Tails
Standing on the scorched parapet of the high outer wall Inquisitor looked at the people gathered in one great crowd below. Virtually all who were not absolutely emaciated by the toil in the mines rose against their slave masters, when Imperial forces had began to bombard the fortress. In the bitter fight most of the prisoners were killed, but several hundred managed to hold out until the Imperial Guard came. Battered and filthy they were driven together in the inner courtyard of the freshly conquered fortress. Badly wounded were lying on the ground, it was obvious that many were not long for this world. Some others were sitting. There were people in the military uniform amongst the crowd; one could still see the distinctive colours and insignia of the different Guard regiments. Wind tousled grey locks on the head of the Inquisitor. Shaggy clouds clumsily slid in the sky above arduously rolling over the distant mountain peaks. Inquisitor picked up handheld vox-caster and said shortly: “Execute”. – You’d kill them all, master? – young interrogator sprang onto the parapet. Inquisitor frowned: – I believed that they were teaching the understanding of such things in the Schola Progenium. Are they not now? – They are, – answered interrogator, a little confused, – but with the new knowledge… experience… the point of view can change. – And how much did your point of view change? – fleeting smile touched Inquisitor’s chapped face. – I… – said interrogator a bit more boldly, – did they all deserve to die? Many would be surely useful to the Imperium! Inquisitor kept silence for a while. He stood on the parapet staring at the mixed throng below. Then he took a little gold coin from the pocket of his overcoat. – Toss it, – said Inquisitor. Interrogator threw up the coin and skillfully slammed it down with the right palm on the backside of the left one: – Tails. Inquisitor sighed. – Toss up a thousand coins. Roughly a half would fall heads. Take the other half and toss up again. Remove those, which fall heads and toss the rest yet again. And do it until you have one coin, which fall heads down. This coin, doesn’t matter how many times you had tossed it, always did show you its tail. It is the same with people; some are just incapable of changing. Inquisitor offered a palm for interrogator to return coin. – Not all of them, but some, and let them be just a few, they will show tail again… a weakness. With what Imperium will have to pay for it? Battle cruiser? Imperial Guard regiment? We have no rights to endanger Imperium more than it already is. Interrogator put the coin in the outstretched hand and it disappeared in the laps of Inquisitor’s overcoat. In the sky above were leisurely trailing shaggy clouds. In the inner courtyard of the battle scorched fortress were cracking lasgun shots.
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