Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

prove very valuable," said Douglas. "All sorts of people would like to get their hands on you, for what they think you know. You're safer here. Talk to the doctors, Donal. Help them to help you. And then work with us, to stop the Terror. Before it kills again."
    "You know nothing! You understand nothing!" Corcoran stepped suddenly forward, to shout his words right into Douglas's face. Crow Jane drew her disrupter. Corcoran ignored her. Douglas gestured for the esper not to interfere, and stood very still as the madman shouted at him. "You can't keep me here! I won't be kept here, like an animal!"
    "I'll come and talk to you again," said Douglas. "When you're feeling calmer. I won't give up on you, Donal. I am your King, and I will not abandon you. If you have faith in nothing else, have faith in that."
    He bowed to Corcoran, and then turned and walked unhurriedly away. Crow Jane gave Corcoran one last suspicious glance, and then hurried after Douglas, her gun still in her hand. The madman watched them go, his staring eyes suddenly calm and thoughtful. When the King and his esper were both out of sight, hidden behind the concealing holos, Corcoran walked off in another direction, between trees he knew weren't real, following a direction that blazed in his mind like a siren. He soon came to what appeared to be a high stone wall, the boundary of the grounds. Corcoran slowly reached out, placed his hands flat against the disguised force shield, and pushed. And his hands and arms went right through the energy screen as though it wasn't there. Corcoran pulled his hands back, and laughed soundlessly.
    Frustrated by his failure to acquire Donal Corcoran for the Church, and furious at his treatment by King
    Douglas, Angelo Bellini scowled and fumed all the way back to the Cathedral. He slammed out of his chauffeur-driven limousine, stormed through the offices at the back of the Cathedral, and his people saw his face and hurried to get out of his way. He stalked right past his secretary, even as she rose twittering from behind her desk to tell him he had a visitor waiting in his office. He kicked the door open, strode in, and slammed the door behind him with satisfying noise and venom. It felt good to be back in his office, in his territory, in his place of power. A good place to plot revenges, and the humbling of Kings. He strode over to his desk, enjoying the way his feet sank into the deep pile carpet. He sank down into his chair, activated the massage function, and finally began to relax a little. Someone cleared his throat politely, and Angelo only then remembered what his secretary had said about a visitor. He looked around, and there was Tel Markham, the honorable Member for Madraguda, standing patiently beside the window, looking calm and relaxed as always.
    "Hello Angelo," Markham said easily. "You're looking good, as always. Like the new office. It's very you. Is that dried blood in your beard?"
    "Go away, Tel," Angelo said wearily. "I don't have the time or the patience for this. I'm really very busy today. You'll just have to make an appointment with my secretary for another time, like everyone else."
    "An appointment?" said Markham, raising one elegant eyebrow. "Since when did Madraguda's two most favored sons need an appointment to talk to each other?"
    "Spare me the crap," growled Angelo. "I'm not in the mood. What do you want, Tel? You know you only ever come to see me when you want something."
    "I want us to be partners," Markham said easily. "We have so many aims in common, these days. Think how much we could achieve, working together, in the House and in the Church."
    "I already have one partner, and he's enough of a pain in the arse as it is."
    "But I have so much to offer, Angelo."
    "I very much doubt it." Angelo smiled sardonically at his visitor. "Parliament is on its way out. The new Church is where the future is. You never wanted to be my partner when I was just the Angel of Madraguda. How many times did I ask for your support, back when I was trying to raise money for good causes? You never wanted to know, never bothered to stir yourself unless there was a media opportunity you could crash and turn to your advantage. Well, now the tables have turned, Tel, and you know what? You don't have a single thing I want or need. Or at least, nothing I can't take from you, when I get around to it."
    "You always were a sore loser, Angelo." Markham considered for a moment. "I am Pure Humanity, you know. A lot of