Ciaphas Cain: Choose Your Enemies

‘We should,’ I said, the tingling in my palms intensifying. It’s a sensation I’ve felt often, and learned not to ignore, my subconscious identifying a threat not immediately clear to my rational mind. Of course, on occasion it’s been nothing but paranoia, but listening to it the rest of the time is one of the reasons I’ve lasted long enough to squander my pension in tarot games with Rorkins and Visiter.42 I examined the hololith again, seeing my presentiment confirmed: the tangle of less-regular fissures ended precisely at the boundary of a sphere centred in the middle of the mine. For all we knew they could extend for kilometres. Of course Delvinge was almost certainly right – they’d peter out to mere cracks in the rock or simply disappear altogether, with nothing more lethal than inedible fungus lurking down there, but until we could be certain of that they were a potential hole in our defences, and needed to be treated as such. I tapped the comm-bead in my ear, accessing Kasteen and Broklaw’s private channels. ‘Colonel, major. Sorry to interrupt, but something’s come up which we need to discuss,’ I said.

‘Frak it,’ Kasteen said, neatly summing up the mood of the meeting. Her temper hadn’t exactly been improved by finding the lord marshal ensconced in her rightful place at the head of the table, but, too diplomatic to show the fact to anyone who didn’t know her as well as Broklaw and I did, she simply remained standing beside the hololith, effectively taking charge of the briefing. ‘We need to make sure we’re not vulnerable, and we need to do it fast.’ She turned to the local defence force delegation. ‘How soon can you get teams down there to start mapping the tunnels?’

The lord marshal shifted a little in his chair, as though the seat had suddenly become warmer by a couple of degrees. He coughed. ‘It’s not quite as simple as that,’ he said.

‘Name of the Throne, how much simpler could it be?’ Kasteen snapped. ‘Big hole, spare troopers, go down, have a look. Or am I missing something?’

‘It’s a matter of jurisdiction,’ the hard-featured woman explained, coming to the lord marshal’s rescue. ‘All military operations in or around an active mineral extraction facility have to be approved by the Bureau of Tithing, which oversees the mines on behalf of the governor’s office.’

‘That’s true,’ Proktor agreed, ‘although under most circumstances that’s purely a formality.’

‘Let me get this straight,’ Kasteen said, after a couple of deep breaths which appeared to have little effect. ‘If the eldar attack the mine you can’t fight them off without asking the governor to sign a bit of paper first?’

‘Not exactly,’ the lord marshal said, looking a little happier now it appeared he had something positive to contribute. ‘Engaging the enemy in the defence of our economic assets is well within our remit.’

‘Fine,’ Kasteen said. ‘A recon sweep’s engaging the enemy.’

‘Only if they find some,’ the woman said, then subsided as Kasteen glanced in her direction, clearly sensing that she at least was not safe to argue with.

‘Technically, that’s correct,’ Proktor said, with an apologetic cough. ‘I’m by no means sure that our defence force would be authorised to conduct a mapping operation without liaising with the Bureau first, unless they were actively pursuing a confirmed enemy contact into uncharted territory.’

‘And I can assure you there are no eldar lurking at the bottom of my mine,’ Delvinge broke in, with another laugh which died of strangulation the second Kasteen’s eyes swivelled in his direction. ‘I’m quite sure we’d have noticed by now.’

‘That’s as may be,’ I said, ‘but we’d be derelict in our duty if we ignored the possibility. How long would these formalities take?’

Proktor shrugged. ‘A day or two, maybe. Not long.’

‘That’s a day or two we may not have,’ Broklaw interjected soberly, saving me the bother. ‘We’ll take care of it ourselves.’ He glanced at Kasteen, who nodded almost imperceptibly in approval, as we’d both known she would. ‘I’ll see what units we have available.’

‘You’ll kill yourselves,’ Delvinge said, showing no inclination to laugh at all now. ‘Like I told you, it’s a death trap down there.’

‘Just another day at the office, then,’ I said, to remind everyone what a hero I was supposed to be. I was certain I knew tunnels well enough to keep out of any serious trouble down there, and it would keep me about as far away from the invading eldar and their bloody jetbikes as it was possible to get. With any luck I’d be able to spin the job out for several days, too.

‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ Kasteen said, right on cue. She glanced at me soberly. ‘I know you’ve got a lot of things you’d rather be getting on with, but no one in the regiment knows tunnel fighting like you do. I’d appreciate it if you’d accompany the command squad, and give them the benefit of your advice.’