"Don't forget, I gave you ships, Georg!" the Duke answered me in a slightly cracking voice.
I laughed again.
"Fifteen frigates without crew?! The value of this ‘aid’ was three million credits. Where are the other one hundred forty-seven million in ships?! Instead of doing what you promised, you did the opposite and tried to rob me of systems I rightfully earned! Is that your true aid to the fleet?"
"Crown Prince Georg, you're forgetting your place!" the Duke sharply interrupted me. "I want to hear a concise answer: do you agree to peace on the terms set forth by the Orange House?"
"It would seem I've already explained to you that I didn't watch the broadcast, so I have no idea what you got up to there, behind my back. Tell me the whole list, and I'll answer your question."
The Duke exchanged glances with someone I couldn't see, gave a heavy sigh, and began reading the text.
"First condition: give the Tivalle and Sigur systems to the individuals appointed by the Orange House. Second condition: return Peres ton Mesfelle’s illegally captured ships. Third condition: compensate Peres ton Mesfelle for his unlawful resignation. Fourth condition: return the warp beacon transportation network to working order. Fifth condition: until the extent of your illegal activities has been determined by an Orange House court, transfer control of your fleet to a court-appointed commander. Sixth condition: ask official forgiveness of all Green House individuals who suffered and pay out their requested compensation. Seventh condition: the Iseyek ships are to be returned to Swarm territory. Eighth condition: official resignation from power, though if the first seven points are immediately carried out, the council will not insist on the eighth one. Georg, the conditions we have offered are more than fair. You keep your title and the rich Unatari system, and if the court finds in your favor, your fleet will also be returned to you."
Silence took over in the hall. Everyone froze, waiting for my decision. I couldn't understand: were they really counting on the idea that I would agree to these idiotic conditions?
"Are you kidding? Maybe you'd also like me to shave myself hairless, put on a tutu and dance a jig on a nuclear launch pad? No? Well then, attention to everyone in the hall. I have the official right, given by Emperor August himself, to undertake any actions to come to peace with the Orange House within one hundred days. I repeat once again for the dumbest among you: ANY actions. If what I have to do to make peace is wipe the face of the Orange House Capital clean, or resettle half the population of Ulia in labor camps mining for radioactive ore on Sss – I'll do just that, and my actions will be declared fully legal. I hope such radical steps won't be necessary, but just be aware that I do have the legal right to undertake such actions."
Agitation could be heard in the hall. The people were clearly taking my information into account. I then continued:
"Now I will speak specifically to the representatives of Sectors Eight and Nine. You can't have already forgotten what the Swarm is, can you? Have you forgotten why Sivala, Forepost-4, Aiwe, Forepost-12, Forepost-13 and Vorta are totally depopulated? I see that you haven't. So, know that the Swarm has given me five billion Alpha Iseyek landing soldiers ready for battle for the Sector Eight Army, which I already know how to lead and what to feed. They thirst for battle. They are hungry and want to eat. The Iseyek consider human meat a high-calorie food and would just love the opportunity to attack a human planet. In one day’s time, two at most, there could be praying mantis landing modules falling from the sky above your planet. My will is the only thing standing between your planets and devastation. And you still dare provoke me with these conditions? You can’t be serious, right?"
The buzz in the hall grew deafening. I raised my hand, calling for quiet.
"I haven't finished yet. Now I suggest we talk about the Aliens – the aggressive, powerful race that is more technologically advanced than humanity. The Sector Eight Fleet is the most battle-ready combat division in the Empire, and I suppose it is the only one capable of really repelling an Alien attack. I'm not sure what body part you were thinking with when you unanimously signed under these mindless ideas of the Duke's to disband my fleet, split it up or give it to another commander who has never even seen an Alien with his eyes before. If it hadn't been for my soldiers stopping the Alien invasion at Vorta or in Hnelle, the star systems of Li, Tesse, Unatari, Himora, Tialla, Fastel and even the Orange House Capital would already be lost to humanity. Remember who saved the lives of the inhabitants of these systems and show at least a shred of decency and justice to the soldiers who gave their own lives to stop the invasion.
And finally, my peace conditions. I will name these conditions just one time, and anyone who doesn't have time to write them down will have only themselves to blame. No, I am not preparing to demand that Duke Paolo royl Anjer, who was caught stealing red handed and is losing his connection to reality, resign. Just as I didn't demand his son's resignation. Peres wanted to leave politics all on his own. No one forced him to do that. I'm demanding something else entirely: support for the fleets that defend you and your families. Inhabitants of Sector Seven, Commander Marat ton Mesfelle needs your support like never before! His fleet is in a difficult position after the defeat in the Nayal system. I even had to give personal funds to Marat ton Mesfelle to buy ships, as it would seem that Duke Paolo totally forgot who was defending the Orange House's systems. Inhabitants of Sector Nine, you have a wonderful, talented warrior, Svetlana ton Mesfelle, who Duke Paolo also stopped supporting long ago, instead pocketing the tax funds that were earmarked for fleet upkeep. To the representatives of Sector Eight, I would appreciate your help, but in general I just ask that you not stop me from doing my job. Anyone who supports the blockade against my fleet will automatically become my enemy and an enemy of Emperor August, and enemies of the Emperor must be exterminated under Imperial law. I give you twenty-four hours to remove the blockades and other restrictions against my fleet. After that time is up, whoever hasn't accepted my peace offer will be destroyed. And that's all I have to say."
Hnelle
"You have lost your mind, Georg!" Katerina, who had been getting some rest, stormed in after hearing what I had been doing during her midday nap. "You had the gall to threaten the Council of Orange House Deputies! That is simply unheard of!"
"Well, they started threatening me first and tried to strong-arm me into untenable conditions!" I understood that I wasn't right, but, in any case, my pernicious and stubborn nature kept me from agreeing with my cousin.
"Oh, Georg, Georg... You're like a little boy. That was like a game with an element of political trading. Duke Paolo royl Anjer couldn't have just said: 'Alright then, I forgive you for all the offenses. Let's make peace.' After such a declaration all he'd have left to do is retire to live out his time breeding aquarium fish on the outskirts of the Empire. He's still the head of the Orange House, and you are his subject, and an agreement must always appear advantageous to the senior in title. So in fact, the Duke did the understandable thing and asked for peace on the most sparing terms possible, so much so that they even looked somewhat bad for him. Beg forgiveness and pay compensation. Did you even find out the total value of this compensation? Maybe it was just a pittance. Three hundred credits each for the Green House and Peres. The two disputed systems. You both appointed the same leader for one of them, and you could probably come to an agreement on the second as well. They'd give you the fleet back, and the Swarm ships would have gone over Imperial borders and come right back. Out of all of them, you just have to give back some of Peres's ships and that would have been peace. And what did you do?! Accused the Duke of robbery, threatened the Orange House with an Iseyek invasion and the destruction of their capital, and called the deputies stupid. Then, to top it all off, you made ultimatums... And you called all this mess a 'peace offer?!'"
I laughed.
"I must crush them under an iron boot and feed to the Iseyek anyone who would doubt my humane nature and earnest desire for peace!" I declared with marked i
rony, but the joke didn't connect.
Katerina just shook her head in reproach and wondered how we were going to get out of the situation we had ended up in. We both sat in silence briefly, then I got a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses from behind the bar.
"Don't worry about it, cousin. We'll get out of this. The Imperial Military liked my declaration. There was a relations improvement with them by two points right after. And about all the financiers and artists, I couldn't give less of a shit to be honest. They aren't the ones with the combat starships. And, by the way, the head of the artists already apologized to me for the behavior of his representatives at the conference and returned the faction relation to its previous level.”
Another popup message came in. I read it and said with a smirk:
"The Parliament of the Rea system has voted with a majority for neutrality in the internal affairs of the Orange House and is recalling its ships from the fleet of Duke Paolo royl Anjer. In no more than five hours, six Orange House systems have opted out of participating in the conflict. We'll see how many allies the Duke still has in nineteen hours."
"Yes, but in any case it will be more than there are on our side. For now, only Tialla and Unatari have voted your favor, and the population of these systems together doesn't even reach nine million people. Our enemy has support from the Orange House Capital, Ulia, Nessi, well, and many other Sector Seven systems. By my calculation, that's already seventy billion people on their side."
"It's just that Sector Seven thinks in error that my ships cannot reach them. I assure you, Katerina, that the score will be totally different in a month's time. But for now, I'm not overly interested in Sectors Seven or Nine. It's much more important how Tesse acts, given that Roben still hasn't made a declaration... And I'm very worried about the ships that came through to the Hnelle beacon together with the Emperor's messenger."
Katerina frowned and left the wine glass without having taken a sip from it.
"So, you're expecting a potential fight in forty minutes, and you decided it was a good time to gulp down some wine?"
"My ass there's gonna be a battle. Too few ships have jumped for a real invasion. But you're right, cousin. This isn't a very good time for wine. I'll take it to Astra, then. The Princess is locked in my room and has been inspired painting now for the last few hours. She even skipped lunch. She won't show me how it's turning out, though.”
Astra had already finished her creation and was sitting on the small sofa, tired but looking satisfied with herself. All the girl's fingers and the apron she was wearing were covered in paint, primarily black. The Princess took the wine glass from my hands with gratitude, took a sip and pointed at the painting that was next to the wall, facing away from me.
"I worked in front of a camera so the future buyer could watch in real-time how I made it and be sure that it isn't some kind of print or computer graphic."
"Can I see it?" I wondered, receiving a reply in the affirmative.
"Yes, of course. It's all done. I just normally don't let anyone close to me see a painting before it's done. They get in the way, get you off track, and distract you with their comments and advice."
I walked around the Princess's creation and stopped, not knowing what to say on what I saw. As I suspected, Astra had primarily used black and dark gray paint. The picture could provisionally be divided into two parts: the whole top was full of dark disks and ovals. They were thick and took up the whole sky. In the lower half there were just a great many smears of black paint, some dark blotches and a yellow spot inside a blue circle.
"I call it 'The Last Day of Veyerde,'" the girl told me with pride, walking up closer and clearly admiring the result.
"I admit that I'm not an expert in abstract art, but that spot here turned out great. A three-eyed unicorn skull."
"That's no skull," the artist objected, slightly offended. "Can you not see that it's the smoke of a burning palace?! Though... yes, it does look like it. Let it be a three-eyed skull. Then the smoke from the palace can be this spot here."
I kept silent for a few moments, looking over my favorite's "masterpiece," then told the artist:
"Astra, I have chosen a tattoo for my shoulder instead of the happy ass. That three-eyed skull! It'd be hard to come up with a drawing more fear-inducing than that."
"Your Highness, I'm glad you liked it!" the Princess filled with joy. "Good. I'll put this skull and these whirlwinds on your shoulder. I don't even remember what they were supposed to mean.”
I pictured Mr. G.I.'s reaction and could barely hold back the laughter. In order not to put Astra in an inappropriately happy mood, I hurried to wonder:
"And what's that yellow star in the blue circle?"
"Can't you tell? That's the crown of the Kingdom of Veyerde, hidden by the small waterfall. I've already placed the painting on auction for twenty-four standard hours. I just think maybe I asked too low a starting price. What do you think? Is ten million OK?"
"What made you think that? It sounds high enough to me," I tried very hard not to let any hint of mocking come through in my voice.
But my happiness blew in like the wind when Astra said the following:
"It's just that the price went up too fast, and I started thinking that maybe I had undervalued my work..."
Though I had my doubts, I called up the information screen and read the description.
"The Last Day of Veyerde," painted on the day the Aliens destroyed the Kingdom of Veyerde on board the Sector Eight flagship. (Video footage of the painting process included.) (Fragments of broken Alien ships can be seen out the porthole.)
Artist: Princess Astra royl Kant ton Veyerde, last of the Princesses of the Kingdom of Veyerde and the closest companion of Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, Sector Eight Fleet Commander.
Lot starting price: 10 million credits.
Present lot price: 28.3 million credits (11th auction phase).
Auction time remaining: 22 hours 38 minutes
Before my very eyes, the price of the masterpiece jumped up to thirty million. The bid was made by some collector from Perimeter Sector Eight. I slowly sighed and set off to leave. She's totally right. I knew nothing about painting.
* * *
"At the ready in thirty seconds! I remind the whole fleet: do not be the first to open fire! A messenger from the Emperor is coming to us with laboratory ships for studying the Alien battleship. But some unidentified ships have come through with them. Before shooting, we need to figure out who is who. Attention! Three, two, one. Let's go out to greet them!"
The ships ripped off in a long line that stretched out for two hundred miles. The officers immediately started sending in messages.
"Multiple targets! Distance to nearest ships: fifty miles. Ninety-three marks. All ships returning correct friend-foe responses. They have a Monarch-class battleship. It is the Tesse fleet, ships from Ulia, ships from Nessi, and non-combat ships from the Core. Identification by radar signature..."
"Incoming call from the battleship on an encrypted channel! Admiral Nill ton Amsted would like to speak with the Crown Prince."
I gave my permission to accept the call, and the redheaded Admiral Nill ton Amsted appeared on screen in a ceremonial Orange House uniform. The admiral stood up straight and declared in a well-formulated tone:
"Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle! As the commander of one of the Orange House fleets, I officially declare that I have the honor of attacking you! And before it all begins, I declare that my fleet is surrendering to your Highness in light of our chances being totally hopeless!"
Admiral Kiro Sabuto and I exchanged glances. The admiral squinted and shrugged his shoulders in surprise.
"And just what is the meaning of all this hubbub?" I asked, not pleased.
Admiral Nill got somewhat embarrassed and answered in what was now a normal tone.
"It's just that the boys and I had a talk and came to the conclusion that this was the only legal way of joining your side,
Prince Georg. We thought it would be the wrong decision to carry out the order of the temporary Viceroy of Tesse and transfer Tesse's ships into the united Orange House Fleet. Knowing that the Hnelle system was declared closed territory by your Highness, my fleet intentionally broke that rule and trespassed into it, so that all the offending ships could be detained and confiscated by the holder of the Hnelle system. Only volunteers have come with me. I did not force anyone to come to your side."
"Admiral Nill is right," Kiro Sabuto said, joining the conversation. "The captains of the Tesse ships do not have the right to decide on their own whose side they will fight on in the internal affairs of the Orange House. That is why these bravehearts attacked you, as their duty would dictate. And it isn't their fault that the forces were so clearly unequal. That was why Admiral Nill ton Amsted made the decision he made, to save human lives. To make sure everything goes in full accordance with the law, we should send out boarding teams to take the Tesse ships under our full control."
"I thank you for your understanding, admiral!" Nill ton Amsted smiled and ended the call.
I ordered the heavy cruiser Emperor August to be prepared again for yet another swearing-in ceremony for the new fleet officers, then I called Katerina ton Mesfelle and explained her mission:
"Cousin, I need another report from Hnelle. This time, about how Duke Paolo royl Anjer's fleet tried once again to invade my closed territory, but, just as before, it was met by the heroic Alien vanquishers and destroyed. Not a word can slip out about the captains coming over to our side voluntarily. We don't want to expose our new allies. Instead, say that the experienced Admiral Nill ton Amsted, in carrying out the criminal and poorly-thought-out order of the Orange House Head, was faced with a difficult choice: either complete annihilation or transferring his ships into the Sector Eight Fleet. And, of course a broadcast of the swearing-in ceremony from Emperor August."
Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) Page 5
