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

had changed in her since then, and very little of it to her liking.
She'd never wanted to be a rebel. All she'd ever wanted was the comfortable life, free
from hunger and danger. She'd been happiest as a confidence trickster, parting rich
leeches from their ill-gotten gains and disappearing into the night before they realized
how badly they'd been stung. Hazel had only ever fought for money, cash in hand, and
never trusted anyone but herself. Now she was a major player in the new rebellion, a
target for every bounty hunter and backstabber in the Empire, being asked for opinions
and plans on matters she had little or no understanding of. For the first time in her life,
the lives and futures of countless numbers of people depended on her every action and
decision, with all the stress and uncertainties that involved. Now everything she did or
didn't do had consequences, and she just couldn't stand it. The pressure weighed down
on her, filling her head till she couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't keep her hands from
shaking. So she started taking Blood again. Just a drop, now and then, when she needed
it. The Hadenmen had been only too happy to supply her with as much as she wanted.
She didn't ask where they got it from. And now she was heading back to Mistworld,
where Blood was widespread.
She didn't want to be addicted again. She didn't want to be a plasma baby, her only
thought and need for the Blood that was slowly destroying her. She resented anything
that had power over her. She'd beaten it once; she could beat it again. She only needed
a drop, now and again, after all. Just a little something, to help her cope. She looked at
Owen, and her mouth tightened. She knew why their mental link had disappeared. The
Blood interfered, separating them. But she couldn't tell him that. He wouldn't
understand.
The lounge door opened suddenly, and Owen and Hazel's fellow rebels on this mission
walked in, ostentatiously not talking to each other, as usual. The new Jack Random, or
Young Jack as Owen always thought of him, was tall, well muscled, and devilishly
handsome, with long, dark shoulder-length hair that always looked like he'd just
permed it. Owen only had to look at him to feel puny and out of shape. Random wore
silver battle armor chased with gold like he was born to it, and he radiated strength,
wisdom, confidence, and compassion. A born leader, a charismatic warrior, a hero out
of legend and altogether too much of a good thing. He'd arrived out of nowhere, just
when the rebellion needed him the most, and Owen didn't trust him an inch.
Owen and Hazel had gone looking for the legendary professional rebel, Jack Random,
in the city of Mistport some time back. They'd found a broken old man, hiding from his
past, and bullied him out of his hiding hole to fight again, because the rebellion needed
the legend, if not the man. He'd fought beside them, and passed through the Madness

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Simon R. Green - Deathstalker 03 - Deathstalker War


Maze with them, and at the end he faced impossible odds against the Empire's troops,
and emerged victorious. Owen had believed in that man, and been proud to call him
friend. The old man had just begun to reclaim his legend when this young giant of a
man had burst onto the scene, claiming to be the real Jack Random, and now Owen
didn't know what to believe anymore.
Young Jack Random's last campaign had been on the winter world of Vodyanoi IV,
some two years earlier. As usual, he had made a lot of noise and raised an army of
followers, only to get his ass kicked one more time when they came up against trained
Imperial shock troops. His friends smuggled him out at the last moment, so he wasn't