The doors were in battle setting for the warp jump, so it took nearly a minute for the locks to grind open and the hydraulic rams to withdraw once more. When the doors parted they revealed the slight, robed figure of the astropath leaning heavily against the wall. He staggered into the command bridge, his breaths coming in stuttering gasps. Blind eyes roved the strategium until they fell upon Aeschelus.

‘Captain…’ The words were a feat of effort judging by the twisted expression of the astropath’s face. ‘Captain, I warned you! I told you it would be folly to travel to Casparill.’

‘You have no business here, Fedualis,’ growled Admonius, intercepting the astropath with an outstretched hand. ‘Return to your chamber and await instructions.’

‘You cannot hear it,’ wheezed Fedualis, pushing helplessly against the Judiciar’s immovable arm. ‘The silence. The silence swallows everything!’

‘Remove yourself from this chamber, or be removed,’ growled Admonius, taking Fedualis’ robe in his grip.

‘Wait!’ Praxa­medes moved towards the pair. ‘Fedualis, tell us about the silence.’

‘He is losing his mind,’ said Admonius. ‘Weakness is spreading all across the ship.’

Aeschelus did not know whether to take this last remark as simple commentary or a more pointed warning.

‘Fedualis, what can you tell us about the silence?’ Praxa­medes asked again, ignoring the Chaplain-in-Waiting’s remonstration. Admonius flashed a look at Aeschelus, perhaps thinking the captain would rebuke his subordinate. He did no such thing, but instead nodded to Praxa­medes to continue. The Judiciar’s frown deepened.

‘Did it start when we jumped?’ asked Praxa­medes.

‘No.’ The astropath turned his dead eyes on the lieutenant. ‘No, it came just before. It woke me from a dream. A dream of death!’

Fedualis became frantic, trying to pull himself from the grasp of Admonius, lunging towards Aeschelus.

‘I had forgotten! How had I forgotten? Death. Death, but not the end of life. Annihilation, sweeping aside everything in its path. Total obliteration, stretching across the galaxy. Ending. Everything is ending!’

A wordless moan echoed from the intervox, across which Kosa had apparently been hearing the exchange,

‘That matches what we saw,’ groaned the Navigator, sounding like she was on the verge of breaking down. ‘Nothing. Nothingness every…’

A noise like scuffling broke the feed, followed by urgent whispering. A scrape of metal and a gasp came quickly after.

‘Captain, it is a miracle!’ gasped Kosa. ‘A miracle! I can see something. A pulsing, a movement.’

‘I hear screams!’ wailed Fedualis, tearing his robe as he wrenched himself from the fingers of Admonius. He stumbled towards Praxa­medes, almost flailing into his arms. He seemed half-terrified and half-elated. ‘Death! Screams of death!’

The astropath started laughing manically. Behind him, Admonius raised a fist to club him into insensitivity but Aeschelus spoke out before the blow fell.

‘No, we need him conscious!’ He thrust a finger at Nem­etus. ‘Attend the warp engines.’