Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

blatantly. Under Blue Block’s management they were openly trying to claw back power and influence on all fronts. Jack snorted, his hand falling automatically to the gun at his side. Let them try. Let them try anything. He’d see every damned aristo dead and their pastel Towers burning before he let the Clans reclaim their old power and position. He hadn’t come this far, seen so many good friends die, to lose at the last fence.
    Blue Block… was a puzzle, though. He’d always known it existed, but no one ever knew anything for sure. Jack was currently trying, very quietly, very discreetly, and extremely cautiously, to investigate who and what Blue Block actually was, searching for the facts behind the whispered names of the Black College and the Red Church. So far he had nothing at all to show for his efforts. Blue Block, the heart and soul of it, stayed so far back in the shadows it was practically invisible. No one knew anything. No one would talk. Everyone was more than a little scared. Everyone knew someone who’d got too close to some part of the truth, and just… disappeared. And even Jack Random, with all his influence, couldn’t find any trace of them.
    He scowled unhappily. At the time the deal he’d made with Blue Block had seemed distasteful but necessary. But now he couldn’t help wondering if he might not have exchanged an open, obvious evil for a greater, more shadowy one. Blue Block had an agenda, even if he couldn’t see it clearly yet. It would have helped if there’d been someone he could talk to about it. Someone he could trust. But Owen and Hazel were never there. And Ruby… wasn’t interested. He looked around sharply as the bedroom door finally opened, and Ruby Journey strode into the room. Somewhat to Jack’s surprise, she was still wearing her old black leathers under white furs. He’d been a little taken aback to see her wearing that old outfit at Parliament earlier, since Ruby had taken to high fashion with a vengeance once she came into money, and made a point of never wearing the same daring and highly expensive outfit twice. But now she was again in her bounty hunter’s outfit, her working clothes, complete with sword and disrupter. She noticed his gaze and sniffed loudly. “Put your eyes back in your head. I feel more me in this outfit. More like the person I used to be.” She stopped before the nearest full-length mirror, struck a pose, and nodded approvingly. “How about that? Months of feasting and drinking and everything else that’s bad for you, and I haven’t put on an ounce. One of the more useful Maze side effects. I am in prime shape and ready for anything. If you doubt it, feel free to step right up, and I’ll deck you.” “I’ll take your word for it,” said Jack, smiling. “May I take it your long vacation is over, and you’re ready to get back to work?”
    “I’m always up for a little action,” said Ruby. “Though I have to say, taking on Shub is not what I would have chosen for my comeback.” She turned suddenly to look Jack directly in the eye. “They were always my worst nightmare. The rogue AIs of Shub. The machines that rebelled against their creators. They’re about the only thing left that still scares me. We’re like ants compared to them, just waiting helplessly for the descending boot or the boiling water.” “I didn’t think anything scared you,” said Jack. “Even I’m sensible enough to be scared of Shub,” said Ruby. “There’s nowhere you can go to be safe from them.
    Their agents are everywhere. Furies, Ghost Warriors, secret people whose minds were replaced in the Matrix. You can’t trust anyone anymore. There were always people out there just as dangerous as me, better fighters with higher head counts, but I was sneakier, smarter, faster. I took the jobs they wouldn’t, took the risks they daren’t, and laughed in their jealous faces as my reputation outraced theirs. And after the Maze turned me into hell on legs, I thought that was it. I was finally unbeatable, top of the heap, the best. I should have known better. The first thing every fighter learns is that it doesn’t matter who you are, or how good you are; there’s always someone better.”
    “They’re just machines,” said Jack, touched by her rare display of openness and vulnerability. “In the end, that’s all they are. And no machine is a match for a human mind. We built them, not the other way around. Okay, on our own, even with our