Those six months had been lovely, in my estimation. For the first time in my years as an Inquisitor or as apprenticed to one, I had an extended time to relax and to take stock of all of my affairs. At first I had kept busy with whatever I could, cataloging my library based on relevance to the ordo and reviewing what news I could, as well as the previous logs I had made to find anything I might have missed. However, both Lazarus and particularly Emmaline (and in fact I believe one encouraged the other) had continually wore me down until I put my pen down and set my brain to a neutral so I could enjoy myself, and eventually, with great effort, I did. The days were bright and full of laughter and the nights were warm, and when it wasn't, Emmaline and I would keep one another warm in varying ways. 

I kept a strict training regime, but I allowed myself to indulge once or twice when Emmaline insisted, and I spoke long with Lucius Raj, cataloging historical events of the Unification Wars so as to be analyzed at a later date. His ideas of the Emperor were unsurprising, given many Adeptus Astartes chapters had similar views. But it was odd to hear when coming from a warrior who had seen the Emperor in his holy radiance. I did not know what to make of his opinions, saying how he was but a man but also brimming with power beyond what any might be able to believe.

I spent much time with Emmaline and had made it a point introduced her to my staff. My captain of security, Clara Strong, a brown haired no-nonsense woman with a love of assault rifles and a flak jacket strapped on at all times. My head of staff, Demetrius Richter, an elderly but strong fellow who worked for Inquisitor Kronus for over fifty years as a butler before he served another thirty as the head of staff. He was my subordinate, but in the quiet times I could tell he felt I was akin to a grandson to him, and I did come to him for advice. 

I had been fixed by my Magus Biologis, Selencia Aethil, a pretty woman with beautiful red eyes and raven black hair from a world in the Segmentum Tempestus. She had told me her world was a planet in perpetual twilight, and her exotic looks had garnered much attention by the men of Agesola. I recall when I was younger having similar thoughts myself, and I even played the part of her lover before, albeit to keep other men from harassing her when Inquisitor Kronus and all of our retinue went out to the theater or festivals. Little did any of her would-be-suitors know was that she was capable of ending life almost as well as she could heal it, she the best medical specialist in the system and could sniff a contagion out of the air like it was a tossed ball. 

Finally, six months having seen no sign of him, I received a cylinder from Quintin Volsac, my communications officer stationed a few hours away in the mountains. He wasn't a native to Pacitus, but he spent his days in Primogena when not at the outpost where he received all of my communicaes and checked them for any contamination or dangerous contents, and he also patched me through to any ship in orbit I needed to come into immediate contact with. We did not see one another much, but I trusted him. When Emmaline picked the cylinder up and I saw the red marking along the length of the material, I snatched it away from her. He had labeled it as [i]gravis nuntius[/i], one of the most serious messages I could receive. 

I opened it up hastily, placing my books down and tossing my glasses to clatter across the desk. I opened it like a machine; as quickly as possible without any hurried movements. Lazarus liked to point out how I would be welcome in the priest-hood of mars. I usually shot him the same look I often did. Once opened, I found the message had come from an associate of mine; a bounty hunter named Samara Bandir who had been following a lead on the planet Havenos, a feral world in the Segmentum Obscurus. Her last communication was with the local Imperial captain who had been given this message by her before she disappeared. 

Her lead was a low-life named Nagrip, who had been taken in amongst some of the local tribes, providing them with illegal materials in which to summon something [i]innominatus[/i], or something unsafe to mention in the message. That was two months ago, if the date on the message was correct. I exhaled a breath I did not know I was holding, and handed the message to Emmaline. 

"We're leaving within the week." I said, standing up from my chair. I needed to speak to Lazarus and get in direct communication with Volsac. I needed a ship as soon as possible.