'What's he like?' said Toby. 'He's one of the things we were sent here to cover.'
Adrian shrugged and began packing the bowl of his pipe with dark aromatic strands of tobacco. 'Seems harmless enough. Handsome, rich, and luckily for us, mostly uninterested in interfering in the way things are. Best we could hope for, I suppose. Bit of a feather in our cap, that he's taken a shine to our Alice.'
'They don't want to know about that, Father,' said Diana, leaning forward in her chair and resting her heavy arms on the old wood table. 'They want to know what we've been doing with democracy here. That's what got the Golgotha underground interested in us, right? Thought so. We began trying our luck when Owen was the Deathstalker, seeing what we could get away with. Owen didn't care. He wasn't much, in those days. He was happy with his mistress and his studies, and didn't want to be bothered with us. Steward wasn't too keen, but without Owen's backing he couldn't do anything. We began small, adding one small victory to another, until we reached where we are today. We have regular elections for town offices, and most of the decisions about farming and livestock are made at the local level. We've all been making a lot more money since we started making our own deals with the shipping companies. We run our own lives now, as much as that's possible in the Empire these days. Steward isn't happy, but David Deathstalker's actually been encouraging us. Though I'd be surprised if he knew half of what goes on out in the towns and the farmlands. He and his young friend the SummerIsle are more interested in hunting, drinking, and wenching. Not necessarily in that order.'
She and her husband shared rich chuckles over that. Toby wasn't so sure. 'Tell me about the SummerIsle.'
Adrian frowned for the first time. 'Damned if we know what to make of that one, eh Mother? Good-looking. Polite. Doesn't throw his weight around more than you'd expect. But… he's a cold one. Hard to tell what's going on inside his head. He came here once, with David, to pick up our Alice. The dogs took one look at the SummerIsle and hid under the table. Wouldn't come out till he'd gone. I felt a bit like joining them, to be honest. There was something about his eyes, like he'd just as soon kill me as not. Wouldn't surprise me if there was bad blood in that one.'
'At Court they call him Kid Death,' said Flynn quietly. 'The smiling killer.'
'Can't say as I'm surprised,' said Adrian. He scowled, searching for the right words. 'It's not like he's done anything, or said anything, that a man could take offense to, but… he's a dangerous man, or I never saw one. Don't know what the Deathstalker sees in him, but they seem close enough. Always together.'
'Bit too close, if you ask me,' said Diana.
'Now, Mother…'
'Do you think the Deathstalker will object to our presence here?' said Toby.
Adrian raised an eyebrow. 'I thought he was supposed to be sympathetic to the underground?'
'He was. But he's… distanced himself, of late. I suppose being given absolute control over an entire planet will do that to you.'
'I doubt he'll interrupt his play just because you're here,' said Diana. 'But I think we'd better keep the Steward distracted till you're gone. He's a hard man. An Empire man, through and through. Bows to everything with a title, and lords it over us like he was a blue blood himself. Thinks he's better than us. Damned fool. I can remember him growing up on a farm not twenty miles from here. No, you two just get on with your work. We'll see you're not interfered with.'
'Look forward to seeing it, when it's finished,' said Adrian. 'The wife and I are big fans of yours. Very impressed we were, with your Technos III coverage.'
'You saw that?' said Flynn, quietly discouraging another cat from climbing up on his head.
'We've got a holoscreen,' said Adrian. 'You're not out in the sticks here, you know.'
A loud chiming came from the next room. Adrian and Diana looked round startled. 'Speak of the Devil. That's the underground's signal,' said Adrian. 'Means there's a message coming in. Can't say I was expecting anything.'
'I expect they just want to speak with these two,' said Diana. 'Make sure they got here in one piece.'
'No doubt, Mother. I'll just check.'
He got up and went into the next room, calmly puffing on his pipe. When he returned a few moments later, the pipe was in his hand, and the peacefulness was gone from his face.
'You'd better come through,' he said to Toby and Flynn. 'They want to talk to you. Mother, call the boys in. We'd best prepare. Word is bad things are coming.'
Diana got up without a word and headed for the outside door. Toby and Flynn dumped their various cats and dogs and followed Adrian into the next room, where a large holoscreen covered half a wall. An unfamiliar face looked out of the screen at them, stern to hide his worry.
'Shreck, Flynn, you have to leave, now. It's not safe for you anymore.'
'Why?' said Toby. 'What's happened? Have the Dakers been compromised? Does the Empire know we're here?'
'None of that matters anymore,' said the face. 'The shit is about to hit the fan for all of Virimonde, if it hasn't already begun. Leave, while you still can. Empire troops will be hitting ground anytime now, all over the planet. The Stevie Blues are already dirtside, to represent us to the local rebels. They should be heading in your direction; see if you can hook up with them. If not, try to get to the Standing. Maybe the Deathstalker can protect you till we can arrange safe passage offworld for you.'
'But why?' said Toby. 'What's happening?'
The face looked tired and drawn, as though all his strength was leaking out of him. 'The Empress has outlawed David Deathstalker, for allowing his peasants to experiment with democracy. The entire planet is to be placed under martial law, by any and all means necessary. The populace is considered to be in rebellion. Every man, woman, and child on Virimonde is to be placed under constraint, and then tried, exiled, or executed. Not necessarily in that order. Three Imperial starcruisers are already in orbit over Virimonde. More are on their way. Troops are already landing. And the Empress has authorized extensive use of war machines. It's going to get hard and vicious and bloody, real soon now. Get out of there. Now.'
The screen went blank. In the kitchen the dogs were barking loudly, sensing the excitement and alarm. Toby and Flynn looked at each other. 'Well,' said Flynn, trying hard to sound casual. 'So much for our trying to avoid a war zone. Do we head for the Standing?'
'I guess so. The Stevie Blues could be anywhere, and the Standing isn't that far from here. Maybe we can get some good footage of the fighting along the way. Just so this mission isn't a complete failure. You know, just once, I'd like things to go the way I planned them.'
Flynn shrugged. 'That's life. Our life, anyway. We'd better say good-bye to our hosts and get moving. We've no way of knowing how near the troops are.'
They went back into the kitchen. The dogs were running around excitedly. The cats were perched on high shelves, watching everything with wise, experienced eyes. Adrian Daker had pushed the heavy table aside and opened up a concealed trapdoor in the floor. There were wooden steps, leading down into a secret cellar. Adrian was emerging from the dark hole with an armful of weapons. He nodded calmly to Toby and Flynn, and dropped the weapons on the table, next to those he'd already brought up. There were lots of them, mostly projectile weapons and boxes of ammunition, with a few hand energy weapons. Set on a farmhouse table they looked pretty impressive, but Toby knew they were nothing compared to an invading army backed up by war machines.
'Better get out of here boys,' said Adrian. 'It'll be getting noisy around here soon. It seems the rebellion's started a little early.'
'Will you be safe here?' said Toby.
'Safe as anywhere,' said Adrian, stripping guns of their protective coverings with quick, professional movements. 'They'll need an army to storm this place. And with Mother and our boys beside me, the Empire will pay dearly in blood and suffering for the taking of our land. This has been Daker land for countless generations, and they'll not take it from us while there's a bullet left to fire, or a Daker left to fire it. Go, now, while it's still quiet. Head due north from here, and that'll take you to the Standing. You'll find a flyer in the stables behind the house. Energy crystals are a bit low, but they should get you most of the way there. Stay low, and try and keep out of sight. The locals won't know who you are. You might end up getting shot at by both sides. Good luck, boys.'
The outer door burst open and Diana came rushing in, her eyes wide. She gestured urgently with the comm unit in her hand. 'I can't raise the boys! The channel's open, but none of them are answering!'
From far away in the distance came the sound of an explosion, followed almost immediately by another. They
