On The Imperium’s Secret Service (Imperium Cicernus) (13 page)

“They are a concern,” Fitz agreed, calmly.  “I am sure that Archie is doing what he can to alert Admiral Von Rutherford about the dangers.”

“But he isn't taking it seriously,” the woman insisted.  “Admiral Von Rutherford is convinced –
convinced
, I tell you – that the Rebel is just another charismatic figure intent on screwing the BEMs out of everything he can before disappearing into the underground.  I think that he’s doing a damn good job of pretending to be a rebel if that’s all he is.  And Archie doesn't really want to rock the boat.  Just because Admiral Stupid is a relative of his on his mother’s side, he thinks that he shouldn't press too hard.  What is going to make him wake up?  The presence of subversives on Greenland itself?”

“Perhaps I should visit,” Fitz said, after a long moment.  “Greenland is not too far off my course and I could make an assessment for myself.  Admiral Von Rutherford might listen to me when he won’t listen to Archie.”

Mariko listened in private amusement, realising that Fitz had been angling for the invitation to Greenland all along.  She didn't know much about the planet, if only because she hadn't considered it as a possible destination, but judging from the woman’s claims it was probably owned directly by the aristocracy or an aristocracy-dominated corporation.

“I’d be
delighted
to have you visit,” the lady said.  “Archie will be happy to see you – he might not listen to me, although I
am
related to the Childe Roland by blood, but he will listen to you.”

“Certainly, Auntie Jo,” Fitz said.  “I will be more than happy to assist you.”

The trumpets blew before he could visit anyone else. 

Lady Mary’s team of attendants brought out the neo-elephants, colossal creatures genetically altered by Tuff to be faster, smarter and more capable than their cousins on Homeworld or Eden, the garden planet near Homeworld.  Each elephant carried a single box, which would hold a dozen aristocrats with guns and bad intentions towards the local wildlife.  Mariko wondered if the elephants would make such a racket that most wildlife would head in the opposite direction as fast as possible, before remembering that Tuff had programmed the wildlife he’d created and seeded to be extremely aggressive.  The shortage of safety precautions only added to the thrill, as far as the aristocrats were concerned.  Judging by the looks shared by some of the attendants, they were rather more worried about losing an aristocrat on their watch than the aristocrats were about getting killed.  Even if the standard safety precautions had been legally omitted, they might still be blamed if the dead man was important or well-connected enough.

“I booked one of the smaller safari expeditions,” Fitz said, leading them over towards a pair of seven elephants.  Mariko honestly couldn't see how they were intended to climb up to the box until one of the attendants pressed a ladder against the beast’s skin.  The elephant eyed them with disturbingly human eyes as they scrambled up the ladder and into the box, which moved from side to side as the elephant stamped his feet.  “I trust that neither of you get seasick?”

Mariko swallowed hard as the elephant lurched into life, heading down towards the gates that marked the pathway through the jungle.  They were heading away from the lava pools, she realised with some relief, away from anyone who might have seen them last night.  The elephant trumpeted as the elephant handler – the mahout – touched it with his whip, shocking him gently.  She glanced back and saw the rest of the aristocracy following them, heading out into the jungle.  Up close, the canopy looked even more forbidding than it had done in darkness, even if they were proceeding along a road, of sorts. 

“Take your gun,” Fitz said, producing his own and checking it quickly.  “Remember: you see something, shoot it first and worry if you were right later.  Some of the creatures here are very dangerous.”

“And some pretend to be human,” the mahout added.  “Anyone not wearing clothes is almost certainly fair game.”

Mariko and Mai exchanged glances.  Would the twins be shot because they weren't wearing enough clothes? 
That
would be embarrassing for Lady Mary and her cronies to explain.

Fitz shrugged.  “Try not to shoot anyone important,” he said, lightly.  “Their relatives will make
such
a fuss.”

Four days later, Mariko was getting thoroughly bored
with hunting – and she could tell that Mai felt the same way.  Most of the hunting trips they’d been on simply hadn't been very interesting, once she’d gotten over the thrill of shooting at half-seen shadows and seeing shapes thumping to the ground, only to be picked up by the handlers accompanying the shooters on their elephants.  Some of the more dangerous safaris were closed to them, but Fitz went on one of the tours and came back covered in animal blood.  Mariko was actually starting to suspect that despite the hype, there
were
a few safety precautions that kept the less-capable shooters from coming face-to-face with dangerous animals.  Or perhaps they were only allowed to go on the tours that were reasonably safe.

The aristocrats didn't seem to care.  Young men exchanged lies about how many animals they’d bagged, including one who claimed to have taken a shot at a mahout and struck the poor man between his legs.  His companions seemed to find it hilariously funny.  A couple of retainers were blamed openly for spoiling shots that should have certainly struck their target, or for taking shots that should have been left to their masters. 

Fitz, at least, didn't seem to care.  He maintained a bored nonchalance that would have fooled her if she hadn't followed him into the jungle the first night.  If he had gone out again and again, she didn't know.  She’d just been too tired after hours of pointless hunting and shooting that she went to sleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.  Every day, she wondered if she would see him again, only to discover him emerging from his room with a grin that suggested that he was definitely looking forward to the next hunting expedition.  It was a surprise, therefore, on the fifth day when he called her into his suite for a chat.

“I need you to help me with something,” he said, shortly.  Mariko had been dressing for the ball in the evening and half-wondered if she’d wasted her time.  “If you can do this for me, it will be the last thing I will ask you to do without filling you in completely.”

It would also be the first, Mariko noted.  She hadn't really given him any choice when she’d followed him into the jungle. 

“I’d be happy to help,” she said, seriously.  “What...are we safe to talk here?”

“Fine time to ask,” Fitz teased.  “Yes, we’re safe; just try and look a little rumpled when you leave my room.” 

Mariko flushed, wondering how Mai would take it if she thought that she was sleeping with their employer. 

“But listen carefully.”  He leaned closer, as if he intended to whisper in her ear.  “I’ve been monitoring the OTC system on this planet,” he told her, “but I haven’t been able to hack into their system and pull a data download without setting off the alarms.  I need ten minutes alone in their control room.”

Mariko nodded in understanding. 

“I see,” she said.  OTC would have monitored starships passing through the system and landing on the planet at all times, even if some of the ships were unplanned and landing somewhere within the jungle rather than at the complex.  “But how do I get you some time there alone?”

“They’re having a ball tonight,” Fitz said.  “The important detail is that they will only have one person on duty – Tuff isn't Homeworld, and there’s relatively little traffic coming in and out of the system, particularly at night.  I need you to lure that person out of the room and distract him for at least ten minutes.  After that, you should be able to let him go and return to the ball or the cabin if you want.”

Mariko frowned in puzzlement...and then suddenly understood.  What
would
her mother say?

“You want me to
seduce
him just to keep him out of your way?”

“Yes,” Fitz said.  He had the grace to sound ashamed at what he was asking.  “I wouldn't ask if there was any other way...”

“I believe you,” Mariko said, slowly.  She knew a little about how OTC systems functioned.  No one wanted just anyone to be able to hack into the computers, or wreakers would be able to cause no small amount of chaos just by directing starships to crash into each other or slam into the planets below.  The Imperium had strict laws on how the systems were supposed to work, even on isolated planets like Tuff.  “And...if I do this, what will you do in exchange?”

“If you and your sister decide you don’t want to stay with me, I’ll let you both go on the next civilised world,” Fitz said.  He certainly sounded sincere.  “I can cancel your debts, even ensure that you have enough cash to get home or buy a new ship.  But I need this done for me today.  Tomorrow we have to leave the planet, or eyebrows will be raised.”

“I see,” Mariko said.  The thought of being a whore, even
pretending
to be a whore, was repulsive.  And yet she’d been willing to be
his
whore to spare Mai the same fate.  What did it say about her that she changed her principles on a daily basis?  “I’ll do it for you.”

“Thank you,” Fitz said.  He reached over and rumpled her dress.  “See you at the ball, my dear.”

His acting was astonishingly good.  Mariko wouldn't have believed that he wasn't anything more than an aristocratic playboy if she hadn't seen the transformation for herself.  No wonder Fitz had been so certain that his disguise was perfect – and even though his comrade had died, no one had suspected him.

“Of course, Milord,” she said, with a curtsey.  “See you at the ball.”

***

The sound of thumping music was still audible three floors above the ballroom, where live musicians played dance tunes that echoed all the way back to the years before the Imperium, at least according to Lady Mary.  Some of the aristocrats enjoyed dancing to tunes that were officially frowned upon everywhere else, as if it gave them a thrill they couldn't get through sex or hunting.  Fitz had commented, rather snidely, that there were a few things forbidden to those of even the highest pedigree, which was partly why they wanted them.  Drugs – including one made from processed alien flesh – and certain forms of enhancement augmentation were being passed freely around the ballroom.  Mariko could only hope that Mai had the sense not to touch anything and just dance with the other retainers.

Fitz led her up a flight of stairs and down a long corridor, each doorway leading to a small bedroom where an aristocrat and his chosen partner could linger for the night, if they saw fit.  A handful of doors were closed and locked, but a couple of occupied rooms were open, revealing group orgies that made Mariko blush.  She’d never even considered the possibility of having more than one man at a time, let alone being part of a group that included both males and females.  And there was the room with ten men and ten women, the women bent over while the men moved from woman to woman...

She looked over at Fitz, who seemed to have ignored the whole scene.  “Is it always like this?”

“You tell people that the mere fact of their birth gives them licence to do as they please to those who weren't so lucky in choosing their parents and you get little monsters,” Fitz said.  For once, he sounded angry rather than unconcerned.  “I used to be one of them.”

Mariko looked up at him, just before he held up a hand to stop her and glanced into the next room.  “That one,” he hissed.  “One man in it; get him out of there.”

“Understood,” Mariko hissed.  She felt herself frozen, unable to move.  How could she seduce a complete stranger – and then prevent him from going all the way?  “Ten minutes, you said.”

Fitz nodded and slipped into a nearby room, leaving her standing alone and twisting her fingers together.  What would Mai say if she knew what her sister was about to do?  What would her mother say?  She’d disown Mariko on the spot; she still liked to delude herself that her daughters were virgins.  And yet...the price was right, better than she had expected.  Lord Fitz would probably keep his word.  Under the two personas he projected to the world, there was a good, almost kind person.  He could have easily taken advantage of her back on the
Bruce Wayne
.