New Edit: Chapter 36: Interlude 3: Brunar Bendixen

Chapter 36: Interlude 3 : Brunar Bendixen
 Brunar Bendixen was even less satisfied with the lack of results in the investigation as the rest of the planet. His father had just been elected into the Inner Circle of the Elders and now he was murdered. He did not for one second believe it was a woman or several women or even girls. Of course it was one of the Bendixen Clan rivals.

 Brunar was of course as traditional as any of the other Clan Chiefs, at least when it came to all things that gave chiefs unlimited power in their own clans. But Brunar had seen the subtle changes, the businesses clans started to get into, other than fishing and hunting that is. Who would have thought only a hundred years ago, that kelp and sea weed farming could be as profitable as fishing. Back then kelp and weed was collected by the poorest Freemen families and sold to the Clans. Now a young new Clan, with a pitiful little rock made huge profits and the Lofdahl Clan now expanded its rock with floating hollow Duro-Crete prefab pieces, delivered by Space Freighter. No one could really interfere, not the Elders. As Lofdahl was, however new its clan might be, a Clan Leader and what he was doing in and round his rock was his business alone. That it wasn't traditional could be argued but there was simply nothing written in the book of Traditions that prevented or forbade kelp farming or expanding your rock with Off-World things.

 Ever since Nilfeheim was settled, the ocean was considered free territory and only the rock islands could be claimed by a Clan or a family. Now for about ten years now, the Bendixen Clan was no longer fishing or hunting at all. They did not operate Fish farms or harvested Kelps and other underwater plants.

 It happened by accident as his uncle sold a net load of fish at the exchange and a few tiny round things fell out of his pocket, fell to the exchange floor and the trading assistant robot offered almost as much money for these two pearls as for the load of fish. His grandfather knew for years that a certain species of immobile crabs produced these spheres. Most had a whitish hue, but there were yellow, blue, green and red spheres as well and occasionally black ones could be found. Since his family always fished at the same area, not far from their rocks, (since they could not afford hunting subs or bigger long range surface ships back then) it was called the Bendixen grounds.

 Brunar had challenged his own father and won the fight. Then he took over the family business and was at the helm now for ten years. He read books about business and even attended a GalNet class on how to run a successful business. He now had an exclusive and very lucrative contract with a Gem Dealer on Para-Para and the secret that the crab pearls were valuable was a tightly guarded secret of the Clan, officially they were in the Crab fishing business and by now it was making a tidy profit as well.

 Brunar was very progressive in these things. Instead of selling raw or live crab at the Xchange he invested in a little factory that produced traditional Nilfeheim Viking Crab soup, Crab cakes and Crab meat and Seaweed Noodles. All packed in blue and red packages (the Bendixen Colors) with Brunar dressed in a ridiculous horned Helmet and holding a trident smiling right on the label. Until recently he sold it at the Xchange, but Wuerg und Kotz Delicatessen, a inter galactic chain of fine food retail outlets and GalNet presence, was buying it all directly and demand was steadily increasing and he was the first on all Nilfeheim who had hired and employed an Off-World Marine Biologist and even more controversial, it was a woman. He listened to her advice however and put her in charge of the Seeding and quality control and with her knowledge, he was able to triple the Crab harvest last season.

 Brunar wanted the Elders to declare the Bendixen Grounds exclusive real estate of the Bendixen Clan. The sudden rise in wealth and influence of the Bendixen clan had not gone unnoticed by other clans of course and the boats of his rivals snooped around the Bendixen grounds to find out what it actually was that made the Red and Blues so successful in only ten years time.

 Especially the White on Red boats of the Lindberg's fished closer and closer.

 Brunar complained to the Lindberg Clan Chief and expected them to respect the Bendixen Grounds, but he was laughed at and the Lindberg Chief pointed out that the oceans were free for all.

 Then Lindberg had the nerve and pointed out that he had a very tight relationship with the Olafson Clan and their allies and that it would be unhealthy for the Bendixen and their allies to do something else about that.

 Brunar depended on his father who was an Elder now to do something about that and the very day after his father was elevated into the inner ring he was assassinated on the open street, just before the Net and Tackle store the Lindbergs operated and only a few doors down from Hogun's Inn, Hogun being an Olafson making this much less of a coincidence and the work of some fictitious girl killers but more likely the work of arrogant Adolph Lindberg or his vile companion Isegrim Olafson.

 He wondered what he could do to affect his revenge and protect his business. Then he opened the richly carved traditional clan chest, once used to hold the Clan Chief Insignia and activated the GalNet terminal hidden inside. Traditions were a good thing! They prevented his simple minded brother to have any say in the Clan Business and kept the strange appetites his father had secret while he was alive, but there was a limit. Union Credits certainly improved things on Bendixen Rock. He dialed the Climate Control just a little higher, it was Shortsummer and he did like it nice and cool. He then leaned back in his finest English leather upholstered, Bentley Executive series CEO Hover chair, that had replaced the high backed unwieldy stone carved Clan Chief throne behind his desk and lit himself a real Terran cigar while he waited till the Connection to his business partner at Para-Para was established and Aaron Simonson appeared on the field screen. "Oh Brunar what a pleasant surprise. I was actually just inspecting your latest shipment and I must say the large black pearl you added as a gift is perhaps the nicest gift I ever got and I must say quite generous. A very good customer of mine saw it and she wants it set in a collier. So I am glad you called, since I wanted to express my gratitude."

 Brunar took the cigar between his fingers and carefully rolled the ash cone off into a marble ashtray. "Well you may be able to advice me how you Off-Worlders would handle my situation?"

 "GalNet is very secure, old friend but let’s take steps and make it more so, before you continue and establish High Sec Mode."

 Brunar explained his situation to his friend after they had switched to a highly encrypted and scrambled Virtual Private Network connection. Aaron said."Why don't you equip your boats and subs that tend your Crab farms with Tech stop cannons? They are perfectly legal and considered a purely defensive weapon. The effects of the weapon are invisible and on your primitive planet completely unexplainable. I bet a few subs that suddenly lose power and cause a nasty accident or two might deter future visits."

 "I like that a lot! How do I get them?"

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"> "I send you two units and a man to install them. As for your other problem. I suggest you could hire a Private Detective, Head Hunter, Single Force Merc Unit or a Subtil Neutralisator. I give you the contact info of a good Connector I know and he can get you in contact with any of these specialists and they can take care of your problems, guaranteed."

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