The Imperative Chronicles, Books One and Two: The Mars Imperative & The Tesserene Imperative

by Mark Terence Chapman

  Moe didn’t look pleased, but then, I hadn’t expected him too.

  “You told me Sparks knew the encryption code. You lied.” He backhanded me across the face, sending me flying off the chair, nose first into the wall.

  I nearly blacked out from the pain. My left eye swelled shut and blood coursed down my lips and chin. Throbbing waves of pain spread outward from my nose. Curly picked me up and Moe sucker-punched me in the gut. I doubled over, unable to breathe, only to be met by a crushing uppercut that sent me stumbling back into the wall, this time striking it with the back of my head. I left a smear of blood as I slid down.

  Now I knew why the room was all bare metal—it’s easier to hose down.

  I struggled to my feet and was slammed back down into the chair and held there by Larry. I feared my jaw was broken by the uppercut. At a minimum, several teeth were shattered. I spit out the bloody pieces.

  “Give me a reason not to kill you. Tell me the encryption key—now!”

  I was determined not to tell, even if it meant my death. “I don’t—” I grunted between stomach spasms, only to be interrupted by a forehand slap that left a series of bloody gouges across my face.

  Another backhand and I was on the floor again. My entire face and head were on fire. The pain was unrelenting, but I welcomed it. I deserved to be punished for what I’d done to Sparks. He’d suffered needlessly, because now it was my turn to be tortured. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to withstand the beatings forever. Eventually, I would give Moe what he wanted and then it would all be over—over for me, over for Sparks and the others, maybe for the whole human race. The thought that it was all my fault sickened me.

  Maybe death wasn’t such a bad thing. At least the pain would stop.

  “Tell me!” Moe threw a finger on the table. I expected to see the index finger he’d shown me before. But this time it was a thumb; it rocked slightly before coming to rest. Then he threw down another finger, which bounced once and landed in my lap.

  That was the last straw. I vomited, bile spraying across the table and onto the front of Moe’s uniform. He roared and leaned across the table.

  I thought he was going to finish me off with those teeth. I heard a snap, then he straightened and spit half of my left ear onto the table.

  I passed out from pain and shock. As the room went gray, I heard him say, “Tell me what I want to know tomorrow, or you will die—piece by bloody piece.”

  * * * *

  I must have been carried back to my cell, because I didn’t remember a thing until the guards dumped me onto my cot. I had no doubt that if I didn’t give Moe what he wanted, and soon, they would be throwing me into the cell an arm or a leg at a time.

  This situation couldn’t continue much longer. I picked myself up and crawled onto the metal bunk. I lay there in the fetal position, feeling sorry for myself.

  My face ached, I had a huge clotted knot on the back of my head, my broken nose throbbed, and my ear bled down the side of my neck. I held my left arm up against it to allow the sleeve to sop up some of the blood. At least three of my upper teeth on the left side were broken, but there were no painkillers to be had in my cell.

  There was no sink in which to wash up, so I removed my undershirt and used that to mop some of the blood from my face and head, and then I tied it around my head to stanch the bleeding.

  My injuries were minor compared to what Sparks had suffered, but I knew it would only get worse tomorrow—perhaps my last day alive. Under other circumstances, that thought would have filled me with dread, but after what I’d been through—what I’d put Sparks through—and what I anticipated for the morrow, death didn’t seem so awful. At least it would all be over.

  As I lay there, feeling sorry for myself, I thought of all the vessels that had disappeared in deep space, never to be found. I suppose I should have been worried about the fate of the human race, but right then what bothered me the most was that I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to Helga. She’d never know what happened to me. To the world, we would simply be ghost ship number fifteen. Ignoring supernatural explanations, most people assumed the ships were lost due to a mechanical failure that left the ships trapped in interspace, or a fluke collision the shields couldn’t handle. But what if the first fourteen were the victims of the Stromvik or some other aggressive alien race? It was unlikely that I would ever know—not that it really mattered. It didn’t change our situation one iota.

  I nursed my throbbing jaw and ear. My left eye had nearly swollen shut. Despite the pain, I somehow drifted off to sleep. It was a fitful slumber, troubled by images of my shipmates pointing fingers at me and blaming me for their suffering—that is, three of them were pointing fingers. Sparks pointed bloody stumps—ten of them.

  I wanted to scream but my mouth was sewn shut, full of shattered teeth I couldn’t spit out. I could only scream inside my head. Eventually the disturbing images passed.

  Then I dreamt that someone was whispering to me, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Gradually, I realized they were whispering my name, but why? The whispering continued until I woke up. What a strange dream—except, the whispering continued.

  I looked around, thinking I was finally losing my mind. Then I spotted the speaker grill in the ceiling.

  I replied softly. “Who’s there?”

  “It is I, Drelx,” was the response.

  “Drelx?” I whispered fiercely. “Where are you? How did you find me?”

  “I am still on Stripi. As to how I found you, that is a rather long story—one that can wait until a more opportune time, once you have escaped.”

  “But—” I began.

  “No more questions. I have sent your guards away for now. I can unlock your cell and those of your fellows, and I can disable the alarm sensors between where you are and where your ship and pod are being kept. You will have to leave quickly. I do not know how long my deception will remain undetected. You may have only a few minutes in which to retrieve the others and make your escape. I will flash the passageway light panels just ahead of you to lead you to your ship. Do not delay—go now!”

  With that, my door slid open.

  Astonished, I raced to the doorway. I took a quick look in both directions to be sure there were no Stromvik guards about. Then I slipped out of my cell and down to the one holding Cap. It opened as I arrived. A startled Cap jumped up from his bunk. His face was as puffy as mine felt and his lower lip was split and crusted over where it had been bleeding. He had quite a mouse under his right eye and scratches across his cheek. Cap started to smile when he recognized that it was me entering, then winced and put a finger to the split in his lip.

  “How—?” he started to ask.

  “No time for questions. We need to get out of here in a hurry. Drelx is helping us but he can only do so much. We have to get the others.”

  “Drelx?” he asked, in a perfect imitation of my reaction from moments ago.

  “I’ll explain later—or, rather, he will. Right now we have to go.” I waved him to the door. With a curt nod, he trailed after me.

  Next was Guido’s cell. He followed us without even a question when he saw my finger held to my pursed lips.

  Then it was Tom’s turn. He had trouble getting to his feet, so Cap and I helped him up. Tom limped badly, favoring his right knee, and had the expected facial bruising and minor lacerations, but otherwise he didn’t appear to be seriously injured.

  Finally we went to get Sparks. I had saved him for last—mainly because I was afraid we might have to carry him, but also because I couldn’t bring myself to look in his eyes. Sparks lay in his bunk on his back, with his right arm hanging over the side and his left hand—wrapped in what looked like a bloody undershirt—resting on his chest. My breath caught when I saw him.

  I was sure he was dead, until I heard the slightest whimper coming from his direction. Then his eyes opened. The four of us rushed to his bunk to help him up.

  He was weak and unsteady on his feet
, but he could walk. I waved the others to follow me. True to his word, Drelx blinked the light panels one after another as we raced toward freedom—or rather stumbled, given Cap and Guido having to help Tom, and Sparks’ slow pace. There were still a lot of Stromvik between us and Shamu.

  The door leading from the brig was open. Where were the guards? I couldn’t believe there weren’t any around, but Drelx had seemingly diverted them somehow.

  I went ahead, to look around corners for approaching Stromvik. Mercifully there were none, whether due to divine intervention or the work of Drelx—and at the moment I couldn’t see much difference between the two.

  We followed Drelx’s guidance through several left and right turns until I was sure we were lost. Once, we heard guttural voices and heavy footsteps ahead and quickly retreated. After a tense minute we resumed our course. Finally we arrived at a lift just as it opened. I tensed, expecting Stromvik soldiers, but it must have been more of Drelx’s magic, because the lift was empty. We piled in and the door closed behind us. Immediately, the lift descended and I prayed that it wouldn’t let us out in the middle of the Stromvik barracks or on the bridge.

  Guido asked the question I’d been afraid to think about. “What do we do if the Stromvik have dismantled Shamu?”

  “We’ll worry about that when it happens. Keep moving,” Cap ordered.

  What else could we do? We certainly couldn’t go back, and in our condition it would have been insane to fight the Stromvik.

  When the lift door opened, we were in the hangar where Shamu and Pod 3 were stored, no more than thirty meters from where we stood. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, but we paused to take a good look before proceeding. After a moment, we started across the open expanse. I felt like a fly on a window, about to be swatted by an unseen giant. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.

  Those thirty meters felt like kilometers and lasted forever, as we slowly shuffled along. The muscles in my back tightened and spasmed, anticipating a sniper shot

  Finally, we neared Shamu. Tom started for Pod 3, until I stopped him. The others headed up the ramp into Shamu.

  “But we have to stow the pod in case we need it again,” Tom objected.

  “There’s no time. Besides, we’ll be recaptured again before we get far unless we distract the Stromvik somehow. I have other plans for the pod. You and Guido weren’t the only ones who tinkered with the pod while we were orbiting Tral. Now get inside with the others and tell them to get ready to lift off on a moment’s notice, but not to light the engine until I get inside. The noise will wake the dead inside this confined space and we don’t need to give them any advance warning. I’ll be right behind you. I only need a minute in the pod.”

  Tom looked doubtful, but he limped away and up the ramp. I ducked inside the pod. Seconds later I was back outside and running for the ramp.

  That was when our luck finally ran out. I heard a shout and looked to my right as a Stromvik raised his sidearm and pointed it at me. I dove and rolled, feeling the impact of my shoulder on the deck in every aching part of my body. My jaw felt as if someone had found a nice big cavity in a molar and shoved an ice pick into it.

  The Stromvik’s energy bolt passed through where my torso had been only an instant earlier. I dashed up the ramp and a second shot missed my right elbow by centimeters.

  “Get us out of here!” I shouted as I ducked through the hatch and slapped the intercom.

  The hatch sealed itself behind me, and instantly I heard the hum of the starflight drive coming online and the pop of the shield materializing. Shamu rocked as she rose slightly and rotated to align her prow with the closed hangar door.

  I ran to Engineering, arriving just as Tom fired the particle weapon, disintegrating the hangar door. I almost felt sorry for the Stromvik who’d fired at me. He undoubtedly got sucked out of the hanger with the departing air.

  “We have to get out of here fast, Cap!” I shouted over the intercom as I buckled myself in.

  “What do you think I’m doing?” he snapped. “We have to get far enough away from the Stromvik ship to use the starflight drive, and thrusters aren’t the fastest things in the world, as you well know! To make matters worse, the bridge is a mess. They’ve pulled apart a lot of the consoles and there’s fiber optic cabling spilling out all over the place. I can only hope everything’s operating correctly.”

  “Just hurry! We have to get past their shields before we get trapped inside.”

  “I’m working on it. See if you can create a diversion before they realize what’s going on.”

  “You got it, Cap!”

  Tom and I began firing Patty and Holly inside the hanger, strafing from one side to the other. Then as we exited through the wreckage of the hangar door, we raked the side of the ship at point-blank range. At this distance, and without shielding, the Stromvik ship’s hull plating melted like butter. We blasted great slashes and melted gaping holes in the ship’s hull as we exited. Gouts of flame and chunks of debris erupted behind us. It all took only seconds. We got perhaps half a klick from the ship before the Stromvik shields came online. An energy weapon took a shot at us, but missed.

  “They’re on to us, Cap!” I shouted. “Head toward their stern and let’s get out of here!”

  “Roger. We’re almost ready to go,” Cap replied. “Just a few more seconds….”

  “Damn it!” Sparks yelled a moment later. “They got us with their tractor beam again. We’re not going anywhere.”

  “It doesn’t matter now, Sparks.” I said.

  Our fate was tied to that of the Stromvik ship. “I strongly suggest that you put every drop of power we’ve got into the shield—now. Life support, everything. Everyone, grab something and hold tight. It’s going to be a very bumpy ride.”

  I sensed Sparks’ confusion all the way from the bridge. Tom, and Guido—who was sitting at Lori’s inoperative weapon station, gave me puzzled glances.

  “This might be a good time to pray. You’ve only got a few seconds, so make it snappy.”

  “What are you talking ab—?” Guido began.

  “The Stromvik are firing again!” Sparks shouted.

  Our console screens flashed, and the lights went out—both literally and figuratively.

  CHAPTER 28

  When I awoke, the lights were back on. My console screen showed no sign of the Stromvik ship—unless you count the many large fragments sailing off in every direction.

  “What the hell just happened?” Cap bellowed over the intercom.

  “Meet me in the Commons and I’ll explain,” I said. “There shouldn’t be any more danger from the Stromvik. Hell, there shouldn’t be any more Stromvik.”

  A few minutes later, we all gathered around the table.

  “I didn’t tell anyone about it at the time, but when I was browsing through the storehouse of knowledge “inside” the Seat of Power, I wasn’t only looking for ways to make Shamu’s starflight drive more efficient. I remembered what Drelx had said earlier about how the Hruk had used tesserene weapons against the Progenitors’ planets. When I designed the small starflight drive for the pod, I included the modifications necessary to enable it to be used as a bomb. It’s not all that hard to do, once you know how.”

  “You what?” Cap bellowed.

  I ignored the interruption. “Before we left the Stromvik ship I stopped at the pod and used the console to enter my password and the control code needed to force the explosion. Then I set the timer for five minutes. From that point on, the Stromviks’ fate was sealed.”

  “Jesus!” Guido looked rather pale. “You didn’t leave us a lot of time. Why didn’t you tell us we were carrying around a giant bomb?”

  “Well, I didn’t really think we’d ever have to use it. And I envisioned it more as a remotely piloted weapon, so we’d be well away from it when it blew. It was just there as a failsafe, and I was concerned that the rest of you would be uncomfortable with the idea. Besides, as long as no one entered the control
code—which no one knew but me—it was perfectly safe.”

  What I didn’t add was that I did almost tell them, once it became clear that we were about to be captured. But I held back, realizing that what they didn’t know, the Stromvik couldn’t torture out of them.

  Cap shouted, “You were damned well right we wouldn’t have been comfortable with the idea, mister!” Then he softened. “But I’m bloody well glad you did it.”

  “Same here,” Sparks said. “Those Stromvik bastards deserved it, although I don’t suppose they had much of a chance to suffer.” He clutched the hand with the bloody wrappings tighter to his chest, and winced. When I saw that, I cringed.

  “We were less than a kilometer from the ship when the bomb went off. Why are we still in one piece?” Guido asked.

  “Frankly I’m just as surprised,” I admitted. I stared off into space for a moment as I thought it through.

  “I guess we had several factors working in our favor. First of all, the amount of tesserene used in the pod’s drive was small. The size of the blast was probably less than a tenth of what it would have been had we set off Shamu’s drive instead.

  “Second, the Stromvik ship’s shields, ironically, would have contained the blast for the first few critical milliseconds, before the shield generators were vaporized.

  “Third, when we blew out the hangar door, we left an escape path for the blast, much like using a shaped explosive. Most of the energy was funneled out the door before the shields collapsed. That’s why I had us head toward the stern of the ship when we exited. Not only wouldn’t we be in the path of the blast from the hangar door, but I figured that, like human ships, the stern would have the heaviest hull plating around the engine.

  “Finally, Shamu’s enhanced shield, with no weapon’s fire to drain it, was back up to full strength. I don’t think her original shield could have withstood the explosion.”

  Cap nodded. “Makes sense.”