Frontios by Christopher H. Bidmead

Author:Christopher H. Bidmead
Format: mobi, epub

7

The Force Takes Hold

Brazen and his Orderlies methodically took up their positions in front of the colony-ship. They all understood that killing was to be avoided as far as possible. Brazen was concerned to demonstrate clearly to the Rets – and to his own men for that matter – that order was now restored.

‘Don’t hurry into it. Let them see who’s controlling the situation.’

At the sight of them the few Retrograde looters in the region of the colony-ship entrance began to back away.

Some dropped the food and supplies they had managed to gather and scuttled off in all directions; others took the opportunity of darting out from cover to collect what fell, and there were some savage scuffles for possession.

But as Brazen’s men advanced across the open space the last of the Retrogrades vanished. When they reached the ramp that led up to the entrance, Brazen signalled to his Orderlies to be cautious. At the door they halted, and heard an ominous whispering emanating from inside the ship.

Brazen made a sign to the others to stay back, and pushed the door open with his club. There was no one in sight, but the moment he stepped in through the doorway the whispering seemed louder, as if the thousand dead souls who had flown the flight from Earth had regained their tongues to speak of their terrible history.

And then in the miasma of sounds that might have been the wind in the corridors, Brazen focused on a noise that was specific and real; the creak of the door folding back against the wall. Someone was hiding behind it.

Brazen threw his weight against the door. The heavy metal plating slammed back against the wall, and a stifled cry came from behind it. Brazen raised his club, and let the door swing back from the wall. The looter clutching a crushed box of food in his arms was… Cockerill!

Brazen held his club threateningly against the man’s throat. ‘This is desertion, Cockerill. Anything to say about it?’

Cockerill stared back in defiance. ‘Let go of me. It’s all over now.’

‘For you, yes,’ snapped Brazen. Cockerill seemed unimpressed by these threats, even though the Orderlies were now surrounding him. ‘For Frontios,’ he said in a voice loud enough for them all to hear. ‘The leadership’s destroyed. Haven’t you heard? Plantagenet has been eaten by the earth.’

Brazen’s eyes narrowed. ‘Where did you glean this intelligence?’

‘Common knowledge,’ shrugged Cockerill.

‘Knowledge, Cockerill? You’re talking like a Retrograde.’

A smile twisted Cockerill’s lips, although the pressure of the cudgel on his throat was nearly choking him. ‘We’re all Rets now, Brazen.’

The whisper of Cockerill’s last phrase seemed to echo back from the depth of the propulsion chamber. Brazen lowered the cudgel and took the crushed box of loot. While he cursorily inspected it, rooting through the collection of bread cubes, sugar tablets and preserved meat packs, Cockerill’s insolent voice continued. ‘The planet’s doomed, Brazen. You all know it – except the ones who are too stupid to think for themselves.’

Brazen handed the box back to Cockerill.

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