Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

because before he went to Unseeli, he showed no trace at all of esper abilities. No one in his family was ever an esper, for as far back as I can trace, and the genetic assay in his old medical files bears that out. So, Carrion, how did you become the esper paragon you are today?”
    “The aliens changed me,” said Carrion. “The Ashrai. It was necessary if I was to survive alone on their world and join them in their war against Humanity. So they remade me. And no, I don’t know how. I have no memory of it.” “They would have had to make alterations on the genetic level,” said Diana, frowning. “Pretty sophisticated stuff for a species with no discernible technology.”
    “That’s a very human attitude,” said Carrion. “Tech isn’t everything.” Diana studied him silently for a long moment. “You’re never alone, are you, Carrion? They’re always with you. The ghosts. The Ashrai.”
    Carrion leaned forward. “You can see them?”
    “Almost. I sang with them once on Unseeli, remember? My mind joined with theirs, though only briefly.
    That link is still there. I can feel them, a potential hanging around you, like the pressure on the air before a storm. Why do they stay, Carrion? Why do they stay with you?”
    “I’m the last Ashrai. All that’s left of what they were. They want revenge. For what was done to them.
    To the trees. To their world.” “Revenge?” said Diana. “That’s a very human attitude, isn’t it?”
    “Yes,” said Carrion. “Regrettably, they have learned by example.” “We’re very alike, you and I,” said Diana. “Changed and altered by powers greater than ourselves, for reasons we don’t fully understand.
    What were you supposed to be. Carrion? Their champion? Their defender? Their avenger? Be very careful, Carrion; you might not be what you think you are. You fought Humanity for them once. Would you destroy Humanity for them now, for revenge?” “They wouldn’t ask me to do that,” said Carrion.
    “How do you know?” said Diana, and Carrion had no answer to give her. “Why are you here, Diana?”
    said Silence after the quiet had dragged on long enough to become uncomfortable. “After what you said to us at Parliament…” “Needs must when the Devil vomits on your shoes,” said Diana. “The Mater Mundi wants me dead. So I need help, powerful allies to watch my back and lend their power to me.”
    “So you came to your father,” said Silence. “Of course, Diana. That’s what fathers are for.”
    “No, Daddy,” said Diana. “Not you. The Maze gave you power, but you’re still learning how to use it.”
    “So you want my help?” said Carrion. “Very well. My abilities are at your disposal.”
    “Don’t flatter yourself,” said Diana. “I need the Ashrai. Their inhuman strength. Like I said, the link’s still there. God knows I’ve tried to exorcise them. I don’t want anyone in my head but me. But if they’re there, maybe I can use them. So tell me, Carrion, would they come if I called? If I needed them?” “I don’t know,” said Carrion. “They don’t talk to me anymore. But they have always intervened when I needed them.”
    “Not exactly the answer I was hoping for,” said Diana. “But… let’s see if it’s true.”
    Her face changed suddenly. Dark shadows appeared beneath her eyes, and the skin of her face stretched taut across the bones. Her thin lips stretched into a merciless, humorless smile. She seemed suddenly larger than she was, and her eyes were unnaturally bright. Psionic power sparked and crackled on the air around her, and her presence leapt out to fill the cabin. Diana was gone, submerged in the malevolent aberration that was Jenny Psycho. Silence’s hand went automatically to his gun and then fell away. Even if he could bring himself to use it on his own daughter, he doubted it would be any use against something like Jenny Psycho.
    She stood up and glared at Carrion, shadows gathering around her, and he was quickly on his feet facing her, his power lance held out between them. Jenny Psycho seized the lance with her mind, ripped it out of
    his hands, and threw it the length of the cabin. Carrion cried out in shock, as though one of his limbs had been torn away. His body rose slowly into the air and then slammed back against the steel cabin wall, held there crucified by Jenny Psycho’s will. Silence tried to rise from his chair and found he couldn’t, held in place by his daughter’s implacable