New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) (35 page)

"Indeed we do, your Majesty!" Both admirals answered in nearly perfect syncopation.

"That is great. After the speech, closer to the end of the day, it will be announced that the talented, proud and beautiful fleet commander died at the hands of an Orange House extremist. Sure, the security team missed something, but the killer has been found and neutralized, etc... Tomorrow, one of you will become Perimeter Nine Fleet Commander, and the other will be his deputy. Here is your fleet's mission: take all of Sector Nine under control as quickly as possible. All local rulers and aristocrats must join the Unatari state. We do not foresee particular resistance, as there is no force in the area capable of taking your fleet on. Sector Nine will become my cousin, Duchess Katerina royl Unatari's patrimony, and each of you will now receive the title Baron of Unatari for your service, as well as a rich star system in perpetuity. But if any of you do not like my offer, I will not detain you by force. You will be released to the four winds."

The two admirals exchanged glances, then Vajek Lavaelle answered for the both of them:

"How could we possibly refuse such a generous offer? And I would like to explain my last name, Lavaelle, right away, as I have noticed that your Majesty frowned when reading my information. My ancestors, three generations ago, were forced to leave the Green House and have not had any contact since then with any other bearers of our ancient surname."

"Very well. Great even. As you know, I have had a certain amount of unfortunate friction with the Green House, so I consider it useful to have allies of the Lavaelle name. Here is my decision: the new Sector Nine Fleet Commander shall be Stephan Antri-Mesfelle..."

The newly-appointed fleet commander immediately took a knee and kissed my hand.

"And you, Vajek, will have a more political career ahead of you. My advisor Katerina, herself an emigrant from the Green House with a decent understanding of the political situation there, will try to find a formal pretext to declare that you are the rightful heir to the Green House’s titles, star systems, and the like. The Unatari State will support your bid. Together, we can try to get revenge on the Green House for the offense they committed against your great grandfather."

"Crown Prince Georg, it's been a pleasure doing business with you," Admiral Vajek Lavaelle followed the example of his brother-in-arms, and bent down on one knee.

"An hour from now, you will both take an oath of loyalty to the Unatari State along with the other fleet officers. And you should be warned that my Truth Seeker will be checking the veracity of your words, and has a very low opinion of funny business."

Valian ton Corsa walked up, apologized for interrupting our conversation, and told me that the Swarm Queen was calling me. Nai Igir appeared on the huge screen. The Queen nodded to my greeting and said ceremoniously:

"Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, I am more than impressed at your political successes and have now made my decision: The Swarm shall conclude a military alliance with the Unatari State."

* * *

"Three. Two. One. Go! I need a tactical map now!"

A huge screen unfolded before me, and I took a sigh of relief. The
Behemoths
hadn't gone anywhere, and were inside the tactical grid. It would have been much worse if the enemy’s most dangerous ships had changed position at the last moment, and met our ships that were arriving from other directions.

Messages started coming in from all directions:

"Group of targets. Distance: eighty miles."

"Eighty-four markers on the radar. Identification by radar signature underway."

"Two
Behemoths
, eleven
Sledgehammers
, six
Chainsaws
, ten
Hermits
, eight
Ascetics
, forty-seven
Meteors
."

"The heavy Virho fleet has begun combat in the Aysar system."

"The Red-Blue Fleet has arrived to the Lobj system. No enemy ships have been detected. Beginning mine removal and landing on the station."

"The Yuho and Fastel Fleets have begun combat in the Khe system."

"The Unatari heavy fleet has begun combat in the Khryo system."

And so the five-directional counterattack began. I tried to abstract myself from what was happening in other star systems and concentrate on my mission. The staff officers were giving me introductory information, and now froze, waiting for their orders. I then pondered for a second. The main mission was to get the deadly
Behemoths
separated from the other ships, then smash the enemy into pieces. But what could I give their little ships to peck at? Maybe, if I left one ship all alone. That meant someone would have to act as bait, and attract the enemy frigates.

"
Curse-4
, stay where you are and imitate a thruster failure. Attention all other ships! Accelerate toward the sun. Approach the enemy on a tangent. Both
Trias
, stay near the carriers.
Joan the Fatty
,
Unatari
and
Fastel
, check the remote shield-charging modules in the electros. Also, hold down both
Trias
. Be ready for drones and corvettes to be released. Fifty frigates to the first receiver, fifty to the second. Stay two hundred fifty from the
Behemoths
. Antisupport and
Curses
, stand by. Our frigates or
Curse-4
might need your help."

The fleet went into action, realigning and splitting off into smaller groups. We made the first move. Now we needed to wait for a response from the enemy. I looked closely at the screen. If the
Meteors
wanted to intercept my frigates, my destroyers and light cruisers would go into action. But the Aliens' small ships didn't approach. Instead they... began retreating, hiding behind the backs of the cruisers and battleships! Surprising. The enemy was offering us the big prey, and the little ships would only enter the battle after that.

If Nicole Savoia were next to me, she would already be asking me why the enemy was behaving so strangely. Her replacement, Max Gregor didn't have the same experience Nicole did, though, and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. And, it should be said that the enemy was clearly doing something. I could feel it in my skin.

"Main fleet, change direction! Head toward the second planet. Frigates, destroyers and light cruisers, stay behind the heavies.
Surprise-5
, approach the enemy and launch an electromagnetic bomb into the empty space between us and the Alien fleet."

"But, Prince, we didn't want to show our enemy the new weapon!" My assistant said in surprise, but I cut his speech off with a gesture and, after turning off my microphone, explained my decision:

"The enemy is making it obvious that they are giving us space and tempting us to jump out in front to capture the
Behemoths
. That looks like submission or apathy, and I don't like it one bit. I'm also on guard because their small ships are retreating and hiding behind the
Behemoths
' shields. From all that, I suppose that either we are being lured into a mine field, or there are some bombers ready to sneak up on us. So, I won't take the fleet forward until I'm sure the path is clear."

I turned the microphone on again, and said over the common channel:

"Attention, fleet! In one minute, we expect a very strong electromagnetic burst, so cover sensitive equipment.
Pyros
and
Warhawks
, be on maximum alert! If the EMP exposes a cloaker or hidden mines, do not wait for my order; jump out in front as fast as possible. The risk must be neutralized before the enemy restores its systems to working order."

A countdown timer came in from
Surprise-5
. Then, a few seconds before it hit zero, a cloaked bomber appeared on the tactical map, and a dot came out of it. And... the lighting in the room flickered. All data screens in the headquarters went out. All the computers reset at the same time. In the half-dark of the emergency lighting, I released a juicy, bombastic stream of curses words. Some superweapon that turned out to be. My own fleet suffered no less than the enemy's! Around forty seconds went by before the lighting returned to normal. Right after that, a technician's voice rang out:

"Commander, communication with the fleet has been restored. Long distance is also back in order. But there is also some bad news: I'm not sure why, but
Joan the Fatty
’s shield is still down, and its main tactical computers have begun another reset cycle. The system won't come back online. Two other carriers are actively recharging our shields. We're already up to seven percent. But we need time to find and solve the other glitches."

"Find the reason as quickly as possible. I need a tactical map immediately!" I bellowed, donning my headphones.

"This is
Warhawk-12
. I'm holding an
Ascetic
...
Pyro-77
, stoke the fire!"

"...
Curse-4
here. I have three disruptors on me. I need help immediately!"

"...This is
Unatari
. Should I release drones?"

A battle was raging in the system, but I couldn't evaluate the position of my ships or command my fleet! Just for that, the creators of the EMP bomb deserved, at the very least, a firing squad! So, what should I do? Alright, that's enough.
Curse-4
, was the cruiser I had left as bait, after all. In order not to get distracted, I closed my eyes and, listening to the messages from the ships in battle, began issuing orders:

"
Unatari
, release all drones!
Joan the Fatty
and
Fastel
, do the same. All corvettes on the carriers, start up and warp out immediately to
Curse-4.
Thrushes
, this is no time for napping. Get to work on the
Ascetics
. Groups from the receivers, hold the
Behemoths
. Start shooting down the drones now. Are the
Sledgehammers
very far?"

"All the
Sledgehammers
just jumped to eighteen on
Curse-4
."

"Damn them!
Thrushes
from one to thirty-five, warp to
Curse-4
now! Split up into groups of three. Blind the
Sledgehammers
. All free
Curses
, follow them! Don't stand around. Take a small orbit around the Alien cruisers at full speed. Work on the
Sledgehammers
with a concentrated volley from all the ships, as we did in training.
Curse-4
will mark targets."

"There’s one more cloaker left. Should we destroy it as well?"

What? So there were cloakers after all? Trying not to show my surprise, I ordered two frigates to hold the cloaker in webs and warp disruptors, and the
Tria
to send out a landing group to capture the valuable trophy.

"This is
Curse-4
. It's over. The last
Sledgehammer
has left us for good. There are just two far-off
Behemoths
left on the battlefield. Thanks, guys! My ship is just a skeleton, but I survived!"

"
Curse-4
, great job! The whole cruiser team has earned medals. Now, collect drones and jump to
Fastel
. Your shields will be recharged to max."

"Free frigates, help us with the
Behemoths
. Destroy the drones as we planned, after that, both
Trias
send out a landing party. We don't need to capture the battleships. As before, place charges and blow up the antimatter munitions."

I opened my eyes and noticed that it was unusually quiet in the headquarters. Only Bionica was speaking, duplicating my orders for the Iseyek ships with aplomb. The other officers, though, were staring at me in silence. The tactical map still hadn’t come on...

Clay ton Avelle, captain of
Joan the Fatty
, took a step forward and, lowering down on one knee, said ceremoniously:

"Crown Prince Georg, I am a grown man and it's been some time since I believed in miracles. But today is the first time I've actually borne witness to one. Totally blind, you managed to end the battle against the Aliens in a rousing victory. Our fleet lost one
Thrush
and eleven
Pyros
. The enemy, though, lost eighty-two ships. Both of their
Behemoths
are already held down tight, and doomed to die."

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