To Nelson he said." Scan all reports about Admiral Swybar. I want to know who executed him, what happened to his body and who requested his remains. I want to see every requisition form he or anyone of his staff has signed in the last five years!"
"Yes at once!"
Holman then turned back to his GalCom Unit and said." Direct Connection to Admiral McElligott!"
***
She programmed the Nav Computer with perhaps the most complex course I had ever seen, and she did so out of memory without the aid of a Nav Calculator app. She engaged it and only then turned around." I am sorry Eric for putting you through all this, but I will answer all your questions."
"Ma'am, I have so many questions and even more suspicions that I have a hard time to decide where to begin." My voice sounded angrier than I wanted it to be." I have the sneaking suspicion I did not fall asleep all by myself. I don't think that Nav Computer of the Sturgeon failed all on its own."
I pointed a finger on her." Now I don't know who or what you are, but overwriting a Nav Computer on a Navy Computronic like that is not easy and I expect your sister on Pauli Station to be in on this."
She simply looked at me so I continued." Again I have no idea what you are but in doubt I will go by the book and you seem to be a serious threat to the Union and the Fleet and I should arrest you and have Union Command figure it out."
She sighed." I know how it looks to you and you are not so far off with your suspicions, but before you arrest me please open your PDD and activate your Order chip!"
Again, she surprised me, this time with a response I did not expect. However I did activate the PDD. The Order chip automatically engaged." Cadet Olafson, time and spatial coordinates verify that you have reached the Igras Nebulae and that you have penetrated it further than any Union officer before. If all went according to plan you are now on the way to a secret planet called Coven, it is the home of a civilization with the same name. Not much is known about this civilization, other than they are to be considered as powerful and advanced as the Narth. Given this potential they present an opportunity and a danger to this Union like few others. You are in the company of an avatar or representative of said culture. Your orders are to obtain as much information as you can about the Coven and represent the Union on our behalf. Why such a mission has been given to a Cadet will be discussed when you come back, until then we expect you to act according to the training you already received and to the values we all live up to. Signed Admiral Richard Stahl."
Gwen nodded." Our existence is not known to many, but Admiral Stahl and a few others do know about us. I am a loyal Union Officer and hope my kind will soon join the Union."
I raised my hands." I still have no idea what this is all about, but even if all this is true and Fleet command knows about it, why me? Why not send an experienced Xeno contact team, I am but a Cadet. I am sure Admiral Stahl has enough cloud to send anyone!"
"We are not like other civilizations. We are not millions, but less than one hundred. There is no need for a public vote we simply decide if it is right for us to join. I was asked to find someone I think would represent the Union well and I met you and found you be perfect."
"Just like that? I am not a perfect specimen to represent the Union or the Fleet. I am flawed!" I blushed." You know about it! You have seen my personal file."
"That is part of the reason you were chosen! We of the Coven might even have an answer to your burning question and your gender."
"What has this to do with anything? I still don't see why me? There are the Saresii; they are experts in this kind of thing."
"The Saresii know about us! They have legends and pre conceived ideas about us, we wanted someone who is free of all this. Someone who has no preconceptions about us, most sentient beings are utmost terrified seeing our true form and cannot see beyond genetic and cultural implanted stereotypes. You have seen my true form and you have not acted in panic or fear but given me a chance."
"With all due respect, I might be from a backwater world but I have seen some strange life forms already. One of my friends is a Non Corp. His true form puts your fiery self to shame. He might not have this demon shape quality but I am sure he could take on such a form as easy as he takes on human shape. I had a Shaill Xeno Bio Instructor at the academy. A two meter, slime oozing slug with eyes on stalks, able to mix the most deadliest psycho drugs with a mere thought and command to his own body glands and I have seen something that is far more frightening, mind boggling and wonderful at the same time than you. So comparing you to all that, your true form isn't all that frightening."
Gwen looked at me with big eyes." I don't exactly how I appeared to you. Our true form cannot be seen by beings of this plane. Your eyes and senses give us a proximity shape and each being sees us different, genetic inherited fears about demons, devils and Hell are put into form and shape and cause terrible fear and horror in those who see us. You are only the second being of this universe that looks beyond this fear. Maybe it is as you say, the children of man have grown long beyond their primeval fears and fantasies being exposed to the incredible diversity life has taken in the Universe."
I actually smiled." Ma'am, I would lie if I say I understood what you are trying to say, but if you say I saw you like I expected Sutr the fire Demon to look like then you are spot on. I was raised in a society who believes in such things, but it is also the hallmark of a real Norse to stand tall against such denizens of the deep. As much as it might disappoint you, but appearing in your true self on Nilfeheim would not cause all that much panic, but start a fight among the men who would be chosen to fight you!"
She sighed." Terrans, you are so different from all the other beings in the Universe! Every other society fears and flees if they come face to face with what they believe are demons, Terrans want to fight it!"
"I don't know much about Terrans, Ma'am. I can only tell about the backwater Norse Neo Vikings of Nilfeheim!"
"Your kind has left Terra before any Aliens mingled, your Norse have stayed isolated ever since and as much as you are children of Nilfeheim, you are guests on that world and your blood and DNA is a true and undiluted Terran as can be. Sorry Eric, but as much as you think you are of Nilfeheim as much are you a true child of Terra."
"Well since it seems you know more about us than I do, why not telling me exactly what you are? If I get you right you say you are indeed Demons, the kind that bathes in brimstone and tortures souls in the name of Hel?"
"We are demons indeed that are perhaps the closest description or term. Imagine the Universe like an Onion if you will. Each layer of skin is composed of an incredible number of parallel universes. Each universe holds a finite number of elements, atoms, energies, particles and time. Each universe represents a possible combination of all those elements. In another Universe Eric Olafson might be an Attikan, or a Shaill. You might be a girl or a rock in yet another; there is a Universe where you do not exist at all because the elements are combined in such a way that prohibits all life.
And all these Universes are separated by layers and conditions of space, incomprehensible by your senses of sight and mind. This is why you need special equipment to navigate in Quasi space and sensors and scanners that look down into your own universe. No being of this universe can look out the window in Quasi Space and see anything. It is eternal darkness, yet ask a Narth they will tell you that Quasi Space is anything but dark, anything but empty and yet Quasi space is in spatial terms only a film thin layer between the other dimensions of space and time."
She paused for a moment to give me time to keep up and I felt I was once more in a class of Trans-spatial physics where a Level 10 intellect teacher tried to make us understand the basic mechanics of our trans-dimensional technology we used every day." I think I follow so far, as long as you not try to ask me for a test later and put into an equation what you tried to tell me."
"No worry, I am at a loss to understand what these Meta Math and Trans Dim Physic experts talk about. I am just
a being from such different Universe that does not mean I understand it all. Just let me explain it to you as much as I understand it myself."
I motioned her to do just that, and so she continued." Now my kind was actually just a group of female beings from another Universe. We do not know if we have been human or humanoid, most of our memories from our Home universe are lost. Our universe was ruled by what you would call magic, not technology. Of course these are merely terms to describe the same thing. We had and have the ability to channel the energies of a dimension we call the Nether region. The opposite what you would call Hyperspace, a layer below the one you occupy. Not that the terms up and down really mean much in terms of spatial temporal layers of existence. But it helps to understand if I say that all these Universe bubbles swim above this nether region and if you know how to penetrate the veil that separates it all, you can travel, using that nether region, to all the other universes."
She stopped again and sighed." I am losing my threat, but it is so hard to explain something like that, because I barley understand it myself. What I wanted to say is that we were a group of females, fighting with means of what you would call Magic against others. We, as well as our enemies channeled energies and the powers of beings living in the netherworld to do our bidding. The fight we fought reached a point where it was clear our very universe was doomed and bound to be destroyed. We searched for way to escape the imminent doom and found it by transferring ourselves as a group into the Nether regions. Thus we removed ourselves from our universe and escaped its destruction. What we did however violated the RULE. Because in the greater order of things, the Universes must stay separate. Nothing that belongs into one Universe is to be allowed into another. Each universe is balanced and introducing something from another Universe is like introducing a virus, something foreign and something that disturbs the balance."
"What is the Rule?" I wanted to know.
"It's basically a set of natural laws that govern how all works together. At least that is how I understand it." She checked the course and seemed satisfied with the result." Now we of the Coven escaped the destruction of our universe but were more or less unwanted guests in the Nether regions and we were eventually expelled into this, your universe. We lost much of our knowledge and memories of the old universe and we are still connected to the Netherworlds with our physical appearance as there is not a single atom left over in this universe for us to use, every molecule has its place and use and technically we have no business being here, so we use a compromise and occupy the bodies of beings of this universe and share it with its true owner. It is a symbiosis as we are able to exist in this universe and the other part gains virtual immortality. So I am really Gwen and I really am something like a demon. A being from another realm, not able to exist in this without her, we are very old but not indestructible."
I swallowed." So you say there really is a Hell, a place with demons and such?"
"No I am saying there are the netherworlds and there have been interactions between our realms ever since time began and these interactions are the source of all those faery tales and mythological stories you humans and all the other beings of this realm have. Your ancestors could not explain thunder so they imagined Gods throwing big hammers. The same way they could not explain the occasional interaction between these planes of existence and called the apparitions demons and devils. The veil that separates these planes of existence is not impenetrable and once in a while there is an exchange and such an exchange is usually the source of a legend or a tale of gods and demons."
I scratched the stubble on my chin." While it all somehow makes sense and technically not so hard to understand, it still is heavy material and hard to comprehend, it explains why you floated in space and looked like a demon. It explains somewhat why you are also look like a human woman. It even gives substance and background to stories and faery tales and the old saying that there is a speck of truth even in the most outlandish story and tale, but it opens a can of worms of even more questions. Does that mean magic is real? Does that mean someone can actually mix Fangsnapper blood and teeth of a one eyed cliff eel with the hair of a virgin to make a potion that makes someone invisible and all that? Does that mean that souls exist and go into a nether region? Is there a land of the death? And if there is a Nether region, is there an opposite, an upper region where the gods live?"
"If there are souls or an existence after death, we don't know and I think that is a question everyone needs to answer for itself until perhaps someday there is a scientific discovery that says it is so or it is not. I don't know how the original Coven managed to pass to the netherworlds, that knowledge is lost to us. I can tell you that the Coven of this Universe started out mixing potions and seeking answers the alchemist way, looking for ways of making transmutation real. Of course no combination of matter regardless of origin will open gates or channel energies, all these rites are just an expression, a tool to quantify and explain what really happens.
The Gwen you see before you, the body of the woman was born on Earth before the Industrial revolution and she was what you would call a witch. She did all these things a witch would do; none of it has any effect or power. Your society accepts Psionics as a part of the natural universe, because your science advanced far enough to understand that if you look really close at matter, nothing is solid and atoms are by far not the smallest thing, that the world of sub-atomics is as complex as the macro cosmos. There are particles that exist simultaneous in more than one dimension and some that swing back and forth. The marvelous instantaneous communication you all take for granted is based on such super exotic particles, it allows data bits to travel outside the realm of this space and distances measured in light years are not Trans versed but circumvented. All sentient beings regardless of origin have some form of psionic ability. Have you ever wondered how you are able to draw a gun, aim and fire and at the same time duck for cover, and still have time to think about your next steps and actions? In all this your eyes manage to see, your nose smells, and your heart beats and your glands produce adrenaline. It would take a Nelson Supercomputronic, for every human to really run a human body after a program. The only way all this can happen if your brain is able to perform some of its functions faster than the speed of light. Before man reached the stars, Eric, you thought the speed of light is the limit of everything, yet the speed of thought is much faster! Now beings with Psionics as you know have the conscious ability to access the same realms as the super exotic particles. We of the Coven are no different we simply access a different realm. All the chants and potions, all the practices of the Dark Lore are simply a way to focus those talents. Once you realize the truth, the chants and potions are no longer needed. It is very much explainable, very much quantifiable and with the right physics and math it could be made available to everyone in the form of technology based on that knowledge."
She leaned back looking exhausted and I felt the same way. My mind was swimming full of images and ideas and I knew I was scratching areas of knowledge not meant for me to understand, at least not yet.
Something in that sofa was poking my back quite painfully and brought me back to reality. I jumped up turned around, just to see something scaled, small and with lots of teeth disappear between the cushions!
I pulled my TKU at the same time as I tried to check my behind. Gwen laughed." This ship is infested with Narlings, that's why they keep the Hantkit Squirmer as a pet!" She pointed at the red scaled lizard in the cage.
"I think I burn this sofa!"
"No worries Eric, we have reached Coven and while we are down you can let the Hantkit loose."
I stepped away from the infested sofa and glanced outside. Here in the middle of the matter nebula was a Solar system with a yellow sun that had burned with a strange halo, most certainly caused by sucking in the matter around it and there was one planet in the green zone and we were approaching it.
Interlude: Boneyard
Swybar stood in the cargo bay of the Red
Dragon and watched as a gang of S10 robots stowed away containers with real Loki torpedoes. His Kermac associate stood next to him with an almost feverish stare in his eyes. It would not take much and he would actually drool. The Agent of the worm was nowhere to be seen, but he expected him to be around. The Kermac pointed at a large cylindrical object that an Octobot had just lifted into the bay." Is that really what I think it is?"
"Yes this is a genuine Terran P Bomb. One such device is enough to ruin the day of any planetary based opponent."
"How does it work and why is it called a P Bomb?"
"Officially it is designated a Ship to surface planetary incendiary device. It ignites a nuclear fire that consumes any matter. Once ignited on a planet the fire spreads and turns the entire surface of a planet into molten matter, there are no conventional means of stopping the fire as it consumes whatever you put on including water, depending on the elements present the process can turn violent and the planet turns into a temporary sun. It takes millennia to burn out and what's left is a smooth ball of nuclear cinder, turning the world into a parking lot, hence we call it Paring Lot Bomb, or P Bomb."
"It amazes us how many nasty weapons the Union has and still claims to have the moral high ground."
"Using will benders and enslaving entire Civilization to do your dirty work isn't exactly very moral either!"
"It is the natural way of things, we Kermac are superior and it is only fair that we open the eyes of others to that fact!"
Swybar was a ruthless man and his own morals had eroded long ago, but he did not become an Admiral of the Union fleet because he was stupid. He had been trained by the best and went through the most comprehensive training to become a Union Officer and he was trained to expect the unexpected and react to it. Something was wrong, at first he could not say what it was, but then he noticed that the Octobot had disappeared despite the fact that there was still a pile of supplies to be lifted into his ship.
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 295