Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

of the underground, trusted by one damn fool after another, sabotaging and undermining their operations pretty much at will. No one every suspected me. I was Alexander Storm, the great rebel hero, friend and companion to the legendary Jack Random.
    "I was a bit worried when Jack turned up again, but the mind techs had done a good job on him. They saw to it he never remembered much of his time on Cold Rock, let alone my desertion and turning. He never even remembered how I helped the mind techs torture and condition him, to prove my loyalty to my new masters.
    So when he reappeared, and I finally had to meet him because putting it off any longer might have seemed suspicious. Well, it was all old friends together again, and he never saw past my smile to see the contempt in my eyes. After that, it was just a case of waiting for the best time to use the control words the mind techs had planted in Jack's subconscious. And here he is now, standing before Your Majesty, harmless as a newborn kitten."
    "What about the bounty hunter?" said Razor. "There have been reports of her
    developing psi powers…"
    "Don't worry about her," said Storm. "She's drugged to the eyeballs and loaded down with so many chains and restraints it's a wonder she can still stand." He wandered over to her and kicked her behind the knee. She fell heavily to her knees, her chains clanking loudly. Storm laughed, and moved back before the Throne.
    "I thought Jack Random was your friend," said Captain Silence.
    Storm shrugged. "He was. And then he let me down, by being only human. Legends shouldn't get old and tired and slow, and lose more often than they win. I was tired of being a loser. I wanted to be on the winning side, to have wealth and luxuries and an easy life, to make up for all my years of nothing. No one was ever grateful to me for all the times I risked my life on their behalf, the bastards. No one ever said thanks, you've done enough, let someone else take over now. No, they just wanted more. Even Jack. Into battle one more time, on some godforsaken rock I'd never even heard of, leading dumb peasants against trained Imperial troops, and all of it for nothing. All the blood and the fear and the death of friends. I just got tired of it all. So when Jack fell and was taken, I had a moment of very clear insight, and saw the futility of rebellion.
    Even if we were to win, and overthrow the Empress, she'd only be replaced by someone just like her. It's the nature of the job, and the way things are. So I gave up poverty and hopelessness for wealth and security. And a chance to strike back at the rebels and make them pay for all the years of my life they had wasted."
    "He was still your friend," said Silence.
    Storm glared at him. "Is he? I don't know who this is anymore. He should be my
    age, but he's young, and I'm not. He's a man of power and destiny again, and I'm not. All my life has been unfair, and he's always been the most unfair thing in it."
    "Kill you," said Ruby Journey thickly. They all turned to look at her, kneeling and weighed down with chains, fighting to hold her head up. She glared at Storm.
    "He trusted you. Loved you like a brother. Fought beside you. I'll kill you slowly, you treacherous bastard. Rip your heart out and make you eat it before you die. Chains won't hold me. Drugs wear off. I'll see you dead before I am."
    "Oh shut up," said Storm. He swaggered over to her, and punched her in the mouth. She fell backwards. "I never liked you, bitch." He started kicking her.
    "That's quite enough of that," said Owen Deathstalker.
    His voice rang across the Court, sharp and commanding, and Storm fell back in spite of himself. Everyone turned to see Owen leading his companions through the inferno, toward the Iron Throne. Two Deathstalkers, both legends and men of destiny. Hazel d'Ark, the pirate turned hero. Psycho Jenny, the sacred madwoman of the esper underground. And, like two crows with great experience of battlefields, Toby and Flynn brought up the rear, there for the end of the story, whatever it might be.
    Investigator Razor and Kit SummerIsle moved quickly to stand between the Throne and the newcomers. Storm hurried back to join Dram and Valentine Wolfe. Silence and Frost drew their swords. Stelmach drew his gun. The maids-in-waiting stirred angrily, and hissed at the new arrivals as Owen led them toward the Throne. They stopped beside Ruby Journey, who looked up at them and spit out a mouthful of blood.
    "Took you long