The End And The Death, Volume III by Dan Abnett

Author:Dan Abnett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction: military
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2023-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

10:iii

The voice of stone

The woman steps in from the dingy grey courtyard through the cell door, looks around the gloomy cell block, and then steps back into the yard. She does this several times, fascinated.

Marshal Agathe watches her. The woman seems young to her, not much more than a girl, really. She’s dirty. Her black clothes are torn and caked in dust, and her dark hair is tangled and unkempt. She looks like some hapless urchin who’s been living in the bomb-wastes of Anterior for the past few weeks.

But despite her presentation, and her youth, there’s something about her manner. She has the bearing of command, and it’s more than just the heavy auramite seal she carries.

The woman turns around in the shadows of the cell block again, and then returns to the dismal grey air of the yard.

‘As you can see–’ Agathe begins.

‘A tear between material and immaterial,’ the woman says. ‘A splice. This courtyard lies within one realm, and that–’ She gestures at the cell door. ‘And that lies in another, adjacent.’

‘You don’t seem disturbed by this,’ Agathe remarks.

The woman looks at her.

‘I’ve encountered one before, marshal,’ she says. ‘More than one, in all likelihood. I’ve just never seen one so precisely delineated before. They are usually blurred and gradual. This is quite dramatically clean and sharp.’

‘Who did you say you were?’ Agathe asks.

‘Katerina Moriana,’ the woman replies. ‘I bear the authority of the Praetorian.’ There’s something odd about the way she says her name. Over-enunciated. It doesn’t feel like she is making an effort to ensure Agathe understands it. It feels more like she’s, what…? Getting used to it? Testing it out? Reminding herself?

Agathe’s had enough truck with names in the past few days. Mikhail and his men. People don’t seem to have enough names, or real ones. It’s a defence mechanism, and one she can appreciate.

Agathe glances aside as Mikhail walks into the yard from the lane beyond. Agathe can hear a sporadic chatter of small-arms fire from the drab, ramshackle streets of the alien city behind him.

‘Traitor Excertus,’ he reports. ‘I’ve got the approach streets and alleys covered, but their numbers are increasing. I’ll need more men.’

‘I’ve sent for them,’ Agathe replies.

‘Merudin,’ the woman says to Mikhail. ‘Merudin Twentieth Tactical. From the Lupercal’s own support companies.’

‘They’re what?’ Agathe asks.

The woman ignores her.

‘The Merudin are vicious and well trained, captain,’ she says to Mikhail. ‘But they are currently in disarray. Distressed and close to panic.’

‘Aren’t we all?’ Mikhail replies calmly.

‘Accurate marksmanship and thorough suppressive fire will keep them at bay.’

‘Good to know,’ Mikhail says.

‘For now, at least,’ the woman says. ‘Marshal?’

She turns and walks back into the cell block. Agathe glances at Mikhail.

‘Get to it,’ she says. He nods.

‘Grace of the Throne go with you,’ Agathe calls after him. She follows the woman inside.

The cell block is dark and quiet. The smell of the air, the temperature, even the air pressure, seem different. Agathe still can’t get used to the state-change of stepping through that doorway. The woman is already striding away down the dark stone hall.

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