New Edit: Chapter 48: Out in the Cold

Chapter 48: Out in the Cold
Gretel tried to reach Jon for the fifth time and every time the system responded. "No such user registered."

She wasn't too concerned, perhaps there was a technical problem. So she decided to call Rex Schwartz over the contact information he had given her and the system responded. "Rex Schwartz is not a registered user on the Dream Maker Network."

"Then connect me with Rex Schwartz directly. Tell him that his Gorgeous Eyes wants to talk to him!"

A woman appeared, after the SII logo flashed over the field screen. "Good afternoon, I am Lindsey, SII General Information desk. How may I help you?"

Gretel got angry. "I want to talk to Rex, Rex Schwartz personally. He knows me and said I can call anytime. I have problems with the direct access he gave me!"

"One moment please." The woman looked up then nodded and said. "It seems you have been the victim of a scam using images, names and trademarks registered to SII Corporation. A team of Schwartz Security Experts will visit your world shortly and investigate. Have a nice day!"

The woman disappeared.

Gretel suddenly started to sweat and the Terminal reported an incoming contact. She agreed with a tremor in her voice.

This time a man established itself and he wore a dark blue uniform, she knew the man. He had the hint of a cold smile on his face. "Good Afternoon, Ms. Olafson. I am Union Police Detective John Cue and you are hereby notified to report to the next Union Law enforcement agency in person. You have the right to bring legal representation with you. You are charged with multiple accounts of illegal drug trafficking, purchasing highly restricted drugs without a valid physician's license."

She crossed her arms. "I do no such thing! I simply stay here!"

His fine smile increased. "Suit yourself, Ms. Olafson. I was obliged to inform you to report to a Law Enforcement Agency due to Union Law 778."

He waved at her. "Good bye Ms. Olafson and be safe!" He then cut the transmission.

A snickering voice from the door to her boudoir said, "Union Law 778 declares anyone dealing, trafficking or using drugs of Level nine and above without proper permissions and licenses as an outlaw. You can now be killed, sold, shot on sight anywhere in the Union. Given the fact that you have a sizable bounty on your head, I expect bounty hunters by the dozen. This is why he wanted you to turn in, for your own safety!" Hogun now laughed. "How smart are you now fat woman?" Then he closed the door.

Gretel stared at the empty box of chocolates from Jon and the now wilting rose and threw it to the ground and stomped on it with rage.

Harkun was very pleased with himself. His master was most likely dead already. His wife no longer a factor and dead sooner or later, maybe he could kill her himself, fifty thousand Credits was nothing to sneeze at.

Eric Olafson the only legitimate heir resting near his father on the ocean floor, left only Tyr in his way. Harkun had the DNA samples to prove Lothar had not a drop Olafson blood in his veins. Unlike him!

Yes he was an Olafson too! A bastard son! Born in shame as his father Volund Olafson, bedded with a Low woman after his marriage! Volund the father of him and Isegrim who was his half-brother; strangled his mother and raised Isegrim like a prince. He, Harkun however was raised like an unwanted orphan in the Tanneries, lower than the lowest, belonging to no one, eating the scraps off the floor. Isegrim, who knew Harkun was his half-brother, freed him out of the stinking Tanneries as soon as he was Clan Chief.

He did this after Volund died falling drunk down the stairs to the Submarine Pens and breaking his rotten neck. No one but Isegrim knew that Harkun had pushed the drunken Clan Chief and enabled Isegrim to become Clan Chief so young. Isegrim thanked him by making him his man servant and he became the best man servant a master could want. Biding his time for his revenge.

When the agents of Tyson Galactic talked to him during the Seafood Conference on Tyson’s Planet, he was eager to help them achieve their goals and in return he would achieve his.

After Isegrim was dead and Eric too, they had no choice but to declare Harkun the rightful Clan Chief of the Olafson clan and he would inherit Eric's riches as well. Tyson would make an exclusive contract with the Olafson Clan and he would use the Olafson clan influence to unite or destroy all the clans under his rule!

His long years of patience and humiliation had ended today! Tomorrow he would be on his way to become King of Nilfeheim!

He knew this burg like no other and every secret passage, and now it was all his! He decided to celebrate by having fun with the beautiful little girl he caught himself only yesterday! She was actually the daughter of a Freeman. Never mind the new rules Isegrim put in place, remodeling the Tanneries and sending them to school. He was in charge now and all would be back as it used to be.

Harkun made it to the undercroft and past the vaulted basements in the old dungeons of the Burg, his personal kingdom. Well not much longer as everything was his now!

Down here he set up his personal chamber of horrors. Here he had a collection of ancient torture devices, all well maintained, oiled and modernized and a wardrobe fit for the master of pain he was! He loved to torture them, see their pain and their fear. There was no greater thrill, no drug, no feeling that could compare.

He put on the black leather pants and the gauntlet style rubber gloves and donned the frightening leather skull cap mask that left the lower half of his face open and then entered his chambers. The girl, she was maybe 14, had been tied to a vertical rack and she had nodded off after she cried herself to sleep. But she stirred as she heard the heavy door and her big eyes started to swim in tears once more.

He could feel his pants tighten, yes this was it!

Before he could do anything, he was suddenly pushed forward by a strong force! He turned angry at who dared to disturb him down here!

There stood a woman in the door wearing a blue cloak on top of the three step stairs. She lowered the hood and said. "Remember me father?"

She was a dark haired beautiful young woman and while her face somehow looked familiar, he could not place her. He grabbed a leather whip from a nearby table. "I don't know who you are but you will not leave this room alive!"

She came down fearless and without hesitation in her steps; some invisible force constricted his very arm. He could not raise the whip! At the same time the bonds that held the little girl fell off as if an invisible ghost was undoing them. The woman in the cloak said. "Go to your mother little one! This sick man will no longer torture anyone and you are safe!"

The girl nodded in tears and ran out the door. Harkun was driven back; he slammed into the rack made of stonewood beams and the shackles closed around his wrists and legs. It was him now who felt fear as a hand formed seemingly out of foggy mist right before him and penetrated his chest! He could feel an ice cold grip around his beating heart. He soiled himself in pure panic and fear and the woman said. "I am Elena; I am the daughter of Gudrun! One of the many you have raped and tortured. It was you who let the Elhir clan drop the Fangsnapper in the yard that killed her! My mother hated you as she hated me for being your daughter!"

Elena took one of the sharp knives from his tables, inspected its edge with a satisfied nod and cut away the leather pants and his mask. She wasn't too careful and smiled as he yelped in pain. "Thanks to Eric I am alive today and thanks to a God I met, I have now the means to make you suffer and then I will kill you!"

She stepped back. "No pain I could inflict would make you pay enough, but you see the God I am talking about has a long memory and collected the pain of many of your victims and now we give that back to you!"

Harkun screamed like no human being had ever screamed as the memories of his own victims flooded his mind and he had to relive every moment.

After over an hour his head dropped to his chest, and drool dropped from his open mouth. Elena stabbed the knife without any feeling of remorse or hesitation deep in his chest. Then she said. "Thank you Tyr!"

The lights flickered and Astrid said. "Looks like his Tech Stop has trouble to get through our armor and hardened systems. She then pried open an access panel and said. "I am sure I can fix this!"

Her hands pulled chip connectors and reset them and then she turned. "Eric flip open your left armrest. Beneath is the Code sequencer. They could not have altered your Command Codes without your permission! All they did is bypass it and tying in their own!"

I did and pressed my hand on the now exposed DNA reader. The lights came back on strong and Astrid said. "Shields engaged. Just then two of the Gauss projectiles slammed into us. The kinetic energy made the boat shudder, but the shields held.

I leaned back in the seat. "I had about enough of these bastards! Sif both engines to full throttle, dive planes to 60 percent and take us on 91 degrees north."

She pushed the accelerator levers for both screws and said. "Aye!"

Astrid closed the panel and threw a compact device on the floor. "You got full control now, weapons too!"

"Open gun ports and charge FTE's!"

"Faster than light Forced Energy Projectors extended and at 98 percent Eric!"

The green cross hairs wandered across the main viewer, turned red as they lined up with the first Brunar Boat. "Fire!"

The Poseidon was pushed sideways as two sun bright spears of light hit the Bendixen boat and virtually vaporized it and a few thousand gallons of water with it. An enormous gaseous bubble with debris and superheated gases rushed to the surface.

One Bendixen and one Lindbergh boat remained intact and both forgot about their own conflict, turned and tried to flee, side by side.

I turned on Nilfeheim radio. "This is Eric Olafson speaking, calling both fleeing boats. Stop your engines and surface. If you do not I blow you both out of the water!

"Astrid, target a spot next to the second boat!"

"FTE's still charging, Eric and at 34 percent."

"Switch to Sub-Roc."

The left torpedo tube of the Poseidon opened and a torpedo accelerated fast driven by bubble streaming rocket motors, covered the distance to the second Bendixen boat, in a few heartbeats slipped underneath its bow and exploded only about fifty meters beyond them. The shockwave tumbled both boats like toys and reached us a half a minute later as well, with much less force however. The Radio crackled in the typical way all ELF transmissions did and I heard Brunar Bendixen's voice. "We surrender and surface now!"

A second voice came on. "This is Isegrim Olafson. Our boat is damaged but I think we can emergency surface."

There was no help we could render to the first Lindbergh boat. Its hull pierced on both sides, filled with water, sinking like a stone. If anyone in there survived the explosion, they were already beyond the depth of even Nilfeheim swimmers.

Astrid rubbed her temples. "The voice of your Old Man can be pretty loud when he is excited, but I knew what I was doing." She turned and grinned. "I always wanted to become an Engineer you know, a real one!"

Sif simply hugged us both and Astrid said. "What you did earlier was really hot in a very twisted way. I am sorry but I get confused with two Sif's around!"

I remembered that I still wore the mask and rushed into my cabin to change.

All four submarines floated on the surface. Their crews standing on the decks. Astrid remained behind the control of the FTL turrets and the snub-nosed muzzles moved back and forth in their ball like turret housings aiming at the other boats. I too was on the top of my boat standing by the bow as Sif steered the boat slowly towards the red sub of my father. He was supported by two of his crewmen. The wind was ice cold and the sea was rough but Sif expertly steered the boat with the waves and limited the rocking. She was even better than I thought.

The men with Father were Greifen and Harkur. I knew the other three by sight but not by name. I yelled over, "What is wrong with him?"

Father answered himself. "I broke my leg as the explosion hit us."

Greifen added. "Your Sire also hit the steel frame with his head real bad."

I smirked and yelled back. "Better check that steel frame then, knowing the thick skull he has!"

Brunar Bendixen yelled using an amplifier. "It is not over! You might have the upper hand now, but I challenge you right now Isegrim Olafson! You are the clan leader of the Olafsons and if I win you are as dead as if on the ground of the Ocean and I will be lord over what was yours!"

There it was! This moment was worse than I thought. He was wounded and I am sure Bendixen could win against my father with a broken leg. Brunar would solve my problem of revenge. Kill my father for me; all I had to do was watch! But it was an unfair situation and I hated those! I yelled, "I am my father's champion if he gives me the honor. As it would be beneath my father to cross blades with a coward as you!"

Father nodded and Bendixen answered. "So be it then, Upstart. But who said anything about blades! We shall fight in the water with slayer harpoons and knives! I know your skill with the sword and I am no fool! But no one has ever beaten a Bendixen in the water!"

"There is always a first! I meet you there!"

I went back in the boat to put on a wet suit and get harpoon and knife. Sif opened the door.

"Sif! I am just putting on a wet suit, I am nak..." I realized what I was saying and pulled the wet suit up as fast as I could.

She threw her arms around me. "Just as I start to like you, you go risk your life for that brute that tortured you!"

"It is an unfair situation and until I know for sure if he did all this to me on his own or under the influence of drugs, I can't condemn him."

"You are a fool like all men. You have them at the point of cannons and now he dictates what we do!"

"We are a product of this world Sif! You are the one that is going to change it, but the Old Man said we need to do it slow!"

She knelt down and attached a diver's knife to my leg. "That's mine. Ram it in the bastard real deep!"

"Talking about brute men. Girl you are as brutal and Viking as the rest of us!" She kissed me on the lips and said. "I never denied that!"

The boats were drawn to a rough square, Adolph and his crew eyed the FTL cannon drained. Brunar stood in a confident posture holding a Friesenheim triple shot. "I thought you might back out!" Then he jumped in and so did I. The coldness of the water was invigorating and out of a strange impulse, I closed my eyes and could see the surroundings clearly without actually seeing them. I could sense the boats and every fish around me and I felt Brunar and he was climbing out of the water already!

As I surfaced I saw Sif and Astrid held by two men, a third was standing on the bow of my father's sub holding a Spear gun leveled against the belly of my father. Brunar stood laughing on his boat. "Do you think I risk everything observing stupid old rituals? Enemies can become friends fast in the face of humiliation!"

Adolph Lindbergh also laughed. "Do you think I let you herd us back to town before the Elders? Accuse us and gain all that is ours? Why do you think I am out here? To make sure you are dead!"

Brunar poured a reddish liquid out of a big jug in the water. "This region is known for rock sharks and Tyranno's. Let us have a little fun and see how you survive now. I will take your boat, kill all witnesses and since they are looking for Sif, I will be awarded by the Arnske clan as well!"

The first triangle fin of a Rock shark appeared!

He added "It is time to die Eric. I let your old man watch and then he and his crew is next!"

Father screamed, "I will get you for this!"

I had to do dive to face the attacking shark. I was again played like a well-tuned harp. Angry at my own stupidity! I had already won. Had them at the point of a gun and yet I was in the water and faced death as I sensed four more sharks!

I did have three spears in my slayer but this was open water, no rocks to hide, and four rock sharks. They were no were near as big as Tyrannos but each was at least 12 meters long and much faster than me, even though I had fins on my feet this time. Also Rock sharks did not have a mark, a clear spot to shoot at and if they did I did not know about it.

I evaded the first fairly easy but was almost snatched by the second, my strange new sense spotted two more attracted by the scent and in the distance at the horizon of my awareness, a huge shape ... no doubt a Tyranno!