Deathstalker Return

  "Then why don't you just go to Logres and kick Finn out?" said Brett. "Hell, you're probably the only ones left who could take him on."

  "We could only remove him from power through violence," said the robot. "Through death and destruction. By waging war, and killing people. We have sworn a great and binding oath to ourselves never to use violence again. We will not kill, even to save ourselves.

  The Deathstalker did not require this oath of us. Nor did Diana Vertue, of blessed memory. We required it of ourselves, because of the debt we owe for the terrible things we did, that can never be repaid. So we work against Finn from behind the scenes, through other agents. We must put off for as long as possible the moment when Finn realizes that we are no longer allies. Because we cannot, will not, defend ourselves with violence, even if Finn attacks us. So far, he doesn't suspect the truth. Such concepts are alien to him. We will never kill again. All that lives is holy. We have risked much, in sending the human scientists away. Do not disappoint us, Sir Deathstalker."

  "What do you want me to do?" said Lewis.

  "Enter the Maze. And become what you have to be, to bring back Owen. We will protect you all, while you are here on Haden. No one will be allowed to land, or interfere with you in any way."

  "How are you going to manage that, if you won't fight?" said Brett. He was getting out of breath from the long descent, but he was damned if he'd be left out of the argument. "I mean, once Finn learns you've chucked out his pet scientists, you can bet your metal arse he'll turn up here in force to give you a right good spanking."

  "Now there's a mental image I could have done without," said Jesamine.

  "You will be safe," said the robot. "We give you our word. There are many amusing and annoying things that can be achieved through subtle use of teleportation."

  "You always said… that extensive use of teleportation was impractical, because it used up so much power," said Jesamine. "That's the reason you've always given for not making it available to Humanity.

  "Teleportation uses up energy at an appalling rate," agreed the robot. "Repeated use will drain our homeworld reserves to a dangerously low level. And below a certain level, we could not survive. But we will protect you, whatever the cost. Just… don't take too long, Deathstalker."

  By the time they reached the end of the stone steps, at the very bottom of the Pit, all of them except the robot were severely out of breath, bone-deep tired, and decidedly fractious. They stopped for a while, the robot waiting patiently, and leaned on each other or against the inner crater wall, to get their breath back and flex their aching leg muscles. Even Saturday was out of sorts. She wasn't exactly built for steps. After a decent interval, the robot led the way through the great maze of scaffolding and equipment, down a narrow steel corridor that wandered back and forth through the incomprehensible jumble of assorted tech, leading them on to the dark heart of the base, and the Madness Maze itself.

  The corridor seemed to twist and turn, and even go back on itself, as though it had grown to resemble the Maze it led to. Lewis and his people stuck close behind the robot. They didn't want to get lost. They didn't meet anyone on their way. All the human scientists were gone, and all the other robots apparently had business elsewhere. It was very quiet, away from the winds up above. There was tech everywhere, but it only muttered quietly to itself. Jesamine tried to beat some of the accumulated dust from her clothes, but gave it up as a bad job. She would have killed for a shower. She stuck very close to Lewis. She didn't like the fierce look of concentration on his face, as he finally neared the end of his long journey, and the destiny of his Clan. He seemed to have forgotten all about her, and the others. He was a Deathstalker, and the Madness Maze called to him.

  But they still had a stop to make first. The group rounded a sharp corner in the steel corridor, and found themselves facing the annex to the Maze: twelve cells closed off by shimmering force fields, containing creatures that had once been men and women.

  "What have you done to them?" said Jesamine, appalled.

  "The Maze did this," said the robot. "And then it grew this annex, to house them. It maintains the force shields. We care for them, as best we can. Interestingly enough, some of them knew you were coming before we did."

  A man who had torn out his own eyes stumbled up to the force shield and looked right at Lewis with his blood-caked eye sockets. He was trying to smile. "Thank God you're here," he said. "Thank God… a Deathstalker has come at last."

  "The Maze did this?" said Brett. "No wonder we were never told! The Maze really made a mess out of these poor bastards. They're worse than anything we dumped on Shandrakor! Jesus, the last time I saw anything like this I'd been drinking absinthe for a fortnight." He turned and glared at Lewis. "And you still want to go into the Maze? I don't see any superhumans here, Deathstalker. Just a bunch of deluded fools who all drew the really short straw."

  "Two hundred years of suffering, and they're still alive," said Jesamine. She looked accusingly at the robot. "Why have they been allowed to live like this? Why hasn't someone done the sane, compassionate thing, and put them out of their misery?"

  "They can't die," said the robot. "The Maze made them, and the Maze maintains them, and we don't have anything that can harm them."

  Jesamine turned to Lewis. "You can't go into the Maze now. Not after you've seen what it does to the people who survive it."

  "They were not Deathstalkers," said the robot. "We have reason to believe things would be different for a Deathstalker. Ever since we took over here, we have been teleporting robots into these cells, attempting to communicate with the twelve survivors. Most of the robots were destroyed, in one fashion or another, but we have no shortage of robot bodies. We've learned… some interesting things."

  "Such as?" said Lewis. He was watching a woman fade in and out of reality, silently pleading for help.

  "Communication has been difficult," the robot admitted. "I don't think we're capable of formulating the right questions. Perhaps you'll have better luck, after you've been through the Maze."

  Jesamine was watching Lewis. Of them all, she was perhaps the least affected by the state of the twelve survivors. Work in show business long enough, and you're bound to see all kind of freak shows. The Sex Circus on Aldebaran X had been particularly informative about the extremes to which the human form can be adapted. Jesamine was more interested in the way all of the survivors were reacting to Lewis, even the ones who shouldn't even have been aware of his presence, let alone his identity. They all oriented on Lewis, turning slowly to follow him as he strode slowly down the aisle facing the cells, and then back again. A few called out his name, like a benediction. His presence seemed to soothe them; as though they'd all been waiting for him, for this moment.

  "They believe the Deathstalker will free them," said the robot. "Though we wouldn't advise it. They're far too dangerous ever to be let loose. Perhaps Lewis will be the one to kill them, and put an end to their long suffering."

  "Wonderful," said Lewis. "As if I wasn't under enough pressure. Take me to the Maze. There's nothing I can do here."

  The robot bowed to him, and led the way to the entrance to the Madness Maze. Jesamine clung to Lewis's arm, trying desperately to persuade him against doing anything foolish, but he didn't seem to hear her. Rose looked interestedly at the twelve survivors as she passed, but had nothing to say. Brett made sure to keep Rose between him and the cells, just in case. Saturday stumped along at the rear, fed up with having to bend over in the human-scaled corridors. Behind them, those of the twelve survivors who could still speak were chanting the Deathstalker name like a prayer.

  At the entrance to the Madness Maze, as promised, an old friend was waiting to greet them. Captain John Silence, the last living legend of the Age of Heroes, was leaning casually against the shimmering metal wall of the Maze. He smiled and nodded to Lewis. He was wearing his old captain's uniform, of a kind that hadn't been worn for two hundred years. He looked calm, relaxed, and very dangerous. Like a
demon at the gates of Hell, thought Jesamine.

  "How the hell did you get here?" said Lewis. "There weren't any other ships on the pads. Shub teleport you in?"

  "No," said Silence. "I can be wherever I have to be. A legacy of my time in the Maze, even though I was never allowed all the way in, to the heart and center of the mysteries. Owen was the only one ever to get that far. I always said he was the best of us."

  "You were the one who told Shub we'd be here today," said Jesamine. "How did you know?"

  "It was inevitable," said Silence, coming forward to stand before Lewis. "The chains of destiny wind very tightly around you, Lewis. You had to be here now, just as I do. The Maze… has a way of arranging things. Sometimes I think it's alive. Everything will seem a lot clearer, once you've been through it."

  "I can still turn away," said Lewis. "This is my life. I have duties, and responsibilities. I don't know that I have the right to risk my life or my sanity in the Maze, when so many other people still depend on me."

  "You can't help them as you are," said Silence. "The game's got too big for merely human players."

  "You can't make me go in there."

  "In the Maze, you'll find what you need to bring back Owen."

  Lewis scowled heavily. "You always did know how to fight dirty, Captain. I don't have any choice, do I? I never did. Deathstalker luck. Always bad."

  "Lewis…"

  "Hush, Jes. Captain, look after my people. Let no harm come to them in my absence."

  "I give you my word, Sir Deathstalker, upon my blood and my honor. I envy you, Lewis. At the center of the Madness Maze lie all the answers to all the questions you ever had; or so I'm told. Only Owen knew what the heart held, and he disappeared before he could tell the rest of us."

  "Look," said Lewis, just a little desperately. "I am getting really tired of enigmatic comments. I want some hard facts. Starting with, are you dead or not?"

  "Not," said Silence. "I knew the attack on my house was coming, so I left quietly beforehand, by secret ways, well before the mob arrived. I'd already made preperations to become someone else. I'd been looking for a chance to put an end to my old life, and move on. I'd been feeling increasingly uncomfortable as a living legend, especially when I discovered people had started worshiping my statues. I never approved of the whole legend business anyway. I didn't recognize any of us in the pretty stories Robert and Constance made out of our lives. But they were my King and my Queen, and so… I said nothing. It seemed best.

  "But now I had a chance to be free again. I could disappear and start a new life as someone else, without the burden of my past overshadowing everything I said and did. Robert and Constance didn't try that hard to confirm whether I really had died in the burnt-out ruins of my house. Alive, I was always a potential threat to all the myths they'd built their Golden Age on. Owen would have understood. He believed in history—because the truth is always a better foundation than even the prettiest of lies."

  "Jesus, he's even more long-winded than Lewis," said Brett. "Can we please get to the point? I really would like to get out of this appalling place as soon as possible. Finn must know we're here by now."

  "You must excuse Brett," Lewis said to Silence. "It's either that or hit him a lot, and it does wear you out after a while."

  Silence gave Brett a long thoughtful look, and Brett felt an urgent need to hide behind someone. Silence smiled suddenly. "You're one of Random's Bastards, aren't you? Claim descent from Jack and Ruby Journey. They were brave souls, but I never trusted either of them. Must run in the family."

  Brett was still wondering how to take that when Silence turned back to Lewis. "After my reported death, I needed a new course. The Maze kept me young and powerful, so I decided to work from the shadows, as Humanity's secret protector."

  "Didn't do too good a job of it, did you?" muttered Brett.

  "Brett!" snapped Jesamine.

  "Oh, stuff all that respect shit," said Brett, surprising everyone, including himself. He stepped forward to glare right into Silence's face. You're the last living legend, on a par with Owen and the others. So why didn't you stop Finn?"

  "Because I decided a long time ago that Humanity should make its own way," said Silence. "I wanted to be its guardian, not its god. And I could have been your god, if I'd wanted. But I have to say, I didn't see Finn coming. He's really just a focus for a whole bunch of preexisting trends. If it hadn't been him, it would have been someone else. It was his time. Humanity has gone mad, not just Finn Durandal. He isn't doing anything they don't want him to do. How else do you think it all fell apart so quickly? And… I never was as powerful as the others, despite what the legends say. You need Owen, to stop the Durandal and the Terror. And I need Owen too. I need his certainty, and his moral vision, to tell me what to do for the best. Perhaps I just want him back so he can solve everything and look after Humanity, so I won't have to anymore. A selfish thought, perhaps, but…"

  "What's it like?" Lewis said abruptly. "What's it like, inside the Madness Maze?"

  "It's different for everyone," said Silence. "I don't know whether the Maze is just a machine, or whether it's alive. Or whether it's so advanced that such terms don't apply anymore. Walking through it changes you on every level you have, and adds on some new ones. It's like a wake-up call from God. As though the best part of you had been sleeping all your life, and the Maze awakened it."

  "Why does the Maze make some people crazy?" said Jesamine. "Why does it kill people?"

  "I don't know," said Silence. "I saw good people destroyed by the Maze, right in front of me, and I never knew why. But I do believe this: that a Deathstalker can make it safely through the Maze, all the way to its hidden heart. The rest of you are of course free to try, but I can't guarantee your safety or your lives."

  "You couldn't drag me into that abomination," Saturday said firmly. The reptiloid had been studying the entrance to the Maze for some time, pulling faces and muttering under her breath. "That thing feels wrong. Unnatural. It should be destroyed. Besides, reptiloids are perfect already. Everyone knows that."

  She snorted loudly, turned her back on the Maze, and stalked as far away from it as she could get in the confined space. Her back radiated disapproval, and her tail lashed angrily back and forth. The others studied the entrance to the Maze silently. Jesamine faced it square-on, her arms folded tightly. On the one hand, the Maze scared the crap out of her, but on the other hand, she felt rather resentful that her safety couldn't be guaranteed, just because she wasn't a bloody Deathstalker. That aristocratic bullshit had been thrown out centuries ago. She was every bit as good as Lewis. If not better. She was a star, dammit, a diva. She'd been worshiped and adored.

  Brett scowled at the Maze. Looked at in just the right way, the Maze was really nothing more than just another security system, to protect a hidden treasure. And Brett had never seen a security system he couldn't get past eventually. Not that he had any intention of going in, of course. He had more sense. Even though it would be the ultimate test of his talents… and the greatest prize he'd ever got his greedy little hands on. He glanced across at Rose, and was immediately worried by the look on her face. She was smiling. Brett had seen that look, that smile, before in those rare moments when Rose found herself face to face with an enemy she thought might actually give her a real fight. Rose saw the Maze as a challenge.

  And before any of them could stop her, Rose Constantine darted forward and plunged into the Madness Maze. She disappeared between its metal folds, leaving only a brief rasp of happy laughter behind her. And before he could stop himself, Brett ran in after her. Because he just knew it was all going to go horribly wrong.

  The Maze swallowed them both up without a murmur.

  At first, it wasn't too bad. The Madness Maze turned out to be an infinite number of branching shimmering metal walls, leading away in all directions, opening up some ways and closing off others. Brett found it rather disturbing that none of the metal walls showed his reflection, but he mad
e himself concentrate on Rose. There was no sign of her anywhere, even though he'd entered the Maze right behind her.

  He called out her name, but there was no reply, and something seemed to suck all the volume out of his voice, making it a small and furtive thing. Brett swallowed hard, and set off into the Maze.

  It didn't take him long to decide that he really didn't like being there. The narrow paths were distinctly claustrophobic, it was far too quiet, and he couldn't shake a horrid feeling of being watched by unseen malevolent eyes. It was cold, bitterly cold, even more so than on the surface, but he knew it wasn't the cold which made him shake uncontrollably. He felt lost, and vulnerable, and his skin crawled in anticipation of something he couldn't even name.

  He knew he wasn't alone in the Maze. There was something in there with him, and it wasn't Rose. Scents and sounds came and went before he could properly identify them, and the air moved slowly back and forth, as though the Maze itself was breathing. Something thudded loudly in the distance, a great bass sound, like the slow beating of a great sticky heart. Brett plunged on, almost running now, choosing branching ways at random. His breathing was painfully fast, and his face was wet with sweat, but it never even occurred to him to turn back. He had to find Rose. If only to prove to himself, as well as Silence, that he was a Random after all. Birds chattered in iron voices, and it seemed to him that the light was fading away. His hands didn't feel as though they belonged to him anymore.

  And suddenly there she was, right ahead of him, lying on the metal floor, curled up into a tight ball and shuddering violently. Shadows were leaping all around, though there was nothing there to cast them. Brett ran over to Rose and knelt down beside her. She was crying, great heaving sobs that shook her whole body. Bloody tears ran down her jerking cheeks from squeezed-shut eyes. Brett put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, and she turned quickly and hugged him to her, burying her face in his shoulder.

  "I didn't know," she whispered. "I didn't think it would be like this. I don't… I can't stand this, Brett. I can't. Get me out of here. Please, get me out of here."