Speculum Enigmate Chapter 47

Odrin stumbled through the undercity, his feet pounding on the hard stone floor. His thighs were burning and his breath came in short gasps, a tightness in his chest telling him his endurance was running out. Odrin had spent his life strolling through the corridors of power, sitting in meetings or formal gatherings, he hadn't been running assault courses or forced marches and his physical fitness was lacking. Still he persisted, putting one foot in front of the other even though each step sent spikes of agony running up his shins.

Odrin had good reason to flee for he could feel death on his heels. Odrin had fled the battle with the Space Marines as fast as his legs could carry him. He hadn't stayed to see the result, knowing all too well how it would turn out. The Space Marines had proved far more dangerous than he had ever expected, far more dangerous than the Kiith could have known. He had been a fool to think he could stand against the zealots of the Corpse-Emperor and so he had fled at the first sight of them. It wasn't cowardice, he tried to tell himself, his life was useful to the Kiith, valuable even. He had to survive so they could restart somewhere else.

Odrin turned a corner and found himself entering some form of pumping room. The room was dominated by a wide pool of water, into which descended mould encrusted pipes. A stream of water entered through a wide tunnel in the far wall, filling the basin, even as it was emptied. The walls were hung with wet ivy and drooping fronds that dug roots into the crumbling stone while illumination was provided by a line of lumen orbs ringing the corners, only a quarter of which were functioning. The chugging of heavy machinery dominated the environment, machines that had run continuously for centuries, tended to by a blank-eyed servitor that was so grey and withered it may have been here almost as long.

Odrin paused and leant on a wall, gasping for air. His throat burned as he hacked up a gobbet of spittle and let it fall to the ground, watching as it plopped onto the hard stone floor. For long minutes he rested, feeling his heartbeat starting to slow and his head clearing. As his thoughts steadied he reflected that there was one bright spot in this disaster, Tyvis was dead. He had felt her passing through the Broodmind, the sudden cessation of her directing will and rancour, spreading through the gestalt consciousness like a tidal wave. The other members of the Kiith would be bereft without their Magus, but Odrin was buoyant. Her resentment of him had tainted the Broodmind, urging him into wild acts of recklessness. Now she was gone and Odrin's mind was his own.

He thought about everything that had happened and determined that Tyvis had been a fool to wage war directly. The Kiith should never have chanced it, not while the Imperium's Astartes had been on the planet. Yes, they should have gone dark, lurking in the shadows until the Emperor's eyes were elsewhere and they could seize control of the planet unnoticed. Tyvis' blundering had led them to ruin, he told himself. The fact that he had made a great deal of the plans happen was conveniently forgotten, his ego brushing off any hint that his mistakes had played any part in this disaster. He would not be so cavalier next time, he told himself. He would escape, rebuild the Kiith in another city and make his next plans with greater subtly.

Odrin's breath was steady now as he straightened up and tugged down his jacket. He drew in a lungful of air and turned to move on, walking towards a stone bridge that crossed the water basin. He managed three whole steps before a lance of utter woe drove into his brain. He fell to the ground with a cry of anguish, hitting his knees on the ground and nearly falling headfirst into the water. Pain, despair, sorrow and confusion flooded into him, coming not from his own soul but from the Broodmind. He could feel it, feel his kindred's lament coursing through him. Their pain, their loss and their anger battering at his mind and Odrin instantly knew the Patriarch was dead.

How, where, why, these questions did not matter. All that mattered was the Grandfather of the Kiith was gone and without that fundamental connection the Kiith was shattered. Odrin could feel the Broodmind disintegrating, breaking into a million pieces of conflicting emotions. Every member of the Kiith screamed madly through their connection, their minds once united in purpose now tearing at each other in panic and confusion. His kin were fleeing in terror, or falling to their knees in woe or committing suicide. Some of the Purestrains were even turning on each other, attacking their own kind in an instinctive bid for dominance and Odrin could feel it all.

Odrin was drowning in despair but he refused to yield. He gritted his teeth and closed his mind to the agony, shutting the connection between them. Only Odrin could do this, for only he had any experience of acting alone. The rest of the Kiith depended on the Broodmind, they were born into its embrace and had never known a day without its guidance. They could not function without that imposed compulsion to obey, but Odrin could. He had spent years operating alone, a covert agent for the Kiith, trained and trusted to act on his own. He knew what it was to be alone in his head.

Odrin shut his mind to the cries of his kin and silence filled his soul. Then he realised he was about to die. A scaly form was swimming towards him, barely above the surface of the water. A Crotalid, heading towards the spot where he lay. Odrin jerked backwards before it could reach him, rolling away before those hungry jaws could snatch him up. The Crotalid slowed in disappointment then sank out of sight, waiting for its next meal to appear.

Odrin swallowed in fear, he had seen reports of the beasts in the undercity but done nothing about it. They had only presented a problem to low-caste workers and criminals, not a cause for concern to the ruling elite and so not his problem. Odrin wrung his hands as if they had been bitten and eyed the water fearfully. He glanced about, looking for another way out, but none presented itself, he could chance the bridge or going back the way he had come.

Odrin certainly wasn't going to head back towards the Space Marines so gathered his meagre courage and stood up. He stepped onto the bridge; both arms held out from his sides and carefully began to walk over the span. His eyes were fixed on the water as he placed one foot in front of the other, balancing like he was on a tightrope, even though the bridge was wide enough for two men to walk side by side. To his utter relief no monster arose from the depths, no hungry maw seeking to devour him and so he increased his speed, growing more confident with every second.

He was almost half-way across when a sharp cry rang out, "That's far enough!"

Odrin froze as he realised someone had found him. He held his hands out to his sides and called out, "I mean you no harm."

"Turn around slowly," the voice replied.

Odrin did as he was bid and came completely around. Standing at the foot of the bridge was a short woman in a bodyglove, bearing a lascarbine in a low grip that was yet unwavering. Odrin gulped as he held Inquisitor Vevara, with an angry look upon her face and a gun pointed straight at him. Odrin knew she intended to kill him but two things leapt out at him. She hadn't shot him in the back, meaning she wanted him alive for the moment. The other thing was that no Space Marines were accompanying her, meaning he had a chance at coming out of this alive.

Odrin faced the Inquisitor and affected a smile as he said, "My lady, how nice to see you."

Vevara's eyes didn't soften as she growled, "Lose the pistol."

Odrin clenched his jaw but he did as he was bid. He drew the laspistol from his belt with a finger and thumb grip, keeping well away from the trigger. Then he cast it into the water, seeing it sink under the surface with a soft plop. He watched it disappear with a reluctant sigh, but then resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't that fast a draw anyway. Shooting Vevara had never been his best option; his finest weapons had always been words.

Odrin fixed his gaze on the woman and asked, "How may I be of service?"

Vevara kept the weapon pointed at him as she growled, "A lot of people died this day, because of you."

Odrin cocked his head and remarked, "An Inquisitor concerned with the loss of innocent lives? How unlikely."

Vevara retorted, "The God-Emperor's servants are no stranger to necessary losses, but never wastefully or without purpose."

Odrin snorted, "Keep telling yourself that. I've seen the reports of planets scoured to the bedrock, worlds wiped out for a single heresy. The Inquisition wastes lives like a fool does coin."

Vevara lifted her aim a hair as she snapped, "We are not here to discuss the Imperium but your treachery. Tell me how far your cult has infiltrated Pascum's society."

Odrin smiled as he replied, "Ah, you intend to pump me for information before you kill me. Yes, I have such knowledge, but it comes with a price."

Vevara pointedly hefted her gun as she retorted, "You are in no position to bargain."

Odrin shrugged, "If I tell you everything you will kill me outright."

"If you don't I will shoot you anyway," Vevara hissed.

"A thorny problem," Odrin allowed, "Still, perhaps there is room to strike a bargain. I can be useful, I can give you many things, if you let me serve you."

"You want to work for me?!" Vevara laughed, "You must think me a fool. You're a Genestealer, you can't be trusted."

Odrin shook his head as he replied, "I was born to serve, I never had a choice in the matter who it was. I can serve another master, I can serve you. I have no allegiance to the Genestealers, not truly. All I want is to live."

Vevara stated coldly, "You lie convincingly, you might even believe it yourself. But your genes are tainted with alien filth. It's in your blood and bones. Sooner or later you will turn on me; it is in your nature."

Odrin sensed she wasn't convinced so pressed, "Let me prove it, let me share my information. The Kiith, the cult as you call it, isn't planetwide. It's concentrated here in this city. The rest of the rebels in the other cities and in orbit are but nothing dupes, patriotic idiots fighting for a cause I made up. I can provide you with names of my allies and agents, surely that is worth letting me live."

Vevara paused as she mused, "That is valuable information…"

Odrin grinned, "Then we have an understanding."

Vevara's eyes narrowed as she said, "I might consider it, if you tell me what you have done with my Eldar servant."

"The… the Eldar?" Odrin stammered in confusion, "I haven't seen him, not a hint of his presence."

Vevara glared at him as she hissed, "You better be sure of that."

"I tell you I haven't seen him," Odrin protested, "It's the truth I swear it."

"You are either telling the truth or you're a better liar than I gave you credit for," Vevara allowed.

Odrin nodded frantically and said, "I helped you, so… so now you let me live."

Vevara frowned as she mused, "Manaar's disappearance wasn't your doing, he vanished on his own accord. How very suspicious. Whatever scheme he was sent here for must have been completed. Warp take him and that wretched Farseer, I knew they were playing me somehow but I thought if I played along he would slip up and reveal his true intent. I need to find out what they were up to. Thank you Odrin, you've been most helpful, but sadly you've outlived your usefulness."

"Wait!" Odrin yelled as he saw Vevara's intent but it was too late.

The Inquisitor's finger twitched and her gun discharged. A single lasbolt shot forth, crossing the distance to slam into his chest. The noise of the gunshot echoed through the chamber, a sharp snap-hiss that reverberated in the space like a fading drumbeat. Blazing heat erupted in Odrin's heart as the laser energy struck him, flash-fusing his internal organs into a charred lump. Odrin staggered as he was shot, hands grasping at his cauterised heart and he let out a strangled, "Urgh."

His legs gave out under him and he fell over, hitting the edge of the bridge then rolling off to plunge into the water. Coldness enveloped him as he sank into the icy depths, his ambitions and scheme fading as his brain shut down. Darkness and cold took him but he felt movement in the water as something large and scaly swam towards him. He had time for one last thought that he died as he had lived: alone. Then sharp teeth closed on his body and dragged him down into the endless night. Death took Odrin's soul as the Crotalid took his flesh and he knew no more.