Smith - The Mandate of Heaven

The Mandate of Heaven

By Mike Smith

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Cover image copyright 2016 Wei

Oconscience, into what abyss of fears and horrors have you drivenme!

- John Milton,Paradise Lost.

Table of Contents

Planet Osiris,Pegasus System, 2514

It was aperfectly clear night with not a cloud in the sky; light from thetwin moons illuminated every surface with their ethereal radiance.The light seemed to crystallise everything, making it glow with aghostly visage. All was perfectly still, frozen in time, content tobathe in that silvery glow against a backdrop of stars thatglittered like diamonds scattered across the heavens.

Thattranquillity was shattered only moments later by a shadow detachingitself from a wall and stealthily making its way through theextensive gardens. It drifted like a wraith, cloaked in darkness,silently drifting around exquisite rosebushes and flowerbeds.Frequently it stopped, as if waiting for some response, beforeresuming its soundless passage.

Earsstraining, listening for the tiniest whisper, Alex Grey silentlycursed to himself. How could it be such a beautifully clear night?A time for illicit lovers to be frolicking under the canap ofstars. Where were the tempestuous thunderclouds? The jagged boltsof lightning? The rolling echo of thunder? Wasnt that thetraditional weather associated with a person in the act ofcommitting a vile deed? He was sure that he had read it somewherebefore. After all, what greater act of evil was there than todeliberately take the life of another?

Murder.

The very wordsent a shudder through him, taking up residence in the pit of hisstomach, leaving nothing behind but a hollow void. Once again hequestioned his reasons for being there that night, but it was farfrom the first time he had committed such heinous crimes.

Atthirty-nine, a bastard from Deneb, having already spent a number ofyears in prison, he was in no rush to return there, but what otheroptions were open to him? Having spent most of his life in themilitary, serving High-Lord William Stanton, he had eventuallyachieved the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, a meteoric rise forsomeone who had started life so low. Even he would agree that hisfall from grace had been equally spectacular. Convicted, strippedof his rank, dishonourably discharged and then sentenced to manyyears incarceration for his crimes. Even that hadnt beenpunishment enough for his persecutors, condemning him to spend thereminder of his time in isolation and utter darkness, for themurder of two fellow convicts. They had thrown him into the deepestdarkest pit of Hades that they could find, confident that he wouldnever again see the light of day.

Now with alifetime of nothing but regrets, little prospects and a burningdesire to never return to that hell-hole that he had crawled outfrom, he had come to realise that he had nothing else to lose, andthis job would pay well, extremely well, being more than enough forhim to retire on.

At least hehad his gaolers to thank for one thing. Having spent years in pitchblack, his night vision was exceptional and he could see hissurroundings with perfect clarityincluding the guard that wassleepily continuing his rounds, oblivious to his presence.

Nothing everhappened on Osiris.

As the seatof-power for High-Lord Hadley and his scion, it was one of the moreheavily defended planets in the Imperium. Surrounded withsensor-nets and quantum entanglement scanners, nothing larger thana moderately sized speck of dust could approach undetected. If anyvessel with hostile intent did ever approach, the massive orbitingIon guns, interceptors and missiles, and beyond them theground-based laser batteries, would shatter any warship thousandsof kilometres distant, long before it could even become visible tothe impressive residence and pristine gardens, that comprisedHigh-Lord Hadleys bastion of power.

Past thegardens, the vista opened up and he could finally see his ultimatedestination which stood four storeys high and built of white stonein the classic style. A single central entrance on the first floordominated the faade and from this, twin-curving staircasesdescended to ground level. In a sea of gardens, hedgerows andlakes, the building was a citadel, standing tall, alone and totallyinaccessible.

The protectorsof High-Lord Hadley and his family had made the fatal mistake ofputting all their faith and trust in such distant defences,thinking it impossible that any ship existed that could slipthrough undetected. A ship very much like the one that hepossessedunique. The only one in existence, well at leastaccording to its one and only previous owner.

While Alex hadarrived unnoticed, he very much doubted that his exit was going tobe quite as easy. So he altered direction, following the path thatthe guard had walked, whilst slipping the fusion pistol from hisholster.

The pistol,like his ship, was extremely rare. Both cost more than he wouldearn in a hundred lifetimes and therefore highly coveted, assumingpeople knew that he possessed them. It went without saying that hehadnt purchased either of them as both were simply on loan to him.However, with their previous owners now deceased it was definitelya long term lease, most likely to last a lifetime, regardless ofhow many minutes, hours, days or years that might be countedin.

Alex caught upwith the guard just as he disappeared inside the residence, beingfortunate to slip through the door as it was still closing, withbarely inches to spare on either side. He assumed that generationsof the Hadley family were turning over in their graves at the easein which he had penetrated their residence.

As if somebodyhad simply left the door unlocked, awaiting his arrival.

Shaking hishead at the absurd idea, Alex made no sound as he sneaked acrossthe grand entrance, perfect planes of mosaic marble cooling beneathhis feet. Great shadows and dull gleams highlighted the magnificentpillars, balustrades and now dormant chandeliers, making the spaceappear like a jewelled cavern. High-Lord Hadleys ancestral homerivalled Olympus: grand, consummately styled and free from theremotest hint of decay. It put his own, far more modest estate toshame, but even then he would not exchange them, for somethingabout his own home soothed his tortured soul.

Darting pastthe pillars, he became lost in memories of long forgotten times;imagining hundreds of blazing lamps, the glitter of jewellery andcrystal-cut wine glasses. In the silence, he could easily rememberthe music of a Viennese waltz competing with the buzz of a hundredvoices gossiping and laughing.

A lifetime agosince hed last attended such a ball.

The occasionalrecollection of better times cured his frustration of constantlyskulking around dilapidated space-stations, averting his eyes tothe corruption and greed so clearly evident in the vice-dens thathe was now forced to frequent, whilst mumbling obedient niceties tofools that would gladly pay him well to fix their own recklessmistakes.

At the verylast minute, when it had become obvious that the guard hadntnoticed his stealthy approach, Alex slipped the pistol back intohis holster. One death tonight in this house was more than enough.The guard was a man, just like himself, getting paid to carry out ajob.