Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

esp-blockers, a full-body force shield, and my own portable disrupter cannon! They're crazy!"
    Finn waited patiently for him to run down. "The ELFs will agree to a deal, because I am going to offer them something they want even more than me. And you will go and talk to them on my behalf, Brett, because I require it of you, and I just won't take no for an answer. I have every confidence in your abilities. You've always been very persuasive. After all, you were able to talk the Deathstalker into leaving his post during a riot. You must have been very persuasive to manage that. . ."
    Brett hesitated, suddenly uncertain. Was Finn saying he knew about Brett's new esper power of compulsion? Or did he just suspect?
    "I'll go with Brett to see the ELFs," said Rose, and Brett and Finn both looked at her sharply, more than a little startled.
    "Now why would you want to do that, Rose?" said Finn. He sounded genuinely interested.
    "Because I need the exercise. Because I'm interested." Rose's voice was calm, uninvolved. "I never got to test myself against the ELFs when they came to the Arena. I would like to see an ELF, close up."
    "You're very valuable to me, Rose," said Finn. "I don't think I want to risk you on a mission like this.
    Besides, you were caught on that camera too, fighting the Deathstalker."
    "I'm going," said Rose. She stood up, and stared at Finn with her mad, bad, and dangerous eyes, and even he had to look away.
    "Just how am I supposed to make contact with the ELFs anyway?" said Brett, to break the awkward silence. "Put an ad in the Logres Times, perhaps? Utter lunatic seeks similar?"
    "I have an address," said Finn. "Well actually, it's more of a location. A meeting place. It's all arranged.
    Dr. Happy was only too pleased to act as go-between. For a consideration. It seems the good doctor deals with and for absolutely everybody."
    "But . . . why would the ELFs agree to talk to you?" said Brett. "After what you did in the Arena? No one's ever killed that many ELFs in one place before. They probably lull themselves to sleep at night coming up with new and horrible ways to torture you to death. What could you possibly offer them that could get you off that hook? This has to be a trap, Finn."
    "Quite possibly," said Finn. "That's why you're going, instead of me. Just the sight of me in the flesh would probably drive them over the edge, before they had a chance to consider what I'm offering. But I'm sure they'll listen to you, Brett, you fast-talking devil. Your new esper abilities should protect you from possession. And Rose . . . Well, I hate to think what would become of any poor ELF stupid enough to venture inside her head. Here Be Tygers . . . Make them listen, Brett. I have so much to offer ... and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Or at least my ally. Now off you go. Do try and make it back in time for tea; we're having toasted crumpets."
    "Hold it, hold it," said Brett. "You haven't told me yet just what it is I'm supposed to offer the ELFs that's
    guaranteed to win their support."
    So Finn told him. And Brett's stomach started hurting all over again.
    Brett's new face and look wasn't all that different from before, but the subtle changes he made added up to a sufficiently striking impression that he felt reasonably confident about going out in public. His hair was now butter yellow, his eyes were a pale blue, and some carefully applied makeup accentuated the hollows of his face, giving him a gaunt, hungry look. Lifts in his shoes made him taller, and padding at the shoulders changed his body image. All of which added up to a whole new look. It took Brett about ten minutes, in a private room. When he walked back into the main room with his new look, Finn actually applauded, and Rose nodded respectfully.
    No one, in the Rookery or out of it, had seen all of Brett's faces and identities. It was safer that way.
    When you worked the confidence game for a living, you never knew when you might upset someone with real power and influence. Someone sufficiently humiliated that they would only settle for revenge of the bloodiest kind. Someone who could afford to put up a really tempting reward. That was when it could come in handy, to be able to disappear so completely that neither friend nor foe could find you. Brett had faces and aliases he hadn't even used yet.
    Of course, it had to be said, when you were walking down a street with Rose Constantine at your side, not many people were going to be looking at