Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (40 page)

"Miya is the last thing we need here," the Count said, bristling as if from cold. "Marian, you are free, let the Crown Prince and I talk one-on-one."

When the Truth Seeker was still in the door frame, she stopped sharply and turned to me:

"Your comparing me with a monster seriously affected me, Crown Prince. I saw a girl on your ship who hides her disfigured face behind a mirrored helmet. I would like to see her. Differently from Miya, I sometimes do nice things for people."

"Marian, if you can help Valian's burns heal, you have my word as a Crown Prince that I will publicly apologize to you and give you a gift worthy of an heir to the Empire."

After the door had just barely closed behind the ninety-year-old beauty, the Count declared:

"Alright, now we can talk,
tet-a-tet
. If you want my support in this conflict, my price is fifteen billion credits. I know that you do not have that much in money, Crown Prince, but I am not picky about how you pay. I'd be willing to take ships, star systems, or other property as well."

To be honest, I was quite caught off guard by him starting the conversation that way, and didn't even make an effort to hide it:

"Actually, I was seriously thinking of asking your Grace for an approximately similar sum in exchange for the Duke's title and post as Head of the Orange House, which I could bring you on a silver platter."

"Don't be stupid, Georg. You have thirty-five days left before the Emperor's deadline for making peace is up, and everyone knows it. And, though perhaps my brother is no military strategist, he’s no dummy either. He's planning on simply holing up in the Orange House Capital for the next few months and gathering all the forces of the United Fleet there with the warp beacon turned off. That is why there is no way for you to keep your promise to the Emperor without my help."

I smiled and took out a small jewelry case I'd brought with me, opened it and showed Count Avalle the Emerald Star inside.

"This star is one of five issued to me by the Emperor to award to the worthy. This one is for you, Count Avalle. I'm describing the situation as it will be in a month. My fleet, operating from the Unguay system, will take the Ulia system, which belongs to you, Count. Duke Paolo won't give the order to split up his huge fleet and send ships to help you out. The United Fleet will remain in the Orange House capital, as your Excellency will even order."

The Count frowned in consternation and wiped down his sweat-covered forehead. Clearly, the strike on his system I'd described wasn't at all to his liking. Though there was no way to avoid it. An infinite stream of transport ships flowed through the Ulia system, which linked the Imperial Core with Sector Eight. The Emperor had clearly forbidden that warp beacon from being turned off long term. Having seen that my thought had reached him, I continued:

"After the fall of the strategically important Ulia system, the three stations cut off, Bren, Asti and Rea will come over to my side voluntarily, though they won’t have much choice in the matter either. After that, a strike on the Nessi system and the Orange House Docks will follow. In theory, I could even attack Fastel and Varan. I have more than enough forces, though I don't especially see the point of doing that. And so, what will the Emperor see a month from now? Sector Seven fully supporting my side, Sector Nine doing the same, Sector Eight completely under my control other than a couple of isolated systems under total blockade. The outcome is obvious. August will declare me the victor. And if the Emperor doesn't want to personally intervene, the next deputy council will raise the issue of a voting to censure the Orange House Head, and will make that decision whether or not there is any resistance, given that over ninety-five percent of votes will be in my favor. The Duke is doomed to lose one way or another. Everyone understand that now. But I would prefer a clean, unconditional victory without any votes or debates."

Count Avalle royl Anjer ton Mesfelle threw himself back into the armchair and wondered what exactly I meant by a "clean victory."

"Your Truth Seeker is not wrong. I really do want to wipe the United Fleet out. No matter how dumb that idea may seem, I can win. Yes, technically I do have one fourth the ship power of Paolo's United Fleet, but..." I turned the Count's attention back to the Emerald Star. "This is the last of five given to me by the Emperor to distribute to the worthy. The last four medals have already found owners, though their names will become known to society only after the Orange House split is over. That is precisely why I know the basic picture that your Grace has yet to perceive, and know that my fleet will win. As you see, Count, I am being quite open with you. I have other allies and other options as well. And with them, we do not discuss whether I can win or not. It's a totally different question: what role are you going to be playing in the forthcoming events, Count? I offer you to become a knight of the Emerald Star and the new Head of the Orange House."

The man stayed silent for some time, throwing himself back into the chair and looking at the rivets in the heavy cruiser's armored wall. But then he lurched forward and took the jewelry box that was lying on the table. After that, we discussed nothing but purely technical issues. When Count Avalle and those accompanying him had left my flagship, I made a call to Admiral Kiro Sabuto:

"Admiral, all signs point toward our guest being on his way to the Orange House Capital. The warp beacon will be turned on for the Duke's younger brother to let his ships out of Tesse. Make sure a couple of cloaked spies and at least one division of stealth bombers sneak into our enemy's lair unnoticed. They'll have to wait quite some time once they get there, so make sure they’re stocked up to stay around for the next month."

"I'll get it all done, Crown Prince. By the way, I am now in the fleet headquarters. An orderly is telling me that a Kingdom of Veyerde diplomatic shuttle wants to dock on
Emperor August.
The ambassador says that he has valuable diplomatic cargo on board from the Kingdom of Veyerde that must be delivered directly into the hands of Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle. Should I give them permission?"

I gave my permission and went to the hangar to receive whatever diplomatic cargo Astra had sent. Walking down the resonant corridors of the heavy cruiser, I tried to guess what my former favorite had sent. To be honest, the right answer was the first thing that sprang to mind, but it seemed too unbelievable. The ambassador's shuttle had already managed to fly away. In the center of the huge hall, Astra was standing right there in the flesh, wearing a light-pink dress with a bunch of suitcases and boxes next to her. Already expecting something was amiss, I read the character information:

Astra ton Veyerde

Age: 18

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Class: Aristocrat/Artist

Achievements: Iseyek Mating Dance, Former Queen

Fame: +8

Standing: -4

Presumed personal opinion of you: +100 (completely faithful)

"The Crown of Veyerde did not allow me to be next to you, so I abdicated in favor of my older sister Rosa. Aren't you happy that I came?"

I took a seat on one of Princess Astra's boxes, completely wiped out... Maybe she wasn't actually a Princess anymore, but just a high-born "ton" without a title... Without looking toward the girl, I said:

"My cousin Katerina will kill you when she finds out. She put so much effort into ordering your coronation robe, but it turns out all that effort and money just went down the drain..."

"Don't worry, Georg, I'll ask my sister Rosa to send the robe back to Katerina!"

All I could do was wave my hand helplessly. Astra hadn't changed at all. With her naivety in some things, she was capable of putting anyone in an awkward position.

"I had a good reason to return. Your Highness promised me a romantic evening, and I still haven't gotten it!"

To be honest, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her considering that a good enough reason for refusing a Queen's throne. Astra kept silent for a bit longer and, looking somewhere past me, added, much quieter:

"And also... the doctor said that I'm having a boy."

I
f Astra thought that I would jump in joy after such a declaration and carry her off in my arms, she was seriously wrong. A whole stampede of thoughts began stomping through my brain, one darker than the next. In just a little over a month, I would be leaving the game, and Mr. G.I. would be replacing me and, to him, Astra was simply a sound, and her child was nothing but a shameful misunderstanding in the carrying out of a substitution contract. Worse than that, Miya would return, and she had her own views about exactly which of Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle's children were worthy of rights to thrones.

Miya's next steps were not at all difficult to predict: The Truth Seeker was preparing to officially marry Crown Prince Georg before her daughter's birth and, after that, their legal daughter would automatically become a Crown Princess with all the privileges and rights to Orange House and Imperial thrones that came with it. Likanna, my underage daughter from a previous spouse, after Crown Prince Georg's divorce with Marta royl Valesy ton Mesfelle-Kyle, would drop significantly in throne-succession position, though she would remain a Crown Princess. If Likanna were already of age, no position loss in rank tables could threaten her. All the same, Likanna was a child, and her rights directly depended on the legitimacy of both parents. By the way, I figured out why Princess Marta was so patient all that time. Despite all her negative feelings toward her spouse, she was waiting and bearing it until Likanna's sixteenth birthday.

Which of Crown Prince Georg's two daughters would get priority in inheritance and rights was something I could not figure out all on my own. There were a ton of different aristocratic code subparagraphs intersecting, and I had to consider all of the factors. Of course, my advisor Katerina ton Mesfelle could help in this issue, though I was afraid of getting my cousin involved in such a delicate and dangerous topic. One day, Miya might read the information that Katerina ton Mesfelle is aware of her plans, and predicting the dangerous Truth Seeker's reaction to such a potential threat was something I did not want to do.

Besides that, it wasn't good to forget about the fact that my sister, Crown Princess Violetta also had her own plans, which got in the way of our brother Roben and his illness-addled child. Violetta still did not have children of her own, so all of Crown Prince Georg's children born earlier could also be an obstacle in my twin sister's path to the throne for her own children. In addition, there were the many offspring of Duke Paolo, his younger brother Avalle and their two second cousins... And then, on the backdrop of this toxic, deadly hornets next, my former favorite, the ex-Queen of Veyerde tells me she's expecting a son. I breathed a heavy sigh.

"Astra, let me just name a list of those who now have a motive to kill you," I began counting on my fingers for illustrative purpose.

When there weren't enough fingers left on my hands, and I started naming another ten names, Astra finally recognized how serious the situation was, and the smile crawled off her face.

"And what should I do then, your Highness?" obvious fear could be heard in my former favorite's voice.

"To start out, don't even hint to anyone about your secret. Act natural, be happy and weird like normal. Make frequent appearances in public, be dumb and play out the careless, satisfied life of a Crown Prince's companion. We've got about another month before your pregnancy will be obvious. In that time, the curious journalists will get used to the fact that you're back with me, and lose interest. After that, you'll start making less appearances in public until, at the end, you spend all your time under guard in my palace on Unatari, not leaving without very good reason. And finally, I'll hide you in a place where our foes will never find you."

Astra's usual carelessness returned. She smiled and looked at the pile of boxes.

"Thank you, Crown Prince Georg. Could your Highness call servants to bring my things to my cabin?"

"No, Astra. From now on, I will not be risking your life by taking you on military campaigns. For now, let your things lay here. This evening, I'll be flying to Unatari and taking you with me. I have important business to attend to in space, so just sit here in the cabin with my bodyguards. Although... I have a better idea. I'm about to fly out to accept the
Uukresh
carrier into the fleet, and next in line is the battleship
Princess Astra
. You can christen the starship named in your honor."

The girl clapped her palms in joy and said:

"I want to express my gratitude in the normal way, but my opinion of your Highness is already at maximum. Instead, Prince Georg, I can do the interior decorating on the starship
Princess Astra
! The ship won't know its equal in the whole galaxy!"

I seriously considered the possibility for a few seconds, but still decided to protect the battleship crew's mental health. It isn't the soldiers fault, after all, that the artist has a depressing, abstract style. Instead, I suggested that Astra spend the few hours I'll be on the
Uukresh
making a design to go on the outside of the battleship named in her honor.

* * *

The
Uukresh
impressed with its dimensions and brought joy to the eye at the perfection of its sleek surfaces, characteristic of all Swarm starships. The ship's energy shield was capable of taking the full brunt of five battleship cannons at once. Heavy energy neutralizers threatened serious problems to any enemy starship in the eighty-kilometer range of this giant. In just a few seconds, any enemy ship would be brought to a halt with its main thrusters, energy shields and cannons all turned off.

But the
Uukresh
's main feature was its huge number of hangars made to store four hundred combat drones, as well as repair bays for eighty small ships. Of the many set-up options available, I had chosen eighty heavy, short-range
Legionnaire
corvettes. These ships had lightweight warp-drives, which allowed them to only move inside of a star system, however they made up for that with their stronger energy shields, pair of light cruiser cannons and, the especially awesome twenty-combat-drone-capacity bays. In fact, the
Uukresh
was capable of releasing eighty corvettes into battle at once, which could then release a total of two thousand combat drones. And if you consider that all the drones would be swapped out for nastier ones in a month, then I did not at all envy the ships of the United Fleet, who would be the first to have this awesome power tested on them.

Of course, there are effective countermeasures to any tactic but, all the same, I couldn't hold back the ear-to-ear smile when
Uukresh
captain Clay ton Avelle took me on a tour of the huge starship and showed me all this devastating force. Former first assistant Oorast Pohl had been overseeing the restoration of the
Uukresh
for the last four months. In that time, Clay ton Avelle had simply embraced the ship. He could tell you about every compartment and every restored armor sheet, as well as having done a fairly good of job learning how to speak and even swear in the Iseyek language. The gigantic starship's crew was mixed and was made up of twenty thousand people and eight thousand Iseyek of various varieties, the very same ones who had been able to save the dying ship during the Alien defeat of the Swarm in the Aysar system.

At first, I was a bit unaccustomed to seeing a member of my fleet without a Black Star on their Orange House ceremonial uniform. Every participant in the campaign in Alien territory had received this sign of having overcome death, and the black medal was a kind of "symbol of quality" in its way, and a confirmation of bravery and loyalty. Clay ton Avelle had not, in fact, participated in our campaign, and I thought to myself for some time about the option of appointing one of the captains who had distinguished themselves in the distant campaign to pilot the
Uukresh
. However, when talking with Clay ton Avelle, I formed quite the positive opinion about him and decided to keep him on. The brave officer was not at all bothered by the fact that he didn't have a Black Star. Instead of a medal, he had the largest and most dangerous starship in the Orange House under his command and one of the most powerful ships in the whole Empire.

"Captain, how well acquainted are you with the Iseyek under your command?" I wondered to Clay ton Avelle.

"I know all of the intelligent ones by name. There are around sixty of them. They are all capable of making complex decisions on their own. The rest of the Iseyek on my ship had their self-teaching genes deactivated at birth. They are diligent, tireless, and unreservedly loyal workers, but no more."

"Are there any intelligent small Alpha Iseyek here who also wear armored suits over their shells?" I wondered, asking a long-ago-formed question.

The captain thought for a few seconds before giving his answer:

"There definitely aren't any intelligent ones like that, Prince Georg. Though... let me think... I have seen one like that among the normal builders, who I put on the sixth deck of the interior partitions. Small in height, just six feet. Inexpressive, tiny eyes, and, as it were, an armored suit. From some old genetic line, I suppose. Modern Alpha Iseyek are bigger. Should I call that worker here so your Highness can look on the dwarf in the flesh?"

I agreed and said to bring the worker to a separate office. In five minutes, the guards had brought the subject to me. He was wearing an old, scratched armored suit with no helmet. I asked all the guards other than Phobos to leave the room and wait in the hall.

"Phobos, translate for me. Ask this Alpha Iseyek to remove his armored suit. If needed, I'd be happy to help him."

He didn't need any help. The insect unbuttoned the magnetic buttons and carefully lowered the heavy metal plates to the floor. Under them, as I suspected, there was a pair of dark-blue wings folded up.

"Who is that?!" shouted the surprised Clay ton Avelle, who even reached for his laser pistol holster.

"Do not shoot, cap-i-tain. That is Iseyek Prime, male," said Phobos, stating the obvious.

My bodyguard delivered a long trill, and the Iseyek Prime answered him, at first unconfident, but then growing braver with every word. Finally, Phobos turned his body toward me and said:

"He really is Iseyek Prime. But only he is deactivate gene intelligence. Such to be make when birth. Swarm Progenitors to make many experiment with gene of many Iseyek, including they kind, Iseyek Prime."

"Phobos, what do you think, would such a male be acceptable to Swarm Queen Nai Igir? Or should we search for an intact one?"

"My Princcce, thisss one is intact. He is capable of fertilizing a clutch. But don't solve any question. Take decision of leader. He is very much value for Swarm, and Iseyek Prime to give for sssuch male all that Princcce can want."

"Captain Clay ton Avelle, I am taking this one. He is capable of doing more than simply turning bolts and shifting weight loads. Put your armor back on. The secret of the wings is too valuable to tell to everyone we cross path with."

When my soldiers had taken the Iseyek Prime away, I turned to the mothership captain:

"As it turns out, I have promised the Purple House to name one of my fleet's ships 'Joan the Fatty' in honor of the Duke's granddaughter, Joan royl Reyekh. At first, I supposed that my downed flagship from the Sector Eight Fleet would be reborn in the form of a battleship, and I even ordered one for that purpose. But, after touring this carrier, I realized that no other ship could be more worthy of the name 'Joan the Fatty' than this bulbous Swarm mothership. What do you say, captain?"

Clay ton Avelle took a bow and said:

"Crown Prince, it would be a huge honor for me to pilot a ship with the same name as the glorious former Sector Eight flagship."

"That is great, captain. Change the ship's name in all necessary documents. From this moment, the flagship of the Perimeter Sector Eight fleet will once again be
Joan the Fatty
, though to be honest, she's put on some weight."

I was already on a shuttle on its way to the battleship
Princess Astra
when the news about the new flagship reached the Purple House:

Standing change. Joan royl Reyekh's opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +27 (friendship)

Standing change. Purple House (Empire) opinion of you has improved.

Present Purple House (Empire) faction opinion of you: +14 (warm)

Insofar as I understood, this meant that I had received the highest possible jump in opinion from both the little Crown Princess and the whole faction. But I hadn't been able to enjoy that fact yet before I got a hate-filled letter from my daughter:

"Dad! I'm really mad at you! Joan is being a bitch again, and her and I aren't friends anymore. Why'd you give that fatass such a big ship, but I just got a normal one that you've got a ton of?"

Standing change. Likanna royl Mesfelle's opinion of you has worsened.