Free Deathstalker Return by Simon R. Green Page A

centuries. All the mines and mining equipment it oversaw are long gone now, absorbed and recycled by the trees. But still, this is a place of . . . strong memories, for me. Bad things happened here. Do they still tell the story of the terrible events at Base Thirteen? Of the unknown alien, and the awful gifts it brought?”
    Lewis and the others looked at each other. Lewis shrugged uncomfortably. “I’m afraid not, Sir Carrion. Much of the history of your time is lost to us. Only legends remain. And you are only mentioned briefly, in the . . . unofficial legends.”
    Carrion smiled for the first time. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Captain Silence made it into the official legends, I assume? Of course he did. He was a hero, after all. While I . . . was a traitor, and proud of it. I fought with the Ashrai, in their war against Humanity. I killed men and women from my own crew—until Captain Silence scorched this planet from orbit, and killed every living thing on Unseeli except for the trees and me.” He smiled again, at their shocked expressions. “Oh, yes, children, your great hero John Silence committed genocide here, in the name of his Empire. Some years later, Owen brought the Ashrai back. Made Unseeli a living world again. That’s why the Deathstalker name buys you this audience.” He looked again at Base Thirteen. “I was an Investigator, once. Trained by the Empire on how best to study and murder aliens. But even so, nothing in my experience prepared me for the horror Captain Silence and I found in this dark place.
    “An alien from an unknown species came to Unseeli, from out of the endless night beyond the Rim, and its ship crashed near here. We’d never seen anything like that ship—grown as much as built, out of meat and bone as well as steel and crystal. We cut open one of its walls, and guts fell out. But the alien wasn’t there. It had already made its way to Base Thirteen and slaughtered every living thing it found there. Afterwards, it did terrible things with their bodies. We killed the alien, eventually. John Silence, I, the young esper Diana Vertue, and Investigator Frost. John. My friend, my enemy. We were always so close; bound together and torn apart by honor and responsibility.
    “The alien ship isn’t here anymore. Empire scientists took it away, to study, and from its alien technology they devised the next generation of stardrives—the E class—and more, besides. The alien we killed was just the forerunner of a very advanced, very deadly species. John and I always expected more of them would come, to challenge and invade the Empire, but they never did. Perhaps the Terror got to them first. The universe is a very big place . . .” Carrion looked at Lewis again. “So. Two hundred years. Is John . . . ?”
    “John Silence died long ago,” said Lewis. “I’m sorry. There are statues to him all over the Empire.”
    “So,” said Carrion. “My only friend is dead. My last link with Humanity is gone.” He said it slowly, as though unsure how he felt about it. “And you’re the new Deathstalker. You look like a warrior, which is more than Owen did, except when he got mad at someone. I only met him a few times. A dark, sad, disturbing figure. A good man, undoubtably, but he scared the shit out of me.”
    “Why aren’t you in the official legends?” said Rose. She was back on her feet again, but keeping a respectful distance. “If you were as closely tied to the other heroes as you claim?”
    Brett winced. “Gives whole new meaning to the word blunt, doesn’t she?”
    “They probably left me out because I embarrassed everyone,” said Carrion, entirely unmoved. “I never apologized for my treason. I embraced it. And I never gave a damn for the Empire or Humanity. I only fought alongside John because he asked me to.”
    “You mean . . . you didn’t follow the blessed Owen?” said Jesamine.
    “Hell, no,” said Carrion. “I knew enough to stay well clear of him. He