Deathstalker (32 page)

They stamped back and forth on the slippery snow, searching for an opening, hammering their swords together. Owen used all his strength and guile and skill and was still hard-pressed to match the fury of his opponent’s attack. The temptation to boost was almost overpowering, but he wouldn’t do it. Partly because he was worried what it would do to his already weakened system, but mostly because he was damned if he’d escape into boost just to take out a single attacker. He had his pride. He’d never thought of himself as a warrior, but he’d been trained in swordsmanship by some of the finest tutors in the Empire. And besides, he’d done too much running just lately.

He threw himself at his opponent, forcing her back by the sheer strength and speed of his attack, then swept her sword aside and shoulder-charged her. The impact drove the breath from her lungs and threw her backward. Her feet shot out from under her and she crashed heavily onto the packed snow. Owen was immediately standing over her, one foot stamping down on her wrist to keep her from lifting her sword. She groped for her gun with her other hand, but Owen already had his pointing at her. She lay back, resigned but not defeated, and glared up at him. When she spoke, her voice was cold and unwavering.

“Do it.”

Owen surprised himself by hesitating. It was one thing to kill someone in the heat of battle, but to murder a helpless enemy … that was the Empire’s way, and he was no longer a subject of the Empire. On the other hand, if he didn’t kill her, she was almost certainly going to get up and kill him. He was still considering this, while trying very hard to keep it off of his face, when his companions emerged out of the mists to join him, drawn by the sound of fighting. Hazel looked down at the fallen bounty hunter and shook her head disgustedly.

“Owen, meet Ruby Journey.”

“Of course,” said Owen heavily. “It would have to be, wouldn’t it?”

He took his foot off the bounty hunter’s wrist and stepped back to let her rise, still covering her with his disrupter. She rose slowly to her feet, never taking her eyes off him. It occured to Owen that while she wasn’t pretty and never would be, there was still something darkly attractive about her: cold but sensual, like a deadly snake with beautiful markings. The thought surprised him, and he pushed it to one side. He still hadn’t decided whether he ought to kill her or not.

“Ruby, what the hell did you think you were doing?” said Hazel. “Didn’t you get any of my messages?”

The bounty hunter shrugged. “The price was too tempting. Besides, I wanted to see if I could take him. I’ve never killed a Deathstalker.”

“Well, you can forget that now,” said Hazel briskly. “Join up with us and I promise you all the fighting and loot you can handle. The odds are we’ll probably all die horribly, but if we make it, we’ll have the Empire by the throat. What do you say?”

Ruby looked at Owen. “What does he say?”

Owen lowered his gun but didn’t put it away. “I know I’m going to regret this, but … you’re an excellent fighter, Ruby; we could use another good fighter.”

“Then I’m in,” said Ruby. “I never could resist a challenge.”

“How can we trust her?” said Moon.

“We can’t,” said Jack Random. “She’s a bounty hunter.”

“And we’re all outlaws,” said Hazel. “Nobody trusts us, either. Anyway, she’s my friend and I vouch for her. Anyone have any problems with that?”

Owen had quite a few, but had the sense not to say so. He shrugged, put his gun away, and smiled at Ruby Journey. “Welcome to the rebellion.”

They made their way back to the
Sunstrider
easily enough. Between them, Ruby and Hazel knew every back street in the city. And word quickly got around that the Deathstalker was now accompanied by both a Hadenman and the legendary Jack Random, plus the infamous Ruby Journey, so that most of the would-be bounty hunters got a sudden attack of the scruples and decided they weren’t cut
out for the work after all. Back on board ship, Owen wasted no time in diving back into the regeneration device and emerged some time later feeling more like himself again. He showed his new companions around the yacht, enjoying their various reactions to its sybaritic luxuries, and finally got them all settled in the lounge in comfortable chairs with a glass of something warming in their hand. Hazel had suggested they hole up somewhere in the city, away from prying eyes, but Owen had decided very early on that he had no intention of sleeping anywhere where the rooms came supplied with hot and cold running fleas.

“All right, Oz,” he said easily. “We’ve all had time to let the cold seep out of our bones, so let’s have the bad news. What’s been happening since I last spoke to you?”

“You wouldn’t believe half of it,” said the AI. “Practically everyone and his brother has tried to break into this ship while you were gone, using everything from computer viruses to a hammer and chisel. I tried reasoning with them and I tried shooting them, but they kept coming. Finally I persuaded the control tower to station a large presence of the city watch at the entrances to the landing fields, and that helped. By the way, the port controller asked me to tell you that he would like to have a word with you, and the word he has in mind is ‘goodbye.’ Mistport wants us out of here at the earliest possible moment, and if we don’t get with it, they’ll gather all their espers together and throw us back into space. I’m not entirely sure they’re bluffing.”

Owen frowned. “Any Imperial ships in the vicinity?”

“Hard to tell while I’m stuck down here. Nothing obvious on the far sensors, but there could be a small fleet hidden in orbit behind their screens, and the first we’d know of it would be when they opened fire. Next time you choose a yacht, pick something with a little more firepower.”

“Relax,” said Owen. “You worry too much. This ship can outrun anything the Iron Bitch might send after us.”

“Speed isn’t everything, Owen. It takes time to make the calculations that allow us to drop into hyperspace, even for a computer like me, and during that time we might as well have a target painted on our hull. Now then, if you’ve quite finished with me, I would like to have a word with you and Jack Random.”

Random looked inquiringly at Owen, who shrugged. “Oz has been finding all kinds of stuff hidden in his memory
files, mostly planted there by my father, designed only to appear as and when necessary. Apparently your being here has triggered one.”

“Go ahead, Oz,” said Random. He looked at Owen. “The last time I heard from your father, I ended up paying postage on it.”

“Yeah,” said Owen, “that sounds like Dad.”

And then suddenly a hologram of Owen’s father was standing before them in the lounge, large as life and twice as confident. A cold hand clutched at Owen’s heart. His father looked exactly as he had the last time Owen had seen him in the flesh, just twenty-four hours before he’d been cut down in the streets as a traitor. It occurred to Owen that he’d never had a chance to say goodbye and wondered why that suddenly mattered to him so much. The late Deathstalker looked harried and preoccupied, but his voice was steady and courteous.

“Hello, Jack. Been a while, hasn’t it? If you’re listening to this then I’m dead, and young Owen has come looking for you. Look out for him; he means well, but he’s not a warrior. Spends all his time poring over books and histories. Don’t ask me where he gets it from. Not quite what I had in mind for my only son and heir, but hopefully his distance from me will help to protect him if things go wrong. I’d like to think some good came of it. Jack, just because I’m dead, don’t let the cause fall apart. Fight on. I don’t want to have died for nothing.

“Owen, if all has gone according to plan, you should have my ring. Guard it well. Concealed in its structure are the coordinates for the planet Shandrakor, where the original Deathstalker, founder of our Clan, fled in disgrace many centuries ago. Know now the great secret of our Family: the Deathstalker is not dead. He lies waiting in stasis, in his Last Standing on Shandrakor, together with a mighty armory of ancient and forbidden weapons. You must go there and wake him. He knows many secrets, including the location of the Darkvoid Device. With this weapon, lost for so long, your forces will be the equal of anything the Empire can send against you.

“Also hidden in my ring are the coordinates for the planet Haden, lost world of the Hadenmen. An army of augmented men lie waiting there in stasis for you to awaken them, in the Tomb of the Hadenmen. Our Family has had dealings
with them in the past. They will respect your name and will fight for the cause. How much you trust them is up to you.

I’m sorry this has been thrust upon you, Owen. It was never meant that you should have to carry such a weight. But it seems we have a traitor in our midst. One by one, all the key figures in the planned rebellion have been singled out and killed. I can only assume my own time is near. I’ve loaded the AI with everything I thought might prove useful, hidden as deeply as I can. This is the last message; there won’t be any more. You’re on your own now, Owen. I wish … I wish I’d talked with you more. I know you never approved of my intrigues, or the cause; hopefully by now you will have discovered why I thought it so important and will have made the cause your own. Be strong, Owen. Do what you have to.

“I wasn’t really such a bad father, was I? I know I wasn’t there as often as I might have been, but there was always so much work that needed doing. Never think I didn’t love you. You can trust Jack Random. He’s a good man. I keep thinking there’s something else I should be saying, but I don’t know what. Goodbye, Owen. Goodbye.”

The hologram snapped off and Owen’s father disappeared, and for a long moment there was only quiet in the lounge. Jack Random sighed heavily.

“Another old comrade gone. I never thought I’d outlive so many friends.”

“Are you all right, Owen?” said Hazel.

“Yes. I’m fine. He’s still doing it. Still trying to run my life.” Owen tried to be angry, but for once the anger wouldn’t come. “What really makes me mad is I have no choice but to follow his plans and take up his precious cause, whether I believe in it or not, just to survive. He’s still pulling the strings of my life, even after he’s dead.”

“I always thought the original Deathstalker was dead,” said Hazel. “I mean, I saw his tomb on the holo once on Golgotha.”

Owen nodded distractedly. “According to all the histories, he was hunted down and killed by the Shadow Men, nine hundred and forty-three years ago. He was officially pardoned, if not exonerated, some four hundred years later. They even built a monument for him. I wonder whose body they put in the tomb. … Well, at least now we have a choice
of destination. Shandrakor to search for my ancestor, or Haden to raise an army.”

Tobias Moon fixed Owen with his disquieting golden eyes. “I have waited a long time to rejoin my people.”

“Well, you’ll have to wait a bit longer,” said Random. “If there’s an armory on Shandrakor, we need to check it out. Especially if the Darkvoid Device is there.”

“This is my ship,” said Owen. “I’ll decide where we’re going.”

“Then get on with it,” said Ruby Journey, trimming her nails with a nasty-looking dagger. “There are a lot of people looking for you, Deathstalker, and I don’t think we should still be here when they arrive.”

“She’s got a point,” said Hazel, and Owen nodded.

“We’re going to Shandrakor. If my ancestor is there, he and Jack can take over this rebellion, and maybe then I’ll be allowed to retire to the background and get a little peace. Oz, power the ship up. We’re leaving.”

“Yes, Owen. I have a message from Mistport control tower.”

“Put it on.”

“
Sunstrider
, this is Mistport security,” said a harsh voice. “You do not, repeat not, have permission to take off. Power down your engines; our people will be boarding you shortly.”

“Don’t put money on it,” said Owen. “Oz, are we ready?”

“Just say the word, Owen.”

“Get us out of here.”

The AI shut off the Mistport channel in mid-splutter, and the
Sunstrider
leapt up off the landing pad and into the sky. Several ships started after her, but they were no match for her speed.
Sunstrider
shot beyond the atmosphere and settled into orbit, ready to make its jump through hyperspace. And that was when things really went to hell.

“Ah, Owen,” said the AI, “we have a problem. Two Imperial starcruisers are heading right for us. They must have already been here in orbit waiting for us. They’re opening fire.”

“Shields up!” yelled Owen. “I thought we left those bastards behind on Virimonde. What the hell are they doing here?”

“Hitting us with everything they’ve got,” said Ozymandius dispassionately. “Shields are holding, but I don’t know
for how long. They were never designed to take this kind of punishment.”

“Two starcruisers?” said Jack Random. “
Two bloody starcruisers?
”

“They must really want your aristocratic ass,” said Ruby Journey. “This heap of yours have any weapons?”

“Nothing that’ll stop a starcruiser,” said Owen. “Oz, make the jump. Now.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Owen. I’m still working out the exact spacial coordinates. Jump too soon, without everything correct to the last decimal place, and we could end up materializing inside a sun, or something equally unpleasant. Port shield just went down. Brace yourselves.”

The ship shook and alarms shrilled as everyone staggered back and forth. The ship shook again and again, and smoke billowed into the lounge. Bottles fell from the bar and smashed on the floor. Owen clung to a wall bracket and thought frantically about what to do next. Somewhere entirely too close he could hear the crackling of a large fire.

“Oz, status report!”

“Bad, and getting worse. Half our shields are down, outer hull penetrated in seventeen places, inner hull breached in three. We’re losing air fast.”

“Can’t we try and run?”

“If you really want to annoy them. Just hold on, Owen. We’ll be gone in a few minutes.”

“We don’t have a few minutes! Go now! Make the jump!”

“I really cannot recommend that, Owen. If we jump now, I cannot guarantee a safe arrival.”