‘Yes,’ he said, looking at her with his midnight eyes. ‘Don’t ask me why.’ The side of his mouth twitched up in a smile. The expression somehow made her feel colder.

‘And you, Mersadie Oliton, remembrancer and friend to the Sons of Horus, what happened to you, and why do you think you need to speak to the Praetorian of Terra?’

She shivered. Behind her eyes she saw a wolf rising from black water under a sickle moon.

‘I–’ she began.

‘You said to the masters of this ship that you needed to reach Terra. Forgive me if I am curious as to why you want to speak to Rogal–’

Nilus broke off and his head twitched around, his gaze flicking between the corners of the room. The broth tumbled to the floor as he came to his feet.

‘Something is happening,’ he said, breathing hard. ‘Something is–’

And the lights blinked out as the world began to shake.

Vek opened his eyes. Light and sound filled the bridge. Explosions lit in the view beyond the viewports. Pieces of metal blasted outwards from the first ship struck and caught another ship’s engine cowlings as it passed close by. They tore like parchment in a shotcannon blast. The ship began to skid across the void. The Antius rocked. Cracks pinged across the viewports as a wave of micro-debris broke over them.

‘Damage!’ someone was shouting.

‘Where?’ Vek shouted back.

‘I… I don’t know. Port…’

‘Find out.’

Vek began to push himself up. The deck pitched and he slammed back down onto the metal. He could taste blood in his mouth. A thin hand with a grip like a machine closed on his arm and hoisted him up. He looked up at Aksinya.

‘Sir, you need to come with me.’

‘What is happening?’ Koln shouted as she pulled herself up the stairs onto the helm platform. The brevet captain was pale, eyes wide, bordering on panic.

‘I…’ stammered the watch officer. Beyond the viewports, the ship with the shredded engines hit a smaller ship prow-on. A new blaze of light blanked the night.

‘Full astern!’ shouted Koln. ‘Thirty degrees down angle! Do it now.’

The Antius began to judder as its engines and thrusters pushed it back and down, away from the expanding cloud of destruction.

Vek shook his head. His thoughts were racing, putting together the pieces that he hadn’t seen at first. ‘They fired on us, didn’t they? Those shells were meant for us.’

‘They missed,’ said Aksinya, trying to pull him away. ‘But the warship that fired is still out there, and the odds are low that it will make the same mistake twice.’

‘The prisoner…’ he said. ‘They checked that the prisoner was still alive before they fired…’

He shook himself free of Aksinya’s grasp.

‘Get the children to a shuttle,’ he said. ‘Be ready to launch if we get hit.’

‘Sir, you need to–’