Chapter 11
It was sometime later, after our ship had translated into the warp, that I was sitting in the lounge reserved for the operatives and me. All the rest of my friends and crew was in the room as well, although no one delt much like talking. Spirits were low and occasionally, someone would look up and around, almost as if expecting Liliy to come bursting into the room and say something which would cheer everyone up. While it was true that we found her youth and exuberance to be annoying at times, she was still one of us and a dear friend to all. She always had some quip or quote to bring a smile to a person's face when they were feeling down. I'm still not sure whether she did this on purpose, or if it was accidental and just a byproduct of her youth.
It seemed like Liliy's death had brought home the truth of what we were now engaged in. At first, meeting the man and listening to his story, it was strange. To find out the truth about The Emperor, about his scheming and machinations behind the scenes, it was painful to listen to, but easy to accept once the proof was provided. And to listen to his true reason for contacting me, about the mission he had which would save Mankind, I almost felt a sort of perverse joy in that. A part of me was smugly happy at being able to break away like this, to secretly plot behind the back of the Inquisition. I almost felt like a little girl with a secret club.
Now though, this whole experience with Quintessa and the attack on our home brought everything crashing down. I no longer felt smug or happy about this. I was questioning whether I had made the correct choice. A colleague, someone I almost considered a friend, had died on my order. An entire Navy frigate was gone with its crew. And one of my own, someone I did consider a friend, perhaps even a daughter of sorts, was dead. Dead because I had made a choice to help someone.
As I looked around, I could not help but wonder who in this room was here because they wanted to be, and who was with my simply out of loyalty. I know I had offered everyone a choice, but they were each loyal to me and might have chosen to stay because of that. I was still lost in my thoughts when I felt a hand land on my shoulder. I looked up to see Trelli standing behind the chair I was sitting in. He had a sad smile on his face as he looked down at me.
"Don't do that," he said, his voice steady and even.
I gave him a puzzled look. "Do what?"
"Blame yourself."
"I'm not…" I started to say.
"Yes, you are," he cut me off. "I can tell you are." I gave him another puzzled look, but before I could ask the question, he answered it. "Arianna, I have been by your side for far longer that I would care to admit. I have crawled through mud, blood, and shit piles higher than my eyebrows and fought in some of the nastiest hellholes imaginable. In that time, I would like to think that I have gotten to know you pretty well. I can tell what you are thinking, and I'm telling you to not do it."
I pondered on what he had said. It was true that he had been with me the longest out of everyone, and in that time we had done some unimaginable things together. We had gotten to know each other very well, to know things about each other that no one else knows. It was true also that he was probably able to tell what I was thinking right about now.
"I can't help it," I told him. "I worry that I did the wrong thing by agreeing to help the man. I worry that I'm dragging you and everyone else into this mess with me. I worry that I caused Liliy's death." I opened myself up to Trelli then, something that I had almost never done. As an Inquisitor, I was used to keeping my emotions close to my chest, lest they be used against me somehow. Opening up to someone was a foreign concept, one that I had never done before. Yet here and now, it seemed appropriate to me. I felt as if I could trust Trelli, after everything we had been through.
He lifted his hand off of my shoulder and came around the chair. He grabbed another chair and dragged it over to sit across from me. He sat down with a smile on his face, one that was no longer sad looking. "You know, I can remember a night not so long ago when you and I talked about this very same thing, although I remember it being the other way around."
I thought back to that night, when Trelli had fallen asleep in my cabin. The memory was enough to bring a sliver of a smile to my face. "Ah," Trelli said. "There we go, a smile. It's tiny, but I'll take it."
My smile widened a bit at his words. "Now then, about what you asked," he said. "Did you make the right decision? I've said it before and I will say it again, I don't know. No one in this room knows. But we have chosen our path, and now, for better or worse, we must stick with it. We are committed to seeing this through. You must have known from the beginning that something like this could happen, that we could be found out by someone and would have to defend ourselves. You must have known that people would die over this. If we chose not to follow the man and he ended up being correct, then many people would die, perhaps all of humanity. Yet we chose to follow him and see what lay beyond. Hopefully, history will prove us to be correct."
He paused his speech to reach out and grab my hand, holding it in his. His large hand completely engulfed mine, yet there was a gentleness behind it. "Now I can only speak for myself, but I believe that I'm right when I say that each of us here joined you of our own accord. We each knew the risks and decided to take them anyway. We are all here by choice, not because you are dragging us along. Trust me on that one. If one of us did not want to be here, we would have taken the first transport away from Hollow."
His face lost its smile then. "As for Liliy, she knew the risks as well. I know that we thought she was a coward, but it seems we were wrong. She sacrificed herself to give us the opportunity to escape and continue with the plan. I say then that we not let her sacrifice be in vain. If you give up now, then Liliy died for nothing."
His face lit up then. "I've got an idea, be right back." He dropped my hand then and stood up, almost running down the hall leading to our rooms. I was curious what he was up to, but decided that following him would be more effort than it was worth.
Fortunately, I did not have to wait long before he came back, carrying a bottle tucked under one arm and some glasses in his hands. He came into the room and set the glasses down in a circle before delicately holding the bottle. His rapid exit and entrance had been enough to grab the attention of the others, who made their way over, curious as to what he was planning.
The bottle was a large one, with a label on it that I could not see. It was filled with a brown liquid. Carefully Trelli held the bottle, looking at the label. Hecuter seemed to have an idea of what it was because he gasped. "Surely that's not…" he trailed off.
"You're damn right it is," Trelli said proudly. He turned the bottle so we could all see the label. I could not help but let out a small gasp myself. The bottle was filled with amasec, not that big of a surprise. What was surprising was that it was a bottle of amasec from the agri-world of Sirenia, considered to be the foremost producer of the beverage in the galaxy. Sirenia amasec, even the basic variety, was highly sought after and prized. What Trelli was holding was a fifty year old bottle of the finest amasec in the galaxy, high quality Sirenia amasec.
"Sweet Emperor," I exclaimed. "Where did you get that? And where have you been keeping it?"
Trelli smiled. "You remember that raid we did a long time ago on that pirate base in the asteroid field outside Perlesque?" I nodded my head. "Well, while I was searching the captain's room, I might have stumbled across this bottle here, which might then have subsequently vanished and never logged as evidence."
I shook my head. That raid had been a chaotic one. We were supposed to have the element of surprise, but the pirates had been tipped off and by the time we got there, their entire fleet was waiting for us. Our assault on the actual asteroid base was a hard fought slog. I was not sure when Trelli had the time to search the captain's room, much less smuggle that bottle out.
"As for where I've been keeping it, well let's just say that I keep this thing better than I do my explosives, and you know how much I love those." I smiled at him, a genuine one this time. I did know how much he loved explosives. Yet that bottle in his hand was worth a king's ransom.
As we all watched in various states ranging from amusement to horror, Trelli used his thumb to break the seal on the bottle and open it up. He moved the bottle under his nose and inhaled. "Ah," he exclaimed. "Now that is a good bottle."
He poured a small amount of the drink in each glass, and set the bottle on the table in the middle of the circle. He gestured for each of us to pick up a glass. I looked down and sure enough, he had brought just enough glasses for each person, plus one extra. I picked up the glass set in front of me and held it.
As soon as everyone, even Xandria, held a glass, Trelli spoke again. "To Liliy," he intoned, raising the glass. "May she never be forgotten." I repeated his words, raising my glass high. I could hear the others around me saying the same. As one then, we each drank from our glass, even Xandria, who I was certain that until then she had never drank alcohol before. Yet now she swallowed her drink with everyone else, although the look on her face made me think she would never be drinking amasec again.
As the warm liquid ran down my throat, I savored the taste. I had never had amasec this good before. The drink was like a fire in my throat, and the taste was beyond comparison. When my glass was empty, I set it down on the table with a thunk. There were other thunks as everyone else set theirs down. Within moments, all the glasses were back on the table and only one of them still had liquid in it, the one set aside for Liliy.
The room was silent again, but unlike previously, this was not a silence filled with sorrow or regret. Instead, it was a silence filled with a sense of contentment. It was as if for each of us, simply paying tribute to Liliy made her passing easier to handle.
Trelli refilled each of the glasses and again we raised them. There was an awkward moment as no one knew what to toast to next. Then a voice spoke up. "To the future."
I looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. I could see the others looking as well, confusion on their faces. No one recognized the voice. Suddenly, inspiration hit me and I turned, to stare open-mouthed at Xandria. She had removed her hood in order to drink, and while her face betrayed no emotion, she was the only explanation I could think of for the mysterious voice.
Xandria raised her glass again, the movement bringing attention to her. "To the future," she said. At that point my mouth was not the only one open.
"Xandria…" I said, unsure of what to think. For decades, she had been with me and my team. And in that time I had never heard her speak, not once. Not even a sound the times she had been injured. I knew why of course, because she had taken on a personal quest when she left her cult, and was forbidden from speaking until she had completed her quest. Yet now, for the first time, I heard her speak.
Confusion was written across the faces of everyone in the room, except Xandria. Yet when she jiggled her glass, we all managed to recover enough to mumble out something and drink.
After setting down our glasses, we all went right back to staring at Xandria. Her face still betrayed no emotion though. Of course it was Hecuter who broke the silence. "You can speak?" he asked, earning him a sharp look from Aki, which he ignored.
Xandria nodded her head. "Yes, I have completed my quest."
"What was your quest?" Mordecai asked. I could tell he wanted to know so he could write it down. I knew he was keeping notes on all of us, about ourselves and the things we did.
"To make a friend, then lose it."
Her voice, which was soft and light, spoke the answer. When no further explanation was forthcoming, I was quite prepared to let the matter drop. It was a hard time for all of us and I did not want to make matters worse by hounding Xandria so soon. Yet others did not share my thoughts.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Mordecai.
I glared at the old man, who seemed thoroughly nonplussed by it. "Growing up, we have no friends. Emotion is beaten and bled out of you. We are taught that those around us are either to die for us, or we for them. Getting to know someone is pointless. Yet I saw people in the galaxy on training missions, people who had others around them who were happy with each other. I did not believe the leaders when they said those things. When I left to go to you, I resolved to make a friend, at least one, before I came back, to find happiness. Yet because of the way I was raised, I also resolved that I would have to lose at least one friend as well, because you can never truly know something until you have lost it. In the passing of Liliy, my quest is complete."
Her explanation caught us all off guard. I knew more than most people about how Death Cults work, but even I did not know what their training was like. I knew it had to be harsh and brutal, and that most trainees never survived it, but just those few sentences gave more insight into the way of life of a death cultist than any text or report. I considered asking her about her early life, and the training, but decided not to.
Mordecai looked ready to ask more questions, but I cut him off with a warning look. "I'm glad that you made a friend Xandria," I said. "And we are all saddened to see her go." Xandria nodded at me. Then something else occurred to me. When a death cultist fulfills their quest, they are bound to return to their home and remain there, as new leaders and teachers of the next generation. "So does this mean that you are leaving us now?" I asked her.
For perhaps the first time ever, Xandria showed an emotion. She smiled. "No. I know that my suty tells me that I should leave you at our next port, but I cannot. What we have started here is something that I could never leave." She paused for a moment. "Besides, I could never leave my friends to go off without me."
Her statement hung in the air a moment, suspended between everyone. It was Aki who grasped its meaning first. "So does this mean…?"
"Yes," Xandria said. "I have made more than one friend."
That brought smiles to the faces of everyone in the room. We all looked at each other, secure in the knowledge that we were together until the end, through thick and thin and whatever may be ahead of us.
Trelli grabbed the bottle of amasec and poured a healthy measure into each empty glass. "This calls for another toast then," he said, grinning like a fool.
Everyone grabbed their glass again and raised it up. "To friendship, may we ever have it as our constant companion," I said.
Together we drank from the glasses, even Xandria. Looking down, the amasec bottle was still half full. I set my glass down once more and spoke to the group. "We have chosen a difficult path, one that we must tread lightly upon. Yet now we are committed to our path, whatever it may bring us. One of our own has fallen, never to get up. Yet still we must carry on. Tonight is for remembrance, but tomorrow is a new day where we shall stride onwards and confront the future head on, weapons drawn and telling it to give us its worst. We will overcome whatever happens, and we will be stronger for it."
The mood in the room had been lifted, and I knew that despite the recent tragedy, we were each ready to face what came next. I looked each of my crew, my friends, in the eye, one at a time. "Tonight, we remember. I expect each of you to be at dinner exactly on time. And Trelli, bring the rest of that bottle with you."
His eyes lit up with a twinkle. "Yes ma'am," he said, giving a mocking salute.
I nodded and turned around to leave. "Where are you going Arianna?" asked Aki.
I turned my head, looking over my shoulder. "I said that tonight is for remembering and tomorrow is a new day, so I go to inform the Captain of why we were attacked, and what is to come."
The diminutive woman nodded her head in understanding. "We will see you at dinner then."
I nodded and turned to leave, walking out of the lounge and back through the hallways and stairways to the bridge, where I knew I would find Decem. I moved much quicker than I had several hours before, when right after the battle I had been depressed and lost in my thoughts. I was not looking forward to what was coming, Decem was a staunchly loyal man who might have trouble going along with my plan. Yet I had promised him an explanation, and I kept my promises.
I found the man right where I expected him to be, in his cabin just off the bridge. I knocked on the door and received a gruff "Come in," in response. I opened the door to find the old Navy man seated in a chair behind his desk, a datapad in one hand and a glass of amasec in the other. He looked up and saw me entering. Without a word he gestured to the chairs on the other side of his desk.
I crossed the room and took a seat. He offered to pour me a glass and not wanting to be rude, I accepted.
He handed me the glass and then steepled his fingers, leaning his elbows on the desk and gazing over his hands at me. He looked for all the galaxy like a principal in a schola waiting for an excuse from a student on why she was late to class. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked. "I've been patient lately with your actions, letting prisoners roam my ship and all, but after this morning, I expect answers."
I met his gaze with my own, refusing to be cowed. "And you shall have them." I sipped from the glass, although compared to the amasec I had just had in the lounge, this was nowhere near as good. I set the glass on his desk and spoke again.
"Information has come my way, information that at first I found difficult to believe. Yet I was shown proof that this was true. This information has caused my path to become different from that of the Imperium." I could see the look in his eyes. "This path is also different from Chaos, or anything else. It is a path separate in and of itself. It is because I am on this path that we were attacked and had to flee, that we now have to seek shelter somewhere that we cannot be discovered."
My explanation seemed to do little to assuage him. "I warn you," I continued. "I can give you the information that I have, but knowing it comes with a steep price. One that you might regret having to pay."
He continued to gaze down at me from his seat. "If I am going to be helping you on this path of yours, I think I deserve to know everything."
I nodded my head. "That you do." I was worried that he was going to say that. There were some things I could expect Decem to accept on blind faith and loyalty, but something like the killing of his fellow Navy personnel was not one of them. If he did not like what I was going to tell him, I knew that he would jump ship as soon as we hit anchor at a starport outside Imperial control. And if he left, then so to would most of the crew. Then I would be left with the task of finding another captain and crew outside of the Imperium, something I was not looking forward to doing, ever.
I drew in a deep breath. "This all began several weeks ago, on Lixion. There we captured that man, the one purported to be the leader of a Chaos cult. As you recall, we brought him aboard in chains and held him in a holding cell. Yet during my interrogation of the man, he revealed information to me. Information that I refused to believe until he provided proof." I paused one more time. "Are you absolutely sure you want to hear this. Once I tell you, there is no going back."
His only response was to nod at me. "Alright, but you've been warned." I took in another deep breath. "That man is the older brother to The Emperor, and he revealed to me the Emperor's schemes and plans, taking place over millennia, to move the galaxy to where it is now." If I expected Decem to be surprised, I was sorely mistaken. His simply raised a single eyebrow. "The man is extraordinary. I shot him in the head and Xandria plunged her sword through his heart, yet he had not a scratch on him. Indeed, the bullet hole in his head vanished before my very eyes. He can create portals through the warp, and he took myself, Xandria, and Aki to a room, filled with books and information. It was there he gave us the proof behind his words. It was also there that he laid out the path that I am now on. He has knowledge of a threat which threatens all of Mankind such that we will become extinct. He has asked for my help in solving this threat. I know not what the threat is, or what part I will play in its ending, only that it must be done."
I finished speaking and looked across the desk at the captain. He sat unmoving for a moment before he un-steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair. "You say that he offered proof on all of this?" he asked.
I nodded my head. "Yes, he provided proof of what the Emperor really is."
"I want to see this proof."
I sighed. "Unfortunately, when he left us he took the proof with him, but he will be back. When we got to Hollow, he told us that it would take him a week to finish the preparations, and after that time he would return to tell us what was going to happen next."
Decem continued to lean back in his chair and look at me. I could tell that he was thinking something, just not what it was. I sat and waited, waited for what his response would, for whether he would tell me to frak myself and jump ship, or whether he was willing to believe what I had to say.
It was only after long minutes that he spoke again. "You have been good to me. You saved my life all those years ago from the raiders. You took me in, gave me a ship to command, a crew to watch over, and you gave me a purpose again in my life. For all those things I have been forever grateful, and was willing to follow you wherever you went." I felt my heart sink at his use of the word 'was.' "And now you bring this upon me, upon my ship. You make accusations against the Emperor and lead me into battle against His servants." His words were not laced with anger, or any emotion I could detect. He was simply speaking. "Arianna," he said, surprising me by using my name. "You know that I am willing to take a lot of things from you on faith, but this is too much. If I am to continue with you on this path, I require three things."
I nodded my head. I needed Decem, and so was willing to make concessions if it meant he stuck around. "The first," he said. "Is that I want full disclosure of everything you know, which includes seeing this proof you are talking about. Second, I want to meet this man and speak with him. I want to hear what he has to say from his own mouth. And third, I want to be present when he tells you the mission, and also present in any planning talks, even if my help is not needed in whatever you are planning."
I thought about it for a moment before nodding my head again. "Those are all reasonable. Very well, I agree."
He held out his hand and I grasped it in mine, shaking his hand to seal the deal. "Although," he said as we shook. "If I do not like what is said, or if I don't believe it, then I will leave. I will not report you to the authorities, you have earned that from me, but I will not take part in whatever you are planning. You can find a new captain then."
"Fair enough," I told him. I stood up then, preparing to leave his cabin. "With the full disclosure, I shall tell you everything I know tomorrow, there is simply not enough time left in the day today for that. And I shall let you know as soon as the man appears."
He nodded his head. "Very well then. We are currently headed for a starport on the fringes of Imperial space. We should be safe there briefly, although we will have to move on soon after. It will take us about two weeks to get there. If I am not satisfied by the time we arrive, I'm leaving."
With that I was dismissed from his cabin. I walked out and into the hallway, closing the bulkhead door behind me. It was with a heavy heart and weary steps that I made my way back to the lounge area, only to find it empty. I was surprised to see that even Trelli had left, and taken his bottle with him. There were a few rings of moisture on the table where the glasses were, but other than that there was no sign anyone had been in the room.
I will admit to a certain curiosity as to where everyone had vanished off to. I decided to try and track down whoever I could. I started my search heading down to where our rooms were, yet not a soul was there. I knocked on each door, each time receiving no response.
Puzzled, I checked the armory and the exercise room, thinking that perhaps Trelli had decided everyone needed some physical exercise to get their minds off of things. Yet again each room was empty, with only my echoing voice to answer my calls.
I was about ready to use the comm system to figure out where everyone was when I found them, or rather heard them. I was walking past the mess hall when I heard voices coming from within. At first I figured it was some of the ship's crew eating, when I managed to pick out Aki's voice from the pack. I was not sure what she said, but what ding ring out clear was the sound of flesh striking flesh, a resounding slap.
I rushed forward and ran into the mess hall to find a comical sight. Aki was standing next to one of the tables, a cooking knife in her hand, brandishing it at a stunned looking Trelli, who was holding his left hand in his right, rubbing the back of it. The others were surrounding the two of them, all with various degrees of mirth on their faces.
As I moved closer, I began to pick out the words that Aki was saying. It seemed that she had caught Trelli attempting to sneak a taste of the meal Aki was setting on the table, and so she had slapped him as hard as she could (which was quite hard, surprisingly) on the hand. It was when I joined the group that she was threatening to use the knife to remove a very dear part of his body. I believe her exact words was something along the lines of, "And so help me I will chop of your manhood and toss it out an airlock. And no, I don't give a damn what Arianna will do to me if I do that."
I quietly joined the group, only Xandria noticing my presence, and listened as the short, angry woman cowed a man more than twice her size and three times her mass. A man who could pick her up and break her like a twig if he so chose to. Yet in a strange reversal, she literally had him up against a wall.
As soon as Aki started to wave the knife around, almost giving Mordecai an impromptu haircut, that I decided to step in. I grabbed the wrist holding the knife and gave a pressure point a squeeze. Her hand open involuntarily, allowing me to grab the knife as it fell.
Aki's tirade stopped and now she too held a one hand in another, rubbing it. She turned to see me now holding the knife. "There will be no removing of body parts on this ship unless I or the Doc does it," I said. I flipped the knife around and handed it back to Aki, who nodded and took it, before going back to the kitchen.
I moved over to Trelli and offered him a hand. He took it and I led him over to an empty seat at the table, which already had some odd multicolored dish sitting on it. Once he was seated at my insistence, her told me, "Thanks for intervening, I thought she might actually follow through on her threat."
I smiled at him. "So did I, why do you think I stepped in?"
He joined me in smiling, at least for a moment. "Uh, Arianna, we do have an audience you know?" he pointed out.
I turned around to find the rest of the crew still standing there, now watching us with amusement. I shooed them away. "Go away, pesky creatures. Don't you have something better to be doing?"
Hecuter shook his head. "No, we don't."
Ailish, who had so far been very quiet, spoke up. "You're the one who told us to be at dinner on time, and here we are."
I glanced up at a chrono on the wall, which did indeed say that I was now dinner time. I was surprised, the conversation with Decem must have taken far longer that I thought. "So it is," I said.
It was only minutes later that a series of interesting dishes were set up on the table and we were all gathered around it. I stared at the food, each dish being more odd than the last one. "Aki, I hate to criticize…"
"So don't," she put in.
"…But what exactly have you made?" I finished my question.
She turned in her chair to look at me. "Taste it and find out," was all she said. I could see the hesitant looks of everyone else at the table. Besides Aki, no one knew what we were being served. The more I looked at it, the more it seemed like something that…
It was then I understood the reason behind the meal. As comprehension dawned, it must have shown on my face since Aki smiled. "Now you get it," she said quietly.
I could still see confused looks around me, except for Mordecai, who most likely knew immediately what it was and was only hesitant about the taste. "Think about it for a second," I told the table. "Where else have we seen meals like this?"
I could see them looking thoughtful when Ailish spoke up. "Well, really only on nights when…" as she trailed off, I knew she got it. "Oh Aki, you didn't!" Aki only nodded her head. Ailish, who was sitting next to her, gave her a hug. "Thank you."
Trelli and Hecuter still looked confused, so I decided to let them know why this meal was special. "This meal, it is just like the ones that Liliy used to cook for us." Finally, I could see the understanding enter the faces of the two men.
It was after that little guessing game that we all dug into the food with gusto. Normally when Liliy cooked, she just threw together random things and called it good. Aki had done the same thing, although she had taken the time to pick things that worked well with each other, so it tasted great.
The meal was full of laughter and talking as we reminisced about our fallen friend. Stories were shared of the antics our pilot got herself up to, and the situations she had gotten us out of. Laughter and sorrow were equal companions at our table that meal.
Once the dessert of sticky sweetbuns was finished, Liliy's favorite food, we settled into a companionable silence. To some, it may seem strange that we could laugh and joke so shortly after someone's death, yet to us, it was only natural. We all knew that it was what Liliy would have wanted. She would never have wanted us to sit around and mope or grieve. I believe that if she could, she would tell a joke or make fun of someone to lighten the mood.
Yet our newfound companionship was not to last. No sooner had we all started to break out the second half of Trelli's amasec, then an unexpected visitor appeared in our midst. With nary a sound, the man, the one who had started us on our current path, was suddenly standing next to me at the table.
It is with great effort that I admit to being startled. I had a glass of the precious drink in one hand, nursing it slowly this time, when he appeared. I jumped and nearly dropped the glass. I had heard someone say once that there is a special place in the warp reserved for people who waste good amasec. I nearly consigned myself to that place, but managed to hold on to the glass without spilling a drop.
Everyone else's reactions were about the same, except for Xandria who did not even blink. Once we had calmed down though, the reactions to his presence were mixed.
"You!"
"He's here?"
"Sweet Emperor!"
"Frak!"
The man ignored all of the things being said and faced me. "We have little time, you must come with me now." A shimmering portal opened next to me, beckoning.
"What is this about?" I asked, refusing to go anywhere until I knew at least that much.
"The mission. Now is when you learn what it's all about."
I stood up then and was about to go through the portal when something occurred to me. I remembered the things that I had promised Decem, and his presence at the mission briefing was one of them.
"Wait!" I said. The man, who thankfully was still sitting there, looked at me.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I made a promise to the captain of this ship that he would be present for this. I need you to go to him and open another portal as soon as I go through here." The man simply nodded his head in agreement.
I took one last look around the table, seeing what was on everyone's faces. Some people showed anger, directed at the man. Others were anticipating what was to come. Others still were simply stoic, showing nothing.
I grabbed the bottle of amasec and topped off my glass, picking it up and taking it with me through the portal. Before stepping through, I gave the others a solemn nod.
On the other side of the portal was a single room, with a single piece of furniture in it. It was a long, narrow table. I had appeared towards one end. I set down my glass and waited.
Less than a minute later, a portal opened up next to me. I waited patiently for a moment, yet when no one stepped through, I stuck my head through the portal.
My head appeared in Decem's cabin, where I could see the older man inspecting the portal as if he did not know what to make of it. When my head popped out, he startled backwards. "Dear Emperor," he exclaimed.
"No time to explain Decem, just get the hell in here." To make sure he followed, I reached out a hand grabbed his arm, literally pulling him through the portal with me.
Once on the other side, he looked around, taking in the room and the table. "What just happened?" he asked, confusion evident on his face.
"That, was the man that I was talking about, the brother of the Emperor. He can create portals that will dump you in another location. You just walked through one. He appeared in the mess hall only minutes ago, and told me that the mission briefing was about to begin. I remembered my promise to you, so I told him to get you."
Ever a stoic man, the confusion passed from Decem and his face took on its usual look of impassiveness. "I see," was all he said.
Together we waited in silence for what seemed like minutes, yet for all we know could have been hours. The room had no sense of time, and my chrono on my wrist was spinning backwards. Neither of us tried to move beyond where we had started standing. I wanted to be ready for when the man appeared again.
Suddenly, across from us, another portal opened. For a few seconds, nothing came through, then a figure appeared. The figure was tall, easily over two and a half meters, possibly up to three. It was clad from head to toe in ceramite power armor, colored a dark blue, almost the color of night. I recognized it at once as a set of Space Marine power armor.
I sighed, thinking that the man had somehow convinced a Space Marine chapter to join him, when something about the armor caught my attention. All of the usual icons to the Emperor, the prayer scrolls, they were all missing. The scrolls were gone and the icons had been filed down.
With a start, I realized that the figure across from me was not a Space Marine, but a Chaos Space Marine, hated enemy of Mankind. Despite its head being covered with a helmet, the helmet having crude horns attached to it, I could tell that the thing was looking at me. I could feel its gaze as it ran me over with its eyes (and probably whatever sensors were in the armor as well).
"Inquisitor," the thing rasped, its voice a mix between rocks tumbling down a cliff and metal grating on metal.
"Chaos," I said.
Our stare-down lasted another half a second before we both said simultaneously, "I've been betrayed," and reaching for our weapons. I pulled out my bolt pistol and aimed it at the thing as it pulled out a chainsword as big as I was.
As I pulled the trigger, hoping to get a lucky shot off before the thing swiped me in half, the armored giant leapt at me, a piercing howl escaping its helmet.
