Thought for the day: AN OCEAN OF COURAGE IS NOT THE EQUAL OF A DROP OF FAITH

Master,

By your command, on the eleventh day after the Feast of the Martyrdom of Saint Dismas three newly-sworn acolytes were sent to attend an autopsy in the lower levels of the Templum Mortis, Hive Sibellus, Scintilla. There they received orders and a briefing from your servant Interrogator-Medicae Sand.

Three days ago, a low-hab worker identified as Saul Arbest of Coscarla Division, southern zone, was found dead in a transit-rail carriage many sectors from his assigned hab-block. A routine autopsy revealed tech-heresy and black genelore: a living control implant found wrapped around his brainstem that had grown too large and killed its host with the resulting complications. There had been additional surgery: one lung was replaced with a sealed compartment for smuggling and a large area of skin was missing from the stomach. Partly-healed scars indicated that surgery was performed about two weeks ago. The work was expert, but signs of tissue-stress and damage to the vocal cords suggested that it was performed without anaesthesia.

Official records ended with the termination of Saul's indenture some sixty days ago. By your will, Interrogator Sands charged the acolytes with a discreet investigation of Coscarla Division, to bring the light of the Emperor's truth on the source of this heresy without revealing themselves as members of His Inquisition. By your munificence they were given travel documents, cover identities, and ample equipment and funds to make their task a light one.

Coscarla Division was once a prosperous industrial district, but the declining fortunes of its owners led to the closure of the bulk of its manufactora and the sale of the most valuable indentured workers to other districts. A series of blackouts about a year ago led to rioting and arson: now only a few inhabited areas remain in a sea of burnt-out and abandoned buildings. On arriving at the southern railhead the acolytes found vandalized buildings, rubble-strewn streets, and nervous-looking inhabitants in ragged dress who took particular care to stay away from the patrolling Enforcers.

A visit to Saul's hab-block led to an interview with his sister, Lili Arbest. According to her, Saul disappeared about fifteen days ago. When his indenture was ended he took to drinking and bad company; she feared something bad would happen to him but was too tired from working to support them both to do anything about it. He used to drink at the Workers Union, which became a hangout for underhivers after the riots. Saul's disappearance, she said, was not the first or the last in the district. People were going missing every night and no one would talk about it. For herself, she planned to move away and find work uphive. She also warned the acolytes against the local Enforcers, who had a bad reputation in the district.

Visiting the Workers Union, the acolytes found bad drinks, petty crime, and gang heavies, but no one willing to talk about Saul or the disappearances. The gangers laughed at the acolytes intimidation attempts but suggested a salvage-dealer by the name of Sykes as a good source of neighbourhood gossip. They, too, warned the acolytes against the local Enforcers.

Sykes the Reclaimator (as he styled himself) was a ferret-like underhiver who sold a variety of scavenged tools, weapons, and ammunition from a stall in a burnt-out shop front. A large purchase loosened his tongue and, after warning the acolytes against the local Enforcers, he told them what he knew about the district. The disappearances began about sixty days ago and became steadily more frequent. There was a good trade in weapons for self-defence at first, but now people are losing hope. The local gang-boss stays in the Worker's Union and the Enforcers stay in their barracks and only patrol the busiest areas; no one goes out after dark any more. Questions about Saul Arbest were met with unfeigned ignorance.

Calling in at the Enforcer Station, the acolytes found the local Enforcers tough-looking but undisciplined. A pair of Enforcers lounging near the front desk sniggered at their request to speak to the chief but allowed them in. They found Warden Locan in his office upstairs - an unkempt and worried-looking man in a dirty uniform, with dataslates of unprocessed reports for the entire district piled on his desk. His mannerisms suggested drug addiction as well as low morale. Questions only seemed to make him more nervous, and he would tell the acolytes nothing. An attempt to put pressure on brought a group of Enforcers to hustle the acolytes out of his office. Offered a choice between arrest and the payment of a substantial "fine" in cash they chose the latter and were ejected from the Station.

With no further leads the acolytes chose to put their trust in the Emperor. Their faith was well-placed, for we know that His guiding light will show the faithful a way past any obstacle. Visiting the district Templum to pray for guidance, they found it lit by hundreds of votive candles - each, according to the priest, a prayer for a missing friend or relative. The priest had no knowledge of Saul Arbest but a drunk slumped in a nearby pew, guided no doubt by His hand, overheard the acolytes' question and recognised the name.

Evard Zed (for that was his name) was a former drinking-companion of Saul and the last person to see him alive, fifteen days ago. They had been drinking in the Workers Union and Saul had got into a fight with a knifejack. It was late at night and Evard advised him to go home, but Saul set off for the district Alms House in the hope of treatment for his cuts and perhaps free painkillers. He was never seen again and Evard took to spending all his time in the Templum, praying that he be spared Saul's fate.

As the day-cycle came to an end and the lights overhead went out, the acolytes set off for the Alms House, keeping to the back ways so as to remain inconspicuous. In a narrow alley between two abandoned hab-blocks, they spotted movement in a pile or rags ahead of them. As they watched it began silently to rise up, revealing a pair of glowing red eyes....