Escalation

‘No, I’m not going to meet them,’ Chetta told the guard irritably. ‘Send a team and escort them here. Protocol might dictate the reception chambers, but we don’t have the personnel to secure–’

‘That’s him! That’s him!’

It was DeShelle’s voice, from behind her. Chetta turned to see her aide jabbing her finger at a pict-screen in Yunn’s annex, which was displaying a still from immigration control: a pale-skinned man, with narrow cheeks and scraggly dark hair that reached past his shoulders. He had a respirator, but it was pulled down to expose his face as the official compared his appearance to that of his ident.

‘Name?’ Chetta demanded, limping towards them, the guard completely forgotten.

‘Radimir Niklau,’ Tekoa said, checking and checking again against the notes in his hand. ‘Yes. The gate and time stamp match up. Whoever he may really be, he travelled here using an ident in the name of Radimir Niklau.’

Chetta looked at Ngiri. ‘Your ladyship?’

Ngiri subvocalised something into the comm wrapped around her throat, then spoke clearly. ‘This is rogue trader Indrinian Vass. Get me Judge Arctos immediately.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Yes, I know that it’s midnight on the Feast of the Emperor’s Ascension, because I am not a complete imbecile. You apparently are, however, since despite my authorisation code you have replied to me instead of immediately patching me through. This is a security issue of the utmost urgency, pray do not delay me any further!’

There was a moment of silence. Ngiri must have muted her comm, for her mouth quirked into a wry smile as she looked at Chetta. ‘Proctors. Even I can’t intimidate them much, on a personal level. Make them worry that they’re delaying the Emperor’s justice, however…’ Her face became alert and stern again. ‘Arctos, it’s Vass. I’m going to send you a pict-file of a man identified as Radimir Niklau. Consider him to be the prime suspect for the concerns we have spoken of previously. He is armed and extremely dangerous, and I want a shoot-on-sight order for anyone who even vaguely resembles him until we have one hundred per cent confirmation that he’s dead.’ Another pause. ‘Yes. So long as the city is still in one piece by the time we get him then there is no such thing as too much collateral damage. And I’m prepared to be flexible about the city.’

‘Good work,’ Chetta murmured to DeShelle and Tekoa. Her aide still looked a little disturbed, which was only to be expected if you’d just caught another glimpse of the face of the man who’d killed your colleague in front of you. Tekoa Yunn simply had the beam of a man who had been working hard and could now see that all his effort had apparently paid off. ‘Tekoa, as soon as everything settles down, feel free to leave here and go back to your rooms.’