Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (4 page)

Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky, I entrust Princess Astra to your guard. And now, your Highness, I mean you no offence, but I need to go to my soldiers."

* * *

When I went into the medical wing, I decided not to hide the difficult truth from Flora and honestly told her about my conversation with the monarch. And though Kant had not been a father to her, everyone Flora knew and was friends with lived on Veyerde, and I supposed she would be upset. However, the little paralyzed girl took the news about the Alien attack on her home planet with surprising aplomb.

"I am indifferent to their fate. Everyone I used to know is left in the far, careless past to which I will already never return. They heard Fesilia's prophecy and knew when the invasion would happen. They could have saved themselves. Those who remained were well aware what they were getting into. I feel no sympathy for them. There’s good news though. Look at the doctor's table."

I turned back to the table that Nicosid Brandt normally worked at. A thin stylus was rolling back and forth on the smooth surface of the table. Then it began spinning like a top, before falling off the table onto the floor. I turned to the paralyzed girl and saw obvious pride in her eyes.

"Flora, the Dark Mother's envoys are coming to Hnelle today. They want to take you for study, find out your capabilities and see if mobility can be returned to your body. They clearly want to know about what happened to you."

"I know that they won't be able to help me. But all the same, we need to let them study me so they are sure I'm a lost cause, lose interest, and leave me alone. My Prince, don't worry about the secret getting out. I have constructed mental protection for myself, taking yours as my basis. It's elegant work. Miya thought through everything and was so meticulous with the details that her work inspires admiration. My mind and my memory will remain open for reading, as before. Let a Truth Seeker dig around in my childhood memories as long as they want; they'll find out about my favorite toys, and my relationship with King Kant and his daughters, but no one will be able to read what I really want to keep hidden."

"You were able to figure out Miya's work?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, though it wasn't easy. I'm not sure that someone else would be able to understand it, but Miya and I are now very deeply connected. We are two Truth Seekers of the same master, and I can see characteristic kindred traits that unite our work. Miya is unique. There are no others like her. She has already been serving House Mesfelle for four generations, and it's because her true ability shines through precisely with your family. She has bound her fate so closely with House Mesfelle that she wouldn't be able to live with another master at this point. Such spiritual closeness gives Miya great powers, but also limits her freedom. While your Highness is in the body of the Crown Prince, all you have to do is call her and Miya will appear no matter where she is. You just have to order something, and Miya has to do it. Other Truth Seekers aren't so dependent on their master and don't have to obey if they have a difference of opinion. But Miya is so connected with her master that she cannot contradict him. And while you are in that body, Miya is not capable of harming you. That is her biggest secret."

The information was quite valuable. However, I didn't rush to answer the paralyzed girl, as I was distracted by an incoming message:

The Kingdom of Veyerde has lost sovereignty of the Veyerde system.

The Kingdom of Veyerde has ceased to exist.

I rushed into my room and found Astra crying uncontrollably with her face buried in a pillow. I had never been able to calm down an upset girlfriend in the past, so this time I didn't even try. Instead of that, I called the communications officer and asked to be put through to the Sector Seven Fleet Commander. Marat ton Mesfelle answered instantly, as if awaiting my call.

"It hasn't even been five seconds since my fleet came out of warp... to be more accurate, what's left of my fleet. They tore us to shreds in the Nayal system. It was a miracle we got away."

"What happened to you in Nayal, Marat?" I wondered.

"It all went to shit, cousin. The Aliens appeared just twenty-five miles from my ship. Two
Hermits
and a
Meteor
. While we were figuring out what was what, the fleet had already lost three light cruisers, all destroyers and seven frigates. Then there were more horrible losses as we fled the station under heavy fire..."

"Stop, stop. What did you say you did? You were just sitting near the warp beacon?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, it's not like we were just sitting there. The ships were docked at the station, charging energy before the jump to Veyerde. Many of the crews were on the station itself. All they told me was that I just needed to calm down the residents of the Kingdom of Veyerde, who some psycho old lady had predicted an Alien invasion to..."

I frowned dissatisfied:

"Marat, try to choose your words more carefully. You're talking about the grandmother of Princess Astra, my favorite, who is here in the room."

"I apologize, I didn't know. Well then, that doubtlessly dignified lady made a bunch of predictions in her life, but they're all so confusing that it's hard to figure them out. One of the most famous was about the invasion of the Aliens into the Veyerde system and the fall of the Kingdom – that prediction is different from the others because the sorceress predicted a specific day. The prediction happened long ago, thirty years, but as that date grew closer, the people of the Kingdom began remembering the prophecy more and more, and they got worried. Refugees appeared, and recently they took all the children out to neighboring systems. Rumors about how panic had taken hold in Veyerde even reached the Emperor himself. It reached the point where I was sent to figure it out and hold off a possible invasion. We went as fast as possible, and when we were at the second to last system, Nayal, we took a break to recharge our warp drives. I gave the people leave to the station, so they could relax for a couple of hours and blow off steam before the potential upcoming battle. It was then that the Aliens attacked my fleet. The only thing we managed to do was shoot down one
Meteor
, then everyone who was left alive and had the energy went into the warp. Just six ships escaped: my flagship, the battleship
Knight of Light
, one heavy cruiser, one
Yataghan
heavy cruiser, two light
Thrushes
, and two
Pyros
."

Though I was surprised at what was, in my view, a rushed retreat of the heavy ships from two, not-too-strong enemy destroyers, I didn't make Marat feel guilty for retreating. Probably, like once happened in my fleet at the Vorta beacon, the crews of the remaining ships were in a state of near panic and were simply not able to continue the fight.

"What should I do, Georg? Tell me. You've been in a similar situation!" Marat unexpectedly asked for advice.

"First thing you need to do is calm down and let the teams also get some rest. After that, go over footage of the battle with your officers and find your mistakes. By the way, send me the recordings too. I'm very interested in the Aliens' behavior. Maybe I can also notice something and give you some advice. Well, and after that it's clear, restore the fleet. Buy ships to replace those that were destroyed. Differently from me, Duke Paolo hasn't forbidden you from buying ships for your fleet."

"With what money?" Marat ton Mesfelle laughed bitterly. "Two
Yataghans
to replace those lost is one hundred twenty million credits. Six
Thrushes
is another thirty, and fifteen million for new frigates and destroyers. One hundred sixty-five million! I don't have that much money, and beating something out of that miser Duke Paolo is just not gonna happen..."

I agreed with my cousin that shaking money from the Head of the Orange House’s piggy bank was no trivial matter. Also, I realized fairly quickly that I had found an excellent way of breaking the embargo.

"Marat, it occurs to me that we each have something we can help the other with. I can give you money: four hundred million to buy ships for your fleet. That will allow you to not only compensate all your losses, but also significantly grow in force. In return, you will buy ships for my fleet in your name."

Marat went silent and said thoughtfully:

"Well, I can buy them for you, but how can I get them to Sector Eight? They won't let them through the Core..."

"For now, you just buy what I tell you. Let the teams fill out, the officers get used to the captains, then I'll tell them where to go."

Marat shuddered:

"Georg, if you're planning something against the law like an attack on Perimeter Sector Seven targets or an attempt to power your way through the Core, I will have to refuse you."

Ugh, I didn't want to open maps, but there was no other way.

"Calm down, Marat. I wasn't thinking of doing anything illegal in your zone of responsibility. It's just that, very soon, in three weeks maximum, the Parn warp beacon will be turned on, and it will open a direct route from Sector Seven to Eight. That was how I was planning to get my ships through."

"How do you always know everything, cousin?" Marat asked in surprise. “Well, alright, I'll buy the ships for you, but under one condition. Let's not call it a condition, but a request. When the beacon turns on, help me take back Nayal and Veyerde. Since you have a lot of experience fighting the Aliens and such a reputation, the enemy will flee as soon as they even catch wind of your ships."

My second cousin's attempt at flattery was so awkward that I even started laughing.

"Alright, I agree. I'll help you. I need to get my Astra her home planet back."

When the screen went out, I heard Astra's voice:

"Tell me honestly, Georg: could he have won that battle in the Nayal system? Would you have won?"

"Now yes, I would have won, even despite how unexpectedly the attack began. But a month and a half ago, I would have done no better than my cousin. The debacle in Vorta was even more terrible. Don't blame Marat ton Mesfelle. The first encounter with Aliens is always like that. You need a deep defeat for a fleet commander to understand that it's all serious and the old methods won't work anymore."

"But that that particular loss came at too high a price to my family... Who am I now? The youngest of fourteen sisters and the only one not married. No home, no people, no kingdom. I'm not even sure that I have the right to use the title 'Princess' anymore, now that the Kingdom of Veyerde no longer exists."

Astra sat gloomily like a raincloud. After that, she gave a decisive start:

"I need paint and canvas. I want to express the feelings I'm experiencing on the destruction of my Kingdom."

* * *

Now I've already been sitting for more than an hour in front of a screen, looking over offers from Sector Seven docks. The selection turned out to be sufficiently great, but all the same I ran into financial problems again. I was planning on spending around a billion credits on obtaining ships. On first glance a significant sum, but I really wasn't letting myself go too wild either.

Above all else, I was interested in battleships but, as it were, there weren't any of them in stock. The only option was to buy a
Tyrant
under construction that would be ready in three months, the price of which was three hundred twenty million credits. I confirmed the order.

Then the heavy cruisers. For some reason, in Sector Seven there was preference given to the rocket-equipped
Yataghans
. Four such ships disappeared from the list of available ships right before my eyes – clearly it was Marat covering the losses in his fleet. There were two more
Yataghans
in stock, but I was in no rush to close the deal; rocket ships had no place in my fleet’s battle plan, in that they couldn't deal damage instantly. At first glance, you can see how difficult it would be to take out an Alien
Sledgehammer
with rocket ships. Rockets don't all arrive from the same ship at the same time, and a
Sledgehammer
's shields would be fully recharged in the time between strikes.

Light cruisers. In stock there were the
Thrushes
, specialized in electronic warfare; then the also rocket-equipped
Whirlwinds
; and something called
Curses
, without rockets or cannons, armed exclusively with drones. There were many
Curses
ready to go, around forty, but I was cautioned by a note: "Production stopped due to low demand after the introduction of more modern models."

For curiosity’s sake, I read the specs on these ships. The shield was frankly a bit weak, with low durability on a level closer to that of a destroyer than that of a cruiser... However, their high speed, good maneuverability and ability to release thirty-five combat drones at once meant that these light cruisers had a chance to be put to good use. Sure, just one wouldn't amount to muc
h–
its drones could be quickly shot down, which would make the ship totally powerless. But what if there wasn't just one such ship in a fleet but forty? One thousand four hundred fast drone
s–
that's a force to be reckoned with. Especially if the drones are "mean:" fast, durable, and with a sharp bite.