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

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  His teacher Mr. Roundtree was actually a Native American of Earth and despite the fact that he was an Off-worlder very highly regarded by everyone, stopped him as he wanted to leave class."Mr. Mao Mao what are your plans for this your last summer break?"

  Mao said."I don't have many plans. I will participate in the sports games for the last time, study the books on Weapon systems you organized for me and wait till October to travel to the Academy."

  "The Union Education Board has a Student exchange Program and they looking for exceptional students to spend their last month of school and the three month of summer break with another culture. Since you are my best student I thought I would offer you the opportunity. It is all paid, of course but they are also looking for an exceptional brave student who would accept the invitation of a new Union Member species called the Archas. Because their form frightens many humans they want to show that it is only the form and that they are not as they appear."

  "I am deeply honored that you thought of me. If my father agrees, I will go!"

  "You don't ask me how they look like, who they are or where they are?"

  "If I would ask those questions you would not have picked me, Mr. Roundtree. They are Union members and they are sentient. If I would base my decision on how they look I would neither be brave nor a good citizen."

  Roundtree put his hand on Mao's shoulder." Indeed Mr. Mao Mao, this is why I have chosen you. I asked your father first and he has permitted it, pending your decision."

  "I think it is a great opportunity. So I can experience the Up world before I go to the Academy and show everyone I come from a stone-age civilization."

  "Well the space bus will be here in 2 days. I will go in town and make a GalNet call to arrange everything."

  Chapter 6: Defenders of Gore

  The Swing Tram was something else. Passenger cabins suspended on a long cable released from a docking port swung across the Canyon and clinked into a similar port on the other side. For a short moment you felt weightless then at the base of the swing several gee's pressed down on you while the rock wall came rushing towards the capsule. The docking station was cleverly disguised behind a holo image of rock. People were screaming as loud speakers transmitted crushing sounds and even though I would never tell anyone, I think I screamed too at the first time. The roller coaster ride bolted right to the rock wall and then seemingly dipping into the river through a transparent tunnel was so awesome I did it three times. I was kicked out the Tunnel of Horrors after I knocked out a Ghost that actually was an actor in a glowing costume. I told them I never been in a Tunnel of Horrors before and thought the apparition was really attacking the woman before me. The ghost however accepted my apologies after I paid him 2000 credits for his pain he suffered from the broken jaw.

  The Spider Bot ride up and down the sheer rock walls strapped to the back of a six legged robot spider was quite unnerving but I was told there were no accidents in the last 100 years of that attraction and the robots were designed to do that and had safety features like directional Arti-grav that prevented a fall.

  It all was fun but I thought it be more fun with someone to share the thrills and then talk about them. Just doing them alone was just not the same. I wished I could do this with Elena or perhaps Gunnar or Ygral. I wondered where those two were at the moment.

  So I left the Amusement park and went to the main shopping area of the City Dusk. I could not believe the size of the buildings and to realize that they were occupied and all the flyers and taxis carried passengers. Yet Dusk was not the biggest city on Twilight and nothing more than a Silver Flicker was to a Tyranno compared to Pluribus. There was also plenty of pedestrian traffic and especially here in the main shopping area. One Shop's advertisement sign caught my eye: "A. Vogt and Isher – Weapon Merchants and Gun Smiths"

  I did send Mördaren home and I was a Neo Viking, since I was unable to stay out of trouble maybe I could get me another sword or something.

  Inside were glass cases and three dimensional displays of every weapon imaginable. Spears, Axes, Swords, guns, beamers rocket launchers and everything in between. A lighted sign over the main counter read." the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Next to it a poster proclaimed the owners to be genuine Terrans."

  Why this was a selling argument I had no idea, but it seemed to impress the fish faced Ult talking to a Klack while looking at the weapon's displayed." Those monkey-boys from Earth sure know how to make weapons don't they?"

  I did not hear the Klack response as a bald headed man came over and said." Can I help you find anything in particular?"

  I shrugged." I am from Nilfeheim and we usually carry only swords. I am no expert on distance weapons."

  He checked his PDD." We are sending swords and knives there a lot. I just checked, Nilfeheim has no local restriction laws on any weapons and I can fix you up with a Federal Class Three license in no time. Class three is the highest civilian class. Only a few civilians are permitted to own Mil Grade level IV and higher, like the Citizens from Green Hell for example. But mind you, there is a great selection for Class three!"

  "Alright fix me up then!"

  Ten minutes later my CIT chip had a new add on. Federal Weapons bearer License Class III. He then guided me to a Display case." These are more advanced swords. He places one on the counter." This is a Marine Corps Issue Chain sword. Three thousand molecular compacted, monofilament Ultronit teeth with a micro coating of Neutronium. Revolving around the blade extendable to 150 cm at five times the speed of sound. Each tooth vibrates at 25,000 cycles a second. No known material can withstand this baby, except for reinforced Neutronium. Will cut a fully armored Nul in half like cutting butter with a hot knife."

  I picked it up. It was heavy. He spread his hands, "even at atom thin layer of Neutronium is quite heavy." He handed me something that looked like a sword handle. No blade at all. "This, my Viking friend is a mono filed sword. Activate it here and you see it generates a 180 cm long purple barely visible Para-Dim force field. It its almost two dimensional and slide right between the molecular bondage of most materials and sever it. Also cutting most materials up to Ultronit and is quite effective against a shielded person or target."

  He pointed behind him." Of course we have no tech and low tech versions of every sword and bladed weapon known to the Union, for most you don't need any license. How about guns?"

  "As I said I am no expert in guns and I rather stick with something I know."

  "We have self-aiming weapons but you would need a Neuro connector for those. Beam Gloves and shoot fingers, laser eyes are all class six weapons. Meaning weapons must by law look like weapons and cannot be hidden in something else or made to look like something else, unless you have a Class VI license, but I don't know anyone who has one."

  I think I take that chain sword. "It sure looks awesome and if it is good for the marines it's bound to be good for me."

  "Good choice. It comes with a twelve shot Nano Thermite flamer. Do not use that indoors!"

  In its retracted state it was just underarm long and came with a holster.

  Feeling much more like a Viking again. I left the place. The next space bus that would go into a direction I needed was not due until tomorrow.

  Several of the Gun stores customers and sales persons had gone outside and I went too, to see what was this all about. A group of men and women, I counted twenty three, wore white blood stained sheets, and hand painted signs and banners. The banners read:" Free Gore! Stop killing the Living Planet; expel all colonists and Corporations from Gore! , Fight for the Rights of Gore!

  The group was trailed by four Police men and an equal number of robots. Most pedestrians and shoppers completely ignored them. Someone in the group I was standing in said." I don't know why they allow those whacko terrorists to protest. Those are all Gal Drifts anyway. Useless maggots!"

  The protest group suddenly stopped and pelted everyone in sight with red plastic bags.

  A blo
nde with a fanatical glare in her face tossed one in my direction and I was able to avoid it only partially, the thing burst, hitting my shoulder instead of my face and splattered me with a red liquid. I really had to stop myself and resist the urge to tell her what I thought about this, but I would not get into more trouble. The Cops and robots already reacted. A flyer swiftly swopped down and dropped several football shaped objects. The Robots and several of the Guns store customer reacted and fired at the dropping spheres. Two popped and the Police robots collapsed! I turned to run inside the gun store for cover. No need for me to be involved in something I had no idea what it was all about.

  I rushed in and stared into a gun. Three men and a woman in blood stained sheets and hoods held guns. The bald headed man lay wounded on the floor and two others were quite dead, one missing a head and the other had a fist size black hole where his heart was. A fourth Gun store employee had his hands raised. The men were grabbing guns and weapons and putting them in carry bags.

  The gun pointing at me was held by a woman. Even the white sheet did not hide her female shape completely and there was red hair sticking out from underneath the white hood."

  "Don't be a hero! Stick your hand to the ceiling and you walk out alive!"

  I did and I wondered what the odds were to be the victim of a crime twice in two days, I was very proud of myself not to do what I wanted to do. I told myself."These are not your guns. The police are already here and tomorrow I would be on my way to Arsenal.

  One of the masked men looked out the window."The decoys aren't doing too well. There is more police and they shot down our Flyer!"

  The Bald headed sales person did not look to good. His left arm was a burned stump and he shivered, a clear sign of shock and he looked pleading at me for help! The girl covering me turned to look, that was my chance and I grabbed her wrist with the hand holding the blaster twisting her arm to her back turning her that way in a painful way forcing her like a shield before me . She yelped in pain and I took her gun with the other hand and pressed it in her back, while her gang turned to face me. Aiming their weapons but not shooting."Let her go, bastard and we let you get away alive!"

  "I blast her to bits. I don't know what gun this is but my finger is at the trigger and I am very nervous!"

  "Hero, you don't know who you are messing with!"

  "A bunch of crocks dressed like idiots robbing a gun store, right?"

  "Last chance Hero. Our cause is more important than her. I shoot right through her if I have to. We are the Gore Defenders and if you even care a little about Gore, you let us do our thing!"

  "I have no clue who that is. Now quit talking and drop your guns."

  Just then an amplified voice said." This is Twilight Police. Union Police is on its way to assist us. The store is surrounded. Surrender and we will guarantee a fair trial."

  The speaker of them yelled back." We have hostages and we carry Spore Bombs. We are not afraid to use them. Half the planet will be depopulated before you can stop it. We won't wait till you had a chance to get the PSI Corps here or Union SWAT. Our demands are simple." Bring a Flyer to the front door and have a D 12 FTL shuttle ready at the port. We will release the hostages then."

  I had aimed the gun between arm and body of the girl "Did you forget about me Loudmouth?" I fired. The gun blast roasted the gang leaders head. And he collapsed. I fired again as the other two hesitated and one more died. The woman however reacted equally fast and hammered the back of her head into my nose. I was blinded by pain. She screamed."Shoot him Josh, now!"

  I simply let myself drop. Something incredibly hot singed the top of my head and then my eye sight cleared enough and I pressed the trigger once again aiming a beam was easier than I thought. He had hesitated to fire as his first shot had still wounded the woman, her robe was actually on fire and she tried to get out of it using only one arm. My shot had hit the man where his neck met his torso and now police and robots came storming in. One robot fired a weapon arm at me!

  ***

  I regained consciousness and cursed like a Nubhir skinner." This is the second time I got paralyzed on this Fangsnapper dung place planet!" I looked around as I sat up. I was on some sort of emergency stretcher in a medical clinic of sorts and a dozen police men, a news man and a doctor were present. The doctor said." I restored your scalp and replaced most of your ear and gave you a hair grower. You should have your hair back in two three days."

  "My hair?"

  A man in civilian clothing said." Your head was on fire. The robot put you in stasis. While you were in restoration surgery we checked on you, Mr. Olafson. It seems the Hero of Nilfeheim just became the Hero of Twilight. I am William Reynolds, Planet Governor and I am here to thank you!"

  "For spoiling a Gun store robbery, a thank you card and a free subscription to a gun magazine would have been sufficient, Sir."

  "The Gore Defenders really had a Spore bomb on his body and he was fanatic enough to use it. We are still investigating how they got the hands on one."

  "I have no idea who the Gore Defenders are and what a spore bomb is, but I got a Bus to catch, Sir."

  "Mr. Olafson as I said we checked on you. You are according to your Planets representative on your way to Arsenal to apply at the Academy. You are traveling with Space Bus and you still have several weeks time. We would like to thank you and have booked a passage on a Fast Luxury Clipper that will take you to Corridor and from there you can resume your journey aboard a Space Bus to Arsenal gate. "

  One of the police men said." The Gore Defenders are a small but fanatical terror group recruiting their members from a sub culture called the Galactic Drifters. Their aim is to remove all colonists and companies from a planet called Gore II. That system and planet is only eighteen light years from here and since the planet is corporate owned and security is very tight, they bring their protests to other planets, unfortunately also to Twilight.

  "A spore bomb is a Terran/ X101 development out of the War spores used by the Kermac and the Piostla during the last war. Aerial self replicating genetically engineered spores eating anything organic, a spore develops a fast expanding greenish foam that only stops when there is no organic material left, or it is contained in a force field. It would have rendered every being on the twilight strip into a skeleton and every plant, every piece of wood, every rubber and fish into a gob of green slime and it would do that in about ten minutes. We would not have enough time to evacuate, or set up enough force fields for everyone. So you really did save millions of lives and our economy. Not to mention the live of one of the gun store owners."

  The Planet Governor said." Why don't you be our guest for two or three days and you still be way too early at Arsenal Gate. I offer you a personal sight-seeing tour! "

  "Heck why not."

  ***

  The Governor kept his word and it was actually the coolest thing. He took me on a white water rafting trip, which I enjoyed greatly. Showed me Night side and the beautiful site of the Night side town, it reminded me of Isen Landsby but this town was much bigger and was called the City of a billion lights. It sparkled and looked very pretty especially from a distance. There I was invited to a fine Diner with lots of local fish and it was quite good.

  Now on the second day we were to visit Day town and according to the Governor the best way to get there was by Dust Bouncer. The bouncer was a 50-meter-long machine riding on eight enormous balloon tires. It had several cabins inside with beds and a small staffed kitchen. On its top was a panorama lounge with great view of the glaring desert. Big Ball the enormous gaseous planet occupied most of the sky and it was the most impressive sight I had seen so far. The Gas giant's atmosphere was a kaleidoscope of swirling colors and two of the other big Nilfeheim sized moons could clearly be seen as well. We sat in the comfortable panorama lounge while the vehicle was rolling through the desert. He sipped at his drink and said." The day side is much more dangerous and unforgiving than the night side. With enough warm clothing and a face mask you can
survive outside on the night side for a while, but the day side is bombarded by radiation and heat. Weather does not change on Twilight. Winds blow in the same direction due to the convection caused by the temperature differences and that they do since this moon exists. Grinding whatever mountains this place once had into a powder fine dust, filling many valleys. There are oceans of this powdery dust out here. It is so fine that it almost behaves like a liquid, or a non Newtonian liquid to be exact, it is so fine you can easily drown in it. Some of these dust lakes are several kilometers deep, that's why this bouncer has those enormous wheels. It actually floats on the dust."

  "And it is mined?" I asked.

  "Yes it has actually many industrial uses, like bore hole stabilization but it contains also almost every metal and useful mineral and already in microscopic kernel size. Easy to separate and already refined."

  The steward who had just served the drinks came back up the small stair case walking backwards! I found that odd and then a woman appeared, half of her face was burned and she held a weapon. "Stay seated, Gentlemen. I managed to escape as you can see and I got two perfect hostages. This bouncer is under our control and while the Governor will help me to get my demands fulfilled. I have other plans for you Mr. Hero!"