Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

description for her contact. She'd just assumed all she had to do was show up, and the owner of the mysterious voice would make contact. "I'm Diana Vertue.
    Does that mean anything to you?"
    "Oh, of course," said the receptionist. "One of the heroes of the rebellion. An honor to have you here. Now; would you like a man or a woman? Or both, perhaps?"
    "No!" said Diana quickly. "I'm here to meet… someone special."
    "Well, of course you are, but I shall need some direction from you, to help choose that special someone to satisfy your fantasies."
    "You don't understand," said Diana. She could feel her cheeks blazing. "I was supposed to meet someone here. A particular person. Do you have a message for me, perhaps?"
    The receptionist looked doubtful, but dutifully checked the monitor screen beside her. She frowned suddenly. "That's odd. I could have sworn there hadn't been any messages for this afternoon, but you're right. Your name's here. No contact name, just a room number. A trifle irregular, but not to worry.
    Apparently we have someone standing by to take you there."
    She hit a concealed bell, and a door opened to Diana's left. She turned to see who it was, and then stood frozen to the spot as she recognized the man before her.
    "Dealhstalker? Owen? They told me you were dead! What the hell are you doing here?"
    The familiar face smiled politely, and he crossed the lobby to join her. "I think there's been a misunderstanding, dear. I'm not the real Owen Deathstalker; just a lookalike. The best copy the body shop could produce. There's always been a market for famous faces in the House of Joy. They tend to come and go, as fashions change, but Owen's very popular at the moment. There's an Owen in every House on Golgotha, and even more offworld. We pay him a percentage for the use of his visage, of course. Copyright law's very strict on that. Now, if you'd like to come with me…"
    "I think we need to get something clear first," said Diana. "I mean, I'm sure you're very sweet, but…"
    "Don't misunderstand me, darling. I'm just a messenger today, here to take you to your appointment. Your host thought a familiar face might help to put you at your ease. Shall we go?"
    He gestured at the open door, and Diana walked stiffly past him, doing her best to radiate strict disinterest. The fake Owen closed the door quietly behind them, and then led the way along a quiet, anonymous corridor where all the many doors leading off were strictly closed. Diana kept her esp under firm control, telling herself she had absolutely no interest in whatever might be going on behind the closed doors.
    "So," she said finally, with just a hint of desperation in her voice, "tell me;
    who else do you have here with a famous face?"
    "Oh, you'd be surprised, darling," said the fake Owen easily. "We've got a Jack Random, a Julian Skye, two Robert Campbells (he's very popular at the moment, with the royal wedding coming up), three Constance Wolfes, and four Hazel d'Ark's, for those who like to live dangerously."
    "How about Ruby Journey?"
    "Sweetie, we wouldn't dare. We do have several Lionstones, for the S&M trade.
    Would you like to meet your own lookalike?"
    Diana stopped dead in her tracks, and glared at the fake Owen as he stopped too.
    "There's someone here with my face?"
    "Well, yes. Everyone famous makes an appearance here eventually. Our job is fulfilling fantasies, and as there aren't enough of the real thing to go around, people come here for the next best thing. You're quite in demand, you know. A lot of espers have a thing about you. You'd be surprised."
    "Listen to me very carefully," said Diana Vertue. "I don't want to meet my double. I don't want anyone to meet my double. As from this moment, no one with my face is to work in a House of Joy anywhere, on pain of my getting seriously annoyed. You'd be surprised how much damage I can do, when I'm sufficiently motivated."
    "Are we talking Jenny Psycho here?" said the fake Owen.
    "Quite definitely."
    "I'll see your message is passed on to the board of directors. And I would like to point out that there is absolutely no point in threatening me. I just work here."
    "Get a move on," said Diana, and they started off again. After a somewhat
    strained silence, Diana calmed down enough to ask another question. "Where exactly are we going?"
    "Right down to the basement level," said the fake Owen, glad to be on uncontroversial ground again. "Your contact… is very shy about meeting people.
    In