A Check for a Billion

by Vasily Mahanenko

  “Take it easy!” begged Eunice, clinging to her chair. I descended down to the very ground, at times scuffing the pavement with the bottom of my orbship, kicking up a long tail of sparks. The Zatrathi cities were arranged in an even grid with broad streets, so I didn’t even have to diminish our speed. The only inconvenience were the incessant notifications about gained XP and drops in durability. We weren’t losing it as quickly now as we had been with the AA fire, but it was still unpleasant. On the other hand, we kept smashing through monorails and other mass transit full of Zatrathi, which fed us XP and improved the quality of our hull. Brainiac would have gotten a kick out of this…

  “Lex, there’s the entrance! We’ve been hit!”

  I grimaced — the fighters had caught up to us and knocked out three engines. We had only one left and that wouldn’t be enough to slow us to a standstill.

  “Get ready! It’s about to hurt!”

  I steered the orbship straight into the black entrance to the hall of the planetary spirit. The last engine burned out a few seconds before impact, but the Zatrathi could no longer prevent our inertia from carrying us to our goal.

  The orbship slammed into the pyramid. Some kind of notification flashed past my eyes and the world lost its volume, furling itself into a dark tube…

  “Lex…come on…wake up already! Wake up, Lex!”

  I opened my eyes with difficulty — my entire field of view was chockfull of debuff icons. There was a click — Eunice switched out my medunit and several icons vanished — only to reappear again a couple seconds later. To be fair, there were fewer now, but still much too many. A new click and the emptied medunit rolled away along the floor.

  “Lex, wake up! Come on, baby! This is the last one I got! Come back, please!” Eunice’s voice grew tearful and plaintive.

  “I think I’m back…” I managed hoarsely. My punctured chest punctuated my words with a gurgle of red foam and yet another debuff. The medunit again pumped all of its contents into me and flashed empty. But at least this gave me the strength to look around and curse mentally. The pyramid’s entrance was gone: The orbship had blocked it completely, turning into a metal cork. Eunice cut a passage and pulled us out into the corridor, dragging us almost to the very entrance to the planetary spirit’s chamber. Somehow she managed to do this despite suffering a fractured leg during our crash landing. Now, exhausted, she lay beside me, staring at the ceiling. I can’t even imagine what mental fortitude still kept her here, holding on.

  “Go on ahead — I’m spent.” Eunice pulled out a blaster and aimed it at the orbship. Our metal cork began to jiggle. The welcoming party on the other side was desperate to reach us. A little more and a mob of warriors would break through and put an end to our raid. “I’ll hold them back. The prize check has to be here. It can’t be anywhere else!”

  “Okay. But don’t put off respawning too long,” I nodded and crawled forward.

  As I reached the door, I heard a rattling behind me, the crash of falling debris and then the sound of gunfire. They had pulled the orbship out. I had to hurry!

  Heaving myself over the threshold, I looked around. A huge chamber fifty meters wide. One side of it contained an ordinary planetary spirit crystal — on the other side of the hall was a shimmering item that looked very much like a scroll.

  My heart skipped a beat. The prize check! Our raid’s main objective, the subject of the wager, the goal of my entire gaming career in Galactogon. A mere twenty-five meters or so away from me. Behind me, I heard an explosion and Eunice’s frame went gray in the party window. Another voluntary sacrifice. My wife had blown herself up to close the passage that led to me. I jerked toward the check but stopped. It dawned on me quite clearly that I wouldn’t be able to make it both to the check and to the planetary spirit in time. I had to choose one or the other.

  And suddenly I realized what I had to do. All the hints, clues and allusions arranged themselves into a single mosaic, forming one clear instruction. It was impossible to see it from the outside — you had to start at the very beginning and see the journey through to its final end as I just had. Eunice could not have understood. Without losing a moment, I crawled toward the spirit.

  The shimmering scroll behind my back began to glow red, but I merely grunted. There’d be no fooling me this time! The door flew off its hinges and Zatrathi warriors burst into the hall. They chirred angrily and rushed toward me, wishing to pull me away from the crystal. I looked up at them and smiled exultantly, applying the KRIEG wire terminals to the spirit’s crystal:

  “Boom, suckers!”

  You have activated the KRIEG.

  New title unlocked: Hero of Galactogon.

  You have destroyed the Queen, ending the war with the Zatrathi once and for all.

  Speak to any imperial representative to receive your reward.

  Your sacrifice was not in vain, Brainiac. Thank you for having my back all this time.

  Epilogue

  “What have you done?! Tell me?! What have you done, you asshole?!” Eunice’s scream resounded throughout the forest, scaring the birds. They took off, flapping their wings with an offended air, but quickly calmed down, wheeled and retook their perches, watching the human’s tantrum with interest.

  “I blew up the Zatrathi planetary spirit,” I said for the eleventh time, rolling my eyes. “That wasn’t our check if it even was a check at all,” I went on calmly persuading Eunice, not taking my eyes off the clouds.

  I was lying supine on our dock on Zubrail, resting. At long last, our ‘run or die’ marathon had ended. Now I had absolutely nothing — not even a ship that would get me to the nearest planet. The race was over and we had won. At what price — was another question altogether.

  “Why? What makes you think so?” My wife emotions were running amok. “I saw the video, the check was there! You ruined everything!”

  “If that was a check, it wasn’t for us,” I repeated. “Remember the basic rule they told us when we first started? Remember how we would know if the scroll was for us?”

  “What rule?” Eunice frowned, suppressing yet another outburst of frustration.

  “I don’t remember it verbatim, but the gist was that as soon as we set foot on the planet with the check, the system would warn us. And I mean immediately. You and I did our tour of Rrgord’s planets using that same trick, remember?”

  I looked away from the clouds and propped myself up on my elbow, looking at my wife.

  “I remember,” Eunice agreed reluctantly. “So you didn’t get any notification?”

  “Are you trying to say that you did?” My heart twitched. What if I’d made a terrible mistake..?

  “No,” she shook her head. “I didn’t get one. But then where is our planet? They told us that the check would be on the Zatrathi homeworld! They couldn’t have lied to us!”

  Instead of answering, I just rolled my eyes again.

  “Stop doing that!”

  “Didn’t you say you’d take care of everything on your own? What do you need me for?” I mocked Eunice, causing her to withdraw, embarrassed. She couldn’t help but feel ashamed for how harshly she’d treated me earlier.

  “Forgive me,” she said at last, making a pleading gesture with her hands. I took pity on her and explained my thinking.

  “Whoever said that the Queen’s homeworld should be the Zatrathi homeworld?”

  Eunice opened her mouth and immediately shut it.

  “There…do you see now?” I smiled, and lay down to gaze at the sky, while my wife grappled with what I had just told her.

  “Surgeon is correct,” said a familiar voice beside us. It was Zubrail’s resident Uldan. Eunice and I jumped up at the same time and stared at Galactogon’s ancient progenitor. “Those whom you call the Zatrathi were not born on the Queen’s homeplanet. My congratulations. You made the right choice, Surgeon, and you passed the test! I hereby recognize your right to be on Planet Zubrail!”

  Access granted to Zubrail.

  Atte
ntion search participant! You are currently on the planet with the prize check! You may find it in the hall of the planetary spirit!

  “My god…” Eunice whispered, upon reading the same notification.

  “Come with me. I wish to show you something.” The Uldan waved his hand and the platform we were on parted, forming a broad path. We followed after him. “You proved that the fate of Galactogon was more important to you than a monetary reward. You proved that you are ready to fight to the very end. You proved that you are ready to sacrifice everything, even what you value most.”

  I guess he was talking about Brainiac. Some building flashed between the trees. I looked closer and froze. A rickety old hangar stood in the clearing. Above its wide, locked doors I read an inscription faded with time: ‘Project #2373.’ I swallowed hard, realizing the truth. Here, in this very hangar, many millennia ago, the first Zatrathi were born. This was their homeworld.

  “I wished to see how determined you really were. That was why I pushed you to go see Mercaloun. I made sure that no one interfered with you. I eliminated any enemies that could get in your way. I wished to see whether you were worthy or not. Now I have the answers to these questions.”

  “Worthy of what exactly?” I asked, realizing that the Uldan wasn’t speaking about the check. Something told me a new adventure lay around the corner.

  “Worthy of a dangerous and important mission. But first look here.”

  The Uldan waved his hand and the thickets again parted, revealing a small platform on which stood a golden copy of my orbship. Against my will, my eyes welled with tears. Warlock was back — but my friend wasn’t. It would be difficult to fly without him. It didn’t matter that Brainiac was just a piece of code.

  “Cap’n!” The snake popped out of the hull and rushed toward me, coiling around me in tight rings. “You’re back, Cap’n! Glory to the creators! I’d already decided that we’d have to fly solo!”

  “I decided to make you a present in case you succeeded in your quest. Before you set out to destroy the Queen, I made a copy of your orbship’s AI,” the Uldan petted the snake, avoiding my eyes. “The one you call ‘Brainiac’ is alive and well. He is inside the ship.”

  “Thank you,” I said sincerely and, clearing my throat, asked: “You mentioned some sort of mission?”

  “The Queen was not one of a kind. Soon the next creation of the Ancestors will appear and everything will start anew. You must travel to another universe, forever shutting the door to our world.

  New mission available: In Search of the Ancestors. Requirements: Title of Hero of Galactogon.

  “Later I will explain to you who the Ancestors are and what threat they pose to Galactogon. For now — come with me. Your reward awaits you in the hall of the planetary spirit. You have earned your billion.”

  End of Book and Series

  January–April 2019

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for being with me throughout these three books. The break between the first and second books turned out to be longer than expected. At one point, I even gave up believing that I would finish the series. But, gathering my strength, I finally did it. I can confidently say that I like the outcome. I hope you share my opinion.

  Be the first to know when Vasily Mahanenko’s next book is available! Follow him at https://www.bookbub.com/profile/v-mahanenko to get an alert whenever he has a new release, preorder, or discount!

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  New Release!

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  ALL BOOKS BY VASILY MAHANENKO:

  The Bard from Barliona LitRPG Series:

  The Renegades (The Bard from Barliona Book #1)

  A Song of Shadow (The Bard from Barliona Book #2)

  The Way of the Shaman LitRPG Series:

  Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1)

  The Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman: Book #2)

  The Secret of the Dark Forest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3)

  The Phantom Castle (The Way of the Shaman: Book #4)

  The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5)

  Shaman's Revenge (The Way of the Shaman Book #6)

  Clans War (The Way of the Shaman: Book #7)

  The Hour of Pain (The Way of the Shaman Bonus Story)

  The Way of the Shaman Comic Book:

  The Way of the Shaman. Step 1: The Beginning: Volume One

  The Way of the Shaman. Step 2: The First Day: Volume Two

  Dark Paladin LitRPG Series:

  The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1)

  The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2)

  Restart (Dark Paladin Book #3)

  Galactogon LitRPG Series:

  Start The Game (Galactogon: Book #1)

  In Search of the Uldans (Galactogon Book #2)

  A Check for a Billion (Galactogon Book #3)

  Invasion LitRPG Series:

  A Second Chance (Invasion Book #1)

  Short Stories:

  You're in Game!

  (LitRPG Stories from Bestselling Authors)

  You’re In Game-2

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  About the Author

  Vasily Mahanenko is a fantasy author working in the new genre of LitRPG - the MMO-based fantasy and sci fi. His Way of the Shaman series took Russian literature by storm in 2012.

  Vasily dipped into his college-days insider knowledge as a hardcore gamer in order to create a believable world of the virtual-reality MMO game. His bestselling series combines fiction and video games, telling the story of Shaman and his friends stuck in the ruthless reality of Barliona. He used his more than ten years' experience as an ERP implementation project manager to approach his writing in a well-organized manner, working to a strict schedule, a set of deadlines and even a budget. At the moment, the series boasts six novels with the seventh one in the works - this time the author expands on stories of Shaman's companions and those who helped and supported him in his trials and tribulations.

  The English translation of The Way of the Shaman series is now
available to the English-language reader in its entirety. So is his other LitRPG series, The Dark Paladin. Vasily’s latest project to date is also set in the world of Barliona: The Renegades (The Bard from Barliona Book #1) LitRPG Series, co-written with another Russian author, Eugenia Dmitrieva. Finally, Vasily’s latest LitRPG series, Invasion, has recently been released in English.