On The Imperium’s Secret Service (Imperium Cicernus) (3 page)

Lord Fitzgerald led them into a small private eatery and motioned for them to sit down.  A fawning waitress, wearing a uniform that 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!
”

They took the packages from the store and headed out towards the lobby.  A handful of armed security guards had already sealed the main entrance into the mall, leaving them trapped inside.  Lord Fitzgerald was seated in one chair by a small cafe, drinking something from a delicate cup.  He looked up at them as they arrived and motioned for them to take the other two chairs.

“You’re just in time for the show,” he said, airily.  “The Secessionists are in town.”

“Independence!  Freedom!  Liberty!”

Mariko watched in surprise as the crowd slowly came into view, marching right through the richest part of the city with a solid determination that seemed to push through all opposition.  The police – and the private security guards – were fingering their weapons, but clearly unwilling to risk provoking an incident with the crowd.  Not all of the crowd was even human, she realised as they marched past the mall; there were at least a dozen different alien races represented in the march.  But then, the Secessionist League had always pushed for alien rights as well as independence from the decaying Imperium. 

She hadn't paid much attention to local politics, but she had heard of the League – and of its enemies.  The League believed that the systems along the Rim were poor because their masters on Homeworld deliberately kept them poor, not least by piling crushing regulations and red-tape on any attempt to create a proper business.  Meanwhile, the massive interstellar corporations, with the clout to have the Imperium’s laws rewritten in their favour, moved in and took over, exploiting the locals mercilessly.  It was hard not to sympathise with the League for wanting to change the system.  She’d certainly had to spend days trying to fill in the forms for ownership of her own private freighter.

On Dorado, she guessed, the League would also be pushing against the established power order, including Carlos’s father.  They’d want to crack down on the League, but with so many of their own citizens joining the League a crackdown could have disastrous effects.  If the entire population, human and alien, rose in revolt, they’d never be able to maintain their power.  The Imperium would probably respond by dispatching a unit of Imperial Marines to restore order, but by then it would be too late for Carlos.  He’d be hanging from a local lamppost when the revolution finally started.

It was nearly an hour before the last of the marchers finally walked out of sight and the mall came slowly back to life.  Lord Fitzgerald sprang to his feet, paid the waiter for the tea he’d been drinking, and then studied the packages the girls were carrying before calling for another taxi.  A driver appeared out of nowhere and helped them carry the packages down to the car, waiting outside the mall.  Mariko wondered if she should carry the blasters before deciding that it was likely to be dangerous.  Ideally, she didn't want Lord Fitzgerald to know that they had them, or the rest of the survival gear. 

The car roared to life and drove out towards the spaceport, rather than the hotel.  Mariko forced herself to relax as they headed out onto the highway - the one excellent road on the planet, she’d been told – and drove north.  Long-standing practice kept the planetary spaceports well away from settled areas, but Dorado hadn't bothered with the standard safety precaution.  A single crashing shuttle could kill hundreds of the poor people living in makeshift shacks along the road.  Yesterday, while she’d been in jail, she’d almost envied them.  Poor and hopeless they might be, but at least they weren't in jail.