I had found myself with little to do in the days after our escape from the manor. Hadrian was absorbed in the the more administrative aspects of his role which frankly was a little intimidating. It was one thing to know in the abstract that an Inquisitior had unlimited authority, it was another to watch one snap his fingers and have a trio of warships and a small army put at his disposal. Unfortunately the fact that I was officially a Throne Agent (Emperor Preserve Me) did not have the effect of causing the locals to leave me alone. Quite the oppisite in fact. Every lord, lady and officer seemed to feel I was a viable back channel to the Ordos, and that I would be in someway interested in exerting such imagined influence on their behalf. I resisted the temptation to tell them to frak off, figuring that the information might be useful to Hadrian. Mostly I figured it was the kind of minor malfeasance that was present in many Imperial houses, simple cases of guilty concionces looking for assurances before the proverbial wrath of Maccharius decended on them. They were probably right to be worried. Hadrian was focused on the Danubis angle but when I brought him my reports at dinner each night he took them gladly. I got the impression that several junior members of the Ordos, Interogators he called them, were being dispatched to supervise a planet wide audit.

The remainder of the time I spent in study. Lazarus reluctantly agreed to go over what information he had on these so called Necrons. It wasn't much to go on, mostly rumors and conjecture. It was a little disconcerting that information was so sparse. It was even more disconcerting that Lazarus believed this was because most people who encountered them didn't survive to file a report with the Administratum.

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[i]First day of the trip[/i]

It wasn't until the first day aboard ship that I finally had a moment to myself. It seemed that the fever pitch of prepation was, if not over, at least suspended until we made Danubis orbit. I woke from pleasant dreams and lay in bed for long minutes thinking over everything that had happened to me. I rose and bathed, taking my brush and brushing my hair out until it gleamed. I wondered if I should cut it. It hardly fitted the mental image I had of an Inquisitorial agent, but maybe that was a good thing. There was still so much I didn't know about what I was supposed to do, what was expected of me. I let out a sigh having given myself a rationale for what I wanted to do anyway. Talk to Hadrian. I dressed carefully, relieved to find that the back dress I had worn to the ball. I put on the boots too but drew the line at actually wearing jewelerly. Well I almost drew the line, I did add a saphire choker that had been given to me as.... well a bribe wouldn't be too strong a word, but it looked nice and it wasn't as though I had actually done any favors.

It felt extremely strange to be traversing the utilitarian corridors of the ship in a ball grown. A few of the crew saw me but other than wide eyed lookd no one commented on it. They seemed to be somewhat in awe of me. The dance on the table had helped of course, but it seemed that some version of what had happened at the Ignatius estate had filtered through the crew. I imagine that it had probably formed the basis of a fantastic boast over the drinking horns. I wonder if I was a heroine or a damsel in distress in the story, but it hardly mattered. I reached Hadrian's door and knocked hearing his voice bidding me to enter I pressed the touchplate and the panel swung open I stepped inside to find him climbing out of bed. He froze when he saw me, eyes suddenly very wide.

"What?" I asked in confusion.