Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus) Read Online Free Page A

“Follow!”
    Grinning,
Glitz followed the guards; they led him through the prison, opened a metal
sliding door using a wall panel, and pushed him into his cell. The room was
tiny and grey. It had no windows, and no furniture except a bed. And a toilet,
if that counts as furniture. At least it was clean. The whole room smelled
comfortingly sterile, like a hospital room. The room was cramped and
unpleasant, and would certainly be a nightmare come true for anyone suffering
from claustrophobia. But at least it was safe. You didn’t have to spend every
night looking behind your back. Glitz knocked on the metal cell wall, and
someone knocked back. The sound was very muffled.
    “Attention
all prisoners.” Glitz frowned. The tinny, metallic voice was coming from a
hidden speaker somewhere in the cell. “The time is 6:48. Work will begin in twelve
minutes. Please make sure you are dressed in your work clothes. New convicts
will find their work suits beneath their beds.”
    “For
the love of space!” Glitz shouted. “I haven’t slept for twelve hours!”
    The
message began to repeat again. “Attention all prisoners. The time is 6:49…”
    Scowling,
Glitz reached under his hard bed and felt around for his work suit. His fingers
brushed against a clear plasthyne bag, and he pulled it out. Inside there was
an orange bodysuit that was made of some sort of tough artificial material,
probably PalTex. He stripped to his underwear and stowed his prison uniform
under the bed, struggling into the orange suit. The material was rough and
scratchy, like tarpaulin, against his skin, and his shoulders and neck began to
ache.
    “Work
will begin in eight minutes.”
    Glitz
sat on his bed and waited. He didn’t know how the whole thing worked.
Obviously, there was no way out of his cell, so all he could do was sit and
wait. He wouldn’t have got dressed at all in protest, but he didn’t want to be taken
outside wearing non-protective clothing.
    “Work
will begin in four minutes.”
    He
sat and waited, wondering vaguely what kind of work the prisoners were made to
do. Of course, he had heard several different stories from the other convicts
while on the ship. Some said they would be forced to dig holes in the rock,
while others claimed that the prisoners had to dive into the volcanoes using
special equipment, looking for precious stones in the lava. On balance, Glitz
felt that the first story was more plausible.
    The
cell door slid open again, and a voice ordered him to leave the cell. He was
taken with a dozen other prisoners towards a guarded prison exit, and they
stepped back out onto the dark planet. Glitz and the other prisoners were led
by prison guards in one direction, and he noticed other small groups being led
in other directions. Presumably, different prisoners were assigned different
jobs. With irritation, Glitz realised that the arrangement might make it more
difficult for him talk confidentially to Doland and Tekka.
    The
prisoners were led into a small all-terrain wagon, and were thrown around
roughly as they were sped to their destination, which they reached in just over
five minutes. Glitz glanced down at the quarry as they stepped off the truck. It
was a pit surrounded on all sides by volcanic mountains. The soil was like
black ash, and the hole was filled with huge boulders. The men were all
carrying large pickaxes and sledgehammers. A man got off a second wagon which
had followed the first. He was wearing a grey suit and brown boots. It was Mr.
Quex, the prison officer.
    “Good
morning, Work Group Eight,” Mr. Quex said. “You may be aware that you have a
new member.” He pointed at Glitz. “Harlan Glitz.”
    Glitz
grinned at the prisoners, but the other members of the work camp glowered at
him. He had a distinct feeling that he wouldn’t be getting along very well with
his new “colleagues”. He also felt a great sense of disappointment. He had
assumed that he would be working alongside Tekka and