The body that lay on the flat metal table was not a sight for those with weak stomachs. The fact that his skin lay on the next table, spread out like some ghastly flag was bad enough. His body’s inner workings were on full display. If that wasn’t enough, the chest cavity had been torn open in a jagged wound that left ragged edges and mangled ribs jutting out at bizarre angles. It more closely resembled a torn lump of meat than anything human. Here, in this starkly clinical setting, it was obscenely banal.
If Laermont felt any revulsion, it couldn’t have shown on his faceplate. Quaestor Calvinia, by contrast, wore an expression that made it clear she was not enjoying the sight. The morturarius nodded sympathetically. “If one isn’t as inured as I am to the...ways in which we can be turned into meat, this sort of thing is unsettling. Don’t go too hard on yourself for reacting, Quaestor.”
Calvinia sighed. “It’s just...awful. I mean something got into our Quaestorium and did...that to him. I don’t care how much of a bastard he was, he didn’t deserve to die like that. He died and we failed to do our jobs.”
Laermont shook his head. “No. We could not have anticipated this. We did what was reasonable for us to do. What matters now is that we deal with the perpetrators of this horror and bring them to justice.”
He nodded to the mortuarius. “Please give us your conclusions about the corpse.”
The efficient, white-coated demvir took a breath and began. “We have the body of a well-nourished velen male around 35-45 years in age here. Judging by the number of old weapon scars I found on his...skin... he’d led a rough, violent life. He has musculature that would indicate someone who did a great deal of strenuous physical activity. Taken together, I’d say he was a mercenary or other trained soldier.”
He paused and went on after jotting down a few notes. “Most unusually, the body has been flayed of its skin. In most cases, I would expect to see lines of incision that would show us where the skin was cut away. This...well, however this was done, it wasn’t strictly physical in nature. No, some other power was used to effect this result.”
Calvinia and Laermont exchanged a glance. Although the metallic man’s faceplate and eye visor could show no emotion, the gaze was significant. The mortuarius was too intent on his explanation to notice as he ploughed on. “Death was the result of a tear to the wall of the heart. It would have been extremely rapid. It is an...unusual wound. It seems like it was pierced by something needle-like. Oddly it resembles injuries I saw in the hinterlands that were inflicted by bone weapons.”
The rest of the explanation was the standard run down about his internal organs and other characteristics of his viscera. The two Quaestors thanked him for his work and exited the mortuary. As they strode briskly down the corridor, Laeermont glanced at Calvinia. “The autopsy result only confirms what we know to be true. One of the Others got in and did its ghastly work. We now have proof of it.”
Calvinia turned a questioning glance toward her older companion and spoke in low tones, leaning in close. “So what good does that do us? Can we even go upstairs with this? Do we trust the next ranks up?”
The huge demvir’s bronze frame looked almost comically huge next to the other inspector as he leaned in toward her. “I believe some of them are to be trusted, but we need to approach them carefully. Let me do a little thinking about who we’ll approach if we do.”
He laid a massive hand on her shoulder. “For now we keep gathering evidence, planning our own attack and watching our backs. Don’t forget that we have multiple pairs of eyes on us.”
The chairman of TorBru Corporation watched as the strange, alien presence made its approach. His wide, jowly face was expressionless and flat as he watched from the ornate, carved bulk of his monolithic chair behind his equally monumental desk. Whatever he felt about it, there was nothing to show on his features. He did grimace when he felt his mind probed at by the thing. A strange hissing voice filled his head. “Why have you allowed thissss to happen? We do not want this meddling metal being to continue obstructing us.”
In calm tones, in his own mind he answered the creature. “I am taking steps to bring the situation under control. I can assure you…”
Abruptly the corpulent man’s mouth hung open in a soundless scream and his eyes grew almost impossibly wide. He began to twitch and moan incoherently as a stain spread across the crotch of his trousers. He trembled and shook for a moment before falling back, gasping and whimpering.
The alien voice sliced into his mind once more. “Do not speak your lies and platitudes again. You will stop this man. We exposed ourselves by taking steps before. We cannot do so again. However, if we must, we will find a better partner than you.”
Once the searing pain had come to an end, Mercuti sagged into his throne-like chair, sweating profusely and his heart slamming so hard that he wondered if it would just stop. Weakly and aloud he mumbled, “I will not fail. He will be stopped.”
After an hour spent soaking in a hot bath and taking some pain relieving herbal remedies, the Chairman appeared in his office. No trace of his ordeal remained in physical form and when he pressed the button that summoned people in his antechamber, the door opened and a lithe form slid into the office and stalked across the room.
The lean, slender and taut-bodied laicar woman came to stand demurely in front of the gigantic marble-topped desk that sat at the center of Mercuti’s office. “Chairman. What might I do for you today?”
The globular man’s saggy face was a cold mask. “We are going to initiate the protocol you and I have discussed. We are going to put the meddlers in their place.”
A predatory smile crossed the elegant woman’s full lips. “Oh my dear Mercuti, I thought you’d never say those beautiful words. It will be my distinct pleasure to do so.”
The Chairman nodded, none of the fear that surged through him showing on his face. This had to work. It simply had to work.
If Laermont felt any revulsion, it couldn’t have shown on his faceplate. Quaestor Calvinia, by contrast, wore an expression that made it clear she was not enjoying the sight. The morturarius nodded sympathetically. “If one isn’t as inured as I am to the...ways in which we can be turned into meat, this sort of thing is unsettling. Don’t go too hard on yourself for reacting, Quaestor.”
Calvinia sighed. “It’s just...awful. I mean something got into our Quaestorium and did...that to him. I don’t care how much of a bastard he was, he didn’t deserve to die like that. He died and we failed to do our jobs.”
Laermont shook his head. “No. We could not have anticipated this. We did what was reasonable for us to do. What matters now is that we deal with the perpetrators of this horror and bring them to justice.”
He nodded to the mortuarius. “Please give us your conclusions about the corpse.”
The efficient, white-coated demvir took a breath and began. “We have the body of a well-nourished velen male around 35-45 years in age here. Judging by the number of old weapon scars I found on his...skin... he’d led a rough, violent life. He has musculature that would indicate someone who did a great deal of strenuous physical activity. Taken together, I’d say he was a mercenary or other trained soldier.”
He paused and went on after jotting down a few notes. “Most unusually, the body has been flayed of its skin. In most cases, I would expect to see lines of incision that would show us where the skin was cut away. This...well, however this was done, it wasn’t strictly physical in nature. No, some other power was used to effect this result.”
Calvinia and Laermont exchanged a glance. Although the metallic man’s faceplate and eye visor could show no emotion, the gaze was significant. The mortuarius was too intent on his explanation to notice as he ploughed on. “Death was the result of a tear to the wall of the heart. It would have been extremely rapid. It is an...unusual wound. It seems like it was pierced by something needle-like. Oddly it resembles injuries I saw in the hinterlands that were inflicted by bone weapons.”
The rest of the explanation was the standard run down about his internal organs and other characteristics of his viscera. The two Quaestors thanked him for his work and exited the mortuary. As they strode briskly down the corridor, Laeermont glanced at Calvinia. “The autopsy result only confirms what we know to be true. One of the Others got in and did its ghastly work. We now have proof of it.”
Calvinia turned a questioning glance toward her older companion and spoke in low tones, leaning in close. “So what good does that do us? Can we even go upstairs with this? Do we trust the next ranks up?”
The huge demvir’s bronze frame looked almost comically huge next to the other inspector as he leaned in toward her. “I believe some of them are to be trusted, but we need to approach them carefully. Let me do a little thinking about who we’ll approach if we do.”
He laid a massive hand on her shoulder. “For now we keep gathering evidence, planning our own attack and watching our backs. Don’t forget that we have multiple pairs of eyes on us.”
--------------------
The chairman of TorBru Corporation watched as the strange, alien presence made its approach. His wide, jowly face was expressionless and flat as he watched from the ornate, carved bulk of his monolithic chair behind his equally monumental desk. Whatever he felt about it, there was nothing to show on his features. He did grimace when he felt his mind probed at by the thing. A strange hissing voice filled his head. “Why have you allowed thissss to happen? We do not want this meddling metal being to continue obstructing us.”
In calm tones, in his own mind he answered the creature. “I am taking steps to bring the situation under control. I can assure you…”
Abruptly the corpulent man’s mouth hung open in a soundless scream and his eyes grew almost impossibly wide. He began to twitch and moan incoherently as a stain spread across the crotch of his trousers. He trembled and shook for a moment before falling back, gasping and whimpering.
The alien voice sliced into his mind once more. “Do not speak your lies and platitudes again. You will stop this man. We exposed ourselves by taking steps before. We cannot do so again. However, if we must, we will find a better partner than you.”
Once the searing pain had come to an end, Mercuti sagged into his throne-like chair, sweating profusely and his heart slamming so hard that he wondered if it would just stop. Weakly and aloud he mumbled, “I will not fail. He will be stopped.”
After an hour spent soaking in a hot bath and taking some pain relieving herbal remedies, the Chairman appeared in his office. No trace of his ordeal remained in physical form and when he pressed the button that summoned people in his antechamber, the door opened and a lithe form slid into the office and stalked across the room.
The lean, slender and taut-bodied laicar woman came to stand demurely in front of the gigantic marble-topped desk that sat at the center of Mercuti’s office. “Chairman. What might I do for you today?”
The globular man’s saggy face was a cold mask. “We are going to initiate the protocol you and I have discussed. We are going to put the meddlers in their place.”
A predatory smile crossed the elegant woman’s full lips. “Oh my dear Mercuti, I thought you’d never say those beautiful words. It will be my distinct pleasure to do so.”
The Chairman nodded, none of the fear that surged through him showing on his face. This had to work. It simply had to work.