Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

single thing about this planet that I’ve liked so far. What’s wrong with this way in?”
    “It’s… through the sewers.”
    “Of course,” said Owen. “It would have to be, wouldn’t it? How come you know about it?”
    “My job here was part of city security. The rebuilding of the colony was finally getting under way, with new cities springing up everywhere, but the cost was going way over budget, and I mean way over. So they hired a whole bunch of security experts with nasty, suspicious minds to find out where all the money was going. Sounded like an interesting job when I took it, but it turned out to be mostly paperwork and computer time. But I got there in the end. I hacked into files I wasn’t supposed to know about, and found hard evidence that one of the main contractors was working a scam with one of the main unions.
    The contractors arranged for extra overtime, none of which was actually done, and the contractors and the union bosses split the take between them. None of the poor working slobs ever saw any of that money, of course. “Just as I was getting ready to lower the boom on the bad guys, someone finked me out, and contractors and bosses grabbed their ill-gotten gains and did a runner. I ended up chasing them clear across the city and out through the sewers, to where they had a ship waiting. Anyone else, they might have made it, but having to run that far had put me in a really bad mood. But would you believe it, after all that hard work, the city fathers gave me only a measly bonus of a hundred credits a head? And I had to supply the heads as proof. Luckily I had them to hand… What are you smiling at?” “It’s just… I find it rather hard to see you as an agent of law and order,” said Owen. “Still, I bet no one jaywalked while you were around.” “Anyway,” said Hazel with great dignity, “even though the Hadenmen have been doing a lot of rebuilding aboveground in Brahmin City, I’ll bet good money they haven’t touched the sewers. Hadenmen have no need for toilets, remember? One of the most alien things about them, if you ask me. So, we go in through the sewer outlets, follow the path I used, and just pop up now and again to see what’s happening. If we’re sneaky enough, and fast enough, the inhuman bastards’ll never know we’re there.”
    “I just know I’m going to catch something awful,” said Owen. “But it does sound like a plan. Lead the way, Hazel.”
    They set off toward the jagged ridge rising on the horizon, clouds of gray dust puffing up with every step they took. They both coughed painfully at first, as the dust sank into their lungs, but after a while they used handkerchiefs to improvise masks for their mouth and nose, and the going got a little easier. Owen hoped fervently that Hazel’s handkerchief was a lot cleaner than it looked. They plodded on across the gray landscape, moving in a drifting cloud of disturbed dust, their footsteps eerily muffled, their feet banging hard against the unyielding stone. There were no landmarks, and the ridge just sat there ahead of them, never looking any closer. Owen started talking again, even through a handkerchief, just to keep from going crazy through boredom. “If I’m recalling this correctly,” he said as distinctly as he could, “you said you got fired from your job here, and you actually had to leave Brahmin II in somewhat of a hurry.
    What went wrong? I would have thought after exposing a scam like that, they’d have given you the keys to the city.” “You would think that, wouldn’t you?” said Hazel “But, unfortunately, it turned out the graft went a lot higher than I knew, and they got me fired before I could prove anything against them. Framed me for excessive violence, fired my ass, and kicked me off-planet. Bastards.”
    “So… if the city leaders are still alive, they’re not necessarily going to be too pleased to see you?”
    Hazel snorted. “Don’t be daft. If they’re still alive, they’d be so desperate for help they’d welcome Valentine Wolfe and Kid Death.” “I take your point. Pick up the pace, Hazel. That ridge isn’t getting any closer, and it’s already heading into evening. I want to be in and out of Brahmin City before night falls. I get the feeling things get pretty spooky around here once darkness falls.”
    “Yeah,” said Hazel. “Got to be a lot of ghosts around here. Maybe we can help them rest a little better.”
    They finally got to the ridge and