Eric Olafson, Neo Viking Vol. 01

Hogun shrugged." You see how much that hurts me! As for your threat, I may not be as vicious as you but I take your challenge anytime you dare!"

"Who did you sell it too? For how much! I want that money!"

"I am no longer of the Olafson clan and therefore not obliged to follow your orders or tell you anything." Hogun laughed. "You made a fool out of yourself again! Do you know how much even the smallest piece of land is worth on a world without land where real estate almost never changes hands?"

Grandfather laughed too. "He does not know such things he rather tales things by scheme, violence or marriage. What you called a worthless pile of rock before witnesses many times including Elders. Yet the Elhir clan paid credits and Iridium making your brother a very wealthy man! Who is of course honorably welcomed in the Ragnarsson clan!

Grandfather got up and said. "I am going to take my grandson to the Faceless Seven now and return to Pluribus myself. You may pretend for a little time longer to be the lord of this burg, wield your whip and spew your poison! The day of reckoning will come."

Father leaned back in a brooding manner." Take him as I agreed to it in public. Take heed old man no one makes me an enemy lightly."

Hogun also got up." You are very good in making enemies brother, but your list of friends and allies is shrinking fast."

Erik Ragnarsson also rose from his seat. "Remember, I will keep a close eye on everything. Should you deviate from our traditions, I hear of it and have you dragged before the elders, and release me from my oath. So tend to your wife the traditional way, spare her on your own peril."

------------

Grandfather himself took the controls of the Volvo Flier as we left the Burg. He had not said a word until he had set course due north and activated the Computronic, then he turned his seat and looked at me. "You think of me as a fool giving your mother to this father!"

"No Grandfather you are the best in my life. I don't feel alone since I know you are there and know I exist!"

"I do know you exist. I think of you every time I think of my daughter.

He looked sideways and out the window. "Nilfeheim is a beautiful world Eric. It is still wild and raw and clean. These traditions we hold so dear shield us in a way from the outer Universe." He sighed and turned back to look at me. "You are still young and what I say most likely will make no sense to you, but who knows when I am able to talk to you again and in time my words might become meaningful to you."

I simply leaned forward all attentive not wanting to miss a single word my grandfather said. He smiled at that and said." I am now more away than I am here and I see the changes that come to Nilfeheim; some are good some are not. We had virtually no crime here Eric. There was no theft, no robberies and even in town there were no locks on the doors. Nilfeheim still had no police force, no lawyers. The only court is the Circle of Elders. Everything else is dealt with by the clans. There are no seniors all alone and abandoned by the Young. These are the good things!"

He pointed his finger upward. "The Union is a great institution and it is quite successful in terms of Galactic societies, but all that exists out there. On the other hand the rights of Women, the rights of the second born, the rights of children are trampled upon and personal freedom to a lowman means nothing. Your mother who was intelligent and beautiful fell victim to a brute and according to our laws he is in the right and did nothing wrong!"

He paused and rubbed his eyes. "I am on Pluribus hoping to protect Nilfeheim as much as I can from the bad and let in the good. I was elected to this post by the Elders because I was the first who started mining our neighbor planet and they deemed me more experienced and able to deal with the Off-Worlders. I am only free to do what I think is best since no one else on Nilfeheim really cares or even asks what I do. I am the representative of this world for over 30 years now and in all that time I received twenty calls and requests. While Nilfeheim is an insignificant world, we do have a voice. I am exiled from my own world by the necessity that someone has to do it."

"But why Grandfather? What would happen if no one was there?"

"Nilfeheim does not realize it, but it is a rich world Eric. We have commodities that are worth much elsewhere ... The Galaxy is a hungry place Eric and it happens to be that 60% of all Union Species can eat the same food. Their DNA and their body sugars turn the in the same way that is. Yes much can be synthesized but the markets demand fresh or grown foods. We have water and fresh air. We got plenty of room. Without a representative a corporation or Company could move in, kill everyone declare the planet a private Corporate World and exploit it. Of course it is against the law but if there is no one that can complain or even raise the issue who would miss Nilfeheim?

"When trillions of Credits are to gain there is always someone willing to break the law, Eric. These are very real threats and me or anyone just being there is a good deterrence. There are other reasons of course."

He leaned forward and put his hand on my knees. "This however is the reason I cannot be with you and must return to Pluribus. I told you about the changes, there is a new generation of Nilfeheim Vikings in Halstaad Fjord and they starting to do business with the Universe. The twenty calls I got were all within the last two years and all from young Neo Vikings usually from lesser and new clans, mostly to assist in trade deals and business assistance, but there were voices that demand modernization and political changes on Nilfeheim. I was chosen by my peer to defend the interests of our world and until I am relieved from that duty I must perform it. Do you understand that?"

"Yes Grandfather I think I do.My friend Yngve is of the Lofdahl clan and his father goes of world quite frequently."

"I knew you would! Yes it is clans and Freemen like the Lofdahls that make my presence out there very important."

He glanced outside once again and then said. "Are you afraid of what lies ahead? I am sending you to an almost mystical place and you have not asked a single question about it."

"Grandfather, there was no time to ask you anything. It is the second time I see you and the first time in person I think. I would be afraid to spend three month in the Burg with Father. Whatever lies ahead is better so I look forward to it."

His smile vanished. "It is true I did not give you much chance to talk to me. I have seen firsthand how he treats you, but short of taking you away and denouncing all our heritage and traditions there is nothing I can do. I am as securely bound by the invisible shackles of these blessed and cursed rules as I am bound by my word and oath. It might be a fault and this philosophy where a man's word and stand is more important than his own life might be outdated but it is what defines me to the core and I cannot, as an old Terran saying goes, jump over my own shadow. I cannot express how much sorrow I feel when I hear of your fate as plenty of messages reach me from the Ragnarsson clan bemoaning the fact we will cease to exist and they tell me of you as well."

"Could you not simply marry again and sire a son? You are not that old Grandfather. That would give you a legitimate heir and make the entire Olafson debacle and me a mood point."

"You speak like an old Viking and your suggestion would be quite an elegant solution, but I promised myself never to marry again after I lost your Grandmother who I loved more than my life. Besides I already declared you to be my heir."

I lowered my head." I won't be a good heir! I will leave Nilfeheim and become a Starship Captain after I have killed him!"

"Eric look at me!"

I did and he said." You are your own man. It is your live and your future. I am bound and shackled by old traditions that does not mean I want you to be! I will the proud of you."

The fliers Computronic beeped and grandfather took the control. Then he said. "The Keepers are a peculiar group Eric. They take our believes and the adherence to the traditions even more serious than the Elders but they are also more in tune with this planet and know many secrets. I am as much an Elder and a Neo Viking as I am a Citizen living on Pluribus and I assure you even the most advanced Civilizations have not found scientific answers to the most fundamental questions of life and death and the old saying that there is more between the heavens and the earth than we can see holds true even in the fiftyfirst century."

The weather outside was changing from clear skies and sunshine to lead gray sky and heavy rain. There was much floating ice below. I said." You mean like ghosts and spirits, the gods and magic?"

"Yes Eric that is what I mean. Now I am not saying that these things exist nor do I say you should believe in them. I am saying that this Universe is so vast and so big and that there are many wondrous things we may never be able to understand to keep your mind open. Who knows what you might encounter one you are a Star ship Captain!"

"You think I will make it?"

"Of course, you have the thick skull of the Olafsons, the strength and perseverance of the Ragnarssons and from what I hear you have a lot of the stubbornness and Intellect of the Hellstrom clan! I have no doubt you will one day command a Star ship if you really want it. When that day comes Eric, I will be there! Be it in person at a great ceremony or be it I spirit."

Peculiar warmth filled me from deep within and then I asked." I never heard of the Hellstrom clan, who are they?"

"Eric!" he sounded surprised and disappointed. "Your Grandmother's clan of course! Do they not teach about the Old clans I Heritage Class?"

"Yes but I am not allowed to attend anymore. Father prohibits it. He says it is knowledge reserved for Lords and clan leaders not for scum. Not that he has plans to keep me alive past my sixteenth birthday. I heard him often enough say it."

He sighed. "I feel shame and rage for what he is doing to you. The Hellstrom clan is old and far in the west and they own the biggest private island on the entire planet and your Grandmother looked very much like your mother did. As for what your father plans and what will actually happen I would not worry too much."

He reduced speed."To be accepted as a accolyte by the Keepers is a great honor and it is a sure way into the Circle of the Elders. If they accept you that is, there will be others like you but most of them shovel snow, scrub stairs and leave the place none the wiser. Only a few will be accepted. Don't be disappointed if it does not happen. No one but they know why and how they elect the ones they accept."

"I know why you sent me here grandfather!"

"You do?"

"To be away from father and have peace for three month."

The Halls of Hasvik were built into the side of a snow covered mountain that stuck out of the everlasting ice, up here so close to the North Pole. Grandfather has landed before a seemingly endless flight of crooked stairs that led to a gray forbidding looking burg like structure in the distance, most of it covered with more snow. The wind blew with gale force and hammered me with frozen snowflakes pricking my bare arms and my face. Grandfather put his hand on my shoulder.

"This is where I will leave you. You must make it alone up these stairs and report to the Gate Keeper. From there on do as you been told. I once climbed those stairs and so did many Ragnarssons before. You be the first Olafson in many generations that made the pilgrimage. Go up with all my blessings Eric and come down in three month with honor and Mördaren will be yours!"

"I will not fail you Grandfather. I will do my best."

Grandfather stepped back and slammed his fist against his chest before extending his arm over me. "Let Thor's strength be in your arm and Odin's wisdom be your guide."

I turned and started to climb the narrow steep and ice covered stairs.

I turned after a few and he was still standing there, surrounded by whirling snow. The stairs were slippery and I had to watch what I was doing. One could easily fall and probably break every bone in the body. Again I turned and he was still there much further away next to the now snow covered Volvo.

I must have climbed at least half an hour and reached a little platform hewn into the rock. As I locked back down Grandfather had not moved and I thought I saw him waving. I didn't feel the cold much except to nose and cheeks as I tackled the second flight.

I wondered, while I climbed why they didn't put more care in the building of these stairs. They easily could have been made wider and deeper as well, but then it did not seem there was all that much traffic coming up or going down.

Of course this had to be the hard way all newcomers had to take. The rest would fly in along with the food and whatever else they needed to survive out here.

I soon lost sight of grandfather and could not tell if he was still there or not and I estimated to have spent at least two hours and yet the burg seemed elusively far. I was no longer cold at all but started sweating and during Short Summer the sun never really left the sky and it did not get really dark, but due to the leaden sky and the eerie gray twilight it could have been any time during the day. Everyone on a cold world like ours knew that sweating was a certain way to die if you stopped and let the cold seep in. I had to find shelter before I could take a real break. The only such place however appeared to be the Burg that was much larger than I thought, still far away. I kept climbing, thinking Grandfather could still be there and use Tele Optics to watch my progress and I did want to make him proud. These were just stairs nothing real dangerous and I was in good condition and a good swimmer. This should be no problem! Yet my breath was going heavy and I wanted to sit down just for a few moments. So I put my head down bit my teeth and increased my pace. Just don't look up. Don't think how far it still is, I said to myself and kept on. I was sure I had climbed now for the better part of 5 hours up the zig zaging flights of narrow stairs up between steep rock walls when I reached a landing, the burg seemed only slightly closer I met another person! An old man dressed like a Low man only in linen and no leather or fur. He was meager looking and struggled with a load of soak stones on his back. I was more than shocked to see him bare feet. Whatever clan he belonged it must have been either a very poor or a very cruel clan to treat their Low man like that.

"Hail Old man! You came a long way with all that Soak stone! Do you know how much further it is to those Halls?"

He turned. "I am afraid this is as far as Odin lets me go, young man. I must deliver these soak stones as my lord decreed he would donate to the Faceless Seven, but I am at the end of my strength."

"Judging how far you came, I say Odin blessed you with great endurance even in your advanced age. Your clan chief should have flown it up there instead of sending you! Let me help you with it. I think I still got some left in me it can't be that much further."

"No one is allowed to fly up there, at least not by means of the Off-Worlders. Everything they need has to be carried and carried it is by those who wish the blessing of the Gods but some think it can be delegated and still receive the blessing if the gift is large enough."

"I wish I had Freya's Cloak as well Old Man!" I grabbed his sack and it was indeed heavy and it deepened my respect for the Old man to have even made it that far.

He said." Thank you young lord. I will wait here."

"No you can't wait here. If you stay to long you will freeze to death. Your clan chief failed to equip you as well."

"I can't go another step!"

He collapsed to the stairs. He had his eyes closed and was breathing very shallow. He looked frailer than I realized. "Well I guess they can live without the Soak stones for a while. We need to get you up there, fast!"

As frail as he was he was a grown man and I was turning fourteen in three months, but he got up leaned heavily on me and we went on. He grew heavier it seemed and he lamented about the soak stones and the punishment he would receive for not delivering them.

I did not have much breath left to answer but I said." Don't worry I go and get them, but you need to get inside, or all the punishment of your clan Chief is going be dished out to a corpse."

While I was praying to Thor for more strength or maybe that he used his hammer to smash those cursed stairs I dragged him on. He felt cold and I wondered what kind of clan chief would send an old man like that on an errand like this. Certainly my father would be delighted to send me up and down these stairs if he knew about them. Whenever I was thinking of my father fear anger and a cauldron brew of emotions gave me some extra push.

I could not tell how long we had walked, but I hoped the Faceless Seven had some hot water in their kitchen and a bed somewhere as we finally reached a metal door set into a wall partially hewn out of the rock of the mountain and partially build with large square hewn boulders. Real old burgs had sometimes parts that were made like this and not out of Duro-Crete, much of our basements, dungeons and under crofts were built that way.

The door looked massive and there was no view port or window anywhere. The stairs had ended in a short narrow path leading to that two man high door. To the left the sheer wall of the mountain and to the right the chasm downs the mountain. I could see much the meandering stairs coming up the mountain side from here.

"Have you been up here before? Is there a special ritual or way to gain entrance?"

The old man blinked. "We made it, but I am still doomed. I am here without the soak-stones! I most certainly will be flailed! Our clan Chief is easy to anger and quick with his war bludgeon!"

"I gave you my word! I go and get it, but you need to get inside and that is what I try do to."

I eased him to the ground and gave him my fur vest. The wind felt even colder but he was all skin and bones and had even less defenses.

I banged with my hand against the door but doing it I felt how thick the metal must have been it did not vibrate or make much of a sound at all. "No one is going to hear that!"

I yelled as loud as I could but even after seven Hellos there was no response of an kind.

The old man huddled into my vest and said." The Soak stones are trenched that is why the sack is so heavy. We could borrow one or two and light a fire. They might see that."

"Alright I try to be quick but it will be several hours. Don't die on me and try to move around. Don't stay to long on the ground!"

"Yes young Master. He held me by the hand." What is your name and of what clan are you?"

"I am Eric and I am of the Olafson clan."

I then left and went back down and wondered what a fool's errand the whole thing was and why there was a door and no one to open it. While I was sure Grandfather meant well sending me here and it still beat the prospect of staying at home especially after he was set into rage by Grandfather, but maybe those Seven Guys were dead and gone. Since they had been there when Grandfather came up here, they must have been either real old or it was some sort of office that was passed on and they didn't find anyone to pass it on too. Maybe the burg was abandoned.

At first I thought going down the stair would be easier, but going down the icy narrow steps turned out to be far more dangerous and I had to go slow and careful. When I finally reached the landing where we had left the sack, my legs trembled uncontrollably and it took me long moments to get myself under control. Going up seemed almost like a blessing despite the heavy sack, but then it contained life saving warmth for me and the old man. If I remembered my local geography lesson correctly, which I was regretting now did not get via Cerebral Upload; there was a small town to the east on the Ice. How far to the east I could not even guess; if the Burg here turned out to be abandoned. I had to take the old man there somehow. There was no other settlement I knew of up here on the ice of the northern pole of our planet.