Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

the letter. No one argued with Sister Marion. A Sister of Glory, a warrior nun, and a complete bloody psychopath, her stick-thin figure was seemingly everywhere at once. Striding about in her long black dress of tatters and emerald evening gloves, she made a formidable figure, and she knew it. Her face was hidden under stark white makeup, with rouged cheeks and emerald lips, and she topped it all off with a tall black witch's hat, complete with flapping purple streamers. Let a leper shirk his work, or try to sneak off for a quiet sit-down and a crafty smoke, and within seconds Sister Marion's harsh voice would be blaring right in
    his ear, driving him back to work with terrible oaths and blasphemies. Somehow they sounded so much more convincing when they came from a nun.
    Felling the tall wide trees took a lot of time and hard work, made even more miserable by the constant falling rain, but the great dark trees still went crashing to the ground with slow regularity. No one knew if the Grendels or the Hadenmen might come again, but everyone knew they'd all feel much more secure when the Mission was whole again. So the lepers toiled in the pouring rain, day after day, and the trees came crashing down. The red-leafed branches were laboriously cut away, and then the surrounding vegetation would move in to pick up and transport the massively heavy tree trunks to where they were needed. The Red Brain was almost pathetically eager to be of use to its new friends. It had been alone for so very long, until Moon established contact with it.
    Owen made his way through the scarlet and crimson jungle to join Moon. He looked intent and thoughtful and didn't seem to even notice the pouring rain. The lepers nodded and bowed as he passed, and turned to watch him go. There was new strength and purpose in him, and they could sense it. So could Moon. He fixed Owen with his faintly glowing golden eyes and raised a single eyebrow.
    "I take it a ship of some sort is on its way?"
    "Got it in one, Tobias. Be here early tomorrow. I need you to do something for me."
    "If I can. What did you have in mind?"
    "Go back through the jungle to where we first crash-landed, find the wreck of the Sunstrider II, remove the stardrive, and bring it back here."
    Moon lowered his eyebrow, and thought about this. "You have a use for a disconnected stardrive?"
    "Oh yes. The Sunstrider II was fitted with the new alien-derived stardrive.
    Whatever ship I put that drive into will be one of the fastest ships in the Empire. And I'm going to need that edge, to get to Hazel in time. Do it for me, Tobias. I need this."
    "When do you want me to start out?"
    "Right now would be good."
    Moon considered the matter. All work had stopped as the lepers listened to see what he would say. Moon finally shrugged. He hadn't quite got the gesture right yet, but it was recognizable. "The tree felling is pretty much finished. My people can finish up on their own. Very well; I'll put together a small party, and go get you your stardrive, Owen. But please understand; when you leave here, you go alone. I share your concern for Hazel, but I cannot abandon the people here. I am their only link with the Red Brain, at present. I have…
    responsibilities here."
    "It's all right," said Owen. "I understand. I've always understood duty."
    They smiled at each other, both understanding this might be the last time they were ever together. The lepers slowly got back to work, for once not driven by a tongue lashing from Sister Marion. Owen looked about for her, and finally discovered her sitting on a tree stump, staring tiredly down at the ground, her hands neatly together in her lap. Her shoulders were bowed as though by some great weight, and her head hung down as though it were too heavy for her neck muscles to support. Even the ribbons from her hat were hanging limply down.
    "She doesn't look too good," said Owen.
    "She's dying," said Moon. "She's in the last stages of the disease, and her strength is leaking out of her day by day."
    "I didn't know," said Owen, honestly shocked. It was hard to think of the
    invincible warrior nun being beaten by anything less than a sword thrust or a disrupter bolt. He knew she was a leper, but he'd always vaguely thought she was too stubborn to give in to it. "How long has she been like this?"
    "Some time now. Don't feel bad for not noticing. You had your own problems.
    There was nothing you could have done, anyway. It's just her time. Leprosy is a one