This incident was one of many times in my career that I considered the merits of the heavy handed monodominant approach to an inquisitor's work. An inquisitors authority is without limits, so why should one be constrained by petty concerns of protocol?
Handing in my sidearm to the guard had been intended as a gesture of trust, Vernia, the troika member under whom I had recently served as an interrogator had insited on the importance of "the diplomatic approach" as far as possible to ensure a measure of voluntary cooperation in an investigation, although I strongly suspected that she only adopted this attitude to avoid the ire of well connected nobles and their possible physical or political repercussions.
"Give me your marks, all of them!" Junas demanded, referring to my symbols of office, presumably the ornate crest of the Ordo Heretecius I displayed prominently above the left hand pocket of my tunic and the stylised "I" pins on the collar of the same garment. I handed them over.
"Kern could make decent copies of these, If any one asks these were faked."
"Endrik Kern, he put you up to this?"
"Kern? No he's just a bit player, the ring too inquisitor."
I reached for the signet ring on the little finger of my left hand, and then twisted the cap, a searing pulse of light issued from the device as the concealed las cell concealed within fired.
Jarus simply grunted as the lasbolt hit his carapace chestpiece with a thump.
"Nice try Chase." The bodyguard-turned-assassin snorted as he squeezed the trigger of his bolt pistol.
Looking back on it, I was foolish to have chosen a las charge for that digital weapon, although it must have had the unforeseen advantage of dazzling the opponent because Jarus missed with his shot even though he couldn't have been more than three metres from me as I made a dive for Patriarch Ferrier's vacated desk.
The door to the room Ferrier had retired to opened and the patriarch stepped out.
"Jarus, explain yourself!" He snapped.
"Looks like the mystery the regarding the tithe shortage is about to be solved boss."
Jarus said having pointing the gun at his employer.
I took this opportunity to take another shot at this inexplicable assailant, again the feeble charge did no discernable damage, but he turned to face me again, and fell forward as if polaxed. Patriarch Ferrier looked down at his erstwhile bodyguard in puzzlement.
"Is he dead?" I asked him.
"I don't think so, it was a tranquiliser needle."
"Good because I need to get to the bottom of this, starting with why he tried to kill you."
"Well I have no idea, although–"
It was at that point that the main door opened and Interregator Lavrente entered.
"What's going on here? I heard shooting."
"I'm not sure but if you see to it that he's under guard and on the Vigilance by the time I return we might discover something through his interrogation, now go!"
Ferrier summoned a pair of guards to assist Lavrente in conveying the recumbent form of his erstwhile chief guard to the shuttle, while I used the vox unit built into his desk to prepare for an interrogation. The fact that it was Iniago Barbons, Kreiser's interrogator who responded to my request and oversee the questioning did nothing to bolster my hopes of getting to the bottom of this mystery any time soon, for Barbon was rumoured to be as zealous as his master, whose preference for the older models of excruciator rather than the newer nerve induction devices was notorious. The use of the auto-flayer and the numerous other bladed attachments in my view, were more suited as a method of public execution than extracting useful or coherent information from a suspect.
My subsequent discussion with Ferrier proved to be enlightening on the subject of recent hive politics, but revealed very little concerning tithe shortfall for which I had been dispatched to investigate. Ferrier's family it seemed had only been elevated to the status of House Minor less than twenty years previously following the fall from grace of a House Major, the Tulians. The Tulian clan had knowingly harboured heretical cultists within its ranks, mistakenly placing family loyalty above the allegiance to Him On Earth that every true human being owes.
It is customary upon many hive worlds or those where the social structure retains aspects of the Feudalism of ancient Terra that, when a prominent family is disgraced and stripped of rank or title, its financial wealth is collected by the planetary government while its all industrial and business concerns are auctioned off to the highest bidder. When the Tulian Rifle Works was put up for auction, the highest bidder had been Karls Ferrier, then a bondsman to House de Meditius, whose patriarch had been Lord-Governor at the time. Ferrier himself had been acting on behalf of the Meditius concern when he put in the bid, although he had sent a Writ of Severance together with most of his personal savings, effectively ending his associations with and loyalty to the planet's ruling house.
The Writ had been cleverly submitted with an exact date and time at which it became effective, meaning that Karls Ferrier had been a free man when he made the bid with money from House Meditius safely in his account. It was his independent ownership of this small arms concern that allowed this ex bondsman to claim the title of Oligarch and recognition as head of the newly created Ferrier House Minor.
Others had used similar stratagems with other Tulian business concerns, such as the Grand Hydroponecium, the contents of which fulfilled a rationing supply contract to the Imperial Navy. However, none of these other pretenders displayed the same financial or business acumen as Ferrier, and were soon forced in turn to auction their new acquisitions. It was through these subsequent bids that House Varro had "Risen without a trace"
"Fascinating, my Lord Patriarch, but what does this have to do with problems your world is facing."
"Inquisitor Chase, it may surprise you to realise that men do not instantly transfer their loyalty to a new master simply because it is demanded by law and custom. When I took over the rifle works I was forced to lay off many former employees who were still staunchly loyal to the disgraced Tulians, costing me many man hours in lost production , hoping to demonstrate their loyalty to their former masters if they ever returned to grace. Many I regret to say have used their talents at finance and organisation to become leading figures in the underhive criminal fraternities, although, for reasons neither I nor any other agency upon this world determine House Varro contains an inordinate amount of former Tulian workers who have proved to be positively willing to serve under a new employer."
"So you are suggesting that the problems in the underhive and the recent turmoil in House politics may be related." I said, interrupting what would doubtless have otherwise proved to be another expositional monologue on Hive politics and planetary custom, complete with references to analogous incidents long past, which I had never heard of, nor I suspected, would be of much relevance even if I had.
"Precisely."
"An interesting theory Gavrus, but one that is completely unsubstantiated, I will however, mention it to the Troika, they may see fit to pursue it, but I lack the resources to make an independent investigation."
The patriarch took this pre-emptory dismissal of his attempts to aid the investigation with surprising equanimity. I had assumed that these simply the worlds a man trying to avoid further scrutiny from the Inquisition through a show of cooperation. In truth I planned to lobby hard for an inquiry into this new avenue of investigation, although I could not allow a man who remained the subject to an Inquisitorial investigation to believe, however wrongly, that I owed him.
My return to the Vigilance, some hours later, went virtually unnoticed due to the turmoil caused by events elsewhere.
