— So why do you need a more luxurious place to stay than mine if you won't even stay here?
— Because those low-born, empty creatures from the SCK shouldn't even think to behave with me as they please. — Samoh snapped at him. His voice was full of hatred for everything
that not only met, but could even meet on his path. — And you, Honorable Brother Priest Guzokh, should think about that….
After such a heated tirade, his breath cooled a little, he looked again at the panel with the image of the Black Stone and, without turning to his interlocutor, continued:
— How many heretics have you found here?
— Heretics? There's no working class here anymore. Only men work in the mine. The plagues of the imperial army are firm in their faith. And the CCC is already in your charge.
— No one, then… Okay, okay… Let's see how Neuroch likes it.
— Of course we will see… But still I will remind you, my dear brother. That we serve our faith, Zhah. — Guzokh smoothly pointed his hand at the panel. — And our most holy patriarch is but an elder brother.
Samoh stood and tried to sizzle him with a glare. But Guzokh went on:
— It is our sacred duty to strengthen the chums in the faith, not to punish them in vain. It is more profitable to bring back to the Church than to exterminate them. And all those who might stray in the sector of Crito I have firmly established in their faith. Except for the brothers of the CCC, who are beyond my control.
The last word was literally a counter-attack. He, who had just boasted of his courage, could now boldly take on a task with a result worthy of him, and, so to speak, set an example of "proper" work, if there was reason to do so. This made Samoh even more angry:
— You have thought it out well… Good… But you will see how to deal with them
"correctly"… And think very carefully, very carefully. How will you repeat these words when I find the heresy you've overlooked!
— If you find the heresy that I have overlooked, I will be eternally grateful to you, my dear friend… Of course, if it really is heresy and not someone's speculation.
Samoh left the cell, slamming the door. Then came his loud footsteps and a distant scolding at one of the guards.
This is how Guzoch once envisioned Nevroh. The one who would passionately fight the most hidden dangerous heresy in the BCC. Fiercely, openly and implacably. It would seem that this should now be a closed gestalt, but it was nothing of the sort. Neuroch has simply found a hothead and an executioner who will tear and thrash until he is sewn up like a rabid dog, legal or not. The CCC has many methods. And they are clearly more cunning at this point.
Since they have thought of an extraordinary step to hand over the entire Donetsk-Makeyevka group to the people in order to remove all opportunities for inquisition, they will not go backwards now for sure.
Still, it's very interesting to see who they've entrusted it all to. They call him Horus, and he is now the prefect of the seven sectors. I wouldn't think of making any agreements with him, but nobody ever thought of making agreements with the Hiwi. And now it's a force more powerful than the Imperial army. Things change, things change. And certainly, what needs to be changed is the patriarch with someone who is worthy and strong in his faith.
Bolotnikov
— Does anyone take this seriously at all? — Bolotnikov looked at Khmelnitsky, still quite calm. He was really uncomfortable at the thought that Ranierov had not been decimated, and that he and his penalty battalion were one step away from something more dangerous.
— Who cares about that? — Khmelnitsky replied, looking at a poster hanging on the wall with a skull in a beret, their new symbol for a punitive unit. It was pasted on so that the real emblem, the attacking falcon that had once been used to make the trident, was not visible underneath.
— Yeah, of course not. All I cared about was where the informant would be found. Who the informant would be found with. And who that informant will be is a tenth question… But still. Are you sure we got the right guy?
— Sergei, I don't know… All we have is our speculation and information from the Mountain. That Raniere's a jackal is already known to everyone. And the only thing that doesn't add up is his behavior, which doesn't fit the behavior of an informer, who should be quieter than water, lower than grass. But you know… It's quite possible that that was his tactic. He'd get caught, he'd be like, "am I stupid to put myself in harm's way?" So what we got from The Mountain is still out there.
And it looks like nothing's gonna change in the next three days…
The fact that there was an informer in Squad 14 had long been known to the top brass, but the rank and file were fully convinced that there were only friends around. And when Ranierov was sent to the brig, where he had been many times before for drunkenness, most of them had no questions about the reasons. But they did not keep him there longer than three days, and at the end of them it was necessary to decide whether to accuse him officially and tell everyone the truth in order to bring the case to execution, or to let him go as an innocent man, if there was not enough evidence of his guilt.
At the mention of the word "jackal" Bolotnikov immediately recalled his recent conversation with a man who bore the same name. The jackal from Khivi had said that soon Gora would have new mines at his disposal, which meant that his influence would grow disproportionately more than before. He'll be treated very differently. And it will lead to very different results. It is not clear when it will happen, and what the Mountain knows about it. And from this it may follow, whether he has not intentionally leaked to us the one whom we would be glad to kill ourselves, just to make it look the most credible. Like, I did you a favor, acted honestly and in proportion to my strength, so now you do something for me.
And what could the Mountain demand now? They were already doing nothing that would interfere with him in any way. Their sabotage operations were only directed against the plagues and their infrastructure. Though… Things were changing. If people began to set their own punishments and rewards, then the infrastructure must change eventually. And yet the Mountain is silent. He didn't say anything about the recent raids, and especially about the explosion on the outer communication lines, which temporarily stopped the transportation of coal by the shortest route.
Should the Mountain care about that or not?
— Vitya, I have my doubts…" Bolotnikov said. Such behind-the-scenes games were not for him at all, but it was already clear that if he did not participate in them, defeat was inevitable.
Khmelnitsky looked at him questioningly.
— Vitya… About Zubkov, we would never have thought he was such a rat….
Khmelnitsky wrinkled his face — and understandably so, it concerns him most of alclass="underline"
— No, we never would have thought–
— Gora leaked Ranierov to us. And the facts only point to him. There are no other candidates. No one who has family left at the mine. No one who would have run away in the last few years… At the same time, I know a few people who might fall into this category. I don't have the data he does, of course. But it doesn't add up. We've had a lot of people defect to us, and no one else has any living relatives left in the mine?
Khmelnitsky stood silent, unblinking. It was unclear whether he liked such words or not.
The major continued:
— Remember that girl. Maria. The one who escaped from the mine six months ago, and they asked us to find her. We didn't. That's what we told them. But that doesn't mean she's dead. And her father, by the way, is a deputy foreman… We have another candidate who escaped from the mine, leaving her family alive. I'm not saying anything about her, but Gora said clearly — he has no other options but Ranierov for the role of a snitch… How can you be so unambiguous?