The Greater Good Read online

  ‘Why not do that straight away?’ Braddick asked, no doubt noticing that we’d be far closer to Quadravidia if we did. ‘Let the Mechanicus defend the forge world themselves.’

  ‘If they had anything there capable of it, we would,’ Zyvan said. ‘But they’d be overwhelmed in a matter of days by a fleet that size.’

  ‘These are their assets,’ I said, bringing up a fresh data display. ‘One company of skitarii and that’s about it. No Titans, no militia. Why would they waste resources on their own defence when they know the Guard need them so much they’ll step in at the first sign of a threat?’

  ‘How very efficient of them,’ Braddick said sourly.

  ‘Indeed,’ I said. In truth, I felt a certain sneaking regard for the cogboys, who’d been astute enough to realise that the steady stream of Imperial Guard units putting in to resupply there already gave them all the protection they needed; at least under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, these were anything but.

  ‘We can’t take the risk of leaving them to fend for themselves,’ Zyvan said firmly, and that was that; just one sentence, and we were committed.

  All in all, I supposed, it could have been worse; at least no one was suggesting we went charging off to engage the hive fleet head on. With any luck it would bypass the forge world entirely, leaving the tau to blunt their advance while we sat on the sidelines, poised to render them all possible assistance short of actually doing anything, leaving us ready to mop up the survivors of both sides; we might even be able to annex a couple of their worlds for a change into the bargain (which would serve them right for trying to grab Quadravidia, if you asked me).

  That was the theory, anyway, but of course it didn’t work out like that.

  Despite my forebodings, the tau completed their withdrawal on schedule, leaving only a handful of so-called merchantmen orbiting the war-ravaged world. El’hassai, of course, insisted that they were only there to deliver humanitarian cargoes to help with the relief effort, and that their formidable armaments had been deactivated. For all I knew, he was right; the locals could certainly do with all the relief they could get. Of course, it was going to come with a heavy price tag if I was any judge; but nobody asked me, least of all the governor. On the mercifully few occasions I couldn’t avoid talking to the puffed-up popinjay he seemed absurdly pleased with himself, apparently believing the whole thing to have been his idea all along, so I just kept my own counsel, and made sure I included a verbatim record of his most asinine remarks in my next dispatch to Amberley. We were due to leave orbit within days, and, after that, whatever happened to Quadravidia was going to be someone else’s problem in any case.

  Being mainly concerned by now with the upcoming defence of Fecundia, I was more than a little surprised when I wandered into Zyvan’s command centre a few hours before our scheduled departure to find El’hassai already ensconced there, deep in earnest conversation with the Lord General.

  ‘Commissar.’ The tau diplomat glanced in my direction, smiling a welcome; although, as with so many other apparently human expressions, I wasn’t entirely sure how much of that was genuine, and how much it was studied to put me at my ease. So I plastered an equally welcoming expression on my own face, and extended a courteous hand.

  ‘Envoy. An unexpected pleasure,’ I said. I glanced at Zyvan, whose face was a carefully studied mask of neutrality behind his immaculately trimmed beard. ‘To what do we owe this visit?’

  ‘The envoy has a proposal to make,’ Zyvan told me, in his most non-committal tone, ‘which he hopes will foster trust between us in the face of our mutual enemy.’ Which sounded to me like a direct quotation.

  El’hassai nodded his agreement. ‘Indeed so,’ he declaimed, glancing towards the Lord General, then back to me. ‘An exchange of observers. To facilitate communication between the tau and the Imperial elements of our alliance.’

  ‘In other words, some of our people tag along to…’ Zyvan gestured to the green blob most likely to end up on the hive fleet’s snack trolley, and hesitated. ‘Dreth… thingy.’

  ‘Dr’th’nyr,’ El’hassai supplied helpfully, untroubled by the world’s typical lack of vowels.

  ‘Exactly,’ Zyvan agreed, ‘to report back on the tau deployment, and pass on any useful intelligence they can gather about the ’nids.’ Not just the ’nids either, of course, but we all knew what was remaining unsaid, and no one was tactless enough to verbalise it.

  ‘Pass it on how?’ I asked. ‘The tau don’t have astropaths, do they[43]?’

  ‘We do not,’ El’hassai confirmed, ‘although we are entirely agreeable to the Imperial delegation including one.’

  ‘That could be arranged,’ Zyvan agreed. ‘It’d keep the two fleets coordinated more effectively than sending dispatches by courier boat.’ Until the astropathic connection was severed by the shadow in the warp cast by the approaching tyranids, anyway. This in itself would be sufficient to let the other group know the attack had fallen elsewhere.

  ‘And who did you have in mind to lead this delegation?’ I asked, already perfectly aware of the answer to that, and determined to head it off. None of the forge worlds I’d seen before had been particularly inviting, but there was a fair chance that the ’nids would bypass Fecundia entirely, whereas joining the tau in the defence of Dr’th’nyr seemed tantamount to charging straight down the gullet of the nearest hive ship to me.

  ‘Precisely the question we were debating,’ El’hassai said smoothly. ‘You have the confidence of both powers, and extensive experience of campaigning against the tyranids.’

  Which, needless to say, I was hardly keen to extend any further. It wouldn’t exactly be politic to say so, though, so I nodded thoughtfully, as if I was actually considering the implied proposal.

  ‘I do indeed,’ I said evenly. ‘Although that may not be the most essential quality where this job’s concerned.’

  ‘Really?’ Zyvan asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘What do you think would be?’

  ‘Familiarity with the tau way of doing things,’ I replied promptly. ‘If the tyranid attack is directed at Dr’th’nyr,’ and I have to say I made a pretty good fist of the pronunciation all things considered, to no one’s surprise greater than my own, ‘it’ll be vital to know precisely what’s going on. One moment’s hesitation or misunderstanding in the heat of battle could lead to catastrophe.’ I shrugged, in my most artless, self-deprecating fashion. ‘And, with the best will in the galaxy, I’m hardly au fait with the complexities of tau protocol.’

  ‘Who would you suggest, then?’ El’hassai asked and I put on my most decisive face.

  ‘Donali, of course,’ I said. ‘He’s spent so much time with the water caste he’ll know exactly what to do in any situation without needing to be briefed. Leaving everyone free to prosecute the war with the greatest efficiency.’

  ‘There’s much merit in your analysis,’ El’hassai said, after a moment, to my carefully concealed surprise, and even greater relief. ‘You have a fine grasp of the principle of the Greater Good.’

  ‘I just think it makes more sense to send a diplomat to do a diplomat’s job,’ I said, hardly able to believe I’d been able to palm the job off on someone else quite so easily, ‘while I get on with the soldiering.’

  Zyvan nodded in agreement. ‘I’d rather have you with the fleet anyway,’ he admitted, which promptly triggered a fresh flare of unease I hadn’t bargained for, as I tried to work out what he knew that I didn’t. ‘We’ll have to thrash things out with the cogboys, and you know what they’re like.’

  ‘They can be a bit difficult to work with,’ I agreed. But at least they were human, more or less, and I’d find it a lot easier to keep them between me and the ’nids if the worst came to the worst. I shot a quick glance at the hololith again, just to make sure I was making the right choice, but it seemed I was. The tyranid advance still looked most likely to skirt the Fecundia system altogether, before driving in towards the tau outposts. ‘They should follow our advice without argu
ing too much, though. It would be the most rational thing to do.’

  ‘Well, you’d know,’ Zyvan said, fortunately without either of us knowing just how wrong he was about that, ‘you’ve had dealings with them often enough.’

  ‘I have,’ I agreed, tactfully refraining from the ‘more than enough, actually,’ which would have been rather more accurate. Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus were all very well in their way, and I’d even known a few whose company I’d quite enjoyed, but even the best of them could be irritatingly single-minded, particularly on the occasions we’d been forced to make a choice between some cherished piece of junk and my even more cherished hide. Luckily, in my experience, most acolytes of the Omnissiah could be convinced to follow the path of pragmatism by reducing the debate to a simple either-or choice, where the one I liked least involved certain annihilation for us all; or, if all else failed, pointing out which one of us was currently holding the gun. I shrugged. ‘After all, they need us just as badly as we need them.’

  ‘Quite so,’ Zyvan said, clearly thinking that wasn’t exactly the firmest of foundations for an alliance between two of the vast number of organisations and factions making up the Imperium, let alone ourselves and a bunch of land-grabbing xenos who’d turn their guns on us again the first chance they got, if we didn’t manage to do it first.

  ‘If that’s settled, then, I’ll leave you to it,’ I said, preparing to withdraw. Ally or not, I’d rather postpone chatting about our tactics until El’hassai had joined the exodus of his compatriots.

  ‘Everything but the designation of the tau representative among the Imperial fleet,’ Zyvan said, with a faint inclination of the head which indicated he’d rather I stayed right where I was. And with good reason. Technically, the Commissariat would have to concur that any appointment he agreed to didn’t constitute an unacceptable security risk, and having me sit in would short-circuit the ratification process nicely. Not that I’d be particularly happy with any candidate, but at least we’d be aware of who was spying on us, and able to keep them well away from anything really sensitive.

  ‘I propose Au’lys Devrae,’ El’hassai said, looking from one of us to the other, with a fine show of bafflement at our resulting expressions. ‘She speaks fluent Gothic, and is of the same species, which should greatly facilitate understanding and communication.’

  ‘Out of the question,’ Zyvan said, and I nodded emphatically.

  ‘She’d be lynched within days,’ I explained. ‘Most Imperial citizens would regard her as a heretic, pure and simple.’

  ‘That complicates matters,’ El’hassai said, evenly. ‘We have few Gothic speakers left in the Quadravidia system, even fewer with appropriate diplomatic credentials. Since most of those are also human, they would hardly fare any better.’

  ‘Hardly,’ I agreed, straight-faced, waiting for the inevitable suggestion which, I strongly suspected, was what he’d actually intended all along.

  ‘I will have to accompany you myself,’ El’hassai said, to my complete lack of surprise.

  ‘Of course,’ Zyvan agreed, with a fine show of courtesy, and gestured to the nearest of his aides, who promptly tried to look as though he hadn’t been eavesdropping on the entire conversation. ‘Marlie will see to the allocation of your quarters.’

  ‘Thank you.’ El’hassai stood, and proffered a hand to the faintly baffled-looking young man. ‘I will be accompanied only by a small retinue: half a dozen advisors, amanuenses and the like.’

  ‘All tau?’ I asked, trying not to picture the reaction of a typical Naval rating coming face to face with a kroot in the corridors, let alone a vespid. At least the slight humanoids looked reasonably unthreatening, unless they were stomping about in one of their battlesuits, and there didn’t seem much prospect of that.

  ‘All tau,’ El’hassai assured me. ‘Mainly from the water caste.’

  ‘Mainly?’ I asked, and the tau nodded. ‘I believe that a fire warrior or two will assist my understanding of the tactical situation.’

  ‘By all means,’ Zyvan said, clearly not happy with the request, and equally clearly far from surprised. But then, if I were taking passage on a xenos vessel, I’d have wanted a squad of storm troopers with me at the very least.

  ‘I shall then delay you no longer,’ El’hassai replied, and wandered away, Captain Marlie trotting at his heels like an anxious party host wondering if they’ve ordered enough canapés.

  ‘Are you sure that’s wise?’ I asked, as soon as the door had rumbled closed behind them, and Zyvan shook his head.

  ‘No, but what choice have I got? Donali will want to take a bodyguard, so we can hardly refuse El’hassai the same courtesy.’ He shrugged. ‘And it’s not as if they’re going to take over the ship with just a couple of pulse rifles.’

  ‘I suppose not,’ I agreed, and we got down to the serious business of working out how best to protect a world apparently devoid of any defences.

  EDITORIAL NOTE:

  Since there now follows another of Cain’s characteristic elisions, picking up his narrative at the point of his arrival in the Fecundia system, this seems as good a place as any to insert some of the background he so conspicuously fails to provide.

  Sekara’s travelogue, which I’ve drawn on extensively while editing these volumes, is of little use in this case, his entry on Fecundia consisting of nothing more than the phrase ‘Dreary beyond belief.’ Accordingly, I’ve been forced to make use of less cosmopolitan material, in order to give an accurate impression of the world on which Cain was shortly to find himself fighting for his life.

  WELCOME TO FECUNDIA!

  A Tithe Worker’s Survival Guide

  Also available in auditory and direct inload formatting.

  Blessings of the Omnissiah be upon you for choosing to dedicate your life to the fabrication of His bounty.

  (Please omit the preceding benediction if directed into such service by the Magistratum of your home world.)

  Fecundia is a forge world, consecrated to the service of the Machine God, and every manufactory is a temple to His greatness. The manufactoria themselves cover approximately thirty-eight per cent of the total surface area, while ancillary facilities such as habitation clusters, protein synthesis units and atmospheric reclamators account for a further seventeen.

  As a result, adequate nutrition and air sufficiently devoid of particulates to be barely carcinogenic are freely available in all work and leisure spaces, although augmetic upgrades to both digestive and respiratory systems are recommended for all long-term residents. (Your supervisor will be happy to explain the procedure for repaying the cost of such enhancements.)

  Exposure to the unregulated environment is not recommended, and should be restricted to the briefest possible time, unless a full-body upgrade has been obtained. (Average redemption time for this enhancement 285,000 production hours.) Short-term exposure is survivable for the unmodified, provided full protective clothing is worn; in such a case it is essential to check joints and seals periodically for signs of corrosion.

  The uninhabited areas are composed of ash desert, acid lakes, spoil ridges, and three mineralogical extraction plants. Since most indigenous resources have been consumed, recovery efforts are under way on the remaining planetary bodies and most large asteroids. Preliminary processing of extraplanetary resources is conducted in the orbital refineries, before the raw materials are delivered to the surface by direct ballistic insertion; the recovery of these payloads from the landing grounds is a job highly sought after, since every hour spent on the surface is considered to be three for the purposes of production hour computation, and many vacancies are currently available in this area.

  If caught in the open, it is advisable to seek shelter immediately, particularly if the wind rises. Scourstorms are capable of abrading the hull armour of a heavy crawler, and can inflict severe injury on even augmetically enhanced humans in a matter of moments.

  SIX

  I had few expectations about the world awaiting
us, and those that I did were swiftly lived down to. From orbit, Fecundia resembled nothing so much as a vast pustule, swollen and livid, choked with the detritus of its industry. Much of the surface was obscured by thick clouds the colour of diarrhoea, which swirled above the hive zones[44], each one of which sprawled for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. Around them was nothing but a wilderness of spoil and waste. The place had been an uninhabitable ruin before the Mechanicus moved in, and they’d hardly done much to improve it that I could see[45].

  ‘Quite a spectacle, is it not?’ El’hassai remarked at my elbow, in studiedly neutral tones, and I started, having been too lost in my own thoughts to have noticed his all but silent approach.

  ‘If you like that sort of thing,’ I conceded. The night side of the world below was glowing a dull, flickering red, the light of uncountable furnaces making it look as though the whole planet was on fire. I was reminded of the volcanic hellhole I’d so recently escaped from by the skin of my teeth[46], and shuddered. ‘Remind you of anywhere back home?’

  ‘Our fabricatories are less… profligate with their usage of energy,’ El’hassai said, a little prissily, I thought, but then with xenos it was often hard to tell what they were really thinking.

  ‘Good for you,’ I responded reflexively, letting him pick the sarcasm out of the remark if he liked.

  ‘It hardly looks like a tempting target for the tyranids,’ he went on, clearly choosing not to. ‘Our encounters with them would tend to suggest that they prefer their planets more verdant.’

  ‘There’s about twenty billion people down there,’ I corrected him. ‘Even if half of them are mostly metal. And probably twice that number of servitors[47]. More than enough biomass to make an attack worth their while.’