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 6

There'd been a time when Gorra's status infuriated Gray. The planet where the Family was officially based seemed to be spitting into the face of law and order, into his face. He'd purged the Empire of organized crime three times, and three times it was reborn. The same way an Endorian sand spider turned into a dozen spiderlings after being chopped up, so did the Family split into planetary gangs and factions under the blows of the ISS. But then time would pass, and a new unified center would appear. Gray had asked himself many times why it was so difficult to keep the Empire from collapsing, while at the same time it was impossible to break evil into pieces.

Gray no longer fought the sand spider. The Family ran its own business, which skirted the line of the law and sometimes crossed it. Drugs not on the list of those allowed by doctors, pornography involving underage and alien actors, murder for hire, and dubious entertainment like "Home Alone with a Killer." At times, the Family didn't mind getting into legal business, like buying and selling planets, dealing in weapons of mass destruction, and industrial espionage.

But it knew… it had learned to know its place. Stability in the Empire's worlds was in its best interests, so as to keep up the flow of those seeking the forbidden pleasures; a quiet arms race of rapidly obsolescent weapons, instead of a civil war that destroyed everyone and everything. While the ISS, restricted by Imperial laws, had spent years trying to put moderate politicians in power on Incedios, the Family ended up putting down the civil war in two months. Mercilessly and efficiently, through a series of terrorist attacks and a large monetary infusion, which was already starting to pay off.

Here, on Gorra, was the head of the spider. The Emperor had to speak with the Mother of the Family once a month, sometimes more often. Still, when Gray stepped down the ramp of the shuttle, he once again felt bitter at the sight of the aging woman standing next to the Lord Chancellor of Gorra.

Damn… it was far easier to remove a planetary ruler.

He accepted flowers, both Terran and local, from the little girls who'd run up to him. They were all pretty and so much like Lara — the locals were clearly trying to please their emperor.

"You should be in school," Gray said dryly, moving towards the Lord Chancellor.

Only halfway to him Emperor Gray realized that he'd forgotten one small detail.

He'd forgotten to prostrate himself.

In deathly silence, Gray walked up to the Lord Chancellor. The man's face reflected an entire range of emotions, from fear to confusion.

"I've decided to alter the ritual," the Emperor said. He felt himself incredibly, endlessly old. A walking flag.

"How is your health, Emperor?" the Mother of the Family asked. With some effort, Gray recalled her name and origin. Lyka Seiker, from Shedar II. Just like Kay Dutch, who'd tried to kill him…

It didn't matter… on the contrary, it was convenient.

"Good, thank you," Gray turned to the Lord Chancellor. "Why don't we put an end to all this pageantry? Van Curtis will arrive any moment now, you can give him a parade. And you, Seiker, I would ask to stop by in two hours. Do you have an official status on Gorra?"

"I'm the Minister of Culture," the Mother of the Family informed him.

"Excellent. Then you can sign documents."

Curtis van Curtis paid no more heed to the official welcome than the Emperor. When his motorcade was speeding along the mountain gorge, past the famous pseudocrystal druses, he hadn't even turned to look.

Curtis van Curtis hadn't been so scared since the Vague War.

The residence of the Lord Chancellor, which was currently designated as the temporary Imperial palace, stood at the center of the capital city. Reflective edges bent at sharp angles — the residence was repeating the same Gorran symbol.

Curtis had been prepared for a long wait, the unchanging attribute of his meetings with the Emperor. When they told him that Gray would see him immediately, it only served to make him even more scared. While walking through the hallways, one wall of which was always transparent, Curtis's tongue felt for a tiny capsule attached to his gums. The only poison that could not be broken down by the symbiotic bacteria in his blood, a chink in the armor he'd left for just such an occasion, since Curtis hadn't managed to master the Jen technique. The threshold between life and death, the torture of one's own mind and body, which were a necessary part of the training, had turned out to be unacceptable to him.

The Emperor wasn't alone. A holographic phantom, showing the image of a tall man in the uniform of a Clinch Commander, standing rigidly at attention. The phantom flickered, sometimes growing dimmer, its movements were jerky, indicating that the man was communicating from a great distance and using military equipment, which wasn't designed for ceremony.

"Take him alive," the Emperor was saying wearily. "And…" he threw a sideways glance at Curtis, "the other two as well. Alive, I mean it. That's an order. Contact the palace after that."

The Clinch Commander nodded, "Yes, my Emperor. The squadron continues to comb the space. But there isn't much chance. It's a miracle they found me, so the criminals are either dead or were picked up by another ship."

"What's your suggestion?"

"I will take one of the cruisers, a troop transport, and fly to Grail. They were going there, Emperor."

Gray chewed on his lips, "Yes… go, Shegal. And remember, bring them back alive!"

The Clinch Commander's image vanished. Gray offered Curtis a seat with a dull wave. He lowered himself into a seat next to the transparent wall. It could have been accidental, but now Curtis couldn't see his face.

"What ties you to Grail, Curtis?"

The master of aTan touched the tiny capsule with his tongue. It seemed to give him a small amount of courage.

"The source of my power is there, Gray."

"And that is?"

"God."

The Emperor said nothing for a long time. Then he spoke, and there was curiosity in his voice, "So everything Kay said during the interrogation was true? You got access to divine abilities… And built the Lines of Dreams to destroy the Empire?"

"Yes."

"And Dutch was trying to kill me just to calm you down?"

"Yes."

"Then who is the criminal here, and who was prepared to die for the Empire?"

"I don't know, my Emperor. But Dutch is just a killer. A murderer."

"There are plenty of places in the world, Curtis, where killers must stand… And you don't seem embarrassed or confused."

"I knew what you were going to ask me. I knew that you know everything."

"Interesting… Oh yes, the ones who'd managed to leave Lemak's destroyer… may he rest in peace. It seems that secrets aren't so secret in the aTan Corporation after all, are they?"

"My Emperor, no one viewed their memories. They were very excited and talkative. I was merely relayed their stories."

"All right. You're cleared… of this particular charge," Gray laughed dryly. "May the Emperor ask his loyal servant why your son volunteered to aid Lemak?"

"At my advice, to destroy Kay," Curtis had already crossed the threshold of fear. All that remained was the pressing emptiness. "Dutch wasn't supposed to talk."

"So, you're guilty in conspiring against the Empire."

"I am."

"You're grown brave, Curtis. Why is that?"

"I have nothing left to lose, Gray," Curtis barely managed to tear his gaze away from the dark silhouette and looked at the white foamy clouds above him. "Few are interested in the Line of Dreams. My analysts believe that it's a stable popular attitude, not a temporary period."

"Dreams are a one-way trip, Curtis."

"Yes. Everyone knows someone who'd gone through aTan, everyone believes in immortality. The Line of Dreams is for those who no longer believe in anything. Only the trash is leaving the Empire. You've won."

"Have I?"

"You've won," Curtis repeated. "I only ask that you tell me where you came from. What was it like, the world where you got your Line of Dreams?"

"You're as mistaken as Dutch was. I never got any Line of Dreams."

"Your origins are unknown, and I know that the documents—"

"I was born on Endoria. Yes, the death of my family during an Alkari raid is a lie. My parents were junkies, shot while attempting robbery. I enlisted in the fleet under a different name. Also… an emperor can't have parents like that."

Gray was silent for a moment.

"I came from mud, Curtis. But it was our mud."

Curtis was numb.

"I have no need to lie to you," the Emperor said quietly. "You know, if things turned out differently, we could have been friends. But I had power, and you had immortality and the stupid belief that I'm the winner of the previous race… your invulnerable competitor."

"Emperor, then who is—"

"I don't know, Curtis. And we'll never know. He could have lived out his life and died, or maybe he's still out there, tasting the fruit of your aTan. I don't know. But he could have been emperor had he wished. Everyone's dreams are different."

"Emperor—"

"You're guilty of a conspiracy. Your son aided criminals in their escape… one of whom is, once again, your son. Is it not too much trouble from the Curtis family? Who look so much like one another?"

"I have no son," Curtis said.

"A good start. Continue. What's one minor crime compared to treason?"

"The Terran Parliament has approved my request to dissolve our kinship. I cancelled Arthur's aTan. He was resurrected on Grail, look for him there, Emperor," Curtis licked his dry lips. "I… I'm loyal to you, Emperor."

"So you're just a coward after all," there was revulsion in Gray's voice. "And if I decide to subject him to multiple deaths?"

"Then he will be resurrected as many times as you wish."

Emperor Gray lowered his face into his hands and said in a muffled voice, "You know, Kay Dutch did me a great service. His psycho-breaking failed since he also believed that I had come from another reality. But I finally realized how old I am… how long I've been walking in circles. Having your brains hung out to dry could do you some good, Curtis."

"As the Emperor wishes."

"If not for Arthur's behavior, I would've decided that cowardice is in your genes. Whatever. I need you, Curtis."

The master of life and death was more surprised than overjoyed.

"I'm changing my will, Curtis. You will be my witness, one of the three that are required."

Curtis nodded, only his eyes still reflected his unspoken question.

"And then leave," Gray said. "You are immortality. I don't know if it's good or evil. But I'm not looking to replace you."