Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

major cock-up or rebel attack, like before.
    Toby kept up a murmured running commentary during the slow bits and suffered through the longer speeches. If they didn't get to the executions soon, people might start losing interest. A new stardrive might be just what the Empire needed, but it didn't actually make great viewing in itself.
    All in all, though, things were going better than Toby had expected. As requested, Half A Man was staying in plain view and not retreating into the background as usual. He wasn't actually doing or saying anything, but his public appearances were so rare these days that any new sighting was an event. Toby had put as much effort into convincing Half A Man as he had into persuading Flynn not to wear his best party frock. Good ratings needed all the help they could get.
    The Wolfes were standing right at the front, each with their own proper spouse, smiling and nodding and generally being nice to each other. People had won drama awards for less. There was an underlying air of tension among them, but that was to be expected and hopefully wouldn't show up on camera. Toby couldn't help noticing that they kept checking their watches when they thought no one was looking. Presumably, they were getting impatient for the executions, too. Toby smiled to himself. They didn't know about his planned dramatic plea for clemency.
    The ranks of Church troops and factory security staff were still standing
    rigidly to attention and made a nice spectacle. Only a few more had fainted from the heat, and the audience wouldn't mind that. It added a touch of drama and made them more sympathetic to the audience. Toby had considered bribing a few to mock faint, but had rightly decided the heat would do the job for him. The prisoners looked like rabble. Animals in chains. Presumably, arranged quite deliberately. The Wolfes never missed a good propaganda opportunity.
    Daniel Wolfe stepped forward to make the final speech, reading from a teleprompter with all the warmth and spontaneity of a particularly dense block of wood. Flynn moved in a little closer to frame the man's head and shoulders, to hide the fact that Daniel's hands were twitching nervously. Toby listened carefully, nodding now and again. It was a good speech. Almost as good as the stuff he used to write. He looked across at the ramp protruding from the factory entrance. The first finished stardrive was waiting in the wings, great ugly thing, ready to make an entrance on cue. Toby allowed himself a small glow of satisfaction. With work like this to his credit, he'd be able to pick and choose from among the very best journalistic assignments. It was a good show, if a little safe and uncontroversial, to end his time on Technos III. Pity it couldn't have had a touch more drama, though.
    Jack Random and Ruby Journey, hidden and anonymous inside their borrowed Jesuit robes with the hoods pulled well forward, strode haughtily past the security cameras and the few guards left on duty. Most just nodded them through. You didn't argue with Jesuits, unless you wanted to spend your next weekend on some really inventive and humiliating penance. Random kept up a quiet muttering of what he hoped were suitably religious-sounding utterances, made broadly gestured crosses over anything that moved or looked like it might, and generally kept his
    head down. He'd always enjoyed those parts of his schemes that involved disguises. It appealed to the frustrated actor in him. Though he sometimes thought his whole life as the professional rebel had been his greatest role.
    Ruby just trudged along beside him, keeping her hands away from her concealed weapons and trying not to break into her usual long-legged stride. In her own way she was acting, too. Being quiet, calm, and subservient didn't come at all naturally to her. Much as he loved her, Random had to admit Ruby wasn't really what you'd call versatile. If you couldn't hit it, steal it, or sleep with it, she was often lost for an alternative.
    They finally reached the main exit that would let them out into the ceremony and came to a dead halt as a Church trooper in full armor blocked their way. He was almost as broad as he was tall, armed with gun and sword, and had the happily obstinate look of someone whose orders allowed him to push around people who would normally have been his superiors. Random crossed him twice, with dramatic sweeps of the hand, but the trooper remained unimpressed.
    "Sorry, Father. You know the rules.