Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

was definitely heading downward, but after so many twists and turns, he'd quite lost track of his bearings. He'd never used the escape route before and wasn't that impressed by it now. It was cold and damp, the ceiling was uncomfortably low, and it smelt awful. He supposed he should have expected that. You could hardly send the cleaning staff into a secret tunnel every other week. He slowed to a fast walk and breathed deeply. He had to be getting near the exit now, and he didn't want to arrive there exhausted and out of breath. You never knew who might be waiting.
    "Oz, you still there?"
    "Of course, Owen. Where else would I be?"
    "Smartass. Look, none of this makes sense. Even if I have been outlawed, the court wouldn't just announce it to all and sundry. Even these days, under the Iron Bitch, outlawing a Lord is extremely bloody rare, and it's nearly always done in private. It wouldn't do for the lower orders to get a taste for killing nobility, would it? Might start giving them ideas. We're supposed to be special, far above them, untouched and untouchable by their petty little lives. You can't just outlaw a Lord. It just isn't done!"
    "It's certainly unusual," said the AI. "I can only assume the Empress really wants you dead. The reward on your head is unprecedentedly high. Hmmm. I wonder how much she'd give me for you?…"
    "Oz…"
    "Just a thought. Hold everything; new update. Someone is trying to break into my programming. Professionals, too. They're cutting through my outer defenses like they're not even there. They've got some really heavy codebreakers, Owen. We
    could be in real trouble."
    "Imperial?"
    "Has to be. But don't start panicking yet. I've been looking after you Deathstalkers for some time now, and I've learned a few tricks down the years.
    Including how to appear a lot dumber than I really am while carefully leading them away from my core identity. Right now, as far as they're concerned, I'm just a jumped-up number-cruncher with an AI overlay. And by the time they've figured out the truth, I plan to be long gone. So, my files are safe for the time being, but the sooner you can download me from the castle mainframe, the better."
    "Hold everything, Oz; what have they done to my credit rating?"
    "Owen, what they have done to your credit rating, I wouldn't do to a dead dog.
    You are now worth squat. They've wiped out every penny you had and seized all your properties and holdings, including several they weren't supposed to know about. Look, I told you most of this already; aren't you paying attention?"
    "Shut up, Oz, this is serious. Without a credit rating, I'm dead. Wherever I'm going, I'm going to need money. Let me think for a moment… The Family jewels!
    They've got to be worth a small fortune!"
    "Forget it, Owen. One, you don't have time to go back and get them; two, your head of security has people waiting for you there in case you're stupid enough to go after them; and three, the jewels are quite well known in their own right.
    You'd be identified the moment you tried to sell them."
    Owen scowled. "I hate it when you're right."
    He rounded a corner in the tunnel and stepped out into the caves below the Standing where he kept his private flyer. A disrupter beam blew away part of the wall where he'd been standing, sending stone fragments flying through the air.

    Owen threw himself back into the tunnel, swearing softly so as not to give away his position. He clutched tightly at Cathy's disrupter.
    "Why the hell didn't you warn me mere were people lying in wait for me?" he subvocalized fiercely.
    "Sorry, Owen. The codebreakers have shut down my sensor apparatus inside the Standing. I can no longer access any of the security systems. They're in deeper than I thought. They're getting close to the real me, Owen. There's still a lot I can try to hold them off, but I'm getting a really bad feeling about this. You have to download me soon, or risk losing me."
    "Great. Just what I needed; something else to worry about. Look, can you access the flyer's sensors through my implant and see through those?"
    "It'll be risky. The codebreakers could follow me to you."
    "Do it. I need to know how many men I'm facing and how many of them have energy weapons."
    "All right, I'm in. Three men. One disrupter. They've all got swords. They've taken cover behind the flyer."
    "Damn," said Owen. "Who the hell are they?"
    "More of your security people. I can give you their names if you want."
    "Wouldn't know them if you