On The Imperium’s Secret Service (Imperium Cicernus)

by Christopher Nuttall

  “And there I was, thinking that you knew everything,” she mocked. “Isn't Imperial Intelligence supposed to know everything? Dear me – so many ideals are falling down today, aren't they?”

  Her gaze fixed on Fitz. “I was fourteen, in control of my life, and I wanted a child,” she said. “I seduced someone in the hopes that he would give me a child...well, it didn't work out and my family was most angry. They called me a foolish little girl, and they were right. I wasn't mature enough to understand that a child would have blighted my life until it grew up and became an adult. But they felt that I hadn’t learned my lesson. They exiled me out to a planet named Vulcan.”

  Mariko shook her head. There were a hundred million worlds in the Imperium, ranging from worlds where humans could live without terraforming to rocky uninhabitable worlds only colonised because they possessed raw materials that couldn't be found anywhere else, or because the colonists really wanted privacy. She couldn't remember them all.

  “Vulcan was a hellish place, even by the standards of the Imperium,” Lady Mary said. “The population were all Indents, of course, worked to death by their owners – and they were rebellious as all hell. Someone had given them enough genetic enhancement to allow them to survive Vulcan’s toxic atmosphere for several hours, pushing human enhancement to the limit. Robots would have been better suited for mining there, but robots were expensive and Indents were cheap. You can guess which way the managers jumped when they were forced to decide.

  “The Indents were rebellious, of course, and ingenious. Small colonies lived on the surface away from the mines and life support domes, raiding the installations with the help of insiders on the mining crews. Each raid cost the managers money, so they hired mercenaries to put the rebels down. But the mercenaries weren't prepared for Vulcan’s environment, so the fighting just stalemated. I was told that I would be taking over as manager with orders to put the rebellion down. Instead, I wound up joining it.”

  “I’m surprised they let you go to Tuff,” Fitz commented.

  “I banished most of the mercenaries from the world and made the rebels a number of concessions,” Lady Mary said. “Most of them cost very little compared to the stupendous wealth pulled from Vulcan’s underground deposits. Profits would have gone up, I thought, but the family council thought differently. They thought I’d set a dangerous precedent that would eventually wind up costing them large parts of their income. And so they banished me out to Tuff, not knowing that I had already made contact with the Secessionists.”

  Fitz coughed, again. “Do you know what sort of chaos you’ll unleash if you bring down the wormholes?”

  Mariko glanced at him, worried.

  “Of course,” Lady Mary said. “Have you seen the Imperium lately? You and I, Lord Fitzgerald, sit on top of a system powered by slave labour, strangling the life out of the entire galaxy until there is almost nothing left. How many wrecked worlds have been abandoned because they were no longer profitable, leaving the locals to die in polluted atmospheres? How many...?”

  “Then help us to change it, instead,” Fitz snapped. “You don’t have to bring the entire edifice crumbling down.”

  “You’re an idealist,” Lady Mary said. “Do you really think that the Grand Senate would agree, voluntarily, to give up most of its power to let the Imperium breathe? They won’t even consider granting the outer worlds autonomy, and those are human worlds. Their power has to be broken, completely. And as for the pain and suffering I will inflict, can you tell me that the fat and happy populations of the Core Worlds don’t deserve it?”

  She paced around Fitz and looked down at Mariko, one hand stroking Mariko’s chin. “But you have your doubts,” she said. “You could join us.”

  “No,” Mariko said, flatly.

  Lady Mary smiled, coldly. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Because otherwise, you will share his fate.”

  She’d had time to think about what would happen if the Secessionists succeeded. Billions of lives would be lost as the Imperium shattered, followed by billions more as warlords and alien invaders started fighting over what was left of human space. And besides...she didn't want to abandon Fitz.

  “I’m sure,” Mariko said. “Go fuck yourself.”

  “I have given some thought about what to do with you,” Lady Mary said, shrugging. “I could kill you both right now, but that would be too easy. Tell me; what do you know about the Hex?”

  Mariko felt her eyes widen with horror as she remembered what they’d been told about the Hex.

  “Precisely,” Lady Mary said. She grinned, almost girlishly. “The hunt...is on.”

  Mariko felt a cold metal object being pressed against her neck...and then she blacked out, again.

  ***

  Someone was shaking her. “Wake up,” Fitz said, urgently. “Can you hear me?”

  Mariko groaned. Whatever they had used to put her out, twice, was powerful. “Yes,” she slurred, and was shocked at the sound of her own voice. She coughed twice, and then opened her eyes as her stomach finally rebelled against Lady Mary’s mistreatment. “Yes...”

  She rolled over and threw up, violently. Fitz caught her before she fell facedown in the midst of her own vomit.

  “That’s a natural result of truth drugs,” Fitz admitted, as he helped her to her feet and held her until she felt steady again. “I’m sorry. I seem to have blundered twice now.”

  Mariko remembered what she’d done and shuddered. “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling her body start to shake again. “I didn't mean to tell her anything.”

  “I know,” Fitz said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “But...”

  “You were drugged,” Fitz said. “I gave you nanites that should have provided some protection, but I think they just kept upping the dose until it overwhelmed the nanites and took effect. Everything you knew about me, now they also know it. Damn.”

  This seemed a surprisingly mild response for what Mariko knew was total disaster.

  “What do we do now?”

  “Look around,” Fitz advised, dryly. “And then tell me what you think we should do.”

  Mariko, for the first time, because aware of their surroundings. They stood in the middle of a jungle, completely naked. No, not completely; Fitz had a collar wrapped around his neck. Their cuffs and shackles had been removed, leaving them free to move, but they'd been completely disarmed. They could be thousands of kilometres from Lady Mary’s compound, completely isolated. Who knew what would have happened to them in Tuff’s weird jungle? There were so many deaths in the jungle that two more would hardly be noticed.

  “Shit,” she said, finally. “Where are we?”

  “Unknown,” Fitz said. “I think we’re not actually that far from the compound, but there’s no way to be sure until tonight – if we get a clear sky.”

  Mariko stared at him. “But don’t you have a compass in your augments? And a GPS?”

  Fitz tapped the collar. “Suppressor,” he said. “Most of my implants are currently useless, or scrambled. Lady Mary wasn't going to let us out of her grasp without crippling us as much as possible.” He shrugged.

  Mariko's dismay at their plight doubled. Even after the experience with the capture webbing, she still thought of augmented people as being invincible. But now Fitz was helpless, reduced to the levels of a normal man.

  “Not helpless,” Fitz said, when she said that out loud. “Just...tired. These implants are lighter than the first designs, but my body is still heavier than yours – or any other unaugmented human.” He looked up at the sky. “But I think we’d better get walking. You do remember what a Hex looks like?”

  Mariko shivered. The beasts were disconcertingly human, at least on the surface. Tuff had altered their minds, giving them a savage nature that made them utterly fearsome, combined with a feral intelligence that made them dangerous. And they were in the middle of their range on the planet...

  “It’s worse than that,” Fitz pointed out, as he pulled a leaf fro
m one of the trees and broke it up in his hands, creating a smelly mess. He rubbed it over his chest and then Mariko’s back, giving her enough for her to rub his back and her own chest. “Each day, idiots with guns are going to set out, having been informed that their targets look like humans. What happens when they see us?”

  Mariko looked down at her naked body and blanched. The Hex were naked, of course; Tuff hadn't bothered to program them to have any sense of modesty. They would look like Hex, particularly to any Lord looking to improve his score. He’d shoot them before he had a chance to realise that he was taking pot-shots at real humans.

  “There have always been whispers that some of the darker hunting fraternities actually do hunt humans,” Fitz muttered, as they slipped through the jungle, heading north. Or what Fitz swore was north.

  Mariko could only hope that he was right. Despite the stench they’d rubbed on themselves, the insects were starting to bite.

  But Fitz had gone on: “Dark tales of secret worlds where convicted criminals are hunted to death, their heads taken as trophies. Even the Grand Senate would never stand for it if it was exposed, but no one knows for sure. Those who do aren’t telling.”

  “I suppose that they have a taste for the forbidden,” Mariko said, finally. “Just like Richardson.”

  “And now I wonder if Lady Mary hasn't been at the heart of it for a very long time,” Fitz said, nodding in agreement. “What if she invited some of those fraternities here to hunt the Hex, only the Hex are really live humans? Once she had footage of their activities, they would be vulnerable to blackmail. It would give her a whole series of sources inside Homeworld, probably inside the High City itself. Hell...what if the Emperor came out here?”

  “He’s a child!”

  “He won’t remain a child forever, although the bookies have been offering long odds for his survival until he reaches his majority,” Fitz explained. “What if they brought him out here, allowed him to hunt a couple of humans, and then used it to blackmail him?”

  Mariko considered it. “But if they’re bringing down the wormholes, they won’t have the time to bring the Emperor out here,” she pointed out. “Right now, don’t we have proof that Lady Mary is involved?”

  “Assuming we live long enough to deliver it,” Fitz said. “Without it, we only have suspicions – our successors only have suspicions. We...”

  He broke off as they came into a small clearing, with a single pool of water at the centre, glimmering brightly under the sunlight. “Careful,” he snapped, as Mariko made her way towards it. “We don’t know what’s in there.”

  Fitz picked up a stick and held it out towards the edge of the pool. It had barely touched the water when sharp claws appeared from under the surface and shredded the stick to splinters. Mariko found herself staggering backwards in shock, even though the...creature didn't seem inclined to come out of the pool after them. But it was an effective guard, she realised. There was no way they could pull water from that pool...

  “Interesting,” Fitz mused. “I wonder what that thing actually is?”

  They ran the risk of dehydration and he was calling it interesting? Mariko had to bite down an angry response. Instead, she glared at him. “You don’t know?”

  “Not everything Tuff created was catalogued,” Fitz admitted. “And he gave the whole biosphere a massive push towards forced evolution. Something could easily have evolved since he was dragged off to face a long sentence in suspended animation.”

  The hours wore onwards as they kept moving north. Mariko spotted what looked like a pear tree, guarded by ant-like creatures the size of her fingers; Fitz managed to snatch two of the pears before the ants responded with an angry charge to drive them away. Mariko almost wanted to start diving into the pears, but Fitz warned her to be very careful and started to go through a long process of testing the pears first. They didn't seem to cause any immediate reaction when he rubbed his hand against them, followed by opening one up to look inside. Finally, he tasted one very carefully and nodded in relief.

  “It should be edible with our genetic enhancements,” he said, passing her the pear he’d tested, “but if you feel any reaction, spit it out at once.”

  Mariko nibbled on the pear, waiting after each bite for her stomach to rebel. Nothing happened, apart from being increasingly aware of her growing thirst. Fitz finished his pear, careful not to eat the seeds inside, and started to walk north again. Mariko followed him, holding the remains of her pear in one hand. Fitz seemed to have an idea in mind for using them.

  The next pond they encountered was deeper, clear enough for them to see down to the bottom. There didn't seem to be anything lurking in the water apart from a handful of tiny fish, but Fitz was still very careful as he started to prod the side of the pond. Eventually, he reached inside, pulled up a little water and swallowed it. There was a long pause before he pronounced it drinkable. Mariko knelt down beside him and started drinking greedily. It tasted funny, but right then it was the best water she had ever tasted. Fitz eventually led her away as darkness started to fall, taking her under cover as a spacecraft flew through the sky. It was heading towards Lady Mary’s compound, Mariko hoped. They were heading in the right direction.

  “I’m sorry I brought you into this,” Fitz said, as they found a place to rest. “I didn't intend to risk your life so badly.”

  “I knew the risks,” Mariko told him, although that wasn't entirely truthful. She hadn't understood all of the dangers. “It wasn't your fault.”

  “Too desperate to find answers,” Fitz said. He lay down next to her. . “I should have left you both on the ship. At least you might have been able to rescue me.”

  Mariko was suddenly very aware of his nakedness, despite having followed him all day. And she was naked too

  “And not shoot my mouth off to her,” Mariko said, bitterly. “I betrayed you.”

  Fitz took her hand. “You didn't do it willingly.”

  She sat up.

  “I think that that’s all that counts,” he said earnestly. “You're not at all to blame. I am; I failed my superiors and led you to your death.”

  It might be their last night alive; the hunters might start looking for them tomorrow. And Mai no longer lusted for him. She had to do something to make him feel better.

  Mariko rolled over and climbed on top of him. He stared at her, but didn't try to stop her. Instead, his manhood stood up, rubbing against her naked ass.

  “Not your fault,” she whispered, as she kissed him. “Not your fault at all.”

  And then there was nothing but exploring one another.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “I’m sorry,” Fitz said, the following morning. “I shouldn’t have...”

  “You shouldn't have what? Slept with me?” Oh, you stupid, stupid man, Mariko thought. I make love to you, and you apologize?

  She settled for pointing out icily, “I think I made the first move, not you – and thank you for being a gentleman.”

  Fitz flushed. “I...I have made our lives more complicated...”

  Mariko felt her anger dissolve into laughter.

  “We’re naked in the middle of a rainforest and we’re being hunted by men who think we’re animals...how could it be less complicated?”

  Fitz stared at her, and then started to laugh, too. “I...you’re right,” he said, as he broke down into giggles. “I hope it was good for you. I’m a little rusty.”

  Mariko grinned at him. “Good enough, I’d say,” she said. Her entire body felt tingly. “I think...”

  She broke off as Fitz held up a hand. There were footprints around where they’d been sleeping, human footprints. Fitz looked from side to side, suddenly alert, but saw nothing. The jungle seemed as impenetrable as ever. Mariko felt a chill run down her spine. Had someone – or something – been there while they’d been asleep, watching them in the night?

  “Hex, maybe,” Fitz said. “They might not recognise us as being different than them. Or maybe they were just
curious.”

  “I thought they were extremely brutal,” Mariko pointed out. All of a sudden, she felt naked -and uncomfortable with being naked. “Or could they think of us as potential mates for themselves?”

  “I don’t know,” Fitz admitted. “All human variants are supposed to be able to interbreed, but the Hex weren't a proper human variant. It is possible that they might able to breed with us...”

  Mariko shook her head. The thought was disgusting. “What do we do now?”

  “We keep walking,” Fitz said. “No, first we go back to the pond and get some water, then we keep walking.”

  An hour passed slowly as they kept heading north. Mariko was starting to wonder just how far they were from the compound when she heard something. Fitz stopped in his tracks and held up a hand to alert her. It sounded oddly familiar, but it took her a moment to place it as a horse neighing.