Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

unemotionally. "It's vital you get away, to report what happened here. The Empire must know that Shub is using stolen ships with dead crews. Once you reach the Dauntless, blow this death ship apart."
    "I can't open fire while you're still aboard!"
    "Of course you can. It's the logical thing to do."
    "You didn't leave me to die on the bridge of the Darkwind."
    "That was different. There's too much at stake here. And at least my way, they
    won't be able to make a Ghost Warrior out of me. Please, John. It's the only way."
    She hit the air-lock controls with her elbow, and the doors closed. Silence had one last glimpse of the Investigator throwing herself against the advancing dead men, and then the doors were shut and she was gone. He turned away to operate the outer doors. He didn't say anything. He didn't trust his voice. His arms and legs were shaking inside his suit, from tension and something more. Cross was still screaming. The two security men had slapped temporary seals over the holes in his armor so he'd survive the crossing to the pinnace. One of them gave the all clear to Silence, and he opened the outer doors. It took them only a few moments to cross the empty space to the pinnace's lock and pass through that into the waiting ship. Cross fell silent as the emergency drugs the hard suit was pumping into him finally took effect. Abrams and Fine secured him in a seat and then strapped themselves in. Silence took the pilot's seat and patched into the pinnace's emergency channel.
    "Dauntless, this is the Captain. I'm on my way back. I have three men with me, one seriously injured. We're all that made it out. The Champion is infested with Ghost Warriors. As soon as we're clear, open up with everything you've got.
    Destroy the Champion. Confirm."
    "This is the Dauntless," said his Second in Command. We confirm. Destroy the Champion as soon as you've docked."
    It took only a few minutes to maneuver the pinnace back to the Dauntless and dock it, but they seemed to last forever, and all the time Silence saw a single valiant figure, fighting an army of dead men and hoping for a quick death from the Dauntless's guns. He patched into the main ship's sensors, and watched
    silently as cannon after cannon opened fire on the Champion. Her shields flared into existence immediately, but they were old, inferior shields, and the Dauntless's superior firepower battered them down and slapped them aside.
    Disrupter bolts hit the old ship again and again, blowing jagged holes in the hull. Escaping energies burned silently in the dark, until finally the Champion exploded in a bloody ball of hellfire, glowing brightly in the long night.
    Goodbye, Frost, said the Captain silently. I'll miss you.
    He broke the comm link and sank back in his chair, feeling suddenly very tired.
    The two security men were manhandling an unconscious Cross out the air lock. He couldn't really believe that she was dead yet. He could still feel her presence through his metal link, like a ghost in his head, but presumably that would fade away in time, like the phantom pain from an amputated limb.
    "Captain, this is Stelmach," said a familiar voice in his ear suddenly. "We're getting strange readings here on the bridge. There are reports of fighting coming in from all over the ship. Intruders, appearing from nowhere, killing our people. There are energy weapons discharging on all levels. Dear God, Captain, they're Ghost Warriors!"
    "No," said Silence. "That's not possible."
    "They're here, Captain. I can see them through the security cameras! How the hell did they get off the Champion! We didn't track any escaping craft."
    "They teleported," said Silence. "The bastards teleported! That's what I'd forgotten. Remember what we saw at Court? Shub has the secret of long-range teleportation! Set up interior force shields throughout the ship, cutting off all infected areas. Have repair teams standing by in case disrupters puncture the shell. And warm up the auto-destruct. Just in case."
    And Frost died for nothing.

    "Where's the nearest trouble site, Stelmach?"
    "Two or three quite near you, Captain. Biggest group is one level down, Delta section, but the security force I sent hasn't got there yet. You'd better stay clear till I get word it's been secured."
    "Hell with that," said Silence. "This is my ship. I go where I'm needed. I have business with these murderous bastards. Silence out."
    He ran down the corridor, pushing the hard suit to its limits, and all he