Deathstalker 08 - Deathstalker Coda

every single piece of Shub tech and machinery shut down. Shub-driven engines ground to a halt, and blue steel robots stood like statues, caught in midmotion. The artificial world of Shub fell dark and still and silent. And all the many Shub ships orbiting Haden dropped their force shields.
    The Emperor Finn couldn’t believe what he was being told. Why would Shub choose to appear helpless? It was a trick, a trap. Had to be. They were trying to draw his ships in, so they could be ambushed or overcome, like the previous fleet. What other explanation could there be? Finn sent urgent commands for all his ships to pull back, way back, while he considered the situation.

CHAPTER FIVE

    CHOOSING SIDES
    T he second biggest fleet in the Empire dropped out of hyperspace a respectful distance away from Mistworld, and stayed there. After a suitable pause for reflection and second thoughts, the flagship Havoc approached Mistworld slowly and very cautiously. Once, the rogue planet had been protected by a powerful esper shield, quite capable of tearing entire starships apart. Officially, the screen was a thing of the past, but absolutely no one felt like testing their luck. On the bridge of the Havoc , Admiral John Silence, who had reason to remember the past better than most, studied the gray shrouded world on his main viewscreen, and scowled thoughtfully.
    “Still nothing from Mistport control?”
    “No, Admiral,” the comm officer said steadily. “Not a word.”
    “Are you sure they’re getting our messages?”
    “We’re transmitting on all the usual channels, Admiral, and if we were being any more polite we’d be apologizing for our very existence. They’re hearing us; they’re just not responding.”
    Silence sniffed loudly. “Bloody planet always was trouble. All right, contact Lewis in his quarters, and politely require him to get his arse up here, now. Maybe the Mistworlders will be more impressed by the legendary Deathstalker name. God knows I always was.”
    “At once, Admiral.”
    One thing about the crew on this ship, thought Silence, they were red-hot on getting everything done in a hurry. Trained and drilled and spit and polished to within an inch of their lives. Silence approved. It had been a long time since he’d sat in a command chair on the bridge of a military ship, but in many ways it felt as though he’d never been away. It felt . . . like coming home. As though he belonged here. He turned to the Havoc ’s previous commanding officer, Captain Price, who as always was hovering respectfully at his side. Price was a tall, thin, aesthetic sort, with a vague manner but a sharp mind. One of the old school, who prided himself on always following orders and never having an independent thought in his life. He’d given over command of the Havoc to the newly declared admiral with almost indecent speed, but then everyone in the Empire today seemed far too impressed by yesterday’s legends. Silence looked thoughtfully at Price.
    “I think it would be better if you spoke for the fleet, once those arrogant bastards on Mistworld finally condescend to talk to us. I have a history with this world and its people, and not a happy one. Just because I’m a legend now it doesn’t mean they’ll have forgotten all the things I did here, when I was still Lionstone’s man. Captain Price, you take my place in the command seat. I’ll hover in the background, being inconspicuous. I’ve learned how to be quite good at that, down the years.”
    He rose quickly from the command chair, and all but forced Price into it. The captain sighed unhappily, and stared respectfully at the world on the viewscreen before him. Now that Mistworld had declared itself a rogue planet again, being the captain of an approaching Imperial starcruiser was like painting a target on your chest and shouting Shoot me, I’m a bastard! But Price was a military man, first and foremost. He understood Silence’s logic.
    “Comm officer,” he said, in a really quite steady voice. “Try Mistport again.”
    “We’re broadcasting continually, Captain. They must be listening; they’re just not saying anything.”
    “Very well, put me on. Attention, Mistport, this is Captain Price of the starcruiser Havoc , flagship for the rebel fleet. We have personally witnessed the return of the blessed Owen Deathstalker, and other legends of the past. Our eyes have been opened to the truth, and we have broken away from the false Emperor, the usurper Finn