What had Korvax found there that had interested Sarpedon so much? Thaddeus could only hope he got there in time to find out.
'Inquisitor?' came a polite voice from the door.
Thaddeus looked up to see Sister Aescarion in the doorway. Thaddeus's quarters on the Crescent Moon weren't spartan but were still towards the simpler side of what an inquisitor could become accustomed to - there was little more than a bed, his trunk, a couple of chests of clothes and belongings and his desk with its shelves of books above. The large viewport looking out onto space was one of the few obvious luxuries - hidden in the room were also a poison-sniffer servitor, an anti-transmission field generator and a small void safe in which Thaddeus could transport sensitive or potentially tainted items.
Aescarion wore the simple white robes of the Sisters - without her armour she seemed half the size, little more than an ageing woman with an unusually proud bearing. So puritanical was the aura she seemed to project that she made Thaddeus's rooms seem positively decadent.
'Sister.’ said Thaddeus. 'I hadn't expected you to leave the infirmary so soon.'
'I have had worse wounds that this.’ replied Aescarion, limping slightiy as she walked over to take a seat at Thaddeus's desk. That she chose to sit at all illustrated her discomfort, but she refused to show it otherwise. The bone was broken but there was little muscle loss. And I have learned to heal quickly.’
'I can imagine.’
'I wanted to speak with you, inquisitor. Something has been troubling me.’
'About Sarpedon? He is a Space Marine Chapter Master and a powerful psyker. There is no point in chastising yourself for not defeating him.’
'It is not that, inquisitor. I have lost in battle before, it is part of what makes us strong. It is just... he could have killed me, and he did not. The ways of the Enemy are many and strange and heretics might spare those who they think will suffer more from living than from a quick death - but he had no idea who I was. I was just another soldier in a city full of soldiers.’
'Do you believe he knew you were part of my strike-force? That he let you live to send a message to me?'
'Perhaps. I just think that Sarpedon is no normal enemy. The Guardsmen genuinely believed that the Soul Drinkers were Imperial Marines and fought alongside them, even against their fellow Guardsmen. I fought Brother Castus and Parmenides the Vile, inquisitor, I was at Saafir and the Scorpion Pass. I know many of the forms of the Enemy, but the Soul Drinkers are the subtlest yet. They are not just animals to be hunted. This pursuit could cost us more than just our lives.’
'Sister, you have done what I have not. You have seen the Soul Drinkers up close and you have fought with their leader. You must be at the forefront on Stratix Luminae. As always, you may be required to give up your life and you will very probably have to face Sarpedon again. Be honest with me, Sister - does this scare you?'
Aescarion smiled, a rare thing. 'I am terrified, inquisitor. The Enemy has always terrified me. It is through faith that I live with this fear. If I was not afraid, then what would there be to believe in? I know the Emperor is with me because without Him I would be paralysed with fear. But with him, I can fight the Enemy in spite of it.’
Very enlightened, Sister.’
'It took me most of my life to understand, inquisitor. And it has not been a short life.’
Thaddeus reached down and adjusted the holo-servitor's controls. The image flickered and changed to an old Mechanicus file. Once he had known the name of Stratix Luminae he had been able to find some rudimentary information on the place, and the newest layouts dated from a few months after the Soul Drinkers had driven off the eldar there. The surface building was a simple one-storey entrance to the lower levels. Hastily-improved defences ringed the outpost entrance, consisting mostly of plasticrete blocks placed on the frozen, broken earth.
'The entrance is just one floor, probably no more than security station.’ said Thaddeus. 'Assuming the installation is on Standard Template Construct lines there will be at least two levels below the surface. Probably a laboratory level, maybe containment on the lowest floor where it's easiest to isolate. Apart from that we know nothing, except that somewhere in there is an objective that Sarpedon considers important enough to risk the life of his whole Chapter.' 'Unless we get there first.’ said Aescarion. 'We may not have that luxury. The Soul Drinkers have a head-start and they know what they are looking for.'
'I and my Sisters are ready. I know that Colonel Vinn and the storm troopers would say the same. I have just one question, inquisitor.' 'Ask, Sister.’
'Stratix Luminae is evidently deserted. Do you know why it was closed down?'
Thaddeus shrugged. 'No, Sister, I don't. Aside from these final schematics Stratix Luminae'will cease to exist as soon as the Soul Drinkers turn up. I have noticed they seem to have that effect.’ Thaddeus picked up the decanter that stood on a side table. 'I would offer you a glass of devilberry liqueur, Sister, but I would imagine you abstain.’
The human form is the form of the Emperor and to poison it willingly is a sin.’ said Aescarion.
'We are all sinners, Sister.’ replied Thaddeus, pouring himself a measure.
Aescarion stood, smoothing out her simple robes. 'There are some things that it is pointless to lecture on.’ she said. 'Many are the times I have extolled the virtues of abstinence to the laity. Few are the times I have been listened to. In this case it is enough that I follow my vows myself.’
'I am glad I do not offend your sensibilities.’
"You know as well as I do there are far graver sins you could sink to. Now, I should minister to my Sisters, I have not led their prayers for several days.’
'Say a few words for me, Sister. We must all prepare as best we can.’
Thaddeus watched Aescarion leave, seeing for the first time not a warrior but an old woman who had seen rather too much of the universe.
He switched the holo-servitor back to Korvax's pict-recording, reviewing for the hundredth time the same file that had perhaps sent Sarpedon deep into the warzone. As it had done every time before, the file cut out just before Korvax entered the installation, but the original file must have shown the inside of the installation and the work the Adeptus Mechanicus had done there. Whatever it was, Stratix Luminae had been closed down soon afterwards and of the two known surviving staff members one had gone insane and the other had been relocated to an outpost almost hidden beneath a hive city.
Thaddeus switched off the holo. He knew as much about Stratix Luminae as anyone could now. He poured the liqueur back into the decanter and headed up to the bridge.
It would only be a few more days before the Crescent Moon reached the Stratix system, but in the back of his mind Thaddeus knew every intervening moment was wasted.
THE SPACE AROUND Stratix was diseased. A miasma of pestilence hung in the space between planets, like an almost imperceptible gauze turning the distant stars sickly colours and colouring the worlds of the Stratix system strange hues of decay. Stratix's sun was paler, and anyone who looked at it through the right filters would see sunspots, like black scabs, festering on its surface. So strong was Teturact's influence that it had even infected the star that shone on his homeworld.