‘Your timing is impeccable, Brother-Judiciar,’ said Aeschelus, deciding it was better to initiate conversation. His words rang hollow but he tried to keep any evidence of his woes out of his voice. ‘This is a troubling situation and we must be vigilant among the crew.’

‘Brother-Chaplain Exelloria is seeing to the mood of the ranks,’ the Judiciar replied quietly. His stern gaze swept the strategium once more. ‘I am here to ensure that setback does not become disaster.’

‘Your strength is always an inspiration, brother,’ said Aeschelus, returning to his command throne.

The strategium was quiet and dull without most of the systems operational. Still the warp engine displays cast a ruddy aura across a portion of the deck and crew. The Judiciar’s presence had broken the immobility of thought that had chained him in the moments following Kosa’s announcement. Now that he could give his mind free run again he started to turn his attention to the details of the ship’s predicament.

‘Navigator, can you confirm that we are unable to make any course adjustments at all?’

‘Like a stone cast across the void, captain.’ Kosa’s voice was close to breaking. There was a depth of resignation to her tone that conveyed the emptiness of what she could see in the stillness of the warp.

‘That is not so poor a fate as being caught upon a storm, surely?’ said Nem­etus. ‘Eventually we will come upon some turbulence or current that will give us the means to break free.’

‘I do not share your optimism, lieutenant,’ Kosa replied, the intervox crackling as she sighed. ‘We are not a stone skidded across an iced lake to reach the far side. The warp has no up and down, left and right as you understand these directions. We drift in all directions at once, sliding further and further from the Impossibility Boundary. More akin to being caught within a glass sphere, sliding around the interior until we detach from the surface, travelling without movement. Inexorably we are being drawn down to the base, deeper into the warp. The longer we remain, the greater the slope against us.’

One of the attendants at the navigational relays, close to the voxmitter where Kosa’s voice emanated, gave a choked cry and started to weep, bowing his head to the metal of the console.

‘Leave,’ snapped Admonius, striding across to the demoralised officer. ‘Take yourself to the prow Reclusiam and think on your weaknesses until you are fit to attend your duties without distraction.’

The deck officer offered no argument as he fled to the doors, trembling with emotion.

‘Any others, stand down now,’ Aeschelus told the rest of the crew, keeping his voice level. ‘We must be fully effective to exploit any opportunity that occurs. Your immediate duty is to be no hindrance.’