Curze could not shrug. Instead, he cocked his head to one side. ‘I just think this secret of yours is interesting. You are on a journey with it. Your destination will be fascinating.’

‘My destination is Terra.’

‘Did you come here just to wilfully misunderstand me?’

‘You claimed I would not reach Terra. I tell you that I will.’

‘No. You are wrong.’

The statement was unusually direct, coming from Curze.

‘I see,’ the Lion said. He permitted himself a small, grim smile. He showed his mad brother his lack of concern. ‘You know this as an immutable fact, do you?’

‘I do.’

‘Then where are we arriving?’

‘That would be telling, wouldn’t it?’

There was still the icy glint of mockery in those abyssal eyes, mockery lashing out from the depths of the most profound anguish. But the Lion caught Curze’s hesitation. It was tiny, a fragment of a fragment of a second. It was real, though. Curze’s facial muscles contracted in a microscopic gesture. The change would have been invisible to anyone except the Lion. He knew about secrets, how to keep them, and how to detect them. He saw one now. The Night Haunter had just shown him uncertainty.

You don’t know, the Lion thought. There is something you aren’t sure about, and that bothers you. For a moment, the thought of Konrad’s bloody conviction being shaken at all was satisfying. Then the emotion shaded into concern. Curze rattled, however minutely, was an omen. The question was how to read it.

The ship jolted again, this time with the hard shock of the translation to the materium. The Lion forced down a grunt of surprise. This was too soon. He had not expected the jump to end now.

His vox-bead buzzed for his attention.

Curze laughed, his breath a foetid wheeze. ‘News!’ he rasped. ‘News! Enlightenment is upon you, brother. Will you stay and share the moment with me?’

‘I was not to be interrupted,’ the Lion said to the vox.

‘Your pardon, my lord,’ said Captain Stenius. ‘But your presence is needed on the bridge.’ The urgency of the request lurked beneath its flat delivery.

The Lion stood. ‘On my way,’ he said.

At the entrance to the cell he paused and met Curze’s eyes. ‘I think you’re curious, Konrad,’ he said. Then he slammed the vault door behind him.

‘Have we arrived at Terra?’ the Lion asked Stenius as he marched towards the grav lift that would take him to the bridge.

‘We have not.’

‘Then where are we?’

‘We don’t know.’

‘The identity of the Samothrace is confirmed,’ said Grel Kathnar. The Word Bearer bowed his head and returned to his station.

‘Will he be on board?’ Phael Rabor asked Quor Vondor.