Deathstalker Honor (68 page)

 

The long, narrow valley between the open plain and the city of Vidar hadn’t looked like much when the city army marched through it, but Random had recognized its strategic importance. It was the only way to reach Vidar that didn’t involve a days-long detour. If the Ghost Warriors were to reach Vidar while the lull still held, they had to pass through that valley. So when Random and Ruby finally realized how far they’d been herded from the rest of their army, they wasted no time in cutting their way out of the surrounding Ghost Warriors and ran like hell for the valley. All that remained was for them to defend the one strategic location that actually meant something. They soon outdistanced their pursuers and took up a position guarding the entrance to the narrow valley.

It was over a mile long but barely twenty feet wide, narrowing to ten at the entrance. Which meant two people could hold off an army. For a time. Random and Ruby stood together, leaning wearily on each other while they got their breath back. They’d had to cover a long distance at a dead run, and even more than human legs and lungs had their limits. And the fighting itself had been long and hard, with Random and Ruby having to operate at the very limits of their strength and speed. After a while their breathing slowed and their hearts no longer hammered quite so frantically in their breasts, and they were able to stand alone. They looked out at the army of walking corpses gathering in the open plain, and swore more or less in unison. There were almost a thousand Ghost Warriors, with swords and guns and a complete readiness to be destroyed if that was what it took to bring the enemy down.

“Can’t say I like the odds,” said Jack Random. “A thousand to two is just a little worrying.”

“We’ve faced worse,” said Ruby Journey.

Random looked at her. “If we have, I must have missed it. A thousand Ghost Warriors would cause even Owen Deathstalker to have doubts. However, they have to come at us from the front, so that means only a handful can reach us at a time. If we pace ourselves, we might just outlast the bastards.”

“Unless they figure out some way to sneak up on us from behind. Or come down the sides of the valley.”

Random looked back into the valley, frowning thoughtfully. “Unlikely. It would take them days to march around to the other end of the valley, and one way or another, we won’t be here that long. And the sides of those mountains are pretty near vertical. No, Ruby, they have to come straight at us. Head to head.”

“Best way,” Ruby said briskly. “So all we have to do is hold the Ghost Warriors off until our side wins, and comes to relieve us, right?”

“No,” said Random slowly. “From what I saw of the fighting, I don’t think we can count on anyone joining us. We have to assume that we’re all that stands between Vidar and Shub. If we can hold them off till the lull is over, and the storms return, then we’ll have won. The city will be safe.”

“What about us?” said Ruby.

“We made it to the city through the storms before. We can do it again.”

“And the battle?”

“God knows,” said Random. “Last I saw, the city army had the rebel forces on the ropes, but the real threat was always the Shub forces. And I don’t think we made much of a dent in them. And there’s something else that worries me.”

“There’s always something that worries you,” Ruby said resignedly. “What is it this time?”

“I haven’t seen any sign of Young Jack Random yet. He was-n’t anywhere in the battle. I would have known. So where is he, and what is he up to?”

“Damn, you’re right. That is worrying.”

“If you don’t like that one, you’ll love this. Why aren’t the Ghost Warriors attacking?”

“All right, I’ll bite. Why?”

“Because they’re waiting for someone. Most probably Young Jack Random. With reinforcements he didn’t commit to the first battle.”

There was a sound out on the plain, and they both turned to look. The sound quickly developed into the rhythmic hammer of marching feet and a second army of dead men came marching out of the distance, easily a thousand strong, with the shining silver, armor-clad figure of Young Jack Random smiling at their head. They joined up with the silently waiting first force, and then stood motionlessly in ranks, staring unblinkingly at the narrow opening to the valley—and the two flesh-and-blood legends who held it.

They ignored the two human forces still fighting doggedly some distance away. Shub knew where the real threat lay.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being right all the time?” said Ruby almost angrily. “These are not good odds, Jack. We really might be in trouble here.”

“If there’s a choice between being taken dead or alive, I think we’d be wise to go for dead,” said Random. “Vivisection is probably no fun at all if you’re still alive when they do it.”

“I’m glad I’ve got you to look on the cheerful side,” said Ruby. “I suppose running like hell is out of the question?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We have to hold our ground to buy time. Time for Vidar’s army to defeat the rebels. For the lull in the weather to pass and the storms to return. Or, if all else fails, for us to whittle down the number of Ghost Warriors to the point that the city might stand a chance. Either way, it’s all down to us.”

“Of course,” said Ruby Journey. “It always is, isn’t it?”

“We’ve got eight, maybe nine hours till the lull is over,” said Random calmly. “We might last till then. After that things should get really interesting. Forget what I said earlier. They might just decide to come after us anyway, even through the storms. After all, they’re dead. They don’t feel the wind, or the cold, or the cutting dust. And Shub really does want us very badly. I wonder if that’s why they sent Young Jack Random here, to be bait in a trap for us. . . . It doesn’t matter. No, Ruby, I think we have to accept that we’re here for the duration. Until one side or the other has nothing left to gain.”

“Hold everything,” said Ruby. “I think the curtain just went up.”

The entire army of Ghost Warriors came surging across the plain toward them, while Young Jack Random stood to one side and cheered them on with a cheerful human voice. The dead men were silent, the only sound the rumbling thunder of their dead feet on the hard, unrelenting ground. Random and Ruby hefted their swords and stood at the valley entrance, waiting.

“If we do fall here . . .” said Random.

“Yes?” said Ruby.

“At least it will be a good death. A warrior’s death.”

“Yeah. We were never meant for civilization, Jack.”

“But if by some miracle we do come out of this alive . . .”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to do things differently. No more politics. No more compromises. I’m going to follow my heart and my conscience, and God help anyone who gets in my way.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” said Ruby.

And then the first of the Ghost Warriors were upon them. Random and Ruby stood together and wielded their blades with more than human strength and speed, cutting the Ghost Warriors apart, literally dismantling the animated corpses until they fell helplessly to the ground. Those were quickly hauled out of the way so that more Ghost Warriors could take their place, and the struggle continued. Only five or six could enter the valley at a time, and Random and Ruby had no difficulty handling that many. At first. But there were always more Ghost Warriors to take the place of those who fell, and the dead never grew tired.

Random and Ruby fought on, but after the first hour they had begun to slow, and their strength was not what it was. There was never any break, and they dared not retreat so much as a step. Enemy swords were starting to get past their defenses, and their wounds were taking longer to heal. It had been a long, hard day, even for two living legends. Their breath came raggedly now, burning in their lungs. Sweat ran down their faces, stinging in their eyes and tasting of salt on their lips. The ground grew slippery underfoot with their own blood. Still the Ghost Warriors came, and Random had to admit to himself what he had always known. That while two warriors could hold off an army for a time, they couldn’t do it forever.

So he did the only thing left to him. He reached out to Ruby with his mind, and their thoughts met and merged. In a moment that was no time at all, they reached deep within themselves, and power blazed up from the back brain, the undermind, up through their altered minds and out into the real world, where it became a wall of searing, consuming fire that surged away from Random and Ruby, burning up everything in its path. Ghost Warriors blackened and shriveled up, as though a part of the sun had come down and touched the earth. Dead flesh was consumed, given peace at last, and Shub tech melted down into pools of smoking liquid metal. Over a hundred Ghost Warriors were consumed in the first few seconds, and still the wall of heat roared on, devouring everything in its path. The army of Ghost Warriors turned to flee, but the wall of fire was faster, and pursued them out across the open plain.

By the time the flames snapped out, more than half the Shub army had been reduced to blackened husks, scattered across the plain in dark, featureless heaps. The survivors stood ranged before Young Jack Random, who was no longer smiling. Back at the valley entrance, Random and Ruby had fallen to their knees, heads hanging down in exhaustion. They’d put the last of their strength into maintaining that attack, and they had nothing left. The flames they had called up had not injured them, but now the heat radiating back from the scorched valley walls was almost overpowering.

“Now, that was a good one,” said Ruby, her voice a toneless croak. “Think we could do it again?”

“Not a chance in hell,” said Random. “But let’s hope Young Jack Random doesn’t know that. God, I feel bad.”

“Same here. And we didn’t even get most of them. I have a horrible suspicion we may have peaked too early.”

“We had no choice. They would have overwhelmed us.”

“The survivors still might.” Ruby raised her head painfully slowly and looked out over the plain. “Shit. We got maybe half of them. And that smug metal bastard’s still out there. Wonder what he’s waiting for?”

“Probably to see how weakened we are. On your feet, Ruby. Maybe we can still bluff them.”

But they couldn’t get up without leaning heavily on each other, and even after they’d forced themselves up onto their trembling legs, their swords still hung limply from their hands.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” said Ruby. “But our wounds aren’t healing anymore.”

“I noticed. I think that wall of flame took everything we had. Until we get a chance to rest and recover, we’re tapped out. We’re . . . just human again. Nothing left but our guns and our steel and our good right arms.”

“Good,” said Ruby. “I always thought that was a more honest way to fight.”

“There is still . . . one option,” said Random.

“Is there, by God?” said Ruby. “I’d love to hear it.”

“You get the hell out of here. Run. Make your way back to Vidar while I hold them here as long as I can. Maybe buy you enough time to get some kind of defense organized in the city.”

“A nice thought,” said Ruby. “But no.”

“If you stay, we’ll both die. Where’s the sense in that? At least my way, one of us gets to live. Be logical, Ruby.”

“I am. There are no defenses left to organize at Vidar. And you should know I never ran from a good fight in my life.” She paused. “Everyone has to die somewhere. And I never thought I’d die in bed. Never wanted to. This is as good a way to go as any.”

“I always wanted to die in bed,” said Random, smiling. “Preferably with a belly full of good brandy and my arm around a beautiful woman. But if I have to go down fighting . . . I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be with.”

“Oh, Jack, you say the nicest things.”

They kissed once, unhurriedly, and then turned to look out at the enemy forces on the plain one last time. And saw Young Jack Random striding toward them, quite alone, his hands empty of weapons. The rest of the Ghost Warrior army stood still and silent, watching. Random and Ruby looked at each other.

“What the hell does he think he’s doing?” said Random. “Surely he doesn’t expect us to surrender?”

“Maybe he wants to surrender,” said Ruby hopefully.

The steel machine in its human covering strode across the plain, smiling his interminable smile, and finally came to a halt a respectful distance away from the two humans guarding the valley entrance. He was still in disrupter range, but Random was pretty sure his Shub double was fast enough to dodge an energy beam if he had to.

“Well, well,” said Young Jack Random pleasantly. “Here we all are again. Funny how we keep bumping into each other, isn’t it? It must be fate. How are you both feeling?”

“Strong enough to kick your metal ass,” growled Ruby.

“What do you want?” said Random.

“To fulfill my mission here,” said Young Jack Random, standing tall and heroic in his silver armor. “To wipe out every living human on this planet and make it over into a Shub base.”

“I take it your rebel allies don’t know that,” said Random.

“Oh, I think they probably do, deep down, but they don’t want to admit it. The human talent for self-deception never ceases to amaze me. Still, they and their pitiful army are irrelevant now. While they’re keeping your forces occupied, I will take my army to Vidar and destroy it.”

“You have to get past us first,” said Ruby. “And you’ve already seen what we can do when we put our minds to it.”

“Yes, and very impressive it was,” said Young Jack Random. “But not totally unexpected. Our files on you are really quite extensive. We’ve studied every use of your remarkable powers, on every occasion. And being the great brains that we are, we came up with an answer. You see, you’re really talking to the rogue AIs of Shub. We’re running all our forces on this miserable planet through this focus. That’s why you couldn’t kill us on Golgotha. Only a body died there, and we have so many bodies. This one is very special. We built something very powerful into it and then sent it here, knowing your human egos would demand you come to face it.”