Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

breathing heavily. But they both had the same look in their eyes, the same satisfied pleasure, and they saw it in each other like a secret shared. One of the Stevie Blues whooped with joy,
    and the other two joined in.
    "The esp-blockers have been destroyed or swept away!" said Stevie One. "I can't feel diem anymore. We're safe!"
    "Not necessarily," said Valentine in a surprisingly even voice. He pointed at the viewscreens. "All that water is heading our way, and there's nothing here to stop it."
    They all saw it on the screens and backed away from the entrances. The pounding of the water was louder now, like a never-ending roll of thunder, and they could feel the pressure of its coming on the air, its awful weight vibrating through the chamber floor. On the viewscreens, dead guards tumbled through the rushing water like so many blank-eyed dolls. Everyone backed away from the entrances, coming together in the middle of the chamber, because there was nowhere else to go. They watched their death coming on the screens, and no one had anything to say. The Stevie Blues held hands, and Evangeline held Valentine's arm. He smiled briefly and let her.
    Then the tidal wave slammed into an invisible barrier and fell back, thwarted.
    The water churned on the viewscreens, pounding this way and that, but couldn't enter the chamber. The air shimmered, and the esper representatives were suddenly back in the chamber. Mr. Perfect smiled at their surprise.
    "You didn't really think we'd just abandon you, did you? We set up the flood from the sewers after Burgess' confession. It seemed a reasonable precaution, just in case."
    "If I wasn't feeling so good, I'd kill every damn one of you," said David. "And I might anyway, on general principles."
    "Damn right," said Kit. "I must have aged twenty years in the past few minutes.

    Mind you, on me it looks good."
    The two men laughed together companionably. The Stevie Blues were laughing, too.
    Evangeline noticed she was still holding Valentine's arm and let go. He bowed to her courteously. Hood was slowly shaking his head.
    "You'd think by now I'd be used to espers and their devious ways," he said tiredly. "I assume you have some way of draining the water out of the tunnels, so we can leave?"
    "Of course," said the dragon. "It shouldn't take long, and then you can all go."
    "I should be careful where you tread, though," said Valentine Wolfe. "You never know what you'll find in the water these days."

Chapter 9
    Who's Been Sleeping in My Head?
    The man called Hood walked unhurriedly through the quiet corridors deep in the heart of the Empress' palace. They were broad, high-ceilinged corridors, with tasteful paintings and portraits on the walls by whoever was currently in fashion. Holos were so gauche. People came and went on silent, important missions, passing Hood by without noticing him. The same low-level esp that hid his face among espers was more than enough to keep him hidden from normal people he didn't want to see him. He wasn't actually invisible; he just gave their minds a little nudge and they looked everywhere except at him. Luckily esp-blockers were rare and expensive enough that they were only used in actual rooms, not in the connecting corridors. A serious security lapse that Hood had taken care never to point out. Never knew when you might need an ace up your sleeve, particularly when dealing with the Empress. Lionstone had raised paranoia to an art form and encouraged its growth among her people.
    Hood also carried a small tech inhibitor that kept his image from appearing on
    any of the security monitors. A simple device that triggered a program he'd entered into the security computers, which in turn edited him out of the image appearing on the monitors. The device reminded each camera as he approached, and then made it forget him once he was past. No trouble at all for someone with his access to security computers.
    It took him a little longer than usual to reach his personal quarters, but he was used to that. Because people couldn't see him, they had a regrettable tendency to try and walk through him, and he had to be quick on his feet to avoid them. His esp wasn't strong enough to hide him from someone who'd just crashed into him. So he ducked this way and that and never said a word, until finally the door to his private chambers was shut firmly behind him, and he could relax at last. He removed his cape, threw it more or less in the direction of his coatrack and let out a