Gaius Poladin strode towards the bridge, data slate in hand. There were four men at the entrance, two looking in and two looking out. All of them wore carapace armour over the dark blue and red uniforms of Mustarios household troops and clenched hellguns in armoured gauntlets. Their gazes were hidden behind dark visors. Poladin couldn't help but feel a chill in their presence. It was a relief to move passed them.

The command deck was huge. Near the back Lord Captain Mustarios was sitting upon the command throne. Two long pits housed servitors slaved to ship stations and the ship's machine spirit. Closer to the lord captain were human personnel manning various command and control stations. More junior personnel manned ancillary stations, monitored ship functions, or watched the servitors.

Sybel Dawning stood just off Paul's left, a power sword slung over a dark blue long coat with vermilion shoulder boards and an autopistol on her hip. "Lord Captain," began Gaius, "if I may?"

"Approach," said Paul, a slight smile on his lips. "What do you have?"

"A proposal, my lord captain. Turibia Minor is an unimportant world about five hundred light years from Holy Terra. The last part of the warp passage is prone to shifts and eddies. Most Chartists captains won't chance it and Rogue Traders don't operate this close to Terra. It is, however, subject to periodic Ork raids and doesn't have enough industry to supply the weapons they need. Battlefleet patrols are irregular do to the same shifts which means that the Orks are almost never intercepted."

"And I suppose they can pay?"

"Their industry gets hammered when the Orks attack, but they have mining and agricultural resources that makes it worth the trip. The Administratum collects tithes every ten years or so. Last time was four years. With enough weapons to put a fight off any Ork raiders that show up, they can easily afford that."

"Mars?"

"The Sollax Works in the Belt actually. Defense lasers, anti-vehicle and anti-air lascannons, anti-personnel and anti-air multilasers-"

"I get the picture."

"The first two thirds of the journey will be through well mapped space. I thought this would make a good shakedown voyage. The first part easy, the last leg a little harder, and profit at the end."

"And if our timing is bad a fight at the end."

"I believe we are in the service of a rogue trader and risk goes with the territory."

"Not even a hint of a smile Mister Poladin. I'm impressed."

"Cards, my lord. They're good training if you can manage not to lose your shirt."

"I'll keep that in mind. Very well Mister Poladin. Inform the Sollax Works that they have a sale."

"With pleasure, Lord Captain."

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The man who answered to the name of Deckan West walked alone through the bowels of the Lord Gregor. Deckan West was an able spacer with fifteen years experience in the void and an excellent record for both skill and diligence. He had signed with the Lord Gregor in hopes of winning fame and fortune. What he had received was a bullet in the head and an secret cremation. His murder assumed his identity and took his berth.

The corridor was an access way from the enginarium control rooms to the engines themselves. Tubes heavy with control system wiring and power conduits ran along the ceiling and through the walls. The assassin stopped at an access panel and knelt down. He knelt down beside it and pried open the panel. From a pocket in his overalls he slipped a grey case. He opened it revealing rounded square of something that looked a lot like worked ivory, but was not. A dark blue jewel was set in the center. He touched the jewel and closed the case. Reaching up, he attached it to the inside surface of the wall directly above the access panel. He closed the panel and walked away.

The ship was still in port. Jumping ship would be simple enough. Deckan West would be missed, but nothing would be wrong and it wouldn't be the first time a void sailor had jumped ship. He wouldn't be the only one either. He would shed the Deckan West identity in favor of others as he traveled back to his master to report that the plan was in motion. Paul Mustarios's days were numbered as were all of those who served aboard the Lord Gregor.

500 light year run? Easy, although the navigation at the end might be troublesome. One wrong warp eddy and the ship drops out with a thousand years of temporal displacement, forward or back. The Navigators might appreciate the challenge or they might decide it's a pain in the ass to have to work so hard. It might be a bit like one of the crews on Deadliest Catch trying to put in to offload during the Opelio season when the ice reaches their grounds. Every moment nerve wracking, men up against the hull to watch for damage, slowly pressing forward into thickening resistance.

And is that some sort of Eldar thingy? It sounds like it, although all sufficiently advanced technology looks the same on the printed page.

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Commander of the MFS Darwinian Selection Method (sexual)

Serghar Gelt-Trooper of the Adeptes Arbites in Dark Heresy 40K: The Danse Macabre.

I was also thinking "Wraithbone"

Just discovered this story, and find it well above average for this site, with well-imagined settings and distinct characters. I was amused that most recent episode identified the Navigator as an undeveloped NPC when he was not consulted as he should have been in the decision to make the destination for Lord Gegor's first run to be Turibia Minor. The captain must at least pretend to take his Navigator's counsel on the ship's destinations. You do need a copy editor, but I have successfully resisted the urge to volunteer because I am already making far too little progress with my own writing.

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"Duca Guarnieri della Gran Compania, nimico di Dio, di pietà e di misericordia"

("Duke Werner of the Grand Company, The enemy of God, of pity and of mercy.")

motto of the arms of Werner von Urslingen, Condottiere and Duke of Spoleto, c. 1340

Funny you should mention that. The good Lord Mustarios is about to find that out.

But they will go to Turibia Minor in the end even so, because no alternative destinations/red herrings were proposed. Now what does Turibia Minor have that Lord Gregor can load up on that will have value further out? Or is data so hard to come by that they won't know until they get there?

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"Duca Guarnieri della Gran Compania, nimico di Dio, di pietà e di misericordia"

("Duke Werner of the Grand Company, The enemy of God, of pity and of mercy.")

motto of the arms of Werner von Urslingen, Condottiere and Duke of Spoleto, c. 1340

As said in the story, "they have mining and agricultural resources that makes it worth the trip." I don't think we need an exact accounting of Gauis Poladin's marketing plans at this time.

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Time makes more converts than reason. -- Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Home, home again, I like to be here when I can.
And when I come home cold and tired, it's good to warm my bones beside the fire.
Far away across the field the tolling of the iron bell calls the faithful to their knees to hear the softly spoken magic spells. -- Pink Floyd, Time