Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

as full of bounce as ever. Flynn glided in behind him, a new holocamera on his shoulder. Everyone else moved instinctively together, to present a unified front against a common enemy.
    "That's what I like to see," said Toby breezily. "Good grouping. Relax, people.
    We won't start broadcasting till the ceremony itself. Which I'm sure I don't need to remind you is going out live; so, Cardinal, watch your language. I hope you're all ready to begin, because everyone else is. All the factory staff and those Church troops not currently lying flat on their backs and moaning quietly have been assembled outside and are standing in neat ranks, boiling in the summer heat and no doubt praying fervently for the start of the monsoon season.
    The Cardinal's prisoners have been lined up and securely chained in place. They were making rather a racket, but some kind soul has dosed them with industrial strength tranquilizers, and now it's all they can do to stand up straight. The
    execution should make for a good show, Cardinal. The populace does so love its blood sports. Even if the prey this time are mostly women and children. What happened, Cardinal? Were all the rebel men off on a fishing trip, perhaps?"
    "One of these days your tongue is going to get you into trouble you won't be able to talk your way out of," said Kassar, every word chipped out of ice. "And I just pray I'm there so I can rip that wagging tongue right out of your head."
    "Don't ever change, Cardinal," said Toby. "It's part of your charm." He looked across at Stephanie. "May I suggest we get a move on? It's never wise to keep a mass audience waiting too long. Especially if it happens to include the Empress Lionstone herself."
    The ceremony, it had been decided at practically the last moment, would be held outside the factory despite the weather, so that the impressive size of the factory complex could be seen and admired all the better by the viewing billions. One of the stardrive assembly lines had been extended out the main doors, so that the very first completed mass-production stardrive could come rolling out of the factory to be presented to the waiting crowds and the holo audiences. The waiting crowds in this case being the increasingly rebellious factory staff and Church troops, growing more and more ready by the minute to kill for a glass of cold water. Most of the Faithful had been ferried down from the Church ship in orbit to make up the numbers. They didn't look at all happy to be there. Deep-grained indignation seethed in the ranks, barely suppressed by the presence of the remaining Jesuit commandos.
    Stardrive production was months behind schedule already, and everyone knew it.
    The Rejects had attacked so often that they'd actually managed to bring the whole process to a halt on more than one occasion. Though of course that had never been publicly admitted, even under the Campbells. The official line was
    "teething troubles," to be expected with the development of any new technology.
    Only a few people knew that the new drive was derived from only partly understood alien technology that had a disturbing habit of killing the clones who worked on it, and those people kept their mouths shut. Because most of them were dead, and the rest didn't want to be.
    Toby kept Flynn moving, covering the ceremony from as many angles as he could get away with, without making the watching audience dizzy. He was careful to give each of the main players equal coverage, to avoid later claims of bias, and made sure Flynn kept a very safe distance from Kassar at all times. Luckily, Flynn's Union had been able to emergency express him a new camera in time for the ceremony. And if having a camera actually blasted off your shoulder by a disrupter didn't count as an emergency, Toby didn't know what did. Surprisingly, Flynn hadn't been that upset at the time. Hell, he said, I've covered Democracy Now protest marches. God, they're a vicious bunch. Nothing scares me after them.
    Toby smiled and shrugged, then and now, and got on with his job. He couldn't help wondering how much Imperial News must have laid out in payoffs to ensure his exclusive coverage. It wasn't really a major news story, but there were enough names and personages present, combined with memories of the rebel attack during the last live broadcast, to ensure a major live audience. Including the Empress. Which meant this broadcast could be a major feather in Imperial News'
    cap—if Toby didn't blow it. He was