Salvation's Reach

SIX Relativity

Aboard the Highness Ser Armaduke, only the ringing of ship bells marked the passage of time. There were no day or night shifts. Some vessels established a day/night cycle with their lighting systems, but this was evidently not Shipmaster Spika’s habit. The Armaduke ploughed onwards in a state of twilight gloom, the decks morose and half lit. There was some talk of power conservation and economies of reserve, but few could avoid the suspicion that the habitat conditions were deliberate. On some decks, power went out completely and inexplicably, for hours at a time. The heating and air circulation of certain compartments and sections ceased and then, after a while, resumed with a bronchial rattle of ducts and flues. The agreed belief was that the Armaduke’s grim conditions had nothing to do with Shipmaster Spika’s conservative approach to power consumption, and everything to do with mechanical decay and infirmity.

In the troop decks, the men and women of the company and its retinue gathered around lamps, or worked by wick-light. Most slept for many hours longer than necessary. Sensing a malaise, Hark initiated a program of fitness and training that involved free marches and squad runs around the outer perimeter of the main hold levels, a circuit of almost five kilometres.

Boredom and inactivity were the real dangers of warp travel. Confinement and idleness allowed minds to stagnate, allowed anxieties to fester. At one end of the scale there would be discontent and despair, and the scale moved up through spats and feuding, criminal activity and mutinous behaviour. Unhappy minds were also more easily preyed upon by the powers of the warp.

The confidential transit estimates at the point of departure suggested three to six days to Tavis Sun, for the fleet conjunction, and then another six to Salvation’s Reach. There was no reliable science. Some warp routes remained stable for centuries. Others vanished into hectic maelstroms overnight. All sorts of variables affected the journey time, both appreciated shipboard and external sidereal. One could travel for a month and arrive the day before one’s departure. One could set out for a three-day shift and never be seen again. If the bulk of the Armaduke’s rationed power was being diverted to turn the warp engine cogitators and assist the ship’s Navigator to track the beacon of the Astronomicon and ascertain the best possible route vector, then the passengers and crew of the Highness Ser Armaduke would be grateful enough.

Only the chiming of the ship’s bells marked the passage of time, but that was only the local time of the ship, a measurement of the turning of the clocks and horologs it took along with it into a hostile ocean outside time.

Nahum Ludd hurried through the quarter decks with the dockets and enlistment papers he’d finally managed to prepare for Meritous Chass. He’d hoped to have them done by the end of the first night shift aboard, but it was now well into the second day. There had been inspections to run, the settlement of the quartered troops, and the usual discrepancies between pharmacological supplies and other materiel signed aboard, and those actually physically present. Since before the long sojourn on Balhaut, but especially since, the regiment had a chronic problem with misplaced drugs. Ludd and Hark had worked closely with Dorden and Curth to curtail the losses, to little avail. There was always a grey market of procurement inside the Imperial Guard, and sometimes it was downright black. In the early days, Rawne had been ringleader for unofficial activity, but he had made a visible effort to keep his hands clean. Either he was a good liar, or others had usurped his criminal enterprises. Ludd had his eyes on a few people. Men always looked for power and control, and rank was one way of securing it. There were others. The trouble with the Tanith First was that they were loyal. They were loyal to the Throne and they were loyal to Gaunt, but that loyalty was ingrained, so they were almost perniciously loyal to each other. That meant they closed ranks and kept secrets. The underhand dealings that went on at the heart of every regiment were especially stealthy in the Ghosts.

Ludd was quite unsettled by the appearance of Chass. He’d said as much, privately, to Hark.

‘You’re threatened,’ Hark had said.

‘How do you figure that?’

‘Young man, young commissar, following in the master’s footsteps, Gaunt’s protégé,’ said Hark. ‘Then the actual son turns up.’

‘In this version of reality you describe, I see myself as Gaunt’s son?’ asked Ludd.

Hark nodded. ‘You even cut your hair the same way.’

‘I thought I was your protégé,’ said Ludd.

Hark had sniffed.

‘You wish. I’m one of a kind.’

‘This is just more of your systematic tormenting, to keep me on my toes, isn’t it?’ Ludd had asked.

‘If I told you that, it would have no beneficial effect whatsoever.’

Ludd wasn’t convinced. It was, perhaps, slightly true that he didn’t like the idea Gaunt might soon have a new favourite. But there was something else. Chass looked so much like Gaunt. Once you knew, it was painfully obvious. He was slender and gracefully slight by comparison, of course; just a boy, and a dainty, frail one at that, but Ludd recognised the likeness in him. If anything, Chass’s youthful features were even more refined. In inheritance from his mother’s side, perhaps. Gaunt was a well-made man. Chass, as an adult, would be more than just handsome.

It was the recognition that was difficult to deal with. Ludd saw Gaunt in Chass. It felt like he already knew him. It made him admire him, without even knowing him or wanting to. He responded to Chass, and he didn’t like it.

Ludd’s route took him down a grand companionway outside the Verghastite quarters, past the amusing spectacle of Mkoll presenting a double-headed eagle to the laughing Major Pasha. She was calling for her standard officer to take charge of the mascot, which flapped and clacked on Mkoll’s raised wrist. Women from the retinue, laden with tubs for the laundry, had stopped to watch and laugh.

An archway to Ludd’s left looked out over an assembly deck, a secondary hangar bay that could be brought into use by means of freight elevators from the primary excursion deck. It was the size of a parade ground. Out in the middle of it, he saw a single figure, training.

The figure was a blur. It was a close combat drill, executed using a bladed spear and a hovering practice remote.

He slowed and stopped. He watched. It was a genuinely terrifying display of speed, skill and aggression.

Though he had somewhere to be, Ludd took a deep breath and walked into the assembly space.

As he approached, the figure twisted and finally caught the drone, killing it with his spear’s blade. It fell to the deck. The warrior bent down, picked up the broken drone, and tossed it into a bucket where other smashed remotes had accumulated. He took up another one from a box beside the bucket, and prepared to arm and launch it.

‘What do you want?’ he asked. He hadn’t even looked at Ludd.

‘I want to know if I’m permitted a question.’

Brother Kater Holofurnace of the Iron Snakes turned to look at him. He had his massive spear in one paw and the drone in the other. Ludd felt fear in his bowels, in his gut, in his throat.

‘Commissar?’

‘Yes. Ludd.’

‘I do not care in any way about your name. You are a discipline officer?’

‘Yes.’

‘I will give you one answer,’ said Holofurnace. ‘Give me your question.’

‘There are three of you. Three lent to us for this mission. Why three different Chapters?’

‘That’s your question?’

‘It is.’

Holofurnace pursed his lips.

‘You are a discipline officer. You should know it is improper and unprofitable to interrupt a man when he is schooling for war,’ he said.

Ludd paused.

‘Is that your answer?’

‘It is.’

‘But–’

‘I never said my answer would match your question.’

Ludd opened his mouth, but didn’t know what else to say.

‘You can go away now,’ said Holofurnace.

Ludd turned. He heard the remote hum as it was launched. He heard the chop of the spear as it started to spin.

‘The truth is, I don’t want to know,’ said Elodie.

‘That’s not the truth at all,’ said Juniper. The amusing distraction of the eagle had finished. The women were moving on towards the laundry.

‘You’re helping us with the wash today, are you Elodie?’ asked Urlinta.

‘No. Why are you doing laundry?’ asked Elodie. ‘We’ve only been in shift a day.’

‘There’s always washing and mending to do,’ said Juniper.

‘You can tell she’s an officer’s woman, can’t you?’ laughed Urlinta.

‘As for this business,’ said Juniper, ‘you want to know about it.’

‘I thought he was a decent man,’ said Elodie.

‘That is generally the opinion held of your nice captain,’ said Juniper.

‘Then again,’ said Nilwen, ‘he’s a man. And he’s a lasman. They’ll stick it anywhere.’

‘Nilwen isn’t really helping,’ Juniper told Elodie. ‘So, he knows this woman, this officer? From Verghast, you say? So what?’

‘She’s very attractive,’ said Elodie.

‘Oh, case closed,’ said Urlinta.

‘Have you seen yourself?’ asked Nilwen.

‘He was going to ask me to marry him,’ said Elodie. ‘He had the papers. Then he didn’t. He didn’t the day she arrived. They’ve got a history, and it’s made him think twice.’

‘Sweetheart,’ said Urlinta, ‘if Daur was the sort who was going to drop you just like that the moment the next pair of tits–’

‘Officer tits,’ put in Nilwen.

‘–officer tits came along,’ Urlinta continued, ‘he would not have let you get bonded to come on a trip like this.’

‘Urlinta is right,’ said Juniper. ‘He wouldn’t have let you come along on an outing like this, not like this one, if he wasn’t serious. That would just be unforgivable.’

‘Unless,’ said Nilwen, ‘unless he’s a man. And a lasman. In which case being a heartless bastard is standard operating procedure.’

‘Nilwen–’ Juniper began.

‘I tell you, they will stick it anywhere.’

‘I’ll stick you anywhere,’ said Urlinta.

‘It’s not helping,’ Juniper said. ‘We all know Daur. He’s a fine man. One of the best. You can just tell.’

Elodie frowned.

‘I was sure of that,’ she said. ‘I’d never have left Balhaut if I’d felt differently. I’d never have chosen this life. No offence.’

‘None taken,’ said Nilwen. ‘None of us chose this life, did we ladies? It chose us.’

She and Urlinta cackled.

‘Stop fretting about it,’ Juniper said to Elodie. ‘You’ll give yourself frown lines, then he really will start looking elsewhere.’

‘I just want to know about this woman,’ said Elodie. ‘How well did he know her?’

‘Do you really want to know that?’ asked Urlinta.

‘Yes,’ said Elodie.

‘I wouldn’t want to,’ said Juniper. ‘She’s just a face from the past. You don’t want to start obsessing, El. Really, you don’t.’

‘Actually, we don’t mind,’ said Nilwen, ‘because we can gossip about it.’

‘I tell you what,’ said Juniper. ‘I’ve been getting to know some of the girls from the new intake’s retinue. The Vervunhivers. One of them might know something. I’ll ask around.’

Blenner stopped just outside Wilder’s quarters, took the pill bottle out of his pocket, and shook it. There weren’t many left. He was going to need more before long. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation with Dorden. The old doctor was bound to comment on the speed with which he had used the first supply. Well, screw him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t followed instructions. ‘One of these, every day, or when you feel agitated’. Well, he’d been agitated quite a lot. A hell of a lot.

Maybe he could deal with one of the orderlies, show them the label, get them to fill out a scrip. He could avoid Dorden’s awkward questions entirely. That ruled out the inker, then. Lesp, his name was. He’d already managed to piss him off. He couldn’t go looking for favours there. Blenner thought about Curth for a moment. The idea of her made him smile, but not in any useful I-can-help-you-get-more-pills way. He just had an unbidden mental image of the good doctor Ana with nothing but a bio-monitor and an encouraging bedside manner.

What about the freak, Kolding? Blenner didn’t like him, but the man was new. Maybe he would respond to persuasion.

‘Looking for me?’ asked Wilder.

Blenner turned, deftly pocketing the bottle.

‘I was about to knock.’

Wilder looked terrible. His eyes were hollow and he needed a shave.

‘Come in,’ he said.

They went into Wilder’s quarters. There was still the faint smell of the counterseptic Perday had used to scrub the floor.

‘How are you?’ asked Blenner.

‘What is this going to be?’ asked Wilder. ‘A formal reprimand? A quiet word?’

‘Let’s start with the latter, shall we?’ asked Blenner. ‘You made an arse of yourself last night. It could have been the end for you. It almost was. But you were covered.’

‘So that’s two I owe you?’ asked Wilder. ‘Is that what you’re saying?’

‘I gather Trooper Perday told you?’

Wilder nodded.

‘She told me what the two of you did.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ said Blenner.

Wilder sat down and rubbed his chin.

‘I know how this goes,’ he said. ‘You want to make sure I know how much I depend upon you. I’m your man. You can call in favours.’

‘Your experience of the Guard hasn’t been particularly positive, has it?’ Blenner said. ‘Does it occur to you that I might just be trying to make sure a decent officer doesn’t flush his career away? His career and his life?’

‘Really? I don’t believe you. Everyone’s got an ulterior motive.’

‘You really are a bitter man, Wilder. You think the worst of everybody.’

‘And I’m never disappointed.’ Wilder shrugged. ‘Look at me, commissar. This was my brother’s command. Now he’s dead, and my face doesn’t fit, and I’m a scum junior whose been a laughing stock since the moment he arrived because he brought a bloody band with him.’

‘I know what it’s like to be in someone’s shadow,’ said Blenner quietly. ‘For you, your late brother. For me, my schoolboy friend. Ibram Gaunt. In a way, Gaunt for both of us, then. Hard acts to follow.’

‘He’s surprisingly unpopular,’ said Wilder.

‘The men love him.’

‘Not all of them. Most, yes, but a few… a few malcontents, they loathe him. This isn’t one big happy family.’

‘Interesting,’ said Blenner. He sat down facing Wilder.

‘I’ll deny I said it if you tell him.’

‘I won’t tell him,’ said Blenner. ‘Look, you expect me to have an ulterior motive. Fine. I’ll have one. If it makes you feel better, Captain Wilder, I don’t care about your pathetic existence at all. I care about the fact that my commissarial remit… my career, right now… is focused on the Belladon in this regiment. And if I have to disgrace or execute their drunken bastard of an officer in the first week, I’m never going to win them over. Make sense?’

Wilder nodded.

‘They said you’d tried hard last night.’

‘Tried hard?’

‘To make a good impression. I spoke to a few of the men today. Commissars come in two flavours, the lasman’s best friend and the lasman’s worst enemy. It’s an odd fact, but in the long run, the rabble prefer the latter.’

Blenner took off his cap and finger-combed his hair. He glared at the deck.

‘They saw that’s what I was doing, did they?’

‘They’re lasmen, commissar. Not idiots. Besides, they liked you. They’ve heard all about Hark. Gaunt too. You sound infinitely preferable.’

Blenner looked at him.

‘So what’s the problem?’

‘In the end,’ said Wilder, ‘what they need is a bit of steel. When the shooting starts, they don’t want a friend. They want someone they can absolutely depend on. The shooting’s going to start soon, commissar. Who would you want at your side? The happy clown or the cold-hearted bastard?’

Blenner’s hands were shaking. He wanted to take a pill, but he didn’t want Wilder to see.

‘We could–’ he said, and faltered. He breathed deeply and tried again. ‘We could work together, captain. It seems to me we could both use a little support. A little mutual effort could clean your slate and strengthen my position.’

Wilder nodded.

‘We could try that. All right. Novobazky.’

‘What?’

‘Lucien had an excellent working relationship with his commissar,’ said Wilder, ‘Genadey Novobazky. They were together five years. The one before, Causkon, he was useless. But Novobazky was a real rabble rouser. He could talk, you understand me? Lucien used to write to me about him. The letters home. Novobazky could win a battle, he said, just by opening his damn mouth.’

‘What happened to him?’ asked Blenner.

‘Died on Ancreon Sextus with Lucien.’

‘So not every battle, then.’

‘Don’t be smart, commissar. Do yourself a favour and look up his service record. The text of his declarations.’

Blenner got up.

‘Get your house in order, captain. We’ll speak again.’

Wilder nodded. He didn’t get up.

‘I’ll take your advice,’ said Blenner at the door. ‘So take some from me. Forget about your brother.’

‘Really?’

‘This is the Emperor’s Imperial Guard, Wilder. It’s about a lot of things, but family isn’t one of them. Blood ties get in the way. They just get in the way. They are a weakness. Look at Gaunt and his son–’

‘His what?’

Blenner hesitated.

‘It’ll be known soon enough. His bastard child arrived the same time you did. Vervunhive aristo with his own lifeguard. It was a surprise to Gaunt, and he’s trying to treat it like it’s nothing, but it will affect him. Don’t let your brother do the same thing to you.’

‘I see.’

‘The Guard is the only family you ever need, captain. Blood relatives are just a complication.’

Wilder sat alone for a while after Blenner left. He drifted off in thought, and then realised Didi Gendler was standing in the cabin doorway, grinning at him.

‘You look a little the worse for wear,’ said Gendler.

Wilder got up. Gendler exclaimed in surprise as Wilder grabbed him by the tunic front, dragged him into the cabin and slammed the door. He smashed Gendler back against the bulkhead.

‘Are you out of your mind?’ Gendler stammered.

‘You bastards screwed with me! A friendly drink? I don’t even remember getting on board!’

‘I was under the impression you were a grown up, Captain Wilder,’ snapped Gendler. ‘It’s not our job to moderate your drinking. Blenner stop by to put you on a charge, did he?’

Wilder looked away and let go. Gendler straightened himself up.

‘You should thank us,’ said Gendler.

‘Why?’

‘You only got to your cabin because of us. When we realised how much you’d tucked away, Captain Meryn had me and Costin smuggle you aboard. We were looking out for you. You’d have been shot for disgracing the uniform otherwise.’

Wilder didn’t reply.

‘In fact, the captain sent me to check on you. He told me to give you this.’

Gendler held out a small glass bottle.

‘What is it?’

‘A cure-all. Knocks back the effects of a hangover. From the captain’s own supply.’

Wilder took it.

‘This is from regimental stores,’ he said, reading the label. ‘Medicae supplies.’

‘Don’t be naive, captain. If you know the right people, you can get anything you need.’

‘And who do you know, Gendler?’

‘The right people.’

Wilder looked at the bottle again, and then unstoppered it and drank it.

‘It’s good stuff,’ said Gendler. ‘Costin swears by it. He’s been functioning on it for years.’

‘I take it you and Captain Meryn are businessmen,’ said Wilder.

‘We provide unofficial services. Someone has to. There’s a demand. We’re good at it.’

‘It takes money. And organisation.’

‘We have both,’ said Gendler. ‘Like I said, we’re good at it. Time was, Rawne was the biggest noise in the shadow trade.’

‘The second officer?’

‘Right, you’ve met him?’

‘Not yet,’ said Wilder.

‘He’s rather more legitimate these days,’ said Gendler. ‘Legitimate and busy. Captain Meryn thought it was only fair and helpful to take some of the hard work off his plate.’

‘Why?’ asked Wilder.

‘Oh, don’t be dense,’ said Gendler. ‘There are winners and losers in any regiment. Rawne’s becoming a bit of a winner. And he’s always made sure Meryn lost out. Promotions. Advancements. Sometimes, you have to take charge of your own destiny. Meryn, me… you. We see a kindred spirit in you.’

‘Someone to join your losers club?’

Gendler laughed without smiling.

‘Thwarted men with ambition can do great things, Wilder. They can rise and make others fall. The privilege of rank, of opportunity. Failing either of those, the simple comfort of riches.’

‘Is this about getting on, or revenge?’ asked Wilder.

‘Why can’t it be about both?’ smiled Gendler.

Wilder was feeling better. The cure-all had certainly been effective. He laughed.

‘What do you and Meryn really want from me?’ he asked.

‘Cards on the table?’ asked Gendler. ‘All right. Friends help each other. And everyone’s got an angle. What’s your angle? The most useful commodity is protection. Any shield that will let us operate unseen. It’s early days, but you already seem to be on good terms with Blenner.’

‘So?’

‘He’s a soft touch. A soft touch commissar. The best protection a Guardsman could ever ask for.’

‘I don’t know him at all,’ said Wilder.

‘That’s not true. Besides, you could know him better. You could cultivate him. Find a weakness. Find his angle. Find leverage.’

‘Could I?’

‘It’s what friends do,’ said Gendler.

Wilder didn’t reply. Gendler shrugged and turned to leave.

‘I think he’s got a habit,’ said Wilder quietly.

‘What?’

‘Pills, I think. Anxiety is my guess. So, a narcotic.’

‘How do you know?’ asked Gendler, smiling.

‘I’ve seen the habit before. He had a bottle. Didn’t want me to see. Then he was twitchy. He wouldn’t have tried to hide it if it was on the level or something he wasn’t ashamed of.’

‘Interesting.’

‘Is it?’ asked Wilder. ‘It sounds like persecution to me. Is that the angle you were looking for? What will you do? Expose him? Control his supply and make him your puppet?’

‘He’s only useful if he stays in play,’ said Gendler. ‘We wouldn’t want to strangle his supply. We would want to increase it. Become the friends he can rely on.’

‘You’re a bastard, Gendler,’ said Wilder.

‘An effective bastard.’

‘You must feel right at home here,’ said Wilder, shaking his head. ‘Everyone’s a bastard, one way or another. Even the mighty Gaunt has a bastard of his own.’

Gendler stopped, his smile vanishing.

‘What did you just say?’ he asked.

The woman’s name was Galayda. She was one of a group of Verghast intake that Juniper stopped in the laundry halls. Everybody was perspiring from the warm damp air. There was a hard chemical stink of ultra-processed water and cleaning chemicals.

‘Ban Daur?’ Galayda said. She was from Hass West, Vervunhive, a hab girl who had lost everything in the war and ended up attached to a scratch company man called Herzog, who was a sergeant in Major Pasha’s brigade.

‘He was PDF,’ said Juniper.

‘I didn’t know any Hive Defence,’ said Galayda. ‘I fought for a while in the scratch company after I lost my ma and pa in the bombing. Gak, we all did. That’s where I met Herzog.’

‘But you put away the gun after the Zoican War?’

‘I’m no soldier. A scratch company isn’t soldiers. It’s desperate people. A soldier’s wife, though. That’s more me.’

She looked at Juniper. Her sleeves were rolled up and her arms were stained and sore with chemical soaps.

‘Sorry I can’t help your friend.’

‘No matter,’ said Juniper. ‘I’ll find someone who can.’

‘Stavik might know,’ said the woman next to them.

‘Yes, he might,’ said Galayda.

‘Stavik?’ asked Juniper.

‘He’s one of the squad leaders under Major Pasha,’ said Galayda. ‘I think he was Hive Defence.’

‘He was,’ said the other woman. ‘He was at the wall fort.’

‘Or you could always ask Zhukova,’ said Galayda.

‘As if,’ laughed Juniper.

‘Yes, you want to watch Zhukova,’ said the other woman, lifting another tub of sheets. ‘She’s awfully pretty, but she’s a hard-nosed bitch.’

‘Kolea,’ said Galayda. ‘He’s one of the regiment, isn’t he?’

‘Major Kolea?’ asked Juniper. ‘Yes, he’s the senior Verghastite officer.’

‘The scratch company hero,’ said the other woman. ‘They still talk about him in the hive, like they talk about Gaunt.’

‘You knew him?’ asked Juniper.

‘Only by reputation,’ said Galayda. ‘I think my Herzog might have met him a few times in the final days. But I knew his poor wife and her kids. Well, my ma and pa, they lived in the same hab block. I always thought that must have driven him on to be such a hero, losing his family. They died, didn’t they? Her and her kids. They died a few days before the bombing took my ma and pa.’

‘She died,’ said Juniper. ‘The children actually survived.’

‘They did?’ asked Galayda. She seemed genuinely amazed.

‘They’re with the company,’ said Juniper. ‘Captain Criid as she is now, she found them, looked after them. Adopted them, basically. It was only later we all found out that Kolea was their father.’

Galayda looked like she might cry.

‘Oh, it’s like a blessing from the Emperor,’ she exclaimed. ‘All this pain and sadness, and in the middle of it, a happy story! They both lived? I can’t believe it!’

‘I know them,’ smiled Juniper. ‘I look after the youngest sometimes. The boy is now a trooper himself.’

‘The eldest, you mean?’ asked Galayda.

‘The boy,’ said Juniper. ‘Dalin.’

‘They were both boys. Two boys,’ said Galayda.

‘No, a boy and girl,’ said Juniper.

‘I could have sworn they were both boys,’ said Galayda. ‘Oh well, isn’t a happy ending a lovely thing?’

‘I should never have come here,’ said Meritous Chass.

‘It’s your birthright,’ replied Maddalena.

They were on a walkway overlooking a holdspace reserved for drill. Chass was watching the men parade. The great banks of lamps around them kept fizzling and fading in and out.

‘I’m not really interested in that,’ he said. ‘This is dire. He doesn’t want me here.’

‘He’s just surprised, Meritous.’

‘I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this, Maddalena, I hate that name. One of those stupid family traditions. Felyx, or sir.’

The lifeguard shrugged.

‘He’s just surprised,’ she said. ‘He has a child. He didn’t know. He will need to process it.’

‘How long will that take? What if he processes it and decides he’s better off without me?’

‘You’re depressed.’

‘It’s hard not to be. Have you seen this rotting hulk? It’s falling apart. We’ll be lucky if the warp doesn’t claim our souls. And the Tanith, I mean, the real Tanith. I know they helped defend the hive, and our House owes them, but they’re like barbarian auxiliaries.’

‘That’s probably because they are barbarian auxiliaries,’ said Maddalena. She suddenly snapped alert, her hand close to her weapon.

‘Look,’ she said, ‘it’s Trooper Dalin.’

Dalin was approaching them along the walkway. He seemed nervous.

‘You know why Gaunt picked him, don’t you?’ whispered Maddalena.

‘No.’

‘He’s Kolea’s son. The son of the other great hero of Vervunhive.’

‘It’s all about image and reputation with these people, isn’t it?’ whispered Chass.

‘Commissar Ludd sent me,’ said Dalin. He looked like he was deciding whether to salute or not. He couldn’t look Chass in the eye. ‘The enlistment papers are ready. Then I need to get you some kit, then a billet. It makes sense to attach you to E Company with me. I’m the captain’s adjutant.’

‘Show me the way,’ said Chass.

Maddalena moved to follow him.

‘Stay here,’ Chass told her. ‘Just for now, let me do this by myself.’

‘Your mother charged me not to let you out of my sight.’

‘He’s on a shiftship in the warp,’ said Dalin. ‘Exactly where do you think he can go?’