Nemesis

‘That data is not available. The starship the Culexus used as their base of operations was to be piloted into a sun. So the orders said. I know this because my mentor was tasked with gathering this intelligence.’

‘And this Spear is the Black Pariah?’ Kell frowned. ‘Not dead, but in service to the Warmaster.’ He shook his head. ‘What have we been thrown into?’

‘But why is it here, on Dagonet?’ insisted Koyne. ‘To destroy Iota? To disrupt our plan against Horus?’

Soalm gave a shuddering breath. ‘Iota was just in the way. Like all the pilgrims and the refugees. Collateral damage. Spear wanted the book. The blood.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Kell took her arm and pulled her around. ‘Jenniker, what do you mean?’

She told them; and as he understood, Tariel went weak and slumped against the side of the hull, shaking his head. His mouth silently formed the words no, no, no, over and over again.

8

Koyne snorted. ‘The Emperor’s blood? That cannot be! This is madness… Horus’s assassin tears a page from some ancient tome and with that he can strike at the most powerful human being who ever lived? The very idea is ridiculous!’

‘He has what he wants now,’ Soalm went on. ‘Synchrony with the God-Emperor’s gene-marker. Spear is like a primed bomb, ready to detonate.’ She blinked back tears. ‘We have to stop him before he leaves the planet!’

‘You saw what Spear did to Iota,’ Kell looked towards the Callidus. ‘If this thing is a mirror for psychic might, can you imagine what would happen if he got through to Terra? If he came close enough to turn that power on the Emperor?’

‘A cataclysm…’ husked Tariel. ‘The same thing that happened to Iota, but multiplied a million times over. A collision of the most lethal psychic forces conceivable.’ The infocyte swallowed hard. ‘Throne’s sake… He might even… kill him.’

Koyne gave a sarcastic snort. ‘The Emperor of Mankind wounded by something so fantastic, so ephemeral? I can’t believe it is possible. Spear will be swatted away like an insect. This woman’s reason cannot be trusted! Her kind are governed by archaic spiritual fanaticism, not facts!’

‘The God-Emperor alone guides me…’ she insisted.

The Callidus stabbed a finger at the poisoner. ‘You see? She admits it! She’s part of a cult forbidden by the Council of Terra!’ Before anyone else could respond, the shade went on. ‘We have a mission here

! A target! Horus may have sent this Captain Sedirae to his death by design, or we may have tipped our hands by moving too soon, but it does not matter! The end result remains the same. Our mission is not yet ended.’

‘He will come down to Dagonet,’ said Tariel. ‘The Warmaster has no choice now. The punishment of this world must be seen to come from his hand.’

‘Exactly,’ insisted Koyne. ‘We have another chance to kill him. The only chance. A moment like this will never come again.’

Soalm painfully pushed herself to her feet. ‘You understand nothing about me, shapechanger, or what I believe!’ she snarled. ‘His divinity is absolute, and you delude yourself by your denial of it. Only He can save humanity from the darkness that gathers around us. We cannot fail Him!’ She lurched and fell against Kell, who caught her before she could stumble to the deck. ‘I cannot fail Him… Not again.’

Tariel spoke up. ‘If Soalm is right, if this is the Black Pariah and he has ingested a measure of Imperial blood… Spear will seek to flee this world and make space to Terra as quickly as possible. And if he has a ship that can get him to the warp, or worse, if Horus’s fleet is waiting for the assassin to come to them, there will be no way to stop him. Spear must be killed before he leaves Dagonet.’

‘Or we can trust in the Emperor and follow our orders,’ Koyne broke in. ‘You think him divine, Soalm? I may not agree, but I do believe he is strong enough to shrug off any attack. I believe that he will see this Spear coming and strike him from the sky.’ The Callidus’s boy-face twisted. ‘But Horus? The Warmaster is a serpent, rising for just one moment from his hiding place. We kill him here on this world and we end the threat he represents forever.’

‘Will it be that simple?’ Soalm snapped back. ‘A city full of people is being put to the sword out there because we killed a single Astartes. Do you think if the Warmaster dies, every rebel will fall to his knees and be crippled by grief? It will be anarchy! Destruction and chaos!’

‘I am mission commander,’ Kell’s voice cut through the air. ‘I have authority here.’ He glared at Soalm. ‘I will not be disobeyed again. The decision is mine alone.’

‘We can’t kill them both,’ said Tariel.

‘Get us airborne,’ said the Vindicare, reaching for his rifle.

9