{oOo}

THE IMPERIUM NEVER SLEEPS

{oOo}

Hope of the Desperate

The elevator could not move fast enough for me, and I was twitching the whole time the numbers slowly ticked off toward where my car was parked. Which really wasn't doing anything for my wounds, mind you. In fact, I was getting more than a little light-headed from the lingering pain, not to mention the blood loss from my wounded shoulder. But I couldn't stop moving! I felt that if I took a moment to rest, I wouldn't be able to get up again. I had to move! I had to make sure Raz and Gracia were all right!

My breath was coming out in gasps as I tried, desperately, to hold on to the adrenaline surge from my fight just a few minutes ago. This is not an easy thing to do, nor is it particularly pleasant. I could feel it fading, and if it did I'd likely be too tired to do much of anything. And I couldn't afford that.

Gotta be sharp, I thought to myself, wiping a hand over my face and smearing it with blood and sweat. I used one of my cleaner coat sleeves to clean myself, though it probably didn't help much. Gotta be quick. Stay in the game, idiot. Stay focused!

The door dinged open, and I launched out the elevator. There were people mulling about, but I didn't stop for them. Any one of them could have been compromised, could have been stationed there to pick me off in case the assassins upstairs failed. I was lost in tunnel vision, my eyes only for my ride. I pushed people out of the way, several shouting angrily after me as I knocked them over, but I didn't care. I had to move! I got into the seat, turned the engine on and took to the air without any further delay.

"Raz!" I shouted into my car's vox after I'd gotten onto the skyway. I nearly clipped someone as I fumbled for the device, and the vox almost slipped from my hands before I managed to get myself situated properly. "Raz, pick up!"

"Zen?" came Raz's voice, and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was okay! Emperor be praised, I wasn't too late! "Are you all right? Your voice is raspy."

"Never mind that! Raz, I got attacked at headquarters. I need you to take Gracia somewhere safe!"

"You were attacked in the middle of the building?" Raz asked in alarm, and I couldn't blame him. The Arbitrator's headquarters is as much a fortress as it is the central hub for law and order. It was designed to withstand sieges. "Did those gangers infiltrate somehow?"

"Raz, I was attacked by Arbitrators!" I all but shouted, though it came out strangely through my abused throat. "The Arbitrators have been compromised. We've got to go on the assumption we're on our own right now."

Raz said something in Eldar, presumably a curse. I'd have to remember that one.

"Yeah, it's bad."

"Understatement of the century. Okay, so we can't trust anyone in the force. Where do we go? We can't be sure the safe houses aren't compromised."

"Get Gracia into your car and go to Maria's joint, the one downtown," I said, pushing onward to make sure he couldn't protest. "I'll meet you there."

"Can we be sure she isn't taken in by this insanity also?"

"Of course not, but she's got resources and you know she's paranoid. She's pretty much our only shot at making any headway with this before someone blows our heads in."

Raz sighed, but I knew I had him convinced. He didn't want to see Maria, but he knew as well as I did she was pretty much our only hope right now. And Raz, Serenity bless his soul, didn't make a fuss when he knew the odds were stacked against us.

"Right. I'll meet you there."

I finally allowed myself to relax a little, to let go of the tension that had suffused my body and kept me going for the last ten minutes. There's nothing quite so powerful as relief when you're almost certain something horrible has happened. It's an intoxicating feeling, almost a natural high. But it also drove home just how tired I was. It took me three tries to clip the vox back into its slot and get both hands on the wheel.

We could do this. Things were bad, but we could find a way to make it through all this craziness and find a way to succeed. All we needed was some time to catch our breath, to get some answers. Maria would be the first step toward that.

On the books, Maria was just a moderately successful owner of a chain of bars and nightclubs. What most people didn't know, however, was that she'd worked her way up from the bottom of the underhive as the leader of one Samson IV's gangs. The bars and clubs were a front for some of her less than legal operations, but she never caused too much trouble and actually helped keep some of the nastier criminal elements in line, so the Arbitrators left her alone for the most part.

She was a tough one, and she could go from laughing to stabbing at a moment's notice if you didn't know how to handle her. Naturally, I had little trouble. I'm not one to brag, but my charm is one of my greatest strengths. Not that some people didn't disagree with me, but what did they know?

But even more than that, I had a friend in the fight when dealing with her, so to speak. Maria was a strange woman. She was strong and didn't take shit from anyone, you had to when you were the head of a gang, but she had the weirdest fetishes.

I'll go right out and say it. Maria thought Eldar were hot. I'm actually understating that by summing it up with just one sentence. Maria really thought Eldar were hot. Apparently there was just something about skinny, pointy-eared aliens that really did it for her. And my partner had caught her eye as some kind of epitome of Eldar manliness, or something. I don't know. She'd sent letters to him, poetry describing in great detail of how she lusted after him. Some of it was really racy stuff, with pictures of her in various states of undress attached.

It made Raz really uncomfortable. As far as I knew, humans weren't his kink and being so blatantly desired by one kind of creeped him out. Personally, I found it hilarious. But she'd never gone so far as to break into his apartment or stalk him or anything, so we decided not to press the issue. She was too much of an asset, really, because despite the fact that she was in charge of one of the larger gangs she was willing to work with the Arbites.

You'll get hard line Arbitrators on other worlds who would balk at such a thing and say you we should all do our damnedest to purge every single criminal element from every world. Fact of the matter is you're never going to get things that clean. The best you can manage is keeping things in line and make sure there aren't too many incidents.

She'd actually been helping curb the rising hate crimes, at least around this Hive. A helpful tip here, a few dead gangers there. You know, that sort of thing. She couldn't do too much, of course. There's only so much you could stretch the illusion between her gang and the Arbitrators before the mask cracked completely. But anything that took the pressure off was appreciated.

Granted, it wasn't all from the kindness of her heart. Maria wasn't a racist, but she wouldn't put her neck on the line just to keep the alien population safe. The Arbitrators had had to step up on patrols and crack down harder on illegal activities in the last few years since all this madness started. More Arbites on the streets meant criminals had to step lightly, and that was bad for her as well.

Let's hope I can use that, I thought grimly as I pulled my car into Maria's bar downtown, Illumination. An apt name considering how many lights it had going around inside and outside.

Finding a parking spot actually took some work, but I wanted to be as close as possible. Getting jumped twice in one day was more than enough, thank you very much. Which meant I had to wait almost thirty minutes for some asshole to actually back up and leave.

So by the time I finally walked into Illumination, I had a pounding headache to go along with my busted shoulder, my hand was starting to hurt again and I was still tired as hell. The lights going off around the dance floor weren't helping either, not to mention the loud music. I walked up to the bar, plopped myself down and waved for the bartender to come over. If I was going to have to keep doing things for the rest of the night, I was damn well going to get a drink to go along with it.

I'd seen the bartender before, a guy by the name of Johnny, I think. He was one of Maria's crew, someone who actually knew that the bar was a front as much as it was a legitimate business. He came over to me, but stopped short once he'd gotten close enough to see me properly in the hazy mix of darkness and flashing lights that made up Illumination'satmosphere.

"Sweet Serenity, the hell happened to you?"

The soul of tact, Johnny was.

"Give me an Astartes Corkscrew," I said while doing my best not to slap the man for staring at me so hard. It'd been a rough night, and I was in no mood for his, or anyone's, sass. "And double the liquor."

Johnny's eyes narrowed. "You want lemon, watermelon or strawberry with that?"

"Give me everything. I'm feeling dangerous tonight."

The man nodded at my correct answer to the code we were speaking in and started making my drink. Hardly anyone knew about the Astartes Corkscrew, which was a mix of beer and hard liquor mixed with various types of fruit. Someone who answered the fruit question wrong may find himself beaten up outside an ally at best, or given a las round in his head at worst.

Knowing what to say to the right people is half the battle in this game. The other half is carrying lots of guns.

Johnny passed the drink to me and called over someone else to man the bar, after which he headed toward a locked door leading to the backroom. I just sat there sipping my drink and wincing, wishing there was a better drink for the code word. The damn thing kicked like a grox, but at the same time tasted far too sweet. Why Maria loved these things I would never know.

While Johnny was off doing whatever it was Johnny did, I was just sitting there and twinging now and then as I drank this Emperor damned concoction. Frankly, despite how rushed I'd been earlier Johnny could take his time. I needed to think, to plan. Damned if that wasn't difficult when you're bone weary. My shoulder throbbed in counterpoint with my hand, which I ignored as I sipped my far too fruity drink and mulled over the facts.

I'd been attacked inside Arbitrator HQ, the center of law enforcement for both this city and ultimately the entire planet. A fortress where people are regularly given exams and check ups to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks, whether it be spies or an Arbite about to break under pressure. Seriously, I had to get tests taken every month just as standard procedure, so how in the name of the Throne did these bozos sneak men inside?

"They've gotten to some of the docs that do the testing," I muttered before taking another sip, ignoring the sensations my abused taste buds were sending to my brain. "Only explanation."

Which was surprisingly organized for your run of the mill band of cultists. Yeah, in the holo dramas you see these guys sneaking around in the shadows, and any smiling face could be a mask for a daemon-worshipping traitor just waiting to stab you in the back. But really, most of the time it was just a bunch of idiots that were very bored and had too much time on their hands. They messed around and in general didn't accomplish much. Sometimes you got a group that's actually serious about their stupidity, but while occasionally dangerous they were just small bands of people that fought amongst themselves as much as they caused trouble for us.

And then you get the rare groups, the dangerous ones. The cultists that were widespread, deeply entrenched and actually had the resources to pull off goals that they zealously believed in. These were the nutjobs that actually communicated with horrific creatures on a semi-regular basis. People like that could send planets spiraling into damnation if left unchecked, and if they could sneak agents, very likely possessed agents from the way they moved, into Headquarters then we were in very deep trouble.

A hand on my good shoulder made me jump, and I whirled around. Johnny took a step back as my arm flailed about, almost hitting him.

"Whoa, calm down there!" he said as he raised his hands. "I'm just here to tell you the boss is ready for you."

I set down my drink, thankful I didn't have to finish it, and nodded.

"All right, take me to her."

He led me through the dance floor and toward another locked door, taking me up a flight of stairs. I really didn't appreciate the walk, considering how beaten up I was. Don't let entertainment media fool you. You're sore after a fight, sore and tired. The only thing I wanted at this point was to sleep for a few days, but I couldn't do that. There was too much going on.

Johnny opened a door near the top floor and motioned me inside, closing it behind me. I heard the click of a lock, and no footsteps. Johnny must have been guarding the door. But that was secondary as I took in the room.

It was flashy and ostentatious, filled with all sorts of tech that ranged from a wide view holoscreen to a sound system that took up a fourth of a wall. There were little trophies all over the place kept in glass cases, which ranged from pieces of clothing to strange weapons. There were two small couches and one huge one, all of them a striking red color. The carpet was a deep, fluffy thing that my shoes sank into about a good two inches, and the walls were just lined with the latest styles of art made by the younger crowd. You know, the ones that weren't some rich socialite's kid.

Raz and Gracia were already there, the little girl sitting on one of the couches and playing with some game system that Maria no doubt had stashed around. Actually seeing that she was all right helped melt a little more of the ice in my stomach. Raz himself was getting harassed by the woman in question, looking distinctly uncomfortable with Maria's hand on his knee and her face about five inches away from his.

She had to bend down a little bit to do it. Maria was not a small girl. In fact, Maria was a pretty damn large girl, about six inches taller than me! She also had more muscle than me, and I'm no slouch. Being an Arbite is hard work, after all. Add in short cropped red hair and a collection of scars all across her body, and what you've got is someone you never, ever wanted to get on the bad side of. I've never seen someone from Catachan, myself, but if there anything like the stories I've heard from offworlders, then I would say Maria would fit well in their company.

She turned to me, looking slightly irritated that she couldn't keep flirting with Raz, and frowned. That expression, combined with the scar going across her nose, made her look pretty fierce. But I knew it was just because I'd interrupted her before she could start laying hands on my partner. Raz, in contrast, gave me a grateful look as Maria pulled away from him.

"Hey Maria," I said with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Mat," she said. "You look like twenty different kinds of hell."

I'm getting real tired of hearing that.

I kept up my smile with a bit of effort, not letting my irritation show on my face. By the sudden grin Maria gave me, I knew my efforts were probably less than stellar.

"I'm fine. It's all show, really. You should see the other guys."

"You shouldn't hide that you hurt like that," Gracia said softly, having put the game down. She was looking at me with sad eyes. It made me kind of uncomfortable, really. Children shouldn't have to look sad. "How can anyone help you if you hide it?"

"Ah, darling," I said with humor and perhaps a little sadness. "Sometimes that's just what grownups do to get through the day. You'll understand when you're older."

She scrunched up her face at me before turning back to her game. "Adults are silly."

Maria gave Gracia a thoughtful look before turning back in my direction. She stood up and walked over, towering over me as she looked at my battered form more closely. Then, before I could react, she pretty much just picked me up and plopped me down onto one of the couches.

I protested, of course, but she apparently wasn't having any of it. I kinda figured she wouldn't care, but it's the principal of the matter. You don't just pick a man up like that, even if you could bench press twice my weight. It just wasn't done. In any event, Maria sat back down and leaned back, her grin gone and her expression all business as she looked at both Raz and myself with eyes like stone.

"So," she began. "What's this Razith'al has been telling me of trouble?"

I glanced to the side at Gracia, trying to be subtle. The poor girl knew that her parents were different, but I didn't want her to know that they might have monsters out of nightmare resting inside them.

Thankfully, Maria got what I was getting at. She turned to Gracia and out her hands on her knees, smiling at the little girl. "Hey there, Sweetie. I've got to talk for a bit with the boys. You know, more silly adult stuff. I've got a friend right outside the door that can play some games with you, if you want. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Gracia's eyes narrowed, and while I'm sure she tried to look serious it really just came out as adorable when she scrunched her eyes together.

"You're trying to get rid of me," she said, pouting.

"No, no!" Maria said as she maintained her smile. "It's really not gonna interest you much. I mean, I really don't want to be talking about it either, but I gotta. I just want to make sure you have fun, all right?"

Gracia brightened at the chance to play with an actual person, and was happily led out by Maria to Johnny, who while giving his boss a put upon look did not complain. Maria closed the door with a wave to the little girl, and looked me right in the eye once the door was latched.

"Okay," she said softly as she walked to the center of the room, all the cheer she'd shown Gracia evaporating. "What was that all about?"

"She's a psyker," I said softly, hoping that if Gracia was distracted she might not pick up on what we were saying. "Over the course of about a week she said she felt her family change on the inside, and when we confronted her brother enacting some hate crime he acted strangely. We think they might have been daemonhosts."

Maria's breath hitched, and she turned to Raz.

"Is this true?"

"Every bit of it," Raz said solemnly. "And it gets worse. Zen said he was attacked by Arbites inside Headquarters just an hour ago."

"You really needed his word to confirm?" I asked wryly, feeling a bit put out.

"Yes," Maria said bluntly, and I winced.

"Way to wound somebody, Maria. Come on, what's Raz got that I don't?"

"Aside from a perfect ass," she said with a wide grin to Raz, who paled a little as she leered at him. "He doesn't have a rep for reckless actions and lying through his teeth when he needs help."

Ah… Well, she kind of had a point there. Only a small point, of course. It's not like I went around fibbing to everyone! Exaggerating now and then, maybe, but outright lying? Perish the thought.

Okay, yeah. I wouldn't buy it if I said that either.

"All right, fine. But we're serious here."

"I believe you," Maria said as she sat down, holding her head in her hands. She stayed that way for a few moments before sitting up again, looking very tired and a little scared. "This is really bad, Mat. I mean really bad. If there's a cult putting daemons into people, then the rot's spread far. I don't know if we can contain this."

"We have to, Maria. If we don't, then the Guard is gonna come in and lot people are going to die." I leaned forward, ignoring the fire building up in my shoulder as I rested my elbows on my knees. "Please, Maria. We need your help."

"Whatever I can do, I'll do. But don't expect any miracles, Mat. If the corruption has spread into the Arbites then we've lost one of our biggest guns."

"Maybe not entirely," I said. Maria gave me a quizzical look, which I took as my cue to continue. "Everybody in the force is given loads of tests to prevent just this kind of scenario. Physical, psychological, psychic, you name it and we're given it. If we've been infiltrated, it means they must have gotten to the doctors first. And if we can find those doctors, I'll bet you double or nothing we can determine who has been compromised."

"Yeah," Raz said as he stroked his chin. "Yeah, that just might work. And once we know who we can trust, we can purge the corrupted elements and crack down on the problem before it becomes truly out of control."

"And also before that observer from the Royal Family arrives."

"What?!" Maria all but shouted. "The hell, Mat? That's the first I've heard about this!"

Shit, didn't mean to say that. Dammit, I'm too tired. Making stupid mistakes.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "Word down the grapevine is that the Royal Family is sending an observer to take stock of the rise in hate crime going across the planet. Should be here in about a month."

"A month?" Maria said slowly. "That's not much time, Mat."

"I know, but that's what we've got to deal with. If you can get your people to investigate the doctors who run our tests, then maybe we can make some headway in a week or two. It's our only hope at this point."

"Right, right. You don't ask for much, do you?"

"You owe me some favors, Maria. Do this for me and consider us square."

She looked pensive for a few moments, and I held my breath. This was it, the defining moment. Maria was well known for paying her debts, but I was asking a lot of her here. She could just as easily decide to cut and run, pack up her gang and move off world. It would be expensive, but she could do it. And if she didn't work with us on this, we were pretty much screwed. The bosses of a few other minor gangs owed me as well, but none of them were as large or as organized as Maria's crew. And, fact of the matter was, none of them were as trustworthy as her. If she decided she didn't want to help, we were dead in the water.

"Fine," she said after what felt like an eternity, and I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. "I'll do it. I'll send the boys to get everything we need right this hour. Hopefully we'll start getting some hits in the next few days."

"Thanks, Maria," I said softly, as much from exhaustion as from gratitude.

"Hey, I'm not doing this entirely because I owe you." She turned to Raz, who stiffened under her gaze. "You, my sexy friend, are gonna go on a date with me when all this is done."

Raz's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds, kind of like a fish, before he nodded weakly. I mean, what else could he do? Maria gave him a big grin, pleased as punch. I'd probably said something snarky if I wasn't having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Something both Maria and Raz noticed, apparently.

"Hey, Zen?" Raz said, looking concerned. "You should really get some sleep. And get that shoulder looked at. You've had it pretty bad today, my friend."

"No time for that," I said groggily. Man, why was the room getting so fuzzy? I tried to get up, but all I did was kind of fumble around on the couch. "There's more to do. Gotta make sure Gracia is safe. Gotta hide her…"

"We'll take care of that," Maria said, pushing me back and laying me down. "Seriously, Mat. Get some sleep. Everything will be fine."

"All right… then," I said as I closed my eyes. "Just for… a few… hours…."

And then I knew no more, moving blessedly into the realm of sleep.

{oOo}

"Mat," I heard faintly, as if from a great distance. It was fuzzy, like coming down a tunnel or underwater. Something was shaking me too, and I tried to wave it away. Why couldn't it just leave me alone? It was so comfortable just lying down. I wanted it to stop.

"Mat!"

But it didn't stop. If anything, it got worse. Slowly, I blinked my eyes and clawed my way awake. My thoughts were still moving slowly, but my vision was clearing up. Maria was in front of me, holding me by my shoulders. There was remarkably little pain, surprisingly. I glanced over and saw that I was stripped to the waist, and my shoulder was bandaged.

Wonder when that happened… Wasn't there before…

"Dammit, Mat! I need you to focus!"

"Move aside," Raz said as he walked up, placing his hands on my head. "He's still out of it from the painkillers. I'm going give him a kick start."

His eyes glowed blue, and I wondered what he was doing. I didn't have to wonder for long. Lightning jolted down my spine, traveling from Raz's hands straight into my nerves! I spasmed and gasped, and the room spun a little bit as I tried to orientate myself. It cleared soon enough, and my thoughts came together quickly as the fog from before shattered under my friend's touch.

"Merciful Serenity!" I roared, batting Raz's hands aside. "Was that really necessary? Ahh! Feels like someone just poured recaf directly into my brain!"

"Mat, for once in your life shut up," Maria growled out. I blinked. She looked angry, really angry. "We don't have time for you to be a wiseass."

Oh, that was so very not good. Something was wrong. Maria looked like she was three steps from strangling someone, and Raz was giving me the expression he usually gave before he started shooting people.

"What's going on?"

"My boys were ambushed at the safe house we were keeping Gracia at," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "Three of my people are dead, and the only one who escaped came back badly wounded."

A cold, icy pit formed in my stomach at her words, and it must have showed on my face. She nodded, confirming my worst fears.

"They took her, Mat. The bastards took her. She's been kidnapped."

{oOo}