firmly.
“I’m sure I’ll think of some way you can pay me back, captain,” said Karif with a smile and a
nod. “Let’s walk together. There are many things we have to talk about.” Trooper Stavin fell into
step a few paces behind them as they began their stroll.
“You’re not wrong, commissar,” said Sebastev. “I can’t work it all out. We’ve been seconded?
To whom?”
From behind a thick marble pillar on the left, a voice rumbled. “Seconded to us, captain, and I
promise you, you’ll soon wish it weren’t so.”
Sebastev gasped as the alabaster giant from the balcony stepped across their path. The huge man
wore a simple black tunic, cinched at the waist with golden rope. The contrast between his robe and
his deathly white skin was striking. His blood-red eyes, so strange and unnatural, fixed on
Sebastev’s own, measuring him, freezing him where he stood.
Karif and Stavin halted at Sebastev’s side, but their reaction was muted. They hardly seemed
surprised at all. Karif looked at Sebastev and shook his head. “My first reaction was exactly the
126
same, you know, captain.” He raised a hand, palm up, and gestured towards the giant man. “May I
present Brother-Sergeant Ischus Corvinnus, of the Death Spectres Space Marines.”
“By the Throne!” muttered Sebastev.
The brother-sergeant lifted his massive hands to his chest in the sign of the aquila, offered a
shallow bow, and boomed, “Good beginnings, Captain Sebastev. There will be time to become
acquainted later perhaps. Your new commander is waiting to brief you on urgent matters even as we
speak. Let us not dally here.”
Sebastev was still speechless. An Astartes, he thought. Here!
“Come on, captain,” said Commissar Karif, “we should get moving.”
Sebastev felt Karif nudge him, and wrestled with his sense of awe.
“Follow me,” said the Space Marine as he turned and led the way. “Milady’s patience is famous
only for its tiny measure.”
As Sebastev, Karif and Stavin struggled to keep up with the giant Astartes warrior, Sebastev felt
his mind racing, trying to understand just how much the war had changed. The Death Spectres
Space Marines were here, and something had forced General Vlastan to release Sebastev into the
service of another authority: this “lady”, of whom the Space Marine spoke with obvious respect.
Surely it’s the old crone from the balcony, thought Sebastev. If the Astartes are here…
“Well?” asked Karif. “Aren’t you going to answer?”
Sebastev shook himself. “Sorry, commissar. I didn’t catch the question.”
“I asked you how you felt about returning to active duty so soon. That farce of a trial… I’m sure
you’re eager to get back to what you’re good at.”
Sebastev thought of the men he’d lost, the friends he’d watched die. He levelled his gaze at the
commissar. “If you’re thinking I want revenge for the men we lost, commissar, you’re damned
right.”
The Space Marine turned his head just a fraction as he listened to Sebastev’s words.
Commissar Karif smiled and nodded sagely. “That’s the spirit, captain. I would expect no less
from a fighter like you. After all, what would men like us do without a good old-fashioned war?”
A bright smile is pulling on his face, the happiness that came finally.
(The End)
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