Warrior, coupe

  "After he left Bethel, Davion security at the base relaxed considerably. I activated a deep-cover agent we had in place, and he learned that one of Lewis's assistants had continued to play around with the myomer project even though he'd shifted to other duty. He has achieved a breakthrough that strengthens the pseudo-muscle fibers, but hasn't been able to communicate this to Lewis because of the heavy security surrounding the Professor. What it means is that Hanse Davion and his people don't yet realize what they've got, and that's why we must act quickly. The time to strike is now!"

  Romano started to protest, but Maximilian Liao raised his hand to silence his daughter. "We will have no more discussion of this. The plans have been made and will not be changed at this point. When do you leave?"

  Justin licked his lips. "In the morning. We'll jump a week from now and be back ten days after that. Within a fortnight, you will see the genesis of a new 'Mech race—a race of giants under your control."

  Shang looked up. "Justin, you'll be pleased to know we finally got word concerning the force you'll face on Bethel. It's the Davion Light Guards First Regiment, Delta Company."

  A predatory grin spread over Justin's face. "Still commanded by Andrew Redburn and built from those whelps in the training battalion I left behind?"

  Shang nodded.

  "Excellent!" Justin rubbed his right palm over the cold metallic knuckles of his left hand. "More than one debt can be repaid on this mission."

  The Chancellor, his fatigue banished, smiled like a vulture. "The pride of the Confederation goes with you, Citizen Xiang. You will not know defeat."

  5

  Sian

  Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation

  20 March 3029

  Deep within a quiet woodland hollow, Justin Xiang mirrored Candace Liao's series of t'ai chi chuan exercises. The slight breeze whispering through the venerable pines was just enough to mask the noises of civilization from the palace complex two kilometers to the south. Only a few of the dying sun's rays stabbed through the labyrinth of tree trunks, and those that did splashed coppery highlights on the sweaty flesh.

  Perspiration burned into Justin's eyes, and weariness filled his muscles with fire, but he refused to call a halt to the exercises. It's been only a year and a half since Candace started practicing t'ai chi, but it has calmed her and given her so much grace.

  He glanced at her left shoulder. Several strings of white scars puckered the ruined flesh over her deltoid muscle, which Justin knew was more myomer than natural. Thirteen years ago, she'd injured that arm ejecting from a badly damaged Vindicator. She's worked hard to repair it, and now it's almost returned to a normal range of motion.

  Candace drew her limbs together, letting her hands hang at her side, and bowed to Justin. "I can continue no more."

  Justin returned her bow somewhat less gracefully. "Forgive me. I was daydreaming, and it spoiled my concentration."

  Candace knelt on the carpet of rust-colored pine needles and pulled two white towels from a tan canvas bag. She offered one to Justin. "What were you thinking?"

  Justin shrugged as he wiped the sweat from his face. "I was reminded of old folktales in which a wound would not heal unless the person who inflicted it wished it so." He glanced at her shoulder.

  She nodded thoughtfully. "And have you wished my shoulder to be whole?"

  "Yes, and my wish is coming true." Justin hung the towel around his neck and held on to each end with a hand.

  Candace looked up at him. "What about your arm? Has the person who inflicted that wound wished it to be healed?"

  Justin shook his head slightly. He held out the blackened steel arm for inspection. From his elbow down, its form closely matched the flesh-and-blood limb it was meant to replace, but the cold lifelessness mocked its mission. Concentrating, Justin opened the hand and rotated it around in a wrist-roll.

  "I'm afraid the man who did this can no longer wish anything whole." Justin's metal hand snapped shut into a fist. "My metal friend exacted its own revenge when I learned who had maimed me."

  Candace shuddered slightly. "Perhaps I asked the question incorrectly. I meant to ask about the scar you carry around on the inside. There are times I think your hatred of Hanse Davion will consume you, and I do not want that to happen."

  What are you saying? Justin frowned. "Do you not want me to raid Bethel?"

  Candace reached up and drew Justin down beside her. She took both his hands in hers. "We can both see the effects of unbridled hatred in my sister, Romano. It has infected her and made her malignant. I understand and share your anger at the Prince for the injustices he allowed against you. I understand your desire to embarrass and humble him."

  Justin stiffened. "Do you really understand it all, Candace? Do you know everything? Did you know that while I was on Solaris, he had my father arrange for one of his spies to become my lover? Did you know she sent reports on everything I did? Did you know Prince Hanse Davion offered a man a title, a regiment, and a world to kill me in the games on Solaris?"

  Justin stood abruptly and stalked a few steps away from her. "What do I feel for the Prince? I hurt from betrayal. I did everything I could for him, just as I do everything I can now for the Capellan Confederation. He forced me away from my family. He stole my name, my dignity, my livelihood, and my self-respect." Justin spun back. "I had always thought, foolishly perhaps, that I made a difference, that I counted for something."

  Justin shook his head. "In a split second, the Prince showed me I was nothing. I was insignificant. In a fit of pique, he destroyed me." Justin looked at his left hand and chuckled. "At that time, I had no control over this limb. And that's what prevented me from slitting my other wrist—I couldn't hold a razor blade steady enough to do the job."

  He stared hard at Candace. "Do you think the Prince could ever wish that wound healed?"

  Candace stood, her eyes flashing silver. "If he did, would you let it heal? If he held a hand out in friendship, would you take it?"

  His face shrouded in shadow, Justin stared at her. His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "No games, Candace. Say what you mean."

  Candace folded her arms across her chest. "For all your brave talk about how this Bethel raid will seize technology that will make our forces the masters of the battlefield, you know that's unlikely. You want to embarrass Hanse Davion by hitting a base he believes is hidden away. I understand that, and I applaud it. A strike into his territory will bring the war home to his people. That's good! They need to understand this is more than staged battles on Solaris. And perhaps this new myomer fiber will make our dwindling supply of 'Mechs better able to hold what we have left."

  Justin exhaled slowly. "Be wary, Duchess, for you skate along the edge of treason."

  Her laughter was harsh. "Do I? Is it treason to see the future and adapt to it? You know as well as I that we will never gain back even a tenth of what we have lost. Tikonov is gone forever, and with it, goes some of our most important 'Mech production facilities. The future's not written in crabbed handwriting on the wall. The Prince has made his message clear in two-meter-high, glowing holographic letters: The Capellan Confederation must die!"

  Justin hung his head heavily. "What you say is true. Though my anger at Hanse Davion fills my eyes with a bloody red haze, it does not make me blind. You have drawn a plan of action from your analysis?"

  Candace nodded. "In the storage area beneath your 'Mech's command couch, you will find a holodisk on which I have recorded a message for the Prince. I inquire as to what terms he would like for our surrender."

  "Surrender." Justin spoke the word as though it were something sour in his mouth. "There are those who would consider this an act of high treason and would see you punished for it."

  Candace lifted her head. "If they want to say it is treason to desire safety for my people, I am guilty. If they want to say it is treason to preserve something of the Capellan Confederation, I am guilty. The question is, are you one of those who would see me punished for
this action?"

  Justin swallowed hard. "I am not as inhuman as this prosthesis might suggest, and well you know that. On an intellectual level, I know you are correct. On an emotional level, my love for you and my loathing of Hanse Davion do battle. If it is your desire, I will take Hanse Davion's hand whenever he extends it to me. Until that time, however, he is my sworn enemy."

  Justin reached out to her, and she came to him. "I will leave your holodisc in the Bethel facility. After we've raped the Prince's research base, though, I would not venture a guess about his reaction."

  He kissed her on the forehead. "As for any hint of treason, do not worry yourself. In my mind, your fate and that of the Capellan Confederation are inexorably linked. I accept as my sacred duty the safeguarding of both." I will keep you safe from all adversaries, my love, but who will protect me?

  6

  Sian

  Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation

  21 March 3029

  Romano Liao glanced at Tsen Shang's reflection in her vanity table mirror as he entered her bedroom. "So, did you see him off?" Her sing-song voice for once seemed to carry neither challenge nor edge to it.

  Tsen nodded. "I just returned from the spaceport."

  "And was my sister there as well?"

  "Yes. She almost went out to be with him on the JumpShip until they left the system."

  I'll bet she did. She's become positively domesticated since she started sleeping with Xiang. I doubt she knows a war is on. Romano smiled at Tsen, then dabbed gloss onto her lips with the tip of her little finger. "Why did she choose to stay planetside?"

  Tsen shrugged as he dropped into a Louis XIV chair set against the pale green wall behind her. "I think Justin asked her to stay here. He said none of the others on the raid would have their paramours with them and it might cause trouble."

  Of course, she listened to Justin. He must know some special tricks with that metal hand of his . . . "Why is it, Tsen darling, that everyone does what this renegade from the Federated Suns tells them to do?"

  Tsen frowned. "I don't understand you."

  Romano scowled for a moment, then composed a more kindly expression as she turned to face her lover. "You and I have discussed the wastefulness of Xiang's return command circuit. You agreed with me that those JumpShips could be employed more usefully elsewhere. You told me they could have been used to move troops up to retake Highspire. Yet you did not fight him in the meeting yesterday. What power does he have over you?"

  Tsen stiffened. "He has no power over me."

  Sarcasm set off on every syllable of Romano's riposte. "Doesn't he? You were upset that Justin had given orders to McCarron's Armored Cavalry, but your protest died. You should have seen yourself. You glowed as Justin asked you questions and you answered them correctly. You performed tricks like a trained ape."

  "No!" Tsen shook his head violently. "You don't understand. Justin's plan is a good one. His reasons for needing the extra JumpShips are valid. His orders for McCarron's Armored Cavalry made sense. Justin thinks his plans through—there is very little for me to protest."

  Romano gave a lilting laugh. "How foolish you are, my dearest, to believe I do not see what Justin is doing to you. You believe he keeps you around because he needs your help, and you believe you owe him because he prevented my father from having you shot after your plan led us into Hanse Davion's trap." She paused as Tsen's shame burned on his face.

  Romano smiled like a mother showing sympathy for a child's scraped knee. "Lover, you must see this as well. You coordinate a massive operation—a task that is difficult in and of itself—and it meets with disaster. Justin Xiang sends a raid off to a nothing planet and claims a great victory. He also arranged the assassination attempt on Pavel Ridzik, but it failed and he now blames Davion spies for it. You live within your shame, but he refuses to let any errors spot his record."

  Tsen stared at the carpeted floor. "What are you saying, my lady?"

  "I am saying that Justin is using you to make himself look better. You must show initiative." As Tsen's head came up, she saw the gleam of an idea in his eyes. "What? What have you got, my love?"

  Tsen Shang smiled easily. "I will find that spy and deliver his head to your father . . ." Tsen's voice trailed off, his smile dying as Romano frowned darkly.

  "No, Tsen. You think in terms that are far too small!" She reached back onto her vanity, grabbed a cut-glass bottle of perfume and hurled it at him. It exploded against the wall behind him, splashing him with musk and glass slivers. "What difference will a measly spy make? What is one spy when Xiang claims the salvation of the Capellan Confederation? You need a bold stroke to eclipse his glory!"

  Tsen hung his head. "There is nothing that I could plan."

  "Ha!" Romano lanced Tsen with a stare like cold malachite. "You yourself told me that JumpShips are crucial for a war. That's exactly the reason Xiang's plan is wasteful. Why not cripple the Federated Suns' JumpShip fleet? Why not strike at the Kathil shipyards?"

  Tsen looked at her with utter disbelief. "That's impossible!"

  Show me spine. Prove your worth to me now, or you’ll end up sharing the hole where I've had my father's wife planted. She narrowed her eyes. "Impossible? What would Justin Xiang say to that plan? Would he say impossible? Would any man say impossible?" She stood and let her silken gown slip from her body ... "Perhaps I should just seduce Justin Xiang and forget about you . .."

  Tsen shot to his feet, dark eyes blazing with fury. "No!" He half-turned, slashing the satiny upholstery of the chair into ribbons with the nails on his right hand. "I am not to be cast aside that easily, Romano."

  She watched him, knowing better than to comment. I have seen him like this before. He fought within himself the same way on the night when he told me—in direct conflict with an order Justin had given him—that the whore my father called a wife was rutting with Pavel Ridzik. That weakened his loyalty to Xiang, and now it will be broken. My father gets Maskirovka reports from Xiang, and now I will get mine from Tsen Shang.

  Tsen's head came up slowly. "It is possible for an attack to be arranged on the Kathil shipyards. I will need to plan it alone so the spy in the Maskirovka will not learn about it."

  Romano nodded as he spoke. "Yes, and reveal the plan to my father at a point when no one could get word out in time to warn the Prince."

  Tsen chewed his lower lip. "That will mean we must have a command circuit going to Kathil. If the troops move by conventional means, they'll arrive too slowly."

  Romano stepped toward him. "No matter. We can divert some of the JumpShips from Xiang's circuit after he has used them. Instead of calling them back, we'll post them to new positions."

  Tsen smiled. "And we will need crack troops."

  Her breath coming quickly, Romano whispered, "We'll have the best. I'll order my father's Death Commandos to carry out your strike." She reached out and wrapped her arms around Tsen's waist.

  Lost in thought, Tsen's eyes nearly closed. "It may just work."

  She pulled him close and pressed her body against his. "It will work, lover. With this victory, you will ascend to your rightful place within the Maskirovka." Stroking his hair, she glanced over his shoulder and smiled confidently at her own reflection in the mirror.

  7

  Lyons

  Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth

  5 April 3029

  Captain Daniel Allard gratefully accepted the actuator wrench from the dwarf standing just inside the 'Mech bay. "Thanks, Clovis. The only time I need one of these things is when I can't find one." Dan used his forearm to wipe away the sweat pasting light brown curls to his forehead, then used the crescent-shaped tool to hook a myomer muscle into a BattleMech's finger joint. "Yeah, that fixes it. Better making repairs now than in combat."

  Clovis's brown eyes twinkled as he lifted himself onto a crate and sat eye to eye with the Mech Warrior. From behind his back, he produced a cold bottle of beer and handed it to Allard. "This is just one of the ways I can t
hink of to repay the Kell Hounds for helping us out." Clovis looked out across an open field of ochre grasses toward where the Kell Hound Mech Warriors were working. "Styx was the first time I'd seen 'Mechs in action. Somehow, here, the machines don't seem the same."

  Dan nodded. MechWarriors are trained to think of their machines as destroyers. "Ten meters tall and full of nasty" is how I remember one instructor describing them. It takes someone with Morgan Kelt's vision to see this use for a 'Mech.

  Out across the field, the humanoid war machines worked amid a boxy lattice of steel girders. In the distance, they almost looked like robot children laboring to build a secret clubhouse, yet Dan knew the structure rose two full stories above the plain. Lasers normally used to pierce and destroy other BattleMechs had been powered down so they could be used to weld the metal beams in place. After what we just did to the Genyosha base on Nashira, watching the 'Mechs build the town of New Freedom for the Styx refugees seems ironic.

  Clovis raked a stubby-fingered hand back through his long black hair. "Getting all these buildings constructed would have taken us many months and would have cost lots of ComStar bills. This is amazing."

  Dan nodded, then gulped down some more beer. "You and your mother drove a hard bargain, Clovis. We get access to the Bifrost so it can jump us around, and you get a city."

  Clovis raised an eyebrow. "You know as well as I do that Morgan might have argued for more if Duke Aldo Lestrade hadn't tried to throw us off this planet. He gave us two months to try to improve the site, but I doubt he expected much. And here we are, almost finished, and it's two weeks ahead of his deadline."

  Dan nodded. "You're right—Morgan would do just about anything to irk Lestrade." Aldo Lestrade's meddling in Lyran Commonwealth politics had caused plenty of trouble. His attempted assassinations of Archon Katrina Steiner had failed, but his last attempt to ruin the alliance between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns nearly killed Melissa Steiner. It also cost Morgan his brother Patrick.