[i]Two days later...[/i] 

Sweat beaded off my bare back, huffing as I continued my workout. Wearing my dark brown military trousers and boots, I wanted to remain half in uniform in case something transpired on deck. The gym was spacious, big enough for the physical fitness of an entire crew. Machines and dumbbells and an auto-runner, along with mats and pull up bars decked the room out. To the left, there was a training mat for a sparring area that I would soon utilize in Emmaline's training. She was untrained in the arts of the psyker, but she knew more than she let on, at least a bit. It had taken me several days of observation to understand what was happening, but it only made me respect her skills as an actor. It was difficult to fool me when I had my eye on someone. It was why I suddenly up and made her draw three paintings simultaneously, each of one of the holy primarchs. 

I spent many hours in the gym. In my eyes, it was important to be strong in mind, soul, [i]and[/i] body. It had more applications than practical ones meant for combat. It released endorphins and was healthy for your mental state, something that was underappreciated for a psyker, even one of such a modest level as I. Once I reached seventy, I pushed off the ground with my hands and continued my push ups for another thirty, this time pressing against the floor with my knuckles. 

Unless something peculiar occurred, I kept a strict regime when participating in the lull of warp-space travel. I lived by the day/night cycle of holy terra, eating, reading, speaking to Urien and training Emmaline at certain times of the day. I had given her the day off that day, letting her spend her time with Caiphon, whom I checked in on from time to time. Caiphon was a fine astropath and a good man. It pained me to see his body withering over the scant few years I had known him. 

At the moment, it was five o'clock on the throne world. 

I groaned as the burn moved through my arms and core, and I took a seat on the floor. My mind was muddled with Bahometus, and that fateful day with Hykophan. It wasn't good to make things personal, but my career started with the cult Hykophan had run, and it had led me all the way to discovering Bahometus and his cabals that undermind worlds like Tallarn and Gudrun. Four cells of chaos cultists and two minor daemons later, and I was still involved in this single conspiracy. When would it end, and when it did...what would I do? 
 
I did not notice Emmaline stepping into the room until she announced herself.