Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

Haden, though they hadn't bothered to tell him that till he got here. No one had even mentioned taking on an army of Hadenmen when he started this mission. Not that it made any difference. When you'd just been repealed from a Court Martial at the very last moment, you went where the Empress sent you, and if you had any reservations, you kept them to yourself. Silence looked sternly at Graves, and the esper stared back like a mournful and slightly surprised fish.
    "All right, Graves, what is it about the Maze that's got all of you so upset?"
    "It's alive," said Graves. His voice was flat but firm. "We can hear the Maze thinking. Its thoughts are strange and cold as ice. It knows we're here. It's waiting for us."
    Silence sighed, despite himself. He should have known better than to expect a
    straight answer from an esper. "Now, Graves, are we being metaphorical here, or do you mean the Maze is some kind of cyborged lifeform?"
    "More than that. Captain. Much more. It's not human life, or human technology."
    "Hadenmen?"
    "Alien. It's been here a long time, Captain. Long before Humanity ever came here. Constructed, not born, but still alive in every way that counts. It has its own purposes, and they are not human purposes or reasons. If we enter the Maze, we do so at peril of our lives and souls. There are powers between these metal walls to change and transform us beyond human knowledge. And whatever survives the Maze won't be human anymore. Or perhaps… more than human. "
    "Did the rebels pass through the Maze?" said Silence. "Did they survive it?"
    "Yes, but…"
    "But me no buts. If they did it, so can we. Anything else in the Maze I should know about?"
    Graves stared at him dolefully, but hid any frustration well. Espers were taught to obey. "There is a place, in the center of the Maze, where we cannot see. A place we dare not look. There's something there: alive, powerful, but not part of the Maze."
    Silence frowned. "What kind of alive? Human? Hadenmen? Alien?"
    "Unknown, Captain. We can't see. Something… prevents us. Possibly our own minds.
    I think if we were to look at it too closely, see it too clearly, we would all go mad."
    Great, thought Silence. That's all I need. More complications.
    "We're going in," he said briskly. "I'll lead the way, with the Investigator, and I want you right there with us. Scatter the rest of your people throughout the marines. Leave a couple with their mind's eye cranked all the way open; if
    anything is going to happen, I want plenty of warning in advance. The rest can maintain an esper shield, tight as you can make it. I don't want a single stray thought getting out or in. Now get your people moving and motivated; we're going in in a few minutes."
    He strode away without waiting for an answer and rejoined Frost, who had her sword out and was running through a few loosening up exercises that would have intimidated the hell out of any enemy with half a brain. Silence didn't like being harsh with the esper, it felt uncomfortably like shouting at a child, and a frightened child at that. But if he wasn't harsh, there was a good chance they'd fall apart. Whatever they'd made contact with in the Maze, it had clearly disturbed the hell out of them. Hopefully, if they were scared enough of him, that should keep them from being too scared of the Maze. He looked back at the shimmering steel walls and shuddered suddenly. Great. Now they'd managed to spook him, too. He made himself concentrate on Frost, as she swept her sword through one vicious cut after another and then was suddenly, smoothly at rest.
    Her pale skin had a healthy glow, and she looked like she could take on an army.
    Maybe she could, at that. She was an Investigator, after all. She nodded to him calmly and hefted her sword.
    "I'm ready, Captain. Can we make a start now?"
    Silence had to smile. "Doesn't anything ever worry you. Investigator?"
    "No. Worrying is bad for you. It interferes with the digestion and gives you wrinkles. The greater the challenge, the greater the glory to be gained. At least, that's what the Empire always told us at the academy. Or are you suggesting they lied to us?"
    "The Empire, lying to its own people? Perish the thought. Let's go.

    Investigator. I want to get to the rebels before they can get to the Hadenmen."
    "Spoilsport," said Frost.
    And so, not long at all after they first arrived, Silence and Frost and the esper called Graves stepped cautiously into the Madness Maze, followed by a small