Web of Worlds

by Michael Atamanov

  “Ivan, Eva-Maria, perhaps my companions didn’t quite tell you the conditions of the peace treaty clearly. Well, my advisor Gerd Mac-Peu Un-Roi will explain everything. Does Eva-Maria understand Geckho?”

  The lady nodded in silence and young mage Mac-Peu stepped out in front. Confidently and clearly, as if standing in a large room behind a tribune with a long-prepared speech, the mage began to explain:

  “It’s all in the terms of the peace treaty with the La-Fin Faction, which you know better under the name Dark Faction. As an aside, it is just one of the three biggest powers of the magocratic world. Anyhow, they agreed not to destroy the Human-6 Faction hexagons both on the eastern and western shores of the bay, and stop the invasion. The La-Fin Faction also agreed to never again lay claim to Human-3 or Human-6 Faction territory with the exception of the hexagons they already controlled long enough to produce a claim for: Tropics and Rocky Island. And at that both factions may transport any freight through La-Fin Faction territory with no limitations. An order to free the prisoners from the Human-1, Human-3 and Human-6 Factions was given yesterday during the day so, according to my calculations, they should all be back already.”

  Ivan Lozovsky gave a nod of approval, and the German faction representative did the same a second later. Gerd Eva-Maria Fischer immediately asked whether her players could now enter the game on the island, where Dark Faction security was previously executing them whenever they did. The advisor tossed an inquisitive gaze my way because he didn’t know my plans. I continued on my own:

  “The players stuck on the island will be evacuated in an orderly fashion in groups of fifteen. The Sio-Mi-Dori antigrav,” I turned and pointed at the aircraft behind me, “will take you all to the eastern shore. My advisor will put together a schedule. And by the way, volunteers may remain on the island and join the Relict Faction. It’s an inter-factional institution with the prime goal of defending our shared planet Earth after the tong of immunity expires. I am leader of that new force and am bringing together the most capable Builders, Engineers, Mechanics and members of adjacent professions on the island. I have some blueprints and I will use them to build a planetary shield generator for Earth on Rocky Island. If humanity, and I’m referring to both worlds now, cannot build at least four such generators and better six before the term of safety is up, our planet will surely be bombarded from space both in the virtual game and the real world.”

  Authority increased to 61!

  After I finished, a long silence took hold. Clearly, my former leader was having a very hard time accepting the new reality of his former subordinate Gnat being fully independent from his faction. And I was discussing the kind of mass-scale projects and technologies the faction had never come up against before, which also seemed to irk him. The representative of the German Faction was just nervously biting her lip. I suppose she was hoping to the last to get the Rocky Island back.

  A prophet is unrecognized in his own land. That was the very phrase that came to mind. After all, if I were any unknown high-profile Geckho or, let’s say, the fearsome Dark Faction General Ui-Taka, my allies would have had a much easier time digesting the fact that a new power had come on the scene. The silence really did stretch on an indecent length of time. But my wife Minn-O jumped out ahead:

  “I am now leader of the La-Fin Faction. And I am a bit bothered by the fact that the most important point hasn’t come up yet. The leaders of the world where magic has atrophied have not confirmed that they accept the terms of peace. It is important for me to hear that unambiguously before I order my soldiers back from the fronts and for resources to be used on peaceful development instead of war!”

  My wayedda’s words acted as a catalyst and the pace of the discussion increased significantly.

  “Princess Minn-O La-Fin,” Ivan Lozovsky bowed deeply and respectfully, “I did not believe it was necessary to say because your spouse Leng Gnat was conferred total authority and had the right to make peace treaties in the name of the Human-3 Faction. But just so you don’t have a single doubt I, head of the H3 Faction, officially confirm that we accept the peace treaty and it will not come under revision. Especially given our Geckho suzerains have expressed a surprising involvement in their vassals’ affairs and guaranteed that some territories and borders are now inviolable.”

  “The Human-6 Faction does not dispute the terms of the peace either,” confirmed the German Engineer. After some thought, she added: “Now we understand that an isolated island is not the greatest in terms of further development and logistics. But in any case, we lost a level-three node and our faction already has a catastrophic lack of players. In fact we have three times more than our maximum number of slots. Our players work in three shifts, cycling out for one another and that is not good for work efficiency. What’s more, the players trapped on Rocky Island, and there are around three hundred of them, haven’t been in the game for six days now. We found out from the Geckho that if a player doesn’t enter the game for more than seven or eight days, their character first loses progress to the next level, then a few days later starts losing levels and skills. After that, they even start losing stats and health points. So we are very interested in getting our players off the island in the nearest future and are willing to transfer two or three hundred of our players temporarily or permanently to the Relict Faction.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be hard to agree there. We have the materials to develop the Rocky Island hexagon to level two, so it’ll go up in the next couple of days. We’ll be able to accept two hundred and fifty players then.”

  “Yes, I’m sure that won’t be a problem,” I confirmed my advisor’s words. “Although it’s possible that only those who fought against the Naiads remain on the island. In any case, we can discuss that tomorrow. Right now I have an important meeting with the viceroy of Earth Kosta Dykhsh. And I strongly advise the Human-3 and Human-6 Factions to get a crystal drive ready. I want to share technologies and blueprints that will be very interesting to you and humanity as a whole.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three. Web of Worlds

  ULINE TAR wasn’t wrong. The viceroy was in the game. Beyond that, Kosta Dykhsh seemingly knew I was coming, because he was waiting at the entrance to his metal hut.

  “Kento duho, Leng Gnat,” the huge furry Geckho replied to my ornate and warm greeting with the standard phrase, officious and cold. “Sorry, I can’t invite you in. It’s real bedlam in there, there’s not even anywhere to sit. I’m folding and packing my things. Tomorrow morning I’ll be moving into a residence more befitting a viceroy. Although it’s something of a pity, I like it here. I always loved being secluded. You’ve got silence, no one coming around asking questions or pestering you. Just sometimes newbies would fall out of the Labyrinth afraid and confused. That always amused me...”

  Kosta Dykhsh went silent and groaned in dismay because, from behind the slightly closed door, the metal hut, which was partially interred in the earth, something audibly fell and shattered. Apparently, the viceroy wasn’t alone at this late hour. Did he have a nighttime guest? Perhaps a lady?

  “I must have stacked some boxes wrong,” Kosta Dykhsh tried sheepishly to justify himself. “I told you, I’m packing my things.”

  Excessive curiosity was not my style. I respected others’ privacy and tried not to delve into their secrets. But this all just looked too piquant to let go: Uline Tar’s groom, expecting a dowry of several million from her, had some stranger frittered away in his little hut in the woods. So I couldn’t resist.

  Scanning skill increased to level fifty!

  I was expecting a marker for anything or anyone at all on the minimap. Anything but what the scan finally gave me:

  Woman. Human. Level-62 Medic.

  Uhh... Human medic, woman... And seemingly in hiding, because the Diplomat really didn’t want to advertise her presence.

  “Am I to understand Anna is in your hut?” I asked directly.

  Instead of an answer, Kosta Dykhsh suggested we take a walk. What
? Nighttime, a dangerous forest nearby with some creature regularly eating our lumberjacks which still hadn’t been identified. The suggestion to leave the ring of bright lights and the security system around his domicile to go into the dangerous dark was so illogical and just bad... that I agreed. I just commanded my Small Relict Guard Drone to come down lower and protect me. We walked two hundred steps from the Geckho Diplomat’s place before Kosta Dykhsh answered the question:

  “Yes, it is Anna. From your faction. She is now considered a refugee from the Human-8 Faction.”

  Seeing incomprehension and many questions on my face, he continued:

  “The human woman came to me two days ago. Afraid and confused, she requested asylum. Anna believes she was controlled by magic and used against her will for nefarious ends. She does not want to speak with any of the human factions. I know that in your world she has been accused of monstrous crimes, but here in the game Anna is under Geckho protection. Tomorrow I’ll pick her up and take her with me to the spaceport. I’ll get her set up in some starship or Geckho science laboratory on the planet. She’ll be helped to change faction and her physical body will be transferred to a safe location.”

  Lots of questions suddenly bubbled up. But the main one was: how had Anna entered the game? The last time she had been seen was in the Canadian embassy in Moscow. Where had she found a virt pod? Based on the timeframe, Anna could easily have already travelled to the North American faction. But then why was her character here in the capital node? Still I understood it was useless to ask questions or argue. The Geckho didn’t usually get involved in their vassals’ conflicts, but when they guaranteed protection, whether for a node or humanity as a whole, it was not just empty words.

  So I changed the topic and told them in all detail about the peace treaty and my talks with the prelates of Tailax. All that time, I didn’t smooth over any sharp corners. I told them what the Meleyephatian vassals said about how, in the past, after the tong of safety was up the Geckho didn’t always protect their vassals and sometimes just captured the planet for themselves if they took a shine to it. I also told them my fears about our planet being far from the Geckho’s primary territories and thus harder to defend constantly.

  “Well, Leng Gnat, as such serious and direct questions have come up, let’s be honest. I will not comment on past examples. What’s done is done. There have been many generations since those times. But Earth’s situation now is worrying. The planet’s term of safety is now half over. And the external situation is scary: there’s a galactic war between the great space races, and the Geckho have fairly modest military positions in this sector of the cosmos. To our great fortune, the Meleyephatian horde has been forced to turn their attention to the Miyelonians, which has given the Geckho a chance to replenish their losses and reinforce.”

  Interesting, interesting. Kung Waid Shishish had gotten the reinforcements he requested, and the detailed map of Meleyephatian positions would clearly help the leader of the Second Strike Fleet. The Geckho fleet leader’s issues were gradually smoothing over, which played into Earth’s hand. But I didn’t miss the chance to make a clarification:

  “So the main battles are between the Miyelonians and Meleyephatians? Who’s winning?”

  The Diplomat groaned in dismay. My words were wounding him somehow:

  “Battles are happening everywhere. The Geckho have many fleets, and Kung Waid Shishish’s Second Strike Fleet is nowhere near the only one. In some places, the situation on the front is more favorable. In others less, but no one can say the Geckho are just hanging back and watching the war pass them by! The Meleyephatian horde has lost three times more starships to the Geckho than against all other opponents put together!”

  I had to apologize and say I misspoke. The huge Geckho instantly became composed and answered my second question:

  “For now the Geckho and Meleyephatians are just about on equal footing in terms of lost colonies and stations. Destroyed starships are also nearly even. But you’re right in another way. The main winners in this war are the Miyelonians. The Union of Miyelonian Prides has captured more than seventy star systems from the horde at this point, and six of them are relatively near Earth. Your Miyelonian bride Kung Keetsie-Myau is just bathing in glory!”

  “Bride?” I asked, the word having jumped out at me. “What makes the commander my wife all of a sudden?”

  The Diplomat gave a loud rumble while bearing his tusks, which was how his race laughed happily.

  “When you performed the ritual Dance of Awakened Love with her, it was broadcast throughout the galaxy on every news channel! I know it was just a spontaneous decision caused by ignorance of Miyelonian traditions, but if you and Keetsie were of the same race, you’d already be considered man and wife! As it was, everyone thought it was merely something to laugh at.”

  “I just saw it as a convenient chance to talk with Keetsie where no one else could hear. It was over that dance that the Great One promised that the Miyelonians would not lay claim to planet Earth.”

  The viceroy immediately stopped bearing his teeth and turned more serious:

  “Yes, Gerd Ivan Lozovsky told me after he heard the news from a different player. Good if so. But, you see, Gnat, you need something a bit weightier than a third-hand promise confirmed by nothing at all to call it a guarantee. Wait, stop,” my mountainous companion stopped and started staring attentively into the darkness of the woods to our left. “I heard rustling in the bushes over there. Let’s turn back.”

  I didn’t see anything suspicious, although I was sure my Gnat had higher Perception than him. I lowered the IR-Lens over my eye and, in the infrared light, discovered a level-21 Fox hiding in the suspicious bushes, no danger. And there were no other large animals nearby, which I told Kosta Dykhsh. Nevertheless, the viceroy wanted to head back:

  “Three days ago some creature came out of those same hedges and ate me. I only saw a blurry movement then felt sharp teeth in my neck. But you, Leng Gnat, wanted to know about something totally different. Will the Geckho actually defend your home planet when it is no longer invulnerable? It is easy to boast of the greatness of the Geckho race, but will they really organize defense and bring sufficient forces to deflect an attack?”

  Yes, I confirmed that was the question I wanted answered most of all. The hefty tall Geckho loudly sighed:

  “I don’t know the answer myself. Although, I’ll be frank, not very long ago I would have said: ‘no, they won’t.’ You understand, no matter what the Geckho say, my race doesn’t have significant forces here other than one battered fleet. If a full-scale invasion were to take place, no one would bend over backwards for such a distant planet. Sure maybe there’d be some grumbling and they’d shake some compensation out of the invaders, but it wouldn’t go further than that. Still, something is shifting imperceptibly. Lots of groups of taciturn Engineers and Prospectors are coming to the spaceport as of late, then they send them out all around the virtual planet. They’re searching for something, building. This planet has an official viceroy. At the very least that means the Geckho rulers are no longer ambivalent towards Earth’s fate.”

  Somewhat paltry conclusions, to be honest. I didn’t hear any guarantee for humanity, just vague statements about a “changing situation.” Seemingly, the prelates of Tailax were speaking the truth: the Geckho were prepared to give up humanity as long as they got some compensation for our habitable planet. And that was probably exactly why the Geckho treated us aboriginals the way they did. Most of all it reminded me of how the greedy conquistadors treated the American natives. Judge for yourself: the robbery-level compensation they paid for our natural resources, imports from space were available only at the spaceport and for triple the normal price, we were isolated from the transportation network and subject to a complete blockade on information about events in distant space. I mean, come on. Geckho policy didn’t exactly look like it was aimed at long-term development! It seemed more like an attempt to hurriedly unload as many of our natural
resources as possible while they had the chance. In fact, Kosta Dykhsh’s gray-market schemes for contraband metals and installing spy equipment in the space port restaurant all fit into the general concept of “scrape up crystals by any means because tomorrow it may be closed for business.” But maybe that could all be changed?

  What could people do to defend their homeworld? And would the suzerains support these measures? I asked Kosta Dykhsh. The furry fellow spent a long time thinking before starting to answer and I immediately could sense how carefully the viceroy was choosing his words:

  “You told me about the technology and designs you got from the Meleyephatian horde. Yes, a planetary shield would help significantly to lower damage from orbital bombardment. But do you really think that I and the other Geckho haven’t considered that? We haven’t merely considered it. We’ve discussed it many times, argued and even made economic calculations! The problem is that it is a big challenge to build a planetary shield. You need an insane amount of materials, expensive equipment and a decent chunk of time. Each shield generator costs seventy or eighty million crystals at the very least. And to really work well, you need twelve! At the very least six or eight to hold fire from a couple Destroyers until help arrives.”

  I shuddered despite myself, remembering the Meleyephatian Destroyer. It was a titanic ship that moved slowly and inexorably toward the Un-Tesh comet guarded by two thousand smaller starships. Destroyers with their colossal firepower were specialized in taking down defensive screens from planets, comets and other heavenly bodies. And in just half a tong these ghastly titans would be orbiting our Earth!

  “Viceroy, the funds will be found! The human factions will invest as much as possible to defend of their home planet...”