But not Chistu. He did not want them to change. He studied them hard. Those numbers, ugly and devastating as they were, supplied a key to Khan Natasha Kerensky and the young freebirth Phelan Ward. Once he had it puzzled out, had fit all the clues together, he would have them.
They had been generous with clues, but that only made him suspicious. On Colmar, Natasha's 352nd Assault Cluster had crushed the Twelfth Falcon Regulars, then opened the armories and armed the populace. Natasha had proclaimed Colmar "free" and told the people she would take their status up with the Falcon Khans on Wotan.
Chistu laughed as he recalled the fury in her voice on the holovid report about the fighting. Elias Crichell had taken her threat seriously, but Chistu had managed to convince the older man that Natasha would never survive to fight on Wotan.
The results of the fighting on Sudaten convinced him that his judgment had been right. The Eighth Falcon Regulars and Dorbeng Garrison Cluster had both fallen to Khan Phelan's Fourth Wolf Guards Assault Cluster and the Sixteenth Battle Cluster. Though the Jade Falcons had lost the planet and their force been destroyed, it was estimated that the Wolves had suffered 'Mech casualties of thirty-five percent or more. The Wolves' road to Wotan was going to be littered with 'Mechs, leaving them only a skeletal force for the actual attack.
Chistu believed the Wolves would never make it to Wotan, but Crichell's fearful reaction to Natasha's boasts had underscored the one thing that made growing old so ruinous in a warrior. Crichell had begun to worry about his own mortality. Such concerns had no place in the way of the Clans—Crichell had ample progeny guaranteeing the immortality of his genetic material. For him to fear death was an abomination.
Such a coward cannot be a Khan of the Jade Falcons if we are to achieve greatness, and cannot be the ilKhan if we are to take the Inner Sphere.
Chistu smiled as all the pieces of the puzzle came together for him. Natasha's pride meant she would go for Wotan, and on as straight a line as she could. Her next target would be Baker Three, then Devin, Denizli, and, for symbolism's sake, Twycross—the site of the Jade Falcon's most humiliating loss. Then to Wotan she would come.
Just as Twycross was a symbol of worth to her, Natasha was a symbol for him. He would let her come, tossing garrison units at her to bleed her with each step. He would let her win each victory and wear them as banners of her greatness. Then to Wotan she could come—with his own Peregrine Galaxy arriving right behind her—and on Wotan she would die.
By his hand she would die and all her glory would pass to him. And when it did, he would be the logical choice for ilKhan, not Crichell. And when he became the Khan of Khans, the Inner Sphere would fall as fast and as hard as did that solahma, Natasha Kerensky.
28
How different the new order would be if we could consult the veteran instead of the politician.
—Henry Miller, The Wisdom of the Heart
DropShip White Fang, Assault Orbit
Baker Three, Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
5 October 3057
Phelan Ward stopped halfway across the clocking bay deck and turned back toward Natasha Kerensky. "We can change the plan, you know."
Natasha laughed gently, something she'd been doing of late far more than he'd ever seen before, then shook her head. "No, Phelan, we can't. Ulric and I talked long and hard about this. We must do things the way we outlined them."
The younger Khan jammed his fists against his hips. "Sending me away with half your spearhead, over a third of our total line forces, is not going to win us this Trial of Refusal."
The redheaded woman snorted. "I don't think I'm going to need your troops to handle the Nega Garrison Cluster."
Phelan looked sternly at her. "Natasha, you know as well as I that this little war of attrition is going to destroy you. Taking me out of it, taking my people out of it, isn't going to make it any easier."
"But, Phelan, you know that having you there would not guarantee a victory either. We constantly fight with a handicap, so we will lose. We are meant to lose, and we know that. We're just making the Falcons pay a heavy price for winning."
"But with me and my troops, we could win!"
She shook her head, then draped an arm around his shoulders. "Son, I really do understand what you're saying, and you might be right."
"Then I should go on with you."
"But you can't." Her voice dropped to a whisper for a moment and she flashed him a brief smile. "If we beat the Falcons, another Clan will bring up the same challenge. And if we beat them, another and another will challenge us until we are no more. You're a hell of a warrior, Phelan. I've always thought that about you, but you believe too much that when your ferocity is wedded to the righteousness of a cause you will prevail. There are times when that doesn't work, and this is one of them."
"Dammit!" Phelan protested. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"
"Don't you hate it when someone else is right for a change?" Natasha laughed.
"Yes, but that's not it. I hate when I can't change something that shouldn't happen." He looked at her, green eyes snapping. "Together we'd give Chistu and Crichell nightmares."
"You'll be able to do that on your own, Phelan." Natasha half-smiled. "Hell, that's enough of an incentive to make me consider letting them live."
They shared some laughter over that, yet with an undercurrent of melancholy. The sound echoed from the docking bay's metal walls, coming back to them distant and alien. It mocked them and sent a shiver through Phelan.
"I guess this is goodbye, then."
Natasha nodded. "Look, Phelan, I've never been good at farewells. And, well, I have a reputation to uphold, the Black Widow and all that, so I can't let myself get all weepy. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you that if I'd had a son, I'd have wanted him to be like you. As you know, I had a son—a number of them actually—and they'd likely have kicked your butt in a fight."
"Sure, Natasha, right after all the Crusaders decide they're wrong and leave the Inner Sphere."
"What a smart-mouth. I wonder where you learned that!" Natasha stood before Phelan and rested a hand on each of his shoulders. "The fact is I am proud of you. I started in the Clans, won a Bloodname, and became a Khan. That's tough, very tough. You did it too, but came from being a freebirth of the Inner Sphere."
"Couldn't have done it without your help."
"I appreciate that, but you already had what it took." She poked a finger against his chest. "You have the heart and the brains and the soul of a warrior. Don't ever forget that, Phelan. You're a warrior, and with that comes a lot of responsibility."
He nodded. "Which is why you're sending me away, quiaff?"
"Aff. And that's why we're entrusting the future of the Wolves to you." Natasha gave him a wink. "Just so you know, on a personal level, I'm glad you and my granddaughter have each other."
"Ranna is very special."
"Better remember that, because she's a Kerensky and will have your head if you forget it." Pulling back, Natasha fixed Phelan with a serious stare. "She's my choice to win my Bloodname."
"You can tell her that later, when you're ready to die of old age. You know the plan. We'll be waiting for you."
The woman nodded solemnly. "I know you will, but I also know I won't make it to the rendezvous. You've got to see to the future, Phelan, and I'll take care of the problems of the past. Besides, once I've killed a Khan or two, there'll be nothing more to live for."
"Perhaps after I've done that too, we can compare notes." Phelan gave Natasha a brave smile. "If we get out of this, Ranna and I will marry. The universe is going to need more Wolves to keep the Kerensky bloodline going."
Natasha reached into the pocket of the jacket she wore and held a slender aluminum tube out to Phelan. "In case you want to go into mass production."
Phelan looked puzzled as he took it from her. "What is it?"
"My DNA. Should be enough there to create a galaxy of Black Widows."
"Without you to lead them ..."
"You and Ranna will do fine." Natasha pointed to the shuttle. "Go on, Phelan, do your duty. Your people are waiting at the jump point, and I've got an appointment with the Nega Garrison down there on Baker Three."
"Goodbye, Khan Natasha. Fight hard. Give 'em hell."
"Give 'em hell?" Natasha waved as Phelan boarded the shuttle that would take him to his fleet. "I don't think I'm inclined to let them off that easy."
Tharkad City, Tharkad
District of Donegal, Lyran Alliance
Katrina Steiner clenched her fists in outrage so tightly that it was a second or two before she felt the pain of her nails digging into her palms. "How dare Sun-Tzu foment revolts on any of my worlds!"
She stared at the holographic map of the Inner Sphere hovering above her desk. Everything looked normal, just as she wanted it, except where Steiner blue and Liao green alternated in painting four worlds. The fact that the computer made the image green for longer than it made it blue meant Sun-Tzu's forces were winning. The Thirtieth Lyran Guards had left New Home, taking her invitation to return to the Alliance at face value. Without their presence, there was no one to oppose Sun-Tzu's revolutionaries.
And after Sun-Tzu took Northwind, he granted the world similar status to that of Outreach. The Highlanders got their world back and were reunited with the Capellan Confederation. The unit was returning home, and Sun-Tzu had brought their homeworld back into his fold. It was a bold move on his part, not one she would have thought him capable of pulling off, and it was one she could not let stand.
Her initial impulse was to crush Sun-Tzu somehow, but she rejected that as impractical and, worse yet, damaging to her image as a conciliator and peacemaker. The Free Worlds League blocked her path to the Capellan Confederation, and she did not think Thomas would let her ferry troops through his space to strike at Sun-Tzu. Bringing direct pressure to bear on Sun-Tzu was, for the moment, impossible.
So was the idea of letting Sun-Tzu get away with seizing her worlds. Since she had claimed them for herself, she knew Victor would never try to retake them. As long as Thomas did not reinforce the worlds, all of them save Northwind would be vulnerable to reconquest. Sun-Tzu would certainly know that, and had to be pressuring Thomas to support him by pushing his mercenary units deeper into Federated Commonwealth territory.
"I shall have to make certain Thomas does nothing of the kind," Katrina said softly, pressing the button on her desk to summon her secretary. "And if he can't curb his little Liao pit bull, I might have to teach him why they say blood is thicker than water, and why better nations than his have stood in fear of the united Federated Commonwealth."
29
War is much too serious a business to be left to military men.
-Attributed to Tallyrand
Recital City, Woodstock
Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth
10 October 3057
Larry Acuff, his breathing slightly restricted by the tightness of his ballistic armor, looked to the left side of his helmet's faceplate and saw a postage-stamp size image of a WELFARE spokesman ranting and raving about Davion cruelty. The rebels still claimed to control the planet, though the defeat of Smithson's Bandits had driven them back underground.
He smiled as the two eco-terrorists promised more surprises for the Davion forces on Woodstock. "You've got the surprise part right."
He signaled Sergeant Collins to start the raid. As she and Kerrigan hauled back on the portable ram, Larry glanced at the countdown clock clicking down the seconds on the right side of his faceplate. Precisely as the time hit 00:00, the ram broke through the warehouse door and the Reserve's close assault team burst into the WELFARE studio.
The two men seated behind the table stood abruptly as four troopers in black fatigues shoved submachine guns at them. Others poured in around Larry to bring the camera crew and control room staff under guard. A spontaneous cheer went up from the Reservists as Kerrigan tore down the WELFARE banner.
"This is not over!" shouted one of the WELFARE men.
Larry saw from the image on, his faceplate that the broadcast was still going out to all of Woodstock. He handed his shotgun to Collins and pulled off his helmet. With a smile, he stepped before the camera and waved the terrorists out of the shot. Seating himself casually on their table, he gently set his helmet down, then picked up a microphone.
"It's over, Woodstock. This was a test of the Emergency Terrorist Suppression Network. This was only a test." He kept a straight face despite the laughter starting among his people and the low moans from the terrorists. "In the event of an actual emergency, we would have faced more than has-been mercenaries and the Bean-Sprout Liberation Army. We now return you to your regularly scheduled lives."
Marik Palace, Atreus
Marik Commonwealth, Free Worlds League
Thomas smiled with the left side of his face. "I suppose you are correct, Precentor Malcolm. It is time I answer the missive from Duchess Katrina Steiner."
"Archon Steiner," the man smile apologetically.
Thomas nodded slowly. "Thank you, Precentor. I would not want to offend Katrina."
Looking up from his computer console, Malcolm frowned. "Begging your pardon, sir, but her message to you threatened hostilities—in veiled terms, of course—if you did not make Sun-Tzu return worlds she claims for the Lyran Alliance. If you do that, you will anger Sun-Tzu. If you do not, Katrina could bring considerable force to bear against oui border. She might even reconcile with her brother."
Thomas slowly shook his head. "You will find, Precentor, that familial rifts do not heal themselves without a great deal of scar tissue." He brushed his right hand over the twisted, ruined side of his face. "I have certain knowledge of this."
"Yes, Captain-General."
"Katrina is not a warrior, which means she would have to turn control of her troops over to Victor to coordinate operations. That would leave her without weapons once out threat was ended. She cannot afford to do that, so she will not. That was a bluff."
The Captain-General's eyes became brown crescents beneath heavy lids. "Having taken the position of peacemaker, she will have a hard time ordering troops into action, especially House troops. She has invited them home in the name of peace. Sending them forth again will hurt her. Since she is only a politician, and appearance means more than substance to her, she cannot do this."
An idea blossomed in Thomas' head. "The trick here is to refuse her, while also providing her a hint about how she can still get what she wants. Katrina often shows herself intelligent and thoughtful, but in this instance a tendency to impulsiveness has betrayed her ability to think clearly. Otherwise she would have made her Lyran Alliance neutral in order to negotiate a settlement between her brother and me. That would have gotten her what she wanted without any fighting while raising her status in the Inner Sphere. She did not, and now she is a bystander hemmed in with no strong way to respond to Sun-Tzu's threat."
He looked over at Malcolm. "Please take this dictation and send it out immediately."
"As you wish, Captain-General."
"Good. It begins: Dear Archon Katrina, I, too, was dismayed by the bold advances Sun-Tzu made against worlds you have claimed as your own. I have told him that I will not send my mercenaries to sanction his revolutions. I have done this despite the fact that my daughter and heir, Isis, is with him on Sian. Though this makes her a hostage much the way my son was to your brother, I cannot support Sun-Tzu's action against you.
"I am aware that you do not wish to see your people die in battles, and so you do not truly wish to deploy your forces against these disputed worlds. I understand your difficulty, for I wrestled with it myself. It is the very reason that I am employing mercenaries instead of regular Marik troops in the occupied zone, and why I have decided to deny Sun-Tzu the support of same ..."
Belsen, Leskovik
Wolf Clan Liberation Zone
Though he resisted seeing anything positive in Ulric Kerensky, Vlad grudgingly admired the way the man looked
every inch the military leader. Still clad in cooling vest, shorts, and heavy boots, Ulric straightened up from a basin of water and wiped his face dry on a towel. The fact that his makeshift washstand stood in the center of a building the Wolf 'Mechs had reduced to rubble and that water fountained up from a ruined pipe in the corner, seemed not to matter.
Ulric's blue eyes sparkled as he saw Vlad. "Star Captain, a most glorious performance by our troops today, quiaff?" The broad smile that came with the question almost infected Vlad. "The Ninth Provisional Garrison gave us a much better fight than the Tenth did on Zoetermeer."
Vlad stepped over a pile of bricks and heard glass crunch beneath his heavy tread. "Aff, Star Colonel. But they could hardly have done worse, since you used only a portion of the forces the bidding would have allowed you to bring in."
Ulric nodded, then cupped some water in his hands and splashed it over his white hair. "The forces I used were sufficient to take the world, quiaff?"
"Aff, but insufficient to prevent us from taking undue casualties. A wise commander would have called for more troops when the garrison retreated into Belsen. We were not well chosen for urban fighting."
The Wolf leader shrugged. "We won."
"And more of us died than needed to." Vlad folded his arms across his chest. "But that is your stated goal, quiaff?"
"Provided you take more of the enemy with you than you lose, yes." Ulric's smile froze into a parody of itself. "But your irritation is not with losing people, quineg? It is another question you wish to ask, quiaff?"
The accuracy of Ulric's words took Vlad by surprise and he almost blurted out a denial just to prove the other man wrong. His head came up and he clasped his hands at the small of his back. "You view all of us Crusaders as your enemies, quiaff?"'