Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

wasn't fair, but then, little in life ever was. Being a Paragon taught you that. But now he was the King, and the Speaker, and it was his job to lead, if necessary by example.
    He turned to the Champion at his side, and beckoned for him to lean closer. Lewis did so, and Douglas told him what he wanted him to do. Lewis grinned, drew his disrupter, and fired an energy blast over the heads of the massed MPs. The energy bolt only just missed their heads by a couple of feet or so, and they all ducked reflexively, as the energy beam went on to smash a satisfyingly large hole in the wall at the far end of the chamber. An emergency siren began blaring, but was shut off almost immediately. It seemed Anne was still watching. The bright flare of the energy discharge and the roar of the explosion cut through the House's bedlam, and caught everyone's attention. They stopped arguing, and looked uncertainly at their King and his Champion. Several were still ducking. A few were on their knees, hiding.
    Lewis smiled coldly upon them all, his gun covering the whole House impartially. Douglas nodded, satisfied.
    "Thank you, Lewis. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen and gentle-beings, for shutting the hell up so I can hear myself think at last. There will be no more hysteria, by order. I will not have the honorable Members of this venerable institution running about like chickens who've just had their heads chopped off! I will have calm, rational discussion at all times, from all Members. I know I will have this, because I have just given my Champion orders to shoot a hole through the next MP he sees panicking. You don't have any problems with that order, do you, sir Deathstalker?"
    "Not in the least, your Majesty. In fact, I'm just in the mood to shoot somebody."
    The House looked at Lewis, and had no trouble believing him. They remembered him in the Neuman riot. In a way, it was almost comforting to have a Deathstalker in the House, doing what he did best.
    Silence and watchful eyes became the order of the day, as the honorable Members sat down again, and looked to their King and Speaker to see what he would do next. Douglas nodded, satisfied, and turned his gaze on the blue steel humanoid figure standing calmly among the aliens.
    "When you want logic, go to a computer. Talk to me, Shub; what can you tell this House about the Terror? What it is, where it comes from, and what it might do next?"
    The robot representing the AIs of Shub slowly turned its expressionless face towards the Throne. "We received the same warning that you did. We possess no further information, no extra records, nothing on the nature or capabilities of the Terror that you do not already have. Like you, we never thought the Terror would come so soon. We will send remote probes to the next inhabited system in its path, have them monitor the situation when the Terror next appears in real space. Perhaps by studying the nature of its arrival, we can determine where it exists the rest of the time. Perhaps even come up with some way to go in after it.
    "We have weapons that can destroy worlds; or creatures the size of worlds. But the Terror ... is like nothing we have ever seen before. It doesn't seem to be real, as we are real. Limited as we are limited. It is clearly an extradimensional creature. It is possible that no weapon of ours will be able to affect it. You saw how Corcoran's sensor drones changed and mutated, just through continued exposure to the Terrors presence. Just as technology on the Rim planets was affected. And Shub is, of course, technology. The implications are disturbing. But we will send our probes, and study the information they send for as long as they last. Information is always useful. All data will be shared equally, of course.
    "I am sorry, your Majesty. You came to Shub for logic, and it seems all we can offer are guesses and possibilities. Though . . . there is one weapon that might prove useful against the Terror. Should you wish
    to make use of it."
    "A weapon?" Douglas leaned forward. "Something you created, during your long war against Humanity?"
    "No. Nothing of ours. No one knows who or what created this weapon. And only you can decide whether or not you wish to use it."
    "The Maze," Lewis said harshly. "They're talking about the Madness Maze. Owen said we'd have to transcend, through the Maze, to face what was coming. We could have evolved, made living weapons of ourselves, become greater than we are, long and long ago; if we