Ignis in Vacui Chapter 36

The deck was rumbling again, that unique vibration caused by the engine's many refits. Normally the feeling comforted him but not today. Saffor was in no mood for comfort today, he only wanted to wallow in his misery. The Rogue Trader was standing in an observation bay, watching the stars wheel as the Fortune's Fool turned and rolled in its course corrections.

Saffor's lips curled in disgust for the ship was making far too many adjustments and wasting precious time on lazy manoeuvres. They were wallowing out of this system, taking an age to reach the Warp-translation point. It was sloppy and unlovely voids-manship, one that would have earned his wrath had he been on the bridge, but sadly he wasn't. Saffor's ship had been taken over by that wretched Inquisitor Zerban, not just his bodyguard but the majority of his crew had defected to serve under that conniving backstabber. Saffor's kin commanding the escort frigates had also gone over to the Inquisitor. Zerban must have been subverting loyalties non-stop since the moment he came on board and he had done it right under the Rogue Trader's nose. Saffor had compiled a list of his treacherous cousins and he was already thinking up prolonged and painful tortures for them in the future.

The thought made Saffor's lip curl, he had known Zerban was a treacherous viper when he had first been approached but against his better instincts had allowed the Inquisitor on board. It wasn't like he had seen any other options, not when Zerban held his family's secret over him. Yet Saffor had assumed it would be a swift and abrupt affair, that the Inquisitor would get what he wanted and then leave. Zerban however had been scheming other plans and now it looked like he intended to keep the Teliday family under his thumb indefinitely. Never turn your back on an Inquisitor; Saffor's father had repeatedly warned him, the only ones worse than the idiot zealots amongst them are the smart zealots.

Saffor rubbed his face wearily and glanced at the bottle laying unopened beside him. He had thought to come here and wallow in his misery by getting drunk, but he had not touched it. To stew in a pathetic stupor would be to admit defeat and Saffor wasn't quite ready for that yet. He was down but not out, he told himself. There had to be a way to turn this around, to take back his ship and crew from the Inquisitor, he just couldn't see it yet. Of course he could try shooting Zerban but the devious snake had surrounded himself with suborned crewmen.

Mutinous scum, Saffor thought, he had been good to them and always shared out the profits fairly, half for the Rogue Trader, half split up among the crew as was traditional. Then he snorted in amusement at his own joke, expecting honour from void-dogs like them was like expecting a scorpion not to sting. They would follow the highest bidder; if Zerban offered more they wouldn't hesitate to back him, hell, were the situation different he might have done the same himself.

The thought made Saffor's mind stir and he mused upon the notion, he still had vast wealth at his disposal, maybe he could turn this around. Then he remembered Kreg and the thought made him screw up his fists. The Ogryn bodyguard was Zerban's creature now, no amount of wealth could change that. Saffor had inherited Kreg from his late father and had never even considered his loyalty, Kreg had been as part of the furniture, always there and dependable. The idea that someone could override his augmetic implants was a notion Saffor had never even considered but now that ferocious strength lay with Zerban.

For a time Saffor pondered these issues but he hadn't survived a perilous childhood by letting himself become distracted, so when he heard a scrape at the hatch he spun about with lightning speed and drew his shuriken pistols. He was surprised to see a crewman standing there, hurriedly throwing up his grease-stained hands in panic as he yelled, "Don't shoot!"

Saffor eyed the man warily, taking in his worn boots and torn overalls and calloused hands from hard labour. He dredged the recesses of his mind then ventured, "Crewman… Durr?"

"Murr, if you please Skipper, petty officer Murr," the man replied.

Saffor brushed off the correction and kept his pistols raised as he said, "You should take more care, I might have put a round between your eyes."

Murr bobbed slightly in fear and pleaded, "Don't do that Skipper, I'm here to help you."

Saffor wasn't about to lower his guard and hissed, "Why would you do that?"

Murr swallowed nervously and then explained, "Not all the crew's happy with that slimy weasel poncing about the bridge. We remember our Skipper, you were always good to us and lots of us have reasons to keep far away from the Inquisition, if you know what I mean."

Saffor lowered his pistols but didn't holster them as he probed, "So Zerban isn't in control of everything, how many of the crew are loyal to their lord?"

Murr's face fell and he said, "Not enough to take back the ship if that's what you're thinking."

"Damn," Saffor cursed, "So what can we do?"

Murr hesitantly reached into a pocket, making Saffor's grip on his pistols tighten but all he produced was a small vox-unit. The man stepped closer but Saffor waved him to place it on the ground between them and said, "What's that?"

Murr stepped back and said, "I picked up an odd vox-signal, very cunning it was, not meant to trip any alarms. Someone was trying to sneak in a private vox-link, without alerting the bridge, but I caught it. They weren't half surprised when I answered; she said she wants to talk to you."

"She?" asked Saffor warily, but Murr only shrugged in ignorance. Intrigued Saffor stepped up and holstered one pistol before he picked up the vox-unit and said, "Whoever you are you better have a good reason for this."

A feminine voice emerged calling, "Teliday, is that you?"

Saffor never forgot a lady's voice and he instantly recognised the alluring tones of Lady Vevara. The Rogue Trader started in surprise and said, "What are you doing on this link?"

The lady's voice came back earnestly, "I was trying to reach you."

Saffor's curiosity was peaked and he asked, "How are you doing this?"

"It's an old Inquisition trick," Vevara replied smoothly.

"Inquisition?" Murr muttered but Saffor ignored the remark, his mind suddenly awhirl with intriguing possibilities. The lady was an Inquisitor, he realised, but one hiding her rank. He had seen enough of the galaxy to understand that the only people Inquisitors hated more than heretics were other Inquisitors. Give them a choice between shooting an enemy or stabbing a rival in the back and there wouldn't even be time to place bets on the outcome before blood was spilled. If two Inquisitors were sneaking around each other then it was patently obvious that one of them was going to end up dead. Which suited Saffor just fine.

Saffor grinned and remarked, "My lady, you are full of delightful surprises."

"More than you know," Vevara voice issued out of the device, "I contacted you first, to have a quiet chat about our mutual acquaintance."

Saffor holstered his remaining pistol and he laughed, "You mean; to find out which side I'm on. Worry not on that account, I want that snake Zerban dead too."

"You do?" Vevara inquired sounding surprised.

"He stole my ship and crew out from under me," Saffor explained, "If you want him dead then I'm happy to oblige."

Vevara was silent for a moment then said, "And here I had a whole enticing speech prepared, to lure you to my cause. It was going to be a thing of beauty, talk of adventure and riches and glory. You are a most intriguing man Saffor but do I find this all rather easy, how do I know I can trust you?"

The Rogue Trader noted the flattery and subtle seduction, he filed that away for later consideration but for now contented himself with saying, "If you had any other options, you wouldn't be contacting me."

There was a long pause and then Vevara's voice said, "You see right through me. It seems I have no choice but to trust you."

"Wonderful," Saffor replied, "Unfortunately I have a problem of my own, Zerban has seized control here. He owns the bridge and all primary systems, getting to him will not be easy."

Vevara commented, "I have a hundred vengeful Astartes at my beck and call. Each and every one eager to sharpen their knives on Zerban's bones."

Saffor shuddered at the thought of a marauding horde of Transhumans rampaging through the bowels of his beloved ship. He had seen the damage they could wreck and wasn't prepared to let his prized vessel be torn to shreds. He sighed aloud and said, "Unfortunately they won't get close enough, the second Zerban sees that ugly scow of theirs he will make the jump into Warp-space, safe translation be damned."

Vevara sounded amused as she replied, "Trust me he won't see us coming, we are already closer than he knows."

Despite the ludicrousness of expecting to see anything at void-ranges Saffor's eyes went to the armourglass window. Naturally only stars glinted back at him but he still asked, "How is that possible?"

"Never mind that," Vevara stated, "All I need is a way to sneak on board without being noticed."

"Give me a moment," Saffor commented then stared at Murr invitingly.

The petty officer sucked on his teeth and said, "Well… if they have a shuttle small enough I could get a few of the lads to trick the Machine Spirits for a moment and the deck chief of landing bay four owes me a few favours."

"Get to it," Saffor commanded then added, "Tell the men the rewards for aiding me will be lavish and if you stick by me I'll promote you to my own bridge crew Murr, with all the perks that come with high rank."

The man leapt to obey with an avaricious gleam in his eye and Saffor returned his attention to the vox-unit saying, "I can sneak over a party but only a small one, the smaller the better, this will have to done quickly and quietly."

"That I can do," Vevara replied, "I'll bring an escort and once I'm on board we can find a way to reach Zerban."

Saffor was excited by the idea of seeing the wretched man brought to an end and said, "Send a shuttle to the port-side bay on the lower stern quarter. I can have the hanger opened for you, without Zerban ever becoming aware."

"Very well," Vevara stated but then followed that up with a threat, "But if you double-cross me I shall make sure the Astartes hunt you down to the ends of the galaxy."

Saffor grinned at that, this woman was as dangerous as she was intriguing and he replied, "Dear lady, I could never deprive myself of the pleasure of seeing your smile."

"Flatterer," Vevara snorted and then cut the link.

With that Saffor tucked the vox-link into his belt and smiled warmly. Only a few minutes earlier he had been morose and sullen but now his prospects were looking up. He glanced out of the armourglass portal but could see nothing, whatever the lady Inquisitor had planned it was certainly a good trick. He pondered on what he would do when she got here but then decided not to waste time on elaborate plans, he would just have to wing it.

Saffor decided it was time to get in position and strode towards the observation's bay door with an eager skip, yet he was brought up short when a shadow emerged from around the corner to loom in his path. Saffor ground to a halt and his breath caught in his throat as he saw the most unwelcome sight possible: Inquisitor Zerban, clad in his matt-black power armour. The Inquisitor's scarred visage was a vision of wrath brought to life and his angry expression was fixed firmly upon the Rogue Trader. One glance was enough to still all Saffor's retorts and explanations, the anger a clear announcement of the Inquisitor's intent. Zerban knew, Saffor realised, somehow he had been expecting a double-cross and had anticipated the Rogue Trader's moves before he had even made them.

Zerban glowered at Saffor and his eyes narrowed fiercely as he spat, "If you're going to use an old Inquisition trick, you really should check that no old Inquisitors are listening in."