Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus) by James McGovern Page B

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.
    A
few hours later, when Alyce had already gone to bed, Tekka retired to bed and
lied awake in silence. He had never slept much, even when he was a child. Somehow,
he didn’t seem to need as much sleep as ordinary people. He stayed awake all
night, listening to the sound of the engines.

Chapter Ten
    They
were now very close to their destination. Alyce and Tekka had navigated the
ship towards the Farron system, which was a popular shopping destination for
wealthy space tourists. They landed on a parking asteroid, and one of the
robots took their ship away for temporary storage. The group then took the
shuttle to one of the planets in the Farron system, which was called Clothes
Direct. Glitz grimaced as the shuttle took them to the planet. He hated
shopping, especially on tacky planets like that one. What kind of name for a
planet was “Clothes Direct”? As the shuttle took them closer, Glitz could see
Tekka staring grimly out of the window.
    “You
don’t like shopping either, eh?” Glitz said.
    Tekka
shook his head. “I hardly see the purpose of such an activity. Shopping is a pursuit
which steals the hours, dulls the mind, and empties the wallet.”
    “Too
bad it’s necessary,” Alyce said, slightly amused by Tekka’s poetic epigram.
“Like I said, wearing our Imperial uniforms to Chaos is too risky. We need to
change into something less… official.”
    Doland
raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know… I quite like a bit of shopping.”
    Tekka
frowned at him. Eventually, the shuttle landed, and they got off on Clothes
Direct. The entire planet, which was around a quarter of the size of Homeworld,
was covered by one large super-mall. They entered the mall through the nearest
entrance. A series of guided transport pods stood empty, waiting to be used.
Alyce approached one of the information terminals and glanced at the directory
of stores on the adjacent screen.
    “Right,”
she said, tapping her pocket. “This place is huge, so keep your communicators
on you at all times.”
    Glitz
instinctively felt the pocket of his uniform. The communicator was slipped into
a purpose-made pouch. The last thing he wanted was to be stranded on the
wretched planet.
    “Can
we make this quick?” he said.
    “I’ll
do my best,” Alyce replied.
    She
selected one of the stores—which was called “Sullivan’s”—from the directory,
and the option blinked yellow. The guided pod opened, and the four of them
climbed inside. It was comfortable and