Ciaphas Cain: Choose Your Enemies

‘The Eternal Faith,’ Vekkman reminded her. ‘The starship the spirit stone you found was ostensibly being smuggled out-system on. I interviewed some of the dock workers who would have transhipped the cargo containers and they admitted that they occasionally diverted items from the smuggling ring you broke up at the behest of someone on the orbital. It seems that a few other spirit stones have already travelled the same route.’

‘To where?’ Amberley asked, her reservations about her fellow inquisitor apparently forgotten.180

‘They don’t know,’ Vekkman said. ‘But I have a name. And a rough description.’

‘A name’s good,’ Amberley said, a trifle grudgingly. ‘Maybe my savant can run it down.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ Vekkman agreed. ‘The suspect goes by the name of Vandire, like the notorious apostate – middle-aged in appearance, but he could have had juvenat treatment so I’d go back a century or so to be on the safe side. Well dressed, so either wealthy–’

‘Or working for someone who is,’ I said, making a run for the door as I spoke. ‘I think we’ve just found the traitor in the governor’s household.’

‘Really?’ Vekkman and Amberley spoke simultaneously, sounding equally taken aback; but there was no time to savour the probably unique moment of binaural Inquisitorial astonishment.

‘Fulcher’s major-domo is called Evander,’ I said, ‘and the description’s a match.’ I tapped my vox-bead again. ‘Jurgen. Keep an eye out for Evander. He might be the person we’re looking for.’

‘Very good, sir.’ My aide’s voice was as phlegmatic as ever, though perhaps a little more breathless than usual. ‘I suppose that would explain why he’s just tried to kill me.’

‘What?’ I flung the door open, and glanced up and down the opulent corridor, wondering which direction Jurgen’s unerring instinct for finding unattended provender would have taken him. ‘Where are you?’

‘Right here, sir,’ he responded, accurately but unhelpfully. Fortunately a burst of lasgun fire echoed down the passageway at that point, which settled the question to my satisfaction, and I broke into a sprint, drawing my chainsword and laspistol as I ran.

‘I’m on my way,’ I assured him.

‘So are we,’ Amberley said. ‘If the spirit stones are anywhere on the estate, Rakel should be able to find them.’

Which I supposed was good news, but not my highest priority at that point. The sound of something expensive breaking guided my footsteps round the bend into a side passage, where to my great relief I saw Jurgen, apparently unharmed, crouching behind an overturned settle, his lasgun levelled. The inert form of one of the liveried servants was sprawled across the carpet a few metres away, the intricate floral pattern of which would never be quite the same again, a laspistol still clutched in her twitching hand. Two more were taking what cover they could behind an occasional table181 and a display cabinet of what had presumably once been an exceptionally fine selection of ceramics before a lasgun burst reduced them to flinders, while Evander bobbed about behind the wall at the other end of the corridor, occasionally sticking his head out to see what was going on, before ducking back again like a startled sump rat at every loud noise.

‘Was it something you said?’ I asked as I joined my aide, and his brow furrowed in puzzlement.