Secret War: Warhammer 40,000, Ben Agar [list of ebook readers .txt] 📗

know."

So it seemed that even though Glaitis knew I was coming up to Taryst's quarters, she didn't know why interesting. Perhaps it was because Edracian was involved, and perhaps the Eldar's farsight was somehow being blocked by the Inquisitor? That would explain why no one seemed to know of Edracian's presence on Omnartus.

"You mean to kill her, don't you?" The Xenos said bluntly. "You mean to kill Glaitis."

The anger immediately boiled back. "I'm sick of it," I snarled. "I'm sick and tired of Glaitis and her games! Her constant tests and manipulations."

I shook my head. "Killing Elandria was the breaking point; I can only see one way of ending this hell, Glaitis must die."

"But not before we take care of Edracian," cut in Karmen. "Your revenge can wait, Attelus; we have bigger fish to fry."

The Xenos shrugged. "Go ahead, Attelus," It said. "I will not try to stop you, but others will, and if you do succeed, you will make many powerful enemies."

"Like who?" I growled. "That sycophant, Darrance?"

"Yes, him," It said. "You know how he worships the very ground the mamzel steps upon, and he is a very, very dangerous enemy to have. But the mamzel still keeps in contact with her assassin sect from time to time, and they have one overriding rule, one rule that if anyone ever breaks it, the consequences are beyond your worst nightmare."

"What's that?" asked Karmen.

"No assassin, apprentice or not, under any circumstances are ever to kill their master, never."

I grinned and shook my head. "Oh, if you had even a glimpse into my nightmares, Xenos," I said. "And thank you for the warning; I'll just have to make sure they never find out then."

"But they will find one way or another Attelus; they will."

"We'll see," I said. "We'll see."

 

 

Chapter 13

 In silence, Karmen Kons covered the Xenos face with a large bandage.

"So," It said as, in a flash of light, my face was back to normal. "What are you to do now, Attelus?"

I looked sidelong to Karmen.

+I am not sure it would be wise to tell It our plans Attelus,+ her voice suddenly echoed through my mind making me blink in surprise. +I would not trust this Xenos as far as I could throw it.+

I nodded and smiled; now she sounded like the Estella I once knew...and loved.

The Thing blinked, looked at each of us in turn, then shrugged. "Yes, you two can keep your secrets then, see if I care," It said.

I turned back to It. "Get up," I commanded gruffly.

It smiled and slowly did as told. "You really are placing a lot of trust into Karmen Kons," It said. "Why is that, I wonder?"

My reply was a contemptuous shake of the head.

"Of course, I did not expect you to answer that," said the Xenos. "Just wondering aloud, that is all."

"Hmm, right," I growled with a nod, then the thought hit me. "One more question Xenos, did Glaitis ever tell you why she wanted to keep Es-Karmen Kons alive?"

"No, she did not," It answered. "I'm also interested why you called Karmen Kons Estella before."

My eyes widened, unsure how the hell to reply to that.

"Yes, yes," said Karmen. "You can be as interested as you want, and I would be too, but you are not getting answers, sorry."

It smiled my evil smile and shrugged again. "Just thinking out loud once again."

Karmen grimaced and turned to me. "Maybe it is about time for us to head topside."

"Perhaps it is," I agreed.

"But first, let me see what is happening out there," said Karmen. "I'll be gone for awhile Attelus, keep an eye on the Xenos."

Without waiting for a response, Karmen suddenly sat down against one of the cells, and her eyes turned blank.

Immediately the room temperature dropped dramatically; ice began to form on the white tiled floors and walls, moisture beading on the reinforced glass of the cells uncomfortably reminding me of the incident in the Twilight bar.

I shivered in the cold, my breath coming out as condensation but still held my sword against the Xenos' throat, realising to my dismay there was ice on the blade and goosebumps on my shaking hands.

The Thing smiled at me mockingly.

I met Its gaze hesitantly. "So I uhh don't actually look like a girl, do I?"

It grinned. "Well, you wouldn't as much if you got your hair cut."

I could only shake my head.

The Xenos shrugged. "You can deny it all you want, but the evidence is literally staring you in the face, and even the psyker agreed, sorry."

My brow furrowed, teeth chattering uncontrollably in the cold. But the Thing seemed unaffected by it; he just stood smiling at me. Perhaps it was hiding Its unrest behind the illusion?

"I am interested, Attelus..."

"Shut up."

It only paused slightly. "Why is it that you trust her so much?"

"I don't," I said bluntly. "I trust her, as much as I trust you, but I am a pragmatist, and as I see it, I need her."

I emphasised the 'I am' than intended, which it obviously noticed as It raised an amused eyebrow.

A highly unbelieving, "Uh-huh," was its only reply.

I opened my mouth to demand what the hell It meant by that but was interrupted when suddenly Karmen's body gasped and spasmed as she came back into reality, the ice on the walls and floor was gone. Immediately she leapt to her feet.

"K-!"

"You!" she snarled at the Xenos. "You need to change into Taryst, now!"

Both the Xenos and I exchanged confused glances.

"W-" It tried.

"No questions! Transform into Taryst now or so; help me, I will rip out your throat here and now!"

"What's going on?" I asked.

She glared at me. "We have company, upstairs waiting behind the warp shield, Garrakson, Torris and ten of Taryst's mercenaries, it seems that Feuilt has told."

My eyes widened with fear. "Told? Told, what?"

"He did not tell them everything, just what happened with you, he and Olinthre," she sighed. "It seems that they intercepted him in the building carrying..."

She trailed off.

"Carrying...Elandria," I finished hesitantly.

"Indeed. They have been up there for a while, so we need to allay their fears," she glared at the Xenos. "Now."

It shrugged and sighed. "If you insist." In a sudden flash of light, It instantly grew half a metre and shimmered back into the form of Taryst."

It was strange looking up into the face of a dead man, especially one whose corpse was rotting inside a stark white cell barely a few metres away.

"So," said the Taryst-thing in a pitch-perfect imitation of the Rogue Trader's voice, smiling Taryst's perfect pearly white smile down at us. "Let's do this then, shall we?"

We ushered 'Taryst' into the grim gunmetal grey elevator, my sword pressed against Its back.

"Do they know where Feuilt is?" I asked.

She frowned and shook her head. "No, he must be long gone by now."

I glanced up at the thing, wondering what it was making of all this, but found its faces utterly unreadable.

"Here is what we are going to do," stated Karmen as she keyed the elevator activation. "First, we are going to hide Olinthre's body in the elevator; then I will deactivate the shield."

"What then?" I asked, beginning to nervously tap the tip of my shoe on the steel floor, making a loud clang! Clang! Echo through the small space.

"We will let the master of disguise take it from there, 'It' will talk with them as Taryst."

"But-!"

"Attelus!" She interrupted. "It wants to keep this masquerade up more than anyone, so It will have to negotiate and do it well, won't you?"

Taryst's jaw jutted slightly at that. "Yeah, sure."

I grimaced and shook my head. "How will we explain about Olinthre?"

Karmen shrugged. "The Xenos can cover that."

My jaw clenched, and I shook my head again. "No, no, Karmen, this plan won't work."

Karmen Kons and the Taryst-thing looked at me, confused.

"Why?" She growled.

"You may have been in his mind, but I actually have talked directly to Jeurat Garrakson," I growled back, not liking her tone. "You said that he found Feuilt carrying Elandria, right? And that the good medicae told them what happened."

I shook my head. "He never liked Elandria, but he will want to know why Taryst killed her; that's a question we can't answer well enough to allay his suspicions, Karmen. I suggest that the Thing pretend to be Olinthre instead," I smiled as a plan began to form in my thoughts. "No, here's what we will do."

 

 

We left the elevator, immediately the Xenos walked over to Olinthre's body and quickly slipped on the major's carapace armour. Then we dragged the heavy corpse ruffly into the lift with the awaiting Karmen Kons.

"This had better frigging work," said the psyker.

My jaw clenched with impatience. "Just...Just switch off the shield once you reach the bottom of the elevator and make sure you tell us just before you do," I growled.

"You do know what is at stake..."

"I do, Karmen, if they find out that Taryst and Olinthre are dead and this thing has taken Taryst's place," I sighed and shook my head. "It will cause a rift in this organisation we cannot afford, and then if they find out that Glaitis is behind it all..."

I trailed off. "I know what's at stake here, Karmen, I do."

Her eyes watered with intensity. "You have to swear to me, just as you did long ago, that you will not let your quest for vengeance rule you."

I nodded, looking away, unable to hold her gaze any longer. "I-I swear, Edracian must be stopped."

"Look at me when you say it, Attelus!" She snarled.

I hesitantly complied. "I swear, Estella, Edracian must be stopped, no matter the cost."

She nodded. "You have better keep your promise, Attelus, because if you don't..."

Karmen Kons just smiled and abruptly punched the elevator activation; the doors slowly slid shut, leaving the mimic and me alone in Taryst's crimson quarters.

"I am interested-"

"Shut it!" I snapped as I retrieved my autopistol. "Just shut it and change into Olinthre; we have a job to do."

It smiled Taryst's smile. "As you wish, apprentice," and in a flash of light, It now had Olinthre's grin.

"As you wish."

I shook my head, hating myself for the deception I was about to commit and that the poor dead Olinthre was going to be part of it.

I stormed across the room and vented my anger, savagely kicked over the nearest table.

"Help me with this, will you!" I snarled over my shoulder as I slashed deeply into the closest couch with my sword.

It nodded and tipped another table.

I laid into the couch, slashing and slashing until it was a ruin and moved onto the next, repeating the process with angry abandon, while the mimic raised the last one and turned it onto its side.

It felt good, cutting into that couch, and I lost myself to it, doing it until my arms ached and I was breathless first; I imagined it was the mimic disguised as Glaitis, then it was Edracian, then Glaitis herself.

"Attelus!" The Olinthre-thing shouted suddenly, which immediately made me stop in mid-slash and glare up at It. "I think that is enough."

I clenched my teeth, and with a snarl, I kicked into the mass of destroyed couch, sending bits of wood skating across the crimson carpet and fluff fluttering into the air.

"Attelus, control yourself!" It yelled.

It held my gaze for a few seconds before appraising