Well. Perhaps she hadn’t fully kept control. Morandia’s mouth had lolled open for a second in utter shock, but then her nostrils flared as she drew in breath, ready to retaliate–

‘There is an unregistered psyker called Radimir Niklau at large in Ascension City, and he is killing Navigators and cutting out their warp eyes,’ DeShelle DuVoir said loudly, inserting herself between Chetta and Morandia. ‘Including in a dive bar called the Star Lounge in the Mids, despite the efforts of at least one house to keep it quiet. We believe that he is attempting to replicate a ritual that pulled the entire planet of Gallimo Prime into the warp, which means we could all die at any moment.’

It was the Star Lounge that got them. As soon as those words left DeShelle’s throat, Morandia’s mouth began to close again, and Jalamar visibly paled. They knew she had the truth, or at least part of it. Morandia licked her lips.

‘How many other deaths have there been?’

‘Were they yours?’ Ngiri asked. ‘In the Star Lounge, I mean.’

‘One of them was,’ Morandia admitted. ‘We never identified the other. I didn’t remember her as being Brobantis, either. A visitor from off-world, we thought.’

‘We know of six in total, as of this evening,’ DeShelle said. ‘There may be more, of course.’

‘We have only just ascertained the killer’s likely identity,’ Ngiri said. ‘I have already instructed Judge Arctos to begin a citywide manhunt.’ She let that sentence hang in the air for a moment, while Morandia and Jalamar registered the fact that this rogue trader was capable of, and willing to, dispense instructions to the system’s highest-ranking representative of the Adeptus Arbites, and the implied fact that he’d obey. ‘Any resources that House Jo’Sin could lend to the search would, of course, be very much appreciated.’

Morandia and Jalamar exchanged a look. Quite what could be communicated between them with those circles of darkened glass in front of Morandia’s eyes, Chetta couldn’t be entirely sure. Perhaps they simply knew each other well, however, for Morandia turned back with a determined expression.

‘Your words about my brothers,’ she said to Chetta, raising a shaking finger, ‘are insulting in the extreme, and I shall consider my response to them carefully. However, in the circumstances, it seems clear that other matters require our immediate attention. Never let it be said that House Jo’Sin’s first loyalty is not to the Imperium. We have heard of the horror that was Gallimo Prime. If you have compelling evidence that this man is a genuine threat, we shall of course mobilise to aid in his apprehension.’

‘Never mind apprehension – we want the bastard dead,’ Ngiri said flatly. ‘If we provide you with the details, you can get your house to assist?’

‘My father trusts me implicitly,’ Jalamar said, with a jerk of his head that was more of a twitch than a nod.