Deathstalker Return (55 page)

He stood for a moment, savoring the sight of dead enemies as he got his breathing back under control. It was always possible that the guards had been good men, just doing their job, but Douglas didn’t care. Just being here made them guilty. He could have killed a hundred of them, for what had been done to his father and his home, and never felt a twinge of mercy. He hauled William to his feet, and set off again for the wine cellar.

More guards appeared to block Douglas’s way, and he killed them all. And every time he killed a man he saw Finn’s face, and smiled.

Along the way, he came across a gravity sled, and laid his father out on it to act as a stretcher. They made quicker time after that. William lay unnervingly still and silent on the sled as Douglas pulled it along, running full-tilt now for the cellar. He could hear a growing clamor behind him. He came at last to the cellar, pulled the sled inside, and then locked and wedged the door shut, before guiding the sled and his father down through the trapdoor and into the tunnel. And so father and son left what had once been their home, heading for freedom and an uncertain future.

 

 

Douglas headed his craft back towards the Parade of the Endless. Not because he thought it would be safe there, but because his father clearly needed medical treatment fast. And once it was clear what Finn had done to the old King, Douglas was pretty sure he could get his side of the story heard. Even Finn couldn’t control all the news feeds; there were just too many of them. And if it all did go wrong . . . there was always the Rookery. They didn’t care who you were, and all kinds of care and protection were available, for the right price. There were people in the Rookery who owed Douglas, from his Paragon days, and he was of a mind to call all his old markers in. He heard William stir beside him, and looked across at the copilot’s chair. William sat there limply, held upright only by the crash webbing.

“Where are we going, Son?”

“To get you medical treatment. And then to drag Finn down and stamp on him.”

“Sounds like a plan. James isn’t your brother. Not this James. He’s a clone.”

“Ah, right. That would have been my second guess.”

“What? Don’t mumble, boy, it’s a bad habit. They desecrated his grave, Douglas. Took cell tissues from James’s body. And laughed at me when I tried to stop them. They killed all my people, all my old retainers. Just because they could. And it was Finn behind it all, Douglas! Finn! Your old friend . . . I couldn’t believe it. You and Finn and Lewis were always so close . . . honored guests at House Campbell, many times. You were all so happy, then . . . You were all Paragons, and heroes. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” said Douglas. “But I don’t think Finn was ever anyone’s friend. Not really. Now you get some rest. We’ll be back in the city before you know it.”

“Won’t do any good. I’m dying, son.” William’s quiet voice held some of his old authority. “All that dope they put in me, it’s a wonder I lasted this long. I think I was just . . . waiting for you. I knew you’d come. Never doubted you for a moment. Get the truth out, boy, that’s what matters. Tell it to Parliament, and the media, and anyone who’ll listen. Finn has to be stopped.”

“You’re going to be all right, dad,” said Douglas, staring straight ahead and fighting to keep his voice steady. “I’ll get you to a hospital, and everything’s going to be all right.”

They flew on, Douglas pushing the craft’s speed till the engine complained, and then pushing it even harder. He didn’t like the sound of his father’s breathing. They’d barely crossed the boundary of the city before Church Militant gunships came screaming in to surround him. Douglas looked immediately for a weapons console, but of course there wasn’t one. This was a pleasure craft, after all. But the other ships didn’t open fire either. Finn must have given orders for them to be taken alive—for a show trial, knowing Finn. The gunships closed in around Douglas, dangerously close, trying to force him down, but Douglas had been a Paragon and knew more about close flying maneuvers than they ever would. He gunned his engines for all they were worth, sweeping in and out of traffic. The other ships stuck with him. His comm unit spoke briefly, ordering him to land. Douglas told it to go to hell, sweeping in so close to the side of an office building that he could see horrified faces looking back.

“Land now, or we’ll blow you out of the sky,” said the comm unit in a cold, impartial voice.

Douglas laughed at it. “You wouldn’t dare. I’m still your King, and Finn would have your balls.”

“I have new orders, Your Majesty. You are a murder suspect, and a fugitive from justice. Land now, or we open fire.”

Douglas considered the matter. They might just mean it. “I have my father with me. King William. He is guilty of no crime, and is in urgent need of medical help . . .”

Three ships opened fire on him. Energy beams targeted his engine, punching easily through the pleasure craft’s very basic force screens. Alarms blazed and warning lights flashed all over the cockpit, and then the craft fell out of the sky like a stone. Douglas kicked in the reserve power, and fought the descent all the way down with every trick he knew, but in the end all he could do was turn the crash into one he could walk away from.

The craft hit hard, slamming Douglas back and forth in his seat. The crash webbing cut into him cruelly, and he hated to think of what it was doing to his father. Smoke filled the cockpit, and he could hear flames crackling. Douglas hit the emergency release on the crash webbing, and somehow got himself and his father out of the cockpit, and then out of the crippled ship. He lowered his father to the ground, and looked around him. He didn’t recognize the area, but it looked to be mostly warehouses. A good area to do something you wouldn’t want seen or talked about. Douglas put a hand to his head. He ached all over, and he could feel blood on his face. He tried to call for assistance through his comm implant, but all the channels were being jammed. He checked his father. William was unconscious again, breathing harshly and unevenly. He looked back. Gunships were descending all around the crash site, systematically blocking off any escape attempts. Armed guards spilled out onto the streets as soon as the ships touched down, and approached the crash site cautiously, guns at the ready. Douglas put up his hands and tried to sound reasonable.

“All right, you’ve got me. Just get my father to a hospital, and I’ll surrender peacefully.”

“We have orders for your arrest,” said the officer in charge. “We have other orders for your father.”

He strode over to William, checked his condition, and then shot him in the heart at point-blank range. Douglas cried out in shock and horror, and ran back to his father, shoving the officer out of the way. The guards turned their guns on him, but the officer stopped them with a gesture. Douglas sat down beside his dead father, took the body in his arms, and rocked it gently back and forth. He cried harsh, helpless tears. And that was how James found him when he arrived.

“Had to be done, Douglas,” said James, standing over the two of them. “He knew too much. And if he couldn’t be used to control you, then he didn’t really serve any purpose anymore. So I gave the order. Yes, me—I’m running this show. My chance to impress Finn, you see. My real father, you might say. And with William gone—and you soon to follow—I’ll be the last Campbell. I will be King. Only right, after all. I always was your superior, Douglas. Oh, you’d be surprised at some of the things I can do. You never stood a chance.”

While he was still talking, Douglas shot him in the face. The energy beam ripped away James’s mocking smile, along with the rest of his features and the top of his head. James was dead before he hit the ground. The guards jumped Douglas and wrestled the gun away from him. They’d just started to give him a good kicking when Finn arrived and made them stop. He knelt beside the bloodied Douglas, regarded William’s dead body, and James’s, and shook his head.

“Nice try, Douglas. But now it’s all over. You will stand trial for the murder of Treasure Mackenzie, your brother James, and your father William. By the time I’m through with you, the people will be howling for you to be hanged in public.” He stood up and gestured to the guards. “Take him to Traitor’s Hall. And see he’s guarded properly, this time.”

The guards dragged Douglas away. Finn looked down at James’s faceless body. “You’ll be more use to me as a martyr than you ever were alive, James. And I never meant for you to be King anyway. That was always going to be mine.”

Still safe in the depths of hyperspace, the starship
Hereward
headed reluctantly towards the enigmatic planet of Haden. Absolutely no one on board the commandeered smuggler’s ship was happy about where they were going—for varied but usually pretty good reasons—but still they headed for Haden like lambs to the slaughter. Some of them because they felt it was their duty, or their destiny, or perhaps simply because there was nowhere else left for them to go. Just as once before, the whole Empire was threatened by an insane will, but this time there was no rebel alliance, no armies or starcruisers; just two men, two women, and a reptiloid. Their only hope of becoming powerful enough to take down Finn Durandal and his forces lay in drinking from the poisoned chalice that was the Madness Maze. It wasn’t long till Haden now, and so the small group gathered together on the
Hereward
’s bridge to wait out the last few minutes until they could drop out of hyper and back into standard space, and finally approach the world whose very name had become a synonym for Hell.

None of them had much to say. Lewis Deathstalker and Jesamine Flowers sat side by side before the control panels, holding hands, finding comfort in each other’s presence. Brett Random and Rose Constantine were slouching against the steel bulkheads on opposite sides of the bridge, ostentatiously not talking to each other. And the reptiloid Saturday was sulking at the back, for reasons best known to herself. They all watched the constantly changing readings on the main viewscreen, on and off, feeling the tension slowly mount. For good or bad, for all their travels and encounters and adventures, their journey was finally coming to an end. Whatever happened down on Haden, whatever they found in the Madness Maze—or whatever found them—they all knew that what came next would change everything. Their lives would never be the same again. If they survived at all.

There was a barely perceptible lurch as the
Hereward
dropped out of hyperspace, and the universe was back. The planet Haden appeared on the viewscreen: a dull, gray, colorless world, its details hidden behind constantly shifting atmospheric conditions. It was the only planet in its system, orbiting an artificial star. Lewis looked at Haden, and could feel it looking back at him. His skin crawled. Moving into orbit around Haden felt like sneaking up to knock on the door of a haunted house. The main difference being that Haden’s ghosts were restless, alien, and horribly dangerous. There were good reasons why Haden was the most severely quarantined planet in the Empire.

Ten thousand good reasons, to be exact. The number of men and women who’d died horribly trying to penetrate the mysteries of the Madness Maze.

“Look,” Brett said abruptly, “can I just point out that it’s still not too late for us all to have a collective rush of sanity to the head, and go somewhere else? Anywhere else. Going to Haden voluntarily is like kicking a lion in the balls and then sticking your head in its mouth. While wearing a very tasty barbecue sauce.”

“Brett has a good point,” said Rose. “It’s unusual, I’ll admit, but he does have a point.”

“Don’t think you can get around me with flattery,” said Brett. “I’m still not talking to you. And stay out of my head!”

“Trust me,” said Rose. “I wouldn’t go in there on a bet.”

“I can’t believe we’re actually here,” said Jesamine, squeezing Lewis’s hand painfully hard as she stared at the viewscreen. “I mean, Haden! This is where nightmares go when they feel in need of a good shock to the system. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. Nothing good comes from Haden anymore. And certainly nothing good can come of trying to enter the Madness Maze.”

“You don’t have to go in,” said Lewis. “I’m the only one who has to go in.”

“None of us have to do anything,” Jesamine said sharply. “We still have options. Not very good ones, admittedly, but . . . I don’t like this, Lewis. Haden is the place where everyone’s luck runs out.”

“I’ve been saying that all along,” said Brett. “But of course no one ever listens to me.”

“Shut up, Brett,” said Lewis.

“See?”

“Do we have a plan?” said Rose. “Just as a matter of general interest. I love plans.”

“We’ll try sneaking past the defenses, and if that doesn’t work, we fight,” said Lewis. “No doubt followed by lots of running and shooting and screaming, and a whole lot of off-the-cuff improvisation. Generally, feel free to shoot anything that isn’t us.”