There was an awkward silence, broken by an urgent chiming from the viewscreen. Giles switched to the new incoming signal, and Golgotha disappeared, replaced by Finlay Campbell, Evangeline Shreck, and Julian Skye, their faces filling the screen. They looked harried.
'What's holding you people up?' said Finlay, not bothering with any amenities. 'We need you down here now. Everything's gone to hell in a handcart in the Parade of the Endless, the one city above all we have to hold. We can't tell who's winning anymore, if anyone is. Our people are all out on the streets, doing what they can, but we need you to bring things together. Just your presence will help to inspire the fighters. You've become heroes, legends, not least through Toby Shreck's coverage, and people will follow you where they won't follow us.'
'Tell me more about the situation,' said Giles, refusing to be pressured. 'Who's on top at the moment?'
'Depends on who you talk to,' said Evangeline. 'Things are falling apart in the governing bodies incredibly quickly, and we're doing all we can to take advantage of that, but then, it's all been precariously balanced for a long time. It only needed a spark to set the people off. If we'd known they were this close to the edge, we'd have provided a spark ourselves, even if we had to make one up. But there are still a hell of a lot of troops and Security people out in the streets, and they're a damned sight better armed than most of our people. So we need you. Your powers could be the turning point. God knows we need one. We're fighting on so many fronts it's hard to make any real breakthrough.'
'What about the Hadenmen?' said Owen, cutting in. 'I've been worried about them. I woke them from their Tomb because we needed them, but after all, they were the official Enemies of Humanity before Shub came along. Are they behaving themselves?'
'Surprisingly enough, yes,' said Julian Skye. 'Their ships are only taking out the targets we gave them, and their ground fighting has proved a blessing. They make great shock troops. Half the time, the army forces run away rather than face them. Not that I blame them in the slightest. But all in all, the augmented men have been behaving impeccably. We've even had reports they've been taking prisoners, rather than just killing everything that moves, which surprised everyone. Not least the prisoners. Maybe they found God, in their Tomb. So, one of your better ideas, Deathstalker.'
'Right,' said Evangeline. 'Now if you're quite happy, perhaps we could return to more pressing matters, namely the unholy mess in the Parade of the Endless…'
'Get your collective asses down here,' said Finlay sharply. 'Right now. We have to hold this city.'
'Understood,' said Owen. 'We'll be there. We haven't come this far to miss out on the ending.'
Finlay nodded, and cut off the signal. The image of their serious faces barely had time to clear from the viewscreen before another signal came in. Everyone in the great Hall straightened up a little as a new face filled the screen, and a great many hands dropped instinctively to weapons. The broad, shaggy wolf's-head looking down on them was dominated by the long muzzle full of sharp teeth, and the darkly gleaming eyes above, large and intelligent and almost overpoweringly ferocious. It was the Wolfling, the last of his kind, only survivor of the Empire's first attempt to build a superior fighting man. Last of a race butchered and slaughtered by a fearful humankind. Once guardian of the Madness Maze, and now protector of the sleeping Darkvoid Device. Giles smiled broadly at him.
'Wulf! I've been waiting for you to contact me! When will you be here?'
'I won't,' said the Wolfling. His deep, dark voice was as much a growl as anything else, but an underlying sadness and tiredness took most of the threat out of it. 'I told you, Giles. I've had enough of fighting. I've seen too much death and destruction to take pleasure in any more. Lionstone has to fall. I know that. But she'll go whether I'm there or not. You don't need me anymore, Giles. You've moved beyond me.'
'But… we spent so long arguing and scheming over how we'd pull the Iron Bitch down! Don't do this to me, Wulf. Don't leave me here alone. You're my oldest friend, all I have left to remind me of the old days.'
'That was always the difference between us, Giles. You want to remember the past, and I just want to forget it. Let your hatred go, Giles. I know all about hatred. Give it too much hold over you, and it'll eat you alive till there's nothing left in you but it. And that's no way to live. Do what you have to because it's the right thing to do, not because you enjoy it. I'm tired, Giles. I've lived too long, seen the Empire change beyond recognition, watched my race fall out of history and into legend. I think it's time for me to let go and follow them.'
'Isn't there anything I can do for you?' said Giles, almost plaintively.
'Yes,' said the Wolfling. 'You can kill Lionstone for me. Whatever happens, she mustn't be allowed to escape. Kill her, Giles.'
'Yes,' said Giles. 'I can do that for you.'
The Wolfling nodded his great shaggy head, and the viewscreen went blank. Giles stared at it for a long moment, and then nodded slowly, as though listening to some private, inner voice. He turned back to the others, and his face was entirely calm and composed, as though daring the others to comment on the emotions they'd seen him display. When he spoke, his voice was brisk and formal.
'Aliens. We haven't discussed them yet. So far, there's been no sightings of any alien craft anywhere in the Empire since the attack on Golgotha, but we can't afford to forget them. They're out there somewhere, no doubt watching and planning. It's vital we get the rebellion over with as quickly as possible, and order restored. We can't afford to be caught helpless and divided by an invading alien force.'
'And let's not forget Shub,' said Owen. 'There's always a chance the rogue AIs might try and take advantage of our divisions by launching an attack of their own.'
'God, you're a cheerful lot,' said Ruby. 'Look, let's just get out of here and get this show on the road. We'll worry about aliens and AIs and plagues of frogs as and when they make an appearance.'
'Right,' said Hazel. 'We're wasting time here.'
'Good planning is never a waste,' said Giles coldly. 'Now pay attention. This is how we're going to do it. Owen's been doing some research on old records of the Imperial Palace, back when it was first being constructed. I suppose his being an historian had to come in useful someday. The only way into the Palace today is by the underground train system, run and monitored by the Palace's security systems. The train stations are well guarded, and the train compartments themselves are fitted with lethal gas jets, just in case. However, Owen has discovered records of a number of old maintenance tunnels, long abandoned and apparently forgotten. We can use those to bypass the Security guards entirely, and gain access to the trains safely. Owen, Hazel, and I will undertake this mission.'
'Hold everything,' said the AI Ozymandius in Owen's ear. 'Sorry to interrupt, boss, but your ancestor's words have tripped a file hidden deep within my memory by your father. He knew about these trains and tunnels, and has given me all the necessary security codes to get you onto the trains and into the Palace.'
'Are you sure about this?' said Owen, subvocalizing. 'If you get just one of those codes wrong, we're all dead.'
'Trust me,' said the AI. 'This is the real thing, Owen. Your father believed in planning ahead.'
Owen passed on the AI's words, and there was an awkward pause. Owen had always maintained he'd used his Maze powers to completely destroy the treacherous AI Ozymandius when it turned out to be working for the Empire, and tried to use control words it had implanted in Owen and Hazel to make them kill the others. Only sometime later Oz, or something claiming to be Oz, turned up in Owen's head again. No one but Owen could hear its voice, but the information it occasionally volunteered was always reliable. For the rest of the time, Owen tried hard to ignore it.
'Your father would naturally have tried to gain access to those codes,' Giles said slowly. 'I suppose it's possible he could have hidden them in your AI for safekeeping. There's no way of testing them here. I suppose we'll find out whether they're the real thing when we get there. It would certainly simplify things a lot. Even with our powers, breaking out of the Palace station was always going to be a major undertaking. So, it would appear we'll just have to trust Oz. Whoever or whatever he really is.'
'Thanks a whole bunch,' Oz murmured in Owen's ear. Owen didn't pass that on.
Hazel shook her head. 'Great. We're going to risk all our lives on a voice in Owen's head only he can hear. What do we do for an encore, make a sacrifice to the gods and read our fortune in its entrails?'
'Don't tempt me,' said Giles. 'Next, Jack Random and Ruby Journey will lead the gravity-sled attack on the Family Towers, as arranged with the underground. For the moment the Clans seem to have decided they're on no one's side but their own, but that won't last. The outlawing of David and the threatened mechanization of their planets hit them where they lived, but it won't take them long to realize that their financial and social well-being is irrevocably linked to the Empire as it is. A successful rebellion by the lower orders would be their worst nightmare
