"Yes, let it be so!" agreed the Emperor. "For her valor and bravery, I posthumously award the captain of Surprise-1 a Ruby Comet. If this female left any children behind, from this minute forward they will be granted full Imperial citizenship, and their education and upbringing will be completely paid for by the government. But now, Georg, I would like to speak about your fate. The Orange, Green and Red Houses are demanding that I issue an official Imperial declaration stating that you are a traitor and criminal. After the explanations you gave, I intend to refuse them by explaining what happened as a typical power struggle between local elites in peripheral regions where Imperial soldiers have no jurisdiction."
I bowed down on one knee again, expressing my gratitude at such a wise decision on the Emperor's part. My cousin repeated the gesture. August could only laugh in reply:
"There's nothing to thank me for. I am acting in my own self-interest right now. It is important to me that a force remain in Sector Eight that is capable of defending our border with the Swarm and fighting back the Aliens. Given that the Perimeter Sector Eight Fleet no longer exists, this difficult assignment falls on your shoulders, Georg. Note here that I am only speaking of Sector Eight, not the Orange House as a whole."
"My Emperor, I’m afraid I do not understand. Would you like to appoint me Sector Eight Fleet Commander once again?" I was not at all ashamed to admit that I had completely lost the thread.
Katerina was looking at me with obvious pity, shaking her head as she loudly said:
"No, cousin. Emperor August is suggesting that you form your own government not subject to the Orange House."
"Excellent, Katerina." The old man on screen began clapping softly. "It would seem my advisors were right to praise your analytical abilities. They have even suggested that I try to hire you on here in the Throne World. Georg, there can be no doubt that Duke Avalle will not forgive what you've done, and will never let you live a normal life as a result. The Head of the Orange House will also never forget how your cousin Katerina made the Duke's only son look stupid. As such, I can only see one way out of this. Create your own Kingdom and fight for its independence from the Orange House. Yes, if you do, war with three Great Houses at the same time would be unavoidable, but the main Imperial fleet would stay on the sidelines and not interfere in what we would view as a local, internal conflict. Last time, you showed that you can quickly build the power of your fleet. I expect the same from you this time."
I went silent, completely dumbfounded at the Emperor's suggestion. My advisor Katerina spoke in my stead:
"My Emperor, I appreciate the clear help and even direct advice you are giving. So in fact, you are untying our hands and giving us cart-blanche. We are no longer limited by the bounds of Orange House's rules and, in the inevitable war, it would be our right to make use of any methods at our disposal to grow our forces. I have no doubt in my cousin. The new government will hold out and grow stronger. And here, I would like to find out the price of that liberty. For what reason does your Imperial Highness need a new power, not connected with the rules of a Great House, and bordering only one Perimeter Sector? After all, if you were simply expressing your desire to help your grand-nephew, you could simply appoint Georg commander of the Sector Eight Fleet!"
The old man on screen gave a long, satisfied laugh, after which his voice suddenly grew harsher:
"Alright, Katerina, you have proven your qualification once again. So now, let's talk as frankly as possible about the truly serious issues weighing on my mind as leader of the Empire. Humanity needs a powerful force. One that can act outside the bounds of one Perimeter Sector, but at the same time is not the Imperial Star Fleet. We need such a force so that I can correct the biggest mistake I ever made before my time is up. I'm speaking of the Yellow House, or the Gold House, whatever they called themselves."
"The Antagonists?!" My cousin and I gasped in unison.
"Yes, that is precisely how that Great House has been known in the Empire for almost one hundred eighty years. When my father was on his death bed, his wish was for Imperial power to be transferred in accordance with the established order. The first in line to the throne was my sister, Eleonora royl Akad, Georg's grandmother on his mother's side. However, I thought the moment too ripe and couldn’t let the historic chance pass me by. After all, the First Strike Fleet was under my command at that time, and it was humanity's most fearsome force. The Empire had just finished a war with the Elokites, a race of intelligent parasitic worms. My battleships had broken through the planetary shield of the Elokite home world and were raining down hell from above on yet another enemy of humanity. Immediately after that victory, I sent my starships directly to the Throne World. There was no war for the throne. I had the power on my side, and was steeped in the glory of the victor, so the Imperial crown went to me with no contest. But my sister fled to the Gold House, which had supported her historically. They then issued a declaration that they would be leaving the Empire. Perimeter Sectors Eighteen and One were removed from the unified warp beacon network. And that was how the Antagonists came to be."
The Emperor went silent, but the Dark Mother unexpectedly continued his story:
"Many years have passed since that time. The Antagonists' warp beacons have long been turned off, but we do continue to communicate with them through ambassadors. The Empire has recognized the Antagonists' right to independence, and my master is not capable of dissolving a treaty he himself signed. Attacking the Antagonists with private aristocratic armies or allied fleets is utterly futile. I can sense the great power of the Gold House. The fleet of the Antagonists is no smaller in force than that of the whole Empire, and the number of Truth Seekers the Gold House has is also very great."
"Precisely," agreed the Emperor. "All these years, the separatists have been growing their force of combat starships and landing ships, as well as training dozens of powerful psionics to murder key Imperial admirals and commanders. I can say with absolute certainty that my sister would not refuse the idea of one day returning the Imperial crown, which once slipped from her hands, to her own possession. As such, the threat of an Antagonist armada invading is a very real possibility we must be prepared for it. But if a force can be found that is capable of dealing with the Antagonist armada and returning almost fifty inhabitable star systems to the Imperial fold... I'll tell you honestly, Georg. I would be willing to overlook a lot for such a possibility. I am not going to ask what became of the huge Uukresh you showed off in the Orange House Capital system either..."
"He has two Uukreshes," the Dark Mother unexpectedly wedged into the Emperor's speech, afterwards explaining: "August, your grand-nephew has two such large ships at his disposal! And also, beyond Imperial borders he has a reserve fleet of three hundred starships hidden from prying eyes."
The old lady must have read that information directly from my brain. The Emperor noted the discontent that flashed across my face and laughed.
"Georg, you are simply full of surprises! Alright, I will not pry into who you're hiding your fleet from or why. I will not ask about the fate of the Alien warp beacon delivery ship in your possession, nor the other captured trophies. I shall block all attempts by your foes to call you to the Throne World over scandals in your family affairs, no matter how ugly they may appear. I will not even demand that you reconquer the Himora star system, which your actions technically handed to the Aliens. As you see, I am prepared to give you much, grand-nephew. In exchange, in order for you to dispel all my doubts, I want to see you to create a force loyal to the Empire that can handle the task I have just laid out. A year ago, you were heading in that direction when you got together a fleet of three thousand under your banner, but then you got spooked and suddenly stood down. This time, I'm asking you to take it all the way and make a force capable of smashing the Antagonists. I am sure that, if the Empire has such a heavy bludgeon at its side, the threat of Alien invasion won't look so terrifying and irreversible either. Collect your fleet and annihilate the Antagonists
! Georg, if you can make what I've just described happen, I will consider the main goal of my life achieved and will hand over the Imperial Crown to you with a clean conscious. You have my word as Emperor!"
Long after the screen turned off, my cousin and I were still standing in silence, digesting what we'd heard. Finally, I broke the silence, asking my advisor:
"What do you think, Katerina? Can I trust the promise made by August?"
My cousin gave a tormented smile in response:
"If you have a fleet on your side that can take down the Antagonist armada, it would also be able to take down the comparably-sized Imperial fleet, so all aristocrats, including August himself, would have no choice but to play fair. Otherwise, you would be able to just take what was promised to you by force. What I'm worried about now, though, is not the distant future, but what comes next. Is it worth hinting that Unatari will become independent, if that means an uncompromising war with the Orange House in return? Your former allies Marat and Svetlana Mesfelle will actually be fighting against you. You would not be able to count on your brother Roben or sister Violetta helping you either. The best we could hope for is them simply not coming out against you. That leaves the Green House, which will doubtless make use of the opportunity to get revenge on you for everything you've done to them. And the Red House, all of whose requests for aid you’ve openly ignored. The Aliens haven't gone anywhere either. They're still two steps from your capital, just as before..."
I stopped her stream of words with a gesture.
"Katerina, don't try to talk me out of it. I have made my decision. Unatari will be an independent state! But I will not force you to follow me into the meat-grinder. If you think there are too many enemies, it isn't too late for you to simply leave."
Katerina suddenly began laughing in joy:
"For crying out loud, cousin! You still don't get it. You and I have been trapped on the same boat for a long time. It's too late to change anything. So, even if the whole Empire gangs up on you, I'll stay on your side no matter what. Yes, it will be hard for us. The war promises to be a bloody one. But I believe in you, Georg, and I know that you would never leave your cousin wanting when it comes time to hand out trophies."
I looked at the clock. There were just twenty minutes left until my speech. The text still needed to be totally overhauled in order to fit the Unatari Declaration of Independence into my speech. But there was catastrophically little time to think through all the consequences of such an action. We certainly wouldn’t have the time to predict enemy reactions and take preventative countermeasures.
"Katerina, let's not change the speech. There's really no reason to rush it. We need to think it all over and consider all the details first. And also, it would make our foes look foolish before the Emperor, if the accusations they made against me come to nothing, and the speech is just about the recent battle.
But around an hour after talking to the journalists, get a little council together in my office: Admiral Mike ton Akad, Colonel Gor ton Vulf, Ayna and the captains of all five battleships. I have a lot to think over and discuss with them before loudly declaring that I am leaving the Orange House for the whole Empire to hear."
* * *
The speech went amazingly. I was inspired. I spoke emotionally, from my soul and practically didn't even make use of the teleprompter at all. Based on the periodically incoming standing increase messages, my speech found a good response among the residents of Unatari. Even the part I was most worried about, when I spoke on allowing several of the Sector Eight Fleet captains to jump to Himora to their certain deaths, was taken surprisingly well.
Standing change. Empire Military faction opinion of you has improved.
Present Empire Military faction opinion of you: +25 (trusting)
The main take away from it seemed to have been how many ships I’d saved, though. My relations with the Imperial Military increased by two points in one go!
But now, I had a much harder task before me. After ending my speech, there was supposed to be a question and answer session for the many journalists gathered there from every part of the Empire. I was somewhat nervous, as I was holding in my head the fact that my former favorite Astra had once failed just such a session. And the very first question asked confirmed that my fears were not totally unfounded:
"Crown Prince Georg, why did you give the Hnelle system to your eldest daughter after its liberation? After all, Princess Likanna has fully rejected you and refused to ever speak with your Highness again. You can't seriously think that a gift like this will make a little girl to forget about her own mother's death, right?"
The young female reporter, a presenter for the largest Green House news station, batted her eyelashes innocently, though I saw a badly hidden sense of triumph in her eyes. Her mission was complete. She had probably even been promised a prize for publicly provoking Crown Prince Georg with the old ugly story of his unsuccessful divorce. I was trying my hardest not to show my annoyance, though in my head there were thoughts swirling of interrogating this this horrible person to find out who’d paid her.
"The Hnelle star system was a gift to Lika, and it was my fatherly duty to return my daughter's property to her, even despite the risk to my life. Now, if we're gonna discuss my daughter's reaction to her mother's death... Yes, Likanna had every right to act the way she did. Both myself and Marta royl Valesy ton Mesfelle-Kyle made a grave mistake in hiding the fact that we were planning to get divorced from Lika. We thought that Lika was just an innocent little girl, but we were wrong. She had already started growing up. In fact, our divorce had been in the works for some time, and the one who initiated the process was my former wife herself."
I heard a distinct gasp of surprise in the hall.
"Yes, you heard right. It was Princess Marta who wanted the divorce first. I know how some journalists like to dig around in others' dirty laundry. Well then, I'll give them the chance to rifle through ours. Here are some recordings of old conversations I had with Princess Marta in which she stubbornly demanded divorce. In the end, I agreed. After that, we only discussed legal issues. Marta wanted a great deal of compensation, and I didn't have all she was demanding for a long time. When I got the money, and all the conditions were agreed upon, the unexpected happened. Marta had a change of heart and no longer wanted to sign the papers. Our relationship had started improving. The Fastel Fleet even helped me out in battle with the Orange House. Everything was leading to the possibility that our divorce may have proven unnecessary, which was why Marta's suicide caught me totally off guard."
"Then why did your wife commit suicide?"
I breathed a heavy sigh.
"The Princess found out that my Truth Seeker was expecting a child. Marta and Miya always had a fairly strained relationship, which was why, when my wife's main rival became pregnant, she took it very hard. They were both very dear to me though. I don't even know what they discussed behind my back. I can only suppose that they were negotiating the priority their respective daughter would receive in the succession order. And before you ask your next question, I'll answer it – Miya did not kill Marta, and did not use her abilities. Despite her horrible reputation, Miya is extremely careful not to do anything that may harm my reputation or hers. But if there remains anyone who still has doubts, I could set up a private conversation with Miya for anyone who wants it."
I ran my careful gaze over the whole suddenly silent hall. Apparently, none of them were feeling suicidal, today.
"No one was expecting Marta to do what she did, but Lika took it hardest of all, as she was not aware of all the other problems at all. I understand my daughter's reaction perfectly, and can say I would have done the same in her place. That is why I will not try to convince Likanna of anything now. I really did do wrong to her. To be honest, if I only could have foreseen how the whole divorce was going to go, I would have immediately refused to start the process. No one in the Universe was more dear to me than Likanna, and I would never do anything to hurt her.
"
Global standing increase. Current value -50
Global standing increase. Current value -49
I was looking at the two semitransparent popup messages when suddenly...
Standing change. Likanna royl Fastel's opinion of you has improved.
Presumed personal opinion of you: -98 (irreconcilable hate)
Lika was watching my speech! And she even put her opinion of me up by a point. I looked right into the camera and said:
"Thank you, Lika. No matter where you are, or what you think of me, I want you to know that I love you as much as ever!"
After that small victory, I had no more problems answering the journalists' remaining questions, even the trickiest ones. I finished the press conference with these words:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, unfortunately we don't have any more time to chat. I hope you understand. A Crown Prince's schedule is very busy. I have to go to the island of Chameleons to bid farewell to a truly heroic member of the Ravaash race. My company will be the captains and senior officers of the Unatari fleet, many of whom owe their lives to the captain of Surprise-1."
I had already taken a seat in my plane when an unexpected call came in. The officers of the transport route control service were informing us that someone has asked for Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky several times from the Hnelle station. Supposedly, the warp beacon employees had a query that they could not handle without my help.
"My Prince, this is Lieutenant Yarith Kahv, leader of the assault group sent to clear the Hnelle station. I ask that you forgive me for my importunity, but the cloaked frigate Ghost-5 from the Tialla star system is stubbornly repeating a request to be let through our system to Unatari. We remember your order not to turn on the warp beacon until your specific order, but the frigate from Tialla insists that their case is special, and has asked that your Highness be given this special password: 'Star Mutt.'"
New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) Page 10