Deathstalker 06 - Deathstalker Legacy

overwhelming odds. That is the Deathstalker tradition, yes? Then on! On to death or glory!"
    Lewis was honestly lost for anything to say. He was still trying to come up with an answer that didn't include shouting or foul language or laughing hysterically, when a new face appeared, peering hesitantly and just a little twitchily out of the Hereward's open hatch. He bobbed his head respectfully to Lewis, and then to Jesamine, and tried to smile, though it wasn't especially successful.
    "Hi there! I'm Brett Random. Your ancestor knew my ancestor, sir Deathstalker. Seems we're fated to work together too. If I knew where to go, I'd complain. You would too, if you knew me. I think you probably know my companion."
    "Oh Jesus," said Jesamine, as a cold female figure in scarlet leathers appeared beside Brett. "Everyone knows the Wild Rose of the Arena. I think I felt safer with the reptiloid. Do I take it you both want to join up as well?"
    "Oh yes," said Brett, trying hard to sound enthusiastic. "We believe in you . . . and we have enemies in common. Most definitely including Finn bloody Durandal, may his balls drop off in the night, roll down the bed, and catch fire. I acquired the access codes to this rather nifty little ship from someone who doesn't know they're missing yet, but I don't know how long that will last, so, I really think we should get moving. Really. The ship's all powered up and ready to go. Assuming you've got some sort of destination in mind."
    "Brett Random," said Lewis. "I'm almost sure I know that name . . . from somewhere . . ."
    "I really think we should get moving," Brett said quickly. "The city's wild with the news about you breaking Jesamine out of the Bloody Tower. Parliament's organized everyone breathing and armed to stop you getting offworld, and you can bet every damned one of them is on his way here right now."
    The world exploded around them as a disrupter beam came searing down from above, ricocheting from Lewis's force shield to blow a crater out of the landing pad right next to them. Rose grabbed Brett and pulled him back inside the ship. Lewis and Jesamine and Saturday scattered to make separate targets as Finn Durandal roared by overhead on his gravity sled. He opened up with the sled's guns, raking the pad around the Hereward with energy beams. He'd been too eager, too anticipatory of the kill. He'd fired on Lewis without checking his sensors to see whether the Deathstalker's force shield was still on, and now his prey were moving too quickly and too randomly for his ship's guns to track. Perhaps deep down, he hadn't wanted to kill Lewis from a distance. Perhaps he needed to go one-on-one with the Deathstalker, face-to-face and blade-to-blade, to prove that he was the better man after all, in the only way that mattered.
    Lewis, as always, was more practical. He turned to follow Finn's sled as it passed by overhead, and fired a single dispassionate energy bolt into the sled's unprotected engine at the rear. It blew apart in a satisfyingly large explosion, throwing the sled from the sky. Unfortunately the sled was already sufficiently low enough that Finn was able to leap free, even as the deck of his gravity sled disintegrated under him in smoke and flames. He dropped down through the billowing fireball, wrapped in his cloak, hit the landing pad in a graceful tuck and roll, and was back on his feet even as the remains of his sled slammed into the pads and exploded twenty feet away. Finn advanced on the waiting Lewis with sword and gun already in his hand, a wide grin on his face and a wild light in his eyes. Lewis gestured sharply for Saturday and Jesamine to keep their distance.
    Finn stopped a few feet short of Lewis, and the two men studied each other for a while.
    "This is all down to you, isn't it?" said Lewis. "Right from the beginning, everything that's happened, everything that's gone wrong; all your fault."
    "Oh yes," said Finn. "I destroyed you, just like I'll destroy Douglas when I'm ready, and eventually the Empire. And why? Because I want to. Because I can."
    "I thought you were my friend, Finn."
    "You always were naive, Lewis."
    "So why are you here, now? Why have you stepped out of the shadows at last?"
    "This had to happen," Finn said happily. "The hero meets the villain, in a final confrontation. Except, of course, in everyone else's eyes I'm the hero, and you're the villain. I'm even wearing the hero's armor, and may I say it looks a lot better on me than it ever did