Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

people, put away your weapons."
    The rest of the party emerged cautiously from the edge of the jungle and took in the break in the force shield as they reluctantly sheathed their weapons.
    "That is not possible," said Random. "You can't just lower part of a force shield like that. The field would collapse."
    "Impossible or not, it's there," said Hazel. "May I suggest we use it before it disappears and leaves us stranded here?"
    "Of course," said Owen. "After you."
    "It's your Family and your castle," Hazel said firmly. "After you."
    Owen smiled briefly and walked out into the clearing. He could feel the presence of the force field on either side of him, so close he could have reached out his arms and touched it. Little runs of static moved in his clothes and sparked in his hair. He took a deep breath and kept walking. He could hear the others moving close behind him, but he didn't turn to look. It might make him appear nervous, and he had a feeling this would be a bad time to appear to be weak. The castle grew bigger the closer he got to it, until it was looming over him like a
    mountain. The sheer scale of the place, and the massive size of the stone blocks, made his head ache. He couldn't imagine the army of people and technology it must have taken to build the Last Standing, starting from scratch on a new planet. There were still no lights at any of the windows, no sign of life. He still had the feeling he was being watched. He finally came to a halt before the only door and stared at it thoughtfully: ten feet tall, six feet wide, solid wood studded with some kind of crimson metal, like drops of blood. A disrupter would probably tear right through it, but it looked like it would stop anything else. The others crowded in around him.
    "What do we do now?" said Ruby.
    "Knock," said Random. "Very politely."
    "We may have to," said Owen. "There's no handle, or any sensor I can see."
    "Probably doesn't get many visitors out here," said Random.
    "I don't want to worry anyone," said Hazel quietly, "but the force field has reestablished itself behind us. We're trapped."
    "For someone who didn't want to worry us, I'd say you've managed very well,"
    said Owen.
    "I could break the door down," said Moon in his grating inhuman voice.
    "Thanks for the thought, but no," said Owen. "The last thing we want to do right now is make a bad impression. Those energy guns are probably still trained on us, and I don't want whoever's behind them feeling nervous. If you want to be useful, Moon, try talking to the castle. If there are computers inside the Standing, you might be able to communicate with them."
    Moon nodded and frowned slightly, concentrating. In that moment, much of the humanity went out of the Hadenman's face, dominated by the blazing golden eyes, and Owen fought down a sudden impulse to shiver. Moon's face cleared, and he
    looked at Owen. "Nothing. If there are any computers in there, either they're not listening or they're not talking."
    "Show your ring to the sensors again," said Hazel. "That got a response last time."
    Owen lifted his hand and showed it a little selfconsciously to the windows above the door. No light showed, and he'd started to lower his hand again when suddenly he was somewhere else…There was no warning, or sense of transition; one moment he was standing before the door and the next he was in a great hall, presumably inside the Standing. It stretched away before him, incredibly long and wide, and completely deserted. An army could have drilled in the hall, or a full Clan gathering could have danced in it, but there was no sign of any life save for the lights shining overhead. There was no fire in the great marble fireplace, but the floor had been recently waxed and polished, and there was no trace of dust anywhere. The others were suddenly in the hall with him, looking almost as confused as he felt.
    "What the hell just happened?" said Hazel, one hand dropping to the gun at her side.
    "Transfer portal," said Owen. "I've heard about them, but never expected to encounter a working one. They were created centuries ago; instant teleportation between two places to save the aristocracy the bother of actually having to travel from one place to another. They never caught on because of the massive amounts of power involved, and because they were a security nightmare. Then espers came in and replaced them. No power sources required, and a damn sight cheaper to run. The Empire's always had a fondness for slave