Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

Maze."
    "Shit," said Brett under his breath to Rose. "Didn't you just know he was going to say that?"
    "We saw the story of Owen's defense of the mission, atMissionCity ," Lewis said abruptly. "It told of Owen doing… amazing things. Impossible things. You were there, Sir Moon. Did Owen really do all the things they said he did?"
    "Oh, yes," said Moon. "All of that, and more. He was always the best of us."
    There was something in the way he said that, that told Lewis the audience was over, and Moon had said all he was prepared to say, but still he persisted. There were things he had to say, even though it wasn't easy being stubborn in the face of those terrible glowing golden eyes.
    "Sir Moon, it may be that you are the last living Maze survivor. Even if your… abilities never matched Owen's, you are still a very powerful individual. Come with us. Help us stop the Terror. You have a duty: to us, and the Empire."
    "No," said Moon. "You don't need me. You need Owen. Because I have seen the Terror, and I know what it really is. Only Owen can hope to stop it. Go to Haden, Deathstalker. It is your destiny."
    "You know what the Terror is?" said Jesamine. "Tell us!"
    "No," said Moon. "You're not ready yet."
    Hell with all that, thought Brett Random. He'd had a bellyful of hints and half answers. He reached out with his mind, and hit Moon's thoughts with the strongest esp compulsion he could fashion—only to discover that Moon's mind was a hell of a lot bigger than any human mind had a right to be. It kept growing and unfolding before him, expanding in directions he couldn't even follow. And above and beyond Moon's thoughts, there was the Red Brain. The smallest part of it recognized Brett's small presence, and thrust him back into his own head. Brett cried out in shock and pain, and would have fallen if Rose hadn't grabbed and steadied him. Lewis and Jesamine looked at him, startled. Saturday fell into an automatic defensive crouch. And as they looked away, Moon's head slowly lowered itself again, his chin resting on his chest, the golden glare fading from his eyes. The crimson vegetation lining the chamber began to stir ominously. The whole ship began to shake, and the floor lurched under their feet.
    "Brett!" said Lewis. "What have you done?"
    "Why do you always blame me?"
    "Because it's always your fault!"
    "Yell at him later!" said Jesamine, grabbing Lewis's arm to steady herself. "We have to get out of here! I think this ship's going back down into the earth again!"
    Lewis looked quickly to the narrow tunnel that was their only way out. The fibrous lining was writhing slowly, expanding, sealing off the tunnel inch by inch. And the soft rosy light was slowly going out.
    "Saturday!" said Lewis. "You go first. Make us an exit!"
    The reptiloid grinned and plowed forward, his great bulk forcing a way through the narrowing tunnel.
    The others hurried close behind him, Rose hauling Brett along with her. The whole ship was shuddering now, the floor seeming to fall away beneath their feet. Daylight showed up ahead, and they charged down the tunnel and out of the sinking ship. They hit the pink grass running, and didn't stop till they were on the other side of the clearing. Only then did they turn and look back, just in time to watch the last of that battered wreck, the Sunstrider II, disappear back underground as the earth swallowed it up again.
    The grass waved wildly, the earth closed over the lowering prow, and slowly the clearing grew still again, with nothing to show that anything had ever been there. And then they all jumped out of their skins as a calm voice spoke behind them.
    "Your audience is over," said Hellen Adair. "I trust you found it helpful. It's time for you to leave Lachrymae Christi. Hope you had a good time, be sure to sign the visitors' book at the starport, have a safe journey, don't come back."
    Back on the bridge of the Hereward, heading away from Lachrymae Christi at speed, Brett Random was still fuming.
    "The bum's rush! All that guff about how honored they were to meet a Deathstalker, and we end up being booted off the planet!"
    "You were the one stupid enough to try to compel someone connected to the mass consciousness of an entire planet," Rose said calmly. "You're lucky your brains aren't dribbling out your ears. All right, ten out
    of ten for ambition, Brett, but minus several thousand for diplomacy."
    "So," said Jesamine, reclining elegantly in her chair. "Where do we go now? I don't know