Deathstalker Honor by Simon R. Green Page B

crawled backward, slowing him down, and he could hear Hazel’s many guns and ammo belts scraping along the floor. He risked a glance at her, just in time to see a disrupter beam clip her raised elbow, vaporizing the sleeve and burning the exposed flesh. She grimaced, but didn’t make a sound, and kept moving. The smell of burnt meat mingled briefly with the ozone.
    Owen redoubled his efforts, scrambling backward as fast as he could force himself. He could almost feel the energy beams cutting through the air directly above him. And then he lurched to a halt as his feet slammed up against the closed steel door. He pushed against the door with all his weight, but it wouldn’t budge. Owen’s temper flared, and he kicked out with both feet. The heavy steel door flew open, half torn off its hinges. He looked back at Hazel again. She’d raised her head slightly at the noise, and a disrupter beam was heading right for her forehead.
    For Owen time seemed to slow and stop, the energy beam crawling slowly through the air. And it was the simplest thing in the world for him to lunge forward and thrust his golden Hadenman hand between Hazel and the beam, and the disrupter beam ricocheted harmlessly away. Time crashed back to normal. Owen grabbed Hazel and then threw himself out of the tunnel and back into the main cave, dragging her with him. They hit the floor hard and rolled away from the opening, putting as much room as they could between themselves and the deadly tunnel. They lay together for a while, getting their breath back, and then rose just a little shakily to their feet.
    “So,” said Owen. “Still feel invulnerable?”
    “Oh, shut up, Deathstalker. Don’t you get tired of being right all the time?” She raised her arm gingerly and studied the burn with a curled lip. “Nasty. But it’ll heal. Thanks for the save, stud.”
    “Any time,” said Owen.
    Hazel looked at his golden hand. “I have to say I’m impressed. Your average disrupter beam can vaporize steel plating in under a second, but it just bounced off that golden fashion accessory of yours.”
    “The Hadenmen do good work.” Owen flexed the golden metal fingers just a little self-consciously. “One of these days I really ought to sit down with some human scientists and have them analyze the hell out of this thing, but I never seem to have the time. It’s all rush, rush, rush when you’re a rebel hero.”
    “And a bounty hunter.”
    “That too. Speaking of which, I have another idea on how to get to dear Valentine.”
    “Hold everything. Your last idea didn’t turn out so damned hot.”
    “And you’re not going to like this new one much either. But we can’t hang around here; those disrupters must have set off all kinds of alarms once they were triggered. There’ll be guards here soon. Lots of them, armed to the teeth.”
    “Let them come,” said Hazel. “Let them all come. I could use something to work off my frustrations on.”
    “Not for the first time, you’re missing the point. The guards could pin us down here while Valentine and his cronies make their escape. And I’ll see this place reduced to rubble before I let that happen. This time Valentine is going to pay for his crimes. In blood.”
    “Every now and again you remind me of why I like you,” said Hazel. “All right, Deathstalker. I’m going to regret asking, but what is this marvelous new plan of yours?”
    “There’s another secret passage. One I never told David about. A Deathstalker always keeps some secrets to himself.”
    “There’s a catch,” said Hazel. “I just know there’s a catch.”
    “Oh, yes. The entrance to this tunnel is on the other side of the first cave on the left. The only way to get to it is past the piled-up bodies of the dead.”
    “Oh, nice one, Owen. How the hell are we supposed to do that? Drag the bodies out one at a time?”
    “Too long. The guards would be upon us before we’d barely started. No, there’s only one way. We’re