Chapter Thirty-Nine
A LAST ATTEMPT
As the night deepened, the Overlord shifted uncomfortably in his bed. He couldn’t communicate directly with his wife – a peculiarity of this planet he found increasingly trying, but he could feel her with him.
Olatu’s scornful manner lingered in his mind. Had she seen that? The questions he’d asked still rang in his brain – what function did he have there? What authority? If he could not compel the leader of the Host to obey an environmental imperative, what use was he? The Imperium had made him its representative, yet he had been treated with contempt. Did Olatu spurn the God-Emperor by his actions, or was he merely the obedient, if terrified, servant he claimed to be?
It was equally distressing that, initially, he’d thought of Olatu as a friend. All
