Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (30 page)

But, over all the negotiations on friendship and mutual aid, I was not prepared to ignore the question that was paining me the most: the Swarm's treason. There was absolutely no way I could let that stab in the back go or put it on the back burner. An Imperial Crown Prince is not some mere pawn that can be sacrificed unpunished! In my mind, this action merited extremely severe retribution, so the thought to do something like that would never even cross the insects' minds again! When I stated my very harsh demands, Nai Igir thought for some time. An exchange began, and twenty minutes later, we had agreed to arrange compensation for the betrayal amenable to both sides.

And now, after six hours of heated arguments, there was a document signed by all three parties, the importance of which was impossible to overestimate. The nameless Arite, the Swarm Progenitor Nai Igir and Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle had agreed on the following:

- The war between the Arites and Iseyek is ended from this point on. The Orange House of the Empire shall serve as guarantor of this peace.

- The Orange House's ships shall have the right to uninhibited movement throughout the Swarm and Arite systems.

- The Arites are declared a part of the Swarm as the "Arite Iseyek race" at full parity with the other Iseyek subraces, and shall receive the ability to live and move throughout Swarm territory without any limitations whatsoever.

- The Arites shall receive half of the votes in the Swarm.

- The Arites shall transfer their territories (and these were not many, but not so few either, fourteen star systems in total) to the control of the Swarm Progenitor.

- Four Swarm star systems shall be annexed to the Orange House of the Empire: Oort, Fia, Khs and Yal. The holder of these systems shall be Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle.

- The Yayho border fleet shall join the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet in its entirety.

- The incident in the Kej system is considered settled. Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky, and the Orange House and the Empire have no more grievances against the Swarm in regards to what happened.

- The Swarm will put all its territories (fifteen star systems) under the control of the Swarm Progenitor.

- The Arites, the Swarm and the Empire shall conclude a military alliance against the Alien invasion.

And though I had my doubts that I had the right to sign such a document, and that the Iseyek and Arites would affirm the authority of their signatories, Katerina ton Mesfelle, invited to film the signing of the historic treaty, thought that there would be no problems with its legitimacy:

"You are an Imperial Crown Prince and commander of the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet, which means a large part of Swarm territory is part of your zone of responsibility. Who is more qualified to be representative of the Empire than you? And do you really think the Emperor would refuse a gift in the form of four star systems annexed for humanity?! The Iseyek Prime's authority is indisputable. What’s more, there will be a vote on it in the Swarm soon, and with the help of the Arites, or even without it, the result we want is already guaranteed. Well, and as for the authority of the Arite present on the cruiser, we'll soon find out. As far as I understand, there are already a great many Arites in the Swarm, and they are capable of communicating with one another. And if the Arites really do transfer their territories to the Swarm, in doing so they will affirm that they recognize the signing of the treaty."

Before the camera flashes even went out, a new wave of system messages flooded in:

Sovereignty Change. The Oort system has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Orange House

Sovereignty Change. The Fia system has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Orange House

Sovereignty Change. The Khs system has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Orange House

Sovereignty Change. The Yal system has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Orange House

Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle shall become the sovereign of the Oort system

Achievement unlocked: Imperial Conqueror

The Arite State has ceased to exist.

Standing change. Iseyek race opinion of you has improved.

Alpha Iseyek race opinion of you: +15 (warm)

Beta Iseyek race opinion of you: +13 (warm)

Gamma Iseyek race opinion of you: +11 (warm)

Arite Iseyek race opinion of you: +2 (indifferent)

Iseyek Prime race opinion of you: +4 (indifferent)

Global fame increase. Current value +20

Global standing increase. Current value +6

Out of the four star systems, Duke Paolo royl Anjer confirmed my authority over just one. On the one hand, it's weird that he even said yes to one. One the other hand, why just one? The situation looked very similar to the one with the Brotherhood of the Stars to me, and as such I calmed myself down in advance by making sure the local leaders in the Fia, Khs, and Yal systems wouldn't take any kind of oath to any kind of holder appointed by Duke Paolo.

* * *

My fleet did not spend much time in the Arite system. Right after recharging energy, we continued our path through the Swarm systems. We met no resistance from the insects anywhere. In fact, the Iseyek were more than ready to help us with repair at every station we came to. The Swarm-model ships filled up their ammunition reserves, and General Savasss Jach completely restocked on huge eggs of new recruits for the huge
Tria
.

We were in the Kha system when the results of the vote came in. The Swarm had voted in the majority to give all control over the now-dual space government to the Swarm Progenitor, the Iseyek Prime Nai Igir. There was no farewell as such. Right after the results were announced, a group of armed Alpha Iseyeks arrived to my flagship to fetch their new Queen, and the Swarm Progenitor set off for the capital on one of the Iseyek ships with her blue wings gleaming.

"Shall we go home to Unatari?" suggested Katerina ton Mesfelle, who had come with me to see the insect Queen off.

"Yes, probably," I said with a heavy sigh. "Another half hour for the battleships to recharge, and we'll head for home.

I felt a stagnant sensation of discontent lingering inside. After I had demanded compensation from the Swarm in negotiations in the form of a fleet and star systems, I immediately felt how sharply the Swarm Progenitor’s opinion of me had changed for the worse. She clearly thought there was a better way of solving this issue.

Not able to find my place, I set off for Florianna's room for advice. Astra had her orange uniform's sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and was washing her sister with a sponge in a foamy bath. I thought it perhaps was not the best moment to talk, but Florianna asked me not to leave.

"I know what you want to ask, your Highness. Yes, Prince Georg, the Swarm Progenitor really was thinking of offering you to become co-ruler of the huge united government. Thirty-three star systems, not counting the fifteen already under your Highness's control. Trillions of subjects. All the resources of the Swarm and the power of the many star docks for making a fleet that Crown Prince Georg could only wish for. In one year, your Highness could have had the unheard-of power that a competent fleet commander such as yourself would need to take down the Aliens. However, instead of practically god-like power, Crown Prince Georg, you decided to take four star systems for the Orange House, which are populated by the none-too-loyal Iseyek race. The Crown Prince making such a choice seriously disenchanted the Queen."

"I don't think I would have agreed, Florianna. All the same, it is a shame to realize that I didn't even get to consider the possibility."

The short talk with the Truth Seeker had calmed me a bit and made me think seriously. I returned to my cabin. Without Astra, whose presence I had already managed to grow used to, it seemed a bit empty and uncomfortable. The thought even crossed my mind to forgive her and bring her back, but all the same I decided to remain firm so the lesson I was trying to teach my favorite would stick.

I sat for a while with a stupid aloofness before the dark screen. I gathered my strength and turned on the data panel. I brought up a map of star systems. Should we really go back home to Unatari? If I did, I would be in Sector eight with four hundred fifty damaged ships, and that was only if the Yayho fleet really did join me. Could I really face Duke Paolo royl Anjer’s fleet of two thousand with such a force? Of course, I could get through to Unatari and do repair work there for a couple months, then practice for a long time with my soldiers before a decisive battle with the Duke... Or I could do it another way. Not so much strengthening my position, as weakening Duke Paolo's. The best defense is a good offense! I turned on the common channel.

"This is the fleet commander speaking. Cancel the scheduled route to Unatari. All ships warp toward the Aya system. We are going to Perimeter Sector Nine!"

I
had never seen Katerina ton Mesfelle in such a depressed state. She seemed practically dead. Even after the Iseyek had left us to die in the Kej system, my cousin had managed to keep herself together, but now the young woman was crying uncontrollably while wiping bitter, make-up-stained tears from her face, and there was nothing she could do to hold it in.

"Did I not do a good enough job… the first time?!? What happened, Georg?!?"

"It’s a bunch of bullshit, Katerina," I said, trying to calm my cousin down. "My fleet isn't fighting the Aliens just for some virtual standing numbers. We are fighting to save the human race from total annihilation. We are fighting for our children's future. And all these likes and pluses, our adversaries and haters can stick right... in their profiles."

"But, why this... reaction, Georg? What made this different from... what happened in... Hnelle?"

To be honest, I didn't have the answer to my cousin's question, and was quite surprised myself. We had barely established stable contact with the Empire when my advisor started broadcasting reports she had prepared long ago, recorded in the Kej, Aysar Cluster, Lobj and Khe systems. The enemy's huge starship flotillas, new never-before-seen types of Alien combat starships, fierce battles with no studio gloss, thermonuclear explosions in space, huge fields of debris from destroyed ships, losses in the Sector Eight Fleet, and beautiful wins.

But human society reacted in a way my cousin and I were not expecting: all the news channels were accusing her of blatantly faking the broadcasts, saying that the clips show the traces of sloppy editing work, and that it was simply impossible. So-called "leading experts" were competing to see who could find more problems in the material sent by the Sector Eight Fleet on our victories over the Aliens. The Imperial Joint Staff's experts and the authoritative military staff of the Great Houses were making all kinds of calculations, totally unintelligible to the viewer, proving with their malignant smiles that Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky's press service had started producing obvious forgeries, as the level of success depicted in them was simply not realistically possible against Aliens.

It should also be said that there was a big devastating interview, given by Crown Prince Khayt royl Andor ton Reyekh from the Purple House shown on the main news channels. The Crown Prince declared himself the galaxy's foremost expert on Aliens, given that his Perimeter Sector Four fleet had already racked up eight Alien ships on its account. And, differently from some (here a mocking laugh followed), all of the Purple House's victories had been proven by captured trophies and Alien ship wreckage that you could touch with your hands and see with your eyes to be sure they were real. Whereas the Orange House had nothing but these heavily-edited clips. The loudly hyped, allegedly boarded
Behemoth
never made it to the Empire for study, and also most military specialists have serious doubts about the existence of such an Alien ship in the first place, given that the firepower reported was too extreme to be realistically used in a space battle.

After that interview and several other statements like it from other "authoritative Alien experts," my and Katerina's standings took a sharp dive. In not even two days, my standing had managed to dip below -30, rolling back all of the recent growth. Katerina's situation was even worse than mine. My cousin was being directly accused of doctoring footage, and had been dishonorably discharged from the Journalist's Club and the list of honorable graduates of her university. And then, just now, my cousin got a warning from the Emperor's communications service: she was told that either she immediately repent for making fake news intended to sew panic, or she could expect a call to the carpet of August royl Toll ton Akad himself in the near future, where the issue of her behavior’s nonconformity with the rules and norms of aristocratic society would have to be addressed.

To be honest, this relationship even hurt me deeply, though I tried not to show it and keep a careless smile on my face, insofar as that was possible with the extreme scars that now graced my physiognomy. But my cousin then was totally depressed at heart due to the doubt and accusations against her that were still gaining steam, and so she was making no effort to hide her utterly defeated condition.

It was because of this doubt coming to light that I decided against my initial idea to immediately surrender all the trophies captured in battle to Imperial scientists. In the Sivala system, the battleship
Master of Tesse
, together with a dozen of the most damaged ships had separated from the rest of the fleet and set off through Swarm territory for repair in Unatari, taking the two trophy Alien frigates with them, as well as tons of biological and technological artifacts for research in my laboratories and three hundred Gamma Iseyek scientists, whose return the Swarm Progenitor had yet to send any demands for.

"Here’s what, cousin. In two hours, my fleet will arrive to Forepost-4, on the border of Sector Nine. And though there are no inhabitable planets or large settlements in the system itself, the Forepost-4 station is inhabitable, and is equipped with a large border garrison and a great deal of repair berths for small-class starships. In Forepost-4, my fleet will make a stop for a few days. We need to wait for the Yayho fleet, which is hurrying to join us. Meanwhile, we can all just blow off the last couple of days’ worth of steam celebrating the end of our campaign against the Aliens."

"And what?" asked my cousin, not understanding.

"The official part will come first: awarding medals to the soldiers who distinguished themselves, and paying out bonuses to everyone, no exception, on account of the risk. After that, my soldiers will be free to let loose. With God as my witness, it will be quite the noble carousing. I will also be treating the local border garrison as our honored guests. And, to keep our detractors from talking about fake victories, my soldiers are sure to talk with the border guards, and stories about the battles are sure to come up. They are dying to share the stories of the hundreds of Aliens killed, as well as the assaults of the
Behemoths
and the Alien
Queen
. Let the official powers of the Empire take as much time as they want not recognizing it and ridiculing us, but normal people will start to think: how could fifteen thousand soldiers from the Sector Eight Fleet all be lying? So, forget about the Emperor's press service trying to squeeze you in their big fat ultimatum vice. The truth will get out sooner or later, no matter how the Orange and Purple Houses try to censor it. And that is when our adversaries will really start to go pale. I've got a very serious assignment for you in Forepost-4, cousin."

"What assignment?" Katerina wondered, gradually coming back to life.

"Have fun at the party, dance, get drunk as a skunk and make sure to find yourself a man for the evening and don't let him leave 'til morning. Don't think of this as just the advice of a close relative and senior aristocrat. This is an order from your fleet commander!"

* * *

The whole fleet clearly needed this event! The huge hangar in the Forepost-4 space station was now totally empty of the shuttles and close-range fighters that were normally housed there. Instead, it was filled with the ranks of the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet's soldiers. The perfect rectangles of the crews in orange uniforms blended together with the splotchy uniforms worn by the assault troops. Human and Iseyek, android and Chameleon, all standing side by side. On the small towering platform, other than Crown Prince Georg, there were also several senior officers from the ranks of the border station, as well as Admirals Kiro Sabuto and Kheraisss Vej, General Savasss Jach, Colonel Gor ton Vulf, the Truth Seeker accompanied by her minions, and also the fleet commander's assistant, Captain Nicole Savoia.

Katerina ton Mesfelle, as if nothing had happened, was overseeing the broadcast of the ceremony with a business-like smile, and none of those present could guess that just three hours earlier, my cousin had been crying buckets and talking about how her life was over. I had suggested that she start ignoring enemy insinuations and continue to stubbornly insist on her version of events, and she agreed.

As for myself, without excessive modesty, I was on point. I had refused any makeup work, so my freshly scar-covered face could be shown on the huge screen on the hangar wall for my subjects. But I wasn't at all ashamed of my battle wounds, in fact, I was quite proud of them. My detractors and all other foes, no matter their reason for hating us, would not be able to achieve their goal. Actually, they had only put me on my game. I don't suppose I have ever spoken so brilliantly and penetratingly before a group of soldiers. First I ordered everyone to take a minute of silence in memory of our comrades who didn't make it to the end of the military campaign. Ninety-two thousand Iseyek, seven thousand five hundred humans, and three Chameleons had given their lives so the Sector Eight Fleet could accomplish the impossible and escape the deadly trap to get through the Alien-controlled star systems, in spite of the enemy's huge advantage in number and firepower.

Based on their reaction, my subjects had never heard of the tradition of the minute of silence. All the same, the soldiers accepted it as a tribute to the memory of their fallen comrades very, very well. In the minute the soldiers were standing in saddened silence, I received three standing increase messages from the Imperial Military faction, two from the Iseyek, and another three from the Chameleons.

After that, not hiding the truth from my subjects and not being shy in my language, I told them about this so-called "foremost Alien expert from the Purple House," whose whole fleet had destroyed less Alien ships than just the gunner from
Vassar-3
. I explained that he was casting doubt on the existence of
Behemoth
-class battleships, and the huge Alien fleets we had come up against. I told them about the witch-hunt that had been set up by the none-too-successful admirals and commanders after our Sector Eight Fleet. I probably did use language that was a bit rough on a few occasions. For example, when I gave unsolicited advice to Crown Prince Khayt royl Andor ton Reyekh on where exactly he should stick his authoritative opinion, given that the Arite translating to the Iseyek got tripped up in the middle of a sentence and clarified Crown Prince Khayt's gender and whether he would have such locations in his anatomy. But the soldiers were behind me all the way, and that's what was important.

After the fleet commander's speech was over, we set about awarding medals to the participants in the military campaign. The first and most distinguished orders and medals were awarded by Admiral Kiro Sabuto, who had left his hospital room on that occasion for the very first time. If you ignored how unusually pale the admiral's face was, you couldn't notice any trace of the once-severe wounds on the flawless-looking warrior.

After that, all the soldiers and crew members who had taken part in the escape from Alien territory with no exceptions were awarded a Black Star, a matte-black semi-glossy medal with the inscription: "For those who have ventured beyond death." This ancient Orange House medal had been discovered by my assistant Nicole Savoia in a military guidebook. In the past, these medals had been given to soldiers who had survived clinical death and been revived. I fully agreed with Nicole's opinion that there could be no more appropriate medals for these soldiers who had fallen into such a deadly trap, and had already been effectively given a funeral and declared dead. That was why I had ordered fifty thousand such stars of black silver be made by Swarm craftsmen with an inscription in bright platinum.

Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +19 (warm)

Global fame increase. Current value +21

After all the boxes of medals had been given out to the starship captains for distribution to the crews, I took the microphone up again.

"And now there will be a gift personally from the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet Commander, as a sign of my gratitude for having such a brave and talented crew. You are capable of bringing the impossible to life. From this very minute, every one of you will be given a Black Star and have your salary raised by one third. You are the pride of the Empire, and honorable soldiers. You have all earned these medals with your military feats! And also, you will all be getting a bonus in the amount of three of the now-increased monthly salaries!"

A collective roar of delight rippled across the hall. The echo came back many times from the hangar walls, deafening everyone inside.

"In the neighboring halls of the space station, the celebratory tables have already been set for the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet. I invite all the Forepost-4 garrison border troops to join us in the celebration. There's enough food and drink for everyone! You won't have to worry for your safety. The Sector Eight Fleet's cloaked frigates are already keeping an eye on all neighboring star systems, and not one ship will get past them unnoticed! So have fun, relax, let yourself go totally wild. You've earned it! Anyone still standing at the end of the party will be subjected to the strictest Truth Seeker testing, as a potential security risk! And so, let the fun begin!"