Sector Eight (Perimeter Defense: Book #1)
Page 36
"Admit the truth, Georg. Can you really hear the paralyzed girl? Or is that just a show for the public to highlight how exceptional you are to your subjects?"
Such mistrust actually made me somewhat hurt. I didn't start cursing, though, I just confirmed that I really could hear Florianna's voice. Then I added quietly:
"The poor girl! With me, her skills were growing too fast for someone without any experience. And she was not being careful enough. As a result, she accidentally detected the very thing Miya is trying to hide, and predictably, she suffered for her dangerous knowledge. Because it isn't for nothing that Miya is hiding. She is pregnant, and she thinks that too many people would want to take advantage of her weak point in that period and bring harm to her or the baby. But this is a secret, you understand that."
"Of course I understand. It isn't a small matter. So it was Miya that maimed her? Well, alright. It's a fairly predictable result for someone who was digging around in your Truth Seeker's business. Cousin, let's trade honesty for honesty, alright? Do you remember Viscount Sivir's story about our adventure in the institute? Well, there weren't any hackers. It was all me. As soon as the security went down, I transferred all the institute's money to one of my accounts. It was a huge scandal. Count Olberg paid the institute for all losses from his own funds, and the allegations against his son were dropped. No one even thought it could have been me."
"Come on. It looks like you're still that same scoundrel today!" I chuckled, hiding my surprise at her frankness behind a smile.
My second cousin snorted in offense:
"I just consider it my special talent to make decisions quickly. By the way, Georg, I just had an idea! Let's broadcast the alien invasion of Hnelle live! You lead the battle, and I'll set up a series of urgent broadcasts from the attacked system every fifteen minutes toward all systems in the Empire. You just have to win, and I'll try to make it so that the whole Empire will worry for us and keep their fingers crossed until the very end.”
* * *
"Attention, all ships. Be at the ready in three minutes! The last time, the aliens appeared four hours and eight minutes after the beacon was turned on. Our mission is to check if that was just a coincidence. Heavies, get together more compact. Check your connections. Hunchback's Heir, you're falling out of formation. Bride of Chaos, you don't get away from the others either. Tria, stay at least twelve hundred miles out."
The seconds ticked by. The levels of stress in the headquarters grew to a fevered pitch. All unrelated conversations quieted down. People began looking at the big clock on the wall more and more frequently. One person prayed. Nicole Savoia, sitting next to me, got especially nervous. Her fingers were noticeably shaking, and she was fidgeting with her "Silver Brooch." I tried to distract my assistant with conversation.
"Nicole, what's your opinion? Will they come or not? And if they come, how many?"
The girl gave a start:
"I think they'll come. And not two like last time, but a lot. Five."
"Do you think five is a lot?" I said in surprise, even beginning to snigger. "We could grind five of them into dust and not even feel it. The main thing is that they come. I wouldn't like to fight with ships from our very own Orange House."
"Ready in thirty seconds!" said the officer.
I placed my hands on the console and took another look at my subjects that were gathered around me in my headquarters. No one was confused or lost. Everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing. The team had made good progress. They were sure of themselves and their commander. Everything was how it should be.
"Five, four, three..."
"Here, fishy fishy!" I exclaimed loudly.
In response, I got a cry of surprise in unison with notes of distress. The aliens did come. And it was even somehow an unexpectedly large number. Many more than I thought...
End of Book One
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Waking Up
Afterdeath
Family Affairs
Internal Problems
Purging the Ranks
Brother Dear
The Path to the Empire
The Throne World
Atonement in Battle
The Brotherhood of the Stars
Trump Card Dead End
A Hole in My Pocket
Black Clouds Gather
Friends and Allies
And Back to Tesse
Those Who Extinguish Stars
Here, Fishy Fishy