Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

avoid by sneaking into the city by the sewers. But Owen still had hopes of negotiating some kind of deal. Even after all he’d seen of the Hadenmen’s past atrocities, he still believed in talking rather than fighting whenever possible.
    He had to. It was either that, or give in to the way of the warrior, to blood and fury and the beast. And Owen had seen enough death and destruction in his life. He looked cautiously for someone who looked like a leader or spokesperson, and then tensed as one of the augmented men suddenly stepped forward.
    “Hello, Owen,” said the Hadenman in a harsh, buzzing voice. “Remember me?”
    “My God,” said Owen slowly. “Moon? Is that you?” “Yes,” said Tobias Moon. “Your old companion.
    They rebuilt me after I was destroyed by the Grendel on lost Haden. Hello, Hazel.” “It’s been a while, Moon,” said Hazel. She holstered her gun and held out a hand for him to shake. After a moment Moon took her hand in his and shook it carefully, mindful of his greater strength. The Hadenman’s hand was cold as a corpse, and Hazel let go as soon as she diplomatically could. Owen studied Moon carefully, and he stared impassively back with his glowing eyes. Owen shook his head slowly.
    “They did a hell of a job on you, Moon. I can’t see a join anywhere. I mean, that Grendel ripped your head right off.”
    “I remember,” said Moon. “I was there.” He looked at Hazel. “I remember you coming to see me in the city we built on lost Haden.” He looked back at Owen. “You never came to see me, Owen.”
    “I thought you were dead,” said Owen. “And when I did finally find out… there were so many things I had to do…” “I understand. I am, after all, not the Tobias Moon you knew. This is his body, repaired and raised to full Hadenman functioning, and I have full access to all his memories, but I am not him. It is just as well. He had spent too long away from his own kind. He had become too human.”
    “So I was right,” said Owen. “My old companion really is dead, after all. I’ve lost another friend. You’d think I’d be used to that by now. But it doesn’t matter. So, what happens now, Moon?”
    “That’s rather up to you, Owen. You should have let us know you were coming. We would have prepared a reception for you.”
    “Yeah,” growled Hazel. “I’ll bet you would have.” “Please, put your weapons away,” said Moon calmly.
    “You are in no danger. The Redeemer and his companions are always welcome among the Hadenmen.”
    Owen looked at the others, shrugged, and put his gun and sword away. After a long moment Hazel sheathed her sword, and Bonnie and Midnight followed her example. Bonnie studied the Hadenmen with open curiosity, and they looked back with equal interest. Presumably they’d never seen anything quite like each other before. Midnight folded her muscular arms across her chest and looked bored, now there was no longer any hope of a little action. Owen looked around him, taking in the blank watching faces of the augmented men. They had a disturbing similarity, as though the same thoughts moved behind different faces. The Hadenmen were perfect in shape and form, but it was not a human perfection. Their bodies were largely machine, their minds boosted by computer implants, their only aim and purpose the perfectability of all Humanity through technology. And if they had lost human attributes along the way, like emotions and conscience and individuality, that was a price the Hadenmen had always been willing to pay.
    “We should have known Moon would show up again,” Oz murmured in Owen’s ear. “You can’t trust a Hadenman in anything, even to stay dead. Now he’s just another of the pale harlequins, with the mark of Cain upon his brow. Watch your back, Owen.”
    Owen frowned. The AI’s words seemed to stir a memory in him, of something he’d heard in a prophecy from a precog on Mistworld. For a moment he seemed on the brink of understanding something important, but Moon was indicating politely that they should start moving, and Owen let the thought go as he concentrated on the matter at hand. He still had hopes he could talk the Hadenmen into giving up their captives and working with Humanity rather than against them. Together, the two branches of Humanity might be capable of far more than they could ever hope to achieve separately. And the Hadenmen must have learned something from their total defeat in their last Crusade against