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Authors: Christopher Nuttall
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in front of them. “Lady Mary. Such a pleasure to see you again.”
Lady Mary smiled with what seemed to be genuine warmth. “Fitz,” she said. “It has been such a long time since you honoured my planet with your presence. My gamekeepers have already started driving the animals towards the hunting grounds for your entertainment.”
“That’s good to hear,” Fitz said, “but I also hoped to do some hunting as well as shooting.”
Lady Mary laughed, a spine-chilling sound. “You always were a funny one,” she said. “I’m afraid that some areas have been marked as unsafe, but the rest of the planet is open to you – for a small consideration, naturally.”
“Naturally,” Fitz echoed. “We’ll be down on the planet soon enough. I look forward to meeting you again.”
Lady Mary’s image vanished from the display. “She was sent out here as punishment for some misdeed,” Fitz said, answering the question before Mariko had a chance to ask. “I don’t know the details – I don’t know anyone who does. But she’s turned Tuff into a roaring success. All of the hunting set come here for the season and go away chattering about her hospitality.”
Mariko frowned. They’d spent four days practicing hunting and shooting in the holochamber and she’d decided that she didn't like it very much. She’d died so many times in the simulator that she rather suspected that she wouldn't last a day on the planet, where the local animals were tough and fond of eating humans. The statistics suggested that there were at least four deaths every season, all through some hunter underestimating the animal that he was hunting. And yet the hunting fraternity continued to flock to Tuff.
Harvard Tuff was one of the few names that almost everyone in the Imperium knew. He’d been a planetary engineer during the days of Emperor Montgomery, who had founded the modern Imperium five thousand years ago. Tuff had turned thousands of lifeless worlds into living space for humans, but his real dream had been to create something unique. Eventually, he’d found Tuff and started to reengineer the planet’s biosphere. It was now a rapidly shifting jungle that seemed to have taken on a life of its own.
He’d also created new species to inhabit his masterwork. Some of them had been drawn from Homeworld and remained largely familiar, others had been radically modified or simply created from various different animal species' DNA spliced together in a test tube and force-grown in a cloning vat. He’d crossed the line when he’d started splicing in human DNA to give the new creatures a form of intelligence, enough to convince a reluctant Emperor to order his arrest and incarceration. By then, it had been too late. Planet Tuff had become a nightmare of competing animals struggling for dominance. Naturally, the aristocracy had turned it into a safari park for themselves. The thrill of hunting near-intelligent creatures simply couldn't be beaten.
“We’re taking up standard orbit now,” Mariko said, pulling her attention back to the console. “Do you want to take one of our shuttles?”
“We might as well,” Fitz said. He seemed oddly unconcerned by the whole affair, even though he’d been the one rhapsodizing about the wonders of hunting trips. “Make sure you download a weather report and a safe zones map from OTC. There are some places on this planet we really don’t want to crash.”
Mariko nodded. “I’ll see to it,” she said. “We’ll pack the shuttle first.”
“Bring something you can wear to a formal ball,” Fitz said. “There’s always one held on the first night. It’s very tedious for those of us who like to escape High Society, but it is the only way for Mary to catch up on news from home.”
He shrugged and headed towards the hatch. “I’ll pack my own bag,” he added. “Just
Lady Mary smiled with what seemed to be genuine warmth. “Fitz,” she said. “It has been such a long time since you honoured my planet with your presence. My gamekeepers have already started driving the animals towards the hunting grounds for your entertainment.”
“That’s good to hear,” Fitz said, “but I also hoped to do some hunting as well as shooting.”
Lady Mary laughed, a spine-chilling sound. “You always were a funny one,” she said. “I’m afraid that some areas have been marked as unsafe, but the rest of the planet is open to you – for a small consideration, naturally.”
“Naturally,” Fitz echoed. “We’ll be down on the planet soon enough. I look forward to meeting you again.”
Lady Mary’s image vanished from the display. “She was sent out here as punishment for some misdeed,” Fitz said, answering the question before Mariko had a chance to ask. “I don’t know the details – I don’t know anyone who does. But she’s turned Tuff into a roaring success. All of the hunting set come here for the season and go away chattering about her hospitality.”
Mariko frowned. They’d spent four days practicing hunting and shooting in the holochamber and she’d decided that she didn't like it very much. She’d died so many times in the simulator that she rather suspected that she wouldn't last a day on the planet, where the local animals were tough and fond of eating humans. The statistics suggested that there were at least four deaths every season, all through some hunter underestimating the animal that he was hunting. And yet the hunting fraternity continued to flock to Tuff.
Harvard Tuff was one of the few names that almost everyone in the Imperium knew. He’d been a planetary engineer during the days of Emperor Montgomery, who had founded the modern Imperium five thousand years ago. Tuff had turned thousands of lifeless worlds into living space for humans, but his real dream had been to create something unique. Eventually, he’d found Tuff and started to reengineer the planet’s biosphere. It was now a rapidly shifting jungle that seemed to have taken on a life of its own.
He’d also created new species to inhabit his masterwork. Some of them had been drawn from Homeworld and remained largely familiar, others had been radically modified or simply created from various different animal species' DNA spliced together in a test tube and force-grown in a cloning vat. He’d crossed the line when he’d started splicing in human DNA to give the new creatures a form of intelligence, enough to convince a reluctant Emperor to order his arrest and incarceration. By then, it had been too late. Planet Tuff had become a nightmare of competing animals struggling for dominance. Naturally, the aristocracy had turned it into a safari park for themselves. The thrill of hunting near-intelligent creatures simply couldn't be beaten.
“We’re taking up standard orbit now,” Mariko said, pulling her attention back to the console. “Do you want to take one of our shuttles?”
“We might as well,” Fitz said. He seemed oddly unconcerned by the whole affair, even though he’d been the one rhapsodizing about the wonders of hunting trips. “Make sure you download a weather report and a safe zones map from OTC. There are some places on this planet we really don’t want to crash.”
Mariko nodded. “I’ll see to it,” she said. “We’ll pack the shuttle first.”
“Bring something you can wear to a formal ball,” Fitz said. “There’s always one held on the first night. It’s very tedious for those of us who like to escape High Society, but it is the only way for Mary to catch up on news from home.”
He shrugged and headed towards the hatch. “I’ll pack my own bag,” he added. “Just
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