Deathstalker (56 page)

He didn’t like the look of the trees. The trunks were four to five feet wide, with a dark red bark that was pitted and scarred. The branches stirred unsettlingly, even when there was no hint of a breeze, and the crimson leaves were long and narrow, with razor-sharp serrations. Everyone had quickly learned to keep their hands to themselves. The colors of the remaining vegetation were bright and primal, solid yellows and blues and pinks, that clashed gaudily with the dominant scarlet. Either this planet hadn’t discovered the benefits of camouflage or protective coloration, or it just didn’t give a damn, Owen favored the latter explanation. Shandrakor didn’t strike him as a particularly subtle planet. Up above him, he could hear things moving in the higher branches, keeping up with his party, but so far none of them had come down to check out the new intruders in their territory. Didn’t stop them emptying their bowels all over the group, though. Owen was just grateful the screen protected their heads as well as their sides.

Out beyond the screen, the planet’s creatures were getting on with their usual business of tearing each other into bloody pieces, and then eating as much as they could before
something else jumped them. The din was appalling, with screams and roars and everything in between, but after a while it faded into the background. Owen supposed you could get used to anything eventually. He couldn’t help wondering why the beasts of the jungle were keeping such a respectful distance. The screen and the disrupters had killed quite a few of them, but they hadn’t struck Owen as being that smart. They should have just kept coming till they overwhelmed the party through sheer numbers, as they nearly had in the
Sunstrider’s
airlock. Instead, they backed off and disappeared back into the jungle once the energy guns started firing. Almost as though they’d encountered such guns before and had learned the hard way to respect them. Which should have been impossible. Officially, no one from the Empire had visited Shandrakor in centuries. Mainly because no one knew where it was.

Unless the Empress knew, had known it all the time. A secret, perhaps, handed down from ruler to ruler, as something to be wary of and watch over. It made sense. Owen couldn’t see any Emperor choosing to forget the location of the most powerful weapon ever invented. So, could Imperial troops have gotten to Shandrakor before the
Sunstrider
did? Owen scowled. It didn’t seem likely, but he couldn’t rule it out, either. If that was the case, things had just gotten a lot more complicated. It didn’t mean everything was lost. He had the exact location of the Last Standing, thanks to the files his father had hidden in Ozymandius’ memory. Unless the Empire had already been here for some time, searching … Owen cut viciously at the vegetation before him. Nothing was ever simple anymore.

Something huge howled in agony as it was brought down by something even bigger not too far away. The ground shuddered under its weight, and he looked quickly about him. The force screen would keep out most things, but he didn’t know for sure whether it could stand up to something really large just dropping on it with all its weight. The screen might just overload and collapse.
Great
, thought Owen.
Something else to worry about
. The creatures were definitely edging closer again. Either they were getting over their fear of the screen and the guns, or they just didn’t care.

“Take a break,” Hazel said behind him, and Owen gratefully came to a halt. He wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and looked back at the rest of his party. Hazel
looked almost as shattered as he felt. Ruby Journey was breathing hard, but her back was still straight and her head erect. Jack Random had taken the opportunity to sit down, ignoring the insects swarming around him. He sat with his shoulders slumped and his head hanging down, and sweat dripped from his face onto the ground, where the insects fought over it. Moon looked perfectly calm and collected, as though he could walk for miles yet. Owen hated him on general principles. Something large and blocky leapt out of the trees at them, then howled angrily as it hit the screen. It struggled against the energy field for a long moment, ignoring the shocks, but finally fell back, defeated. Owen couldn’t help noticing that it was taking longer all the time for the screen to have an effect. Either the field was weakening, or the creatures were getting stronger and more determined. Owen knew which was the most likely, but he was too tired to care. He sat down, and after a moment, Hazel and Ruby joined him.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before, Hazel?” said Owen quietly.

“There’s a couple of cities on Loki that are almost as dangerous to walk through, but no, I’ve never come across anything as unrelentingly lethal as this. I mean, don’t they ever stop eating? You’d think they’d run out of prey at this rate. Surely they must stop sometime, if only to sleep and digest.”

“Maybe they’re working shifts,” Owen suggested, and Hazel managed a small smile.

“You’re the one with the built-in compass. How much further to the Standing?”

“At least a quarter of a mile. We’re barely halfway there.”

“Is that all?” Hazel shook her head wearily. “It seems like I’ve been slogging through this jungle forever. Any more bad news you’d like to share with me?”

“We’re draining the crystals in our guns, the screen isn’t holding up as well as I’d hoped, and it’s getting hotter. I don’t think we’ve even reached midday yet. I hate this place.”

“Oh, good,” said Hazel. “Something more to worry about. I don’t know why I ever saved you, Deathstalker. You’re a bloody jinx to be around, you know that?”

“Yes, I do. You keep telling me. You should be grateful to me for bringing a little adventure into your life. Would you
rather be stuck in an office all day, staring into a monitor screen?”

“Frankly, yes.”

“Come on, we’d better start moving again.” Owen tried to force some confidence into his voice. “Only a quarter of a mile to go.”

“Wait a bit longer,” said Jack Random. “If we wear ourselves out too quickly, we’ll never get there. We have to pace ourselves.” Owen looked at him, surprised. The old rebel sounded much fresher and stronger than he had. Random saw the look and grinned easily. “I’ve done this before, lad. Couldn’t tell you how many jungles on how many planets I’ve hacked my way through in my time. You have to learn to spread your strength, so it’s there to be called on when you need it. Don’t worry about the screen and the guns. Either they’ll hold out, or they won’t, and either way there’s nothing you can do about it. Save your energy for problems you can solve. Like making sure the path you’re cutting is as straight as you can get it. Even a mild curve could put us miles off course.”

“I’m watching the compass,” said Owen. “We’re dead on course. Listen, if you’ve got any other wisdom to offer, don’t be shy about sharing it. I’m new to all this, and I’ll take all the help I can get.”

“Good attitude, for a leader,” Random said approvingly. “You’re doing fine, Deathstalker. Lead from the front and we’ll follow.”

“Speak for yourself,” said Ruby Journey. “I wouldn’t trust that inbred aristo to lead sheep to slaughter.”

“Interesting choice of phrase, my dear,” said Random. “Perhaps you’d care to modify it, given our current position?”

“No, I wouldn’t. And I’m not your dear.”

“That’s for sure,” said Hazel. “You’ve never been anybody’s dear.”

“I’ve never been anybody’s fool, either.” Ruby glared at them all impartially. “I should never have let you talk me into this. I could have made a perfectly good fortune just handing you over to the authorities. Instead, I’m stuck in the middle of a bloody jungle, light-years from anywhere half-way civilized, with no provisions and no bloody ship. I should have shot you all on sight.”

“You did try,” said Owen.

“You wouldn’t shoot me, Ruby,” Hazel said briskly. “I’m your friend.”

Ruby looked at her. “The rewards on all your heads would buy me a lot of friends.”

“Not the kind that matter,” said Random. “It’s a lonely place, this Empire, without friends to watch your back.”

“Friends are a luxury,” said Ruby coldly. “Like faith, politics and family. They always let you down, in the end. The only person you can ever really trust is yourself. I’d have thought you’d have known that, after all the times you got your ass kicked by the Empire. Your great rebellion is over, Random.”

“It’s not over till I say it’s over,” said Random. “As long as I refuse to give up, they haven’t beaten me. The strength of rebellion lies in the heart, not in armies.”

“Nice sentiment,” said Ruby. “I’m sure they’ll put it on your tombstone.”

“Thank you, Ruby,” said Random, smiling charmingly. “That’s very good of you. Time to get moving again, Deathstalker. If we’ve got the energy to argue, we’re rested enough to start up again.”

He rose easily to his feet, looking calm and relaxed and ready to go. Owen was surprised to find he’d gotten his second wind while they were talking and got to his feet with only minor winces. He put out a hand to Hazel, who ignored it and got up unaided. Owen didn’t even try to offer his hand to Ruby. The bounty hunter rose up as lithely and effortlessly as she’d sat down, her face cold and calm and untouched by any trace of passion. Owen smiled, hefted his sword thoughtfully, and turned back to the vegetation blocking his trail. If he had to be stranded on an unfriendly world, he was glad he was accompanied by fighters, not quitters. He was especially pleased to see Jack Random coming to life again. This was more like the legendary rebel he’d heard so much about.

Ruby moved up alongside to help. Owen wasn’t too happy about having the bounty hunter that close to him with a naked blade in her hands. She made him nervous. She had the cold poise of an Investigator, and the unrelenting malice to go with it. Owen had absolutely no doubt that she would have killed him in a second back on Mistworld if Hazel hadn’t intervened. He was also pretty damn sure she’d turn on him in a moment if she decided it was in her best interests
to do so. She’d have made a good aristocrat. He kept a watchful eye on her until she decided they’d made enough ground, then dropped back to walk with the others. Owen breathed a little more easily, though his back still prickled just a little. After a moment, Hazel moved up beside him.

“What’s the problem between you and Ruby?” she said bluntly.

“Don’t know what you mean,” said Owen.

“Come off it. I saw you shooting suspicious looks at her in what you obviously thought was an unobtrusive manner. Don’t you trust her?”

“Of course not. She’s a bounty hunter, and I’m bounty.”

“We’re all outlaws together now, aristo.”

“Some of us are more outlaws than others.”

“She’s my friend,” said Hazel coldly. “She gave me her word. You can trust her as you trust me.”

“Exactly,” said Owen.

Hazel had to think about that for a moment, and then glared at him and fell back to join the others, scowling heavily. Owen sighed and took out his spleen on the helpless vegetation before him. It didn’t help much. He liked Hazel. He admired her courage and her forthright manner, but they couldn’t seem to exchange two words without arguing. Jack Random came forward to walk at his side, and they cut trail together in silence for a while, the only sound the solid chunk of steel cutting through vegetation.

“A word of advice,” Jack said finally. “Never win an argument with a woman. They’ll forgive anything but that.”

“But I was right.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“We’re making good time,” Owen said determinedly. “Would you like to take over the lead for a while?”

“No thanks. In my experience, the point man has the most dangerous job. You’re welcome to it.”

“You should be leading this party anyway. I mean, you’re Jack Random.”

“I used to be, and given time I might be again. But for the moment I’m just a tired old man pulled out of retirement for one last fight. I’ve got a long way to go before I’m competent to lead anything but a suicide charge. You carry on, lad. You’re doing a good job as leader.”

“Am I? Hazel and I spit at each other like cats, Moon
worries the hell out of me, and I daren’t turn my back on Ruby.”

“And you’re holding them all together. You give them purpose and point them in the right direction. That’s all anyone really has the right to expect of a leader. I should know.”

He grinned easily at Owen, clapped him once on the shoulder and dropped back to the others. Owen wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and stood a little straighten If Jack Random said he was doing a good job, he must be. He was still getting used to the idea when Moon appeared suddenly at his side.

“I have a question for you, Deathstalker. How are you going to get me to Haden when you don’t have a ship anymore? You said you’d get me there. You gave me your word.”

“I’ll get you there.”

“How?”

“I’m working on it!”

Moon nodded and fell back to join the others, leaving Owen by himself. He growled not completely under his breath, and hacked at a web of hanging creepers. He felt he could use a little time to himself. For some reason, the creatures surrounding the party seemed to be showing them a lot more respect. Owen found that suspicious, but he could live with that.

Sometime later, the jungle fell suddenly away before them, to reveal a large clearing with a huge stone castle in its center. Owen raised an arm to protect his eyes from the direct glare of the sun. The heat was almost blistering away from the protection of the jungle canopy, but he held his ground. He’d come a long way to be here, and besides, it felt good not to have to worry about which direction an attack might come from next. The creatures of the jungle were always there, close at hand, watching and following. Owen’s back ached from the constant tension and anticipation of an attack. He lowered his sword and leaned on it gratefully as he studied the castle in the clearing.

It was a huge structure, rising up high enough to hide the jungle behind it, and composed of uncomfortably large blocks of dull gray stone. There were tall thin towers with pointed roofs and crenellated battlements. There was no sign of any activity, or any light at any of the small slit windows,
and the single great door was closed. And on top of all that, the whole castle seemed slightly out of focus, seen through the faint shimmer of the force shield that surrounded it. For a long time nobody said anything. Owen looked up at the sky. The sun was bloodred and sinking down toward the tops of the trees. Not long now till night, and whatever new creatures prowled in it.