Chapter 16: Sugar and Spice

Sif and I hatched our plan and I was supposed to meet her on Monday right after school. Dreadful for what I expected at home I waited for Hogun to pick me up, but he seemed pleased with himself as he showed up and climbed into his floater. “Your father has allowed for you to stay with me again for a while. You don’t need to go to the burg.”

I sighed relieved and told him about father’s strange behavior and then about the visit. He threw his hands in the air in a resigning gesture. “The Arnskes are about as traditional as they come. I think they don’t lift an arm before checking if it is traditional.” He then grinned and looked at me.”But they are loaded and from what I hear that Sif girl is one good looking girl.”

“I didn’t see too much of her she wears a Veil all the time.”

He leaned closer, winked with his right eye and said. “The face doesn’t matter so much. It’s what’s below her chin and above her hips that counts. Well I do like hips of course as well. If you know what I mean.”

Then he became serious.”Your father is feeling the pinch, you know. He now sends Greifen to the XChange to do his business and since he has no longer access to any bank accounts, he uses Harkun. Of course neither Harkun nor Greifen have the same Credit rating and every spare part and everything else he needs has to be paid straight away instead in invoice. He depleted the Nubhir farms to raise cash but a farm will only give so much and then it needs to grow and that takes time. It won’t be a cozy Longnight this time.”

We reached Bifrost and he was about to land.”I guess it is upon me now to teach you about how Fangsnappers and Human Babies come to be.”

“No worries Uncle Hogun we had that in school.”

“I am glad. This was one subject I rather not talk to you about, so how about some Blue Finner Steaks?”

I was supposed to meet Sif two days later at the Space Port and I was nervous. I never actually had gone to the Space Port that was only a few clicks south of Halstaad Fjord. Sif was right, she had told me that the actual space port would be empty and it was nearly completely deserted when I arrived. The spaceport had two distinct areas, one was for the processing of passengers and space ships, the other was called the concourse and had restaurants, shops and even a virtu theater.

Since no one was about to travel anywhere, the passenger facilities were indeed deserted and it would only change when the post ship came or the monthly space bus arrived. The space port was different from any place I had been before. I almost felt as if I had left Nilfeheim already. It was well lit, had shiny gleaming floors. Floating Advertising signs for businesses and hotels in town. I did not even know we had a hotel. To my surprise I found a sign advertising Hogun’s Inn and it declared Miner friendly prices and hefty food portions. No wonder there were miners coming almost every weekend. Then I saw my first real robot outside of Virtu, a humanoid shaped machine pushing a floor cleaning machine across the already spotless floor. As deserted the Space port was, the Shopping mall side of it was not. While I saw no men, there were many women and girls and all seemed to be Off-Worlders as none of them wore traditional dresses. I passed the Entrance to the mall and kept on going into the main Arrival and departure area and stopped at a row of big viewports that reached from the high ceiling to the floor From here I had a good view of the landing field It was a wide smooth Duro-crete area and it glistened wet from the recent down pour we had. A huge gray shape stood at the far end on landing struts, it stood next to the freight transfer center. Out there were more robots and they loaded that ship with containers. Sif found me there and also looked outside.” That is the XChange freighter, they loading it with fish, Fanger Furs and ice.”

“It’s a Meteor Type VI Freighter.” I said. “800 meters by 400 meters. Accelerates to 120 kilometers per second to the square. Manufactured by De Noir Ships.”

She laughed brightly.”I never figured you to be a tech geek. You sure know space ships it seems.”

“I signed up for the pre entry program for the navy Academy and they gave me a few books and Virtus on space ships. One day I want to command a ship and fly all across the Galaxy.”

I turned and was very surprised. She wore a black mini skirt, a clingy blouse that showed her perky little breasts quite clearly and over it a short fur jacket. Her hair was combed straight back into a single tail on her back. I only recognized her because of her eyes. She giggled even more as I was standing there staring at her. “Do you like what you see?”

“Very much so! How come you are dressed that way? Will you not get in trouble?”

She still smiled. “I doubt my father would even recognize me this way. After all proper girls wear veils once they turn 15 and only drop it when they get married.” She made a gesture that incorporated the space port.”This is where most of the girls after school hang out, drink coffee, and go shopping. Wear the latest fashions of the Galaxy and gossip. Not all women and girls are as tradition minded as the men believe we are. It is an open secret right under their noses. Some of the city men know about it, of course none of the old traditionalists. When they do come here, they think we are Off-worlders.”

To say I was totally floored by that was an understatement. “I never knew. I too thought they were Off-Worlders.”

“You reacted just like any other proper Neo Viking responds. They ignore Spacers and Off-Worlders and feel so much superior to them.”

“I seen Pluribus during a Virtu excursion and I seen the battle ship. It is them who are superior.”

She nodded “I have been on a tour to Pluribus as well and I think no one could possibly ignore seeing that battleship. But let’s go to the Space Bus lobby. It is completely deserted and no one will be there and we can get you in a dress. Having a male Viking, a Celebrity Hero of an old clan around the space port would not be good.”

The Space bus lobby had automatic doors and she swiped a little card over it and they parted. “The lobby of course is only for passengers.” She pointed at the card.” This is an old ticket but the door doesn’t know that as I have disabled the date section.”

“You sure know your way around here.”

She was still smiling. “I come here whenever I can, and so do others who are not as tradition minded. Especially those who are less favored by the old traditions, namely women and girls, you are not even the only guy who comes here dressed like us. There are quite a few who secretly date that way. This is where I got the idea for it in the first place.”

The lobby consisted of rows of conformatic chairs, a few Serv-matics and a robot attended ticket counter. The robot greeted us.”Welcome to Gray Lines Space Bus Services. Can I be of assistance?”

Sif shook her head.”No robot. We are waiting for inbound passengers.”

“Very well, Ma’am. The next space bus scheduled to arrive from Holstein Planet is due in 74 hours and 12 minutes” With that the robot lost interest and powered down again.

Next to the passenger bath rooms stood two big shopping bags and she took them. “I prepared a few things for you.”

The she opened the door to the Washrooms and said.”Human Females.”

A voice responded.” Human Females acknowledged. Bathroom facilities adjusted to selected species.” The bathroom changed from white tiles to pink, more mirrors appeared and several bathroom stalls rose from the floor.

She motioned me to follow her and inside, locked the door and handed me the bags. “Here is a dress and the other little things we use. As soon as you are in the dress call me and I help you with the rest. The fleshy things are artificial boobies to define your chest area the proper way.”

I blushed, she giggled some more and went outside before the stall. While I tried to get into the dress and the frilly things women wore underneath, she was talking to me and I learned that she was well educated, at least as intelligent as Yngve and that she had a mind of her own.

“I never knew girls would think that much!” I said while stepping into the skirt.

I heard her make strange sound and she actually opened the stalls door. Her eyes sparkled and it looked as if she was angry but the expression vanished and she said. “It is not your fault; you are a product of our society. Do you think your mother was thinking less than your brute of a father?”

I stopped and almost dropped the skirt.” I never thought about mother that way at all. I never had a chance to really talk to her.”

She motioned me to turn around and she fastened the thing that held the artificial breasts. “You never talked to girls, had no sisters and no mother.”

No wonder you think of females as if we were of a different species.”

“I did talk to Midril but she never talks about anything that isn’t really related to the kitchen and such.”

“This is called a bra by the way. If you get comfortable enough in your secret identity I show you what girls off planet wear instead of these ancient uncomfortable holders.”

“There are so much more items to a woman’s wardrobe than a man’s. It’s quite confusing.”

“Ah you get used to it. One day you might use the knowledge gained today to undress your bride. Much of these garments and pieces are meant to actually keep women in their place. You can’t go hunt or dive in these dresses and of course it would hinder you to fight.”

I wished I could tell her about Siegfrida but I had to keep my word.

The dress she had chosen for me was of a deep maroon color with nice bronze colored metallic shimmering seams and borders. It had wide flaring sleeves. The white soft belly fur of Nubhirs was used to seam the sleeves and the collar of the overcoat. I found the tight white stockings quite exciting and loved the silky softness.

She pressed a thing that looked almost like a Derma-Patcher on my face. It was black and had the letters CC in gold on it. The thing even felt similar to a Derma-Patcher but whatever it did took only a few moments. She observed the result with a critical expression on her face, nodded and placed a wig of dark brown shimmering hair on my head. I noticed her nose and found it quite exciting and when she concentrated she got a little wrinkle on the ridge of that tiny nose of hers. I wondered why I would find such a thing exciting.

Sif nodded and said.” You look much better than I even thought you would. No one will ever recognize you like that! She left the stall and gestured to the mirrors.

“Judge for yourself. The Chanel Box did wonders to your eyes!”

I could not believe that the tall girl in that pretty and quite regal dress was indeed me. That device had put make up on my face, shaped my eyebrows, my lips felt and looked thicker and bigger and shimmered in a color matching the maroon of the dress. The few tiny whiskers I had on my checks and lips were gone and so were the three acne spots

had since this morning. Long rich colored hair surrounded my shoulders. She handed me maroon colored gloves and placed a thin brass circlet with a maroon colored veil. It was thin and flared and moved with every breath.”

The shoes were a bit tight and she simply used my sword to split them at the heels.” It will do for now. We are going to get you a pair that fits at the mall.”

She then stretched her arm holding my sword. “I teach you to be a girl. Will you teach me how to use this?”

“Yes I will.”

It was of course prohibited for a girl to learn and use a sword. Siegfrida told me that the women of the Vikings of old were trained and knew to use the weapons well, but the Elders of this world decided, that it was better to exclude women from that so they would accept their subservient role better. Some clans allowed their women to train with the knife and a few allowed the use of a Spear because the Elders could not really argue against the image of Valkyries but women were not even allowed to touch a sword, and a woman caught doing it was to be sentenced to death.

She balanced it before here and said. “We always say it is just an extension of the phallus and they use it to intimidate but actually holding one, you can feel its power. This is the famous Mördaren is it not?”

“Yes.”

“It was made on Earth so I heard by a famous sword maker and it supposed to have mystical powers. Did you notice any?”

“No I have not noticed anything. Other than that it is really, really sharp!”

“You killed the Steiner boy with it?”

“I wish I had not done that! It was not this sword but Hevnen the clan sword of the Olafson clan.”

She placed the sword back in its scabbard and helped me gather the things and we deposited it all in a rental locker in the Space bus terminal. She then said.” You do look very nice, but you walk like a Fangsnapper herder in Longnight furs. Put your feet in front of you as if you walk an invisible tight rope!”

She taught me the entire afternoon how to walk and sit down. The only witness to our efforts was the Robot in sleep mode.

We met at the airport as much as we could and she became my new best friend. She was different than Yngve. To my surprise, she was not afraid of much.

She was neither hysterical nor stupid, like Hogun and all the other men claimed woman would be. The women’s bathroom of the Grey Lines space bus terminal became our secret lair and she learned quickly. She was not as enduring and strong but what she lacked there she more than compensated with speed and agility. She could flex and bend her body in ways that made me hurt just looking. Equally she was my teacher and I learned to cross my legs, bat my eyes, walk the way she wanted me too and use my arms and gestures differently.

“You pass well, no guy on all Nilfeheim would take you for anything else than a pretty girl, but women are much more observant, especially when it comes to potential rivals. Women don’t look at other women like you men do. A false move and the wrong gesture can give you faster away than a bad fitting wig or sloppy make up.”

It was past Yuletide and the New Year was well on its way. After school after fight and heritage class I would train with Carl or help in the Inn, but Uncle Hogun would let me go downtown whenever there was not much to do or when Carl wasn’t there. He never asked me what I did downtown and I was glad. I knew I would have told him as I did not want to lie, especially not to him.

As I went to the Space bus lobby. I had my own ticket card to let myself in and I knew Sif would be there as she had send me a short message to my PDD, I checked with the robot to make sure no space bus was scheduled, opened the rental locker and retrieved my alter egos things and went to the bathrooms to become Freya, as I called myself. I could hardly wait each time to shed my boring troubled self and step into my alter ego. Everything girls had seemed scented and soft. There was scented lip color not only in a thousand different shades but equally as many flavors. There were perfumes and body washes and hair products and crèmes that turned the skin instantly a soft as silk. It all mixed into an invisible aura, along with whispering fabrics, shiny satins and lace into an invisible aura that seemed to lift my very being. As Freya I forgot about father and I could close my eyes and would not see the face of the Steiner Kid. Freya could laugh and smile and giggle about the silliest things and there was no guilt doing it. There were so few occasions that caused me to laugh as a child. I could remember each time. Back when Greifen gave me a Nubhir Wolf puppy when I was six, it lasted only a few days. Father found out about it and killed the helpless creature in the cruelest fashion by squeezing the yelping and screaming creature between his fists, throwing it in my face and told me that I would never enjoy anything as long as I lived. He had taken away all toys I had and given them to Lothar and forbade me to have any and promised servants and clan members alike severe punishment for giving me things. But now I could laugh and even cry and did not feel ashamed about it.

As I opened the doors to the bath rooms, Sif already waited for me and we hugged each other. As always she felt so lovely and I realized how much I actually cared for her.

She said. “I think you need to graduate today and we go to the mall together. My friends want to meet Freya.”

I didn’t feel all too good about to meet three other girls who I was sure could look through my disguise at any moment.

She tried to put me at ease. “Against the believes of men. Women can keep secrets and these are my best friends. You can trust them too. They won’t say anything and the best disguise you can have is four girls accepting you.”

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Eric Olafson, Neo Viking (Vol 1)

Vanessa Ravencroft

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