On The Imperium’s Secret Service (Imperium Cicernus) Read Free Page B

complain.  Maybe she ought to offer to do anything he wanted, provided only that he left her sister alone.  But why would he even consider making such a bargain?
     
    Water splashed down over her as she joined her sister in the shower, using one of the sponges provided to scrub herself thoroughly.  Dirt and grime seemed to cascade off her body, revealing a handful of bruises from where the guards had beaten her before they tried to rape her.  Maybe Mai was right to think of Lord Fitzgerald as a kind of Prince Charming.  He’d saved them from being raped and he’d asked about their piloting licences, not about how good they might be in bed.  Maybe they’d find that he wasn't anything like as bad as Carlos. 
     
    Of course, that wouldn't be so difficult , she thought wryly.
     
    ***
    One hour later, wearing clothes that had been cleaned by the chambermaids, they took a taxi into the richest part of Dorado City.  Mariko had been entranced the first time she’d seen the city, but looking on it with vastly more cynical eyes she could see the gulf between rich and poor on the planet.  There were fancy shops and restaurants for the wealthy, while the poor had to use tiny shops and small eateries set up in various alleyways.  Hundreds of youths, mainly human males, wandered about aimlessly, deprived of anything productive to do with their time.  The few aliens in the city kept themselves to themselves.  If Edo, one of the more cosmopolitan planets in the Imperium, had been able to give birth to anti-alien riots, what would it be like on a poor planet that had little hope for the future?  Carlos’s father probably used aliens as an excuse for the planet’s poor economic performance.
     
    She frowned as she caught sight of a small convoy of vehicles passing through the town ahead of her.  Policemen surrounded it, keeping the crowds back and glaring about them at anyone who seemed likely to shout abuse or hurl things.  One of the local bosses, Mariko decided, moving from place to place with a police escort.  They clearly knew that their position was vulnerable; there was no reason why an uprising couldn't succeed in bringing down their government.  But then, why would they tolerate someone like Carlos?  They had to know that sheltering a rapist wouldn’t make them popular.
     
    But it isn't about popularity , she thought, wishing that she’d had that insight before they’d even landed on the planet.  It’s about power .
     
    The taxi stopped outside a mall and a uniformed man stepped forward, clearly hoping for a tip in exchange for helping them with their shopping.  Lord Fitzgerald dismissed him and led the way into the huge shopping mall, a building that seemed to be almost deserted.  Mariko couldn't understand how it was profitable; one look at the price for a new handbag almost made her faint.  Only the very wealthiest of the planet’s population could afford to buy coats imported from the Core Worlds, or bags made out of skinned animals from a dozen worlds across the galaxy.  The rest of the planet’s population would consider it nothing more than a mocking reminder of their own poverty.
     
    Lord Fitzgerald led them into a small private eatery and motioned for them to sit down.  A fawning waitress, wearing a uniform that exposed most of her breasts and thighs, passed them three menus, but Lord Fitzgerald merely ordered roast beef and dumplings.  Mariko blinked in surprise and then ordered for herself and Mai.  Roast beef was incredibly expensive on a planet that couldn't be bothered to establish a proper food production and distribution system.  The prices were enough to make her blanch.  They offered sushi, but back home they could have bought an entire swimming pool of fish for the same amount of cash.  She ordered anyway, wondering if Lord Fitzgerald would refuse to pay, yet he said nothing.  It was all petty cash to him.
     
    “So,” Lord Fitzgerald said, as soon as the waitress had