A Game With No Rules (Perimeter Defense Book #4) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  "You've obviously got me mistaken with someone else, sister! I have no interest in your offer whatsoever. And just so you know, my fleet can handily defeat whatever the Grand Duchy has left after its bloody and costly victory over the Empire. And that's if you can even achieve it..."

  After these words, I finally looked at my sister and smiled. I had no doubts remaining. Violetta was clearly bluffing, pretending to be in command of the situation. In reality, even though the Grand Duchess did have an advantage in the war, she wasn't totally convinced of her victory over the Emperor.

  "Alright, Georg, tell me your terms! What do you want?"

  My sister fell back on offering concessions surprisingly easily, and I needed to take advantage of that.

  "Now that's better, sister. Listen to me. I need all your information about contact between humanity and the Aliens — who, where, when and what they agreed on, and all the technologies they gave. I also want to know everything about the Triumvirate and the co-rulers of the Grand Duchy. And I demand that the Aliens be sent back from whence they came, giving up all the systems they captured from humankind..."

  "You're demanding the impossible, brother! I don't have such power over the Aliens! Yes, they are allies of my Grand Duchy, but I can only give commands to their ships and point where to attack, and say who not to touch. Giving technologies to your government may be realistic, but from where and when this knowledge was received I do not even know myself. That was done by the ruler of the Gold House and her advisors. And I cannot name the third member of the Triumvirate either — that would do too much to strengthen your positions to the disadvantage of mine."

  I considered it improper to conduct further negotiations without first coming to an understanding on the very most basic principles, so I signed off. What sense was there in discussing the structure of the post-war world and other such lofty matters if my sister had an elementary mistrust of me and was incapable of truly being open? What was more, I had the upper hand. Violetta needed the Unatari Fleet to support her in the war. But immediately after victory, given the Alien armada would remain in human space, there would be nothing to stop the newly minted Empress of all humanity from turning all the might of the unified Imperial Fleet against me. From what I had discovered about the difficult character of my sister, that is exactly what she would do. What need did an autocratic ruler have for competition? And no family ties would have stopped Violetta...

  "Yes, that is exactly right, Georg. As a political partner and ally, you will cease to have any value to your sister right after her coronation as Empress. And as a dangerous rival in a struggle for power, Violetta will do away with you at once," Miya told me in an uncommonly categorical fashion. No "maybe" or "probably." She was one hundred percent sure that my sister would be getting rid of me if she managed to take power over the Empire.

  "And the Throne World? Is an alliance with the Empire possible?"

  I already had an idea of the Truth Seeker's answer, I just wanted to check. And I wasn't wrong:

  "No, all chances for alliance have already passed you by. August royl Akad is terrified of you and has already ordered you eliminated. We found that out recently by coincidence. An encrypted order came in on an antiquated channel addressed to Nicosid Brandt and, naturally, was intercepted by your security service. By the way, you changed personal doctor just in the nick of time."

  "Does the Throne World not know that we exposed their agent?! How is that possible? Can the Imperial Secretariat really not have noticed that old Nicosid Brandt has already returned to the Imperial Core?"

  "He never returned to the Empire... The old doctor hung himself in the bunk of the luxurious interstellar liner right after the flight began. I asked your advisors not to tell you about Nicosid Brandt's death as not to upset you in these troubled times. It was right after we just barely survived the assassination attempt in the Blue House. You were all wound up and I thought that news might put you into a rut. Let me assure you: I studied the old doctor's death and didn't find any signs of outside interference. Taking his own life was a decision the old man came to on his own. No one helped him."

  Despite the confirmation that my old doctor was an embedded Throne World agent, I was still upset. Nicosid Brand had worked as Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle's personal doctor for half a century, and saved the hard-living Crown Prince's life on multiple occasions, whether after drinking until his heart stopped, or from a coma induced by crystals or other drugs. And also, the transfer of my consciousness into the body of the dead Crown Prince was successful largely thanks to the talent and experience of the old physician.

  Before Miya said goodbye, and with a perfect understanding that there was very little chance for a positive answer, I asked my wife if she had managed to read any information about the Triumvirate and co-rulers of the Grand Duchy during my conversation with Violetta.

  "Grand Duchess Violetta's mind is tightly closed off to reading. It's a firm, impenetrable wall, which many strong Truth Seekers labored to create. And what's more, the defense wasn't created so very long ago. The thing is, I placed a mental block on Violetta on your request seven years ago, when you were plotting against your older brother Roben together. But then, there was no trace of any other defense."

  "Clearly the third member of the Triumvirate is someone I know very well, in either Unatari or Imperial space, otherwise my sister wouldn't have hidden it. No chance it's you, Miya, is there?"

  I asked the question spontaneously, and couldn't even imagine how I'd react if my Truth Seeker had confirmed my guess. But my wife, fortunately, denied everything:

  "You must be very confused, Georg, because you're saying very stupid things that hurt me badly. I assure you and even officially swear by my abilities as a Truth Seeker that I am not now and never have been a member of the Antagonist Triumvirate, nor a co-ruler of the Grand Duchy."

  Miya was clearly insulted. Who finds it pleasant to be interrogated when unable to lie or hide the truth? I had to apologize to the Red Queen and even promise my wife to smooth over the unpleasant incident with a gift of some kind, befitting the Queen of a stellar government.

  "Alright Georg, you're forgiven," my wife agreed to close the topic. "And let me remind you that it was precisely in the Amati star system, where we are now located that the shuttle of your father Count Inoky royl Mesfelle crashed seventeen years ago. If you’d like to pay respect to his memory, the catastrophe took place in the asteroid field near the third planet. There's an obelisk anchored there."

  "And what brought the Count to the Amati system? Did he lose something here? And in an asteroid field on a light unarmored shuttle?"

  "Although your father lived on Tesse in Perimeter Sector Eight, he was a very active person and regularly flitted about Sector Seven. This is where he bought the Damir system from the Orange House head and invested in the construction of space-ice-processing facilities for separating valuable isotopes. There was no direct path at that time from Sector Eight to Seven, so your father went through the Imperial Core, which brought him through the Amati system."

  "But Miya, as the Count's Truth Seeker, weren't you supposed to accompany him on his journeys?"

  "I did accompany him, but not always. My former master always took me to his business negotiations, but not always to personal meetings. Count Inoky was a gallant and handsome man, and also an Imperial upper aristocrat, rich, amorous and generous with gifts. Your father, it seemed, had lovers and admirers in every star system. And as for official favorites, he would go through five or seven every year. So, I wasn't especially surprised when the Count left me on his luxury yacht and ran off somewhere on a shuttle. When this happened, I was in a crystal dream. I nearly died together with my master, then spent a few years coming back to my senses after the severe loss of energy."

  * * *

  I did visit the monument in space to my "father" after all. I even flew around the huge black asteroid a few times on an armored Warhawk. One side was polished to a m
irror shine and carried an image of a human face in profile. He stared back with a severe gaze under sumptuous brows. His cheekbones were sharp, and his chin powerful. The features were distantly reminiscent of Roben, but really only distantly.

  "Are you sure this is the exact site of the catastrophe?" I inquired from Bionica, who was accompanying me, and the android secretary confirmed, checking the information in the guides. "Strange. The conditions for space flight here aren't really all that bad. There are some large asteroids, but they’re far enough apart. The automatic system should have warned him about the danger of collision and changed the shuttle's course."

  My synthetic assistant shrugged her shoulders tentatively:

  "My prince perhaps, when building the memorial, the area nearby was cleared of dangerous flying objects so the visitors to the monument wouldn't share the tragic fate of Count Inoky royl Mesfelle. Although, I'll admit that there is nothing stating that in any historical documents. Or perhaps it was precisely because dangerous asteroids are so rare here that your father ignored normal flight safety standards."

  "Perhaps... There's no way to check now anyway. What's strange is something else. Why did my father even come here on such a small shuttle? A secret meeting with yet another lover? I'm sure they could have found a better place for a romantic encounter, right?"

  Bionica looked at me somehow strangely and gave a mysterious smile, not saying anything. Clearly, my pretty assistant wanted to remind her forgetful Crown Prince about a damp dark underwater cave on the planet Unatari, but didn't say anything aloud. Perhaps the android girl was right — after all, we didn't have the most comfortable location for our encounter, based on the standards of the coddled aristocracy, accustomed to conveniences and luxury.

  "But why was there not a single word in any of the investigation materials about a second ship? After all, the data from the Amati warp beacon and all neighboring ones was copied by the investigators when they were looking into the tragedy, and I didn't see anything about other ships in the Amati system at that time!"

  "Yes, my Prince. In the investigation materials, it did state that there was just one lone ship in the Amati system at the time of the tragedy, Star Bird, your father's personal yacht. The nearest starship, an automatic ore freighter, had passed through the Amati system three days beforehand, and didn't stay there for even a second more than it needed to charge up for its next jump. I'm sure your father's secret lover didn't wait a week or two in a space suit on an asteroid! And plus, how would she have gotten out of the system unnoticed after? So, the idea that his was a romantic encounter seems farfetched."

  "I agree. Unless she was on a cloaked frigate, in that case the warp beacon wouldn't have noticed her. Or if she was on the shuttle together with my father!"

  "No, Your Highness, that story doesn't fly either. There were just two crew members on the shuttle with the Count, both men. Everyone on board died in the accident."

  I stayed silent, not commenting aloud on the nontraditional possibilities coming to mind. Imperial law was extremely unambiguous in that regard — an aristocrat could be immediately deprived of his title for such conduct, and it was impossible to hide one’s predilections from Truth Seekers.

  "Alright Bionica, let's go back to Joan the Fatty. If even the Dark Mother herself was powerless to deal with the events at that time, then we're all the less capable of figuring out what happened seventeen years ago in the backwater Amati system asteroid belt."

  A Breather Before a Jump

  I WAS AWOKEN by the joyous laughter of little girls. My three eldest daughters, the Crown Princesses Likanna, Joanna and Natalie were playing some loud game somewhere and scampering about after one another through the rooms of the island palace of Unatari, shrieking and howling with laughter. Astra, lying in embrace with me, not waking up, muttered something indistinct in dismay and covered her head with the comforter. I had already slept enough and, carefully peeling my favorite's leg off my stomach, sat up in bed.

  "Tuki-tuka-de-sa, your nanny Ayna is quieting the noisy princesses down as we speak," the chameleon bodyguard standing next to the door assured me, but I just waved a hand:

  "No need, let the girls have their fun! This is the first time they're all together as sisters. What's more, Joan has just gone through a very difficult period in her life, and she simply needs such joyous emotions to forget her fear and pain."

  I threw on a robe and walked over to the slightly opened window. The weather was excellent. The sun was shining in the cloudless azure sky, and a warm breeze was blowing. You start to especially appreciate such joys after a long stay in the cold darkness of space.

  "Is it urgent?" I asked Bryle as he entered the room.

  The old butler bowed with dignity and answered unhurriedly:

  "Crown Prince Georg, Baroness Nicole ton Savoia and First Advisor Apasss Ugu have been seeking a meeting with Your Highness. The Baroness arrived by plane early this morning, but didn't wait for your Highness to wake up and went to swim in the lagoon with Bionica. The First Advisor is waiting in a room on the first floor. There is an Alpha Iseyek translator with him."

  "Alright then, set me out a light breakfast in half an hour and invite the Crown Princesses. And invite both of the swimmers to the table when they return."

  I went down to see Apasss Ugu myself, because the Beta Iseyek found it very difficult to go up the steep stairs designed for human locomotion on his many short legs. The sixteen-foot-long millipede and a small praying mantis were waiting for me in the room and gave simultaneous deep bows when I arrived. I greeted the First Advisor and looked with interest at his new translator. Its shell was white with a wide blue stripe across the cephalothorax. It lacked spines on the upper appendages and had thin chitin, clearly the first molting.

  "Have new diplomats already matured?" I guessed.

  My advisor warbled his many whiskers and chirred out something, which his translator relayed to me in very clean-accented human language:

  "Yes, Crown Prince. After the destruction of the Swarm embassy in the Throne World, we increased the development speed of eggs with traits necessary for future diplomats. Whole-heartedly loyal to the Unatari State, quick-learning, non-aggressive, but capable of holding their own and defending their master if need be, they can produce human speech without errors and are talented language learners."

  "What can I say, Apasss? I really like what I see! Reinforce these genetic lines for future generations. By the way... I've wanted to ask for a long time, how is it going with the clutch of the former Swarm Queen Nai Igir? Are the Iseyek Prime larvae developing?"

  Before answering, my First Advisor turned the upper portion of his body, as if feeling the air with his antennae:

  "I have long wanted to speak about this with you, Crown Prince, but I haven’t gotten the chance to do so privately yet. All Nai Igir’s valuable eggs are alive and have reached the first branching point, where their development path can be selected. Now, I need to find out what you want to do with her descendants, Crown Prince."

  "What are my options?" I wondered aloud, surprised at the mysteriousness that my advisor was using in reference to the clutches.

  "Crown Prince Georg, all Iseyek Prime are, by default, rulers. Eight hundred forty-three new rulers, each of which is capable from birth of producing the language of gestures, speech and pheromones that control other Swarm individuals. All of the still unhatched descendants of Nai Igir are sure to find allies and form their very own clan, and are not even remotely guaranteed to obey the Swarm ruler. Each of them may declare their right to rule the whole Swarm in the future and defy the current ruler. I have ordered their growth artificially halted for now and want to get orders directly from my ruler on how to deal with them."

  Ugh, as if I didn't have enough other problems. Eight hundred forty-three claimants to my throne were about to grow up? And what if...? I didn't say anything out loud, but my First Advisor still got my meaning.

  "I could destroy the whole clutch, Crown
Prince, but such an action will have a very strong negative effect. The loyalty of your subjects will decrease and, in some places, there might even be flare-ups of rebellion. Although I have no doubt in Your Highness's abilities to suppress any uprisings."

  "That may be so, Apasss Ugu, but it is an incorrect move. Nai Igir, when transferring control over the Swarm, entrusted me with the life of her children, and probably had just such a possibility in mind. The most obvious solution is: no children, no problem! But she trusted that I would not do that. And she was not wrong. Let's look over other options. If the Iseyek Prime are good rulers by nature, let's make them into managers. Perhaps limit their lack of respect for authority and uncontrollability?"

  The Gamma Iseyek shifted his whiskers in confirmation. My suggestion was completely possible.

  "Then we will prepare Nai Igir's progeny to be the viceroys of planets, rulers of megalopolises and large populations. Talented, hard-working and absolutely loyal to the ruler of the Unatari State and, as a link in that chain to the Duchess of the Swarm. You can calculate the gender proportions yourself so the Iseyek Prime will be able to adequately procreate, but not grow out of control. But we will not make them all into managers. Iseyek Primes, by human standards, are quite beautiful. We should develop that quality. Separate off a hundred eggs, which we will give a special role. Particular qualities to develop: wide sectile wings with bright coloration, the ability to produce melodic trills that are pleasant to the ear, a talent for music and dance. And they must have the ability to fly! These individuals will become a new genetic line, the pride and of the Swarm, and a true treasure! I will give the ten best ones to the White Queen, I'm sure she'll appreciate them!"

  My advisor told me that he had accepted my orders, and put them into action, then imitated a deep bow. Rosss appeared unexpectedly next to me and also bowed. The translator commented on their simultaneous and identical trill for me: