His surprise was welcome. “A long time indeed,” he said. “But why should we want to?”
“We do not want to. We must.”
“Must we?”
“Yes. Because you seek to defray me from my purpose. My purpose, Imperial Vicar. You
know what the penalty for such a crime is, in any corner of the galaxy. My way is sacred and my
purpose inviolable. You are competent and fearsome, Avrankes, and worthier to your position
than the man you betrayed and supplanted, save for one thing: you are ambitious. You think
yourself to be master. You will learn the contrary. Now.”
Avrankes’ eyes glared as if dust storms and the red desert itself had its source in them. “If
you were any other man, you would be dead where you stand.”
“I may be yet. Draw your blade, and show me your power.”
The sandstorm in the distance swirled closer and closer to us. But before it could engulf
us, its fury turned inward, and it collapsed upon itself.
An hour later, I was standing in the same spot, and I watched Avrankes bring out seven
men stripped naked to the waist, and with his iridium blade he removed each of their heads. Then
he did the same with the seven women who were their paramours. Then he brought out nine
children of various ages, he made them kneel amid the blood and bodies of their parents, glaring
at me the hardest. But I raised a hand. “The children come with me,” I said.
“The Emperor is just,” he said, and he turned on his heel and marched back into the
building. I beckoned the children to come to me and I took them to my shuttle. As we lifted off
into the stars, I heard some of them weep softly. I neither comforted nor corrected them. I was
saying good-bye to my friend.