Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

“But I never found the time to follow it up. Or perhaps I was afraid to. Exactly what dealings have your kind had with Clan Deathstalker?”
    “Our association goes back centuries. Originally through the computers of Giles Deathstalker, who contacted the scientists who passed through the Madness Maze, and afterward made themselves over into the first Hadenmen, and then later, through various Family members, up until our abortive first Crusade. They supported us, provided what we needed, helped us remain hidden from the rest of the Empire. When the Crusade failed, and we fled to our Tomb to wait for better days, your Family kept a watch over us, until it was your destiny to come and awaken us. That’s how your dead father’s ring came to hold the coordinates for lost Haden. Everything was carefully arranged. You were just the last cog in a great machine.”
    “And what was the nature of this relationship?” said Owen, holding his anger within him. “There must have been a deal. Who promised what to whom?” “We would help the rebels overthrow the Iron Throne and place them in power. In return, the Hadenmen were promised planets of their own, and a percentage of the Empire’s population. A levy, a tithe. Millions of men and women, to be used as found necessary.”
    “No,” said Owen. “No! My father would never have agreed to such a thing!” “Are you sure?” said Hazel quietly. “Giles sure as hell wouldn’t have had any problems with such a deal. And you always said your father would make a deal with the Devil if that was what it took to get what he wanted.” “The end justifies the means,” said Owen bitterly. “Anything for the greater good. The nobility of sacrifice, as long as it wasn’t his. That kind of shit was why I broke from him, and refused to be a part of his intrigues. But I never even guessed he’d be a part of something like this.” “It was a good deal, from which both sides stood to profit,” said Moon calmly. “And entirely logical. We did our part, and the Empire is yours.
    Now we are taking what was promised us. Beginning with Brahmin II.” Owen’s hand dropped to the gun at his side. Hazel clamped her hand down hard on his arm. This wasn’t the time. Not yet. “What’s so special about this world?” she asked. “This is the second time you’ve come here.” “There are ore deposits here unavailable throughout the rest of the Empire,” said Moon. “No use to humans, but vital to Hadenmen technology. The native population is a useful bonus. Brahmin II is just the beginning. We will go from planet to planet, one at a time, taking control of the populations and their resources. The humans we will make over into ourselves, our numbers growing with every world. The Empire will be slow to see our threat. They will not go to war with us over a single planet, not in their present weakened condition.
    By the time they realize how much we have taken, and how many of us there are, it will be too late. The second Crusade of the Genetic Church will sweep across all Humanity, bringing the gift of transformation,
    and sooner than you would think, it will be a Hadenman empire.”
    “Thinks a lot of himself, doesn’t he?” said Bonnie Bedlam.
    “Say the word, Owen, and I’ll tear this tin can apart and rip out his wiring.” “Right,” said Midnight Blue, flexing her dark muscles. “One word, and I’ll reduce this bunch to their component parts.”
    “A nice thought, but hold it for the moment,” said Owen. “There are still things I need to know. Whether I want to know them or not.” Moon took them on a tour of what used to be Brahmin City. Inside the buildings. Moon showed them Hadenmen plugged directly into working systems, a functioning part of the city’s technical processes. Some had been partly disassembled to fit into the city machinery.
    Everywhere they went, unfamiliar machinery worked endlessly to unknown purposes. Owen became increasingly convinced that the whole city had been converted into one great machine, though its purposes remained unclear.
    “So where are all the people?” said Hazel eventually. “I mean, the real people, Brahmin’s population, and the prisoners you took during the rebellion. What have you done with them?”
    “Yes,” said Owen. “It’s time you told us. Moon. You couldn’t have turned them all into Hadenmen in so short a time.”
    “They have been put to use,” said Moon calmly. “Nothing is ever wasted. We will