Visiting the Sojonit Temple



DUKE DONHEER

Circuit stood by the huge pile of scrap Gothar had just delivered and said:

"What in the world would you want with that?"

I shrugged.

"Don't ask me. I did only what the Merchant told me. But it was good that way. Now all he can tell is that Black Velvet bought scrap and thinks we have a deal with the Dai Than going."

Sobody heard us talk about him and came over.

"It was actually good business. Do you know how many million of tons of scrap and second hand materials are bought and sold every day and then shipped all over the galaxy?"

Again I had to confess ignorance and said

"No not really."

He pointed at the open boxes.

"These Arti Coils contain valuable materials and are very expensive when new. There are companies in Freespace, and I know of several on Union side as well who do nothing but recycle or rebuilt them and sell them for much less than new ones.

We can easily make 6000 Creds on those alone, right here on the Pirate Market. If we bring those things to my Bazaar and I guarantee a profit of 12 to 14,000 Creds."

Narth pointed to the cases with the alien spheres and said.

"Not to mention a treasure of potential ancient knowledge that can hardly be evaluated in Credits."

Sobody rubbed his bald head.

"I would not go that far. I am sure we can get two or three billion for those easy. It looks like most of the Data spheres are broken but some are intact and there is nothing more valuable than rare artifacts from long gone civilizations."

Narth bowed slightly and I knew he was smiling behind his hood.

"To some the collected knowledge of a long gone civilization might be beyond monetary values but I am still learning and now thanks to you I can actually revise my estimate of priceless with a more accurate figure."

Sobody looked at Narth and his eyes sparked.

"I might not be around as long as you Narth, but we Golden travel this Universe further than even you, who hardly ever left the Upward Sector and we built our society on the fact that almost any species we ever encountered has need for some sort of money and almost all understand the value and benefits of trade. Trade is a wonderful tool of understanding and making profit is one of the few universally common concepts."

Narth bowed again.

"I yield to this quite correct statement, my Golden Friend."

TheOther stood quietly to the side and I asked him:

"I do not know you well enough yet but I think something is bothering you. I am your Captain but my offer that my door is open also includes you."

He said with a sad tone in his voice:

"It is the Stik . I almost killed him and caused him serious pain and harm and that right after I told you that I abhor unnecessary violence. I hope the Lord forgives me."

I put my hand on his side as I could not reach his shoulders and said.

"It was an accident and not done on purpose. I believe it is the Suit that augments your already incredible strength to truly astronomic levels. I think we should ask Circuit if he can't adjust that a little down with the help of a Computronic  routine.

He straightened out and sounded less depressed.

"This is true. I did not do it on purpose and the suit is magnifying my strength, thank God."

I was curious and asked.

"What religion do Y'All have?"

"Y'All battle drones do not have any religion or even the concept of faith."

He now lowered his voice again.

"I told you that I changed and questioned our ways. I didn't do that out of the blue but an experience while we were destroying a human colony truly affected me. A man stepped fearless and unarmed before me and just held out a little symbol and held a book. I'll never forget his words, that I was trashing a House of God and that it was a sanctuary for peace. Even though we were not allowed to communicate, we still understood human languages.

I am deeply ashamed that I killed that man. Why I kept his book could not say. With the help of our Computronics I translated it and begun to read it."

He pulled a silver chain from inside his uniform and on it a little cross and he continued:

"It suddenly made sense to me, the teachings of that great master changed my life and made me realize I too have a soul and would be held accountable for what I did."

I was quite floored by that. I knew of the ancient Christian faith he was talking about and it was one of the reasons my ancestors left Earth so they could freely worship Odin and the Aseir. I knew many Human Union Captains had a copy of the Bible on their shelves where I had a copy of the Edda.

To learn that a member of the fiercest and most brutal enemy the Galaxy ever faced had become a believer was quite touching and made me think even more differently about the Y'All and him in particular.

"I suggest you get together with Circuit now and see what can be done about your battle suit."

"Aye Captain," and stomped away.

Sobody was talking to his Holdian friend and as he saw me he hastily came over and said:

"Captain with all that Trash Island business I almost forgot to tell you that Hans and I followed a lead Mehdi send us and we found a weapons dealer in the Uppers  controlled by the Donheer Clan . There are two dealers claiming to have access to Union Mil Tech and one of them assures me he can get his hands on a stockpile of Loki Torpedoes and even a P Bomb ."

This was serious Union Hardware and a P Bomb in the wrong hands could mean the end of a Planet. While the technology of these weapons was not as tightly guarded as the secret of the Translocator it was still highly classified and Kermac, Shiss and Nul would be eager to get their hands on these. I said to Sobody.

"Do you know where they keep them or when they plan to sell these items?"

Sobody shook his head and said.

"Sorry, Captain I don't, but since we are talking about a deal that could reach a billion Polos, I am sure the Duke himself is tightly involved and it would only be him who knows where they are kept."

"Is there a way we can find out?"

"Hans was received like a king and they have scheduled a Championship match to celebrate the return of the Terror Hammer . This is one of the occasions for which the patriarch himself will leave his island fortress to attend the spectacle in person. It might be the best chance to catch him, interrogate him and find out where the weapons are. We would surely blow our cover if we have to attack his compound openly. These Cartel islands are well defended and shielded."

I digested the information and then nodded.

"Alright, do you think you can get some sort of plan of that Coliseum without putting yourself in too much danger?"

Har-Hi said.

"I can go along and make sure he is safe. No worries. Dai Than are not uncommon on Sin 4 as we are pirates too and occasionally do business here. Maybe Narth can keep a Psionic eye on us."

Narth nodded too and said.

"I could also keep my actual eyes on you by coming along. My abilities might prove useful and it would further satisfy my curiosity to see Sin 4 and participate in a clandestine operation."

I didn't object. Har-Hi was as experienced as one could be, Sobody seemed to know the ins and outs and I doubted there was anyone on Sin 4 who could stop a Narth. So I agreed to their plan and said: "Just be careful to make sure they do not recognize you as a Narth."

Narth managed to sound excited:

"I shall obscure my nature by utilizing a costume."

I watched them leave and went to my own quarters to put on the Sojonit Costume and go with Shea to the Temple to visit the Mother Superior. I was looking forward to seeing her again as I had grown to like the old Saresii woman.

Shea was already there and wore her old Sojonit outfit, but had not yet put on the wig or the mask. As I opened the package and revealed the black outfit she said with big eyes.

"I wonder why she sent you the outfit for an Avenging Angel ? That is a very secretive group within our order. This one even has a mask registered to the name of Nightshade ."

I didn't want to lie to Shea but I was under strict orders to keep the details of this for myself so I said:

"I am sure she had a reason and maybe she will tell us why."

She nodded and accepted my answer, but she was way too intelligent and I felt she suspected I knew more.

I asked her.

"How do you know it is a genuine mask?"

"Put on your mask and if you focus your eyes just above the eye slits you can see two little eye blink switches. Look at the left one and blink twice."

I did and Computronic information was displayed right before my eyes. I could scroll through the menu by simply moving my eyes and as I looked at her I could read.

"Genuine Sojonit Sister, registered mask name: Wet mouth . Status: retired."

She said:

"You can even activate the weapons and the shield that way. Those masks are way more than just disguises."

"Weapons too?" Of course I knew about those and it didn't feel right to pretend.

"Yes, the basic equipment are Neuro Ripper, Micro Needler and Lip Poison . I am sure the ones for the Avenging Angels have even more options."

The Pink Mercedes came and picked us up. After an event-less flight we reached the Temple Island and were brought right to the Private Offices of the Mother Superior. She greeted us and said: "Sister Wetmouth already told me the happy news and I wholeheartedly agree and wish you the best of times together."

After we thanked her she said to Wetmouth:

"Please go to the temple stores and get your new retired outfit. You will like it as it has a closed mouth like mine."

Wetmouth bowed and left. Despite her mask I knew she was not completely happy to be sent away. After Shea was gone, Mother Superior said:

"You can tell her everything in due time, but right now it is not a good thing. Emotions and secrets do not always go together."

I had to agree to this basic wisdom, but I wondered and asked her:

"Shea is in control of her emotions and she is way more than a friend. I am going to marry her and share the rest of my life with her."

She took off her mask and looked at me with a soft smile but sad eyes and shook her head.

"No my dear, you won't. If everything goes well she will spend her life with you, but she will fade away and you will go on. I am certain now you are one of us, one of those where age and time means little. However you are young and what I say now will fade in the background until many years have passed. I hope you both will be truly happy as you deserve it."

She said it with a tone of certainty in her voice that made me believe her, so I said:

"What has changed from when we met last time? What made you certain?"

"Listen into yourself and you will know it too, we all do and we recognize each other."

I knew she was right, even though the idea, the very concept of immortality, was incomprehensible. Why would a Neo Viking of no special purpose become immortal? I had not met a Guardian. I did not find a Rainbow palace nor had I psionic powers to slow down my cell decay. Heck I was barley adult and yet I somehow knew beyond all doubt that she was right.

I sighed deeply as it was a heavy load of questions that pestered me and there were no answers in sight. I said:

"Yes I feel it and I am sure you know more than you let on."

She put her hand on my cheek and said.

"Yes Eric, I know more. We immortals all have a task; some sort of purpose the Universe needs. Some of us know the task right away and others will only become aware of it after thousands of years. I don't know your task Eric, your true purpose, and I don't want to influence your decisions with theories and opinions of my own."

"You are already influencing me and I don't mind. I feel you have good intentions."

"I do, Eric. I have good intentions and I really like you but immortals are not always friends. They can be the terrible enemies and I hope one day when you know who you are you will see me as a friend and not an enemy."

I stared at her in disbelief. "I might be one of you immortals, but I will not become something else. I am Eric of Nilfeheim and I will never turn my back on my friends. I trust my feelings. I think you have your own agenda but you are a friend."

"Are you really the same Eric Olafson that left Nilfeheim? You live day in day out as a female now and the world perceives you that way. You are not a young Cadet but a Star Ship Captain . Yes very young but do you think Stahl and McElligott would have given Command over such an important mission to a child? No Eric you are changing, mixing and developing, and who knows what comes out at the end."

Again she removed all the patina and revealed the truth to me. I could not even use my first name anymore and yet as she said it I knew the female part of me was only a phase as well, it would not be the end of my transformation. Maybe I was slowly turning into a Narth.

She held up my mask and said:

"This will be your friend, Eric. It helps us disguise our emotions, hide our true nature to those who do not understand us, allow our friends to see us and not fear us and eventually allows you to become someone else while fading from the memory of others."

I shivered and said:

"Will you be my guide? I am new to this Immortal business and it frightens me more than anything ever before."

She nodded.

"Yes Eric, I will be your guide as long as you let me and as far as I can. Richard will be there as well as the Coven . Of course the Narth Supreme will eventually supplant us all and be the guide you need."

She got up and said with an open smile that now reached her eyes and she said.

"How do you feel anyway in your new life and role?"

"Much has changed and I find myself more and more content with my new role. I have not really missed my old body much."

"That is good to hear. Being content in oneself is a big part of true happiness. Now let us talk a little business and after that we will go into the basement."

From her table she took a small PDD, looked at it and said:

"I have Intel that the Red Dragon will be here tomorrow. He has left Alvor's Cove and is on his way. Also a Mercenary and Assassin named Dimon Honshu arrived recently and asked many questions about the Silver Streak and Black Velvet . TSI believes he is an Agent for the Nul-Nul or has close ties to the Triangle that is the Nul Intelligence Service. He was seen talking to two Nul Agents. You might want to keep an eye open for him. I am giving you information on him in a data file so you can check it out."

I updated her on what I had on that and she raised her shapely eyebrows and said.

"It seems the training you received and your marvelous crew dug up some serious Intel here. I think it was a great idea to go to Brhama Port first in disguise and with surveillance equipment."

She was right again. I would not have even considered something like that before and perhaps all that clandestine spy stuff I had learned really changed my approach to things.

She seemed to know what I was thinking and said:

"Now let us go downstairs and call a mutual friend of ours who is eager to hear your report."

In the secret Intel Outpost deep below the actual temple and in the briefing room that was already familiar to me, she activated a secure link and McElligott appeared right away.

"You are Captain Olafson, right?"

I forgot I wore the Sojonit mask again and took it off.

"Yes Sir."

Mother Superior laughed:

"Who else would it be. I am here too."

"Admiral Lydaa, I never get used to the fact that I have never seen your real face. Now dealing with two masked doll faces is just too creepy for me. I want to see facial expressions."

"Alright old Man when this is over I will come to Earth and show you. But the Captain wants to give her report and go back to the ship."

McElligott waved his hand.

"I am always eager to hear these reports, but what could there to be to report? That Pirate has not arrived yet and I read the report you filed with Admiral Stahl just the other day."

I delivered my report about the hidden weapons and the Stiks, The Itomarian Staff and the boxes, about Fusionbeam and the Psionic girl. I closed my report with saying:

"That's all, Sir. I wanted to wait till tomorrow after we had tried to recover the Terran Weapons and had more on this Honshu guy."

The Sojonit leader laughed out loud and said:

"What could there be to report? Indeed, you forget who you are talking to!"

McElligott had his face buried in his hands then looked up.

"Alright Captain. I am sending the Minerva . That is a Privateer ship that like the others is one of our secret units. You are to transfer the Itomarian relics and the Stik Delegation to the Minerva. We will bring the Stik to Pluribus and as soon as the Stik have made their case and we confirmed their claim, we will inform the other Three that Sin 4 is now a Union World and move in and clean-up that cesspool. If you can determine the whereabouts of those Terran Weapons that would be a priority."

I acknowledged his orders and the masked woman added:

"I bet Richard will want to come with the Devi ."

"We have had the Sin 4 problem now for quite some time and all we had to do is send in the Olafson Gang . That reminds me, how is the Old Merchant doing?"

I answered.

"He developed into a real asset and a valuable crew member, Sir."

He sighed and said:

"Remind me to sit down and have a drink before you deliver your next report!"

"Sir, I am not sure what I should have done differently."

"It is all good, Captain. All is good. Continue as you did, I trust in your abilities and judgments, as Richard and Cherubim do. One thing is for sure Mr Olafson ; your reports aren't boring to say the least. Carry on."

With these words he cut the transmission.

Now Mother Superior removed her mask and said:

"You and Richard are the only ones outside this post who have seen my face and know my true identity. While I trust the Old Administrator, experience of a very long life time has shown me it is always good to keep the numbers of those who know all about you to a minimum."

"I don't completely understand this need for secrecy on these levels, but then you know more about this than probably anyone."

"Richard Stahl is integrity personified, he won't sell out to anyone and nothing and that includes those he calls friends. He would not hesitate to lose everything including his life to stand for his principles. Admiral McElligott is a good man too, but I have seen him put agendas before convictions and accept policies."

She sat down and motioned me to do the same and continued:

"Consider this a first lesson as I tell you about a time when a Kermac controlled political party gained control over the Assembly and enforced the Pacifist Movement. The Big Galactic War had just ended, the enemy came close to winning and the final victory had been costly in lives and properties. The Union was a fraction of the size it is now and the citizens were war weary. The Pacifist Party accused Richard Stahl of being a war monger and questioned why Immortals were still in positions of power. It escalated into false accusations and Richard Stahl was placed on trial for war crimes against the Kermac and found guilty. The argument was that he and most of the old Admirals and senior officers prolonged, even caused the war with their aggressiveness and that peaceful negotiations would have been an alternative. Many had forgotten the real reasons for the outbreak of the Galactic War and most citizens did not believe that Immortals really existed or should be in positions of power. They were after all originally from Earth and did not represent anyone else. They actually arrested Stahl and send him to a Penal Colony until he could be handed over to the Galactic Council for trial and execution. Stahl managed to flee with about 200 loyal friends and Marines and disappeared. All other known Immortals were evicted from their posts and two of them were placed on trial and executed. Only after Phil Decker and a certain Saresii woman you know exposed the Pacifist Party and their use of Kermac Mind control on the Assembly did they lose power."

I listened to her story. I had heard about Stahl's exile but never any details. It was not taught in school and no classes were held on this at the Academy that I could remember.

She nodded as she saw me thinking and said:

"Yes, it was a shameful period and those Assembly members freed from the mind control realized what they had done. Of course the Kermac operated very delicately and managed to do it slowly and without controlling anyone who would have noticed the Psionic influence, but all they had to do was control a small portion of opinion makers and key figures. Do you know that there was one Immortal who kept his post and position throughout the entire time?"

I whispered. "McElligott ?"

"Yes, no one called him a war monger and no one could find any incident where he got involved in politics, other than accepting the decisions the Assembly made. For one you could say that is exactly what he is supposed to do and you would be right. In this regard he is as steady as Stahl, but on the other hand one could say that a man in his position should sometimes question orders and decisions, just as he asks every one of his officers to do. So you see, while I trust McElligott to a certain degree, I would never reveal all my secrets to him."

I was thinking about that for a moment and said:

"I trust him too, but I have the feeling that he sometimes envies Admiral Stahl for his reputation."

"Your feeling is not so wrong on that one, my Soja . The reputation of the Eternal Soldier has slowly seeped into the consciousness of our Union as a whole and while some don't even think he is real, they trust him and his name. His legend is told in countless stories from one end of the Galaxy to the other, while no one really talks or remembers McElligott unless you happen to be in the Fleet."

"What about Cherubim ?"

"She is an enigma even to me, but I know to her Earth comes first and the Union second. She probably told you she is the Hunter, but she has more often than not also been the Executioner ."

"What does all this mean to me then?"

"This, my Soja is for you to find out. Make your own observations and come to your own conclusions. What I see with my eyes might not look the same when you look at it. Just keep your eyes and mind open and realize that nothing in this universe has only one side." She then laughed silently.

"Except perhaps Richard Stahl."

-"-