Nemesis

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

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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’ banner were only days

away from breaking the back of any resistance.

Dagonet was already lost.

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’ 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’ 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?”

127

“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 offguard,

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…”

Spear frowned. “Yes. I knew you wouldn’t accept it. That was your role. There