Beyond Death (Perimeter Defense Book #2) (44 page)

"And, the last holder of an Emerald Star, Count Avalle royl Anjer ton Mesfelle!" the Count's voice rang out. The Duke's younger brother had finally decided on the stronger side in the conflict, and joined it.

Four hundred ships on the tactical map changed color from red to green. After that, it even got through to the most pig-headed United Fleet captains, which force on the battle field was dominant. Chaos erupted. Some enemy ships fled, others sent surrender messages, a third tried to come over to my side. Just five minutes later, there were no more than forty red dots left on the tactical map. They were the battleship
Orange Majesty
, and the other soldiers most fanatically loyal to Duke Paolo.

The Head of the Orange House stood on the screen, weighed down with impotence and shame. It seemed he tried to say something through his shaking lips, but couldn't bear it and waved his hand in shame, turning away from the camera. A system message came in immediately:

The Head of the Orange House, Duke Paolo royl Anjer ton Mesfelle has resigned.

ATTENTION! A Great House of the Empire cannot be without a leader!

Election for new head of the Orange House must begin immediately.

You have the right to cast 41.3% of the votes in the Orange House. Would you like to support the first in the line of succession: Count Avalle royl Anjer, or would you like to vote for a different candidate?

I froze for several seconds. More than forty percent of Orange House aristocrats with the right to vote had entrusted their votes to Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky. And what would happen if I voted, not for Count Avalle, but... for myself? It was very tempting... All the same, I decided to uphold my agreement with Count Avalle and agree to his candidacy.

ATTENTION! The new head of the Orange House will be Duke Avalle royl Anjer ton Mesfelle (80.3% of votes)

Just for curiosity's sake, I opened the table with more detailed results of the election already in for the Orange House head. The second in the list was Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle, with 14.6% of the votes. If I were to add the 41.3% of the vote at my disposal to that result... I could make myself head of the Orange House, though I gave the historic chance a pass...

"Crown Prince Georg, I am grateful to you for making the right choice," the new Great House Head appeared on screen, glowing in happiness. "I promise that I will not forget your contribution to my victory and will review your bids for star system ownership as soon as the coronation ceremony is over."

Cries of glee could be heard all around. My officers were happy at the end of the civil war in the Orange House. Miya, barely able to stand, approached me, looking either drunk or dead tired.

"Crown Prince, for the first time I do not know what to say. When you called me into such a critical situation, I was ready to tear you to pieces with my bare hands, as you had put not only my life in danger, but also the life of my daughter. But now... that was magic, honest! Even my previous master Inoky was never able to achieve so much adoration from his subjects. I got fuller on energy than I ever have before. I can't even take any more. I'm still shaking and rocking back and forth. But tell me, Georg, why did you refuse to become Head of the Orange House?"

It was senseless to lie to the Truth Seeker, so I answered honestly:

"First, because I promised the Orange House throne to Count Avalle, and I am accustomed to keeping all my promises. Second," here I lowered my voice to a whisper, "do I have to remind you when my contract ends? What do I need all these problems for? I'm not getting paid for this. Also, what if Mr. G. I. doesn't want to be Duke?"

Miya smiled, somehow tortured and tired:

"Perhaps my master does want it... somewhere in the depths of his soul. It's just that he would never get this much recognition in the Orange House himself, so he wasn't counting on this chance even arising."

* * *

I dedicated all the next days to preparing for the end of my contract. Above all else, I was trying to mentally prepare those close to me for a potential character change. According to my version, I hadn't gotten rid of my narcotic crystal addiction. It was really hard, and from time to time I felt that I could just rip in half. I also warned them that, due to the effects of the narcotic withdrawals, my abilities as a fleet commander had become unstable and may even disappear for some time, though also not forever. I explained it by saying that, at those moments, I lost confidence in my abilities.

They heard me out carefully and nodded in sympathy. My personal doctor, Nicosid Brandt, summarized my complaints and confirmed that these were possible side effects from trying to quit a strong psychological dependence, and he was totally surprised I had been able to hold out as long as I had. The doctor offered to replace the medicine in the capsules sewed into my arm, and I agreed to the procedure.

After that, I tried to make sure all the people and nonpeople close to me would be provided for during my absence. I supposed that my return to
Perimeter Defense
was inevitable. The Aliens were still a threat to humanity, so an Imperial Fleet Commander capable of fighting against them was necessary. Also, I had no doubt that Mr. G.I. would have a positive evaluation of my work and would want to offer me a new contract. As such, all I had to do was cover the people near me for a few weeks, a month at most. That was exactly how much time I thought that the real Crown Prince Georg and Miya would need to realize they would have to call me.

The easiest of all was with Popori de Cacha. My bodyguard leader had asked for five months off on her own, on account of the strong necessity to continue the species soon. As far as I knew, Popori de Cacha herself had checked possible grooms for suitability at the large tournament on Sss, however none of the Chameleon males had been able to win over the overly sassy female in the hand-to-hand fight. As such, my bodyguard head had simply pointed to several cavaliers she did like, and none of the Chameleon males dared refuse the honorable role.

Astra, her sister Florianna with her minions, and also Bionica, Phobos, Valian ton Corsa, and the Arite, in the company of a group of Chameleons set off to the scout ship
Star Mutt
on my order. At first, I wanted to send Nicole Savoia there as well, but I had a better idea come to mind.

"Nicole, tomorrow you'll fly to the Throne World, here's your ticket for a star liner. I made an agreement with the Imperial Joint Staff for you to give a month-long course on Alien ships, military tactics against them, and other intricacies you figured out in the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet.

If my subject was also surprised at Crown Prince Georg making such a decision, she made no effort to express it out loud. I gave the girl time off and a bonus for her excellent work, then sighed in relief.

It turned out harder with Katerina. My cousin had equipped her recently-purchased island with a palace, and as such all her thoughts were engulfed with furniture, statuary and art choices. I was not able to figure out any reasonable pretexts to send Katerina ton Mesfelle away anywhere for a month. All that was left to do was hope that the real Crown Prince Georg wouldn't hurt his cousin.

The most problematic in the list was my wife Marta. Her unexpected help during the general battle, and desire to talk closely with me after the battle was so unexpected and untimely that I completely lost myself. Marta was expecting gratitude from her husband, and couldn't understand why I was acting cold. I just simply couldn't tell my wife about the reasons for my behavior without breaking the contract. The only thing I was able to do was extract a promise from Marta that she would be more careful in the next few months, and would not talk closely with Miya.

Afterwards, I had to solve the ownership issues. It was possible that the real Georg wouldn't appreciate the full value of some discoveries, so I tried to shore up my most important assets. I ordered the research laboratories and drone production facilities packed up and moved to the Fia star system, one of my former Swarm systems. There, at the docks, I ordered a second
Uukresh
outfitted in complete secrecy. I spent almost two billion credits to buy materials and equipment for the future giant. The first
Uukresh
, with a convoy of Admiral Kheraisss Vej's ships I also sent away to Swarm territory, as I was not prepared to entrust such a valuable ship to my replacement.

* * *

My last evening in the game was spent in my palace on Unatari. At first, I just wanted to sit on the sea shore, listening to the sound of the waves breaking and taking in a beautiful sunset. But, as bad luck would have it, new space battle tactics just kept coming to mind. The idea of a raid on Alien bases with a fleet of light ships without big guns. The idea of luring the enemy to the flagship and sending out my thermonuclear fireboats from the depths of the
Uukresh
. The idea of gravity bombs to destabilize the
Behemoth
's ammunition storage systems...

After realizing that I wouldn't be able to turn away and relax in nature, I returned to the palace, and sat up until the depths of the night working away at a computer screen, calculating in detail all possible space fleet configurations and their applications. Only when my work efficiency had fallen to zero due to my eyes closing in tiredness did I sit in bed, looking at the clock and waiting with curiosity for my exit from the game. Based on my calculations, there was a bit less than a half hour until my contract was up. I resolved firmly not to let my eyes close until that very moment...

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Mr. G.I. was leaning over me and smiling, shaking me by the shoulder. "That's it Ruslan, your game is over. Sit still for a couple of minutes to wake back up and get used to your body again. After that, crawl out of the capsule, but be careful taking the suit off. There are thin wires there. Be careful not to break them. Your clothes are on the chair. Everything is new, bought just for you. I'll be waiting for you in the next room."

As soon as the door closed behind my employer, I sat up sharply and took a look around. It was a small room with no windows, in the center of which was a large elliptical cocoon made of dark plastic. The cap of the cocoon was ajar. My body was lying on a porous elastic sheet inside the cocoon and was being held in a fine mesh of the thinnest wires, attached with suction cups to my chest. I tried to remove the fasteners, raised my arm and realized that something was keeping me from moving. Every joint of my finger had a rubber ring with metallic electrodes on its inner surface attached to it. I removed all these devices from my arms, and then was able to unfasten the suit and crawl out of the capsule.

That meant it was a game after all... I experienced a very strong sense of disenchantment and shame. Even when, a few years earlier, I had been left by a girl I loved, I wasn't feeling half as shitty as I did now. Everything I believed in, that I loved, and that I fought for was just the plot of a stupid computer game... I quickly got dressed and went up a stairway into a big hall. Georgiy was waiting for me there in a rocking chair next to an open window. There were green trees, summer sun, tweeting birds, and a warm wind. Six months really had passed since the time, on a cold winter morning when I left my house to talk to a potential employer.

"Ruslan, on the table you will find a sealed envelope. Inside it is a bank card, and with it you will find the pin code. Everything is there, as we agreed. There is quite a lot of money in that account, so if you need, my guards can accompany you to the bank, and then to your house."

"No, no, that will not be necessary..." I had been overcome by total apathy, so I could honestly have cared less whether there even was money in the account. "And where is Miya?"

"Miya?" Mr. G. I. pretended to be surprised. "What makes you think Miya should be here? Back in February she ran away from me to some resort down south, and since then I haven't heard a thing."

I knew he was lying. The first thing I sensed when coming out into the hall was the smell of violet perfume, that always accompanied Miya in the game. But as my former employer was not planning on telling the truth, I decided not to insist on it. Also, if I thought it out well, I didn't want to see Miya right now. I was reminded of how she promised to kill me as soon as I went out into the real world...

"I can't wait to get back into the game! Ruslan, you can't even imagine how much I've missed
Perimeter Defense
!" Mr. G.I. began to shiver in impatience and agitation.

"What can I say, it's a good game..." I let out through my teeth, hiding the envelope with the card in the inside pocket of my light jacket and headed for the exit.

"The guards will give you a packet of your winter things on your way out, then they'll take you straight home," promised my former employer, but I just mumbled back indeterminately in reply and went outside.

* * *

My employer was not lying. The full amount we agreed on really was on the card but, for some reason, that didn't make me happy at all. I was sitting in my stuffy rented apartment looking dumbly and dully at the New Year's wreath still hanging from the curtain rack. No one had removed it in the six months I had been gone, and I also wasn't feeling up to climbing up on the window sill and unraveling the pine decoration. I didn't want anything at all...