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

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  Sif crossed her arms." I will never ever marry a man! I hate them!"

  "I know what has been done to you. I know many daughters and girls especially those who blossom early and look as beautiful as you are the victims of the most horrid crimes. It is the same story as with Astrid or Hedda and it was so with Snøfrid and even you Freydis. Is that not the real reason you and Hogun have no kids? "

  I gasped and said."Uncle Hogun did something to you?"

  She shook her head."No, he is the gentlest person and loving husband any woman could want. He never pressures me and respects me, I never feel second class or abused with your Uncle. It happened before …I never told him."

  Egill pointed his gnarled finger at Sif." Young Lady, you are but one of many girls on Nilfeheim that live in fear as have so many before you. He lowered his head and I am the biggest bastard of them all for not seeing this crime much earlier, not wanting to see it and thinking I could hide from all that was going on in my lonely burg." He then turned to me."Know you know why I am a Hermit. I am a coward too."

  The Old Keeper nodded with a serious face."Took you long enough to see that Old Friend and it took more courage than anyone could ask for to admit this in front of so many others.

  Egill actually wiped a tear out of his eyes." I am sorry for not doing anything sooner but I will do it now. I cannot do it alone."

  Sif was less angry as it seemed."But why do I have to marry him?"

  "To honor our traditions and your father and your family. We cannot tear down all that is Nilfeheim and replace it over night with off World culture. It must be done with patience and with care. It must be done slow and in all of it we must be careful not to lose our identity. We cannot allow Off World Greed to empty our oceans. Or turn this world into another New Sweden. Your Union does not have to be permanent. Eric leaves for the Stars and wants to become a Union Fleet Officer and you will be on Pluribus and studying and learning. You don't have to register and the marriage is not valid under Union Laws, but the symbolism is important as Eric will declare you equal before everyone. You will be the first for many to follow."

  She suddenly nodded."I understand this!"

  I had stopped stirring the meat and onions as I had turned to listen. The Old Keeper however, I had no idea how he did it, smacked me over the head and was suddenly standing behind me. "It doesn't matter if you wear a dress and call yourself Freya, your still as slow as Tyranno fin Oil drippings in the winter. Don't burn that meat!"

  I filled him a piece of bread with bacon and onions and he grunted pleased and returned to his chair.

  Aunt Freya said." Eric is perhaps the most desired young man on Nilfeheim, there aren't many girls that don't dream and swoon of him and Sif is and I hope the other girls forgive me saying this, quite likely the most beautiful girl on our world, both of you are from very rich and powerful clans and each clan has a number of allies. If Eric declares Sif as equal and she has proven to the elders that she is by completing the challenge…"

  Egill spread his hands." I see at least someone is using her head around here! It will combine our traditions by honoring them and making new ones."

  Freya took her mask off, her eyes excited." I can't eat with that thing and we may not need the Daughters of Nilfeheim anymore."

  The Old Keeper said."I would think about that. A secret Organization with a network like yours should not be so easily disbanded. Maybe a little restructured and the Organization can be the secret consciousness and making sure our world stays on track."

  Astrid elbowed me as she carried a big plate of warm bread to the table."I told you we had a crush on you."

  "I can't understand why me?"

  "Fighting Tyrannos, besting Sword fighters on Nilfeheim Radio, every girl in school saw your exploits, to all this add your Grandfathers prominence and his funeral. You throw axes to win for Sif. You look like a girl, talk like one sometimes, but you don't see some things we see."

  "I am not sure what I am. I am not a girl, and I am most likely just insane."

  Elena kissed me on the cheek."You are a hero to me, no matter what you to mention saving my life."

  Sif smirked." Well I can always think of you as Freya then the idea marrying you is not so bad. But it will not be registered!"

  I put the noodles in and asked." What about the other problem. Brunar and my father's wife?"

  Egill said. "Let us eat first. I am starving and I need a little time to think about it."

  A little later I carried a big pot to the table and we all ate.

  ***

  I stood by the Conning Tower and Sif came up the Gangway. Astrid was already in the boat. Elena was not officially implicated or involved and so she staid and would return with Aunt Freydis and the Old Men. I heard Egill's voice in my head." Don't take her into flight mode. Your decision to keep that a secret as long as possible was a wise one and could come in handy as a surprise."

  "I won't."

  "Take your time. We need to prepare a few things on our end to make sure the timing is right and do plot your course as I said, get close to the Bendixen Grounds."

  "They might try to use tech stop or something more drastic."

  "Exactly the evidence we need to take one player out of the equation. Now quit standing around and get my boat safe to Bifrost."

  "And you better get your wrinkled behind inside where it is warm. You are not too old to catch a cold, besides you gave me that boat!"

  "One does not get a cold from exposure to low temperatures. What are they teaching you?"

  Sif had reached me and stared at me then at the old man."You are talking to him in that Psionic way, don't you?"

  "Yes I do sometimes. He will teach you, eventually you get used to it."

  She went inside and I followed her. She said."He just did. I just realized he could talk to you and me and I am sure it was not the same conversation."

  I blinked and said." I wonder what his Heidelberg Psi Index is."

  He answered me in my head."None of your business actually, but the Saresii said I would make a good one, Saresii that is."

  "You being friends now with the first Saresii makes me think you impressed even them."

  "Get going!"

  Chapter 42: Lights out

  Interlude: Security Threat Analyst

  Pierce Siechert was very proud of his job as most SII employees were. SII was by far the largest of the Ultra Corporations having more subsidiaries and business branches than there were starts in the heavens, well maybe not that many but close! He wore an immaculate black Kim Cut business suit made on the outside of finest shiny satin like Archa Silk, but lined with SII- Molecular structured Ultronit scales, feather light and virtually indestructible. The next best thing to a force field and unlike a force field, it could never fail, deactivate or lose power. Union Force Recon Marines most advanced Arjuna Battle Suits were constructed out of several layers of this material. Of course the Arjuna Battle Suits were developed and produced at SII – Advanced Combat Systems Division.

  Pierce could have never afforded such a suit even with his generous salary, but even the lowest janitor working somewhere in a sub-basement was treated like the most valuable employee. Despite the fact trillions of beings worked for this Corporation no one he knew and certainly not he felt like an unimportant speck. The secret of SII's high employee satisfaction rate were not only the great benefits, but the expressed policy of the administration that everyone was important and treated equally. Actually he did not need such an advanced suit, he was just a Security Threat analyst at the GalNet Desk Gamma Seven , one of five thousand STA working on this desk alone, but it made him feel special when he rode the Trans Planet Transport tube. His Supervisor simply signed his request form and he got the suit six days later via Inter Corp Mail. He was officially designated a field tester for this suit and even got 160 credits extra for his testing.

  He worked in a large open space desk floor. His work space was part of a twelve part circle; each such circle on
this floor represented a team. Each team had a Team Color and a name. SII encouraged friendly rivalry like sports, games and such, but also paid for Social nights and events for all desks.

  His supervisor sitting on an elevated desk in the middle of the circle was a small only one meter tall furry Holdian waved at him and squeaked." Good morning Pierce." Despite his small stature, Pierce respected his supervisor and waved back. There was always a subdued busy din in the back ground, people talking laughing, equipment making some sounds and he logged on into his system. His task and those of everyone else in this department was to identify potential security threats to the company. It could be anything from terroristic threats to SII equipment in a Virtual game or bad jokes about Employees. Since SII was number one it was also the target of endless lawsuits, threats, envy and corporate combat attacks ranging from cyber attacks to physical full planetary assaults. Ultra Corporations although technically bound by the same laws as anyone else not always played by the same rules. Schwartz Intergalactic for example had an armed Security space fleet second perhaps only to the Union Fleet. On the surface all Ultra Corps were law abiding but beneath they fought to the teeth for market shares, product rights, monopolies and profits. SII exclusively operated GalNet as it held the technological secret of instantaneous communication even between the most distant places.

  Pierce could call his brother, who worked for a space station construction company currently setting up stations in the Andromeda Galaxy over 2.8 million light years away and there would be no noticeable delay and the call would cost about as much as if he called the sandwich shop two floors down. This technology was not only the envy of every competing Corporation but also the target of alien species and cultures outside the Union.

  He checked one of his sniffer crawlers, an application that simply crawled up and down GalNet sniffing for keywords such as Schwartz, SII and related terms. It would not report every instance the word was used in an open unsecured conversation or chat but if there was a pattern or a sudden increase. There on a previously very quiet world in terms of communication traffic was someone inquiring about Rex Schwartz, the boss and basically single owner of the company. There was no traffic at all before and over the last six weeks someone researched every aspect and spends a considerable amount of money on all sorts of publications and magazines that featured the big boss. While there were many millions of fans, haters, fan clubs, hate clubs, anti Rex Schwartz Associations, School report assignments and similar reasons for such a spike. It was still worth checking a little closer; this is was his job after all. The activity was localized to one female user, most likely just someone fascinated with the boss, but the Computronic checking logical associations and connections found that the user also attended several Shaill Psycho Drug seminars. According to the data base, Nilfeheim was P191 and the interest in the Unions most advanced Psycho pharmaceuticals was a little odd. He isolated the User and checked her calling habits. He would not pry in her private calls as this was against the law but checking her connection habits was not.

  The chatter and din of the background suddenly changed, Pierce however had several field screens around him open and did not notice. However almost everyone else did. A tall man with short cropped silvery blond hair with the athletic body of a slaughter ball player had entered the floor, he wore an almost identical suit to Pierce, cut in the same currently fashionable Kimono style, but his was made of a more subtle not shiny black material with fine pinstripes. The Floor manager almost fell out of his chair and bolted right up. No one here had ever seen him in person. Perhaps a few thousand employees could claim to have ever talked to him, but the Floor manager still recognized him. He was not prepared for this. This was like God suddenly appearing! What was he supposed to say or do? Was this some sort of inspection?

  Schwartz was accompanied by two men and a woman, the woman trailed behind him with a PDD in her hand. He came straight over and to him and said." Sorry for the unannounced visit, just keep doing what you always do, is a Pierce Siechert working here?"

  The Floor manager, a four meter tall Andorian swallowed and then said." Yes Sir, Mr. Schwartz. Sir! That technician is at Orange Wheel Desk 14. I can summon him!"

  "No need just direct me there and you can call me Rex of course. Wasn't there a memo about that?"

  The Andorian blushed. "I delete all those Main Corp Messages, I never expected…"

  "No worries. I do the same a lot myself. "

  "If you would follow me Sir, I mean Rex."

  While the CEO followed the tall Andorian he asked." While I am here, you can tell me if there is anything amiss or if you need something?"

  "Mr. Schwartz! I mean Rex; this is the best job I could ever ask for. I am with SII Internal Security Assessment for over nine years. "

  He turned to the woman behind him." Yvonne did he fill out his favorite profile and wish list?"

  "Yes Rex, this is Elon Hoot. Floor Manager SII-ISA and he is listing Vaccu Ball events as his favorite and is a fan of the Terran Terrors. His wish list includes to attend a game with friends."

  Rex looked up to the Andorian." Well I think you and your friends, meaning your floor and families are due to watch the champion game live. "

  Elon tripped over his own feet." You mean everyone on the floor go to the finals on Blue Moon?"

  "It's on me! Enjoy! Yvonne will arrange the details!"

  She smiled. "Already done, Sir."

  "I don't know what to say Sir! "

  Rex pointed at the only working man, everyone else was staring." Is that Pierce?"

  "Yes, that is him!"

  "I like what I see. He keeps working!"

  Everyone immediately started to look busy.

  Pierce felt a tab on his shoulder and he said." Not now, I think I have discovered a Level Nine threat that could develop in a Level Eight."

  Someone leaned next to him looking at the field screens." What is a level Eight threat?"

  "Level Eight is undetermined potential and I most likely need to escalate this one. Some guys are using the Big Boss Image in a Dream maker Scenario and it looks like they use it to scam a lady of a P 191 Culture. The whole thing is weird enough to raise it." He turned to see who was asking and laughed." Good one, Guys! That Holo of the big Boss is not very convincing!"

  "How does the Big Boss really look like then?" Asked Rex

  "Who is that? Lundum are you messing around?"

  Then he noticed the shocked and silent faces of his colleagues, his floor manager making frantic hand signs. He lost all color and got a very strange feeling in his stomach and then he whispered. "Mr. Schwartz?"

  "I need to work on my appearance if it isn't convincing, but yes I am Rex Schwartz. I wanted to talk to you about the suit."

  Pierce wanted to sink in the floor." Yes Sir?"

  The CEO sat down on a free hover chair." Oh no need to be concerned. These two gentlemen here are of Product Development and we had a discussion about the new structured Ultronit Mesh and Yvonne found out that there was actually a product tester on the same planet and we wanted to ask if you are satisfied. The main complaint was that it wasn't comfortable but you wear it even to work."

  Pierce's cheeks burned as if someone slapped him but then he slowly relaxed. There was nothing to fear and the Boss was exactly as collegial and normal as the stories about him said he would be." I find it very comfortable and there is no telling that you wear an advanced armor, except when you put it on it feels a little heavier than a normal suit."

  Rex looked at the two men." Doesn't sound like a complaint to me? I think we can go to the next phase and start market it to the high end security sector."

  The two nodded and Rex paid no longer attention. "Tell me more about that Scam that is using my Image."

  ***

  David Moyes did not bring chocolate covered Hell Berries this time. He was not happy. Kevin Moyes sat in his Dream maker recliner but the Dream infuser Helmet was floating above him, deactivated. He had his feet up an
d talked to Lisbon Derek one of his colleagues. "What's the matter David?" He asked. "Our mark is not online. She is doing the things we asked her to do. I think the clan war is about to start!"

  David was clearly disturbed and carried a printout floating above his PDD."Why have you not mentioned that guy Harkun in your reports before? I found him under appendix seven of your reports!"

  David shrugged."He is the man servant to the husband of our mark. He was useful and went to Pluribus to complete the business with the Erik Gustav Ragnarsson business. What is the big deal? He is just a local idiot!"

  "He is an agent of Tyson Seafood, our Contractors major competitor, that is what he is and they are running a similar operation with We-Can-get-it Inc. It might surprise you but that is one of our major competitors."

  David sat up." How do you know all this?"

  "Because I am in this business for a long time and know the players. Someone at WCGI owed me a favor and told me, all this is bad but that is not why I am upset. I told you to be careful using Schwartz Images."

  Lisbon Derek who was acting the Schwartz Avatar in the Dream Maker simulation said defensive." The Psych Computronic suggested it as the Mark was no longer really interested in Jon but wanted to date Rex Schwartz."

  "She just talked over GalNet to a Psych Drug Supplier at Shaill and asked if they had Rex Schwartz DNA on file and wanted to order drugs and perfumes. There is a good chance SII Security is on the trace right now! I want you two to destroy all connection evidence, delete the Dream Maker simulation at once!"

  He stormed out before they could answer and in his office he called a friend of. "I need a good pirate who can sneak into Union Territory and drop a P Bomb on a planet!" He needed all possible evidence and links destroyed and fast!"

  The friend said. "There aren't many who can pull that off and P Bombs are Terran Mil Tech. That is going to be very expensive."

  "Get it done! I pay!"

  "Alright I contact my guys and your planet should be toast earliest in ten days."

  "The faster the better!"