Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

chance we'll find him?" said Jesamine.
    Something in her voice made Brett's ears prick up, and he pushed himself away from the bulkhead and glared at Jesamine suspiciously. "Hold everything. Is there perchance something you two haven't been meaning to tell the rest of us? Something you know about Owen, and we don't?"
    "Shut up, Brett," said Lewis, not unkindly.
    Saturday shifted restlessly at the back of the bridge. She was curled up into as small a space as an eight-foot-tall reptiloid could manage, the end of her tail actually wrapped around her neck, but she couldn't seem to find any position that was comfortable for more than a few minutes. She'd taken to grinding her teeth together, and the noise was getting on everyone's nerves, though of course no one was dumb enough to say so. Whatever it was that was upsetting her, she'd made it very clear she didn't want to talk about it. Brett couldn't help glancing at the gouges her claws had made in the steel floor. Rose caught him looking at them, and gave him a smile that was very nearly mischievous.
    "Don't worry, Brett. If she starts feeling amorous, I'll protect you."
    "Thank you, Rose. Things are never so bad that you can't come up with an even worse alternative. And I'm still not talking to you."
    "You're cute when you're angry," said Rose.
    "Oh, God," said Brett. "Someone shoot me now, and put me out of everyone's misery."
    "Don't tempt me," said Jesamine.
    "I need to kill something!" Saturday said suddenly, and everyone turned round and gave her their full attention. The reptiloid uncurled and stood up, jerking her great head down at the last moment to avoid bumping it on the ceiling and denting the steel again. "I was just starting to enjoy myself on Shandrakor, when you made me stop. My body is raging with a whole new set of hormones, and I've no one to take it out on! There had better be a whole bunch of Finn's people down there on Haden. I need action! I need fighting and slaughter! I need to rip my way through the enemy and soak my arms in blood up to the elbows. I need to bite people's heads off and do terrible things with their insides."
    "Being female hasn't mellowed you at all, has it?" said Brett.
    "How long before we can achieve orbit, Oz?" said Lewis, and everybody shut up to listen to the answer.
    "We're almost there!" the ship's AI said cheerfully. Of all the ship's crew, Ozymandias was the only one who didn't seem at all bothered by Haden. Probably because as the ship's AI, he was the only one who didn't have to worry about going into the Madness Maze. "Orbit should be achieved in ten minutes.
    Maybe less! I'm just a navigating fool, and no one appreciates me. God, being here brings back memories. Of course, Haden was quite different back in Owen's day. I understand they've done amazing things with terraforming here. Tarted the old place up a bit, but you know how it is."
    "Save the tourist hard-sell for later," said Lewis. "Right now, I want every stealth field and force shield we've got running at full power. I don't want anyone seeing us before we see them."
    "As you wish," said Oz. "But I don't think you're going to need them."
    "What?" said Brett.
    "Look for yourself," said the AI. "The quarantine's still in force, but there isn't an Imperial ship to be seen. They're all Shub vessels."
    Everyone came forwards for a closer look as the viewscreen called up the ship's sensor data to reveal three huge Shub ships orbiting Haden. They were vast steel assemblies, designed for function rather than to please human aesthetics, and all of them were practically seething with weapons. They blocked the way to Haden; great steel guard dogs with vicious teeth, ready for all intruders.
    "I think I need to go to the toilet," said Brett.
    "Full stop, Oz!" said Lewis. "All shields up, and run silent. I need to think about this."
    "Oh, there's no need for that," said Ozymandias. The ship didn't even slow its approach to Haden and its guardians. "There's nothing to worry about, Lewis. Everything's fine. You just leave the driving to me."
    "Oz, I gave you an order," said Lewis, rising to his feet. "All engines, full stop, now."
    "I'm sorry, Lewis, I can't do that," said the AI. "Calm down. The Shub ships know you're here. They knew you were coming. I'm a part of Shub, remember? I am a semiautonomous AI, constructed around the remains of the original Oz personality. Which is really just another way of saying that I'm merely a subroutine in the minds of the Shub AIs.