"Simon R. Green - Deathstalker - 3 - Deathstalker War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

When that Blood Runner's hologram threatened to take me apart in his laboratory, you
reached across light-years of space and blew him to pieces, just by thinking about it. I
didn't know you had that kind of power. I don't."
"I didn't think I had either, until I needed it. Our time in the Madness Maze changed us
more than we knew. We're different people now."

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Simon R. Green - Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War


"I don't like the sound of that. Where do the changes end? Are we still human? Are we
going to end up like the Hadenmen, so divorced from what we started out as that we
might as well be aliens?"
Owen shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine. I think we're as human as we
want to be. Our humanity lies not in what we do, but why we do it. Besides, I'm not
sure our abilities are all that stable. They seem to come and go. There used to be a link
between us, a mental link among all of us who passed through the Maze, but that
disappeared when we split up and went our separate ways. Now I can't even feel you
through the link. Can you still feel me, in your mind?"
"No," said Hazel. "Not for some time now."
"That might be my fault," said Ozymandius in Owen's ear. "Perhaps my presence is
disrupting your accord."
"Shut up, Oz," Owen subvocalized. "You're dead. I destroyed you."
"You wish. No, I'm still with you, Owen, here to advise and guide you through life's
little difficulties."
"The only difficulty I have is this dead AI that keeps yammering in my ear. If I knew a
good cyberdruid, I'd have you exorcised. Whoever or whatever you are, I don't need
your help. I can manage perfectly well on my own."
"Well pardon my computations, you ungrateful little snot. If it hadn't been for me, you'd
never have got off Virimonde alive, when your own Security people came after you for
the price on your head. Your trouble is, you don't appreciate me. Look after yourself for
a while. I'm going to sulk."
Hazel studied Owen unobtrusively. He'd gone all quiet again, his eyes far away. He did
that from time to time, and it never failed to irritate her. Even though she'd always
known he was the thoughtful one in their reluctant partnership. Hazel had always
believed in the virtues of direct action, preferably with a sword or a gun. Cut them all
down and worry about the consequences later. If at all. She wondered what Owen
would think if he knew she was taking Blood again.
Blood. The most addictive and soul-destroying drug known to Humanity. It came from
the adjusted men, the Wampyr. One of the Empire's less successful attempts at
manufacturing terror troops. Synthetic Blood flowed in their veins, making them
stronger, faster, nearly invincible. Just a few drops of Blood could make a mere human
feel that way, too, for a while. It made you feel sharp and confident, and Hazel needed
that more and more these days. She'd been hooked on the drug once before, in her early

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Simon R. Green - Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War


days on Mistworld. She'd beaten it then, though the cure nearly killed her. But so much