‘Where have alarms been raised?’ she asked DeShelle after a moment, one arm still around Ranovel’s shoulders and trying to keep her voice calm. DeShelle wasn’t privy to the true nature of the Vaults. Chetta trusted DeShelle with many of her secrets, but that one was hers alone.

‘The only alarm raised was by me,’ DeShelle said. ‘No one has seen him since I ran when he was fighting Chief Krane.’ She said the words without shame, and with good reason. No one would expect a Navi­gator’s aide to fight and die against a foe who was outmatching the head of security.

‘And reported deaths?’ Chetta asked, bracing herself.

‘Two guards, found with their throats cut at their station,’ DeShelle said. ‘Luc Krane, obviously. Savomir Tej–’

‘Great-Uncle Sav?’ Ranovel declared in horror. Chetta sighed. Her children had loved Savomir Tej, and to be fair, the old boy had tolerated them when he generally had little to do with most people. She’d have preferred to spare them these details, but then she’d have preferred to spare them a lot of things that she couldn’t afford to. Felicia and Ranovel had to understand the dangers of the galaxy, or they’d never survive them.

‘The intruder also apparently killed Fortuna Bettan, one of the servants,’ DeShelle continued, with an apologetic glance at Ranovel. ‘However, we… I think that she may have been in league with him, and he killed her to prevent her from talking to us.’

Chetta frowned. She didn’t know Bettan, but that was a serious allegation to make of any Brobantis servant. ‘Explain.’

‘It may make more sense if I show you,’ DeShelle said, leading them to one of the terminals. She lit the incense and struck the ritual blow, and it shimmered into life. ‘Krane and I had noticed an alarming pattern, which was why we went in search of Bettan in the first place. I gathered what we knew, or suspected, together before we went, to show you when you returned, or for someone to hopefully find if…’

She didn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t need to.

‘Three Brobantis Navigators killed before today,’ DeShelle said, bringing up their faces. ‘Tanomariel, Zulantis and Avomarr Du-Choi.’ She cast an uncertain glance at Ranovel and Felicia.

‘Get on with it,’ Chetta told her. She placed her arms around her children’s shoulders, resting some of her weight on Felicia. ‘My darlings, I’m sorry for this, but you need to understand what we face.’

‘Tanomariel was mutilated,’ DeShelle said briskly. ‘Zulantis was burned, Avomarr Du-Choi was killed and dumped into the river. Then Krane found out about two other Navigators who were murdered by an unknown assailant in a dive bar in the Mids. Someone – presumably their house or houses – had tried hard to hush it up, but there were two pertinent details. The first was that, like Tanomariel, their warp eyes were removed.’