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  "Now, our cover is coming from space," Julius said, having noticed my interest. "We are being tracked by laser turrets from the Throne World's orbital citadel. They can destroy any potential danger in an instant. They will destroy any aircraft that comes within a certain distance of us, as a matter of fact. The whole area we're flying through right now is subject to a no-fly zone. No one other than our shuttle is allowed to be up here. Yes, they are harsh measures, but after the series of strange events that happened today, my father didn't want to leave anything up to chance."

  "Have you found out who is behind all these shadowy attacks?" I asked, not especially counting on an answer, as the information was probably top secret.

  But Duke Julius answered nonetheless, and didn't even hide the truth:

  "Yes, the crews of the interceptors have already been arrested, as well as the whole assault group that attacked the police station. What made it so strange was that they didn't even resist the arrest. They all claimed they were carrying out direct orders from the Emperor. Checks by the best psionics and with the most advanced lie detectors have confirmed that the soldiers were not lying, either. They all truly believe the illegal orders came directly from my father. And that is the weirdest part. Someone has been doing a very skillful imitation of the Emperor. His standing has fallen sharply after all these scandals. My father didn't like that one bit, and that is the very reason he wanted to get to the bottom of all this himself. By the way, we've arrived. There is the Silver Palace in all its glory."

  I looked out the viewport. It was quite a sight to see. In the anthracite blackness of the night sky, the towers of the palace shimmered like silver needles, reflecting the glow of the spotlights at their base. Despite the colossal size of the Emperor's official residence, from the bird's eye view we now had, the palace seemed like a toy based on an ancient children's fable. The image was spoiled only by the flickering of the defensive shield that covered the building's half-kilometer-high spires in a huge dome. I couldn't resist making a negative comment on the force field.

  "What can you do? These are tough times. The bloody war with the Aliens has been going on for three years now. The Red House just fell to their onslaught. The Empire lost two Perimeter Sectors. And also, all our sources say the Antagonists will invade any day now. This just adds to that. The Swarm, the traditional rival of humanity, has grown significantly stronger in a very short time. And your father, Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle played a significant part in that. Some of the Crown Prince's actions are hard to look on as anything other than extremely bad judgment that goes so far as to pose a threat to humanity. I mean, why did he have to help the Swarm fight the Aliens?! He could have let our rivals get weaker and destroy one another! Instead, he armed our potential enemies and gave them modern military technology. That goes far beyond the bounds of rationality and borders on treason!"

  I shot up from my seat, looked the old man right in the eyes and said with determination:

  "Duke Julius, it is not for you to judge my father's actions! Crown Prince Georg understands the structure of the Swarm better than anyone else. He’s also very knowledgeable on the psychology of the Iseyek race. Their hundreds of billions of intelligent insects are not an enemy to humanity, but a powerful tool in interstellar politics, which can and must be used. Destroying the Swarm by force was absolutely impossible. Fifty years of bloody war against them should have taught you that, Duke. After all, you were a witness to those dark times. But then, achieving the respect and trust of the insects, making them allies, and eventually even coming to rule the Swarm itself is the very path humanity should be on!"

  The old man chuckled, easily bearing my gaze and hateful speech.

  Duke Julius' opinion of you has improved. Current opinion: +15 (warm)

  Global standing increase. Current value +4

  "Crown Princess Likanna, your character is very much like that of your father. You are both decisive and strangely self-assured. You both also have a total disregard for the opinions of all others. But your point of view is not the only one. The Swarm has long been a threat to the Empire, due to its economic and military might. But the Iseyek used to be quite forthright and predictable. Now though, with your father at their head, the threat has grown by many times as the insects have a human ruler. And he is an unprincipled unpredictable ruler, who is cruel and cunning. My father could not make peace with that threat, and that is the only explanation for today's attack on the Unatari embassy. Princess, it has been a great pleasure to speak with you. You are wise beyond your young years. But now, we have arrived. Crown Princess Natalie, Crown Princess Likanna, I ask you to follow me. The ruler of the Empire awaits you."

  * * *

  NOT SO LONG AGO, I’d had the thought that there were a lot of soldiers waiting for us near the gates of our prep school. But my perspective was different now. The number of soldiers there wasn't really so great. The huge crowd now before the Silver Palace truly deserved the descriptor. All the hallways, passageways and stairwells were jammed with armed soldiers. We walked through a succession of rooms and stopped before a set of elevated carved doors. The guards broke ranks and opened them, letting the Duke and us into the poorly lit room.

  [Mission completed: Obtain a personal meeting with the Emperor]

  "Search them!" a tall harrier-gray old man standing behind us ordered without even turning.

  "But how can we, father? They are Crown Princesses, after all! It is not accepted practice!" Our escort flared up, but all the same stepped aside, letting the Emperor's bodyguards through.

  "The ruler of Unatari, Crown Prince Georg, brought a hidden camera with him into a secret meeting today and broadcast it to the whole galaxy. So, I have a pretty good idea of where 'accepted practice' gets you! The girls will survive the search. Nothing more will be done to them."

  A silent bodyguard approached me and ran a complex detector over my body, searching for metal, electronics or explosives. Without even asking my permission, he took my palmtop out of my pants pocket, and also unlatched my gold necklace and silently stripped me of it. The search of my friend Crown Princess Natalie also didn't last long.

  "All clean. No contraband," the guard sounded off and walked away from us, carrying the confiscated items away on a small round tray.

  Only after that did the old man at the window stop contemplating and have the grace to turn around.

  August royl Toll ton Akad, Emperor

  Age: 340 years

  Race: Human

  Gender: Male

  Relation to you: Your great great uncle

  Class: Aristocrat

  Achievements: (see Attachment)

  Fame: +99

  Standing: + 234

  Presumed personal opinion of you: Unknown

  Crown Princess Natalie and I greeted the ruler of the Empire with the deepest of bows, in full accordance with noble etiquette, but the old man didn't react in any way. Instead, he gave a groan and flopped down heavily in a deep armchair then demanded from his guards in a grumbling, grating voice:

  "Close the doors and turn on the electronics suppression system. I've had quite enough unpleasant surprises for one day."

  A few seconds later, Natalie mouthed to me:

  "All the cameras have been turned off!"

  "Yep. An electromagnetic field just came on, too. This room is totally cut off from the rest of the world now," I whispered back.

  And though I was basically speaking silently, the Emperor still managed to overhear something and got on guard:

  "What are you whispering about over there? Huh? Please repeat it out loud for everyone."

  I looked at my friend and she nodded in agreement. Then I straightened up and said in a calm, self-assured voice:

  "Very well. My friend and I were discussing the fact that the room is isolated, the cameras have been turned off, and no one from outside will hear or see what happens here. Are you not afraid to be left alone with us, your Imperial Majesty? I mean, after your
treacherous attack on my father's delegation?"

  The Emperor clearly was not expecting such words and lost his place. He looked at his son Julius, then the four guards in the room and gave an exhausted laugh:

  "I think my people will be able to handle two little Princesses just fine. And your father himself was in the wrong today. The Swarm is no mere plaything! Crown Prince Georg does not understand that intelligent insects are dangerous! They need to be weakened or destroyed while we still have the chance!"

  "We do not have that chance, and never did!" shouted Crown Princess Natalie. "The insects are prolific and hard working. They restore any losses very quickly both in number and military technology. That is why the biggest mistake humanity could make would be to begin measuring itself against the Swarm in brute force. Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky understood that, which is why he took a different path. He earned the trust of the insects, became ruler of the Swarm and thus gave humanity a powerful force that can be controlled."

  "Crown Prince Georg and his Unatari State are far from all of humanity. And Georg is a naive fool, as he allowed the insects to wrap him around their collective finger!" Emperor August replied sharply, almost beginning to scream. "The Swarm needs an experienced fleet commander to lead their starship armadas against humanity, and they found it in Likanna's father. And as soon as the necessity for a human ruler passes, the insects will rid themselves of him. They will simply devour him, along with the rest of humanity."

  I just shook my head in reproach:

  "Your Imperial Majesty, you have a very poor understanding of the Iseyek mindset! Think about an anthill or a bee hive. Would the drones living and working in it ever take up opposition against their Queen, or harm her in any way? No, that would be impossible. It is the same with the Iseyek. As soon as Crown Prince Georg royl Inoky ton Mesfelle became ruler of the Swarm, all hundreds of billions of intelligent insects became unwaveringly loyal to him. Obeying the Master of the Swarm is embedded in the Iseyek gene code. None of the insects will even think to do harm to the Master of the Swarm. And at that, any Iseyek would give their life for him without a second thought."

  It was not easy to convince the Emperor we were right. He was being stubborn.

  "Georg will not live forever. A few decades or even centuries will pass, but one day he will be no more. And then, all the crushing might of the Swarm will cease to be under humanity's control! It will only get stronger!"

  I shrugged my shoulders ambiguously:

  "Who knows what will happen in such a distant future? I think Crown Prince Georg will take measures to ensure that control of the Swarm will remain with his children. Now, though, the insects are absolutely fine with the situation; they have a talented ruler who takes good care of them. The Swarm has absolutely no need for the imminent war between the Unatari State and the rest of the Empire. That is why I return back to my initial question. Emperor, are you not afraid to be left alone with us?"

  August grew noticeably on edge and inquired cautiously:

  "What are you implying, Likanna?"

  "Simply that the Swarm is not only the praying-mantis Alpha Iseyek soldiers, hardworking Beta Iseyek centipedes and wise overgrown pill-bug Gamma Iseyek. The Swarm also includes the Arite Iseyek, who are capable of taking any appearance. Emperor, think about what happened today. Crown Princess Natalie and I managed to escape a shuttle in mid-flight, then we left a surrounded building unnoticed. And before all this, did it seriously not occur to you that Crown Prince Georg is not so thoughtless as to send his beloved daughter to the Throne World? Did you not think he might foresee the attempt on his life, or the way this might play out?"

  The old man's lips started quivering. His teeth were chattering lightly.

  "Likanna, so you are... an Arite?" August barely squeezed out.

  I took the intermediary form of a little white cloud, then a second later chose the appearance of the old man himself. Then my one-for-one copy of Emperor August took its place standing next to the original. A second later, Natalie completed the same transformation, and a third Emperor joined our rank. August turned to his bodyguards, perplexed. But, in the place the sullen soldiers had been standing, there were now another four Emperors.

  "And now, if you please, I'll try something more original," Duke Julius laughed, changing form to my roommate, Crown Princess Joan royl Reyekh. "I've been Emperor August more than enough for one day. It was I that gave the orders to the soldiers and assigned the divisions to patrol the Silver Palace."

  "Where... then is my... oldest son?" the old man spoke out sparsely through quivering lips.

  "Where do you think he is at this hour?" Crown Princess Joan asked, surprised. "I'm sure Duke Julius is sleeping in his summer residence. At his age, and with his weak health, keeping a regular schedule is very important. But now, I suggest we return to the previous topic of conversation. The Swarm has no need whatsoever for a war between the Unatari State and the Empire, so we are firmly intent on avoiding it. Your Imperial Majesty, you must agree to the conditions set by Crown Prince Georg, beg his official forgiveness and pay him the requested compensation. After that, we will leave your palace without doing any harm to you or any others. But if you do not agree, someone else will do it for you," said Joan royl Reyekh, leading her hand over the hall and pointing to the six other identical copies of August. "But in that case, you can easily understand that we will no longer have any need for the original. The choice is yours."

  The old man folded his quivering hands together on his chest and paced through the room. Then he stopped and asked:

  "It is important for me to know, was all this," the Emperor pointed at his many doubles, "organized by my grandnephew Georg?"

  "No, we didn't bother the Master of the Swarm with such small details. This was completely the initiative of the Swarm. As a matter of fact, this is our gift to our new ruler and, at the same time, a demonstration of our abilities. The real Crown Princesses Likanna, Natalie and Joan are also in no way aware of the goings-on and, I suppose, are very surprised at the strange news from the Throne World and the standing and global-fame change messages they keep getting. But, I think they will not be too offended by the fact that we increased their visibility and popularity."

  Emperor August stopped decisively in the center of the room and turned sharply:

  "My advisers must have been giving me unreliable information on the Swarm for many years. They describe the Iseyek as predictable and extremely bloodthirsty. But now I see that is not at all the case. Many heads in the Imperial Joint Chiefs will fly for this mistake. It seems that, even after so many years, humanity knows precious little about its neighbors. Alright, I'll officially beg forgiveness from Georg and pay him the five billion. But on the condition that the events in this room will not be made known to a wider audience, and all Arites immediately leave my palace."

  "That is quite alright with us," I answered for all of them, again taking the appearance of Crown Princess Likanna.

  [Mission completed: Obtain the Emperor's agreement to the ultimatum]

  Rank in hierarchy increased. You are now a Member of the Arite Council

  * * *

  "Wanna go back to prep school?" Crown Princess Natalie asked, already flying over the night ocean in the Duke's shuttle.

  "No, it would take us at least two days just to pack those bags again," I reminded them, shivering unwillingly from the memory. "Better to just order the baggage sent back to Unatari. Let the servants handle it."

  "I also see no point in flying back to prep school," Joan confirmed. "Let's bring Duke Julius's plane back to its place and run off on new missions. Crown Prince Georg always has lots of jobs for the Arites. Now that he’s our ruler, I suspect we’ll have quite a lot to do. Were you seriously considering going to study among these aristocratic brats instead of spying for the Unatari State?"

  We cracked up laughing, then kept quiet for a bit. Joan broke the silence:

  "It's nice being a Human. I like it. I even think f
rom time to time that I should take the form of some average person forever and just live like the rest of them. Perhaps the Arites are making the wrong move in trying to make ourselves indispensable. Simply blending into human society... may be the best possible future for our race."

  Natalie and I stayed silent, as the issue was too complex. We were Arites. We did not know how our race came to be or where our unusual abilities came from. We were immortal and practically invulnerable, but not capable of reproduction. There were very few of us, and that was our main secret. The great interstellar races would not reckon with us if they found out that there were no more than three hundred Arites remaining. And though just two centuries ago, there were more than seven hundred, the two-hundred-year war with the Iseyek seriously reduced our numbers. The insects took us with numbers, easily sacrificing hundreds of millions of soldiers just to destroy one Arite. Unlike our race, though, they were able to replace their losses. That is why we were very thankful to Crown Prince Georg. The peace treaty he helped us reach with the Swarm saved our race from extinction.

  Three hundred Arites was all we had left. Saving those who remained was our main mission now. We could easily learn to blend in forever among billions of humans. All we had to do was keep our abilities a secret. After just a few centuries, everyone would forget that such a strange race had ever existed. Perhaps it really was worth thinking over Joan's words. After all, I also really liked being a human.

  Translated from Russian by Andrew Schmitt

  The Best Quest

  A tale from the new Alterra series

  by Andrew Novak

  DUST HAS ONE indisputable advantage — it's impossible to get dirty. That was the thought that came to Jack's mind as he was walking across the Blighted Wasteland. The same idea applied to what was left of civilization after the Gendemic and the subsequent series of disasters. This little stub of a world was already impossible to stain. It was unlikely that someone could come up with something, which could make the world even smaller and even worse. Well, maybe there was. They could still disconnect Alterra. But that would just be beyond evil.