Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (18 page)

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 make 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)

T
he 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 still 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 happe
n–
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.

I had to walk in a circle twice around the hologram, before I was able to orient myself and point on the map to approximate places where the mobile warp beacon deliverer had been and where the enemy fleet had come out from.

"One hundred eight miles," the tactics officer counted off, having measured our distance from that point.

"Great. Now calculate one hundred eight miles from the point where we recently shot down the cloaked Alien frigate in a straight line from the Aysar Cluster. That is precisely where the Alien ships will arrive in fifty-two minutes and sixteen seconds. And I want the biggest bombs we have in the fleet installed all around."

I noted my subjects coming to life instantly, and the respect they were looking on the little Truth Seeker with. Clearly, none of my officers had any doubts that it was Flora who had given me the right answer. And as the Truth Seeker had pointed me in the right direction, they technically weren't wrong. The tacticians began scuttling around, the admiral began fleet roll call, and Bionica was also hissing something out in Iseyek. Finally, Kiro Sabuto reported to me on what kinds of instruments of death and destruction my fleet was in possession of:

"My Prince, each of the battleships has one fifty-megaton bomb. There are also ten ten-megaton bombs, and eight 'one-and-a-halfers' on the
Legashes
, and each of the stealth bombers has one three-megatonner... Which bombs should we set?"

I considered it briefly. I was hesitant to use all my big trump cards like that in one go; however, there was a serious chance that such an easy opportunity wouldn't present itself again.

"Let's put both fifty-megatonners down. The Aliens learn quick, so they won't get fooled by a trick like that twice. Set one right at the marked prewarp point, and the second three miles toward the Aysar Cluster. We'll see how well the Alien rear shields take damage. Oh, and also put all eight one-and-a-halfers from the Iseyek ships out in a circle around it. After such an epic honeypot on the praying mantis's part, and until I have no more doubt in the loyalty of the Swarm ships with me, I have no desire to leave any Iseyek in possession of such dangerous weapons. With a total of ten bombs, we'll try to do the most damage we can to the Aliens, as we won't get another chance. Just make sure to synchronize all the timers very carefully so we don't end up blowing up our own bombs for nothing.”

"It will be done, my Prince!" the admiral turned to give the orders, but I stopped him.

"Admiral, that isn't all. I feel that the time has come to split the fleet up. The two battleships should keep charging for the warp jump, but the other ships simply cannot allow themselves the luxury of lounging around for so much time. That is why I and the remaining ships will go now to the Aysar system and try to clear the station there as quickly as possible so the fleet can start recharging. However, there is also absolutely no way we can leave the two battleships here without protection. I have no doubt that there are Alien cloaked frigates nearby observing us. If the fleet leaves, they may appear and try to hold the battleships here until the rest of the Alien fleet arrives. I personally would do the very same in their position, and after the other ships came I would also destroy these ships, depriving the human fleet of their most dangerous weapons. That is why I am leaving fifty frigates and ten destroyers to cover the battleships. Admiral Kiro Sabuto, it is precisely you that I entrust with the mission of making sure our most valuable ships make it to Aysar safe and sound. My friend, go as quickly as you can to
Master of Tesse
. I'll inform Nill ton Amsted of your command. Nill, though, I want to see here on
Joan the Fatty
. I have my own special mission for him."

* * *

Three hours, seventeen minutes. That was how long the warp jump to the Aysar Cluster took. Too short to get any sleep, and on top of that I was in such an overexcited state that I wouldn't have been able to close my eyes anyway. What I wanted to do was share a meal with Katerina ton Mesfelle, but my cousin was in no mood. She was admonishing herself for not having seen the risk of our being betrayed fast enough on her own. I set off to my cabin, but was also met with an unexpected obstacle. Princess Astra had finally found inspiration. The girl was in the process of creating her 'next masterpiece' and ejected me from my own room in quite a rude manner.