Plient shook his head. ‘Wish I did, sir. I’ve only heard rumours. Some of the ground crew saw her being dragged away, but the officers are keeping quiet. Gradeolous seems happy, though, so the news is probably bad. You should watch him, sir – not only is he after her spot, but he keeps making enquiries about your seer-skulls. Seems he wants to know how they interface with the aircraft. I can’t really lie to him, sir. He outranks me.’

‘I understand, Plient,’ I said. ‘But what of Shard? Is she to be executed?’

‘I don’t know, sir. I doubt it – I think I’d have heard something.’

‘Dolos wants her dead.’

‘Perhaps. But she’s not commanding officer. Then again, I don’t know if Wing Commander Prospherous will fight for her this time, given how she ran off and disobeyed orders.’

‘Does he usually support her?’

‘I’m not sure. There was some incident last year. I don’t really know the details. But he ended up in the infirmary, and she took command for a time. It got a little dicey, but we came through.’

‘And he holds a grudge for this?’

‘Doubt it, sir. He lost his memory from the injury. Heard it was a head wound. Or seizure or something. Either way, he didn’t remember there was a problem, and no one mentioned it much after that.’

‘Well, it strikes me you need every pilot you have.’

‘Yes, sir. We do,’ Plient said. ‘In fact, I should get back to the hangar.’

‘Then I thank you for your help. Though it seems your equipment was not needed.’ I nodded to the servitor and the crate it hauled.

‘Ah, thanks for reminding me, sir,’ Plient replied, turning to it. He tapped a code into the control panel, and the crate suddenly yawned open, a red eye glinting within.

‘Kikazar?’ I said.

The seer-skull emerged cautiously, surveying the room as if assessing possible threats. It then sidled towards me, like a returning stray.

‘I found it in the hangar a couple of days ago,’ Plient said as I examined the device. ‘Not sure what it wanted, looked almost as if it was hiding. I was surprised it let me near it, but I thought I should keep it safe until your return.’

‘It is a wilful old soul,’ I said, and smiled. ‘Perhaps the hangar was a familiar space, somewhere safe. I was saddened to think it lost.’ I glanced to the beaming Plient. ‘Thank you again, flight sergeant. I only wish I had something to offer in return.’

‘No need, sir. I only do my duty,’ he said, as the servitor lifted the now-empty crate.

‘I will find a means to repay you, flight sergeant.’

‘You already are, sir,’ he said with a smile. ‘You’re inspiring the next gen­eration of soldiers to defend the Imperium. Why, without people like you I might not even have signed up!’