Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

speed through the narrow corridors, following the map he'd called up from his sled's computer link. Luckily there was no one about.
    The security center wasn't far. It was, however, very thoroughly locked down. Lewis guided his sled in to a halt before the only entrance, clambered just a little shakily out of his crash webbing, and dismounted from the sled. His legs felt a bit unsteady under him as he strode over to the center and hammered on the closed door with his fist.
    "This is the Paragon Lewis Deathstalker! Open up!"
    "Go to Hell!" screamed back a voice so full of panic Lewis couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman.
    "We're in lockdown! Full security! No one's getting in here till it's over!"
    "I'm a Paragon! I can stop this. Open up, on the King's authority!"
    "No! You could be anyone! No one's getting in here! I'm armed! Go away! We have esp-blockers.
    You're not getting into my head!"
    "Let me in, damn you! People are dying out here!"
    "Go away! Leave me alone!"
    A whole bunch of answers jumped to the tip of Lewis's tongue, all of them angry, none of them helpful.
    The voice on the other side of the door had clearly passed beyond the point where reason could reach him or her. The door looked very solid and impressive, but fortunately Paragons were allowed certain advantages that most people didn't know about to help them do their job, such as an electronic skeleton key that could open any lock short of diplomatic level. Lewis winced briefly, thinking of all the paperwork he'd have to do later, and then pulled the key out of his boot and plugged it into the door's lock. The door swung open, and he stormed in.
    There was only one man inside, curled into a ball underneath the blank monitor screens, shaking and shuddering. His eyes were wild and he tried to point a gun at Lewis. The Deathstalker slapped it out of the man's hand and hauled him out from under the screens. The man whimpered and tried feebly to kick him.
    "Stop that!" said Lewis. "Look at the uniform; I'm a Paragon. Why haven't you activated the tanglefields and the sleepgas? And where are the rest of the security staff?"
    The man sniffled and looked away, unable to meet his gaze, and Lewis understood. His lip curled in disgust, and he shook the man roughly.
    "You locked them out, didn't you? You broke and ran and locked yourself in here, and left the others to fend for themselves."
    The disgust in his voice acted like a slap in the face for the security man, and he actually calmed down a little. He straightened up, brushing automatically at his rumpled uniform, and glared at Lewis. "Don't talk to me like that. I'm security chief here. I had to secure the computers. Important equipment. Very valuable. Not my fault if the others didn't move quickly enough. I did my job . . ."
    "The tanglefields and the sleepgas," said Lewis, cutting him short. 'Activate them, and we can stop the ELFs."
    "You can't just force your way in here and give me orders! I'm in control here. I'm not doing anything without proper orders. We might make them angry . . ."
    "Oh hell," said Lewis. "I don't have time for this."
    He spun the security man around, twisted his arm up behind his back, and bent him over the control panels.
    "Hit the tanglefields! All of them! I want a full spread, covering all the crowd areas!"
    He put pressure on the twisted arm, and the security man cried out, and worked the control panels frantically with his free hand.
    "Now hit the sleepgas. Feed it in through the air-conditioning.
    Blowers on full. I want the whole seating area blanketed with the stuff before the ELFs realize what's happening."
    The security man hit more controls, sobbing to himself now. Lewis wasn't comfortable playing the bully, but needs must when the demons drive. He got the man to patch in an emergency back-up camera system, and some of the monitor screens came to life again, showing what was happening in the Arena.
    All the tanglefields had activated, covering the crowd and the sands. Sparkling energies washed over the struggling men and women, slowing their movements to a crawl. Soon they were trapped and still, like so many insects in amber. And already their eyes were beginning to close, as invisible, odorless sleepgas gushed out of the air-conditioning systems. A growing silence fell across the terraces as the crowd fell into a deep, peaceful, merciful sleep.
    A few ELFs teleported out. The rest were held fast by the tanglefields, along with everyone else, and all