Deathstalker

to make a decision.'

Frost nodded glumly. 'How's Stelmach's pet holding up?'

'Still under control, and ready for action. All we need now is an enemy to point it at. And preferably something large to hide behind. I'd feel a lot happier if Stelmach's control wasn't basically just on/off. I can't help feeling that creature knows exactly what's been done to it and is just waiting for one slip on our part to express its extreme displeasure.'

'Let it,' said Frost. 'I'd kick its ass and ruin its day.'

The trouble is. Silence thought, she means it. He decided to change the subject before she could get too enthusiastic about the idea. She was quite capable of attacking the alien on an impulse, just to see what would happen. She'd been trained all her life to kill aliens and saw the Sleeper as a challenge. He gestured for Stelmach to come back. The Security Officer glared at him coldly, but did as he was ordered. He might be the Empress' eyes and ears, but Silence was still his superior officer. For the moment. He tried to express that last thought in his cold face and stance as he saluted and stood stiffly at attention.

'Stelmach,' Silence said, smiling warmly in a comradely sort of way, 'the Investigator and I have been talking about you. Specifically, we've become very intrigued as to what the V. in your name stands for. We've tried everything to find out, including asking the ship's computers, but you seem to have blocked off access to all forms of inquiry. As your Captain, I have to say I don't like the idea of one of my crew withholding information from me. After all, you never know what might prove to be important some day. So be a good man and tell us your first name. Unless you're ashamed of it, of course.'

'I am not ashamed of it,' Stelmach said coldly. 'It is a perfectly good and honorable name. I just prefer not to use it.'

'Oh, go on,' said Frost. 'We won't tell anyone. Not unless it's really embarrassing.'

Silence shushed her and was about to try again when the Lord High Dram suddenly turned away from the Maze and strode unhurriedly back to join them. 'Send your men in, Captain. Use the marines first. We'll hold back the espers and the Wampyr until we see how the Maze reacts to the marines.' He looked briefly at Stelmach. 'You stand back, too. We'll need that pet of yours for later. Don't worry, Valiant. You'll get your chance.'

He walked back to study the entrance to the Maze again. Stelmach stared straight ahead, two spots of bright crimson burning on his cheeks. Silence and Frost looked at each other and didn't say a thing. They didn't dare. Some moments are just too precious to disturb. Stelmach saluted, turned and strode quickly back to rejoin the Sleeper. He should have waited for his Captain to dismiss him, but something in the extreme straightness of his back suggested this would not be a good time to bring that up. Silence firmly swallowed a smile, and gestured for the two marine company commanders to join him. They approached at something just a little less than a run, eager for orders and a chance to do something before their men started fighting each other under the influence of drink and battle drugs. Silence nodded to them as they saluted and stood at attention.

'Get your men ready. Under the Lord High Dram's orders, I am sending both companies of marines into the Maze.' He looked at the commanders sharply, but they just looked calmly back, giving away nothing. Silence smiled grimly. 'In an ideal world, we'd send in the remotes first and check the Maze out from top to bottom from a comfortable distance, but apparently we don't have the time. I don't have to tell you to keep your eyes and ears open and your wits about you, but I want us all to be extra careful. There are bound to be hidden dangers and booby traps, either intrinsic to the Maze or left by the rebels. Either way, let's do our best to disappoint them and avoid triggering anything we don't have to. I don't want to be up all night writing letters to your next of kin about why we're sending you home in a sealed coffin.'

'Who's going to lead the incursion?' said Frost.

'I am,' Silence said flatly. 'This is too important to leave to anyone else, and I don't want to hear any arguments from you. Investigator.'

'Wouldn't dream of it,' said Frost briskly. 'Especially since I'll be going in with you for exactly the same reason. And I don't want to hear any arguments from you, Captain.'

Silence was about to answer her anyway when he realized the two Commanders were watching the exchange with interest. They had enough sense not to smile, but Silence glared at them anyway. 'Check your equipment and get your men ready. We'll be going into the Maze in ten minutes, and I don't want to hear any excuses. The Investigator and I will lead the way. I want all the espers to accompany us. No exceptions. If the Lord High Dram says anything, send him to me, and I'll officially ignore him. We'll leave the Wampyr behind to keep Stelmach and his pet company. Just in case. Any questions? And they'd better be important.'

'Yes, sir,' said Commander Jameson. He was senior by a couple of months to Commander Farrell, and never let him forget it by always insisting on talking first. Silence hadn't heard a dozen words out of Farrell yet, but he lived in hope. Both Commanders were supposed to be good men in a tight corner. Jameson looked straight ahead and kept his voice low. 'Will the Lord High Dram be accompanying us into the Maze, sir?'

'The Lord High Dram… will make his own decision. No doubt he'll follow us in when he sees how very careful and professional we're being. Now get your men moving.'

The two Commanders saluted and hurried back to their men. There was a lot of shouting and milling about, but the marines were ready to go in an impressively short time. The Wampyr looked neither pleased nor displeased at being left behind. They gathered together near Stelmach and the Sleeper, and the alien and the Wampyr studied each other interestedly. Stelmach looked around for help, but Silence deliberately avoided his eyes. The espers had formed a small group together before the entrance to the Maze and were milling about there like frightened sheep, all wide eyes and abrupt movements. Frost looked at them thoughtfully.

'They don't like the Maze, do they? I can't help thinking we'd do well to listen to them, Captain. They see things we don't.'

'Unfortunately, I think you're right.' Silence scowled unhappily. 'I just hope this bunch hangs together better than the ones we had on Grendel.'

'Yeah,' said Frost. 'I'm still trying to get the blood and brains off my boots.'

Silence gave her a pained look and strode over to the espers. They were so mesmerized by the Maze they didn't even notice he was there until he raised his voice. A few managed some kind of salute, but most of them couldn't even stand at attention with any success. Silence made allowances. You didn't expect military virtues from espers. They had other qualities. He nodded calmly to the man in charge, an esper named Graves. The name suited him. He was tall and painfully thin, with a bony face and slightly protruding eyes. Silence couldn't help thinking that he'd buried men who'd looked healthier than Graves, but the man had a good record for noticing things that others missed, and Silence was becoming more and more convinced that he was going to need every advantage he could get his hands on when it came to the Madness Maze. Just standing this close to the entrance was giving him gooseflesh. He would have liked to sigh heavily, but he couldn't afford to look weak before the espers.

Nothing had felt right since he arrived on the Wolfling World, also known as Haden, though they hadn't bothered to tell him that till he got here. No one had even mentioned taking on an army of Hadenmen when he started this mission. Not that it made any difference. When you'd just been repealed from a Court Martial at the very last moment, you went where the Empress sent you, and if you had any reservations, you kept them to yourself. Silence looked sternly at Graves, and the esper stared back like a mournful and slightly surprised fish.

'All right, Graves, what is it about the Maze that's got all of you so upset?'

'It's alive,' said Graves. His voice was flat but firm. 'We can hear the Maze thinking. Its thoughts are strange and cold as ice. It knows we're here. It's waiting for us.'

Silence sighed, despite himself. He should have known better than to expect a straight answer from an esper. 'Now, Graves, are we being metaphorical here, or do you mean the Maze is some kind of cyborged lifeform?'

'More than that. Captain. Much more. It's not human life, or human technology.'

'Hadenmen?'

'Alien. It's been here a long time, Captain. Long before Humanity ever came here. Constructed, not born, but still alive in every way that counts. It has its own purposes, and they are not human purposes or reasons. If we enter the Maze, we do so at peril of our lives and souls. There are powers between these metal walls to change and transform us beyond human knowledge. And whatever survives the Maze won't be human anymore. Or perhaps… more than human. '

'Did the rebels pass through the Maze?' said Silence. 'Did they survive it?'

'Yes, but…'