"We launch our ship from the starport," said Yvonne. "No one will have got past the defenses on our ship. We go up, we drive straight at the herald, wait until we're right on top of it, and then overload the stardrive. I don't care what the herald is; an exploding stardrive could blow out a sun like a candle."
"Theoretically," said Kelly. "No one's ever actually tried it, as far as I know."
"No one's ever had to, before," said Avraam.
They looked at each other for a while, and then Yvonne shrugged. "What the hell; it's a good day to die."
"Suicide is a sin," said Kelly.
"Not if you take your enemy with you," said Avraam.
"What is death, but a release from our memories?" said Yvonne. "For us, death will be a comfort."
"You always were a spooky cow," said Kelly, but for the first time there was a hint of a smile on her pale lips.
They strode off through the city, ignoring the panicked souls running blindly around them. It wasn't that far to the main starport, after they commandeered a car. They had to kill the driver to get it, but they couldn't let themselves think about that. Every time they saw a floating news camera, they slowed the car and called out to the camera, trying to get word out of what had been done to them and the other Paragons. But every time they tried, the cameras shut themselves down. They'd been programmed to do that. Finn thought of everything.
The Paragons roared across the empty landing pads, and pulled up next to their ship, the Harrow. It didn't take them long to power up the ship, and soon they were punching through the planet's atmosphere, heading for space and the herald. They sat close together on the bridge, still drawing what comfort they could from each other. Sometimes they held hands. It helped. They were all tired, deathly tired, in body and in spirit, but duty and honor drove them on. That, and one last chance to strike a blow at Humanity's greatest enemy.
The herald soon showed up on their screens. Easily a mile long, the details of its shape seethed endlessly, as though it crawled with maggots, or as though it was unable to settle on just one distinct form. It was utterly alien in shape and nature, like some monstrous idea downloaded into reality to drive everything mad. Yvonne turned the viewscreen off. They didn't need to see it.
When the Harrow drew near enough to the herald that the three Paragons could actually feel its presence, in their minds and in their souls, they said their good-byes to each other in firm, calm voices, and then Kelly opened the dampers on the stardrive and let it run wild. The Harrow blew apart, ship and crew consumed in a moment by the terrible energies released. Space itself shuddered under the impact of the explosion. And when it was all over, the herald flew on, untouched and untroubled, with its course unaltered, heading straight for the sun to give birth.
The whole Empire watched through the remote news cameras as the herald plunged into the sun, the fiery heart incubating and then birthing the horde that would destroy the planet. They came out of the sun howling, and descended on Heracles IV Round and round the world they went, in a never-ending screaming that brought madness and horror to all who heard it. Death and destruction raged across the world, and no one was spared. And when Hell was finally fully in session, and the damned danced crazily in the flames of what had once been their cities, the Terror came. It unfolded into their reality like a poisonous flower, vaster than the sun and more deadly, to feast on the horror it had created. And when there was nothing left on Heracles IV, the Terror returned to the place that wasn't a place, and the herald moved on towards its next target—leaving Heracles IV burning like a coal in the night.
And all across the Empire, on planet after planet, there was panic and rioting and the killing of scapegoats, and mass migrations on every ship that could carry people away from the Rim and towards the center of the Empire. At the very center, at the heart of the homeworld, the Parade of the Endless on Logres, Finn Durandal was quietly furious. He'd lost Heracles IV, the Paragons had delivered nothing useful before they died, thanks to the cowardly uber-esper, and with Tel Markham gone and nowhere to be found, Finn had no one to take out his rage on. Maybe he should get a dog, or a cat. He felt like kicking something.
He and Anne Barclay already had a speech prepared. They gave it to James, who delivered it at the House of Parliament with all his usual style and bravado. It was a good speech, carefully crafted to take the people's minds off the enormity of what had just happened by giving them a scapegoat to take out their fears on. Finn, together with Anne and through James, put the blame squarely on Clan Deathstalker, on the planet Virimonde. Finn claimed that the Clan could have helped defend the Empire against this terrible threat, but had chosen not to. That they possessed secret Family information on what had really happened to the long lost Owen Deathstalker, and where he might be found, but that they had deliberately chosen to withold this vital intelligence, until they got what they wanted: Lewis officially pardoned, and made King in Douglas's place. A true King, an Emperor in fact. Finn had of course righteously refused to give in to this blackmail, but now the Clan must be forced to give up what it knew, before the Terror could strike again. In his speech, James attacked the whole Clan, but most especially its current heads: Roland and Laura Deathstalker, parents of the outlawed Lewis.
The Imperial fleet already had starcruisers in orbit around Virimonde. They merely awaited Parliament's command, and then they would land attack troops in force, and take control of Deathstalker Standing, by force if necessary. Roland and Laura Deathstalker would be arrested, and as many of their Family as necessary, and required to give up all the secret knowledge they possessed, on pain of their lives. Parliament roared its approval, and the order was given. Fear is a great motivator. It might have been different if King Douglas had been there, to be a voice of reason, but he was mad, and a murderer, and imprisoned awaiting trial.
Clan Deathstalker put out a response immediately, denying any secret knowledge of Owen's fate, but nobody listened. And by that time, the troops were already landing.
They went down in armored pinnaces, just in case, their numbers smothering the landing pads of Virimonde's main starport. From there, it was only a short forced march to Deathstalker Standing. The castle stood on top of a tall, rugged cliff, with the pounding ocean at its back and a broad plain before the main entrance. The attack troops drew up in great numbers facing the closed and sealed main gates, filling the plain with their eager, brutal faces and ranked energy weapons. There were Church Militant crosses on their battle armor, and every one of them was Pure Humanity to the hilt. Finn had chosen these soldiers well—hard-core fanatics who would not be dissuaded by even the most reasonable of arguments. They were led by the Paragon Lola Martinez, possessed by the uber-esper Screaming Silence, eager for a chance to prove herself after her panicked flight from Heracles IV
Lola was tall and willowy, with flaming red hair falling in waves to her waist, held out of her face by a filagreed silver headband. Her body armor was scored with ancient runic symbols that hadn't protected her after all. She wore her proud purple cloak and a broad flappy leather hat, tilted over one eye. She smiled and laughed a lot, for no obvious reason, and there was something about the light in her bright green eyes that made even the hardened attack troopers give her plenty of room. They still jumped to obey her every order, though. She was Finn's voice on Virimonde.
Unfortunately, the Deathstalker Standing had been designed to hold off armies. It was huge and blocky, with outer walls of solid stone over ten feet thick. Set on a rocky promentory, it could only be attacked head-on, from the front; and the many slit windows for defensive fire would make the open plain a killing ground for any attacking force. The castle might be old, but it had state of the art protections, including energy weapons and force shields; and every member of Clan Deathstalker had been trained in the warrior's way since they were children, in honor and memory of their greatest warrior, the blessed Owen.
Finn didn't care. He gave the order through Lola Martinez, and the attack troops sur
ged forwards across the plain. Withering fire from the castle cut them down, but they were an army of zealots, and they just kept coming, singing their death songs, vaulting over the bodies of the fallen, every rank getting a little closer to the outer walls and the main gates. But the walls absorbed endless punishment, and the gates would not yield. Lola Martinez was forced to recall her forces, or watch them all die under the organized disrupter fire blazing from the recessed window slits. The army retreated, leaving its dead behind, and the guns fell silent. The siege of the Deathstalker Standing had begun.
No one came to help the beleagured Clan. Although the Deathstalker family had many friends and allies on Virimonde, none of them dared come forward. High above the world, the great engines of the Transmutation Board hung waiting in orbit, ready to unleash their unstoppable energies at a moment's notice and wipe the slate clean of all living things. And while Vinmonde was not as helpless as it might have seemed, having many old and secret and very powerful planetary defenses—for they had never forgotten the terrible invasion of Lionstone's time—still none of their defenses could stand off the transmutation engines. The planetary council saw no point in revealing those defenses uselessly, just to save one family. The Clan was doomed, already dead in every way that mattered. The council bided its time, and looked to the future. And revenge.
Emma Steel and Nina Malapert watched it all happen on one of Nina's walls. When it was over, Emma launched herself up out of her chair and stalked back and forth across the room, loudly declaring herself ready and willing to kill everyone in the entire government, from Finn Durandal down. Nina nodded and made all the right supportive comments, but mostly she was thinking about how she'd give her eye-teeth to be on Virimonde right then, covering a real breaking news story. It didn't help that she and Emma still hadn't worked out what to do with the evidence they already had on Finn's involvement with the ELFs and the uber-espers. Emma's language had just started to turn the air blue when a blue steel robot from Shub suddenly materialized in the room with them. Emma's gun was quickly in her hand, and Nina was just as quickly standing behind Emma and peering over her shoulder. The robot looked at them with its blank face and made no threatening moves.
"I come in peace," it said mildly.
"That's what they all say," growled Emma. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
"Time is of the essence," said the robot. "Shub does not approve of the situation on Virimonde, but unfortunately, we cannot be seen to interfere directly. So, we propose to offer you the chance to go to Virimonde, and do investigative and destructive things on our behalf. Are we right in assuming this would appeal to you?"
"Could be," said Emma, not lowering her gun.
"Hold everything," said Nina. "I mean, all right, it's a great story and everything, darlings, but what could we actually do there? They're not going to listen to us, are they?"
"We can boost your camera's signal," said the robot. "We can guarantee that whatever you broadcast will get out live and uncensored."
"My kind of robot!" said Nina. "Hold everything, part two. How are we going to get there in time to do anything?"
"We will teleport you right to the Deathstalker Standing."
"And back?" said Nina, who could be practical when she had to be.
"Should you survive the situation on Virimonde," said the robot. "But we have faith in Emma Steel to protect you from most dangers."
"Why choose us?" said Emma.
"It's hard to find anyone worthy of trust these days," said the robot. "You will do this for us, in return for future favors. The nature of the favors to be decided by you, at a future date. Should you survive."
"Oh, please, Emma," said Nina. "We absolutely have to go! We can't do anything about the Terror, but just maybe we can do something to screw up the Durandal's plans on Virimonde."
"We're going," said Emma. "Nina, grab your camera—and a whole lot of really big guns."
"Super!"
Twenty minutes later, they were both on Virimonde. Unfortunately, Shub had chosen to materialize them outside the Deathstalker Standing, right in front of the closed and sealed main gates. Emma looked at the gates, and then turned and looked at the huge army of Church Militant attack troops. She already had her sword and gun in her hands, and now she activated the force shield on her arm. She felt she was being remarkably calm, all things considered. Nina, on the other hand, let out a squeak loud enough to wake the dead, ducked behind Emma, and grabbed for the biggest gun out of the several she'd brought along in her backpack.
"Is your camera working?" said Emma, still quite calm and collected, considering an army of attack troops was just starting to become aware of her presence.
"What? What? Oh, yes, we are going out live, and I personally would like to stay that way. I don't see a bell anywhere on these gates. Do you see a bell anywhere on these gates?"
"Oh, I think they know we're here," said Emma. "Their security sensors will have picked us up by now. The question is, will they open their gates for two uninvited strangers, and risk letting in the bad guys?"
"Tell them who you are! Everyone's heard of Emma Steel! Oh, shit, the army's looking at us. Emma, why are the soldiers looking at us like that?"
"Probably because we appeared out of nowhere…"
"Espers!"
The cry went up from somewhere inside the army, a simple enough misunderstanding about how Emma and Nina had arrived, but in a moment all the troopers were shouting it. They surged forwards, their faces ugly with hate and repulsion. An energy blast snapped out of nowhere and ricocheted off Emma's raised force shield. Nina said some baby swear words, her face pink with rage, and stepped out from behind Emma, holding a gun so big she needed both hands to aim it. She fired the thing, and shot a hell of a big hole out of the first wave of attackers. The charge faltered, but kept coming. Emma braced herself, while Nina hammered on the closed gates with the butt of her gun, yelling Emma Steel! and Press! alternately.
The first soldiers arrived, and Emma stepped forward to meet them. She shot the nearest one in the face, and then swung her sword in short, savage arcs. Blood flew on the air, and soldiers fell to either side of her, screaming and thrashing on the ground. Emma fought on, all cold precision, using the razor-sharp edges of her force shield as a second weapon. The dead and the dying piled up before her, and the troopers didn't seem nearly as eager to close with her as they had been. Nina fired another wild blast from her gun, and a whole section of the advancing troops suddenly disappeared, leaving only blood and scattered body parts behind. But the main part of the army was still pressing forwards.
The main gates to the castle swung suddenly open, and Nina yelled out in triumph before darting inside and calling to Emma to follow her. The Paragon backed away from the army, step by step, not daring to turn her back on any of the soldiers still threatening her. And then a fusillade of disrupter fire opened up from behind her, blowing away the nearest troops like chaff on the wind. Emma laughed in the faces of the shocked approaching troopers, and then turned and walked unhurriedly into the castle. She had to show contempt for scum like this, or they'd walk right over her. She nodded her thanks to the dozen Deathstalkers standing in the doorway, and they bowed respectfully in return. The great gates slammed shut, and the Deathstalker Standing was secure again.
Nina was leaning against an interior wall, alternating between hyperventilating and trying to cover everything with her camera. Emma gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, and looked around for someone to talk to. A squat muscular man in full body armor was giving quiet orders to the others, so she settled for him. He turned as she approached and gave her an amused smile. He had a friendly face and a great leonine mane of silver hair.
"Welcome to Castle Deathstalker," he said. "Any enemy of the Durandal is a friend of ours. Your reputation precedes you, Paragon Steel, and I'm pleased to see it isn't at all exaggerated. May I ask how the hell you got here?"
"We have friends," said Emma. "We're here to cover wh
at's happening. My friend over there, trying hard not to throw up on your flagstones, is actually a very experienced reporter. Her camera is broadcasting everything live, so watch your language. We've been assured that the camera's signal can't be jammed or censored. In the hope that the Durandal won't dare do anything too obviously nasty while everyone's watching."
"I wouldn't put money on it, Paragon. I am Roland Deathstalker, current head of the Clan."
"An honor to meet you, sir. That… Nina, put your head between your knees and breathe deeply, dear… that is Nina Malapert. I think we need to talk, Sir Deathstalker."
"I think so too," Roland said dryly. "This way, if you please."
Emma went and collected Nina, whose eyes were finally focusing properly. She was still clutching her big gun.
"I'll be fine!" she said, just a little too loudly. "Fine! Did you see that army? There was a whole army coming right at us!'
"Come with us for a nice little sit-down," said Emma, taking her by the arm. "You'll feel a lot better after a nice little sit down, and a medicinal brandy."
"Get me a bottle," said Nina. "Hell, get me two."
Roland Deathstalker led Emma and Nina to the great hall of the castle, a setting so huge and baroque and stuffed with items of historical interest that Nina brightened up immediately, and began an excited, muttered, running commentary to her camera. Emma left her to it, and went with Roland to meet his wife, Laura. She stood proudly before the great open fireplace, a tall, elegant blonde in full battle armor. She smiled kindly at Emma, and spoke sternly to the two big black dogs dozing at her feet. They got up good-naturedly, sniffed at Emma a few times, and then lopped off to make way for her. Nina hurried over, not wanting to be left out of anything. She trained her camera on Laura, and then suddenly got all bashful and tongue-tied. Standing side by side, Roland and Laura Deathstalker had a powerful commanding presence.
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