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

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  "Uh, oh! Yes I can hear Gore right now! Wow! Really?"

  She stared at me with an open mouth.

  "Yes Gore. I tell her! No problem! Talk to you soon!"

  I shook my head."You are so right, lady. Gore speaks indeed and he just said to tell you that he doesn't need your help, and you can all go home now. Quit the terror and crime spree and use the money you spend on weapons to buy a GalNet Commercial. He says you reach much more folks that way!"

  One of her companions hit me with his weapon, but she said." Stop that. There is some truth in what he says! Why are you not afraid? You look no older than maybe sixteen and yet you insult us, talk like there is nothing to fear. We will kill you, you know that right?"

  "Lady you can't claim higher moral ground in one sentence and proof with your actions you are not better than any of us. I was raised with fear. Yes I am afraid but it won't do me any good if I shiver in fear."

  She snipped her fingers."Well then I will give you a reason." Her companion handed her a white hood with red blood spatter painted on it and another produced a little Hover Cam. She spoke into the hover cam."We are the Gore defenders and we have captured your Governor, his guest of honor and four crewmembers of this Dust Bouncer. We demand the complete evacuation of Gore and that you broadcast this visual recording on GalNet on all News Channels. We further demand that Axel Enroe the 7th and Rex Schwartz are arrested on torture charges. Torturing a helpless sentient and unique being! If these demands are not met, we will kill the hostages. Don't bother searching for us. If we notice anyone coming within visual range of this Bouncer we will blow it up. "

  She stood lowered her gun and killed the steward! "This is to show you we are serious and our own safety means nothing. The little Hero is next. I expect your response within the hour!"

  The governor howled."You will hang for this! I promise!"

  "We don't expect them to fulfill our demands and they will try some Para military stunt to free you, but that doesn't matter, this Bouncer is rigged to explode anyway. With you in it!"

  Something rocked the Bouncer and she looked around." Didn't you kill the driver?"

  One of her associates nodded."Yes I did. It is one of us driving."

  The entire Bouncer slowly leaned forward .

  "What the fuck is going on. Go check on him!"

  The Governor said." Your man driving the bouncer is obviously not a local. He drove straight into Lake Talcum."

  She got up pressed the gun against his temple." Speak up! What are you talking about?"

  "That we all are doomed now. Bomb or no bomb, We will sink to the bottom of Lake talcum. The reactor will over heat and we will all die either suffocating or melting."

  Her associate looked at his PDD." Our flyer is not responding."

  "Go check on the flyer and stop the bomb! I keep an eye on these two!"

  The bouncer bopped again this time in the rear.

  I said to her." I know something!"

  She came over aimed the gun at me." Speak up" . Again the floor sacked away a few inches. She made a step to regain her balance. I had waited for that and I pushed myself up as fast as I could hitting her chin with my head." I could hear a grinding crunch, my head hurt, but she was thrown back and I kicked her against the side of the head for good measure."I know you should always wear a hood. Your face is nothing to be bragging about!"

  Then I rushed over to the Governor." I got a knife in the back of my shirt. Can you reach it?"

  "I will try!"

  He managed and to cut my ties, not without slicing into my arm as well. I was bleeding but I was free. I cut him loose, grabbed the gun of the woman and said to him. Tie her up real good and then use her PDD to call for help!" I put on her white sheet and the hood and said." I take care of the others!"

  Without waiting for a response I rushed down the stairs. One of her associates came running." Our flyer is almost completely gone. We can' t reach it. "

  "Teaches you idiots to land on the dust!" I fired.

  I had a hard time keeping my lunch down as I dragged the headless torso into one of the little cabins. It was a gruesome sight. Inside was a man tied up, the cook. He was horrified.

  "No worries he won't bite anymore. I be right back"

  I headed forward to the Drivers compartment . the driver was lying dead in the open door and one of the Gore Defenders behind the controls. He was panicking." Whatever I do we keep sinking deeper!"

  I pressed the hot muzzle against his head."Then do nothing! How many of you are there? I ask will ask only once then I start roasting body parts!"

  'You aren't Helen!"

  "Wrong answer. One more chance!"

  "Five we are five!"

  " Get up!"

  He did and I shoved him out. My eyes fell on a Tool box and while I kept him checked I opened it and silently thanked the mechanic who stocked it. There was a can of Stick and Fix. I swore to myself that I would from now on carry a can with me at all times. I glued his hands to the steel frame and put a generous helping of the goop over his mouth." This stuff is the greatest , don't you think?"

  His response was sentence consisting of "m's" but I was sure he meant something much less flattering.

  Two to go. I systematically went from cabin to cabin and but found only one back in the Engine / reactor room." He knelt by something that I was certain was the bomb. He turned and said." It's off, but we are screwed, that moron drove us straight in a micro dust lake. Hey you are not Helen!"

  I pointed the gun at him. " What gave me away?"

  "Your chest is to flat."

  "I am working on that. Now where is your buddy?"

  "He tried to reach the flyer! He is stuck out there!"

  "Good for him! Now turn around and put your hands to the wall."

  After he was securely attached to the wall with the last of the Bond and stick. I took off the sheet and the hood and went carefully back up. Hoping the Governor had secured the woman. She was still where I had left her. Reynolds held the PDD and my knife and said." Her PDD needs a Code. I can't activate it. "

  Looking out the panorama windows, the dust had already reached the upper deck."How long do we have?"

  He shrugged." I don't know for sure, but since they stopped trying to move we gained a little time. Maybe 30 minutes. The problem is the reactor. If it can't exchange heat it will overheat and shut down. Without reactor we will run out of air."

  "Won't they not search for us?"

  "Once we are under the dust, it is virtually impossible to scan for us , the metal and the radiation will mask our location."

  "I will look for the other PDD's. They have mine and yours and the Bouncer is bound to have GalNet."

  "I tried the GalNet terminal already. It is dead!"

  I checked on the lady. She was alive, then I double checked her bonds and tied the knots myself." You need to learn to make better knots Mr. Reynolds. "

  He laughed nervous."I will do that and you need to walk very careful. Any vibration will send us down faster!"

  I moved as carefully and checked on the Defenders but could not find a working PDD. I sprayed some release over the glued mouth of the one in the engine compartment."Where are our PDD's?"

  "We threw every working PDD and the onboard module over board."

  "Where is yours?"

  "I don't have one!"

  "How did you plan to get over to the flyer?"

  "The same way we came. With protective suits. We are all going to die aren't we?"

  " It's a bit late to think about that. Mr. Gore Defender."

  The entrance hatch was underneath the dust already and even with the Protective suits we would sink. This wasn't water and was sure I couldn't breathe boiling radiated dust.

  I put one of the suits on anyway and took one to the Governor."Say aren't you a VIP person with body guards and all that?"

  "We never needed that on Twilight. Despite how it looks, Mr. Olafson, our planet is usually very quiet and such events are very
rare. I am sorry that I convinced you to take part. I am so sorry!"

  "We are not dead yet and they did transmit that demand video. They are bound to search for us!"

  He smiled."You seem to have an unquenchable optimism. You don't give up! You are indeed a hero!"

  "Nubhir Poop! I am no hero. I just hate unfair situations and this one sure counts as one!"

  The dust had reached the view ports and I looked at him " Didn't you say those balloon tires are meant to float on this stuff?"

  " The Bouncer is designed to drive across the waste deep sand and dust but it is too heavy to drive over these micro dust lakes. Experienced drivers can see them and avoid them of course. The tires alone would of course float on it!"

  "Well then that is what we are going to do! I can see a spare tire mounted on the back. We blast it loose, then we sit on it and row the thing to shore. It's big enough for all of us!"

  "No use! The entrance is already below the dust!"

  "Oh shut up with that pessimistic we can't do attitude, Sir!"

  I freed the two remaining Crew members told then to go up and put on protective suits. The bouncer so it turned out had enough even for the 3 remaining terrorists. I had them put on the suits and used a roll of sealing tape to tie their hands to their backs. I told the woman who seemed still unconscious." You can either put on a suit, Helen or go down with the Bouncer. Your breath is way to irregular for someone pretending to be unconscious."

  The bouncer sacked forward lifting its back a little up while the front windows of the panorama lounge were completely covered.

  She moved." I am going to kill you! You bastard."

  "We don't have much time , Lady and I am sure as hell not waiting on you! So suit up or stay!"

  She did and I tied her up again.

  "Close your helmets!" I said and fired the blaster against the rear view port. The material was tough and it took the charge of one blaster to make a big enough hole. Using a second I climbed out, there was a simple lever mechanism to release the huge tire and I herded everyone on it. The water like dust was already to my ankles. The suits as I found out had radio links as I heard the ladies voice." You are a fool Hero! You should have killed me when you had a chance! Do you think I let them get me alive again? The bomb is connected to an implant in my head!"

  Chapter 8 - Command Seat

  She couldn't say another word. I had pressed the trigger of my blaster and turned her head to ashes. She was talking way too much! I climbed onto the tire with the help of two of the crew men pulling me up. The Bouncer slipped completely under the dust and seconds later the powdery surface had settled as smooth as before and there was no trace that something had happened here. The big tire floated on the stuff. Then a huge tremor rippled through the sand, and a fast moving wave pushed the tire forward in a wild ride. "I guess she managed to activate the bomb after all. "

  The governor shook his head laughing." I will make it a point and visit Nilfeheim! You saved all our lives again! "

  "Well I don't mind doing that, Sir, but I am taking the next bus out of here."

  Even with the limited range of the Helmet radio, he was able to contact a dust miner camp and moments later a small fleet of flyers appeared.

  --

  We were flown back to Dusk and I was invited to a reception at the Governor's penthouse on top of a tall sky scraper. Not that I had much of a choice to decline, they had dropped me of at the Super Lux hotel and in its priciest suite. I actually was glad to take a bath. Not that I really touched the dust, but seeing it for that long made me long for a long soaking in cold water. The Auto dresser was like the one at the Crystal Palace of the latest kind and was able to fix my hair with molecular extensions as it used to be. I wondered if the dresser had any female selections and I resisted the urge to indulge myself as I found out it had a very extensive one.

  The suite came with a real Butler, that was a fancy name for a man servant and he organized a new PDD for me. My Chain sword I had left behind for the tour was brought to me as well. Out of a whim and a promise to myself I ordered a can of Stick and Fix and put it in my shirt pocket. Hoping I would not need it of course.

  Mr. Reynolds greeted me at the reception and introduced me to a host of people I immediately forgot after they had shaken my hand." Sir, I really would like to go back to be a face among many, take the next space bus and be out of here."

  "Well I can't blame you. Mr. Olafson but I assure you Twilight is not like this usually. The Day and Night wars are over for a long time and since both towns are connected now with Mag Tubes they have put their differences aside, except for the local Vaccu Ball matches of course. I wish I could show you some more of our world."

  A man with a white hat, and white suit came over." Mr. Olafson, I am Alex Enroe the seventh of Enroe Industries. Your fast action has saved us much headaches and I would love to invite you to see Gore II. It is a very unusual place and a big tourist attraction. I can personally guarantee there won't be any more Terroristic activities. That group was small and thanks to the intelligence we gathered, the Union Police and the PSI Corps are here to roll up that little problem."

  "It wasn't so little to me, Sir. They stuck guns in my face, twice and that was only the tip of the iceberg."

  He padded my shoulder." I am sorry, Sir. I perhaps used the wrong words. What I meant to say is how grateful I am for what you did."

  "Is it really a living planet?"

  "Yes it was in a sense. It is a space born life form of approximately the size of Earth. It has a crystalline, silicone like surface and is in permanent orbit around the sun Gore. No one knows its origin or how it developed. Underneath that crust it has a thick layer of what we call Gore Tissue. It is a flesh like substance and it does have other similar tissue layers of different consistency all the way to the core, where something akin to a heart can be found. The heart has stopped beating or pumping about 200,000 years ago. The creature or the planet is technically no longer alive, but since it is so big it takes a while to die completely, so some of the outer tissue regions are still active or alive if you will. It has very unique range of small life forms of both plant and animal origin, but nothing that could remotely be called sentient. Space born organisms are very rare but not unheard off. I assure you the Saresii and the Narth confirmed that Gore is not sentient or has even the weakest brain or neurological function in any way shape or form." Alex Enroe offered me to sit with him and then said." Big Corporations are often painted as the bully and the evil incarnate, but I assure you if the Narth confirm the life form is neither sentient nor alive anymore you can take that to the Union Bank. No amount of money, not even my famous rival Mr. Schwartz could make the Narth do anything they don't want or make them say something that is not so."

  It did sound interesting. "So what are you doing there? I mean as a corporation?"

  "First and foremost we do research. To answer that mystery how did it develop and what is it actually. The leading Xeno Biological institutes have branches on and inside Gore. Then we harvest small amounts of a special biological liquid that has a host of pharmaceutical uses. Mind you that there is more of that stuff than water in the oceans of Nilfeheim and we harvest about 300 to 400 liters a year. Schwartz does about the equal amount."

  "Well I guess I would not mind seeing it. It sounds like an interesting place and unless that Helen woman is right there aren't any others like it."

  He laughed." Well the Gore Defenders and the Church of Gore claim that there are 11 others like it. In other galaxies of course and without any definite locations, but then the whole mythology of the Gore Planet was dreamed up by a very unsuccessful play write named Steven Dunham, who decided to invent a religion. He decided it would be more profitable than writing plays no one wanted to see. That whacko adheres to the Gal Drift society and gets his followers from that same society. Union Police found his notes and PDD during his first arrest and he admitted freely to have invented it all, to gain fame."

  I nodded.
" That Helen woman sure swallowed it hook, line and sinker. I guess it is just an outlet for them to blame someone else for their problems."

  "Exactly, Mr. Olafson. Well if you like we can actually leave in an hour or so. My private Yacht is standing by and I have a feeling you are not the big reception kind of guy!"

  "No I am not, but I can't stay long. I really must reach Arsenal in three and a half weeks."

  "Gore II is not far from here and you can catch a Bus or let me pay for a Lux Clipper passage and you be there with time to spare."

  My PDD buzzed and I saw the Olafson Wolf Logo on the preview screen. So separated myself a little and activated the full field screen. It was Elena who called. She waved and smiled, then the visual sensor pulled back and I saw she was at Uncle Hogun's Inn with Little Exa and she in turn was standing close to Aunt Freydis and my big Uncle. Her sad expression was gone; she beamed with a broad smile on her small face." Eric, everything is wonderful here! There is lots of snow and it is cold but I had a snow ball fight with other kids today and it was great fun!" She swallowed and inhaled and went right on." Do you know what is best? My biggest dream came true! I am going to be adopted! Really! I am going to be an orphan no more, can you believe that?"

  Uncle Hogun's usually so stern face looked at her with the greatest affection." Eric you have made us the biggest gift you could have made! We love that little whirlwind!"

  Aunt Freydis also smiled warmly." We got a child of our own now! Little Exa, and she is hardly stealing anything! She is really good!"

  I finally managed to say something." I am glad it worked out, for all of you!"

  Elena said. "We miss you all. Even Father misses you but of course he doesn't say it right out but they delivered the new boats today and he named them Eric and Elena. Right now he is over at the Exchange Café bragging with his new boats and telling everyone that his son paid for them just like that."

  "I miss you too, Elena!"

  The Old Keeper came into the view field and to my surprise he wore Olafson Red." Don't look at me like that! I think I look good in red! I am officially the Eldest now. I was beating your grumpy friend by a few thousand years. Egill is of course our representative now and he was introduced to the Assembly officially only five days ago" He then touched the red cloak." You know I had no clan association of my own and therefore could not be an Elder." He looked over to my sister and he also looked at her with noticeable affection." It actually was Elena's idea. She is a smart girl, you know! She suggested it and your father made me an Olafson and now I am an Elder…well the new Eldest that is, if that makes sense. I wasn't associated with anything new the last few millennia."