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.

Part VI

Arthur Curtis

Chapter 1

Vyacheslav Shegal's courier ship floated into the open hatch, maneuvering with attitude thrusters. Gravity was then engaged. The hatch closed, and compressed air rapidly filled the compartment. Adjusting his uniform, Shegal came out of the cockpit. He had covered the distance from Tauri to Fieras in eighteen hours, which could have been a record, had Shegal felt the need to register it.

He'd barely had time to walk to the inner doors, when they opened, and Lemak came out to greet him.

"Admiral…" Shegal saluted.

"Clinch Commander…" Lemak merely bowed slightly.

"So, did you get them?" Vyacheslav nodded towards the Grasshopper standing nearby.

"We did, as I had promised the Emperor."

They'd met on several occasions: during the operation against the Darloks, when Shegal had been acting as a consultant for the fleet, and sometimes at the Imperial court. But this was the first time their interests had clashed.

"Admiral, I have no intention of robbing you of your glory. Plus, is there really that much glory in intercepting a tiny unarmed ship?"

"Then tell me the purpose of your presence. We interrupted our acceleration in order to wait for you, Shegal."

I lieu of a reply, Vyacheslav handed Lemak a sealed envelope. The Admiral opened it wordlessly and scanned the brief text with his eyes.

"I'll have to verify that it's genuine."

"Please."

Lemak seemed to suddenly grow older. The gaze he threw at Shegal no longer had any jealous competition in it, only weariness.

"The wording is very vague, Clinch Commander. Your authority is virtually limitless… only Gray stands above you."

"Such is the situation, Lemak."

"What do you want?"

"Resume the acceleration. I need to speak with the prisoners."

"Well… as you wish. Let's go."

Shegal followed Lemak out of the airlock.

First, they were stripped naked and forced to go through scanning cameras. Then two doctors quickly and expertly removed gel masks from Kay and Tommy's faces. Dutch noticed the surprise in the eyes of the doctors when the pseudoskin slid off Tommy's face, but no one said a word.

Gray prison clothes with no pockets or belts, so flimsy that it would be impossible to hang oneself with them. Vital sign sensors taped to their bodies…

Kay went through all the procedures with total impassivity. So far, they'd been treated well enough, clearly a result of them not resisting arrest.

"Can I have some water?" he asked a doctor.

They let him drink, indifferently and politely. He was no longer a killer and a terrorist outside the law. Just a valuable prisoner who had to be kept alive until the trial.

Then a reinforced escort, six marines in heavy armor, took them to the destroyer's brig. There were two small cells there, but both of them were placed in one. Probably to allow them to talk; the temptation was far too great for the prisoners to pay attention to any surveillance equipment. Even the emptiest exchange of words would tell much to their psychologists.

Tommy was also holding up well so far. Kay didn't put too much faith in him staying that way, or himself, for that matter. A single injection of psychotropic drugs would easily break through his resistance. Tommy probably still had Arthur's immunity to chemicals, but he wouldn't be able to handle torture.

The worst thing in Kay's mind was that the truth would not be believed by anyone. They would be tortured again and again, trying to get to the real truth, which didn't exist. Maybe their tale would stay nothing more than a story in the eyes of the interrogators, which the terrorists kept stubbornly sticking to.

"I'll take the bottom bunk," Kay said. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

They exchanged glances. It was all hopeless. Their calm tone of voice wouldn't be able to trick the emotion analyzers either.

They'd crack during the first interrogation.

"This is a nice ship," Kay went on. "I think we'd be able to get to where we're going in a day. Have to accelerate much faster, but the drives…"

"I like your old boat more. Do you remember?"

Dutch nodded.

"Nothing has changed," Tommy sat on the bunk. "Our plans have failed."

Kay was grateful for that one short word: "our".

"I doubt it. Curtis is about to announce his plans, if he hasn't already. I think everything is going to be even worse."

"What does it matter to us now?"

"It doesn't," Dutch took a seat next to Tommy. The transparent wall of their cell, which led into the room where their bored escorts were standing, did not dispose them to be open. But he still took Tommy by the shoulders. "You've intrigued the doctors, don't you think?"

The young man shrugged.

"I keep thinking how they'd managed to figure out our route," Kay went on. "It's impossible to track a Grasshopper's trail."

"What if someone told them where we'd be refueling?"

Kay shook his head.

"I think another possibility is far more likely. I just can't figure out yet if it's good or bad."

The door to the brig opened. A man in an unfamiliar uniform and a man Kay recognized from old portraits entered.

"And here is the famed Admiral Lemak," Kay noted, unsurprised. "Things are about to start."

But the Admiral didn't even look in their direction. He briefly said something to the guards, and they left with him.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Kay said, his eyes never leaving the man, who had remained. "Do you know this uniform?"

The man in the uniform of a commander and with strange symbols on his collar patches, crossed swords in front of a shield, stopped in front of the transparent wall. He looked at Dutch, nodded, and touched a panel. The wall parted.

"Vyacheslav Shegal, Shield, Imperial special forces," Kay said. "It's been a long time."

The wall slid shut behind Shegal.