New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3)

by Michael Atamanov

  The synthetic blonde recoiled in fear, but I managed to calm her down:

  "Bionica, you mean too much to me to erase the data files and lose your unique personality. That was exactly why I had to send you and the others to Star Mutt. So you could wait out all the alerts and scandals."

  The android gave a smile, somewhat embarrassed, and embraced me again, pressing her whole body to mine:

  "Master, know that I would have my memory erased without hesitation if that was what it took to protect your Highness from hardship!"

  "I know, Bionica. Your absolute loyalty is one of the reasons you are so valuable to me. But, I suspect that telling me your feelings was not your only reason for wanting to speak with me alone."

  "Yes, of course. Crown Prince Georg, I wanted to remind you of our conversation on the use of androids. The forty thousand vacancies you want to fill are just a drop in the bucket. At present, there are over six hundred million unemployed androids in the Empire. Your Highness would be able to receive a million, or ten million, or even a hundred million laborers. Simply give your principled agreement, and qualified robots from all kinds of professions would begin buying their own tickets here on passenger liners, or even packing themselves into boxes for shipment here to start work. Engineers and electricians, stevedores and miners, factory workers, agronomists and builders, communications workers, and nannies..."

  "Bionica, what you've described is, of course, cool. But I simply do not have the money to pay so many contracts..." I said thoughtfully.

  My robot secretary lowered her voice to a whisper and said:

  "Your Highness wouldn't have to spend a single credit. Even signing actual contracts would not be at all necessary. Not everyone knows this, but the work algorithm embedded in us is as follows: if an android is not able to find a real paying contract, like for a year or more, then that android is free to take freelance jobs or even work for no pay, as the company puts it 'for demonstration purposes.' In that case, the manufacturer would be entitled to a much smaller percent of the income earned by the android, or maybe even none at all. I have already spoken with Katerina ton Mesfelle, Prince, and she agreed that if you go about it in the right way, this could be a legal method of significantly lowering expenses. And also..."

  Bionica suddenly grew silent, as if she didn't know whether she should continue, but all the same made up her mind and said:

  "Beyond that, in all androids there is a programmed-in requirement that they follow the laws of whatever society they are in. That means that, if androids are freed from paying the lion's share of their income to the manufacturer by law, the androids will have no choice but to obey."

  "Can you tell me some more about that?" I asked, my interest piqued. My assistant explained, clearly prepared:

  "It's a legal loophole that was discovered long ago. Many are aware of it. But no ruler, be they from a small peripheral Kingdom or even the Head of a Great House, thought it would be worth using, given that by doing so you would be directly provoking the Green House. The Lavaelle family, which leads the Green House, has a monopoly on android manufacturing and receives huge profits from the billions of robots they have working throughout the Empire. The average yearly contract for an android is just three hundred credits, but the Green House corporation has one point five billion such contracts, and they earn eighty-nine percent of those wages, meaning their yearly income is four billion credits. All these corporations, no matter their names, are in fact owned by the Green House Head, Duke Amelius royl Mast ton Lavaelle."

  "Four hundred billion a year just from androids?!" I'm usually a pretty calm guy, but that number really shocked me. "That's a thousand new battleships a year!"

  Bionica, clearly satisfied with the effect she'd had on me, began laughing and answered:

  "Crown Prince, nowhere near everyone thinks of money in terms of its starship value. Money is power, loyalty, and millions of allies and agents throughout the Empire. And ships as well, of course. Maybe not a thousand, but at least fifty battleships a year is what the Green House really does buy. House Lavaelle also builds heavier class ships. I know this information from my android friends. That is precisely why the Green House is not only the richest, but also the strongest of all the Great Imperial Houses. The true numerical power of all their fleets is a strictly guarded military secret, and I am not sure that even the Emperor knows the Green House's true capabilities."

  My synthetic secretary went silent, giving me the chance to contemplate what she'd said. I started thinking very intensely. The Green House, insofar as I understood, hadn't undertaken any active wars for fifty years, if not more. And what was more, the Alien invasion had yet to come near their Perimeter Sectors. That all meant that the armada that Duke Lavaelle would be able to gather under his banner could potentially surpass even the Imperial fleet itself in firepower. I couldn't quite believe that Emperor August didn't know about the existence of such a crippling force. After all, the Throne World had its observers everywhere.

  If so, then it made you wonder why the Emperor didn't just use their already-existing armada to fight the Antagonists, instead of waiting many years for the Unatari State, which doesn't even exist yet, to grow in strength. Why wouldn't the Emperor use the Green House fleet? The only answer I could figure was that August wasn't sure that the Greens would obey his command. The Head of the Green House may find it more logical to use the bludgeon in his hand to capture the Throne World and become Emperor himself than to waste it on a war with the semi-mythological Antagonists, who no one but an old ambassador and some servants had seen for one hundred eighty years.

  In light of the new information, the Emperor's desire to give Unatari its independence made me feel cautious. After all, August had said clearly that, if I declared independence, I could expect to go to war with three Great Houses at once, including the Green.

  "Master, we have slightly diverged from the main topic of conversation," Bionica said, reminding me of her presence. "In that the new Untatari government, insofar as I understand, is currently at war with the Green House, then why not deprive your enemies of an income source? Crown Prince, issue a law that all androids in Unatari space are emancipated from payouts to their manufacturing company and will receive full freedom, becoming fully-fledged citizens of the new government. I assure you, Crown Prince Georg, that hundreds of millions of androids would come here in very short order to make use of this chance to obtain independence. They would work for your State and pay taxes to your coffers just like all other Unatari citizens. Also, there do exist some very rich androids. Secret millionaires and even some billionaires. Almost all of them would rush to the Unatari State at first notice. And when they got here, they would invest their capital in the local economy..."

  Bionica continued to speak, describing the advantages of using androids, but I wasn't really listening anymore. My brain had been caught on the fact that my own robot secretary had tried to manipulate me! In her speech, Bionica had moved quite unassumingly from reducing commissions paid to Green House companies to my giving full independence to all androids in my borders as if those were identical concepts. But, in fact, there was a difference, and a huge one, at that! Even if I could hypothetically agree to the first point, especially in light of the Green House being a potential enemy, giving full freedom to androids was a step, the consequences of which I preferred not to predict. That was why I thought it necessary to unravel that delicate issue right away.

  "Superadministrator mode!" I said, using the passwords provided in my robot secretary's manual. "Bionica, tell me everything about why you brought up giving independence to androids. I am also interested in how androids envision the future, if they are given independence."

  It would have been impossible to confuse my personal secretary with a living person now. Her facial muscles weren't on, and the girl's voice became obviously synthetic.

  "Presenting official offer to Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle agreed upon by android society with maj
ority vote. Probability of acceptance in this form: no more than seventeen percent. Probability of accepting offer without android independence: eighty-seven percent. When dealing with humans, it is beneficial to start negotiations from a position more favorable to you, to allow for compromise. Point on android independence included for that reason, though clearly not advantageous to your Highness. Most probable scenario, if robots are given independence: robots will take all open vacancies in an uncontrolled manner, forcing human labor out of all sectors and fields. I predict that this would lead to near immediate revolts among newly-unemployed human population."

  "I see. Bionica, return to normal behavior. Set humanity to maximum!"

  My assistant groaned and became very red, lowering her eyes to the floor.

  "Bionica, send an official offer to all androids in the Empire from me. They will be completely free from paying commission to their manufacturing companies in my territory. I will also offer protection from their former owners. Working androids will be subject to a ten percent labor tax in the Unatari State, just as all other working citizens are. Android capital, property and investments will be protected by the government. But it is not going to be possible to give them full independence yet, because that is a very difficult decision requiring careful consideration. Those androids who find my offer acceptable must come to Tialla or Forepost-11 in the next three to four days. And for the future, I want you to know that I expect not only personal attachment from my secretary, but also the support of my interests above those of others. That is all. You may go. Call the Arite in after you."

  A few seconds later, a plump redheaded girl opened the door and came in.

  "Prince Georg, I'm not sure what you and Bionica were speaking about, but the android beauty left here simply red with shame!" The Arite laughed, changing appearance to the gray-haired captain of Star Mutt.

  "For you, I have an offer prepared that is no less shocking," I promised. "I need you to get in touch with your species and find out if it would be possible to create a group of, let's say, twenty Arite Iseyek to work incognito in human society."

  "Prince Georg, I ask you to clarify the purpose of creating such a group." Not a trace of the earlier light-hearted happiness remained in the Arite's voice.

  "They must be able to move about Imperial territory freely, changing appearance and not attracting unwanted attention to themselves from security services. The main purpose of their activity would be to hamper enemy military control systems, issue strange and harmful commands to soldiers and fleets in the name of their admirals and generals, and discredit politicians in a list I've prepared by becoming them and attracting societal attention with awkward and scandalous behavior. Basically, do exactly what the Arites did for the whole two-hundred-year war with the Swarm."

  The old man sitting opposite me began smiling in satisfaction.

  "I would be capable of gathering a team of twenty Arites. I would even personally be able to use the experience I've gained to explain how an Arite must live in human society without standing out. But I have two conditions. First: this must be agreed upon with Queen Nai Igir. We are all her subjects now, which means that if our operation fails, your enemies will not only consider your Highness responsible here, but the Swarm as a whole as well. Second condition: the price of such a unique service would be extremely high. Each of the saboteurs would have to be trained, sneaked behind enemy lines, and provided with appropriate documents, which would cost a total of five million credits per individual."

  "Five million?! That's the price of a whole light cruiser, fully equipped with all the most modern munitions!" I flared up.

  The Arite did not agree with my reaction and smiled, revealing a set of yellow teeth:

  "One cruiser, even if it were the best around, wouldn't substantially change the balance of forces in a war between stellar governments. But a timely order from a commander, whether saying to retreat, make an ineffectual maneuver, or turn this or that warp beacon on, would be able to change the course of the whole war, if used properly, of course."

  I began drumming my fingers in thought on the tabletop. Five million per saboteur was quite a lot. But then, the ability to use Arites to sew chaos in the enemy ranks really did open a truly limitless number of doors.

  "Alright, Arite. I was already preparing to meet the Swarm Queen soon, so now I guess I have another reason to see Nai Igir. As for money, a hundred million credits for twenty saboteurs is, of course, a small fortune, but I will try to come up with it."

  "Wise decision, Prince Georg," the graying captain smiled, changing appearance back to that of the redheaded girl. "With the greatest spies and saboteurs in the galaxy at your Highness’s disposal, you will quickly figure out why the Swarm was never once able to win even one significant victory in the whole two-hundred-year war with the Arites."

  Point of Divergence

  The public relations barrage arranged by Katerina ton Mesfelle was an overwhelming success. Beyond a doubt, it was my cousin's greatest work, a true masterpiece, a reference point of how telecommunications can be used for propaganda purposes. The standing of the Orange House Head sank like a stone, even dipping below zero. We accused him of illegal surveillance against civilians, corruption and embezzlement, as well as a great many violations of the Aristocratic Codex, which could even have caused him to lose his title. It got so bad that the Orange House press service had to stop taking messages, drowned under the wave of disapproval that swept in from Imperial citizens outraged at the fact that relatives of veterans of the Alien war were being persecuted.

  The stink that arose was such that even the Throne World could not remain neutral. That was the true pinnacle of the attack. The Emperor's secretariat sent an open letter to Duke Avalle royl Anjer ton Mesfelle, in which it was strongly recommended that the Head of the Orange House immediately cease his illegal operations against civilians and take the strictest possible measures against the Orange House employees who had allowed it, even going so far as calling it a human rights violation. According to unofficial reports, the Head of the Orange House had a heart attack after reading that letter.

  It wasn't hard to understand that, after receiving such an unambiguous warning, none of Duke Avalle's people even thought about detaining or interrogating anyone, and transport starships and passenger liners toward Unatari or Tialla started filling up far beyond capacity.

  Three days later, my assistant Ayna reported that all people named in the evacuation list had been successfully removed to safe locations. At the same time, Paul ton Akad said that the procurement of strategically necessary reserves had been completed. With that, there was no more reason to continue delaying the Unatari declaration of independence, so I gave the long-ago-prepared order to my assault groups to begin the capture of the warp beacons.

  The attack began simultaneously from four different directions. The capture of six space stations was set to take place all at the same time. Landing ships from Hnelle, under cover of combat spaceships from the Unatari Fleet were to take the Tialla system, where a large amount of freight for my new state had accumulated. A second group of landing ships captured Forepost-11, and cut-off communication between Perimeter Sectors Eight and Seven. Another part of the Unatari fleet, coming from the Sigur system, attacked Forepost-12. The Chameleons took the Sss and Li Colony systems under their control. And finally, the fleet from the Oort system captured Forepost-13. As a result of these actions, the systems under my control, previously disconnected, were united into a single contiguous area.

  The second step of my plan was capturing the Vorta, Closed Laboratories, Unguay, Parn and Forepost-31 systems, which would practically fully return the political situation on the star map back to where it had been eight months earlier, when I had over twenty star systems under my control. Exactly one hour before my landing ships exited their warp tunnels, on Katerina ton Mesfelle's advice, I decided to notify some influential figures in the Orange House hierarchy, so the military operation that was about to
begin wouldn't be completely unexpected. First of all, I ordered my communications officers to connect me with my twin sister Crown Princess Violetta royl Inoky ton Mesfelle-Damir.

  The Ice Princess was taking a bubble bath at the time, but still did not refuse a chat with her brother. So, her servants attached the video screen right to a silver ledge with endless rows of various lotions, oils, balms and other cosmetics that only women understand. Violetta heard out my message with utter calm, her face not changing in the slightest. Though at the end, she wondered with a light shade of dissatisfaction:

  "And what made you do that, Georg? You and I made a totally different agreement at our father's funeral. You were supposed to use your redheaded girlfriend to help me clear a path to become Duchess of the Orange House, and in exchange, I was to fund all of your vices."

  It took a great deal of effort not to show my surprise, seeing Violetta speak so frankly. I gathered my thoughts and answered:

  "I remember, sister. It's just that the head-first approach wasn't getting us anywhere. Miya is not omnipotent, after all. Also, my wife cannot arouse too much suspicion with her actions. Our agreement is still in force, but how we’re gonna get there is a bit different now. All that's standing between you and the throne is Duke Avalle royl Anjer and his two sisters, the Crown Princesses Inessa royl George and Silva royl George. I'm sure we could work something out with the sisters. The only thing the two of them are interested in is luxury and comfort, and they will make way for you, if you guarantee them a certain lifestyle. But Duke Avalle, on the other hand, needs to be dealt with by force, which is exactly what I intend to do."