The Interrogation of Salvor Lermentov by Chris Wraight

Author:Chris Wraight
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Inquisitor Crowl: ‘You are an honorable man, Salvor Lermentov. I regret to say it, but the galaxy spits on honorable men.’

FX - CLOCK TICKING

Salvor Lermentov: ‘You say these things… They sound like wisdom but they are lies.’

Inquisitor Crowl: ‘Oh, yes?’

Salvor Lermentov: ‘You are an actor, a good one, you have to be. You pretend not to be disgusted by what you serve but you are. Deep down, perhaps, you are even honorable too, just like me.’

Inquisitor Crowl: ‘Ah, so now you will try to convince me that we are cut from the same cloth, you and me. You will tell me that I am too good for the Inquisition, that its secrets have spoiled my soul.’

Salvor Lermentov: ‘You do the Militarum a disservice. We were never as ignorant as we were supposed to be. And you never asked me what I was trying to do back before your interrogator found us. No one ever asks, they just hunt us down.’

Inquisitor Crowl (angrily): ‘Tell me now then.’

Salvor Lermentov: ‘We were an army, a faithful army. We would have slit the High Lords throats if we’d been able to, but we would have fought for every other citizen of those hives. We were giving them hope. That was the dangerous thing. For the first time in living memory they were not informing on one another, stealing from one another, trying to kill their neighbor to claim med ration. Suppose you are right and we are losing this war. Now imagine this army raised from the masses. The ones who were always told the Emperor cares most for. Imagine if the billions living here could all be made into fighters. Among them half-starved and wretched, but strong and determined and full of belief. That was my vision. They were afraid when we started. They did not stay afraid. There was a thing of beauty to see them fighting in those tunnels and they died far better than they had ever lived.’

Inquisitor Crowl: ‘And you would have been their General?’

Salvor Lermentov: ‘They followed me.’

Inquisitor Crowl: ‘And you would be wise and uncorrupted and lead them into glory?’

Salvor Lermentov: ‘I never wanted glory.’

Inquisitor Crowl (angrily): ‘Yes, you did. You still do. It always starts this way. You all say the same things. (sarcastically) I know the dangers, Inquisitor, but I will conquer them. Others have fallen into temptation, but I will resist. Others may succumb to hubris, but I will remain pious. Give me power, just a little power and I will show you the truth of it. (seriously) There are entire worlds bled of life turning like tombstones in the void that are testament to what happens when those worlds earned the benefit of the doubt. List every name of infamy in the history of our species. Vangoridge, Vandire even Horus himself… And at the beginning of their story you will find a single soul pleading that I will be different. You still do not see the danger. You still do not see the crime.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.