The Flight of the Eisenstein (21 page)

Like the Endurance, the
Eisenstein
had her own observatorium on the dorsal hull, situated just forward of the frigate's command tower. It was nowhere near as large, however, and with the broad and tall figures of several Astartes crammed into it, the open chamber seemed smaller still. Decius's face set in a grimace as the hatch opened and another two Death Guard entered. The Apothecary Voyen stepped into the chamber with Sendek at his side and the expression upon both of their faces was enough to give him pause. Decius looked across to where Sergeant Hakur was standing with men from his squad, and he saw that old Andus shared the black disposition of the new arrivals.

'Meric, what is going on?' demanded the veteran. 'I'm suddenly ordered to drop everything and come up here, tell no one... and I hear distant sirens and snatches of scuttlebutt from the swabs about gunfire and explosions?'

'There were no explosions,' said Sendek grimly.

'Where is the captain?' asked Decius.

'He'll be here in a moment,' Voyen replied. 'He's gone to fetch some others.'

Decius wasn't content with another evasive answer. 'When I was on the bridge there was a fire alert from the gunnery decks. An entire compartment amidships was sealed off. That's four weapon carriages disabled, according to the control servitor. Then I hear you on the vox shouting for an emergency decompression down there?' He pointed at the Apothecary. 'First the lodges, then Tarvitz, and now this? I want an explanation!'

The captain will give it to you,' the other man retorted.

'Saul Tarvitz?' Hakur broke in. 'What about him? The last I heard he was on the
Andronius'.

'By now he'll be in the Choral City, if he didn't burn up on the way down,' Sendek said grimly. 'He broke protocol, stole a Thunderhawk and made for the surface of Isstvan III. Lord Commander Eidolon ordered that he was to be shot down.'

Hakur's disbelief was palpable. That's ludicrous. You must be mistaken.'

Decius shook his head. 'We were all there. We heard the order, but Garro disobeyed it. He let Tarvitz escape.' The younger Astartes was still smarting over what had taken place, his loyalties pulling him in different directions over his commander's actions. 'It is sedition.'

'Yes, it is.' Garro's voice issued from the hatch as he entered, with the Shipmaster Carya and the deck officer Vought following behind. The woman closed the seal behind them at Garro's nod and it was only then that Decius noticed the housecarl wasn't with them.

The battle-captain moved into the centre of the room and placed a folded cloth packet on the obser-vatorium's control dais. He took in all of them with a heavy, calculating stare. Decius had the impression that Garro was reticent to move on, to say the words that were pressing at his lips. Eventually, he sighed and nodded to himself, as if he had made a choice. 'When we leave this room, we will be rebels,' he began. The guns of our brothers will be turned against us. I will call upon you to do questionable things, but there is no other path now. There is no choice. We alone may be the only souls capable of carrying the warning.'

'What warning is this, lord?' One of Hakur's men asked, scowling deeply.

Garro looked at Decius. 'A warning of sedition.'

Carya cleared his throat. Unlike his second-in-command, the shipmaster did not seem ill at ease being outnumbered by so many Death Guard in so close a proximity. 'Honoured battle-captain, with all due respect, this is my ship and I will have you explain what has gone on aboard her before we go any further.'

'Indeed, as is right,' nodded Garro. He looked down at his mailed hands and took a deep breath. In a solemn, metered voice, Decius's mentor relayed the events of his confrontation with Grulgor. Shock took hold as he spoke of the virus bombs, turning into a grim, loaded silence as Garro went on to convey the commander's declaration against the Emperor and the horrifying result of the melee on the gunnery decks. Decius felt his head swim with the import of these things. It was as if the floor was turning to mud beneath his boots, dragging him down into disarray and confusion.

Vought was pale as paper. 'The Life-Eater... it will not spread?'

Sendek shook his head. 'It was contained in time. The viral strain burns out very quickly'

'1 would recommend the compartment not be opened for the next six hours,' added Voyen, 'to be certain. The war load will have dissipated harmlessly into space after the atmosphere vents were opened, but dormant clades might linger in the bodies of the dead.'

'Our own men.' Hakur shook his head. 'I can barely believe it. I knew Grulgor was a braggart and a glory seeker, but
this...
Why would he do something so outrageous?' The veteran looked to Garro, an almost naive imploring in his eyes. 'My lord?'

Garro wanted to explain Grulgor's actions away. Like Voyen, some secret part of him had hoped that perhaps this was all some strange dream, or a temporary madness that had taken hold of his rival, but the moment he had looked Ignatius in the eye, he had known it was not so. Grulgor would never ally himself to a cause if he thought it might have a risk of failure. The certainty, the complete assurance on the other Death Guard's face, that sealed the truth of it for Garro. Grulgor was the proof of Tarvitz's warning, the damning reality snapping hard into place like a magazine into the breach of a bolter.

All the small things, the little asides and the moments of doubt, the dark feeling of ominous import, the mood aboard
Endurance
and the
Vengeful Spirit,
every element that had troubled Nathaniel these past days turned in place and became a part of the same whole.

'Saul Tarvitz, my honour brother and friend, brought me a forewarning. In risk to his own life, he fled the ships of the Emperor's Children to the planet below in order to tell our kinsmen down there that a viral attack is imminent. For this, Eidolon attempted to have him killed before he could succeed.' Garro nodded again. 'I chose not to follow that command. As a result, Saul is on Isstvan III as we speak, doubtless rallying men of the Legiones Astartes to find cover before the attack begins. My faith in what he told me is ironclad, as strong to me as my bond is to you.' He extended a hand and tapped Hakur on the shoulder, then began to walk around the room. Garro met the gaze of each person there as he did so, impressing his own truth upon them. 'Here is the horrific truth. Grulgor and Eidolon are not two errant souls pursuing some personal agenda, but soldiers in a war of betrayal that is about to unfold. What they have done is not of their own volition, but under the orders of the Warmaster himself He ignored the scattering of gasps that the statement brought forth. 'Horus, with the support of Angron, Fulgrim, and though it sickens me to say it, our master Mortarion, has done this.'

Across the chamber, Carya almost collapsed into an observation chair. He was struggling to make sense of Garro's words. Vought stood beside him, her face twisted as if she were ready to be physically ill. 'Why?' asked the shipmaster. 'Terra take me if I can see the logic and truth in all this, but why would he do it? What would Horus have to gain by turning against the Emperor?'

'Everything,' muttered Decius.

Voyen's head bobbed in a rueful nod. 'There has been talk of the Warmaster at second- and third-hand in the lodges. Talk of how far away the Emperor is, and of discontent over the commands of the Council of Terra. The tone of things has been strained ever since Horus was injured at Davin, after he returned from his healing.'

'The very tip of treason's blade, glimpsed in hidden places,' said Sendek.

Garro pressed on. 'Horus personally chose all the units for the assault on the Choral City. He picked only the men he knew would not turn if he called them to his banner. The bombing will rid him of the only obstacle to open insurrection.'

'If this is so,' demanded Decius, 'then why are we not down there as well? Your staunch loyalty to the Emperor and Terra is hardly a secret, sir!'

Garro gave a cold smile and tapped on the thigh plate of his armour. 'If the Warsinger on Isstvan Extremis had not forced this piece of pig-iron on me, I have no doubt we would be alongside Temeter and his troops, unaware that a sword is poised at our necks, but the turn of events has played in our favour, and we must seize our opportunity.'

Tarvitz's escape will not remain undiscovered forever,' said Vought. 'When the Warmaster learns of what you did,
Eisenstein
will be under the guns of the entire fleet.'

'I have no doubt of that,' Garro agreed. 'We have a few hours, at most.'

What do you propose?' asked Sendek. 'This frigate is only one ship. We cannot hope to assist the ground forces by intercepting the bombardments or attempting to engage the Warmaster.'

Garro shook his head. 'If Saul succeeds, we'll have no need to stop the bombing. If not...' He swallowed hard. 'There is nothing we can do to help those men.'

Decius saw it first. 'You plan to flee.'

'Watch your tone!' snapped Hakur.

Decius ignored the veteran. You want us to run.'

We have no choice. If we remain, we will perish, but if we can get this ship out of the system, there is a chance we can still stem the tide of this Treachery. We must finish the mission that Saul Tarvitz began. We must carry the warning of this perfidy to Terra and the Emperor.' He looked at the dark-skinned man. 'Master Carya, can the
Eisenstein
make space for the Sol system, or at the very least a star close to the Imperial core?'

He shook his head slowly. 'On any other day I would say it could, but today, I cannot be certain.'

'The warp has become increasingly clouded in recent weeks, full of storms and turbulence,' Vought broke in. 'Interstellar travel has become very difficult. If we attempted to translate now, our Navigators would be virtually sightless.'

'But you could still make the jump,' Hakur noted. 'We could still get away, even if we went into the warp blind.'

Carya snorted. The ship would be cast to the etheric currents! We could find ourselves light-years off the charts... anywhere!'

'Anywhere but
here',
said Garro with finality. 'I want preparations made. Baryk, Racel.' He fixed them with a hard eye, using their given names for the first time. 'Will you resist me on this?'

The two naval officers exchanged glances, and he saw that they were with him. 'No,' said the shipmaster, 'many of my men are faithful Terrans and they won't falter, but there are some who will baulk. I imagine I have men who follow Horus among my crew.'

'There's also the matter of Grulgor's other Astartes on board,' added Sendek. 'They will be asking questions very soon.'

Garro looked to Hakur. 'Hakur, take what you need and secure the ship. Apply whatever force is required, understood?'

There was a moment of silence as the reality of Garro's command became clear. Then the veteran saluted. 'Aye, lord.'

Garro bent over the control dais and unwrapped the cloth bundle he had brought with him. In it were a dozen thin slips of paper dense with writing in a quick, forceful hand. The battle-captain handed one to everybody in the observatorium, including Carya and Vought.

The woman frowned at the piece of parchment. 'What is this?'

'An oath of moment,' said Decius. 'We will swear our duty upon it.'

Garro opened his mouth to speak, but the clang of the hatch stilled his tongue. The communications officer blundered headlong into the observatorium and skidded to a halt, mouth agape at the clandestine meeting he had interrupted.

'Maas!' bellowed Carya. 'For Terra's sake, man! Knock before you enter!'

'Your pardon, sir,' puffed the vox operator, 'but this priority signal came in for Commander Grulgor's eyes only. He doesn't answer-'

Carya snatched a data-slate from him and paled as he scanned it. He read aloud. 'It's from Typhon on the
Terminus Est.
Message reads: Weapons free, bombardment to commence imminently. Permission granted to terminate any and all impediments to operation.'

All eyes turned to Garro. The subtext of the message was clear. Typhon was handing Grulgor the authority to kill Garro and his men. He held up the paper. 'The oath, then,' he rumbled, pausing to take a breath. 'Do you accept your role in this? Will you dedicate yourself to the safe carriage of the warning to Terra, no matter what forces are ranged against us? Do you pledge to do honour to the XIV Legion and the Emperor?' The captain drew Libertas and held the sword point down.

Hakur was the first to place his hand upon the blade. 'By this matter and this weapon, I so swear.' One by one, the Astartes followed suit, with Decius the last. Then Carya and Vought gave the vow as well, as Maas looked on wide-eyed.

As they filed from the chamber, Decius caught his commander's arm. 'Fine words,' he said, 'but who was there to act as witness to them?'

Garro pointed out at the stars. 'The Emperor.'

A Prayer

Rain of Death

Refugees

He was alone in the barracks compartment. Hakur and the others were out about the ship, executing his orders to take
Eisenstein
under their complete control. Distantly, Garro thought he heard the faint echoes of bolter reports, and his lips thinned. There was only a handful of Grulgor's men still at large on board the frigate. Like his Seventh Company, the majority of the late commander's Second was scattered elsewhere about the fleet, with only a few squads here to oppose Garro's plans. Carya's willing agreement to take the oath of moment had cemented his trust in the shipmaster, and through him he had control of the bridge officers. He had no doubt there would be malcontents among the naval ratings, but they would quickly fall into line when the Astartes gave them orders, and if they refused, they would not live for long.

By rights he should have been out there doing the job of securing the ship himself, but the thundering churn of emotion inside him was making it hard for Garro to concentrate. He needed a moment with his own counsel, to centre himself in the face of the events that had been set in motion.

Over and over he thought of the men he had fought alongside in the hosts of the Death Guard and wondered how and why they could turn their faces from the Emperor. For the most part, his brothers were good and honourable men, and Garro thought he knew the colour of their hearts, but now he doubted that certainty. The awful realisation of it was, not that his kinsmen were ready to shake off the Emperor's commands and embrace treachery, but that most of them were merely
weapons.
They would not pause when orders came to them, even if those orders were beyond their comprehension.