"Hundreds of people would be killed and injured!"
"No one we care about will be there."
"We could be killed or injured!"
"Relax; I'm a demon pilot."
Stuart smiled slowly. "You're crazy. I like that in a partner. Let's go steal a ship."
The trial took place in the Imperial Court, right on time. King Finn sat on the great throne on its raised dais, while Douglas stood in a specially constructed dock, weighed down with chains. He kept his back straight and his head high, and refused to even look at Finn. Finn found that amusing. Anne sat on a second throne, beside Finn, and didn't look at either of them. The same guests were present as had attended Finn's Coronation, only this time there were even more armed guards, just in case. The Church Militant and Pure Humanity fanatics had booed lustily as Douglas was brought in, but he ignored them all with regal disdain. Some of them threw things at Douglas. No one tried to stop them. Douglas proceeded into the waiting dock with kingly dignity, and a few were actually shamed into silence by his composure. Douglas looked out over the court that had once been his, and felt only sorrow at how far it had fallen.
Finn waited till all the news cameras were in position, and all the security measures confirmed, and then he signaled for silence. The muttering audience immediately shut up. Finn looked at Douglas in the dock, and smiled contentedly. "Well, here we are again, old friend. Quite different from the last time we were here together, at your Coronation."
"It was a Golden Age, then," said Douglas. "And look what you've done to it. And all because I wouldn't make you my Champion. You always were a petty little shit, Finn."
There was a stunned silence in the court. No one talked like that to King Finn. Everyone looked at him to see what he would do. Finn considered for a while, and then nodded to the half dozen guards surrounding the dock.
"Take Douglas out onto the floor of this court. Hold him before my throne. And beat some manners into him."
The six guards dragged Douglas out of the dock and onto the floor of the court. Douglas fought and struggled all the way and the guards beat him unmercifully for it. The sound of the blows carried clearly in the quiet hall. Some of the audience looked away, rather than watch Douglas's blood splash across the floor of the court. Finn watched it all with a calm, benign smile. Anne had her eyes shut tight. And the hovering remote cameras broadcast it all live. Including the moment when one of the guards got too confident and too close, and Douglas suddenly whipped a length of his chains around the guard's throat, and broke the man's neck with a sudden twist. The other guards hesitated for just a moment, shocked by a death that wasn't in the script, and that was all the advantage Douglas needed. He struck out at the guards with all the training and experience of his many years as a Paragon, lashing out with hands and feet and lengths of steel chain; and surprisingly quickly all the guards lay stretched out on the floor before Finn, unmoving. Douglas stood over them, battered and bloodied and entirely unbowed, glaring at the man sitting on what had once been his throne.
Finn applauded languidly, the soft hand claps filling the silence of the shocked Court. "Well done, Douglas. You always did know how to put on a good show. Guards, draw your guns." Hundreds of energy weapons were immediately trained on the harshly breathing Douglas.
"Do get back in the dock where you belong, Douglas, there's a good fellow," said Finn. "Or we'll start the trial with your execution."
Douglas limped back into the dock, wearing his dignity like armor. Finn gestured, and the six dead and unconscious guards were dragged away. Six new guards surrounded the dock, guns drawn and at the ready. Douglas ignored them with magnificent disdain.
"The charges," said Finn, almost casually, "are treason, sedition, murder, and royal fratricide. How do you answer, Douglas?"
"Mostly guilty, and entirely proud of it," said Douglas. "I have always done my duty. Do we really need to go on with this, Finn? This whole trial is a farce. It's unworthy of both of us. You need me dead so you can feel safe on your stolen throne. Just do it, and then we can both get some peace."
"Oh, hell," Finn said easily. "Why not?" He rose up from his throne, and stepped down from the dais, drawing his sword. "Kneel and bow your head to me, Douglas, one last time."
And that was when Nina Malapert and Stuart Lennox came crashing through the stained-glass ceiling in their borrowed ship, the Hazzard. Everyone in the court cried out in shock and alarm as razor-sharp shards of stained glass fell like hail, followed by pieces of falling masonry. The audience rose up and stampeded for the exits as the Hazzard, a sleek racing craft with all its force shields glowing, slammed against the floor of the court and skidded on for several yards. Guards were thrown aside like broken dolls as the Hazzard plowed through them, heading for the throne and the dock. Finn drew his disrupter and fired at the ship, but the beam ricocheted harmlessly away from the force shields. People were running and screaming everywhere now, the whole court in chaos.
The Hazzard finally lurched to a halt. The airlock hissed open, and Stuart Lennox emerged, a gun in each hand. He shot the two nearest guards, and grinned at Douglas.
"Move it, Your Majesty! Don't you know a rescue when you see one?"
Douglas limped out of the dock, wrestling with his chains, and lurched towards the ship. The guards around the dock had already run for it, but more were hurrying forward. Stuart reached into Nina's backpack at his feet, and brought out a bandolier of concussion grenades. He tossed them around where he thought they'd do the most good, grinning widely. The explosions were satisfyingly loud, and did even more damage to the court. The guards dived for cover. Douglas clambered aboard the Hazzard, with Stuart's help, his chains clanking noisily, and Nina took off without even waiting for the airlock to close properly. The Hazzard smashed through what was left of the stained-glass ceiling, and was gone.
Douglas was so intent on his escape that he never saw Anne, thrown from her throne and lying on the floor of the court, pinned under heavy pieces of fallen masonry. Blood pooled around her, and she couldn't move her arms or legs. She cried out to Douglas, but he never heard her. In the end, it was Finn who came to help her, stepping immaculately out of the smoke and chaos. He lifted the masonry off Anne with his bare hands.
"Don't worry, Anne," said Finn. "I'll always be here." And he sat down beside her, and held her hand while they waited for the summoned medics to arrive.
On board the Hazzard, Stuart worked on Douglas's chains with a Rookery skeleton key, while Nina shouted introductions from the pilot's seat. She was heading nowhere in particular at full speed, and as yet no one was on her tail. Douglas threw aside the last of the chains and lurched to his feet. He nodded his thanks to Stuart, and then headed for the bridge. Stuart hurried after him.
"Hi, Your Majesty!" said Nina. "Damn, you look awful. If you've got any idea of where we should be going, now would be a really good time to share it."
"Give me a chance to catch my breath," said Douglas, smiling despite himself. "I'm still adjusting to the idea that I'm not going to die today after all."
"Mistworld's still rogue" Stuart suggested diffidently. "And Lewis is bound to turn up there eventually."
"It would be good to join up with him again," said Douglas. "But my duty is here, on Logres. I have to put together a force to topple Finn. The Empire must come first. There will be time later for Lewis, and Jesamine. Head for the Rookery, Nina. I have some old and hopefully unanticipated allies there."
"I always wanted to be a rebel!" said Nina. "Oh, darlings; making news is so much more fun than reporting it!"
CHAPTER NINE
THE TERRIBLE TRUTH
On the bridge of the starcruiser Havoc, flagship of the Imperial fleet, Admiral Angharad West and Captain Alfred Price stood side by side, studying the image of the planet Haden on the main viewscreen. A lonely gray, almost anonymous world, it hardly seemed worthy of the attention of so many heavily armed starcruisers. Six hundred and seventy-two at present, with more arriving out o
f hyperspace all the time. King Finn was taking no chances. Haden was no longer quarantined, it was blockaded. On the Havoc, Admiral West looked down on Haden, and wished she could crush the whole rotten world in her fist. Given her way, she would cheerfully destroy the whole planet, and everything on it, and not leave even one molecule clinging to another.
Admiral West was Pure Humanity and Church Militant, a fanatic of the old school. She had no life but her duty, and all the many things she hated. She was a short, graying bulldog of a woman, with a face that would have been entirely characterless without her permanent scowl, and the dogged cruelty of her eyes. Dressed in an ill-fitting garish uniform, she was one of Finn's creatures; a political appointee who would follow orders to the letter and never even think of disobeying them. Finn wanted the abominations on Haden taken alive and held for questioning, so that was what she would do; but still, in her cold, black heart-of-hearts, she ached to destroy Haden, or at the very least, the Madness Maze. For her, the Maze was nothing more than a temptation, a sinful alien device devised to turn humans into inhumans, to seduce the weak away from the Pure human form intended by God. She was allowed to scorch the planet; but only after all other options had been exhausted. Admiral West smiled slightly, and dreamed of fire and slaughter.
Still standing at her side, because he hadn't been dismissed yet, Captain Price studied his superior officer out of the corner of his eye. His habitual calm, almost bored, expression hid his real anxiety. Tall, thin, almost ascetic, the captain was a military man of the old school, who believed very firmly in the chain of command, and never ever thinking for himself. The captain had got where he was, and stayed where he was, by never ever voicing an original opinion, agreeing with everything his superiors said, and knowing when to look the other way and hear nothing. But he'd never had a creature like Admiral West on his bridge before. He'd known aliens that came across as more humane. Captain Price was old enough to remember when Imperial officers still had honor. When they upheld right, not might. Like Captain John Silence, the greatest of them all, who was supposedly down there on Haden, with the Maze. For the first time in his long, uneventful career, Captain Price wondered if he was fighting on the wrong side. And if so, what if anything he was prepared to do about it.
"They're all down there," West said suddenly. "The traitor Deathstalker and his lover, the criminals Constantine and Random, and their hangers-on. Traitors and heretics. If I had my way I'd send in my troops, burn them all at the stake, and glory in their screams."
"Yes, well," said Price, "I really don't think that's such a good idea, Admiral. It could get awfully messy. I mean, if they're as good as they're supposed to be. And the King's orders were very specific: we're not supposed to drop troops without his direct order…"
"I know, I know!" West snapped. "Wait until all the ships are here, and then one big troop landing and overpowering the traitors with numbers. I can read orders, even if I didn't go to some snobby military academy. But I give the orders on this ship, Captain, and don't you forget it!"
"I can assure you, Admiral, that fact is always foremost in my thoughts," said Price. "Shall I order us some tea while we're waiting?"
On the planet Haden, down in the scientists' workings surrounding the Madness Maze, the various subjects of the admiral's venom were studying the growing presence of the Imperial fleet on Shub's viewscreen. There was a lot of pointing going on, and even more shouting. Everyone had ideas on what they should do next, and no one was interested in listening to what anyone else had to say. There was a definite trace of panic in the air, with the notable exceptions of Captain Silence and Owen Deathstalker, who'd seen a lot worse in their time.
"We have got to get out of here!" Brett insisted, bouncing unhappily on his feet like a child desperate for a toilet. "This place might as well have a bull's-eye painted on it! We've got no long-range weapons, there's nowhere to hide, and I don't care what force shields Shub has set up here, that many starships will punch right through them! They could hit us so hard we'd pop out the other side of this planet!"
"You're hyperventilating again, Brett," said Jesamine. "We stay put. Because if we so much as stick our heads out of here, the Fleet will shoot them right off."
"The odds are definitely not good," said Rose. "And whilst I've never believed in running from a fight, only a fool takes on suicidal odds."
"See!" said Brett. "See! And this from a woman who once took on a Grendel single-handed."
Owen looked at Rose interestedly. "You did?"
Rose dropped her eyes for a moment. "I cheated."
"Best way," said Owen.
"I still say we're safer where we are," said Lewis. "Right next to the Maze. I don't think Finn will risk doing anything that might damage his prize. Which means he can't try and blow us out of here."
"I'm not sure the Maze can be destroyed," said Owen.
"I tried once," said Silence. "Blew it away with ship's disrupters at point-blank range. It just came back again."
There was a slight pause as the others realized they were listening to the stuff of legends, and then Jesamine pressed on.
"Be that as it may, Finn doesn't know that."
Brett snorted loudly. "He's more than crazy enough to risk it, rather than let us get away. We can't just sit here and wait for him to get impatient! Look, he's got everyone he hates together in one place, and he must know he's never going to get a better chance at us. If we make a run for our ship…"
"Even the Hereward's stealth shields couldn't hide us from that many starcruisers," said Lewis. "We can't sneak out of here, so we have no choice but to stand and fight."
He looked at Owen expectantly. So did everyone else.
"Don't look at me," said Owen. "I have my limits, and I think we're looking at them right there on that screen."
"That's not what we were promised," said Rose.
"Damn right," said Brett. "This is a hell of a time to break the news that you're not all-powerful after all! I should have known. I should have known! First rule of the con: if something seems too good to be true, then it almost certainly is too good to be true!"
"To be fair," said Silence, "Owen really did do many of the things the legends say he did. I know. I was there. I saw them."
"There's a call coming in from the fleet," said the Shub robot. "I'll transfer it to this screen. Assuming you feel like talking to them, Owen…"
"Oh, hell," said Owen. "Why not? If nothing else, I'm interested in the caliber of this new time's enemies."
Brett covered his eyes with his hands. "He's going to tell the fleet to go to Hell, I just know it. We're all going to die."
"Shut up, Brett," said Jesamine. "God, you're depressing to be around."
The viewscreen flickered, and then cleared to show the scowling face of Admiral West. She glared at the group before her, and then fixed her gaze on Lewis.
"You, Deathstalker. We've run you to ground at last, and there's nowhere left for you to go. Your King orders you and your fellow conspiritors to surrender!"
"He's not my king," said Lewis.
"Surrender immediately, and you'll live to stand trial! Defy your rightful King's orders, and I can promise you your deaths will be slow and hideous!"
"Diplomacy isn't what it used to be," said Owen. "I have to say I'm not impressed. Threats had so much more style in Lionstone's day. And that uniform is an assault on the senses and a crime against style. What are you supposed to be, anyway?"
"I am admiral of the fleet!"
"And I am Owen Deathstalker. I'm back, and I'm really not in a good mood. Why don't you do the sensible thing and surrender to me?"
"Liar and blasphemer, to take the blessed Owen's name in vain! I will have you flayed for such contempt!"
Owen looked at Silence. "Tell me this isn't the best you can do for villains these days. No style at all. Now Valentine Wolfe, he had style. He could chill the blood in your veins with a casual insult. Did he make it into the legends?"
"Oh, yes
," said Silence. "Well, sort of. He's usually played on the stage by a woman dressed in drag, for comic relief."
"Serves him right," said Owen.
"Surrender or die, deviants!" bellowed the Admiral.
"She's talking to you," Jesamine said to Rose.
"I'm afraid you've called at rather a bad time, Admiral," said Lewis. "I'll have to get back to you."
He nodded to the Shub robot, who shut off contact just as the admiral's face was turning an interesting shade of purple. Lewis looked sternly at Owen.
"There went any chance we might have had of talking our way out of this. What was the point of insulting and infuriating her like that?"
"It's what I do best," said Owen.
On the bridge of the Havoc, Captain Price had to physically restrain the admiral from ordering a mass scorching of the planet by every ship in the fleet simultaneously. There was an unseemly scuffle over the comm unit for a few moments, while every other officer on the bridge looked steadily in some other direction, until finally the admiral calmed down a little, and stopped screaming obscenities. She stopped struggling, and Price let go and stepped back warily. They were both breathing heavily.
"The King was very clear," Price said carefully. "We are not to risk damaging the Maze while other options still remain. Not if we like having our heads on our shoulders. He also said he wants the traitors brought back alive, if at all possible."
"All right!" snapped the admiral. "Then give the order for ground forces to deploy. I want five starcruisers moved into close orbit, dropping every pinnace they've got. I want all their attack troops on the surface in under an hour, along with every war machine they brought. They are to take control of the Maze and the scientists' workings, by any means necessary, or I'll have their balls… Look at me when I'm giving you orders, Captain!"
"Oh, shit," said Captain Price, looking at the bridge viewscreen.
The admiral followed his gaze to the screen, and watched dumbstruck as dozens of impressively huge Shub ships dropped out of hyperspace and assumed positions between Haden and the fleet. All the Shub vessels were bigger than the Imperial starcruisers by an order of magnitude. Some were the size of small moons. More and more appeared, on every side of the fleet, every one of them bristling with weapons. Captain Price looked at the admiral, but she was frozen in place, paralyzed by the shock of the unexpected. Price quietly gave orders for every ship in the fleet to raise all shields and power up their weapons, but to make no aggressive move against the Shub ships without direct orders first. The comm officer announced that there was a call coming in from Shub. Price looked again at the admiral, and then nodded for the call to be put through on the main viewscreen. The blank dispassionate face of a blue steel robot filled the screen. The eyes burned with a fierce silver fire.