Death to the Imperium (Imperium Cicernus) (23 page)

“I’ve
really left. You were right. By staying in the Navy, I would really have been
running away. I decided that running away would be the only way to… to not run
away. Does that make sense?”

Glitz
took her hand gently. “It makes sense. So… so this means that you
do
love
me?”

“I
love you.”

Feeling
a swell of passion mingled with pride, Glitz took Alyce in his arms and kissed
her. She yielded completely to his masculine grip, savouring the sensation. As
they kissed, he heard the sound of the door open, and two men stepped on to the
flight deck.

“Tekka?
Doland? What are you doing here?”

“Alyce
said we could come with you, if that’s OK with you,” Doland said. He grinned.
“I’ve gotten a bit of a taste for bravery, after what happened on the station.
I want to see if I can do anything else for the benefit of the Imperium.”

“Well,
great.” Glitz turned to Tekka, who looked back at him without emotion. He could
understand why Doland had chosen to stay, but Tekka…?

“Despite
my criminal record,” Tekka said, “I am sure that I would still be welcome in
the Mathematics department of any respectable University in the Imperium.
Without wishing to seem arrogant, my intellect is simply too great to be
ignored. However, I do not believe it possible to find full intellectual
fulfilment in such a role. If you allow me to come with you, I feel sure that I
will find a challenge suitable for my intelligence.”

Glitz
grinned. “Fair enough. I’d be glad for you to travel with us.”

Tekka
glanced at Doland out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t mentioned to Glitz
that he knew exactly which challenge he was interested in. He wanted to know
why Doland had managed to survive a dangerous, uncalibrated transmogrification
procedure, as well as a nuclear explosion.
He wanted to find out the secret
about Doland. Who was he? Somehow, he was sure that the man was important…

Alyce
smiled at Glitz, linking her arm around his. “So, where next?”

Glitz
stroked her hair. “I don’t know. It’s a big galaxy. I’m sure someone somewhere
is in need of our help. We can go anywhere. The market world of Vortus… the river
world of Lagoos… the Eye of Orion.” He smiled. “We could always go Strobe. I
heard there was a party going on there.”

Tekka
rolled his eyes.

“Not
unless you want to go,” Alyce said, grinning.

“Right.”
After requesting permission to leave the planet, Glitz turned his head to face
the hexagonal scanners. “Seraph, take us somewhere far away from here. Pick a
random destination.”

Glitz.>

Tekka
and Doland joined Alyce and Glitz on the sofa. The alien ship took off; they
passed through the planet’s atmosphere, and shot off towards the distant stars.
Alyce smiled at her new friends as they entered phase space, and snuggled up with
Glitz. For the first time in her life, Alyce didn’t have a clue where she was
going.

And
she couldn’t have been happier.