A Leap Across the Abyss. Макс Глебов

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СКАЧАТЬ leave the system. During this time, my ships will not attack the planets and prevent your evacuation.”

      The quargs looked at me but didn’t try to answer. The body of their commander, lying on the floor, clearly demonstrated what such an attempt might threaten them. I didn’t provoke the enemy officers to do life-threatening things and ordered the comms off.

      “Fleet, stop approaching the planet and begin accelerating to the star’s zone of influence.”

      “They could call for help,” said Fulton with some doubt in his voice.

      “Yes, they could,” I agreed with the Admiral, “Perhaps even the ships of their masters will arrive, though I highly doubt that. But we’re not gonna sit back, either. I need to know what happened, and I’m gonna find that out. Make contact with Rear Admiral Yoon Gao. I need him and Colonel Mbia here as soon as possible with their best men. Mbia had already landed on Groombridge-2 once, and it’s time to repeat the feat. And let them take the captive toads, I’ve business with them. And I’ll also need the little recon ship found in the hangar of the captured cruiser.”

* * *

      This whole thing with the Federation and lizards’ attack on Groombridge was caused by extreme uncertainty. We didn’t know how strong the local toads were, hence, we could not claim with certainty that a frontal attack on their planets by the combined forces of the Federation, the lizards and the Imperial squadron would give us an unconditional victory, so we wanted to provoke the toads to move first. The Empire had sent powerful ships to help us, but there weren’t that many, because they just couldn’t take away more of them from the front that was already starting to come apart at the seams.

      A lot has changed on the other side of the portal in the more than six years I’ve been gone, and these changes were not good. To begin with, political control changed hands in the Empire. Emperor Yort, who was at a very respectable age when I was Brigadier General Dean, died three years after my transfer here, and the election of a new emperor was never possible. The rival elite clans were never able to find a strong but at the same time a compromise figure that would satisfy everyone. In the midst of the difficult war, the task has proved doubly difficult. It was the Regency Council that ruled the Empire, and Chief of Staff Marshal Klink served as Commander-in-Chief, but his position was precarious, and it affected the quality of the administration of the Empire. As a result, things were getting worse in that state, which was still big and powerful, but was constantly shrinking.

      I was thinking about what happened three months ago, when, right after the first contact with the Empire, the question of negotiations came up, and I was trying to figure out where I’d made a mistake. The Empire met our embassy very well, and at that moment it seemed to me that all our problems were close to being resolved, but as time passed, I felt more and more that they didn’t care for us, although it seemed that contact with the Federation offered them virtually unlimited opportunities…

      I decided to go to negotiations with the Empire on battleship Dragon’s Tail. It was a very impressive ship, and very unusual by human standards. Besides, I felt it necessary to show respect to our allies on this side of the portal, who were the most active in the construction of this ship, and to invite them with me. When Tobolsky read the list of persons I included in our embassy, he shook his head in surprise and looked up at me.

      “Mr Lavroff, don’t you think that’s too much? I can understand why you included Governor-General Lit-ta in your delegation, although I would have thought ten times whether we should involve the lizards in the initial stage of negotiations with the Empire, but why do you want to drag a captive quarg with you?”

      “I believe, Mr President, that the former commander of the Kappa Ceti defense system, and at the same time the first quarg with the correctly removed mental block, can tell our potential allies a lot of interesting things. They’re fighting a war with the toads out there, which we happen to have as well. The Empire certainly does not expect such a turn of events, and Mr Tsché knows a lot about our local «frogs». Besides, he’s almost no longer a prisoner. Almost immediately after the removal of the block, he applied for the Earth Federation citizenship. Given the extraordinary nature of the case, no one has taken a decision on the matter without consulting you. So if you agree, Mr Tsché will be sent to negotiate as a Federation citizen.”

      A deep crease cut through Tobolsky’s forehead. There was something about the idea that he clearly didn’t like.

      “The granting of our citizenship to a quarg will set a precedent whose consequences we will disentangle for many years. I’m not sure it’s right, but rather it’s the other way around,” answered Tobolsky with a doubt in his voice, “I would suggest another option. How many quargs have had their blocks removed?”

      “Several tens of thousands.”

      “Then it would be more appropriate to establish a new independent quarg state under our protectorate in the Kruger 60 system. Let your Mr Tsché be its citizen and perhaps its leader. Well, let him go to the talks as an Allied race representative, if you think that’s helpful.”

      Tobolsky was a far more sophisticated politician than I was, and that was his idea, which he came up with on the fly, which I thought was a good one. Not only did it remove from the agenda a host of questions that might have arisen about the bizarre status of the quargs as citizens of the Federation, it should have been much more comfortable for the quargs themselves. So I just had one more question for Tobolsky.

      “Mr President, may I inform Governor-General Lit-ta of the contact with the Empire and of her invitation to the talks, or is it better that this information passes through diplomatic channels?”

      The question got Tobolsky thinking.

      “Igor Yakovlevich,” said he a few seconds later, “The information will go through the official channels, but you will inform the lizards as my designated head of delegation. You can’t directly address the Senior because it doesn’t fit your status, so Governor General Lit-ta would be the perfect contact.”

* * *

      Lit-ta listened to me without interruption.

      “Igor,” said she after a little pause, “thank you for informing us immediately of your contact with the Empire. I appreciate it, and I’m sure the Senior will appreciate it, too. I once invited you into my system, and you promised to come as soon as you could. It seems to me that now is the time to do that, especially since this visit is not too much of a burden for you, because you have set up a transport ring here.”

      I didn’t think for long. Why not? Lit-ta obviously wanted to discuss something in person, and she promised to show me something interesting…

      “I’m ready. When will you get a chance to spend time with me?”

      “Fly in. I’ll always have time for you.”

      “Then wait for me tomorrow. We shouldn’t delay our visit to the Empire.”

* * *

      Lit-ta didn’t invite me to one of the giant quasi-living cities raised by the lizards on the surface and partly beneath the surface of the planets of Iota Persei. Apparently, she thought the lizards’ habitat might not be entirely comfortable for humans. We met on board Dragon’s Tail. This battleship was originally built for a crew of humans and the lizards, and was therefore well equipped to provide comfort for both races.

      Lit-ta has been aboard my flagship several times and felt quite free on the ship.

      “We have some very serious matters to discuss, Admiral,” after completion of the formalities the lizard moved on to business, “I invited you into my system for a reason – we can talk in peace here. I’d like to show СКАЧАТЬ