Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

They'd do it."
    "Yes," said a quiet new voice. "They would."
    Everyone looked around as a tall slender man wrapped in ill-fitting furs stood up in the front row of the seats. His face was drawn and gaunt, his mouth a thin line, his eyes sunk deep in their sockets. There was hardly anything to him, as though the smallest breath of wind would carry him away. His legs trembled as
    though they could barely sustain his small weight. But his gaze was steady, and when he spoke his quiet voice was firm and measured.
    "I'm Long Lankin 32. A clone from the factory. They're working us to death, to make sure the ceremony will take place on time. The work itself is dangerous.
    Exposure to the forces involved eats away at our flesh and our minds. They can treat us as they wish. No one says anything. The Empress wants her new stardrive. Go ahead and attack. Let them kill us all. The hell they'd send us to can't be worse than the hell we live and work in every day. But if you could free us, we'd fight for you against the Empire to the last drop of our blood."
    He sat down suddenly, as though afraid his legs would no longer support him. A loud murmur of encouragement and support ran around the watching audience. Storm nodded soberly.
    "He meant it. I'm impressed. It's rare as hell for a clone to break away from his conditioning that much. If they're all like him, we'd have an army I'd back against anyone. Even trained Empire troops."
    Random nodded, but said nothing. While he had no doubt Long Lankin's every word had been true and from the heart, he also knew a good publicity stunt when he saw one. The council had put him up to it, to take the edge off their further complication. The council had probably even written his little speech for him, to be sure of having the maximum effect on the audience and the newcomers. It was what Random would have done. However, Random had been a professional rebel long enough not to let his emotions sway him. His mission on Technos III was to stop stardrive production, and if that meant destroying the factory completely, along with all the clones in it, that was what he'd do. Of course, if he could work out a way to aid the Rejects in rescuing the clones first, he'd happily do
    that. It was, after all, why he'd become a professional rebel in the first place.
    "Trench warfare's nothing new to me," he said finally. "We've put in our time in the trenches, haven't we, Alex? Of course, we were younger then. Same with fighting underground. Nothing new about tunnel rats or the blood they spill that the sun will never see. I'm not going to insult you by offering advice on how to fight. I've got a feeling you already know more about that than I'll ever know.
    But Alex and I have been fighting the Empire all our lives, too. We know strategies and tricks of the trade that might just give you an edge over the Wolfe security forces and the Church troops. We know how their minds work.
    "I know you're disappointed that there's only the three of us. But people are flocking to the underground movement on hundreds of worlds, all spoiling for a chance to strike back against the Empire. And unfortunately, there's only so many Golgotha advisers to go around. You have Jack Random's word that you'll get everything you need, in time. But for the moment it's imperative that the Empress be denied the new stardrive the Wolfe factory is producing. With a fleet powered by the new drive, Lionstone could finally be unbeatable. That's why we're here. To help you stop production and, if possible, overthrow the Wolfes.
    Then it'll be up to you to hold this planet while we take on the rest of the Empire. We'll do everything we can to help you. There might only be three of us, but you'll be surprised what we can do."
    "In other words," said Specter Alice, fixing him with her disturbing stare, "you want to just walk in here, take over, and run things yourself. Be the big hero one more time. Right?"
    "No," said Random. "I've done that. I'm here to lead only by example. To fight beside you in the frontline. To show you what I've learned in all my years as a
    professional rebel. Ruby and Alex will be fighting, too, in their different ways. You asked for help; we're here. And together we'll tear that factory apart."
    The four Reject leaders moved together and murmured urgently to each other. A loud growl of debate filled the chamber as the onlookers discussed what they'd heard. Random looked casually about him, but was damned if he could