On The Imperium’s Secret Service (Imperium Cicernus) Read online

  He turned and led them out of the prison complex, up a long flight of stairs and into a large open room that had clearly been designated as the clearing house. Most of the guards had vanished, but two had remained to sort out the boxes containing everything they’d taken from the Happy Wanderer. Seeing the small pile of clothing and a handful of datachips made her wince. Their property had been pawed by strangers and most of the good stuff was gone.

  “Here, Milord,” she said, as she recovered the wallets containing their ID cards. They, at least, were difficult to fake without causing major problems for anyone who actually tried to use them. “You should be able to check the certificates easily.”

  Lord Fitzgerald nodded and pulled a reader out of his suit’s pocket. Mariko left him to it and concentrated on digging through the boxes. The searchers had had odd priorities. Some fashionable clothes from Edo had been ignored, but they’d taken all of her sexy underwear and a handful of short skirts. The strictly boring underwear she wore while in deep space had been left behind, as had her shipsuit. But Mai’s shipsuit – which was more fashionable – was gone.

  “Dress quickly,” Lord Fitzgerald said. Mariko remembered their position and scrambled to put on some clothes, urging Mai to do the same. They were his slaves – and would remain that way until he let them go. No one would protect them against a Grand Senator’s family. “We have a great deal of work to do.”

  But it could be worse, Mariko told herself firmly. It could be a great deal worse.

  Chapter Two

  The air was hot and muggy, smelling of burning hydrocarbons and cooking mixed together into an unpleasant stench that pervaded the capital city, but it seemed heavenly compared to the prison. They hadn’t been allowed to shower, let alone wash themselves thoroughly, and Mariko was painfully aware of her own smell. The prison had been so bad that she’d worried that they might catch something their enhanced immune systems wouldn't be able to handle. Now...

  Lord Fitzgerald didn't seem to notice how badly his slave girls smelled, but Mariko knew that they couldn't go into public smelling so badly, or everyone would be staring at them. It was bad enough that they had just walked out of jail with a man wearing clothes from the heights of society...she shook her head, smiling at herself. She should be grateful that she was alive, if not free. At least they weren't being marched to face Carlos’s tender mercies.

  “I think we will make a brief stop at my hotel and then go shopping,” Lord Fitzgerald said, once they had climbed into a taxi. The taxi driver seemed about to object until Lord Fitzgerald waved a sheaf of local currency under his nose. Imperial Credits from Homeworld would go a long way on a third-rate planet on the edge of the Imperium. “I trust that you have no objection?”

  Mariko winced, inwardly. They were slaves, little better than the Indents who made up most of the labour force along the Rim. What would it matter if she objected? “No, Milord,” she said, glancing over at Mai. Her sister was staring at their buyer with wide admiring eyes. He’d saved them both from a fate worse than death, after all. “We do need a wash.”

  The Hotel Imperial was easily the most expensive hotel on the planet. She’d looked at it, trying to determine if the exchange rate between local currency and their small collection of various other currencies made it possible for them to stay there, but it would have been too expensive before they made several other shipping runs. Lord Fitzgerald, on the other hand, would have had no problems paying for a week’s accommodation at the luxury hotel. Mariko fought down a flash of envy as the taxi stopped outside the building, allowing them to walk inside and up a flight of stairs that led to a vast suite of rooms. How could one man need all of that space? She could have landed a small freighter in his suite without scraping the walls.

  “There are towels and soup in the bathroom,” Lord Fitzgerald said. He seemed oddly concerned for them, in a high-handed manner that Mariko wasn't sure she liked. Maybe he was just taking care of his investment. “Wash yourselves clean while I give your clothes to the chambermaids to wash. We can burn them once we find you some new clothes.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Mai said. She started to undress right in front of him. Mariko caught her arm and dragged her towards the bathroom, hoping desperately that Lord Fitzgerald hadn't wanted a show. The guards had made it clear that slaves had no rights. Even the customary legal protections accorded to indents, protections that were often simply ignored, didn't apply to people sentenced to involuntary servitude. “Mariko...”

  “We’re not safe yet,” Mariko hissed at her sister, the moment she closed the bathroom door behind them. “We don’t know what he wants, remember?”

  She sighed as Mai finished undressing and stepped into the shower. Her sister was beautiful, her body showing hints of a more mature beauty to come when she finally grew up, yet she was now nothing more than a slave. And even though she wasn't a slave to Carlos, she had little hope of escape. Lord Fitzgerald could use them in any way he wanted and they would have no grounds to complain. Maybe she ought to offer to do anything he wanted, provided only that he left her sister alone. But why would he even consider making such a bargain?

  Water splashed down over her as she joined her sister in the shower, using one of the sponges provided to scrub herself thoroughly. Dirt and grime seemed to cascade off her body, revealing a handful of bruises from where the guards had beaten her before they tried to rape her. Maybe Mai was right to think of Lord Fitzgerald as a kind of Prince Charming. He’d saved them from being raped and he’d asked about their piloting licences, not about how good they might be in bed. Maybe they’d find that he wasn't anything like as bad as Carlos.

  Of course, that wouldn't be so difficult, she thought wryly.

  ***

  One hour later, wearing clothes that had been cleaned by the chambermaids, they took a taxi into the richest part of Dorado City. Mariko had been entranced the first time she’d seen the city, but looking on it with vastly more cynical eyes she could see the gulf between rich and poor on the planet. There were fancy shops and restaurants for the wealthy, while the poor had to use tiny shops and small eateries set up in various alleyways. Hundreds of youths, mainly human males, wandered about aimlessly, deprived of anything productive to do with their time. The few aliens in the city kept themselves to themselves. If Edo, one of the more cosmopolitan planets in the Imperium, had been able to give birth to anti-alien riots, what would it be like on a poor planet that had little hope for the future? Carlos’s father probably used aliens as an excuse for the planet’s poor economic performance.

  She frowned as she caught sight of a small convoy of vehicles passing through the town ahead of her. Policemen surrounded it, keeping the crowds back and glaring about them at anyone who seemed likely to shout abuse or hurl things. One of the local bosses, Mariko decided, moving from place to place with a police escort. They clearly knew that their position was vulnerable; there was no reason why an uprising couldn't succeed in bringing down their government. But then, why would they tolerate someone like Carlos? They had to know that sheltering a rapist wouldn’t make them popular.

  But it isn't about popularity, she thought, wishing that she’d had that insight before they’d even landed on the planet. It’s about power.

  The taxi stopped outside a mall and a uniformed man stepped forward, clearly hoping for a tip in exchange for helping them with their shopping. Lord Fitzgerald dismissed him and led the way into the huge shopping mall, a building that seemed to be almost deserted. Mariko couldn't understand how it was profitable; one look at the price for a new handbag almost made her faint. Only the very wealthiest of the planet’s population could afford to buy coats imported from the Core Worlds, or bags made out of skinned animals from a dozen worlds across the galaxy. The rest of the planet’s population would consider it nothing more than a mocking reminder of their own poverty.

  Lord Fitzgerald led them into a small private eatery and motioned for them to sit down. A fawning waitress, wearing a uniform tha
t exposed most of her breasts and thighs, passed them three menus, but Lord Fitzgerald merely ordered roast beef and dumplings. Mariko blinked in surprise and then ordered for herself and Mai. Roast beef was incredibly expensive on a planet that couldn't be bothered to establish a proper food production and distribution system. The prices were enough to make her blanch. They offered sushi, but back home they could have bought an entire swimming pool of fish for the same amount of cash. She ordered anyway, wondering if Lord Fitzgerald would refuse to pay, yet he said nothing. It was all petty cash to him.

  “So,” Lord Fitzgerald said, as soon as the waitress had departed with their orders, “how did you end up on this planet anyway?”

  Mariko sighed and began to tell him the entire story. Lord Fitzgerald was a good listener, she discovered to her surprise, and very good at asking questions to push her into revealing more than she had expected. She skimmed through her determination to earn her own place in the galaxy, just like her father, and how eventually they’d purchased a freighter and set out to earn money. It had been harder than she’d expected – and eventually they’d had a fight with the wrong person and ended up in jail. God alone knew what Carlos would do when he realised that the objects of his ire had escaped his wrath.

  “A moment of carelessness,” Lord Fitzgerald said, dryly. Mariko nodded in rueful agreement. Now they were washed and dressed, the horrors of the past seemed like a distant memory, a nightmare which was long over. “But I’m sure that you will be more careful for the rest of your life.”

  Mariko felt herself flush as the waitress returned with three plates of food. Of course she’d be more careful; her life was no longer her own. “I’ll do my best,” she muttered, and winced at his droll smile. He probably knew exactly what she was thinking. “What are you going to do with us?”

  Lord Fitzgerald cut off a piece of beef and examined it thoughtfully before popping it into his mouth. “I thought I’d take you shopping,” he said, blandly. “You need a few sets of clothes if you’re going to be my retainers. And you will probably want to replenish the supplies you had on your ship before it was confiscated.”

  “They took our ship,” Mariko said, dully. She’d fallen in love with the Happy Wanderer, ramshackle tramp freighter that she’d been. Some Captains placed security programs onboard their ships to prevent customs officers from trying to seize them for non-payment of fees, but she’d never bothered to invest in one herself. A mistake, all the more so because her ship had probably already been taken to another world. She could have ensured that the person who purchased the ship found he’d inherited something useless.

  Mai looked up. “Couldn't you buy it back?”

  “I’m afraid the new owner took it out-system,” Lord Fitzgerald said. He shrugged, as if it wasn't a matter of great importance. To him, it probably wasn’t a matter of great importance. He took another slice of beef and chewed it thoughtfully. “I suggest that you eat up, young ladies. The food won’t last forever.”

  They’d been overcharged, Mariko decided, a few moments later. The sushi was appallingly bad, even by the standards of the cheap places she’d known as a young girl. Hell, some of them had been much better than a place that charged exorbitant rates. Dorado should have been able to afford a proper fishing industry – it wasn't as if the planetary survey report had found any good reason why fish from Homeworld couldn't be introduced into the planetary ecosystem – but instead the corruption infesting the planet had probably put anyone who tried to open a new industry out of business. Mai was devouring something made of chicken with evident enjoyment. At least one of them was going to be happy.

  “I'm afraid I have business to attend to here,” Lord Fitzgerald said, when they’d finished their meal and paid the waitress. He had even added a tip, to Mariko’s surprise. Surely the roast beef hadn't been that good. “You know what you need to buy for yourselves?”

  “Yes, sir,” Mariko said. She did have a good idea of what they needed, including some things she would have preferred not to have to show to Lord Fitzgerald. He would probably find them rather upsetting. “Where should we meet you afterwards?”

  Lord Fitzgerald checked his watch and then nodded to himself. “I’ll meet you down in the lobby in three hours,” he said. He passed her a credit chip that made her blink in disbelief when she touched her thumb against the reader on the side. She’d never seen an unlimited credit rating before, not even from some of her father’s wealthier customers. Imperial Credits were good anywhere; they could buy everything in the store using the chip. “Just remember that you have to carry everything you buy back to the shuttle.”

  He winked at them and walked off, his cane tapping against the floor. Mariko watched him go, staring at the chip as if she’d just been granted access to the Fountain of Youth, and then looked up at Mai. Her sister was definitely smitten with Lord Fitzgerald. Mariko sighed inwardly. Her sister had always been a little naive – although she hadn't been much better when she’d believed what she’d been told about Dorado. The planet’s representatives had had every reason to lie about the true state of affairs on their homeworld.

  “Come on,” she said, pocketing the chip. He’d shown an astonishing amount of trust in her by giving her the chip, knowing that she could use it to book passage to the nearest world with a wormhole station. But perhaps it wasn't such a great gamble. Everything she purchased would be registered in the computer records and he could have tracked them down with ease. And there was no way that anyone would stop him from reclaiming his property. “It’s time to go shopping.”

  Disdaining the two fanciest clothing stores, she led Mai into a smaller store that seemed to have more reasonable prices. Shipsuits were standardised everywhere, but she insisted on checking them all thoroughly before purchasing three pairs for herself and three pairs for Mai. Lord Fitzgerald had hinted that they would have to look nice for him and so they found a set of dresses that showed off their assets for best advantage. One of them looked uncomfortably like a wedding dress; the other two looked good enough for formal occasions, assuming that they were ever allowed to attend another formal again. Class Four Citizens – Indents – were rarely allowed to have a social life. Their owners believed that they stayed more productive without one.

  Moving on to the next store, she purchased a selection of survival gear and a pair of computer readers to replace the ones that had been stolen by the policemen who had confiscated her ship. Most datachips with stored books and videos were expensive, so she limited herself to a chip containing the complete works of Darrin Webster, a former Imperial Navy officer turned writer, and a chip with a thousand historic movies, the ones produced long before the Imperium started censoring new movies. She hesitated for a long moment before picking up a pair of Mark-45 Krypton Blasters – whatever laws Dorado had on firearms ownership might refuse to allow them to buy the weapons – but the dealer didn't hesitate. The colossal mark-up on the price probably allowed him to bribe the police if they ever came around sniffing for evidence of illegal arms trading.

  “We should get some of those,” Mai said. Mariko followed her gaze and winced again. Mai was pointing right towards an expensive lingerie store, with a handful of holographic models doing things that made her blush. “If we have to look nice for him...”

  Mariko stared at her sister, and then realised that she might be right. Lord Fitzgerald might not be as crude as Carlos, but he’d purchased them and he’d certainly expect to get his money’s worth. Mai was a virgin, as far as Mariko knew, yet she’d come within a hairsbreadth of losing everything to a lout with more money and power than sense. No wonder she was already clinging to Lord Fitzgerald and trying to make herself look nice for him. He was the new rock of stability in her life.

  Their mother had insisted that Mai was too young to set out on her own, even if she did have her elder sister taking care of her. Mariko wished, not for the first time, that she’d listened to their mother. If they’d stayed on Edo, they would never have been enslaved.
..but they would have been bored. Now, of course, boredom was not a problem. Boredom was good.

  She allowed Mai to lead her over to the store and started trying on various outfits with the help of a pair of maids. Some of them were just too shocking, even for her; other outfits were really nothing more than overpriced nightgowns. Eventually, she selected a handful of bras and panties for herself and Mai, vetoing half of Mai’s choices. Her sister seemed to have turned into a silly girl overnight. Mariko felt another twinge of guilt to add to the problems already facing her. She had brought Mai to this world. She was to blame for her sister being molested and nearly raped by the police. And she was to blame for their current state of enslavement. All of the fancy clothes in the entire galaxy wouldn't change the fact that they were slaves, even if the chains were made of golden silk. They might never be free again.

  A noise from outside brought her back to herself. All around them, the store owners were shutting up hastily, pulling down shutters and locking their doors. The maids who had been helping them looked nervous as the noise grew louder, clearly expecting them to pay quickly and then depart before the source of the noise came closer. It sounded like an angry mob shouting the same words over and over again.

  “Independence! Freedom! Liberty! Independence! Freedom! Liberty!”