Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

and
    then rose up suddenly to form itself into a new head. The same face quickly appeared, and the mud man glared at Frost.
    "I see Imperial diplomacy hasn't changed much since its last visit. Plus seven points for brutality, minus several thousand for severe lack of cool. Never mind barbarians at the gate, they've already taken over. Just once, I wish they'd send us a representative slightly higher up the food chain. I've had more interesting conversations with a piece of moss. You humans should be bloody grateful my species is physically linked to the planet's ecosystem. If we could leave this world, we'd be running the Empire inside a week."
    "But you can't, and you don't," said Frost. "So remember what I told you. No talking to any strange men or aliens, or we'll work out some way to give you all a good spanking. Right. That's it, we're going. Have fun playing with your mud."
    "I don't see any need for sexual slanders," said the mud man. "Please feel free to leave our world anytime. Goodbye."
    Silence started to turn to leave, and then stopped as he realized Frost hadn't moved. He couldn't see her face inside her helmet, but he knew she was staring thoughtfully at the figure made out of mud. He could feel it. The link between them seemed suddenly very strong, and he knew without having to be told what was running through her mind. She wanted to see the real alien; the real shape and being that lay behind the image of the mud man. The reality behind the mask.
    "Cut it out, Frost," he said quietly. "We don't need to know."
    "He doesn't respect us," said the Investigator. "He doesn't fear us. I want to know why."
    "Listen to your partner," said the mud man. "You really don't want to do this.
    This image is all you're capable of understanding. The reality of what I and my
    kind are would destroy your limited minds." He stopped abruptly and frowned at Frost. "What are you doing? Your mind is… uncoiling. There's more to you than there was before. You're not human. What are you?"
    Frost stared back at him, her brows furrowed as she concentrated, reaching inside herself for a strength and vision she hadn't realized she possessed.
    There was something more beyond the mud man, something bigger, vaster… The sheer size of it made her head ache, but she wouldn't look away. It was deep down in the mud, under the surface of the world, and it was rising slowly out of the depths toward her. It had length and width and breadth and other dimensions, too. And perhaps just to look on it with merely human eyes would be enough to turn her to stone, like a butterfly caught in Medusa's gaze, but she couldn't, wouldn't, look away. She had to see, had to know… Silence grabbed her by the shoulders of her hard suit, spun her around, and shook her as hard as he could.
    "Don't look at it! I can see what you're seeing, and it's dangerous. We're not ready to look at something like this. Just the sight of it would burn the eyes out of our heads and blast our reason. Look away, Investigator! That's an order!"
    He reached out with his mind, not quite knowing how he was doing what he was doing, and slowly forced Frost's inner eye shut. The image of what lay beyond and below the mud man was suddenly gone, and the heightened link between Silence and Frost shrank back to its normal background murmur. They were both back in their own heads again and saw only what was in front of them. Frost shuddered suddenly.
    "Thank you, Captain. I got… lost for a while there."
    "Let's get out of here, Frost. We've given them their instructions. Anything else is none of our business."

    "We can't let them run us off. They have to know who's in charge here."
    "I have an uneasy feeling they already know," said Silence. "Let's go."
    Back on the bridge of the Dauntless, Silence was jerked out of his memories by the quiet but insistent voice of his Communications Officer, Eden Cross. He'd turned around at his workstation to look at Silence, who blinked at him a couple of times, and then tried to look alert and awake, as though he'd been listening to Cross all along. It only took him a moment to realize he wasn't fooling anyone, and he relaxed with a smile. He was lucky it was Cross. Cross was a good man.
    "Sorry," said Silence. "I was light-years away. Run that past me again."
    "There appears to be a situation belowdecks, Captain,"'said Cross. There was no trace of a smile on his dark face, but his eyes were understanding. "Not long ago, strange noises were heard