Chapter 6: Boiling Dust

The scarred woman who came up the stairs with the disfigured face looked horrible, only a few strains of her coppery hair remained. She was accompanied by two men. They all were armed. She sat down into one of the lounge chairs touching her burned face and then looked at me. “You didn’t expect to see me again, did you, hero?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t expect to see you at our first meeting, so it’s not a big thing.”

“You are one arrogant citizen bastard. Before this is over you’ll plead on your knees for mercy.”

The Governor hissed, “How did you escape?”

“Your jack-boots aren’t Union police and I had to be treated. Friends of mine crashed the clinic. They had to kill the medics and interrupted their work.”

Her companions tied the Governor to his seat and took his PDD.

She kept pointing the gun at me.

“Let’s see if your people are more inclined to listen to our demands, now that we have the Governor as a hostage.”

One of the men racked the barrel of his gun across the Governor’s head. Mr. Reynolds groaned and blood trickled onto his white shirt.

“You idiots don’t get it do you? This isn’t Gore and even if you kill me and half the planet’s population, it’s Twilight. We have no influence over Gore or any other planet’s government.”

“No, you don’t get it mister politician. If we kill enough of you, public awareness will rise and put pressure on the corporations who think they own Gore. It’s still in Union Space and under Union law.”

“You said it, terrorist. This is still the Union, killing innocent people will have the opposite effect.”

I asked, “Can someone explain to me what the problem is with this Gore planet?”

The woman gasped, “You really don’t know, do you?”

“Either they didn’t cover it in basic school or I was sick that day. I didn’t even know about Twilight until a few days ago.”

“Where are you from, hero boy?”

“Nilfeheim.”

She looked at her partners and said, “A Neo Viking, that explains a lot.”

She then turned her attention back to me. “Gore is the most unusual planet in all the Galaxy. It has no equal because it isn’t a planet. Gore is a being. A planet-sized organism. It lives and breathes and thinks. It’s tortured by Human maggots mining its flesh, draining its blood. It is the greatest crime committed by the Union.”

Reynolds snorted. “You’re as wacko as they say your people are. It isn’t sentient. The Saresii and the Narth have confirmed that. It does not breathe, what would it breathe? Vacuum?”

One of the men whacked him again. “Silence, you’re as guilty as anyone else doing nothing.”

The woman raised her voice with a fanatical tone vibrating in every word. “The Saresii are in on it. Paid off by the corporations exploiting Gore. Gore is a god. It can’t be measured by any of our standards. And the Narth, don’t make me laugh. Those clowns are like kids. They know nothing.”

I was pushed forward by the other man as he tied my hands to my back and took my PDD.

I looked at her. “I guess it’s everyone’s own business what they consider a god, but would a god by definition not be able to defend or protect itself? Why does it need you? Has it talked to you?”

She answered, “Because Gore sleeps. One day Gore will wake and then it will tell us how to live and why we’re here, but Gore is being murdered by corporations. They’re hired by the Evil One to prevent Gore from waking up.

“Gore is as old as the Universe and knows everything.

“There are eleven more like Gore throughout the universe and they together form the Spirit of Creation itself. Gore was sent to protect us from a Dark Spirit that’s coming.”

She raised her fist. “Yes, Gore has spoken to me in many dreams. I’ve heard his cry for help and I won’t rest until I’m dead or Gore is free and so will all of us.”

I said, “That’s some pretty detailed information you got there from Gore. Why are you the only ones hearing it?”

“Because the Servant has heard it and wrote it down and he opened our minds to Gore and his pain.”

“Well I’m not one who puts down someone’s beliefs and their religion, but it sure sounds to me like every other religion I’ve heard about, with darkness this and evil that and some guy proclaiming to be chosen and making others follow him.

“I always wondered why Gods would need priests to talk to us. Couldn’t they do that themselves?” I asked.

She screamed at me, “Blasphemer. One must be chosen to hear Gore.”

I closed my eyes and acted as if I was listening to something and then said, “Uh, oh. Yes I can hear you, Gore. Wow. Really?”

She stared at me with an open mouth.

I nodded. “Yes, Gore. I’ll tell her. No problem. Talk to you soon.”

Then I opened my eyes and said, “You’re right, lady. Gore has spoken. I could hear him just now and he wanted me to tell you that he doesn’t need your help and you can all go home now. He also recommended that you quit this silly terror and crime spree and instead use the money you spend on weapons to buy a GalNet Commercial. He says you’ll reach many more folks that way. That’s how the big religions always do it.”

One of her companions hit me with his weapon. “Shut up,” he said.

The woman interfered. “Stop that. He’s mine alone. I also think there’s some truth in what he says.”

She got up and asked me, “Why are you not afraid? You look no older than maybe sixteen and yet you insult us, talk like there’s nothing to fear. I will kill you, you know that right?”

I replied, “Lady you can’t claim higher moral ground in one sentence and then show with your actions that you’re no better than any of us. I was raised with fear. You’ve got nothing on my father, Lady, and it won’t do me any good if I shiver in fear.”

She snapped her fingers. “Well then, I’ll give you a reason.”

Her companion handed her a white hood with red blood or paint splatter and another produced a little hover cam. After she put on the hood, she spoke into the hover cam.

“We are the Gore Defenders and we have captured your Governor, his guest of honor and four crew members of this dust bouncer.

“We demand the complete evacuation of Gore. We further demand that Alex Enroe VII and Rex Schwartz be arrested on torture charges. Torturing a helpless sentient and unique being that’s here to protect us all. If these demands aren’t met, we will kill the hostages.

“Don’t bother searching for us. If we notice anyone coming within visual range of this bouncer we will blow it up.”

She lowered her gun and killed the steward. “This is to show you we’re serious. Our own safety means nothing. The little hero is next. I expect your response within the hour.”

The Governor, staring at the dead man, howled, “You’ll hang for this. I promise.”

She laughed. “We don’t expect them to fulfill our demands and they’ll try some paramilitary stunt to free you, but that doesn’t matter, this bouncer is rigged to explode anyway. With you in it.”

Something rocked the bouncer and she looked around. “Didn’t you kill the driver?”

One of her associates nodded. “Yes, I did. That’s one of ours driving.”

The entire bouncer slowly pitched forward.

“What the fuck is going on? Go check on him.”

The Governor said, “Your man driving the bouncer is obviously not a local. He drove straight into Lake Talcum.”

She got up and pressed the gun against his temple. “Speak up. What are you talking about?”

“That we all are doomed now. Bomb or no bomb, we’ll sink to the bottom of Lake Talcum. The reactor will overheat and we’ll all die, either suffocating or melting.”

Her associate looked at his PDD. “Our flyer isn’t responding.”

She replied, “Go check on the flyer and stop the bomb. I’ll keep an eye on these two.”

The bouncer dipped again, this time in the rear.

I said to her, “I know something.”

She came over and aimed the gun at me. “Speak up”.

Again the floor sunk away a few centimetres. She made a step to regain her balance. I had waited for that and I pushed myself up as fast as I could hitting her chin with my head.

I could hear a grinding crunch. My head hurt, but she was thrown back. I jumped up and I kicked her against the side of the head for good measure.

“You should always wear a hood. Your face is nothing to brag about.”

Then I rushed over to the Governor. “I’ve got a knife in the back of my shirt. Can you reach it?”

“I’ll try.”

He managed to cut my ties, but not without slicing into my arm as well. I was bleeding but I was free.

I cut him loose, grabbed the woman’s gun and said to him, “Tie her up really well and then use her PDD to call for help.”

I put on her white sheet and the hood and said, “I’ll take care of the others.”

Without waiting for a response I rushed down the stairs.

One of her associates came running. “As soon as they landed, the flier sank. The flier is almost completely gone. We can’t reach it.”

I said, “Teaches you idiots to land on the dust.” I fired.

I had a hard time keeping my lunch down as I dragged the now headless torso with a still smoking neck into one of the little cabins.

Inside was a man, tied up. He appeared to be the cook. He stared at me in sheer horror.

“Don’t worry, he won’t bite anymore. I’ll be right back.”

I headed forward to the driver’s compartment and found the driver dead on the floor in the open doorway and one of the Gore Defenders behind the controls. He turned and whined, “Whatever I do we keep sinking deeper.”

I pressed the still hot muzzle against his head and said, “Then do nothing. How many of you are there? I’m asking only once, then I’ll start roasting body parts.”

‘You aren’t Helen.”

“Wrong answer. One more chance.”

“Five. We’re five.”

“Get up.”

He did and I shoved him out into the narrow corridor. While doing that, my eyes fell on a tool box and while I kept him covered I opened it and silently thanked the mechanic who stocked it.

There was a can of Stick-n-Fix. I swore to myself that I’d carry a can with me at all times from now on.

Just as I did with the off-world assassin I encountered on the Poseidon, I glued his hands to the steel frame of the door and put a generous helping of the goop over his mouth. “This stuff is the greatest, don’t you think?”

His response was a sentence consisting of “Ms” but I was sure he meant something much less flattering. Two to go.

I systematically went from cabin to cabin and but found only one man back in the engine and reactor room. One of the sheet-wearing goons knelt by some kind of metal box that I was certain was the bomb. He turned and said, “It’s off, but we’re screwed, that moron drove us straight in a micro-dust lake. Hey, you’re not Helen.”

I pointed the gun at him. “What gave me away?”

“Your chest is too flat.”

“I’m working on that. Now where’s your buddy?”

“He tried to reach the flyer before it sank. He’s stuck out there.”

“Good for him. Now turn around and put your hands on the wall.”

I securely attached him to the wall with the last of the Stick-n-Fix.

The bouncer sagged forward in slow motion, tilting the corridor.

I took off the sheet and the hood and went back up carefully, hoping the Governor had secured the woman. She was still where I had left her. Reynolds held the PDD and my knife, and said, “Her PDD needs a code. I can’t activate it.”

I looked out the panorama windows, the dust had already reached the upper deck. “How long do we have?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but since they stopped trying to move we gained a little time. Maybe 30 minutes. The problem is the reactor. If it can’t exchange heat it’ll overheat and shut down. Without reactor we’ll run out of air.”

I asked, “Won’t they search for us?”

“Once we’re under the dust, it’s virtually impossible to scan for us, the metal and the radiation will mask our location. We’ve lost dust bouncers and equipment before and have found any.”

“I’ll look for the other PDDs. They have mine and yours and the bouncer is bound to have GalNet.”

He replied, “I tried the GalNet terminal already. It’s dead.”

I checked on the lady. She was alive. Then I double checked her bonds and retied the knots myself. “You need to learn to make better knots Mr. Reynolds.”

He laughed nervously. “I’ll do that and you need to walk carefully. Any vibration will send us down faster.”

I moved as carefully as I could and checked on the Defenders but couldn’t find a working PDD. I sprayed some release over the glued mouth of the one in the engine compartment. “Where are our PDDs?”

“We threw every working PDD and the on-board module overboard.”

I whined, “That was a brand new Pro Dat, with my Credit chip inside.”

I patted him down. “Where’s yours?”

“I don’t have one.”

“How did you plan to get over to the flyer?”

He answered, “The same way we came. With protective suits. We’re all going to die aren’t we?”

“It’s a bit late to think about that, Mr. Gore Defender, but your future isn’t very promising under any scenario.”

The entrance hatch was already under the dust, and even with the protective suits we would sink. This wasn’t water and I was fairly certain I couldn’t breathe boiling radiated dust.

I put on one of the suits anyway and took one to the Governor.

“Say, aren’t you a VIP? Where are your bodyguards?”

“We’ve never needed that on Twilight. Despite how it looks, Mr. Olafson, our planet is usually quiet and such events are rare. I’m sorry that I convinced you to take part. I’m so sorry.”

“We’re not dead yet and they did transmit that demand video. Somebody’s bound to search for us.”

He smiled. “You seem to have an unquenchable optimism. You don’t give up. You are indeed a hero.”

“Nubhir poop. I’m no hero. I just hate unfair situations and this sure counts as one.”

The dust had reached the view ports and I looked at him. “Didn’t you say those balloon tires are meant to float on this stuff?”

“The bouncer is designed to drive across the waste deep sand and dust but it’s too heavy to drive over these micro-dust lakes. Experienced drivers can see them and avoid them. The tires alone would float on it.”

“Well then that’s what we’re going to do. I can see a spare tire mounted on the back. We blast it loose, then we sit on it and row the thing to shore. It’s big enough for all of us.”

Governor Reynolds cried, “It’s no use. The entrance is already below the dust.”

I responded, “Oh shut up with that pessimistic ‘we can’t do it’ attitude, sir.”

I freed the cook and told him to go upstairs and put on a protective suit. The bouncer, so it turned out, had enough, even for the remaining terrorists.

I had them put on the suits and used a roll of sealing tape to tie their hands behind their backs.

I told the woman who still seemed unconscious, “You can either put on a suit, Helen, or go down with the bouncer. Your breath is way to irregular for someone pretending to be unconscious.”

The bouncer slumped forward again lifting its back further up while the front windows of the panorama lounge were now completely under that brown stuff.

She moved and said, “I’m going to kill you, you bastard.”

I blankly replied, “We don’t have much time, lady, and I’m sure as hell not waiting for you. So suit up or stay.” She did and I tied her up again.

“Close your helmets,” I said, and fired the blaster against the rear view port. The material was tough and it took the full charge of one blaster to make a big enough hole for us to climb through.

There was a simple lever mechanism to release the huge tire and I herded everyone onto it.

The water-like dust was already up to my hips. The suits, as I found out, had radio links, as I heard the lady’s voice.

“You’re a fool, hero. You should’ve killed me when you had a chance. Do you think I’ll let them get me alive again? The bomb is connected to an implant in my head.”

She couldn’t say another word. I had pressed the trigger and turned her head to ashes. She was talking way too much anyway.

I climbed onto the tire with the help of the cook. The bouncer slipped completely under the dust and seconds later the powdery surface had settled as smooth as before and there was no trace that something had happened here.

The big tire floated on the stuff just like a boat. Then a huge tremor rippled through the sand and a fast moving wave pushed the tire forward in a wild ride.

“I guess she managed to activate the bomb after all.”

The Governor shook his head laughing. “I’ll make a point of it and visit Nilfeheim. You saved all our lives again.”

I laughed and said, “Well, I don’t mind you doing that, sir, but I’m taking the next bus out of here.”

Even with the limited range of the helmet radios, he was able to contact a dust miner camp and moments later a small fleet of flyers appeared. We were flown back to Dusk after we had been checked out by medics.

I was invited to a reception at the Governor’s penthouse on top of a tall skyscraper. Not that I had much of a choice to decline.

They had dropped me off at the Super Lux hotel and in its priciest suite. There, I took a bath in cold water. Not that I had really touched the dust, but seeing it that close up made me long for a long soaking in cold water (lol).

The autodresser was like the one at the Crystal Palace and it was able to fix my hair with molecular extensions as it used to be. I wondered if the dresser had any female selections but I resisted the urge to indulge myself when I found out it had an extensive set.

The suite came with a real butler. That was a fancy name for a man servant and he affianced for a new PDD for me. A courier from the local branch of the Union Bank delivered a new Credit Strip.

My chain sword, which I had left behind for the tour, was brought to me as well.

On a whim and the promise to myself I ordered a can of Stick-n-Fix and put it in my shirt pocket, hoping I wouldn’t need it.

Mr. Reynolds greeted me at the reception and introduced me to a host of people I immediately forgot after they had shaken my hand. “Sir, I really would like to go back to being one face among many, take the next space bus and be out of here.”

“Well I can’t blame you, Mr. Olafson, but I assure you Twilight isn’t usually like this. The Day and Night wars have been over for a long time and since both towns are now connected with Mag Tubes they’ve put their differences aside, except for the local Vaccu Ball matches. I wish I could show you some more of our world.”

A man with a white hat and white suit came over. “Mr. Olafson, I’m Alex Enroe VII, of Enroe Industries. Your fast action has saved us much headache and I would love to invite you to see Gore II. It’s an unusual place and a big tourist attraction. I can personally guarantee there won’t be any more terror activities. That group was small and, thanks to the intelligence we gathered, the Union Police and the PSI Corps are here to roll up that little problem.”

I responded, “It wasn’t so little to me, sir. They stuck guns in my face, twice, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry, sir. I chose the wrong words. What I meant to say was how grateful I’m for what you did.”

I brought the conversation back to Gore II. “Is it really a living planet?”

“Yes it was in a sense. It’s a space-born life form, approximately the size of Terra. It has a crystalline, silicone surface and is in permanent orbit around the sun Gore. No one knows its origin or how it developed. Underneath that crust it has a thick layer of what we call Gore Tissue. It’s a flesh-like substance and it also has additional similar tissue layers of different consistency all the way to the core, where something akin to a heart can be found. The heart stopped beating or pumping a long time ago. The creature or the planet is technically no longer alive, but since it’s so big it takes a while to die completely, so some of the outer tissue regions are still active, or alive if you will. It has a unique range of small life forms of both plant and animal origin, but nothing that could remotely be called sentient. Space-born organisms are rare but not unheard of. I assure you the Saresii and the Narth confirmed that Gore isn’t sentient or has even the weakest brain or neurological function in any way, shape or form.”

Alex Enroe offered to sit with me and then said, “Big corporations are often painted as the bully and evil incarnate, but I assure you if the Narth confirm the life form is neither sentient nor alive anymore you can take that to the Union Bank. No amount of money, not even my famous rival Mr. Schwartz could make the Narth do anything they don’t want to or make them say something that isn’t so.”

It did sound interesting. “So what are you doing there? I mean as a corporation?”

“First and foremost we do research. The leading xeno-biological institutes have branches on and inside Gore. Then, we harvest small amounts of a special biological liquid that has a host of pharmaceutical uses. Mind you, there’s more of that stuff in the oceans of Nilfeheim and we harvest about 300 to 400 liters a year. Schwartz does about an equal amount.”

I said, “Well, I wouldn’t mind seeing it. It sounds like an interesting place and unless that Helen woman is right there aren’t any others like it.”

He shrugged. “The Gore Defenders and the Church of Gore claim that there are eleven others like it, in other galaxies and without any definite locations. But then, the whole mythology of the Gore Planet was dreamed up by an unsuccessful playwright named Steven Dunham. He served his twenty-two month citizen service as a helper with the science corps on Gore II. He claimed the planet had spoken to him. He wrote a book and, when it became a minor bestseller among certain groups, he decided to found a religion. I think he thought it would be more profitable than writing plays no one wanted to see.

“That wacko belongs to the Gal Drift society and gets his followers from that same group. Union Police found his notes and PDD during his first arrest and he admitted to have invented it all, to gain fame.”

I nodded. “That Helen woman sure swallowed it hook, line and sinker. I guess it’s just an outlet for them to blame someone else for their problems.”

“Exactly, Mr. Olafson. Now if you’d like we can actually leave in an hour or so. My private yacht is standing by and I have a feeling you’re not much of a reception kind of guy.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Splendid. I’ll shake a few more hands and then we’ll be ready to go.”

My PDD buzzed and I saw the Olafson wolf logo on the preview screen. I separated myself a little and activated the full field screen. It was Elena. She waved and smiled, then the visual sensor pulled back and I saw she was at Uncle Hogun’s inn with little Exa, and she in turn was standing close to Aunt Freydis and my big uncle.

Her sad expression was gone; she beamed with a broad smile on her little face. “Eric, everything is wonderful here. There’s lots of snow and it’s cold but I had a snow ball fight with other kids today and it was great fun.”

She swallowed and inhaled and went right on. “Do you know what’s best? My biggest dream came true. I’m going to be adopted. Really. I’m not going to be an orphan anymore, can you believe that?”

Uncle Hogun’s usually stern face looked at her with the greatest affection. “Eric you have given us the best gift you could possibly have made. We love this little whirlwind.”

Aunt Freydis also smiled warmly. “We’ve got a child of our own now, little Exa, and she’s hardly stealing anything. She’s really good.”

I finally managed to say something. “I’m glad it worked out, for all of you.”

Elena said, “We all miss you. Even Father misses you but he doesn’t say it right out, but they delivered the new boats today and he named them Eric and Elena. Right now he’s over at the Exchange Café bragging about his new boats and telling everyone that his son paid for them, just like that. And I miss you Eric.”

“I miss you too, Elena.”

The Old Keeper came into the view field and to my surprise he wore Olafson red. “Don’t look at me like that. I think I look good in red. I’m officially the Eldest now. I was beating your grumpy friend by a few thousand years anyhow.

Egill is our Union Representative now and he was officially introduced to the Assembly five days ago.”

He then touched the red cloak. “You know I had no clan association of my own and therefore couldn’t be an Elder.”

He looked over at my sister and I could see the old man’s affection for her. “It actually was Elena’s idea. She’s a smart girl, you know. She suggested it and your father made me an Olafson and now I’m an Elder ... well, the new Eldest that is, if that makes sense. I haven’t been associated with anything new for the past few millenniums.”

I had listened to his report and smiled. “I was just surprised to see you in red, sure suits you well, and makes that shaggy beard look whiter.”

He brushed his beard. “I think I could trim it a bit.”

Then he changed the subject. “What is this all about? You being the Hero of Twilight? Aren’t you supposed to be halfway to Arsenal by now? You’re basically still in the neighborhood.”

“Well it sort of happened,” I said, lamely.

“Yes, we saw the news. Sort of happened. Things like this always seem to just sort of happen to you. So where are you now?”

“I’m on my way to Gore II. I was invited to check it out. I still have lots of time to make it to Arsenal.”

“Oh yes, Gore. I’ve been there. Amazing place in a disgusting, exciting sort of way. When you’re there send me a poster and a T-shirt. I forgot to pick one up last time I was there and I’d like to have a souvenir.”

I replied, “Sure will.”

“Take care, young Eric.”

They all waved and Elena blew me a kiss. “Next time you call, call from an avatar-enabled GalNet terminal. I want to hug you.”

I promised and terminated the call.

The governor insisted on handing me a medal and said, “From what I understand you’re going to apply at the Academy, so I thought a medal might be a good idea. It’s the Key to Twilight.”

I thanked him and said my farewells, then I left for the spaceport with Alex Enroe. We rode in an Enroe Excelsior flier and I patted the seats. “I have to admit, these are the most comfortable seats I’ve ever sat on.”

He grinned broadly. “I’m glad you approve of them. Not everything good is made by Schwartz Industries, you know.”

“I’m sure that’s the case. I once bought an Enroe Industrial Recycler and it did everything it promised it would.”

He laughed and said, “It’s good to hear that.”

“So you’re the big boss of Enroe?”

“Yes that’s me. Enroe Industries, second only to SII.”

“I guess there’s some rivalry between you and them?”

“Of course there is. There are thousands of mega-corporations but only twenty that are considered ultra-corporations.

We, I mean Enroe, are number two, and I hate to admit it, but we and all the others combined would still be a distant second to SII.”

“What makes them so much more successful?” I asked.

“The main factor of their success is Rex Schwartz, their CEO and President, he owns most of the stock of his corporation and he’s an Immortal. You know, one of that mysterious, original group of about two hundred Humans selected by someone or something called the Guardian of Earth. SII and Enroe started out on Terra, even before the Ascent. Then there are the technical monopolies Schwartz Industries controls. You know that GalNet and the secret of instantaneous communication is owned by Schwartz. SII licensed this technology to the Fleet. SII has all patents on space train technology, owns two of the biggest space bus companies and is the sole operator of the new trans-matter tunnels, another technical monopoly.

“Schwartz Industries is the Queen-approved and Nest-appointed supplier of Nutri-Syrup to the Klack. You can’t even begin to imagine how much sugar vitamin syrup he delivers to the Klack daily. SII has had major trade and commerce with the Attikan Commonwealth for over 500 years, long before they became members. Can you guess who does 90 percent of all business there?”

I nodded. “Perhaps not in quantities but even I know the Klack are counted by the trillions.”

He sighed. “Almost eighty percent of all ships and over seventy-five percent of every supply item delivered to the Union Fleet is made by SII.”

He actually started to sound a little defeated. “So it’s hard to really compete against that. Not to mention the whole ‘Good and Evil’ company business. Something that should be forgotten after all this time.”

“I heard people call SII, the ‘Good Company’ before. But I don’t really know why.”

“It’s a long story that happened before there was a Union. I’ll tell it to you over a dinner sometime,” he said, closing that avenue of discussion.

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