“You’re joking,” Glitz said. “That thing? We’re going in that thing?”
“It’s a Beetle,” Alyce said.
“I know what it is, lady. I had one of those things when I was a kid. But I don’t fancy its chances against a line of enemy fire.”
Alyce simply smiled. “Come along, now.”
Captain Wickham led the three men towards the ship. She opened the pod door and they all climbed inside. It was cramped, but there was enough room for them all to be seated. Glitz found himself squashed up against Alyce, and he noticed that she was wearing a fragrance.
“You smell great,” he said, grinning at her.
Alyce shook her head, as if shaking off a fly. “It’s the shampoo I use.”
Glitz said nothing more as she closed the door and prepared the ship for take-off. She flicked a switch to open a communications line with the spaceport control. “This is Captain Wickham. Request clearance for take-off in Beetle 819.”
There was a slight pause, then a voice responded: “Permission granted. Good luck with your mission, Captain.”
With a hiss, the roof above the ship began to move. A hatch opened, revealing a gap large enough for the ship to pass through. Alyce made a few more checks on the control.
“You sure you can squeeze through there?” Glitz said. “It’s pretty narrow.”
Alyce simply fixed him with a stern look, then activated the engines. The Beetle began to rise into the air slowly; they passed through the hatch and rose high above the planet Lightworld. As they climbed higher, Glitz stared down at the maze-like city structures that were spread all across the planet. Although it was common knowledge that Lightworld was the seat of the Navy, there were many mysteries surrounding the planet. For one thing, it had an official population count of zero, despite the expansive cities. If no one really lived there, what was the point of it all? There was clearly something going on there, quite apart from its role as Navy HQ.
Doland stared miserably out into space. A part of him wished he had never escaped from Malus in the first place. First he had been forced to have his DNA changed, and now he was being forced to undertake a dangerous mission for the Navy. The chances of surviving couldn’t be great. Had it been worth it? His sentence had only been for five years. It was quite a long time, but at least he would have been able to walk away free at the end of it. The First Naval Lord had said that the scout ship had been destroyed before reaching the planet Chaos. Doland couldn’t think of any reason why they would be treated any differently.
Tekka glanced at the space co-ordinates on the location grid. “I cannot help but notice that we are travelling further away from Chaos.” He paused, staring at Alyce. He didn’t seem to see her as a beautiful woman—he looked at her as if totally oblivious to her charms. Glitz wondered vaguely if Tekka had ever made love to a woman in his life.
“You’re right,” Alyce said. “We have to make a small detour to the planet Cronor.”
“Cronor?” Tekka frowned, and accessed the databank stored on his neurochip. “A scrapyard planet. Owned by a consortium of non-ferrous metal dealers from Stoln.”
“A junk planet?” Doland said. “Why are we going there?”
“Because we need a ship,” Alyce said simply. She turned to Tekka. “Do you—do you have a neurochip?”
Tekka nodded.
“But… that’s illegal,” protested Alyce. “You could be…” She tailed off, her face softening slightly. “But I suppose it might come in useful.”
Most Navy captains were augmented as a matter of course, but the Navy surgeons had concluded that the process would likely cause Alyce harm, so she had never been augmented. Some people’s bodies were simply not suitable for augmentation.
Tekka didn’t say anything else, and Alyce too fell silent. Glitz was almost ashamed by the feelings of passion that were surging up inside him because he was pressed in so close to Alyce. It was almost like being a teenager again. It had been several months since he had enjoyed any female company, and the period of abstinence had made it all the more exciting to meet such a beautiful female. The journey was short, and before long they were approaching a planet.
“Nearly there,” Alyce said.
In the distance, Glitz could see a speck of light becoming larger as they approached. As they got closer, he could see that it was a grey-coloured orb surrounded by some sort of fuzzy ring.
“What’s that ring?” he murmured.
“It’s called the Scrap Ring. If someone on a nearby planet doesn’t want a piece of metal anymore, they simply fire it off towards Cronor. Then the scrap gets caught up in the planet’s orbit, ready to be extracted by the Stolnites. They don’t like people disposing of their rubbish in this way, but there’s little they can do to stop it.”
“I’d have thought they’d be grateful,” Doland said. “Scrap’s their bread and butter.”
Alyce smiled. “Would you like it if someone threw a piece of bread and butter at you?”
Doland frowned thoughtfully. “Good point.”
Her face took on a stern expression as she prepared the ship for landing. Small crafts were generally harder to steer than larger ones; the onboard computers were more simplistic and required more manual intervention.
“OK,” Alyce said. “We’re about to land on Cronor. Please keep quiet so I can concentrate.”
Glitz bowed his head with sarcastic reverence. “Yes, ma’am.”
Alyce’s brow furrowed as she slowly steered the ship. She had programmed in the landing procedure, but the Beetle still needed a slight nudge in the right direction. Glitz watched her face as she made slight corrections to the ship’s course. She seemed even more attractive when she was stressed; her body emitted a sensuous heat and her face glistened. Finally, they entered the planet’s atmosphere and landed on the surface. Alyce exhaled slowly, and turned to the rest of the crew.
“Listen up,” she said. “These Stolnites can be tricky customers. So just follow me and don’t say anything. I’ll do all the talking.”
Every time she spoke Glitz felt a strange mixture of intense irritation and extreme physical attraction. Each emotion seemed to amplify the other.
“Why are we even here?” Doland said, as they stepped out onto the planet. It was little more than a huge junk heap. There were thousands of wrecked ships, faulty parts and broken machines scattered around. Large brown furry creatures were climbing over the wreckage, either repairing things or pulling them apart.
“I told you. To find a ship.”
Glitz didn’t like the look of the furry creatures, which he recognised as Stolnites. He had never visited Stoln during his time working as a spice trader for the East Galaxy Company, because they had no interest in spicy food—or indeed flavour of any kind. They were the scavengers of the galaxy, notorious for thieving. The old joke said that a Stolnite would steal your dung if there was a market for it.
But Alyce seemed unperturbed by the creatures. She marched towards a nearby Stolnite that was using a laser cutter to saw into a damaged star-shift engine.
Doland grinned at Glitz and Tekka. “She’d better watch herself. These Stolnites are taught how to pickpocket before they can walk.” The three men followed Alyce and stood behind her when she stopped.
“Excuse me,” Alyce said, trying to get the Stolnite’s attention. It heard her, and switched off his laser cutter. The creature looked almost like a giant dog, except that it was walking upright and had beady, rat-like eyes.
The Stolnite made a loud sound that was like a mixture of a roar and a bark.
“Galactic Standard One!” Alyce said firmly. It was a frequent source of irritation to the humans that Stolnites insisted on speaking their own language. The only official language of the empire was the Galactic Standard tongue, and all aliens were required to show proficiency in the language. The Stolnites could speak it perfectly, but they chose not to. Unsurprisingly, many humans saw this as an act of insolence. Occasional petitions were made to Empe
ror Ferdinand, urging him to address the problem of Stolnite impudence, but there were usually more pressing matters to take care of.
This particular Stolnite snorted, but began to speak in Galactic Standard One. “What do you want?” it said gruffly.
“My name is Captain Wickham, and these are my… associates—Harlan Glitz, Hans Tekka and Raja Doland.” Somehow, “associates” seemed the wrong word, but the men were not members of the Navy either. Their uniforms were plain and gave no indication of rank, as they were not officially part of the Navy. “What is your name?”
“What’s it got to do with you?” the Stolnite said, showing its teeth. It placed a defensive paw on the metal object beneath it. “If it’s about this engine, this was thrown out as scrap. I found it fair and square. If it’s stolen, it’s nothing to do with me.”
Alyce sighed impatiently. “No, we’re not here about the engine.” She paused, wondering which line to take. She decided that there was only one language that Stolnites truly listened to, and pulled out a credit bar. The Stolnite’s eyes lit up. “This credit bar contains twenty thousand credits. In addition to this we also have a Beetle cruiser to barter with. We need to purchase a ship.”
After seeing the shiny credit bar, the Stolnite’s manner changed completely. It hopped off the engine as if forgetting it completely, and bowed before the four of them like a particularly eager waiter. “Janzley at your service. I am your most faithful servant. Now… what kind of ship are you looking for?”
“We need the most ugly ship that you can find. It should be a big pile of old scrap, the kind of ship no one would ever want. But it has to be in perfect working order.”
The three men stared at Alyce in disbelief. Had the woman lost it? Twenty thousand credits was enough to buy a decent galactic craft from a reputable dealer. Why were they using the money to buy a heap of junk from a sneaky-looking Stolnite? The Stolnite seemed a little surprised by her request, but he wasn’t going to argue when such a huge reward was on offer.
“I have just the thing,” Janzley said. “Come with me.”
The Stolnite led them across the surface of the planet. The sky overhead was pale, and the colour almost blended in with the shade of the ground. The grey monotony was broken only by the scrap littered all over the world. Many Stolnites turned to stare at them as they passed; Glitz guessed that they didn’t get many human visitors to such a dreary world. Finally, they reached a small bay. The ocean beyond was almost motionless, and the water was cloaked by white mist. The beach was made of grey and black stones. The whole place had a somewhat dreamlike quality. They reached what looked like a small cave in the cliff face. Janzley beckoned them inside.
“These are my humble lodgings,” the Stolnite said, as they entered the cave. It was illuminated by phosphorescent plants growing up the cave walls. The place was filled with scrap; the concentration of junk metal was even higher than on the planet’s surface. Glitz noticed that a small bed was wedged in between a huge metal chest and a defunct android. Janzley pointed to a corner of the cave. “Now what do you think of that?”
“It’s perfect,” Alyce said, grinning.
“Are you joking?” Doland said, raising an eyebrow.
Whatever the thing was, Doland would not describe it as perfect. It was clearly a ship of some kind, but the model was obviously years out-of-date. He had never seen such a craft. It had a somewhat unwieldy, bulky appearance, and had many obvious signs of repair. The paintwork had scratched off in many places, revealing bare metal. A piece of dull metal had been hammered in place beneath the main starshield, presumably to cover up damage. Some words starting with “SOLD” were scribbled in white paint over the side.
“And it’s in full working order?” Alyce said.
“Of course,” the Stolnite said. “You have my word.”
They all knew that the word of a Stolnite didn’t count for anything.
“I can scan it,” Tekka said. He activated his neurochip, and performed a thorough digital deconstruction of the ship, looking out for any breaches of the hull or machines in a state of disrepair. When the scan was completed, he nodded. “The ship looks terrible, but it is actually in quite good order. None of the major systems have any problems. It is certainly spaceworthy.”
“You see,” Janzley said. “I told you. This thing is my own project. I’ve repaired it with parts from other ships.”
Alyce stared at the ship. It was certainly a horrendous sight. No one in their right mind would want to buy such a vessel—unless they needed it for a special reason. Alyce smiled. It was just right for their needs.
“We’ll take it,” she said.
“Twenty thousand credits, plus your Beetle craft?”
Alyce nodded. “Agreed.”
She handed Janzley the credit bar, as well as the access key for the Beetle. Then she shook hands with Janzley, squirming slightly at the moistness of its paws. The Stolnite thought she must be stupid for spending so much money on such a worthless craft. Janzley had only kept it in a state of repair because he had won it in a game of Heartless. When you get something for free—either by stealing it or winning it in a card game—you are guaranteed a profit, even if only a small one.
He pointed upwards. “There’s a hole in the cave roof. You’ll be able to pilot the ship through it—if you’re careful.”
“What kind of drive does it use?” Alyce said.
“A phase drive,” Janzley said, pointing a finger proudly.
“Great,” Alyce turned to Alyce and Tekka. “We can also use the wormhole network; I have full authorisation. Come on. Let’s get moving.”
They navigated their way through piles of obsolete and broken machinery, climbing over engines and androids on their way to the ship. The thing looked even worse up close. The signs of repair were even more obvious, and the whole thing looked like something a cosmic hobo would ride around in. In short, it was exactly what they needed.
Alyce led them inside the ship through the creaking entrance hatch. It was quite small inside, but there were two levels. On the bottom level were two tiny rooms each containing two bunks, as well as the engine room. A narrow ladder led up to the top level, which contained the miniscule flight deck and a small kitchen. It was so tight in there that Glitz had to duck his head when passing through into the flight deck. They all stood amidst the ship’s controls.
“Well, this is cosy,” Alyce said.
“Can you explain what all this is about?” Glitz said. “I mean, presuming you haven’t just lost it, I’m guessing there must be a reason for this. So why a scrap ship?”
“The scout ship that entered the vicinity of Chaos was destroyed very quickly,” the Captain replied. “This suggests that the hostile forces may have some kind of threat detection technology. Perhaps they can detect the presence of weaponry, or maybe they respond to the serial numbers of Imperium ships. In either case, this ship wouldn’t register as a threat.”
“Very neat,” Tekka said. “But suppose that they simply destroy every ship that approaches them, regardless of its intention?”
Alyce nodded slowly. “I’ve considered that. And it’s a possibility. But we have to take that chance.” She paused. “Before we go to Chaos, we’ll stop off at a nearby planet to change our clothes. It contravenes Navy regulations, but it might give us greater chances of survival. If we’re captured we can pretend to be some wandering bohemians roaming the galaxy.”
Glitz glanced at Tekka, unable to resist a smirk. He couldn’t imagine a less likely bohemian than Tekka.
“Is something funny?” Alyce said sternly.
“Listen, lady,” Glitz said, his temper rising, “don’t think you can talk to me like one of your sycophantic underlings. I was a cadet in the army before you were even born.”
“And thrown out before I was born, too,” Alyce retorted.
Glitz scowled. “What’s to stop us blasting you off into space, commandeering this ship, and flying away to some far off galaxy?”
&
nbsp; Alyce pulled out a blaster from her holster. “You aren’t holding a ZK-88.”
Glitz pretended to glower at her, but he felt his anger turning into quite a different passion at the sight of Alyce holding the gun, aiming it at him with such an intense look of ferocity.
“You win this time,” Glitz said, and she lowered the blaster.
“Let’s just get off this rock,” Doland said.
Without saying a word, Tekka stepped up to the controls and began to operate them. His hands moved deftly over the switches and buttons; within a few seconds, the engine began to roar, and the ship started to ascend. With careful precision, Tekka piloted the ship through the gap in the cave roof, and took them higher into the sky. They passed through the planet’s atmosphere with ease, and the artificial gravity—thankfully—kicked in.
“Well, I’m going to get some sleep,” Glitz said.
“Same here,” Doland said.
On Doland’s suggestion, they moved one of the mattresses from the second room into the first, so the three men could share a room. Glitz didn’t like the idea. For one thing, the rooms were tiny. Also, he didn’t like the fact that Alyce got her own room. Surely it would only increase her sense of superiority? But in the end he agreed with Doland, mostly because he was too tired to argue.
Once they had moved the mattress, Glitz lied down. There were no sheets—not even a pillow—but he was so tired that he fell asleep almost instantly. Doland lied awake for a while, feeling a little sorry for himself. How have I ended up here? he thought glumly. How did I go from being the best salesman on Opus to being a convict on a mission of certain death? Finally, the disturbing thoughts eased, and he managed to get to sleep.
Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus) Page 8