Drei-10.odt





<--- Drei-9-.odt  --- Drei-11.odt --->

Chapter 25: Women

Chapter 25- Women

I did not let go of the Harpoon gun but pressed the button that recalled the seats." Is it true one of you has killed an Elder?"

Snøfrid undid the cloak and sat down and said to the others. "Take of your masks and lower the weapons." Then to me she said after crossing her legs and folding her gloved hands in her lap." Yes Eric one of us did and it won't be the last!"

She made a deliberate pause probably to see a reaction in my face then she said." We are an underground organization. We want equality for women and end the system of Low Men and Lords. We want Union law and Union rights on Nilfeheim, but as long as these Old men and the Clan Lords hold all the power, nothing will ever change."

"It is not my fault I was born into a Clan family and if you knew even the smallest thing about me, you'd know I give anything for not being my father's son!"

"I know much more about you than you think, Eric. Sif made contact with you on purpose the day your grandfather got his funeral. You are of a very important family."

Elena interrupted her." You are the same male scum. I thought you be different as you became Freya, but you don't remember me. Servants are simply not registered in the eyes of you Lords. You saved my life but you failed to save the life of my mother!"

"I know I have seen you somewhere before, but you wear masks and wigs for the most time I knew you. I seem I do not remember who you are but you don't know me either. You would know that the lowest servant in my father's house has more rights and more freedom than me."

She threw the spear gun away and with a tearful face she lunged forward, but not to kill me or hurt me she threw her arms around me and cried bitterly." I do know everything! I have seen you get beaten so many times, I saw when he broke your fingers beneath the heels of his boots, and I saw when he poured boiling water down your back. Yes Eric I saw it! You killed the Fangsnapper in the kitchen! You saved my life and that of Aunt Midril but you came too late to save my mother! I hated you so much for not coming earlier and save her too, yet I knew you were but a child like me and did more than anyone could ever ask."

I was floored by her revelation." You are Elena. The daughter of Gudrun. No wonder you knew Harkun!"

She cried again. "Of course I know him. He raped my mother, he is my father!"

I had not realized that I had cried too." I am so sorry I failed you! I was not fast enough I am sorry!"

<p lang="en-US">She caressed my face." No don't! I am sorry. I was so silly blaming you. I should have told you when Sif brought you in."

<p lang="en-US">Sif lowered her head." I don't like boys' period. I was told to use you to get us weapons and free access to your Burg and as your future wife gain access to all the riches and the power your name and family holds. What your grandfather left you is enough to buy real weapons and you can buy armed help that would sweep this planet clean, but when you became Freya I fell in love with you! I am sorry as well for using you."

<p lang="en-US">Snøfrid the older woman said." Where did you disappear too? We know of the Attack against your Aunt and we saw the footage they showed on Nilfeheim Radio what you did to the attackers. We should praise ourselves lucky that you gave us a chance to talk."

<p lang="en-US">"I am with the Eldest. He prepares me for the Ancient Challenge, or that was the plan at least before I started to clean his burg."

<p lang="en-US">"I wish we could blow up his rock and the old Disease with it!" Astrid hissed with hate glittering in her pretty eyes.

<p lang="en-US">"I don't think he will be around for very much longer." I said.

<p lang="en-US">"Is he finally dying?" Sif wanted to know.

<p lang="en-US">"I am fairly certain he will die eventually and I partially know what keeps him alive, not that I understand it of course, but I think he will leave Nilfeheim."

<p lang="en-US">"Liar!" Snapped Astrid. "He would never leave!"

<p lang="en-US">Sif finally got up from the floor, Elena still sitting on my lap her arms around me and said while putting her hand on my shoulder." Astrid he is one of us. You said yourself that Freya is way more than a disguise and perhaps the real person! I know he would never lie!"

<p lang="en-US">I looked at Astrid." You used me and played me like a fool, then dumped me and I am tired of being the plaything of others who use me for their own purposes. I give a Nubhirs pile of poop what you believe or not. I set you off somewhere you like and that is it. If you want my help or anything from me ask me straight ahead. Let me make this clear to you Astrid. The next time I find out you do something that even remotely involves me without my knowledge. I proof to you just what a male savage I can be."

<p lang="en-US">Astrid stared back and then nodded."I guess we have been somewhat unfair, but our cause is more important than you or anyone of us. "

<p lang="en-US">Snøfrid raised her hands." We did hear that big Uncle of yours declared in public, well in front of the Elders that he has stepped back from any responsibly concerning you or that of your Grandfather's Old clan."

<p lang="en-US">"He did that to protect his wife. I can't blame him. He is not like my father."

<p lang="en-US">"So what are you doing when you return from the Eldest? You still have school!"

<p lang="en-US">I shrugged."I don't know. I hope I can do the Challenge as soon as possible, kill my father and cleanse the Burg of all the garbage, but someone said to me Plans don't always work out and in my case they never have."

<p lang="en-US">"Maybe we can work something out. Our Leader is a very smart and resourceful woman."

<p lang="en-US">"Don't do me anymore favors. One thing I do know is that I am going to leave this planet and join the Union Academy as soon as I can and granted I am alive then. To Hel's darkest pits with Nilfeheim!"

<p lang="en-US">"Don't you care about our world? Astrid asked.

<p lang="en-US">I didn't answer her and said."Where do you want me to drop you off?"

<p lang="en-US">Snøfrid answered."You can take us to Five Clan cluster and drop us of at our burg."

<p lang="en-US">I found the location on the Sat Map viewer, touched it and the Auto pilot changed direction. Elena finally got of my lap and I asked them." It is not really my business but planning an assassination without planning for a reliable escape isn't exactly resourceful or smart if you ask me."

<p lang="en-US">Snøfrid's face changed as she tried to suppress anger or some similar emotion. "We were let down. We trusted the wrong person, but we will deal with this. "

<p lang="en-US">It became silent and I took the time to take advantage of the on board Serv Matic and got myself a cup of Coffee." Help yourself girls. This is a fast flyer but your destination is on the other side of the globe and it will take us some time to get there."

<p lang="en-US">They did, Sif stepped behind me and kissed me on the cheek."We missed you….I missed you."

<p lang="en-US">I had dropped the girls off at a strangely deserted burg in the West Sea and then returned the rented flyer. Since the Old man had sold his and the Rental flyer was gone I had no real means to return to the rock pillar, the only even remotely suitable vehicle for sale in the entire town was according to the Off world mechanic this Banzaii Sky Cycle. I was now sitting on. Basically a big turbine with a seat on top and Arti grav. Its cargo capacity was reached with 2 bags of food and a gallon jug of Vodka. It did have a wind screen and Navigation systems but no Auto Pilot function, but boy was it fast! It almost blew me of the seat as I tried to shift my position and raised my head a little over the windshield.

<p lang="en-US">The old man was just where I had seen him last. Sitting in the High Hall before his GalNet terminal. He looked more like a ghost than a living person, lit by bluish light from the terminal screen, but he noticed me and stirred." You did show initiative and brought Vodka on your own. That is an improvement. The next time you see your Sif, bring her here."

<p lang="en-US">He turned to look at me." Odvar Bendixen was a bad man and he deserved what came to him, but how they did is the wrong way. Didn't I tell you not to make any stops?"

<p lang="en-US">How did he know all this? I wondered and said." I had no plans to make any. It happened that way."

<p lang="en-US">He turned off the GalNet Set." It was only a matter of time until someone would try to change things with methods like this on Nilfeheim. Underground and Terror groups, revolutions and uprisings of suppressed groups of society are after all a common theme thru ought all ages and societies,but especially human history. There is, or should I say was, a Female teacher in the girl's side of Union School who took it on herself to educate the girls. Not impartially as a teacher should, giving students the chance to develop their own ideas out of the samples and teachings given, but instead give them hundreds of examples of Human Terran history, of other planets and civilizations where a part of society was suppressed. She selected only examples where females struggled or fought for freedom and systematically and quite purposeful made the girls in her classes hate men as the source of all evil, instead of the conditions. She instructed them how to become Underground fighters, how to create cells and organize. How to use their bodies and positions to gain weapons and other materials. That teacher had a reason for her hate and actions of course as she saw many cases of abused and hurt girls in her classes. And of all those things she spoke to her girls with great fire and passion. Women love to talk with passion, Eric.

<p lang="en-US">And she did that now for almost twenty years with increasing intensity. She could have changed this planet for the better if she had done it more subtle. Nine out of ten revolutions fail, especially if they rely on a purely passionate and not methodical approach."

<p lang="en-US">He sighed and turned on the GalNet terminal and activated the screen. Lars the media man stood in front of a Town home and two strong looking Neo Vikings came out with a woman in their midst. Lars commented." After the cowardly assassination of our well liked and deeply respected Elder Odvar of the Bendixen clan, an investigation led to the culprit and mastermind behind this crime. Off worlder teacher Hanna Summers brainwashed young Nilfeheim girls with Off-world Propaganda and instructions how to carry out these crimes. Elders closely working with the School principals found class room recordings and other evidence. The Union School Education Board agreed that this was a grave violation of School policies and handed her out to our local authorities. The Circle of Elders found her already guilty and she will be executed tomorrow morning after she was intensively questioned about collaborators." The screen collapsed.

<p lang="en-US">Egill said."This was earlier today." He switched it back on." Lars stood before the Roundhouse and looked into the visual pick up." The Council of Clan Leaders and the Circle of Elders have just revoked the Union Schools right to educate girls until an acceptable compromise is found between Union School and the Circle of Elders.

<p lang="en-US">Egill said to me." Do you realize what damage their ill conceived attack did? Yes Odvar raped that Astrid girl and yes she wasn't the first and yes he deserved it. But if she killed him at night and unseen her revenge would be the same, yet with less impact. She and her friends destroyed all chances those Sisters of Nilfeheim had to change our society for generations to come!"

<p lang="en-US">I was not sure what he wanted me to say. He pounded his finger against his forehead."I want you to think. I want you to use that brain of yours! You want to be a Starship captain. I am certainly no expert on Union Officer requirements, but a Union captain must think and realize that any action, no matter how small and insignificant has a reaction. You know about Psionics they taught you in school about those. I told you I have those abilities and yet you still wonder how I know all these things. Eric I can read your mind! I am so good at it I can read minds over a great distance once I know that mind. I could see through your eyes when you sold the gold and talked to Sif and from there on it was easy for me to piece things together."

<p lang="en-US">He spoke angry as if he expected something of me.

<p lang="en-US">"Yes, Eric. I expected you to think more and this situation is clearly beyond your abilities and experience. I expected you ask me for advice. I am an old dirty man with lots of garbage and I am part of the Elders you don't like, but I am also very old and that means I have a lot of life experience. Your mother trusted me. She trusted me enough to ask me to educate you! You know your grandfather trusted me and I hoped, no I expected you did as well. I don't want you to like me and frankly I still don't like you, but I showed you that I trusted you from the beginning."

<p lang="en-US">He took a deep swig from his cup." I know you did not tell them to kill nor had any knowledge of the whole affair. I know all that, but don't think for a minute they are your friends. Well that Elena girl, she really likes you now, but they saw you talk to the Exchange manager and knew it was you."

<p lang="en-US">"So they lied to me again?"

<p lang="en-US">"Yes Eric. They did, women never really speak the truth ever anyway!"

<p lang="en-US">"If that is true then all this equality fight is for naught and they deserve where they are!"

<p lang="en-US">"Sit down! You make me nervous when you stand there with a face as if the whole world is against you and I will tell you some things about men and women. "

<p lang="en-US">I sat down and he began. "Ever since man stands upright and maybe even further back, Woman uses us as their tools. They are not as strong as we are, in a modern society it makes little difference but in primitive pre technology societies, strength and endurance has meaning. Since they could not hunt as well, run as fast or throw the spear or rock as hard they developed other skills. They had to be subservient by nature as they are the receiving part in the sexual act. Their endurance and capability to gather food is further reduced when they are pregnant and their bodies are a cauldron of incredible complex bio-chemical triggers and messages. Only that enables them to grow a child inside, a foreign organism. A man's body would reject, fight and try to destroy the foreign invader.

<p lang="en-US">Human bodies as marvelous they are, they are not perfect and a million things can go wrong every second, now think about the hormones and chemical balances in a female body. If one gland produces one hormone with only one single molecule missing, because of a cold, some nutritional element missing or a thousand other reasons, that miniscule imbalance can be felt by a woman not consciously but it affects everything never the less."

<p lang="en-US">He held up his hand."Yes I know about Sigfrida and I know about your friend Ygral, but those are exceptions. Exceptions stand out and are recognized and then used as example.

<p lang="en-US">They developed the skills to wrap men around their fingers and evolution and the passage of time gave women a whole arsenal of skills and tricks to do that. And nature added the pleasure man feels being with a woman. To all this add pheromones, and the primal instinct of procreation and you got a powerful mix.

<p lang="en-US">Modern societies and technologies erased the need of raw strength. Women on Earth for example, managed little by little to creep into every domain of man. They wanted to wear pants, vote, be part of everything and do the same jobs. They managed to convince society that household work at home is the same as going to work every day. Tending kids is as hard as a day in the mines or in the fields... That shopping and washing is as demanding as working in a steel mill or in a factory. While there are always exceptions in history, if you look at the whole picture and all man and womankind you will see that women always managed to pull the wool over the eyes of men. Never forget until the advent of Arti Wombs we all had mothers."

<p lang="en-US">"You make it sound as if they are the most deceiving, untrustworthy species in the Universe."

<p lang="en-US">"But they are Eric and they can't help it. It is their nature as it is ours to fall for the same old tricks for a billion years and counting. It is not that men don't understand women. It is they do not want to understand so they have an excuse for falling for those tricks again and again.

<p lang="en-US">Now it only depends what philosophy or set of morals you apply to that concept to see it as bad or as good. One could say if you are good at deceiving then use that skill!

<p lang="en-US">I spend ages locking in other people's minds and every time I look inside a woman's mind I get lost. Not that they are smarter by original design but as a whole they had to be smarter. The problem is I have only touched maybe three or four women's minds that could separate intellect from emotion and think logical."

<p lang="en-US">"How does it feel to touch a woman's mind?" I asked

<p lang="en-US">"It's like a butterfly. Having a firm thought in one second, only to be completely distracted by something else. It's not scatterbrained…as men can be that just as well, it's more like...well I don't know! You have a much better chance of understanding women than I ever will!"

<p lang="en-US">"I don't have Psionic abilities. And I sure have no idea what a butterfly is."

<p lang="en-US">"No you do not have Psionic abilities as far as I know, but you call yourself Freya and feel quite comfortable giggling and chattering with them on the same level."

<p lang="en-US">He looked up to the ceiling."A Butterfly is an insect, but what I meant is the perceived behavior of…well there are no animals similar on Nilfeheim."

<p lang="en-US">Of course he would have known about my secret, since he was able to read thoughts. It didn't help me still felt ashamed and exposed and hoped he would stop poking in my mind.

<p lang="en-US">"I would not want to encourage you one way or the other, but I think your condition is quite interesting. Especially from a mind readers point of view."

<p lang="en-US">"There should be laws about that!"

<p lang="en-US">"There are, Eric but I am not exactly the most law abiding citizen."

<p lang="en-US">I changed the subject. "Is there anything you want me to do about this situation?"

<p lang="en-US">"I am working on a solution. In the mean time you need to return to that basement. You are not even halfway through."

<p lang="en-US">Nilfeheim was in uproar and Nifleheim Radio transmitted the post hum execution of the teacher with close ups as the silver flicker fish went into a feeding frenzy on her body after she had been lathered with fish blood and thrown into the water tank. The investigation stalled since the teacher had committed suicide and they could not question her. The Post Hum execution was nothing more than a macabre but actually pointless spectacle. The Elders shivered in rage every time they had a chance to talk and promised the most draconian punishments for the actual killer, however they were no detectives or trained policemen and in all Nilfeheim's history there never was an unsolved homicide, at least none that ever came to trial. Murder was usually done openly and if the victim was a man, the killer was actually proud and let everyone know who and why the other guy had to die (in a fair fight) and since the other wasn't around to dispute the fair part it was accepted. If the victim was a woman no one really cared. A murder or crime committed by a woman was unheard off, till now!

<p lang="en-US">Some of the Elders argued for a standing armed force to be recruited out of the 2nd and third born sons of clans. But the clan leaders were against it. They did not want the Elders get more power and an army to enforce it. Others wanted to call Union Police and argued that they would find the killer in no time. This was strongly opposed by those who feared all Union Law to be enforced then. There were many more than just my father so it seemed.

<p lang="en-US">Egill had found something new he liked, Popcorn! It was a strange food originally from Earth but produced on many worlds that had no equal in Nilfeheim foods. Some sort of wheat or cereal kernel was exposed to heat and it expanded into a whitish bloom. It tasted like...well nothing really but if you added salt and butter it was good. The checkout girl at the store had given me a promotional package and after Egill pulled the seal and the thing expanded and popped and crackled he acted like a little child and pulled the seals of all five envelopes in the promotional package. Now there was a big box sitting by the stairs and he would tipple over every so often, laugh and cackle with delight as the corn popped in the transparent expanding balloon thing and then curse as he burned his fingers and laugh as he ate the corn. I heard him just doing that as he walked over to the GalNet Set. "You know the girls put a big dent in your plans as well!"

<p lang="en-US">"They did?" "Popcorn is hot fluffy and has no substance really, just as your mind!" He tossed a handful of Popcorn at me." How many Elders are there?"

<p lang="en-US">"Twelve in the Inner Circle and Twenty four in the Outer Circle."

<p lang="en-US">"Wrong Answer! That is what is supposed to be there!"

<p lang="en-US">"How many Elders are there?"

<p lang="en-US">"Without my Grandfather and without Bendixen 34"

<p lang="en-US">"And without me 33."

<p lang="en-US">"What does that have to do with my Plans?"

<p lang="en-US">"Do you want more popcorn in your face? Think! I am telling you since you here I want you to use your head and think! You know how to fight and you can recite the Poems alright but you are not thinking! I would not mind if you were stupid you know."

<p lang="en-US">I felt offended."I am thinking. It's all I do most of the time."

<p lang="en-US">"Feeling sorry for yourself and thinking how you can kill your father. Feeling so much smarter than the elders and comparing me with a one finned Fangsnapper that can't keep his nest clean. That's what you use your mind for! That's not thinking!" I was tired of arguing with the old geezer and said."Fine there are 33 Elders."

<p lang="en-US">"Good start! Now every Year after Yule tide there is the big thingstead meeting and young men step before the Circle of Elders and the Council of the Clan Chiefs and do what?"

<p lang="en-US">"Ask for the ancient Challenge!"

<p lang="en-US">"Smart kid!" He stuffed popcorn in his mouth and munched while he spoke." After over a year of arguing they finally elected Elder Heinstin the grandfather of your cold hearted Sif to replace your grandfather, meaning there are suddenly two new elder Seats open and the frenzy has already started. You haven't been down by the boat landing. There is a mountain of gifts and bribes of all the potential candidates to get me to endorse someone."

<p lang="en-US">I suddenly had a revelation." If they are that busy with this they won't take any challenges?"

<p lang="en-US">"You did it! You made a connection between two events. The Girls killing Bendixen threw this planet in a political chaos so to speak and the worst thing there is still no one representing us at Pluribus."

<p lang="en-US">"I thought Elder Heinstin…"

<p lang="en-US">"Only your Grandfather's old seat here…"

<p lang="en-US">"You are not expecting me to replace my Grandfather?"

<p lang="en-US">"While it would not be a bad thing, I don't think we need you to mess up things there. I will go myself to do that until the person that is perfect for that jobn is ready to take over."

<p lang="en-US">"Who?"

<p lang="en-US">"Sif of course!"

<p lang="en-US">My chin dropped. "Sif? You mean a girl to be the representative of Nilfeheim?"

<p lang="en-US">"For a guy who likes to be a girl you should not be such a chauvinist!"

"I don't know what that is, but I think I understood you anyway. I meant a female would never be appointed to such a post or be able to speak for us!"

<p lang="en-US">"No not now, but in time she will! I will teach her and I will endorse her! You said I could change things. I had this in mind with your mother before you were born and now I think got another candidate. However that is my plan. Let us go back to your plans."

<p lang="en-US">"I am pretty much screwed, without Uncle Hogun I must return to the Burg."

<p lang="en-US">"I still don't like you much but you can stay here till the basement is clean and I don't care how long it is going to take you."

<p lang="en-US">"Did you not want to travel and all that?"

<p lang="en-US">"As a matter of fact I do and I am going to Pluribus after I went to Saresii Prime. I used your advice and would you believe it they do want to see me and think they might be able to help. "

<p lang="en-US">"And when are you leaving?"

<p lang="en-US">"Again you are not thinking! I said you can stay here .I did not say I was going to be here, but there is still lots of time in your summer break and lots to clean, not to mention your training!"

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-style:normal">Chapter 26: Interlude 3 : Brunar Bendixen

<p lang="en-US">Interlude 3 : Brunar Bendixen

<p lang="en-US">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 durocrete 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.

<p lang="en-US">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.

<p lang="en-US">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 where 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.

<p lang="en-US">Brunar had challenged his own father and won the fight. Then he took over the family business and was on 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.

<p lang="en-US">Brunar was very progressive in these things. Instead of selling raw or life crab at the Exchange 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 Exchange, 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.

<p lang="en-US">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.

<p lang="en-US">Especially the White on Red boats of the Lindberg's fished closer and closer.

<p lang="en-US">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.

<p lang="en-US">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.

<p lang="en-US">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.

<p lang="en-US">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 short summer 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 pear 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."

<p lang="en-US">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?"

<p lang="en-US">"GalNet is very secure, old friend but lets take steps and make it more so, before you continue and establish High Sec Mode."

<p lang="en-US">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 loose power and cause a nasty accident or two might deter future visits."

<p lang="en-US">"I like that a lot! How do I get them?"

<p lang="en-US">"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."

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-style:normal">Chapter 27: Hel

<p lang="en-US">Chapter 27 - HEL

<p lang="en-US">I brushed the last crumbs of dirt onto the dust pan and got up to look around. The basement area was clean! The stone floor patched with Duro-crete were the rot was so bad it actually had crumbled stone. The walls scrubbed with disinfectant and the few small windows now glazed and clean. The big Recycler was turned off and pushed to one wall. The small Nanite Unit was more than adequate to take care of the Old man's trash every day. By now I was well equipped. I had shovels and brooms and wheelbarrows. Even a small aluminum framed Conveyor belt system that could be placed in segments nearly everywhere.

<p lang="en-US">"You should forget about your idea becoming a Starship Captain and start a Cleaning business." The Old man croaked as he came down the stair and saw me standing there. "I think you did it too fast. You're done cleaning and I am still here. "

<p lang="en-US">"Well maybe you can start training me now? I am going to be Fifteen soon and by this time next year. Elders having time for me or not, I am going to be Sixteen and challenge that Monster in my burg."

<p lang="en-US">"I am already training you, if you do not like my methods then find another Old Geezer."

<p lang="en-US">"I had about enough of Old Geezers in my life. I would prefer a strong younger man or perhaps even a nice looking woman as a teacher for a while." I only was that bold because he was talking that way all the time to me and I sort of started to do the same. Since he could read my mind I was certain he knew I wasn't trying to be disrespectful.

<p lang="en-US">"No you haven't been disrespectful, but you are not thinking again! What could a young man teach you? If raw knowledge you seek. Go upload a book into your brain, no teacher needed. Age is what gives you a different prospective on things and it allows you to gather experience. Now that is what a teacher is trying to pass on to a student. When it comes to experienced teachers, Eric, you have been very fortunate and lucky."

<p lang="en-US">I wanted to tell him something about my rotten luck and that the word fortunate did not go along with my life, but I stopped. I did have great teachers. The Ancient One at Hasvik, Siigfrieda, Carl and Richard, not to forget Uncle Hogun. They all went out of their way to teach me and try to help me in their own way.

<p lang="en-US">I think it was the first time I ever seen him smile." Very good, Eric! You learned one important lesson I tried to make you see. I don't need to teach you how to fight. You are far beyond any 16 year old that ever stepped before the Elders already and knowing you, you pick a few more fights and experience on the way until you are sixteen yourself."

<p lang="en-US">He made a gesture around the now empty basement." As you have seen yourself I don't have all that many weapons and I could not teach you the things Richard or Carl has shown you or even improve on it. Yes I want you to continue and train and hone your skills, but that is not what I am teaching you."

<p lang="en-US">"It's the Poems, right?"

<p lang="en-US">"That's part of the test and I made you learn them the old way. You could have uploaded the entire Book of Edda and all the other Poem books in one sitting a day before the challenge like many others do."

<p lang="en-US">"That would be cheating though, wouldn't it? I think it would be dishonorable for someone to be tested as a warrior and confirmed in the ancient ways to use Off World tricks. Now you know how I think about traditions in the first place, but I like hypocrites even less and I would not want to be one."

<p lang="en-US">"That speaks for you and I fail those who learned the poems the modern way, but I am usually outvoted by the others."

<p lang="en-US">"Would they not follow your lead?"

<p lang="en-US">"The elders vote in secret if all Challenges were done in a satisfactory manner. There are almost 500 clans now and there are lots of sons every year turning sixteen and wanting to do the challenge. It is a ritual nowadays and everyone passes. The Elders don't even really vote anymore they simply put their approval mark under the parchment."

<p lang="en-US">He then said. "It is a little different when the first born son of one of the Old Clans takes the challenge and I guarantee you everyone will be there and looking when you take yours!"

<p lang="en-US">I sighed. "I was afraid you say that."

<p lang="en-US">"Who knows what will happen till then, maybe your girlfriends killed all the old men by then and there won't be another Challenge and you simply have to murder your father without the official approval of the elders you don't like and the traditions you don't want. Talk about being a Hypocrite. Look into the mirror before you accuse others!"

<p lang="en-US">"I am not…"

<p lang="en-US">He interrupted me almost yelling. "You are not? Yes you are! You want to take the Ancient Challenge, which is about as traditional and old fashioned as it gets, in order to challenge and then kill your father. Granted under our laws and the old traditions you dismiss so broad handed otherwise, you have the right for revenge and you have the right to kill. But these are not the Union Laws. Union law does not acknowledge Revenge or abuse or anything as an excuse for murder. Yet you want him to be arrested under the Off World Laws. You are as guilty as him! If you dismiss all our laws and traditions then you are guilty of killing the Steiner boy, never mind you didn't really plan to do it. It doesn't matter if a bunch of old men endorse and condone your deeds if you dismiss these old men as fools and self-serving. It however makes you a hypocrite by your own moral standards."

<p lang="en-US">His words felt like a blow to the stomach. His logic was inescapable, he was right! I applied two standards myself!

<p lang="en-US">He was not done with me." You are barley 15 now and you judged your own grandfather. In your mind he is already a greedy man who takes bribes and judge's young men who want to open their own business unfairly. You accuse him of being guilty not to follow up on his own word and have Isegrim arrested. Compared to your grandfather you have barley left the womb of your mother and you judge him?"

<p lang="en-US">His words hit me hard. He was right, as I looked inside myself. "But he could have kept his word?" I said meekly, somehow knowing that I made my judgment without knowing the entire story.

<p lang="en-US">He calmed down and spoke less angry." Exactly you do not know the entire story."

<p lang="en-US">"Do you know what would have happened if your Grandfather sent Union Police to Tyson Planet to arrest your Father for murder?"

<p lang="en-US">"They would have arrested him and hung him!"

<p lang="en-US">"Back and forth Eric, back and forth! One minute you actually use your brain and then you fall back in this stubborn child routine! You did not even think a second to answer that question."

<p lang="en-US">"I don't know what would have happened."

<p lang="en-US">"Much better! Union Police doesn't just arrest someone on the accusation of another person, and when it comes to the law, unlike our own system the Union takes it very, very serious. For example everyone is equal before the law. This was not always so, but ever since the Union was founded it is. That means your grandfather being Representative and all that important stuff has the same rights as your father and vice versa. You are assumed innocent until otherwise proven before a judge and jury. That means your father would not be hanged until the Union Police investigated and collected all evidence and listened to all witnesses. "

<p lang="en-US">I listened and said. "I really like the idea of everyone being equal before the law."

<p lang="en-US">"That is what the Union is really about Eric. Not big space ships or humongous cities, but giving everyone the same chance and the same rights. That includes guaranteeing individuals freedoms and personal liberties.

<p lang="en-US">So the Union Police comes and investigates and they find that almost everyone on Nilfeheim has broken Union Laws and not just petty ones, but slavery, human rights violations, murder, rape to name a few of the top. So they have two options. Arrest every one, as we are all guilty of many violations or kick us out of the Union and Isolate Nilfeheim from the rest."

<p lang="en-US">"I didn't think about all that. How would the Police find out?"

<p lang="en-US">"Do you think your father would have gone quiet? He would have said that what he done was perfectly alright under Nilfeheim law! By doing that kicking loose an avalanche of accusations."

<p lang="en-US">I didn't feel very good realizing how I had damned my Grandfather and I thought maybe I didn't really know the entire story about the business man either. I promised myself to see things from more than one side before coming to a final judgment.

<p lang="en-US">"It is a good resolution but I doubt it you will keep to it for long, but it is not entirely your fault. You are a teenager and there wasn't a teenager alive since teenagers exist who didn't think he was so much smarter than his elders and that everything old is automatically bad."

<p lang="en-US">"I wonder if I can do something right in your opinion."

<p lang="en-US">"Probably not much, but at least you realized it and that's good. But back to your Elders. Before your Grandfather became representative. Did you ever ask who was there before him?"

<p lang="en-US">"No I did not, but we are Union Members for almost 2000 years now, there had to be someone"

<p lang="en-US">"Yes there was, there was one man before your Grandfather and strangely enough it was your Ancestor Holger Ragnarsson. The one that sailed to the Union Outpost to complain about unfair representation, the use of energy weapons and all that, you know that part of the story as they decided on a Circle of Elders for the first time and all that, right?"

<p lang="en-US">"Yes the Keepers made a point I know all this."

<p lang="en-US">"Holger Ragnarsson was the first Representative more or less by default since he did represent the rest of the Planet and after he won his case before the Union Court. He gave a famous speech before the Assembly." He gestured upwards." I learned all this on your GalNet terminal over the past few days by the way! I did not know all this either.

<p lang="en-US">"Anyway, Holger said to the Assembly that they settled Nilfeheim to get away from the bad influence of technology and that the whole mess of Piracy and the bloody one sided clan wars came about due to the uncontrolled use of technology. He did not reject Union help and Union Membership but he said Nilfeheim needs to have limited contact and time to grow. The Assembly was impressed gave him right made a note to keep us alone and they forgot us pretty much. We did receive our annual Union help shipment of basic food supplies and very basic non tech materials, that helped us to survive the Long Nights until we as a society learned how to cope with our planets long winters and sustain ourselves. After that we didn't need help shipments and for the better part of those centuries we did not develop much and stayed the same and doing everything the old fashioned way, "

<p lang="en-US">"I wondered what happened in all this time and why there was no real development. I mean other cultures develop space flight on their own in that time."

<p lang="en-US">"It did take us a long time to cope with the harsh conditions of Long Night and the fact that there isn't enough land to really spread out and grow that also kept development at a snail's pace."

<p lang="en-US">"What about the Union school it should have made an impact!"

<p lang="en-US">"Yes it should have, but until about 200 years ago, there was one Union School and only the firstborn sons of Clan Elders were allowed to go, and of those only a small number wanted to go. "

<p lang="en-US">"What changed?"

<p lang="en-US">"One Clan Chief who did go to Union School ordered himself a Submarine about 500 years ago after he had read about them at school. He lost two of his sons in Tyranno Fin hunting accidents and argued that he won't risk his third and last and that Tyranno Hunting in a sub was safer."

<p lang="en-US">The Old man tipped his head." That Son was my father by the way and I tell you the rest of our history now from firsthand experience."

<p lang="en-US">"I can guess what happened next."

<p lang="en-US">"Surprise me!"

<p lang="en-US">"At first he used the Submarine to hunt but found out he could much easier use it to ask others to give up their catch and if not blow them out of the water. I have a feeling that Submarine down there is the very first one that came to our world."

<p lang="en-US">"You did surprise me! Well done putting two and two together. However Clan wars were outlawed after. We then got an Exchange and with it the first Union Credits and things went from there. Now things are changing a little faster and I fear that those who affect those changes don't think things through and are as much in the dark as you about the consequences."

<p lang="en-US">"Where does this leave me?

<p lang="en-US">"You judged your father. He is already sentenced to death! Oh I know if anyone deserves it, it is him, but even the worst criminal deservers a fair trial and all aspects should be looked upon before a death sentence is given. Death is awful final, Eric!"

<p lang="en-US">I cried tears of shame as he spoke about grandfather but when he mentioned father my tears dried up. "You are correct in all you say, Old Man and I understand now what you mean when you tell me I should think, but there is no argument you can make to absolve my father. I am the eyewitness of his most foul deed. He killed my mother! All else I would forgive, not this! Even if it damns me to hell for eternity I will kill him!"

<p lang="en-US">"Do you really know what you are saying? Do you know what hell is? You could not begin to understand what eternity means! I am four hundred years old and I don't know. Your Ancient friend, the keeper managed to see almost 3000 years go by and I assure you he does not."

<p lang="en-US">"Do you say I have to abandon my quest for revenge? Forgive my father for all he did?"

<p lang="en-US">"No Eric, I am saying to see things from all sides and then decide and if your revenge is worth messing up the rest of your life and thus give victory to your father.

<p lang="en-US">Eric. I promised your mother to teach you. She had a good idea what life had in store for you." He waved angrily at my chest pocket." You listen to your mother every night and yet you have not heard what she is saying: She asked me to teach you all the things about the Rite of passage. She wanted me to share some of my wisdom with you, but you only want me to train you how to fight and compete. Why do you think I had you clean all this? Tell me!"

<p lang="en-US">I suddenly had no answer. A second ago I would have said. Because he didn't like me, or because the place needed it, but now I did not know.

<p lang="en-US">He suddenly grinned again. "Yes the place needed it, badly so and I am actually thankful for you doing all this work, spending a considerable amount of your own money on cleaning supplies, vodka and all the other stuff. It cooled you down Eric. This mindless labor put some distance to your anger and it made you more open to listen to me. You cleaned for almost the entire three month you are here now and only now you begin to listen and to see me as something else as just a dirty old man living on top of a mountain of trash. I think you are ready now." He got up and walked towards the now easily accessible door that lead down to the old and now equally empty treasure chamber.

<p lang="en-US">He opened it and said. "OH and we can reach this darn door now without the risk of breaking our necks! Are you coming?"

<p lang="en-US">I caught up with him as he was already halfway down the stairs, but this time it was not dark, the stair case was illuminated by a bright orange light and the torch he spoke of was floating before him, but it was no normal fire that burned it was simply a sphere of intense light.

<p lang="en-US">"If you can fix your own body on a molecular level using Psionics, making light is actually quite easy." He explained before I even finished thinking about it.

<p lang="en-US">"Need more money? If you want to sell more Gold, there isn't any left, but I said before I can share my Credits with you."

<p lang="en-US">"There is a small fortune sitting on the boat landing. I should have let you sell the plunder. We are going a little further down. I think you will notice that we are already past the old treasure chamber."

<p lang="en-US">As I followed him I became somewhat nervous. What if it was true and there really was a God down there? The old man's powers were quite real and they did not call him Wizard for nothing as I had found out myself. If I understood him correctly then my Grandfather's son, my uncle died down here and not crushed by a Tyranno as I had been told. Did I shovel the bones of my Uncle in the recycler? As so often he spoke, responding to my thoughts. "When you first saw me I made a little show with rune stones. Do you know that I could not even identify the names of the runes until about fifty years ago when Siigfrieda explained them to me just as she did to you? I can't read the runes. Why do I use the rune stones then?"

<p lang="en-US">"I think it is for the benefit of those you try to give advice. If you tell them your advice stems from Psionic powers they equate it with Off-world and dismiss it. If you tell them the advice come from you they might question it, but who could question fate, the gods and mystical powers?"

<p lang="en-US">"Bravo!"

<p lang="en-US">The narrow stair case was no longer made of masonry but was hewn out of the rock itself. It was moist and for a moment I thought I felt a faint draft coming from below and with it the smell of something burning.

<p lang="en-US">He laughed. "Wasn't it you who said: even if it damns me to Hel for all eternity. A very bolt statement for someone who has no idea if there is Hel or not and most certainly could not begin to comprehend how long an Eternity lasts!"

<p lang="en-US">The light he carried suddenly vanished and it was completely dark!

<p lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-style:normal">Chapter 28: Tyr

<p lang="en-US">Chapter 28 – TYR

<p lang="en-US">I felt around and slipped and fell into gagging foul smelling liquid. Something wet and clingy was in that liquid, but I found ground and stood up, something was still covering my face so tight I could not breathe. Yet I heard many voices and laughter and someone kicked me and yelled." Quit fooling around and keep on working! Finally I got the thing of my face. I looked around and to my complete and utter surprise I found myself in a Nubhir Hide tannery. I seen our tannery from a distance but now I stood in a tub submerged to my hips in the most awful smelling substance.

<p lang="en-US">All around me were dozens of these tubs and dozens of women stomping and slushing it. But not just women but young girls as well. They all wore hip wader boots and white blouses, some had rags tied before their noses and all wore head scarfs. Men carried heavy loads of wet, gray and reeking skins on their shoulders, balancing on the rims of the tubs. Someone yelled at me. It was a Freeman and he held arm long thin stick in his right and smacked it right across my face!

<p lang="en-US">I was so stunned at the sudden change of scenery, from the dark stair case to this reeking stinking loud place! And this freeman was hitting me!

<p lang="en-US">I caught the man by the shirt and before he could hit me again and said." Dare hitting me again and I teach you a lesson you won't forget!"

<p lang="en-US">"She must have hit her head, when she slipped!" A woman said and put her hand on mine. "Let him go! Or do you want to end up in Harkun's bed tonight?"

<p lang="en-US">The man snorted. "Wench! Go and get cleaned and I will forget this and then go and scrub hides!"

<p lang="en-US">He brushed my hand of and walked on to whack another girl with his stick and yell at her to pick up the pace.

<p lang="en-US">The woman said." Come girl, slipping in that filth is not healthy! Let's get you clean. We still got lots of hides to scrub before we can call it a day!"

<p lang="en-US">"Where am I?" I still could not make rhyme or reason of my new surroundings and my situation.

<p lang="en-US">"Oh my, we better get you to Midril. You really did hit your head hard!"

<p lang="en-US">She helped me out of the Vat and as I looked down myself. I almost fainted again. Mytrousers and my sword was gone. I wore a white blouse and hip wading boots. What I saw under that white wet blouse clinging to my skin were two female breasts!

<p lang="en-US">She called for someone and another woman helped her dragging me through the stinking hall, through a door and into a drab looking bare bones shower room. They stripped the clothing of me and then I was pushed under a lukewarm shower. Someone handed me soap and said." Rinse your gills good! Urine isn't water you know!"

<p lang="en-US">"Urine?" was the first word I was able to say since I discovered my transformation, which was as I now, noticed quite complete and in no way artificial as when I was Freya.

<p lang="en-US">"What is it with you, Loki? Of course Urine. What do you think we use to get the hair of the hides?"

<p lang="en-US">"But that is disgusting! Why would anyone use Urine! "

<p lang="en-US">"Listen to our Princess here!" the first woman laughed." Wait till she has to work in the Nubhir poop!"

<p lang="en-US">"Where am I?"

<p lang="en-US">"We get you to Midril as soon as we can, but let's get dressed."

<p lang="en-US">Stunned and mechanical I put on the blue dress and apron. The women sounded concerned." I think she is seriously sick! She can't even tie her Apron right!"

<p lang="en-US">"You are at the new Olafson Tannery five, formally known as the Ragnarsson Tannery three and you are Loki Hemstaad."

<p lang="en-US">"I am a Hemstaad as in Gretel Hemstaad?"

<p lang="en-US">"That is your lofty Aunt. She managed to get out of here, not that she would ever remember any of us."

<p lang="en-US">"We better get you to Midril, maybe Greifen can smuggle you aboard his flyer and take you to the Union Hospital."

<p lang="en-US">"Why does he need to smuggle me aboard? The Union Hospital is there for everyone and it is free!"

<p lang="en-US">"Did you sneak to school or something? You know it is forbidden for Low Men families to attend school or use the Clinic!"

<p lang="en-US">"But that is against the law!"

<p lang="en-US">"I think you became insane, Loki! The only law you need to worry about is the law of the House and the Clan you serve!"

<p lang="en-US">They took me up a long flight of stairs, past the undercroft and the cellarsand we emerged on the other side of the Main Hall of the Olafson Burg! I was home but I was a woman and I had a female body. It did not feel very different being a real woman actually I could feel no difference, but then I didn't feel too well. Maybe there was Odin underneath the Rock Pillar and this was my punishment for doubting the gods and dressing up as Freya, but seeing Midril again would be a good thing! I didn't even know the names of the women that accompanied me. The left one was maybe thirty years old and the other perhaps twenty. Both wore the same dressed and their arms were looked thick with underarm muscles but the skin of their arms and legs was pasty white and looked unhealthy and completely different from their faces. Neither wore make up. While the Older one had, and I could not say it any other way a simple face. The younger one was quite attractive and had a bright expression. It was her who said."Wait here Loki; let me check if Midril has time. She doesn't really like to be disturbed so close to Dinner."

<p lang="en-US">She disappeared in the entrance to the common halls. The young one came back and said."Midril is busy but she said we should take you to the still room, where you can lie down. She thinks you have a concussion and she will check on you as soon as she can."

<p lang="en-US">I knew the still room only too well and behind the Distill to make homemade vinegar and liquor and the pots and jars where Midril made soap, ointments, was the burgs room to treat the sick and wounded. There was a stretcher and a locked cabinet with the advanced medical instruments, and the Gal Net Terminal to get the doctors Holo if needed. The two girls left me alone and I was about to open the Cabinet, as I knew of course the code combination. I wanted to call the Old man and ask him if this was indeed some sort of punishment.

<p lang="en-US">Just as I had it open, I heard a noise and I turned. Harkun, my father's man servant stood there with an evil grin and with one hand inside his pants! "Oh what a naughty girl we got here! Aren't you supposed to be in the tannery and stomp shit into hides?"

<p lang="en-US">"I had an accident and wait for Midril to help."

<p lang="en-US">"You are a nice looking one! I wonder why I haven't noticed you before? I think you will have another accident before the day is over!"

<p lang="en-US">He came closer."You will do whatever I want you to do! I want you to drop to your knees and service me and if you do it good I might even let you have seconds in your little arse. I have you whipped and perhaps even killed if you don't do everything I want you to do…Now take off that dress and blouse!"

<p lang="en-US">He actually dropped his pants! I almost threw up right there and then as I realized what he wanted!

<p lang="en-US">"I cannot believe such manners, such shameful conduct. Cover thyself and be gone! You are a servant of this house, such animalistic behavior fouls the name and honor o this House and name so utterly it is beyond words. Go to thy Lord and beg for forgiveness as you are his man servant! The chastise yourself!"

<p lang="en-US">I was outraged. First the foul conditions at the tannery and now this! As evil as my father was, he was a Warrior and an Olafson and he would never condone such behavior. He would let his steel whip dance over Harkun's back for sure!

<p lang="en-US">He actually stopped, blinked confused and then slapped me so hard across the face, that it send me to the floor!" I am the Lord of all that crawls and walks in this house. If I say this one shall die, then Isegrim makes this one die! You must be out of your mind opposing me! Have they not told you about me down in the stink and shit pits?"

<p lang="en-US">Still on the floor I kicked upward as hard as I could and hit him right there at the exposed crotch. "You are no master. You are a man servant, not even fit to hold a weapon. Not man enough to be a Warrior. You are no lord!"

<p lang="en-US">I jumped up and smacked him as hard as I could with my fist under the chin, but that new body of mine as agile as it seemed it somehow did not react as I wanted. The punch had no energy and he brushed it aside. Utter rage and madness now in his face as he hit me hard with his closed hand sending me back to the ground and then he bent over grabbed my arms. As much as I struggled, he was stronger! He drooled from his mouth and gargled." I will rape you, then poke you with hot irons and make you beg and scream for death! I will do it right before your friends so they know who the Master is." He stank! He stank worse than the smell of the tannery. He rammed his knee in my stomach, robbing my breath and make me keel over, but his hands pinned me hard against the floor and he kicked my legs apart!

<p lang="en-US">It was then when everything went dark and I screamed on the top of my lungs.

<p lang="en-US">The next thing I saw was the Old Man looking at me from the screen of the GalNet Portal. "Are you still offering to go to Hell and for an Eternity for your revenge?"

<p lang="en-US">I sat up and touched myself, I was myself again. The chance was so sudden again I felt dizzy and I was certain I still could feel Harkun's foul breath. I was glad I was awake; I never wanted to have a dream like this again.

<p lang="en-US">He shook his head."This was no dream. This was a real life. Low men are working in these inhuman slavery conditions, forbidden to send their kids to school. Working in conditions that are beyond inhumane." He used a public GalNet terminal at the spaceport and I recognized the Gray Line Robot in the background. "I showed you this to make you see why a smart girl like Gudrun would do anything to escape such conditions, that you remember that when the day comes you realize the extent of her crimes."

<p lang="en-US">"What is it you want me to do? Do you want me to start a revolution?"

<p lang="en-US">"No of course not! I told you revolutions fail and even if not they are usually bloody and merely shift the base of power. I wanted to make you see that everything has a beginning and a reason. I am off now, the Elders and Clan Leaders have gladly accepted my offer to go to Pluribus. Remember to send Sif to me!"

<p lang="en-US">"I will try!"

<p lang="en-US">"She will listen to you when the time comes, trust me on that."

<p lang="en-US">"What about me now?"

<p lang="en-US">"You go to school of course; you are welcome to stay at my burg. If you want to make yourself useful gather the plunder and get rid of it."

<p lang="en-US">"I do that. Thank you old man!"

<p lang="en-US">"Oh and do watch the news today. I am off now!"

<p lang="en-US">"Take care out there and be safe."

<p lang="en-US">He was about to follow the small throng of other passengers and turn off the terminal." I expect you to show me your ship one day!"

<p lang="en-US">"What ship?"

<p lang="en-US">"Still the same! You don't think! You want to be a Starship Captain. What good is one without the Starship?"

<p lang="en-US">He terminated the call before I could answer. I switched to Nilfeheim Radio. Lars Igvarhein stood by the Space port and the Visuals showed the Space Bus behind him. "After over a year our planet is once more represented by no other than the Eldest himself. In a decision that stunned everyone, Egill Skallagrímsson the ancient Hermit, the Holy One himself has boarded the Space bus behind me and will leave Nilfeheim for the first time in his long life. His decision most likely an inspiration by the Gods himself was hailed by the Circle of Elders and the Council of Clan Leaders as an Omen. So a strong and wise hand might be at the helm of our society's ship!"

<p lang="en-US">The Space Bus now hovered, retracted its landing gear and climbed into the sky.

<p lang="en-US">This was just great! The old man leaves me behind! With a lot of questions, more confused about what I was supposed to do, than when I came here. Before I met him things were clearer.

<p lang="en-US">The experience I had as a Loki was still deep in me and I shuddered and felt sick to the stomach to think that something like this really happened! Why would they use such primitive, disgusting ways to tan leather? Even if it really had to be done that way with feces, urine and animal brains would it not be possible to do it with machines? Was this all a dream, an illusion conjured up by the Old man or was it real? Would I not have felt differently being a woman? I certainly felt angry and disgusted beyond words for what Hogun did and I remembered how vulnerable, how helpless and how exposed I felt as he knelt over me.

<p lang="en-US">I had to find an answer if this was real!

<p lang="en-US">I had no abilities to make light but the Industrial Recycler Unit was able to produce a simple but power full hand light. Armed with the light in the left and my right hand on Mördaren I descended the stairs again. Somehow I wished I had a blaster or a gun and not just a sword. But if there was something else down there able to grant abilities like the Old man had, then any man made weapon would be useless. Also what would happen if I was transferred again and it was real and the Old man wasn't there to send me back?

<p lang="en-US">I wasn't going very fast and I wondered if it was such a good idea to come down here again, but then I needed to find out what was down here!

<p lang="en-US">Most likely nothing and it was all an illusion.

<p lang="en-US">I had reached the part where the stairs turned to natural rock and it was around here the Old guy turned out the light.

<p lang="en-US">But I descended further after while I was certain I arrived at water level or even below. The walls were moist now and water dripped. The stairs worn out where the water ran in little trickles carving into the rock

<p lang="en-US">I heard water lapping against a wall and then the stairs ended and I stood in a natural cave much like a natural Sub Pen. Water lapping against a natural quay, the grotto was lit by a greenish blue light that came from a light source somewhere under the water. I estimated the entire cavern to be big enough for at least 20 hunting subs and I wondered why the old man didn't use this cave to keep his old sub. Suddenly I could not explain how I felt a presence and there in the shimmering water huge dark shape came from below. It was so big it had to be the Submarine of the Old man. Regular hunting subs were much shorter, the hair on my neck and back stood up. I had seen him leave and he had left me with the access codes to the boat. Did someone else have the codes? Was it someone who wanted to rob the place? I needed a place to hide and see who was coming. The shape came up and broke the surface and as I recognized what it was, I didn't need a sword. I needed to get me a slayer! That was no boat, but a Tyranno fin, almost white in color and it had to be at least an Eight Three!

<p lang="en-US">I turned to run up the stairs and was already inside the staircase entrance. I was certain the big fish had no problem snatching a little human from the narrow ledge. There had t be a Harpoon in the place somewhere!

<p lang="en-US">"You won't find Harpoons or Slayers in Old Egill's home, Eric." A thundering voice spoke! I felt like hit by lightning and could barely find the courage to turn. It could not be! The fish did not speak!

<p lang="en-US">"There is no one else here, Eric!"

<p lang="en-US">I did turn, not even knowing holding Mördaren before me. The huge back of the fish and the sharp fin was above the water and so was most of his head. The immense fish had his head turned so it could look at me and right behind it the yellowish skin for the mark. It must be another illusion, perhaps a clever holo projection. Even though my mind raced to find thousand logical and illogical answers, I knew the fish was real and that this was no hologram and no illusion.

<p lang="en-US">"Egill once was a very formidable Tyranno Hunter and he slew more the old fashioned way than most do with those Hunting Subs, but we sort of got used to each other and Harpoons were no longer necessary!"

<p lang="en-US">The fish's maw did not move as it spoke. I simply stood there not knowing what to say and how to react, this Tyranno Fin was sentient!

<p lang="en-US">"No Eric my mouth does not move when I speak. I have no vocal cords and yes I am sentient."

<p lang="en-US">My mind raced and I wondered how to start a conversation with a talking fish that quite possibly was a God.

<p lang="en-US">"Let us forget labels like fish, god and simply accept the fact that I am. I am not the greatest conversationalist but I learned humans often start by saying: Hello, Hi and go from there."

<p lang="en-US">"I expected anything but a talking Tyranno Fin down here. I am still coping with what I am seeing."

<p lang="en-US">"You saw Tyrannos before; you even slew two of us."

<p lang="en-US">"I never thought of Tyrannos as sentient beings."

<p lang="en-US">"They are not Eric. I am the only one. Although I believe that in a few millennia my species might develop sentience, but since we lack all the other necessities to start a civilization it might not happen."

<p lang="en-US">"If you are sentient, even just one then this planet is yours and we are invaders. You could ask for Union Membership and have us all resettled."

<p lang="en-US">The fish moved ever so slightly but still caused massive waves in the basin." You are starting to think like a Union Citizen and not like a Neo Viking, but I do not want the Humans to leave this world. It became your home as much as it is mine."

<p lang="en-US">"You want us to stop hunting your species, then?"

<p lang="en-US">"If I was against that I could have stopped that long ago, by exactly doing what you suggested. As long as a few families hunt with and cull a few hundred every year, it will make no difference. There are many more Tyrannos than humans. I would oppose industrial hunting, but Egill is taking steps that this won't happen."

<p lang="en-US">I was amazed at myself standing there talking to a fish who didn't like the label fish, but I could not completely shed my nervousness or if I was honest I could not suppress my fear. Egill spoke about a god that was alive before the original Vikings on Earth thought about the Gods, if this fish was that old…

<p lang="en-US">"I have no recollection how old I am. Time was a concept foreign to me until I met Egill and my species takes long and very deep sleeps in the folds of the below. "Would you want to see the folds? I can show you places on the bottoms of our oceans no Nilfeheim human has ever seen."

<p lang="en-US">The very idea to be in the water with…it, made me tremble, but I was equally certain I would not standing there if it wanted me dead." Sure I guess there would be no better guide than a Tyranno, but I probably could not keep up with you or dive as deep."

<p lang="en-US">"I am aware of your limitations when it comes to my environment. Yet I know you love being under water and dive, more than most even among genetic enhanced divers."

<p lang="en-US">"I do." Then I said." How do I call you? Fish is out; God wasn't to your liking either."

<p lang="en-US">"I never needed a name or label to identify myself, but Egill had the same request and he calls me Tyr."

<p lang="en-US">"My brother, well my half brother's name is Tyr as well. You never talked to others, outside of Egill I mean."

<p lang="en-US">"Every so often he brings down a pupil of his he thinks is worthy of meeting me, all in all there were eight. Only two survived the meeting however."

<p lang="en-US">There was an unspoken warning there and I wondered what criteria Tyr used to decide who lived and who did not.

<p lang="en-US">"Ignorance, arrogance, self importance and cowardly behavior are among these criteria Eric and most of all dishonesty. Your Uncle was down here and he did not listen or see anything other than a white Tyranno he wanted to slay. He did try to kill me and frankly I value my own existence more. "

<p lang="en-US">"I can understand that. I was just wondering since you offered me to bathe with you and then mention six who never went back from that bathing trip."

<p lang="en-US">"I never offered anyone to swim with me, not even Egill, but there is something I want to show you."

<p lang="en-US">Whatever it was Tyr wanted to show me, I felt it was important and so I said."Alright how we are going to do this?" " You simply come into the water and if you dare hold on to my dorsal fin."

<p lang="en-US">"Wait here, Tyr. I am going to get myself some fins and a wet suit. There is one in the boat!"

<p lang="en-US">"You can swim to the boat from here. It is much faster than running all these stairs back up, but then you are too afraid to share the water with me."

<p lang="en-US">I stripped to my pants and placed the sword on the small pile and said. "There goes nothing. I never thought I willingly pose as Tyranno Bait." Then I jumped into the water.

<p lang="en-US">Tyr moved and its enormous body created a powerful torrent sucking me helplessly close to his immense opening maw, instead of struggling. I streamlined my body, opened my gills, expelled as much air as I could out of my lungs and closed my mouth, so I shot forward. Tyr could have gulped me up; I was in size to it as newly hatched Silver Flicker fish. Newly hatch soup was a well liked menu item in Hogun's in and I could easily fit two or three of them on a spoon, the maw passed and so did the huge eye and then I heard his voice." You are different from the others. You were afraid, very much so and yet you jumped into my domain. Instead of trying to get away you went towards me."

<p lang="en-US">I almost opened my mouth to answer; only to realize that would have drowned me and I tried to formulate an answer thinking instead." Never say Dare or you are afraid to a Neo Viking then, big Fish! That makes us think less and more stupid, and to be frank I am scared as a Nubhir Puppy"

<p lang="en-US">"You have a sense of humor much like Egill has. I like that."

<p lang="en-US">The basin was much deeper than I thought and I saw the entrance of an underwater tunnel most likely connecting this grotto with the open ocean. The water was surprisingly warm and the light had no particular source but was like an aura emitting from Tyr. His grayish skin above water now looked white as snow under water.

<p lang="en-US">Tyr turned to face the tunnel and again his body created currents that tossed me around without control, but since I no longer really feared the Tyranno, he seemed to have enormous Psionic talents and it would not matter if I was in the water or on land if Tyr wanted to harm me, so I enjoyed the wild ride." The Old man has a sense of humor? You could have fooled me!"

<p lang="en-US">"Oh, but he does and you and him are not so different, but that is no surprise as he is your kin!"

<p lang="en-US">Tyr went for the tunnel so just like a kisser fish I grabbed hold of one of his side fins as the dorsal fin was out of reach. Tyr moved to fast for me already." I guess all humans on this world are somewhat related, especially since we didn't have a very big gene pool to begin with."

"Egill is a great grandfather of yours and you can follow his line clear to your mother. The only other person who ever swam with me.

<p lang="en-US">We were in no time through a dark tunnel and the water became notably colder and Tyr slowed down. Did Tyr not say I was the first one? I was thinking to myself.

<p lang="en-US">"Get on top of me now and behind my first dorsal fin. That is a better spot and I can swim faster without you being washed away by the streaming water."

<p lang="en-US">I swam along and I realized just how big Tyr was as it took me several moments to reach that fin. Tyrannos had between six and twelve dorsal fins on top behind their heads. Starting small and getting bigger. The first fin was Tyr's shortest but still at least two meters tall I sat behind it and held fast to it.

<p lang="en-US">"I told you that you are the first I offered to swim with me. Your mother didn't need an invitation. She simply jumped in." Tyr's mental voice almost sounded embarrassed but had a warm note to it." She actually found I was cute!"

<p lang="en-US">Of all possible words I knew to describe Tyr, I would have never even considered the word cute. An almost 100 meter long white Tyranno Fin that could tear apart a hunting sub with ease was anything but cute!

<p lang="en-US">"Exactly!"

<p lang="en-US">"My mother saw you?"

<p lang="en-US">"Yes she was with Egill for a while as the Old man tried to teach her brother, with little success I might add. She kept my existence a secret and told no one and she never was afraid of me not even from the first moment."

<p lang="en-US">I felt pride as he talked about my mother that way."Are we not stopping by the boat?"

<p lang="en-US">"No need, we go so deep, no wet suit would do you any good."

<p lang="en-US">"I am pretty sure I can trust you and all, but you do know that I can't go much deeper than 450 meters."

<p lang="en-US">"I told you I am aware of human limitations and yours as well. We are way past that mark already. I do swim a tad faster than you, and I learned what meters and measure scales are. I would guess we are well past six hundred meters now."

<p lang="en-US">"Psionics eh?"

<p lang="en-US">"That is what you call it. The Saresii are more specific and call it a Para-dim level induced, contour hugging psi force field. I simply think you safe, more or less."

<p lang="en-US">"You know a lot about the Union and such."

<p lang="en-US">"I like to listen in to the minds of kids when they are in school you know and when you get one of these Neural Uploads. I simply partake as well. Over time I got somewhat of an understanding what is going on out there and I like the ideas and principals of that society."

<p lang="en-US">"Maybe you should apply for citizen ship after all."

<p lang="en-US">"That has still time, but you are still planning to become a Starship Captain?"

<p lang="en-US">"Yes. I am not sure if I ever make it but I will try."

<p lang="en-US">There was no light coming from the surface and I could not see anything anymore.

<p lang="en-US">"Close your eyes, it is easier for me to show you what I see you when you don't strain your visual, there aren't many photons left down here."

<p lang="en-US">I closed my eyes and I somehow felt his thoughts like an invisible hand brushing over my forehead and suddenly I knew there was a rock shark no less than 400 meters away, chasing after a panicked snapper fish. I could feel and sense every flick of its tail I knew how big it was and then I "saw" the fish and the entire surroundings before my inner eyes but in a totally different way. There were no colors, not even black or white. I could sense the ocean floor far beneath, every ridge and rock and every fish and thing around us. I opened my eyes out of pure reflex to see a rock shark that came to close and everything vanished and it was dark again.

<p lang="en-US">"Keep them closed! Your mind is not trained to process visual input and the input of the electro sense and sonar organ we Tyrannos use, I was relaying to your mind."

<p lang="en-US">I closed them again."This is fantastic!" The Rock shark was gone, but I sensed and smelled the blood and part of his tailfin behind him. Tyr had not even slowed down to devour a 12 meter rock shark!

<p lang="en-US">"It is foolish even for a dimwitted triangle snout to swim so close before me. Besides I do like the taste."

<p lang="en-US">"Me too! Rock shark steaks are one of my favorites!"

<p lang="en-US">I was discussing sea food choices with a Tyranno, riding it and after it killed a Rock shark like nothing. I remembered my fight with the two Tyrannos near the school rock and I realized just how lucky I was.

<p lang="en-US">"Yes you were, but not entirely. You are a natural hunter and fighter and even so close to the rocks and handicapped by the sound of the waves breaking against the stone. I respect you very much for triumphing over two of us. I know it takes courage to go against a life form so much bigger and stronger and even your slayer harpoons are by no means an equalizer."

<p lang="en-US">We reached the bottom of an underwater mountain and could sense dozens of Tyrannos of all sizes all around us and the water becoming warmer again.

<p lang="en-US">"This is a sleep mountain. It is a Volcano and warms the water even during the long Cold and it has many caves and one Cave in particular I want you to see."

<p lang="en-US">Tyr entered a side vent of the volcano and the water was even warmer. Through a labyrinth of underwater tunnels and channels we surfaced in another grotto and there on a small island of this underwater lake was something like a space ship! It clearly had been there for a long time as stalagmites had grown over and covered most of it, formed by dripping water from long stalactites containing calcite and lime above it. Ever since I had left the recruiting office, I had learned everything I could find on space ships and not just Union Ships, but from what I could see this was of no known configuration.

<p lang="en-US">"I came to be in this cave. I believe me being sentient has to do with this, I have brought other Tyrannos in all stages here, but I remain the only one that is sentient."

<p lang="en-US">"I can try to find out form what culture it comes, but this would most likely to be the job of a Xeno archeologist or Xeno Tech expert. I am neither."

<p lang="en-US">"I don't want you to identify it. I want you to see and remember it. Do not ever tell anyone of its existence and you may end your life and never need to think about it, but I am sure that within your lifetime a very powerful enemy comes over this Galaxy and nothing will be able to stop it, then Eric come back here and you will receive an answer."

<p lang="en-US">He spoke in such a profound way that I had no responds at first. "Are you able to see the future?"

<p lang="en-US">"I don't think I can, but I have dreamt about what I told you and you are the first human of this world who thinks about leaving and command something like this. When Egill told me about your dream and I learned that you were the son of that female I liked, I was compelled to show this to you. Even though Egill thinks I am akin to a God, I am just a very smart old fish who thinks this is a wink of fate, an omen or signs form the real Gods whoever they may be."

<p lang="en-US">"There is no guarantee I will even be accepted to the Academy, much less make it to be a Captain and now I think I have to become one!"

<p lang="en-US">"That is why I will make you forget this and only remember if my dream about this comes true!"

<p lang="en-US">"So I won't remember you either?"

<p lang="en-US">"No Eric, you won't remember me for a while, but you will return to Nilfeheim, either as star ship captain or after realizing that this career was not for you after all and then I reveal myself again to you. Besides you inherited the Pillar and if nothing else you can be the next Hermit and we will then spend a long time together."

<p lang="en-US">"I inherited the Pillar? The old man is not coming back? Did he die?"

<p lang="en-US">"I am sure he will die. I have no idea when or where, but he did give you the ownership of the rock."

<p lang="en-US">"That is going to go over well with my father!"

<p lang="en-US">"He cannot do anything about that."

<p lang="en-US">"If I don't remember you, I will have to kill another Tyranno for the ancient challenge, you know!"

<p lang="en-US">"I know. I just make sure I won't be anywhere near you when you do that."