Cyber Viking 3

by Marcus Sloss

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  INTERMISSION 1

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  INTERMISSION 2

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  EPILOGUE

  AFTERWORD

  CHAPTER 1

  “Hello, Winston, may I sit?” I asked, pointing to the stiff chair outside the well-decorated booth.

  Video displays shifted images of unique aliens to the left and right of the blue-skinned vendor. The seven-fingered information seller gestured to the seat across from where he stood. He was naked again, causing me to grimace. I should have hardly been bothered. I had been naked lately, with those insatiable ladies of mine, more often than not myself. After I managed to make myself comfortable in the seat, I initiated a trade with Winston. Our translators sparked an arc of power, completing our nonbinding agreement.

  “Five chairs? I am rarely impressed by new entries to the containment. Thank you for keeping your end of the deal and even including a bonus,” Winston said, revealing his jagged teeth with a smile. “I have brought an apprentice with me today.”

  A form shimmered into existence at the side of the booth. I inspected her when she materialized from her invisibility. I set her name to Luna.

  Species: Arimi - Individual Name: Luna - Rating: 10

  The thought of who named the Arimi was erased when I studied her form. Luna was another virum-bodied being—with a thin, toned stomach, curvy hips, and supple breasts all in dark to light shades of blue. She was very naked. Her tail was thin and narrow, unlike a Crixxi’s. Other than a pair of feathery black eyebrows, the only hair on her graced the tip of her tail, with a tuft of black fur. Her head was bald with inset ears. Very blue, very alien, and yet sexy.

  I saw two of the large tavers chairs spawn in the booth. Both Winston and Luna splayed their seven-fingered hands to grasp the armrests before sitting with what sounded like happy snarls.

  “Ah, this is marvelous. I do enjoy a comfortable chair.” He smiled at me, all teeth. “Alright, Cap, I am impressed. Please, why don’t we conduct a trade? I did promise to pay for additional chairs. You tell me what you experienced over the last blue portal cycle and I will update your market information as the day moves along,” Winston said, adjusting his seat in the chair until his face relaxed into complete comfort. “They did such a fine job, I don't even want to add padding.”

  “Yes, I agree with you, Master, this human is different from the others of his species. Is he an offshoot?” Luna asked.

  “Indeed, excellent deduction. Humans managed to flee their quarantine to some extent. This … form of humanity grew into its own branch. Oblivious of the past it fled from,” Winston said to Luna, who nodded in understanding. He turned back to me, “Please, Cap, proceed.”

  “Where to begin? I guess we can start with the Squibbles, as we named them,” I said as an update from Willow blinked on my Gpad.

  “Operation turn Denver loot into raw materials going exceedingly well with at all four portals. Mom, Major Ulanda, and Torrez reporting positive results. They do not think we will hit max allowable transfer limits, even with all four blues to ourselves.” - Queen Willow

  “We do not have this species on our list. This is an excellent find, Cap.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “May I access the full files you have on this alien race?”

  I sent Winston the entire document Harvard had prepared with Lilith’s help. It was an overview of everything we had compiled. Lilith had anticipated this very moment and I was curious to see how Winston would react.

  “So thorough, I could almost think you had an Arimi in your settlement. My goodness, I now see why.” Winston’s eyes studied a device projecting my information from the counter. His eyes fluttered as he digested the information. He gave a slight gasp when an image of a Divine-Ape flashed across the screen. “You had a very, very interesting blue rotation. Please,” he motioned for me to continue, which looked rather freaky with his seven fingered hand, “don’t let sending me this file stop you from letting me hear it from your own lips. A first-hand account often provides vital details overlooked in video summaries and reports.”

  His statement reminded me of something I wanted to ask about. “Before I forget to mention it, there was a delay in the shifting of the gates from blue to gold. Did you experience that as well?” I asked, remembering having to wait an extra-long time for the gold market to open. “I am curious, because last time, after the blue portals fizzled out, the golden gates transitioned perfectly on cue.”

  The blue alien grimaced. “I see you have picked a side in the debate of whether the proverbial gate gods are good or evil. I know the subject is far more complex than that and we stay neutral.” He raised a hand in response to the confused look on my face. “This leads to your question, which I will get to, if you have patience. The controllers of our quarantine dictate who, what, and where,” Winston said, settling comfortably back into his chair. “We Arimi consider ourselves custodians of knowledge. Our goal in life is to be the most informed. Across this grand market, there are hundreds of my kind setting up shop. For each of the gates we control, there are teams of Arimi cruising the millions of stalls, gathering information.”

  Luna touched her master’s arm delicately, seeking permission to interject. His tail wriggled in a tight circle; aliens were odd.

  “What Master Winston is getting around to,” Luna continued, with Winston’s apparent permission, “is that the controlling hand that binds our fates is not perfect. There are times when the powers that be are slow.” Her brow wrinkled. “I think the longest we had to wait on a golden portal spawn was several days. That was…” Luna paused to tap on a nearby screen, “Four hundred years ago. For ages, eons, as long as many can remember, the Xgates were never late. They had no issues until recently, and we have detected no pattern as to when this will happen or if it will continue to happen. Our theory is the rapid expansion of—”

  Winston held up a hand.

  “This is part of our exchange,” Winston said with a stern gaze, “so we’re clear.”

  I inclined my head in agreement.

  “The universe expands from one central point,” he continued, “and as that expansion spreads, planets cool, evolve, and establish life according to a predictable pattern in a certain time frame. Lately, we have had a great increase of planets birthing aggressive species that must be quarantined, which we think is stressing the system.” He looked at Luna. “This is just a theory. A sound theory, nonetheless. If this is the case, we may expect continued issues. Maybe even instead of firing four blues on average, we get only two. Who knows? We can only speculate. Simply know that not everything is running smoothly as of late.”

  “Ah, thank you,” I smiled at his explanation, “that is reassuring. I was told something similar, though in a different fashion by the Divine-Apes. I also met a species called the Crixxi, who we have integrated into our society.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “In exchange for this data, I was hoping you could provide me with information with which I can save prisoners worthy of bringing to my home. As we speak, we are converting all our loot and I will have a large budget to get the things we need; personnel is high on that list.”

  Luna cleared her throat and Winston’s tail twirled in another tight circle.


  “You want to save slaves?” she asked, a tad confused. “There are many species who exist simply to serve. There is no freedom for them and they could use good homes. Is that what you seek?”

  I nodded, and she raised a curious eyebrow. “Yes,” I said, “my goal is to help these species, so they can help us. We will convert poor contracts into three meals a day, good care, a nice place to sleep, and an early release upon exemplary behavior. That is my plan, at least. Other than Humans and Crixxi, I do not know of other species that would do well performing menial chores, raising children, and farming.” I paused, folding my hands into my lap. “We do get cold weather, but can provide clothing to address that … though, I guess we will have need of seamstresses and some craftsmen, too. I have a long list—”

  Luna waved her two-thumbed hand at me, so I sent her the file.

  “I can work on this while you talk, Master.” She continued, “You have seen what information he brought us, including a new species; the council will pay handsomely. I see no harm…”

  “Excuse us one moment.” Winston spun on Luna and pulled her to the side of the booth. “Do not speak so openly to me regarding what I should or should not allow in front of strangers. While you’re my niece, we are not at home,” he hissed.

  I pretended to be interested in one of the displays so as not to embarrass either of them while Winston corrected his apprentice.

  They sat back down in their chairs.

  “In this case,” Winston growled, “I agree that you should assist him.”

  “Forgive my transgression, Master Winston,” Luna said evenly. I got a hint she felt he was overreacting.

  “I will only say thank you for accepting my list. The Divine-Apes were a blessing. I never thought they would be so intelligent, so powerful, and so mind-numbingly frightening,” I said, shifting in my chair to cross one leg over my knee. “The Divine-Apes’ feud with the Lurrol opened our eyes to a lot of realities, the foremost being that we were lucky we hadn’t aggravated either species. My wooden village with its simple small dirt wall and razor-wire is nothing to such creatures. Seeing those mighty goliaths in action made me feel …”

  “Inferior?” Winston nodded. “We have fought the Lurrol but have never encountered the Divine-Apes. The Lurrol … well, they are no fun to kill. I can see that the Divine-Apes were not exactly friendly.”

  “You digest information quickly,” I complimented him and he gave a confident shrug. “I lost a co-commander that I respected to Lilith’s wrath. Although she gave me a solid reason and rationale for his murder, seeing someone executed so peremptorily was quite a shock. I—”

  Again, he held up his seven fingered hand to stop me. “We Arimi have many rules about how we handle information about the superior races. I have said all I can on the matter. Apologies. Please continue,” Winston said with a hint of remorse.

  “There was a lot of chaos. I had attempted to save a matriarch Divine-Ape who was not in need of saving. Fortunately, she did not punish me for my transgression; in fact, Madam rewarded us. There was a lot of fighting. A lot. I remember feeling inadequate but still had some impact on the fight. After that battle of titans, it was as if we had entered the eye of a hurricane. The chaos went away. We spent seven-plus days peacefully building, integrating, and looting to prepare for this golden market. Our lives have stabilized.” I grimaced as the memory left a sour taste in my mouth. “I even had another dozen people leave, thinking they were better off on their own, only to find another two hundred people huddled in a school basement desperate for our assistance.”

  Winston bobbed his tail. “I see that from your report, your species is uncertain even amongst yourselves. That is very common for recently quarantined species, in the beginning. You will find that some refuse to fight, while others despise hunkering down; it is not in their nature to either be vigilant or to be afraid. We have studied many species over the eons. Yours will be no different. The smart, the lucky, and the patient survive; the irrational perish.

  “I would caution you about something, though,” his voice dropped to a discrete rumble, “When asked if the powers controlling the gates are good or evil, play undecided—at least here in the market—that will let you trade more. Sure, some may preach what they believe is ‘gospel’ to vindicate their particular feelings, but sometimes a few minutes of preaching is worth a new gravity tank. Speaking of which,” he smirked, “you should have stolen the self-replicating crop-growing systems in their entirety. Building manufacturing capacity will pay dividends. Even I would have bought fresh-grown animal feed for variety.”

  His assistant’s tail raised itself by Winston’s head, and he turned her way. “What did you find, Luna?”

  “We just arrived at the market. The teams out updating lists are slowly reporting in, but I do have a few candidates based on last week’s offerings. The Mounamine are a great species. The females are only hostile to other females around the male they desire; hardly an aggressive species worthy of containment, but that is how it works. They resemble mouse-like creatures, with whiskers and small beady noses, but a torso much the same as ours,” Luna said, running a hand down her flawless blue body. I may have stared a bit longer than I should have. A wagging finger pulled my eyes off her juicy tits. “Then there are the Orinia. They hop around on four legs and have tiny arms, with balancing tails; they are very quick over short distances. They make amazing childcare providers, as none of their charges ever escape their careful watch. We keep several of them ourselves; in fact, I have three managing my children right now. Both of these species breed decently, but generally have no home planets of their own, any longer.”

  “Have no homes?” I asked, a bit confused.

  “Ah, silly human…” A stern gaze from Winston made Luna pause. “I apologize. We Arimi try not to offend those like yourself capable of that kind of destruction.”

  “Please forgive my transgression,” Luna said, bending at the waist.

  “Forgiven.” I waved a hand, “Please elaborate more on these Mounamine and Orinia.”

  Luna sat upright before continuing, “They are sub-species, but intelligent. They no longer have home-worlds to defend anymore. They are only subservient races because their mating rituals included an aggressive element—not all quarantined species are warrior societies or adapt well to this ‘Vikingism’, as you call it. Neither the Mounamine or the Orinia occupy major settlements where they are considered the dominant species. They are completely reliant upon truly aggressive species for protection. Freeing one such to the Xgates would see them become food or they would simply be contracted again. So, do not set them free. They will almost always renew their contracts of servitude.”

  I frowned, but understood. I was upset with myself that we hadn’t thought of this earlier. Then again, our community was new to the ways of the quarantine.

  “It sound like these are the perfect species to become our ideal workers. I was being honest when I said that, ideally, we seek species that we can help. Any Crixxi or Human—”

  “Stop that line of thought, Cap, for your own good.” Winston huffed, “Crixxi, sure—they bend to the whims of their tribe masters and almost never rebel. Humans, however, will chop off your head and gladly sacrifice themselves in the name of the gate gods. Never trust the blue tattooed monsters, as we call them,” Winston said.

  “Blue tattooed monsters?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “They infuse their bodies with a different sort of Virum host called Lexium. These Lexium give them blue tattoos, as it liquefies their blood in swirling boils that raise the skin.” He snorted, “Consider yourself warned. Your Earth humans will be coveted, I doubt many will be for sale. You will have plenty of homeless races to pick from that you could use in a place like Stronghold Mansion. You’re inherently different on a fundamental level, Cap.” He grinned, “That is why we were so quick to accept your trade.”

  A two-legged, three-headed bird being walked up behind my chair. A report was sent over my s
houlder. Winston accepted the transfer and sent his own.

  “Cheers, Aggrixi,” Winston said, and the creature wandered to the edge of the orbital. I watched the gravity change and pull him out of the structure. “You almost done, Luna?”

  “Yes,” she looked up from her display, “though there are many variables. How many can you hold? Do you want Crixxi warriors or domesticated servants?”

  “Well,” I smirked, “ten thousand, give or take.”

  This caused Winston to frown. “You were at a population of only a thousand last time I saw you, correct?” Winston asked with an inquisitive tone.

  “We absorbed another stronghold with plenty of additional housing. There was a foul odor that we have mostly removed, but Aspen is ready for more residents and we have freezers packed with meat. Looting has been our primary goal, and right now it is paying dividends. Our secondary objective has been to improve our housing. We have made so much progress lately, it’s like the apocalypse never happened. We have even increased our cleared land for farming and have raided additional Yexin. After today, if we manage to get a relatively manageable blue spawn, we can hold many more,” I said, feeling rather optimistic. “Fate will tell, though.”

  “Okay, there is a large tribe of Crixxi, three thousand strong, that is up for auction. They surrendered on Mixonis to the Vempia species. Eww,” her lip curled in disgust, “that species are zealots for the Gate Gods. The auction is set to end a few hours before the golden market expires. Here is the location. As for the Mounamine, here are the locations of a dozen breeders. Mind you, the females cost more, but the males work any task just as well. The Orinia can swap between sexes, so,” Luna said with a chuckle, “males and females cost the same amount.” She pointed to an area of the market on the map, “All servile species are in one common area. Let me warn you, though I am thousands of years old and my uncle far wiser than I, we only recommend a course of action. If you buy a random species and are disappointed, do not get upset with us if it hurts your community long term.” She looked up to her Uncle. “Does this complete our transaction, Master Winston?”