And you can call me Thaddeus, Starn.’ Thaddeus placed the decanter back into the gold-plated hands of the servitor that glided silently over to him as he sat down on one of the couches. 'I imagine Kolgo places great value on you.'
'Indeed. I have been with him for twenty-three years.’ 'It sounds like we are both prisoners of a sort.’ 'There are worse things.’
Thaddeus sat up suddenly, as if in surprise. 'Starn... isn't the Starn clan related to House Jenassis?'
'We are a sub-clan.’ replied Starn. 'We are proud to be one of the constituent parts of House Jenassis. Few outsiders know much of our Houses, Thaddeus, you must be most learned.’
'I'm sorry, I didn't realise you counted House Jenassis as your patrons. You must all be mourning your patriarch.’
Starn nodded, looking mournfully into his amasec. 'Yes, a terrible thing. Chaos Marines, they say The Enemy, in House Jenassis itself. Many of us do not believe it, others know it must be true but cannot fully understand it.’
And you?'
This is a dark galaxy, Thaddeus. Terrible things do happen. The Emperor knows I have seen enough of them with Kolgo over the years.’
Thaddeus let the silence mature. The subtle mutations that accompanied the Navigator gene hid the fact that Iason Starn was more than eighty years old, and he had probably been in service since adolescence. How often had any non-Navigator talked to him like this? Let alone an inquisitor, someone with authority, even if he was very much subordinate to Lord Kolgo.
'Phrantis Jenassis was not the best of leaders.’ said Starn at last. 'But without him the House has no leadership at all. There will be another round of politics, and how we hate it. Some of us will die, inquisitor, though we are forbidden to admit it. Even Navigators have their factions.’
'So do inquisitors, Starn. But we are forbidden to mention it, too, so don't tell anyone.’
On cue, a servitor hovered up to Starn and refilled his glass. The beauty of amasec was that it didn't taste strong, but it was.
Starn was not a stupid man. He accepted the refilled glass almost resignedly, as if he had worked out what his part was to be and he was just going through the motions until it was over.
Thaddeus knew his role, too. 'If there was someone who knew who had killed Phrantis Jenassis -imagine that! Perhaps it was something slightly more complicated than a raiding force of Chaos Marines. It would almost be comforting to know that Phrantis wasn't just a random killing, wouldn't it?'
Starn took a deep swallow. 'I should have guessed this wasn't a social call. Why would a man of your station associate with me out of choice?'
'Why would a man of your quality associate with your master's prisoner? That's what I am, Iason, and you are well aware of it. You don't want to spend the rest of your life flirting with madness. Perhaps you were once content, but not any more. You find yourself dreaming of the life of a common citizen. You wish you could be something more than you are, because what you are is a piece of someone else's machine. Lord Kolgo considers you a part of this ship. Why shouldn't he? You've never claimed to be anything more. But if you could do something meaningful, something that would affect the whole of House Jenassis - that would be worth something far more.’
'I have heard... stories.' Iason Starn's eyes were suddenly alive, as if he were finally aware of himself. They formed an incongruous focus in his featureless face. 'Inquisitors can have a man skinned alive with a word. They can kill thousands, millions if they think they have to. It would be nothing for Lord Kolgo to have me killed if he thought I was betraying his trust.’
'It is too late for that, Iason. Kolgo has this place bugged, of course. He knows every word we have said. If he wants to have you liquidated he will have made the decision already, no matter what you do. You know I am right, Iason. And you should consider yourself fortunate - now you can make your decision without worrying about what Kolgo will do, because he will have made up his mind already.’
Starn was shaking, and almost unconsciously bolted the rest of the amasec to calm his nerves. 'I can see why you inquisitors are so feared.’
You should see Kolgo in full flow. He does the same thing to fellow inquisitors. Now, the choice.’
The choice.’
Thaddeus reached inside the plain clothes he had been given in the infirmary. He took out a small, folded letter. 'This document is in cipher, you need never know what it says. All I need is for you to make sure it is transmitted to the correct astropathic duct. Nothing more. I have no access to Kolgo's astropaths but you do. Kolgo will consider me a potential ally for the future and will let me get away with this, because crossing me now could come back to haunt him in the unlikely event I rise to a similar rank as he. He will not let me get away with a blatant abuse of his hospitality, however, since that would hardly be playing the game. So I must use you.
'Kolgo cannot get rid of you immediately since that would leave him in largely uninhabited space without a Navigator and his work within the warzone is too important for him to spend months marooned. Once he has returned to the fortress you will be surrounded by fellow Navigators and can doubtless organise some protection from other members of your House. This game is not without its risks, but you see how you have a relatively low-risk part to play'
Starn waved away the servitor that came to refill his glass once again. 'What a complicated game.’
Thaddeus smiled, genuinely this time. 'Politics, Iason. I'm just learning myself.'
The Navigator stood, smoothed down the flawless uniform of Clan Starn and took the letter from Thaddeus's hand. 'I am afraid, inquisitor, that my time is short. There are charts to be drawn up and courses to plot, you know how it is.'
'Of course, Navigator Starn. I wouldn't want to keep you from your work. The Emperor protects.’
That he does, inquisitor.’ Starn stepped onto the platform and disappeared back through the floor. If Thaddeus was lucky, he would soon be delivering Thaddeus's message which, if again he was lucky, would reach the Crescent Moon shortly.
Not only would his strikeforce be able to act on the information he had recovered from the cathedral, but it would also demonstrate to Kolgo that keeping Thaddeus a virtual prisoner on his yacht served very little purpose. Kolgo couldn't visit anything outrageous on Thaddeus - the Inquisitor Lord had only as much authority as his fellow inquisitors let him have and he needed lesser men to defer to him. Thaddeus could be one of those lesser men, which meant it wasn't in Kolgo's interests to have him imprisoned, killed, or anything else.
Thaddeus hated the idea that infighting and point-scoring should be as large a part of the inquisitor's world as fighting the Emperor's foes. But the game was there to be played, and if he had to play it to fulfil his vows, then play it he would.
And no matter what Kolgo wanted, Thaddeus had a critical advantage. He had Stratix Luminae. Very soon, he felt that little else would matter.
THE MESSAGE HAD been simple. There were two locations - the first was Stratix Luminae, a location which was absolutely not to be approached without Inquisitor Thaddeus himself. The second was Sep-tiam Torus, last recorded location of Adept Karlu Grien, which could be the last chance the strikeforce had to intercept the Soul Drinkers before Stratix Luminae, after which they might be lost forever.