I turned to Maypell.
'Liege. I repeat, you have my condolences/
Maypell exploded with rage. 'Your arrogance astounds me, off-worlder! You bring this monster to our world, battle with him through our most sacred sanctums, a private war that slaughters our best and you-'
'Wait!' I used my will. I didn't care. Maypell stopped as if stunned and the vast hall rang silent. 'I came here to save you and deny Eyclone's plans. But for the efforts of myself and my companions, he might have destroyed more than one of your hibernation tombs. I broke none of your laws. I was careful to preserve your codes in pursuit of my work. What do you mean, I brought this monster here?'
We have made enquiries/ answered an elderly noblewoman nearby. Like Maypell, she was ailing with revival sickness, and sat hunched on a litter carried by slaved servitors.
What enquiries, madam?'
This long feud with the murderer Eyclone. Five years, is it now?'
'Six, lady/
'Six, then. You have hounded him here. Driven him. Brought him, as Liege Maypell said/
'How?'
4Ve registered no off-world ship these past twenty days except yours, Eisenhorn/ Carpel said, reviewing a data-slate. The Regal Akwitane. That ship must have brought him as it brought you, to finish your war here and damn our lives. Did you choose Hubris because it was quiet, out of the way a place where you might finish your feud undisturbed, in the long dark?'
I was angry by now. I concentrated to control my rage. 'Aemos?'
Beside me, he was muttering '… and what silicate dyes do they use in their stained glass manufacture? Is the structure armoured? The supports are early Imperial Gothic in style, but-'
Aemos! The report!'
He started and handed me a data-slate from his leather case.
'Read this, Carpel. Read it thoroughly/ I pushed it at him – then snatched it away as he reached for it. 'Or should I read it aloud to all here assembled? Should I explain how I came here at the last minute when I learned Eyclone was moving to Hubris? That I learned that only by astro-pathic decryption of a cipher message sent by Eyclone two months ago? A cipher that killed my astropath in his efforts to translate it?'
'Inquisitor, I-' Carpel began.
I held up the data-slate report for them all, thumbing the stud that scrolled the words across the screen. And what about this? The evidence that Eyclone has been planning a move against your world for almost a year? And this, gathered this last night – that an unregistered starship moved in and out of your orbit to deliver Eyclone three days ago, unnoticed by your
planetary overwatch and the custodian "Guardians"? Or the itemised stream of astropathic communication that your local enclave noticed but didn't bother to source or translate?'
I tossed the slate into Carpel's lap. Hundreds of eyes stared at me in shocked silence.
'You were wide open. He exploited you. Don't blame me for anything except being too late to stop him. As I said, you have my sincere condolences/
'And next time you choose to confront an Imperial inquisitor/ I added, 'you may want to be more respectful. I'm excusing a lot because I recognise the trauma and loss you have suffered. But my patience isn't limitless… unlike my authority/
I turned to Carpel. 'Now, high custodian, can we talk? In private, as I think I requested/
We followed Carpel's floating throne into a side annexe leaving a hall full of murmuring shocked voices behind us. Only one of his men accompanied us, a tall, blond fellow in a dark brown uniform I didn't recognise. A bodyguard, I presumed. Carpel set his throne down on the carpet and raised a remote wand that tinted the glass plates of the room at a touch.
Reasonable light levels at last. From that alone, I knew Carpel was taking me seriously.
He waved me to a seat opposite. Aemos lurked in the shadows behind me. The man in brown stood by the windows, watching.
What happens now?' Carpel asked.
'I expect your full co-operation as I extend my investigation/
'But the matter is over/ said the man in brown.
I kept my gaze on Carpel. 'I want your consent for me to continue as well as your full co-operation. Eyclone may be dead, but he was just the blade-point of a long and still dangerous weapon/
