Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

down from any challenge, was that mysterious and enigmatic figure behind the featureless steel helm, the Masked Gladiator. Two men wore that mask, though the crowds never knew. The first was Georg McCrackin, who retired unbeaten when he decided he was getting too old and slowing down. He trained his successor, Finlay Campbell, who became the second Masked Gladiator. Georg McCrackin was killed during the rebellion while wearing the featureless steel helm, and his dead body was unmasked during a live broadcast by Toby Shreck.
    Finlay had banned himself from the Arenas for many reasons, but he still maintained his old quarters there in the living section deep under the bloody sands. They were very modest, but Finlay didn’t care.
    They were just somewhere to stay where no one could find him, where he could rest and sleep and plot on how best to track down and murder his old enemy, Valentine Wolfe. The clone and esper undergrounds had promised him Valentine’s head on a stick in return for his services as an assassin, but now the rebellion was over, it seemed they were far too busy to remember old friends and promises, so Finlay had decided to do it himself.
    He couldn’t just fire up a ship and go. Parliament had refused to grant him the same official status as the Deathstalker and the d’Ark woman. They didn’t trust him. Some thought, not unreasonably, that he might use that official status to go after them. So they denied him a role in their precious new order, and set their spies to watch him. Finlay killed a few of them, now and again, just to keep the others on their toes.
    And quietly, unobtrusively, he prepared for his quest. So he was more than a little surprised when someone knocked quite openly on his door.
    He rose lithely to his feet from the unmade bed where he’d been lying on his back, thinking about nothing in particular, and drew his disrupter from the holster hanging on the bed post. He padded silently over to the door and listened for a moment. The knock came again.
    “Who is it?” said Finlay.
    “Jack Random and Ruby Journey. We’d like a quiet word. If it’s not too much trouble.”
    Finlay raised an eyebrow. He’d never had much contact with the legendary heroes during his time in the rebellion, or after it, for that matter, and he had no idea why they should seek him out now. But if nothing else their visit should prove interesting, and he could do with a break from his brooding. He unlocked the two locks, pulled back the three sets of bolts he’d added, and stepped smartly back as he swung open the door. Jack and Ruby were standing alone in the corridor, their hands empty. They looked at the gun in his hand, covering them both, but said nothing. Finlay gestured for them to enter with his free hand, and then moved around behind them to lock and bolt the door again. “You can’t be too careful these days.
    Not when you have as many enemies as I do.”
    “Trust me,” said Jack. “I know the feeling.”
    “Come in,” said Finlay. “Make yourself at home. Sorry the place is a bit of a mess, but I shot the maid.”
    He smiled, to show that was a joke, and Jack and Ruby smiled back, before moving carefully past him into the room. They looked around in search of somewhere to sit. The place really was a mess. Jack and
    Ruby had to step over things just to get to the two battered-looking chairs. Unwashed laundry lay in a heap in one corner, and dirty plates and cups filled the sink in the tiny kitchen annex. Several throwing knives protruded from the door. Jack dusted off the seat of his chair before sitting on it. Ruby didn’t bother. Finlay sat on the edge of the unmade bed, still covering them both with his disrupter. His gaze was cold and unwavering, and his hand was very steady.
    “So,” he said calmly, “what brings such illustrious company to my little bolt hole that no one is supposed to know about?”
    “Robert told us where to find you,” said Jack.
    “Ah,” said Finlay. “It’s always Family that betrays you in the end.”
    “We need to talk to you,” said Ruby. “There are things only you can tell us.” “You’re right there,” said Finlay. “I know all kinds of things. That’s why so many people want me silenced. Which particular dirty little secret did you have in mind?”
    “We’d like to ask you a few questions about Clan Campbell’s dealings with Shub,” said Jack, keeping a careful eye on Finlay’s disrupter. “Oh, that,” said Finlay