Rieven paused in his office, looking at his datapad once more before leaving. It showed the lists of names master sergeant Ono had shared with him. Specifically the first list, those whose actions would warrant execution. These names were composed primarily of every member of the Faction of Greater Nobility who was present in the Fourth, though there were members of the commonalty there as well, which was fine by Rieven. He didn’t care for their politics, this group of nobility and commonalty, but that wasn’t why he hated them. They each would sacrifice their men before they allowed harm to come to their persons, and call it a sacrifice for the empire at large, and then deny death benefits to the grieving families under a technicality two months after the funeral, directing those funds into their own pockets instead. It was a disgusting practice that was not confined to their faction, nor to the nobility at large. The worst offenders were members of the commonalty; they would do far worse for far little. It was evil, and Rieven was happy to put a stop to those practices in this part of the emperor’s navy. One did not reward the ultimate sacrifice with the destruction of their families back home.

  The only question was how deeply I need to pull the rot, he thought. If I gut every member on this list, I will be left with command for only fifty-two ships. Fifty-two. With crew enough for more than twice that number. If I leave some of it be, it will become a cancer that will strike back at the worst possible moment, weakening the body the entire time, often without being seen. I don’t like either option. I need help to get these souls to Homeworld. I cannot do it myself, nor can my crew command all these ships alone on a three-year journey through enemy territory.

  He tapped out a message to his XO and asked her to give it some thought, copying Ono on a whim. He would need to be prepared for whichever decision Rieven made. The Fourth was annexed into the Void Spectres, which made the legal authority for all judicial decisions and practices Rieven. He breathed out a sigh.

  I’m not awake enough for this. I can tell it will take months to recover from the axiomatic surgery and whatever that dream-octopus did to me. I also have this bone-weary exhaustion that hasn’t gone away yet, though I do feel much better, less like my body is shutting down and more like it is asking politely for a few hours break. I need time. I don’t have time.

  He swore. Selfish pricks. “Argh!” he screamed. How can I look these names in the face when I see them and fail to declare them not-men and unfit for command due to political games played in wartime. I can’t live with myself otherwise. Besides, harder for someone who wasn’t present to challenge a judgement in the field. I stand a good chance of walking away clean at the end so long as my annexation is upheld by the emperor. I can actually do this. Rieven came to a decision then. He looked up at the ceiling and said, “Ship’s Intelligence, I have a command for you.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “I have decided that unless lieutenant commander Gahst and master sergeant Ono have strong reasonings otherwise, I shall execute every officer deemed unfit for duty. I will excise this rot from under my command, and we shall face whatever follows as consequence. That must be better than looking a snake in the face after it has attempted to poison you and asking it to be your trusted friend. I will not do it.

  “I need from you a writ of legal justification for each individual I will be judging tomorrow under the Wartime Code of the Void Spectre Laws of War. Please also provide the IML justification for how their actions made before their formal annexation into the Void Spectres are permitted to be judged by me under the VSLW-WC. Please have this sent to me as soon as it is polished and ready for my use, and no later than the required preparation period before judgement is opened.”

  “Of course, Commander, it shall be done. On an unrelated note, please be aware that neither the lieutenant commander nor the master sergeant will tolerate anything less from you. They have both indicated to me that if you show signs of weakness in this matter, you are to be temporarily relieved of command until such time as you begin to show signs of improved psychological recovery.”

  Rieven laughed. “Very well! It is decided. All of tomorrow shall be taken up with the court-marshals. I am done with that subject today.” He looked at the time on his datapad and said, “well, I suppose I mean I am done with that subject for tonight. It’s 2230 now, and I’m spending the next hour seeing to the snakes and engaging the necessary nobility-containment protocols. Please let my XO be aware that she can direct the visiting officers who are not being court-marshalled to their sleeping quarters.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “That will be all.”

  “Yes, Sir.” The exit tone sounded, and Rieven tucked his datapad back at his waist and opened the door of his office. Corporal Snaptoe and private Benny were still standing guard to either side of the door and snapped to attention the moment the door opened. They followed in his wake as he strode through the ship to the detention level.

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  When he arrived, the guards outside the door saluted him and keyed open the door so he didn’t have to wait, he just walked on through. The corridor beyond was narrow and white, so very white. There was no direct lighting, rather the white everything was coated with emitted a soft glow, which merely served to enhance the white, and eliminate shadows. They just didn’t exist. Everything was the same shade of white, all the time. He passed numerous cells, one hundred on either side of the corridor, each door open, having been slid into the wall.

  At the end of the corridor was another door. This one was open and the marines on guard were standing to either side, facing the middle. As he walked past them, he nodded to them, then looked around the new room he found himself in. It was quiet, almost no noise could be heard despite its size. It was large enough to fit three hundred persons. In the centre of the room those whose actions merited court-marshalling were gathered. Their uniforms had been removed from them, and they had been stripped naked and hosed off with a white dye which doubled as a disinfectant. Everything except their eyes had been dyed white – even their tongues. It was not a fun night they were having.

  Rieven stepped forward and nodded to Ono, who stood off to one side, overseeing the group as they air-dried. The indignity of it all was part and parcel of the court-marshal. Standard procedure for Void Spectres. Harsh, but they lived a harsh life. Cruel only in its impersonal dissolution of the self. It was a psychological scouring as much as a physical one, providing a physical, mental, and emotional space for contemplation.

  The cells had nanodrones that would silence all sound. The next hours until their trials were going to be spent only thinking. There would be nothing to distract them, not even gravity, which would centre not on the floor of the cell, but at the exact mid-point of the cell, just high enough that they couldn’t touch the floor, the walls, or the ceiling. They would hover there until called upon. Thinking was a punishment when you were drowned in bitterness, guilt, anger, or shame. They would be forced to think. Sleep would be prevented by the injection the good doctor was giving each of them as they came out of the dying chamber.

  Ono walked over to him and quietly said, “Hello sir, how are you feeling?”

  “Better,” Rieven replied, “It will take months for my axiomatic surgery to heal completely and for my mind to consolidate the changes, but I am well. I have been informed that if I don’t provide myself adequate rest to make good choices, you and my XO will force the issue.” Ono nodded. “That is incentive enough. At least now I can leave my room to play, if you ground me, I’ll be stuck until the good doctor,” he nodded towards Jefferies, “declares me whole and hale. I’m not having it.”

  Ono chuckled softly. “Thank you sir, it’s good of you to recognise your limitations and to operate within them. Is there ought you would say to your new guests, or shall I see them to their quarters for the evening?”

  “I would say a few words if you don’t mind Ono.”

  The master sergeant gestured for him to proceed. Rieven stepped forward just as the last officer left the dying room to stand in the centre with the others. He cleared his throat. The sound seemed deafening in the quiet room and immediately gathered the attention of every person there. None had spoken, the injection also having paralysed their vocal cords entirely, and their bodies superficially. They could still move, but they could feel nothing. Yet another sensation taken from them.

  “Some of you are living your last hours now. Some of you are going to lose rank, or position, or freedom, becoming permanent members of your new living quarters.” Shudders ran through the crowd at that prospect. Rieven was lying through his teeth. If they weren’t stranded so far from Homeworld it would be true, but when in enemy territory prisoners were not kept unless necessary for survival or intelligence. Those who qualified for imprisonment under the IML were to be spaced under VSLW-WC. The unease not knowing this was worth the lie. They would suffer, each wondering if they were to never leave. It would make the next hours so much worse. Good.

  “You each know why you are here. It is not a mystery, and I know it as well. There will be no bargaining, no justifying, no falsifying, and no escape. Justice is come for you for your actions in the Medusean Gambit till now. Upon your appearance in the Halls of Justice bellow, you will be provided with the legal justification for your individual sentences, along with why IML allows for your to be judged under VSLW-WC.

  “Some of you are of the commonalty, your money and appeals to mercy are of no value to you here, for your access to your messages and the isolated instance of the Imperial Bank subsection uploaded to this ship has been terminated, and the Ship’s Intelligence will ignore all requests from you until such time as you regain legal status, should you be so lucky.

  “Some of you are of the nobility, your rank, status, and influence will allow you nothing. There is no rank, status, or influence in the Void Spectres aside from military rank; we foreswear all such upon our induction. You have been annexed. You have been drafted. Your noble rank is no more. The Ship’s Intelligence will recognise nothing from you. Should you return to Homeworld, and your departure from the Void Spectres is ratified, the privileges of your rank of nobility shall be restored to you.

  “This is all legal. Please enjoy your time before we meet again. It will be far more pleasant now rather than later and I would hate for you to miss the opportunity you have before you to rest, introspect, and prepare your minds and your hearts for tomorrow.

  “That is all. Master Sergeant, please see them to their new quarters.”

  Ono gestured with his hand, and the marines in the room began to move the people where they were needed, placing each in solitude within a cell. The black armour of the Imperial Marines was the last bit of colour they saw before their cell closed without a sound. Ono leaned in towards Rieven, “No one is fighting my boys and girls because examples have already been made. Some of those failures had to be re-dyed two or three times to cover the bruises our ‘stop fighting’ sticks caused. Can’t fix stupid.”

  Rieven grunted. This was nothing less than they deserved, leaving many of their crew and Ono’s marines out to dry in the Medusean Gambit and then attempting to splinter the Fourth into warring shards while within enemy territory. Justice was a harsh mistress here, not the gentle grandmother these officers were used to. Here it was not varying. Here it was constant, as constant as all the stars in the void.

  Here it was cold.

  Here it was quiet.

  Here it was swift.

  Here it was death.