Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

she would have known, deep down in her mind, in her soul. But her marvelous Maze powers wouldn't work where Jack Random was concerned, anymore. It was the same with all the Maze people. They canceled out each other's powers when they came into conflict; as though the Madness Maze had placed restrictions deep within them, so they couldn't use their powers against each other. Just thinking about
    Jack as her enemy, her prey, was enough to take away all Ruby's more than human strength and abilities. So she concentrated on the locked door before her, letting it fill her mind. Inhuman strength blazed in her muscles again, and she smiled her old wolfish smile.
    She struck out at the door with her fist, almost casually, and the metal dented deeply under the impact. Ruby's smile widened, and she hit the door again and again, until it buckled under the relentless attack, tearing away from its hinges and the impressive lock. She gripped the edge of the door with her unbruised hands, and ripped it away amid a harsh squeal of rending metal.
    Ruby threw the door aside and surged forward into the dark interior of the lockup, disrupter in hand, and then moved quickly to one side, so she wouldn't be silhouetted against the outside light. No point in making an easy target of herself. She stood very still in the concealing gloom, barely breathing, listening. There was someone else in the lockup. She could feel it. Whoever it was, he was good. She couldn't see or hear a thing. But she could tell. Which suggested it wasn't Jack Random. She reached out for the light switch by the door, and hit it. Bright light filled the lockup, blindingly bright for normal eyes, but Ruby's vision adjusted in an eye-blink. There were weapons, basic provisions, and more explosives than Ruby felt comfortable about sharing a confined space with, but no trace of Jack or anyone else. The lockup garage was entirely deserted. Except she knew it wasn't. She concentrated, reaching out with her mind, and almost immediately she became aware of a presence, ahead of her, just to her right. She aimed her disrupter carefully, and showed her teeth in a smile that had no humor in it.
    "Show yourself, or I'll blow a hole right through you. I mean it."
    "Of course you do," said Valentine Wolfe, appearing out of nowhere right where
    her gun was aimed. Dressed as always in deepest black, his face was white as bone, save for the dark mascaraed eyes and scarlet smile. His long dark hair fell to his shoulders in oiled ringlets. He carried a sword and a gun on his hips, but his slender-fingered hands were empty. He looked utterly at ease, and as dangerous as a coiled serpent, ready to strike at any moment. There was something else about him too; an unhealthy aura that grated on Ruby's expanded senses. She could feel the hackles rising very slowly on the back of her neck.
    Valentine smiled at her winningly.
    "I'm impressed, bounty hunter. No one else can see me, unless I want them to. I do so envy you your wonderful Maze abilities, my dear. I have only a minor telepathic skill or two, courtesy of the esper drug. Still; who knows what the future holds, eh?"
    "What are you doing here, Wolfe?" Ruby said flatly. "Looking for Random?"
    "Why no, my dear. I know where he is. He made an alliance with my Shub colleagues, and he has gone where they sent him."
    "You're crazy! Jack would never ally with Shub!"
    "Oh, you'd be surprised what a man will do, when his back's against the wall.
    Still, not to worry. You can serve Shub too, in your own way. My good friends the rogue AIs have asked me to bring you to them. You fascinate them. Your powers, your abilities. The amazing things that only you and your Maze associates can do. They want those things too, and one way or another they're determined to dig them out of you. If I'm very good, they might let me watch.
    Now; is there any chance you're sensible enough to come quietly, and avoid unnecessary violence?"
    "Guess," said Ruby Journey, and shot him through the heart.
    The energy beam punched right through the Wolfe's chest and out his back. He gasped once, and fell to his knees, his head hanging forward. At the last moment, his hands slapped against the hard concrete floor, stopping his fall. He slowly raised his head to look at Ruby, and he was smiling. His mouth was a great scarlet gash, like an open wound, but not a drop of blood showed. He got to his feet again, not hurrying, and the hole in his chest was already gone.
    Behind the hole