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

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  She cried as she saw us and pleated for her life. I was glad for the hood. It provided me with distance. She finally asked for some food dish and some perfume. She wanted to have her hair done and Dawn promised to have a hair dresser come.

  Finally outside again I realized how depressing and how much the prison and the fate of the 20 had affected me. Even though it was exactly the same artificial created air I felt I could breathe easier.

  Dawn put her hand on my shoulder." You did great. I know the first time is always the hardest!"

  "I don't mind your company Dawn but I sure hope this is the only time I ever have to do something like this."

  "We are almost done; all that is left is to file the paper work and give the Justice Department my okay and then we are off till tomorrow. The Department has found us accommodations here on Corri-Dorr. So we don't have to go all the way back to the Gas planet. We do have to get up early in the morning you know."

  Interlude: Narth Delegate

  The Narth Delegate usually liked to be undisturbed in his Alcove and very rarely spoke, but whenever he did everyone listened, but he asked Egill and Algear to join him. Algear who had a HPI of almost 5000 and was even among the Saresii known to be a powerful telepath able to pick up the neural activity of a small insect half across a solar system felt nothing in the presence of the Narth, no that was not exactly right, he felt less than nothing, it was as if looking into a great dark hole, knowing it was deep and when you dropped a stone and even after waiting a few minutes you would hear nothing, even though you could not see the depth you still knew it was there and it was endless, that is what he felt standing so close to the Narth and it was somewhat disquieting. Deep down, especially before he became friends with Egill, and like all Saresii he always thought of the Saresii to be a little above other beings, just a little more powerful, more refined, finer cultured, now he felt little and insignificant.

  The hooded and shrouded being appeared at first just like a man or a woman wearing a monk like floor length robe and a hood with eyeholes, but that impression changed after seeing that dark red glow behind those eye slits and the utter soundless way Narth moved, as if they somehow were not completely here and more like shadows.

  Egill was very much reminded of his first meeting with Tyr and felt that this being was of a similar quality as his white friend. The Narth turned his hands, thumps upward and slightly bowed to Egill. "It honors Narth greatly that you have come to seek council from Narth. Please be seated so we may converse in civilized manner and befitting your age and status."

  The Narth Alcove at first had no furniture, no chairs and the Narth representative was always seen standing, then three chairs melted out of the floor. While form energy and memory materials were nothing unusual and variable furniture was common place, both Egill and Algear knew the Narth had just made those chairs by re arranging molecules and matter from the floor and the air. A cup of hot tea and a Plastic Cup of Arthurs Swine and dine filled with Vodka and Cola floated into the hands of the Narths guests and the shrouded being again made an apologetic gesture and said. "I trust I have chosen the right refreshments and I must apologize for not partaking, but please if you wish we can converse now about the matters that brought you here."

  The Narth had made the exact favorite drinks of the two and Algear was frightened how easily the Narth had scanned deep into his brain to find that information past the most powerful Psi shield the Saresii could make. "You know our favorite drinks and so you must know why we are here!" Algear said unable to keep an edge of accusation and anger out of his voice.

  The Narth seemed not to notice." How would I know that, Honorable colleague? The prying of minds is against Union law and Narth finds this a very sensible and quite advanced law for such a primitive culture. Besides I assure you as formidable you think we Narth are, your Saresii Psi Shields are quite effective and while I would be able to circumvent it, you would know. He gestured at the drinks. "Public dossier 45302 lists all favorite drinks and foods of all members of the Assembly. It is used by the procurement and hospitality services to have always all foods and drinks stocked in ample supply. I believe you filled out your preference card yourself. "

  Egill gasped."You memorized the food and drink choices of all delegates and representatives?"

  "Yes of course, in case they do overcome their wish of distance and visit me here and I can be a good host."

  Algear brushed a strain of his long silver hair out of his face."Overcome the wish of distance? Is it not the Narth who wish to remain isolated and you wanting not to be disturbed?"

  "This is quite illogical. Why would Narth decide to become more involved and send a representative if Narth wishes to remain isolated? If we wish to remain not disturbed or isolated it is quite illogical to place oneself in this center of activity."

  Algear coughed," So you say there is no distinct wish of yours to remain undisturbed? That anyone could have come to you and conversed with you ever since you arrived?"

  "To your first question: Narth do not wish. The very concept of wishing for things and events is very alien to us. Why would you formulate a desire in your mind without clear and precise ways to achieve it? If one wants to be undisturbed then one shall make all necessary logical steps so one cannot be disturbed. Not that the concept of desire is very clear to us either.

  "To your second question: Yes anyone can come to me given that this person is able of any form of locomotion. If such person was unable of conveying oneself to me, all it had to do is ask for me to convey myself to it. I must admit I am not a master in conversation but I have remained here in this alcove and have observed and followed 46,405,343 conversations and while 98% of the content is quite confusing, the remaining 2 % should be sufficient to have a base understanding of conversation."

  Egill simply slapped the Narth on the shoulder."You know what Narth, you come up to my Alcove and I teach you how to converse, I was a Hermit for the most part of my life and boy you learn conversation then! Talking to all sorts of things, well in my case it usually turned out to be monologues rather than dialogues."

  Despite his completely shrouded appearance the Narth somehow managed to sound and look happy." I shall do this. One is most grateful to learn the art of conversation." Then the Narth pounded Egill's shoulder and then Algear.

  "Oh and you only slap shoulders if you are fond of someone, It is a gesture reserved for informal meetings. Not to be used at formal or serious meetings." Algear added.

  The Narth representative bowed slightly again." Being fond of! Formal and informal… Narth Supreme is very grateful for opening so many new questions and new concepts."

  Algear finally came to the reason for his visit and told the Narth about the Kermac, the Y'All and the crystal tablets and the Call made to the Dark Ones.

  The Narth delegate listened and it was clear he was disturbed by this. "It is good you have come to us with such information. Narth Supreme will analyze this. The Y'All are a significant but manageable threat; however the Rule must not be broken! We must gather more information. It is conceivable that the Kermac have the means of calling ultimate destruction on more than just one Galaxy. They play with forces not even the Narth can fully comprehend!

  Interlude: Lox Marshall - Indoor Lanscaping Inc

  Sechz Sibenvoreinz lived for years on Corri-Door undetected. Intelligence work was quite difficult; the Union was very successful protecting its most important secrets. No spy ever managed to find out what exactly was found on Arsenal III, that made the Union use a formerly unimportant star system deep in Kermac Territory and transform it in the most protected and defended system of the Galaxy. Corri-Door was strategically almost or perhaps even more important than Arsenal. The Border Control and Defense Headquarter were here and everything moving across the borders was registered and analyzed here and at the central data processing system on the system smallest planet Corrosive. Union BCaD processed immigration requests, checked and tracked visitors, especially those of unfri
endly or enemy civilizations. They worked closely with the Union Intelligence and Counter Intelligence agencies and the data and scanning results of millions of buoys, sensor arrays, deep space forts and patrol ships was analyzed and processed. It was said that the BCaD had record of every piece of space dust that floated between the borders. He knew it wasn't so far of the truth.

  He had come here eighteen years ago, entering the union via Checkpoint 96 disguised as Pilgrim Lox Marshall who had left Union space a month before to visit the Whispering Uni Ruins on Netlor. The real Lox Marshall never returned from Netlor of course.

  It helped that Lox was a loner and had no real family, actually that was the reason Lox had been targeted in the first place. Kermac Intelligence kept close tabs on all members of the sect belonging to the Church of the Golden whispering Spirit of the Universe, as it was a wonderful way to get hold of Union Citizens and either turn them or replace them. It had to be done carefully and sporadic, not to ruin a good thing and possibly expose about two hundred agents. Sechz had almost forgotten his real name; he had been surgically altered to represent the bald headed short shop keeper from Corri-Dorr. He carried the original CIT of Marshall in his arm inside a bio patch sack and real Marshall tissue and DNA. So normal CIT scanners matched the DNA to the CIT and he was verified. His mental wave pattern could not be altered to match that of Marshall, but the Kermac were PSI tech experts, second only to the Saresii and he carried an implant that masked his mental waves and simulated Marshall's patterns. Marshall owned a small Indoor Landscaping and indoor plant business in Corri –City, Tunnel 8. His eighteen employees had no idea they actually worked for a Kermac spy. Marshall kept a low profile and only travelled once a month to the Sect Temple on Palomino. He kept regular GalNet contact via his avatar in Dream World and it was a harmless romance, of course they used an extensive sign language to convey information. He was sure there were sniffer programs searching for key words even code words and the cursed Union had very advanced Computronics and successfully implemented Positronic Brains with Quantum capability but they would not be able to monitor visual gestures of Avatars. He of course had no idea who his online lover really was other than his handler.

  He had just finished delivering the white roses and lilies to one of the sales stands near the execution site and saw his Gal Net terminal blinking. His Online lover wanted to have a chat with him. It had to be something urgent otherwise he would not be contacted out of schedule. He closed his office door, told his office assistant he did not want to be disturbed and laid down on the low grav Dream Couch. The real world disappeared and moments later he stood in an almost sickening happy place with green meadows, trees and oversized flowers and butterflies. This was the welcome environment of Dream Maker. He went to his private flower and opened the middle of the air door to his private dream world.

  To his surprise not only Micara his Avatar lover was here, but another Avatar and it was a Standard Base Line Avatar. Whoever it was did not spend more than five minutes in creating it. It looked very blank and was a sexless approximation of a human being. Micara said aloud." I missed you my lover." And her hands wiggled and she said." This is my supervisor he has an urgent assignment for you!"

  The other Avatar said…looking to the side and obviously talking to someone in the real world." Not now Vorneun! I don't care how the Avatar looks like! I am very well able to…"

  The Avatar suddenly changed and sported a long beard and four arms.

  His Lover Micara hissed angry." No names! Use the Avatar name I gave you!"

  The four armed avatar suddenly grew to six meters and lost two of his arms and the skin turned bright white. The Avatar moved as if slapping or hitting someone and cursed:" Leave the Avatar controls alone. It does not matter how it looks!"

  Sechz was a little confused. The new avatar acted like a being directed by two noob operators who never used a Dream Maker before. Yet he was certain he heard the name Nachacht and that was could only be the Grand Wizard of the Military. Since the one directing the Avatar had no quarrels hissing at the other it was quite logical to assume it was another High Wizard.

  Micara then spoke about love and used dirty words and her fingers said." You are aware of the execution taking place tomorrow?"

  He complimented her looks and was distracted as the other Avatar shrunk to look like a 20 centimeter gnome complete with white beard and red hat and said with an angry tone again to someone not in the simulation." So this is how you think I should look?" Again the slapping motion of hands as if to chase someone away from input controls!

  He signaled back to Micara, unable to take his eyes away of the Grand Wizard controlled avatar." Yes I just delivered flowers."

  "You must sabotage the event. We don't care how or what you do, but it must be disturbed so it has to be postponed or does not take place at all!"

  Sechz didn't like that at all. He was a spy and didn't mind to collect information but to actively commit sabotage, murder or an act of terror on a planet swarming with Marine and Union Police security was basically suicide, or if he got caught he would be next on the scaffold.

  "He signaled. I am biologically Kermac; if I get caught they will know it was Kermac and will cause political problems. Besides it is too late to plan anything. The Execution will take place in less than 12 hours!"

  The Gnome avatar grew but kept his shape." It is not your place to consider political problems. It is your place to obey and serve. Refuse and you wish you would be dead."

  Again Micara hissed." Do not use words like this! Don't speak! I get the message across!"

  Micara's hands spoke:" This is a Prime Order of highest authority! You are welcome to terminate yourself after completing the task. But you will do as ordered!"

  "I obey!"

  Interlude: Omni Planet

  Rex stood next to his massive desk in the top floor of SII –Sky Needle IV. The tallest planet bound structure on Omni Planet. The desk was made of a solid piece of black volcanic glass, obsidian a material he liked as it somehow reflected and represented his character well. The desk weight several tons and was in his simplistic clear design a symbol of power like few else. Dark gray slate covered the floor, the seams between the slate tiles pure gold. There was little else in furniture other than a wide black leather chair hovering behind the desk. The three of the walls were floor to ceiling view ports. The technology hidden away however was quite arguably the finest and most advanced tech created by any known civilization that currently existed. In some aspects approaching Celtest levels. Rex Thought this was a true statement as the Narth as far as he knew not really used any tech in the classical sense. Not even the Narth knew something he knew. He was aware of the true purpose of the Guardian and he knew who had put this artificial entity 255 million years ago underneath what today was the Himalayas on Earth.

  A cold smile played around his lips as he thought about Richard Stahl, who personally had a team of gifted and quite talented individuals working to solve these questions. Good old Stahl. Honest to the bone. Stahl meant steel in an old Earth language and Stahl was every bit like that metal. If they needed a picture to illustrate the very definition of Righteousness Stahl's picture would be perfect. He was the only one he would fear in an open conflict. That old Soldier was very resourceful. Rex knew that Stahl had been on Narth Prime, so far the only human ever. Stahl had returned with that huge ship of his, during the height of the last Y'All Invasion and to this day no one knew where he got it from. Rex knew about the ultra-secret Celtest depot underneath the deserts of Arsenal III, but the stuff there was all mothballed by the Celtest, inactive and very dangerous to play and experiment with a technology level higher than your own and the Celtest were at least TL 11 when they disappeared. The Devastator however was fully functional and Stahl came back with the full knowledge how Translocator Cannon worked and how they could be manufactured. The mighty Devastator could cloak so effectively nothing known detected her. Where did he get the functional ship from? Not that he p
lanned to go against Stahl or betray the Union at least not in the near future .Mc Elligott the Grand old man of the Fleet however held little respect in the eyes of Rex. True after 3000 years he knew the other Immortals and there was a level of understanding that went beyond friendship, but in the richest man alive thought of Elligott as past his prime and usefulness. He was picked by the Guardian to take care of the logistics and the politics needed to build a huge organization as the Fleet was, something the Warrior Stahl had no patience for.

  Cherubim on the other hand was a great unknown. In all that time, he did not know her true purpose other than be the eyes and ears of the growing humanity. She created the PSI corps and the Terran Space intelligence. He knew she somehow infiltrated the Sojonit Order and there was in his opinion no better intelligence network in the Galaxy. He was almost sure she had her fingers in other organizations.

  He was interrupted by Yvonne, the most advanced android in the Galaxy and perhaps the most capable battle robot. Yvonne carried the imprint of Clara his first daughter and looked exactly like she would look as a grown woman. She was created as a daily reminder that he had not avenged her death yet. True the perpetrators who had abducted and killed her, he had found and their end was as gruesome as his intellect and resources allowed him to be, but the ones that send the kidnappers to make him work for them, the Kermac still existed and he would not rest until he had wiped them of the face of the Universe.

  The android handed him a print out in a black folder. The words: For RS only and the SII logo imprinted on it. Anyone else but him opening it would cause the complete molecular decay of the folder and what it contained. It was his daily report. Containing also all the activities of what he called Black Business. He liked the numbers he saw associated with the SII Entertainment Division. The profits soared, mostly due to Dream World. DW release 5.6 was hugely popular and Dream Maker the equipment and shell program you needed, despite its steep price of 1000 Credits always had to be back ordered no matter how many units SII Entertainment build. Naturally SII-Ent Division could have produced enough units to flood the market but creating this artificial shortage made it even more desirable to the customers across the galaxy. A secret division of Schwartz Industries did exactly some of the things Richard Stahl feared SII might do. They listened in onto every conversation in Dream Maker, no matter how private or secure the user thought they were and in subtle ways influenced Users to prefer SII products and services. Rex Schwartz was very well aware of this as this division reported to SII-Black Ops Command, which in turn delivered daily reports to their boss. Would he had political ambitions he could indeed use Dream Maker and other channels to influence over 60 percent of the Union population and have himself elected king or emperor.