Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor Read Free

Standing, ten-mile radius, and report on the local population’s situation.” “Owen… I’ve already done that. There is no local population anymore.”
    “What?”
    “I’ve scanned the surrounding areas to the limit of my sensors. There isn’t a single living soul outside of the Standing for hundreds of miles. I’m sorry, Owen.”
    Owen shook his head slowly. He’d read the reports on Valentine’s destruction of Virimonde, watched Toby Shreck’s filmed coverage, seen interviews with the few survivors to get off-planet, but he’d always assumed they were exaggerated. No one could oversee the murder of a whole planet’s population just for the fun of it. Not even Valentine Wolfe. Deep down, part of him had desperately wanted to return home to the cheers of his people, overjoyed to have their rightful Lord back at last. He’d wanted to apologize for not being there to protect them. Wanted to promise them that things would be different now he was back. He’d keep them safe, protect them, guard them from all harm. They’d never be hurt again because he was off somewhere else being a hero of the rebellion. There was so much he’d wanted, needed, to say. He hadn’t wanted to believe that all his people were dead.
    “What’s the matter?” said Hazel. “Is there a problem?”
    “No,” said Owen. “I was just thinking. About the way things used to be here.” “Don’t,” said Hazel.
    “That’s always been your problem, Deathstalker. Always living in the past.”
    “I understand the past,” said Owen. “Things were simpler then. I understood my world and my Empire and my place in it. Or I thought I did. Since then I’ve seen the destruction of everything I ever believed in, lost everything I ever cared for, and now to top it all, I find I can’t go home again. Because Valentine Wolfe burned it all down and pissed on the ashes. Virimonde is dead.” “We can’t know that for sure till
    we get down there and check for ourselves,” said Hazel. “Reports can be exaggerated; sensors can be mistaken. It’s a big world, Owen. He can’t have killed everything.”
    “And if he has? If he’s done everything he’s supposed to have done?” “Then we cut his black heart out, throw it on the ground, and stamp on it. And the same for everyone with him.”
    Owen had to smile slightly. “Life’s always been so simple for you, hasn’t it.
    Hazel? Good guys and bad guys, and a direct, forceful answer to every problem. But you heard the man at the briefing. There are still powers that be who want Valentine brought back alive for a show trial.
    If only because they could sell holo rights for a small fortune.”
    “I keep up with things,” said Hazel. “And for every faction that wants the Wolfe brought back alive, I’ll bet I can name ten who’d very much rather he came back with flies buzzing around him. Not least the clone and esper undergrounds. If word ever gets out that Valentine Wolfe had once been an active part and supporter of the undergrounds, they’d lose what little public support and popularity they have. And on top of that, there are any number of people who struck questionable deals with him in the past, and don’t want it coming out now they’ve recreated themselves as pure-hearted supporters of the rebellion.”
    “And that’s why we’re going to bring the bastard back alive,” Owen said firmly. “Not necessarily in one piece, but definitely alive. I’m no man’s puppet, and no organization’s either. I need to send a signal that no one pressures me. And I won’t kill him just because I want to.”
    “You and your damned conscience,” said Hazel. “All right, so we try to take him alive. What about his supporters?”
    “Massacre the lot, for all I care.”
    “Now you’re talking,” said Hazel.
    Owen leaned back in his chair, interlocked his fingers before him, and stared at them thoughtfully. “He wasn’t always a monster, you know. Valentine. We were children