The Emperor set down her glass. “That is unsettling to hear. Pray, what have you to tell us?”
Lady d’Lyre took a step away from her table to gain space for her dramatic gestures. “I’ll not waste your time, Emperor. Not four weeks ago, a Fall device destroyed the contested planet of New Melbourne!”
The hall filled with audible gasps, then raised voices. Uninformed delegates stood, shouting for attention, for information, for vengeance. The Emperor raised one hand, and a guard behind her slammed the butt of his zeroblade staff on the ground, silencing the hall with a sonorous boom.
As the Emperor gently laid her gloved hand back on the table, she said, “This is already known to me. My agents informed me of the tragedy shortly after it occurred. What I do not know, and what my agents are desperately trying to find out, is who set off the Fall device which destroyed New Melbourne, and why.”
Lady d’Lyre smiled, pleased at the Emperor’s segue. “I am happy to say the Federation may be of assistance in that regard. We know who gave the order, and we know for what purpose.”
The Emperor called again for silence. “And who, pray tell, is responsible for the Fall event?”
Lady d’Lyre tried to keep a grave face, but I saw the sparkle of mirth in her eyes. “The perpetrator’s precise name is lost to us, but we know the planet’s destruction was ordered by the Despotess herself.”
Compared to the previous two outbursts, the reaction to this news was staggered. Most delegates stayed silent, processing the information, then the Despotate officers erupted in a frothing torrent of denial. The Imperial guards had to personally order each person silent, and it took several minutes to restore order.
A portly lord commander stepped forwards, his hair poorly dyed and his uniform festooned with undeservedmedals and cords. I recognized him from Boleslaw’s briefings as Lord High Marshal Konrad von Hotzendorf, Hero of the Despotate and the Urgan delegation’s ranking member. Briefly bowing to the Emperor, he spoke in the most diplomatic tone I’d heard from an Urgan officer this entire conference, which is not to say he sounded polite, but he was not immediately antagonistic with his words.
“Emperor, the Federation offers finely dressed words from a finely dressed woman, yet I notice they offer nothing by the way of proof. If they wish to continue with their ludicrous accusations, let them produce the evidence. You will see there is nothing to support their heinous allegations.”
“On the contrary, Lord Commander, the Noble Federation has positive proof the Despotess ordered New Melbourne’s destruction.” Lady d’Lyre held out her hand, and another Federation senator handed her a data cylinder. Bridgette held it up for all to see. “Here I hold encoded Despotate transmissions, relayed through Noble Federation space, from the Urgan Grand Palace on Pestgravia to their commanders on New Melbourne. Federation codebreakers have deciphered the message, and it clearly orders the activation of a Molecular Disintegration Engine to prevent New Melbourne’s capture by Imperial forces.”
The Urgan officer scoffed at Bridgette’s evidence. “Emperor, this is lunacy, pure lunacy. Those orders are nothing but a poor forgery, a bundle of villainous lies meant to destroy the Despotate’s credibility and gain the Federation a better position at the negotiating table. We haven’t even confirmed New Melbourne was destroyed and not simply conquered by the Imperial army.”
“I have already confirmed New Melbourne’s destruction,” the Emperor replied coolly.
The lord commander frowned but changed tacticsadmirably. “Be that as it may, New Melbourne was an Urgan world, one which we and our allies hotly contested. The Despotess had every expectation of throwing the Empire back. Why would we destroy our own world?”
“I can answer that as well,” Lady d’Lyre replied. “If the Emperor would read the transmissions, she would see the Despotess has implemented a scorched-skies strategy. No planet will be allowed to fall into Imperial hands. Every remaining Despotate world shall receive a Fall device, and should capture seem imminent, the device will be activated, denying the world to the Empire.”
The lord commander was so shocked by the accusation he descended into incoherent sputtering as his face turned an alarming shade of puce. Lady d’Lyre held out the data cylinder, and Astrid nodded, sending an Imperial guard to retrieve the cylinder and pass it to Ankhelina. The Champion produced a small data reader and inserted the cylinder. After a brief pause, Ankhelina spoke.
“The data here confirms what the senator says. It appears to be genuine.”
“How dare you?” the Urgan lord commander roared. “You honorless pig, how dare you impugn the Despotate’s honor so? We would never participate in such egregious activities!” His outburst was understandable. Fall device proliferation was universally despised. Such actions carried the death penalty in almost every system. Wars had started and governments toppled over mere rumors of moving a Fall device.
The Emperor stood, fury clouding her face. “How dare you come here to celebrate falsely with me? Guards, arrest that man. Arrest every Despotate delegate! They are no longer welcome at my gala. They are no longer welcome in my Empire. I do not recognize them as a legitimate government. I hope all nations will join me in branding the Urgan Despotateas a rogue nation, a criminal enterprise, and work with me to eradicate their influence from the galaxy.”
As armed guards leveled zeroblades and lancers at the rising Urgans, Lady d’Lyre called out, “The Federation is with you!”
Several Urgan officers drew their blades. One made to strike an Imperial guard, but his clumsy thrust was parried and he was run through. Two lancers shrieked, and there was a brief flurry of martial movement. In a second, the blood of half a dozen lords commander slicked the floor. The remaining officers were smart enough to drop their weapons and raise their hands. Lady d’Lyre herself held a small zeroblade dirk at Hotzendorf’s throat, but he was smart enough not to draw his blades. Instead, he glared daggers at the Federation senator, as if the heat of his gaze could penetrate her shields. Sadly, Bridgette was unaffected.
As a tense silence descended on the hall, the Emperor raised her hands for attention. “Lady d’Lyre, I thank you and the Noble Federation for bringing me this important news, terrible though it is. You have done me a great service, and I insist on rewarding you in kind. Say what you wish of me, and if it is within my power, it shall be done.”
Here it was, the moment the Federation would make a play at becoming the quadrant’s superpower. Lady d’Lyre’s smile was gracious, as was her bow. “Thank you, Emperor. I wish for nothing myself. I am but a humble servant of the Federation and the galaxy at large, but for my nation, I have a few small requests.”
I chortled wryly at the idea of Bridgette being a humble servant of anything, but she continued unchecked.
“The continued prosecution of this horrid war benefits no one. We’ve already suffered one Fall event. Further bloodshed may lead to similar ruin. Let us end this conflict now, beforeevents spiral beyond our control.”
The Emperor nodded. “You speak wisely. The Empire also wishes to bring the war to a swift close. I recommend our diplomats meet to officially discuss peace terms.”
Lady d’Lyre bowed graciously. “Thank you for seeing the truth, Emperor. However, I feel we can agree on several peace terms here and now, allowing the official work to proceed that much faster.”
The Emperor pretended to consider. “I don’t see any reason we cannot reach an agreement now and ratify the details later. What is it the Allies desire?”
“Dear Emperor, is that quite fair? It was not the Allies who brought you this information, but the Federation alone,” Lady d’Lyre replied.
At this, Prince Aureli stood. He cut an impressive figure in his white formal evening suit and the authority only a thousand years of royal history can give a person.
