Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

back. Don’t bother to see me out.”
    And just like that she vanished. One moment there, the next gone. Silence and Carrion looked at each other.
    “Well,” said Carrion finally. “She’s definitely your daughter, Captain.”
    “And she always did know how to make an exit,” said Silence. He shook his head. “Time is running out, and I still haven’t finished briefing you. What was I going to… ah, yes. The insect ships. Have you finished the files I let you have?”
    “Of course,” said Carrion. “Fascinating material. You do know the insects have to be artificial, don’t you?”
    “That’s what Frost said. She said they had to have been gengineered, because insects don’t get that big naturally. Which implies there’s another player in the game that we don’t know about yet, the insects’
    creator.” “Do we really need to assume it’s an unknown?” said Carrion. “Surely there are enough suspects already—the Hadenmen, Shub, even rogue human scientists funded by Families desperate for power? And then, there’s always the Recreated. Whatever they turn out to be.”
    “I said as much to Admiral Beckett,” said Silence slowly. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover the insects come out of the Darkvoid. Their attacks have always been concentrated on the Rim, and where else could they be disappearing to afterward? And then… there’s the voices.” Silence looked steadily at Carrion. “The files I gave you on that are strictly restricted. You are not to discuss their contents with anyone else without my express permission in advance. My crew are spooked enough about going back into the Darkvoid as it is. So… what do you make of the voices? Any ideas?”
    “It could be an esper phenomenon,” said Carrion. “Or it could be the voices of the dead. But the most likely explanation has to be a psychological trick by Shub to soften you up for the coming of the Champion. A long-lost ship, crewed by dead men, its reappearance heralded by the warning voices of ghosts—just the kind of thing the rogue AIs would come up with to mess with your heads.” “Of course, that’s the most likely explanation,” said Silence. “But you didn’t hear those voices, Sean. They wouldn’t stay recorded. They just faded away. What you listened to in the files were simulations, based on what we remembered. The real thing sounded… horrible. Unnerving. They really did seem to be trying to warn us away from danger. Not just from the Champion, but from the Darkvoid itself. And now here we are, going back into the dark again.” “Could it be some kind of warning by the Recreated?” said Carrion. “To stay out of their territory?”
    “Your guess is as good as mine. I suppose as always we’ll just have to find out the hard way. And it has to be us. This ship and its crew have more experience of the Darkvoid than any other three ships put together. And we are, after all, quite expendable.”
    “Nothing changes,” said Carrion, and they both managed some kind of smile.
    “So,” said Silence. “How does it feel to be an Investigator again?” “I wear the title only as a courtesy.
    But I won’t wear the official uniform. I’m not worthy of it anymore. Or it’s not worthy of me. I haven’t decided yet.” “You got a full Pardon. You’re no longer a wanted man,” said Silence. “Wouldn’t you like to go home again, Sean?”
    “I had a home,” said Carrion. “I was happy there. And then you and Shub destroyed it.”
    Evangeline Shreck came home at last to Tower Shreck and stood for a long time in its cold, dark shadow, trying to stop trembling. From the outside it looked like just another building, steel and glass and the Family colors that marked it as one of the legendary pastel towers, home to the Clans. To Evangeline it was the witch’s cave, the demon’s lair, the dark place that calls to us in our worst nightmares. In its terrible embrace she had lived an awful life of pain and horror and torment, until at last a dashing prince came, and loved her, and gave her the courage to break free of the ogre who held her enchained. And now she’d come back, though she’d sworn she never would. Back home again to save her very best friend from the hell she’d known so well. Her love didn’t know she was here. She’d let Finlay Campbell believe she was off on another mission for the clone underground. If he’d known she was going back to Tower Shreck, he’d have tried to stop