Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

and both your alternates. I guess some things never change.” “You wouldn’t have let them kill Bonnie, would you?”
    “Of course not. But I couldn’t let her commit us all to a fight at this time. Moon and his people were just waiting for a chance to show us who was really in charge here. Hopefully, they’ll cut us a little slack now.” “So, what is the plan now?”
    “Keep our eyes and ears open and look for a chance. We still need to learn as much as possible about what they’re up to.”
    “They’re a bunch of evil, sadistic bastards. What more do we need to know?”
    “How far along the line they are in producing the next generation of Hadenmen. We need to know exactly what the new models can do, how many they have here on Brahmin, and how many more might be hiding out in other bases, on other worlds. Finding that information, and getting it back to the Empire, is more important than our need for vengeance.”
    Hazel looked at him steadily. “And more important than our lives?” “Maybe. In many ways everything that’s happening here is my fault. And my Family’s. I have a duty to do everything I can to stop this.”
    “Don’t worry,” said Hazel. “The minute we’ve learned everything we need to know, this whole filthy business is shutting down. Whatever it takes.” “Remember the hostages,” said Owen. “We can’t just abandon them.” Hazel looked around the laboratory. “After everything they’ve been through, death might be the only kindness we could do them.” “Maybe. But we have to try. It’s the human thing to do.”
    “Interesting,” said Moon suddenly. “You’ve both been talking animatedly for some time, but I couldn’t hear a word of it. Even with my enhanced hearing. And you weren’t using your comm implants, or I would have picked it up. Did the Maze make you telepathic or something?”
    “Something,” said Owen. “Very definitely something. All of us who passed through the Maze have a mental link, a closeness. If you’d stayed with us, you’d have it too. Now back off.”
    Moon nodded. “Feel free to make any threats or declarations of defiance you feel necessary for your peace of mind.”
    “You betrayed me. All of you. I didn’t release you from your Tomb for this.” “Your reasons for opening the Tomb are irrelevant,” said Moon calmly. “Their freedom was inevitable. If it hadn’t been you, it would have been some other member of your Family. David perhaps.”
    “Interesting,” said Hazel. “You’ve started saying they instead of we. Can it be you aren’t entirely in sympathy with what’s going on here?” “I believe the human expression clutching at straws is appropriate here,” said Moon. “Follow me.”
    “Of course,” said Owen. “There are always more circles to Hell, aren’t there?” They went up to the next level, and another laboratory, this time silent as the grave. Endless rows of men and women sat unmoving in tiny cubicles, eyes closed, faces utterly immobile. Holes had been drilled in the backs of their heads, and coils of metal cables linked their heads to unseen machinery. After the horrors of the previous laboratory, the new one seemed practically serene. Owen distrusted it on sight. He looked at Moon.
    “We’re testing for esp,” said Moon. “Barely known during the first Crusade, it has now spread throughout Humanity. Esp fascinates the Hadenmen—a form of power and control not derived from technology, but from the unknown depths of the unaugmented mind. The Hadenmen want it for themselves. So they are currently seeking to map all physical changes in the brain tissues of all those showing some form of esp ability. Logically speaking, esp is a puzzle. It has no obvious power source, yet is capable of achieving things the Hadenmen cannot duplicate even with their vast knowledge of tech.
    So they are currently stimulating all areas of the subjects’ brains to destruction, and observing in the hope they will learn something useful.”
    “Torturing them till they die of it,” said Bonnie. “Bastards.”
    Midnight glared at Owen but said nothing.
    “You don’t approve of this either, do you, Moon?” said Owen. “My approval is irrelevant,” said Moon.
    “The Hadenmen do what is necessary to follow their destiny. No individual belief can be allowed to interfere with that.”
    “You’re weakening, Moon,” said Hazel. “Any minute now you’ll forget yourself and venture an opinion of your