Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

nothing to feed on… how could anything exist there?”
    “Not life as we know it,” said Beckett from the viewscreen. “But who knows what nightmares might be lurking in the darkness, birthed in that moment of mass slaughter and utter horror?”
    “That’s ridiculous!” said Owen.
    “Is it?” said Beckett. “When you went into the Darkvoid, you came back with the revived Hadenmen, an old horror we thought we were well rid of. There could be anything in that darkness. Anything at all.”
    Everyone was looking at Owen and Hazel, but they said nothing. There were things they knew about the nature and cause of the Darkvoid that no one else knew, but they had sworn long ago, for very good reasons, to keep those secrets to themselves. Besides, there was no obvious link between what they knew and the phenomenon Beckett had described. Or so they hoped. “Speaking of the Hadenmen,” said Beckett after the silence had dragged on for a while, “we come to the last part of my report. I think we were all somewhat surprised when the revived Hadenmen joined the rebel forces to overthrow the Empress, and we were even more surprised when we discovered the augmented men were actually obeying orders, and taking prisoners when the Empire forces surrendered rather than just butchering them all, as they did in the past. They were, after all, the official Enemies of Humanity until the AIs of Shub replaced them in that role.
    “You assured us they had reformed, sir Deathstalker. You said we could work with them. We should have known better. We should never have trusted cyborgs, men who threw away their humanity in the search for perfection through tech, who launched the great Crusade of the Genetic Church, dedicated to destroying Humanity and replacing us with themselves. The men machines in their golden ships. The butchers of Brahmin II. Well, sir Deathstalker, your old allies have returned to Brahmin II, destroyed
    their defenses, and taken control of the planet and its population. They’ve renamed it New Haden and surrounded it with a blockade of their golden ships. The few reports that got out before all communication was cut off said the Hadenmen had been experimenting on the prisoners they’d taken, turning them into new, improved Hadenmen. “We have no idea of what’s happening down there now.
    And since we don’t have a hope in hell of getting past the golden ships, we have no way of rescuing the people of Brahmin II. Unless, of course, the Deathstalker has some ideas? He is, after all, the man who loosed the Hadenmen on Humanity again!” A rising growl of anger moved through Parliament, from the MPs to those gathered watching on the floor of the House. It was a disturbed, dangerous sound, and only died reluctantly away when Owen glared about him. “They were a necessary evil,” he said flatly.
    “We couldn’t have defeated Lionstone’s Fleet without them. Ask General Beckett. I had… hopes the augmented men had moved on beyond their old agendas. I knew one Hadenman who was as fine a man as any I ever met. But it seems I have been betrayed again by those I placed my faith in. Still, let’s not exaggerate the dangers of the situation. They hold only one planet, and as yet they don’t have enough forces to do anything but defend it.” “Are you suggesting we abandon the people of Brahmin II, to be turned into monstrosities?” said Gutman. “I don’t think the Empire would stand for that.” “Why not?”
    said Owen. “Isn’t that what you were proposing to do with the people of the Rim planets? Sacrificing the few in the name of the many? But no, Gutman, I’m not suggesting we write off Brahmin II’s population, if only because the Hadenmen might eventually create a whole new army out of them. Hazel and I will go to Brahmin II, alone, and see what we can do to rectify the situation. Because I am, after all, responsible.”
    “Hold everything,” said Hazel. “When did I volunteer to go on this suicide run?”
    “Well, you don’t want to miss out on all the fun, do you?”
    “There is that,” said Hazel. “I just like to be asked, that’s all.” “The House gratefully accepts your proposal,” said Gutman. “And wishes you all good fortune. Because you’re going to need it. Is this acceptable to you, General Beckett?”
    “Damn right,” said Beckett. “It’s his mess; let him clean it up. But just in case they fail, we’d better consider the practicalities of scorching the whole