Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus) (7 page)

“You
have gone pale,” Tekka said.

Glitz
did not reply.

“Is
something the matter?”

There
was something wrong, Glitz was sure of it. His years of working for the East
Galaxy Company had taught him everything there was to know about smuggling. He
had discovered just about every hiding place on his old freighter. Once, on a visit
to Vortan, he had picked up nearly three hundred illegal blasters in addition
to his official cargo of fortified wheat and marchgrain. On that occasion, he
had not only hidden the weapons in his secret compartments beneath the floor,
but also in the walls behind the maintenance panels. He knew everything there
was to know about hiding things on a ship. That was why he noticed that one of
the wall panels had been replaced. A huge sheet of metal wall had clearly been
lifted from its place, as there were metal shavings on the floor, which must
have been scraped off by the movement. The wall had obviously been replaced.
But why had the wall been removed? What was hidden behind there? Suddenly,
there was a clang. The sound had come from behind the metal sheet.

“I
don’t like this,” Glitz said.

Without
warning, there was the sound of a laser being fired. The metal sheet, propelled
by the power of the energy blast, hurtled across the room—Glitz dodged out of
the way, narrowly avoiding the white-hot steel. Five men were standing in the
alcove that had been covered by the metal sheet. They were wearing Marine
uniforms. And they were pointing their weapons at Glitz and Tekka. Two of them
were carrying assault rifles, and the other three had energy weapons.

“Put
down your weapons,” one of the Marines carrying a rifle said.

Glitz
sighed, but he wasn’t about to argue with an Imperial Marine. They both slowly
dropped to the ground and placed their guns on the floor. Then they stood up
slowly, holding their arms above their heads.

“Kick
them away!”

They
did as the Marine said, and one of the other soldiers picked up the weapons.
Glitz stared at the men, still in a state of shock. What were Imperial Marines
doing on the abandoned ship? And why had they been hiding behind the wall
panel? There seemed to be only one possible solution—that it had been an
ambush. But why would the Imperium go to so much trouble to recapture some
absconded prisoners?

“Deactivate
them!”

Glitz
turned to Tekka. “Deactivate? What does he mean?”

To
answer Glitz’s question, the three Marines carrying energy weapons pointed them
directly at the three fugitives. Without even a slight hesitation, they fired
their guns. Glitz, Tekka and Doland collapsed to the floor.

“Now
bring them.”

Lightworld

Volori
System

Glitz
awoke to the sound of dripping water. The noise of the droplets echoed and
reverberated. It sounded like it was falling from a great height, before
splashing against a rocky surface. He opened his eyes, and winced in pain. He
had a splitting headache. He began to examine his surroundings. He was lying
inside a huge cage, along with Tekka and Doland. Although it was dimly lit
outside the cave, he could make out huge walls of craggy rock on every side.
They were in some sort of cave. He stood up and approached the edge of the cage.
With a jolt, he realised that the cave floor was almost thirty metres below
them; the cage was hanging by a metal chain, suspended in the air. Light was
streaming down from a hole in the rock about a mile above them.

“Wake
up,” Glitz said, nudging Doland and Tekka. “Wake up, both of you.”

Doland
stirred and sat up, wiping his eyes tiredly. Tekka’s eyes flitted open. Most
people, on awakening, require a few seconds to adjust to their surroundings and
clear their mind. Tekka, however, leapt to his feet immediately, taking in
their predicament with sharp, alert eyes.

“This
is most unpleasant,” he concluded.

“You
know this place?” Glitz said.

Tekka
nodded. “I have never been here before, but I believe we are inside the
catacombs of Lightworld.”

Doland
swallowed. “Lightworld? Lightworld as in the seat of the Imperial Navy?”

“Of
course,” Tekka said, somewhat impatiently. “Examine the rocks on either side of
our cage. Notice the purple flecks that seem to sparkle inside the grey stone.
The surface of these walls appears to be made of targon, a type of rock that is
only known to exist on one planet: Lightworld.”

“I’m
as interested in geology as the next guy,” Glitz said. “But I’m a lot more
interested in how to get out of this cage.”

“I
hardly think that will be necessary,” Tekka said.

“If
we don’t escape they’re going to put us on trial!” Doland said. “Come on, man.
You’re the smart one. Think of something!”

“Since
when did you hear of common criminals being taken to Lightworld?” Tekka said. “No,
no. We have been brought here for a special reason. For some reason, the Navy
has seen fit to bring us to this planet. And I have a distinct feeling that we
will be finding out that reason very soon.”

As
if on cue, there was the echoing sound of footprints as several men marched
into the cave, wearing Naval uniforms. Behind them, Glitz recognised the five Marines
that had been hiding on the abandoned ship. Tekka had been right; the whole
thing had been a trap. For whatever reason, the Navy had set up the abandoned
ship in the Upsilon system specifically to capture them. But what could the Imperium
possibly want with three common criminals?

One
of the men pulled a lever built into the cave wall. There was the sound of a
motor whirring, and the cage began to slowly descend. When the cell finally
touched the floor with a dull thump, one of the men opened the cage, pointing
his gun at the captives.

“Follow
me,” he said. “And don’t try anything stupid.”

Half
of the men walked behind the captives, and half of them walked in front,
escorting the three men out of the catacombs. Glitz wasn’t thinking about
escaping right then; he was more curious than anything. The men led them along
several tunnels. Finally, they reached a metal bulkhead. One of them inputted a
code into the keypad, and the metal door began to rise. Glitz, Tekka and Doland
were led along a metal corridor, which was illuminated by hot yellow
directional lights. Finally, they reached the end of the corridor, and another
bulkhead was opened.

They
stepped out into a grand room. It was supported by stone pillars, and fine
tapestries hung on every wall. There were golden bowls, silver statues, and
what looked like a diamond-encrusted altar. The gems glistened in the bright
lights. A long table stood in the centre of the room, which was made of a sort
of glistening black stone. Glitz looked slowly around the room, unable to hide
his surprise. He had expected to be taken into another cell, or maybe even a
torture room. He hadn’t expected such grandeur.

His
eyes were drawn to the men sitting at the black table. One of the men was
wearing a Navy uniform with six holographic medals, and he was older than most
of the others. From his distinctive shoulder board and sleeve lace, Glitz recognised
him as the First Naval Lord.

The
First Naval Lord smiled at the men. “Leave us.”

Immediately,
they saluted, turned, and marched out of the room, leaving Glitz, Tekka and
Doland alone with the admirals.

“Welcome
to the Admiralty Board Room,” the First Naval Lord said. “My name is Admiral
Maximil. I am the First Naval Lord, Commander of the Imperial Navy. Please,
sit.”

***

Far
across the galaxy, quite another sort of meeting was due to take place in
considerably less grandiose surroundings. A tall man wearing a dark suit was
sitting in the conference room of his ship, the
Insurgent
. The
conference room was low-key and simple. It consisted of a long metal table
lined with steel benches. The room was devoid of decoration. Everything was
black or grey, and the only colour was provided by the man’s golden staff, which
contained a bright sapphire in the hilt.

The
man was sitting alone, but he knew that his friends would be arriving soon. As
he sat in silence, he thought about everything that he had accomplished during
his lifetime. Cheated of his birthright and cast into poverty, he had spent his
entire life rebuilding his fortunes. Many years ago, he had founded the East
Galaxy Company, which had become famous for interplanetary trade. Now, after
selling the company for over fifty billion credits, he was finally in a
position to restore his rightful place in the Universe. And he would do that by
changing
the Universe.

I,
Ozytan, will reclaim my birthright…

Three
creatures appeared in the conference room, bringing Ozytan back into reality.
They were roughly humanoid in shape, except that they had snake-like skin and
black eyes. The creatures also had lethal claws on their arms, feet and tail.
They were called Weerms, and were creatures of not only great intelligence, but
also great ferocity.

“Hello,
my friends,” Ozytan said, smiling at his visitors. He glanced at the
holographic timeprint hovering over the table. “Precisely on time, as usual.”

“Unpunctuality
is a human trait,” the largest Weerm hissed.

They
sat down at the conference table, facing Ozytan. The man gestured to a jug of
water lying in the centre of the table, along with several cups.

“Would
you like some water?”

Without
replying, the two creatures lifted up their hands. A tendril shot out from each
hand, landing in the jug of water. There was a slurping sound as they began to
suck up the water through their tendrils. Ozytan looked away. Although he
needed the Weerms, he could still not bring himself to like them. Nearly
everything about their nature repulsed him.

“How
does the plan progress?” one of the Weerms said.

“It
progresses well,” Ozytan said. “Soon we will be ready to strike at the heart of
the Imperium. It will be crushed.”

The
Weerms made a horrible grating sound that Ozytan interpreted as laughter. He
knew that the creatures desired nothing more than the overthrow of the Imperium.
They stood to gain a massive reward—the spread of their species right across
the galaxy…

“Soon,
my friends,” Ozytan said. “Soon…”

***

Glitz,
Tekka and Doland sat down at the table in the Admiralty Board Room. Glitz
glanced at the First Naval Lord. He had quite a familiar face; Glitz was sure
that he had previously seen him on patriotic vidcasts on the official Imperial
broadcast standard. He seemed to be stern and masculine, but there was an
almost imperceptible sense of childishness, of mischievousness, bubbling
beneath the surface. In Glitz’s experience, many older men in positions of
authority seemed to develop such personalities; while never immature, they had
an occasional tendency towards irreverence and comedy.

“Why
are we here?” Tekka said. “I would appreciate it if you could be both exact and
concise.”

A
couple of the admirals clenched their fists, and Glitz swallowed. He admired
Tekka for being brave enough to speak to the Commander of the Navy of the Imperium
in such a disrespectful way, but he was worried that they would all end up
being punished for Tekka’s insolence. But the First Naval Lord simply chuckled.

“Well,
I shall do my best.” The First Naval Lord pointed to the men sitting around the
table. “These are the finest men in the Imperial Navy. And still none of them
can get us out of our current mess.”

“Please,”
Doland said suddenly, looking panicked. “I don’t know why we’re here, but…
whatever it is, we’re sorry! We’ll go back to Malus and serve the rest of our
sentences. Just please… please don’t execute us.”

Grow
a pair
,
Glitz thought, annoyed. Of course, he too was intimidated by being hauled in
front of the First Naval Lord and the other officers. But he wasn’t prepared to
lose his dignity quite so easily.

“Execute?”
the First Naval Lord said, his shining eyes widening. “Oh no, that was never on
the table. Oh no. We need your help.”

Doland
gulped. “Help?”

The
man nodded, placing his palms on the shiny table. “Let me tell you a story,” he
said. He activated a panel and a hologram projection of a planet appeared. It
was a cracked grey sphere, with a fiery seam running through the centre. The
cratered surface was dry and barren. “This is the planet Chaos. It is located
in the far reaches of the Paradonian Sector, in the part of space commonly
known as the Badlands. The planet was first discovered centuries ago by Dorian
Night, the famous intergalactic explorer, but for obvious reasons it was
declared unsuitable for colonisation. It is perhaps the most unfriendly planet
in the Universe, inhabited by savage creatures and home to every sort of
catastrophe and pestilence imaginable.”

He
nodded to Admiral Blaize, who carried on the story. “The only life forms Dorian
Night found on Chaos were vicious, primitive animals. Chemical storms rage in
the heavens. Quakes are a weekly occurrence. The world has no redeeming
features. There are not even any valuable minerals on the planet. So imagine
our surprise when we discovered a mysterious ship in orbit around the planet.”

Tekka
frowned. “What kind of ship?”

“That
is the interesting thing,” the First Naval Lord said. “We do not know. The ship
is unlike any we have ever seen.” He activated another control, and an image of
the ship became overlaid over the projection of the planet.

“We
need to find out who they are, and what they want,” Admiral Andronica said.

“Then
send some of your ships,” Tekka said.

The
First Naval Lord smiled. “Would it were that simple. In fact, the scout ship
that we sent was promptly destroyed. They most likely have some sort of
advanced weaponry—something we have not encountered before.”

“How
do we come into all this?” Glitz said, somehow already knowing the answer.

The
First Naval Lord’s eyes twinkled. “You are to fly to the Badlands and visit the
planet Chaos, with the intention of discovering the purpose of the enemy ship.
You will then return to Lightworld with a full report of your discoveries.”

Glitz
glanced at his companions. Doland looked terrified, and Tekka was apparently
lost in thought; his face was expressionless.

“And
what if we refuse?” Tekka said finally.

“Come
now, come now,” the First Naval Lord said. “You can use your imagination,
surely?”

Tekka
smiled coldly. “I have been reliably informed that I do not have an
imagination. So why don’t you just tell us?”

Glitz
winced. He couldn’t believe that Tekka was talking to the leader of the most
powerful Navy in history as if he was an errant schoolboy that hadn’t handed in
his homework. But the First Naval Lord smiled again—for some reason, he seemed
to like Tekka.

“I
do so hate threats. You have to make so many of them when you’re in my position,
you know. I sometimes think my only purpose in life is to threaten people. So
let’s try something different. How about a carrot instead of a stick? If you manage
to find out the purpose of the mysterious ships, I will offer the three of you
a full pardon.”

Tekka
looked interested. He nodded slowly. “Why did you select us for this mission?”
he said finally.

“A
couple of my admirals thought it was unwise,” the First Naval Lord said, “but I
think that this unusual situation calls for a maverick solution. We are in a—potentially—very
dangerous situation. When I heard about your escape from Malus, I decided to
recruit you. After all, it’s a well-known fact that no one escapes from Malus. Luckily
for us, you set the co-ordinates for the Upsilon System before you reset the
ship’s tracking system. And we knew your ship was low on supplies. All we had
to do was place the snare ship in orbit and wait for you to board.”