This is a fan translation of Emperors of Illusions (Императоры иллюзий) by the Russian science fiction and fantasy author Sergei Lukyanenko. The novel is a sequel to Lukyanenko's Line of Dreams (Линия грёз) novel and can be considered a fan fiction of the original Master of Orion game.
Chapter 2
The rations of Earth's first astronauts had never sunk into oblivion. With mild revulsion on his face, Dutch took out several tubes and a package of tiny pieces of non-crumbling bread.
"I'm not hungry," Tommy noted gloomily.
"Too bad. It's actually pretty tasty," Kay squeezed out a dark purple glob, reached out, and swallowed it. "You know, the human body has a pretty strange adaptational mechanism. I can't imagine myself eating a curd and blackcurrant purée on a planet."
"Calcium."
"Probably. But how does my body know that weightlessness causes calcium to be washed out of my bones and that curds have a lot of it?"
"Any kind of reflexes could have developed over half a millennium of space travel."
"And become hereditary? Unlikely. Want some?"
"I told you, no. Using the toilet was enough for me."
"As you wish," Kay squeezed out the rest of the tube's contents. "But we'll be on Fieras in five hours."
"I'll eat there."
Dutch continued eating calmly. Tommy was staring at the screen gloomily. A gray haze on the viewscreens, green lights on the monitors…
"Is it possible to imagine a world without weightlessness, Kay?"
"Probably. Are you thinking about the Line of Dreams?"
"Yeah. If your idea doesn't work out, I'd like to survive."
"It's going to be fine. You're going to take me to… the Evil Lands."
"Just say God already…" Tommy snorted. "The very last crusade. A maniacal killer and a shell-shocked guide."
"Maybe a shell-shocked prophet then."
"Kay…"
Dutch turned to Tommy.
He was crying.
"Now, now…" Kay touched his arm. "What's wrong with you?.."
"I'm scared…"
"We'll make it…" Dutch shook his head. He had an incredible, pressing feeling of déjà vu. He was once again escorting Curtis Jr. to Grail. Yet again, he was the final outlet for a child's tears.
"I'm afraid what will meet us there!"
"Tommy…"
"I don't want to!"
"Big Game, Tommy. Life. The biggest game there is."
"I don't need your universe, Dutch! I don't need the Line of Dreams! I just want to live!"
"That's what we all want."
"Let me go, Kay," Tommy lifted his eyes. "Anywhere. Go without me."
"You're my key."
"I'm a broken piece of a key! You can make it there by yourself. I know that nothing will stop you. You'll crawl your way there if you have to. I don't want to!"
"Tommy. You need this more than I do."
The young man laughed.
"The universe can't have two Arthur Curtises. And it can't have someone who believes himself to be only a stump of a complete individual. You need to become a person. Whatever happened to you before you lost your memory isn't yours. You're Tommy Arano. You've gone through Kailis and Jienakh. You took part in an attempt on Emperor Gray. You've become the person Arthur Curtis will never be. You're stronger than him."
"You're lying…" Tommy threw his head back. "You've never thought of me as equal to Arthur."
"Of course not. You're stronger than him. And that's not even it… you're better."
"Would you have attacked an Imperial Military base to get me out?"
"Four years ago, no. Now, yes. Tommy, one can't love someone equal to oneself. An equal can only become a friend. But that takes time."
"Is that time now, Kay?"
"It is."
The man whose past held only blood and betrayal, the man who had worked under the label "Death", who had earned the nickname "Measles" in the bloody massacre of Haaran, was staring into the young man's eyes.
"Do you really need me?"
"I do. I can't get there on my own, Tommy. You're right, I'll crawl if I have to. I must make it there. But, maybe for the first time in my life, I need a partner. I need a friend."
Tommy Arano was silent.
"It won't be easy for me alone, kid."
"Are we going to make the stars cry, Kay?"
"We'll sure try, Tommy."