‘They were together,’ Adimir told him, his voice grating like a swarf-choked scrap grinder. ‘She’d asked for protection. You know why she did that, probator?’

‘You tell me.’

Adimir grabbed Zidarov by his coat and slammed him into the Bulwark. The master sergeant’s grip was tight and his strength impressive, so it hurt, cracking his head back against a metal ridge in the vehicle’s armour.

‘Because some dumb shit probator blew a raid on a Vidora cell,’ he hissed into Zidarov’s face. ‘That’s why, you piece of crap.’

‘Put him down, sergeant,’ said Vongella, icily, not sounding too bothered whether he complied.

Adimir held on for a little longer, looking as if he’d like to grind Zidarov a little harder into the Bulwark’s bodywork, before letting go. Zidarov slid a bit before collecting himself.

‘It kicked off before a response team could get here,’ Vongella said, looking at him distastefully. ‘Just a panicked call over the veil, no descriptions given, then the sound of gunfire. Sanctioner Rovach is dead. Probator Borodina has been placed in a coma. She might make it back to the Bastion, she might not. We found a burned-out groundcar a few miles up-grid, nothing retrievable. They pulled up, unloaded, and drove off. All targeted.’

Zidarov brushed his coat down. ‘And you think it was linked to me.’

‘She was monitoring the Yuti cell of the Vidora. She gave you the tip. We’ve always danced around one another – they knew she was working up here, all that was understood, and she was being careful. This was a revenge hit. A professional job.’

‘Plenty of professionals in the suborbitals. They’re not all Vidora.’

Adimir rounded on him again, and was only held back by Vongella’s outstretched gauntlet. ‘Don’t make this worse on yourself. If you want to find another culprit then do it in your own time. You kicked the nest.’

‘With all due respect, Castellan, we did our job. They don’t like it. We don’t do what they like. We don’t stall actions just in case they might get annoyed with us.’

’No, and I could live with it if we’d got something,’ Vongella said coldly. ‘But you kicked it for nothing. Borodina was a good enforcer. I liked her. We all liked her.’

Zidarov looked over at Adimir, who was nodding in approval. Vongella’s voice was quiet and clipped. There was a wild mood in the air, and everyone at the scene seemed to have it.

‘You’re going after them, aren’t you?’ he said.

’There’re always consequences,’ she said.

You had to admire that about Vongella. She wouldn’t let a thing lie.

‘And you want me to be part of it.’