that was her business. Gamine and elfin, her military fatigues hung about her like a tent. She had large dark eyes a man could drown in, a firm mouth, and the unmistakable air of a survivor. Of someone who had lived through pain and horror and despair, and had not broken under them. Yet.
They stood together, studying the bright blue planet on the viewscreen before them. There were no signs of civilization, nothing to show that Humanity had ever made a mark on Shannon's World. No cities, no great roads, nothing big enough to trigger the ship's sensors. Whatever lived down there was keeping itself hidden and secret. Evangeline sighed suddenly.
'It looks so innocent. Untouched by man. Not at all like a Field of Blood. What could have happened down there, what terrible thing, to justify such a name?'
Finlay smiled slightly. 'Something powerful and nasty enough to kill off every armed man the Iron Bitch has sent down there, so far. And there's not much that can stand against a full force of armed marines. I've always liked a challenge.'
'Do you think… could it be something like the Grendel alien? I've seen the holo of what that creature did at Court.'
'Unlikely,' said Toby from the back. 'After the horror of what happened on Grendel, every planet in the Empire was searched for signs of more Vaults. Not even a pleasure planet like this would have been exempt. And if anyone had found more Sleepers, there's no way they could have kept it quiet. There isn't that much money in the Empire.'
'Don't worry, love,' said Finlay to Evangeline, putting an arm across her shoulders and pulling her close. 'Whatever's down there, I'll protect you.'
'Did you ever come here?' said Evangeline. 'I never did. I'd heard of Shannon's World, but Daddy didn't believe in letting me out of his sight.'
'I've been most places,' said Finlay. 'But never here. I was always too busy. And it didn't sound like the kind of place where I'd fit in. Too peaceful. Ironic, isn't it? That what was designed as the safest, most secure place in the Empire should end up a nightmare renamed the Field of Blood. Still, that's life in the Empire for you these days. Just as a matter of interest, how did we get the coordinates for this place? I thought they were strictly need to know, only issued to actual visitors?'
'Valentine Wolfe supplied them,' said Evangeline, her voice carefully neutral. 'Before he left us, to become Lionstone's right-hand man. Apparently he'd been here once, but didn't care for it. Something about the place… disturbed him. He thought we should blow it all up.'
'The Wolfe,' said Finlay, his lips curling back in something between a snarl and a smile. 'I must find him and thank him personally. And then I'll cut his heart out and hold it still beating in my hand. He destroyed my Family, betrayed the rebellion, and spit on everything I ever believed in.'
'Be fair,' said Toby Shreck, butting into the conversation with the casual ease of the experienced journalist. 'We are, after all, talking about Valentine Wolfe, famed for degeneracy in a Court where the appalling and the disgusting have become commonplace. The man who never met a drug he didn't like. I'm amazed you people let him into the underground in the first place.'
'He had money and contacts,' said Evangeline. 'At a time when we needed both. Besides, he came with good recommendations.'
'Who from?' said Toby. 'The Royal Guild of Chemists? If you nurse a viper in your bosom, you shouldn't be surprised if it turns round and bites you.'
'I will kill him,' said Finlay. 'No matter where it takes me, no matter what it costs.'
'Sometimes I can't help wondering if we're getting too inbred,' said Toby. 'Here we are, about to face unknown dangers on a planet known as the Field of Blood, and all you can think about is dueling someone who's light-years away, and probably permanently out of your reach anyway. Give me strength.'
'You wouldn't understand,' said Finlay, not looking at him. 'It's a matter of honor.'
'Of course not,' said Toby. 'I'm a journalist.'
In his short career Toby had shown a remarkable talent for being in the right place at the right time, and producing excellent coverage of extraordinary events, first on Technos III and then on Mistworld. His reports hadn't made him any friends among the powers that were, but his ratings were going through the roof. Toby was quietly very proud of this. During his long career cleaning up after Gregor Shreck's messes, he'd often dreamed of being a real journalist, covering real stories. Now that he'd got his chance, he was living his dream. And if he got uncomfortably close to having his ass shot off on more than one occasion, well, that came with the job. He grinned at the image of Shannon's World on the viewscreen. He would be the first journalist ever to set foot on the legendary dream world, and the first to tell what had gone so horribly wrong there. Life was good, sometimes.
His cameraman, Flynn, was quietly dozing in the seat beside him, his camera perched on his shoulder like a drowsy owl. Flynn didn't believe in getting excited until there was something definite present to be excited over. And he did like to get his rest when he could. An excellent cameraman, Flynn, and a steadfast companion. Toby just hoped he wasn't wearing ladies' underwear under his clothes again.
Just in front of Toby, staring blankly at the viewscreen, was Julian Skye. Toby didn't quite know what to make of the young esper. He'd been handsome once, apparently, before the Imperial interrogators went to work on him. They'd done a lot of damage, to his body and his mind, before Finlay rescued him. Most of it had healed, but the broken bones of his face had mended lumpily, and parts of his face still hung slack from damaged nerves. He wore a rather obvious wig, to hide the steel plate covering the hole the mind techs had made in the back of his skull so they could work on the brain directly.
Before his capture, he'd had a reputation in the underground as one of their wildest, most daring operatives. But his time in the torturers' cells had destroyed his bravado, and while he hadn't crawled or broken or betrayed anyone, he was haunted by the certainty that he would have, eventually. Finlay had rescued him just in time, and Julian had clung to him ever since. He didn't feel safe when Finlay wasn't around. Finlay, to his credit, had tried to discourage this, building up Julian's courage and confidence when he could, but the esper's hurts ran deep, and he constantly found excuses that would keep him close to Finlay. He even argued his way into what everyone said was a suicide mission, just to be with Finlay.
It wasn't clear yet what Evangeline made of this. Toby kept an eye on all of them, just in case. There was a story there just waiting to happen, and he didn't want to miss it when it finally broke.
He also kept a careful if inconspicuous eye on Giles Deathstalker. The first and greatest of his line, first Warrior Prime of the Empire, nine hundred years ago. Who had wielded the Darkvoid Device, and put out a thousand suns in an instant, leaving their inhabited worlds to wither and die in the sunless cold and dark. Billions died in horror and despair, because of one man's decision. Giles was tall but sparsely built, though his arms bulged with muscle. He dressed in battered furs and leathers, like a barbarian, and wore his long grey hair in a mercenary's scalplock. He looked to be in his late fifties, with a solid, lined face, his mouth a thin flat line above his silver-grey goatee. His eyes were a surprisingly mild grey, but his gaze was firm and unwavering. He looked hard and uncompromising, a vision from the past, when the Empire had been a proud and honorable enterprise, served by proud and honorable men. Giles Deathstalker, greatest hero and greatest traitor of his own time, who would not yield then or now to anything that might compromise his sense of honor or duty.
Or so it was said. All Toby knew for sure was that the man looked like death on two legs just sitting there, calm and relaxed as though heading into a vacation. Giles Deathstalker scared the shit out of Toby, and he didn't care who knew it. He looked back at the mysterious planet growing steadily on the viewscreen. He found it less disturbing.
'You people know more about Shannon's World than I do,' he said easily, as though he'd never paused. 'But according to rumor, it was supposed to be very restful down there. No worries, no pressures… almost therapeutic. A place where you could forget your cares and misfortunes. According to the records, there were 522 people down there when whatever happened happened. None of them have been heard of since.'
'But what could possibly have gone wrong on a pleasure world?' said Evangeline. 'There was nothing there that could hurt them. And we know they were protected from outside attack. The planetary defenses are still working.'
'We're getting past them,' said Finlay.
Giles grunted suddenly, and sat forward in his chair, catching them all by surprise. 'Pleasure worlds. Just another sign of how pampered and soft the Empire has become since my day. You need hard, driven people to keep an Empire strong. We had pleasure worlds, in my day, but they were places you went to test your mettle and your
