Imperium: Contact

by Kabbabe, Malek

  Major Clark looked up at him.

  “I was pretty doubtful of your mission myself at first,” said Graham.

  “But the more time I spent on it, the more I began to believe in it and in you Major,” he went on.

  “It's been an honor serving with you and no matter how this ends, I'm glad I did.”

  “Here here,” said Nolan.

  “If it weren't for you, my family would most likely be dead now,” Anna chimed in.

  “Indeed,” said Saskill.

  “And there would be no possibility of peace between my people and yours,” added the young woman.

  Major Clark looked around at the others who had all gathered around the bunk she was sitting on.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Graham extended his hand and Clark grabbed it.

  “We're with you to the end Major,” he said, puller her to her feet.

  “So what now?” Asked John.

  “Not much we can do now,” replied Graham.

  “What exactly happened with Sergeant Williams back on the shuttle?” Anna wanted to know.

  “How could Jones have just taken control of him like that?”

  “I don't know,” replied Clark.

  “I've always thought that technology was a mistake but at least it was supposed to be restricted to a very limited number of people.”

  “And Jones wasn't one of those people,” Anna finished for her.

  “No, he most certainly was not,” said Clark darkly.

  “In fact, there are only two people who should have access to that technology, Admiral Constantine and the Invictus Legion’s commanding officer.”

  At that moment, the door's locking mechanism clicked. Everyone turned to face it as it slid open. In marched a group of six guards, all with their pistols drawn. Behind them walked a man wearing an Imperial Admiral's uniform.

  “Hello Major Clark,” said Jones.

  “How nice to see you again.”

  “I wish I could say the same.”

  Jones smiled.

  “Her and that one over there,” he said, pointing to Clark and the young woman.

  The guards moved towards them, the others closed ranks around Major Clark and the young woman.

  “It's okay,” said Clark gently.

  She stepped out from behind the others, the young woman doing the same.

  “Such loyalty,” remarked Jones.

  “You even managed to tame the savage beast,” he added, looking at Saskill.

  Saskill snarled, showing his teeth.

  “Come a bit closer human,” he hissed.

  “And I'll show you just how savage I can be.”

  The guards pointed their weapons at him.

  “I think not,” replied Jones dryly.

  “Bind them,” he added, nodding at Clark and the young woman.

  Two of the guards stepped forward.

  “Turn around and hands behind your backs,” said one of them as they approached.

  Major Clark and the young woman did as instructed and the guards put on the binders. The two guards each placed a hand on the shoulder of their prisoners and marched them to the door.

  Chapter 42

  Sarah and the young woman followed Jones and his guards down the metal lined hallway to the elevator doors at the far end. They entered and the doors slid shut behind them. Sarah could feel the elevator ascending.

  “Where are you taking us?” She asked.

  “To my office,” replied Jones.

  “We are going to have a little chat.”

  “Wonderful…”

  The elevator came to a halt and the doors parted to reveal a much larger hallway. It was brightly light, with high domed ceilings. The walls were a deep blue, with gold columns running up to the ceiling at regular intervals. They walked a few paces to a set of large doors that swung open at their approach. Beyond them was a large office, at the far end of which, stood an antique wooden desk and a large glass cabinet. Jones walked to the desk and sat down in the chair behind it.

  “Leave us,” he said to the guards.

  “Yes Admiral,” they replied and marched out of the room, the doors swinging shut behind them.

  Jones reclined in his chair, surveying the two women standing before him.

  “Who are you?” He asked, looking at the young woman.

  “My people are the ones who destroyed one of your ships,” she replied.

  “I see,” said Jones.

  “You represent some radical human faction then?”

  “No,” replied Sarah.

  “She's not human.”

  Jones laughed.

  “You think I'm a fool Major?” He asked, sounding amused.

  “I had her and the rest of you scanned when you boarded my ship. Apart from that shengyet savage, you are all very much human.”

  “No,” the young woman interrupted.

  “My people only appear human, but,”

  “Enough,” Jones cut her off.

  “I'm not in the mood for your games,” he said irritably.

  “I knew there was no way aliens could taken down a human ship. It all makes sense now, you're part of some radical human splinter faction.”

  Jones leaned forward.

  “Where did you get the technology we observed on the Twilight?”

  “What technology?” Asked the young woman.

  “Don't play dumb with me,” Jones snapped.

  “You know damn well what I'm talking about, the energy shields.”

  “My people have an affinity when it comes to manipulating energy,” replied the young woman.

  “What do you mean affinity?”

  “It is hard to explain,” said the young woman.

  “My people have not always existed in this form.”

  “Enough!”

  Jones leaned back in his chair.

  “I can see you're not going to answer my questions honestly. Fine, I have other ways of extracting information.”

  “She's telling the truth Jones,” Sarah assured him.

  “I've met the rest of her people, seen what they're capable of.”

  “Spare me your pathetic attempts at continuing this ridiculous charade,” Jones cut her off.

  “It's clear to me now why you and Admiral Constantine cooked up this little mission. You want to get your hands on this technology before anyone else.”

  Jones got up from his chair and pressed a button on his wrist pad. The doors to his office swung open and the guards entered.

  “Too bad I beat you at your own game Major. Take them to interrogation,” he added to the guards.

  “Jones, listen to me,” Sarah pleaded.

  “She's not what she looks like, the Empire can't afford an enemy like this. We need to take this to the Emperor and the Senate. They can negotiate a peaceful solution to all this.”

  “Give it up Major,” said Jones.

  “You're just embarrassing yourself.”

  A guard grasped Sarah by the shoulders and marched her to the doors.

  “Jones, you arrogant son of a bitch!”

  Jones didn't reply.

  The doors to the Admiral's office swung closed behind them as the guards walked them back down the hallway to the elevator. They shoved them inside, the doors slid shut and they started descending. Sarah looked over at the young woman.

  “I'm sorry,” she said quietly.

  The young woman gave her a sad smile.

  “As am I, it appears there are stubborn fools on both sides.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Quiet!” Said one of the guards.

  The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. They revealed a dingy room, lined with tables. Each table had an assortment of straps affixed to it and above them hung an array of nasty looking instruments. The guards walked both of them to a set of tables standing next to each other. One of the guards pressed a button on his wrist pad and their binders fell off. Two of the guards grabbed Sarah and hoi
sted her onto the table. She struggled, but it was useless. To her left, she could see the young woman being manhandled onto the table next to hers. The guards forced them to lie down on their backs and attached straps to their arms, legs and torso. When they had finished, they turned and marched out of the room.

  They both lay there quietly for a few minutes, then the elevator doors opened once more. In walked a man, wearing a completely black uniform and a plain black mask that covered his face. He walked right past them to the far end of the room and bent over a large equipment crate. He began taking things out, Sarah tried to shift on her table to see what he was doing. After a minute he closed the crate and carried a few things over to a small wheeled cart. He pushed the cart along, until it came to a halt between Sarah and the young woman.

  There were a number of instruments lying on it, Sarah didn't recognize most of them, she did however identify two medical drones. The man typed in a few commands on his wrist pad and the two drones took flight. They hovered over the two prisoners and then descended slowly. Sarah felt a sharp pain, as the drone injected her with something. The man looked at his wrist pad and nodded, seemingly satisfied.

  He recalled the two drones and they landed back on the cart.

  “So,” he said in a soft voice.

  “I want to make it clear to both of you how useless it is to resist this interrogation,” he said, looking down at his wrist pad.

  “I have just injected you with a dose of nanites that are programmed to cause you pain, a lot of it. They are also monitoring all of your vital signs, which means I will know when you’re lying to me.”

  He sighed and shook his head.

  “I really should apologize, normally I wouldn’t resort to such crude tactics. Unfortunately, navy ships aren’t supplied with mind probe nanites and the Vice-Admiral was most insistent that I begin your interrogation immediately.”

  The man tapped his wrist pad once. Waves of pain shot trough Sarah, it was like every one of her nerves was on fire. She screamed out loud, she couldn't help it. Sarah could hear the young woman next to her also cry out in pain, then it stopped abruptly.

  “That was a demonstration of what happens when you lie to me,” said the man in his soft voice.

  Sarah lay on her table, trying to catch her breath. Her entire body was still sore from those few brief moments of pain.

  “Alright then,” he continued.

  “Let's get started.”

  The man consulted his wrist pad.

  “So, first question the Vice-Admiral wants answered, is how many people know about your mission?”

  “Besides the two of us,” replied Sarah.

  “The crew of the Twilight, a shengyet chieftain named Saskill, his adopted son and Admiral Constantine.”

  “Good.”

  “Wait,” Sarah interrupted.

  “You believe that?”

  “Yes, according to the telemetry I'm getting from the nanites, you are telling the truth.”

  “So believe me when I tell you that the mission I was on has been sanctioned by the head of the Imperial military and that Jones is obstructing that mission.”

  The man nodded.

  “Then you are aware that what Jones is doing is tantamount to treason?”

  The man laughed.

  “Of course it is,” he said, sounding amused.

  “Do you have any idea how many times Jones, or some other high ranking military official has done something that could be considered treason?”

  “And you don't mind helping him?” Asked Sarah incredulously.

  The man laughed again.

  “If you think that you'll be able to convince me to betray the Vice-Admiral, you are wasting your breath. I don't care about Imperial politics, I am loyal to Jones and he compensates me very well for my services.”

  At that moment, the elevator doors opened. Jones entered the room, followed by an Imperial officer. Sarah started when she saw who it was, striding along next to him was Lieutenant Dolohov. Jones and Dolohov walked over to them and came to a halt by Sarah's table.

  “I've just had a very interesting conversation with the Lieutenant here,” said Jones.

  Sarah glared at Dolohov.

  “You!” she spat.

  “Yes, me,” said Dolohov.

  “I was the one who left a homing beacon for the Vice-Admiral's ships to find when we dropped off that pack of savages at the mining facility. I also sent a signal letting him know we were in the Borealis system and then again when we stole that shuttle.”

  “You traitorous bitch!” Sarah spat.

  “Me, a traitor?” Dolohov scoffed.

  “No Major, you are the traitor. A traitor to your entire species! You want to negotiate with this alien scum,” she said, glaring over at the young woman.

  Jones held up a hand.

  “Enough, so you were telling the truth.”

  He walked over to the young woman.

  “Tell me, alien,” he said in a soft, but deadly sounding voice.

  “How many of your kind are there? How many ships do you have?”

  The young woman didn't answer. Jones shrugged and turned to the interrogator.

  “Keep questioning them, you may use whatever methods you deem necessary, just make sure you keep them alive.”

  The interrogator nodded and Jones walked back towards the elevator, Dolohov in his wake.

  The interrogator checked his wrist pad once more and then turned his attention back to the two captives.

  “You heard him,” he said.

  “And you know the kind of pain I can inflict, just tell me what I need to know, you will eventually anyway.”

  Sarah and the young woman both remained silent. The interrogator sighed and tapped his wrist pad.

  Pain shot through Sarah once more. This time it lasted longer, she writhed in agony, desperately trying to free herself. When the pain finally subsided, she lay there panting, barely able to move.

  Sarah turned her head and looked over at the young woman. She was lying on her table, stirring feebly.

  “Tell me what I want to know,” the man repeated.

  Sarah shifted her body, even this slight motion sent fresh waves of pain through her.

  “Go to hell,” she spat.

  Sarah tried to brace herself for the pain she knew was coming, but it didn't help. This time the pain continued for almost a minute. When it was over, all she could do was lay there gasping for air.

  The interrogator checked his wrist pad.

  “Judging by both of your vital signs, that was extremely painful. How much more of this do you think you can take? Just tell me what I want to know and it can all be over.”

  The young woman groaned and lifted her head slightly.

  “Leave her alone,” she told the interrogator.

  “Major Clark doesn't know anything about the number or disposition of our forces.”

  The interrogator checked his wrist pad and walked over to her.

  “I don't think you're being entirely honest with me,” he said, bending over her.

  “But if you care about the Major's well being and your own, I'd start talking.”

  The young woman said nothing.

  “Very well then, I suppose we'll just have to continue.”

  He brought up his wrist pad, but before he could press it, the elevator doors opened and a figure stepped out. It was wearing as set of Invictus Legion assault armor. The interrogator reached down for the pistol strapped to his waist, he pulled it free and fired. The slug simply bounced off the armor. The figure leaped at him, striking out with its right fist. Sarah could hear the interrogator's ribs crack as the blow hit him in the chest. He flew across the room and slammed into the equipment crate at the far end, where he dropped like a stone. The metal covering the figure's face dissolved to reveal Andrew’s face.

  “Major,” he said, bending down and removing the straps holding Sarah to the table.

  “I'm so sorry Major,” he added, helping he
r sit up.

  “It's okay Sergeant,” she replied.

  “It wasn't your fault, go help her, I'll be alright.”

  Andrew slowly let go of her and moved over to where the young woman was lying. Sarah tried to push herself into a standing position, but her whole body was still weak and shaking.

  “What happened?” She asked instead.

  Andrew was busy removing the straps from the young woman.

  “After Jones took control of me,” he said without looking up.

  “And I,” he trailed off.

  “You had no choice Sergeant,” Sarah assured him.

  “Well, after that, Jones forced me to accompany Aziz and Dolohov on their shuttle over to the Dreadnought. Dolohov, they didn't restrain her,” he added, now helping the young woman into a sitting position.

  “I know,” replied Sarah.

  “She betrayed us. Did you see where they took Aziz?”

  “One of the marines with us said they were taking him to the holding cells with the rest of the crew.”

  Sarah tried to stand up again, this time she managed it, but she still had to grasp the table for support.

  “So how did you regain control?” She asked.

  “I didn't,” replied Andrew.

  He reached onto his back and removed the little scout drone.

  “I guess Jones didn't reckon with my friend here,” he said.

  “It was able to override the control signal. By that time I was already on the Dreadnought, so I went looking for you.”

  The little scout drone took flight and hovered anxiously in front of the young woman, she reached out a hand and touched it. The spot where she touched the drone glowed brightly. The young woman let go and got to her feet.

  “That's better,” she said, stretching.

  “It was able to take control of the nanites still in my system and re-purpose them,” she explained.

  “It can do the same for you Major.”

  “What do I do?” Asked Sarah.

  “Just hold out your hand.”

  Sarah held out her hand and the drone flew over to her, landing on her palm. She immediately felt a kind of warmth spreading through her. The aches and pains from the torture vanished, she could feel a surge of energy coursing through her.

  “Thank you.”

  The drone beeped and took off, settling itself back onto the Sergeant's armor.

  Sarah looked over at the elevator doors.