Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

you."
    "Never trust a Security Officer," said Frost. Her hand fell to the gun on her hip. Stelmach made himself stand still.
    "He didn't have to tell us," said Silence.
    "Yes I did," said Stelmach. "We're family."
    He and Silence shared a smile. Frost nodded, which was as close as she got to a smile when she wasn't killing something, and took her hand away from her gun.
    "So," she said. "What do we do now?"
    "We concentrate on getting to the Standing alive," said Silence. "Everything else can wait. We'll work something out. We always do."
    "I hate all this improvising," said Frost.
    They moved on through what was left of the town, making better time now that they no longer had to hide from the war machines. Silence and Frost gathered their power around them again, and hid the three of them from the machines'
    sensors. And so they were able to watch unmolested as the robots came marching down a street, driving a desparate army of refugees before them. Men, women, and children ran despairingly, lungs straining for breath, forcing themselves on despite the pain in their legs and backs and chests. The machines killed the slowest, or those who could no longer keep up, smashing their skulls with swift, efficient blows from their steel hands. Blood ran down the cobbled street and swirled thickly in the gutters. Finally the robots tired of this, or decided their priorities lay elsewhere, and they fell suddenly on the refugees, overtaking them in seconds, and tearing them limb from limb. They slaughtered them all in a matter of seconds, and then moved on, their metal feet stamping
    through a river of blood and gore. They passed right by Silence and Frost and Stelmach and didn't see them.
    Stelmach looked at Silence and Frost. "Couldn't you have done something? I mean, I know they're rebels, but…"
    "No buts," said Frost. "The price for rebellion is death."
    "I don't know," said Silence. "That wasn't execution; that was butchery. I've seen war before. Seen men kill men for all kinds of reasons. But that was men, not machines. There were children there…"
    Frost looked at Silence. "Don't go soft on me, Captain. They brought this on themselves. They plotted and conspired to bring this about. They betrayed their oath and their honor and their duty, and finally themselves. They knew what they were getting into."
    "Do you think the children knew?" said Silence. "Do you think they knew why they were being driven through the streets like cattle and then slaughtered?"
    "Their parents brought that on them," said Frost. "They bear the blame. We have to be strong, Captain. You used to know that. You gave the order to scorch the planet Unseeli."
    "And I'm still haunted by what I did there," said Silence. "I thought that there was no other way. And in the end it didn't solve anything, remember? Maybe we should be looking harder for other ways."
    "That's not our business," said Frost. "We don't make policy. We can't see the big picture."
    "When did we ever try?" said Silence.
    David Deathstalker and Kit SummerIsle, along with Alice and Jenny, made a dash for the Standing on their flyer. It wasn't the safest of places to head for, with the Steward probably in charge there, but they were short on options.

    Besides, when David first came to Virimonde, he'd taken the precaution of salting the Standing's Security forces with men specifically loyal to him. Just in case. The Steward had already betrayed Owen, after all. Right now, David was hoping his people would have taken control by the time he got there.
    They flew high above the clouds, at the fastest speed the flyer's straining engines could produce. Kit sat at the controls, leaving David to comfort Alice.
    She hadn't said a dozen words since the flyer took off. She'd seen her family die and her home destroyed, and her face had set in harsh, broken lines. David and Jenny took turns talking to her, trying to reach her, but she didn't seem to hear them. Something inside her had broken, and might never be put back together again. David gave her his gun to hold, and she seemed to find that comforting.
    In the end he left her with Jenny and went forward to stand beside Kit.
    "How are we doing?"
    "As well as can be expected," the SummerIsle said calmly, not looking round.
    "Our security codes probably no longer protect us from attack, but at this height and speed most of the machines on the ground shouldn't be able to track us. Our real problem is the flyer's energy crystals. According to the