Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

object. "Shrapnel grenade. Simple, effective, and extremely nasty at close range."
    She pressed the stud, knelt down and rolled the grenade along the floor toward the battle espers. It seemed to move slower and slower all the time, but finally it got there. Finlay grabbed Evangeline, pulled her down and wrapped his body around hers as a shield. The explosion was deadening in the confined space, and shrapnel ricocheted off the steel walls, falling like jagged rain. An unfelt pressure in the corridor was suddenly gone, and Finlay rose unsteadily to his feet. His ears were ringing, and his balance wasn't all that it might have been.
    He discovered a sharp metal fragment sticking out of his thigh, looked at it dispassionately and pulled it out. The wound didn't bleed much. Evangeline stood up beside him, and he checked to make sure she was all right. She had a nasty cut on her forehead, dribbling blood down her face, but otherwise looked okay.
    Except that she was glaring at him.
    "Will you stop grabbing me and pulling me around?" she said coldly. "I am quite capable of remembering to duck on my own, thank you."
    Her voice sounded harsh but far away, as though they were both underwater.
    Finlay felt a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, but controlled himself.
    He didn't think Evangeline was in the mood to see the funny side.
    "Where did the grenade come from?" he said, finally.
    "Daddy always made sure that the female members of the Family went around fully armed, after the Iron Bitch took my cousin to be a maid. I thought a gun was a bit obvious, and too easily guarded against, so I decided on a grenade. Not terribly subtle, but I suppose it shows I am my father's daughter, after all."
    Finlay decided he wasn't going to pursue that point any further just at the moment, and moved among the slowly rousing espers, checking they were all right.

    They'd all been blown off their feet by the blast, but no one was actually dead.
    Several had nosebleeds or headaches, and they'd all been cut or pierced here and there by ricocheting shrapnel, but they were taking it well. Finlay took a deep breath and moved slowly down the corridor to get a better look at what was left of the battle espers. He stopped quite a ways short rather than step in the blood and gore. A few of the mangled bodies were recognizable. Most weren't. He heard footsteps behind him and looked back, expecting Evangeline, but it was Stevie Two. He recognized the different colored ribbons in her hair. She looked at the carnage unflinchingly. .
    "There, but for the grace of God, go I. My sisters and I were created specifically to be the new generation of battle espers. We got away, but we had to leave a lot of friends behind. I wonder, if I looked hard enough through this mess, would I find familiar faces?"
    "Best not to look," said Finlay. "Best not to know."
    She nodded, turned away and walked back to her sisters. Finlay followed her back and rejoined Pindar and Evangeline.
    "All right," he said brusquely. "Which way now? You can bet reinforcements are on the way, and I don't think we're up to facing down large numbers of battle espers again."
    "The plan hasn't changed," said Evangeline. "Find Wormboy, kill him, free the prisoners."
    "Just us?" said Finlay.
    "Who else is there?"
    "What about Jenny Psycho?" said Pindar.
    Evangeline frowned. "What about her? We'll free her when we free the others."

    "I think we need her," said Pindar. "The underground arranged for her to be brought here for a reason. She's powerful. More powerful than even she knew. She was supposed to be the key to killing Wormboy."
    "We don't have time for this, and we don't have time for her," said Evangeline.
    "Jenny Psycho will have to wait. It's a straight run to Wormboy now. We've got to get to him before the Empire can set up extra protection."
    "I think we can safely assume that happened the moment we breached Silo Nine's defenses," said Finlay. "And someone or something like Wormboy isn't going to be easy to kill. I think we should take all the help we can get."
    "That's not why you want to free her," said Evangeline coldly. "She's the one you saw in your vision. You swore your oath because of her. You see yourself as the hero, rushing in to sweep her away to safety. You can't afford to let this get personal, Finlay. They're all Jenny Psychos in here. They're all equally deserving. And the best way to save them is to kill the beast that holds them captive."
    Finlay frowned,