New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) (8 page)

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"Crown Prince and fleet officers, I beg my and Captain Corwin's forgiveness for our late arrival!" Katerina ton Mesfelle and her husband were panting as they flew into the hall. "Georg, we've been under way since early morning. We wanted to apologize for yesterday. We went to the palace, but they said you were gone. It was no simple task finding another shuttle that could take us into orbit. But we still listened to your speech. The first assistant from
One-Eyed Python
arranged for us to watch remotely. Cousin, I beg of you, take me with you into battle! I miss real action so bad! I promise to make my report on the battle so riveting that viewers the Empire over will be nervously biting their nails with their eyes peeled and their faces pressed against the screen!"

I smiled and, slowing down a bit, nodded in agreement. My cousin gave a joyous yelp and threw herself at me, hanging off my shoulders. Based on the laughter that rang out in the hall, no one even remembered the atmosphere of dread that had been reigning here before. The officers had a very good reaction to our old war correspondent’s arrival. And just then, Corwin ton Mesfelle-Ugar approached me with a goose step, and bent down on one knee:

"Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky, it would be a great honor to me if your Highness were to choose
One-Eyed Python
as a flagship for the upcoming battle!"

"I gratefully accept your offer, Captain Corwin ton Mesfelle-Ugar!"

I extended my hand, helping the captain to his feet. I looked around at the applauding crowd and said into the microphone:

"Now this is how we should be feeling before an encounter with the Aliens! Friends, we have just two days to prepare, so let's get to practicing. When we make our move, we can show the
Queen
just how serious a mistake she made bringing her troops to our system!"

"G
eorg, it’s not my fault that the Viscount got his hands on the Tivalle system!" Katerina ton Mesfelle broke the silence that had been ruling over the captain's bridge on
One-Eyed Python
.

At that moment, I was sitting immersed in my thoughts, so I gave a surprised shudder before turning to look at my cousin. She repeated:

"That’s right, cousin. I had nothing to do with it. Duke Avalle royl Anjer jumped on the tasty morsel as soon as he saw the chance. Asteroid ice processing plants are quite the gold mine. The Head of the Orange House appointed his only son Sivir holder of the Tivalle star system and, simultaneously, Viscount Sivir, in his capacity as manager, confirmed his own appointment. To be honest, you and I both overlooked this eventuality. The right way to have done it would have been to remove Viscount Sivir ton Mesfelle from his post in Tivalle right after his father became Orange House Head, and put someone else there to manage it..."

"Yes, I agree. We were clearly asleep at the wheel there. By the way, where is the Viscount now?"

Katerina looked at me somewhat strangely, as if expecting me to crack up and say I was joking. But I remained silent, and my cousin shook her head in reproach:

"Georg, you must have stopped paying attention to politics completely. Viscount Sivir ton Mesfelle was appointed Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet Commander right after you resigned."

I then actually did start cracking up:

"Sivir is the Sector Eight Fleet Commander?! You've got to be kidding me! I've never seen a worse commander in my life! Last time he was entrusted to lead a group of ships, his mission was to simply bring them to the Hnelle system. But even that primitive assignment was too much for him. His own subordinates started rioting because he was such an incompetent commander. What's the deal? It seems like a strange and illogical choice."

"Don't say that, Georg. There's a logic to this, and it's fairly elementary. Just look at the bigger picture. Think about who is first in line to the Orange House Throne. Crown Princess Inessa royl George ton Mesfelle has yet to be declared Countess, even though seven months have passed. That is very strange, and there can only be one explanation: Duke Avalle royl Anjer wants to make his own son Count, despite the fact that it circumvents the traditional succession order. After all, the title Viscount, in essence, means the oldest son of a Count. And if the position of Count is vacant, the previous one's oldest son can become the new Count under specific circumstances, jumping many positions ahead in the process. To do that, this decision must be approved by the Orange House and the Emperor.

Now, let's say the Duke is able to put this decision through the Orange House. The deputies loyal to him would vote how they're supposed to, after all. It would have to be confirmed by the Emperor though, which is a problem. In the many-century history of the Empire, I found just eleven such instances and, every time the Viscount became Count, instead of the proper candidate, it was because that person was a great military commander. Knowing that, Viscount Sivir ton Mesfelle took the bull by the horns and made himself Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet Commander. For him, it's a quick way to the top. All he has to do is prove his courage and skill in the eyes of the Emperor."

"Then why has Viscount Sivir made no attempts to liberate the Alien-controlled Hnelle system?" I snorted. "If he took down the Alien armada, even I would be impressed with his talent as a leader, to say nothing of the Emperor."

Katerina smiled.

"Viscount Sivir ton Mesfelle may not be an expert in military matters, but that doesn't make him an idiot. He only wants to use the fleet as an elevator to the top. The Viscount has no desire to risk his own life in a hopeless battle with the Aliens."

My cousin went silent as a whole horde of people flooded into the captain's cabin. It was Captain Corwin ton Mesfelle-Ugar returning from lunch, accompanied by his senior officers. Shortly after he took his seat, the captain donned a brightly colored helmet with a microphone and began giving orders:

"Ten minutes to warp tunnel exit. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get cracking! Take your seats. Systems check. Communications, setup a common fleet channel as soon as we enter the Hnelle system. Tactics, wait for the Crown Prince's orders."

Corwin ton Mesfelle-Ugar turned back toward me and smiled with two rows of ideally even white teeth:

"Crown Prince, this is my first time going into such an uneven battle. They have fifteen ships to every one of ours, and their firepower surpasses ours by two hundred to one. What I’m most surprised by, though, is that I am not feeling even an ounce of fear or doubt in the outcome! And the rest of the guys say the very same – they're in a place of surprising calm and absolute faith in your Highness's abilities."

"I appreciate your faith in me, Corwin! But as for the ship ratios, I think it'll all be a bit easier than that. Thirty seconds before our fleet comes out of the warp tunnel, two divisions of
Surprises
should be bombing the Alien armada. We dug our most powerful bombs out of the Unatari Fleet arsenal just for the occasion: eight thermonuclear warheads at fifty megatons a piece, plus another twelve tenners. So, there won't be many Alien small ships around on the battle field. I'm thinking the
Meteors
, at least, should be totally obliterated. Alien frigates are the only ships in their fleet capable of overtaking us in pursuit. That means, if the Aliens don't have any
Meteors
, we'll basically be uncatchable."

"Awesome. But don't let the stealth bombers take them all down. Leave some enemies for us," he joked, his worried expression fading into a satisfied smile.

I decided not to reply, as not to upset my new family member. Calculations we made back in the Aysar Cluster showed that the large Alien ships would survive, so the
Queen
,
Mammoths
and
Behemoths
would absolutely be there to meet us. But as for the Alien cruisers, destroyers and frigates, there shouldn't be many left.

I called the tactics officer, and set about explaining to him what I wanted to see on the tactical map: a grid centered on the Hnelle station, and markers for all types of ships with an overlaid number showing distance from
One-Eyed Python
. I also wanted groups of starships to be circled with different colors. Finally, I told him not to depict any trash, like debris or abandoned drones.

"One minute to warp exit," reported our navigator.

All the officers began taking their places. I put my hand on the control console, closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down.

"Ten seconds to warp exit. Five, four, three, two, one, we're here! Haay-ooooo!" Corwin screamed happily.

I didn't tell him, but his happiness was a bit misplaced. The screens were still dark, and I needed to get my bearings immediately. The light cruiser gave a slight shake, then the happiness flew off the captain's face, its place taken by incomprehension.

"Thrusters desynchronized. Energy shields have fallen to fourteen percent. I have no idea what's going on."

"Where's the tactical grid, you assholes?!" I shouted to the tactics officer, but he could only shrug his shoulders and punch buttons cluelessly on his nonworking console.

"We're experiencing some technical difficulties. Some of our external equipment has failed," reported a technician over the loud speaker. "It looks like we need new antennas. It'll be three or four minutes of repair."

Fortunately, messages started pouring in from other fleet ships, so, even blind, I had a general picture, and was starting to more or less understand the situation.

"We came out of warp one thousand miles from the
Queen
! Severe background radiation detected!"

"This is
Thrush-15
. We were caught in the blast. Our forward shields have fallen by a third."

"
Warhawk-11
, our light-sensitive equipment has been damaged! LIDAR isn't working."

"This is
Curse-4
. I confirm damage taken. Our shields have fallen by forty percent. I'm seeing lots of large pieces of debris next to the
Queen
. I think it's the wreckage of a
Behemoth
."

I took the microphone and said in a commanding voice:

"All ships, attention! All messages related to systems failures or ship damage should be sent over the reserve channel. The main one is getting crowded. Some of the equipment on the flagship was also damaged and is out of order. We're basically blind, and we need a few minutes to fix it. Until the technical failures are fixed, fleet command is transferred to Admiral Mike ton Akad on
Curse-7
. Can any other ships confirm the presence of
Behemoth
debris? Where are our observers?
Ghosts
, where are you?"

"Commander, this is
Ghost-2
. I'm in position. I can see your ships twenty-five hundred miles from my location. The
Surprises
completed their mission. Their bombs landed in the very thick of the Alien fleet. After that, we weren't even able remove the armored panels from our light-sensitive equipment before one of the
Behemoths
burst into shards. Then, there was a whole series of powerful explosions in the center of the cloud of wreckage, and a few seconds later, you showed up on the battlefield."

"I see.
Ghost-2
, what are your coordinates? All ships, warp at one hundred to
Ghost-2
. We can repair there and evaluate the situation."

I signed off and took a look around. There were officers scurrying around nearby. On one of the screens, I could see a group of technicians putting space suits on, preparing to go out into space. Katerina was already making a report. She was also vigorously signaling to me, asking for video of the bomb attack on the Alien armada. When suddenly...

"SO THAT'S WHERE YOU’VE GONE!!!" I felt a horrible burden pressing down on me. The hate-filled voice impressed itself into my brain with every word, as if stepping down into it with a high heeled shoe. "THERE'S NO ESCAPE THIS TIME. YOU WILL DIE IN THIS SYSTEM."

"You again... I thought I already explained to you once that these kind of things won't work with me. You cannot control me, nor force me to do anything!"

"ALL YOUR STARSHIPS ARE DOOMED TO DIE HERE IN THIS SYSTEM. BUT YOU COULD GIVE UP AND SAVE YOUR OWN LIFE."

"You're repeating yourself," I laughed through the pain. "You'd think you might have learned by now that your methods don't work on me."

At that, the initial wave of pressure rolled back, and I returned to my senses. Maybe the mental protection once put in by Miya was kicking in, or maybe I was able to overcome the psychological onslaught, but the intensity of the attack fell quickly.

"IF YOU TRY TO FLEE, I WILL FOLLOW YOU AND DESTROY BOTH YOU AND EVERYTHING ELSE ALIVE. YOU ARE DOOMED!"

"That's enough of that, now get lost! I didn't come all the way here to run away. My goal is to destroy your fleet, and I have enough ships with me to make that happen. You know it’s true. I can sense your fear. You still haven't forgotten the damage I did to your fleet in the Aysar Cluster. The same will happen here."

"YOU CAUSED ME PAIN THEN. THAT IS WHY YOU MUST DIE!!!"

I could only laugh and shake my head, chasing off the ringing in my ears. Katerina ton Mesfelle was standing next to me. There was fear on her face.

"Georg, what happened?! Your nose is bleeding!"

I ran my hand over my face, and my palm came back wet and red.

"Nothing dangerous. The
Queen
was just trying to scare me," I laughed, demonstrating to my cousin that everything was fine. "You'd better find me some cotton balls to stop the bleeding."

Just then, the screens in the room finally turned on, and I rushed to familiarize myself with the situation. The Alien fleet was three thousand miles from us and was composed of a huge disk-shaped ship, encrusted with clusters of smaller ships. I suspect that the
Queen
's shields had protected some of the frigates and destroyers from the explosions, otherwise it was hard to explain how several hundred small-class ships had survived the attack of my twenty cloaked bombers. Then, before my very eyes,
Behemoths
from all sides started creeping in and docking on the five huge
Mammoths
. Either they were there for repair, or energy charging, or perhaps they just wanted to protect themselves from further attacks behind the carriers' shields. Just one group was moving, around eighty
Meteors
, and it was coming quickly in my fleet's direction.

"Attention, fleet! The enemy is approaching. Their frigates are marked on the map. Advance toward the fourth planet. Tactics officer, number the targets. Electronic fighters, divvy up the frigates. As soon as they get near, blind them. Do not wait for my command.
Warhawks
and
Pyros
, stand by. Do not move away from our ships. Break off into pairs. When the enemy approaches, I want two webs and warp disruptors on every
Meteor
. Admiral Mike ton Akad, destroyers are your responsibility. Get them in groups of five, shooting on your command at targets under double web. After you shoot one down, switch right to the next target.
Thrushes
, do the same. Fire all together at targets under double stasis web.
Surgeons
, get back a bit. I need you behind all the other ships as insurance.
Curses
, stand by. Release drones only after the battle begins. We don’t need to spook the enemy!"