James Swallow - The Flight of the Eisenstein

The old warrior's brows knitted. 'Do you have any­thing constructive to add?'

Sendek nodded. 'In the interests of posterity, I have commenced mapping this sector of space. Perhaps if this vessel is recovered at some future date, the data may be of use to those who find it.'

Qruze made a spitting noise. 'Are all you Death Guard this pessimistic? We're not corpses yet.'

'I prefer to think of myself as a realist/ Sendek bris­tled.

Both men turned as the bridge hatch irised open to admit the Apothecary Voyen. Sendek was still finding it hard to forgive Voyen's association with the lodges and he looked away. The Astartes was aware that Qruze saw the moment between the two battle-brothers, remarking silently upon it with a quizzical look.

Where is the battle-captain?' asked Voyen.

'Below decks/ replied Qruze. 'I have the conn. You may address yourself to me, son.'

As you wish, third captain. I have completed a sur­vey of the ship's stores and consumable supplies. If we instigate rationing at subsistence levels, it is my projection that Eisenstein's crew have just over five and one-third months of available resources.'

Carya came forward and ventured a suggestion. 'Could we not put some of the non-essential crew into suspension?'

Voyen nodded. 'That is a possibility, but with the facilities aboard this ship that would only lengthen the duration by another month, perhaps two. I have also examined the option of other emergency mea­sures, such as a cull, but the outcomes are little different/

The shipmaster grimaced. We're not picking any of my men for voluntary execution, if that's what you're thinking!'

'Seven months at sublight in the middle of the void/ said Sendek as the bridge hatch opened once more, 'and Horns out there all the while with Terra unaware of it.'

Garro entered, his stride firm and purposeful. 'Not on my watch. We have come too far to sit back and wait for death to claim us. We have to act.' He nodded to Carya. 'Shipmaster, signal the enginarium crews to charge the warp motors to full power.'

'Captain, unless that saint singing her hymns down below has grown a third eye and plans to guide us home, we cannot hope to travel any interstellar dis­tance!' Voyen's manner became acid and terse. "We have no Navigator, sir! If we enter the warp, we will be lost forever and those things that attacked us last time will have eternity to pick us apart!'

'I never said we were returning to the warp/ Garro replied coolly. 'Carya, how long until the drive blocks are at maximum potency?

The officer studied his console. 'A few moments, lord.' He hesitated. 'Sir, your Apothecary is correct. I fail to see the reason for bringing the drives back on line.'

Garro didn't answer the implied question. 'I want sublight thrusters ready for a burn at full military power on my command. Call the ship to general quarters and prepare void shields for activation.'

Voyen gestured around the bridge as the alert siren sounded. 'Thrusters and shields now? Is this some sort of drill, Nathaniel? Some kind of make-work to distract the crew, or did the prophet girl tell you that an attack is coming?'

'Watch your tone/ said Garro. 'My lenience only extends so far.'

'Thrusters at your command/ reported Carya. 'Shields ready to be deployed.'

'Hold/ ordered the battle-captain.

From across the bridge, Qruze rubbed his chin. 'Are we going to learn the point of all this activity, lad? I confess I'm as blind to it as the sawbones there.'

Carya looked up. 'Warp drives registering full energy capacity. Battery arrays are brimming, lord. What do you want me to do with them?'

'Clear the drive block compartments, and arm the release mechanisms on the warp motors. When I give the order, you will deactivate the engine governance controls and jettison the drive block, then raise shields and fire the sublight thrusters/

Qruze chuckled coldly. 'You're as bold as you are mad!'

'Eject the warp engines?' Sendek gaped. 'With all that energy in them, they'll detonate like a super­nova!'

Garro nodded solemnly. 'A warp flare. The blast will echo in the immaterium as well as real space. It will act as a beacon for any ships within a hundred par-sees/

'No!' Voyen's shout cut across the bridge. 'For Terra's sake, no! This is a step too far, captain! It's a death sentence!'

Garro shot him a hard stare. 'Open your eyes, Meric! Everything we have done since we defied the Warmaster has been a death sentence, and yet we still survive! I will not give up now, not after all this flight has cost us!' He reached out and put a hand on the Apothecary's shoulder. Trust me, brother. We will be delivered from this/

'No/ Voyen repeated, and in a swift blur of move­ment the Death Guard veteran drew his bolt pistol, bringing it to bear between Garro's eyes. 'I will not let you do this. You'll kill us all, and everything that we

have sacrificed will have been for nothing!' Dread filled his voice. 'Tell Carya to rescind those orders or I will shoot you where you stand!'

Sendek and Qruze went for their weapons, but Garro barked out a command. 'Stay your hands! This is between Meric and I, and we alone will decide it.' He met the Apothecary's gaze. 'Shipmaster Carya/ said the battle-captain, 'you will execute my com­mands in sixty seconds. Mark!

'Y-yes, sir,' the officer stuttered. Like everyone on the bridge, he was fully aware of the danger of what Garro had set in motion. The veteran was right. It could mean the destruction of the ship if the Eisenstein's thrusters couldn't push the frigate far enough from the blast radius of the warp flare.

Voyen thumbed back the hammer on the pistol. 'Captain, please don't test me! I will follow any orders you give, but not this one! You've let that woman cloud your thoughts.'

The dark maw of the gun never wavered before Garro's face. At so close a range, a single shell from the weapon would turn the Death Guard's unprotected head into a red mist. 'Meric, it does not matter if you kill me. It will still happen and the ship will still be rescued, and our warning will still be carried to the Emperor. I won't see it, but I'll die content knowing that it will come to pass. I have faith, brother. What do you have?'

'Thirty seconds,' reported Qruze. 'Release bolts are armed. The governance circuits are off-line. The over­load is building.'

'You've driven me to this/ cried Voyen. 'Death and death, and more death, brothers ranged against brothers… how can you be certain we will not be cor­rupted as Grulgor and his men were? We'll become like them! Abominations!'

Garro held out his hand. 'We will not. There is no doubt in my mind.'

'How can you know?' shouted the Astartes, the pistol faltering.

Garro carefully reached out and took the gun from him. 'The Emperor protects/ he said simply.

'Zero/ announced the Luna Wolf.

THIRTEEN

Silent Watch

Fearless

Found

Hundreds of explosive charges around the rear ven­tral hull of the frigate went off in the silence of space, throwing sheets of hull plating away into the void. On rails, the thick cylinders of the starship's interstel­lar drive motors rolled out and fell into the darkness, conduits snapping and trailing jets of coolant liquid, cables arcing with glints of electricity. Crackling orbs of gathered energy spun and cried inside the dis­carded warp engines. Power that normally would have been channelled into ripping a doorway to the immaterium had no point of release, and now it churned about itself, faster and faster, spiralling towards critical mass.

The Eisemtein leapt away on rods of glittering fusion fire, leaving behind the parts of itself that she had cut loose. As the flexing gravitational output of the warp drives drew the drifting modules together, they sent out whips of brilliant blue-white lightning