Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

mine."
    Oh, God," said Brett. "It just gets worse and worse…"
    Jesamine spun round in her chair to glare at Lewis. "You heard that overdressed cow, Lewis! She threatened me! Do something!"
    Lewis wondered wistfully whether the Hereward had a sleepgas option, so he could shut them all up and get some serious thinking done.
    "Everybody calm down, right now," he said, putting all his Paragon's authority into his voice. "We still haven't decided where we're going yet. More and more it seems to me that we should put our search for Owen and Hazel on hold, until we've dealt with all the loose ends we left behind on Logres."
    "There is no way I'm going back to Logres," Brett said immediately. "Too many people want me dead there, most definitely including Finn Durandal. Hell, he wants all of us dead. Preferably in slow, inventive and very messy ways. Why the hell would we want to go back to Logres?"
    "Some of us had friends we left behind," said Lewis. "I'm worried about Emma Steel. She doesn't know about Finn. And she is perhaps the only true protector Logres has left."
    "You said yourself she's a first class Paragon," said Jesamine, reaching out to put a comforting hand on Lewis's arm. "She can look after herself. And she's got backup in Stuart Lennox, your official replacement from Virimonde. You said he was a good sort."
    "I left him broken and bleeding on the starport landing pads," said Lewis. "Another blood debt I owe Finn. Even if Stuart does make a full recovery, he's just starting out as a Paragon. Too young, too trusting. I may have thrown him to the wolves."
    "They aren't who you're really worried about," said Jesamine. "You're worried aboutDouglas ."
    "Yes," said Lewis. "He is the King, and we left him alone and unprotected, surrounded by political and religious fanatics just dying for a chance to bring him down. And he doesn't know about Finn either."
    "He has Anne," said Jesamine. "We've all been friends for…"
    "I don't trust her anymore," said Lewis.
    "Oh, Lewis," Jesamine said tenderly. "You cant worry about everyone, sweetie. It's an endearing trait, but an impractical one. Worry about us instead."
    "Oh, I do," said Lewis. "Trust me, I do. What can we hope to achieve? A dishonored Paragon, a disgraced diva, a homicidal maniac, an alien who likes eating kicking, squealing things, and Brett. It doesn't exactly fill you with confidence, does it?"
    "Hey, wait a minute," said Brett. "I think I resent that. I have all kinds of useful talents. Not particularly nice ones, perhaps, but still…"
    "Tell him about the data crystal you stole from Finn's secret files," said Rose.
    Brett tried to glare at her, but it came out more like a pout. "Thank you, Rose. I was saving that, in case I needed something to barter with later on. Remind me to have a little talk with you about this marvelous new concept called forward planning. But since you've raised the subject…" He looked unhappily at Lewis. "You're really not going to like this, Sir Deathstalker, but please don't blame the messenger for the message. I… happened upon certain files in Finn's computer that he thought he'd hidden behind some really quite superior protection. The files contained some of his future plans, in some detail. I'll let you study the data crystal later, but the Durandal's most unpleasant scheme… was his intention to have all the Paragons ambushed, as they set out on their great quest to find Owen Deathstalker. Apparently the idea is that they will be overwhelmed by superior forces while they're separated and far away from any hope of backup. Finn wants the Paragons taken out of the picture. Probably because he sees them as the only real threat left to his long-term ambitions. Or perhaps because he's always hated them. For being what he only pretended to be."
    That's it," said Lewis. "No more arguments. I'm turning this ship around right now. We are going back to Logres. The Paragons have to be warned."
    No!" Jesamine said immediately, grabbing at Lewis's arm as he reached for the control panels. "Stop and think for a minute, Lewis.
    Please. Even if we did go back, who'd listen to us? Who'd believe us? That's if they didn't just shoot us all on sight. You can bet good money that Finn has absolutely no intention of allowing any of us our day in court. We know too much about him. We can't put our heads back in the lion's mouth, Lewis. Our
    mission is more important. It has to come first."
    "Some mission," said Lewis, but his heart wasn't in