Space Viking · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Space Viking by H. Beam Piper.

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Chapter 1
I
Lucas Trask and Elaine Karvall are on the eve of their wedding, celebrating at a garden party at Karval House. The chapter introduces tensions with Andray Dunnan, who is obsessively in love with Elaine and has been causing trouble. Lucas meets Captain Otto Harkaman, a spacefarer whose presence symbolizes the changing times on the Sword-Worlds. The political and social stakes of the marriage—uniting the Traskon and Karvall baronies behind Duke Angus of Wardshaven—are made clear.
Chapter 2
II
At a wedding gathering on Gram, Lucas Trask and Otto Harkaman engage in a heated debate about the Tanith Adventure and the decline of the Sword-Worlds. Trask argues that the constant raiding and loss of skilled men to space is causing a slow decay of civilization on Gram, while Harkaman defends the Space Viking way of life. The conversation touches on the nature of Neobarbarians, the history of the Terran Federation, and the political fragmentation of Gram. The chapter ends with a disturbance near the landing stage, hinting at impending trouble.
Chapter 3
III
At Lucas Trask and Elaine Karvall's wedding, Andray Dunnan publicly accuses the Karvall family and Trask of conspiracy, claiming Elaine is being forced into marriage. Elaine confronts him, declaring her love for Trask and ordering Dunnan to leave. Dunnan's henchman Nevil Ormm forcibly removes him as he raves about betrayal and his supposed rights to the ducal throne. After Dunnan's departure, the guests discuss his madness and the political danger he poses, with Otto Harkaman offering to eliminate him, but Rovard Grauffis warns against it due to political repercussions.
Chapter 4
IV
Lucas Trask and Elaine are married in a grand ceremony presided over by Duke Angus of Wardshaven, who uses royal language hinting at his ambitions. The celebration is shattered when Andray Dunnan ambushes the couple with a submachine gun, wounding Lucas and ending the joyous occasion in violence.
Chapter 5
V
Lucas Trask awakens on a robomedic in the Ducal Palace, recovering from severe wounds sustained during the attack that killed Elaine. He learns that Andray Dunnan escaped with the starship Enterprise, that Sesar Karvall was also wounded, and that the duchy is bankrupt. In his grief, Trask decides to trade his barony of Traskon to Duke Angus to finish a second ship, declaring himself a Space Viking and vowing to hunt down Dunnan.

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