‘She’s very attractive,’ said Elodie.
‘Oh, case closed,’ said Urlinta.
‘Have you seen yourself?’ asked Nilwen.
‘He was going to ask me to marry him,’ said Elodie. ‘He had the papers. Then he didn’t. He didn’t the day she arrived. They’ve got a history, and it’s made him think twice.’
‘Sweetheart,’ said Urlinta, ‘if Daur was the sort who was going to drop you just like that the moment the next pair of tits–’
‘Officer tits,’ put in Nilwen.
‘–officer tits came along,’ Urlinta continued, ‘he would not have let you get bonded to come on a trip like this.’
‘Urlinta is right,’ said Juniper. ‘He wouldn’t have let you come along on an outing like this, not like this one, if he wasn’t serious. That would just be unforgivable.’
‘Unless,’ said Nilwen, ‘unless he’s a man. And a lasman. In which case being a heartless bastard is standard operating procedure.’
‘Nilwen–’ Juniper began.
‘I tell you, they will stick it anywhere.’
‘I’ll stick you anywhere,’ said Urlinta.
‘It’s not helping,’ Juniper said. ‘We all know Daur. He’s a fine man. One of the best. You can just tell.’
Elodie frowned.
‘I was sure of that,’ she said. ‘I’d never have left Balhaut if I’d felt differently. I’d never have chosen this life. No offence.’
‘None taken,’ said Nilwen. ‘None of us chose this life, did we ladies? It chose us.’
She and Urlinta cackled.
‘Stop fretting about it,’ Juniper said to Elodie. ‘You’ll give yourself frown lines, then he really will start looking elsewhere.’
‘I just want to know about this woman,’ said Elodie. ‘How well did he know her?’
‘Do you really want to know that?’ asked Urlinta.
‘Yes,’ said Elodie.
‘I wouldn’t want to,’ said Juniper. ‘She’s just a face from the past. You don’t want to start obsessing, El. Really, you don’t.’
‘Actually, we don’t mind,’ said Nilwen, ‘because we can gossip about it.’
‘I tell you what,’ said Juniper. ‘I’ve been getting to know some of the girls from the new intake’s retinue. The Vervunhivers. One of them might know something. I’ll ask around.’
Blenner stopped just outside Wilder’s quarters, took the pill bottle out of his pocket, and shook it. There weren’t many left. He was going to need more before long. He wasn’t looking forward to the conversation with Dorden. The old doctor was bound to comment on the speed with which he had used the first supply. Well, screw him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t followed instructions. ‘One of these, every day, or when you feel agitated’. Well, he’d been agitated quite a lot. A hell of a lot.
Maybe he could deal with one of the orderlies, show them the label, get them to fill out a scrip. He could avoid Dorden’s awkward questions entirely. That ruled out the inker, then. Lesp, his name was. He’d already managed to piss him off. He couldn’t go looking for favours there. Blenner thought about Curth for a moment. The idea of her made him smile, but not in any useful I-can-help-you-get-more-pills way. He just had an unbidden mental image of the good doctor Ana with nothing but a bio-monitor and an encouraging bedside manner.
What about the freak, Kolding? Blenner didn’t like him, but the man was new. Maybe he would respond to persuasion.
‘Looking for me?’ asked Wilder.
Blenner turned, deftly pocketing the bottle.
‘I was about to knock.’
Wilder looked terrible. His eyes were hollow and he needed a shave.
‘Come in,’ he said.
They went into Wilder’s quarters. There was still the faint smell of the counterseptic Perday had used to scrub the floor.
‘How are you?’ asked Blenner.
‘What is this going to be?’ asked Wilder. ‘A formal reprimand? A quiet word?’
‘Let’s start with the latter, shall we?’ asked Blenner. ‘You made an arse of yourself last night. It could have been the end for you. It almost was. But you were covered.’
‘So that’s two I owe you?’ asked Wilder. ‘Is that what you’re saying?’
‘I gather Trooper Perday told you?’
Wilder nodded.
‘She told me what the two of you did.’
‘Don’t mention it,’ said Blenner.
Wilder sat down and rubbed his chin.
‘I know how this goes,’ he said. ‘You want to make sure I know how much I depend upon you. I’m your man. You can call in favours.’
‘Your experience of the Guard hasn’t been particularly positive, has it?’ Blenner said. ‘Does it occur to you that I might just be trying to make sure a decent officer doesn’t flush his career away? His career and his life?’
‘Really? I don’t believe you. Everyone’s got an ulterior motive.’
‘You really are a bitter man, Wilder. You think the worst of everybody.’
‘And I’m never disappointed.’ Wilder shrugged. ‘Look at me, commissar. This was my brother’s command. Now he’s dead, and my face doesn’t fit, and I’m a scum junior whose been a laughing stock since the moment he arrived because he brought a bloody band with him.’
‘I know what it’s like to be in someone’s shadow,’ said Blenner quietly. ‘For you, your late brother. For me, my schoolboy friend. Ibram Gaunt. In a way, Gaunt for both of us, then. Hard acts to follow.’
‘He’s surprisingly unpopular,’ said Wilder.
‘The men love him.’
‘Not all of them. Most, yes, but a few… a few malcontents, they loathe him. This isn’t one big happy family.’
‘Interesting,’ said Blenner. He sat down facing Wilder.
‘I’ll deny I said it if you tell him.’
‘I won’t tell him,’ said Blenner. ‘Look, you expect me to have an ulterior motive. Fine. I’ll have one. If it makes you feel better, Captain Wilder, I don’t care about your pathetic existence at all. I care about the fact that my commissarial remit… my career, right now… is focused on the Belladon in this regiment. And if I have to disgrace or execute their drunken bastard of an officer in the first week, I’m never going to win them over. Make sense?’
Wilder nodded.
‘They said you’d tried hard last night.’
‘Tried hard?’
‘To make a good impression. I spoke to a few of the men today. Commissars come in two flavours, the lasman’s best friend and the lasman’s worst enemy. It’s an odd fact, but in the long run, the rabble prefer the latter.’
Blenner took off his cap and finger-combed his hair. He glared at the deck.
‘They saw that’s what I was doing, did they?’
‘They’re lasmen, commissar. Not idiots. Besides, they liked you. They’ve heard all about Hark. Gaunt too. You sound infinitely preferable.’
Blenner looked at him.
‘So what’s the problem?’
‘In the end,’ said Wilder, ‘what they need is a bit of steel. When the shooting starts, they don’t want a friend. They want someone they can absolutely depend on. The shooting’s going to start soon, commissar. Who would you want at your side? The happy clown or the cold-hearted bastard?’
Blenner’s hands were shaking. He wanted to take a pill, but he didn’t want Wilder to see.
‘We could–’ he said, and faltered. He breathed deeply and tried again. ‘We could work together, captain. It seems to me we could both use a little support. A little mutual effort could clean your slate and strengthen my position.’
Wilder nodded.
‘We could try that. All right. Novobazky.’
‘What?’
‘Lucien had an excellent working relationship with his commissar,’ said Wilder, ‘Genadey Novobazky. They were together five years. The one before, Causkon, he was useless. But Novobazky was a real rabble rouser. He could talk, you understand me? Lucien used to write to me about him. The letters home. Novobazky could win a battle, he said, just by opening his damn mouth.’