Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

anywhere within the Empire that could stand against them. Luckily for all concerned. Investigators were by nature a solitary breed who did not care for each other's company. The only thing they had in common was Half A Man. They'd die for Half A Man. Or kill for him. Which was why he'd come to Technos III.
    Toby Shreck was fascinated by the man, and so was Flynn, though both of them
    tried hard not to show it. Half A Man had displayed no fondness for publicity after his return, particularly after the way the tabloids hounded him, and he'd shunned the media spotlight for decades, rarely appearing in public except when ordered to by the Emperor of the day. As a result, coverage of the man tended to be few and far between, and any reporter with new footage could practically name his own price. The reception itself would be going out live, but Toby had no doubt he could sneak some extra footage afterward. Maybe even get an interview.
    If Half A Man didn't kill him on the spot just for asking. There were rumors.
    Everyone's head turned as they heard a particular sound approaching down the corridor outside the reception hall. The sound of one foot tapping on the metal floor. They all drew themselves up to look their best and unconsciously braced themselves. The door swung open, and Half A Man came in. Toby's first thought was That's not so bad. I can handle that. He hadn't been sure how he'd react to such an awful sight in the flesh, so to speak. But the human half looked human enough, and the glowing spitting energy half was just energy.
    The human half was a little over six feet tall, in good shape, and conservatively dressed. The half a face was subtly disturbing, but the hair was a common enough dark brown, as was the single eye, and the half a mouth was set and firm. Toby couldn't read any emotion in the mouth or the eye. There wasn't enough information in half a face. He couldn't even decide if it had once been handsome or not. The energy half was entirely human in space, though it spat and crackled constantly. But Toby had a sick feeling it wasn't even close to the same shape as the human half. It had no particular color, or perhaps it was all colors. And it wasn't just its brightness that made it hard to look at.
    Toby tore his gaze away from Half A Man, and checked quickly that all his lights
    were working and in the right place. He and Flynn had had to guess at the exposures. He glanced at Flynn and was relieved to see the camera on his shoulder was already silently capturing everything. Billions of people were watching this meeting live, in this sector alone, and if he didn't screw this up completely, Toby Shreck could finally be on his way to being accepted as a real reporter.
    The two Wolfes stepped forward to officially greet Half A Man, then stopped as three newcomers stepped silently through the open door, wearing the formal blue and silver cloaks of the Investigator. Stephanie and Daniel gaped openly. Toby's blood ran cold. Three Investigators together in the same room? This was unheard of. No one had said anything about this. Toby glared at Flynn to make sure he kept filming. There was an even bigger story here than he'd thought.
    "Daniel and Stephanie Wolfe," said Half A Man in a perfectly normal voice,
    "allow me to present my three companions; they are the Investigators Edge, Barr, and Shoal."
    Each Investigator bowed briefly as they were named. Edge was a tall, slender man well into his fifties. His long face came to a sharp point at his chin, and his eyes were too wide and too bright. His slight scowl was openly contemptuous.
    Barr stood like a soldier, every muscle to attention, short and square like a bulldog. He was clearly into his sixties, with close-cropped gunmetal hair. He looked like he was just waiting for an order to kill somebody. Shoal was the youngest, a medium height, compact woman in her late forties, with dark spiky hair and a cool gaze. Toby thought he saw a smile lurking in one corner of her generous mouth, but since she was an Investigator, he was probably wrong. It was common knowledge Investigators smiled only when they were killing. Preferably whole alien species. Slowly. And then Edge spotted the holocamera, and
    everything went to hell in a hurry.
    "Turn that bloody thing off," said Edge, a sword already in his hand. He advanced on Flynn, who backed quickly away, still filming. Flynn had worked in combat zones and knew the first rule of reporting was to keep filming, no