Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War

exactly exciting, you know. It's a poor life when you're reduced to getting cheap thrills from foreclosing on someone's mortgage. No, being a rebel sounds much more fun. See you around, Deathstalker."
    He nodded briskly to Owen and Hazel, and wandered off in search of food and wine and someone else to whom he could boast about his transformation. There's no one more enthusiastic than a middle-aged convert. He was replaced by the journalist Toby Shreck and his cameraman Flynn. Their press credentials had saved them from the general slaughter of the invading forces, but now they were stranded on Mistworld until they could beg, borrow, or steal passage off.

    "Hi there," said Toby. "Mind if we join you? We've brought our own bottle."
    "Now there speaks a civilized man," said Owen. "I understand you're interested in coming along with us desperate rebel types when we leave?"
    "Damn right," said Toby. "You people are where the story is. Besides, we asked everybody else, and they all said no."
    "Fair enough," said Owen. "If you're looking for a good story, some of my associates are planning an expedition to a planet called Haceldama. I'll put you in contact with them. In the meantime, why aren't you interviewing Jack Random?
    He's the official hero of the hour."
    Toby and Flynn looked at each other, and then Toby leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Are you sure that is Jack Random?"
    Owen and Hazel kept their faces blank, but they leaned forward and lowered their voices, too. "What makes you think that he isn't?" said Hazel.
    "Because we saw him leading a rebellion on Technos III, just a few weeks ago,"
    said Toby. "And he looked… different. Older."
    "Much older," said Flynn. "I've got it all on tape. And my camera never lies."
    "Lots of people have claimed to be Jack Random, down the years," Owen said neutrally. "Let's just say this one seems more convincing than most."
    Toby glanced back at Random, still surrounded by well-wishers and devoted disciples. "Doesn't it bother you, that he's getting all the glory? You two did just as much as he. Flynn got most of it on tape."
    Hazel shrugged. "Last thing I need is being bothered by autograph hunters. Let him be the hero, if that's what he wants. I was never very comfortable with the role anyway."
    "Heads up," said Owen. "I think he's going to say something."

    The speech that followed was a triumph. Short, sharp, lucid, and witty. A professional speechwriter couldn't have done better. Young Jack Random stirred the crowd's blood with praises for their deeds in protecting their city, and with promises of more battles against injustice to come. On to Golgotha! he cried, and everyone cheered and applauded. Owen and Hazel applauded, too, so as not to seem small, but neither of them was swayed by his words. He was still just too good to be true, for them.
    But, all things considered, Owen felt basically upbeat. Things seemed to be going his way for once. The Imperial invasion had been defeated, Mistport had been saved, his own mission was apparently a great success, and he'd faced the prophecy of his own death and survived after all. Not that he'd ever really believed in it, but it was good to put it behind him. It was like having a new lease on life; and life was very good just then.
    He and Hazel stood together and watched the crowd cheer itself hoarse for Jack Random, and were quietly content.

Chapter 2
    INNOCENCE LOST
    They called it Shannon's World, because it was his dream, his vision. He all but bankrupted himself bringing it into existence, but the result was a pleasure world like no other, reserved only for the very rich, the extremely well connected, and the strictly aristocratic. Its location was a secret known only to the glamorous few, and for those inquisitive others who bribed or bullied their way to Shannon's World uninvited, state-of-the-art security and weapons systems waited to blow them out of this world and into the next. Shannon's World, where mountains sang to each other, fantasies and dreams became real, and the whole world was alive. A pleasure planet unlike any other, where even the
    weariest of souls could find rest and comfort and contentment.
    And then the awful thing happened.
    Afterward, Shannon's World cut itself off from the Empire, refusing to acknowledge any form of contact. Visitors were destroyed while still in orbit, no matter whom they represented. The Empress sent a ship. It never came back.
    She sent a starcruiser, which managed to land