Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

future, you and he will meet, and work together. I have seen it. Future is just like past, only in reverse. I met Owen in future; he gave me ring, to give to you now. I came back, to give it to you."
    Everyone looked at him for a long moment. Lewis recovered first, perhaps because he was too tired and too hurt to give a damn. "I'm definitely going to meet the blessed Owen? Alive and in the flesh, in the future?"
    "Oh yes," said Vaughn. "Owen's coming back. Official. You heard it here first!"
    "What the hell," said Lewis. "You're supposed to be dead, and you're here. So why not Owen?"
    "Death is overrated," said Vaughn. "I can't die, not till my purpose is done. Much like Owen, in fact.
    Destiny's a real bitch, sometimes."
    "Fascinating as all this undoubtedly is," Chevron said heavily, "we can't stand around here chatting all night. More guards are on their way, and there's a very real chance Lewis could bleed to death."
    "Knew I forgot something," said Vaughn.
    A gray hand with fingers missing emerged from out of Vaughn's gray sleeve, and gripped Lewis firmly by the wrist. A sudden shock went right through him, and he cried out, though he wasn't sure whether what he'd felt was pain or not. And suddenly he was strong again, breathing easily, his head clear and all his wounds closed. Nothing was bleeding anymore, and he didn't need the wall to hold him up. He looked open-mouthed at Vaughn.
    "How the hell did you do that?"
    "Sorcerer. Told you. Tell everyone, but no one ever listens. Maybe I should have cards made out. Buy one spell, get one free."
    "Vaughn," Lewis said slowly. "Who are you? Really?"
    "Wrong question. Chevron; talk to him. Tell him what he needs to know. We have time, before guards come. Maybe not, afterwards."
    "I know a way out of here," said Samuel Chevron. "I'll get you both clear of the Tower, and then you need to go to the Dust Plains of Memory. They're all that remains of the original Central Computer Matrix of Golgotha, from Lionstone's time. King Robert and Queen Constance shut the Matrix down when they came to power. It held far too much data that would have contradicted the myths they were so anxious to create. Besides; they were frightened of it. There were ghosts in the Matrix, things moving among the data streams that had no business being there. Shub claimed they put them there, but if they did, they didn't control them anymore.
    "So Robert and Constance took what information they needed, put it in a new central depository, and then arranged for the old Matrix to be very thoroughly destroyed. But, unknown to them and practically everyone else, the old Matrix had some very sophisticated self-repair and self-preservation systems. You could have nuked the Matrix, and it would have survived. With a little help from the AIs of Shub, who disapproved on principle of destroying data, what remained of the old Matrix transferred itself to what remained of Lionstone's old Palace, in its steel bunker deep in the bedrock under the city, still powered by its geothermal tap. It's still here, known now as the Dust Plains of Memory; an oracle and depository for forgotten and forbidden knowledge. Available only to a chosen few. Luckily the Dust Plains owe me a few favors. You'll need a password to gain admittance. I'll give it to you once we're safely out of here.
    You never know who might be listening."
    "You don't mind them knowing about the Dust Plains," said Jesamine.
    "Everyone who matters already knows," said Chevron. "There are a lot of things the movers and shakers of this Empire know, that are kept from everyone else."
    "Hold everything," said Lewis. "How do you know all this, sir Chevron? All right, you were a good friend to King William, and a valued adviser, but , . . where did a retired simple trader like you're supposed to be learn to fight like that?"
    "Because I'm not Samuel Chevron. Never was, really. And no; we don't have time to discuss that now.
    I'll give you directions on how to get to the Dust Plains once we're out of here. You'll find a lot of answers there, though you probably won't like most of them. The truth always has sharp edges. Robert and Constance knew that, which was why they chose legend instead of history to build their new Golden Age on. Though it has to be said; Robert, good soldier that he was, never did have much time for wonders and mysteries."
    "Would these . . . computers, have information on the current whereabouts of the blessed Owen and his companions?" said