Deathstalker 07 - Deathstalker Return

still no one had been allowed to speak to him. There wasn't even any word of when William might be brought to trial. He remained a prisoner in HouseCampbell , where anything could be happening to him. Anything. So Douglas had no choice but to appear weak and beaten down and no trouble to anyone, while he worked furiously behind the scenes and in strictest secrecy to gather information on what Finn was really up to, and build up ammunition to be used against him.
    "Well, James," Finn said finally, after the House had calmed down enough to vote in favor of James's
    proposal. "I suppose the next step is mine. Given that the safety of the Empire itself is at stake, it is my duty as Imperial Champion to bring these esper scum to heel."
    The House roared its approval, an ugly sound of spite and blood-lust. Finn and James looked atDouglas
    , and he nodded reluctantly.
    "Do what you must, Sir Champion," he said tiredly. "Go toNew Hope , and make Parliament's will clear to them. And Finn, good luck. You're going to need it."
    Finn looked at him sharply, but Doulas met his gaze innocently enough, and Finn let the remark pass. He strode out of the House like a conqueror, with the cheers of the honorable members ringing in his ears.
    James followed quickly after him. AndDouglas allowed himself a small cold smile.
    You're going to need all the luck you can get, Finn Durandal, against the oversoul…
    Outside the House, James looked about him and whistled loudly, impressed by the sheer size of the armed force Finn had assembled.
    Waiting around and above the House were hundreds, perhaps even thousands of gravity sleds, stacked in ascending levels up into the sky, all of them manned by Pure Humanity and Church Militant fanatics.
    Beyond and above them, dozens of huge gravity barges loomed ominously over the House, studded with ranks of waiting disrupter cannon. Finn's army blotted out the sky like a dark and angry cloud.
    "Jesus," said James. "There hasn't been this much firepower assembled in one place since the Great Rebellion. You could knock over some of the lesser worlds with an army this big!"
    "Now there's a thought," said Finn. "But first things first, eh?"
    "You really think the espers are going to put up that much of a fight?"
    "Only a fool underestimates the oversoul," Finn said shortly. "You weren't here to see what just a handful of them did to the Neuman rioters. I've used up a hell of a lot of favors and influence, equipping my people with hundreds of esp-blockers, but even so it'll be more of a fair match than I'm comfortable with.
    Still, at the end of the day it always comes down to firepower. I'm going to blow the floating city ofNew Hope into a million pieces, and then pick off the surviving espers as they fall to the ground. Oh, it's going to be such fun, I just know it! Now, off you go, James. Back to Anne, and work on your next speech."
    James pouted. "But I want to come with you! I want to see the action close up."
    "No, you don't," Finn said firmly. He patted James on the cheek, and James flinched just a little in spite of himself. "You stick to speeches, James, that's what you're good at. Leave the atrocities to me. That's what I'm good at. And James, dear, never argue again with me in public."
    He pinched James's cheek painfully, and James stood there and took it.
    "Yes, sir," he said, and Finn let go with a pleasant laugh. James searched for a change of subject. "What would you have done, if Parliament had said no?"
    "Gone anyway, and to hell with them. Argue about the legality of it later. But I knew they wouldn't give me any trouble. Bunch of sheep."
    He stepped up onto his waiting gravity sled, fired up the engines and checked the weapons systems, and then gave the signal to his waiting fleet. Slowly and ponderously, the gravity barges started forward, and the ranks of gravity sleds spread out across the sky. Humanity was going to war, for the first time in centuries. James called up to Finn, over the rising thunder of the engines.
    "What aboutDouglas ?"
    "What about him?"
    "He might stand against us, while you're away."
    Finn laughed happily. "He might have once. But he's not the man he was. I've seen to that."
    He swept up into the sky to take the point, and the fleet moved off after him, the roar of their engines shaking the earth, heading forNew Hope . James waved and waved, but Finn never looked back.
    The esper city ofNew Hope floated serenely two miles above the surface of Logres, vast and