Chapter 2: Consequences

Lothar’s beam burned through my chest. It felt as if my entire torso was on fire, but I was alive. I didn’t faint or pass out. Instead, fueled by burning rage, I ran towards him, his face was pure horror. He still held the small weapon but didn’t fire a third time. I reached him in seconds, buried my knee in his groin and smashed the palm of my hand against his nose, hoping I would shove his nose bone up into his brain, something completely impossible. But I was furious and kept pounding him until strong fists dragged me away. Spaceport security had arrived and they took Lothar and me into custody. Med bots carried Elena away.

I was brought to the clinic and it turned out that the water filled plastic bags I had used to simulate boobs had saved my life. The Thermo blast energy vaporized most of the water and turned it to steam, which had burned my entire chest and face.

Elena had suffered a life-threatening trauma but the fast arrival of the med bots, who put her in stasis, saved her life.

One of the spaceport security men, who turned out to be a former low man of the Olafson clan talked to me with a snickering cackle in his voice. “I didn’t recognize you until I ran your ID. What a hoot. The hero of Nilfeheim dresses up like a slut out for a cheap date on a Friday night. Who would have thought?”

I was embarrassed and felt ashamed. Elena hissed at him. “Did we break any laws?”

“I don’t know yet. The chief is reviewing the security footage and questioning the assailant.” He kept laughing. “This is too funny. You’re a joke. Oh man, look at you, faggot.”

Another security officer entered. “I’m sorry we detained you here at the clinic a little longer than normal. We reviewed the security footage and I interviewed Lothar Olafson. He recognized Elena Olafson and admitted his intent to kill her. He had no knowledge that you were Mr. Olafson. It all was analyzed by Legal Central and a duty judge on Holstein court confirmed neither of you have broken any laws. Mr. Olafson acted in self-defence.

“Lothar Olafson, however, will be facing serious charges and will see a Union judge on Holstein planet. You’re free to go. We will keep you informed in case we need you for the court procedures.”

Then he turned asked. “What’s so funny Officer Brimhilf?”

“Chief, look at that dressed up tranny. It’s Eric Olafson, the oh-so-famous Tyranno slayer and world saver.” Brimhilf slapped his knees. “I can’t wait till I tell this to the guys.”

“You’ll do no such thing. Have you forgotten your oath and training? You know you can’t discuss duty-related things in private and what you’re doing right now is highly unprofessional.”

“Not to mention illegal,” said the spaceport doctor. “What your officer is doing, Chief, could be considered cruel and unjustified and I’ll testify to that as a witness if they press charges.”

“I’ll take care of this,” the security chief promised. “Since he finds this so funny I’m sure he’ll also like the idea of being transferred to Pit Moss planet, immediately.”

To Elena and me the doctor said, “I was informed your grandfather is waiting outside to pick you up.”

I looked at Elena and she shrugged. I had no grandfather, and she didn’t know hers. I knew Egill called me “grandson” because he was a distant relative, but he was on Pluribus, as far as I knew.

The Ancient One, the Old Man of Muspelheim, sat in the waiting room of the clinic and he didn’t smile or look at all pleased. “I brought a flier to the entrance. We can leave when you’re ready.”

We went out the side door and he rushed us to a black Mercedes. I noticed Richard, the swordsman, behind the control. Elkhart motioned to the back seats. “Get in and sit down you two. Richard, we’re ready to leave.”

Only after the flier was in the air and he was sitting across from us did he explain his serious mood. “Eric, did I not tell you to be careful with your desire? I warned you not to go out in public like that. It makes no difference to me or the true keepers living in Muspelheim, but this world isn’t ready for this lifestyle. If this becomes public you’ll ruin everything you’ve gained. Our population in general has little tolerance for what they think isn’t normal.”

He hushed me as I tried to say something. “I’m not done, Eric. The practice of killing deformed or otherwise handicapped children is still known here on Nilfeheim.

“They will try to put Nilfeheim logic to it and accuse Sif of putting you under some spell to gain position and subdue the most prominent hero of Nilfeheim.” Elkhart sighed and dropped his arms. “You’re a celebrity, a warrior. The young ones want to emulate you and they play Eric Olafson, fighting imaginary Tyrannos and bad space pirates. Can you imagine what Nilfeheim would say if this comes to light? They’ll ask questions and then find out that you aren’t really married to Sif. Sif isn’t ready yet and won’t be for many years to come. The recent events were powerful enough to move our encrusted society a little forward; give low men and women a little more rights. What you did tonight could destroy it all.”

Everything he said hit me harder than my father’s whip and I felt ashamed.

He sighed again. “It happened in public, and I don’t have the wonderful mental gifts Egill or Tyr have to make them forget.” He stabbed his finger in Elena’s direction. “And you’re neither trained or gifted enough to do that.”

Elena cried, “We meant no harm. Eric’s mind is so much at peace when he can be Freya. No one would have noticed or recognized him.”

He nodded. “Thankfully no one but the security guards and the doctor have. I’m not blaming you for what you are or what you desire, Eric. I don’t understand it, but you find in me the most open-minded person and if I were younger I might even try it for a change, but this planet is on the brink of a new future and a better one for everyone. Hasvik is suddenly alive again with many applicants and both girls and boys from all walks of life and social standing. The fighting schools are overwhelmed with young women wanting to emulate Sif and the Elders are openly discussing how to integrate a few women into the circle of Elders. All this is thanks to Egill and you.”

I tried to make my voice sound firm but failed. “What can we do?”

He said, “Carl has killed Lothar. Officially your brother committed suicide, Carl is very good at that. So it won’t come to a court case that anyone could watch on GalNet, where you would have to appear as a witness.

“Sigfrida is also taking care of the security guard, he will have an accident. She too is very good at those things. No one will expect Lothar’s death as anything else than a suicide. For the Union the case is closed and they won’t release any security footage or names to the public. That was all we could do, but I don’t like having to kill people to protect your secret.

“School ends for summer break in a week. Your basic schooling is finally over and Mr. Valthim will make you a citizen. After that you’ll leave Nilfeheim. Out there you can be Freya to your heart’s content, Eric, but not on Nilfeheim, at least not for many decades to come.”

I nodded. “I’ll do that.”

“You wanted to leave anyway and join the Fleet, now you’ll leave a little early. It will give you time to travel a little.”

He leaned back and smiled a weak smile. “I know you didn’t mean any harm, and I can attest you look fabulous as Freya. Your clan couldn’t be in better hands. Elena will make a great clan chief and break another barrier, and you can trust her.”

She took my hand and said, “Yes, you can, I promise.”

The next day I went to the clinic and asked for an appointment with Dr. Dwyer. After a short wait, I was seen by the old Terran doctor. It was hard to actually tell him what my problem was. To actually put it in words was more embarrassing than I realized, but when I told him he listened to my problem. He leaned back and said, “What you call a disease or a sickness is a psychological disorder that occurs in genetically predestined people, well, at least in your case. I checked your DNA and found you have all the triggers necessary for it to occur and this, combined with your traumatic childhood, most likely caused this.

“It’s rare in this form in the Union in general. The DNA triggers are usually recognized early in the prenatal period, and if the parents agree they’re removed. About a thousand years ago it became so popular that you could find a gender change studio in every mall across the Union, but some made the changes every other week and that led to waves of suicides and psych problems.”

He folded his hands and leaned back. “It’s still perfectly legal and easy to change one’s gender and there’s no law or cultural requirement that tells you how to dress or how to feel or what gender you feel associated with or attracted to. There are so many more curious things out there it wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow on most other worlds.”

“Can I get rid of it?” I asked.

His face became serious. “Every Psycho-Surgeon would jump in and say yes, a little psycho-surgery will forever cure you of this desire.”

I said, “Then why don’t you recommend it?”

He sighed. “With all our knowledge and all our advancements in medicine, the Human psyche is still not completely understood. Even if the psycho hacks say otherwise, it will forever change your personality, Eric. You would no longer be you. Whatever you think about your desire, it’s part of you and you should aim to find an answer, a balance or a place to live, that’s less restrictive. I’ve seen the results of psycho-surgery and without exception they all turned out to be smiling and happy but totally empty and hollow. They displayed whatever personality the Psycho-Surgeon thought would be good. This is my professional opinion on psycho-surgery and I can’t recommend it with a clear conscious to anyone. All this said, I haven’t even touched the meta-physical aspects of soul, higher awareness and spirituality.”

I said, “It almost destroyed everything I had gained last year and it might bar me from entering the Academy.”

He answered, “I’m sure they have your school medical exams on file ever since you signed up and they also saw the triggers.

“The specialists looking over those applications and files aren’t fringe world MDs but Navy scientists. They would have rejected you if this was a handicap. However, I can tell you that if you opt for psycho-surgery, it will most certainly bar you from ever becoming a commanding officer. I know this for a fact.”

Interlude 2: Dai Than

Every fifth nutho-cycle, a Dai Than time period, and maybe three or four times in the life of a Dai Than, all the tribes would meet at Thana Shoo, the remnant of their once proud and beautiful home world, officially destroyed long ago by the ferocious hordes of the Y’All. However, the most secretive rumors spoke of another reason the world was destroyed, but that was part of the Forbidden Past and perhaps only the Pale Ones knew the truth. Nothing but fragments of the planet remained, one such fragment, the continent-size Nak Thana Shoo, meaning the heart of Thana Shoo, was the site of that meeting. No outsider, no one not Dai, had ever seen this place.

During four nutho-cycles this place was abandoned, except for the mystical Pale Ones who guarded this place. But at the end of the fifth cycle the system would fill with the fleets of every Dai clan. Dai Mothers and millions of other ships would crowd the system. For ten Thana Shoo days all Dai celebrated highly ritualistic festivities, traded among each other, forged alliances, celebrated weddings and conducted other tribal business. The tribal chiefs, tribe lords and their oldest children came together in the stone and rock amphitheater on Nak Thana Shoo. A force field bubble was erected over it and filled with breathable air.

The tribal chiefs brought forth their most formidable warriors and pitted them against each other in highly regulated and deeply traditional fight events. The warrior who won the most fights was then called Champion of Thana Shoo and it was an honor like no other.

Tar Kar-Hi, the mighty lord of the Hi Dai Than tribe, one of the oldest and most powerful of all, stood in his tribe’s stair section of the amphitheater and looked over the many other Dai Than tribal lords, either already in their section or on their way to it, it was an impressive sight, but to him it was a sad one.

There were still many tribe lords but nowhere near the number there once were, many seats remained empty and there were already more empty seats than occupied ones.

Bor Hat-Je an old friend walked over to him and greeted him by putting his hands on both of Tar’s shoulders and Tar did the same to him. “Good to lay hands on your shoulders again, my old friend, Bor Hat. How did the endless darkness treat you and your tribe over the past nutho-cycles?”

Bor Hat looked like a brother to Tar Kar, both tall and athletic, despite their age. Their arms bulging with sinew and rock hard muscles, their skin bright red and their black hair slicked back into tight pony tails pulling their already angular arched black eyebrows up even further.

They were clad in deep red leather suits with intricate stitching and leather carvings, lined beneath with metal micro-mesh armor, fully sealable in seconds to become a functional space suit.

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Eric Olafson, First Journeys (Vol 2)

Vanessa Ravencroft

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