‘You never stop, do you?’ Curth asked. ‘One of these days I’m simply going to let you have your way, just to shut you up.’
‘I– I don’t know what to say–’
‘Thank the Throne.’
He walked to the doorway.
‘I think Gaunt needs to know.’
‘No,’ she said.
‘Maybe not before, but he needs to know now. He’d want to know. Look, I’ll go and tell him what happened, if you like.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Curth said.
Elodie was alone in Daur’s quarters when Commissar Fazekiel knocked on the hatch.
‘The captain’s not here,’ Elodie said. ‘He’s training in the hold.’
‘It’s you I wanted to see,’ said Fazekiel.
‘Me?’
Fazekiel came in, removed her cap, and pulled the hatch shut.
‘There’s a small problem, Mamzel Dutana. I’m sure it’s nothing, so I wanted to see if I could get it squared away without a fuss.’
‘What is it?’ asked Elodie. She eased her arm, still in its sling. Her head was aching again.
The commissar pulled a couple of sheets of paper out of her coat pocket and unfolded them.
‘We were clearing up after the incident with the gunman. My compliments, by the way, for saving that poor child.’
Elodie nodded.
‘The transport deck hall was a mess. Furniture broken and overturned, clothes scattered,’ said Fazekiel. ‘We found these papers under a cot. They’d been dropped, and had slid under there. Forgive me, I had to read them to work out who they should be returned to. They belong to you. You’ve signed them here, and here.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Elodie said. She vaguely remembered the forms that had been thrust at her.
‘I need to ask you a simple question,’ said Fazekiel. ‘Sometimes people wish to keep these things personal and private, in which case we can clear this up now, just between the two of us, and nothing else need be said about it. Are… are congratulations in order?’
‘Congratulations? I don’t understand.’
‘Are you and Captain Daur married? Sometimes it’s done in secret, I know. Perhaps before we left Menazoid Sigma?’
‘Married?’ Elodie asked. She swallowed. ‘No. No, we’re not.’
‘You’re not?’ asked Fazekiel.
‘No, unless I could be married and not know it. Could he have married me without me knowing it?’
Fazekiel smiled. ‘No, mamzel.’
‘Not even by filling out forms?’
‘No.’
‘Then we’re not married.’
Fazekiel frowned, her face sad.
‘Then we do have a problem. These papers, which you have signed, are part of a certificate for viduity benefits. The sort a wife would be able to claim after the death in service of her partner. A widow’s pension, mamzel.’
‘Oh.’
‘If you’re not married, then this is an illegal claim. An attempt to defraud the Munitorum. Unfortunately, this sort of fraud is quite common, given the large number of Guardsmen in service.’
‘I don’t know about this,’ Elodie stammered. ‘I was just given papers to sign. I was told it was something to do with the accompany bond. I wasn’t trying to scam anything. Please, I wasn’t.’
Fazekiel stared at her, eyes narrow.
‘I believe you,’ she said.
‘I should hope so,’ said Ban Daur.
They hadn’t heard him enter the chamber. He was dripping with sweat and in need of a shower. His company’s drill period was over for the day.
‘Do I get to hear this from the start?’ Daur asked.
‘A fraudulent pension claim has come to light,’ said Fazekiel. ‘Your partner is involved, but appears to me to be innocent. I am obliged to investigate. Mamzel, who gave you these forms? Who told you to sign them?’
‘I forget.’ She thought for a moment. ‘No… it was Costin.’
‘What did he tell you they were?’
‘They were to do with the accompany bond. There was him, and Captain Meryn. Some other troopers too, I’m sure. I can’t remember who. They were moving through the retinue with the forms. They said it was routine paperwork. This was just before the man started shooting.’
Fazekiel nodded.
Elodie looked at Daur.
‘We’re not married, are we?’ she asked.
Daur blinked. He laughed, and then stopped.
‘No,’ he said. ‘I think you’d remember.’
Elodie wasn’t laughing. She got up and walked over to one of the wall lockers. Clumsily, with only one hand working, she opened it, took out the petition forms and held them out to Daur.
‘What does this mean, then?’ she asked. She shook the documents. ‘Petition for Allowance to Marry. What does that mean? Why did you fill them out? If you were going to marry me, why didn’t you ask me? Is it that bitch?’
‘What? Who?’
‘Zhukova! Zhu-fething-kova!’
‘What?’
Fazekiel got to her feet.
‘Captain, I’m going to go now. I have to look into this matter. I will be back with further questions. You clearly need to have a conversation with Mamzel Dutana that I don’t have to be part of.’
On the fifth circuit of the drill course, Felyx Chass slipped and fell on a climbing slope. He was bone-tired, and didn’t want to show it. He wanted to impress the other Guardsmen. He’d always considered himself fit, but the training was punishing.
The Ghosts, even influx troopers, seemed so much fitter and stronger. Even Dalin, who was staying close to keep an eye on him, possessed reserves of stamina that Felyx found alarming. The lasrifle was a dead weight in Felyx’s hands. He felt himself lagging, stumbling on the ascents, fumbling through the crawls.
Then he fell.
‘Probably not used to hard work, eh?’ remarked Didi Gendler, helping Felyx up.
‘I’m all right.’
‘Probably comes as a bit of a shock after the life you’ve known,’ Gendler added. There was a malicious look in his eyes.
‘I’m fine,’ said Felyx.
‘No nice lifeguard to carry you around on her back today?’ asked Gendler.
‘She’s busy.’
‘Get on with it, Gendler,’ said Ludd, coming over. ‘Or I’ll make you run the circuit again.’
‘Just trying to help, sir,’ said Gendler. He ran off, throwing a toxic look back at Felyx.
‘Go rest on the bench,’ Ludd said to Felyx.
‘Why don’t you just shoot me?’ Felyx replied.
‘What?’
‘I’ve got everything to prove, so please don’t make it harder for me. They think I’m nothing. A privileged brat.’
‘They don’t think that,’ said Ludd.
‘Screw them if they do. I’m going to continue, commissar. I don’t want any favours.’
‘I’ll run the course with Chass,’ said Dalin, coming up, lapping Felyx.
‘Just carry on,’ Ludd told him.
‘The colonel-commissar asked me to keep an eye out,’ said Dalin.
‘On you go then, both of you,’ said Ludd.
On the sidelines, watching the last of the shift’s exercise drills, Hark came to a halt beside Kolea.
‘Well, they’re clearly both in love with him,’ said Hark.
‘Who?’ asked Kolea.
‘My boy and yours, Gol. Nahum and Dalin. Look at them trying to outdo each other to become Chass’s new best friend.’
‘They’re not stupid,’ said Kolea. ‘Getting in tight with the commander’s son, that’s a fast track to advancement or decent favour.’
‘The regiment doesn’t work like that,’ said Hark.
Kolea looked at him, and smiled. He patted Hark on the arm.
‘For a smart man, you’re surprisingly naive sometimes, Viktor,’ he said. ‘All regiments work like that, even the best ones. This is the Imperial Guard.’