Shrine of the Modeller
Wreckage of the Baanu Amnan, Tingel Arm, Wild Space
Day 272, 29 ABY

Thanks to Tolok’s willing help—with a little female coercion—Eshin had managed to keep the nature of her work with Niiriit Phaath secret from the priests and, more importantly, the so-called ‘Warmaster’ himself. Things had gone well so far. Her infiltrators had picked up a Jeedai near Ruuria during one of Varesh’s raids; it had not taken much to get the Caamasi ‘to see the Light of the True Way’.

Eshin sniggered as she stepped into the Shrine of Yun-Ne’Shel. Jeedai were so caught up in their own beliefs that seducing them to another banal creed was almost too easy. From what little she had learnt of Jeedai, such theological falls were surprisingly common.

The female Klatooinian strung up horizontally across the roof was evidence of that.

Niiriit did not acknowledge her as she entered the shaping chamber. The Master Shaper always had that tendency to get so caught up in her work she forgot everything around her. It was what made her the perfect tool. The shaper was eager to explore the forbidden fruits of the Eighth Cortex—all Eshin had needed to do was provide the raw materials.

The Klatooinian screamed.

‘I see our guest is doing well,’ Eshin said.

The barbed vines of the Embrace of Pain constricted around the wrists and ankles of the alien in a constant dry rubbing motion while Niiriit injected the captured Sseeth with assorted cocktails. On the floor, a pair of ngdins rushed back and forth, fighting over the droplets of blood that pitter-pattered.

Finally, Niiriit turned away from her prey to Eshin.

‘Eckla!’ Niiriit said. ‘I didn’t hear you enter.’

What a surprise? ‘Have you had any success with her blood?’ Eshin asked.

Niiriit shook her head; the snake-like appendages covering her head hissed and clenched up into a ball. ‘These brenzlits aren’t enough,’ she hissed, echoing her headdress’s tentacles. ‘Vasi requires a pure sample.’

Viqi Yzalli had been someone of no importance; a child abandoned by the dark Jeedai when they lost their world two years ago. Eshin had never expected Viqi’s blood to further Niiriit’s pursuit of the holy grail of the Jeedai’s mystical energy. However that did not make Viqi useless either . . .

Eshin looked up at the Klatooinian and grinned.

‘Another slave for me then.’

The Master Shaper sighed, the noise coming out more like a wheeze. ‘You must get Tolok to source us fresher produce,’ Niiriit said as the hatch sphincter closed behind her.

Eshin shook her head. Niiriit was a useful partner, but the shaper had no concept of people at all. The Jeedai were simply livestock to be worked on. Not that Eshin objected, but at times it was hard not to wonder if Niiriit only saw her as a piece of meat as well.

This was why shapers kept themselves to themselves. And why Eshin normally didn’t bother to get to know one either. But in this case she had needed to make an exception.

One of the ngdins wriggled across her foot so she kicked it off into the wall; the furry rodent yelped then scurried off, squeezing its excessive body mass through a small hole. She rubbed the surface of the Embrace and several of the vines untangled gently; Viqi’s head fell, but stopped abruptly so that the Klatooinian hung upside down facing her.

The former Shamed One smiled.

Eshin held her hand out and stroked Viqi’s cheek as a spineray uncoiled its tail from around the intendant's arm. The spidery creature scuttled down onto the Klatooinian’s horrified face, then its long finger-like legs crawled over her head and wrapped around the back of her neck.

The Klatooinian screamed again as the spineray buried its cilia into the captive Sseeth’s spinal cord.

‘Hello again, Fiula,’ Eshin said. ‘Are you ready yet to embrace the Light of the True Way?’