Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

they were back to recycling, protein cubes, and distilled water. And there wasn't anything of an even faintly medicinal nature left anywhere on the ship for him to drink, snort, or swallow. Brett was certain of that, because he'd looked really hard. He needed a little something. Just being around Rose freaked him out big time these days.
    Ever since he'd discovered that the mental link his esp had forged between him and Rose worked both ways—so that she was influencing him just as he was influencing her—Brett couldn't even trust his own thoughts and feelings anymore. All that fighting and swordsmanship definitely wasn't him. He might be a cowardly, unreliable, self-centered reprobate, but he was used to that. He knew where he stood. But now when Rose was around, he found himself doing all manner of violent, adventurous, and downright dangerous things. Like standing his ground and fighting the bad guys, instead of doing the sensible thing and legging it for the nearest horizon. Brett resented anything that threatened to interfere with his finely tuned sense of self-preservation. Even worse, Rose seemed to find the whole process highly amusing. He glared across the bridge at her, and she gazed calmly back, an angel of death in bloodred leathers.
    And she kept wanting to talk about sex…
    "I don't know what you're so upset about," said Rose. "You were happy enough for me to change, to become more like you. Why shouldn't it work both ways?"
    "Because I'm the sane one!" snapped Brett.
    "That's a matter of opinion," said Jesamine.
    "Of course I'm sane! I am incredibly sane and focused, because there's not a damn thing left on this ship to help me feel otherwise!"
    "Is that why you snorted the last of my face powder?" said Jesamine.
    Brett shuddered. "Don't remind me. I coughed so hard I thought I was going to turn my lungs inside out."
    Jesamine dismissed him with one of her best cutting looks, and turned her attention back to Lewis. The Deathstalker was still studying the approaching planet, his ugly face set in grim, determined lines. He was still holding her hand, but absently, as though he'd forgotten it was there. Jesamine felt a cold hand close around her heart, in a sharp frisson of foreboding. Whatever happened down on Haden, she knew it was really his show now. The rest of them were just there for the ride.
    The Madness Maze was Deathstalker business.
    "The Maze scares you, doesn't it?" he said suddenly, not looking around.
    "Of course it scares me, Lewis. It always has. Not just because it ate up and spat out the last ten thousand people to go in, but because… because even when Owen and his people went in and came out again, they weren't who they were anymore. The Madness Maze remade them, rewrote them. It destroys who you are, in order to make you into someone, or something, else. Something that isn't human anymore. And it doesn't matter whether you look at the legend or the history—being superhuman didn't make Owen or any of the others happy."
    "Owen did it out of duty," said Lewis. "For the sake of all Humanity, To save the Empire from those who would destroy it. Can I do any less, and still be a Deathstalker?"
    "But why does it have to be you, Lewis?"
    He finally turned and looked at her, smiling easily, his eyes kind but firm. "I could not love thee half so much, loved I not honor more."
    "Owen only says that in the opera Deathstalker's Lament" said Jesamine. "I doubt he ever said anything so pompous in real life. Remember what happened to him, Lewis—and to Hazel d'Ark, and Jack Random and Ruby Journey. None of them lived to see the Golden Age they fought so hard for."
    "But we did. Because of them, the Golden Age existed." Lewis sighed heavily, and let go of her hand.
    "This is our last chance, Jes, our last throw of the dice. By entering the Maze we can make ourselves into marvelous weapons, to throw against Finn and his forces, and maybe even the Terror too. We can change the course of history, just as my ancestor did. We can become magnificent, and shine like suns.
    "What's this we crap?" said Brett. "You're not getting me anywhere near the Madness Maze. I am excused from suicide missions. I've got a note."
    "Well, maybe it won't come to that," said Lewis, looking back at the image of Haden on the main viewscreen. "There's always the chance we'll find directions or a map or something to lead us to Owen down there. And then none of us will have to brave the Maze."
    "You still think there's a