Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 7

by Vanessa Ravencroft

  I paused for a moment, covered in sweat and blood, not all of it from the Stomper. Almost out of breath with a heaving chest, I raised the ax in the air, looking for my next opponent.

  I could suddenly hear the crowd chanting my name in frenzy. “Black Velvet, Black Velvet—”

  Elfi’s voice sounded concerned. “Captain, can you hear me?”

  “Yes, I can hear you.”

  “Captain, I was trying to reach you for almost five minutes but you did not answer. Are you all right?”

  I jumped off the Stomper. “I think so. How far are we?”

  “Everything is ready!”

  “Do it!”

  The lights went out again. I felt Narth’s presence and the faint pulling sensation of Translocation. As the lights came back on, I stood in the duke’s sky box. Four Special Forces marines disguised as pirates were led by TheOther, wearing what looked like a genuine Y’All battlesuit with terrifying weapons in each of his fists. The unnaturally twisted body of a badly mangled Togar lay before the feet of the giant and the bloody remains of the other guard were not far away. One of my marines held Wintsun, while the duke was still sitting in his chair but all his flair of power and self-importance was gone.

  The fat man’s face showed panic.

  A glance down to the arena showed me only the dead monsters. Hans and Har-Hi were gone and so were the Pertharians, the Nul, and the man named Honshu.

  I still held the bloody ax, and I could not even imagine how I looked. I stepped forward, and he cringed back.

  I snarled as he raised his arms. “Oh, no, I won’t make it that easy for you!”

  He held up a little device and said with a weak voice, “One push and the torpedoes will launch.”

  I swung the ax and the device, along with his hand, flew in spray of blood. “Push your button now, if you can.”

  ***

  We had returned to the ship. Our disguised landing tank had been attacked twice, the hits not even registering on the tank’s strong shields. Our attackers, however, were exploding in mid-air as I had ordered to return fire on anything that even appeared threatening. I felt sore, dirty, and exhausted and my back had started to hurt really badly.

  I visited sickbay and Cateria shook her head as she saw me. “In Gorhum’s wisdom, captain, you look awful!”

  “I feel awful, too, and why is the ship moving?”

  A med-bot caught me and placed me on one of the diagnostic tables. Cateria begun to work on me and she said, “Stompers, like all creatures of Green Hell, are poisonous and only because you somehow survived the sting of a Wurgus are you still on your legs and among the living. A little longer, though, and we would have a Dai for a captain!”

  I was mildly amazed to see that she was assisted by the white-furred Togar; she still wore the white dress but this time with the logo patches of the med team.

  While she derma patched my back, I said, “Looks like you found something to do after all.”

  Jolaj nodded. “I am not a very technical person; my schooling was limited to theory, literature, and arts but this way of healing appeals to me.”

  After that, I had a long shower and felt much better and called for a meeting in the Pirate’s Den.

  I motioned to Mao first. “You and Pure led the Aqua Team, how did it go?”

  Mao pointed to the two small Terrans, who stood on the table before him. “Thanks to Lt. Bergdorf, we managed to neutralize the sensor grid so we could dive underneath the Donheer Compound shields. We found the Loki torpedoes, along with the P-bomb and a cache of other Union tech hardware. We destroyed everything safely and then detonated one Loki torpedo. The Donheer Island compound is completely destroyed, and Sin 4 has one less island. Krabbel was very good at convincing one of Donheer’s deputies to tell us all we wanted to know. Finally, we set off a much smaller charge in the city to destroy the HQ of the Donheer Syndicate, to destroy the handweapons and other things Wintsun may have stolen.”

  I was very pleased. “That went well then and I do appreciate the help of our New World Commonwealth crew members.” I looked toward Hans. “But I’d like to be kept in the loop about who is sent outside. If we have to leave in a flash, I do not want to leave anyone behind.”

  Hans’ face was unreadable but then he nodded. “Yes, captain, I understand, I should have asked for permission.”

  “Hans, we are friends and I rely on all of you to be innovative and spontaneous. We managed to get out of this situation so well because of it. So, I should commend you and, as a friend I do, but as the captain, I need to know those things. This is not a reprimand or anything like that, but next time it happens it will be.”

  His face now showed relief, and he nodded in his unique neckless way. “Yes, captain, thank you.”

  I smiled in his direction and then looked over to Har-Hi, Narth, and the Golden. “You almost made my heart stop when I heard you were abducted.”

  Narth said, “I did not know I could be affected by paralysator rays. It severely impaired my abilities for hours but it won’t happen again. I changed my physiology in that regard.”

  Har-Hi shrugged. “There isn’t much we could have done. That bastard used a F4 Paralysator and stunned an entire city block. But I am sore having lost all my weapons and my suit.”

  Narth shook his head. “I retrieved your equipment. The guards made me take off my mask and cloak and were unable to remain among the living. I took that moment to secure what was taken.”

  Har-Hi sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

  I added a thankful thought directed at Narth and said aloud, “I am not blaming you for anything either, of course. I am, however, trying to express how glad I am you are back and safe.”

  Har-Hi placed his hand on mine. “When I said I’d follow you to the Badlands, I meant that. I know you don’t like to send us in harm’s way but you will have to do it again, I am sure, and you simply can’t do everything by yourself. That you are concerned about our safety, be assured we know that, but that must take second place to our mission and your position being the captain.”

  The Golden added, “We never were in much danger, captain. Narth recovered fast and told us your plan and Hans was there as well. They did not know we knew him. He could have freed us anytime.”

  Hans nodded. “They never considered the Golden or Narth in his disguise as material for the arena and wanted to sell them.” Then he spread his mighty arms. “Sorry, captain, I have to say it. I never have seen anything like you attacking that Stomper. You were the only standard Human in that arena and yet you were the most dangerous creature of us all.”

  Har-Hi looked at me. “I keep saying that. And not just a Stomper, a Togar, and a Shiss and doing it all while barefoot and in a dress.”

  I tried to ignore them as I wondered about that myself. Of course, I knew of the Norse legends telling of warriors going berserk, but some believed it to be legend only or somehow drug induced. It was almost like a drunken euphoria while fighting that Stomper. I’d felt an animalistic satisfaction that was actually a little disturbing.

  I said, “You should talk, Mr. Terror Hammer, ripping the tail out of an Insectosaurus.”

  He smiled and wanted to say something but I gave him a scolding look and he swallowed whatever he wanted to say. Then I looked down at my feet. “I liked those slingback pumps and I ruined a perfectly good dress as well. No wonder I was a little agitated.”

  They all laughed at that. After a moment, I returned to being serious. “We need to interrogate our prisoners and learn where they got these weapons and if there are any more hidden on this world.”

  Har-Hi said, “What about Wintsun; will we go by the book?”

  I dreaded my own answer. “Yes, we will. He was a friend, but he killed and is a traitor.”

  Cateria got up. “I think it will be best we perform a brain dump on them and let SHIP shift through all their memories.”

  I agreed with her and then dismissed them. “Let us hope that the Red Dragon shows up
on time tomorrow so we can wrap this part of our mission up. I really want to get some vacuum under our keel.”

  The Duke

  Duke Donheer found himself in a featureless white and brightly lit room. He had not imagined things; a Y’All stood at the door with both his arm pairs crossed before his chest. The duke tried to move but found himself fixed to a diagnostic chair. A helmet-like thing hovered over his head and he was certain he recognized the design of this alien contraption for what it was, a Saresii Mind extractor.

  Every single memory and every secret stored in his brain could be downloaded into a file to be analyzed. It was the most efficient interrogation method ever invented, and only the Old Saresii ever perfected it and made it work. Only a handful of these machines survived from that time so long ago, and officially did not even exist but he had heard rumors that the Saresii Secret Service known as the Gray Cat Society still had a few of them. He would have given half of his empire for one of these. He knew the Union had developed special techniques and implants to prevent a mind dump and it was said they equipped their starship captains and senior officers with such, but they were as impossible to get as these machines.

  To see a real live Y’All was even more amazing to him. Even in his current situation, he wondered how one of these beasts would fare in his arena. He still felt dizzy and a little numb, perhaps the machine had already done its job.

  Only now he realized the Y’All there at the door wore a black Union uniform. Could it be? Could the Y’All secretly be Union members?

  Everyone believed it was the Kermac who had something to do with the Y’All, but maybe it was the Union after all?

  A sliding door opened and another massive figure came in, making the floor vibrate. It was the Terror Hammer, but he also wore the uniform of a Union officer and sported lieutenant rank bars on his collar. A woman with short hair and cold features followed close behind him, holding a file chip. No one paid any attention to him, something his ego could not stand, so he said, “Hey, I am awake, what is going on here?”

  They still paid no attention so he added, “You are Union and have no business here on Sin 4.”

  A female voice behind him said, “Dealing with Union mil-tech and killing Union citizens in your arena makes you our business.”

  The woman who had answered him had been in the room all along. She came into view from a place somewhere behind the chair he was fixed on. She wore a Sojonit mask and the typical pink hair wig of that sect of prostitutes. She, too, wore Fleet black and a lieutenant bar on her collar and took the data chip from the other woman.

  Then she said, “Your empire is destroyed and we recovered or destroyed all the weapons you illegally obtained. We have everything you ever knew on file now and it will take our computronic very little time to shift through all of it. You are welcome to make a statement but it is not necessary.”

  His mind became clearer and, with it, emotions of fear. “What are you going to do with me?”

  She said, “You know the penalty of dealing with Union mil-tech!”

  He protested weakly, “I am not Union and never was. You can’t do that!”

  She patted his cheek. “Our Assembly decreed that anyone obtaining classified Union technology must be neutralized. As you see by analyzing your situation, we could do just that, but our captain had a better idea.”

  The woman with the short hair said, “Making our captain angry is a very bad idea; there have been many before you who made this mistake and you did a marvelous job of doing just that.”

  Donheer swallowed and licked his dry lips. “What is it you will do, kill me?”

  The Sojonit said, “No, the captain decided to release you to the local authorities.”

  He started to laugh. “That’s more like it. I am the local authority around here!”

  But as he saw three Stik come into the room, all three of them clean and in full feather and leather regalia, his laugh became a choking sound and he swallowed hard. “You can’t be serious! That scum is lower than dirt and has no authority whatsoever.”

  ***

  We were back on Trash Island in a valley between stinking mountains of waste about 50 kilometers away from the Skaakh village. I stood next to Har-Hi and Nestor Faller as we watched the Stik drag Duke Donheer, the once powerful patriarch of the Donheer family syndicate, to a crater-like hole.

  He no longer insulted the Stik and I heard him say, “Can we not come to an agreement? I can have food flown out to you every day, and I’ll even get you all the feathers you want.”

  An old Stik said, “You have killed thousands of us. You and your kind came to our world, taking away everything, and dirtied the waters and lands. Your kind brought horrors to our world we had never seen or known. You will die now, devoured by one of your gifts to our world.”

  He was pushed into the pit and screamed at the top of his lungs as tentacles exploded out of the bottom of the hole. The Stik did not look away as he screamed while the monstrous life form tore him to pieces.

  ***

  After we had witnessed the end of Duke Donheer and had returned to the ship, I had one more grave and sad duty to perform.

  I tugged at my completely black uniform jacket after I stepped out of the autodresser. This uniform had no patches, no ribbons, and did not have the white lining, only three golden rings around the cuffs of my sleeve. I did not look forward to what I had to do, but he was one of our own and it was a good and old tradition to take care of our own. The good and the bad. It was my duty alone and it would be on my consciousness alone. I straightened my posture and walked into the empty hangar bay.

  The entire crew except those who had to keep the most essential duty posts were assembled.

  At my sign, two marines brought in Wintsun. He had been dressed in a midshipman uniform but all rank insignia had been removed.

  He looked around and then he recognized Krabbel, and I was sure he now realized that the Saturnian without his flashy helmet and arena armor was Hans. His green face paled as he saw Narth. Then his eyes found me and he spat on the floor. “I have nothing to do with your Fleet anymore. I quit, and I am going my own way. This is Freespace and your jurisdiction ended 1,300 light years from here.”

  I said, “Wintsun, can you explain to me why you have changed so much? Limbur, Galmy, Olia, Narth, and I were your friends. What made you go this way?”

  He squinted his eyes. “I don’t remember ever seeing you before. Who are you?”

  I answered, “You knew me as Eric Olafson and we were friends.”

  He looked me up and down. “I thought we sent you to the Kermac? What’s with the chick outfit? Did the Kermac turn your mind or something?”

  I sighed. “The plan of Dent and his cronies did not pan out as they thought it would. They have all paid for their crimes and for their treason. I have your mind dump file and could check it, but I want to hear it from you.”

  He shrugged. “I never liked that creepy Narth, you and him becoming buddies and all that, but it started on Perryton during our first leave right in the data head shop. That arrogant chick Galmy showing us all how rich she was and making me feel small by paying for my data head equipment. Then a guy approached me and asked if I would be interested to become rich on my own by doing a few favors for the Worm. In return, he promised me a prestigious spot at the Newport Academy, fast promotion, and lots of credits. Looking back at it, it might have been a bad decision, but it was fun for the most part.”

  I didn’t really know what to say to that. “Galmy did that, not to put you down, but to show you her friendship.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I spit on your friendship. I wanted Olia but no, she only had only eyes for that brute Limbur and he was supposed to be my best friend. I spit on them, and I spit on you,”

  Then he made a disgusted face. “I guess you posed as Black Velvet and that means I almost raped my own academy buddy, and a transvestite at that, what a hoot.”

  I straightened my stance. “And now you wi
ll pay for all your deeds according to our laws and traditions.”

  Wintsun shrugged. “So, what? I know my rights; we are in Freespace. You have no jurisdiction to arrest me here or even be here with a warship and be in uniforms on Union business.”

  I noticed the steel edge in my voice. “You are a deserter. You have been found guilty in absence of treason and murder by a military court. You escaped Newport stealing a military transport, murdering two officers and four enlisted and selling Union mil-tech. In your short criminal career, you really outdid some who do that their entire life.”

  I held up his memory chip. “I know it was you who whipped me at the post. I promised you then justice would prevail and now it has.”

  He laughed. “Yes, it was me and I enjoyed it. It took me a little but you cried and squealed like the pig you are at the end!”

  I took my gloves from my belt and put them on. “Everything that needs to be said has been said and you show no remorse and therefore I deny you the mercy I could give.”

  With a gesture, I signaled the crew. Everyone put on their hoods and I said, “No hand shall be soiled by the task of exterminating you from our society and no face will show sorrow for you. By the laws and traditions set forth in this our United Stars of the Galaxies Navy, you are a traitor to your society and it has been judged that you shall hang by the neck until you are dead.”

  Wintsun stopped laughing as the marines started the drum roll and he was dragged to the raised platform that was actually a landing tank elevator. I followed and said to the marine sergeant, echoing Stahl’s words, “You may stand back, Sarge. I must do my own dirty work.”

  “Aye, captain!”

  Wintsun now saw the noose hanging down and his facial expression changed. His hateful expression left and now he looked just like I saw him the very first time. “Please, don’t do it. You always knew a solution to a problem. Can we not talk about it?”

  I answered, “I would have tried to find another way but not now, since I know it was you who shot Narth. I gave you a chance to show remorse moments ago. The time to talk has passed. You are now paying for your crimes according to our laws.”