Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

back from the brink one more time. They were still weak as half-drowned kittens, but strength came slowly back to them. Which was just as well. Hazel meant well, but she was bloody useless as a nurse. She just didn’t have the temperament. They all complained a lot, and made a nuisance of themselves, and by the evening Sister Marion said they were all well enough, and would they please oblige her by getting the hell out of her infirmary so the rest of the patients could have some peace?
    It was still raining, drumming loudly on the wooden roof. Owen and Hazel walked slowly across the uneven ground of the compound. The bodies were all gone, but the place itself was still a mess. Owen and Hazel took turns leaning on each other, their inner energies at an all-time low. For the time being, they were only human again, and they made the most of it. Everywhere they went, the lepers bowed and saluted and called out their names like prayers or hymns. Owen and Hazel smiled uncomfortably back, noting that for all their fervor, the lepers maintained a careful distance. Living legends were one thing; living gods were quite another.
    Tobias Moon came to meet them. His eyes no longer glowed, and only the faintest buzz remained in his voice. He was moving beyond such things as the Maze continued to work its changes in him. There was a new serenity to him, a peacefulness of spirit, as though many things had at last become clear to him.
    “I’m not going with you when you leave,” he said calmly. “I’m staying. The people here will need a lot of help rebuilding their Mission and their lives, and I think I could be of use. Until the espers learn how, I will be their contact with the Red Brain.” He shook his head slowly. “That was the most fascinating experience of my life. It’s been alone so long, just like me, the only one of its kind. And the lepers…
    perhaps it took the dying to teach me the meaning and value of life. Anyway, I’m staying. To guard the lepers, and be the voice of the jungle.”
    “Never really thought of you as a gardener, Moon,” said Owen dryly, and Moon laughed politely. He was still working on humor. Owen and Hazel walked on. Bonnie and Midnight were overseeing repairs on the other side of the compound, but they waved a hand in greeting. Owen and Hazel waved back. All was peaceful and serene, like the quiet after a storm has passed.
    “Well,” said Owen finally. “We won another one.” “Yeah,” said Hazel. “Came bloody close to losing it, though. If Moon hadn’t come through at the last minute, we could have died here. I really thought I’d lost
    you.”
    “A salutary reminder that even we have limits,” said Owen. “That for all we can do, we’re still bound by merely human limitations. In a strange way I find that comforting. That for all our powers and abilities, we haven’t left humanity behind.”
    Hazel sniffed loudly. “I didn’t find nearly bloody dying at all comforting. And let’s hope the jungle didn’t miss any Grendels. I couldn’t steal candy from a baby in my current condition. And that was always one of my best tricks.” “Our strength will return eventually,” said Owen. “It always has before.” He stopped and looked around him, lost for a moment in memories. “So many died here. I wish we could have saved more.”
    “William Hand and Otto,” said Hazel. “Sister Kathleen. They didn’t have our powers, but they did just as much to save the Mission as we did. They were the real heroes here.”
    “Of course,” said Owen. “They were all heroes here, the living and the fallen.
    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an appointment in the communications center. They’re trying to get a ship for us so we can get off-planet. Lachrymae Christi may be safe now, but the rest of the Empire is still in deep trouble.” “Now, that is typical of you, Deathstalker,” said Hazel. “You’ve barely got over nearly dying, twice, and already you’re talking about charging back into battle again. Aren’t we entitled to some time off?”
    “Sure,” said Owen. “When the war’s over.”
    “The wars are never over,” said Hazel. “Not for us.” Owen put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. “You’d be bored in a week, and you know it.”
    “Maybe. I really thought I’d lost you, Owen. Don’t you ever do that again.”
    “Never,” said Owen. “We’re a team. Nothing’s ever going to separate us.”
    “Promise me we’ll always be