"Which of you savashri dared invade my chambers?" Vlad snarled. "The rest of you give him up, or it will go badly for all."
Vlad held a black, fifteen-centimeter-long tube in his right hand. As he flicked his wrist away from his body, three meter's worth of flexible black cable uncoiled itself like a languid tentacle. His thumb pressed down on a red stud on the handle, filling the room with a hiss that sounded somewhere between radio static and a rattlesnake's warning. The men in bunks closest to the door backed away immediately and Vlad laughed viciously.
"Who will be punished, children? Will I have to start at random?" He swung the electro-lash effortlessly at one of the bunks. The cable slapped into a pillow, which then exploded into half-melted bits of spongy fiber. As the stink of burned petrochem filled the air, Vlad gestured the men forward with his free hand. "Believe me, I will find the guilty parties and they will pay. Do you answer me voluntarily, or do I have to force the answers out of you?"
Phelan's pain over Ranna changed to anger. An electrolash ... the kinder cousin of a neural whip. It won't leave you permanently damaged, but it doesn't cause enough pain to put you out, either. Using them on beasts of burden or for animal control—as they were intended—is one thing. Using them indiscriminately on men is another ...
Vlad pointed to one man cowering at the foot of Kenny Ryan's bunk. "You," he said. "Come here."
Phelan threw back his covers. "No, Vlad. Leave him alone."
The Clansman's head came up, and everyone else turned their attention to the mercenary. "You? It is you who will tell me who they were?"
Phelan shook his head. "I'm the one you want. I claim all responsibility."
Vlad's cruel snicker accompanied the slow shaking of his head. "No, Kell, this will not work the way you think. The fact that the Khan has claimed you as his own would not stop me from beating you even if you were one of the guilty."
Phelan walked toward the front of the room. "No trick. I'm it."
The Clansman's eyes narrowed. "You weren't even there. Why are you doing this?"
The Kell Hound matched Vlad's angry stare. "I was there. Do you want me to describe it to you, quiaff?" Phelan hesitated and his brave facade almost broke. As he moved forward, he saw Ranna standing back from the doorway. Waves of pain at her betrayal threatened to drown him, but he forced himself to play out his hand. "You and Ranna were together, enjoying one another's company."
He forced himself to laugh, and he heard the sound echo with the hollowness of his insides. "And from what I heard, you were enjoying each other immensely."
Confusion arced through Vlad's eyes. "You were not there. There were two and neither had your build."
Phelan laughed casually. "How can you be so sure? In the state you were in, it's a wonder you remember anything reliably. Sights and sounds and time all seem to drift away, don't they?"
Anger furrowed Vlad's brow. "Why are you doing this?"
"It's my responsibility. I did it. I'm the one you want." Phelan looked over at the other bondsmen. "No one else will own up to this crime, and everyone else will say I did it, no matter how much you torture them. What's the matter? Did you want more foreplay?"
Vlad's face locked into a mask of fury. "I will break you, you know. You may have thought to save the others, but in the end, you will give them to me. Believe me, you will."
Phelan shook his head slowly. "Do your worst."
Vlad dug a meter-length of white cord from his pocket and tossed it to Kenny Ryan. "Strip him to the waist, then tie his hands to the top bunk rail."
Phelan unzipped his jumpsuit and tied the sleeves around his waist as Ryan climbed to the top bunk. Phelan offered Ryan his hands and the pirate slid the bondcord down to the mercenary's forearm before expertly trussing his wrists together.
"You're nuts, Kell." Ryan watched the mercenary's face, searching for something. "Don't expect me to thank you for this, because he'll make it worse on us when you give us up."
The Kell Hound shook his head. "If you were a man, Ryan, you might understand why I'm doing this. I made the lockpick. It's my responsibility. And don't worry, your back will be spared." Phelan glanced back over his shoulder at Vlad. "I can hurt him more by not telling than he can possibly hurt me, and that's enough to keep your secret."
As Phelan turned back toward the bunk, he saw Ranna looking at him incredulously. She met his gaze, then quickly looked away.
The electro-lash wrapped around his chest like a ribbon of molten steel. It tightened on his ribcage and sent fiery tendrils of pain shooting up and down his spine. All his muscles spasmed, then contracted, leaving him to hang roughly from the cord around his wrists. The pure agony shattered his resolve to remain silent, allowing an inhuman wail of excruciating pain to rip through his throat.
His screams stopped when his throat became too raw to make any sound at all.
Some time after that, his torture stopped as well.
33
ComStar First Circuit Compound
Hilton Head Island, North America, Terra
30 August 3050
Myndo Waterly slipped her hands inside the sleeves of her gold silk gown. "I agree, Precentor Tharkad, that the razing of Edo on Turtle Bay represents an escalation of the conflict that calls into question the wisdom of working with the Clans. I should remind you, however, that the Precentor Martial reported that he expects no more such attacks because the Khan of the Smoke Jaguar Clan lost considerable face because of that incident."
"With all due respect, Primus, and with deference to my colleague from Dieron, I believe you place more importance on social embarrassment than it warrants." Ulthan Everson leaned forward on his crystalline podium. "I would also note that the Clan's jump-capable warships have not been used of late because they have been bid away in the curious game the invaders play before taking a planet. Though you do not mention it, I recall that it was Phelan Kell who planted the suggestion of bidding away a warship, not our agent to the Clans."
Sharilar Mori looked over at the Primus, who nodded permission to speak. "You confuse your arguments, Precentor Tharkad. If the Primus failed to mention Phelan Kell's part in the decision to abandon planetary bombardment, it is because the important fact is that the bombardments have stopped and are unlikely to continue. The Wolf Clan's third and preemptive fourth waves have shown this perfectly.
"As for the role of social pressures in the Clan society, we keep hearing about the pressure to conform and to out-do the others. That Khan Ulric of the Wolves bid away the Dire Wolf in his negotiations with Khan Bjorn of the Ghost Bears cost Bjorn mightily and has elevated Ulric in the esteem of others, including his rivals. In their quest for glory, others have imitated Ulric by bidding away even more than the support of the warships in their contests over who may attack a world. As the latest reports from Engadin indicate, this has created some difficulty. It may not stop the Clans' advance, but it will slow it."
The diminutive Jen Li, Precentor from the Capellan Confederation, agreed. "Aside from the Wolf Clan's advance strike in this fourth wave, the other clans have moved at a pace roughly equivalent to a wave every two months ..."
Everson's head came up. "I am neither blind nor unable to read a calendar, Precentor Sian."
"Nor do so I suggest, Precentor Tharkad," Jen Li replied coolly. "I meant to call your attention to the fact that our representatives are reporting longer times needed to pacify the planets the Clans have taken. In the Jade Falcon assault in the Lyran Commonwealth, for example, you see a massive initial assault, which is then truncated down in the second wave. That is due, in my opinion, to the resistance on Trell I. Their third wave was bolder, but the population refused to be cowed. In order to be off on the next wave of the invasion, the Jade Falcons disarmed the Mech Warriors and aerospace pilots, but allowed the local militias to retain their weapons and engage in police duties. On Twycross, the natives barely noticed the invaders and gave them permission to hold as much of the surface as they wanted. In fact, had the Diab
olis not grounded two DropShips, I believe the Clansmen would have left only a regiment and a half of BattleMechs to defend Twycross."
Huthrin Vandel let out a little laugh. "How curious that a regiment now seems barely sufficient to hold a world when, twenty-five years ago, a battalion was considered an incredible force to garrison any one world. These grounded DropShips increase the Twycross garrison to what?"
The Primus herself answered his question. "One ship is believed to hold what they refer to as a Cluster—approximately forty-five—of their front-line 'Mechs. The ship itself appears to be built along the lines of a modified Overlord Class DropShip. The other ship looks like an Intruder Class DropShip and is home to approximately seventy-five of their armored infantry."
The Precentor from New Avalon nodded thoughtfully. "Including their garrison units, that would mean the Jade Falcons have the rough equivalent of two and a half 'Mech regiments. In terms of our technology, that would give them a strength of roughly six regiments. The armored infantry have to be worth another company. Even taking into account environmental factors that might curb the extended range of their weapons, they are still a formidable force. Interesting ..."
Myndo fixed him with a harsh stare. "Are you still with us, Precentor New Avalon? Do you intend to share your ruminations or not?"
Vandel smiled as his head came up. "Well, we have no solid proof, but I expect that a counterattack on the Lyran front is imminent."
Myndo's dislike of surprises showed plainly on her face. "Explain."
"Though the official military traffic has continued with banal reports and typical communications, the personal messages going to and from troops gathered at Sudeten has trailed off considerably. Military officials deny that troops have been moved offworld, but enough DropShips have been blasting off Sudeten to make the invasion of the Capellan Confederation in 3028 look like a field-trip."
The Primus gave him a reproving glare. "Eliminate the hyperbole, if you please."
"As the Primus commands," Vandel said, to comply without complying. "The troop lists we obtained from our Sudeten facilities were impressive, indeed. The Tenth Lyran Guards, the First Kathil Uhlans, the Kell Hounds, and the Eridani Light Horse, just to mention the best-known units, were all present. In addition, I have three confirmed sightings of Prince Victor Steiner-Davion. He has to be smarting from his part in the Trell debacle.
"I had some of my people run an analysis of the situation in the Commonwealth and had it cross-correlated with Victor's Nagelring records and his personality profile. Though he has the cunning for deceptive tactics, Hanse Davion's son seems to favor an aggressive approach. Defending is not his idea of proper military strategy, so I assumed he would agitate for an offensive strike. I then took conquered worlds that could be reached from Sudeten in the time it would take for the Jade Falcons to launch their fourth wave and crosscorrelated them with worlds that had environmental and topographical features favorable to the close infighting most familiar to Inner Sphere warriors. The highest probability was for Twycross, with an 87.5 percent factor."
He smiled boldly at the Primus. "None of the information I used was unavailable to the Davion troops. A study of Victor's friends at the Nagelring and the New Avalon Military Academy shows that Renard Sanderlin and Kai Allard-Liao were both assigned to units—the Uhlans and Tenth Lyran Guards respectively—that are present on Sudeten. Victor has been transferred to the Tenth Lyran Guards, so I assume that unit will be involved in the assault. I would doubt the Uhlans will go because Morgan Hasek-Davion would never put all his eggs in one basket.
"I also believe that the Kell Hounds, perhaps because of the connection between Dan Allard and his nephew Kai, and because of the Hounds' fanatical loyalty to the Steiner bloodline, will be in on the assault. Conversely, Morgan will hold back the Eridani Light Horse. What other units will go I cannot be certain, but the Seventh Donegal Guards seem likely because the climate of their homeworld of Rahne makes Twycross seem pleasant."
Ulthan Everson, smiling from ear to ear, congratulated his longtime ally. "Excellent analysis, Huthrin." Then he turned toward the Primus again. "I would move that we supply the Davion forces with information about the Clan units on Twycross so they will not be taken by surprise."
Sharilar Mori preempted the Primus's summary rejection by raising her hand. "If you please, Primus, I have some information that could have a bearing on Precentor Tharkad's motion. Ulthan, I think you should know that the Draconis Combine is preparing its own trap for the Clans. Word has gone out to sources the Smoke Jaguars are certain to have captured in their third wave that the individuals who escaped Turtle Bay before Edo's destruction are present on Wolcott. The Jaguars have learned, to their chagrin, that one of the prisoners was Theodore Kurita's son Hohiro, and that Hohiro himself will take part in the defense of Wolcott. If the Jaguar Khan is smarting from the loss of face over the Edo incident, this message will sting him further. Theodore might as well have given them an engraved invitation to attack Wolcott."
Precentor Dieron suppressed a smile. "Invitations to come to Wolcott were not issued to the Clans, but they were given to the Eleventh Legion of Vega and the Genyosha. These two units and several less well-known regiments will be on Wolcott masquerading under fictional unit designations and with histories that cover only the most recent exploits of these units. The Genyosha, for example, have been waiting on the Dieron/Skye border and seen no action in the last year, and so the Jaguars will have no solid grasp on what the unit can do. This tactic worked on Hanover, which means the Jaguars will be suspicious of these 'virginal' units, but the desire to recapture Hohiro Kurita and recover some of the face they lost on Edo will probably outweigh their caution."
Everson smiled broadly again. "Excellent. We will teach the invaders a lesson, one they've needed since their invasion began. I can see no reason why we should not offer information to both the Davion and Kurita forces."
"Don't be a fool, Ulthan," the Primus snapped. "If we tip our hand to the Combine or the Commonwealth, they'll know we have established a relationship with the Clans, which they will resent mightily. Besides, we do not wish to jeopardize our deepening link with the Clans. They now permit us to act as intermediaries between their governors and the people of the conquered worlds, though we do not yet have a free hand to rebuild the societies in our image. Because they have not yet asked us for more than trivial information, they feel no obligation to us. That, I believe, will soon change.
"The latest report from the Precentor Martial included hints of friction between the Clans. He suggested that the Wolf Clan's preemptive fourth wave did not sit well with the other groups, especially the Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons. These groups have, apparently, demanded a Council of Khans after their fourth wave has been launched and completed. The Precentor Martial believes this is so they will be on a rough parity with Khan Ulric. Ulric, because of his conquest of Rasalhague and because the ilKhan travels with him, will host the meeting, but the Precentor Martial does not yet know which world the Khan has chosen as the site of the meeting."
Myndo's eyes widened like those of a wolf watching a deer struggle through deep snow. "Ulric is the Khan with whom we have the most influence. He has worked more closely with us than any other Khan, and he has been successful. The Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons will, before this meeting, run into severe opposition on their fronts. A stiff battle—or worse, a defeat—will hurt their standing and increase Ulric's power. If we cooperate with House Davion or House Kurita, we risk exposure and censure by the Clans. This would deny us access to the most cooperative and potentially powerful of the Khans. And I'm sure you agree it would be foolish to sacrifice any chance we have of directing the Clans against our most hated enemy: Hanse Davion."
Though the look on his face did express total agreement, Eversbn bowed his head. "I withdraw the motion, but I do wish my colleagues would consider the possibility of helping our kinsmen in their war against these alien invaders. Though we would risk much in pl
aying both ends against the middle, it seems even riskier to assume that we will one day be able to control Khan Ulric. To lay the groundwork for helping the Successor States against the invaders would be a wise precaution."
Myndo watched Sharilar as Everson spoke. As the slender Oriental woman nodded in agreement, Myndo found her own opinion of his suggestion changing. "I find your counsel to have merit. Furthermore, the appearance of ComStar forces to turn the tide of battles in the favor of the Successor States will garner us more good will—publicly and privately—than merely acting as informants. This I will take under consideration."
She smiled confidently at the assembled members of the First Circuit. "Rest assured, my colleagues, that no matter what happens, ComStar will emerge unscathed from this conflict, and Jerome Blake's dream of a united mankind will be fulfilled."
34
JumpShip Dire Wolf, Assault Orbit, Engadin VII
Radstadt Province, Free Rasalhague Republic
31 August 3050
Even before he heard the sharp intake of breath, Phelan Kell knew she'd been the one to walk through the sick bay door. He'd played the scene over and over again in fitful snatches of dreams, but when he heard, then saw her in the small hand-held mirror by his pillow, he forgot it all. How could he feel anything for a woman who betrayed him, then came to gloat?
The look of pain on her face reflected more than just horror at the condition of his back, but whatever else it was eluded him. Phelan knew, from examination in the mirror he held in his left hand, that Vlad had done a superior job on him. Somewhere along the line, Vlad had given up the presence of trying to get information from Phelan, and in his fury, had just beat him. While the lash had curled around to lightning-lick his stomach, the raw scars and bruises there were nothing compared to the snake-pit tracery on his back.