Nemesis

The assassin learned quickly that the astropath was one of only a handful of its kind still alive in the Dagonet system. In the headlong melee of revolution, in the process of isolating itself from the galaxy and the Imperium, the planet had begun to rid itself of all lines of connection back to Terra – but some of the newly empowered nobles had thought otherwise and made sure that at least a few telepaths capable of interstellar sending were kept alive. This was one of them, cut off from all means of speaking to its kindred, locked up and isolated. It was starved of communication, and once it began to talk in its papery monotone, the astropath seemed unable to stop.

The psychic spoke of the state of the civil war. As the brief given by Captain-General Valdor had said, Dagonet was a keystone world in the politico-economic structure of the Taebian Sector, and if it fell fully under the shadow of the Warmaster, then it would mark the beginning of a domino effect, as planet after planet along the same trade axis followed suit. Every loyalist foothold in this sector of space would be in jeopardy. In the first moments of the insurrection, desperate signals had been sent to the Adeptus Astartes and the Imperial Navy; but these had gone unanswered.

Koyne took this in and said nothing. Both the ships of the admiralty and the Legions of the Emperor’s loyalist Astartes had battles of their own to fight, far from the Taebian Stars. They would not intervene. For all the fire and destruction the collapse of Dagonet and its sister worlds might cause, there were larger conflicts being addressed at this very moment; no crusade of heroes was coming to ride to the rescue. Then the astropath began to lay out the lines of the civil war as it had spread up until this point, and the Callidus thought back to something said aboard the Ultio on their way to Dagonet.

The civil war was a rout, and it was those who stood in the Emperor’s name who were dying. Across the planet, the forces that carried Horus’s banner were only days away from breaking the back of any resistance.

Dagonet was already lost.

9

Reeve Daig Segan. Through Sabrat’s memories, Spear recalled that the man was as dogged as he was dour, and for all his apparently slow aspect, he was troublingly perceptive.

‘Yosef?’ said the reeve, moving through the gloom with a torch in one hand and a gun in the other. ‘What is that stench? Yosef, Hyssos… Are you in here?’

Segan had followed them to Whyteleaf, despite the orders Sabrat had given, the persona unaware of Spear’s subtle guidance bubbling beneath the surface. In his thoughts, the murderer heard the dim resonance of Sabrat’s essence crying out to be heard. Impossibly, the persona was trying to defy him. It was fighting its own erasure.

Spear’s body, cloaked in Hyssos’s proxy flesh, trembled. The purge was a complicated, delicate task that required all of his concentration. He could not afford to deal with any interruption, not now, not when he was at so critical a juncture…

‘Hello?’ Segan was coming closer. At any moment, he would come across Spear’s carefully constructed crime scene. But it was too soon. Too soon!

Very clearly, Spear heard Sabrat laughing at him. With sudden annoyance, he punched himself in the head and the pain of the blow made the ghost of the voice fall silent. His cheek and the orbit of his right eye sagged as they tried to retain the shape of Hyssos’s imprint.

Spear got up and went to meet Segan as he approached. The other reeve’s torch caught him and he heard the man gasp in shock.

‘Hyssos? Where’s Yosef?’ Segan peered at him. ‘What’s wrong with your face?’

‘Nothing,’ said the operative’s voice. ‘Everything is fine.’

The reeve seemed doubtful. ‘Can you smell that? Like blood and shit and all kinds of–’ Segan’s torchlight illuminated part of the operative’s coat, still wet with vitae. ‘Are you hurt?’

Spear was close to him now. ‘I had a job for you,’ he said. ‘A part to play. Why did you come here when I told you to stay in the city?’

‘Yosef told me to stay, not you,’ Segan retorted, becoming wary. ‘I don’t follow your orders, even if everyone else jumps each time your damn baron coughs.’

‘But you should have stayed,’ Spear insisted. ‘Now I’ll have to rewrite the scenario.’

‘What are you on about?’ said the reeve.

‘Come and see.’ Spear lashed out and grabbed him by the collar. Caught off-guard, Segan stumbled and that was all the murderer needed to destroy his balance and throw him down the length of the room.

Segan slammed into the floor, his gun skittering away into the shadows, sliding to a halt at the edge of the blood pool; he reacted with a sharp yelp. ‘Throne!’ He saw Sabrat’s body and Spear felt a moment of victory as something perished inside the other man. A little bit of his will shrivelled to see his friend so violated. ‘Yosef…?’

‘He did it all,’ said Spear. ‘How terrible.’

Segan shot a venomous glare in his direction. ‘Liar! Never! Yosef Sabrat is a good man, he would never… never…’