Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet (Vol 3)

"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 but 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 nether worlds and there have been interactions between our realms ever since time began and these interactions are the source of all those fairy 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 fairy 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 Ssupercomputronic, 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.

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Chapter 37: Interlude: Bone Yard

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.

The Kermac did not notice anything and said. "There is a manual I added to your supply request, make sure I get it right away when it comes aboard."

"You added something to my request form?"

Swybar asked carefully controlling his breath. "The secret to stay under the sensors is to play by the rules of the system. This fleet is not run by officers and Admirals but by bureaucrats and you must stick to the rules. There was no room for anything to add. What did you order?"

The Kermac shrugged. "I am aware of your primitive bureaucracy and since I am unable to obtain a Transform Canon, I ordered a maintenance manual. It should give our engineering thralls enough clues to figure out how they work."

Swybar hit the Kermac so fast and so hard that he was thrown to the floor." You idiot. You ruined everything. You could have had a ship load of secrets, more than every Kermac spy ever dreamed of taking home, but you were not satisfied. We are lucky to make it off this planet alive."

He turned and said. "Computronic, Emergency Procedure Theta Sigma. Emergency Lift off."

The Kermac touched his torn bio flex mask and the bloody lip below. The entire ship shook, hit by something powerful. As the bay doors closed he saw the shape of a Marine Troop carrier in the distance.

Swybar touched a panel on his left glove. "Rama Command. Defend this ship and destroy all Intruders."

He knew, even the mighty Rama bots would not be enough to stop a drop ship load of Union Marines, but until they came up with the correct command codes it would buy him time enough to escape. He went as fast as he could to the ships bridge. Chances are the Marines did not come alone and there was a Union Battle ship or two in the system as well.

Not even with the powerful weapons he had installed would he dare to go against a full armed Battle ship, but with the new Attikan Engines and the Saresii Camouflage he certainly could out run them before they decided to launch Wolfcrafts.

It was worse than he thought; there were five Battle ships in Orbit, and a sixth one just dropping into Real space. He recognized the newcomer as the USS Shetland. It was the Union flagship, and he knew her commanding officer Captain McKenzie. She was as experienced as they came, but as bad as it looked he had a few aces up his sleeve.

The Red Dragon was the last product of the Yakazuma Ship Development Corporation. It was not moth balled because it was obsolete, but because Yakazuma lost the corporate battle against almighty SII. The Red Dragon was to be the answer of Yakazuma to the Fast Raider design competition. A Competition he himself initiated. Yakazuma once had been SII's number One competitor in the field of space ship design and they had gone all out on this last effort to secure a company saving fleet contract. SII won the battle as it usually did with a hostile take-over and with every dirty trick in the book, but not by coming up with a better design. The Red Dragon was fast and now with oversized Attikan Engines, almost as fast as a Wolfcraft. It was meant to operate deep behind enemy lines, to raid colonies, destroy space factories and interrupt supply lines. It was designed to carry and drop special forces commandos on enemy planets, unseen and for this the finest Saresii camouflage technology available was incorporated. He deployed all eight decoy drones. Little marvels of Terran Saresii technology, emitting the engine and mass signatures of battle ship sized enemies while his own engines emitted no more energy than a D 20 long range shuttle. While the Union Battle ships chased after eight blazing signals, he slipped away like a shadow.

He cursed the captain of the Shetland; she had barley dropped out of Quasi and already deployed Wolfcraft and Augurs. The Augurs was an unarmed version of the Wolfcraft, stuffed to the brim with the finest scanning technology. They would soon determine the true nature of the Decoys.

He had to reach the local sun fast.

Both his companions came on the bridge, just as his ship was rocked by another explosion. Frantically he checked the ships sensors, but no Wolfcraft or anything else was in range. Of course if one of the Battle ships noticed his location it would be too late, one single shot of a long sniper TLC would end his plans and he would not even notice the explosion that ended his live. So what happened?

The Red Dragon kept accelerating and with a brief sense of satisfaction he saw the Wolfcraft chase his Decoys and seconds later six bright suns stood in space behind him. Sniper rounds had ended the existence of his decoys.

He wished for an experienced bridge crew, this ship was too big and too complicated to be flown into combat by him alone, but then he saw the reason. The damage board blinked red and indicated the complete loss of his most treasured secret. He howled as if in physical pain. His well-guarded secret, his own Translocator cannon had just exploded, but how? He had the engineers remove all safe guards or so he thought.

It could not be helped, he still had plenty of fire power, and he had to escape. He had no illusions of escaping the hang man again if they ever caught him.

There one of the Argurus turned. It had found him. No need to panic. He had three Silkworm Anti Fighter missiles. A shame to use them now, but it could not be helped. He fired all three, revealing his position for sure to the Argurus, but that Sensor ship was doomed, not even a Wolfcraft could evade three of them at once, it gave him the necessary time to slip into Quasi space. He immediately chanced course and followed exactly the particle trail of one of the incoming Battle ships. He was certain it would take them days to figure out which trail he used to mask his escape, but even an hour delay meant he made his escape. He had done it. He had outsmarted and out maneuvered the first Battle group, not bad for an old logistics Admiral.

The Kermac held a Line blaster leveled at him. "Chance of plans, Human, we will not go to Koken; we will now take direct course to Kermac Prime to analyze what we got. Then I will teach you the consequences for hitting a Kermac Wizard."

"If it wasn't for your stupidity we would have everything including a Translocator canon. I had enough of you."

The Agent of the worm stepped aside. "We must go to Koken that is the purpose of our agreement. If that is no longer possible then my association to this endeavor has ended."

The Kermac waved his gun. "This is but a symbol of my power. You have a Kermac device in your cranium, human. Do as I say and change course. Have a taste of pain."

With a mental command the Kermac agent activated the device and nothing happened. Swybar grinned at him.

"This ship is equipped with a state of the art Auto Doc Sick bay; the first thing I did was a detailed med scan. Your device is long gone, Kermac. You are nothing but predictable and I expected such a device ever since I woke in the Coffin."

The Agent of the Worm suddenly emitted two bright beams from his eyes and the Kermac Wizard collapsed, much of his head burned to ashes. "The Equation has changed and so has the parameters of my assignment. I hope we can come to an agreement."

"I see you have hidden talents and it might be good to have an agent of the Worm along, now that we are freelancers."

"What are your plans now? Are you still planning your revenge on McElligott?"

"Yes, but I am not in a hurry. He is well protected and need a lot of planning. I also have not forgotten that snot nosed cadet. He might not be big in the scheme of things, but he is the reason I ended up on the gallows and want him dead."

"This Cadet is of interest to my employer as well."

"Why is that so? What could a Cadet have that is important for the worm?"

"To show you some good will and my willingness to cooperate with you, I tell you. This Cadet Olafson has somehow managed to rise to importance with the Narth. My employers would like to know details."

Swybar leaned back in his command seat." I can see where increased Narth activity within the Union could spell problems for the Worm, indeed."

"For now that is a good reason as any. I do have a contact that could help us there, someone who knows more about this Cadet than anyone."

"One of his friends at the academy?"

"Much better than that, his wife. There is a certain girl named Sif. She is on the run from the law after dealing with Califerm. My contacts signaled that if we provide her with transport of Pluribus and with a new identity she would be willing to tell us everything she knows about Eric Olafson. Even give us bait to a trap he will take for sure."

"Then let us go to Pluribus, no better place to hide then right before their noses anyway."

--""--

FREYA

We did not land on the Planet. Gwen simply took me by the hand and we stepped through a suddenly appearing field of a white glowing energy cloud.

For the briefest moment did I see images of fire and glowing rivers, but before I could really focus or think we stood on the surface of a small cobblestone plaza, a big gnarly looking tree in the center surrounded by a few dozen one story houses, not too different from the dwellings Low men and not clan associated freemen used to live on the outskirts of Freikstat. One of the houses was bigger and clearly some sort of official building. I was reminded of Uncle Hogun's inn as I noticed a sign hanging from chains just above the door, made out of a plank of wood there was the cut-out of a cooking kettle or cauldron.

Gwen said. "It is a bit rustic and perhaps too much cliché, but most of us came to this Universe when much of Earths Europe looked this way and it is sort of homage to the roots of our human hosts. We have ceased to be really different entities, but you know how it is with old traditions. They die hard especially if there is no apparent need to change things."

I sighed at the mention of traditions and nodded." Indeed I do. When I grew up I cursed them and wanted to change them. I have somewhat changed my mind, some tradition is good and chance is not always a good thing."

She raised one of her shapely eyebrows as the wind tugged at her hair." You do have wisdom that seems beyond your age."

"I don't think common sense comes from age alone but also from exposure and by having my eyes opened by older and wiser mentors and teachers."

"Well there is no sense of standing here outside and discuss those things, when the others already await you. But there is one more thing I would like you to ask, before I introduce you to the Circle."

"I came this far and as it looks like I have strict orders to treat this like a First Contact mission. So what is it I have to do?"

"Let your female side come to the surface and join us in your female form. Males are not really welcome here."

"I have brought nothing along, and whatever I had left was blown up with the Sturgeon. My body has changed and it is much more difficult to pass. I don't like to appear like a Norse in drag, which is worse."

"You talk to someone who knows the secret of shape shifting. We can do that to others too."