Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

have called on unnatural strength and speed, but she chose not to. She wanted to beat the Investigator in a fair fight, to prove she was the best.
    Shoal swung her sword double-handed in an arc that would have beheaded Ruby if it had connected, but Ruby ducked under it at the last moment. She took the fight to Shoal, pressing the attack as hard as she could, and Shoal just stood there and took it, not retreating a step. Their swords hammered together, drawing blood here and there from minor wounds, neither able to gain the upper hand for long. But Ruby was getting tired and just a little slower, and Shoal wasn't. Ruby was a bounty hunter, trained as a fighter in the hardest of schools, but Shoal, even with her illness, was an Investigator. And slowly, foot by foot, she began to push Ruby back. Shoal's blade drew blood again and again,
    and Ruby couldn't touch her. It slowly came to her that she'd finally found her better. And just maybe she was going to die if she didn't boost. The boost would give her the edge she needed. No, she thought furiously. I can do this. I can, not some gift from an alien device. Shoal swung her sword with unexpected strength and slammed Ruby off balance.
    She staggered back, trying to recover, and Shoal drew back her blade for a killing thrust. And Ruby's blade shot forward, driven by boosted strength and speed she hadn't called for, and punched through Shoal's chest and out her back.
    Blood gushed from the Investigator's mouth, and she sank to her knees with a look of utter surprise on her face. Ruby jerked her sword out, and Shoal fell forward and lay still.
    "No!" said Ruby. "No! I didn't want that!" She hacked at the body with her sword again and again, cursing and spitting. She hadn't called on the boost. It had come unbidden, unwanted. For better or worse, the Maze wouldn't let her be merely human anymore. She finally stopped herself and stood hunched over the mutilated body, panting for breath.
    "Is she always like this?" said Beatrice.
    "Not always," said Random. "Ruby? Are you all right?"
    "No," said Ruby. "I don't think so." She sheathed her sword without cleaning it; then stopped, raised her head, and looked about her. "Hold everything. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this place."
    Random looked at her thoughtfully. He took her feelings seriously. He had them himself, sometimes. "You mean right here in the clone quarters?"
    "No. More widely spread than that."
    Storm looked around nervously. "Could there be guards on the way?"
    "I don't know! Jack, join with me. We're stronger together."

    Their eyes met and their minds joined. Their faces became blank masks as they concentrated, their minds leaping up and out to test their surroundings.
    Beatrice looked at Storm. "I didn't know they were espers."
    "They're not," said Storm. "But don't ask me what they are."
    Random and Ruby fell back into their heads and looked at each other incredulously. "I don't believe it," said Random.
    "What?" said Storm. "Don't believe what?"
    "There are explosives everywhere," said Ruby. "All through the factory."
    "At least three main groupings," said Random. "Set to do maximum damage and timed to go off soon. Any one would have been enough to bring stardrive production to a halt, but God knows what this many will do. Right, that's it. We are out of here. Alex, use the codes we were given and get these pens open.
    We've got to get the clones out of here while there's still time."
    "Wait," said Beatrice. "You do know they're executing your people at the ceremony?"
    "Sure," said Random. "Don't worry. We'll get to them next."
    "You won't have time. Their execution's been brought forward, to be sure of going out on prime time."
    "Damn," said Random. "You can't rely on anyone these days. Right; Sister Beatrice, you and Alex get the clones out of here. Since they're in clear danger from the explosives, you can do that without risking your Sisterhood's neutrality. Ruby and I will take care of the prisoners."
    "How?" said Alex.
    "I'm working on it," said Random.
    "Thrills, chills, and last-minute rescues," said Ruby. "Don't you just love
    being an outlaw?"
    In the beating heat outside the factory complex, the ceremony was going well.
    Everyone had remembered their lines, Kassar hadn't hit anybody yet, and Toby Shreck and Flynn were covering it all, transmitting live to audiences all across the Empire. Important people were watching, not least the Empress, and everyone else was watching in the hopes of a