Gaunt turned hard at this. 'A what?'
'A deputation of Tanith. They want to speak to you. They came aboard thirty minutes ago.'
Gaunt took his bolt pistol out of the holster slung over his chair back and checked the magazine. 'Is this your discreet way of announcing a mutiny, Kreff?'
Kreff shook his head and laughed humourlessly. He seemed relieved when Gaunt reholstered his weapon.
'How many?'
'Fifteen. Mostly enlisted men. Few of the officers came out alive.'
'Send three of them in. Just three. They can choose who.'
Gaunt sat down behind his desk again. He thought about putting his cap on, his jacket. He looked across the cabin and saw his own reflection in the vast bay port. Two metres twenty of solid bone and sinew, the narrow, dangerous face that so well matched his name, the cropped blond hair. He wore his high-waisted dress breeches with their leather braces, a sleeveless undershirt and jack boots. His jacket and cap gave him command and authority. Bare-armed, he gave himself physical power.
The shutter clanked and three men entered. Gaunt viewed them without comment. One was tall, taller and older than Gaunt and built heavily, if a little paunchy. His arms were like hams and were decorated with blue spirals. His beard was shaggy, and his eyes might once have twinkled. The second was slim and dark, with sinister good looks that were almost reptilian. He had a blue star tattooed across his right eye. The third was the boy, the piper.
'Let's know you,' Gaunt said simply.
'I'm Corbec,' said the big man. 'This is Rawne.'
The snake nodded.
'And you know the boy.' Corbec said.
'Not his name.'
'Milo,' the boy said clearly. 'Brin Milo.'
'Hmagine you're here to tell me that the men of Tanith want me dead,' said Gaunt simply.
'Perfectly true,' Rawne said. Gaunt was impressed. None of them even bothered to acknowledge his rank and seniority. Not a ''sir'', not a ''commissar''.
'Do you know why I did what I did?' Gaunt asked. 'Do you know why I ordered the regiments off Tanith and left it to die? Do you know why I refused all your pleas to let you turn and fight?'
'It was our right—' Rawne began.
'Our world died, Colonel-Commissar Gaunt,' Corbec said, the title bringing Gaunt's head up sharp. 'We saw it flame out from the windows of our transports. You should have let us stand and fight. We would have died for Tanith.'
'You still can, just somewhere else.' Gaunt got to his feet. 'You're not men of Tanith any more. You weren't when you were camped out on the Founding Fields. You're Imperial Guard, servants of the Emperor first and nothing else second.'
He turned to face the window port, his back to them. 'I mourn the loss of any world, any life. I did not want to see Tanith die, nor did I want to abandon it. But my duty is to the Emperor, and the Sabbat Worlds Crusade must be fought and won for the good of the entire Imperium. The only thing you could have done if I had left you on Tanith was die. If that's what you want, I can provide you with many opportunities. What I need is soldiers, not corpses.'
Gaunt gazed out into space. 'Use your loss, don't be crippled by it. Put the pain into your fighting spirit. Think hard! Most men who join the Guard never see their homes again. You are no different.'
'But most have a home to return to!' Corbec spat.
'Most can look forward to living through a campaign and mustering to settle on some world their leader has conquered and won. Slaydo made me a gift after Balhaut. He gave me the military rank of colonel and granted me settlement rights to the first planet I win. Help me by doing your job, and I'll help you by sharing that with you.'
'Is that a bribe?' Rawne asked.
Gaunt shook his head. 'Just a promise. We need each other. I need an able, motivated army, you need something to take the pain away, something to fight for, something to look forward to.'
Gaunt saw something in the reflection on the glass. He didn't turn his head. 'Is that a laspistol, Rawne? Would you have come here and murdered me?'
Rawne, grinned. 'What makes you put that in the past tense, commissar?'
Gaunt turned. 'What do I have here then? A regiment or a mutiny?'
Corbec met his gaze. The men will need convincing. You've made ghosts of them, hollow echoes. We'll take word back to the troop-ships of why you did what you did and what the future might hold. Then it's up to them.'
They need to rally around their officers.'
Rawne laughed. There are none! Our command staff were all on the Founding Fields trying to embark the men when the bombardment started. None of them made it off Tanith alive.'
Gaunt nodded. 'But the men elected you to lead the deputation? You're leaders.'
'Or simply bold and dumb enough to be the ones to front you,' Corbec said.
