Le5665 freebirth, p.23
LE5665 - Freebirth, page 23
Sentania and Peri had sold the present raid as the first step in a series of operations designed to retrieve the BattleMechs that Howell had appropriated from Horse. Roshak would not have approved the mission had its aim been merely the rescue of Horse. Roshak was blithely uninterested in any of the visiting Trinary. They were mere freebirths, but the 'Mechs he wanted back. He had no place to store them and would have to load them onto the next DropShip for transport elsewhere, but retaking the 'Mechs had become an issue of principle for him.
However, for all his fervor, he was not willing to commit key personnel to the operation. He was satisfied that solahma warriors and converted pilots should make the attempt That way, if anyone wound up dead, they would be sufficiently expendable. Peri thought the logic understandable to his particular type of garrison mentality, but it did not accomplish much in the way of shoring up defense and providing offense. She tried to argue for more experienced warriors, but Roshak had sneered at the request, and she had backed off.
Had I been a warrior, I could have argued with him. He only listens to arguments from warriors. But sometimes she wondered at the castebound minds of warriors. Roshak is sometimes so blind he might as well be wearing a hood like his beloved Jade Rogue. But at least Jade Rogue flies with grace and kills with graceful cunning.
For the next hour Peri strode back and forth between the Evil Twins, checking the checklists that the techs had already completed, making them go through them again. She briefed the BattleMech pilot assigned to Evil Twin Two, a grizzled veteran just on the verge of becoming solahma named Wyatt. He was a bit too confident for Peri's tastes. He nodded perfunctorily at her instructions, clearly offended at having to listen to orders from a member of a lower caste. Warriors did have difficulty cooperating with scientists, who often held nonmilitary authority over them. They did not like it, and few tolerated the indignity with much courtesy. MechWarrior Wyatt was no exception. He shifted his feet often, looked away from her frequently with boredom in his blank gray eyes, even appeared to stifle a yawn from time to time.
Have I doomed the mission by choosing this stravag from the meager list Roshak provided? This fellow has no commitment to the mission, it is clear. Of course he will put forth an effort. No Jade Falcon warrior could do otherwise, but he may not have the skill to overcome the odds we will face. Stop the gloomy thinking! This can work. I know it can.
Wyatt seemed relieved when she dismissed him. He walked away briskly.
"A fine loyal warrior, that Wyatt," said a voice behind her. She was not even startled. She was used to Stenis coming up behind her and speaking abruptly. It always seemed as if he were conducting a conversation in his head that he suddenly spoke out loud somewhere in the middle.
"Stenis, are you being sarcastic?"
"I never know. I just speak."
"I have noticed."
Wyatt touched the leg of Evil Twin Two, perhaps checking to see if it would topple at a touch. It did not, and he seemed satisfied. Then he headed toward the warrior hut, apparently to don battlegear.
"Wyatt is a good pilot," Peri said. "He has a pretty good record at piloting a LAM in 'Mech mode, which is why I chose him."
"I notice you said 'pretty good.' Hardly a ringing endorsement."
"Are you saying, Stenis, that not all trueborn Jade Falcon warriors are the finest ever to come out of vats?"
"I would never say that. I believe in the Jade Falcon way and I know that all our warriors approach perfection, even those shuffled off to garrison duty. Even the solahmas."
"Aye," said Peri.
"I wish you good luck on your venture," Sentis said. "It is only a test."
"Of course, only a test."
"There is the sound of doubt in your voice."
"Sentania Buhallin is involved, quiaff?"
"Aff, She will participate in the—"
"Then I have good reason to doubt. I wish you both well."
Peri was stuck for a response. It did not matter anyway, for Stenis was already walking away, his pace suddenly looking old, his shoulders bent.
It is a pity, but that man does not look as if he will survive much longer. That is the sadness of garrison duty. It can sap the life right out of good warriors, doom them to boredom, inertia, sometimes an early death. Well, with Stenis it will not be an early death, but it will not be the death of a warrior, and it looks to me as if it may come soon. No sense in continuing gloomy thoughts. I have to get ready for the flight.
Sentania was the assigned BattleMech pilot for Evil Twin One, and she was to meet the LAMs near the mining town of Bagera. For now, Peri had assigned herself the BattleMech seat in Evil Twin One. The other pilot, Gerri, could handle both modes and help her out if anything untoward happened. It was not likely that anything would, but it was best to be prepared. Anyway, Gerri would pilot the LAM all the way to the Bagera region, and all Peri would really need do was land the thing on a pair of jump jets, something she had done thousands of time, if only in a simulator.
Of course, Roshak had no idea Peri would be in the LAM for the test. He did not even know it would take place near Bagera. She had placed the name of a dead warrior on the flight roster. He had not recognized it, or perhaps not even looked, and he had signed off on the document.
She disguised herself as a warrior with the proper battlegear, and then took her place in the LAM.
The ploy worked, and soon the Evil Twins were in the air. Now she only had to sit back and let Gerri fly the machine. And fly it he did. She was thrilled as it cruised over the tops of the forest, casting a broad, ever-changing shadow onto the treetops.
Bagera was not too far away on a direct line, but they took a somewhat roundabout course, to keep from being spotted. Even if they were detected, it was unlikely anyone down there would figure out what they were up to. No one on Huntress had ever seen the Falcon Eyrie LAMs. A spotter would probably spend most of his time trying to identify the strange-looking vehicles. Still, it was better to be cautious and fly undetected.
As they neared the landing site, Peri began to get nervous. What if she botched the landing, ended up ruining the LAM? Then she laughed to herself. The thought of carrying out a procedure she would have done routinely had she qualified as a warrior excited her tremendously.
She needed to brief Wyatt and Geoff before they reached their destination. Switching on the comm channel to Evil Twin Two, she got Geoff's surly response. She gave him the few instructions that occurred to her, to which he responded with grunts instead of words. Then she asked to speak to Wyatt.
There was a long silence after Geoff's "Aye."
"What is wrong?" Peri said into the mike of her neuro-helmet. "Do you read me? Geoff? Wyatt?"
"I read you," said a voice she dreaded to hear.
"Stenis?"
"Aff."
"What are doing there?"
There was a long pause before Stenis responded. "Wyatt, you see, was somewhat indisposed. I volunteered to fill in for him."
"But—but I saw him mount the Evil Twin Two. It was not your walk, it was Wyatt's. It could not have been you, it—"
"I too am skilled at deception, Peri Watson—"
"Stenis, we will have to turn back, we cannot—"
"And I was a better warrior than Wyatt ever dreamed of. I am your best chance, not Wyatt. Trust me. I care, he did not. There is no reason to turn back."
Something in Stemis' voice reassured her. And he was right about one thing. They could not turn back. The mission would not be possible a second time. The figures in the little drama Sentania had arranged would be together in one place only at this time. It might be months before anything like it could be arranged again. If at all.
In the background over the commline, she could hear Geoff cursing. He was uttering some of the worst oaths known to Jade Falcons. He came on-line and requested a return to base.
"You will continue on to Bagera," Peri ordered and switched off the comm channel.
A pair of pilots who know their machines only through tests, a pair of solahmas in the cockpits, and a pair of 'Mechs whose destiny as fighting machines is questionable. How can we lose?
Peri felt for a moment that she could imitate Roshak and let tears come out of her eyes. But she was too much Jade Falcon and the situation too risky to start crying about it now. Her next impulse was to laugh, and she resisted that, too.
They flew on. Below, the shadows of the two LAMs wavered over the trees like the drawings of a child.
30
Highway to Bagera
Huntress
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Homeworlds
9 May 3059
"Believe me, Horse, Bagera was virtually useless when I first got to Huntress," Russou Howell said as the light APC bumped along a rough dirt road. The vehicle's wheels bounced off the ground so often that Horse expected to become airborne at any moment.
"Rowdy miners, bad management," Howell continued, sounding as if he enjoyed the sound of his own words. "And too many violent incidents—meaningless violence, that is. I took one look and then assigned a Star to restore order and discipline. They had to kill a few people, but the town is under control now. And the mine is going full-tilt, right on schedule. There is even a project to clean up the buildings and rebuild streets. One day soon it will be as fine a city as Lootera, just as pristine and filled with fine architecture."
Horse wasn't sure that modeling anything on Lootera was such a good idea, but he said nothing. Turning in his seat, he looked back down the road. In the distance, to the right of the road, two BattleMechs kept pace with Howell and their vehicle. The other two had gone ahead, to alert the officer in charge at Bagera that the Galaxy Commander would arrive imminently. "That is the secret of an inspection, quiaff?" Howell had said. "Give them as little warning as possible."
The vehicle, hitting a bump in the road at high speed, rose into the air for what seemed like a long time before coming down hard on the other side of the bump. Howell whooped with enjoyment, while Horse winced in pain. He got no thrills out of bouncing along a road in a car, and would have preferred the cramped but predictable seat of a BattleMech cockpit.
The longing was especially fierce because of the Summoner plodding along behind them. Although he hated this pretense of being a Smoke Jaguar, he hated even more this state halfway between prisoner and warrior that Howell had assigned him.
Two days ago he mentioned it to Howell, who answered, "It is not a halfway state at all. You just need some training in Smoke Jaguar customs, rules, and traditions. There is no regulation anywhere stating that a warrior must be assigned a 'Mech. But do not look so angry, Horse—you will have one soon, I promise."
Each side of the road leading to Bagera displayed a different geographical terrain. To the right, where the BattleMechs were kicking up dust, the land was barren—an expanse pocked with extensive patches of dry land, interrupted by insignificant areas of grass, much of which was almost completely brown and the best of which was speckled and scrawny. Horse wondered what had happened to so devastate the terrain. On the right, however, was a forest like the one near Lootera, but denser and looking almost as lush as a jungle. Loud, sometimes screeching, bird calls emerged from it. At one point a flock of the oddest-looking birds Horse had ever seen flew out of the forest and took an erratic path toward the distant mountains ahead. Howell commented that they were called skittishes by the locals because of their strange flight patterns. "An indigenous species that could be eliminated without environmental loss, I am sure," he remarked.
They continued to bump along the road in silence for a long while, with Howell seeming unusually pensive. Occasionally he glanced quizzically over at Horse. It made Horse edgy, and he glanced away, toward the forest. He could hear the rumbling sound of the Summoner, which had nearly caught up. The 'Mech's thundering steps vibrated through his body even through the car's cushioned seat.
Horse stared at the 'Mech and wondered if it was his Summoner. It did not appear to be. Its surface was too smooth, unmarred by the dents it had earned during many battles in the Inner Sphere invasion.
Howell noticed Horse studying the 'Mech.
"You may not believe this," he said, "but that Summoner is the one I took from your DropShip. It was yours, I think."
Horse was astounded. "I was just thinking—but it cannot be," he said. "Mine was, well, it was—"
"It was not in such fine condition, quiaff?"
"Aff. It has not gleamed so much since the day of its first shakedown run."
Howell gestured toward the Summoner, which had slowed to match the speed of the car. "Well, hard to believe maybe, but it is yours. Shows the superiority of Smoke Jaguar refitting and reconditioning technology. Our 'Mechs are always in fine repair. I am very proud of that, as are all Smoke Jaguars. You will see more and more of our superiority as you remain with us."
Horse said nothing. All he could think about was that his 'Mech was so close, but it might as well have been back in the Inner Sphere for all he could do with it.
"I have been giving the Smoke Jaguar attitude toward freebirths, a great deal of thought," Howell said, then stopped.
Horse struggled to repress his reaction to Howell's use of the foul term.
"The way we dismiss them as warriors, for one. You, Horse, are a different sort of freebirth and it would be wasteful not to use you properly. All Clans abhor waste."
Horse suppressed a laugh. If Howell suspected how ridiculous he seemed to Horse at that moment, his sponsorship of him might end. That would not be bad, but he did not want to upset the plan now, just when he was so close to freeing himself honorably.
"I have been thinking," Howell said, "that you deserve your chance with us. When this trial period is ended, I intend to give you a chance at a Trial of Position as a Star Commander for the Smoke Jaguars. You may fight me in the Trial, if you wish, instead of the normal trio of combatants."
Horse's astonishment at Howell's offer nearly made him reveal how much he would like to fight Howell in a Trial of Position and how much he would like to kill him in it. Aloud, he simply said as sincerely as possible, "I would be honored to fight you in a Trial Of Position." The man had grown so unpredictable, so outrageous in his thoughts and behavior, that Horse barely knew what he might blurt out next.
"Very well then. As soon as we get back, I will set things in motion. It may take time. My own people will surely object. But I intend to win on this one, even if it means both of us must fight the others. You may have your chance at a position sooner than you expect."
Or never, Horse thought, if Sentania's scheme works out. If not, I'll be dead anyway—also sooner than I expect.
31
Bagera Forest
Huntress
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Homeworlds
9 May 3059
Howell's exuberance was irritating. The man could not stop talking, especially about matters of Smoke Jaguar pride.
The only pride I want to think about, Horse thought, is the bloodline of Prydes in the Jade Falcons. Aidan Pryde, Marthe Pryde—stravag, even Ravill Pryde. If Diana succeeds in her Trial of Bloodright, she'll be another one. Diana Pryde. I wonder how she's faring? Has she already had a chance to fight in the contests, or is she in some long queue, awaiting her chance?
"Time for a break."
Howell ordered his driver to halt and then got on the commline to tell the two accompanying BattleMechs to stay where they were until he returned. Their driver made an abrupt turn off the road toward the forest and pulled the vehicle to a stop. Howell leapt out lightly, motioning for Horse to follow.
The two of them climbed up a short hill covered with dense underbrush and finally stopped by a large tree in a natural clearing. Howell leaned casually against the bark and pulled a small flask out of his pocket.
Horse stood there, amazed at Howell's lack of shame.
He should have been used to the man's antics by now, yet Howell continued to astound him. Howell took a deep drink from the flask and closed his eyes while the liquor slid down his throat. When he opened his eyes, he smiled and said, "It feels good to be out of the city, Horse, quiaff?"
"Aff," Horse replied in a neutral tone, but he was on guard. The more unpredictable Howell had become over time, the more Horse had learned to be vigilant.
From their position, a rise slightly above the road, they had a view of the surrounding area through an opening in the lush growth. Nothing of much note showed from their vantage point, which was mostly a view of the desolate terrain on the other side of the road. But Horse had to admit it did feel good to be out in the open air.
"Huntress is not the most welcoming planet, but it does have its charm. The sudden changes of terrain can be interesting, and I am even coming to accept the never-ending grayness of the days." Howell squinted up at the sky as if proving his point, then took another pull off the flask. Horse sat down on a nearby rock, sensing that one of Howell's rambling, alcohol-induced speeches was coming on.
"Of course, likes and dislikes are of little import to a true Smoke Jaguar. We warriors are bred to have but one purpose. We are engineered for victory on the battlefield and there can be no greater honor in life. To eliminate our enemies, protect the integrity of our Clan, to die in glory—"
"This man can babble on, can he not, Horse?"
Horse was much less startled than Howell, since he was used to Sentania Buhallin's talent for sudden appearances. This time she swung lightly down from the branch of tree next to where Howell was leaning.
