The hab had clearly been occupied until very recently, as was evidenced by the plate of half-eaten but not-yet-mouldy food on the floor, the scattering of old devotional pamphlets and the faint aroma of unwashed clothes. However, the dresser with what looked to be hastily emptied drawers, the loose floor panel which might have been levered up to remove valuables secreted beneath it, and the empty space surrounded by burned incense which was just the right size for an effigy of the God-Emperor, strongly suggested that whoever had lived here was gone, with little intention to return in the immediate future.

‘You’re certain this is the right place?’ the first speaker asked.

‘This residence is registered to Tekoa and Ama Yunn,’ the hooded figure by the switches replied. ‘Any error lies with the records.’

‘Yunn clearly had some idea of what might follow his actions,’ said the second man to enter. He deactivated his shock baton, retracted it and replaced it on his belt. ‘The question is, what motivated him to try to access those records in the first place?’

‘Brobantis,’ the first speaker said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his left hand in apparent irritation. ‘It’ll be Brobantis. It seems that woman just can’t keep her nose out of anything.’

‘If she has relocated the junior sub-prefect to within her own premises, we are very unlikely to be able to reach him,’ said the hooded figure.

‘We would not,’ the second man said. ‘But…’

‘Too risky to break cover at this point,’ the first man broke in firmly. ‘Besides, what’s done is done. Either Brobantis has the records, or they don’t. We should find out soon, either way.’ He shrugged, and holstered his autopistol. ‘You never know. Emperor willing, it could work to our advantage.’

A hissy, crackling wheeze that was probably sarcastic laughter emanated from the hooded figure.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ the first speaker muttered. ‘When did you become so cynical?’

There was a momentary pause.

‘That wasn’t a literal question,’ the first speaker added in a tone of mild disgust. He shook his head. ‘Come on, we’re wasting time here. And the boss isn’t going to be pleased.’

Preparations

Preparations