Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

time this mission was over, Evangeline would have worked out an answer. If not, she'd have to turn to Finlay. And hope by some miracle he could save her from Hell one more time. She looked at him, sitting quietly beside her, strong and solid and reassuring, and a sudden warmth flowed through her. She said his name, and when he turned to look at her, she kissed him.
    This fascinated the toys. Poogie and Halloweenie stood up to get a better look.
    "What on earth are they doing?" said Poogie in a hushed voice.
    "I don't know," said Halloweenie. "Do you suppose it hurts?"
    "Beats me, but they're pulling some really funny faces."
    "I think it's time you kids were in bed," said Toby.
    The humans all had some kind of smile when Finlay and Evangeline finally broke apart. They all sat for a while in companionable silence, watching the flames die down in the fire, trying to work up the energy to get up and go to bed. And then Giles surprised them all by speaking again.
    "The Empire was a wonderful place to be when I was a child. You felt you could grow up to be anyone, do anything. The possibilities seemed endless. You could
    make your mark in a thousand ways, be revered by a thousand worlds. I became the first Warrior Prime, feted and adored. It was a time of wonders and marvels… and I helped to bring it all to an end, when I activated the Darkvoid Device. I look at what the Empire's become now, and I hardly recognize it. I hardly recognize myself. I'm not the man I thought I'd grow up to be."
    "I suppose that's true of all of us," said Finlay. "I look at my life, and I wonder how the hell did I get here from there. We all have dreams, as children, but mostly they get beaten out of us as we grow older."
    "Perhaps that's the saddest change of all," said Giles. "These days, even dreams are forbidden. It's a strange Empire I've come back to. Clones, espers, Hadenmen, Wampyr. Toys that think and care. It's hard to be sure what's really human anymore. Among so many strange forms of life, how easy it would be to lose our Humanity forever."
    "We haven't lost anything," said Julian. "Except possibly our limitations. You have strange abilities yourself, Deathstalker. Does that make you any less human?"
    "I don't know," said Giles. "I don't know."
    They set off early the next day. The sound of warfare in the distance was louder, more distinct, more threatening. The smiley face on the sun seemed openly mocking. The humans and the toys kept a careful watch. The trees on the River-banks were growing thicker, darker. Anything could be hiding in them, or behind them. There was a constant feeling of being watched by unseen eyes. The only sound apart from the distant thunder was the steady quiet chugging of the Merry Mrs. Trusspot. She still hadn't spoken, but somewhen during the night, two huge watchful eyes had opened on either side of her bow.
    Julian stayed in his cabin. His various pains had grown worse during the night,
    beyond anything the autodoc's limited drugs could deal with. Toby overrode the doc's safety limits, to allow for larger doses, but it didn't help much. Julian ended up curled up on the floor in a corner of his cabin, because the swaying of the hammock hurt him too much. Sometimes, when the pain grew so bad it reduced him to helpless tears, he would call out for Finlay, and he would go and sit with Julian for a while. Afterward, he'd emerge from the cabin with frustrated tears in his eyes, and his hands clenched into fists, furious at his inability to help. He'd rescued Julian from the Empire's interrogators, but he couldn't rescue the young esper from this. He tried picking fights with the Deathstalker, over what he'd done to Julian, but the old man refused to be drawn. He couldn't repeat his jump-start; the strain would probably kill the weakened esper. He'd done all he could, and that was an end to it as far as he was concerned.
    Evangeline went in to Julian a few times, but he didn't want her. Poogie went in then, and cuddled the human in his soft arms. It helped, sometimes.
    The atmosphere on the deck grew strained. Everyone felt angry, for conflicting reasons. Julian was distracting them, at a time when they needed most to concentrate on their mission. Instead of the support he'd promised, the esper was becoming a liability. But no one wanted to say that out loud. Conversations became short and sharp. Bruin Bear tried to be cheerful and optimistic, until even the Sea Goat told him to shut the hell up. They were