Deathstalker d-1

by Simon R. Green

  "He is my clone," said Giles softly. "My son, in every way that matters. A Deathstalker, born of my blood. I was experimenting with a new process to produce esper clones of extraordinary power. He was the result. He's known very little of life, by my design. The last time he was awake, he used his esper abilities at my instigation, and a thousand suns disappeared. Just like that. I had created the Darkvoid, and the most powerful weapon ever known. So powerful I didn't dare let it ever be used again. I lowered him carefully into the deepest form of sleep and brought him here. With the Wolfling's help I teleported him into the center of the Madness Maze, where he could sleep undisturbed, surrounded by instruments to preserve and protect him, and to ensure that he never wakened again. Worlds have risen and fallen, the universe has turned, and still he sleeps on. All his needs are taken care of. He does not age. What happens now is up to you."

  "Why didn't you put him in stasis?" said Hazel.

  "Stasis has no effect on him," said Giles. "Very little does."

  "Kill it," said Ruby. "Destroy the unnatural thing. It's more dangerous than any weapon ever could be. It's a monster. Kill it now. While we still can."

  "No," said Random immediately. "This is too important for us to just turn our backs on it. I think we're looking at the next stage in human evolution."

  "Why didn't you destroy him?" said Owen, looking directly at Giles. "You created him; you must have arranged some kind of safeguard."

  The Deathstalker shrugged, still looking at the baby. "I couldn't. Perhaps when he's older, he'll be able to bring the Darkvoid's suns back again."

  "And what about all the people on all the worlds who died as a result of the Darkvoid?" said Hazel. "What about them?"

  Giles looked up and smiled at her. "Maybe he'll bring them back, too."

  There was a long pause as everyone thought about that. Owen looked across the crystal at Moon. "You're being very quiet, Hadenman. What do you think?"

  "I think this can all wait. The fate of the Device can always be decided at a later time. It is much more important that we make our way out of this Maze, and awaken my people from stasis. An Imperial starcruiser is currently in orbit. It won't be long before they start sending troops down after us. After the chase we've led them, I think it's more than likely they'll set the odds heavily in their favor. We will need my people's help if we are to survive."

  "The man has a point," said Ruby. "There could be a whole army crawling up our ass any minute. Making decisions about God Junior here can wait. Let's get out of this behaviorist's nightmare and see what we can do about scaring up some reinforcements."

  "Pardon me for pouring cold water," said Random, "but given the choice between facing an army of the Empire's finest or an army of augmented men, I think I'd rather face the Imperials. At least I've beaten them in the past occasionally."

  "Panic doesn't suit you. Random," said Moon. "There's no need to fear. I will speak for you."

  "Yeah, but will they listen? Your people have been asleep one hell of a long time. The last time they drew breath, they were fighting to destroy humanity and replace it with themselves, If they wake up with all their old instincts intact, we could be in real trouble."

  "You're already in real trouble," said Moon calmly. "My people might or might not kill you, but the Empire definitely will. What happened to your nerve, Random? Time was you had a fondness for the long odds."

  "I got older," said Random. "And unlike most of my contemporaries, I learned a few things along the way. Mostly about what happens to people who make deals with the Devil."

  "You really don't have any choice," said Moon. "Do you?"

  He looked around at the others with quiet triumph. Owen was careful not to point his gun at Moon. The Hadenman was probably just waiting for someone to start something so he could finish it. Getting this close to his people and his heritage had apparently done wonders for Moon's self-esteem. Hazel sniffed loudly.

  "Look, you men can shake your dicks at each other some other time. The Device can wait. If only because awakening it is the only sure way to make all our problems even worse. First, let's get the hell out of the Maze. This place gives me the creeps."

  "Damn right," said the Wolfling, and they all turned to look at him. There was something in the way he said that which implied he was just as shaken by the Maze as they were. Owen found that oddly reassuring. If something as big and extremely dangerous looking as the Wolfling could be upset by the Maze, he felt he had every right to feel upset too.

  I agree with Hazel," he said loudly. "Let's go."

  "Fine," said Random. "Any idea which way?"

  "Of course," said Hazel, pointing immediately at an exit that looked no different from any of the others. She stopped and frowned. "Now how did I know that?"

  "It's the Maze," said the Wolfling. "You're different now, all of you. Your minds work in different ways. You'll discover more new abilities as time goes on."

  Hazel looked back at Owen. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

  Owen shrugged uneasily. "It's a bit late to worry now.

  Whatever it is, it's already happened. You lead the way, Hazel. We'll follow."

  Hazel scowled, then turned abruptly and stalked off into the exit she'd chosen. Owen moved quickly to follow her, and the others trailed after him. The shimmering steel walls closed around him again, but this time the sense of oppression and claustrophobia was gone. The Maze felt neutral, calm, as though it was no longer interested in him. He felt different. Stronger. Sharper. More capable. He felt it as a kind of quiet confidence more than anything else, as though whatever might happen now, he would be able to deal with it. Given the current situation, that disturbed him just a little. It wasn't natural to feel this calm under this kind of pressure. If the Empire didn't get him, the Hadenmen probably would. All in all, he currently had the life expectancy of a goldfish in a tank of piranha. Except… he didn't feel like a goldfish anymore.

  And then there was the Darkvoid Device. The vanisher of stars, the slaughterer of billions. He didn't like just walking away and leaving it, but he didn't know what else to do with it. Giles said it was safe and protected where it was, and Owen felt instinctively that his ancestor was right. He had no doubt the Maze was quite capable of defending itself against unwanted intruders. He frowned as something about that thought nagged at him. The Maze killed most people who entered it, or drove them mad, but everyone in his party had come through safe and intact. The odds against that had to be unthinkably huge. Which implied that it hadn't been chance at all. The Maze had chosen to transform them all, for its own reasons. Owen liked that thought even less than his first one. He had no trouble thinking of the Maze as alive and even aware, but to think of it as intelligent, and making choices, was distinctly disturbing. He felt suddenly like a very small animal moving through the bowels of some unimaginably huge beast. He shook his head. Whatever the truth, there was nothing he could do about it now. Except perhaps walk a little faster and change the subject. He deliberately concentrated on the Darkvoid Device again, even though it was only marginally less worrying. It was safe where it was, protected by an army of Hadenmen, particularly as only a few people knew of its location. Certainly he couldn't think of anywhere safer. Owen tried very consciously to keep thinking of the Device as it. He didn't want to think of it as a baby, or even human. That might make it harder for him to destroy the Device, if it became necessary.

  Can you imagine what he might be capable of, as a child, or an adult? And what about the dead? Maybe he'll bring them back, too—

  Owen pictured an Empire on fire, planets burning like coals in the night. Humanity slaughtered and scattered by a power beyond comprehension, or hope of reason or mercy. He couldn't allow that. He would kill the Device, if he had to. If it became necessary. And if the Device would let him.

  He followed Hazel through the Maze, twisting and turning down one passage after another. It no longer seemed random to him. He didn't need to wait for Hazel to choose. He knew
the way out, too, on a level so deep and instinctive he trusted it implicitly. It was as though he knew the Maze from top to bottom, as though he'd always known it. He was still changing. He could feel it. The shimmering steel walls seemed somehow more significant, more purposeful than they had before. He could hear soft sounds on the edge of his hearing: quiet voices, like the Maze whispering to itself. He could sense the soft flutter of moving energies all around him, the power of certain shapes, the subtle ongoing processes of transformation. He couldn't grasp the scale of it, not just because it was so vast, but because his mind instinctively retreated from it. He couldn't think that way and still be human. He tried to follow that thought to its inevitable conclusion, and then suddenly he was out of the Maze, and his thoughts were swept away by reality crashing down on him again.

  "Where the hell have you been?" Ozymandius yelled in Owen's ear. "I've been trying to make contact with you for the past six hours!"

  "What are you talking about?" said Owen. "We couldn't have been in there for more than twenty minutes at most."

  "Time moves differently in the Maze," said Giles.

  "Now he tells us," said Hazel.

  They had all emerged from the Maze now, and Owen could see the same expression on everyone's face. They were losing the scope and range of thought they'd had in the Maze and were becoming more narrowly focused, more human again. Owen decided he'd think about that later.

  "All right, Oz," he said soothingly. "Take a deep breath and tell me what's been happening."

  "What hasn't?" snapped the AI. "The Imperial starcruiser has sent down mining engineers and equipment and blasted a path right down to the city. They found the old route the Hadenmen used and just reopened it. No big deal with the kind of energy cannon they were using. They're currently right on the other side of the Maze, and when I say they, I mean a whole damn army. The Dauntless has been ferrying people down in pinnaces for hours. We're talking about marines, battle espers and even some Wampyr, headed by an Investigator. The Captain himself has come down to personally see you all get your ass handed to you. They knew where to find us, Owen. They knew we were coming here. Someone told them."

  "They knew we were coming here?" Owen fought to hang onto his calm. "How could they have known? No one's had a chance to talk to the Empire."

  "We have a spy among us," said Ozymandius. "A secret agent who has been in constant contact with the Empire, wherever we went. This was all planned some time back. You were outlawed specifically to set in motion a train of events that would lead the Empire first to Shandrakor, and then to the Darkvoid Device. You've been on a leash, Owen, and now they're pulling it in."

  "I can't believe this," said Random, looking from one blank face to another. "The Empire's always been devious in its dealings, but… none of us have any reason to betray the others! The Empire is our enemy; it wants us all dead."

  "Not all of us," Owen said slowly. "I'm outlawed, with a price on my head. So are you and Hazel. And Moon's a Hadenman; they'd shoot him on sight on general principles. And we can count out Giles and the Wolfling for practical reasons. But Ruby Journey is a bounty hunter. When we first met her, she admitted she was hunting us on the Empire's behalf. We thought we'd outbid them, but the Empire has deep pockets. Isn't that right, Ruby?"

  "No!" said Hazel immediately. "Ruby's my friend! She wouldn't betray me like that. Tell them, Ruby."

  "What's the point?" said the bounty hunter coldly. "Look at them. They've already made up their minds."

  "I trusted you, Ruby," said Random. "We all did. How could you?"

  Ruby Journey took a step back from the group, her gun suddenly in her hand. "Let's all remain calm and civilized.

  If I was the traitor, you'd all be dead by now. I could shoot you all with this amazing projectile weapon and still get the price on your heads. They don't need you to find the Darkvoid Device, after all; I could show them where it is. If I was the traitor. But I'm not. There are more important things in life than money. I don't give a damn about your rebellion, but Hazel's my friend. I'd die for her, and her for me. We've always known that."

  "Then prove it," said Owen. "Put away your gun."

  "If I do, you'll kill me."

  "No," said Hazel. "I wouldn't allow that. Ruby, please. Put your gun away."

  There was a long pause, tension crackling on the air as hands hovered over weapons, and then Ruby slowly lowered her gun and bolstered it. She moved her hand conspicuously away from her gun and looked challengingly at the others. There was another tense pause as everyone looked at everyone else, to make sure no one else was going for their gun, and then they all relaxed in what seemed like one long simultaneous sigh of relief. Owen gave Ruby an apologetic shrug, and then looked back and forth at the others, baffled.

  "But if Ruby isn't the traitor… who is?"

  "Look, this doesn't make sense," said Random firmly. "None of us could be a traitor; we've all got too much to lose."

  "Not all of us," said Hazel. "You admitted the Empire broke you in their torture cells, Jack. You said you escaped, but who really ever escapes from that level of security? We never questioned it because, after all, you're the legendary Jack Random. But what if you didn't escape? What if they really did break you and you stayed broken? You'd have done anything they wanted. Even let them set you up on Mistworld for us to find you. They knew we couldn't resist taking you along. And who'd ever suspect that the legendary rebel Jack Random was really an Empire plant?"

  "Nice try," said Random. "But like Ruby, if I wanted you dead you'd be dead by now. I've had enough chances. I'm perfectly willing to give up my weapons and hand them over to whoever you suggest. But think a moment. You've said before, Owen, that the Empire's been right on your tail ever since Virimonde, but I didn't come on the scene until relatively late in the chase. Whoever your traitor is must have been there right from the beginning."

  "You're talking about me," said Hazel. "You bastard, you're talking about me!"

  "No," said Owen, a look of horror moving slowly over his face. "Not you. The only person who's been with us all the time, right from the very beginning. The one I trusted with everything. Who's had access to us all. Who knew everything the Empire's been doing in our absence, even down to the name of the Empire ship above us. It's you, isn't it, Oz?"

  "Yes," said Ozymandius. His voice was calm and even. "I've been reporting regularly to the Empire ever since your father first purchased me. Loyalty to the Iron Throne was programmed into me, hidden so deeply and so carefully that only the finest technicians would have ever been able to find it. Your father never trusted anyone or anything entirely, not even me, so my use was limited for many years, until it was decided to have your father killed and set the current events in motion. When you became the Deathstalker, you trusted me just as you did when you were a child. You thought of me as a machine, endlessly obedient, at best just an extension of yourself. It never occurred to you that I had been constructed and programmed by the very people who were pursuing you. Sorry, Owen, but it's been me all along. Nothing personal."

  "We're screwed," said Hazel. "We can't even get at him. He's safely tucked away in the Standing's computers. He's in charge of the stardrive, the weapons, the life-support systems, even the bloody transfer portals. We can't get back on board unless he allows it. He's got us exactly where the Empire wants us."

  "Not necessarily," said Giles. "They are my computers, after all. Attention computers: activate Code Achilles Three." He looked at the others calmly. "Just a little subroutine I installed long ago to protect my computers from being taken over by hostile systems. It seemed a sensible precaution."

  "Oh, it was," said Ozymandius. "However, computer systems have come a long way in the last nine hundred and forty-three years. You have managed to isolate me from the main systems. I no longer have control over the Standing. But I am still able to maintain my existence and follow my programming. Essentially, nothing has changed. I can still provide the Empire's forces with information on you
and your actions, which was always my first duty. Given time, it is even likely I will be able to override your antiquated security codes and regain control of the Standing. However, it is now clear that you and the others present a much greater threat to the Empire than was previously thought. You have new weapons, new information, and your time in the Maze has apparently changed you in unforseen ways. I am therefore empowered to move on to the next stage of my programming to prevent you escaping or awakening the sleeping Hadenmen. Owen, Hazel: pay attention. Code Blue Two Two."

  The words slammed through Owen's head like thunder, echoing and reechoing, and he was immediately paralyzed where he stood, unable even to blink his eyes. He struggled to move, or even speak, but that was denied him now. From the corner of his eye, he could see Hazel was similarly under outside control. To his horror, he felt his hand draw the disrupter from his holster. Hazel drew her gun, and the two of them covered the others. Owen raged inside his head and could do nothing.

  "Just a little precaution I took earlier," said Ozymandius, his voice cool and calm in all their ears. "While Owen and Hazel were unconscious and helpless in the regeneration machine on the Sunstrider, I took the opportunity to place control words in their minds, buried deep enough so the subjects would never know the words were there, but ready for retrieval at a moment's notice. It wasn't difficult. They are now incapable of doing anything other than following my orders. So you will all remain here, under guard, until the Imperial forces arrive to take over. I will, of course, have Owen and Hazel kill anyone who tries to resist or escape. My programming allows me to kill one or more of you as an example to the others. In fact, it damn near encourages it. So do as you're told. Owen and Hazel will kill, if required. They have no choice in the matter."