Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

you. Brett had persuaded her to cover her familiar leathers with a long and voluminous black robe, and hidden her infamous face behind a sparkling silver holo mask, but she was still seven feet tall and walked like a predator in a world of prey. She might not look like the Wild Rose anymore, but she still turned quite a few heads. Brett would have felt less conspicuous walking along with a Grendel.
    "I like your new look," said Rose. "It's pretty."
    "Don't get too used to it," said Brett, in his new, higher and slightly breathy voice. "This face is just for this outing. Once the ELFs have seen it, I'm scrapping it forever. I don't want them to have any means of tracking me down."
    Rose looked at him from behind her shimmering mask. "They re telepaths, Brett. They'll recognize the shape of your mind, not your face.
    "Bugger. You're quite right, of course. I'm new to all this esper shit. Always stayed well clear of them in the past. Esp is death to my line of business. Still, hopefully my new abilities will be enough to keep them out of my mind. Finn seemed to think so."
    "Finn would say whatever he felt he had to, to get you to go on this mission."
    Brett scowled at her. "You are allowed to lie to me, you know, to build up my confidence. I wouldn't hold it against you." "Are we nearly there yet?"
    "Rose; you have been asking me that for the last half hour! I will tell you when we're there! Now quiet down, and try to look inconspicuous. Try hard. The Zoo's right round this corner."
    Finn Durandal had arranged for his agents to meet the ELFs' agents somewhere under the Imperial Zoo.
    Brett felt a distinct thrill as he led Rose through the huge steel gates, with their proud legend, We preserve. He hadn't been to the Zoo since one of his more amiable stepfathers had brought him here as a birthday treat, when he was just a kid. The gates seemed somewhat smaller and less impressive than he
    remembered, but then, that was childhood for you. Certainly the grounds of the Zoo seemed just as large.
    The Imperial Zoo in the Parade of the Endless contained more strange, wondrous, and downright weird creatures in one place than anywhere else in the Empire. Including Parliament. Thousands of alien species had been I brought in from all across the Empire, all of them guaranteed nonsentient, of course, most of them the last few surviving examples of their kind. All that was left, after the Investigator purges of past centuries, when just to be , different was to be seen as a threat. The Zoo had extensive cloning and gengineenng programs running, and species on the edge of extinction were ! being resurrected every day, but still and all it was a slow business. In the meantime, the Zoo kept its specimens alive and well cared for, and let the , public in to look at them, to provide funding for future research. We preserve, said the Zoo, undoing the crimes of the past. Guilt can be a powerful motivation.
    Each specimen was kept in surroundings as close as possible to its home planet, reinforced by holo illusions where necessary and force shields rather than bars, for practical as well as aesthetic reasons.
    Some of the creatures didn't even know they were in a Zoo. And there were tanglefields on call, powered by their own private generators, just in case. It was important for the visitors to feel safe; or they wouldn't come and spend their money.
    As always, the Zoo was packed with tourists, because it wasn't a trip to the Parade of the Endless if you hadn't seen the Imperial Zoo. Noisy families filled the paths between the enclosures, oohing and aahing at the creatures on display. What with aliens that floated on the air and swam through dark waters, or moved in a variety of disturbing ways through varying gravity fields, Brett and Rose were actually able to make their way through the Zoo without attracting much attention. They strolled along, taking their time, studying the displays and sharing a bag of peanuts, making small talk while Brett checked carefully to see that they weren't being followed. Actually, Brett made the small talk. Rose didn't have the knack. Brett tried holding hands with her, but it felt frankly unnatural, so he gave up. He would have liked to check out a few of the people nearest him with his esp, but surrounded by so many alien minds he didn't dare lower his mental shields, for fear of being overwhelmed.
    "Who do you think the ELFs will send to talk with us?" he said finally, confident no one was going to be