quick firefight to make it look like a failed resistance to an Inquisition action. But when he saw that the hivi unit that stood in their way began to redeploy, leaving the road empty, the plan changed somewhat. There was no need to make the narrow path now, and the approach to the building could be quite a surprise to the plagues within it. This was a much more fortunate coincidence.

The terrain had a lot of ravines and cliffs, which made it possible to get there quite stealthily, though with a decent increase in time. The column of the punitive buras, six of the Metropolitan's novices, and Samokh himself stretched out in a long string, and after an hour or so of travel they were all covered in mucky mud.

Samokh thought once again of all the things he had to do to do what pleased the holy church. He looked at his luxurious vestment, now stained with brown clay underneath, and thought that it was not the most original thing he had ever done.

In his former position as a priest of the church's central apparatus, he was responsible for the files of church officials and carried out individual assignments for Nevrokh, then still Metropolitan, who was responsible for the CCC and the higher administration. These files periodically had to be wiped up in some cases and added to in others. So once he happened to personally follow one of the priests, and then arrange a show raid, so that he gave up his claims to one of the most important posts of the holy church, responsible for the finances of the organization. He was added to the dossier with a note stating that he was unable to keep track of his finances and a note written at Samoh's dictation, in which he apologized to his father for having spent a large portion of the funds once entrusted to him on gifts to his women, three of whom were listed in the document. Of course, with such facts, the priest lost all chances for any post connected with something material.

And the mud on the dress shoes he was wearing now, and the already caked clay on his robe, reminded him of that very stakeout nine years ago. He had gotten muddy in much the same way then, climbing a slope near his subject's house. He had lived in the suburbs of Chum Batu, and the soil there was as black as it was here, as thick and greasy as if oiled with something. How much time had passed, what post he held now, and still the realities of service had not changed much. Except that then he was not surrounded by a hundred and fifty selected fighters of the "undisclosed resource".

And, as then, his sudden appearance surprised many people. It was too late to do anything about the inquisitors, as the security detachments of the SFK had seen them on the very outskirts of the administration. At such a distance one could see who it was, and if the shooting started they would be blamed on the SCF, which would have to admit on the one hand that they had let a whole unit get close to them without their knowledge, and on the other hand that they had recognized the unit and opened fire on it deliberately. The former meant that they were incapable of controlling the area around their facilities, the latter that they were openly declaring war on the Church. Ananhr didn't have the authority to do that, and besides, there was no certainty that her drill would overpower the Invisition's drill, so when she was informed of the appearance of Church officials, she gave the green light for their passage.

Samoh saw this formation perfectly well. Ananhr had been cornered, and now nothing could stop him from finishing his game in the Deez sector. They couldn't keep him out now, and then they wouldn't be able to deny his requests if he staggered them. And that he could do perfectly well, something he had recently managed to hone on Bazankhra.

The inner perimeter was fenced in with a gridiron net, and the SSchekists opened the gate. There were obviously not many of them, and there were only ten chums on duty outside, and the passing by them of the sweating but not tired chums of the punitive buras together with the metropolitan looked almost like the surrender of the camp after a siege.

The Inquisitors took up positions inside the perimeter, then advanced into the building and took up positions there, not threatening the S.S.C. in any way yet, but simply creating the appearance of a security fortification for the presence of their patron. Almost immediately, one of the officers approached Samoh and offered to help station the soldiers:

— You are so unexpected, Your Eminence… There has just been gunfire nearby. The Maquis have attacked. Allow me to offer you shelter within our walls.

— That's very kind of you. — Samokh was somewhat amused, but he didn't show it. — Take me to the Sector Chief.

The internal architecture and layouts were no different from those of the Corsa sector, but the decoration was not similar at all. In fact, there wasn't much of one. Bare walls without any paintings or decorations, only occasional service and propaganda posters, which were usually hung in workrooms rather than in the premises of the SChK. No bronze busts or statues. No carpets or lacquered furniture. Everything is very strict, rank and ascetic. As if this was not an administrative building, but a monastery filled with fanatics, where there could be no place for anything worldly.

Such was also Ananhr's private office. Her personal guard of six chums inside and four in front of the door stopped the metropolitan and his novices, and separately reported their appearance.

An order was immediately followed to let them pass.

Ananhr herself sat at a small table and watched the surroundings through