Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

help.”
    “Yes,” said Douglas. “When Jenny Psycho appears on the scene, people usually do.”
    “I haven’t used that name in well over a century,” said Diana, giving him one of her best scowls. “And if you’re wise, you won’t either. In case you didn’t know it, this whole area is infested with thralls, reporting everything you do to the Emperor. You don’t have strong enough esper minds here to detect them, let alone deal with them. So, you need me.”
    Douglas nodded slowly. “And those awful young ladies currently lurking outside on the landing?”
    “They call themselves the Psycho Sluts, in honor of me. And no, I didn’t get a say in the matter. They’re rogue espers. They mean well.”
    “Psycho Sluts,” said Nina. “Doesn’t the name alone just inspire confidence?”
    “All the legends who could have returned to back me up, and I had to get Jenny Psycho,” Douglas said heavily. “No offense . . . Diana. Tell you what, I’ve got to address an important rally in about an hour. Why don’t you and your people tag along, and if you spot any thralls in the crowd, show me what you can do. All right?”
    The look on Diana’s face made it clear it wasn’t all right in any shape or form, but she nodded briefly. Even legends had to prove themselves. She waited down in the lobby with the Psycho Sluts, who amused themselves playing rat croquet with their psychokinesis, until it was time for Douglas and his people to go to the rally. The Psycho Sluts nodded cheerfully to Douglas, who did his best to avoid their eye. They worried him. They moved to form a protective circle around him as they walked through the streets. People gathered along the way to cheer and wave, and Douglas smiled and waved royally back to them. Stuart watched the crowds warily, one hand always near his gun. Nina filmed it all with her floating camera, for later broadcast. Diana ignored the surroundings, conserving her strength. She knew the real trouble would start at the rally, where the ELFs could do the most damage.
    The rally was being held in an open square, and a large crowd had gathered there to listen to Douglas Campbell. The Psycho Sluts opened up a corridor through the crowd for Douglas to make his entrance, and he strode briskly through the crowd and leapt up onto the simple wooden stage. The crowd cheered loudly, and Douglas stood proudly before them, looking every inch the King in exile. He didn’t even wait for the cheers to die away before getting stuck in. He spoke well and fluently, haranguing the crowd and raising their spirits, inciting them to rebellion. He could talk of the poverty and harshness of the Rookery because he’d known them himself, and he could talk of the Emperor’s treachery and evil because he’d known them too. His speech might not have had the ease and polish that Anne Barclay’s writing would have given it, but no one doubted that everything he said came from the heart. They had to fight back, he said, they had to rebel. Because things were only going to get worse, because already far too many people were suffering unjustly, because it was their duty and their right. When your back’s to the wall, there’s nowhere to go but forward , he said, and the crowd roared his name like a battle cry. Soon they were applauding his every statement as though it were an article of faith.
    The Psycho Sluts stood arrayed before and around the stage, defying anyone to get past them, while Diana moved unobtrusively through the crowd, quietly noting the location of each and every thrall without letting them know they’d been spotted. They were gradually infiltrating the crowd, in ones and twos, smiling and applauding so as not to seem out of place, but someone else looked out through their cold eyes. When they thought there were enough of them, they began interrupting Douglas’s speech with boos and jeers and catcalls. A few tried to shout Douglas down with insults and obscenities. The crowd around them shifted uneasily, angry but not yet ready to act themselves. They looked to Douglas to see what he would do. And Douglas just raised his voice, silenced the heckles with his rough and ready wit, and kept on going. He’d suffered worse in Parliament.
    The thralls fell silent, linked minds, and lashed out with a combined telepathic onslaught, catching everyone by surprise. The ELFs weren’t usually strong enough to generate their power through their thralls. The crowd staggered back and