Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

fight would be over before it even started. At least they couldn't use disrupters in such a confined space, for fear of hitting each other. So, just twenty experienced swordsmen, against one. Not good. Not impossible, but definitely not good. Emma gave
    them her best disturbing stare.
    "All right, gentlemen, let's dance. Nina, stay in the doorway. You don't want to get blood on your clothes."
    "Oh, hell with that, darling."
    There was a flash of blindingly bright light, and a roar like thunder, and seven of the swordsmen and half the wall behind them disappeared in a moment. Emma shook her head to clear it, and looked behind her.
    Nina was holding the biggest and nastiest handgun Emma had ever seen. Nina smiled brightly.
    "Well, really, you didn't think I'd come into the Rookery unarmed, did you, darling? My great-uncle Flynn picked this up during the Great Rebellion. He was in the news business too, and he always believed in being prepared. Shall I shoot some more of them?"
    The would-be ambushers were already disappearing through the great hole in the wall, and fighting each other to get out first. They weren't being paid enough to face guns like that. Emma could have grabbed the last few, but she didn't see the point. They wouldn't know anything. Finn undoubtedly hired them through a series of cutouts. She turned to Nina, who was slipping her oversized gun back into her shoulder bag, and smiled at her for the first time.
    "Nina, how would you like exclusive rights to follow me around on patrol, day to day?"
    "Gosh, really? A whole series with my name on it? I could write my own ticket!" She stopped abruptly and looked at Emma. "What's the catch?"
    "The catch is, you'll probably get killed, hanging around with me. But if you're game, I promise you exclusives like no one else has ever seen."
    "We're going to be partners? Comrades in arms? Best chums?" Nina grabbed Emma in a fierce bear hug. "Oh, Mummy is going to be so proud!"
    In the House of Parliament, King Douglas sat slumped on his throne, not really listening to the lackluster debates on the floor. No one noticed his lack of interest or involvement, or if they did, no one cared. The Speaker had been bypassed, made irrelevant, and everyone knew it. But behind his disinterested facade,Douglas was doing some hard thinking. He was quietly plotting how best to wrest his power back from those who'd usurped it. He couldn't do much on his own, which meant he needed allies. His first thought had been to turn to his old comrades, the Paragons, but most of them were still scattered across the Empire on their great quest. And the few who had returned were… different. Altered. Strange. They showed no interest in taking up their old duties, and their general conduct was appalling. What had happened to them, alone out there in the dark?Douglas had to wonder if their failure to find the blessed Owen had broken their spirit in some way.
    There weren't many MPs left he felt like trusting, the espers had retired to the floating city ofNew Hope and battened down the hatches, and Shub… went its own way, as always. The few people he'd considered friends had either betrayed him or distanced themselves from what everyone saw as a broken force. Being too close to the King was the kiss of death these days, in politics or Society. That left just the clones and the aliens. The clones were tied to Finn, and the aliens had troubles of their own. The King had been isolated.
    Douglaswas also very concerned that he still hadn't been able to get any news about his father. House
    Campbell was strictly off-limits to everyone, very definitely including him. Finn kept promising the media the full story of William's treachery, but he was in no hurry. No one had seen the inside of House Campbell since Finn's raid. The continuing silence worriedDouglas almost to distraction, but he didn't let anyone see it. He just worked doggedly on his plan to break into House Campbell, rescue his father, and get him somewhere safe. If he could just hold himself together long enough. And if his father was still alive…
    Douglassuddenly realized that Meerah Puri was speaking to him directly from the floor of the House, trying to get him involved in the debate.Douglas deliberately slumped down a little further in his throne, and just nodded vaguely to her. Meerah Puri was one of the few politicians left in the House that he still approved of, and he had no doubt she meant well, butDouglas had to play his role of