T-shirts bearing the legend 'BORN TO BURN.' They looked to be in their mid twenties, but their faces were somehow older, more harshly used. They were all short and stocky, with bare muscular arms, and their long dark hair was full of colorful knotted ribbons. There were splashes of color on their faces, too, perhaps to disguise how pretty they might have been if it weren't for their cold eyes and determined mouths.
'Can we help you?' said Owen politely, not lowering his sword. He had a suspicion he was smelling strongly of sweat, but decided he wouldn't bring it up if they didn't.
'The seagulls are flying low tonight,' said the woman in the middle, meaningfully.
Owen looked at her and then turned and looked at Hazel, who looked back at him.
'The seagulls are flying low tonight,' said the woman in the middle with extra emphasis.
'Sorry,' said Owen. 'Didn't quite catch that. The seagulls are what?'
'Hold everything,' said Hazel. 'Seagulls. That was part of the contact phrase, wasn't it?'
'I don't know,' said Owen helplessly. 'I can't remember. It's gone right out of my head.'
'If I don't start hearing an answer sometime soon, I am going to start shooting,' said the woman on the left.
'Angels!' Owen said quickly. 'Something about angels!'
'Something something angels in the moonlight,' said Hazel. 'I think.'
'Oh, hell,' said the woman in the middle. 'That's close enough. Be here all day otherwise.'
'We're your contact,' said the woman on the left. 'Sorry it took us a while to get here, but there are security guards all over the place, and we didn't want to kill them all. It would only have attracted attention.'
'Fair enough,' said Hazel. 'What happened to Stevie Blue?'
'We're right here,' said the one in the middle.
'Right,' said the one on the right.
'All of you?' said Owen.
'Got it in one,' said the Stevie Blue on the left. 'I'm Stevie One, this is Two and Three. Don't get us mixed up. We're touchy about it.'
'I take it you're also espers,' said Owen, putting his sword away. Hazel reluctantly sheathed hers, but kept her hands near her guns. Owen gave the Stevie Blues his best diplomatic smile, and vowed silently to do something really unpleasant to the divot who'd got Stevie Blue's personal details wrong. 'Nice work on the Investigator. I think he was prepared for everything except a sudden flash fire. Next time, feel free to reduce him to a pile of smoldering ashes. All right, let's get down to business. The program's in the machine and running. All we have to do is keep the hostile natives at bay until it's finished, and then we can leg it. We've got a ship coming back to pick us up. It's a Hadenman ship, but don't let that panic you. They've been very reasonable. So far.'
The three Stevie Blues smiled in unison. 'Anyone annoys us, they're toast,' said Stevie One. 'We're pyros. Elfs; Esper Liberation Front. We kick ass.'
'And you're the underground's idea of diplomats,' said Hazel. 'You're going to be very popular at strategy planning sessions. I might just start attending them again.'
'The cyberats are running interference to keep this tower isolated,' said Stevie Two. 'No one from outside will know anything's happened—till it's all over.'
Owen frowned. 'Computer hackers aren't exactly noted for their reliability.'
'You can trust these,' said Stevie One. 'If only because they know we'll kick their ass if they screw up.'
'Right,' said Stevie Three.
Owen and Hazel suddenly turned away and looked thoughtfully at the stairs. Hazel drew her guns, and Owen turned back to the clones.
'Visitors are on their way.'
'You espers or something?' said Stevie One.
'Something,' said Owen. 'The Investigator must have put himself out and alerted his people. Any minute now we're going to be hip deep in security guards.'
'That's not all,' said Stevie Two. 'They've got an esp-blocker with them. I can feel my powers fading as it gets closer.'
'Wonderful,' said Hazel. 'Can anything else go wrong?'
'Quite a lot, if we just stand around here waiting for them,' said Owen. 'May I suggest we get the hell back to the computer room?'
'Too late,' said Stevie Three. 'They're here.'
The three clones drew their swords with the same quick, professional motion and moved to block the head of the stairwell. Owen and Hazel moved in beside them, guns at the ready, just in time to see a single tall figure step into sight at the final corner of the stairs below. He was dressed in jet-black robes and battle armor, looked to be in his early thirties, and was handsome in an unspectacular way. His dark eyes and slight smile were utterly cold, and just standing there with empty hands, he looked calm and confident and very dangerous. Stevie Two whistled softly.
'The Lord High Dram his own bad self. We should be honored. He normally only murders espers from a safe distance.'
'He can't just blast and burn the tower this time,' said Stevie One. 'The Empress would have his nuts if he let the Tax computers be destroyed.'
Owen and Hazel looked at each other thoughtfully. 'That man is quite definitely dead,' said Owen. 'I saw the body.'
'So who's this?' said Hazel. 'A clone? Does anyone at Court know? Or was the one we saw die a clone?'
'Are we supposed to understand any of that?' said Stevie One.
'I'll explain later,' said Owen. 'Assuming there is a later. 'For the moment, just believe me when I say things just got a lot more complicated. The Widowmaker will be a major rallying point for the Empire that we hadn't counted on. We have to get this information back to Rebel HQ.'
'I've got a better idea,' said Hazel. She raised her projectile weapon and let Dram have it point-blank. The stairwell echoed to the roar of the gun as bullets hammered into the steel walls over and over, but Dram's cold smile never wavered. His holo image shimmered slightly, but was otherwise unaffected.
'You didn't really think someone of my quality would come in person to deal with rebel trash, did you?' said Dram calmly. 'The lower floors of this tower are now blocked off and occupied by my troops. There's no way out, and nowhere for you to go. Surrender, and at least you'll live long enough to stand trial.'
The Stevie Blues glared at him fiercely. Stevie One spat on the floor. 'What makes you think we'd trust treacherous scum like you? You came to us pretending to be a man called Hood, and we trusted you. In return, you betrayed us to the Empire forces. Hundreds of good men and women died that day, just because they happened to be espers or clones. We'll all die before we surrender to you.'
'Suit yourselves,' said Dram, and his holo image disappeared like a popping soap bubble. The steel stairs shuddered as a large body of armed men came crashing up them. Owen fired his disrupter down the stairwell, but the energy beam ricocheted away from an advancing force shield wall. The espers concentrated and boiling flames filled the stairwell. The force wall just kept coming, pushing back the flames, which were already beginning to die out as the esp-blocker drew nearer. The Stevie Blues looked at Owen and Hazel.
'Don't look at me,' said Hazel. 'I'm right out of ideas. How much longer does the program have to run, Owen?'
'Can't be long now. A few minutes at most. But we can't afford to be cornered in the computer room with it.'
'And we don't have a few minutes, anyway. How about setting up a barricade?'
'Couldn't hurt,' said Owen. 'See, you can come up with ideas when you have to. Stevies, if you'd care to lend a hand…'
They dashed back into the computer room, grabbed everything blocky that wasn't actually welded in place, and manhandled it out into the corridor. Between them they maneuvered the heavy equipment over to the top of the stairwell, and launched it down the stairs. The way was immediately blocked, and the enemy advance came to a sudden halt. Force shields were excellent at stopping energy blasts or bullets, but they had real problems coping with three hundred pounds of assorted wedged office equipment. The security guards stopped to discuss the matter, while Dram snarled at them acidly from below. Owen and Hazel grinned at each other, and at the esper clones, and then they all spun around at an unexpected sound behind them. It was the bell that signaled the
