Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

standing in front of a viewscreen. He nodded amiably to Captain Price.
    “John Silence will be your admiral. He shall lead the fleet, under Lewis Deathstalker. I trust this is acceptable.”
    “Of course, Lord Deathstalker,” said Price, inclining his head in Silence’s direction. “Everyone remembers John Silence, and his heroic journeyings aboard the Dauntless . Welcome back among us, Admiral Silence. And Lewis Deathstalker is still an honorable man to everyone here, despite what others may have said.”
    “There’s a man who can tell which way the wind is blowing,” muttered Brett. “Think I’ll keep an eye on him.”
    Owen gestured sharply to the robots, and they shut the viewscreen down. He then wandered off a way, to think and brood in silence, and no one at all felt like interrupting him. After watching him respectfully for a while, the others gathered together to talk quietly among themselves. Lewis looked apologetically at Silence.
    “You’re the only one here with any real military experience. Not to mention being a living legend. You should be giving the fleet its orders, not me.”
    “No,” said Silence. “It has to be a Deathstalker. That name will command obedience, where even my legend would not. I can live with just being an admiral. And besides, I always worked better when I had clear instructions to follow. So, Sir Deathstalker, where do we go first?”
    “I still say Mistworld,” Brett piped up immediately. “If anyone’s going to supply us with a rebel army, it’s them. I mean, Imperial ships are all very well, but when it comes to down and dirty street fighting, no one does it like the Mistworlders. They’ve been practicing it enthusiastically on each other for generations. And they have a long tradition of conflict with the Empire. Even when they were supposed to be in it.”
    “More so now than ever,” said Silence. “I picked up some more bad news, on my way here. The Paragon Emma Steel is dead, and the whole of Mistworld is hopping mad about it. Officially, she was executed as a traitor, but since there was no public trial and execution, no one believes that. Finn is a great one for showing off the trials and deaths of his enemies. Emma Steel was much respected; even a few months ago there would have been riots in the streets in her name, but Finn’s cracked down so hard now that no one dares.”
    “Emma’s dead?” said Lewis. “Another good friend gone. Finn must have had her shot in the back. No other way he could have taken her down. She was always so alive . . .” He sighed heavily, and this time let Jesamine put an arm around him. “She was the last honest Paragon on Logres. God help the people now.”
    “Mistworld shares your opinion,” said Silence. “They’ve called Finn a liar to his face, and declared themselves a rogue world again, outside of Empire control, and threatened to shoot down any ship that approaches without permission. They might just be able to pull it off too. They may not have their fabled esper screen anymore, but they’re supposed to have all kinds of entirely illegal planetary defenses.”
    “The Emperor has already decided to test Mistworld’s resistance,” said the nearest robot. “According to comm traffic we intercepted, after dealing with the situation here, Captain Price was to take ten of his ships to Mistworld and attempt a scorching.”
    “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” said Silence. “No doubt Price would have got around to telling us that. Eventually.”
    “Oh, yes,” said Jesamine. “When enough snow had fallen to put out the boilers in Hell. I think we’d do well to keep a sharp eye on that man.”
    “I said that!” said Brett. “Look, we need an army, and Mistworld needs a way to strike back at Finn. We were made for each other. And where else are you going to find such an experienced force of throat-slitters, backstabbers, thugs and scum, and hardened criminals like the Mistworlders?”
    “He may be an appalling little man, but he has a point,” said Jesamine.
    “Hey, what do you mean, little?”
    “Mistworld should be only too happy to join up with us,” said Jesamine, ignoring Brett with the skill of long practice. “Especially when we point out we’ve just saved them from a scorching.”
    “I really don’t think we should mention that,” said Silence. “We want them to be able to play nicely with the fleet personnel.”
    “They’ll jump at the chance to take on