Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus)

by James McGovern

  If the bones had belonged to a man or woman, why had they visited Chaos in the first place? And what had killed them?

  Chapter Eleven

  Doland and Tekka were heading south, towards a thick river of orange lava. Doland kept trying to engage Tekka in conversation, but quickly realised that his companion was not willing to provide more than one-word answers. Their whole presence on the planet Chaos seemed pointless to him. The entire world was thoroughly unpleasant, and seemed to have nothing of interest. But Tekka seemed to be fascinated by the place. He stared intently at every mouldy rock, and carefully examined several mud banks. Doland wasn’t sure why such dreary objects were capturing his attention.

  Tekka noticed a large excavated hole in the ground, and approached it with interest. Doland stared at the gaping chasm.

  “I wonder who dug this,” Tekka said, gesturing to some nearby lizard creatures. “Somehow, I cannot imagine any of those lizards being capable of such a feat.”

  Doland shrugged. “Maybe the people who owned those ships.”

  “Yes, possibly…”

  Tekka scrambled down into the chasm, picking up some of the dirt and running it through his fingers. His hand brushed against an object. He pulled it out of the ground, wiping off the black soil with the sleeve his jacket. He could hardly believe what he had found.

  ***

  “Look,” Glitz said, pointing to a charred crater in the ground.

  Alyce stepped back to inspect the hole. It was clearly a burn mark of some kind—most likely caused by the landing or take-off of some kind of craft. But it was odd that they could only see one mark. Usually, a ship would create anything between two and ten landing marks, depending on the number of rockets.

  “A ship was here,” Alyce said.

  They walked for another five hundred metres or so, and then discovered another similar black mark. Alyce touched the cold ash. It was the same size as the other mark.

  “Must be the same ship,” she muttered. “The thing must have been pretty big.”

  “Do you reckon it was the ship—the one that destroyed the scout ship?”

  She shrugged. “Quite possibly.”

  They were both perplexed by the discovery of the landing marks. The ship must have visited the planet quite recently, because it wouldn’t be long until the marks were covered by the shifting dust. But why had the ship landed on Chaos in the first place? Glitz hadn’t seen anything that would justify a visit.

  “Look out!” Alyce shouted suddenly, pulling out her blaster.

  Glitz swivelled. While they had been checking out the landing scar, one of the lizard-like creatures had sneaked up on them. Its eyes were pale and yellow, and Glitz could smell its foul breath.

  Before Glitz pulled out his own blaster, the creature pounced on him, sinking its jagged teeth into his flesh.

  ***

  Tekka held up the object that he had found, and Doland stared at it wonderingly. It was some kind of large gem. It was uncut and rather rough, but it still gleamed in the light from the dull sun. Tekka scanned the gem with his neurochip. It was a diamond—an improbably large one. It had to weigh almost 150g.

  “It’s a diamond,” Tekka informed Doland.

  “You’re joking.”

  “I don’t make a habit of telling jokes.”

  Doland could hardly believe it. General Blaize had told them that Dorian Night had not discovered any precious minerals when he came to scan the planet.

  Tekka dug his hands into the dirt, sliding them through the black soil. He felt several more hard objects, and pulled them out one by one. Unbelievably, there were even more precious stones—rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and more diamonds. They were all at least as big as roanfruit. Without wasting another second, Doland began to rummage through the dirt himself, retrieving several large precious stones. He stuffed them into his pockets, his face lighting up with glee.

  “This is amazing,” he said. “I’m glad we came to this planet, after all. I never thought I’d say that. Just think how much these things are worth! But I wonder how they got here…”

  Tekka nodded. “Intriguing, isn’t it?”

  The whole situation was strange. The excavation was large, but there was no sign of the dirt that had been lifted from the hole. Of course, it might have been taken away, but why would anyone want to do that? And there was more—he could sense the advanced technology that he had previously detected. It was somewhere very close.

  But his train of thought was interrupted by a white flash. He looked up; the sky had become filled with dark clouds. A second later, there was a dull rumble.

  “The lightning was close,” Tekka said quietly. He looked around; there was no shelter nearby. “Let us return to the ship.”

  Doland shuddered, glancing at the storm clouds. He wasn’t about to argue with Tekka. He had already collected enough gems to retire on, and he didn’t like the look of the clouds. He remembered General Blaize mentioning something about chemical storms…

  They clambered out of the dark pit, and began to run in the direction of the ship. Tekka pulled his communicator from his jacket pocket. “A storm has come upon us. Return to the ship right away.” He didn’t seem to think twice about giving orders to Captain Wickham.

  As they ran, several bolts of lightning lashed out from the sky, narrowly missing them, and creating smoking holes in the ground. Doland felt nervous sweat dripping from every pore of his body, and his limbs were trembling as he ran. Tekka seemed more focussed than scared. Doland could see the ship in the distance, and he ran more quickly, motivated by the visible destination.

  But before they could reach the ship, the heavens opened, and hot rain began to pour down on them. As the liquid touched his leather jacket, Doland heard a hissing sound—the rain was eating through his jacket. He felt a sudden surging pain—it was burning his face, his neck, his hands. Doland screamed out in pain. Tekka felt it too, but he just carried on running.

  Fighting through the pain, Doland continued to run, even though he was in agony. To think of the damage the chemical rain must be doing… Finally, they reached the Wreck, and Tekka unlocked the door with his neurochip and pulled it open. They climbed into the ship and slammed the hatch behind them.

  Doland stared out of the window at the horrific rain. “I hope the other two are all right…”

  Then he looked down at his hands, and cried out in horror.

  ***

  Glitz and Alyce, after seeing the gathering storm and hearing Tekka’s message, had quickly climbed into the shelter of a nearby cave, which was carved out of the mountain. They sat at the cave entrance as the first bolts of lightning began to strike, and watched the rain pour down.

  “I don’t like the look of that rain,” Glitz said.

  As it fell, it seemed to be striking down the animals that had not managed to find shelter in time. Even the rocks were hissing and dissolving.

  “I hope to space they got to the ship,” Alyce said.

  They stared out of the cave entrance, powerless to stop the awful storm, helpless in the face of the terrible thunder. After a few minutes, the rain gradually stopped. The clouds had dissipated; clearly the storm had run its course.

  The landscape, if possible, had become even more barren. Glitz watched as a mountain, weakened by the assault, crumbled and collapsed, the towering structure turning to ruins. If the rain could do that to a mountain, Glitz dreaded to think what had become of Tekka and Doland. Was it possible that they had reached the ship in time?

  Suddenly, Glitz became aware of a warm sensation on the back of his neck. He turned around, and came face-to-face with the most terrible thing that he had ever seen.

  ***

  Doland stared at his hands. The skin had peeled away, revealing blood and bone. Touching his face gingerly, he realised that the flesh was cracking off there too. He almost felt like crying, although he would be too embarrassed to cry in front of Tekka.

  Tekka examined the damage to his own body
with a detached air, as if he was a doctor performing a check-up on another person.

  “Chemical burns to 25% of the body,” he muttered. “It seems to be a form of hydrozine. The poisonous compound has penetrated the skin, and poisoned the blood. I would estimate less than an hour before the vital systems are impaired, and then death will shortly follow.”

  Doland almost choked. “We’re going to die? How—how can you be so calm about it?”

  He felt a crushing, annihilating sensation. So this was it? This was the end? Of course, he knew that soldiers could die on missions for the Imperium—that was a necessary risk of the job. But he wasn’t a soldier, or a sailor. He was just an ordinary man. A man that had made all the wrong choices.

  “Oh, we are not going to die,” Tekka said, after a pause.

  “We’re… we’re not?”

  “No.”

  Doland was furious. “Then why did you make me think that!”

  Tekka ignored him, and slid a gold ring off his thumb. Doland vaguely remembered that he had seen Tekka wearing it inside the prison ship on the way to Malus. He twisted the blue stone on the ring, and a cloud of tiny yellow dots flowed from it.

  “These are nanobots,” Tekka said. “I built them myself when I was ten years old—it was a hobby of mine.”

  Doland didn’t respond. Tekka activated his neurochip, and sent two commands to the nanobots. The first command: clean up all the chemicals from the interior of the ship. The second command: repair the damage to their bodies and clothes. Fixing tissue damage was just as easy as fixing torn clothing to a nanobot.

  The nanobots glowed and flowed from the entrance of the ship to the spot where they were sitting. Then they swarmed around them. Doland felt a pleasant warm sensation as the tiny robots covered his skin. After a few seconds, the robots began to flow back towards Tekka’s finger, and returned into his ring.

  Doland touched his face gently. His skin felt soft and pure, like a baby’s skin. He pulled up his sleeves; all of his skin had been repaired. Even the damage to his leather clothes had been undone.

  “All traces of the chemical have been removed,” Tekka explained, “and all of the damage has been reversed.”

  Despite his irritation with Tekka, Doland couldn’t help but feel a surge of gratitude. He shook hands with Tekka, feeling cool relief spreading through his body.

  “Guess I owe you my life,” Doland said.

  ***

  The creature was monstrous. It was roughly humanoid in shape, but the skin was tough and scaled. Its eyes were evil black slits, and it had claws attached to every limb.

  Instinctively, Glitz pulled out his blaster and fired several shots at the creature. Each shot knocked it back, but it climbed back towards them, with no visible damage. It shouldn’t have been possible… nothing should be able to survive a direct hit from a ZK-88 at such close range.

  The creature lunged at Glitz, slicing towards his throat with a dagger-like foreclaw. Alyce acted on instinct. She lifted up her own blaster, pressed it right into the creature’s eye, and fired. The laser blast shot through the eye and fried the creature’s brain; it fell back, dead.

  “Space, are you OK?” Alyce said, rushing to Glitz.

  Glitz grinned. “Just Glitz will do.”

  Alyce smiled, relieved that he was unharmed. Those claws looked lethal. She peered at the stinking carcass, and realised that the skeleton they had found outside was probably from one of the creatures. The First Naval Lord might have given her a warning that such things existed on Chaos—he had given them the impression that the only predators were low and primitive creatures. But this creature had a large skull with a pronounced brow, which suggested a developed brain. And its eyes had contained a wicked hint of malevolence…

  “Ah, hello there.”

  Alyce raised her blaster again. A man was approaching the cave. He was dressed in a grey robe, and he was carrying a golden staff, which had a sapphire in the handle.

  “Name yourself,” Alyce said, shocked to see another human.

  “My name is Ozytan,” the man said, smiling. “We have lots to discuss.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The man called Ozytan had landed his ship on the planet during the chemical storm. It was parked near the cave, right next to a thin stream of lava. The man had to be at least fifty—possibly older. But his eyes had a twinkle of extreme youthfulness. His grey robe was simple and nondescript, but the man had an aura of great power.

  Ozytan gestured to his ship. “Won’t you come in?”

  “How do we know we can trust you?” Glitz said.

  The man smiled, lifted up his staff, and brandished it towards a faraway mountain. A stream of light poured out of the sapphire, and struck the face of the rock. The mountain was demolished, reduced to dust in an instant. Glitz and Alyce stared at the destruction. It was clear that they weren’t being given a choice. Ozytan led the way into his craft. It was a handsome ship, but rather plain. The hull had a dark matte finish, and there were no decorations or symbols. It was clearly the ship that they had been searching for.

  The interior of the ship was equally unexceptional. The walls were black and the ship was illuminated by bright lights. Ozytan led them through the ship, which was apparently empty. They turned a corner, and Glitz yelled in surprise. Standing outside a metal door were two terrible creatures, the same kind that had attacked him inside the cave.

  “Do not be alarmed,” Ozytan said. “This is Regorn and Ragarn. They are my servants.”

  “You’re keeping those… things as servants?” Glitz said, in disbelief.

  Alyce looked similarly shocked. “One of them nearly killed Glitz.”

  The man smiled. “Please, be at peace. I will explain everything shortly.”

  The creatures stepped aside to allow them to enter the room; Glitz looked uneasily into one of the creature’s black eyes as they passed them. It was a small conference room, with a long metal table. The room was as bare as the other parts of the ship, and the benches were made of grey steel. Ozytan gestured for them to take a seat, and sat down at the head of the table. Glitz and Alyce sat down next to each other at the other end of the table. After a few minutes, two more Weerms entered, dragging Doland and Tekka with them. They dropped the men onto the floor of the conference room, and then left.

  “Wh—what’s going on?” Doland said.

  “I instructed my creatures to bring you here, my friends,” Ozytan said, smiling. “Please, sit.”

  Doland and Tekka’s clothes were ripped, but they were clearly unharmed. The creatures had been careful. They sat down, warily, and Tekka glanced from Glitz and Alyce to the strange man at the head of the table.

  “Now,” the man went on, “My name is Ozytan. I want to tell you all about the planet Chaos. You are—I assume—on a mission for the Imperium?”

  Alyce shook her head. “No, of course not. We’re Proteists. We were exploring the Sector when we stumbled across this place.”

  Ozytan laughed. “A most original cover story, but I’m afraid the ZK-99 blasters are a giveaway. Also, I know who you are, Captain Wickham. I have managed to access some of the Imperium’s military records; blackmail can be a most useful tool.” He frowned at Glitz, shaking his head. “Using non-military personnel for official missions… well, well. The Senate has really become desperate. Now, what are your names?”

  The others reluctantly introduced themselves. Then Alyce turned to face the man. “And who are you?”

  “I’ve told you. My name is Ozytan.” He smiled. “I think you must have seen my brother on public vidcasts. His name is Emperor Ferdinand.”

  Alyce was shocked by this revelation, but it explained why the man looked so familiar. He had Ferdinand’s bone structure—the same rounded jaw and hooked nose. The eyes were also similar, although Ozytan’s eyes had an intense edge that almost seemed to suggest a touch of mania.

  Ozytan’s eyes narrowed. “You see, I am the eldest son of Emperor Quintill, the previous ruler o
f the Imperium. The rulership of the empire should have been my birthright. But my rightful throne was cruelly snatched away from me when the Senate refused to name me as my father’s successor.”

  Alyce knew that the Senate had complete authority to decide who would rule the Imperium. They tended to choose members of the same royal line, but public knowledge of the Imperial family was very scarce. Back in the days when Monarchism was the official religion of the Imperium, people had taken much more interest in the Imperial lineage. Now the office of the Emperor was simply a relic of a past age, albeit one that the Senate could not quite summon enough courage to abolish absolutely.

  “What happened?” Alyce said, unable to conceal her curiosity.

  “The Senate disapproved of my character and plans for the future of the Imperium,” Ozytan replied bitterly. “You see, I had some rather revolutionary ideas. To my mind, the history of the Imperium is one of unchecked power and brutal domination. I had it in my head to reform the Imperium—to implement a totally new way of governing. I wanted the Imperium to become a true parliamentary democracy, freed from the shackles of tyranny.” He tapped his staff softly on the ground. “But the Senate discovered my plans, and were frightened for the future of the Imperium. The Senate usually select the heir with the strongest blood claim, providing they can be sure of his weak co-operation, but can deviate from the line of succession with impunity. So they barred my ascension to the throne. My brother Ferdinand, a weak-spirited, easily-controlled man, was selected as the new Emperor. And I was left with nothing.” Ozytan paused again, staring severely into the sapphire on his staff.”

  Alyce frowned. She was moved by Ozytan’s story, but she was a little confused. “Why are you telling us all of this?”

  “Because I have a plan to reclaim my birthright,” Ozytan said, smiling for the first time. “When I was seventeen years of age, I was in an utterly hopeless state. I did not want to take any money from the Senate—not after what they had done to me. Creditless and powerless, I spent years in a state of idleness. All those wasted years… I roamed the galaxy like a cosmic vagrant, watching the Imperium become even more powerful and destructive.