Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

old Imperial conditioning from espers and clones; the mental limits that were supposed to
    keep them from rebelling. The stronger minds usually broke free on their own, but there are still many who need help. And afterwards, they have to be taught to think for themselves. Too many would walk right back into the cell we freed them from, simply because they've never known anything else. And there's never any shortage of people ready to take advantage of them all over again. We also care for those whose souls are troubled by things they had to do during the war.
    The esper Guild Houses do what they can, but they don't have our experience with violence. It was never a clean war, on either side, and we're still cleaning up the mess."
    And then Crow Jane and Diana Vertue and the other elves came to a sudden halt, as a figure appeared out of the shadows to block their way.
    "Speaking of which," said Crow Jane sourly, "allow me to present our most recent guest. I'm sure you two know each other."
    "Oh yes," said Jack Random. "We know each other. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like a private word with Diana."
    "Yes," said Diana, meeting his gaze with level eyes. "There are things we should discuss."
    Crow Jane nodded, and led the other Elves a discreet distance away, to give the two legendary figures a little privacy. Diana studied Jack Random. He seemed calm and collected and not at all crazy.
    "I heard about what you did," she said finally. "It was all over the city."
    "I'm not crazy," said Random, smiling. "I've just gone back to doing what I do best. Killing the bad guys."
    "And you decide who the bad guys are."
    "Who better? Who has more experience fighting the good fight than me? The old
    professional rebel is back, and God help the guilty."
    "Even if they used to be friends and allies of yours?"
    "Perhaps especially then." Random studied her thoughtfully. "You can't stay here, you know. Any more than I can. I don't claim to understand what the Mater Mundi is, but I recognize its might and its determination. If you stay, it'll come here after you. The other elves will try to defend you, and the Mater Mundi will destroy them all just to get at you. New Hope will be a city of the dead, again. If you stay."
    "Where else can I go?" said Diana, almost plaintively.
    "Offworld. Pick a planet with a minimal esper presence, and go to ground. Until either the Mater Mundi forgets about you, or you figure out a way to defeat it.
    I shall be doing… much the same. No one fights my fights for me."
    "The Mater Mundi will never forget me," said Diana. "Not now that I know… what I know. We are enemies to the death now, our teeth forever locked in each other's throat. You're right. I can't stay here. I can't be responsible for the destruction of something so beautiful."
    She looked out over the fairy-tale city before her, and wasn't sure whether she meant New Hope or the new gestalt the elves had built there. It didn't matter.
    Both were too precious to be risked by her contaminating presence. Tears stung Diana's eyes. She could have found a home here. She could feel it. But the newborn elven gestalt would be no match for the centuries-old Mater Mundi.
    It was like coming at last to the shores of Heaven, only to find the gates slammed shut in her face.
    "Give me time to catch my breath, and I'll think of somewhere to go," she said finally. "How about you, Random?"
    "Already on my way. You'll pardon me if I don't tell you where I'm going. These
    days, I don't trust anyone but me. And I watch me pretty damn carefully. I must be off. I have much to do, and justice won't wait. Ah me; so little time, so many to kill."
    He smiled dazzlingly, with all his old charm and arrogance, and turned and walked away. Diana watched him go, and didn't know what to say or think. Was he crazy now, or had the whole Empire gone insane? There'd been a lot of people who thought Jenny Psycho was crazy. Of course, they were pretty much right. Diana looked across at Crow Jane, patiently waiting with the other Elves, and wondered how she was going to break the news that she would be leaving.
    And then an idea suddenly came to her. She couldn't risk mental contact with any of her few esper friends; they were all potentially pawns of the Mater Mundi.
    But there were two people, neither of them in any way espers, with whom she had once made mental contact. When she'd still been Jenny Psycho, a prisoner in Silo Nine, the Imperial detention and torture center also known