mercenary like the d'Ark woman, but what the hell are Deathstalkers doing here? You took an oath, upon your name and your blood and your honor, to be true to the Empress and serve her all your days.'
'No,' said Giles. 'Our oath was to the Throne, not to the madwoman who currently sits on it.'
'A distinction without meaning.' Half A Man moved unhurriedly toward them, the sound of his one human foot slapping on the platform sounding loud and distinct in the hush. It felt to Owen as though the whole Empire was listening and holding its breath to see what would happen next. 'We have nothing to talk about, outlaws,' said Half A Man. 'We don't even speak the same language anymore.'
'I don't think we ever did,' said Owen, just a little sadly. 'Throw down your sword. You don't stand a chance against the three of us.'
'You can't kill me,' said Half A Man. 'No one can.'
'You never met us before,' said Giles. 'We're different.'
'So we've heard,' said Half A Man. He stopped a few yards short of them, and his half mouth moved in something that might have been a smile. 'Know what this is?'
And he held up in his human hand a small metal box with a red button on it. Owen, Hazel, and Giles just had time to recognize it as a mindbomb, and then Half A Man pressed the button. The tech in the box stimulated the esper brain tissues, and a psionic signal leaped out, falling across the three rebels like a thunderstorm in their heads. Owen and Hazel and Giles rocked on their feet, hands pressed to their heads, trying to force the hideous howl out of their thoughts. Owen staggered back a step, his eyes bulging, his thoughts slow and churning and not entirely his own. Bright lights flared around him, and there were mad voices in his ears. There was something walking up and down in his head and it wasn't he. Pain and weakness chewed through his body, but even through all that was happening to him, Owen could still hear Half A Man talking.
'Interesting. We weren't sure what effect the mind-bomb would have on you, since we were fairly sure that whatever you are, you aren't actually espers, but the odds seemed good that it would mess you up nicely. My own unique nature makes me immune, of course. There's really no point in struggling. This particular mindbomb has been augmented far beyond its usual strength and range, just for you. If you were normal mortals, your brains would be leaking out your ears by now. But don't worry. Just hold still for a moment, and I'll put you out of your misery.'
Owen had dropped his gun. His hands felt like they belonged to someone else. He only knew he still had hold of his sword because when he looked down he could see it in his white-knuckled grip. Giles was on his knees beside him, twitching and trembling as his nerves fired at random, his eyes wide and unseeing. Hazel lay on her back on the platform, her mouth stretched in a feral grimace of helpless pain and rage, her empty hands clenching and unclenching. They were fighting the mindbomb's influence and getting nowhere, so Owen decided to stop fighting. He withdrew deep inside himself, and shut down all his Maze-given gifts. They were no use to him now. They had become the means whereby the mindbomb was able to torment him.
It was hard, deliberately blinding and deafening himself as Half A Man advanced on him with deadly intent, but somehow he knew his only real defense lay inside him, not outside. The mindbomb was designed to work on humans, but though he wasn't an esper, he wasn't human anymore either. And if his thoughts were still human, it was only because he chose so. There were other ways of thinking, and even as that idea came to him, he seemed to see another direction he could move in, another form of thought, above and beyond human limitations. So he went that way, in a direction that was more than a direction, and suddenly his mind was clear again. He opened his eyes to find Half A Man looming over him, sword in hand, mindbomb hanging from his belt. And it was the easiest thing in the world for Owen to lash out with his sword and cut through the cord holding the mindbomb to the belt. The small steel box fell clattering to the platform, and Owen crushed it with one blow of his golden fist.
In a moment the mindbomb's influence was gone, and Owen was himself again. Half A Man retreated quickly to a safe distance, surprise and shock clear in his half face. Hazel and Giles came back to themselves and scrambled to their feet, shaking their heads confusedly. And that part of Owen's mind that had come briefly alive when he needed it shut itself down again, now that it was no longer needed. On some deep basic level Owen knew he couldn't continue to think that way and still be himself, so he deliberately turned away from a direction that was already fading from his memory. He was Owen again, and only Owen, and that was enough. He smiled at the warily watching Half A Man, and the humor in that smile was very dark. Half A Man lifted his sword slightly.
'I'm impressed, Deathstalker,' he said evenly. 'But not really surprised. They told me their new and improved mindbomb would fry your minds, but I was never convinced. Not after all the things you've done. You're becoming a legend, just like me. You won't like it. People will make up stories and songs about you, and worship your image on the viewscreen, but they'll never get near the real truth of who you are. They'll make a giant out of you, and then be ever so upset when you let them down by being only human. Still, not to worry. I'll see your story ends here, then you'll never have to hear the lies they'll tell in your name.'
'You died a long time ago,' said Owen, moving calmly forward. 'Time for you to lie down and admit it.'
'I can't die,' said Half A Man. 'My alien half won't let me. Come to me, Deathstalker, and I'll make it quick.'
'Shut up and fight,' said Owen.
They came together, and their swords clashed and flew apart in a shower of sparks. Half A Man moved and struck with several lifetimes' speed and experience, never still, endlessly circling around his opponent, pressing Owen's skills to the limit. Owen moved with him, limiting himself to purely defensive moves as he studied his opponent's style, moving round and round in slow, cautious circles, searching out Half A Man's weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It didn't take Owen long to realize that Half A Man didn't have any. The energy half supplied him with endless strength and speed, so he never grew tired, and he knew more about swordsmanship than Owen ever would. Owen boosted, becoming immediately faster and stronger, and launched his own attack. Half A Man sped right up with him, and calmly stood off everything Owen could throw at him. Strength burned in Owen's arms, and he sped up again, pushing his boost to the limits. His sword moved so fast it was only a blur. And for the first time, Half A Man fell back a step.
Owen pressed the attack, cutting at Half A Man's defending sword like a woodsman attacking a stubborn tree. In that moment, Half A Man represented to him everything he hated about the Empire, and he laughed aloud as he threw himself at his enemy. Half A Man had stopped smiling, but held his ground and would not retreat another step. And it occurred to Owen that whereas Half A Man's great strength and speed came from the endless store of his energy half, Owen's boost was of strictly limited duration. Which meant, if he didn't find a way to finish this fight soon, the odds were he wouldn't be finishing it at all. So he put all his strength and speed into one attack, a hammering blow with all his Maze-given talents behind it that slammed right past Half A Man's defense, and crashed down on his human skull.
For a long moment Owen's sword seemed to hesitate, as though frustrated by some unseen energy barrier, and then all the Maze's gifts and strengths concentrated themselves in Owen's blow, a more-than-human impetus that would not be denied, and the sword crashed on. The great and heavy blade cut down through Half A Man's human face, right next to the energy's dividing line, and then carried on down, cutting the human half away from the energy until the crimson blade erupted from the groin in a rush of blood and guts. Owen staggered backwards as his sword came free, all his strength and speed disappearing as he dropped out of boost. Hazel and Giles caught him and kept him from falling. And together they watched as Half A Man's human half fell to lie thrashing and bleeding to death on the platform. The energy half still stood where it was, motionless.
'How the hell did you do that?' said Hazel.
'Damned if I know,' said Owen.
They moved forward to stand over the twitching human half, giving the energy half a wide berth. The human half was dying by inches, but it was dying. Guts and organs had fallen out of the huge wound down its side, and blood streamed across the platform, welled over the edge, and dripped onto the tracks below. Owen watched the half man die with divided feelings. Half A Man had been his enemy, opposed to everything Owen now believed in, but it was hard not to see in him a man shaped by implacable outside forces into a legend he had never chosen for himself. Owen could understand that. It was the story of his life, too. He knelt down beside the half body, and took the trembling hand in his. The eye in the half head had sunk right back in the socket, but it rolled slowly over to look up at Owen. Half A Man tried desperately to say something, but couldn't make his mouth work. Owen leaned over him, but his enemy was already dead. Owen gently pulled his hand free from the dead grip and got to his feet.
'What do you suppose he would have said?' murmured Hazel.
'Damn you to hell, probably,' said Owen. 'He always was single-minded, for a man with only half a
