Chapter 1: Longnight

Longnight had once again descended upon Nilfeheim, the second planet in the Solken system. Nilfeheim was a water planet with with very little dry land. During Longnight, the winter period that could last up to seven standard years, the oceans froze over, except for a region called the Uhim grounds. Hot vents and underwater volcanoes there kept the water temperature above freezing.

Nilfeheim had been settled by colonists from Earth almost 3000 years ago. The settlers, belonging to the Viking Movement and the Church of Odin, brought along their own brand of rigid traditions and cultural ideas based on both traditional and romantic sources.

The origins of these traditions brought from distant Earth had more or less been forgotten over the ages, and the settlers developed into a unique society with anachronistic rituals and rigid traditions of their own.

Much had happened on Nilfeheim during the last Shortsummer.

My grandfather, the representative of Nilfeheim, had been murdered. His death was part of a plot conceived by an off-world company seeking to gain the planet for their client, a large seafood company.

Their plan was to instigate a clan war and it almost succeeded, as they were aided by the greed and the misguided ambitions of local clan lords and by the schemes of my step-mother, Gretel Hemstaad. She was driven by her secret hatred towards the Olafsons and her thirst for revenge.

The whole affair culminated in a planetary attack. A pirate, hired by that criminal organization to erase all evidence, attempted to drop a planetary Incendiary bomb on Nilfeheim.

With the help of my friends, I was able to stop the attack at the last moment. We paid a very high price, as my friend, Astrid Mossberg, had given her life while extinguishing a fire in the engine room of my space-borne submarine, the Poseidon.

The boat was so heavily damaged it wasn’t repaired, but had been cast inside a block of transparent duranium and sat on a base of durocrete in the former Aesir Park of Halstaad Fjord.

Aesir Park was now known as Astrid Mossberg Park. The memorial was intended as a monument to Astrid and to remind everyone of how close Nilfeheim had come to being completely destroyed.

The street passing Astrid Mossberg Park, once called Siegfried Lane, was now named Erik Gustav Ragnarsson Lane, and I was told a statue of him had been ordered and would be placed before the entrance of the spaceport.

I’d spent a lot of time with Tyr, the white Tyranno, riding on his back, exploring the vast oceans and seeing, or rather feeling, a world completely unknown to the Nilfeheim Norse. As little variety as Nilfeheim showed on its surface, it was rich with breathtaking features below the surface of its oceans.

Tyr was the largest Tyranno Fin in our oceans; a huge white fish, sentient and alive long before even the first settlers arrived. Tyr possessed vast psionic abilities and spoke to me telepathically.

Now, with the arrival of Longnight, he had to retreat into his sleep mountain and would spend the cold period in a state of suspended animation, just like the other, non-sentient Tyrannos.

Father had changed once he was no longer under the spell of the psycho-drugs his second wife, Gretel, had administered to him over many years. But I had learned that he was mainly responsible for the death of my mother and much of the torture he had put me through; the drugs only enhanced whatever anger was already there. Some of his evil deeds happened before Gretel got hold of him with those drugs. I could never be certain if mother would be alive if he hadn’t been under the spell of those nasty Shail will-bending drugs. I knew I’d never forgive him, but he tried to mend his ways by treating my sister, Elena, like a real daughter.

My decision not to end his life was still tormenting me, and not a day went by that I didn’t question it. My decision was founded in the counsel of Egill and Tyr and the fact that I didn’t want to be the next clan chief.

I hoped to leave the planet soon and apply to the Union Space Navy Academy. Killing my father would mean that I’d have to take the reins of the clan and remain on Nilfeheim.

As it turned out, Elena was gifted with some psionic abilities of her own and Tyr had helped her to discover them. Or, as I suspected, he was the source of them.

She greatly enjoyed her new role as First Daughter, and father declared her to be in line to become the first female clan chief in Nilfeheim’s history, if I decided to stay off planet, which was more than alright with me. Elena had become like a real sister to me, just as if she had been born that way. I loved her very much.

I had married Sif in a pompous ceremony the day after Yuletide, but it was only a symbolic wedding and she had left with Egill to Pluribus, where she’d complete Union school and then go to the University to study Political Science.

Egill the Hermit had become Nilfeheim’s Planet Representative at the Assembly taking the post that had been vacant since the death of my grandfather.

In retrospect, most everyone on Nilfeheim realized just how important planet representation was. I too understood what my grandfather had told me as he took me to Hasvik.

Sif and Egill had been gone for almost four months. At first she had called me every other day, then every other week and finally she told me that she still liked me but she had found a woman she wanted to marry after she was a full Union citizen, and then her calls stopped altogether.

Much had changed on Ragnarsson Rock, our burg, as well. We still had tanneries and we still manufactured leather the traditional way, since it fetched higher prices because the quality was superior to any modern process. However, the stinking, revolting process was now performed by machines and we even had twelve S-10 robots. The bots didn’t mind the smells and worked around the clock.

Taking a page out of Brunar Bendixen’s book, the Olafson clan was run much more like a business now and we exported fangsnapper meat, fur, leather, pearls and crab meat.

Father still insisted that we hunt for Tyrannos, but it was no longer a main focus and no hunting was done during Longnight anyway.

Elena, as it turned out, had a keen sense of business and loved working in the offices. The Olafson clan was the first to abolish the class of Low Men and all families were raised to the level of Freemen and received fair salaries.

Carl, the outcast and mercenary friend of Hogun, was now an Olafson Warrior, wore clan red and lived in our burg. He hadn’t stopped, but rather intensified my training and advanced me to real fencing with the more elegant rapier. This sword was much lighter than the traditional Nilfeheim broadsword, but it was much faster and when used in concert with the main gauche, a left-handed dagger, it was deadly; a fencing master could easily defeat a trained warrior with broadsword and shield. Carl was an expert and this way of fighting was quite different from the hack-and-slash technique used with the broadsword. Every stance, every move, had a name and a counter move. To a Neo Viking it looked almost like dancing and caused much laughter and ridicule. However, that changed quickly when the razor-sharp tip of the rapier hovered before their eyes while the broadsword attack was still in mid-swing.

Of course, a skilled broadsword fighter wasn’t defenseless and a heavy blade had its advantages as well. I learned how to use Saresii blades, old Terran katanas and many other weapons. Carl seemed to know them all and was an expert using them.

It was late one Friday afternoon. Father was in town drinking with other clan chiefs at Hogun’s Inn. Today, I was fighting with my new sister in the snow-covered yard before the High Hall. We wore protective leather, but used real steel weapons. Elena was learning fast and fencing with her was great fun.

After an extended conversation (back and forth play of the blades) I attempted a successful “Attack au fer”, meaning I deflected her blade in the opposite direction of her attack and moved in and landed the coup lancé. My blade point sliced a little into the tough leather armor she was wearing and she stepped back, curtsied and took off her fencing mask. She caught her breath and smiled. “You’re becoming a real master, Eric. I’d be dead now. You were playing with me the whole time.”

Even though it was bitter cold, I felt warm and bowed to her. “Don’t sell yourself short, dear sister. Your skills are improving daily and I doubt there are many fighters on Nilfeheim who would stand a chance against you now.”

Her face lit up with her charming smile that made her eyes sparkle. “There’s no one left on Nilfeheim who could best you. Even Carl said that.”

I said, “Let’s go to Midril and see if we can score some hot chocolate.”

She agreed and then, as she walked beside me, she said, “Besides, you’re not as handicapped as I am.”

“I sure didn’t notice any handicaps.”

She touched her breasts. “I’m talking about these. They bounce around a lot and it’s not comfortable I tell you. It actually hurts sometimes. I bet you’d be only half as good if you had a pair of these.”

I sighed and lowered my voice. “You know my secret and sometimes I wish I did, but I’m sure there has to be some sort of support available. I remember Sif telling me something about bras and maybe there is something like that for exercising, or maybe Sigfrida has a hard leather armor shaped for women. She fights like a true Aesir. I’ll ask her if she can spare one or make you one.”

She kissed me on the cheek. “Lucky me, I have a brother who knows more about these things than most girls.”

We entered the kitchen and Midril, who had raised Elena like her own, smiled at us warmly. “It’s amazing what you two do out there. Everyone coming in tells me about how you two are slicing good Nilfeheim air. I bet it got too cold out there even for you two. Go sit down. I’ll get Elena some hot chocolate and for Eric I’ll make some coffee. If you wait a little, I’ve got fresh sweet rolls in the oven as well.”

She left us alone after she had served the drinks, as she was busy preparing dinner. Many things had changed on the burg. Midril’s kitchen, however, remained the same and she was the undisputed queen in her own little realm. Elena watched her with a warm smile on her face. “I remember Gudrun, my real mother, but she hated me because I reminded her of the things Harkun had done to her. Midril raised me after mother died.”

I put my hand on hers. “When I was at Pillar Burg, Egill or maybe Tyr gave me a glimpse of what it’s like to be raped. While I was spared the actual act, to this day it has not left my mind and I can smell Harkun’s breath. Don’t hate your real mother for it. She died trying to defend you.”

She turned, with her eyes glittering with moisture. “I don’t hate my mother but she hated me. Sometimes I wish she would have been able to tell me otherwise. Harkun is dead, and before he died he lived through every crime he committed.”

For a while we sat there simply looking at each other, then she said, “Come on, let’s go to the spaceport tonight. A girls’ night out. I’d like to go shopping and I’d like to have Freya with me. We can remember the good times we had with Sif, Hedda and Astrid.”

I sighed. “While I try so hard to suppress it I badly want to be Freya again, yet I hope this sickness will leave me. I promised myself to go to the clinic and have it checked out.”

She got up. “I think it’s part of what makes you the person you are and I’d be sad if you eliminated that part of you somehow. Neither Tyr nor Egill asked you to change. I’m sure they would have if it wasn’t necessary.”

I sighed and got up as well. “Well one time more couldn’t hurt, I guess.”

Elena smiled. “I don’t think we’re too old for Retro Emo either. Let’s go sister.”

After we had our hot beverages and enjoyed the piping hot, sweet rolls, we went to the High Halls. I was no longer denied access and Elena was now living in what used to be Gretel’s rooms. It was completely redecorated. Elena didn’t have any handmaidens either.

As always, I got deeply excited when I shed my male persona and slipped into my female alter ego. I hadn’t done so since we left Bredenberg Burg.

Elena returned to her old look, just like when I met her at the spaceport, with the wild red pig-tail wig. She had chosen a skintight shiny black mini-dress with a dangerously plunging, laced neckline and a matching black jacket. Her legs were encased in black fishnets and high-heeled boots. “How do I look?” she asked, turning around fully.

“Like a New Age vampire on the prowl for male victims. The other word that comes to mind has four letters and starts with an S and ends with a T.”

“Perfect. That’s exactly what I was aiming for. Now it’s your turn and don’t be jealous. We can make you look just as slutty.’

“I’m not jealous.”

“Oh yes you are,” she retorted. “Remember, I can read minds now. Not well, but yours is familiar to me.”

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Eric Olafson, First Journeys (Vol 2)

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