Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

script and is hanging about where he shouldn't be," said Random. "Just because it's a really good plan doesn't mean there can't be… complications. Did you really never like my plans, Alex?"
    "No I bloody didn't. They were always needlessly complex and extremely dangerous, especially for the poor sods who had to carry them out."
    "I never asked my men to do anything I wasn't willing to do myself, and you know it. Hell, I lead those undercover teams as often as not. Anyway, if my plans were that bad, why did you keep volunteering to go along with me?"
    "I was younger then. And you were my friend."
    Random stopped and looked back. Ruby stopped, too, and instinctively moved in close beside Random as he studied his old friend thoughtfully. Storm looked almost defiant, the dim lighting putting shadows in his face. Or perhaps they'd been there for some time. For a moment. Random thought he was looking at a completely different person, someone he really didn't know at all. And, in a
    moment of insight, he wondered if that was how Storm saw him these days.
    "You were my friend?" he said slowly. "As in used to be, but not anymore?"
    Storm met his gaze squarely. "I don't know. I used to think I understood you, but you've changed, Jack. Look at you. You're younger, stronger, faster. It's not natural. I can't even follow the way you think anymore. What are you becoming, Jack?"
    "Myself," said Random. "As I used to be. I'm back in my prime again. A second chance, to get things right this time. I'm sorry, Alex; I've grown young again while you're still old. That's what this is really about, isn't it? I'm the hero again, and you've been left behind. But none of that changes how I feel about you. It doesn't mean that I don't need you anymore. I just need you in different ways these days. Stay with me, Alex. Please. You remind me of who I used to be."
    "And you remind me of who I used to be," said Storm. "A man I can't be anymore.
    Go on. Jack. You lead and I'll follow. Just like I always have."
    "Oh, spare me," said Ruby. "Any more of this old comrades stuff and I'll puke over both of you. Can we get on? We are on a schedule, remember?"
    "Ruby, dear heart, you have no sentiment in you at all," said Random, turning away to take up the lead again.
    "Damn right," said Ruby. "It gets in the way of more important things. Like killing and loot. Now, get your ancient ass moving, Storm, or I'll kick it up around your ears."
    Storm sniffed, but set off after Random. "You'll be old yourself one day, my girl."
    "I very much doubt it," said Ruby. "And I am not your girl."
    "That's for sure," said Random.
    Mother Superior Beatrice ran across the uneven metal plain, her heavy robes
    flapping about her. She was boiling alive in the summer heat, and her breath was jerking painfully in her straining lungs, but she didn't dare slow down.
    Investigator Shoal couldn't be far behind her. There was fighting on the east side of the factory, another rebel attack by the look of it, which meant she couldn't get to the ceremony directly, as she'd planned. She'd have to enter the factory through the minor west gate and make her way through the complex to the east gate and the ceremony. That might actually be for the better. Shoal would be bound to catch her on foot eventually, but she might just be able to lose the Investigator in the complex's warren of corridors. She forced more strength into her legs and headed for the west gate.
    Most of the guards were gone, called away to the ceremony or the rebel attack, but three Jesuit commandos in their dark formal gowns and hoods were guarding the entrance. They were dark and menacing figures, with guns and swords on their hips, but Beatrice didn't give a damn. Having an Investigator on your tail concentrates the mind wonderfully as to what's really important. Stark terror will do that to you. She stumbled to a halt before the Jesuits and held up a shaking hand to forestall their questions as she tried desperately to get her breath back. Since they hadn't started shooting the moment they recognized her, presumably they didn't know about the execution order on her head. And she couldn't tell them and hope for protection. They'd just assume that if an Investigator was after her, she must be guilty of something. Jesuits believed everyone was guilty of something.
    "Someone's after me," she said finally. "Must be a rebel. You hold him off while I go inside for help."
    "Hold it," said the most senior of the Jesuits. "We