'In where?'
He gestured back over the ridge. The darkness/
Tell me what you saw/ I said.
NINETEEN
Jeruss makeshis report.
At the plateau.
The true matter.
'I don't even know what world we're on,' Sergeant Jeruss said. They never told us. The ride in was rough, though.'
'It has no name, as far as I know. Go on/
They deployed us from the ships along this beach as an escort detail for the main party.'
'How many men?'
'Over a hundred naval security troopers, and three hundred or so of us guard.'
Vehicles?'
'Speeders like you saw, and a pair of heavier personnel carriers for some crates of cargo and the main party/
"What do you know of them?'
Jeruss shrugged. 'Of the cargo, nothing. In the main party was the captain, and Lord Glaw of Gudrun. He's a worthy nobleman from my homeworld/
'I know him. Who else?'
'Some others too: a merchant, an ecclesiarch, and a great and terrible warrior that they tried to keep away from us regular troops/
Mandragore, no doubt. And Dazzo and Locke. The core of Oberon Glaw's cabal.
Then what?'
Jeruss pointed up the slopes in the dark, forbidding uplands. 'We advanced into that. It seemed to me they knew where they were going. Things changed as we went further in. It got darker and warmer. And it was hard to negotiate the way, as if-'
As if what?'
'We couldn't judge distances. Sometimes it was like wading through hot wax, sometimes we could barely slow ourselves down. Some of the men panicked. We found polygons, like these on the beach/
It was his word for the hoop-like arches.
There were rows of them, aisles, marching away into the uplands. They were so irregular they disturbed the mind. They seemed to vary, to change/
What do you mean "irregular"?'
'I went to no officer school, sir, but I am educated. I understand simple geometry. The angles of the polygons did not add up, yet they were there/
Chilled, I recalled Maxilla's mention of the 'unwholesome' angles, and thought too of the marking on the tile I had taken from Damask.
"We followed some of these rows, passing through polygons on occasions. The ecclesiarch and the merchant seemed to be leading us. And there was another man, a tech-priest type/
'Slim build? Blue eyes?'
Yes/
'His name is Malahite. He played a part in choosing your path?'
Yes, they deferred to him on several occasions. Finally, we came to a plateau. A great raised, wide space, overlooked by jagged peaks of rock. The plateau was artificial. Tiled with smooth stones that-'
He tried to make a shape with his index fingers and thumbs but . shrugged and gave up.
'More impossible polygons?'
He laughed nervously. 'Yes. The plateau was vast. We waited there, the men grouped around the outside of the space, the main party and the vehicles in the centre/
'And then?'
*We waited what seemed like hours, but it was impossible to tell because our chronometers had all stopped. Then there was some kind of dispute. Lord Glaw was arguing with some of the others. I saw this as a chance. I got the men ready. Nearly ninety of us, ready and eager to trust to chance and flee. All eyes were on the shouting match. The big warrior – God-Emperor save me! – he was shouting by then. I think the sound of his voice was what decided us. We slipped away in twos and threes, from the back of the ranks, down the sides of the plateau, and ran back the way we'd come/
And they discovered your escape?'
'Eventually. And came hunting for us. The rest you know/
I waited a few moments for him to collect himself, and gathered the men around. There were about thirty riflemen left, all of them scared, and another three or four wounded. Aemos did what he could for them.
I rose and addressed them all. 'In defying your officers and leaders, you have served the Emperor. The men who brought you here are Imperial heretics, and their enterprise is criminal. My purpose here is to stop them. I intend to press on at once on that mission. I cannot vouch for the safety of any who follow me, but I count it as a mark of honour to the Emperor himself that you will. He needs our service here, now. If you take seriously the oaths you made to the Imperium when you became guardsmen, then you will not hesitate. There is no more vital battle in which you might give your lives/
