New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) (30 page)

"Crown Prince Georg, that is truly an intriguing offer. But we will have to return to it after we discuss the present dispute on the ownership of the Oort, Fia, Yalt and Khs systems," said Triasss Zess, not letting me sidetrack the conversation.

But now, for the first time, the Swarm Queen did not agree with her diplomat:

"Triasss Zess, this disagreement on the ownership of four systems must not become the reason the Iseyek race goes extinct. As I see it, humanity is not interested in settling the already Iseyek-inhabited planets. There hasn't been a single attempt at colonization, and basically, not one human has even set foot on the surface of an inhabited planet in any of the four systems. No one is threatening the lives of the Iseyek there, no one is restricting their freedoms, no one is interfering in their normal way of life, and their animosity will quickly melt away into nothing. Just six months ago, all four of the systems were flaring up in rebellion against the occupation. Now, though, the inhabitants have become much more tolerant of the Empire. Beyond that, new viewpoints are beginning to proliferate. The Iseyek are now unhappy with the fact that the Empire is not assimilating them into their society fast enough, and has basically forgotten about them. If the monarch of the Unatari State invests in the Iseyek living on his territory, then I am prepared to forget about the Oort, Fia, Yalt and Khs systems once and for all."

I bowed to the Swarm Queen and, in a burst of inspiration, suggested:

"I see a nice way of solving this problem, then. Let each of the Crown Princesses here become viceroy of one of the new systems. It would be nice, after all, to make the title Swarm Princess signify something bigger than inedibility. The Princesses can hone their rulership skills, bring whatever dreams and fantasies they have to life, and deal with their planet’s problems. As it stands, none of the four systems are integrated into the Unatari economy in a practical sense, nor do they pay taxes, so we'll have to start practically from zero. Any of the girls who manage the task will be given the star system in perpetuity for themselves and their descendants. The girl who does the best job for the next year will receive a unique title from Nai Igir, Swarm Duchess. No one in the Universe has such a title!"

The girls squealed and began jumping for joy. The Swarm Queen saw their glee and said:

"I would gladly give the title of Duchess to whichever of you girls is able to best care for the Iseyek."

Global standing increase. Current value -45

Standing change. Iseyek race opinion of you has improved.

Iseyek Prime race opinion of you: +19 (favorable)

Global fame increase. Current value +58

It was self-evident to me already that I should raise faction opinion back, so I did, saying:

"Now, with the dispute ended, I would like to return to the main topic of these negotiations. I'll be direct. I came here to the Dekeye system with the goal of receiving commandership over the entire Swarm Fleet."

Silence came over the hall. Everyone gathered was in shock at my announcement. Finally, Swarm Queen Nai Igir said:

"I'm listening very carefully, Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle."

Having the attention of everyone gathered, I began my long speech. The main issue I was trying to get through to them was that the Aliens were learning quickly from their mistakes. Any tactic that worked against them one or two times would become useless on the third, because they would already have found a way to combat it. With every new battle, we were giving the enemy new information to digest, and involuntarily teaching them about our tactics.

Also, we did not know the size of the enemy's reserves, nor how capable they were of replenishing their fleet. As of yet, we hadn't seen the Aliens replace even one large ship. The enemy could replace downed
Meteors
,
Ascetics
, and
Hermits
very quickly, but the number of
Behemoth
s in the "bush" fleet had only been going down. Those large-class ships must have been being built somewhere, though!

And wherever that was, I suspected they were currently producing enough heavy ships to replace all their losses, thus reversing the effects of the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet's campaign. From these premises, I was able to arrive at two very simple conclusions. First: we must counterattack as quickly as possible while the enemy is still weakened, and before it is able to replace its lost ships. Second: if we want this to truly be successful, we should make this attack with all current Unatari and Swarm forces, because the enemy will simply not give us another chance like this.

Unatari's cloaked ships had analyzed the situation in the known Alien-controlled systems: Khryo, Unt, Sobj, Kej, Umwi, the Aysar Cluster, Lobj, Khe, and Ukhsss. There was a guard team stationed in each of those systems composed of five to seventy Alien ships. Each one had exactly two
Behemoths
. Basically, nothing unbeatable. The warp beacon in the Aysar system had been restored by the Aliens, but it was of an unusual type. I had video recordings of that beacon, and was prepared to share them. From all that, I concluded that the enemy must not have many ships in that area. So, a decisive, quick attack would be able to recapture all the Swarm’s former systems. First, we would capture the warp beacons and hamper their movement...

"Seventy Alien ships is quite a lot," Queen Nai Igir doubted. "Not so long ago, forty-five Alien ships came to Sobj, with just one
Behemoth
, and they were able to wipe out Admiral Kheraisss Vej's fleet of over a thousand. Very few of my ships were able to escape."

"Did the admiral himself escape?" I wondered.

"Kheraisss Vej survived that battle. But for losing his fleet and the Sobj star system, he was dishonorably discharged from our space military, and stripped of all medals."

"Queen, I know the admiral well. He is one of the Swarm's best fleet commanders and is endlessly loyal to you. I ask you to give him the chance to rehabilitate himself and earn forgiveness in battle. If you cannot find a place for the talented admiral in any Swarm Fleet, I would be glad to take him into the Unatari Fleet. And as for the Alien forces I've described, do not worry. The Unatari Fleet has the ships to take them down without noticeable losses. I promise that, with the help of the Swarm, or even without it, the Unatari Fleet would be capable of taking all of those systems, and providing safe passage to Swarm landing ships for terrestrial operations. But liberating the eight star systems is just the beginning of my plan. The counterattack has much larger aims...

My spies in the Ukhsss system have also discovered another visible warp beacon leading to a star system unknown to humanity. Based on the fragmentary information the Swarm has provided us, that is precisely where the Aliens are coming from. The main goal of this attack, then, is to invade Alien space, and get as far behind enemy lines as possible, doing as much damage as we can along the way. The fleet will destroy enemy infrastructure, docks, communications centers, terrestrial buildings and everything that could get in the way of eventual capture by landing troops. Now, obviously, the enemy will not let us run roughshod over their systems unpunished. The enemy's main forces, as far as I understand the situation, are currently gathered in the Himora system. They have their
Queen
, five
Mammoths
and several hundred
Behemoths
there. My cloaked scouts have been observing them nonstop. The Alien fleet leaving Himora will serve as a signal that the enemy has been alerted to what is happening in its base and is coming to punish us for our insolence."

"It's not a bad plan, but we'll have to make sure the fleet can get back to Swarm space fast enough," Bionica interrupted, translating a huge matte-black Alpha Iseyek's chirping.

I took a closer look at this praying mantis, who'd had the gall to interrupt my speech.

Masss Azhzh, Five Star Admiral of the Iseyek State Star Fleet

Race: Alpha Iseyek

Gender: Male, first clutch

Class: Swarm Soldier

Achievements: Human Executioner, Skull Collector, Duelist, Trusted by Queen

Fame: +8

Standing: + 2

Presumed personal relationship: Unknown

"Admiral, if I was planning to simply flee from the Aliens, the Unatari Fleet would be enough, and I wouldn't be looking for help from my neighbors. No, I am preparing to stay and face the Alien
Queen
in combat, and destroy her once and for all."

The praying mantis walked up closer, stood up to his full ten-feet of height and loomed over me, giving an abrupt chirp. Bionica translated obligingly:

"He says that this is insanity. The plan is quite risky on its own, but the risk looks justified as the Swarm systems can be liberated. Going on to Alien space is a slightly more dangerous undertaking, but it will allow us to weaken the enemy somewhat. A major battle, though, with an enemy surpassing us in firepower is simply crossing the line of what can reasonably be risked. We have no way of destroying the Aliens' largest ships, so the battle is certain to be lost."

"I have already come up against this enemy armada on two occasions, and both times I seriously reduced the number of ships in the Alien
Queen
's fleet. The last time, in the Hnelle system, I didn't even have any ships larger than light cruisers, but we forced the enemy to retreat from the star system. So, admiral, I do not understand why you consider losing inevitable."

Bionica translated the answer:

"All our past encounters with the Aliens show that the battle will be lost. The risk is too high. The Swarm will lose its only protection and will be destroyed. That's why the admiral will never agree to send Swarm ships on such a hopeless endeavor."

"Well, how do you expect to win if you're constantly on the run from the enemy?!" I raised my voice, and my opponent even took a step backward. "I have fought in many battles with the Aliens, some where my disadvantage was much more pronounced, but I have never been defeated! There's no exceptional risk here. I know how to destroy all the minor Alien ships, how to take down a cruiser, and how to blow up
Behemoths
. The others, the
Mammoths
and
Queen
are motherships, and without their drones and small ships, they will become toothless and vulnerable. If the Swarm gives me their starships, there would be a good chance of achieving a decisive victory!"

My opponent, though, just kept harping on about the excessive risk, expounding on his own arguments. Finally, the Swarm
Queen
got sick of hearing our debate, and put an end to it:

"You are both renowned fleet commanders, but your dispute cannot continue. The united armada will have to have only one individual at its head, and it is his strategies and view on the situation that will dictate its actions. Only then will I agree to give you Swarm ships, as it would be utterly unthinkable to have our command be divided in such dire circumstance."

"Yes, that is a fair demand," I agreed.

The black Alpha Iseyek stopped demonstrating his warlike nature and bowed before Nai Igir in a sign of concession.

"But who then, does my Queen see as the sole commander?" Triasss Zess asked Nai Igir, coming closer and looking at me and the huge five-star admiral. "The ruler of Unatari? The senior Swarm admiral? Or, perhaps, someone else?"

The Queen kept silent for a long time, then addressed me:

"Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky, the Iseyek nation has an ancient custom for choosing a military leader. We hold a ritual duel between the candidates. They are also allowed to appoint someone to fight in their name. Whichever candidate emerges victorious becomes leader, and the loser tacitly agrees to obey the winner in all matters. But I do not know how acceptable that method would be to a human."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose in thought. Of course, I personally had no chance in hand-to-hand combat against a huge Alpha Iseyek. Triasss Zess had demonstrated that clearly to me once before. But in my group, there were skilled bodyguards, including Phobos and the Chameleons, who weren't at all bothered by the elevated gravity. Also, I shouldn’t count the very dangerous Truth Seeker out either. As if reading my thoughts, Popori de Cacha appeared before me:

"Tuki-tuka-de-sa, I would be capable of defeating the five-star admiral. I have lots of experience in no-rules fighting, including a fair number of duels against Alpha Iseyek. I know the praying mantis's weak points, and effective tactics to use against them."

"Master, I am easily stronger than this Iseyek," Phobos said, sizing up the five-star admiral. "I am from a more modern genetic line, so I'm larger, faster, and more deadly."

Marian Sabati said nothing but, even without the Truth Seeker, I had a soldier for the ritual duel. And so I decided:

"Queen, we humans are familiar with the custom of the ritual duel, and I am prepared to accept, but I would like to make sure of the rules before I do so."

Nai Igir looked at me with her huge eyes, and I saw my own reflection clearly repeated hundreds of times in her compound eyes.