Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2)

by Michael Atamanov

  "Emperor August here. Our stern shield is at thirty percent."

  "Legash-1 here. We have half of our shields."

  "One-Eyed Python here. Rear shields at forty percent."

  It remained unclear what had become of our stealth bombers, but I had already figured out that the rest of the fleet survived the five-megaton bombs with no losses. The heavies had already linked up with the smaller ships and were recharging their shields.

  Finally, a tactical map showed up. Bingo! All that was left of the herd of Meteors was a scattering of debris! The Alien destroyers also painted quite the pretty picture: two of the Ascetics had been destroyed. The others were only still moving by inertia and had no shield remaining. Only a couple of Hermits were showing any signs of life, trying to make it back to their heavy ships.

  "All ships, turn toward the enemy! Realign into battle formation! Do not advance yet! Pyros -1 and -2, you're our receivers! Surprises six through ten, attention. Tria, attention! Right after the explosion, move out to capture the station! Turn off the warp beacon at any cost! Warhawks, attention. Right after the second explosion, capture anything that moves."

  It seemed the enemy cruisers had started to suspect that this might not go their way and stopped advancing.

  "Receivers, you're too close. You might get hit by the explosion. Go another two hundred miles out. Fifty Pyros for every receiver. Be prepared to capture everything still moving after the explosion!"

  "My Prince, the enemy is preparing to retreat!" Nicole said, panicking as she watched the Sledgehammers' maneuvers.

  "Surprises, cease attack! I repeat: cease attack!!! Pyros, attention! If they really do start to jump out, catch as many of them as you can in a warp disruptor. They're retreating! Advance! Capture them!!!"

  The enemy ships really were trying to leave, but they didn't all make it. My soldiers captured five Sledgehammers in just the one haul. Unfortunately, they didn't get any of the other kind of cruisers. I would have liked to be able to see them in battle."

  "Tuki-tuka-de-sa, this is Surprise-1. We have successfully jumped out toward the eleventh planet. None of the five bombers were damaged."

  "Great work, de-sa. Your squad set a galactic record: fifty-four Alien ships destroyed in one attack. The best Ravaash males will now have to compete in a tournament for the right to mate with you, a great hero of the Alien war."

  "It will be done, tuki-tuka-de-sa!" Popori de Cacha entered the mission into his electronic bracelet.

  Standing change. Chameleon race opinion of you has improved.

  Chameleon race opinion of you: +21 (loyal)

  From there on, it went as usual. My fleet approached the captured Sledgehammers and turned their electronics off from a safe distance. The battleships moved out in front, and the heavy assault cruisers stayed slightly behind. Three minutes later, all five Sledgehammers had been destroyed. I had already figured out that the other Alien ships had retreated to the fifth planet. Of course, it would be important to catch them, so I sent Warhawks and Pyros off after them. My fleet's other ships covered the landing ships for the assault on the station.

  Just then, a message came in from Angel. My scout has reached the Aysar Cluster and was reporting on the situation. He hadn't been able to say a whole sentence yet, but I could tell by his agitated voice that he had seen something important.

  "My Prince, the warp jump to Aysar takes three hours and seventeen minutes. It's a complete shitshow out her! I jumped at two hundred out from the beacon and appeared right in the midst of the Alien fleet! I can't leave yet; there's not enough room to accelerate and warp out. So now it's only a matter of time until I'm uncovered. There are thousands of them here! I repeat: there are thousands of them here! Over two hundred battleships. And there are even bigger ones, too! Oh my God! They've intercepted the transmission! They're all accelerating in my direction. It's over. I’ve been revealed... Long live the Empi..."

  The transmission cut off, and everyone understood perfectly what that meant. Admiral Kiro Sabuto stood first and removed his hat, after which the other staff officers followed his example. Even Bionica stood and waited out the minute of silence, before actually relaying to us what General Savasss Jach was saying:

  "The Kej warp beacon has been captured!" she informed us.

  "Turn it off, immediately!" I commanded. "What about the ships that retreated?"

  "This is Warhawk-4. We were just barely able to get out to the fifth planet. We are over twelve hundred miles from the enemy. They are clearly preparing to warp out again. Figure out where, and we'll intercept them.

  Unfortunately, we were not able to catch the enemy. The targeted ships left toward the Aysar Cluster. I ordered one of the cloaked frigate captains to follow the enemy, making sure to set the prewarp point as far from the Aysar station as possible so as not to repeat Angel royl Mauri's mistake.

  My ships detected immobile Alien landing ships over Kej-V. There were nine huge disk-shaped starships. They didn't react to our approach at all. I ordered eight of them shot down, and the ninth captured.

  Ten minutes later the general informed me that the starship was under our control. The Alpha Iseyek landing ships did not meet any resistance. The ship turned out to have been totally abandoned. All that was left to do was sweep up the remaining Aliens on the planet, but General Savasss Jach was already attending to this issue, having reanimated fifty thousand landing troops.

  Everything was leading up to the praying mantises landing on the planet and clearing the surface. Just then, when I was about to officially declare victory over the enemy, a blood-curdling scream rang out from a tactics officer:

  "Alien ship on the scanner!"

  "A cloaked frigate has appeared one hundred twenty miles from the station!" expanded Colonel Gor ton Vulf, who I had sent off to the warp beacon to keep the technicians under control.

  "New beacon in system!" Nicole Savoia told me in an even tone, before turning to me to await my orders.

  Everyone understood perfectly what it meant. The Aliens had opened a portal for their fleet to jump through.

  "Kill that beast as quickly as possible!" I commanded, though I understood perfectly that it was already too late.

  My ships took out the mobile beacon deliverer with no problems in six minutes. Now, everyone was waiting impatiently for messages from the scout we had sent to the Aysar Cluster. And an hour and a half later, he did, in fact, confirm my worst suspicions:

  "My Prince, there are only six cruisers and two beat-up destroyers left near the Aysar station. Likely the very same ships that fled from Kej. All the other starships jumped toward the warp beacon in your system."

  "They should reach us in one hour and six minutes," said Admiral Kiro Sabuto, laying out his calculations.

  Everyone remained silent, waiting for my decision.

  "Evacuate the landing troops from the station immediately. We will not be able to manage such a huge amount of Aliens. All ships, report back on energy reserves."

  They ran down the roll call. The small ships had all managed to fully recharge, and the heavy cruisers were also just about ready to retreat to Sobj. The two battleships, though, were holding us back. Both Bride of Chaos and Master of Tesse needed another fifty-seven minutes to prepare for a jump.

  "Communications officer, call Triasss Zess. I need a beacon in Sobj in fifty-eight minutes!

  A minute later, the Swarm operation coordinator appeared on screen. I explained the situation to Triasss Zess. The enemy fleet in the Kej system was beaten, but the Aliens had sent their main fleet from the Aysar Cluster.

  "Crown Prince Georg, will you be able to evacuate any of our extremely valuable experts from the fifth planet?" the praying mantis inquired. "One of the main Gamma Iseyek genetic modification research centers is located on Kej."

  I looked at the clock and gave my head a brisk shake:

  "There isn't enough time left. Even if the experts immediately began boarding shuttles and taking off, they still wouldn't mak
e it."

  "Too bad," Triasss Zess said sadly. "Crown Prince Georg, I must tell you that the Swarm values your abilities as a fleet commander very highly. No other commander fights the Aliens as effectively as you. Your fleet's kill to loss ratio is much better than any other's. Your Highness is a true galactic expert in this matter. That is exactly why the warp beacon will not be opened for your fleet. The Swarm thought that it would be the most effective way of doing the most damage they could to the Aliens and delaying their further invasion for as long as possible. I am very sorry, my friend. Forgive me."

  Standing change. Your relationship with Triasss Zess has improved.

  Presumed personal opinion of you: +70 (loyal)

  Standing change. Iseyek race opinion of you has improved.

  Alpha Iseyek race opinion of you: +13 (trusting)

  Beta Iseyek race opinion of you: +10 (trusting)

  Gamma Iseyek race opinion of you: +10 (trusting)

  The Aysar Cluster

  The first thing I noticed was the absolutely unnatural and – one could even say – grave-like silence in the headquarters. None of the officers was giving commands, flipping switches, or pecking away at buttons. Everyone in the hall was sitting silently, staring at the floor in desperation when I turned to face them. My conversation with Triasss Zess had been overheard by everyone present, which was why no one had to explain that the Iseyek had just condemned us all to death. The longer the silence dragged on, the more it became clear that it was up to me to say something.

  "Disconnect us from the other fleet ships!" I stood unhurriedly from my seat and walked to the center of the room so all the officers could see me and I could also see their faces. "The only ones who know about what just happened are us. I can be confident in all of us, but there are many novices in the Sector Eight Fleet. And now, I need my staff's advice: should we inform the remaining ships about the Swarm's betrayal?"

  First to answer my question was Captain Oorast Pohl:

  "My Prince, the crew of Joan the Fatty will do whatever you order to the very end and die with honor as soldiers should. But I am not sure the other crews have the same fortitude. My opinion is that we should keep it a secret."

  "Prince Georg, I have a different opinion." The normally modest and even shy Nicole Savoia continued to surprise me today. It was here and now that she wanted to offer her two cents and dispute the opinion of my flagship’s captain. "People trust you, Crown Prince, which is why they deserve trust in return. The fact of the Swarm's betrayal will seep out in one way or another eventually. Either that or the captains will figure it out themselves when the Sobj warp beacon doesn't show up. So, there is no reason to hide it. Doing so would do nothing but Alienate our crews.”

  "If I could be allowed to speak, Crown Prince Georg, I suppose that this information is already known by some of your fleet's ships," Bionica inferred, standing and looking around at those gathered. "Admiral Kheraisss Vej and General Savasss Jach are quite highly placed figures in the Iseyek hierarchy. I still haven’t totally figured out the admiral's status, but I have no question in my mind that General Savasss Jach has the right to vote in the Swarm. The general is one of the leaders of the Gamma Iseyek and must have taken part in discussing the decision to turn off the Sobj warp beacon."

  Could that be? I demanded the communications officer put me through immediately to the general on the Tria. Savasss Jach appeared on screen, as always inside his hemispherical work station with its infinite number of buttons, levers and screens. Bionica translated the huge insect's chirring:

  "Crown Prince Georg, I've been expecting this call for the last two minutes. From the moment I realized it had been necessary to cut off all channels of communication with the Swarm, I knew it could only mean one thing: Triasss Zess's proposal had been approved by the Swarm, and the Sobj retransmitter had begun blocking any communication with the Sector Eight Fleet in the Kej star system. I'm afraid that I must report some sad news to your Highness: the Sobj warp beacon is closed to Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky's ships in perpetuity. Triasss Zess was able to pass this decision with a majority of votes. This will probably provide your Highness very little consolation, but I would like you to be aware that I did vote against."

  That meant the general had already known this was a possibility and didn't tell me! I mentally grated my teeth in rage, but suppressed the desire to give an order to immediately kill that huge centipede bastard, and asked in an even tone:

  "General, at the moment I am interested in something else entirely. You swore an oath to the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet. Why then did you not warn your direct commander in a timely manner about a situation so critically important to our fleet?"

  My synthetic assistant translated the gigantic insect's reply:

  "Crown Prince, I am your subject, but above all else I am Iseyek, and for me the fate of the Swarm will always take priority. Yes, I really was made aware of the trap being prepared by Triasss Zess when the Sector Eight Fleet was still in the Kii star system. I happened to have a difference of opinion from him. I personally thought that the Sector Eight Fleet would be more useful if they allowed it to recover from potential losses. But the Swarm voted otherwise in the majority. They prescribed our foreign fleet to die with honor, holding back the Alien invasion. For me, the Swarm's decision is sacred and unquestionable, though it also means my own death."

  I didn't see the point of continuing to argue with the fanatic and waste valuable time, so I hung up. Everything had become exceedingly clear: the Swarm thought that sacrificing an allied fleet was justified. And it had been a conscious, collective decision – not some spontaneous revenge by the Alpha Iseyek for his ripped-out appendages and hijacked minions. I suspect that the Swarm thought no one in the Empire would find out what happened, so no revenge would follow from humanity.

  In some way, Triasss Zess was right: I wasn't preparing to lay down and let the Aliens just take my fleet. I was ready to fight to the last ship, to the last round, and to the last crew member. But I was very hopeful that the Swarm coordinator was wrong on another count: counting us out. I personally considered the situation very perilous, but clearly not hopeless. My fleet was strong and well trained enough that the Aliens still had some serious sweating ahead of them before defeating the Sector Eight Fleet. Or even just catching us to get started.

  "Put me through to the whole fleet! Bring the Truth Seeker to fleet headquarters!" Ennui and confusion slipped through in my voice. I was struck by an untamed thirst for action and a very strong, simply inordinate fervor. We had been backed into a corner and condemned to a battle with a superior enemy, who was universally considered unbeatable. What better motivation could I ask for?

  Without being shy in my word choice, I told the fleet about the deadly trap the insects had backed us into. I gave them time to process it, so the severity of the situation would reach all the way to the last pair of ears, and then continued:

  "The Swarm has committed a historic error, the effects of which the Iseyek will come to realize in the near future. They took it in their heads to destroy the only force capable of protecting their star systems from the Alien invasion. Now the Swarm is doomed. The Iseyek will not have time to save their clutches, and in a year or so the only thing left to remind the residents of the Empire and other star systems that there once existed intelligent insects will be the names of some remote star systems. And as for us, the Sector Eight Fleet, we will make it out, no matter if we were stabbed in the back! I swear that I will do everything I can to get our ships back to Imperial territory. Yes, every one of us will have to expend all our effort to escape the trap, but I believe in you, troops! We are the most combat-effective fleet in the Empire and have already shown we can rout Aliens no problem. And if Aliens are what's standing between us and freedom, we'll have to fight our way through!"

  The enthusiastic roar of hundreds of voices drowned out my speech. Despite the fact that Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky had led his fleet into a trap, the captains stil
l believed in me and thought that I was capable of dragging them all out of the trouble. I was expecting reputation increases with the Imperial Military faction as usual, however that did not happen–clearly the result of my fleet's isolation from Imperial territory, making it impossible for such faction relation change information to get through.

  An armchair hovered into the room with Florianna sitting in it in a black robe, accompanied by four Gamma Iseyeks. I noted with some surprise that some officers went down on one knee to greet the little Truth Seeker. It was the first time I had seen them act that way. Perhaps it was evidence of Flora having been officially recognized as a Truth Seeker and her rank having gone from that of an NPC to a live player with personal backstory and character information. And maybe it was just that the little girl looked impressive with her antigravity armchair, dark attire and unspeaking, nonhuman retinue.

  "Flora, I need to know where the Alien fleet is headed."

  Everyone in the headquarters froze in respectful silence, afraid of interrupting the Truth Seeker's process. Flora closed her eyes and sat like that for a few minutes before I heard a child's voice in my head:

  "Crown Prince Georg, unfortunately I cannot complete your mission. I will never be able to detect or track the movement of the Alien ships. Forgive me."

  A wash! Though it wasn't a bad idea… The plan had been to add the flight time from the Aysar system to the exact time when the mobile warp beacon had been set up in the Kej system, and use that to help us greet the Alien ships with all the megaton honors they deserved. Too bad, too bad... But... I remembered the recording Admiral Kheraisss Vej had given me in Tesse, which showed the moment the cloaked Alien ship appeared next to the Kej station, then the subsequent invasion of the Alien fleet to the star system. I had studied the video in sufficient detail and now could possibly apply it to local conditions.

  "Bring up a detailed tactical map of the area around the Kej station!" I stood and got closer to the three-dimensional hologram that showed the station itself.