Deathstalker (78 page)

“After everything we’ve been through, I should be out on my feet, but I feel like I could take on an army.”

“Right,” said Hazel. “A large army. I feel … completely revitalized. Everything seems so—”

“Sharp,” said Ruby. “Distinct. As though the world’s suddenly come into focus for the first time. And the Maze; I understand—”

“Its function. Yes,” said Random. “I only have to look at it, and I know what its purpose is. Evolution. Transcendence. Perfection. If we were to stay in it long enough, who knows what we might become. Have you noticed we’re all ending each other’s sentences?”

“Yes,” said Giles. “There’s a bond. I can feel it. Like esp, but deeper, more fundamental. We’ve changed. We’re—”

“Different,” said Moon. “Very different. You are now more than human, and I have become more than a Hadenman. Interesting. I wonder if the rest of my people also passed through the Maze, before entering their Tomb.”

“God, I hope not,” said Owen. “That’s all Humanity needs: an army of super-evolved Hadenmen.”

“Whatever happens,” Moon said calmly, “I think I can guarantee that in the coming rebellion, my people will not be fighting on the same side as the Empire.”

“I’m not so sure I want you on our side, either,” said Owen.

“Damn right,” said Hazel. “You guys made yourselves really unpopular the last time around. That’s what comes of having a battlecry of ‘Death to Humanity.”’

“Imperial propaganda,” said Moon. “All we ever wanted was our freedom.”

“He’s telling the truth,” said Random. “I can feel it in him.”

“So can I,” said Ruby. “It’s like … seeing colors for the first time. Weird. Are we espers now, or what?”

“Definitely what,” said Owen. “And while I believe Moon, he’s been away from his people for a long time. People change. Giles, you’re being very quiet. Something wrong?”

“The universe itself has changed since I last remember it,” said Giles. “And now it seems I am undergoing fundamental changes, too. Pardon me if I find this all rather disorienting.”

“We can talk about this later,” said Hazel. “In the meantime, how about getting the hell out of here? The Imperial forces can’t be that far behind us.”

And then she stopped and looked back at the Madness Maze. They all did, their new senses triggered by a sharp premonition of danger. They heard the roar of an approaching pinnace, and then the thunder of disrupter cannon. Owen started to shout a warning, and then the whole Maze exploded in a blinding flare of sleeting energies. The rebels moved together, instinctively, and a force shield formed around them, drawn from within themselves. And not even the battering storm of released energies could penetrate it. The force of the explosion died away, and the air slowly cleared. The Maze was gone, swept away in a moment. Where it had been, an Imperial pinnace hovered. The force field dropped, and the rebels looked around with equal parts of surprise and shock. All around them, the Hadenman city had been shattered and torn apart like a child’s building blocks scattered by a storm. Buildings had toppled or collapsed or been torn apart, and there was ruin and devastation for as far as they could see. A city that had stood for so long, torn down by an uncaring hand.

“And they call my people monsters,” said Moon.

“That could have been us,” said Owen. “By all rights, we ought to be dead.”

“Our own personal force shield,” said Hazel. “Now that is going to come in handy.”

“Not necessarily,” said Moon, his composure restored. “We had to draw on our own collective energy to power it. We couldn’t do it separately.”

“In other words,” said Random, “we only have the shield for as long as we stick together. You think the Maze was trying to tell us something?”

“Considering that we are currently staring down the gun barrels of an Imperial ship, I am quite prepared to listen,” said Ruby.

“Those cannon are useless until the energy crystals recharge,” said Giles. “So their next step will be to send men out to check the ruins. And then we can show them just how powerful we have become.”

“Right,” said Hazel, her eyes lighting up at the thought. “They don’t know the kind of weapons we’ve got, either. This is going to be fun.”

“Hold everything,” Owen said suddenly. “What happened to the Wolfling?”

They all stopped and looked at each other, and then around them, but there was no sign of him.

“Did anyone see him come out of the Maze?” said Random. “I kind of lost track of things for a while.”

“Maybe … he didn’t get out,” said Ruby.

“No,” said Giles immediately. “He would have made it through. Perhaps he came out ahead of us and moved on into the city.”

They all looked at the ruins around them. Owen shook his head. “Either way, it doesn’t look too good for him, docs it?”

And then they were all distracted by the sound of the pinnace landing and turning off its engines. They all turned to look, hefting their weapons. A side door opened in the pinnace, a ramp lowered and men came hurrying out. There didn’t seem to be too many of them, but Owen’s eyes narrowed in recognition.

“Wampyr,” he said quietly.

“And that man leading them is the Lord High Dram,” said Ruby. “Warrior Prime, and current favorite of the Iron Bitch.”

“No,” said Giles. “That’s not his name. Not his real name. I suppose it was inevitable that if I returned here, so would he.”

“What are you talking about?” said Owen. “I recognize him. Everyone in the Empire knows who Dram is.”

“But I know who he used to be,” said Giles, and his mouth hardened into a thin, flat line. They all looked at him, but he had nothing more to say.

Wonderful
, thought Owen.
More secrets
. And then Stelmach and his alien appeared, and Owen forgot about everything else. His mouth went dry as he looked at the creature, age-old instincts stirring the hairs on the back of his neck. It wasn’t just that the alien was huge and armored, with far too many teeth and claws; Owen could feel how dangerous it was, even at such a distance. His new senses hammered in his head like an alarm. It was like seeing Death itself, walking cold and unhurried in the light of the
pinnace, waiting only to be unleashed. Owen scowled. He’d never seen anything like it before, and could have done without seeing it now, but on the other hand, it had never come across anything like him, either. He was more than he was, and part of him itched for a chance to prove it in battle against a worthy opponent. He glanced at the others, who seemed equally fascinated by the alien.

“Anyone any idea what that thing is?” said Owen, trying hard to sound casual.

“Ugly,” said Hazel. “Definitely ugly.”

“Right,” said Ruby. “Let’s kill it now, before things get hectic.”

“No,” said Owen immediately. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. Not yet. Let them come a little closer, in range of our guns.”

“Sound thinking,” said Random. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I feel like I could shoot the eye out of a fly’s head.”

“He’s right,” said Hazel. “Look how far they are from us now, but I can see every one of them as clearly as if they were just across the room. I think if I concentrated, I could probably hear them talking.”

“The Wampyr are in for a shock,” said Ruby. “They think they’re just up against humans. They may be adjusted men, but we’re the new improved version.”

“Don’t start getting cocky,” said Giles. “We’re still vastly outnumbered and outgunned. An energy beam doesn’t care how superior you are.”

“You’re forgetting the force shield,” said Hazel.

“No, I’m not. That only works as long as we’re together. What if we get separated? What if we can only use it a few times before it burns us out? There’s a lot we don’t know about our new selves, and that includes our limitations.”

“I agree,” said Moon. “The odds are not good. We can’t afford to rely on powers and abilities we don’t fully understand yet. So, you people keep them busy, and I will press on to the Tomb of the Hadenmen. Only my people can help us now.”

And as suddenly as that he was off and running, darting silently between the rubble of devastated buildings before disappearing into the shadows. It was all over so quickly they didn’t even have the time to call after him before he was gone.

“Well, that’s just great,” Hazel said disgustedly. “There goes our force shield, for a start.”

“And our greatest fighter,” said Random. “I told you before, you can never trust a Hadenmen to follow orders. They always have their own private agenda.”

“Let him go,” said Giles. “At least we don’t have to watch our back anymore. The Imperial forces are moving. We’d better find some cover before they get close enough to spot us.”

The rebels moved on into the ruined city, taking up positions behind fallen stones and in darkened doorways. They watched silently as the Imperial forces moved slowly out across the bare plain where the Maze had once been, and their fingers curled impatiently around triggers. Owen hefted his projectile weapon uncertainly. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about it. The gun had several obvious advantages, but when all was said and done, it was no use at all against a force shield. That was why it had been superceded by the disrupter in the first place. But Giles had faith in them, and he was after all the original Deathstalker, the greatest warrior of his day. Owen sighed quietly and sank back into his doorway. Guns were all very well, but those were Wampyr out there on the plain, a small army of them. Walking nightmares, fast and strong and unstoppable by anything except a direct hit with an energy weapon. And then the forces stopped, halfway across, and gathered around something they’d found. Even though Owen couldn’t see it, he knew what it had to be. The Darkvoid Device, sleeping in its crystal, untouched by the vicious force that had swept the Madness Maze away so casually. Hazel stirred behind her pile of rubble not far away.

“The Tomb of the Hadenmen isn’t far from here,” she said quietly. “I can feel it, on the edge of my mind. Cold and metal and unforgiving.”

“Right,” said Owen. “Which means we can’t allow any of these people to get past us. Moon is going to need all the uninterrupted time we can buy him to wake his people.”

“I’m still not sure I like the idea of that,” said Ruby Journey, crouching behind an overturned brass pillar. “I mean …
Hadenmen.
”

“I know what you mean,” said Random, “but if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a lifetime rebel, it’s that you can’t always choose your allies.”

“Keep your attention on the Imperial forces,” said Giles invisible in the shadows of a deep doorway. “They’ll be within range soon.”

“So will the Hadenmen,” said Ruby. “Moon might be straight, but … we could end up with Wampyr in front of us and Hadenmen behind, with nowhere for us to run.”

“Oh, stop moaning,” said Hazel. “Since when have you ever run away from a good fight?”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” said Ruby. “I like to have the choice.”

“You were never that hot on principles, either. The Madness Maze must have changed you more than we thought.”

Owen grinned, listening to the two friends squabble amicably. It was a moment of warmth and sanity in an increasingly insane situation. He’d come a long way from the young historian who’d just wanted to be left alone, happy in his obscurity on a backwater planet. Now here he was, allied with Wolflings and Hadenmen and living legends, planning to lead a rebellion against the greatest and most powerful Empire that Humanity had ever known. Talk about delusions of grandeur. But looking back at the twists and turns his life had taken recently, there wasn’t much he would have done differently. Except for the young girl he’d crippled on Mistworld. He’d see her face till the day he died.

But he was where he was, with an enemy before him and an unknown factor behind him, and if he was going to die, he could at least die well, like a Deathstalker should. For all his faults, he’d always liked to think of himself as an honorable man. He smiled suddenly, as a thought struck him.

“Giles, assuming by some miracle we get out of this alive and more or less intact, how about we change our Family name to something a little more positive and upbeat? I mean, Deathstalker really is a bloody gloomy name where you think about it.”

“Then don’t think about it,” Giles said calmly. “Deathstalker’s a good name. I chose it myself. It’s got style.”

“They’ll never get it on your headstone,” said Hazel. “Too many letters.”

“Heads up,” said Random. “They’re in range now. Won’t be long before their sensors detect us.”

“Right,” said Ruby. “I think the dance is about to begin. Choose your partners carefully and don’t do anything your mother would approve of.”

“All this time without a single smile, and now she develops a sense of humor,” said Random. “And a twisted one at that.”

“Shut up and pick your targets,” said Owen. “Let’s see if we can get some of them before they can get us.”

“Damn right,” said Hazel. She stood up suddenly, gripped her biggest projectile weapon firmly and set it against her shoulder, and opened fire. The recoil sent her staggering backward, but the spray of bullets swept across the massed Wampyr and knocked several of them off their feet. The rest of the Imperial party quickly raised their force shields and returned fire with their energy weapons. Hazel dived for cover, and Owen kept his head well down till the barrage was over. He counted to five, just in case, and then raised his head and snapped off a shot with his disrupter. It ricocheted from a force shield and disappeared off into the darkness. More energy bolts stabbed out from the rebel positions to equal lack of effect. A force shield would go down if you hit it often enough with an energy bolt, but the rebels didn’t have that much firepower, and the Empire forces knew it. They waited for the rebel’s disrupters to fall silent, and then charged the rebel positions for some sword to sword contact before the energy crystals could recharge. And the rebels stood up and let fly with their projectile weapons.

The roar of the bullets caught the marines and the Wampyr by surprise. Some had even lowered their force shields to save energy, and the bullets tore them apart with bloody thoroughness. The rest kept coming, sheltering behind their shields, desperate to get to close quarters and fighting they understood. The Security Officer spoke to his massive alien companion, and it sprinted forward ahead of the rest, bullets ricocheting harmlessly from its silicon armor. Owen jumped out of his doorway to meet it, sword in hand, and the alien sent him sprawling with a casual backhand slap before running past the rebels and on into the city.