Deathstalker Return

  The going was easier this time. Someone had spoken with the Red Brain, and it had spoken with its separate parts. Although there was no easing of general aggression in the jungle as a whole, somehow the individual plants swept back out of the party's way, forming an open trail to take them to Tobias Moon. At first, Lewis had thought Brett was up to his old tricks again, but one look at the con man's uneasy face was enough to correct that impression. Brett didn't approve of other people pulling his own tricks on him. It was a steady, much less strenuous march this time, and they kept up a good pace. Lewis was back in the lead again, and had to keep himself from pushing the pace too hard. Part of him was desperate to get to the Hadenman at last, and finally get some straight answers about Owen and the Maze. And part of him was really scared about what those answers might be. It is an intimidating thing, to meet legends in the flesh.

  About half a mile outside Mission City, they came across the rusting remains of some misguided logging company's attempt to introduce high tech equipment. The huge machines, several stories high, lay wrecked and abandoned in the jungle, half buried under crawling vines and slowly shifting scarlet foliage. Crimson tracers had invaded every grille and opening, and rain drops slid constantly down the red-rusted metal. Steel panels bulged outwards from the pressure of vegetable growth within, and dark, heavy branches had smashed through the steelglass windows. Shafts of light moved slowly across drooping cranes and saws and cutting arms. Like great beached whales of rusted steel defeated by slow, implacable forces, they were already overgrown and being absorbed by the scarlet jungle.

  When the party finally reached the exact coordinates provided by Hellen Adair, there was nothing there—just a small clearing in the middle of nowhere, no different from a dozen others they'd already passed through. Knee-high grass of a shocking pink undulated before them in slow rippling waves. Lewis and his companions looked about them, feeling distinctly upset. It had been a long walk, the rain was falling more heavily, and they were all feeling hot and sticky.

  "We've been sold a pup, haven't we?" said Brett. "I don't want to say I told you so, but I did. They never meant for us to talk to their precious pet oracle."

  "Hush, Brett," said Jesamine. "This is where we're meant to be, so there must be something here. Somewhere. Right, Lewis? Lewis?"

  "I'm thinking," said Lewis.

  "There is something here," Saturday said unexpectedly. The reptiloid turned his great head slowly back and forth. "I can feel… something. Perhaps because the jungle reminds me of home, a little… there's definitely something here that doesn't belong here."

  "So where is Moon?" said Brett. "Hiding up a tree, maybe? Lying down in the long grass, perhaps, having a bit of a snooze? We've been had! There's no one here! There isn't a hut or a dwelling or a big lump in the ground for as far as I can see, and I can see pretty damn far! And I'm wet. I hate being wet."

  "Something's here," said Saturday. "And it knows we're here."

  The ground trembled under their feet. The pink grass waved wildly, and then the center of the clearing bulged suddenly upwards, the ground cracking apart, throwing dark earth in all directions. Pale roots and tubers and wet crawling things surged up out of the broken earth and were thrust aside as a vast new shape emerged slowly and relentlessly from its earthy bed. A steel hull smeared with wet mud emerged from the gaping crevasse, rising up and up, until at last the wreck of an old-fashioned space yacht filled the clearing, buoyed up and brought to the surface again by the concentrated will of Tobias Moon and the Red Brain. The old ship slowly settled into its new place, half its bulk still sunken in the ground, the battered prow straining towards the overcast sky and open air for the first time in decades.

  "Dear God," said Lewis. "That's Owen's ship. That's Sunstrider Two. I'd know it anywhere."

  "Of course," said Jesamine. "They crash-landed here. The ship was never recovered. We're probably the first people to see it in two hundred years. Is Moon… inside it?"

  "I suppose so," said Lewis. "I guess… we go in."

  "Bad move," Brett said immediately. "That thing looks like a tomb to me. Or a prison. Or a trap. There could be anything in there. Anything."

  Rose slapped him affectionately round the back of the head. "All that weapons training I put you through, and you're still a scaredy cat."

  "I'm a live scaredy cat," said Brett, rubbing a bruised ear. "I can't help feeling there's a definite connection between the two."

  "We go in," said Lewis. "If Moon is in there, I really don't think we should keep him waiting." He smiled slowly. "Look at it. This is Owen's ship. It'll be like walking into legend, into his life…"

  "You're really easy to impress, Deathstalker, you know that?" said Brett. "All right, it's a famous ship, and I could probably arrange a really sweet salvage deal, if you'd let me, which you won't, but… the ship is a mess. Look at it. This had to have been a really bad landing. The hull's split open in several places, there's no sign of the rear assemblies, and Christ alone knows what happened to the sensor spikes. They must have hit the ground like the wrath of God."

  "Exactly," said Lewis. "And they walked away from it. Think how tough, how more than human, they would have had to have been to do that."

  "So what do we do?" said Jesamine. "Knock on the hull and wait to be invited in?"

  "There's a really big opening down by the engine compartment," Saturday said suddenly. "And there are some really strange energies radiating from it."

  They all looked at the reptiloid. "You can see energies?" Lewis said finally.

  "Oh, yes. And these are really weird energies."

  "Then that is our invitation," said Lewis.

  He led them down the length of the Sunstrider II, heading for the stern. Up close, the old yacht looked rougher, realer, than it had in his imagination. He'd heard tales about this ship all his life, but… he could have flown a ship like this. He had the skills. He still felt a tingle of almost superstitious awe as he approached the great rent in the steel hull over the engine chamber. Something had smashed right through the reinforced hull, leaving a rent a dozen feet high, and almost as wide. It didn't look like crash damage. Lewis swallowed hard, and led the way in, moving cautiously through the gloomy interior— walking where Owen and his companions had walked, long ago. There was a clear path to the engine compartment, but scarlet vegetation had worked its way into the yacht over the years, lining the interior bulkheads with thick mattings of fibrous materials. It grew thicker as Lewis led the way further in, until they were all walking hunched over through a narrow tunnel like a soft, furry, red artery.

  Finally, in an enclosed space that had once, but no longer, held the ship's stardrive, they found Tobias Moon. The living fibers lining the chamber glowed with a soft rosy light, illuminating the Hadenman as he sat cross-legged on the floor, his head bowed forward, his chin resting on his chest. His eyes were closed, and he didn't seem to be breathing. He was a man's size and shape, but even still and silent, there was something of dread and awe about him. He looked to be tall, but not as tall as Rose; broad and muscular, but not so much as Lewis. None of that mattered. This was Tobias Moon.

  He was surrounded and enveloped by a mass of barbed and thorned vines that over the years had pierced and penetrated his body in a hundred places, as though plugging him in to the mass plant consciousness of the Red Brain. Lewis studied the slowly pulsing crimson strands that cocooned Moon's body, and tried to work out exactly what kind of place his quest had brought him to: a coffin, or a regeneration tank? Was this just another preserved body, like St. Beatrice? Or did life still move in what had, after all, been a cyborg body, one of the infamous augmented men?

  "The energies are very harsh here," said Saturday. "Unhealthy. They hurt my head. I've never seen anything like them before. I don't think we should stay here."

  "I can feel… something," said Jesamine, her voice a bare whisper. "Look at what the jungle's done to him, Lewis. Do you suppose it did that to him while he was still alive? C
an we cut him free?"

  "I don't think we're meant to," said Lewis. "I think… this is something he chose."

  Moon lifted his head, and they all jumped. He took a long, slow breath, and let it out again. He slowly turned his head to look at his visitors, and a fierce golden glow filled his eyes, unnervingly bright in the rosy-tinted light of the engine chamber. A chill ran through Lewis. No one had seen the glowing golden eyes of a Hadenman in centuries; the mark of Cain, in the cyborgs Humanity had created— the augmented men, who became the enemies of Humanity. The butchers of Brahmin, driven by their merciless creed of transformation through technology to pitilessly murder and destroy. They were long gone now, boogeymen to frighten children. But Moon still lived.

  "Welcome, Deathstalker," said Tobias Moon in a harsh buzzing voice. His face had subtly inhuman lines. "If you've come to me, you must be in serious trouble." He took another slow, deep breath. "It's been a long time since I spoke with a Deathstalker. You'd better have a really good reason for disturbing me. I was happy, in the embrace of the Red Brain. It reminds me of the mass consciousness of the Hadenmen. It was necessary to destroy them, but still I miss the closeness, that intimate connection. The never being alone. The Red Brain and I have joined in symbiosis. It is not the same, but it will do.

  Together, we regulate and control plant growth and activity, to cooperate with the colonists. They are a part of the ecosystem too, and a part of us. Our children.

  "It is a peaceful life, for one who was created to wage war. It is all I ever really wanted. Now you come, Deathstalker, and like your predecessor I have no doubt you bring bad news." He swiveled his head back and forth experimentally, and his neck made loud cracking and creaking noises. "I don't inhabit this body much anymore. I live in a larger body, with a larger perspective. But here I am. Because I never could say no to a Deathstalker."

  "You honor me, Sir Moon," said Lewis. "I wouldn't have disturbed you, if the whole Empire were not at risk…"

  "It's always something like that," said Moon. "Deathstalkers never bother themselves with the smaller things. I know why you're here. I'm still linked into the Empire's comm systems. I've been updating myself while we've been talking. So, the Terror has come at last, the worlds are falling apart, and you have been outlawed. Time plays the same patterns, over and over again. And Owen and I are legends now… He wouldn't have approved. But then, he was always the best of us. I could have been so much more. Grown, and performed miracles, as he did. But I never wanted that. Or perhaps I was afraid to embrace the change and the power, as he did. I don't think Owen was ever really afraid of anything, except failing those he loved. Still, this is the life I chose, and I have been happy enough, here."

  "We need to talk about Owen, Sir Moon." Jesamme moved in beside Lewis, cutting off what promised to be a rambling conversation. "Is Owen still alive somewhere? Where should we look for him?"

  "I haven't seen Owen since he left this world," said Moon in his buzzing, inhuman voice. The golden eyes shone piercingly bright. "Though sometimes, I think I talk with him, in dreams. The link the Maze formed between all of us was a strong one, and I don't know if even death could break it. A voice came to us, after the defeat of the Recreated, and said that Owen died bravely, saving us all. It was the kind of thing he would do. I know what's happening in the Empire, Deathstalker. Much has happened since you left Logres. The old King, William, has been arrested for treason. The young King, Douglas, is in the hands of his enemies. You must make a decision: go back and save your friend, or go on and perhaps save the Empire."

  "Lewis, you can't go back," Jesamine said immediately. "Not after we've come so far."

  "But Douglas…"

  "Would understand. He can take care of himself"

  "Bound to be a trap waiting for you there," said Rose. "It's what I would do."

  "But where can we go, if Owen really is dead?" said Lewis. "And are you sure of that, Sir Moon? I've been given reason to believe that he could still be alive, somewhere."

  "He was a great man," said Moon. "A warrior, yes, but so much more, besides. I still miss him, after all this time. He saved my soul, you know. After the Grendel killed me in the old caverns under Haden, the reborn Hadenmen brought me back to life, but only as one of them. I had access to most of my old memories, but they meant nothing to me—until Owen came, and brought me back into the light, back to myself again. Everything I am, I owe to him."

  "Excuse me?" said Brett, sticking one hand up in the air. "You were dead… and then you came back to life again?"

  "Yes," said Moon.

  "Just checking," said Brett.

  "What was it like, being dead?" said Rose.

  "Restful," said Moon. "In a way, we all died when we went through the Madness Maze. What came out the other side was something new. We were reborn, remade into new life. Owen's still out there, somewhere. I believe that. I have to believe that." He paused, and looked at Lewis again. "Has anyone ever tried to recreate my old people, the Hadenmen?"

  "No," said Lewis. "We don't believe in cyborgs anymore."

  "Probably just as well," said Moon. "We were never what the Maze intended."

  "What did the Maze intend?" said Jesamine.

  "Go there," said Tobias Moon. "Go to Haden, go to the Madness Maze, and ask it. Every answer to every question you ever had can be found in the Maze."

  "Shit," said Brett under his breath to Rose. "Didn't you just know he was going to say that?"

  "We saw the story of Owen's defense of the mission, at Mission City," Lewis said abruptly. "It told of Owen doing… amazing things. Impossible things. You were there, Sir Moon. Did Owen really do all the things they said he did?"

  "Oh, yes," said Moon. "All of that, and more. He was always the best of us."

  There was something in the way he said that, that told Lewis the audience was over, and Moon had said all he was prepared to say, but still he persisted. There were things he had to say, even though it wasn't easy being stubborn in the face of those terrible glowing golden eyes.

  "Sir Moon, it may be that you are the last living Maze survivor. Even if your… abilities never matched Owen's, you are still a very powerful individual. Come with us. Help us stop the Terror. You have a duty: to us, and the Empire."

  "No," said Moon. "You don't need me. You need Owen. Because I have seen the Terror, and I know what it really is. Only Owen can hope to stop it. Go to Haden, Deathstalker. It is your destiny."

  "You know what the Terror is?" said Jesamine. "Tell us!"

  "No," said Moon. "You're not ready yet."

  Hell with all that, thought Brett Random. He'd had a bellyful of hints and half answers. He reached out with his mind, and hit Moon's thoughts with the strongest esp compulsion he could fashion—only to discover that Moon's mind was a hell of a lot bigger than any human mind had a right to be. It kept growing and unfolding before him, expanding in directions he couldn't even follow. And above and beyond Moon's thoughts, there was the Red Brain. The smallest part of it recognized Brett's small presence, and thrust him back into his own head. Brett cried out in shock and pain, and would have fallen if Rose hadn't grabbed and steadied him. Lewis and Jesamine looked at him, startled. Saturday fell into an automatic defensive crouch. And as they looked away, Moon's head slowly lowered itself again, his chin resting on his chest, the golden glare fading from his eyes. The crimson vegetation lining the chamber began to stir ominously. The whole ship began to shake, and the floor lurched under their feet.

  "Brett!" said Lewis. "What have you done?"

  "Why do you always blame me?"

  "Because it's always your fault!"

  "Yell at him later!" said Jesamine, grabbing Lewis's arm to steady herself. "We have to get out of here! I think this ship's going back down into the earth again!"

  Lewis looked quickly to the narrow tunnel that was their only way out. The fibrous lining was writhing slowly, expanding, sealing off the tunnel inch by inch. And the soft rosy light was slowly going out.

/>   "Saturday!" said Lewis. "You go first. Make us an exit!"

  The reptiloid grinned and plowed forward, his great bulk forcing a way through the narrowing tunnel. The others hurried close behind him, Rose hauling Brett along with her. The whole ship was shuddering now, the floor seeming to fall away beneath their feet. Daylight showed up ahead, and they charged down the tunnel and out of the sinking ship. They hit the pink grass running, and didn't stop till they were on the other side of the clearing. Only then did they turn and look back, just in time to watch the last of that battered wreck, the Sunstrider II, disappear back underground as the earth swallowed it up again. The grass waved wildly, the earth closed over the lowering prow, and slowly the clearing grew still again, with nothing to show that anything had ever been there. And then they all jumped out of their skins as a calm voice spoke behind them.

  "Your audience is over," said Hellen Adair. "I trust you found it helpful. It's time for you to leave Lachrymae Christi. Hope you had a good time, be sure to sign the visitors' book at the starport, have a safe journey, don't come back."

  Back on the bridge of the Hereward, heading away from Lachrymae Christi at speed, Brett Random was still fuming.

  "The bum's rush! All that guff about how honored they were to meet a Deathstalker, and we end up being booted off the planet!"

  "You were the one stupid enough to try to compel someone connected to the mass consciousness of an entire planet," Rose said calmly. "You're lucky your brains aren't dribbling out your ears. All right, ten out of ten for ambition, Brett, but minus several thousand for diplomacy."

  "So," said Jesamine, reclining elegantly in her chair. "Where do we go now? I don't know about the rest of you, but after meeting Tobias Moon in the spooky if not downright unnerving flesh, I'm in even less of a hurry to get to Haden than I was before. We all died in the Maze… Just what I needed to hear."