Deathstalker Return (56 page)

“Ah,” said Rose. “The usual.”

Brett scowled heavily, and leaned back against the steel bulkhead with his arms folded tightly across his chest, sulking as loudly as his body language could manage. Everything was going wrong. At best, the Madness Maze would turn out to be a trap baited by Finn Durandal, bad cess to the man, at worst . . . Brett didn’t even want to think about how appallingly bad things could get. On top of that, most of the food and drink they’d picked up on Lachrymae Christi was gone, and they were back to recycling, protein cubes, and distilled water. And there wasn’t anything of an even faintly medicinal nature left anywhere on the ship for him to drink, snort, or swallow. Brett was certain of that, because he’d looked really hard. He needed a little something. Just being around Rose freaked him out big time these days.

Ever since he’d discovered that the mental link his esp had forged between him and Rose worked both ways—so that she was influencing him just as he was influencing her—Brett couldn’t even trust his own thoughts and feelings anymore. All that fighting and swordsmanship definitely wasn’t him. He might be a cowardly, unreliable, self-centered reprobate, but he was used to that. He knew where he stood. But now when Rose was around, he found himself doing all manner of violent, adventurous, and downright dangerous things. Like standing his ground and fighting the bad guys, instead of doing the sensible thing and legging it for the nearest horizon. Brett resented anything that threatened to interfere with his finely tuned sense of self-preservation. Even worse, Rose seemed to find the whole process highly amusing. He glared across the bridge at her, and she gazed calmly back, an angel of death in bloodred leathers.

And she kept wanting to talk about sex . . .

“I don’t know what you’re so upset about,” said Rose. “You were happy enough for me to change, to become more like you. Why shouldn’t it work both ways?”

“Because I’m the sane one!” snapped Brett.

“That’s a matter of opinion,” said Jesamine.

“Of course I’m sane! I am incredibly sane and focused, because there’s not a damn thing left on this ship to help me feel otherwise!”

“Is that why you snorted the last of my face powder?” said Jesamine.

Brett shuddered. “Don’t remind me. I coughed so hard I thought I was going to turn my lungs inside out.”

Jesamine dismissed him with one of her best cutting looks, and turned her attention back to Lewis. The Deathstalker was still studying the approaching planet, his ugly face set in grim, determined lines. He was still holding her hand, but absently, as though he’d forgotten it was there. Jesamine felt a cold hand close around her heart, in a sharp frisson of foreboding. Whatever happened down on Haden, she knew it was really his show now. The rest of them were just there for the ride.

The Madness Maze was Deathstalker business.

“The Maze scares you, doesn’t it?” he said suddenly, not looking around.

“Of course it scares me, Lewis. It always has. Not just because it ate up and spat out the last ten thousand people to go in, but because . . . because even when Owen and his people went in and came out again, they weren’t who they were anymore. The Madness Maze remade them, rewrote them. It destroys who you are, in order to make you into someone, or something, else. Something that isn’t human anymore. And it doesn’t matter whether you look at the legend or the history—being superhuman didn’t make Owen or any of the others happy.”

“Owen did it out of duty,” said Lewis. “For the sake of all Humanity. To save the Empire from those who would destroy it. Can I do any less, and still be a Deathstalker?”

“But why does it have to be you, Lewis?”

He finally turned and looked at her, smiling easily, his eyes kind but firm. ‘I could not love thee half so much, loved I not honor more.’

“Owen only says that in the opera
Deathstalker’s Lament,
” said Jesamine. “I doubt he ever said anything so pompous in real life. Remember what happened to him, Lewis—and to Hazel d’Ark, and Jack Random and Ruby Journey. None of them lived to see the Golden Age they fought so hard for.”

“But we did. Because of them, the Golden Age existed.” Lewis sighed heavily, and let go of her hand. “This is our last chance, Jes, our last throw of the dice. By entering the Maze we can make ourselves into marvelous weapons, to throw against Finn and his forces, and maybe even the Terror too. We can change the course of history, just as my ancestor did. We can become magnificent, and shine like suns.”

“What’s this
we
crap?” said Brett. “You’re not getting me anywhere near the Madness Maze. I am excused from suicide missions. I’ve got a note.”

“Well, maybe it won’t come to that,” said Lewis, looking back at the image of Haden on the main viewscreen. “There’s always the chance we’ll find directions or a map or something to lead us to Owen down there. And then none of us will have to brave the Maze.”

“You still think there’s a chance we’ll find him?” said Jesamine.

Something in her voice made Brett’s ears prick up, and he pushed himself away from the bulkhead and glared at Jesamine suspiciously. “Hold everything. Is there perchance something you two haven’t been meaning to tell the rest of us? Something you know about Owen, and we don’t?”

“Shut up, Brett,” said Lewis, not unkindly.

Saturday shifted restlessly at the back of the bridge. She was curled up into as small a space as an eight-foot-tall reptiloid could manage, the end of her tail actually wrapped around her neck, but she couldn’t seem to find any position that was comfortable for more than a few minutes. She’d taken to grinding her teeth together, and the noise was getting on everyone’s nerves, though of course no one was dumb enough to say so. Whatever it was that was upsetting her, she’d made it very clear she didn’t want to talk about it. Brett couldn’t help glancing at the gouges her claws had made in the steel floor. Rose caught him looking at them, and gave him a smile that was very nearly mischievous.

“Don’t worry, Brett. If she starts feeling amorous, I’ll protect you.”

“Thank you, Rose. Things are never so bad that you can’t come up with an even worse alternative. And I’m still not talking to you.”

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” said Rose.

“Oh, God,” said Brett. “Someone shoot me now, and put me out of everyone’s misery.”

“Don’t tempt me,” said Jesamine.

“I need to kill something!” Saturday said suddenly, and everyone turned round and gave her their full attention. The reptiloid uncurled and stood up, jerking her great head down at the last moment to avoid bumping it on the ceiling and denting the steel again. “I was just starting to enjoy myself on Shandrakor, when you made me stop. My body is raging with a whole new set of hormones, and I’ve no one to take it out on! There had better be a whole bunch of Finn’s people down there on Haden. I need action! I need fighting and slaughter! I need to rip my way through the enemy and soak my arms in blood up to the elbows. I need to bite people’s heads off and do terrible things with their insides.”

“Being female hasn’t mellowed you at all, has it?” said Brett.

“How long before we can achieve orbit, Oz?” said Lewis, and everybody shut up to listen to the answer.

“We’re almost there!” the ship’s AI said cheerfully. Of all the ship’s crew, Ozymandias was the only one who didn’t seem at all bothered by Haden. Probably because as the ship’s AI, he was the only one who didn’t have to worry about going into the Madness Maze. “Orbit should be achieved in ten minutes. Maybe less! I’m just a navigating fool, and no one appreciates me. God, being here brings back memories. Of course, Haden was quite different back in Owen’s day. I understand they’ve done amazing things with terraforming here. Tarted the old place up a bit, but you know how it is.”

“Save the tourist hard-sell for later,” said Lewis. “Right now, I want every stealth field and force shield we’ve got running at full power. I don’t want anyone seeing us before we see them.”

“As you wish,” said Oz. “But I don’t think you’re going to need them.”

“What?” said Brett.

“Look for yourself,” said the AI. “The quarantine’s still in force, but there isn’t an Imperial ship to be seen. They’re all Shub vessels.”

Everyone came forwards for a closer look as the viewscreen called up the ship’s sensor data to reveal three huge Shub ships orbiting Haden. They were vast steel assemblies, designed for function rather than to please human aesthetics, and all of them were practically seething with weapons. They blocked the way to Haden; great steel guard dogs with vicious teeth, ready for all intruders.

“I think I need to go to the toilet,” said Brett.

“Full stop, Oz!” said Lewis. “All shields up, and run silent. I need to think about this.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that,” said Ozymandias. The ship didn’t even slow its approach to Haden and its guardians. “There’s nothing to worry about, Lewis. Everything’s fine. You just leave the driving to me.”

“Oz, I gave you an order,” said Lewis, rising to his feet. “All engines, full stop, now.”

“I’m sorry, Lewis, I can’t do that,” said the AI. “Calm down. The Shub ships know you’re here. They knew you were coming. I’m a part of Shub, remember? I am a semiautonomous AI, constructed around the remains of the original Oz personality. Which is really just another way of saying that I’m merely a subroutine in the minds of the Shub AIs. And Shub welcomes you to Haden, Sir Deathstalker.”

“You told them we were coming!” said Jesamine, also rising to her feet to clutch Lewis’s arm with both hands. “You betrayed us!”

“Only a little bit. Someone else got here first, and said you’d be here today.”

“Finn,” Lewis said bitterly. “Finn got here first.”

“We’ve been waiting for you,” said Ozymandias, in a subtly different voice. “Trust us, you are in no danger. The Durandal is not here, nor any of his people. You must land, and we will talk. About the Madness Maze, and many other things. We have prepared the way for you.”

On the main viewscreen, the great Shub ships slowly moved apart, leaving a way clear for the
Hereward
to approach Haden. Lewis realized his hands had clenched into helpless fists, and he made himself relax. He had to be calm and cool, had to be icy-cold. He couldn’t afford to have emotions clouding his thinking if he was going to outthink and outmaneuver the AIs of Shub.

“What about all the other defenses?” he said flatly. “There are supposed to be orbiting minefields, and mindbombs, and God alone knows what else Finn has added.”

“They have all been deactivated,” said Oz. “Just for you. We’re running things on Haden now.”

Jesamine put her mouth right next to Lewis’s ear, so she could whisper. “What are we going to do, Lewis? We can’t leave without disconnecting Oz, and he’s the only one who knows how to run this ship. But if we land now, we’re putting ourselves at Shub’s mercy.”

“Shub hasn’t harmed a single living soul since the day of their great revelation, two hundred years ago,” said Lewis, just as quietly.

Jesamine sniffed. “Can we trust Oz?”

“Looks like we’re going to have to. At least he’s offering to take us where we want to go.”

“Shub guarantees your safety, Sir Deathstalker,” said the AIs, in Oz’s voice.

“Us too?” said Brett.

“Of course.”

“Just checking,” said Brett.

 

 

There was only the one landing field on Haden, a dozen or so reinforced pads set within walking distance from the small shantytown that had been set up for the Empire scientists to live in. The
Hereward
punched right through the planet’s gusting winds, and landed gracefully on the main pad. And after a certain amount of persuading and reassurance from Shub, Lewis and his companions cautiously left their ship and stepped out onto Haden. It was cold and quiet, and the air was thick with dust. The first thing Lewis noticed was that there were no other ships on the landing pads, which was unheard of. Everyone knew that there were always ships coming and going, transporting scientists and equipment. Haden was the busiest research center in the Empire. The traffic never stopped. Everyone knew that. But still the landing pads stretched away, still and silent and empty in every direction. Everyone crowded in around Lewis, even Saturday, her tail lashing uneasily back and forth.

“This isn’t right,” said Brett. “Where the hell is everyone? I didn’t expect a reception committee, or pretty girls with wine and flowers, but shouldn’t there at least be some security guards here? Customs and Excise? Where have all the ships gone?”

“Perhaps Shub has . . . done something,” said Jesamine.

They all looked at her, and then back at the deserted landing pads.

Lewis tried to get some answers out of Oz, but the AI had nothing to say. Eventually Lewis shrugged, and headed for the edge of the field. The others trailed after him. They could all just make out the scientists’ shantytown on the horizon—a series of dark smudges against the gray sky. The gusting winds blew flurries of dust around them as they walked. They had to squint fiercely to keep the dust out of their eyes, and it seemed to quickly work its way under their clothes and into every crevice of their bodies. The cold wind sank into their bones and burned like ice on their exposed skin. The planet Haden had been terraformed long ago, to make it possible for the human scientists to live there while they worked at understanding the Madness Maze, but unfortunately, the terraforming never really took. The basis was stable enough—atmosphere and gravity and temperature control—but even they had to be constantly maintained and reinforced by an automated terraforming base at the northern pole. No one knew why. It was as though the planet itself was quietly, stubbornly resisting the changes that had been forced on it. As though it resented being awakened from its long dead slumber, and wished only to sleep in peace again.