Editing Insert Title Here (section)

===Chapter 2===

I knew that I'd have to tread carefully to direct this investigation now. While I could show my hand, let Catherine handle everything from here on out, I wasn't quite ready to relinquish control quite yet. No, I still felt that I could get more from the subtle route than the direct.

I produced a tin, shaking my head. “That's quite the story, Jim. Quite the story indeed. And then to go straight from that to the warp? A lot of people would have cracked.” Opening the tin, I offered him the contents. Somehow, I found his hesitation amusing. “You don't have to accept if you don't partake.”

“It's not that, sir. I...” I followed the dart of his eyes to Catherine. Her disdain was evident on her face.

“Go ahead,” she grumbled softly.

That was all that Jim needed. He carefully took the lho stick out of the tin, rolling it around between his fingers. Good man. I put one between my lips and lit it before offering him my fire. “I think you'll like it. One of the advantages of my position is that I have access to a better supply than the guardsmen.”

He took a couple of puffs, savoring the flavor. “That is good,” he mused, wavering a little.

“Don't smoke them often?” People who didn't smoke them for a while usually reacted like that.

“No sir,” he confessed. “Maksim don't like it when I smoke.”

Catherine came up with a shallow metal bowl for us to put our ashes into. I had no clue what its real purpose was. Maybe she was just getting used to my methods enough that she had started anticipating it. Jim was watching our trails of smoke playing up towards the light overhead. “Fascinating, isn't it?”

“Yes, sir. The way the air moves it about. You don't realize how much air moves until you see it. I'd do it more, but... Like I said, Maksim don't like it much. The Officio Medicae said that it can hurt the lungs and stuff, and he likes to keep both of us fit.”

I pushed my amusement to the side. Good and distracted now. “You know, you mentioned this Maksim fellow earlier. I take it that you and he were... friends?”

That got a chuckle out of Jim. “I guess you could say that. I've known Maksim since... Actually, I can't even remember when we met, to be honest. It's been that long.” His smile slowly faded, and he gained an intensity to him as he stared at me. “He's a big man. Not Ogryn big, but still massive enough. He knows more about tactics, xenos and heretics than I do, and I try to stay informed. He's got a swagger to his walk, but not like he's cocky. More like he only puts his legs together when he's standing at attention. But he and I keep each other alive. Not that he doesn't spend more time protecting me. He's the only one to stay with me all this time since Hygar III's been in trouble. Since the daemon attacks. We've sworn that when it's time, we'll go back there. He's a good soldier. The best guardsman I've ever seen.”

Jim leaned forward, and I felt Catherine twitch slightly... But the guardsman only flicked his lho stick in the ashtray. With a wince, he leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his forehead. “Sorry, I... I get protective of him, you know? He's been through a lot, and... You know how every unit has that big, paranoid guy who hardly talks to anybody? The one that nobody really likes? Ever since he got injured, he's been that guy.”

“Did that happen on that first trip?” I asked hesitantly. More hesitantly than I wanted.

Jim's brilliant smile returned at that, though. “Nah. I mean, I didn't really deal with him much back then. Well, I kinda did, but... It's hard to explain.”

“Please try.”

The Guardsman thought for a moment. I could see the gears turning in his mind, no doubt searching for words. When he finally started to speak, he looked like he'd given up.

“Okay, see, my first time in the warp was... Well, it was kinda scary. I mean, we were on a ship of leftovers. Not just us, but people from other worlds, too. So not only were we the low men, but we were low men with people who didn't even know each other on our first time into the warp. Not a good idea."

“Anyway, we was hunkered down when I started hearin' Maksim chantin'. After a moment, I realized that he was doin' the litany of warp travel. So I pull out my Primer and start readin' myself. We kept goin' from that to the prayer for safe return and back again. Just start repeatin' them over and over again. Each time, I get a little less scared, you know?I really had to thank Maksim for that. We just started goin' over prayers. After a while, I knew that we'd make it out okay. I mean, so long as I watched everybody else and kept faith in the Emperor's light, you know?

“Unfortunately, somebody must not've been keepin' too close to the faith, if you know what I mean. I started to hear a quiet little giggle from a nearby bunk. That got me thinkin', you know? I double-checked the Primer, and that's what it said. Anybody acts odd, you go tell somebody. So I went a-huntin' for the nearest Commissar. He was busy lookin' over somethin', so I just stood at attention until he noticed me. Demanded to know what I wanted. Couldn't blame him. I was interruptin' his work. So I says to him, 'Sir, there's somebody I think you should-' And that's all I got out. I hear laughter down the way from that one girl, and suddenly somebody else joins in.”

Jim chuckled. “You know, I always heard my momma talk about righteous fury before, and I thought she was talkin' about herself when she got angry. Lookin' at that Commissar's face, though, I knew I was wrong. He looked pissed. Heard him growl 'not again' as he reached into a locker. Presented me with a shotgun, even, pullin' out his own pistol. 'Guardsman,' he barks. 'Guardsman, you're gonna help me quell this madness!' Well, I wasn't about to argue, you know? I ain't no heretic.

“So we start up and down the halls, him blastin' away anybody that'd gone warp-mad. Some of them were in pretty bad shape. Clawin' out their own eyes, gibberin', that sort of thing. Some of them, they even started tryin' to attack the Commissar. I had to put a round in those ones on occasion. He'd be so busy dealin' with one that he couldn't see the other. Never once complained, no sir. He'd just look at the body, nod to me, and keep right on goin'. I heard Maksim sayin' the prayer for the lost and the endangered at one point, and decided to join in. Dunno why, just felt right. Soon, a lot of people who wasn't taken by the warp started joinin' in. Made things a lot easier for the Commissar.”

“What a thing to live through,” I said with an admiring smile. “So soon after combat, to be forced to kill your own comrades.”

“Nah,” he said uncomfortably as he put out his lho stick. “A few of them, they'd started to, you know, mutate. Twist under their uniforms, you know? Figured we was doin' them a service, you know?”

“Did the Commissar ever say anything to you about it?” Sister Catherine asked.

“Just that I did a good job,” Jim said with no small amount of pride. “Another good Commissar, him. Good to say thin's about you if you did a good job in his eyes. Spoke real good, too, and was good with his speeches. He's another one I miss.”

“You seem to go through a lot of Commissars,” Catherine mused. Jim just shrugged and lowered his head. “There have been... rumors of some guardsmen taking a dislike to their Commissars and granting the Emperor's Benediction early.” I was proud of the sister. She was starting to pick up on my tricks. “Have you ever seen something like this?”

Jim took an uncomfortable time to respond. “Yeah,” he said at last. “I... I had to do it once.”

My heart seized in my chest, but Jim was pushing on. “Wasn't by choice, mind you. Just... had to be done, you know? See, this was a few years after that, when Maksim and me had started really to bondin', fightin' side by side. We'd just been put on this planet... I can't even remember the name no more, to be honest with you. Happens with a lot of worlds, for us.

“Anyway, I do remember that it'd been pretty much on lockdown for some time. Cult had risen up to pretty high power, coverin' most of the planet. Even out in the wastes. Apparently, they'd found somethin' there right after the fightin' started. Dunno what, didn't ask, but it was enough that they weren't willin' to exterminatus the planet.”

Asellus IV. I'd read that much in his service history, which was more like an encyclopedia than a report. The world had contained a Standard Template Construct, which was unfortunately damaged during the fighting.

“Anyway, since we was leftovers, we got attached to a regiment already down there. Immediately set out to kill us some heretics, which I don't mind in the slightest. But after a while, we started noticin' somethin'... We ain't fightin' no heretics. We ain't fightin' nothin'. That got the hairs on the back of my neck standin' up. The vox officer, he'd get orders for us to go somewhere, but when we got there, no heretics. So we start takin' a hard look at everythin' goin' on. Slowly, bit by bit, we start seein' that the outfit we're hooked up with, who's been so chummy with us, you know... It ain't right."

“Maksim, he saw it too. So we start investigatin'. Emperor protect us, everywhere we looked in their ranks, heretics. Even... Even the commissar.” Jim sighed softly. “So, we get the rest of the guys together, those of us from the ship, and we let 'em know what's up. We're kinda in a jam at that point, you know? Orders say to take care of it, but when the vox officer and the commissar are in on the heresy, it's kinda hard to follow proper procedure. So we did the only thin' we could do.”

“You purged,” Catherine guessed.

Jim nodded, smiling a bit. “That's what we did. I ain't no heretic, and the people with me weren't either. Figured out a time, changed our positions, then... opened up on 'em. Didn't go down as easy as we'd hoped, but you get used to that, as a guardsman. Sh... Thin's don't always die like you want. Anyway, to make a long story short, I shot one guy down just as my battery went dead for my las. Middle of that, didn't have time to reload, so I switched out for my auto-snub. Just got it in both hands when the commissar turned to see me. You know how sometimes thin's just seem to... I dunno, slow down? This was like that. We both raised our guns, we both pulled the trigger. 'Course, I learned how to doubletap my pistol a long time ago, unlike him.”

Jim laughed and patted his side. “I got real lucky. He took one in the throat and another in the forehead. Meanwhile, I only got a glancing shot off my armor. 'Course, the heat from what he was carryin' caught me on fire. Maksim saved my life for, like, the hundredth time. Tackled me to the ground, made me roll about in the muck, cursin' me out for takin' unnecessary risks. Don't remember too much of it, to be honest with you. It hurt somethin' bad, and after a bit, I guess I passed out.

“When I woke up, I'd found out that another regiment had found us, and just reported it as that we'd encountered heretics and had taken unnecessary losses, you know? Called in the Officio Medicae and got me sent back. That's how I finally got me my Medallion Crimsion, where I shoulda gotten my second Triple Skull, and apparently earned my Order of Peace.”

“Order of Peace?” I asked. I'd seen it on his service record, but wasn't familiar.

“Given out when you're injured killin' heretics, but can return to duty. Planetary award, 'cause of the heavy casualties. They patched me up real good, they did. Hardly any scars no more.” He paused for a wry grin. “Kinda wish I was with the Cadians, to be honest. Woulda gotten me my triple storm by now. Heck, them and the Tanith First and Only, the Catachans, the Mordian Iron Guard, they all get a ton more recognition than us. Either way, I ain't complainin'. It was Silon who found us, and he pushed for us to join his Scrappers.”

I couldn't help but laugh over that. “It's a source of pride for you, isn't it?”

“Yes sir!” He puffed his chest out again. “Silon's Scrappers got some pretty good standin' with the other guardsmen. They say, the Scrappers get there late in the fight, but they make sure that the fight gets done, you know? That we herald the end of fightin' somewhere. 'Course, they don't realize that we normally get stuck doin' the hard final pushes into the areas where the enemy's bunkered down for their last stand. Our squads get it done. We got ourselves a reputation, and we live up to it. Not everybody can say that.”

“You've amassed an impressive set of medals with them,” Catherine said approvingly. “The Eagle Ordinary, Hathor Laureate, Order of the Eagle's Claw, Hathor Star, Steel Aquila, Ribbon Intrinsie, Administratum Medal, Order of the Scarlet Wing, Crimson Skull, Macharian Cross, and the Binding Aquila. And yet, you were only promoted to the rank of sergeant a few years ago.”

Jim was blushing now. “Wasn't just me, you know? Everybody was involved with most of that. I was only doin' my part. Heck, after Lyssandra hooked up with us, she was a big help. Her augmetic leg gives her problems now and then, but she's stuck by me almost as much as Maksim has. So, yeah, I may have am-assed all these medals, and all of these service pins, but it's not like it was just me. Never woulda made it this far without everybody else doin' their jobs, too.”

There was that humility again. I got out another lho stick, offering him one. “Nah. Don't wanna push the recyc system on my account. I don't know the first thing about how they work, but judgin' by the looks of the people chantin' over those systems, it's gotta be hard enough.”

“Understandable,” I said as I lit mine up. That's a necessary trait for inquisitors; we can't care about anything other than purging heretics, at least officially. Which Jim was making increasingly difficult. He was just plain likable. Probably reminded me too much of my old life.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. “Enter,” Catherine and I called out in unison, which seemed to amuse Jim to no small end. Timidly, Venris entered the room we were using, carrying a pitcher of water and cups for all of us.

“Forgive me for taking so long to fufill your request,” he said with a bow, “however the Admiral wished for me to bring you a report while I was at it.”

I glanced at the sealed papers on the tray. Three dots were at the folded corner – there was no need to look at it immediately. I looked up to Venris as Catherine set the report to the side. “Don't let it happen again. Go in the Emperor's grace.”

With a bow, Venris made his exit. Jim watched him go with narrowed eyes. Only after the heavy metal door was closed again did the guardsman address us.

“Hey, listen... I know you all are busy and all, but while you're here, that new guy there, you might wanna look into. I mean, he's kinda aimless, if you know what I mean. Always wanderin' around. His flack jacket, it's a little too clean. I know he's not a grunt, you can tell by the way he walks, but it's kinda like he just grabbed all of his gear off the shelf. And he's askin' a lot of questions, too. I mean, a lot of people when they first join the leftovers, they're curious. But he... He's a little more than just curious, you know?”

“We'll look into it,” Catherine said. She couldn't hide her smirk as well as I could.

“Actually, back to what we were talking about for a moment. With your service record, Jim, do you know why you weren't promoted until now?” This was a question that we'd actually debated off and on for a while, so I thought it fair to ask.

“Course,” he said with a loud chortle. “See, I wasn't ready for it yet.”

“And who decided that?” Now I was curious again.

“Me.” He said that with almost too much pride. “Sergeants, they gotta be smart, right? I ain't all that. Can't talk good like a lot of them, never went to school like plenty of them, and didn't get the basic trainin' that most of them got. So I had to work to make sure that I knew what I was supposed to. Keep my squad ready for any job we're given, and if they don't know how to do somethin', be able to talk them through it. Silon liked that, so he let me hold myself back until I thought my trainin' was done.”

“What all did you feel that you needed training in?”

“Oh, shucks...” Another chuckle. The man liked to laugh. “A little bit of everythin'. We don't always got armor, but when we do, we try and make it last as long as possible. While I ain't no techpriest, I kinda figured it might be wise to know how to operate one. Same with pretty much all the equipment.”

“So you wanted to be able to operate anything that you might have to?” I couldn't keep the incredulous tone out of my voice.

“Well... Yeah, but that's not all. See, I also thought I should, you know, read up on the Tactica Imperium and-”

“Wait.” I held up a hand as I tried to grasp it all. “Your commanding officer let you look at the Tactica Imperium?”

“Well, yeah?” Jim shifted uncomfortably in his metal chair. “I mean, he was waitin' to promote me anyway, and he likes getting opinions. Plus, he says I got a good mind for it. First, I didn't believe him, but then I got a medal for that kind of thing, so there's gotta be some sorta truth to it, right? Plus, he knows that I'd rather swallow my own tongue than be captured by the enemy.” He paused for a moment. “Besides, not like it didn't come in handy, right?”

Inwardly, I smiled. Time and time again, he was walking me right to the things that I wanted to question him about the most.