Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2)
Page 12
I thought for a few more seconds, then waved my hand:
"Alright, I’m convinced. Just explain to me now what I need to say and do not to make a fool of myself in front of your tribe."
Popori de Cacha laughed:
"Your Highness need but stand in silence before the big screen and nod with an important look from time to time. The whole ceremony will be held in the Ravaash language, so without Bionica's help you won't understand what is being said. But it wouldn't really be possible for the android, or anyone else really, to be next to the new ruler during the ceremony. The Ravaash nation's whole attention must be focused only on the new ruler."
"Yes, I remember. You said that. Alright, if it's important to your nation, I am prepared to stand in silence for two hours before a screen, nodding from time to time."
"Thank you, my Prince. It's just that any other way the Chameleon nation will not understand why they suddenly need to listen to and obey a human crown prince. My nation simply doesn't have the vocabulary to express concepts like 'viceroy' or 'star system holder.' There is the ruler that was chosen by the Ravaash nation, and it will be precisely you that is named ruler at the end of the ceremony. And now I must leave your Highness and go to the planet. I must be personally present at the mountain temple to bid farewell to the ashes of my fallen subordinates."
* * *
I stood in silence in the center of the large hall of Emperor August feeling somewhat stupid. The huge hall was lined with stern looking Alpha Iseyek assault troops, space fleet officers in Orange House uniforms, landing troops in heavy armor and Security Service soldiers in dark suits, all standing in ceremonial divisions. They were given very specific instructions not to move from their places or come closer to me.
The ceremony was being broadcast especially for me on the big screen. It was taking place in the mountain temple, which was holy to the Ravaash. To be honest, I didn't see what all the fuss was about. It was just a spacious cave cut into rock, which was now filled with Chameleons of all colors. There were three of them leading the ceremony. Perhaps they were priests or rulers, who’s to say? I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they were taking turns making speeches, which were punctuated by the ring of a gong. At the end of each, the crowd would howl in reply. From time to time, one of the Chameleons would camouflage themselves or become visible. It went on this way for an hour and a half, after which the one-note activity changed rather sharply. The leaders began pointing at the cameras, and the thousands-strong crowd of Chameleons all turned to me at once. I do not know if they could really see me or not, but I strove to act out the role I had been prescribed: I kept silent and nodded importantly.
"Tuki-tuka-de-sa!" one of the leaders squealed, pointing his flexible arm at me, and the crowd repeated its words back in elation.
Standing change. Chameleon race opinion of you has improved.
Chameleon race opinion of you: +18 (loyal)
After that, the same "tuki-tuka" was repeated hundreds of times in various intonations, and every time the crowd echoed back the leaders. My head was starting to hurt from the repetitive chanting, but just then the ceremony finally came to an end. Crowds of Chameleons flowed out of the cave on screen. Popori de Cacha, and I was able to recognize my bodyguard among the hundreds of other Chameleons, approached to the camera:
"Everything went wonderfully, my Prince. Now, to my nation, you are the legal ruler, and the Ravaash race will consider itself a part of the Orange House."
"That is all excellent. And what does 'tuki-tuki' mean?"
"My Prince, tuki-tuka-de-sa means 'elder female' in the Chameleon language."
"What???" I exclaimed, becoming surprised and indignant.
The head of my guard explained:
"In our culture, only four figures are considered worthy of leading the Ravaash nation: the elder priest, the greatest warrior, the alpha male, or the elder female. Unfortunately, we wouldn't have been able to get your Highness elected as a priest. A priest must be familiar with our rituals and norms. It wouldn't have worked to name you the greatest warrior. That title can only be earned in the ring by fighting and defeating other experienced Chameleons."
"But why female, and not male?"
Popori de Cacha smiled sneakily:
"Is your Highness prepared to mate with a vast number of Ravaash females and provide them all with healthy descendants?"
"So then, what is required of the elder female?" I asked, suddenly filling with worry at what the answer might be. The last thing I needed from this was another set of responsibilities.
"The elder female is responsible for providing and defending the sanctuary where my nation's females stay in the later terms of pregnancy, and where our offspring are raised for the first few months. That is precisely what your Highness offered my nation by giving us an island on the planet Unatari-VII for those exact purposes."
"Ah, well that's ok then. In that case, I truly am prepared to rule as elder female. Such an island has already been prepared for settlement. The first females can start their journey there tomorrow with the freighters taking armor plates to the Unatari docks. I'll order a space cleared for them, and make sure all their needs are provided for."
"Yes, tuki-tuka-de-sa, I will tell all the Chameleons everything is ready," Popori de Cacha made a low bow, clearly with more honor than I had noticed him giving before.
Standing change. Popori de Cacha's opinion of you has improved.
Presumed personal opinion of you: +100 (completely faithful)
Standing change. Chameleon race opinion of you has improved.
Chameleon race opinion of you: +20 (loyal)
I laughed thoughtfully. There were still some definite benefits in being considered the elder Chameleon female. But, having noticed the sideways glances from fleet officers, some of which were having a hard time restraining smiles, I got embarrassed and gave a sharp start:
"Alright, that's enough of that. The ore freighters will soon be full. Prepare the fleet for warp. The Swarm and the Aliens attacking them are waiting for us!"
Recognition of Talent
For the second day, my fleet was sitting by the Forepost-13 warp beacon, waiting for permission from the Swarm to cross their borders. It was surprising, but the Iseyek, who had in fact requested aid from the Sector Eight Fleet, were now refusing to allow us to enter and were blocking the Oort warp beacon. My cloaked frigate, which had been able to sneak into Oort before the beacon was turned off, was reporting on a fully-fledged fleet with hundreds of starships that the insects had rolled in from systems deeper in their territory.
Ambassador Triasss Zess and Admiral Kheraisss Vej reassured me that everything was alright. The reason for the delay was purely bureaucratic, the Yayho border fleet was already based in the Oort system for reasons totally unrelated to my fleet. But, for some reason, I was believing them less and less with every passing hour. A sense that something was afoot was gnawing at me. I just had an intuitive feeling that there were some complicated negotiations going on around my fleet, and I definitely did not like all the behind-the-scenes games.
Unfortunately, I could not use the Truth Seeker to figure out the situation. Flora had gone into another untimely crystal sleep. Even my advisor Katerina ton Mesfelle was worried. All she could figure was that the Swarm was hesitating. In the two months since we signed the agreement to help one another, the situation had changed drastically. The Sector Eight Fleet had become many times more powerful and, in its current state, already presented a serious threat to the Swarm. All I would have to do was break the agreement and treacherously attack the systems belonging to the Iseyek.
It should be noted that that possibility was also seen by the other side. I had a long conversation with an official representative of the Imperial Joint Chiefs, Count Timur royl Nayt ton Miro. The conversation was started by the Count and was rich in allusion and unclear hints, though I did understand the main idea: the Imperial Joint Chiefs were covertly promising to help m
e if I thought the situation ripe for launching a second invasion of the Iseyek. I was even, though in euphemistic phrases, told the criteria for this "ripeness:" if an unexpected attack from the Sector Eight Fleet would allow humanity to capture no less than four Swarm star systems, the Emperor would look on breaking the peace treaty with the Iseyek with nothing but grace. If I see the possibility of capturing six or more star systems, then... No, I did not hear a direct order, but the Count read me a whole lecture on the history of humanity's expansion in space and the unpleasant solutions, which were nevertheless necessary for humanity's further colonization of the remote cosmos.
In the long wait at the border, there was an unexpectedly positive moment: ninety small-class ships came to join my fleet. The fifty Pyros, twenty Warhawks, ten Flycatchers and ten Surgeons I had ordered with the Purple House arrived, crewed with people recruited on Tesse. And if you consider that several days earlier, during my stay on Sss, the Sector Eight Fleet had been also joined by the cloaked frigates, you could say I had the legal right to be proud of my accomplishments.
With the new additions, my fleet had a grand total of four hundred thirty combat starships: two battleships, twenty-five heavy cruisers, thirty-four light cruisers, ninety-five destroyers, two hundred thirty-seven frigates (none of which were outdated Tusk models anymore, all were now modern Pyros and Warhawks), thirty-six cloaked frigates and one Tria landing ship. For the first time, I heard Admiral Kiro Sabuto say what would have seemed positively mutinous just a month ago: that in a direct conflict with the United Orange House Fleet, the admiral himself would bet on the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet winning.
I myself wasn’t so optimistic. According to the latest data, Duke Paolo royl Anjer had gathered around two thousand combat starships under his banner, including fourteen battleships and up to a hundred heavy assault cruisers. But, in any case, my side had a lot more momentum. I was gaining strength faster than the Duke, and if I waited for the cruisers I bought in Sector Seven, plus the completion of the two battleships under construction for me, and the Uukresh... I tried to drive the deranged smile from my face. A head-on collision with the head of the Orange House did not enter into my plans and I thought of the possibility only as a "best to bury the hatchet next to your enemy" option, to be used only under the most extreme circumstances, if the time allotted by the Emperor for peace was going to run out soon.
Of course, the arrival of more ships meant more and more training, which I ordered the admirals to schedule. While the fleet was in Sss waiting for the shipments of tantalum ore to be loaded onto the freighters and for all issues related to the ownership of the Chameleon’s system to be sorted out, the fleet practiced hard every day. We devoted an especially large amount of time to using the cloakers. Bombing moving targets required the captains and navigators of the stealth bombers to have excellent reaction times and amazing talent at orienting themselves in a tactical grid. The chance of burying your own ship and all other cloakers in the attack wave when a thermonuclear bomb gets lobbed at an enemy was simply too high. At the first training sessions – with dummy ammunition, naturally – the loss percentage among cloaked bombers reached eighty percent in just one attack. The best cloaked frigate captains turned out to be Chameleons, as a result of which I appointed Ravaash individuals as the captains and navigators of the first ten Surprises.
My fleet only had one full-fledged eight-hour practice session in the Forepost-13 system, before the long-awaited message came in from Triasss Zess:
"Crown Prince Georg, the Oort star system warp beacon will be activated in the next twenty minutes. The Swarm officially apologizes for the delay. To avoid similar incidents sullying our relationship in the future, the Swarm has appointed me authorized representative of the Iseyek, responsible for all issues connected with the Sector Eight Fleet’s aid mission."
Standing change. Your relationship with Triasss Zess has improved.
Presumed personal opinion of you: +45 (friendship)
Standing change. Iseyek race opinion of you has improved.
Alpha Iseyek race opinion of you: +10 (trusting)
Beta Iseyek race opinion of you: +6 (warm)
Gamma Iseyek race opinion of you: +8 (warm)
Practically right after that, a call came in from Angel royl Mauri, the captain of my cloaked frigate, reporting that the Iseyek fleet was on its way out of the Oort system. I sighed in relief. No matter what kind of incomprehensible negotiations the praying mantises were having, the final decision was positive, and my fleet was allowed to cross the border. Also, the fact that the Swarm had appointed Triasss Zess, who I knew so well, to be the coordinator of the operation meant that the insects wanted to show me that they were glad to continue working together.
"Attention, all ships! At the ready in twenty minutes. The Swarm will turn the Oort system warp beacon on for us. I remind all combat ships to immediately make for the station to recharge as soon as we leave the warp tunnel. The ore freighters are to first unload ore at one of the orbital factories, then return to Imperial territory all together, and go on to Tesse."
What I wanted to do was stand up from the console and leave the headquarters, but Bionica, sitting next to me, asked me to hold on:
"Your Highness, I’m afraid I have to send you the bill for monthly fleet maintenance. It's supposed to be payed the day after tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the payment as usual from Swarm territory."
"Alright, go ahead," I confirmed, taking a look at the numbers.
Seventeen and a half million credits for fleet maintenance... A month ago such expenses would have been a blow to me, but now I could pay the large bill with my mind at ease. Just the taxes from the purchase of tantalum ore to me, as the "Chameleon elder female," came to over two billion credits plus a few freighters packed with finished armor plates for my docks. Also, my brother Roben suddenly decided to stop paying taxes to the Orange House head, instead sending the funds to my account. Add to that the taxes from Unatari and the ice factories of Tivalle that I was entitled to as ruler, and my share of the sale of pirate property... There I was reminded of something that had somewhat fallen out of view:
"By the way, Bionica, what happened with the last of the three pirate Kings? Somehow I missed the news of his capture."
My secretary suddenly stopped smiling and lowered her eyes to floor:
"Crown Prince Georg, King Velesh the First still has yet to be caught. His bank card has only been used one more time: ten days ago on Tesse he paid for an air-taxi to a popular mineral-spa resort town."
"On Tesse? Well, I'll be damned! That means he was able to escape Unatari, the ratbag!"
"Yes, my Prince. But the criminal police haven’t yet announced the end of the hunt to the residents of Unatari, so the authority of the new rulers and your Highness will not suffer."
"And thank you for that. For some reason, that story about an uncatchable pirate King has suddenly spoiled my mood." It would have seemed that he had run far away, but for some reason I was still sure that I would meet Velesh the First at the most importune moment, and he would try to get revenge for all the offenses and losses he had suffered at my hand.
* * *
In the next star system after Oort, Yal, I was met by the authorized Swarm representative. Triasss Zess appeared in person on my flagship Joan the Fatty. Since I'd last seen him, my acquaintance had become even lighter in color. And the praying mantis had already managed to grow rudimentary arms to replace the ones my bodyguard had ripped out. Triasss Zess was accompanied by four Beta Iseyeks, but I could not figure out what their role was in the coordinator's retinue. The hump-backed pill bugs with a huge number of small legs could hardly have been bodyguards. They probably served the ten-foot-high Alpha Iseyek, given his missing pair of mobile arms caused him difficulties with elementary day-to-day tasks.
After a short welcome, the praying mantis told me the news from the front:
"The Kej defense divisions are still holding out in the lo
wer levels of the underground cities, but they are growing weaker by the day. All hotbeds of organized resistance are constantly being bombarded from space by the Aliens with missiles and depth charges. Only at a great depth–four hundred yards from the surface and below–can they find cover from the orbital bombardment. But the Aliens are also quite comfortable with underground warfare and are burning a path deeper and deeper down with their plasma guns. According to Swarm analysts' calculations, in five or six days, Kej will ultimately fall. And then the Aliens will keep moving..."
"What is the strength of the Alien fleet in the Kej system?" I wondered.
Triasss Zess waved with his huge upper appendages and jumped excitedly:
"Prince Georg, on that account we can provide you with the very latest information: the last transmission from Kej, exactly one half hour ago, reported eleven cruisers and a significant number, up to fifty, of small class ships."
Sixty Alien ships... Eleven Sledgehammers or similarly-powered ships... It would be simply impossible to take on such a force without serious losses, that is, if we even could beat them... I did not immediately answer Triasss Zess, and instead turned to the large window in thought. Behind the thick armored glass, I could see a giant under construction, one of the enormous transport ships the Iseyek were planning to use to evacuate their eggs. The colossal size of the starship would have made even the Uukresh look like nothing but a little fleck. But, from looking at it, I would say that its construction had begun very recently. The only thing that was recognizable, though still not finished, was the external chassis.