Free Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus) by James McGovern

image on the main screen. They had left their orbit around
Mazaroth, and were now moving away from the Upsilon System. A black object was drifting
through space, beyond the reach of any large gravitational forces. There were
no signals coming from the ship, no signs of life.
    “Is
that… a ship?” Doland said.
    Tekka
nodded. “I have tried to scan it. The engines are inactive, and there seems to
be no power to most of the ship. I cannot make out any signs of life, but that
may be because they are well-shielded. The hull has clearly not been breached.”
    “How
long do you think it’s been here?” Glitz said, staring at the shape.
    “A
few weeks, perhaps. Maybe more.” Tekka sighed. “I imagine that a fault on the
ship led to the power loss. Without sufficient power, the occupants of that
craft can have no way to break free from their inertia.”
    Doland
tapped his finger on the main computer panel. “So what are you saying?”
    “I
am suggesting that we help the other ship. We can dock with the ship—wearing
oxygen suits, of course—and look for any survivors.”
    “And
why would we do that?” Doland said.
    “Because
they might have supplies to give us,” Glitz said. “You heard Tekka—we’re
running low on food and water. And… well… if they are dead… they won’t
be needing their provisions, will they?”
    “Precisely,”
Tekka said. He glanced at Doland. “You can remain on the ship. It is too
hazardous for all three of us to go.”
    Doland
nodded. He looked quite relieved that he wasn’t expected to go along.
    “How
are we going to dock?” Glitz asked. “If they are dead, they won’t be
able to authorise us. And even if they aren’t, we might find it hard to make
them trust us.”
    “I
am hoping that their ship is programmed to allow any Imperial vessel to dock in
the event of a crisis,” Tekka explained. “If so, we will have no issue. If not…
well, my neurochip should be able to get us aboard.”
    “Right,”
Glitz said. “Where are the oxygen suits?”
    They
left the flight deck and entered the floor. The dimensions of the ship seemed
almost identical to the one that had taken them to Malus, but the floor was not
filled with vidscreens and other diversions. It was bare and empty. They
discovered the spacesuits in a storage room down the corridor that led to the
officers’ lounge, along with oxygen packs. Glitz and Tekka climbed into the
suits and returned to the flight deck.
    “Ready?”
Glitz said.
    Tekka
picked up two laser weapons and handed one of them to Glitz. “These are ZK-99s,
standard Imperial blasters. They are not particularly easy to aim, but they can
easily deliver a lethal blow.”
    Glitz
examined the weapon. “Know a lot about guns, do you?”
    Tekka
simply nodded. He had been right about the boarding protocols; the ship granted
automatic boarding permission, and Tekka carefully aligned the docking ports.
Within minutes of docking, the two men had stepped aboard the other ship.
    “This
is creepy,” Glitz said, looking around. The interior of the ship was utterly
dark, and he couldn’t see anyone around. “Looks like it’s empty.”
    Tekka
used his neurochip to scan the ship’s atmosphere. The oxygen level was quite
low, but acceptable. Fortunately, the gravity was still normal, even thought
there was no power to the ship; it must have had a flywheel mechanism that kept
gravity for a while after a power loss. After a power failure, flywheels would
only continue to operate for a few weeks. That meant the ship couldn’t have
been powerless for very long…
    He
turned off his oxygen, removed his helmet, and gestured for Glitz to do the
same. Glitz removed the seal from his helmet, there was a small hiss, and he
screwed it off. The air on the ship smelled musty, and the only light was
coming from bioluminescent plants that were growing around the flight deck.
    “Let
me see if I can restore the power,” Tekka said. He stepped over to the control
panels,