Book One. Underground City.

Chapter 1. Prologue

In the hall with walls covered with complex metal ornaments, on the mirror surface of the inlaid stone floor stood seven silent figures. Different builds, nationalities and genders — all of them were united by the formal style of richly decorated clothes and a very serious expression on their faces. Lined up in a semicircle, they looked at a small pedestal in the center of the hall, crowned with a large dark chair with carved handrails and a very high back. More like a throne, but devoid of any pompous decor.

Wrapped in purple multi-layered clothes, the small figure on the throne did not show any signs of life. Thin dark hands with matte skin the color of mahogany lay motionless on the armrests. The Eternal Emperor was dead. The unshakable pillar of order and prosperity of the giant space empire, and probably the most hated absolute monarch of the galaxy, who ruled the state he created for at least two thousand years, passed away quietly and unexpectedly. Unexpectedly for the entire multi-billion population of the planets under his control.

The seven figures standing in the hall were the highest officials of the Galactic Empire — aristocratic officials responsible for the most important branches of the executive power. Each of them obeyed only the orders of his emperor, and did not pursue any other interests than loyal service to the now deceased monarch. And each of them understood well what consequences the untimely death of the Eternal Emperor would entail for the entire world.

Eternal! — no one could imagine that the giant state would suddenly lose its fundamental support. Would the Empire he created collapse? After all, gaining the long-awaited freedom and independence was only a matter of time and determination of the satellite countries. The problem was that none of those present wanted or could take the empty throne. With their excellent analytical abilities, they all understood perfectly well that no one except the departed Emperor was capable of governing the mega-state in its current form. And none of them wanted to become a bargaining chip in the chaos of the formation of a new world order.

— I will try to stabilize the situation in the Metropolis, ” — Lady Sue-Kasso, the Emperor’s main confidant, spoke first. She was a short, thin lady with long, lush hair gathered in a complex braid, adorned with jewelry and numerous thin chains. Lady Sue-Kasso was responsible for all external contacts of the court, acting as a kind of bridge between the outside world and the Emperor. Her department numbered several thousand clerks and security personnel. No one knew more dark secrets and mysteries than Supreme Lady Sue-Kasso.

— If I act harshly and quickly, I will be able to neutralize possible centers of indignation. I am sure that the forces of internal order and the guard will support me as the temporary leader of the Metropolis. I can’t take on more than that. — Sue-Kasso spoke in a confident tone and accompanied her speech with restrained gesticulation. All those present nodded in agreement. The Supreme Lady took on perhaps the most difficult part of the job — the security of the Metropolis. If she successfully copes with the task, then there will be a chance to keep most of the now former Empire in relative peace and order.

— I should also stay in the Metropolis, it will be easier for me to control the situation from here, — said Lord Kiviani — the main strategist of the Empire’s development. — I hope I will not cause you inconvenience, Sue. — She nodded dryly in response.

— Well, I’ll have to work from the shadows for now, — said Lord Istel, the secret adviser and ideological curator of the secret services and all forms of propaganda existing in the Empire. — When the opportunity arises, I’ll let you know where I’ll settle down. — He was the only one present who smiled as he spoke.

The brother and sister standing next to him, cute and very similar to each other, just silently shrugged their shoulders — their headquarters were located several parsecs from Metropolis. Lord Suetl held the position of commander of the deep space fleet, and Lady Suetl oversaw the direction of interplanetary trade relations and interstellar portal logistics.

— I haven’t decided where to locate my headquarters yet, — said Lady Nian-Kunn, the head of scientific projects aimed at studying and using the technical legacy of ancient civilizations. She was the youngest of all the aristocrats. — Perhaps I’ll borrow one of your artificial planets.» — And she nodded towards the last of the lords present in the hall — Rioflabel Riol-Crow.

— I am going to return to Sophokuboro, to headquarters, — Riol-Crow formally held the title of Lord Commodore, the highest military rank in the space forces of the empire. But he was responsible for the creation and development of strategic instruments of imperial influence — giant satellites capable of moving between planetary orbits and carrying planetary-class weapons. Such satellite ships, due to their size, did not have a crew — these mini-planets were inhabited by a permanent population.

— I will be happy to help you settle into your new place, Lady Nian. There are currently two completed satellites in orbit around Kubo. One of them is uncrewed and has a very small population — there will be plenty of room for your people there. The second has some minor problems and the portal connection is very unstable. I will have to deal with this as soon as I arrive. — Riol-Crow frowned, anticipating a long analysis of the cause of the malfunction. Ancient technologies were difficult to operate and dangerous for the people studying them.

The audience fell silent again, looking at the motionless figure on the throne in the center of the room. The High Lords and Ladies were not hereditary aristocrats and did not rule lands or planets. All seven were called, or, if you like, created by the Eternal Emperor to perform important administrative functions a couple of hundred years ago. As professional assistants, but not as vassal rulers or heirs.

Who exactly was the Emperor, who could manipulate time and space, is unknown. There were many legends about civilizations that existed in the galaxy before the arrival of colonists from Earth. Some left behind a significant legacy, such as a system of interplanetary portals, which modern humanity widely uses for space communication and interplanetary cargo transportation. Was the Emperor the last of them? — It is quite possible, but he did not say anything about his origin.

Be that as it may, he summoned seven representatives of the human race, not belonging to the modern world, pulling them out of some folds of time-space known only to him. According to criteria understood only by him. He endowed them with power and limited paranormal abilities — as much as the human body was ready to perceive alien properties. Although the lords and ladies were never enemies, they did not share memories, feelings or emotions with each other. Each simply meticulously carried out the task assigned by the ruler, and only interacted with colleagues at official events.

A muffled gong sounded at the doors of the hall. Those present bowed deeply, paying homage to the departed Emperor, their patron for many decades. Then six of them headed for the portals at the far end of the throne room. The remaining one, Lady Sue-Kasso, took a deep breath and turned to the large group of servants entering through the open, ornate doors — everything needed to be prepared for the farewell ceremony.

Chapter 2. The Dome

Memory returned spasmodically, in fits and starts. As if a dark veil was being pulled off the world, revealing another, and another, and another. Dry, hot air that had to be swallowed alternately — first with the mouth, then with the nose, so that both were only moderately burned. Underfoot, a hard road — wide and covered with what seemed to be black spirals. At first I thought it was an artificial surface, but no — it felt completely natural. Altered grass?

My body was unnaturally tense. Like a steel spring that was ready at any moment to straighten out and tear those around me with its sharp edges. All five senses were clearly overheated, continuously absorbing information about the environment. The sixth sense was right there, too. It hummed and insisted that if I were distracted for a moment, then I would immediately be eliminated.

I was wearing a military-type jumpsuit. Gray, but with a strange iridescent surface. Just right for a disco, but with the multitude of sinister-looking devices attached to numerous loops. Of these, the most harmless seemed to be 15-inch wire cutters with black serrated blades made of an unknown material. Strange plastic machine gun lays on the crook of my elbow — with a simplified sight and an unnaturally heavy butt. Scraps of memory helpfully suggested — an energy cell, a thing capable of exploding quite violently with a direct hit.

What’s around? The strangest thing is the silence, since there are no sounds of nature at all — only the rustle of black springs underfoot. Maybe this is Planet Iron? Maybe, but there are no robots in sight. The road is surrounded by a joyless man-made landscape with a surrealistic interweaving of pipes rising to the level of the sixth floor, and built-in small operator cabins — people or robots. It doesn’t matter, because there’s no one else here anyway, just pipes and a black ribbon of road.

I look around. A fair-haired girl rustles black springs nearby. A light-brown braid hangs down from under a thick infantry helmet. Despite the huge polarized glasses, it’s clear that the girl is pretty. Only extremely short and rather plump. A round face, an upturned nose, rosy cheeks. She’s somehow cozy, or something. Appetizing? My memory faltered and gave out — «just like a donut». This combination responded with a strange dull pain — apparently it was well forgotten, and then surfaced.

Now I need to remember who I am and where I am. I continue to look around. And I come to an unexpected conclusion — there are many absolutely identical girls nearby. More precisely, 13. They move in a diamond shape, and do not even move, but rather glide, as if dancing a shuffle. Only the springs rustle. They look the same, they dress the same, and even hold their weapons the same way — on their elbows, ready for battle. Another memory flash — identical twins, or maybe genetic engineering?

In the center of the rhombus, there is a very strange company. One of the figures is very tall and slender — a woman? — most likely yes. Her facial features are incredibly clearly defined and flawlessly beautiful — she is clearly not human. She is dressed in a multi-layered dark outfit, draping the strangely intricate features of her figure. It seems that he is pinning something voluminous, but not heavy, to her back. Maybe these are wings?

Next to her, an albino girl is walking with a detached look — she looks completely natural in this tubular looking world. Overly pointy ears? Who doesn’t have them! These cuties under their heavy helmets, maybe even cat-like ones? A mountain-like giant with very powerful arms literally hangs over the strange couple, clearly controlling the surrounding space. Apparently, this is a bodyguard. In addition to the three prominent figures, four more silhouettes are visible in the center — advanced suits, glasses, breathing masks, individual laser weapons. Apparently, these are elite fighters.

Where the hell am I and why am I part of this tense march along a black winding road surrounded by a tubular apocalypse? There are no identifying marks on the jumpsuit — no stripes, no chevrons, no inscriptions. Although no, an inconspicuous tag with the inscription «Rio» is sewn on the cuff — apparently, this is me. I glanced sideways at my neighbor — the same tag says «Sia». I definitely need to find out where we are heading, accompanied by a winged slender girl in black. All this is very epic, but it raises serious concerns.

I try to attract the attention of the girl on the right and whisper «Sia». There is a reaction, but it is very unexpected — she shudders and hisses quietly with a stunned look, something like «what… now… why…». Then she grabs my sleeve and asks sharply:

— Are you still scanning? — Instantly assessing my puzzled look, she tears the strange glass bell off my head with insane speed and pushes me closer to the center of the rhombus.

For some time nothing happens — we silently glide along the black road, keeping our fingers on the triggers of comical-looking weapons. Then the interweaving of pipes suddenly ends — as if a piece of cake was cut with a sharp knife, exposing the inner layers. The metal edge and the inside of numerous pipes are clearly visibleb. No trace of rust. It all looks very strange.

Ahead is a shallow depression about 500 meters in diameter — clearly artificial. As if a huge ball had been pressed into the ground, leaving a geometrically perfect, round dent. I would not want to be there at the moment of contact. Massive, clearly military-purpose structures were in place, but they looked heavily deformed, or even flattened. And no traces of metal structures or military equipment. Who, and most importantly, what hit here? I examine myself — also not a gram of metal, only synthetics and plastic.

The depression ahead is not quite symmetrical — at the far end, a piece of an ideal gray hemisphere invades its space. The concrete surface is smooth and undamaged, as if the impact could not even scratch the cyclopean structure. This is clearly a dome. We will soon find out what it covers — a massive hatch stands out on the surface as a faded orange spot — apparently an emergency airlock. The direction of movement is also clear — we are going there.

***

An hour later, we are already sitting in the center of a large technical room and eating something like an army ration from hermetically sealed, compact packages made of reflective plastic. This was the only package in the backpack — our tour is clearly not for a long time. Sia is sitting next to me, clearly worried and looking after me. During all this time, no one has said a word — only a small copy of my neighbor, walking at the head of the rhombus, sometimes made sharp movements with her hand, squeezing a different number of fingers. Obviously, commands.

For me, this was gibberish, so I just copied the movements of the girls around me. But this cannot continue — in combat contact, I will be a burden. And it is good if I am not given a specific task, otherwise the situation will become completely critical.

— Listen, where are we? And where are we going? — I ask Sia, trying not to open my lips. She is not at all surprised by stupid questions, grabs my ear, presses it to her lips and whispers abruptly -

— Materials, … down under the dome… a raid without a fight… — And then reluctantly adds, — if possible.

Got it, if possible then.

— What is my task? — I try to clarify, but Sia has already turned away and is packing the rest of the food back into her backpack. All these small girls are incredibly fast.

— Protect yourself, — she throws out without turning around. It’s good that she did not add — if possible.

All this is alarming, but it is already impossible to find out anything else — a sharp movement of the wrist, and the whole squad silently rises and slides after the leader to a massive sliding door at the end of a wide corridor. The lighting is very dim. I can barely make out the rows of lockers along the walls. In the doorless cabinets, full chemical and radiation protection suits, gas masks, backpacks with gas cylinders — hundreds of items — are yellowing.

They had a serious object here. Everything is covered, however, with some kind of delicate translucent mesh, just like a spider web. Against the background of the general semi-darkness, this web stands out clearly. Is it glowing or something? I hope not, and I hope that we will not meet the spiders that made it. By the way, it is clear that all members of the squad are trying not to approach it.

The door we are approaching is very massive, all-metal. It looks more like a sliding gate. This contrasts with what we saw outside. And in general, the deeper we descended under the dome, the more intact metal we encountered along the way. This door was the first completely intact steel object in the entire time spent under the dome. In front of the door, the squad changed formation — the rhombus broke up, and previously unnoticed members of the squad in elite isolating suits moved forward. They took up a position in the center and simultaneously, without a command, raised their weapons. Four girls rested against the protruding parts of the gate and rolled the gate to the left without any visible effort.

Behind them, we were met by a completely black void. Then my eyes adapted, and the delicate railings of a small iron balcony hanging over the abyss became visible. The squad led by the elite strode forward into the darkness without a shadow of a doubt. When my turn came, I moved out onto the balcony, and immediately felt Sia pushing me to the right. It turns out that she had been there all this time. But, being two heads taller, I simply did not notice her. Well, I bet — such inattention can easily become fatal.

To the right of the balcony, a structure resembling scaffolding extended into the darkness. Or, better to say, a suspension bridge over the abyss. Apparently built for maintenance, the path ran along the curved wall, periodically interrupted by a metal ladder that lowered us down ten meters. Our journey into the darkness seemed to last forever. Only now did I notice that some parts of the suit emitted a dim yellowish light — enough to see where my feet were stepping. Sometimes there were large fenced-off areas — you could rest there for a few minutes.

***

After a few hours, a small illuminated spot appeared below. Over time, it became larger and larger until it turned into a huge section of the floor filled with giant with windowless cars and boxes that looked like warehouses. A factory? And a functioning one at that? As if answering my silent question, a train with a long line of aerodynamically streamlined carriages flew out of a dark tunnel nearby. Without a single ray of light and almost silently, the train rushed along the illuminated section and disappeared into another tunnel. A tight wave of air pushed and dragged me along the floor. I angrily began to look for Sia — like, why didn’t she poke me in the side in time? But then I noticed that everyone was looking at me in some kind of dumbfoundedness — the entire squad synchronously fell to the floor as the train approached, only I remained standing. Wow, I’m just standing out today.

We quickly delved into the intricacies of corridors and overhead walkways — on the walkways it was clearly visible how columns of equipment went deep down and disappeared into the darkness. How deep was this man-made well? A kilometer? Two? Suddenly we come out onto a well-lit, empty area. Rows of shelves filled with metal parts and assemblies. Gray, rough surface — probably titanium. It seemed that strange faceted crystals were sprouting right from the parts, like mushrooms from stumps — opaque, with a strange greenish tint.

— Titarite, — Sia whispers and puts a pair of nippers and a metal saw in my hands. It’s a good thing she didn’t tie a bib.

Well, it looks like the task is trivial — you need to saw and bite. I go to the nearest assembly and try to break off a crystal. No, no chance. The tool also doesn’t leave even a slight mark on the greenish surface. Now it’s clear why we need a hacksaw — we’ll be cutting metal. Half of the girls guard, the other half work. Then they change. So we gradually move deeper into the warehouse.

The elite stands in an armed semicircle ahead. They don’t work and are almost motionless — they move only when the squad needs to change position. The albino girl points the direction, the slender girl in black nods, and we move forward in an organized manner for about ten meters. The backpack is filled to the brim and presses hard on the shoulders. Probably 20 kilograms already? That’s a lot, so I think we’re already finishing. But everything turned out to be outrageously simple — just nervous tension and dull physical work.

And then one of the units in front suddenly releases sickle-shaped claws at least 20 inches long. The dry sound of cutting air, and one of the elite members of the team loses the upper half of his body. Another nasty whistle — and the same thing happens to his elite neighbor.

Then everything happens with a microsecond tact — the girls, with incredibly fast jumps and somersaults, gather into a compact ring, which instantly bristles with white flashes of lasers. In the middle — the albino and the slender girl. I see the woman raising her hands, making a low sound similar to Tibetan chants. A strange bluish veil begins to sway around the perimeter of the circle. Is this a force barrier?

Suddenly I am knocked off my feet by a wave of very heavy gray carcasses, moving quickly on muscular legs. The long toothy muzzle and the seperate claws on the paws are the brothers and sisters of the first specimen. Apparently, they received an invitation to dinner. But this time they will not fail, since the twins are precise and ruthless. The helmets closed, and all that is visible is how the spent energy cells and replaceable barrels with laser optics roll along the floor.

The wave of attackers suddenly subsides, and an unexpected pause ensues. Everyone freezes in tense poses and waits, listening and peering into the darkness behind the shelves. Sia is already next to me, her pupils dilated, her mouth pressed into a thin line. She tears the fabric of her jumpsuit pocket, and in her hand is a small crystalline cylinder with strange streaming lights all over its surface.

Before I can even be surprised, the resonating sound of torn metal hits my ears. A huge armored carcass falls from the ceiling onto the twins' defensive line. Enormous paws crushing metal, a mouth the size of a rack, and intelligent, piercing monster eyes — many eyes. Clearly the Boss of the dungeon. Or the Jabberwocky. The uninjured twins roll over and break the distance with the new enemy. But there are only two of them left. And Sia and I. The monster lightning fast describes a circle with its monstrous tail, and only we remain. My hands involuntarily reach for the belt, for some reason worn under my clothes. But I don’t have time to do anything — Sia breaks the cylinder, and a saving whirlwind of darkness covers us and carries us away from the damned dungeon.

***

The next glimmer of consciousness — I’m standing on a rock floating in a sea of fog. The rock is very ancient, eroded by the winds, covered with moss and ferns. In the middle of the rock grows a mighty tree. Many thick branches come out of a huge trunk almost parallel to the ground, making the center of the rock look like a huge tent. Near the trunk there is a gray stele with an inscription made in simple chopped font — «To the Eternal Emperor, the Pillar of the Universe from His faithful servants.» What is this all about? Someone takes my hand. It’s Sia, without a helmet, but still in a combat suit.

— And your ears are not cat ears. My dreams of cat girls are over. — supposedly I think, and then I understand, that it was said out loud.

— Your brain is screwed, — Sia sadly notes, — even in childhood. And suddenly he smiles and says — A hundred steps west of the White Tower and a couple of feet down. See you. And may the gift of the Emperor never leave you.

Well, well! I never thought that she was capable of epic phrases. And what is she hinting at with a couple of feet down? A grave? I do not have time to finish the thought — a sharp buzzer sounds. Someone insistently shakes me by the shoulder. I abruptly rise on the white touch panels, take off the virtual reality helmet. On the monitors around the waterfalls of numbers. The gaze habitually picks out the parameters I need — the exam failed. Excellent indicators of psychological stability and stress resistance, excellent data on physical parameters. And about zero on compatibility with the squad.

In practice, this means that in the near future there is no need to expect invitations from elite groups. It’s a shame, of course, but I’ll survive. What really worries me is Sia. The exam was a simulation, and she was not. And she was there, in an artificially created, illusory world, completely natural and quite ordinary for herself. And she was talking high-flown nonsense.