Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

the dozen steaming bodies before them. Random laughed harshly.
    "Send as many more as you like, Shub! How do you like your meat; rare or well done?"
    There was no reply, but no more Grendels appeared out of nowhere to replace
    those who had fallen. Random put away his gun, and then leaned on his sword for a moment, breathing heavily. His wounds stopped bleeding, and he put out his burning hair with a quick sweep of his hand. And finally, because he couldn't put it off any longer, he looked at Ruby. Their eyes met for a long moment.
    Neither of them said anything, but their gaze was full of a long shared history.
    They didn't put away their swords, but they could feel themselves dropping out of boost as their powers shut down. The Maze did not allow its paladins to fight each other.
    "You know; you've looked better," said Ruby.
    "Nice of you to drop by," said Random. "Just happen to be passing?"
    Ruby snorted. "Hardly. You set off all kinds of alarms when you arrived here.
    Parliament knew about this place, even if they couldn't get in. When you turned up they had a collective shit fit, and sent me down here via the old service tunnels. Did you find anything useful in the crypt? You were in there for hours."
    "Nothing useful," said Random. "So; what do we do now?"
    "Well, that's the question, isn't it?" said Ruby. "We could fight, but what would be the point? Even without our powers, we're pretty evenly matched. A straightforward one-on-one would probably just get us both killed. And there is…
    another option."
    "Is there, by God?" said Random. "I'm listening."
    "A temporary Pardon," said Ruby. "Diana Vertue has come up with a plan to take out Shub and its fleet. But to do it she has to get really close to the fleet as it approaches Golgotha. And I mean really close. That means she's going to need all the help she can get. She's going up against them in the old Deathstalker
    Standing, together with as many fighting ships as the Imperial Fleet can spare.
    And she asked for us particularly, to give her an edge. Parliament is just desperate enough to go along with that. So: you agree to help Diana, and the hunt will be called off until all the various wars are over. As long as you agree to stop killing their people for the duration. It's as good a deal as you're going to get, Jack."
    "A chance to take out Shub." Random frowned. "About the only thing left that would still tempt me. Can I trust Parliament?"
    Ruby shrugged. "Probably not. But they'll leave you alone as long as you're fighting Humanity's enemies. They need you, and they know it."
    "Any idea what Diana's got planned?"
    "Not a clue. She won't talk. Says the element of surprise is vital. She's the only person I've ever met who's more paranoid than you. But she is being very persuasive."
    "What about Owen and Hazel?" said Random, still frowning.
    "They're still heading back to the Wolfling World. It's us, or no one."
    "Then I guess it's us. I'm glad they're not dead. I wish… I could have talked with them. Made them understand why I did what I did."
    "Why not start with me? I'm as much in the dark as anyone else."
    "Of course. You never did understand about honor or duty."
    Ruby sniffed. "If that is what they do to you, I think I'm better off not knowing."
    "Where do we stand, Ruby?" Random said carefully. "You took a commission to track me down and kill me."
    "It can wait, till the wars are over," said Ruby. "I'm in no hurry to kill you, Jack."
    They put away their swords and walked off down the corridor together, out of the thick black smoke, leaving the dead Grendels behind them. The interior of Dram's crypt was an inferno now. Nothing useful would ever be retrieved from it.
    "So," said Random. "Could you really ever have brought yourself to kill me?"
    "Of course," said Ruby. "I'm a bounty hunter."

    Not too much later, Jack Random was standing beside Diana Vertue, in the great Hall of the Last Standing. It was a massive place of ancient stonework and soaring columns, with a ceiling so far overhead it was lost in the gloom. The Hall was lit by hundreds of ever-burning candles, in gorgeously styled candlesticks and candelabras, somehow endlessly renewing themselves, lending the atmosphere a cozy golden glow of age and security. The chairs and tables were antiques of almost impossible rarity and value, and yet the great viewscreen hanging on the air before Diana was at least the equal of anything the Empire could produce today. Built in the last days of the