‘No movement in the orbital ships that suggests they are aware of our presence, or at least that they feel threatened by it. The system defence monitors have been assuming a new role, moving out-system. This has drawn the secondary flotilla further from the main fleet.’

‘Perfect,’ said Aeschelus. He glanced at Nem­etus with a half-smile. ‘Possibly too perfect? We cannot be fussy at present; our options are very limited. Kosa, what chance of translating to the warp?’

‘Almost non-existent, captain,’ the Navigator said ruefully. She ­steepled her fingers in front of her as she continued. ‘Coverage within the gravio­metric field of the system is patchy, far less consistent than what we encountered in warp space. This may be the effect of the planetary bodies themselves, the incompleteness of the aliens’ methods of dulling or simply an artefact of positioning.’

‘What does that actually mean?’ said Nem­etus.

‘It is reasonable to presume that the spread of this effect is not necessarily balanced nor geometric,’ said Fedualis, turning his empty gaze on the lieutenant. ‘Because of the direction we were heading, it is possible that we encountered a more complete portion of the deadened zone while the area we are now in is still, hmm, under construction. It certainly seems that the xenos ships are in part responsible for the extent of the effect.’

‘So you still concur with our current objective?’ said the captain.

‘Indeed, captain,’ Kosa said with a nod. ‘If we can eliminate the enemy capital ship that should disrupt the negative effect, hopefully on a system-wide basis.’

‘Then we will proceed with the plan as agreed,’ said Aeschelus.

‘I have a proposal, brother-captain,’ said Nem­etus, realising that this would be his last opportunity to put forward an idea. ‘I will lead a force to the surface of Orestes III to combat the xenos attack already taking place.’

‘Afraid you’ll miss some action staying aboard with me?’ Praxa­medes gave a short laugh.

‘We are not making best use of our resources, brother-captain,’ Nem­etus pressed on, flashing an irritated glance at his fellow lieutenant before returning his attention to the captain. ‘If you insist on leading the boarding action personally–’

‘I do.’

‘Then we will still have a sizeable complement of the ship aboard. We do not have enough gunships to carry every Space Marine in a single wave. There is little they can do on the Ithraca’s Vengeance, but on the surface we could make a difference.’

‘So, you’ve thought this through, brother?’ said Praxa­medes. ‘What do you hope to achieve on the surface?’