Deathstalker Coda (20 page)
Authors: Simon R. Green
“Hi,” he said. “I’m Owen. Just a visitor, passing through. Who are you?”
“I am Dominic Cairo,” said the male voice. “Defender of Humanity. My associate is the Investigator Glory Chojiro. From what far place have you come, and how is it you are able to survive cold vacuum without protection?”
“Ah,” said Owen. “You’re really not going to like the answer to that.”
“And yet we must insist upon an answer,” said the harsh female voice. “We defend Heartworld, and have responsibility for this sector. Under the authority of the Emperor Ethur, we require an answer.”
“All right,” said Owen. “I’m from the future. About a thousand years further on. Don’t ask me how I got here, it would only upset you. I only have to think about the implications of what I’m doing, and I start to whimper. May I ask why you’ve bottled me up in this cage? Is this how you greet all your visitors?”
“Just certain special cases, such as yourself,” said Dominic. “You had better come with us.”
“Do I have a choice?” said Owen.
“What do you think?” said Glory.
She gestured imperiously at the six satellites, and they moved obediently after her as she started back the way she’d come. Dominic moved easily beside her, comfortable at her side, as though he belonged there. Partners, of some kind, Owen decided. He was a little surprised to find they had Investigators this far back, and what the hell was a Defender of Humanity? Was there a war on, with some alien species? The history of the First Empire was full of holes, on small and large matters. Owen’s historian soul rubbed its hands together eagerly. The things he’d be able to tell his academic peers when he got back . . .
If he got back . . .
Owen allowed the energy cage to tow him along behind Dominic and Glory. He was pretty sure by now that he could break out of it anytime he wanted, but he was interested to see where he was being taken. The journey turned out to be a long, slow process, and Owen was soon bored enough to seriously consider taking charge and speeding things up a bit, but he thought he’d better not. He didn’t want to freak out his new friends just yet. They seemed enough on edge already. So Owen just settled back and watched the stars, the satellites, and the huge ships coming and going. Occasionally he reached out and rewrote the markings on their hulls, just for the fun of it.
The planet that would one day be called Golgotha but was now Heartworld had only the single moon, and that was apparently where they were going. Owen was mildly curious. In his time, the moon was just a dumping ground for toxic waste, in the great caverns under the surface. The moon loomed up before him, a great expanse of cold gray rock. A single huge tower thrust up from the surface, a solid steel block with no obvious openings or markings. Owen asked what it was, and Dominic curtly replied, the
Spike,
which wasn’t as informative as Owen had hoped.
Spike,
which wasn’t as informative as Owen had hoped.
They all descended towards the Spike, which turned out to be surrounded by a high intensity force field. Owen could feel it, prickling against his augmented senses. Glory turned around and gestured at the satellites, and the crackling energy cage contracted suddenly to surround Owen, while the satellites backed away. Owen considered informing the Investigator that this close up the energies tickled, but decided against it. He wanted Glory and her partner to feel secure around him, for the moment at least. Dominic made a series of gestures, and a corridor opened up in the force shield, its boundaries clearly designated by bright holo markings. Dominic and Glory escorted Owen through, maintaining a safe distance from the energy cage, and then the force shield closed behind them again. Ahead of them, a series of heavy blast doors opened and closed, admitting them at last to the interior of the Spike. They ended up in a huge elevator, big enough to handle a crowd, and began a long journey down through the Spike and on into the interior of the moon. Owen was beginning to have some idea of just what kind of place he’d been brought to.
The elevator went down a long, long way, before the doors finally opened on an entirely prosaic reception area. Dominic and Glory indicated for Owen to go ahead of them, so he took his energy cage for a casual stroll round the reception area. All four walls were covered with dozens of monitor screens, each showing a different view, constantly changing to cover different angles. A central comm and control console seemed familiar enough, if a little ornate and overdesigned for Owen’s taste.
The energy cage suddenly snapped off, leaving only two rings of crackling energy surrounding his wrists. Owen tested them, surreptitiously, and kept the smile off his lips. Dominic and Glory stood before him, and their silver force shields snapped off. For the first time, Owen could get a clear look at his captors. Glory Chojiro turned out to be a short, stocky woman, barely five feet tall. She was well muscled, with broad shoulders and a jutting bosom. Her face had clear oriental lines, with jet-black hair and eyes. She was entirely naked, but her skin was ruby pink metal for as far as the eye could see, and Owen could see pretty far. There were no joints or seams to mark the metal as some kind of armor, so Owen reluctantly accepted it had to be her skin. She seemed a bit on the small side for an Investigator, but there was no denying she held herself like a warrior. Even though she carried no visible weapons.
Dominic Cairo was tall and slender, almost aesthetically muscled, and also bare arse naked. His skin was a cool sky blue, marked on the face and chest with what appeared to be lines of metal circuitry. He had a kindly, thoughtful face, under a shock of tufty silver hair. He put a hand to his bare hip, and the hand disappeared for a moment before reappearing with a large and blocky energy weapon in it. Owen raised an eyebrow.
“Good trick,” he said. “Where did the gun come from?”
“Subspace pocket,” said Dominic. “Keyed only to me, of course. You have never seen one before? Interesting. All our weapons and necessary work items are held in a subspace locker, at right angles to this dimension, and preprogrammed to accept only our orders, so kindly restrain any aggressive impulses.”
“Move against us and you will be punished,” said Glory.
“Oh, perish the thought,” said Owen. He realized he was breathing normally again, but was distracted by another thought. “Don’t you two ever get cold, wandering around like that? In the nude, I mean?”
“Told you he was a barbarian,” Glory said to Dominic. “Probably from one of the outer worlds, where they still suffer from taboos.”
“He says he’s from the future,” Dominic said mildly. “And he did trigger the satellites. There is also the unresolved question as to how he was able to survive in vacuum without our advantages.”
“There is more to me than meets the eye,” said Owen.
“There would have to be,” said Glory. “And bear yourself with courtesy in our presence.” She stepped forward to glare at him more efficiently. “You are now in the House of Correction, and headed for the holding pens, unless you can provide us with an acceptable explanation.”
“Yeah, I thought this had to be some kind of prison,” said Owen. “It’s got that depressing ambience. What exactly am I being charged with?”
“Well,” said Dominic. “Being weird and unusual, and just possibly a threat to Humanity. As Investigator and Defender, my partner and I take such things most seriously. Be under no misapprehensions as to your situation. We have reason to fear creatures such as you, who appear out of nowhere, and who fit no known parameters. We are at present deep beneath the surface of the moon, where we hold all the worst criminals Humanity has to offer. The hardened recidivists, who can’t or won’t be helped.”
“So what happens to them?” said Owen. “They stay here till they die?”
“Of course not!” said Dominic, clearly shocked. “We wipe them clean of their memories, and leave them a blank slate, so that they can start again in a new life, untroubled by their past.”
“Here we deal with the worst of the worst,” said Glory. “We have heard and seen it all, and we never give the benefit of the doubt.”
“Nice speech,” said Owen. “Honest, I’m impressed. And thoroughly intimidated. How many criminals do you have here?”
“At present, three hundred and forty-seven,” said Dominic. He seemed amiable enough, but his gun never wavered from covering Owen. “Security in the House of Correction is extremely tight. You will stay here until your fate is determined. Don’t even think of trying to escape.”
“Oh, perish the thought,” said Owen. “I only just got here. I suppose a friendly sit-down and chat over a nice cup of tea is out of the question?”
They ignored him, pulling a whole series of unfamiliar tech items out of their subspace pockets. Dark ugly things, bristling with metal spikes. Owen decided that there were very definite limits to what he was prepared to put up with, especially if it involved dropping his trousers and bending over, but fortunately all Dominic and Glory wanted to do was study him from a safe distance. Owen could feel energy fluctuations moving over and around him, but none of it was particularly uncomfortable, so he just let them get on with it. He was actually curious to see what they had to say about his new condition. Dominic and Glory studied the readings they were getting, scowled and muttered a lot, and finally got into a short but intense fight over what it all meant. Owen regretfully decided that he wasn’t going to get any useful insights out of the First Empire tech after all.
“Look,” he said finally. “Why don’t you just ask me what you want to know? I can pretty much guarantee in advance that you aren’t going to like most of the answers, but then, I don’t much either. In fact, there are times when I distinctly wish I would go away and stop bothering me. So, I am Owen, first of my Family and lord of my Clan. Rebel and warrior, hero and legend. Or so they tell me. I spent most of my life studying to be a historian, but it turned out history had other plans for me. I have traveled back in time in pursuit of a friend who came before me. Does any of that help?”
“Not really,” said Dominic, after a pause.
“All right,” Owen said patiently. “Let’s start with the basics. Who are you? I think I know what an Investigator is, but what the hell is a Defender of Humanity?”
Glory and Dominic looked at each other, and finally Glory shrugged angrily. “I am Investigator Chojiro. It is my duty and my honor to examine and oppose all extranormal threats to Humanity. From within or without. I have powers in the Low and the High Justice, and the right of execution without warning or appeal. I am presently stationed on Heartworld, center of the Empire, and I and all my brethren have been tasked to watch for the return of something like you, or what came before you.”
“I am Defender of Humanity Dominic Cairo. It is my trust to ensure that the people of the Empire do not use newly discovered technology or medical enhancements to remake themselves into something inhuman. The nature of Humanity must be respected and maintained, and I have powers in the Low and the High Justice to deal with anything that threatens it. I defend the spirit of Humanity. A hard task, in these days of vacuum dancers, water breathers, and heavy gravity prowlers. I see you do not recognize those terms. Originally, the process of adaptation was developed to enable people to fit the conditions on other planets. Why go to all the time and expense of changing a planet, when it’s so much easier to change the people? Unfortunately, the changes have run wild, for the thrill or the fashion of it. There are many kinds of people now, and not all of them are fully human.”
“Both our castes were 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.”
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