First Journey Chapter: 10

Chapter:  10

Defenders of Gore

The Swing Tram was something else. Passenger cabins suspended on a long cable released from a docking port swung across the Canyon and clinked into a similar port on the other side. For a few fleeting moments, I felt weightless then at the bottom of the swing several gee's of pressure pressed me down into the seat, while the rock wall came rushing towards the capsule. Cleverly disguised behind a holo boulder image, the docking station clung to the side of the sheer canyon wall. People were screaming as loudspeakers transmitted crashing sounds. Even though I would never tell anyone, I think I also squealed ever so slightly the first time as it all was so unexpected but thrilling beyond belief.

The roller coaster ride clung the canyon walls through huge bolts, anchored directly into the sheer rock face. It then rushed with tremendous speed towards the surface of the river. A force field convulsed into a funnel-shaped opening at the last moment. They call it an addiction, and I rode the monster three times.

I was pointedly requested to exit an attraction called the Haunted Space station after I knocked out a Ghost, AKA actor, who should receive an acting award, boy, was he ever absorbed into his character. Even though I told them, repeatedly, that it was the first time around something that was all acting and not real action. I sincerely believed the apparition was legitimate and attacking the woman in front of me. The ghost actor accepted my apologies after I paid him two thousand credits for the pain he suffered from the broken jaw. They did not call the authorities, for which I thanked them, but begged me never to return.

The SpiderBot ride I tried next went up and down the sheer rock walls of the canyon, strapped to the back of a six-legged robot spider was quite unnerving. An attendant for this device informed me there were no accidents in the last 100 years of that attraction. The robots designed for the ride had a built-in Artigrav unit for safety. In the rare case, a passenger fell off the spiders back the Artigrav units grabbed them securely, and they floated back to the platform at the start of the ride. Like many amusement park rides, it only appeared to be dangerous. The passenger's life and the wallet of the owners of the park were paramount.

It all was fun, but it would have been more fun with someone to share the thrills and then talk about them. Doing them alone was just not the same. I so wished I could do this with Elena or perhaps Gunnar or Ygral. I wondered where those two were at the moment. I still had plenty of time before I had to report at Arsenal, maybe I should call Yngve and visit him.

With this idea in my head, I left the Amusement park and went to the main shopping area of the City which was called Dusk. I could not believe the size of the buildings or put my mind around that they were fully occupied. That all those flyers and Taxis carried passengers. According to a tour guide drone I had rented, Dusk was not even the biggest city on Twilight. Comparing all the cities and towns of Twilight combined to a typical large city on a major planet is like trying to compare hatchling of a small flicker fish to a Tri-Eight Tyranno. Both being irrelevant and unnecessary. Maybe I should visit Pluribus after spending some time here and decide for myself. I think that would be a perfect solution and while there can pick Egill mind some more, then spend some downtime with SIF,  Yes that is my next stop. With no strict or short term timeline, that would be another enjoyable adventure. Now, back to Twilight's experience, I strolled along a wide boulevard, and while doing so, I observed all the many different life forms and attempted to place names to each species. I Immediately cursed decision to skip the neural uploads at school and watching Captain Iron Hand in the school library. Their viewer was the only one I had excess to on Nifleheim. I need to make a note to myself, "Self at the next city with an excellent Union medical clinic, get an external neural connector implant.  I could see where it is necessary to keep up with the normal activities let alone all the special features and concepts I wish to explore.  I was becoming depressed as I could identify only the most common species such as Klack, massive Botnaars, and Spindler. I was amazed at the strange but fast gait of a Quadi-Ped seemingly doing exercises.  One Shop's advertisement sign caught my eye: "A. Vogt: Master Weapon Merchant."

I did send Mrdaren home, and I was a Neo Viking, and since I was unable to stay out of trouble maybe it would be a good idea to get me another sword or something, Sop, I entered the shop. Inside were rows of clear transalumi cases and projected displays of every weapon imaginable. On display were spears, axes, swords, guns, beamers, rocket launchers and everything in-between. A lighted sign over the main counter displayed an odd version of the Union Flag. It had red and white stripes and a rectangular blue field with little white stars. An artfully written line of words below it read." The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Next, to it a sign promising that all weapons in that section of the store were genuine Terran. Why this was a selling argument eluded me, but it seemed to impress a fish-faced Ult talking to a Klack while looking at the weapon's displayed. "Those monkey-boys from Earth sure know how to make fine weapons."

The Klack responded. "Everything they touch becomes a weapon. I am sure this was at least part of the Queen's consideration when she had us join the Union. It was, of course, a good one."

The Ult laughed. "H'tkik you are a Terran. Weren't you born there?"

"Why do you think I am in a Weapon store, old friend. Klack on the outside, Terran to the core."

Whatever the Ult responded with, I didn't hear because a bald bright blue-skinned humanoid approached me and said, "Welcome to Vogt's. Can I perhaps help you locate your weapon of choice?"

"I am from Nilfeheim, and we usually carry only swords. I am no expert on distance weapons."

He checked his PDD. "We do have many GalNet customers on your world. We send Harpoon guns, swords and knives. We also carry a few Friesenheim speargun models in our catalog." He kept on swiping the display of his PDD. " checking our database, shows Nilfeheim has no local restriction laws on any weapon class or type. I can fix you up with a Federal Class Three license in no time. Class three is the highest private class. Only a few civilians are permitted to own Mil Grade level IV or higher, like the Citizens from Green Hell for example. However, mind you, there is a great selection for Class three."

"All right fix me up then."

Ten minutes later my CITI had a new add on. Federal Weapons bearer License Class III. He then guided me to a Display case. "These are more advanced swords than the ones we ship to Nilfeheim." He places one on the counter. "This is the pinnacle of sword technology. A Marine Corps Issue Chain sword. Three thousand molecular compacted, monofilament Ultronit teeth with a nano-coating of Neutronium. That all Revolves around the blade extendable to 150 cm at five times the speed of sound. Each tooth vibrates at 25,000 cycles a second. No known material can withstand this baby, except for compacted Ultronit. It will cut a Nul in battle armor  in half like cutting butter with a hot knife."

I picked the sword up, it was ridiculously heavy, and I told the merchant so. He gave me the droopy dog look saying, "Even an atomic thin layer of Neutronium is quite heavy."

He handed me something that looked like a sword handle. No blade at all. "This, my Viking friend, is a mono-element sword. Activate it here, and you see it creates barely visible purple Para-Dim force field. The purple field is approximately one-hundred-and-eighty-cm long and emulates a blade of a sword.  Technically it is a two-dimensional object and slide between the molecular bond of most materials and severe same. These force field swords are proven effective against all materials and elements up to compacted Ultronit, and the shields normally used other than Force Recon and other special operations are of little to no resistance to this weapon."

He pointed behind him to the racks of swords and bladed weapons. "Of course, we have low tech versions of every sword and bladed weapon known to the Union, for those you don't need any license. How about guns?"

"As I said, I am no expert with guns, and I rather stick with something I know."

"We have self-aiming weapons ut you would need a Neuro connector for those. Beam Gloves and shoot fingers, laser eyes are all class VIII weapons. Meaning weapons must by law look like weapons and cannot be hidden in something else or made to look like something else unless you have a Class VIII weapons permit."

"I think I will take that chain sword. It sure looks awesome, and if it is enough for the marines, it's bound to be good enough for me."

"Good choice. It comes with a twelve shot Nuc flamer. The Nuc is not recommended for use indoors."

In its retracted state, under nine cm it was just underarm long and came with a matching leg holster. I Felt much more like a Viking again. I still needed to make up my mind where to go. Maybe there was a bus going somewhere exciting and in the general direction of Earth, Arsenal or maybe Pluribus.

Several of the Gun stores customers and salespersons had gone outside and feeling curious, I followed them. Marching down the center of the main street was a group of about twenty men and women. All dressed in loose-fitting, sheet-like robes. The robes were white and either blood-stained or red paint splatter. The group chanted the slogans displayed on simple home-made signs and banners, looked unkempt and badly in need of a bath. The signs bore phrases like: "Free Gore.", "Stop killing the living planet.", "Expel all corporations form Gore.", also, "Fight for the rights of Gore."

Four policemen and four robots trailed the protest group. Whatever the protest was about, the pedestrians and shoppers appeared either completely uninterested or annoyed by the protesters. The group that had stepped out of the gun store, the one I was more or less part off, voiced their opinion more vocal.

A Klack said. "Useless maggots, just Gal Drifts the whole lot of them.  They never worked in their life. You won't find a single Klack among them."

A blue-faced Thauran agreed. "The Azure Emperor would never allow any of that scum on any Thauran world."

A Saran woman, at least I was assuming the olive-skinned beauty with shiny black hair, and a very revealing dress was a Saran, shook her head. "They should arrest the whole lot and ship them to Free Space. If they don't like it here why don't they leave?"

The Thauran laughed. "BOCA offered these Gal Drifts a colony of their own a few years back, but a colony means work. They don't like that, and none of these Society parasites went."

A gorgeous woman with long silvery hair wearing a skin-tight velvet suit and high heeled boots added her opinion. "As much as I would personally like to send them to Togar and make a profit for the Union. They are sentient and have the right to express their opinions. Freedom of speech is a fundamental right guaranteed to all sentient life. I dislike that filthy scum, but I would die to defend their rights."

I was quite impressed by that statement, and she sounded just like Mr. Walthers, one of my primary school teachers. The protest group suddenly stopped and pelted everyone in sight with red plastic bags. A human blonde with a fierce glare in her eyes tossed one in my direction. I was able to avoid it only partially, the thing burst, hitting my shoulder instead of my face and splattered me with a stinking red liquid. There is only one substance I knew that smelled that way, blood.

It took all my self-control to reign in the impulse to tell her what I thought about this, but I would not get into more trouble. No, I so desperately I needed to remain calm. The blood could be washed off, or I could toss the stinking items. I had enough money to afford another night at the Crystal suite or somewhere else to take a bath and get my things cleaned or buy new ones. The Cops and robots reacted attempting to gain control of both sides. However, out of seeming nowhere, an open flyer appeared, swiftly swooped down over the raging mob. Standing but somehow strapped in were several of the bed sheet wearing protesters and they dropped football sized objects. The things exploded emitting bright white flashes. Instantly street lights all over went dark, and the police robots collapsed. Several of the Gun store customers had drawn their weapons, but none seemed to work.

I turned to run inside the gun store for cover. No need for me to be involved in something I had no idea what it was all about. I rushed in and stared directly into a gun. Three men and a woman in blood-stained sheets and hoods held weapons. The bald Blue that served me was lying wounded on the floor, and two others were quite dead. One was missing a head, and the other had a fist size black hole in place of his heart. A fourth Gun store employee had his hands raised.

The masked men were grabbing guns and weapons and putting them in Low grav carry bags. The gun pointing at me was in the hands of a woman. Even the white sheet could not hide her feminine shape, and there was long silky red hair sticking out from underneath the white hood.

"Don't be a hero, kid.  Stick your hand toward the ceiling, and you walk out alive." I did, and I wondered what the odds were to be the victim of a crime twice within two days, I was very proud of myself not to do what I wanted to do. I kept telling myself. Those were not my guns. The police were are already here, and I would be on a space bus out of here, the first chance I got. One of the masked men looked out the window.

"The decoys aren't doing too well. The Tech Stop bombs did their job. But damn it, there are more police, with full shielding now. I, also, think they shot our flyer down."

The bald Blue did not look good. His left arm was a burned stump, and he shivered, a clear sign of shock. He looked at me pleading for help with his eyes. The girl covering me turned to look at the injured man a which allowed me to spring into action. I grabbed her wrist with the hand holding the blaster twisting her arm to her back in one move while Turning her around in an excruciating manner at the same time. Pulling her body close to me, and forcing her to become my shield. She yelped in pain, and I took her gun with the other hand and pressed it in her back. The rest of her gang turned to face me and pointed their weapons at me.

"Let her go, your cowardly bastard, and we let you get away alive."

"Your mouthpiece will die first, as  I'll blast her to bits. I don't know what gun this is but my finger is on the trigger, and I am a very nervous person."

"Hero, you don't know whom you are messing with, do you?"

"A bunch of crooks dressed like idiots robbing a gun store, right?"

"Last chance Hero. Our cause is more important than her. I shoot right through her if I have to escape with these weapons.  We are the Gore Defenders, and if you even care a little about Gore, you let us do our thing."

"I have no clue who or what that is, I did care about living. Now quit talking and drop your guns."

Just then an amplified voice said. "This is Twilight Police. Union Police are on their way to assist us. We have the store surrounded.  Surrender, and we will guarantee a fair trial."

The speaker for them yelled back, "A fair trial that ends at the gallows. There is no such thing as fairness when it comes to Union oppression. We have hostages, and we carry Spore Bombs. We are not afraid to use them.  It will depopulate over half the planet long before you can stop it. We won't wait till you had a chance to get the PSI Corps here or Union SWAT. Our demands are simple. Bring a Flyer to the front door and have a D 12 FTL shuttle ready at the port. We will release the hostages then at the port."

I had aimed the gun between an arm and the body of the girl, giving me a clear shot at the leader. "Did you forget about me Loudmouth?"

I fired. The gun blast roared like thunder, the bright discharge lit up the entire store for a fraction of a second, vaporizing the gang leaders head. I fired again, even before the headless torso of the first one collapsed and another Gore Defender would never need a mask again. The remaining goons still hesitated to shoot, and I roasted him as I had the others. The woman I was holding however reacted and hammered the back of her head right into my nose. That most definitely was painful and caused momentary blindness.

She screamed. "Josh,  I can't get free, shoot this bastard now."

I dropped to the floor as quickly as possible, but something incredibly hot singed the top of my head. Then my eyesight, by design, cleared enough to continue fighting. I pressed the trigger, as aiming a beam was easier than I thought. He had hesitated to fire because his first shot had also hit the woman, her robe was on fire, and she tried to get out of it using only one arm. My shot hit the man where his neck met his torso, separating his head from his body. The shielded Union police and their robots burst in at almost the same moment. One of the robots fired and everything went dark.

When I regained consciousness, I cursed like a Nubhir skinner. "This is the second damn time I got paralyzed on this friggen, Loki cursed, rotting Fangsnapper dung heap of a planet."

I looked around as I sat up, and found myself on some specialized treatment bed in a medical clinic. At least a dozen policemen, probably a newsman complete with hovercam, and a doctor were present. The doctor spoke first, "You were lucky, having that kind of burn, it was a blessing the robot paralyzed you. I restored your scalp and replaced most of your ear. The hair growing injection will speed up the growth of your hair. You will have your hair fully back in two or three weeks, or we can implant or print you new hair right now if you like."

"My hair, It okay let it grow out naturally?"

A man in civilian clothing shouldered himself past the policemen. "Your head was on fire. The robot put you in stasis and thus saved your life."

What he said made me less angry and quite thankful towards that robot. "What now?"

"While you were in reconstructive surgery and the Re-Gen tank during the last five days we checked on you, Mr. Olafson. It seems the Hero of Nilfeheim just became the Hero of Twilight. I am William Reynolds, Planet Governor and I am here to thank you."

"For spoiling a Gun store robbery? A thank you card, and a free subscription to a gun magazine would have been sufficient, Sir."

"One of the Gore Defenders did have a real Spore bomb on his body, and he was fanatic enough to use it. We are still investigating how they got the hands on one or who supplied them with military issue Tech Stop spheres."

"I have no idea who the Gore Defenders are and what a spore bomb is, but I got a Bus to catch, Sir. No offense to your moon, but I think I need to be on my way."

"Mr. Olafson as I said we checked on you. You are, according to your planets representative on your way to Arsenal to apply at the Academy but that is not until the end of the year. You are traveling by Space Bus, and you still have several months. We would sincerely like to thank you. The least we can do is offer you a luxury passage to wherever you wish."

One of the police officers, a Spindlar, if I was correct, with lots of stripes on his uniform sleeves said. "The Gore Defenders are a small but fanatical terror group recruiting their members from Galactic Drifters. They aim to remove all colonists and companies from a planet called Gore II. That system and planet are only eighteen light years from here, and since a corporation owns the planet, and their security is very tight, they bring their protests to other planets, unfortunately to Twilight also."

A man with blue skin and coppery hair, in civilian attire but with the badge of the Union police projected as a bright golden display above his left chest said. "A spore bomb is of Terran and Saresii development that came from the war spores used by the Piostla a few centuries ago. These devices release self-replicating genetically engineered spores which will eat anything organic. They do so very fast and only stops expanding and reproducing when there is no organic material left to consume."

"Activating one of those hellish devices would have killed every organic life form on the Twilight strip. Twilight has no First Response team to deal with such an attack, and there was not enough time to evacuate or set up containment fields. The Union Fire Department had been alerted, and they can deal with such emergencies, but the closest response team is nine days out."

Mr. Reynolds took over and said. "You without a doubt saved millions of lives and our economy.  Not to mention the life of one of the gun store owners as he was only minutes from being beyond all medical intervention."

I grunted. "I am glad the owner survived because his situation was the reason I acted."

The Planet Governor said. "Why don't you be our guest for two or three days?  Give us a chance to show you that this world is much better than a Fangsnapper dung heap. Even then and you still be way too early at Arsenal Gate. I offer you a personal sight-seeing tour."

"Heck why not."

The Governor kept his word, and I was treated like the most important guest of state and to be honest, while it was not exactly my cup of tea, it was quite refreshing. The governor and I took a week-long trip with a group of avid water-water enthusiast. We both immensely enjoyed the journey and the group conversation each night. After returning from the rafting expedition, we went to both the Planet Side city and then later the beautiful Night Side Town. Nilfeheim complications due to its oddball orbit, were nothing when compared to Twilight's orbital problems.

What the Locals called the Nightside was, in astronomical terms, the Dayside due to exposure to the star Yutoo, each time it rotated around the big gas planet. While the side turned to the gas-giant was, in the sense of astronomical correctness, the Nightside as there was no exposure to the light of the system's sun. However, since the gas planet was more a failed sun than a Jovian, it radiated its light, and thus there was never any real night or darkness on the planet-facing side. Therefore, the locals called it, despite all astronomic and scientific arguments, the Dayside.

At first, his explanation made my head spin, but as we visited the star-facing side, Yutoo, the sun for this solar system,  was nothing more than a bright star in the sky and it did little to illuminate the stark and desolate wasteland. NightSide Town reminded me of Isen Landsby. It was an ocean of many colored lights and illuminated signs and looked very festive and pretty as we approached it. There, the majority of the City and a declared friend of the Governor invited me to a restaurant, which was according to him the best seafood and fish restaurant in the entire quadrant. After dinner, I concluded that this was probably not too far from the truth. Of course, Uncle Hogun's is still hands down, the best. They had no Nilfeheim fish on the menu, but something called Salmon and it was delicious.

On the third day, we were to visit Day Side Town. According to the Governor, the best way to experience the night Side and to get to that city was by Dust Bouncer. The bouncer was a massive contraption of about fifty meters in length. The machine was riding on eight enormous balloon tires. It had several cabins inside with beds and a small staffed kitchen. On its top was a panorama lounge with a great view of the glaring desert.

GigaBall the enormous gaseous planet occupied most of the sky, and it was one of the most impressive sights I had seen so far. The Gas giant's atmosphere was a kaleidoscope of swirling colors, and two of the other big planet-sized moons also became visible. We sat in the comfortable panorama lounge, enjoying the scenery and light conversation, while the vehicle was rolling through the desert. The governor sipped at his drink and said, "The day side is much more dangerous and unforgiving than the night side.  With enough warm clothing and a face mask, you can survive outside on the night side for a while, but deadly radiation and extreme heat bombarded the day side constantly. The weather patterns forever the same having been so for billions of years. This condition causes the winds to blow in the same direction due to the convection caused by the temperature differences from time immemorial. There exist not even the slights variable. They are grinding and corroding whatever mountains this place once had into a cloud of powder-fine dust, which settles and fills the valleys in between the now non-existent mountain ridges. There are literary oceans of this powdery dust out here. Being close to microscopic in texture it behaves more like a liquid, or to be exact, a Newtonian fluid. It is so subtle you can easily drown in it. Some of these dust lakes are several kilometers deep, that's why these bouncers have these enormous wheels.

"Most of the traffic nowadays is by fliers, floaters and, of course, the only very recently completed trans-planet mover connection. However, Dust Bouncers still make the four day trip from and to Day Side City, mostly just as we do, for leisure and sight-seeing."

"And this dust, it is mined?" I asked.

"Yes, it has many industrial uses, one such is for exterior borehole stabilization.  However, the dust contains many valuable metals and minerals that is our primary focus.  The processing is simplified by the powder form which has created microscopic kernels of each of the desired element.  Already partially separated and refine keeps the cost of processing and shipment well within the profit margins necessary.  Twilight Dust mines produce tons of metal ore and minerals every day."

The steward who had just served the drinks came back up the small staircase walking backward. At first, I thought that odd, but then a woman appeared, severe burn scars covered half of her face, and she also held a weapon. "Please remain seated, Gentlemen. As you can see, I managed to escape, and I now have two perfect hostages. This bouncer and the governor, both under my control and while the Governor will help me to get my demands fulfilled, and the bouncer will transport me to safety. By the way, Mr. Hero, I have other great plans for you."

I wondered, I guess out loud, why do people always treat women without considering their ability to be highly emotional and skillfully manipulators. Yeah, men are still pansies for beautiful women or those in distress.