Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

created a hundred or so years ago,” said Glory. “After a series of disastrous first contacts with alien species led to wars, and the destruction of whole alien cultures in the name of human destiny. We are rebuilding them, as best we can, and have sworn never to be inhuman again. A noble intent, but the accelerating rate of change in the human form is having its effect on the human mind and soul. No one can keep track of all the subspecies of Humanity anymore. And there are nowhere near enough Investigators or Defenders these days. The Emperor grows old, and does not care, and those below take their cue from him.”
    “You have chosen a bad time to visit us, Owen,” said Dominic. “In these sad, despairing dog days of Empire.”
    “Why are you here?” Glory said sharply. “What is your purpose?”
    “I told you, I’m from the future,” Owen said patiently. “Searching for my friend who came here before me. You seem to be accepting the time travel bit rather more easily than I expected. Do you have time travel?”
    “No,” said Glory. “All such research was banned, after the trouble we had with the Illuminati, long ago. But we have had experience with your kind before. That is why you were caged, and why you still wear the energy gyves. We will not risk such horror running loose again.”
    “Why are you wearing that antique weapon?” Dominic said suddenly, pointing at the sword on Owen’s hip. “Is it ceremonial, or a symbol for your masculinity?”
    “Neither,” Owen said dryly. “It’s my sword. My weapon. Where, or rather when, I come from everyone bears a sword. We have energy guns too, of course, but we prefer to do our fighting with cold steel. It is an honorable weapon.”
    Dominic frowned for the first time. “Whatever could be honorable about killing people? The Investigator and I carry energy guns, our duty commands it, but they are simply accurate and brutally efficient. That is all that can be asked of a killing tool. It is a terrible responsibility, to take another’s life.”
    “Why are you here, Owen?” Glory insisted. “What do you want?”
    “I followed my friend Hazel. Her trail led me here.”
    “ Hazel? ” said Dominic. “That thing was human once?”
    Glory snorted loudly, her dark eyes harsh, her mouth grim. “Your friend may have begun as human, but what arrived here was more like a terrible force of nature. It appeared out of nowhere, manifesting in high orbit amid a shower of tachyons, indicating that it was a time traveler. It had no physical form or dimensions, just a vast horrid presence stamped directly onto reality by an effort of will. It was huge and powerful, and as merciless as any devil. It descended upon Heartworld, sweeping aside all our defenses, and raged across our world, spreading death and devastation. It tore open the earth and raged through the cities, and none of our weapons even touched it. We called it the Mad Mind, after a legend from the first days of Empire.”
    ( So, thought Owen. Now I know where I’m going next. )
    “Eventually,” said Dominic, “with half our world reduced to blood and ruins, the Mad Mind disappeared, as suddenly as it had arrived. And ever since we have been waiting for another such monster to fall upon us out of time.”
    “And here you are,” said Glory. “In our power, to answer for the crimes of your . . . friend.”
    “Can we really do that?” said Dominic, not even trying to hide his uncertainty. “I mean, look at the fellow. He bears no resemblance to the Mad Mind, in form or in nature. We cannot expect one individual to answer for the crimes of another. That would be . . . inhuman.”
    “It is the Emperor’s will!”
    “Is it? Perhaps if he met Owen, he would feel differently.”
    Owen let them argue for a while, but it quickly became clear they weren’t going to resolve anything anytime soon, so he butted in again. “Why is there so much starship traffic around Heartworld? Is there some emergency? Perhaps something I could help with?”
    “No,” said Dominic. “Lots of people are leaving Heartworld, for the outer colonies. To follow their own belief systems, or to escape the much predicted decline and fall of the Empire. Rats, deserting a sinking ship. Humanity has become . . . sundered, divided. We have all become too different from each other. Everyone must have the very latest technology implants, chemical enhancements, genetic restructuring. There are all kinds of subspecies now;