New Edit: Chapter 44: High Ambitions

Chapter 44: High Ambitions
Gretel watched from her chair as Isegrim entered the halls. Harkun appeared silently from the shadows and she wondered how that gray skinned bastard did that. She would have to kill him. He was a much greater problem then Isegrim and he turned out to be less and less responsive.

Isegrim was in a good mood and sat down at the big table. "A mug of our finest and let the kitchen know I am hungry." Harkun responded as usual with a stiff nod and rushing away to do his master's bidding. Gretel no longer envied Isegrim in that regard. She too had wished to have a person she could trust and do things for her without hesitation, now she did.

Ever since she met Jon while in the Chat Lounge a few months back. He was real, not a Simulation she had created for herself. At first he was just another player and chatter, but he let her gamble on his account and he understood exactly what she was about. He was different, not a primitive bloke like Isegrim but a suave man of a gorgeous world called Azure-Delight. One of the ten most beautiful planets according to the famous Cosmo Magazine List. Only the rich, the famous and the beautiful could afford to vacation there. The richest and most famous however actually lived there. Jon owned an incredible palace with transparent walls overlooking an azure lagoon with sandy beaches. From his living room you could see to the left and in the distance the palace owned by Mystery Child, the most popular performance artist in the Galaxy and to the right, looking like a jewel was the mansion of Rex Schwartz of Schwartz Industries. The richest man in the Universe! She had seen him walk at the beach and wave at her avatar! Jon told her that Rex was a friendly rival of his and that he too was in control of a Giga Corporation.

That was a world she really belonged to! Not this cold primitive world. There on Azure-Delight they had fashion events. Women there would not buy dresses and outfits browsing GalNet Catalogs but the foremost designers either lived or came to Azure-Delight and designed for them! Galpadore himself, a good friend of Jon and without question the most expensive and exclusive fashion designer accidentally dropped by to talk to Jon just as she had established her Avatar there. Galpadore, every woman's dream forgot about Jon and asked her at least five times if her Avatar was a real representation of herself. When she adjusted the Avatar to be her exact mirror image, he told her that she would be perfect to wear his latest creation to the Diamond Ball Reception held at Pluribus every four years to celebrate the begin of Union Week, but then he was disappointed as she told him that she was trapped on Nilfeheim, married and unable to leave.

A loud burp by her husband took her out of her daydream. He put the mug down and worked on a piece of roast.

"I heard you purchased two new Submarines." She chirped in an inquisitive manner.

"Aye, two New Sweden Boats!" He chewed with a proud smile. "Fifty meters each. Three harpoon turrets each. Auto loaders, fish grabbers and eight tow winches. The Olafson fleet will be the envy of all!"

"Expensive are they not?"

"I say! They are the top of the line. Two point two Million each plus delivery."

"So I heard! And six Freemen and even two Low men of our Clan leaving this very planet today to travel to New Sweden!"

"It is only prudent to have them trained to be real Engineers. Smearing paint over rusty spots and not knowing how to fix a broken light is no longer acceptable. Besides we do have a sizable fleet now and by Yuletide they all are going to be overhauled. It is a big investment and needs to be taken care off!"

"It is Yuletide soon, have you thought about presents for me and your sons?"

"I am thinking of letting you live for a little while longer. Should be the best present there is."

"You let yourself be humiliated by that abomination in front of your peer? Will you challenge him after Yuletide?"

"I was humiliated all those years treating my first born like dirt. I stand with pride at the side of my peers, the Clan Chiefs of allies and foes alike. The name Olafson is spoken with the utmost respect!" He pointed his eating knife at her. "He dispatched Frederick Steiner being wounded and handicapped, Frederick Steiner was among the best swordsmen of this world! I challenge him and you be a Widow!"

"You are a coward then! Afraid of a 15 year old boy!"

Isegrim flipped the knife in his hand and threw it and it hammered into the backrest of her chair, only inches from her head. "Curse you and your vile witch potions!" then he looked over to Harkun.

The man servant said. "The treatment is working slowly My Liege, but it is working. These massive doses of Kermac Psych Drugs and the resulting hypnotic blocks she has poisoned you with over more than a decade, have taken deep holds and I am no Psych Expert to go any faster."

Isegrim laughed at Gretel. "Bide your time, Gretel. Soon I am master of my own mind again and then you shall pay!"

She was clearly unhappy. "You meddling fool! What kind of hold has he over you? Join me Harkun and we make him once more a willing tool! There are many riches to be gained!"

Isegrim jumped up to strangle her but no matter how much he tried he could not get his body to do it. He dropped himself back into the chair.

Harkun glared at her down his nose. "Nothing this side of death could make me sell out to my master."

She got up and stretched out her hand. "You have money! Give me some! I need more dresses and I desire a better GalNet Terminal!"

He wanted to refuse but handed her his credit strip.

She smirked at him. "You are pathetic, maybe it is time I become a widow! Then I can take care of my stepson's inheritance much better!"

She left the hall and touched the golden pearl earrings she was wearing and activating the PDD inside, and then she fingered along her pearl necklace and pressed seven of her pearls in a distinctive sequence, to activate a preset connection. "It is me Adolph. Your first attempt on Eric's life has failed as your fat brother was unable to deliver and instead of Eric it was him rolling down the stairs of Hasvik! Do you still want to take the leadership role in this Clan alliance? Then I think we need to discuss how to get rid of Isegrim first."

She giggled as she heard the response. "Wonderful let us meet then at the usual place."

After she had placed that call she went on to make another. "I love these new pearl ear rings, Brunar! They are lovely and my dumb husband has not even noticed them. Thank you so much! Anytime you need something let me know!"

Gretel went in her rooms, dropped the ugly traditional dress and indulged herself in a feathery satin robe, handed to her by one of her silent handmaidens and checked herself critically in the floor length mirror. She would look gorgeous in a Galpadore Gown! Jon was nice and rich but why stop there? This Rex Schwartz was just a man after all and she heard liked women. Now that was a goal worthy of her efforts. Not to play second fiddle to anyone.

"System tell me, where does Rex Schwartz live?"

The Computronic behind the Mirror that was adjusting her reflection just enough to hide her added weight and did other minor adjustments, officially marketed to women as the "True Image Mirror" was also connected to GalNet and answered her question with the same smoky voice as Jon had. "The Tycoon Rex Schwartz has residences all over the known Galaxy and owns several planets for his personal use. It is reported that he spends much time on Azure-Delight."

"How convenient! I am planning to live there as well."

"Do you wish to speak to a Real Estate agent with properties listed on Azure-Delight? There is only one so listed."

"No not at the moment. How rich is Rex Schwartz?"

"Official or verifiable numbers do not exist. Do you wish to access the estimates of Forbes Magazine?"

"Yes."

"Rex Schwartz personal fortune is estimated to exceed 1/64th of the GDP of the entire Union. Making him the only Centillionair in Galactic History. The only individual owning five personal planets. The largest private space ship, the Black Sirius is registered under his name. Mr. Schwartz controls over 80 percent of the stock in Schwartz Intergalactic Industries (SII) which is the largest of Ultra Corp."

She swooned. "Centillionair now that has a nice ring to it. Is he married?"

"All official civil information on Rex Schwartz is classified under the VIP protection Act. Do you wish to access Glamour Magazine Issue 24 5011. With an extensive story on his private life?"

"Yes, display!"

Bredenberg Island was part of a cluster of five Islands close together, known as the Five Clan Cluster. I was just hundred klicks west of the Uhim Grounds and long ago all five Islands belonged to that legendary Uhim Clan. The Uhim's had perished in the Great Clan wars. Four of the rocky islands were occupied now by the Burgs of individual Clans and the fifth held the third and smallest town on Nilfeheim called Trondheim. If one would draw lines between the five islands you would get an almost perfect pentagon of about one kilometer each side. The Bredenberg Clan was around for a long time but it was not an Old Clan and they established their own Burg on top of the Old Harald Uhim Island.

I surfaced the boat a few kilometers away, I could not really say why but I wanted to keep that a secret for as long as I could. It was bad enough we Norse had fliers but no one really had the idea yet to use them in anger as a weapon. Having Neo Vikings in flying subs would not be a good idea unless there was some sort of control in place. Astrid stood next to me holding the life like mask of Sif. "With something like that you could be Freya again. I miss her and the time we had together. All seems so far away now!

"Don't get me started. You girls used me from the start and you did it knowingly. First you took me inside your circle and then I was kicked out without an explanation, only to learn later it was nothing but a trick, but it was stupid of me to begin with."

She put her hand on my shoulder. "Yes we did and some of us felt really sorry for you, especially Elena. Eric we all had a crush on you and some still do. I wanted to protect you from what we planned to do. I knew Freya became more real every day and you might have joined us and we could not risk that. Our mission was to use you, yes. Our leader says we must use men as tools for our cause as this is the only real weapon we have."

Her face became fierier. "You of all men should understand how different our lives are. Women have no say, no rights and are openly declared to be second class to men. Your very own mother died because she was traded like a piece of commodity to gain clan alliances and riches. No one asked your mother if she wanted to be married to that brute that is your father. Do you really know what happened the night you were conceived? Do you think she willingly let him in her bed? He was the Lord, he was the man and there was nothing she could say or do, not even to her own father!"

I could not help but remember how horrible I felt when Harkun tried to rape me during that body switch dream the Old Man had provided. Was I a product of such an act? I suddenly felt dirty and guilty. Knowing only too well that she was most likely right, Astrid wiped her eyes. "Do you know why I killed the Bendixen Elder?"

I was about to say something, but she didn't wait and pushed the accelerator control to zero and hissed. "I will tell you anyway! I must tell you! Maybe then you are not so hard in your judgment against us."

There it was again. Someone else accused me of coming to a verdict too fast. "Tell me please!"

Astrid was a very fair skinned and she had freckles over her nose, her hair was thin and long, she was not one of those girls that looked pretty when she cried, but I suddenly felt very sorry for her and her tears felt hot as they dripped on my hand. "This old bastard raped me Eric! He forced his stinking body on me when I was barely thirteen! He was an Elder and I the daughter of a Freeman in the house of Bendixen. My father beat me up when I told him what happened and told me it was my fault for making him aware of me and that I should never speak about it! My mother was afraid and asked me to forget! I can never forget and he did it many times! I cannot stand to look at a man without getting so sick I throw up! Eric I hated you for the simple reason you have a pecker! But you showed you could be Freya and the Illusion was perfect. I didn't want to know you were a boy underneath!"

She spread her hands and her tears flowed freely. "What could I have done to prevent it? Father always said I could have!" Her words hit me like knives, some of what she said where like echoes of my own thoughts. Her words brought my experience as Loki to the surface and the words of the Old Man that there were many personal hells on this world and I was not the only one with a rotten childhood. I could not tell if all the tears were hers as I took her in my arms and held her for quite a while as she sobbed and moaned. I don't know how long we held each other like that but finally she let go and gave me a sad smile. "I must look like a bloated Rose fish. We still need to meet the leader I guess." She kissed me on the cheek and went to the bath room.

It was a more modern constructed burg, no masonry and rock at all and entirely made of Duro-Crete. Instead of open ramparts on towers and walls it had covered corridors with thick armor glass windows. According to Astrid it had no Submarine pen but instead a small harbor had been constructed with massive Durocher walls. Two Surface fishing ships tied up painted in the Bredenberg Colors of Yellow on Purple. While Nilfeheim had no time zones and all went by Universal time that almost fit the day cycle around Bifrost during Shortsummer, here it was just getting dark. The burg looked dark and brooding against the rising darkness of night. I dropped anchors. She put the other cloak around my shoulders. "It is going to be cold outside."

Out of an impulse I pocketed the little Off-World gun as I left the boat after her and locked it with my code. We went up the short steep ramp to the actual gate. It opened after she keyed in a security code and breathed into a sensor hole.

The courtyard was dark, there were no lights anywhere. "Why is it so dark and where is everyone?"

She answered with a somber tone and almost whispering. "There aren't many of the Bredenberg family left.

Despite the fact that the burg was only five hundred years old and by design looking more modern than for example our burg, it had an old feeling almost like that of a tomb. I didn't know why I got goose bumps over my back as she opened the heavy door to the High halls and a draft of musky stale smelling air went past us. The High Hall was dark except for a few yellow and weak Lumi-plates; most of the furniture was pushed to the sides and covered with cloth. Her Heels sounded like echoing hammer blows, my Fanger leather boots made little noise. In all this weirdness I admired her heeled boots and had the urge to walk in heels once more.

Over a flight of stairs we reached the Drawing room and there in the fire place was a small fire of pressed Sea weed blocks. A circle of 12 upholstered stone carved high backed chairs was the dominant feature of the room. There was no one else. "Wait here!" She said. Then she put on her white stocking mask and pulled up the hood. She stepped inside the circle of stairs pulled at a cord and a bell rang somewhere, then she sat down on one of the chairs.

From the deep darkness of the room behind the chairs a person in a dark red cloak appeared stepped in the middle pulled the cord and sat down in a chair across Astrid. Two more appeared the same and one after the other rang the bell and sat down.

The others wore dark blue, like Astrid. All their faces hidden behind those white stockings. The Red Cloak spoke with a deep female voice. "The Daughters of Nilfeheim have one more come together to discuss grave matters and to erase the injustice against all Sisters and daughters of this world."

The rest spoke together. "To the rights of the daughters we pledge our lives."

The red cloak waved at me. "Step into the circle. We have a very special guest tonight. The first man ever to step foot in our midst."