Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

personality. They give me the creeps."
    "Right," said Stevie Three. "It doesn't help that they're fascinated with us.

    I've never seen anyone so interested in me who wasn't trying to get into my pants. Apparently, there were no esper clones around during their last lifetime.
    They keep asking us, very politely, if we'd like to visit their laboratories, but I have a strong suspicion they'd like to take us apart to see what makes us tick. Literally."
    "You're probably right," said Owen. "They took away a number of Wampyr from the Empire force that came here, and we never saw any of them again."
    "Oh, hell," said Stevie One. "Here comes another one."
    A single Hadenman came striding purposefully toward them from the golden ship.
    He could have been one Owen had met before, or he might not. They all looked the same to him. Tall and perfectly muscled, the Hadenman's every movement was the epitome of grace, and his eyes glowed like the sun. Half man, half machine, more than both. And, like all his kind, extremely single-minded. The two Stevie Blues looked at each other. Stevie One produced a coin and tossed it.
    "Heads," said Stevie Three while it was still in midair. Stevie One caught it and slapped it on the back of her hand. Stevie Three looked and scowled. "Damn."
    "Your turn," said Stevie One, and they both turned to face the Hadenman with the same cold expression.
    The augmented man came to a halt before them, poised and perfect, and when he spoke his buzzing voice was calm and very reasonable. "You must submit to examination. It is necessary that we understand the changes that have taken place in humanity during our absence."
    "We don't do tests," said Stevie One.
    "Right," said Stevie Three. Blue flames burst out all around her, licking along the lines of her body without harming her. Owen and Stevie One fell back a step,
    hands raised to protect their faces from the heat that shimmered in the air before them. The Hadenman stood his ground, apparently unaffected by the heat.
    Stevie Three smiled unpleasantly and turned up the heat another notch. Beads of sweat appeared on the Hadenman's expressionless face.
    "So glad we had this little chat," said Stevie Three. "Now, get out of here or I'll weld your legs together."
    The Hadenman considered the matter for a moment. Black scorch marks were beginning to appear on his simple cloth robe. And then he took a step forward, so he could stare right into Stevie Three's face. The light from his eyes was almost blinding at close range. "We will discuss this again at a future time."
    "Yeah, right," said Stevie Three, fighting down an impulse to step back a pace herself. "Later."
    The Hadenman turned unhurriedly away and walked off into the gleaming metal and glass city. Owen and the two Stevie Blues watched him go, and no one said anything until they were sure he was out of earshot. Owen turned to Stevie Three and fanned at the hot air between them with his hand.
    "Do you think you could turn that down a little now? It's getting rather close around here."
    "Sorry," said Stevie Three, and the leaping flames surrounding her snapped off as quickly as they'd arisen. "I can't believe we're allies with the augmented men. They're really not human, after all."
    "There are those who say the same thing about us," said Stevie One.
    "Not around me they don't," said Stevie Three. "You can't compare us to them.
    For all our differences, we were born, not made."
    "Let's get to the meeting," said Stevie One diplomatically. "We're running late as it is. Will you be joining us, Deathstalker?"

    "Soon," said Owen. "Don't wait for me."
    The two esper clones nodded in the same way, at the same moment, and then their faces went blank as they contacted the Last Standing through their comm implants. They disappeared between one moment and the next, and there were two quick claps of thunder as air rushed in to fill the space where they'd been.
    Owen blinked respectfully. Teleportation like that took one hell of a lot of power, which was one reason it wasn't more commonly used in the Empire. Espers were cheaper and more easily controlled. Besides, it wouldn't do for something so useful to fall into the hands of the common herd. Rank had to have its privileges, or what was the point? Owen scowled. The Last Standing was using up a lot of power recently, and even its vast resources weren't bottomless. Still, that wasn't his problem. His problem was still somewhere in the Hadenman city, taking her own