Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

regarding him with wide eyes and smiles and respectful nods. Random indicated Ruby, who’d finally stopped hacking and spitting on the airlock floor.
    “I take it you know my companion?”
    “Oh, yes,” said Savage, his smile disappearing. “We know all about Ruby Journey.
    Please don’t let her kill anyone important. Or set fire to anything.”
    “Your reputation preceeds you,” Random said dryly to Ruby. “Anyway,” said Peter Savage brightly,
    “we’re delighted to have you here, sir Random. Maybe you can turn this bloody war around.” “Our briefing was pretty basic,” said Random. “Fill in the blanks for us.” Savage hesitated. “I’m supposed to take you directly to the city Council so they can instruct you on the current situation.”
    “You can start the process as we go. Tell me about Vidar. How well protected is the city?”
    “Walls and doors of solid steel, over a foot thick,” said Savage, leading them out of the airlock’s inner door. “The force screen above the walls keeps out the weather. We need the walls and gates because we can’t lower the Screen, even for a second, or the storms would devastate the city. It’s not just the winds; the dust gets into everything. Tech is constantly breaking down.” “Don’t the storms ever stop?”
    said Ruby.
    “No, ma’am. But there are lulls sometimes. This way.” Beyond the airlock lay a simple pattern of narrow streets between low, squat, functional-looking buildings. There was little in the way of color or decoration. Vidar was a mining city, with little time for frills and fancies. People rushed by as Savage led his charges on, but they paid little or no attention to the newcomers. They all wore swords and energy guns, even in the supposed safety of the fortress city. Random found that significant. “The rebel forces have made an alliance with Shub,” said Savage. He made the last word into an obscenity. “They have an army of Ghost Warriors, a few Furies, and a whole bunch of high-tech weaponry that falls apart more often than it works. That’s Loki for you. Even Shub can’t find an answer to the dust. As a result most of our fighting tends to be hand to hand. Flesh and blood against living corpses and men of metal. Not exactly a level playing field, but that’s Shub for you. Certainly the rebels don’t seem to be objecting.
    Their leaders don’t care about anything but winning anymore. The disrupter cannon that shot you down was as much a surprise to us as it was to you. They must be really scared of your involvement to risk revealing that powerful a weapon. Think of it as a backhanded compliment.”
    “Oh, we do,” Random assured Savage, perfectly straight-faced. “And we plan to return the compliment as soon as possible.”
    Savage grinned. “I have to say, I’m really looking forward to working with you, sir Random. You always were my hero. I’ve seen all your holo shows.” The young guard all but brimmed over with sincerity, of a kind Random hadn’t seen since his glory days, when he was the only hope against Lionstone’s evil Empire. A lot had changed since then. If anything, such hero worship made Random feel old. He wasn’t sure he was the man Savage remembered anymore. He felt slightly embarrassed, and Ruby’s clear amusement didn’t help at all. He moved quickly to change the subject.
    “Where is everybody? I expected to see a lot more people in a city this size.” “With half the outer settlements overrun by the rebel forces, most of the mining equipment on Loki is being run from Vidar these days, which means we’re all working overtime to keep the systems going. And… a lot of people here aren’t going to be too sure about you, sir Random. There’s a man out there with your face, leading the Shub forces, leaving blood and death and atrocities in his wake. Your name has become a curse.
    That’s why you have an armed guard. In case there’s… trouble.”
    “Let them start something,” said Ruby calmly. “Let anyone start something.” “Anyway,” said Savage hurriedly, “the rebels, backed up by Shub forces, have been systematically wiping out all the outer settlements, knocking out the mining equipment and killing everything that lives before moving on to the next target. They have us surrounded on all sides, and they’re moving gradually inward, heading toward Vidar. Because whoever controls this city controls the world’s only starport, as well as all the mining. If we fall,