Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (8 page)

A couple of crew members who had just been relieved of their post came out on to the balcony just then, but after seeing their fleet commander sitting in embrace with the blond android, my subjects got embarrassed, apologized and hurried back. Bionica suddenly got embarrassed and tried to get away, but I stopped her.

"Keep sitting. To hell with all them. There's already so much gossip about me and you that one more or one less piece will make no difference. It's better to tell me more detail about that frigate.”

"The choice of precisely a
Warhawk
was no accident. On that model of frigate, the captain doesn't control any kind of weaponry directly. Two gunners handle the shooting. An android can only pilot a ship with just such a setup. Before hiring a frigate team, I studied military charters and documents, familiarized myself with a bunch of instructions on the requirements for officers and captains of a combat ship. My Prince, I admit honestly: I foresaw the military having that exact reaction. But I am really counting on you supporting my point of view and not refusing the valuable gift, just because there are androids in its crew. Such a reaction from you will produce an extremely positive effect on tens of millions of other androids and will create the possibility of very close cooperation in the future."

I asked for the details, and my secretary began listing the possibilities without the slightest pause, as if she had prepared it in advance as a speech:

"My Prince, you were not ambiguous in your conversations with your subjects when you reminded them of the lack of labor power to carry out all your massive projects. I was there next to you when you said it and thought about a solution to the problem; and now I suggest you one that is available immediately. Hire androids! Just give your principled permission, and specialists ready for work will come all on their own from all corners of the Empire and take up available jobs at your discretion. They will become your workers on Unatari, at the space docks and repair workshops, at the many warp beacons where more construction has begun. Androids usually get paid less than living beings, and the efficiency of their work is significantly higher... I assure you, my Prince, you can receive as many high-class specialists as you want. One of the most obvious advantages is that the battleship at the Unatari docks would be ready even faster, if of course your highness can find the necessary raw materials."

Everything that Bionica was saying sounded very, very attractive. I really did have a long list of projects aimed at developing Unatari and the other star systems under my control, and I was critically short of workforce. And if all I had to do to solve that problem was appoint a robot android captain of one of my small ships, then my opinion was nothing but positive. But the worsening of relations with the Imperial Military faction was something I still wanted to avoid, if at all possible.

I reached for my communicator and asked Admiral Kiro Sabuto to come out onto the balcony of the second deck. Making use of the fact that I had taken my arm away, Bionica moved back to the other armchair, clearly embarrassed to sit with me like that in the presence of the severe admiral. Kiro Sabuto appeared on the balcony and declared:

"My Prince, everything is practically ready for the beginning of the swearing-in ceremony. The only thing they're still waiting for on
Emperor August
is the arrival of your shuttle."

"Yes, I'll be ready in a few minutes. But before that, admiral, a number of issues that have become extremely important have come up, and I need a qualified advisor. To me, you are the incarnation of honor and conscience and never put forth ideas that contradict army traditions or Imperial law, and I need just such an advisor at this moment." I pointed the graying admiral to the unoccupied seat, and Kiro Sabuto took it.

"My Prince, I'm all ears."

I took a look at Bionica, who was sitting on the edge of her seat, and asked my first question:

"Admiral, I would like to know: are regular mandatory medical checks carried out on captains of the ships in my fleet?"

"In general, such procedures have never been necessary before, but if your Highness thinks such procedures necessary, they could be implemented," the admiral answered cautiously, clearly not totally understanding why I was wondering about such a topic.

"In other words, admiral, there is no guarantee whatsoever that none of the captains or officers of my fleet are actually merely humanoid robots?"

The question made Kiro Sabuto think. The graying admiral sat in silence for half a minute, then was forced to agree that such a thing was totally possible.

"And so, my third and most important question. If even you and I, the two people most well-informed about the composition of the Sector Eight Fleet, cannot tell the difference in behavior between a human captain and an android captain, perhaps we should carry out an experiment to determine the difference in combat effectiveness. What do you say? I think we should appoint an android captain to one of the frigates, but to keep the experiment pure, not tell anyone in the fleet about it. And based on the results of some extended period, let's say half a year, you and I will take a look at the effectiveness of that frigate in comparison with the other similar ships and come to a conclusion on whether it makes sense to have android captains or not."

Kiro Sabuto considered it, then suddenly asked:

"And what if that frigate becomes one of the best in the fleet? Wouldn't such an experiment have a negative effect on the fates of thousands and thousands of normal living human captains?"

"Admiral, I really like how our thoughts coincide so often," I chuckled. "I also first thought about the possible consequences for the members of my own race. That is why I answer you: it will not reflect negatively, because you and I will not allow it to. And I will point out another danger that needs to be taken into account: the android captain must have remote control turned off, so incoming system messages don't interfere with its work at an inappropriate time. So, we've considered the potential risks. And now I need to know your opinion, admiral."

Kiro Sabuto thought a bit longer and declared:

"Your Highness, you have made decisions that looked strange and paradoxical at first glance in the past, but every time the result has proven you right – which is why I am all for it. We should try. What's more, I would be very interested in seeing the result of this experiment myself. I'll even help that android captain create a personal record through the fleet staff service so no one will suspect a thing."

When the admiral had gone, I turned to the satisfied and smiling Bionica:

"My decision is positive. The gift frigate will be accepted into my fleet. Now it's all up to the android captain, whether he will be able to keep the secret of his true nature. And yes, Bionica, I decided to reward you for the initiative. Take a look at your account. Now you're the galaxy’s first android millionaire. You can raise your authority up even faster!"

The artificial blonde started smiling even stronger and answered:

"Thank you, my Prince. I am very pleased that you valued my initiative. And I want to say that a ton of opinions have already come in about your positive decision. But you are totally right about the other part. Yes, my contract with you really is the highest valued among all androids, but I am not nearly the richest. There are rumors that there are quite a few robot millionaires, and even some billionaires, especially among those that do stock trading on wealthy planets. It's just that androids don't normally try to loudly broadcast how wealthy they are, and rarely share it with other robots. I have received unverified information that there are even androids who are the shadowy owners of huge, famous corporations, and hire themselves there for the longest possible term in some rank-and-file job. And it is these rich individuals who are ready to pay in their own money to transport millions of androids to territory under the control of Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky and also to invest money in projects for your Highness."

I wasn't prepared to discuss that then, and there wasn't time. As such, I extended my hand, helping my translator stand up from the deep armchair and said:

"Bionica, this is a whole other big topic, let's discuss it later with my cousin Katerina ton Mesfelle. And with her, we can also figure out if it is legally possible to avoid paying out the contracts of ninety android workers to their remote manufacturers... And now it's time for us to run to the shuttle. Everyone is waiting for us."

* * *

The beautiful and even somewhat pompous swearing-in ceremony came to a close, and I, accompanied by three admirals, set off to a ceremonial banquet that had been organized nearby on
Emperor August
to celebrate the significant addition to the Sector Eight Fleet. On my way there, I got a call from Nicole Savoia, who said:

"My Prince, Captain Mwaur Zen-Bey has provided documents that confirm his authority to remove the Alien battleship. Also, the captain explained his refusal to participate in the ceremony, declaring that he had received an unambiguous and curt order from the Throne World to maintain neutrality and not interfere in the internal Orange House conflict."

"And what about Florianna? Is he taking the paralyzed girl?" I wondered. The reply surprised me:

"No, Captain Mwaur Zen-Bey will not be taking Florianna with him. Instead, he has taken a whole team of medics with him who are preparing to study the injured child right here in the Hnelle system. In fact, the doctors are already in the medical wing looking the girl over."

I invited Nicole to the ceremonial dinner, and she agreed. The event in the small hall was elaborately adorned and catered. My butler Bryle had really put his heart and soul into decorating the
Emperor August
's small hall and organizing an excellent celebratory feast. I had barely taken my assigned place at the table when Princess Astra took a seat just to my right.

That seat should have been for Katerina ton Mesfelle, but my cousin didn't object and gave me a sly wink, taking a seat next to the captain of
Emperor August
, Bayazid Krom. He had an Emerald Star shining on his orange uniform, one of the five Imperial orders delivered today from the Throne World by the Imperial messenger.

In the place to my left, there was a gap. It was intended for Crown Prince Georg's favorite, but now it was left empty. Hesitating to choose between Bionica and Nicole, I... invited Space Corporal Beston Maf to sit next to me. It was precisely that embarrassed, short young man who had, as Oorast Pohl had put it, “drawn the short straw” and would have to command the
Warhawk
with an android crew. Probably, inviting the modest young captain to a ceremonial dinner in a narrow circle of high officers and their associates seemed somewhat strange, but all the other participants looked on my decision with simple curiosity, none too surprised at the Prince’s desire to have a look at the person left with such an unusual assignment. And not many knew that this young man was no man at all.

Beston Maf behaved completely naturally. He got embarrassed and was openly timid in the company of these high officers. As such, he tried, not overly successfully, to put on a showy confidence. I gave my servant instructions to fill the young captain's goblet with wine and asked that the "most junior in title make the first toast." Even with all my diligent observation, I didn't notice even the slightest sign the young captain's behavior was unusual. He acted just like a person. He stood, said some nice words about the greatness of the Empire and the Orange House, got slightly off track, then, with obvious strain, drained the excessively large container of alcohol to the very bottom.

"Give it your all, kid! Show these hunks of metal the meaning of discipline! Teach them their place!" said Oorast Pohl, encouraging the young captain.

The feast continued, and I turned to Admiral Nill ton Amsted, who was sitting across from me, and asked him to tell me about what happened on Tesse. The redheaded admiral frowned from the unpleasant memories and said:

"What can I even say here...? Right after your Highness captured the ships in Himora, a fleet descended upon us from the head of the Orange House in Tesse. Crown Prince Roben royl Inoky was arrested on charges of 'supporting and financing rebels’ and taken away to the Orange House Capital. And since then, there has been no news about your brother's fate. His wife Verena and the young child are under house arrest in one of their castles – where exactly is not known. There is little information about them. All that is known is that they are alive and more or less healthy, insofar as that word ever applies to Roben's heir. Telecommunication service from Tesse has been cut off. Authorized representatives of Duke Paolo are stationed in all key locations. Roben's appointees have had a fall from grace. Some have even been arrested. Then, the order came in to send all the Tesse Fleet combat ships toward the Nessi star system and join Duke Paolo royl Anjer's fleet..."

"Stop, stop," I said, putting an end to the story. "That means some of the Tesse ships went to Nessi and on to Ulia, and some came here to Hnelle? Did any stay in Tesse?"

"Ships commanded by the Duke's appointed Viceroy, Count Avalle royl Anjer ton Mesfelle. He is the one in charge of Tesse while Roben is away. The Count has a large fleet. Up to two hundred fifty ships, four of them battleships and fifty cruisers.