Звездопад / Starfall: Глава 1

Chapter 1

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:52

* * *

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:52

"And then, Your Lordship, you had the pleasure of swearing in unknown words..."

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:53

"Well, that's good - so no one understood!"

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:53

"Well, it would have been if it hadn't been for a protocol droid being nearby!"

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:54

There was a carefully concealed shadow of gloating on my "Security Officer's" face: the only acceptable way to avenge her lord and fate was telling the truth. That was not exactly what the soul craved (a good kick would have been better), but the wise could rejoice in small things. And the security officer considered herself a wise person.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:56

"And what did this droid... record?" I asked cautiously.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:57

"He did not record at the moment, Your Lordship. But what you call Baron Kouifi he did translate," the girl glanced at the tablet in her left hand and recited with a certain solemnity and almost undisguised pleasure. "By the male sex organ of a large mammal who dares to wake me, and also by the female sex organ with increased hairiness of the legs or lower limbs, who should immediately be removed by the method of performing sexual intercourse with all those around!"

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 12:59

"Wow, that's quite a twist! What about the Baron?"

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:00

The Baron said that the only thing that saved your life was that he accurately identified the type of poison. This neurotoxin has a strong effect on thinking and memory, and had it not been for this circumstance, the duel would have taken place immediately, despite his advanced age and despite your lamentable condition.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:00

It's embarrassing, hurting the old man for nothing, while he saved my life... Anyway, what the hell with him, he's not in the mood now - we're going to audit everything...

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:01

So... I'm in a room the size of a medium-sized football pitch - the setting is reminiscent of Louis, Versailles, and the smart word "baroque". I'm lying on a bed about five meters across, simply bursting with all sorts of fancy trinkets. The bed and the rest of the furniture are in two colors: white and red. White ranges from snowy to platinum, while red degrees from purple to bright scarlet.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:06

Above my head was a domed ceiling with an epic battle scene: against a background of explosions, flames, and a pile of bodies in incomprehensible armor, a bloodied and eerily heroic young man with a burning gaze as if calling... probably to attack. He had no armor on. Instead of a weapon, he use a tattered and scorched scarlet flag, on which stood a white heraldic beast, a griffin apparently. The wall in front of the bed was missing, replaced by a full-length window. The window was filled with white clouds and the green tops of some vegetation.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:11

In the room, there was also a blond girl of the most determined appearance, dressed in a red and white... tunic? livery? And some kind of machine, most reminiscent of the props from the seventies movie "Killer Robots from Mars".

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:11

To my legitimate question - "Who are you?" - the girl introduced herself as a "personal security specialist" and described the mysterious machine as a "medical droid". And all this around, if she was to be believed, was my bedroom in my private estate, where I had been taken after an attempted poisoning.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:12

The question remains: why would anyone want to poison me, Alexander Flim? Or just Alex, a twenty-four-year-old Moscow resident, Russian citizen, unemployed, unaccounted for, uninvolved, institutional, and so on and so forth... And where did I get a castle and a "personal security specialist" with a droid? Excuse me - a medical droid...
* * *

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:20

The day ended in a perfectly mundane way. Having finished creating new businesses in AdWords, I went to Azugl to see how much I had earned. My joy at what I had earned was overshadowed only by the foreboding of the troubles associated with cashing out. But, in any case, it would be a pleasure. Somehow sleep did not come, so I started killing time in my favorite way: proving to someone on the Internet how wrong he was - an activity, absolutely pointless but bringing a lot of moral satisfaction.

Camrad_RIP 26.01.23 в 13:22

It was a heated argument - I had long and persistently argued on the forum with someone called Nemezis that even if a person is transported to a completely unfamiliar world, everything depends only on their abilities, not their environment. If that environment allows a person to survive, at least in theory. There was no convincing win, so I jokingly agreed to "prove it in practice" and went off to bed, slightly annoyed.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:28

And then I had a bad dream. I hadn't had a nightmare in the last twelve years - I'd been lucky - and then, suddenly! I was either falling or flying somewhere, a sea of lemon-yellow flame raging beneath me, with occasional giant waves of purple and gray smoke. I couldn't feel the heat, but I could feel myself getting more tired with every second.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:29

A wave of purple, almost black, flames swept over me, and with it came darkness and heaviness. It got heavier and heavier, and I wanted to scream, but I couldn't even breathe. There was no sense of time - it seemed to go on forever. There was a sluggish hope in my mind that I would soon wake up, that I was about to wake up, and that would be it.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:30

And so, when suddenly there was wild pain, light, and an incredible cacophony of sounds echoing in my skull, it was perceived as deliverance. There was a bright light in my eyes, some old man in a freakish turban was trying to pour some nasty stuff into my mouth, people were running around, shouting, and sirens were howling in the distance.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:31

I pushed the old man away with the last of my strength and fell into oblivion.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:31

* * *

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:30

Taer sat by the bedside of her lord, trying to figure out what was going to happen to her next. In the four days since the assassination attempt, she had thought many things over and exhausted her nerves almost completely. It was only on the third day the ray of hope for an awakening began to flicker.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:41

At first, everyone thought the lord was about to die. This meant, at the very least, an end to her career and most an accusation of complicity with the prospect of hard labor (at worst) or a firing squad (at best). She spent three days without sleep and began to resemble her own shadow.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:43

And, yes, she wasn't the only one getting on her nerves - there was someone to help her with that, there was...

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:43

She was questioned eight or ten times a day. On the way to the hospital. The police... Extremely polite and pale at the prospect of investigating the Lord's murder, fearful of incurring the wrath of the Great Houses with both successful and unsuccessful investigations.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:44

In the hospital corridor outside the emergency room, she was approached by men with 'House Fyron's own Intelligence' credentials and made transparent hints about her fate if important information left the family. And then, a series of interrogations and threats coalesced into a huge lump of problems that seemed about to crush Taer and change the once successful young guard into a miserable convict. Or a grave with the prisoner's number instead of a name.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:46

She was interrogated by everyone:

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:47

Sector Rangers. Who seems to have just happened to be in the area and decided to look for contraband here, just in case. Or the showdown of those who controlled the smuggling. Her reserve of aplomb and Guardian impudence was still enough to quickly dismiss these upstarts.

Camrad_RIP 28.01.23 в 21:52

Then there was the Guardia's Internal Investigation Service. These tried to frighten her. They were very interested in the degree of her competence. They claim it was only possible to poison the lord with her assistance. Taer erupted, yelled at them, threatened to challenge them to a duel, and reminded them that as long as the lord lived, she was under his hand and out of their jurisdiction. The counter-intelligence men, smirking rancorously, departed, promising to continue the conversation "after all formalities with the lord have been completed". She could barely keep herself from pulling out her blaster and shooting them on the spot.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:41

But that was just the beginning - it didn't take long for the berries to appear.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:41

At night - she had heard that nighttime was a favorite time for such visits - the second day, the Imperial Security Service came to her. Three burly men in civilian clothes and a Stack-lieutenant in a black SS uniform. In the boots instead of shoes, as if from a parade.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:43

After showing their IDs, they asked her to surrender her weapon. In response to Taër's question, "Am I under arrest?" they were ominously silent. She was handcuffed and taken to the black six-seater aerocar waiting outside the hospital.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:45

Then some shouted at her and threatened her with hard labor, execution, prison, and dismissal from the Guard. Others talked heart-to-heart, persuaded her, offered her drinks, offered to help and patronize her, and reminded her of her honor as a Guardsman.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:46

She had not been beaten or injected with Lim's serum, so Taer drew two conclusions: first, the lord was still alive; second, there had been no authorization for her arrest, and she was still "detained until further investigation", which was, in theory, against a member of the Great House Guards.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:47

The interrogations continued for twelve hours: every two hours, interrogators changed, but Taër was still the same. She sluggishly fought the interrogators off, feeling more and more groggy by the hour. And she was already beginning to look at the blaster in the holster of another interrogator with a wicked interest, thinking, "I wonder if I can snatch the gun from him, shoot the bastard and shoot myself before the security guards react..." When suddenly, the angel of salvation appeared.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:50

The door swung open, and Countess Darlurlurl gracefully burst into the interrogation room, smiling at those present. She had always burst in for as long as Taer could remember her. She was followed by the crayfish-red Chief of Security on the Capeira Stack-major Sheldon. Holding up her dress, the Countess found herself beside Taher, glared at her, and, with a wave of her arms, began to scold Sheldon:

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:54

"Release this poor creature immediately!"

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:56

"But, Countess, look, she may be part of a conspiracy and..."

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:56

"I don't want to hear anything! Immediately!" The Countess raised her voice two octaves and stomped her foot menacingly.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 05:59

The almighty SS clashed with the Nobility. Sheldon puffed up even more:

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:00

"This may be a dangerous criminal and a valuable witness!" The major started to get worked up and finally broke down into a shout. "You have no right!"

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:00

//I wonder if it will burst or not? Taer thought aloof as she watched the scene.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:01

The Countess approached the scarlet-haired SS chief and, extending her hand so that the Major could get a proper look at the ring, shouted no more quietly than he did:

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:02

"I am IN MY RIGHT here!" the Countess lowered her tone, almost hissing. "If you do not release her immediately..."

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:04

//Classy vocal ability, Taer languidly observed.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:04

Stack-major somehow deflated, as if the air had been blown out of him:

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:05

"Take her! But know this, I won't leave it like this... Governor

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:06

The Countess did not let Sheldon speak and, smiling radiantly, led the Taer out of this branch of hell.

Camrad_RIP 29.01.23 в 06:07