you know that this means you will not become a Citizen? Now I give you a second choice: Yield and surrender or die!"
Sven now turned purple struggled and gargled. "I give in. I surrender!"
The teacher let him go and said. "You are to leave school immediately. You got your wish; there won't be any school for you anymore."
Sven grabbed his knife and stumbled to the exit. "Who needs to be a stupid citizen anyway? I am a Neo Viking!"
With those words he left. Mr. Flensburger sat back down on his desk as if nothing happened and said, "Dial your PDDs to Blank page and write me a one page report about what Citizenship means to you."
***
It was during the 6th hour, Mr. Flensburger was telling us about the Klack Society when the class room door opened and Sven's father Elik Espeland stepped in.
Elik was known for his foul temper and it was said he had smashed more than a few skulls, but he appeared with his harpooner's helmet in hands.
"Mr. Flensburger, I apologize for the interruption, but it is true that you expelled my son?"
"Indeed. He had made his choice. I'll gladly show you the visuals of the incident. So you can see how it came to this." To us he said, "While I discuss these matters with Mr. Espeland you can take a break."
Sven was standing outside the door, he looked like a herd of Fangsnappers had trampled over him, his face was swollen and he had bruises and marks all over. He looked to the ground and said nothing as we filed past him.
About ten minutes later, Mr. Flensburger and Mr. Espeland come out of the classroom, both smiling and shaking hands and I could see Sven apologizing to the teacher.
Yngve came up to me and said...
"They still don't like you but no one is going to bully you anymore with that helmet and all. I wish I could do something like that."
"But you have an awesome family and a good father and a mother who loves you and you can buy things."
He grinned and handed me a Data Chip. "I got you the latest adventures of Captain Ironhand after all. I wanted to surprise you."
I thanked him with a wide grin and said. "I love the smell of Blaster Fire in the Morning."
"I am certain blaster fire has no distinctive smell. Olfactory molecules would be destroyed as any other matter,"
"It's what Captain Ironhand always says."
"You do know he is a fictional character that has absolutely nothing to do with reality, right?"
"I know but watching these gives me a little vacation from my own life and I tell you it sucks to be me."
Sigvard must have my last comment and pushed Yngve with a shoulder push to the side and snatched the Data Chip out of my hand.
"I agree it sucks to be you. Our clans are at war and I am going to make your life a living hell for what you did to my brothers and my clan!"
"You can always challenge me. Now give me back that chip!"
"My father said your father is a coward. Not Viking enough to an open Challenge."
"I cha
llenge you, right here and now."
"And get me expelled fighting a looser like you?"
"Anywhere anytime, it seems you are the coward!"
Gunnar and Annar the Peerson twins also came closer and others followed. Sigvard could no longer back out with so many witnesses and he being the strongest right after Sven poked his finger into my chest. "Alright, Olafson. Right now in the Gym, we wrestle!"
Technically Gilma wrestling was permitted and not considered fighting when it is was done in the Gym as exercise. Gilma was a form of wrestling with complicated rules of fairness we called drengskapur and had a strict code of honor.
Without further words we went down in the Schools basement area where the gyms and sports facilities were. It was not a Union School program of course but a local thing.
As I took a Gilma belt harness from a wall hook, he grabbed his belt and snapped the heavy leather belt like a whip across my back and laughed.
Gunnar yelled. "This isn't Gilma and it isn't honorable!"
He hit me again. "I never said Gilma, I am not going to soil my hands on an Olafson. I do what his father does all the time. He should be us..."
He could no longer talk. I had flung myself back and smacked the back of my head right where I thought his nose should be and followed up with an elbow to his stomach. He was much stronger than me, but his using the leather harness like a whip opened a feeling of rage and anger in me he could not even begin to fathom.
He stumbled back, giving me time to turn, blood was gushing from his nose. He was still dazzled so it appeared and swung his ham sized against me but the way he announced it gave me time to duck and hammer my fist in a short uppercut against his chin. I did not stop there and buried by other fist right at the center of his rib cage. Sven fell!
I kicked him again the temple and then wrapped the leather belt around his neck and started twisting. He blinked at me and gargled something and I said.
"If you ever insult me again, if you ever take something from me, I will kill you!"
A strong hand pulled me up and Mr. Flensburger said with an angry stern tone. "You are about to kill him now!"
Sigvard coughed and gargled and Flensburger said to Gunnar. "Take him to the School nurse."
To the rest he said. "School is out for today. You all need to cool down."
***
As I came home that afternoon I found that Father, my brothers and most men of the Clan were gone with the Family Subs to hunt Tyrannos and Three Fins. They went to the Uhim Grounds, almost 2000 clicks from the burg and would be gone for most of the month. I had never gone hunting or fishing, even during school breaks. The prospect being pinned up in the small boat with my father for weeks on end was not something would have looked forward to. So I wasn't feeling disappointed at all.
It appeared he had forgotten to instruct the remaining staff to give me any chores. So I decided to take a long swim.
Not many Neo Vikings went diving anymore, and it was said our gills would dry out and maybe even disappear in future generations.
However I used them every chance I got. Down here in the cold water I felt free. The cold water rushing through my gills always invigorated me and I wished I could stay submerged forever, but while a Neo Viking could stay under water for a very long time, the loss of body heat even through the insulated dive suit limited the time I could stay submerged. Nilfeheims oceans teamed with life and there were quite a few life forms down here, dangerous to an unprotected diver, but nothing was as dangerous as a Tyranno Fin. Our teacher said they are bigger and faster than even the biggest Whales on Terra and as aggressive as Sharks. We did have a fish we called Sharks too, and Rock Sharks as we called them were fast and could be dangerous to a diver, especially since they attacked in packs, but they weren't anything like the Tyrannos.
Ragnarsson rock was in a region of ocean where Tyrannos could be found only during the first month of Shortsummer. They migrated all to the southern half of our planet where the great kelp and seaweed patches where. They did that because the docile and herbivore Three-fin fish would feed on the rich starchy kelp buts and stems to fatten themselves for the long years of Longnight.
The Three fins were the preferred prey of Tyrannos. Then they would fight, mate and lay eggs. Female Tyrannos would stuff seaweed in rock crevices and caves to lay one or maybe two eggs, and then guard their nests with ferocity.
Fang snappers would dive from the small rock islands or floating ice bergs trying to get to these eggs or snatch a young Tyranno. Rock sharks circling it all, to either catch a Snapper in the water or feast on the leftovers of a Tyranno Kill.
Nilfeheims oceans were vast and even though they teemed with life, to actually find Tyrannos outside of Tyranno Season and outside the Uhim grounds was not as easy as one would think.
The Uhim grounds were in the only area of the planet that stayed ice free even during Longnight, due to the fact that the planets main fault line was located beneath the surface and several dozen underwater volcanoes, thousands of black smokers and underwater vents kept the water temperature even at the surface above freezing.
I must have been out for hours, but I finally had to get back out, as I felt my legs and arms starting to go numb. I knew it was high time.
I swam through the tunnel that connected our Sub Pen with the ocean. The Sub Pen had enough room for eight boats, but currently we had only five. Hunting Subs were expensive and many Clans had perhaps one, or even used the cheaper surface vessels, like the Olafsons did before they merged with the Ragnarssons. Besides only the Old Clans still went Tyranno Hunting. Others were fishing or operating Fish and Snapper Farms, however the Tyranno Hunters were considered to be the elite.
Now that most men were gone either hunting with father or tending our Farms, the Burg was eerily silent even during the day. While the burg had a central heating system, father preferred the old fashioned Tyranno Oil ovens and fire places.
While he was gone the servants kept the fires on a minimum and despite Short Summer, the Burg was always cold. Why I ended up in my mother's drawing room I could not really say, mostly perhaps I looked for warmth. I had stayed longer in the water than I should have and was shivering. It was unused ever since the night he had killed her. His new wife did not use it and stayed most of the time in her suite of rooms where she was busy with her needle crafts or she left the burg to socialize with other Clan Chief wives, a part she enjoyed greatly so I heard Midril say.
The old book was still lying on her dresser. My mother's closet door was not closed entirely and I went to close it, but instead I opened it. Her dresses and things were still there. My hands touched the soft fabrics and I could smell her wonderful perfume. I suddenly could almost hear her voice, no words or anything just the tone of her voice. I missed her so much! Something cold ran down my cheeks and even alone I felt embarrassed by my tears. Men did not cry! Before I really knew it I held one of her dresses in my hands and then held it before me and remembered the story of Thor dressing up as Freya to fool the Giants. Following a strange impulse I put on the dress. It fit me and it felt so soft. I opened my braided hair and somehow I could see my mother in my own reflection in the large mirror. It was and I could not say it any other way like a religious mysterious experience. Eric the looser and the unwanted son had disappeared and a blonde Viking girl stood there before me in the mirror. She wore a beautiful gown and I was certain now I could feel my mother's presence. I now cried and did not feel ashamed at all. That day my life had changed forever and whenever I could I sneaked into my mother's room and put on one of her dresses. I even started to wear the female undergarments and sat down reading in the old book. I knew it was wrong somehow, but Thor had done it at least once if not more so I felt connected to her. She was there just out of sight, but she was there.
Chapter 17: Grandfather
The last weeks to summer break went by faster than I liked. Mr. Walters came into class this morning and said after we greeted him." Tomorrow will be your last da
y of school and you have three month to prepare for the next year. Everyone in class will advance. While your grades and results have much room for improvement, they are satisfactory. Today I want to ask if you know why we keep time the way we do?" He pointed his finger at Yngve." You will not speak."
Since Mr. Walters gave positive marks for active responses and I had vowed to myself to improve my grades, I got up." Union school and most union worlds keep to a universal schedule and summer break has nothing to do with the seasons on Nilfeheim or any other planet."
Walters went through his usual motions and pulled his PDD." I give you a positive mark for attempt, and you are quite correct, but that is not what I asked. I asked why we do that!" He wagged his finger. "You been brave enough to get up, so remain standing and try again."
"It's from the days of the Ascent, when humans left that planet Earth. Our way of keeping time was simply practical because of the human biological clock."
He nodded and the green light on his PDD indicated he gave me a positive mark." You may sit down, Eric. It seems no one else and I exclude you Yngve from this statement, never wasted a thought on time keeping."
Gunnar got up. "That is not true Sir! Just the other day my father explained it to us!"
"Then why don't you share what your father has explained? Answering my questions and active participation will earn you marks."
Gunnar clenched his fists and grinned sheepishly." It's sort of Yngve's thing to be the geek."
"We will talk about that at another time. Now enlighten us!"
"Father said that during the early years of the Union, all time measurement was based on how time was measured on Earth. A time keeping reform was tried to accommodate all other member species, but back then the few other members didn't care one way or the other and even the most primitive Computronic had no problem converting Earth time in whatever local time. Long story short the entire Union Non humanoid and humanoid cultures alike now kept Earth time. "
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 169