"I've never felt the like, Crown Prince. The wave of admiration rushed in with such ferocity to this butterfly and her commander that it vastly surpassed that time in Hnelle, when I lost control over myself. The fleet Iseyek are prepared to devour any enemy, even going in unarmed. They would die for you without a second of hesitation as long as you have this flying translator at your side. I'm simply overflowing with energy right now. I have started feeling things that I never could before... By the way... The Arite came after your Highness to Emperor August. It's very strange, given that it would have had a much easier time dissolving into the crowd on a Swarm cruiser. And another thing... Prince Georg, the Aliens will not accept combat. They are fleeing to the Lobj system as we speak!"
"Nicole, they're retreating!" I warned my assistant, though it was already too late, as I watched the Alien ships leave the tactical grid one after the other.
"Did I do something wrong, Prince Georg? What did I do?" Nicole Savoia turned to face me, expecting reproach.
"It isn't your fault, Nicole. I didn't see any errors on your part. It's just that the Aliens have begun behaving differently, more calmly. They are learning from their experiences in previous battles and are afraid of us.
"Computer extrapolation of their trajectory shows that the Aliens are heading toward the Lobj system!" said the young tactics lieutenant, Max Stegor, who had previously served on Boydur the Hero, but was now taking the place once occupied by Valian ton Corsa in the headquarters.
By the way, Max had a rare talent for tactics. He had the best results, not only when answering typical examination situations, but also when solving nonstandard assignments I had come up with, thereby winning the prestigious place in the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet headquarters from among more than three hundred other candidates. To be honest, Max Stegor's tactical abilities surpassed Valian ton Corsa's by several times. All the same, when visiting the intensive care unit on Master of Tesse, I promised Valian that she could always count on coming back to her place in the headquarters after recovering. The doctor of the burn ward informed me that the girl was in a critical condition, and she needed some encouragement to keep her holding on. Submersed in an oxygen-enriched gel bath, Valian heard out my words and nodded, though it was barely perceptible.
"We are clearing the station of Aliens, and recharging our ships... Attention!!!"
The last word I screamed out, because a red dot had appeared on the tactical map next to my fleet from out of nowhere. The Alien frigate marker split, clearly then releasing a bomb and... it went off without exploding, due to all my destroyers' high-speed laser turrets striking it simultaneously. It wasn't for nothing that we had done all that practicing in Sss, working on our bombing technique, as well as out bombing defense!
"Warhawk-22, take point on the enemy!" came a voice that sounded familiar to me.
"Do not shoot at the enemy frigate!!! Blind its electronics, and hold it in webs and disruptors! General Savasss Jach, I need that ship whole. We've never seen one like this before. Try to take some Aliens alive too! Warhawk-22, excellent work! I promise that as soon as Admiral Kiro Sabuto is better, he'll figure out what medals you've earned, and also..." I took a quick look at the report sent by Nicole, "... Vassar-3 and Flycatcher-4, who destroyed the enemy bomb and saved a great many of our ships in doing so."
Warhawk-22. Why was that ringing a bell...? I opened up a list of all ships in the fleet. That's right! How could I have forgotten about the experiment! Beston Maf, the android captain of the android-crewed frigate! It seemed he had survived, and had even been able to prove himself a hero. I would have to talk with Admiral Kiro Sabuto. We could now declare the experiment a success.
"Excuse me for interfering in your command, Nicole, it's just that the situation required an immediate reaction. You'll see yourself. The Aliens will learn from their mistakes quickly, and in parallel, will start trying to copy our successful strategies. I don't yet know what kind of bomb the Alien cloaker launched at our fleet, but I suspect it would have blown up, if given the chance. I will now leave the headquarters, but you make sure General Savasss Jach's praying mantises capture the station and board the held-down Alien frigate. As soon as they're done, let me know."
With Florianna and a whole horde of visible and invisible bodyguards accompanying me, I set off for my cabin. My cheek, which had just barely started growing back together, was starting to hurt again, as if the doctor would have to sew it shut yet again. Unexpectedly, a soldier with gunner-private patches approached me in the hall and tried to get my attention.
"Your Highness, do you have a few minutes for a conversation?"
"The battle isn't yet over. Why are you not at your combat post, private?" Popori de Cacha came out of invisibility and displayed the appropriate level of caution.
"My Prince, it's the Arite! He is not dangerous, and has finally come around to the idea of talking about working together."
"The reason he is not at his combat post, is because there is already an identical copy of him in the cannon tower, right where he should be... You are the Arite, after all, or am I mistaken?"
In the space of a second, the contours of the private dissolved into a thick white cloud. It can't be that the Arite is afraid of being uncovered, can it? But the Truth Seeker was not wrong. The extraterrestrial creature merely gave a dramatic demonstration of my accuracy, then changed form into... Bionica!
"This form was not among those listed as forbidden by the Prince. No, your Highness, you were not mistaken, I am the Arite. Can we have a talk?"
* * *
I suspect, that to an outside observer, what were in fact the first official negotiations between two space-faring species looked like nothing more than a shared meal between the Crown Prince and his newly repaired secretary. Bionica's death was already known in the fleet and, as such, the android's reappearance next to the commander in an intact and undamaged state was noted immediately by a great many. Popori de Cacha instantly blocked the spread of information on the Arite, and released a fake story that the robot translator had been repaired to cover it up. Those unfamiliar with the true state of affairs may have been surprised by the perhaps excessive quantity of armed bodyguards keeping all the cruiser crew members away from Georg royl Inoky and his translator.
Pseudo-Bionica and I were in a separate room in the officer's dining area. The Arite was omnivorous, and had at least a slight idea on the way table utensils were to be used, but he was approximately as far removed from Bionica's perfect manners as my hulking, awkward body was from the elegance and grace of a ballerina. My clearly starving table-mate was gulping down food with squelching and slurping sounds, all the while dropping bits of food and dribbling trails of sauce on the tablecloth. For that reason, there wasn’t a second of doubt that this could never have been the real Bionica. Though I immediately noted that the Arite learned fast. It started using a napkin, following my example. It also started eating more carefully. The table manners of this representative of a civilization previously unknown to humanity sitting across the table from me aside, it was much more important to figure out what the Arite was offering, and in fact it was very much worth my while.
Pseudo-Bionica said that it was speaking in the name of his whole race. Its offer was to open the Arite system warp beacon to my ships, as well as any other Swarm beacons, and provide unimpeded passage for the Sector Eight Fleet to the Empire and basically wherever I wanted throughout Iseyek territory. It also promised to introduce a bill in the Swarm through an individual with the right to vote in a high place in the Iseyek hierarchy to compensate Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle for the incident that took place in the Kej system and even to get it passed. In exchange for everything I've just listed, the Arites wanted three important things: my help in liberating the Arite systems from the remnants of the Iseyek armies, diplomatic and military pressure from the Empire on the Swarm with the goal of a peace treaty with the Arites under the condition that the insects pay compensation for the
damages incurred over the two-hundred-year-long war, and also the conclusion of a mutual-assistance and military alliance treaty between the Empire and the Arites against any enemy, be they Swarm or Alien.
The problem was that the Arites would only go through with the agreement if it was accepted wholesale. If even one point wasn't agreed on, all the others would be void. So, without my official agreement to return the Swarm-occupied Arite system, there could be no discussion about opening the warp beacon for my fleet, and the Arites could guarantee me no compensation from the insects until a military alliance could be concluded between the Arites and the Empire. Everything I said about not having the authority to make such treaties in the name of the Empire were simply ignored by Pseudo-Bionica. At some point, I would have to admit that the negotiations with the Arites had reached a dead end and suggest setting them aside for a bit.
"Alright, my Prince," Bionica agreed. "I hope I will be allowed to keep this appearance on your ship? Insofar as I understand, the individual, who normally occupies this appearance is in an inactive state, so I will not be getting in her way. The other crew members had no negative reactions to my appearance in this form. I can do the usual functions this individual does in order not to arouse suspicion."
"Then you'll have to be my translator. You do in fact know the Iseyek language, so I don't see that as a problem. But promise you won't suddenly disappear. Androids can't do that, and you'll raise a bunch of unpleasant questions if you turn into a cloud in front of my officers. Bionica had some other duties as well..."
A sudden incoming emergency call interrupted my explanation. I took a look at who was calling and smiled involuntarily. It was Colonel Gor ton Vulf! Clearly he wanted to tell me that the station and cloaker have been captured. However, I was wrong.
"My Prince, the Khe station is mined! Some of the sections are totally blocked off. There are no doors in. But the engineers are saying that their readers are picking up antimatter behind the thin dividers!"
I switched over to the internal fleet channel:
"Attention! This is the fleet commander. Take the ships away from the station immediately! All frigates and destroyers, and also the Tria should immediately warp to the first planet at twelve hundred! What's the deal with the Alien frigate?"
"The frigate is under our control, but we were again not able to capture any of its occupants alive. The engineers are attaching the trophy frigate to Bride of Chaos. They'll need a couple of minutes.
"Got it. Cruisers and battleships, leave the station, pick up the landing groups and also get out to the first planet. Landing groups are to collect trophies and immediately evacuate the station to the nearest fleet ships!"
I signed off and took a look around. False Bionica had already made her way off somewhere, not having waited for me to explain all its duties. I was waiting impatiently for Pseudo-Bionica to mess something up with her ignorance. I really needed to discuss the Arite issue with my advisor and fast, before Florianna accidentally revealed the presence of the unknown race on the ship. I asked my cousin Katerina ton Mesefelle to come to the officer's dining area.
My cousin was totally unsurprised by the discovery of a new space-faring species and immediately joined the discussion, describing me her questions and suggestions. What struck me most in my cousin's speech, was something I hadn't yet found the resolve to say out loud:
"Why are we solving the Iseyek’s problems without them? Georg, let's invite the Swarm Progenitor to take part in the negotiations!"
"You know, that’s the right idea. But first we need to show the Arites that we could get out of this trap without them. That will strengthen our position in the negotiations a good amount."
I called General Savasss Jach and, using Phobos as a translator, suggested the Gamma Iseyek get in touch with his acquaintances in the Arite system. His suggestion was to let the information out in doses, trying not to show our hand too early with the trophies, rescued scientists and the Iseyek Prime in our fleet. The general agreed with my position and signed off. Four minutes went by before the general called me back:
"Prince Georg, the mission was a success. The beacon in the Arite system will be turned on in one hundred ninety-four minutes. I told them that the only ship coming was Tria, with reinforcements for the war going on on the planet. The Swarm there doesn't know about the Sector Eight Fleet yet, so for them it will be a surprise. But, I am sure that this issue is best discussed with our feet on the ground in the Arite system."
"If we really can get out of Triasss Zess's trap, I'll kiss that hairy bug all over!" Katerina ton Mesfelle promised after the general had hung up.
"Does it just keep you up at night not to also have the Iseyek Mating Dance achievement?" I joked, but Katerina did not get it and went to mentally prepare the Swarm Progenitor for a meeting with the representative of the Arites.
* * *
Nai Igir reacted quite nervously to the information that there was an Arite on board the starship, yet I was able to calm the Swarm Progenitor nevertheless with the fact that the Truth Seeker was able to keep a close watch over the ship for the deceitful being, and would not hesitate to get involved if necessary. The Iseyek Prime hesitated for a long time and demanded that I, as an official representative of the Empire, guarantee her safety, and I even did.
The first official meeting between representatives of the Arites and the Swarm in two hundred years was planned. What was more, this historic event was planned to take place on the flagship of the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet, the heavy assault cruiser, Emperor August. My cousin Katerina ton Mesfelle had already had a foretaste of the huge interest this kind of exclusive material could garner and was scurrying around the starship with the speed of a cat that’d just burned its tail, getting the equipment set up, and getting the conditions just right to record the historic moment for posterity.
But first, we would have to finish the trip to the disputed Arite system without issue, and there had been a war over that planet between the Arites and the Iseyek with varying levels of success for two centuries now. To be honest, I did have some "butterflies in my stomach" over the possibility that the Swarm could trick us again. Despite that, the general's old friends did not deceive us, and the beacon turned on at precisely the scheduled time. When it did, Emperor August and the rest of the Sector Eight Fleet made the jump to the Arite system’s beacon, which flashed on for just a second.
The staff officers' moods immediately improved, though they also began to look strained. I heard my subjects talking. They were all hoping very much that the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet had in fact escaped the deadly trap, however they were not ready to believe in it all the way before they saw the chance to speak with the Empire for themselves.
And there it was, the Arite system! The ship left the tunnel accompanied by a bedsheet-sized page of system messages that flashed before my eyes momentarily. The information blockade had been broken, and a waterfall of data that had accumulated over the last few days cascaded down over me. Relation changes with factions and people, increases in global fame, reductions and increases in standing, hundreds of messages from acquaintances.
I closed the text-packed screen and simply opened my character popup:
Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, Crown Prince of the Empire
Age: 48
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Aristocrat
Achievements: Chameleon Elder Female, Favorite’s Iseyek Mating Dance, Discovered Arite Race, Alien Killer, Researcher of the Unknown
Fame: +18
Standing: +2
My standing was in the positive for the first time since I entered the game! And my fame had increased by five points in the time I was gone! Relations with factions and species I had never heard of had also grown substantially. Even the Imperial Artists faction had somehow wizened up to +8! And so, what about the Imperial Military? I had to flip through a few screens of text before finding the information:
Standing c
hange. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.
Presumed personal opinion of you: +15 (warm)
"Enemy ships on directional scanner!" Nicole Savoia brought me back to reality. "Swarm ships! Forty marks. Three Legashes, a couple Umoyges, the rest are little guys. They're getting closer!"
I imagined myself in the place of the confused and frightened Iseyek commanders, and couldn't hold back a smile. Instead of the reinforcements they were expecting, one lone landing Tria, an unknown fleet of three hundred starships had arrived to the disputed Arite system, and most of their radar signatures indicated that they belonged to a foreign space government. Invasion! War! Betrayal! It was probably these very thoughts setting the insect captains on edge now. But the Iseyek earned their dues: the Swarm fleet did not retreat and threw itself on the attack against the trespasser, regardless of my fleet's significantly outsizing them in both number and class of ship.
"The enemy has come out of warp at four hundred miles! Incoming video call! Your Highness, shall I put them through?"
"Put them through in thirty seconds, but not with me, with my translator Nai Igir."
I turned to the Iseyek Prime and said:
"Now is the time for the Swarm Progenitor to assert her ancient rights. Before us are your subjects. And now, they either bow before the Iseyek Prime, take an oath of loyalty and join our fleet, or I will destroy them. And it will be so with every fleet that tries to impede our movement through Swarm territory, and your path to the throne."
"May I claim to this captain that the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet is under my command, and is no threat to the Swarm?" Nai Igir clarified.
"No, you may not," I said, trying to put a complete end to all such topics. My combat starships are the force that will lead to you power over the Swarm, but the fleet is not subject to the Progenitor. For now, we are just working together. You need my ships to get to the capital system Dekeye and be crowned ruler of the Swarm. And I need you because no Iseyek wouldn’t dare stop the Progenitor from moving around Swarm territory. As soon as you reach your goal, my fleet will leave the Swarm. That much I promise you. Naturally, though, this can only happen after the Swarm settles accounts with me over their betrayal in the Kej system."
Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) Page 23
