Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

into the official legends, I assume? Of course he did. He was a hero, after all. While I… was a traitor, and proud of it. I fought with the Ashrai, in their war against Humanity. I killed men and women from my own crew—until Captain Silence scorched this planet from orbit, and killed every living thing on Unseeli except for the trees and me." He smiled again, at their shocked expressions. "Oh, yes, children, your great hero John Silence committed genocide here, in the name of his Empire. Some years later, Owen brought the Ashrai back. Made Unseeli a living world again. That's why the Deathstalker name buys you this audience." He looked again at Base Thirteen. "I was an Investigator, once. Trained by the Empire on how best to study and murder aliens. But even so, nothing in my experience prepared me for the horror Captain Silence and I found in this dark place.
    "An alien from an unknown species came to Unseeli, from out of the endless night beyond the Rim, and its ship crashed near here. We'd never seen anything like that ship—grown as much as built, out of meat and bone as well as steel and crystal. We cut open one of its walls, and guts fell out. But the alien wasn't there. It had already made its way to Base Thirteen and slaughtered every living thing it found there.
    Afterwards, it did terrible things with their bodies. We killed the alien, eventually. John Silence, I, the young esper Diana Vertue, and Investigator Frost. John. My friend, my enemy. We were always so close; bound together and torn apart by honor and responsibility.
    "The alien ship isn't here anymore. Empire scientists took it away, to study, and from its alien technology they devised the next generation of stardrives—the E class—and more, besides. The alien we killed was just the forerunner of a very advanced, very deadly species. John and I always expected more of them would come, to challenge and invade the Empire, but they never did. Perhaps the Terror got to them first.
    The universe is a very big place…" Carrion looked at Lewis again. "So. Two hundred years. Is John…
    ?"
    "John Silence died long ago," said Lewis. "I'm sorry. There are statues to him all over the Empire."
    "So," said Carrion. "My only friend is dead. My last link with Humanity is gone." He said it slowly, as though unsure how he felt about it. "And you're the new Deathstalker. You look like a warrior, which is more than Owen did, except when he got mad at someone. I only met him a few times. A dark, sad, disturbing figure. A good man, undoubtably, but he scared the shit out of me."
    "Why aren't you in the official legends?" said Rose. She was back on her feet again, but keeping a respectful distance. "If you were as closely tied to the other heroes as you claim?"
    Brett winced. "Gives whole new meaning to the word blunt, doesn't she?"
    "They probably left me out because I embarrassed everyone," said Carrion, entirely unmoved. "I never apologized for my treason. I embraced it. And I never gave a damn for the Empire or Humanity. I only fought alongside John because he asked me to."
    "You mean… you didn't follow the blessed Owen?" said Jesamine.
    "Hell, no," said Carrion. "I knew enough to stay well clear of him. He had that hero stink all over him.
    And everyone knows that heroes die young, and bloody, and mostly take their friends and companions down with them." He smiled coldly at Lewis. "Just like you will, Deathstalker."
    Lewis decided it was definitely time to change the subject. His hopes of persuading Carrion to join him were looking increasingly remote. "Tell us about the heroes you knew, Sir Carrion. We know only the legends. What were they really like?"
    Carrion frowned, and for the first time seemed uncertain. "When heroes become legends, so much of the truth is always lost. I knew men and women, flesh and blood. Important figures, yes, but still… They were people first, flawed and vulnerable—which perhaps makes their heroism all the greater.
    Owen—perhaps the only real hero I ever met. Death on two legs. Honorable, brave, damned. Knew he wouldn't live to see the end of his war, but never let that stop him from doing what he knew to be right.
    Hazel—a free spirit, no matter what it cost her. A scrapper, a rebel, never giving too much of herelf to anyone for fear it would be betrayed. She really should have known better than to love a Deathstalker.
    I never really knew or trusted Jack Random or Ruby Journey. I always knew they had their own