Present
– Warp travel –
Heinrix's point of view-They had left Footfall the day prior, and had entered warp travel to chart a new route. There was no way to tell how long it would take for them to reach Kiava Gamma. He would have to be patient, even if every day that went by without reaching the forge world aggravated its situation and preoccupied him greatly.
He headed towards the command center, where Elena had requested his presence, presumably to hear his briefing about his mission. They hadn't had time to speak ever since entering the warp, as the Lord Captain had been busy supervising her crew.
As he entered the bridge, he spotted the Lord Captain easily, her unusual height making her tower over her officers. Elena's pale face was strained in an expression of discontentment, as she was talking to Werserian. The First Officer looked equally strained. Heinrix supposed the topic of conversation wasn't to their liking. From this distance, no one could overhear what they were saying, but he had been trained at lip-reading a long time ago and it wasn't difficult for him to put together the conversation.
"...shall I remind you that Theodora was killed in her very office, by someone she knew ? I do not take this matter lightly."
" Fine. I shall reinforce the patrols and your personal guard. Tlass will scry them down for security."
" And what's this about Lady Cassia ? I learnt there had been some issues lately with her."
" I just heard news that one of the young men detached to be her servant had killed his family and shot himself after she chastised him. I'm afraid that what we witnessed in Eurac-V may be happening again."
Heinrix noted for himself to gather more information about Eurac-V. He had learnt from Lady Orsellio herself that she had been "saved" by Elena, as she presented it. However, there were incoherencies and strange things in Lady Orsellio's narratives. For instance, he didn't quite understand how she was 'saved', considering Elena had decided to kill both of the family members assigned to watch over her. Yet, Lady Orsellio didn't seem to hold a grudge against the Rogue Trader, and even looked at her with admiration and naivety ; she barely spoke to anyone else in the ship, and had accepted to converse with him only after she'd learnt of his noble blood. Even then, she treated him like an inferior being. He had wondered if Elena, who had taken in the Navigator as her protégée, knew about the length of her contempt and haughtiness towards all others. The only other person Lady Orsellio seemed to be comfortable around was Werserian, and apparently that wasn't reciprocal anymore.
" I'll take care of Lady Cassia ", replied Elena. She seemed worried.
Just as she said that, she looked back and her gaze found him with uncanny precision and certainty. Werserian, following her gaze, noticed his appearance and nodded reluctantly. Werserian didn't like him, he knew that, but at least he'd remain in his place.
At first, and like everyone else around Elena, Heinrix had found her surreal, pinpointing precision unsettling. Her displacements were strangely optimized, no one ever got in her way, and no one could surprise her. She could be meters away, drown in noise and people, and still she would turn her head exactly back at you. This internal, psychic sonar, for lack of a better word, had been an unpleasant surprise for him, just as her diviner abilities had been. After all, his duties forced him to be discreet and secretful, so he had to be especially careful around telepaths and diviners. Fortunately, Elena wasn't, to his knowledge, able to look inside his mind - he would have known if this was the case. Still, there were a lot of things a diviner could pick up. Psychometric data on familiar objects - his equipment, for example -, near-future flashes, faraway and past intuitions, and detaching one's mind from the body, in order to spy from a distance - all this was possible, and he'd witnessed Elena do all that before.
That was the reason he had to have a poor soul destined for servitorisation write the letter from the Lord Inquisitor in his stead, so that she could not pick up a trail from the writing. He had learnt to notice every physiological sign of Elena using her psychic powers, so that he would know when she was hiding something from him. As for the scrying from afar, there was not much he could do against that - he just had to stop all contact and communication with his mentor and his retinue, and only consult his reports when he was sure Elena was busy somewhere else.
The same precautions applied to Tlass, of course, and, to a certain extent, to Lady Orsellio, because of her affinity for deciphering intentions and auras. However, Tlass was more unpredictable and she wasn't exactly supported in the retinue. Heinrix was quite certain that Tlass would not get backed up if she ever accused him of anything. As for the Navigator, there was nothing he could do against her insight.
" Heinrix", she saluted him. She had stopped calling him master van Calox ever since Rykad. However, there was a stiffness in her tone that retained formality and prudence.
He inclined his head in response, as usual. " Lord Captain."
Werserian crossed his arms, glaring at him unhappily. Heinrix could understand the man. Werserian saw him as an intruder, a spy, and a risk to the heir's life. Three parameters that made him undesirable. Werserian was right, of course, and he only did his job by trying to put as much distance in between them as he could. The fact that he had opposed Elena publicly once, and that they often talked privately and away from his ears, could only aggravate his distrust.
Heinrix understood all of that, but still could not bring himself to really respect the First Officer. Werserian was rigid, and his stubbornness to stick to what he already knew wasn't a credit to his rank at all. Heinrix could not see how Werserian was going to protect the heir's life with such a narrow mind. In his eyes, the Seneschal wasn't up to the task ahead. Which was a problem, considering Calcazar had been clear about the necessity to keep the Rogue Trader alive…for now.
" I want you to brief me on the details you can share about your mission", said Elena. If she noticed how the two men seized each other up with mistrust, she showed no sign of it. " Let's talk in my office."
Werserian's gaze followed them as Elena led him to her antechamber. They passed a few servants and servo-skulls that she dismissed.
It was intriguing, how her attitude towards her subordinates in the ship had changed over the course of barely a few days. Elena wasn't a charismatic leader, one of those poster people that spontaneously created admiration and devotion. Heinrix had the opportunity to meet with Lady Theodora before, and certainly the late Rogue Trader had a way of entering a room that would make everyone stand to attention.
Her descendant was different. Theodora's presence was magnetic, fiery, expansive. Elena's was uncanny, grave, absorbing. Yet they both share a common intensity, as if they possessed the intimate certainty that they were the main protagonists of the story. Heinrix supposed it came with the rank of Rogue Trader. He was always bemused that so many powerful people got blinded by their status to the point of believing they were untouchable. Yet, Heinrix had seen so many broken under interrogations that he knew the illusion of importance given by power was just a fragile varnish. There was always someone more powerful around. His many years in the Inquisition taught him that the human's soul was one made up of delusions, and not many could bear to live with themselves when they were burnt down to the ground. The future would tell if Elena was amongst those delusional ones.
The Rogue Trader's office was austere looking. Heinrix supposed Elena had it emptied from Theodora's decorations and had them put away somewhere else, maybe in her private chamber. The lack of any reminder of her predecessor was intentional. He hypothesized she felt insecure compared to her ascendant.
There was something inside him that could almost soften up at this idea. But then, there was something about Elena that didn't leave him indifferent. He didn't know why exactly. He knew it was mutual - she wasn't trying to actively hide the soft spot she had for him. Elena always brought him along when she went somewhere, while she perfectly knew he belonged to another's retinue. Not only did she rely on him in her adventures, but she actively engaged with him, all the while knowing he was reporting to his mentor. And, as she had proved before, she would also oppose, rebuke or ignore him, which he wasn't used to.
Her soft spot towards him was both an opportunity and a risk. An opportunity, because it made her more compliant to share her thoughts with him, and so, made his job easier. A risk, because Elena was perceptive and insightful, and she seemed to seize him up better at every conversation - an idea he wasn't sure he was comfortable with. Plus, it just…complicated things. Taking advantage of her forwardness to pry upon Theodora and Elena's secrets wasn't to his liking either. The Inquisition may have made him cynical to the point of being able to consider all this with detachment and calculation, but there was still a shred of decency, of the old him, that he had yet to tear down - and this shred was reluctant at using Elena's inclination for him to manipulate her. Surely it wasn't worth it.
Elena seemed weary. Though she was trying to hide it, he noted a trace of lingering agitation as she tapped her fingers against her leg absent-mindedly. He had noticed before that she often did that before or after having a precognition.
" Your conversation with Werserian seemed agitated," he said. " Is everything all right, Lord Captain ?"
At first, from the way she frowned, he expected her to tell him that it was none of his concern. However, she seemed to reconsider her response as she leant back against her desk, her arms crossed.
" How perceptive of you. To tell you the truth, I was disquieted by hints of someone being in my private chamber. Books opened to different pages than usual, footsteps, imprints over the pillows of my bed. It is probably a side-effect of warp travel. In any case, I do not like that. I asked Abelard to reinforce security", she said matter-of-factly.
He considered what she said. Of course, strange things happened during warp travels. That was what was supposed to happen. However, Geller Fields were the strongest over the upper decks and especially around the Lord Captain's chambers. Warp incursion in this area was extremely unlikely - and, should it happen, very grave. Anyway, her disquiet made more sense now.
" This sort of ghostly presence is not uncommon during warp travel", he said.
She clicked her tongue in disdain. " Yes, I do know that", she replied coldly.
The Rogue Trader treated every advice he gave her as patronizing. It was slightly infuriating, considering he was just offering common sense advice. However, she was no stranger to the dangers of the warp, and, if she was so unsettled by this apparently inoffensive event, then there must be real issue with it.
He changed the topic.
" By the way, how is your chest wound ?" he asked.
He hadn't had any explanations about the strange wound she had received on Rykad, and which had resisted normal medical care.
The change of topic seemed to surprise Elena. Uncontrollably, she raised a hand to her chest armor.
" Fine. Thanks to you. " Her tone was abrupt.
He nodded politely, waiting for her to elaborate. However, Elena was less prone to fill in the silence than most people. She even seemed to appreciate it. He resorted to confronting her more directly :
" How did you come to bear this wound ?"
Her dark eyes barely blinking, she was looking back at him, but her expression flinched a little as something flashed in her eyes. Heinrix had correlated this expression as a sign of a vivid remembrance. From what he understood, Elena's memory was so acute that she could relive in a second moments of her past. He had an excellent memory himself, but did not relive the past ; he didn't know if he envied this ability or feared it. Surely it would drive her mad at some point.
He could tell she hesitated about her answers, as she said : " During the mutiny, the traitor Kunrad Voigtvir stabbed me. For some reason, it opened up again during the triumph on Rykad, as I felt Aurora's presence in my mind." She flinched, uneasy.
Heinrix could tell from the various clues he had learnt to pick up in his trade that she wasn't telling him the whole truth. But he was patient, and they were going to spend an unknown amount of time together. In time, he would find out what she was covering about the death of Theodora and the details still lacking from Voigtvir's plans. There was no need to be too insistent for now, it would only antagonize Elena. In time.
" I see. I suppose you have suffered from sorcerous treachery", he said. He still wasn't sure what happened during the mutiny, but he was pretty certain that ghost wounds were the doing of psykers or sorcerers. " We should be careful about it when approaching other members of the Cult of the Final Dawn, until what triggered it gets clearer."
She nodded approvingly. " Speaking of which. I suppose your mission to Kiava Gamma is correlated to the Cult somehow ?" she asked.
Heinrix resorted to his formal tone, feeling the bleakness returning to him in an instant.
" Indeed. The Cult's madmen are preaching across the Koronus Expanse, and instigate crimes against the Throne and Humanity. One such crime took place in your protectorate. The Lord Inquisitor considered it necessary to have one of his acolytes accompany the Rogue Trader on the voyage into the corrupted region. I also need to meet with one of my observers in the capital world of your domain."
That last phrase earned him an incredulous sideway look from Elena. He supposed she wasn't ready to hear him say out loud that he had to meet one of his agents working right in the von Valancius's most central domain.
As for him accompanying the Rogue Trader, the choice had been pretty obvious. Whiplash didn't quite have his…aptitude…at meddling inside a new crew. And the others acolytes were..well…not as flexible and perceptive as he. That was the reason Lord Calcazar had set him up towards Lady Theodora's path in the first place. Her death had somewhat changed the plan, but his role in it stayed pretty much the same.
" Why is the Ordo Xenos investigating Chaos cults ?" she asked, obviously avoiding the topic of his agents on her worlds. He had a feeling she had noted the information in the back of her mind for future arrangements. She was going to be sorely disappointed if that was the case.
" You are well versed in how the Inquisition is organized, Elena", he commented. But of course a sanctionned psyker would. Plus, he knew from what he collected about her background that she had been a protégée of an agent of the Inquisition working in Scholastica Psykana. He wasn't her first time dealing with the Inquisition after all. He supposed, considering her craft and the fact that her mistress had seeked to give her the most humane appearance possible - eyes restored and not burnt, no visible implants, and abundance of hair -, that Elena had been set to follow a course much similar to his. She was younger, obviously, and would still need years of battlefields to hone her will. Of course, her becoming a Rogue Trader had changed all that.
" Initially, our arrival in the Koronus Expanse was dictated by the need to fight xenos. But there is more - the Cult is tangentially related to my main specialization. Perhaps I will be able to reveal the full truth someday, but right now I ask you to display humility and patience", he continued. It was as far as he could go, and it was already a bit too much. But he was interested to see how she would react to that. He noted the slight expressions of pensiveness and calculation in her big, dark eyes. What he said had made her correlate some events. He remained impassible, but knew from her expression that there were indeed things that could concern him in the few little things she was withholding from him.
Elena tilted her head to the side. " A Chaos cult in my protectorate. Are you laying an accusation against my dynasty ?" she asked in a soft voice.
" Chaos treads softly, Elena. The main danger of secret cults and sects is that they are like seeds. They can remain in the ground for decades. This does not mean that the head of the von Valancius dynasty is a Chaos worshiper. Having said that, it should be noted that Theodora von Valancius was famous for her loose interpretation of the freedoms granted by the Warrant."
He meant that as a warning, of course, and could tell it was not lost on Elena's attention. He added, more menacing, as Calcazar had taught him : " A bloodline can be stained by ancestral transgressions. If it is indeed so, it is in your best interests to do whatever necessary to redeem yourself- and then, perhaps, you will get a chance to salvage your dynasty's reputation."
She held his gaze, hints of restrained annoyance in the way she pursed her lips, but Heinrix had observed before that she was exceptionally good at keeping eye contact, to the point of making other people uncomfortable around her. He found it was an enticing feature of her. He chased the idea from his mind.
" I see. And I have to infer that you have reports that the Cult has taken roots in Kiava Gamma ?"
" Yes." Once again, he used his formal voice, remembering the letter of his mission. " The Rogue Trader should deliver me to Kiava Gamma. I will then accompany you to the surface and determine what the Cult is planning and how it intends to use the resources that have fallen into their clutches - which may very well include the blessed engines of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the followers of the Omnissiah themselves."
He paused, and added more softly : " I will be frank : the answer to this question is unlikely to please either of us. The machinations of Chaos usually go beyond solely inflicting countless deaths. Having their plans come to fruition would lead to far more terrible consequences. One of the systems in the Koronus Expanse is already lost…" His tone grew harsher. " May the Emperor protect us from watching this tragedy play out again."
Elena flinched slightly at that. Her uncomfort whenever he brought up Rykad Minoris's fate was obvious to him. With any chance, these traces of remorse would help her make better choices in the future. Calcazar had told him to be more tolerant towards her, after all - which had come as an unexpected surprise. Calcazar wasn't a lenient man. His Lord had not exactly been verbose on why he cared so much about the fate of the Rogue Trader, but Heinrix had been quite briefed about the importance of keeping her alive until new orders arrive. He wondered if, one day, that would change. Surely Calcazar would not stop himself at collecting information about this new Rogue Trader ; this was just the first step in his plan.
Elena absent-mindedly put back a lock of hair behind her ear. He could tell her gaze had grown more distant as she was lost in thought. That happened a lot with her. He didn't mind it. She stayed silent for a bit.
" On Rykad", she finally said, " I shared parts of my vision with you. I think the giant I described to you was a Chaos Space Marine. However, I am pretty certain that the one I saw in my vision wasn't at all the envoy we had to fight on Rykad. He was much more…impressive. I feel this is connected to your quest, somehow. Am I right ?"
He cleared his throat, as a sense of bad omen hit him. " I have no doubt we will face Chaos Marines again, Elena. It is…very bad news. These traitors seldom show up alone. The best we can count on is having to deal with just a squad of them and not an entire company."
That would be dire…and require far more manpower than a mere Rogue Trader's retinue. Elena sighed, frowning, and he recognized the littles clues of preoccupation and precognition in her expression. He fell silent, letting her focus on whatever had caught her psychic attention.
" If you don't mind," she said. He nodded in acknowledgment, saying nothing as he witnessed another one of Elena's visions. From the outside, nothing much happened. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him, her fingers and eyelids twitching nervously. From witch-sight, things were different, as her aura seemed to gain in intensity in the warp, tendrils and threads spiraling around her. He preferred to remain silent, and waited the few minutes it lasted to get a better look at the files over Elena's desk. Nothing of interest here.
Though he wasn't bothered by Elena's tendency to long silences and absences, he found she wasn't being the most prudent person. She was quite vulnerable during these episodes. He was slightly surprised that, after having asked for her personnel guard reinforcement to her Seneschal, she would just leave her carnal envelope without supervision like this. She must really trust him. Yet it was imprudent, and he made a note for himself to put this idea into Werserian's mind. A trained assassin would just wait for an occasion like that.
The air grew colder for a time, until she reopened her eyes again, massaging her temples. He refrained from the urge to ask her what she saw, though it attracted his curiosity. He had never quite got the hold of divination in all his training. It required to rely too much on one's intuitions, and he'd rather count on his rationale. It had remained somewhat enigmatic to him, though he understood the basis of it. It could prove useful, though, if one knew how to interpret signs correctly.
" Yes, I can confirm that this Chaos Marine I saw is connected to this." She glanced at him quickly and with a strange, wary look on her face, as he guessed she wasn't telling him everything. A hint of heavy preoccupation flashed in her eyes. " I feel they're setting up for war and using the world for that."
Heinrix said nothing. He wanted to ask her to tell him more, but knew she wasn't ready to say more. She didn't talk about the content of her vision to anyone. Diviners tended to be like that : secretive, paranoiac, acting on what looked more like impulses and feelings than real reasoning, which made them look often erratic. Elena fitted the description perfectly, to his dismay.
" If so, then it is all the more urgent that you prioritize finding the route back to Kiava Gamma", he said matter-of-factly. He continued : " Another thing. Let me put it this way. You may think whatever you want of me, but my goal is not to hinder you. I am here to help you in the fight against foes you may not even be aware of. You have my word that I will provide every assistance in uprooting the heresy that has sprouted on the von Valancius worlds while their mistress was away- and that I will try to be more patient with the less grievous flaws the bearers of the Warrant are sometimes known to have."
His conviction attracted Elena's attention back from whatever place her mind had been lingering, as she focused back on him. There was the shadow of a brief smile over her lips.
" I understand ", she replied cautiously.
" Good. I thank you for sparing me a few moments to have this conversation, Rogue Trader," he said, getting ready to leave.
As he was heading towards the exit, he heard Elena's slightly weary voice behind his back : " I wonder, will we ever have a conversation that does not involve death, Chaos, xenos or anything relative to your colorful profession ?"
Heinrix was perfectly aware that his overall topics of interest weren't the most mundane or optimistic ones. He was also aware of the not-so-innocent intonations in Elena's voice. He turned back, facing her from the shadows of the office. In the dim-light - Elena always preferred her environment to be dimmed - her features had softened slightly as she casted him a thoughtful look. He contemplated once more the ambiguity she invoked inside him. This would prove to be a problem, he knew that. Yet he said :
" I promise someday I'll offer you a much less sinister conversation, Elena, but I fear right now these are all daily matters I have to subject to ", he replied. He could not completely hide the hinge of regret in his voice. The way with which a shadow of a smile passed over her face comforted him, though, as they reached a silent understanding.
" Don't let me detain you", she replied, nodding.
As he left the office, he caught a glimpse of the Rogue Trader putting her fingers over her temples, grimacing in fatigue and preoccupation.