New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) (6 page)

I did not have time to reply. A knock came on the door, and Ayna swiftly entered, holding a tablet computer.

"Prince Georg, I have found your cousin's location, composed a list of the most valuable objects on the yacht and... here," the girl stepped aside, letting a guest enter.

Into the office came... the one Chameleon I would recognize from among thousands of others. Popori de Cacha!!! I stood up and took a step forward to embrace my old friend. After a second of confusion, the huge bipedal gray lizard responded in kind and embraced me with her (or maybe his, hard to say with a Chameleon) flexible appendages.

"After your Highness fired the Chameleon bodyguard team, I tried to find work for myself and my subjects as bodyguards for the senior officers on
Crown Princess Likanna.
And now, I'm hearing that the Crown Prince wants to see me," explained Popori de Cacha, very quickly elucidating me on the circumstances of her arrival to the space yacht.

"I'll be brief, Popori de Cacha. I need my great bodyguard head back. And with her, I need six, or even just two more invisible guards."

The Chameleon smiled with two rows of sharp teeth:

"I am delighted, my Prince. I'll do it all to the best of my ability. That said, I am a ‘him’ again, not a ’her.’ After giving birth to my children, I changed back to my original gender."

The interactive character popup was showing that Popori de Cacha's loyalty was still as high as possible, just as I’d left it. Here was something my surrogate hadn't been able to mess up. Clearly Crown Prince Georg simply had no dealings with any Chameleons at all, and also Popori de Cacha had spent the last few months on a far-off island laying eggs and carrying for his tadpoles as they swam in their warm pools.

"Prince Georg, do you have any other orders?" My assistant wondered.

"Wait, let me see the list." I took the tablet and quickly skimmed it. "Ayna, I thought I asked you to be honest. Why didn't you bring me the whole list? I can say for certain that Miya's collection of numbered emeralds is here on the yacht, as well as a number of other valuable objects belonging to my wife. Where's all that in the list of valuables?!"

"But, your Highness..." the girl's voice began quavering in fear. "Mrs. Miya really doesn't like it when other people touch her things."

I closed my eyes and took a heavy sigh.

"Ayna, I need a
full
account in one hour. Whether it will be you or your replacement that gives it to me is up to you. Miya won't be here for more than a month, and I don't have enough time to wait for my wife's return to ask her permission. So don't be afraid, you can blame it all on me. Say the Crown Prince ordered it. In the future, I really don't like it when information is hidden from me. I hope this will be the last time."

"My Prince, my mistake will not be repeated. I promise that I'll be as honest as possible with your Highness from now on."

"Alright. Then tell me, what instructions did Miya give you before her departure? I'm having a hard time believing that Miya and the child simply disappeared without a word."

Ayna looked at me like she was expecting a trick, then looked at the others in the room, after which she sighed and said, in a fairly faithful imitation of Miya's timbre:

"The Prince will wake up soon. Help him figure out what's going on. After crystals, sometimes a person doesn't remember where they are or how they got there right away. Partial amnesia is not rare. As such, don't be surprised if he asks you weird questions. It’s up to you to help Georg do everything. I also have a more specific request. My husband is a Mystic and should probably not have too much interest in the opposite sex. But that hound dog has figured out a way to chase skirts in spite of the crystals before. Your mission is not to allow that under any circumstances. If you see the Prince in an overly playful mood, dress yourself up, shake your ass and grab his attention..."

Admiral Mike ton Sid suddenly began whinnying like a mare. Ayna quickly grew embarrassed and stayed quiet. I, though, tried to reassure my blushing assistant:

"At the very least, you were honest. Ayna, you are free to go. I expect a
full
account of the valuables on this ship."

The girl left, and I returned to the conversation with the admiral, wondering about the state of the fleet in Unatari. He frowned in dissatisfaction:

"The fleet ships have been sitting motionless at the docks for six months, which has taken a toll on the crews’ spirits. In the last few months, combat officers, especially the most capable and active, have been resigning in droves. Most of them are going to other Imperial fleets that really are fighting the Aliens. The most popular destination is Sector Fourteen, which now has the most serious problems in the whole Perimeter."

The admiral let out a heavy sigh.

"I tried to keep them here, Prince. But even paying them bonuses didn't help. People kept resigning anyway. The only thing that could stop the epidemic flight of valuable staff was the Alien capture of the Hnelle system. It may seem strange and paradoxical, but the reaction of the Unatari military has been twofold: of course, they were scared at being trapped and outnumbered, but many were actually glad that a reason to fight finally came knocking on our door. In general, we have staff shortages in the fleet, some ships are missing up to forty percent of their full crew. That’s why, a month ago, I retired the more outmoded ships: all the
Tusk
frigates and
Curse
cruisers. I transferred their crews to our more modern ships."

After the admiral's words, I gave a start. It was as if a red light had turned on in my brain. Error! Fighting the Aliens with my usual methods looked like the wrong approach now, especially with the serious shortage of people. That was why I thought it might be the right moment to test out the light fleet concept I had thought up in the last days of my previous contract.

"Admiral, all our heavy ships would be doomed in the upcoming battle. The enemy has too much of an advantage in volley weight, so an 'honest' exchange of fire would simply lead to immediate defeat. We need the most mobile fleet we can muster; one capable of staying out of range of the enemy's largest guns while maneuvering and gunning down the little ships, as well as individual ship groups that get separated from the main armada."

The man heard me out with rapt attention, clearly in no mood to argue. I saw a very positive sign in that. Despite all the disappointment brought on by the previous months, Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky's reputation as an excellent strategist was hadn’t suffered one bit.

"Admiral, my order is for the heavy ships to be placed on the docks and for work to begin to return them to the setup that I had them in when I made the raid through Swarm space. As for the people from the battleship and the five heavy cruisers, use them to fully crew all the
Thrush
light electronic combat cruisers, all
Curses
,
Flycatcher
and
Surgeon
destroyers, and the
Pyro
and
Warhawk
frigates. Also, check the preparedness of our cloaked bombers and load them with our most powerful warheads. Tomorrow, at ten in the morning, I will announce a big practice session. Together, we can train ships to work in this atypical, light formation."

"Yes sir, my Prince!"

After Admiral Mike ton Akad left to arrange for a light fleet, I stayed in the office alone with my thoughts. It was very difficult not to fall into despondency and despair, but I tried to look for the silver lining. Sure, a lot of staff had left the fleet, but the only thing at fault for the loss of so many talented officers from the Unatari fleet was the sharply changed behavior of Crown Prince Georg. Earlier, I had actually required that my employees have an earnest desire to fight for the future of humanity. It was my main criterion in choosing who to hire. There was nothing surprising in the fact that, after quitting his job as Sector Eight Fleet Commander and falling into a difficult-to-understand state of lethargy, Crown Prince Georg's subjects would gradually start to leave and move to wherever there were more serious battles with the Aliens happening.

That was why there was no reason to raise salaries, or use other methods to artificially plug up the leak. I would just have to show the soldiers that Prince Georg had awoken after a half a year’s nap and would be returning to fight once again. That was why I absolutely could not avoid battling the Aliens, as it would cause the fleet to fall apart once and for all. In fact, the battle for the Hnelle system would have to be done as showily as possible, to remind all Imperial citizens that Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle can take on the Aliens and win.

"My Prince, may I come in?" Ayna peeked through the door apprehensively. "Your mission is complete. Here is the full list of all valuables on
Queen of Sin
."

I took the tablet, and pointed my assistant to the armchair next to mine, and the girl sat, crossing her legs.

"Ayna, prepare the first twenty items from the list for sale, excluding the trophy emeralds."

Ayna gaped in shock, as if considering objecting. After that, she made a bold move:

"My Prince, we'll hardly be likely to find buyers on Unatari who can afford these pieces."

I smiled mysteriously.

"Did I say anything about Unatari? Ayna, you just prepare the auctions. Leave finding a way of telling the Empire about it up to me. I'll get around this blockade. Also, pick out something pretty to gift Katerina ton Mesfelle. I'm flying out today to personally apologize to my cousin. And choose anything you want from the list for yourself. That's my present to you. Think of it as compensation for all the trouble."

My new assistant's eyes immediately lit up. No matter how you looked at it, there were some very luxurious items in that list, and any person would dream of owning them. I couldn't hold back a smile. At the end of the day, women were the same everywhere, be they back home, or in
Perimeter Defense
. Not a one will refuse the temptation of taking a pretty piece of jewelry.

After looking actively through the catalog for a minute, Ayna pointed to one item:

"Prince Georg, may I choose this pair of ruby earrings?"

"Of course. I did say
any
item, didn't I?"

"I know, it's just that they're really expensive. The rubies are exceptionally pristine and large. They're worth seven hundred thousand credits!"

Standing change. Ayna Mentor's opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +28 (amicable)

A fifteen-point bump in personal opinion over nothing but a pair of earrings? A normal person might consider this a completely useless waste of expensive jewelry, but I was of a totally different opinion. The loyalty of my personal assistant was extremely important. I needed to be sure that Ayna would remain true even in hard times, despite all the temptations, threats and blackmail that she'd be sure to face. And if I could raise my assistant's loyalty with jewelry, then why not?

"Less than a million?" I made a showily wry mouth. "Then take the whole set. There's a ruby ring that goes with it. A gift from an Imperial Crown Prince must be fashionable, if nothing else."

Standing change. Ayna Mentor's opinion of you has improved.

Presumed personal opinion of you: +43 (friendship)

"Prince Georg, I'll never forget your benevolence!" Ayna promised, as teardrops began shimmering up from her eyelashes.

"Now then... No need to cry! Accept the gift. Go prepare invitations to the auction. As soon as you're done, get me a line to the Sigur system warp beacon security team."

I suspect that my assistant did not understand the connection between my two last orders. It should be said, though, that it was quite a direct one. I was preparing to send the information about the valuables auction through the Forepost-12 beacon that became visible periodically from the Sigur system and, a day later, to receive the money from the buyers in the same fashion.

* * *

"Aw, to hell with her! I'll do it myself!" A golden statuette of a long-legged bird with sapphire eyes was sent flying into the far end of the plane's main cabin.

The shuttle was taking off rapidly. A moment later, we were on our way to my palace flying above the dark restless ocean of Unatari. The conversation with Katerina ton Mesfelle did not go well from the very beginning. She was frightfully resentful of me. There were many reasons, but the main thing was that, four months earlier, Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky had completely ignored her marriage to Corwin ton Ugar.

The young couple were very hurt by my blatant refusal to attend their wedding, and even the four months that had passed since then had done nothing to heal the bitter wound. Corwin ton Mesfelle-Ugar still gave a forced smile to his unexpected highborn guest, but Katerina ton Mesfelle told me her honest opinion right to my face, making no effort to restrict her language. I have never been good at bearing insults, so I started firing back with a volley of hurtful questions and remarks of my own.