Erica Olafson, Adventures of the Tigershark (Vol 7, GC 32)

by Vanessa Ravencroft

Copyright© 2019 by Vanessa Ravencroft

(Volume 7, GC 32 ) Galactic Chronicles Book 33

Description: This is the 7th volume in the Eric Olafson Saga of my Galactic Chronicles series

Tags: No Sex, Ma/Fa, Lesbian, CrossDressing, TransGender, Fiction, Military, Science Fiction, Aliens, Extra Sensory Perception, Robot, Space

Published: 2019-01-11

Updated: 2019-01-14

Size: ≈ 145800 Words

Foreword

The Year is 5022 (Old Terran Time). The Milky Way Galaxy is teeming with life and sentient species. Earth is now known as Terra and part of the United Stars of the Galaxies, a multicultural mega civilization that by now stretches across two-quarters of the Milky Way Galaxy and has a foothold in the Andromeda Galaxy. There are over 5030 distinctive member civilizations calling themselves members of the Union. The United Stars Space fleet protects this mega civilization against external threats.

Eric Olafson, born on a cold world called Nilfeheim raised under harsh conditions of a very traditional inward-looking society of Neo Vikings left his planet to fulfill his dream to become a Starship captain.

He had reached that goal much sooner than he expected and is now the commanding officer of a unique Starship, the USS Tigershark. The ship is state of the art and incorporates the finest technologies of the most advanced civilizations of the Union.

Eric used to be 198 cm tall and weigh almost exactly 90 kilos. He still has gray eyes and some say he moves with the same purpose and grace as a Tiger or Nubhir Wolf.

Like everyone from Nilfeheim he has a greater tolerance to freezing temperatures and is able to stay submerged under water for a very long time because of gills and eyes that are adapted to see well underwater thanks to a second set of clear eyelids. His muscles are denser than that of a standard human, allowing him to swim longer and deeper. Due to that he has great endurance and is much stronger than he looks.

He loves fish, has a very clear sense of honor and hates unfair situations. Even though he doesn't like to admit it, he carries the same short temper of his father and is more often than not ready to face a challenge with his fists or weapons.

But much has changed. Eric now lives as Black Velvet, a female pirate captain of mysterious background and feared by merchants and other pirates alike.

Currently, he appears to be a gorgeous female with beautiful long blonde hair and a killer body. His greatest wish fulfilled and his secret desire no longer a secret, still he isn't so sure anymore what or who he is.

That he now looks like the fairer sex has done little to change his general approach to problems, head-on.

He is no longer oblivious to the fact that his final transformation has yet to occur.

occur.

Together with his truly unusual crew, he is sent into Freespace to hunt Pirates and Criminals.

In order to hunt Eric and the Crew of the Tigershark pose as Pirates themselves.

On their journey so far they encountered a ship full of human body parts, destined to the meat markets of Togr; met the supreme merchant of the Golden, who more or less blackmailed himself into the crew.

They encountered a lost tribe of Terrans, shrunk to an average size of ten centimeters; tackled pirates and slavers. Rescued the Gray Nul and thus created a foundation on which peace is possible and followed the Red Dragon to the bleak world of Itheamh.

It is here on Itheamh where Erica gets herself and the crew mixed up with the freedom fighters and rebels.

While Erica is on her way to the Smelter Moons, Har-Hi, the Dai remains on Itheamh, in temporary command of the Tigershark and on its way to investigate what secret weapon the evil magistrate and the chief of the secret police want to unleash on the rebellious populat

Prelude

The United Stars of the Galaxy, commonly referred to simply as the Union is a multicultural society that started out, about three thousand years ago.

s ago.

The Union had grown tremendously since its official founding in the year 2220 OTT. Back when the Sarans, the Pan Sarans and the Terrans decided to unite under one government, no one could really foresee this development, not even as they welcomed their first official Union member society, the Ult who joined the Union the very same day.

Since then almost 5000 species and societies had joined the Union. I was spreading to other galaxies of the local group and while there was much-unexplored space in the Milky Way galaxy, much of the Upward sector of that galaxy was considered under Union control.

A Union citizen could make a GalNet call, to the furthest outpost in the Andromeda galaxy and be instantly connected without time delay and talk to a friend millions of light years away for a few credits. Or that citizen could actually travel there, on heavily subsidized space bus lines. A farmer on a planet near the Downward sector could offer to produce on the XChange and a citizen on a planet in the 3rd region of the Large Magellan was able to buy that product for an affordable price and receive it in less than five weeks.

There was great diversity within the Union. The smallest citizens being no bigger than a rice corn and the biggest one, an actual matter cloud of almost a cubic light hour in size.

Union citizens lived on stars, Jovian gas giants, planet surface environments of every kind and space itself.

All united by common laws and fundamental rights inherent to every sentient being. The right to life, self-expression, freedom, and liberty without restrictions, except if restricting or denying those rights to another sentient being.

It was the commitment of all to defend and thus guarantee those fundamental rights, that defines the core of Union law and philosophy. The other side of this philosophy was service to the community. Being a Union citizen came with tremendous benefits, but they were free and granted only to those who also served the Union community.

It was both incredibly simple and very complicated, but this and the lack of a ruling elite; the Union was ruled and governed by its citizens was the source of a very tangible commonly expressed pride.

Union citizens were seen as aloft, demanding and spoiled by others, but they were content and it showed. You can only live free and safe if you are strong enough to defend yourself.

The Union was not without enemies and fought many wars since it was founded. To defend itself it had developed branches of armed services, chief among them the mighty Union Spatial Navy.

All this was expressed by the Assembly of the United Stars of the Galaxy on Pluribus Unum, where representatives of all Union members came together to discuss and then vote upon all aspects of Union life.

The end of 5021 brought many surprising and unexpected developments. It was just a week before the celebration of Union Week and thus the official end of the Union year; when the high representative of the Saresii stepped into the alcove of Nilfeheim planet, carrying a decorated gift box.

The planet rep alcove was located high up and near the apex of the Assembly sphere.

As usual this close to the end of the year, almost every alcove was occupied and the final points of the List were discussed before it was officially published for Union citizens to vote upon.

The List was an accumulated list of issues that were raised to Union-wide status, meaning all Union citizen were to vote upon these. It included the budgets for all Union services and departments, including armed services, Union Schools, Space Bus subsidies and civil services. Union citizens would also vote on the next Speaker of the Assembly and other important and annual reoccurring issues.

Currently, the representative of the Xandrao, one of the very latest Union members and the first member civilization located in the vastly unknown and unexplored Downward sector of the Galaxy, addressed the Assembly. The representative of that civilization very much resembled a very muscular upright walking cow, complete with horns and spoon-shaped ears. He delivered a speech of thanks and appreciation as his civilization just received the so-called Welcome Wagon. An enormous fleet of transports with gifts and essentials. CITI machines, GalNet terminals, Union school equipment and teachers. A huge number of GalNet enabled PDDs, libraries, space bus terminals and defense equipment. As it had become tradition, the Welcome Wagon also contained gifts of other member civilizations to the new member.

The Xandrao was just describing how overwhelmed and how euphoric his people were as the Welcome Wagon arrived and brought home to everyone, that the Xandrao were indeed Union members.

The Nilfeheim alcove was already occupied, by Egil Skallagrimmson the representative of this small and quite unimportant world and by the deeply shrouded representative of the Narth.

Alegar the Saresii smiled as he saw both his friends reclined in their seats and said."So they made us official, who would have thought the entire Union was interested in our opinion."

Egil responded in his usual grumpy style."Teaches me to leave my peaceful secluded life as a hermit. Being the rep for those stubborn Neo Vikings of mine was already more than I really wanted and now I am supposed to be a wise man and deliver learned advice about things I have no clue about."

The hooded face of the Narth turned, physically switching his focus from the Xandrao to Egil. "One expected such a vote, considering the exposure our small group has received. A column in the Assembly Observer entitled 'The Three Wise Men' and our repeated participation as a group rather than individuals."

Alegar sat down in his accustomed seat on the other side of Egil, who now was in the middle of the other two.

He opened the box and held it open before Egil but in such a fashion indicating that he included the Narth. "I brought Saresii Foam cookies, deliciously decadent and sweet."

Egill fished one of the insubstantial things out of the gift box and complained after eating it."It's like chewing on a piece of sweetened fog really. Nothing a Neo Viking would ever consider buying."

Narth had telekinetically selected one of the foam balls and it disappeared into thin air after it had floated near where his mouth would be behind his hood. "Experiencing flavor, textures, and tastes of solid sustenance for a considerable time now, one tends to agree with Egil. It seems however that the consumption of one feels inadequate and one is compelled to try another."

Egill who had put the third one in his mouth rolled his eyes."Seems you can never have just one cookie."

Alegar popped one into his mouth himself and chewed without losing his grin."You are hypocrites, both of you."

The Saresii placed the box in front of them for easy reach and after listening to the Xandrao who was just coming to an end.

The Speaker of the Assembly, this year a massive Boloth addressed the Assembly after he thanked the Xandrao welcomed the representative of the Dolbarian, a species distantly related to the Holdians. The Dolbarian had joined the Union at the same time as the Xandrao and had been an unwilling Kermac Thrall species before they were liberated and immediately applied for Union membership to prevent the return of the Kermac.

Alegar was making sure the privacy fields of the alcove were active before he said."The Mini Terrans, the Golden, the Conck, the Xandrao, and the Dolbarians. They are all Union members because of actions your grandchild took. That is without question the most impressive contribution to the Union by anyone, you should be proud of her."

"The Golden would have joined anyway; the Conck and the Oolur have joined because of the Takkians."

"You are such a nitpick. If I understand, the Supreme merchant himself travels aboard your granddaughter's ship and has become a friend of hers."

Egill's eyes glittered with pride and mischief as he said."You better stay seated then, I think Admiral McElligott is next and he has something to say that even I would consider historical." Egill then turned to the Narth. "And you don't spill the beans."

"One has no container or vessel containing legumes that could be spilled. Because of this one assumes this is yet another matter of speech."

The Narth pointed with his flat hand towards the center of the Assembly, where a small group of beings, a Shiss, a Klack, two humans, an Ult, and a Botnaar walked to the Focus point."One, however, is compelled to point out that it is not the Admiral of the Fleet who is speaking after the Dolbarian."

The Speaker introduced the group as docket number 12 and as the elected committee of a Union citizen group.

It was the Ult who turned out to be the one addressing the Assembly. "Members of the Assembly, fellow citizens we come before you with a complain that has in the name of politics been ignored for too long.

I am Worr Stumt, I was an aquatic farmer on Nistru, a nice wet world no one of you probably remember hearing about. It is a colony far down the Upward sector in an area known as the Union-Freespace Fringes. Yet our planet and many planets have been mentioned in reports to the Assembly. It has been raided by pirates and slavers. I myself ended up on Alvor's cove, as a slave and almost dying unable to replenish the water in my tattered and malfunctioning moisture suit."

A field screen established behind the group and it began showing recordings of brutal planet raids, pirate attacks on civilian ships and recordings of Karthanians buying slaves. Other recording showed Togar haggling with slavers over the price for humans. Images of a ship full of human body parts destined to Togar meat markets repeated as well.

We have been freed by an unknown entity and returned to Union space, but many Union citizens remain in slave capture, are being sold for food and a fate unthinkable. Yet every time the subject of slavery and pirate raids come up, the councils and advisors to the Assembly say that it is only a very small number of Union citizens each year that fall prey to slavers and pirates."

The Klack stepped forward. "In the name of galactic peace you say, must we honor our commitment to the Freespace treaty. You called the attack on Checkpoint 96 a mere pinprick just a few years ago, yet 943 Union Citizens died that day. The culprit Red Dragon still at large."

One of the humans held up a PDD and read aloud. "Assembly resolution 59 of the fifth October 5019- Given the de facto declaration of war on the Union by the pirate Red Dragon and his associates with their attack on Outpost 96, it was proposed to put to a vote by Union Citizens the following question: Given the use of Freespace as a safe haven for pirates which can use it to regroup after attacking locations and ships within Union Space, it is proposed to temporarily ignore the terms in the Free Space Treaty and remove that safe haven. Doing so will risk a war with the other signers of that treaty, a war that is judged to end with a likely Union win, but not without the cost of billions of lives and ships. Vote "Yes" for decisive military action including ignoring the Free Space Treaty or "No" for a tempered approach that will respect the terms of the Free Space Treaty while doing everything possible without violating existing treaties.

The proposal was defeated by a much narrower margin than expected with 48% of the Citizens voting for decisive military action, while 52% voted for a tempered approach."

The other human put much accusations in his voice as he said."What exactly was that tempered approach? I have been captured and sold as a slave. I was rescued by an incredible brave RaVE agent. RaVE does a tremendous job but should not even exist. We demand justice and revenge for those who have died. I did not sign that Freespace treaty but I was told in Union school that freedom and liberty are our highest values and that all the Union will defend the rights of everyone. This seems to be an inconvenient promise when it comes to galactic politics!"

That address caused a tremendous stir among all the representatives.

The representative of the Petharians was the first to speak."They are quite correct, I too want to know what tempered approach actually means. Does it mean we simply ignore the pleas of a few for the safety of many? Why are we not listening to the Immortal Warrior and send every ship and every fighting being into Freespace and eliminate everything and everyone standing against us?"

The Vantax representative was next and called up a recording of a mass execution. "Six hundred raiders captured alive by Union forces were executed. Several notorious pirates including Captain Swift were hanged just recently. That tempered approach is not an empty promise. We all voted to give NAVINT more authority to operate in regions where regular Navy can not. Due to very understandable classification restrictions, we are not told how Pirate Swift, Dentar Bloom, The Cruel one and several others met their fate, but we all know why all these pirates and slavers suddenly were taken out of the game. Sin 4 is no more." He spread his long arms. "We also voted to ratify and respect the Freespace treaty. I know many think of us Vantax as cowards and pacifists, but we too are Union members and we will fight just as the Petharians, maybe not as effective but just as dedicated. However, we decided to abandon presidents and leaders and vote on all issues. We are thus responsible for all our decisions."

The Quadiped representative managed to be next."We don't have leaders, but just yesterday we voted overwhelmingly to hear the opinion of the Three wise ones. Why don't we let them weigh in on this?"

"I was afraid of this," Egill said as the visual pickups focused on them. Without the usual courtesy greetings, he went right at it."You just mentioned that you don't want leaders yet you decided you wanted to listen to three unimportant guys. There are much wiser and more knowledgeable, more intelligent beings available for that. Mothermachine, her majesty the Klack Queen, the Narth Supreme of course"

Egil was interrupted by the Narth."One likes to point out that none of the entities you mentioned are members of the Assembly and that the Narth Supreme rejects all leadership roles."

"Yet you find it okay that all of them think we should be?" Egil snapped back in front of the live pickup.

"One finds it perhaps illogical, but it is the will of the Assembly and in an extension of all Union citizens. That one is cast in such a prominent opinion making position is not a desirable position, but a position it appears to be."

The Saresii nodded."They made me the Saresii representative because of you, grumpy old Viking. I was perfectly happy as an observer. So what is your opinion on all of this?"

Egill snapped back."No one forced you to become a friend of mine you know! Besides it is the other way around, they only include me because of you two."

This banter was of course seen by billions and it had quickly become a Union-wide institution, citizens actually turned in on Channel One to see and hear that interaction between those three.

Egill faced the Assembly and thus the visual pickups."If I don't like the practice and behavior of a business, I simply don't buy anything from them. We as the Union do business with Karthania. Maybe not buying Karthanian products will make them think twice, using Union slaves to make those products."

It was the speaker of the Assembly who commented. "A boycott of Karthanian wares and stop doing business with them. Not a bad idea at all."

The Assembly decided to ban all Karthanian imports and put a heavy fine on anyone ignoring it.

The Speaker thanked the Three Wisemen and announced the Admiral of the Fleet.

Admiral McElligott did not come alone, the being walking alongside the immortal admiral across the insubstantial force field bridge to the center of the sphere which was called the Focus, caused quite a stir of anticipation. The being was huge gray Nul.

After the usual words of welcome and greetings exchanged, the kilt-wearing admiral said."With feelings of great honor and pride, I am introducing the All-Leader of the Nul society to the Assembly of the Union. His Excellency has expressed his wish to address all of you."Mighty Union, proud citizens. It is the second time I am standing before you. I come before you to officially request Union membership for all that is Nul. Please begin the PUMA process on our behalf."

It was technically a routine request, made by delegations or leaders of non-Union societies before but this request coming from the Nul leader was indeed a historical moment. The Nul had been a hostile society until very recently and were considered a serious and potent adversary.

The Nul leaders request was met with an enthusiastic applause and the request to begin the Potential Union member approval process was voted on with a 98 to 2 vote.

The Nul leader thanked them and then held up a PDD."I am making this request for my society, I myself am a Union citizen since this morning."

--""--

When the Assembly returned ten days later and the official calendars displayed the year 5022, the Assembly anticipated the appearance of another immortal Admiral. The one called the Eternal Warrior, perhaps the most respected and beloved Union entity there was, Admiral Richard Stahl.

Stahl did not appear very often before the Assembly, but when he did almost everyone in the Union watched or listened in.

The Admiral delivered his annual Union military report and ended it with a request to send the First Fleet on a show of force to visit Xandr to put the Togar, the Karthanians and the Dai on notice and remind them who's tail they kept pulling.

The Pan Saran representative asked to speak and proposed to send not just the First Fleet, but all fleets assigned to COWACOM. To demonstrate the true power and might of the Union to Dai, Togar, Karthanians, Oghr and those who thought to be too distant for Union retaliation.

It was overwhelmingly approved. A Union armada of such enormous size was just one of those projects that put a smile of pride on Union citizens faces, this was how the Union dealt with problems and challenges after all.

The Nul observer, not a real representative yet got up and said."The Nul All Leader who is following this Assembly session has just authorized me to commit the first and second Nul Armada to take part in this show of force. It is hoped it will show all the players in that region how deeply committed we Nul are to our Union allies and soon fellow Union members. On an unrelated note, I like to say that the PUMA process is advancing even better than anticipated."

The Assembly authorized the official formation of a new Sector command, the DOWACOM (for Downward Command). The Union Armada was to establish a few armed outposts and relay stations to enable unrestricted GalNet and space bus traffic to Xandr and its twelve star systems, to engage any hostile or potential hostile contact and openly remind the Togr and Karthanian leaders how dangerous it was to deal with Union slaves.

Admiral Stahl left the Assembly with a deep grin on his face.

--""--

Togr

The messenger that very undignified ran into the throne room of the Queen was no other than the war minister herself. She ignored the surprised and disapproving hisses of the court members that were present. The queen herself, who just received gifts of province leaders rose from her throne branch and hissed even louder."Have you no respect for your sovereign? What is it that makes you disregard any courtesy and respect. Be quick with your explanation and it better be good!"

The war minister wiped her snout and gathered her tail. "Your Highness, the Union fleet is coming this way."

The queen lost much of her haughtiness and kept standing. An entire fleet with all battle groups?"

"No your majesty, an armada of over 100,000 ships, alongside with thousands of Nul ships. The Devastator is leading it."

"Malmoru help us. Alert all units, return to Togr."

"A province leader said with unveiled criticism. "Maybe you should not have made the Lightspirit angry by trying to kill his daughter! we all know the reasons for those accusations and the mock trial."

The queen motioned to the guards. "Arrest this traitorous person and prepare for her execution."

"Maybe I die by your hand, maybe I am rescued but you will face Union executioners and you will hang. The Terrans will remember every human we ate. You really think you can stop the Eternal warrior?"

--""--

Karthania

The High guild master of the Hull Builders who served the guild chambers as chairperson was just discussing the recent troublesome developments on Itheamh; the festering little group of dissidents that never been more than a local nuisance suddenly grew into a planet-wide revolt. He agreed with the intelligence analysis of the local Drak secret police chief, it had to be the Togar who was behind it, how else could the defeat of Ognyx walkers and the shutdown of the sky punisher net be explained?

Aloud he said."The cats of Togr getting more aggressive every rotation, but the five regiments we ordered from King Fithark of the Orkh-Oghr will restore order, Togar influence or not. It would take Togar troop deployment and thus open war. Will they risk that?"

The engine builder master was not a friend of the Hull builder and despised the hull builder guild for keeping the lead chair occupied with their master, instead of rotating it as it used to be done. However, reverting to the old days would mean an active First Engineer and an end of the guild masters reign of power.

"Five regiments? King Fithark never sends a single brute without being paid first. Who paid all that Polonium?"

The small but influential Weapon builder guild was led by a shrewd Karthanian who was known to keep a tight lit on government expenses opened a field screen. He made an angry sound and said."Did you authorize the payment of 12 million Fullweights to the Orkh-Oghr? Twelve million without consulting us all?"

"Oh, be silent, weapon maker. It had to be done, whatever the rebels got from the Togar defeated Ognyx walkers. We install an Oghr military tribunal as we did on Moghd. Besides King Fithark is your best customer, much of the Polo spend will end in your guild's coffers."

One of the guild master's aides rushed to the engine makers side and spoke silently. The engine maker switched feeds on his terminal. Now more aides approached their respective masters and then someone turned on the big field screen above the guild chamber table.

A Karthanian intelligence officer reported with a breathless voice."There is an immense Union fleet coming this way, over 100,000 ships along with at least two full strength Nul armadas. An Orkh-Oghr commandant did not reply to Union hails quick enough and spoke insulting to a forward Union destroyer. According to reports, all five Orkh transports have been destroyed. Instead of declaring war or retaliate, King Fithark was quick to issue an official apology. Some call him a coward, but most agree it was a very wise move."

The engine builder hissed."Do we have Union slaves at the moment? The Union embargo is cutting deep into our profits already."

The Hull Builder sounded much less forceful and self-confident than usual."Several thousand and it is no secret."

"I always warned you all, using Union slaves." The weapon builder accused them."There is no one short of the Kermac able to engage such an enormous force. It looks like their Assembly finally listened to that mystical warrior of theirs and he comes to make us pay."

"We must contact their Assembly and see if we can not make amends." The Engine builder said.

The Hull Builder fell silent and hoped the Union Armada would not sweep into Karthanian space and find his special secret, seven thriving planets of Freons, that survived the United Earth initiated genocide so long ago and waited for their chance of revenge. If the other Karthanians found out, his career, his guild, and his very life were over.

--""--

CAM ELF-NA

"How many did you say?" The self-elected leader of the Dai Than asked the scout that had just returned to the massive Dai Mother of the Na tribe.

"I can not say for sure my liege, but I estimate over 100,000 capital ships and many more support ships. Among them thousands of Nul battleships and new Union Dai carriers, we heard rumors about."

"They are Okthi Dai!" Cam Elf-Na screamed. "Okthi scum, not Union Dai." Then he stopped and realized what he just heard. "Did you say 100,000 ships?"

"At least, my liege."

"They are hunting for us, no doubt! Quick give signal to all units. We must hide in Karthanian space."

USS DEVASTATOR

Captain Harris got up from his command seat as he saw the huge being standing on the bridge access lift platform.

It was certainly a historic moment, as the All leader of the Nul stepped onto the bridge.

While the leader of a very powerful society was officially greeted and welcomed by admirals, high officers and of course by him, aboard the USS Devastator a day ago was of course the official historical moment with all the military traditions, but to him seeing the gray leader coming onto the bridge without a big entourage, just a Union lieutenant giving him a tour and being allowed to do so was the real significant event.

Harris came down the ramp and greeted the Nul leader."Welcome to the bridge of the Devastator, your highness."

"I am deeply impressed, Captain Harris. The ship is magnificent and mighty, but it is the discipline and

the dedication of its crew that is the real power of this ship and the Union spatial fleet."

"It seems we have more in common than things that set us apart, your highness."

"Do not use this address, Captain Harris. On this ship you are the highest authority, call me Xux. We always believed this ship was commanded by the Immortal Warrior, yet I learned it has a long history of commanding officers."

Harris smiled."You are not so wrong, Xux. This ship is part of the Union fleet, it is commanded by me at the moment, but there is no doubt it is Stahl's ship."

"Where is he?"

"Admiral Stahl is currently aboard the USS Shadow Hawk, a destroyer sized ship that is part of the advanced spearhead."

"His reputation is not based on myth and propaganda."

"No Mr. Xux, he is always at the front and right where the action is. He has been like this since the beginning."

"And it was the misfortune of the Oghr-Orks to cross the path of this particular destroyer. No wonder they were destroyed. I had a feeling that this was not just any destroyer."

Harris sighed with a smile."Indeed your highness, the Oghr, didn't believe it was Admiral Stahl and insulted the Eternal Warrior and even fired upon the Shadow Hawk."

It sounded like someone was gargling gravel, as the Gray Nul leader was laughing."Not even during the height of our animosities could you have found a Nul brave enough to do

Chapter 1: Star Demon

Har-Hi watched as the Kartanian transport climbed into the sky and disappeared moments later. Then he activated atmospheric flight modus on his battle suit and flew south. He checked on his tactical readout and saw five marines, Shea, Hans, Krabbel and TheOther doing the same thing.

He didn't know exactly where to go, as the NAVINT officer who was posing as the First Magistrates pilot chauffeur had not yet transmitted any coordinates or directions.

Shea came on and said. "It is nice to be on a mission and not stuck in the ship all the time, but I wish we could have gone together."

Har-Hi responded. "Don't worry, the Captain can take care of herself. The Karthanian slave lords have no chance."

He could hear breathing for a moment and then she said. "I know, I am still worried, Erica is changing and I don't mean how she gets more comfortable being female."

He said. "I just think she is growing up. We are all growing up. We were just kids when we met."

But while he said that he knew what she meant. He had very briefly seen what was sleeping inside his best friend. There were no words he could describe it, but he who rarely feared anything still could feel the sheer terror he had felt as he noticed the black flames in the eyes of Erica.

The chirping sound of a Comm-request interrupted his thoughts. The Computronic of his suit identified it as a NAVINT short burst scramble. It was just a set of coordinates, not a voice transmission.

He blinked the received data onto a global map and microseconds later changed his course and increased his speed to ten times the speed of sound.

The coordinates were almost on the other side of the planet and belonged to a mountainous island that stuck out from the only open water body the planet had an immense salt lake.

About hundred kilometers out they dropped to subsonic speeds, as their cloaking shield could not hide the streak of glowing air molecules their high-speed flight generated.

Shea, always the scientist cooed over the immense salt lake and said. "According to my readings, the lake water has a salinity level of over 48 percent, no wonder it is still liquid despite the freezing temperatures out here."

One of the Marines reported almost simultaneously. " Sir, there are no life sign readings within 200 miles, except at the target zone."

Har-Hi acknowledged both and told them to reduce their speed further and to approach with the greatest stealth possible. He sends two marines three miles up and right over the island, so they could give sniper cover.

The island was no bigger than maybe ten acres and had a collection of surface buildings. A single scaffold-like tower stood over a concrete rimmed hole. It was part of an elevator system or hoist mechanism. Har-Hi's optic sensors had no problem zooming in on the black flyer limousine that parked next to the collection of buildings. There were dozens of well-concealed pillboxes all around the compound and each of them registered two life forms and a high energy signature, most likely a blaster weapon.

Whatever the Drak were hiding there, they did not want to share it with anyone else.

Har-Hi felt confident in the Atlas suit technology and the cloaking and flew closer. Shea was now floating right next to him. "Whatever it is they are hiding, I guess we have to go down there and check it out, my suit sensors are unable to pick anything, they must be quite deep under the surface."

Har-Hi agreed and said. "Hans you and the Marines stay out here and form a perimeter guard. Shea, Krabbel, and TheOther go down and check what they are hiding. If you do not hear from us after two hours, you come after us."

Har-Hi could almost hear the frown in the face of his friend as Hans responded. "Yes Sir, but you could simply send me down first."

"Sorry Hans, I am sure I need Shea's scientific expertise and I need you out here to make sure whatever they are brewing or launching is stopped, in case we don't make it in time."

Har-Hi then took the lead and dove head first into the concrete-lined shaft.

The concrete was replaced by natural rock as they descended. Har-Hi could see lights far down and his suit sensors told him that the shaft floor was almost 2456 meters below him.

Shea said. "That rock is heavily laced with magnetite and other minerals, no wonder our sensors are not really penetrating deeper."

Har-Hi slowed down and signaled the others to do the same, then he asked. "Will it interfere with our communications?"

"No, it is simple three dimensional this side of normal space interference. I think we should still be able to reach Erica unless she is already past GalNet reach."

Har-Hi kept his eyes on the elevator cage he could see sitting all the way on the bottom and said. "Let's not worry the Captain. If we call she will be concerned and turn around."

Shea agreed. "Yes, we should be able to solve a little mystery on our own."

They reached the bottom of the shaft. There was no one, the elevator cage was empty and so was the cavernous hall that could be accessed from the elevator shaft. The light came from elements that had been attached to the reddish rock in regular intervals. The floor was smooth. A set of metal begun right by the elevator cage extended into the cavern and after about twenty meters it split into two and each track disappeared into a tunnel. Both tunnels looked identical.

Har-Hi grunted. "That is just great, it appeared they had some sort of tracked vehicle and went down one of those tunnels. Question is, which one?"

Krabbel said. "We are four, two of us for each tunnel and whoever finds something first, calls the others. Come on we are wearing Atlas Battlesuits and we are armed to the fangs, there is nothing the Karthanians or the Drak have that could seriously harm us, besides we have Hans and Marines for back up."

Shea said. "You are a Dai Warrior, Union trained. I am not just a pretty door stopper in the science lab, I can hold my own. I even brought along my sword."

Krabbel added. "Come on, Erica would already be done down here."

Somehow it was that statement that made Har-Hi decide. "Alright you two go down the left tunnel and Shea and I take the right one. Remember if you come across old-fashioned atomic weapons, they can be very powerful, especially in a confined space like this. While our shields should be able to handle the heat and radiation for a while. We are far below the ground and if the bombs are big enough they can overwhelm even our shields. Krabbel held up an egg-shaped device. "We got plenty of EMP grenades."

Har-Hi said. "As soon as you come across something you call us, you stay cloaked and let Shea have a look."

They were eager and confident. Krabbel and the towering Y'All hovered away and disappeared into the left passageway.

There was nothing else for him to do but go lead Shea into the other. He had never been afraid of the unknown and his warrior nature wanted to charge ahead and find hundreds of opponents he could fight, but now he was a leader. His best friend and his Captain had put her confidence in him to solve the mystery and bring back everyone. Har-Hi was in charge before when they won the Reagan Trophy and he was the XO of the Tigershark. He knew every soul on board that ship would follow him without question and without hesitation. Yet even a relatively small, primitive Atomic warhead would be a serious challenge to the shields and the armor. He did not believe it was anything small since the Drak hoped to defeat the rebellion and the approaching Oghr warriors. The Drak were light-years behind Union technology and no old-fashioned atomic weapon could do much damage to modern equipped Oghr troops in the open. He was certain it was something more sinister.

His Suit systems told him where Shea was, but he could not see her not even with the advanced sensor optics of the suit he was wearing. She was right behind him.

They both hovered just a few inches off the ground and progressed down the featureless winding rock corridor at about the same speed as a running Attikan. He didn't dare to fly faster, even invisible the suits displaced air and thus created sounds, besides flying much faster would mean to rely on the suits computronic for steering and he simply wanted to stay in full control.

He checked on Krabbel and TheOther, they both made similar uneventful progress but were now over 12 kilometers apart. He also got a clear connection to Hans who told him, that the actual compound the buildings apart from the concealed pillboxes were completely empty.

Shea said. "We are now far below the salt lake and progressed 8.5 kilometers from the entrance area. Krabbel and TheOther are now progressing steadily into a northeastern direction while we more or less going south now and I think we are following a natural lava flow that has been smoothened into a passage. This would explain the winding nature."

Har-Hi could not really explain his anticipation and nervousness as he checked his weapon systems for the tenth time and made sure his main TKU was fully charged and set to the highest discharge rate. He acknowledged the ever curious Shea with a short grunt.

She asked. "What is bothering you? Would you rather have Hans with you or maybe Erica?"

He slowed down a little and said. "No, Shea I really wanted you with me. If we come across something alien or ancient technology, you have a better chance to identify it than anyone. I just can't shake this feeling that we going to face something very dangerous. I don't think that First Magistrate is a fool, he knows what is coming and yet he is certain whatever is down here will vindicate them."

She said. "I analyzed the conversation between the Magistrate and the Police Chief and you are right, they might have questionable morals and base their existence on ethics we do not like, but they are both not quite intelligent. I came to the conclusion that they have no control over whatever they will set in motion down here. I further analyzed any available data on that second planet, their planet of origin. I could not detect or verify any excessive radiation regions. A nuclear weapon exchange that turns a planet into an inhospitable wasteland must be quite substantial and such radiation should be measurable even now. I also reject the idea of a biological weapon, since the survivors came here and did not bring it along. It is almost impossible to maintain sterile conditions in a mass exodus as they described. I am confident to say with 89 percent probability that whatever weapons they used was not biological, at least not in the classical terms like bacteria or virus."

Har-Hi never claimed to have the same analytical intellect as Shea, but he always had a good portion of common sense and without putting it in percentages or detailed conclusions, he had the same ideas ever since he watched the First Magistrate talking. To Shea he said. "All the more reason for us to find out what it is and keep our eyes wide open.

The tracks ended and the corridor widened into a big cavern. The walls were smooth as metal and had a dark gray color and completed a perfectly hemispherical room of fifty meters in diameter.

The floor was equally gray and smooth. In the enter were four towering objects made of the same gray metal. Har-Hi estimated them to be at least twenty meters tall, sickle-shaped with the curved side tapering to needle-sharp ends and almost touching, forming something like a stylized cage.

He saw the Magistrate and the police chief standing right in the center of the room and right underneath those inward bend talon shaped columns.

There was no one else.

Both Drak had cast off their leather coats and wore dark red long robes with wide sleeves. Both aliens had their arms stretched out and just then a bright spot of light appeared floating between them.

Shea said. "I lost contact to the others!"

Har-Hi also noticed that the ComLink indicators in the upper right of his retina display had gone from green to red and no matter how much he looked at them, to tell the system to establish contact, they remained red and the Computronic said. "Current location blocks all TransDim communication. Contact request failed."

At first, he thought only the four talon shaped like columns started to turn, but then he realized it was the entire floor that started to revolve around that center. As he looked around he could no longer see the entrance. It was simply gone and the wall was gray and smooth.

Shea whispered out of instinct and said. "The material of this chamber resists my scans, but from the reflection rate, I am certain it is a form of Neutronium."

Har-Hi cursed silently knowing that nothing he had along would cut Neutronium.

Shea was still talking and said. "Whatever they do, it creates TransDim conditions far beyond my comprehension of..."

The white ball of light turned color and shimmered in a dark red. And it started to grow.

Har-Hi wanted to raise his weapon and shoot the Drak, maybe that would stop whatever they were summoning when his Suit system warned him. "Unable to maintain cloaking field."

From the side, he saw Shea appearing and he knew he too was no longer invisible. He fired, but the TKU bolt was deflected sideways before it reached the men, the bolt hammered into the Neutronium wall of the cave and dissipated.

Har-Hi could no longer see the two Drak, and the red light completely filled the inside area of the four talon shaped columns and from within a form became solid. Something immense, surrounded by flames. Monstrous arms with burning reddish black skin appeared, with razor sharp looking yellowish claws. Har-Hi wanted to step back, but he stood his ground. More arms appeared, the Dai counted six and then he saw the Drak, held like playthings in two of this gnarled oversized blistering fists, they were no longer alive, squeezed like a sponge, blood dripping from between the monster's fingers. Har-Ho was almost feeling the heat coming from the beast and now it came into full view.

Never had he seen anything like it and his mind reeled trying to find images, words to describe to himself what he saw. He noticed Shea, just as brave was holding out her scanner."

Har-Hi fired at the things head, that shifted and moved inside a ball of fire. The monster roared as its head was split by the powerful blast, but right after the bolt had passed through the head formed anew and was unhurt as before. The Monster was fast and grabbed Har-Hi. His suit instantly establishing a force field., the Hand of the monster singed away and the being screamed, but just like with his head, the injured hand re-appeared and this time it took Shea. She too was shielded but to Har-Hi's horror her energy shield collapsed and he firey demon-like monster snatched her up! Har-Hi threw an anti-matter grenade pellet. It detonated with force, his suit had to compensate so he would not be thrown into the wall. The Demon had lost an arm but it too regrew!

Before Har-Hi could even come up with a plan how to defeat that thing. It stepped through the wall, with Shea and then it was gone!

Har-Hi jumped with is augmented muscle and collided with a solid wall. With a glimmer of hope, he noticed that the also neutronium coated claws of his suit left deep scratches in the wall.

He clawed like a maniac and actually made progress, and was able to tear of a sizeable piece, only to be faced with solid rock. His suit sensors capable of penetrating the rock told him that there was solid rock as far as he could scan!

Just outside his field of view, he noticed white light and he turned. There in the center of the room another field of light appeared, this time it was white and a humanoid shape appeared. The light faded and a muscular human man stood in its place. He wore some kind of metallic armor, quite similar to an ancient knight. Over his armor, he wore a white overcoat girded at the hips. A wide billowing cape also of a bright white material around his shoulders. His head covered by a close-fitting chrome silvery helmet that had only a T shaped slit to see. The being also held a long sword-like weapon and the blade itself appeared as if it was made of brilliant white light.

The being slowly looked around and then spoke with a thunderous voice, "Speak, mortal why have thou wakened the Star demon?"

Har-Hi decided not to pretend and he said. "I am Lt Hi, United Stars of the Galaxies. I have come here trying to prevent the Drak from releasing whatever that was. It has snatched a comrade of mine and disappeared."

The armored being stepped closer, "I am Lord Lumis, I have come to slay the Dark One. To send this vilest scion of death and darkness into oblivion so light and life may reign supreme. This is one of the gateways placed where the veil that separates many planes of existence is weakest." He looked around and nodded. "A Pree construct, I see. Those meddling mortals have been dealt with and yet their cursed handiwork still exists."

Har-Hi said. "Whoever you are you seem to know how this works. Can you open the passageway so I can go after my comrade, I fear the worst!"

"Indeed you must fear. What mortal could stand against the child of a living star? The White Knights have guarded this beast for eons. It does not belong to this Universe. The Star demon could have gone to a thousand places, for this is a nexus."

"Just open the door and let me out. I am sure the thing is tearing Itheamh apart as we speak."

"I know no such place, but then I have traveled this Universe for a long time and there are so many places. This place however I know. You are at the Nexus."

A passageway opened and instead of looking into a tunnel, Har Hi stared onto a crater-riddled surface and a star gleaming sky. Har-Hi said. "Where are we?"

"You are at the Nexus, Dai-Than. I know of the World Thana-Shoo where your kind dwells. It is in a nearby Galaxy if I recall correctly."

Chapter 2: Nexus

Shea tried to catch her breath, her suit was in restore and repair mode and the system assured her that it would be fully functional in less than an hour. Krabbel was not so lucky and her Archa friend was missing a leg. Hans and the Y'All and the marines were unharmed, except for a few bruises.

The island was destroyed, and the shaft leading into the deep had collapsed.

Hans was sitting by Krabbel who assured her that the Auto-Doc of his suit kept him pain-free and that losing a leg was not the same to an Archa as it was for a human.

Hans raised the shield of his helmet and said. "Can someone tell me again what actually happened?"

Shea collapsed her helmet and wiped her tears. "We lost Har-Hi, I saw him fight the Energy beast before it snatched me and raced through the corridor. It emitted so much gravitation and so much heat, it collapsed the caves and passages below. At last, you heard my warning and made it out in time."

Krabbel gestured to the spot where his leg was missing. "Just barely."

Shea looked at him. "Cateria is on her way she will grow you a new one in no time."

Shea sniffed and said. "Energy weapons were the wrong approach, of course, to fight a being that was very like our own Ensign Three-Four and he came as fast as he could and drained much of the beasts energy, our EMP grenades then killed it. Just as a strong EMP pulse would kill a Non-Corp."

Hans nodded. "Yes that part I understand, we know how to kill energy beings, but what was it? And where did it come from?"

Shea pulled her PDD, it was a tough combat version and despite its partially melted housing it still worked fine. She projected an image of the cavern so they all could see it. "There was something like a trans-dimensional gateway down there. I am certain it was from an ancient high tech civilization and the Drak stumbled on it while mining Magnetite crystal. I do not know how they learned how to use or activate it, but they summoned that energy being. It would have been devastating and quite capable of destroying every living thing on this world, including us. It was even feeding of my TransDim shields so I turned them off. Luckily my suit was tough enough to handle the fiery grip. I still almost cooked me alive."

Hans also wiped a tear from his eyes. "Maybe Har-Hi is still alive."

She looked up. "I wish he was, but how could he be? Buried underneath millions of tons of rock? Not even his suit could handle that much pressure."

They saw the Landing tank approaching and land nearby. Hans got up and said. "We going to dig him out. No matter how long it takes. He is a Dai and deserves to have his final resting place in space, not dirtside."

---

Har-Hi had stepped outside and fired survey satellite into orbit. Moments later he knew he was on a lifeless dry world with a thin atmosphere, that circled alone around an immensely bloated and weak red sun. TransDim worked fine now but he got no connection, no receiver and no relay station in range.

He went back inside and the strange armored knight was still there. He said. "if you know how this thing works can you not send me back to where I came from?"

The being said. "Everyone can use the Nexus, all you need is to speak to it in the language of the Pree, but wherever you came from is destroyed. The Star Demon has no sense other than to destroy. It is an old being and very angry at everything alive."

Har-Hi said with an angry tone. "If that thing harmed my friends, I will find a way to kill it!"

"You are Dai-Than. It is the purpose of the Dai Than to be the warriors and protectors of Tana-Shoo. It is how you have been made by the lost sons of the Saresii and the Seenians. But mortal you are and to stand against a being that calls a star its home, is beyond you."

Har-Hi held out his finger and said. "Do not speak of that. It is forbidden! Thana Shoo is lost and my kind roams the heavens. The faded legends of the time before Thana Shoo was destroyed are forbidden. No one shall speak of them."

Har-Hi went back to the sickle-shaped columns. "Tell me Lord Lumis, how does this work. I must go back!"

The White dressed being said. "I told you how it works and I already gave you the gift to speak the old Pree language, but the Star Demon has drained its energy. It will take two revolutions of this planet around the old sun Rohardoor before it gathered enough energy to allow another passage. These constructs are old and the sun from which it takes its energy is old and tired.

Har-Hi fed the information into his computronic and co-related it with the astronomical data his satellite gathered. "You are telling me I have to wait 903 days before this thing can send me back?"

"Your computation is quite correct, Dai, but you are small and it might gather enough energy before that to open a passage."

Har-Hi wanted to scream and at the same time, he was near tears as he heard that. He could go into stasis sleep and bridge the time without suffering the passage of time, but by then his friends would be surely dead and he would return to late even for their memorial. Erica would have completed her mission and be gone for many light years with a new XO, blaming him for not protecting Shea.

He touched his chest, underneath his armor he wore his Clan glyph. Without him, Erica could not go to Tana Shoo and warn the Pale Ones of the cursed Cam Elf-Na.

In all his frustration he suddenly smiled and aloud he said. "No, Erica will find a way to defeat that Star Demon, oh yes! She promised him she would go to Tana Shoo and even if the Universe was against it, Erica would go. He just regretted that he could not be there when Erica killed that traitor.

As he thought about his best friend new hope filled his mind. "Erica will turn every rock to find evidence of demise and then without fail search for him. Oh no, he was far from a hopeless state. He had the best friends in the Universe.

He was not just Dai-Than, he was also a Union Officer and he would not give up. Maybe he could figure out how this thing consumed energy. He did have twelve TKU energy packs and the finest Zero Energy generator in this marvelous Atlas suit, not to mention antimatter rockets and a genuine Translocator micro load cannon. His suit would provide him with food and water for quite a while and take care of everything else as well. And there was this white dressed Alien. He needed to find out more about that being.

He said to his Computronic. "Suit, retask satellite for high-resolution detail mapping of this planet. Launch second satellite drone. Detail star mapping mode, co-relate data to all known pulsar signatures."

The armored being watched him and said. "What is this? A Dai-Than warrior engaging in such strange tasks fit for Fair-spirits and thinkers?"

"I am first and foremost a Union Officer, White one. I must gather data on which I will base my next course of action. From the looks of it, I am very far from Union space and perhaps the first being out so far. The scientific data I can gather will further our understanding of it all."

Silently he was doing it in Shea's spirit and hoped against all hope she found a way to escape.

The being said. "Tell me of Thana Shoo. I have not been to that realm since the cursed Hordes of the Dark Ones tore through that spiral galaxy to search for the twelve tokens. I have fought many of their horrors and chased after them and tell me of that Union you speak of."

Har-Hi openly scanned the being and said. "Why don't you start and tell me who you are and how you ended up here?"

The strange being put his left hand on his chest and said: "I am Lord Lumis, protector of Light and Life. I was once a humanoid like you. My race was among the very first in this Universe that reached the stars. Have you ever heard of the Narth?"

Har-Hi said. "Yes I have, one of my best friends is Narth."

This obviously surprised the being and he said stepping back. "You speak the truth. I was ready to dismiss such impossible boast and yet you speak the truth. Narth are quite introvert and have to my knowledge never sought out contact, ever since they merged with the Arth."

The man in the gleaming armor finally put his sword away and then said. "My civilization was among very first life forms in this universe that gained consciousness and built a star-spanning civilization. Even before the Nnnth left their original world. The Nnnth you must know were a species of very intelligent, very Psionic talented beings that did not explore space in ships but rather by thought constructs and they sought to find a way to transdescent time and space of this universe. Finally, they succeeded and met with an entity of a different reality and Universe. An entity of pure intellect if you will and they merged, entered a symbiosis and the result was the Narth."

Har-Hi had forgotten to check on his satellite. The man before him knew the Origin of the Narth.

The being's armor was made of a gleaming metal armor with many ornamental details, and it was fitted to his body like a second skin and reminded Har-Hi of Circuit's flexible chrome metal skin. The being who called itself Lord Lumis continued. "My species, we once called ourselves the Zophim."

---

Har-Hi was certain this place, the Zophim called the Nexus was still in the local group, and if the Pulsar information was correct, which of course it should be. He was somewhere in the Sculptor galaxy and about 12 million light-years from Pluribus.

The planet he was on, had a breathable atmosphere and judging by the satellite images, once was the home of a civilization.

Not much had remained, other than almost completely obliterated ruins. It also appeared that the world was without life.

The temperature near the equator, where he was, hovered just above 5 degrees on the C scale.

What the white stranger called the Nexus was inside a monolithic temple structure, built at the side of a smooth looking mountain, and so far appeared to have only one room, the hall with the gate device, that looked identical to the one they had found on Itheamh.

The apparently human or at least humanoid stranger who called himself a Knight of Light had watched him do his assessment of the situation and again the man expressed his surprise seeing a Dai doing such things.

"The Dai Than have changed so it seems and reached an impressive level of technology, but it might be the influence of the Narth. A fact that also still amazes me to a great extent."

Har-Hi turned. "I am Dai by birth and nature, but I am also a Union Citizen and an officer of its spatial navy. We are a community of many species, races, societies, and cultures of which the Narth are one. Now can you show me how to operate this gate? There must be a way to energize it faster."

"Do you know where you want to go?"

"I told you, I want to go back from where I came. If that is not possible, I identified the galaxy I need to go, and if I make it there, I find a way to get into GalNet range and call for help."

"I use these gates, I do not know their intricate workings, but it appears a transmission will soon be possible. It is I who will pass through first. The importance of my task is infinitely greater than those of a mortal Dai with no other desire to return to a place that has been obliterated."

Har-Hi squinted his eyes. "Did you just suggest that I remain here while you use this Nexus? Aren't you some sort of entity?

"I am the servant of a god. My tasks are beyond your understanding. Now tell me everything about the Dai Than. Who survived the onslaught of the hordes sent by the Uni? Most of all you say you know the Narth. I must know where they are. The Uni failed to find them."

Har-Hi was not certain how to take this. At first, the being seemed benevolent, but he became increasingly arrogant and demanding. He decided to go by the book. "I am Lieutenant Har-Hi of the United Stars of the Galaxy. We are a Multicultural society and our intentions are peaceful. I am representing a Union of almost 5000 distinct individual societies and species and we seek friendly, peaceful and open contact with other life forms. Let me assure you our intentions are peaceful. We are explorers, traveler seekers of knowledge first and foremost. I invite you to continue communication with us so we may share knowledge and learn from each other. Please also be advised that I am not prepared to share information with you that could harm or have negative consequences for any or all members of the Union. Please share your origin and intention so we can establish a base of understanding."

"Such a society does not exist. No society would allow Dai to be part unless Dai either rule them or are their servants. The Narth are never part of anything. I grant that you may know the Narth, even had contact with them but I simply reject your notion that you are friends with Narth. You spoke of one Narth. Narth are not individuals but then you have a limited mind as all primitive life forms have.

There is nothing to share. I felt pity for you and granted your suits data device the knowledge of the Pree language so you might escape this lifeless place, but that is the extent. Now provide me with every information I ask of you. Be quick and recognize your place as a servant to the light and thus to me."

"I serve the Union, our fleet and my captain and nothing and no one else. I do not need your pity, for all I know it was you who released that thing. Since you seem to know about Dai, you must know how dangerous it can be to anger one."

The knight drew his sword and pointed it at Har-Hi."How dare you. Not all Dai together could stand against me."

Har-Hi raised his arm and the barrel of the rocket launcher started to rotate. "You stand against me, Zophim. I am not defenseless. We can still find common ground and defuse an escalation to violence, this I say as a Union officer. Continue on this path and my next answers will be that of a Dai indeed!"

The knight laughed arrogantly, primitive weapons against the herald of Lord Lumis?"

"Did you not just claim to be Lord Lumis himself?"

"I am his surrogate and travel the universe in his name."

A blinding beam of light hit Har-Hi without warning. Yet the marvelous Atlas suit, the pinnacle of Union tech established shield at the same instant. Still, the force of the blast threw him off his feet and the intensity of the blast had vaporized rock all around him and liquefied a sizeable section of the floor.

"What manner of technology is this?" The Knight loudly marveled.

A burst of Anti Matter missiles was Har-Hi's answer as he struggled to his feet, his shields holding but being strained.

The first burst of missiles simply vanished in an almost invisible energy barrier of sorts that engulfed the Knight. "See how impotent your children's toys are against one that stands against deities."

But the suits combat and threat evaluation routine switched the missile payload to Transdim shield breaking and the second swarm of missiles hammered into the floor before the knight. This time they detonated with elemental force.

Har-Hi was thrown all the way out of the cave entrance, his shields now at their limits, showered with debris and the scorching temperatures of a nuclear fire. In the swirling inferno he created he saw the outlines of the knight getting on his feet. The self-proclaimed god slayer, struggled and then stomped through the dissipating cloud of energy and fire and roared in anger."You insolent creature! No mere mortal has ever managed to make me fall. Crea and Lord Lumis bestowed powers and might upon me beyond the tools of primitives."

In all this and quite out of character for a Dai, Har-Hi snickered. "Surprise, surprise! Here is another one!"

This time he used his translocator cannon. It fired the smallest translocator loads developed. He could not get a lock inside the target. Whatever shields the Knight used were impenetrable even for the transdimensional displaced bombs. He fired one directly above the knight into the ceiling of the cave entrance and aimed the second one directly at the left palm of the knight. It was where the first blast had originated and he suspected the second one to be imminent.

The effect was tremendous. The knight was rained on by tons of debris and a sun bright sphere of energy forced his suit to set his face shield completely opaque.

The Suit AI warned him that the shields were gone and the emitter heads burnt out, beyond the ability of the suit Nanite repair capabilities on the fly. A combat retreat and a Suit blacksmith was recommended.

He swiped the face plate control to manual and turned off the visual filter.

His enigmatic opponent was still there, but his forcefield flickered and he was missing his left arm. The light knight howled in anger an perhaps pain and approached Har-Hi with his sword raised to decapitate the Dai. "Foulest creature, what have you done?"

"If one Dai gives you so much trouble, I doubt you last seconds against two, let alone all of us!"

Har-HI evaded the blade, but it still gauged a deep cut into his chest armor. The Knight was fast, but so was he. With his augmented muscles he jumped and performed a spin kick against the head of the raging alien.

Whatever forcefield he had, destroyed much of the outer boot armor, but collapsed and Har-Hi's foot hammered with such force against the man's helmet, it threw the big man to the side and to the ground. "Yield, knight of light or I finish you off right here and now." He blinked the translocator active again and wanted to place a load right inside the beings helmet. This close and without shields it was most likely suicide.

An invisible force got hold of his arm, the being appeared to be telekinetic gifted.

The knight came to his feet and attacked again. No chance for the Translocator load, this close.

"Such technology is not of Dai, did the Dark Hordes remain and make you slaves? Is that what this Union you speak of is?"

Har-Hi was held by these invisible forces. His suit system established a new symbol and reflected it in his retina. "System detects a psionic attack, experimental, untested Leedei defense protocol activated. Use of offensive Psionic weaponry not advised."

He blinked at the symbol marked 'Mind Spear'. He knew the knights' shield had to be transparent for psionics somewhere. While the only effect he noticed was the symbol going from red to green, the effect on his opponent was obvious. The knight screamed in pain and the invisible pressure holding him was gone.

He needed to get some distance between him and that man. The further then better, so he could use the rest of the translocator bombs, he still had nine left. The new symbol became red again and the suit told him. "Target established effective shielding, preventing the use of offensive Psionics."

That also meant his enemy could not use his telekinetic powers. Har-Hi jumped and putting maximum energy into the synthetic muscles of his suit. While the battered suit reacted just like a factory new one, he was caught by another energy beam in mid-air and slammed into the side of a big boulder. His suit was partially melted and, the system warned him of imminent system failure. Unable to move, fused by melted material from the legs down. The suits system rerouted all nanite resources to the fused joints. His right arm still in suit armor, but without the artificial muscles, to heavy to really move.

He was trapped, the air was scorching hot and blistered his exposed skin and his opponent came with his sword raised. His voice booming triumphant. "You fought well, for the insignificant insect you are. I shall find my answers elsewhere and you will join the bones and ashes of those who once inhabited this world."

Yet seemingly completely destroyed the suit still displayed retina symbols. Har-Hi blinked at the last active weapon symbol. The long blade of compacted Ultronit slid out from its underarm compartment and with all his strength he swung and cut of the sword holding hand of his opponent. He knew whatever force field surrounded the man, it could not cover the sword.

The vibrating mono molecule blade of neutronium coated Ultronit sliced through the wrist of the alien's right arm an severed the sword holding hand right off. The self-proclaimed god screamed like raving lunatic in rage and pain.

Har-Hi blinked at the emergency release and directed nano charges along the seams split open what was left of the armor. Ignoring pain and heat and with all his lightning-fast reflexes he grabbed the fallen sword and plunged it past force field or whatever other barriers there were right into the T shaped opening of the still stunned and just recovering knight.

The glowing blade perforated the helmets back, and his mighty and powerful enemy fell like a cut tree.

Chapter 3: Smelter Moons

"Well, we are well past GalNet range." Circuit said sitting behind his console. He had insisted to come along, as this was a real Karthanian freighter and not my own marvelous ship disguised as one.

I had contemplated taking the Tigershark, as the Janus mask could have been easily adjusted, but I wanted Har-Hi to have all its resources available, as I was convinced he had to face more than just old-fashioned atomic bombs.

"Might be as well, Mr.Circuit. It will prevent me to call back every five minutes and give Har-Hi the impression I am second guessing everything."

Narth quite fascinated with his first real disguise said. "I am certain this is what he feels you are doing, regardless of you being able to call."

"This is a strange thing to say, Mr.Narth, I have full confidence in him and every one of my crew. He is not just my friend, but my XO. I am certain he will do just fine."

"I share your confidence in him, but I also know him. He looks up to you and will question his decisions, hoping the results will please you. It appears this is the case with almost every one of your crew."

I silently sighed and hoped Har-Hi would not be hampered by that. "Almost?"

"I am not prying into the minds of Union citizens, I am making this observation based on comments and my familiarity with a person. I am not familiar enough with many of our crew to make this judgment on everyone."

"I see, Mr. Narth." Then I leaned forward in my command seat. "How long till we reach that first smelter moon?"

Mao in his Oghr disguise checked his readouts and said."Twenty-two hours, Captain."

"I was under the impression those moons were close."

Circuit responded. "They are for the Tigershark, even for the Silver Streak, but this bucket does not have ISAH pods and in Union terms, we are crawling."

Sobody, who had been to the Smelter Moons before was also part of my team said. "What are we doing when we reach it?"

"Destroy any means of long-range communication, free the slaves and go back."

---

The truth was, I did not have a detailed plan. I knew too little about the actual conditions on these Smelter Moons, despite the detailed descriptions of those who had been there before. None of the reports and descriptions were recent and conditions could have changed, but I had a shipload of former slaves, Ithe rebels and ten of my marines. Not to mention Narth, Mao, Xon, Roghor, and Sobody.

The last twenty-one hours had passed without any incident. We were now in Karthanian space and had noticed a few sensor contacts, but none changed course, hailed us or paid any interest in us.

Mel, the human boy and both his Dai friends came on the bridge.

Mel stared at the viewer, the star Liprois now prominent and at its center. It was a Karthanian system and contained three of the Smelter Moons, one of which was called Olx and our intended destination.

He had the youthful features of a human male who seemed to be not even twenty years of age, yet there was also the uncanny appearance of an old man in his facial features. His eyes had the haunting expression of someone who had seen the worst. Having heard his story, I was convinced he did.

"We are almost there are we not?" He asked.

"Yes, less than 50 minutes and we will reach Olx."

Grtonner, the Karthanian now also appeared. He had dressed into a pink and red uniform like outfit, with finger thick swirling seams all around his upper torso. Before I could ask, he said. "This is a guild member costume, most of the guards are Oghr and to them, we look alike. None of them will dare ask me for credentials. I had planned to do something even before you arrived and help my friends to escape the smelter moon."

---

The entire region of space was in a state of panic. The Togar mobilized every resource and ship.

All nine shattered kingdoms, even the Orkh-Oghr who usually considered themselves the strongest species, tried to remember if there was anything they did in the recent past making them the target of this unprecedented display of military might.

The Oghr troops that weren't lost were recalled and Karthania received an apology from the Oghr king that there was no military unit to be spared at the moment.

Admiral Stahl's suggestion to show a "little" strength in that previously neglected region of space was overwhelmingly approved by the Assembly and by Assembly decision received additional assets and directives.

What was originally planned to be a joint military exercise with the Nul, was now a full-blown military expedition. The Assembly expressly authorized the Fleet to engage Dai, Shiss raiders, known slavers, pirates and independent planets that were known to be hideouts or safe harbors for criminals.

Union media called it the Day of Reckoning, as this region was technically an extension of Freespace, but not part of the official treaty. Both Karthania and Togr were well known to trade Human slaves.

The Togar queen, the Karthanians and the Kermac had sent envoys to the Assembly after reports of the tremendous armada traveling in their general direction spread like wildfire across the region.

The senior envoy of the Togar was first and called before, the Assembly. While she was the sister of the queen and used to vast power, she felt insignificant and small as she stood at the so-called Focus center of the Assembly sphere.

All reports she had heard and seen about the Union paled in comparison of the real thing.

Nothing in all her life had prepared her for the splendor of Pluribus Unum or the immense battleships that escorted the Togar ship.

And now she stood at that center inside the Assembly sphere and it was the most frightful experience in all her life. The inside walls of this immense sphere were lined with many thousands upon thousands of alcoves and each contained the representative of a Union members society.

As she looked around, she corrected herself. Not thousands, but tens of thousands. This immense hall; it's apex twelve thousand meters above and it's nadir at the same distance below her, was èerily quiet. The air was cool and free, of any scent.

The atmosphere of it all was almost religious and one could almost physically feel the true power of the Union, especially standing here on an almost invisible, shimmering energy platform, at its very center. This spot so she had learned only moments ago was called the Focus. And the focus she was, of trillions of eyes staring at her, from the alcoves as well as of the many Union citizens that had turned in on GalNet.

A laughable, weak Holdian, a member of a species she considered nothing more than a source of tasteful snacks, stood on a force field platform hovering not far from her. The Holdian wore a roble like garment and this rodent vermin was obviously neither impressed nor afraid of her.

She raised her voice." I am Kulai, sister of the Queen of Togr. I demanded to see a diplomatic representative of the Union. I did not expect to come before this collection of ... beings. I also care not to be in the presence of a minuscule rodent. Have you not a more impressive species?"

The Holdian, for some reason, was able to look at her in the most arrogant fashion, despite his small stature and alien face.

"You are seeing the diplomatic representation of the United Stars of the Galaxies, Togar. The Union has done away with special diplomats and ambassadors. Every Union citizen is an ambassador and every Union citizen has a right to decide what contracts, treaties, and decisions are made on behalf of the Union.

Your government sent you with a request or a message. Now deliver it. You are an envoy, disrespect me again and I shall see if there is human or Holdian DNA in your digestive tract and we simply hang you for murder."

The Holdian hovered a little closer. "I may be a minuscule rodent by nature, but I am the duly elected Speaker of the Assembly and by this grace and calling, my little voice resonates the will and resolve of the Union.

You are not Union and thus I will overlook your first insult. Stature and size mean little in our beloved Union. Be it Camogi or Bandrupo, we are all Union Citizen and that means everything to us." He mimicked the gesture of her. "Now state your business."

She straightened her stance and said. "It has come to our attention that there is an armada of Union and Nul origin moving into space that is not Union and will be within range of the Togr realm in only weeks at the current speed. We demand to know your intentions. Is this a prelude to war?"

An alcove was painted with a spotlight and a white Nogoll was getting up. His voice was not amplified yet she was sure everyone could hear it. "I am the chairman of the security council to the assembly and I will answer your question."

Of all being, she thought it was an insult well planned to have her addressed by a Nogoll. Togar disliked most other beings, but the Nogoll especially. These beings only redemption was their excellent taste.

The Nogoll spoke. "The constant threat of war between the Union and the Nul has ended and our joint governments decided to demonstrate our cooperation to all societies that our focus and energies are no longer directed against each other. Our Union has never started a war, but you may take the following resolution to your Queen. This Assembly is tired of hearing the laments of family members who lost loved ones to slavers and knowing they ended up on Togar markets to be purchased and devoured. Should our fleet come across a vessel of any nation or society that carries Union citizens against their will, it will be considered an act of war and the commanding officer of that Armada has the full authority to retaliate with all force. These are the instructions this Assembly gave to our Spatial Navy ratified by a Union-wide vote."

The Togar envoy, of course, knew there were many Togar ships in space and some had humans destined for Togr aboard. She also had no illusions what such a declaration would mean."

"This is not space claimed by the Union or anyone and whatever business our vessel have or whatever freight they carry is not of Union concern. There are other societies that feel equally strong about this situation."

The light singled out another alcove. The Togar gasped as she noticed a Xandrao.

The bovine shaped representative had a clearly amused tone in his deep voice. "The Togar openly hinted of war against the Xandrao for many decades. The Togar never talked or cared about others and now you invoke notions of common interests with others? The envoys of Karthania are right behind you and so is the delegation of the Kermac. Let us hear from them if they indeed declare to be allies of Togr and deny us the right to do whatever we want in unclaimed space, including protecting the fundamental rights and safety of our citizens, which includes Xandrao."

The Kermac envoy stepped forward. "The Circle of wizards and the Grand Wizard of Kermac and in extension the Galactic Council is satisfied with the explanation for the Union maneuvers. We disagree on much, but slavery and related practices are not among the subjects we oppose the Union."

The Karthanian also spoke. "There are no Karthanian ships or interests past our sphere. We do not welcome Union ships within our borders, but what they do beyond is not of Karthanian concern."

The Togar envoy bowed slightly. "I shall take this to the Queen and extend my thanks to the Assembly and the Union for receiving us."

The Nogoll was not finished and addressed the Karthanian."No Karthanian product will be allowed to cross into Union space. No Karthanian trader or any other associates of yours will be allowed to do business within Union space. Union Banks will cease to accept Katris and freeze all credit assets held by Karthanians. You make products using Union citizens as slaves until we have clear and convincing evidence that this is no longer the case, these sanctions will remain in place."

The Karthanian was unprepared for this."This is unprecedented, we always were allowed to do business with you."

"Are you denying that Union citizens are bought and put to slave labor by your society?"

"I am not aware of this practice. An investigation will be conducted if your accusations are true."

A thin female got up."Then it will come to no surprise to you that we also conduct an investigation and if this Assembly receives any confirmed report of any Union slaves within Karthanian space, I assure you our battleships will care not if they are welcome or not."

---

OLX

"I thought the Trash Island on Sin 4 was hell," I said while looking over the truly depressing landscape that presented itself on our viewer as we descended towards the landing field. "But this place takes the cake."

Our hail had been answered by an automated system that gave us landing permission. No one actually bothered to contact us.

The surface, as far I could see was covered by industrial buildings. Not shiny, new or clean but dark, covered with sud and grime, belching out of a forest of smokestacks.

There was nothing alive out there, the only bright colors were projected by the many fires and smelter pits.

This place was indeed a moon and it was in orbit around a similar dirty looking rock planet. The fourth one counting from the local sun.

Mel sighed."I never thought I would see this again."

Mar-To the older of the two Dai said. "Welcome to Olx."

Moments later we touched down and I saw a group of Oghr approaching from a nearby building. They all carried prods and whips. Two of them guided a hover platform between them, loaded with arrestor cables and neck rings.

Another being emerged from that building and it was riding some sort of small personal flyer. The being was a Karthanian and dressed just like Grtonner.

Along with Grtonner and the others, we went down into the Cargo hold. There was no stench this time and the cages were not locked and filled with former slaves and Ithe.

The boarding ramp lowered with a high pitched whine.

It hadn't even opened all the way as the local Karthanian swooped in and landed his little bike sized craft more or less right before me. "Get your cargo out on the double, there is lots of work and this is most likely the last batch we get from Itheamh."

I asked. "How come? We are loaded to the brim, but there are ten thousands more to be transferred."

"You stupid Thauran wench, you and your crew will be lynched if you go back. The Drak are no longer in control and there won't be any Oghr armies to restore order."

"What splendid news indeed. I guess my friends worked even faster than I could have hoped for."

The Karthanian was too alien for me to really judge his reaction, but I doubted he felt very good as he saw the cages opening and instead of naked slaves, a stream of beings armed to the teeth.

It took less than five minutes, the local Karthanian and his Oghr overseers were now inside the cages, still not locked, because none of them would ever move on its own again.

I wanted to do it subtle and with as much stealth as possible, but unlike my friends the fighters I had brought along did not listen to my commands, were unstoppable and swarmed like a host of demons out the ship and inside the building.

I cursed myself for not anticipating that. I was used to Union soldiers and the fleet. They might have accepted my command authority back on Itheamh especially with Ninety there, but despite my yelling and warning, they had simply ignored me, screaming with unbridled anger and emotions.

I realized I was not as experienced as I wanted to believe I was.

Narth popped out of thin air right next to me, still holding what was technically my TKU. It's discharging ring glowing bright red.

"One hopes you have another energy pack. I depleted this one."

I handed him one of my spares and asked. "Your psionics don't work here?"

"I just located you and teleported right next to you, giving evidence that the crude Psionic dampening they do use here is not effective at all. Thus this evidence should answer your question."

"First the bunch of ex-slaves ignores me and then my best friend decides to point out my stupid question. I doubt no one ever pointed that out to Stahl."

"I depleted the weapons energy to melt the local communication facilities and decided to use it to discourage the local operators from preventing me doing this. I never used a TKU outside of mandatory training or at power setting twelve."

I rushed inside the building complex, with Narth still next to me. Since Narth had my blaster, I carried a Karthanian line bolter, which was more or less a copy of the Kermac main sidearm. It was nowhere near Union TKUs but so far there was nothing to shoot. There were mangled and torn bodies of overseers everywhere.

I said to Narth. "You do know this is one of the old style TKUs, right and level 12 is enough to fell attacking Y'All under shields."

"I am aware of this now and one is revising his opinion about weapons, they are useful indeed."

The building was clearly some sort of slave training and induction facility, with rows of concrete benches, attached shackles and a huge view screen. The screen was smashed, and so was everything breakable in sight. The rear of the hall featured four open cage style elevators. All four shafts were leading down.

Just as we reached the shafts, a blood-curdling war cry came from below. It seemed hundreds of voices, all at once. The cry was in Dai Than and meant vengeance.

"Can you get us down there?"

I finished the word 'there' while my surroundings had changed already. We were on a metal walkway, with a perforated floor. To the right countless rows of prison like cells, the doors open.

To the left an immense chasm of many hundred meters. I counted 25 tiers with the same long rows of slave cells.

At the ground floor, which seemed an area where slaves were fed as I deducted from the tables and demolished serving counters. Dead, mangled and charred bodies of overseers, guards, and a few slaves were strewn everywhere.

As I looked up, I saw more rows of cells. "How many slaves did they keep here?"

"In this facility, approximately 25,000. The slave population of this moon numbers 6.5 million according to their computronic records."

"Six point five ... million?" It began to dawn at me just how stupid I really was. I cursed silently as my impulsive action to leave my own ship light years away, not even with a real plan. Especially not wasting a single thought on the actual extent of my actions.

---

It was over sooner than expected but still took over a day. The Smelter moon Olx had fallen. I learned there had been just a little over one hundred thousand guards and overseers. In itself a big number, but not enough to quell a full-blown slave revolt, supported by an army of ten thousand armed and angry ex-slaves. Narth and Circuit had not only disabled the moon's communication facilities but disabled the computronic systems that governed the automated slave worker containment and control systems.

Without control over the punishment collars, sentry guns and force field curtains the guards stood no chance.

Among the slaves were more than eight thousand Dai, even some of them had been born on the moon they fought with a veracity that was frightening.

The moon itself was a sizeable celestial body without a breathable atmosphere, very low temperatures, and nothing even remotely in terms of native life.

The actual smelter and factory complex was a sprawling city-sized compound with most of it deep underground.

The guards and overseers, for the most part, didn't seem to live in conditions much better than the slaves, in a forcefield and sentry gun protected part of this city-sized factory. Only the small portion of Karthanian managers and engineers lived in relatively good conditions, but still in rather depressing surroundings.

Just like on Itheamh there were vast fields of shipwrecks and mountain-sized heaps of stacked scrap pieces. Simple warehouses were filled with salvaged parts, plastics, spaceship parts, and large container sized crates with waste materials.

I stood in the heavily damaged office of the Smelter Moon manager. He was one of the few survivors. Most guards had found their fate thrown in the huge smelter furnaces that gave this moon its name.

With me were Narth, Sobody, Xon, and the Dai, Mar-To.

The Karthanian manager was wounded and beaten up. He wore crude applied bandages and a blinking slave collar around his rigid neck. He had not spoken a single word so far.

Grtonner came in, wearing his Guild member costume, this time the manager reacted. "Traitor! Wearing the regalia of a guild master and collaborating with Xenos, is even more offensive than what has been done to this facility of the Hull Builders. That you are a slave worker, freed by this scum from Itheamh is obvious but where did you get these garments of an Engine Builder?"

"They were bestowed to me. I am Grtonner Icylemh, the rightful Guild Master of the Engine Builders. Yes, I have been a slave on this moon, many years ago. Sent here in bonds and in shame, betrayed by your master. We freed many thousand Karthanians today, all sent here for voicing their content and opposition against the dictatorship that holds our proud and ancient civilization hostage for so long.

In your slave pens and in all my years of exile, I found friends among those called Xenos. The reign of the Hull Builders is about to end and the First Engineer will punish you all for what you did."

The smelter moon manager was clearly shocked, more so than by his recent ordeal. It was even obvious to me.

"This can't be! Grtonner Icylemh has been killed, thrown into the smelters. Your name is forbidden to be mentioned." Then the manager laughed in the strange way Karthanians laughed. "You failed to wake the Engineer back then and it sealed your fate when you attempted it. This is just one moon, there are many. What chances do you have against mighty Karthania?"

"One moon yes, the first to fall. I returned from the dead and Karthania will not fall, but soon be free again."

Mar-To stepped up to the manager. "You should be concerned what will happen to Karthania when the tribes learn about your dealings with Cam Elf-Na."

Mar-To held up a control device and pressed a red colored stud. The manager screamed and collapsed.

Mar-To spat and hissed "This is for my mother, you had pushed into the compactor."

While I should not have let it happen, I did not stop him. I knew how he felt, I too saw my mother killed.

I sighed and turned. "Now what? We have millions of slaves and I am sure Karthania will investigate why one of their moons suddenly fell silent."

Sobody pointed towards the viewport. "We captured fourteen Ore and scrap transporters. We have enough cargo space to transport them back to Itheamh. It will be crowded and there won't be food or much water, but I am sure the former slaves will manage for the two days the trip will last."

Grtonner flicked his black tongue and said. "Why stop here? There are two more smelter moons in this system. We have an army fired up for revenge. It will take Karthania weeks before they react and without Oghr troops, not even able to react at all."

"I have a mission and a Ship. This excursion was more foolish on my part than I realized."

Narth said."I recall General Cherubim saying: Nation building is very difficult, rarely successful and opens a can of worms of problems."

"I recall that too, and Har-Hi warned me as well."

He seemed oblivious to the effects his words had as he said."It might also help to recall the words of The Eternal Warrior as he said: Once you get things like that started it is very hard to find a good place to stop and once events are in motion, be prepared to see them through to the end. You decided to help and that is commendable, but that means you are in charge and responsible for the entire show."

Narth not only recalled word for word but somehow managed to say them with the same tone and voice of Admiral Stahl.

Narth put his hand on my shoulder. "I am not oblivious to your emotions. I recalled these words to give you strength and confidence, as the Admiral always seemed to evoke in you."

"It did not work this time, my friend. I have to admit I am out of my league."

"Erica, he gave you his approval to see it through and he promised to help. I am sure he is doing just that and just now. The ship is in good hands and I have confidence in you to make the right decisions."

"This time it was not Stahl." I gave him a thankful look.

I turned to the others and said. "This is what we do..."

---

ITEAMH

Shea was suddenly in command. With Narth being the third in command gone with the captain, she was now in charge of the ship. Something she never envisioned to come to pass.

With her emotions still heavy on the loss of Har-Hi, she had returned to the ship and wanted Elfi to make contact with Command.

Elfi, holding the Conn had teary eyes while she gave her report."The local news are all abuzz about the tremors, they were recorded as a magnitude 4 quake. The remaining Drak leadership has openly invited the Instigators for a meeting under the flag of truce."

Shea almost flew to her science console, linked her battered science scanner. "SHIP, help me to analyze my last scans. The energy being used a trans-dimensional portal to come here, maybe Har-Hi used it to escape the destruction."

Shea then tried to pull herself together. She was in charge now and the captain would be back soon, expecting her to have everything under control.

"Thank you, Ms. Petetis, please establish a connection to command. I must inform them and ask for instructions."

"Aye, Ms. Schwartz."

Ensign Fivcheer now acting as OPS officer said. "Lt. Schwartz we have a visitor requesting to be admitted aboard."

Shea was distraught by the recent events and snapped. "Tell them we don't accept any visitors right now and we are very busy."

Just then Hans called, he was still at the site and Elfi patched him on the Bridge viewer. "Lt. Schwartz, I have important news."

Shea wanted to dismiss the distraction as she went over her data, but she was no longer just the science officer, but also the acting commanding officer. "Please be quick. Mr.Neugruber. I have important data to analyze."

"Ma'am. Starman Suit and Three-Four managed to create a passage to the underground chamber. It is not collapsed, like the rest of the underground facilities. The place has a neutronium laced protective shell and we managed to locate the entrance.

That was a preview of Erica Olafson, Adventures of the Tigershark (Vol 7). To read the rest purchase the book.

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