Warrior: Riposte (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Two): BattleTech Legends, #58

by Michael A. Stackpole

  “Possible…” Tsen Shang looked at his right hand and flexed it like a claw. The overhead light glinted off the black and gold nails. “I don’t like the way this whole thing feels…”

  Justin stared at the talons and barely heard Shang’s comment. He’d seen those carbon-fiber reinforced nails slash through thick leather as though it were tissue paper. He still wondered if Shang kept them coated with the poison he liked to use on Solaris VII, where he had succeeded in recruiting Justin.

  The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slid open soundlessly to admit the two men directly to the Chancellor’s throne room. Normally hidden behind a wall panel, the elevator opened midway along one of the rectangular room’s long side walls. The half-light cast strange shadows over the teak latticework that screened hidden alcoves in the upper half of the opposite wall. Though Justin saw nothing to indicate they were being watched, he did not feel totally comfortable.

  Glancing at the people assembled in the room, he understood why Shang had been disturbed by the summons, and it heightened his own sense of unease. This is bad. I can feel it.

  Tall and slender, Chancellor Maximilian Liao stood before his massive throne. His steel-gray eyes stared down at the sheet of paper clutched in white-knuckled fingers. The sheet trembled with the rage Justin could feel pouring off the Chancellor in unseen waves. The Chancellor’s lips curled back from his teeth in a silent snarl as he reread the words.

  Standing below and to the right, Chandra Ling seemed untouched by her master’s fury. Small and slight, this gray-haired, elderly woman appeared to be nothing more than a benign grandmother. Justin narrowed his almond-shaped eyes. She’s the grandmother type, but no one gets to be the head of the Maskirovka by baking cookies—unless those cookies are laced with cyanide and fed to one’s rivals.

  Across from Chandra Ling, Maximilian’s two daughters stood side by side. Romano, the younger of the two, barely concealed her irritation. With angry twists of the head, she flicked her reddish-brown hair back across her shoulders while pure rage flared in her green eyes. With her gold silk robe tied only loosely at the waist, it gaped open enough to provide a glimpse of her MechWarrior’s cooling vest. As she impatiently shifted her weight from one foot to another, the robe revealed glimpses of her slender figure and long legs.

  Justin noticed that her agitation lessened slightly when she saw Tsen Shang. I wonder if she was angry at having been called away from ’Mech drills, or if she couldn’t understand what might have been delaying Shang?

  Candace Liao, heir-apparent to the throne, also seemed to notice the shift in her sister’s attitude. Clad in tight black leather boots, slacks, and a looser leather blouse with padded shoulders, Candace raised her chin and slowly folded her arms across her chest. Her long, black hair fell to mid-back, but the thin ribbons of it falling forward off her shoulders framed her exotic face perfectly. Her eyes half-closed as she made eye contact with Justin, then she turned and watched her father.

  Justin felt a thrill tingle in his belly but quickly smothered it. No, Justin. She’s got her father’s cunning and quick temper, and her mother’s icy soul. She’d use you up and spit you out. Were her sister less obvious in her pleasure at seeing Shang, Candace would never have even noticed you. That is as it should be, for she’s a tiger and you should be a mouse.

  Maximilian’s head came up and he spitted Justin with a savage stare. “You, Xiang, you are Quintus Allard’s son! Why did you not know of this?” He held the message up in his right hand like a torch. “Are you sent here to betray me?”

  Liao’s accusation ignited a jet of fear that quickly changed to anger in Justin’s heart. He opened his mouth to snap a harsh denial, then hesitated. Ease off, Justin. He’s not thinking rationally. How can you defend yourself when you don’t even know the charge? Bowing his head, Justin replied quietly, “Forgive me, Celestial Highness, what should I have known?”

  “This, dammit!” An inarticulate sound of rage squealed from the Chancellor’s throat. “Hanse Davion is to marry Melissa Steiner!”

  The information hit Justin like a laser blast. He hugged his arms to his midsection and swallowed back the caustic bile that bubbled to his throat. He bent forward and shivered. Slowly he straightened up and addressed Maximilian Liao in a low, cold voice. “Had I known that information, Supreme One, I would have communicated it to you the instant I was exiled from the Federated Suns. Had I even guessed at it, had I heard even the slightest hint of it…”

  Chandra Ling’s voice sliced like a razor through Justin’s denial. “Had you any suspicions, Citizen Xiang, you would have died at your own father’s hand before he would have permitted you to leave the Federated Suns.”

  Liao glanced down at the Maskirovka mistress and snorted derisively. He studied Justin again, then stiffly lowered himself onto his throne. “Of course, the director is correct.” He nodded at her, half-lowering his lids. “Your shock at hearing this news is obvious. Still, you and Shang are my top two people in the Davion section. Why have we not known before?”

  Shang bowed. “I offer no excuses, Excellency, but I should point out that Davion’s Ministry of Intelligence, Information, and Operations sends out much chaff, through which we must sift carefully to obtain any kernels of truth in reports we get. True, we did not provide you the information that you now have, but we can surmise how the negotiations took place, and where the meetings were held.”

  Liao frowned and made to wave away Shang’s explanation, but Romano straightened up and smiled at the Maskirovka analyst. “Please, explain what you mean.” She turned and smiled sweetly at her father. With a nod and a sigh, he gave Shang leave to comply with her request.

  “Thank you, Lady Romano.” Shang cleared his throat and gestured with his right hand. “You might recall the reports we had that a Lyran ship had been hijacked into the Draconis Combine roughly four months ago.”

  The Chancellor nodded. “Yes, I seem to remember something about rescue by a mercenary unit.” He looked up at Justin and frowned. “That unit in which you have a brother, wasn’t it? The Hell Dogs or something…”

  Justin nodded. “The Kell Hounds, Enlightened One.”

  Shang continued. “We received initial reports that a highly placed member of the Lyran court had been traveling in secret to the Federated Suns on that ship. Our sources reported the purpose of the trip as medical treatment at the New Avalon Institute of Science. Since then, we have determined that no such treatment ever took place, and we have confirmed schedules and firm reports of sightings for all the important members of the Lyran court. Obviously, the purpose of the visit was to seal an agreement—prompted by the success of the 3024 accords you signed with Marik and Kurita on Terra—that arranged for the marriage.”

  Liao leaned back in his throne and steepled his fingers. “Why did you not have this information before?”

  Shang hesitated, and Justin stepped forward. “If I might, Highness, I would suggest that we did not have this information sooner because of the bureaucracy and the way it has become entrenched. Getting the reports we needed to confirm these suspicions took months…”

  Liao shot forward. “Who denied you this vital data? Give me his name and he will be dealt with shortly. I will not have incompetents around me.”

  Candace glanced at Justin, then moved forward, eclipsing her sister. “Father, I do not believe Citizen Xiang is singling out one person as the cause of this problem.” She turned toward Justin and nodded at him. “Please, Citizen, continue.”

  “As your daughter has suggested, it is not the fault of any one person, Universal Paragon. Consider that, for the longest time, the Maskirovka was concerned with the Free Worlds League. This is a valid concern, and the civil war we prompted there certainly sapped much of House Marik’s vitality. Because of this attention, the Maskirovka’s Marik section has grown, and much of the information from the Lyran sector now filters through it. The longer the chain, the slower the transmission and the more likely the distortion of the
message.”

  Tsen Shang nodded cautiously. “Citizen Xiang and I have also noticed a reliance in our sector on the troop information and other intelligence coming from Michael Hasek-Davion.”

  “What is wrong with that?” the Chancellor roared. “It is from him that we have finally learned of this marriage.”

  Shang held his hands forward. “Nothing is wrong with using his information, Highness, but our other operations seem to be secondary to this one source. The information still comes in, but our analysts are so busy sorting through the duke’s data that they cannot clear as much of the other data as they should.”

  Liao narrowed his eyes and turned to Chandra Ling. “What are you doing about this?”

  Ling smiled serenely. “In my discussions with Shang and Xiang, they have suggested creating a crisis team. It would be an elite group of analysts concerned solely with solving special problems or investigating odd situations. They would operate at a level just below my office, and could command information from all the sectors, bypassing the normal bureaucratic channels.”

  Liao nodded curtly. “Very well.” He pointed at the two analysts. “You will assemble the staff you need and will move into the palace. I want you here and on call at all times. You will never be more than twelve hours distant from me, unless I order you away on some mission.”

  Shang’s jaw dropped open. Justin shared a timid glance with him, then looked up at the Chancellor. “Excellency, I believe the director might have more suitable candidates in mind for this crisis team.”

  Liao rocked back in his throne. “How could she disagree that the two of you are the correct choices? You are new enough in the Sian organization not to have become trapped in the bureaucracy. It is your plan, and so you will execute it. I am certain the director sees this as the only logical choice.”

  Liao glanced down at the Maskirovka director long enough to see her weary nod of agreement, then he stared off above the heads of both analysts. “Now, what shall we do about this treacherous new turn of events that Hanse Davion has engineered for us?”

  Before they could answer, Liao had shot to his feet, anger darkening his expression. Justin turned just enough to see the chamber’s main door opening and the helpless minister cringe beneath Liao’s verbal assault. “What are you doing?” the Chancellor screamed. “I gave orders I was not to be disturbed!”

  “May I die a thousand deaths if this is not important, O He Whom the Universe Envies.” The pale minister looked back toward the outer chamber. “It is Lord Victor Robertson, the Federated Suns ambassador. He says he comes concerning a matter of great urgency!”

  “Indeed!” Maximilian Liao settled back down on his throne like a cat basking on a sun-warmed window sill. “Send him in. It has been too long since I have eaten a Davion envoy alive. This I shall enjoy.”

  Chapter 3

  SIAN

  SIAN COMMONALITY

  CAPELLAN CONFEDERATION

  15 OCTOBER 3027

  A large, robust man with a thick shock of black hair, Lord Victor Robertson ate up the distance between the door and Liao’s throne with the enthusiasm of a child dashing for presents. A large, most undiplomatic smile displayed his true feelings, though it faded slightly when he noticed Justin standing beside Tsen Shang. He shot Justin a dagger glance of pure hatred, then faced Liao and bowed respectfully.

  “I am grateful to you for taking the time to see me.” Robertson’s tenor voice expressed deep sincerity, yet rang with a countercurrent that Justin recognized instantly.

  You cannot fool me, Victor. I remember the time you spent as my father’s aide when he served in the Embassy here. You have something up your sleeve. But what is it? Justin lifted his head and caught Candace watching him. She turned away smoothly. Smoothly, but not naturally enough to prevent suspicion. What does she have up her sleeve?

  Maximilian Liao bowed his head, then smiled in his most predatory fashion. “I will always have time for an envoy from the Fox.” Liao swept his right hand toward his daughters. “You remember, of course, my daughters Candace and Romano.”

  Robertson bowed to them—though not as deeply as he had to their father—and smiled. “A pleasure, as always. It must give you great joy to have most of your children here for the coming celebration.”

  Liao ignored the veiled reference to his disinherited son Tormana, and nodded at the mistress of the Maskirovka. “And you have met Chandra Ling?”

  Again Robertson bowed and smiled effortlessly. “Madame Ling and I met two years ago, or has it been even longer than that?” When Ling made no reply, the Davion ambassador shrugged almost imperceptibly. “It is good to see you, Madame Ling.”

  Liao let his smile grow as he directed Robertson’s attention toward the two Maskirovka analysts. “Lest you think me impolite, allow me to present Tsen Shang and Justin Xiang. They are Maskirovka specialists in dealing with the Federated Suns.”

  Robertson reinforced his automatic smile and nodded to Shang. “If I may be of service…”

  The ambassador started to turn back toward the throne, but Liao did not let him escape so easily. “Oh, it occurs to me that you might already know Justin Xiang. I believe you knew him as Justin Allard.”

  Robertson stiffened. “If it pleases you, Chancellor, I would prefer not to renew my acquaintance with this quisling.”

  Liao stood. “It pleases me, Lord Victor, for you to be polite to my citizens.”

  Justin stepped forward and offered the ambassador his right hand. “Hello, Victor.”

  Robertson ignored Justin’s gesture. “Xiang! You should have died on Solaris VII. It would have saved everyone so much trouble.”

  Justin smiled slyly. “Lost some money on that last fight, did you, Victor?”

  Robertson turned back toward Liao. “Chancellor, I have come on important business for my Prince.”

  Liao shook his head slightly, then wearily settled back against his throne. “This, Ambassador, I cannot understand. In the Federated Suns, you place so much importance upon mission and duty. Here, in my realm, we value friendship and people even higher. I would have thought you pleased to see an old friend again.”

  Robertson started to reply, but Justin cut him off. “The ambassador was not, Celestial Worship, a friend per se. He worked for my father and spent much of his time pushing my stroller through the Teng Gardens and the Chou Zoological Park.”

  Liao stiffened. “Forgive me then, Citizen Xiang, for forcing remembrances of this servant upon you.”

  The Chancellor plunges the knife in, and I get to twist it. “No matter, Highness, I recall him fondly. He served well.”

  Robertson’s face flushed scarlet, but he managed to retain his composure. “If you will permit me, Chancellor, I serve still better now than I ever did before. I have a message here for you from my Prince. Hanse Davion, I am told, personally wrote and sealed the letter. It has come by JumpShip all the way from New Avalon with instructions that I deliver it into your hands.” Robertson drew a small tan envelope from the breast of his suit, and extended it toward the throne.

  Liao slitted his eyes. “Citizen Xiang, bring the envelope to me.”

  Robertson half turned to shield the note with his body, but Justin plucked it from his hands effortlessly. Never did have a MechWarrior’s reflexes, did you, Victor? Sharing a smile with Maximilian Liao, Justin mounted the steps to the throne, but his head did not rise above the level of the Chancellor’s own pate.

  Liao took the proffered missive but stopped Justin’s retreat with a single word. “Wait.” He slid a finger beneath the seal and broke open the envelope. Pulling the folded note from the envelope, he glanced at the writing on it and smiled. “As I suspected, the Prince wrote it in his native tongue. If you will, Citizen Xiang, read it.”

  Justin accepted the note and hesitated. Davion’s own handwriting, that’s certain. One word caught his eye and the shock registered throughout his body. No! I cannot believe it! Justin glanced up at Robertson and his heart sank. You kno
w, don’t you, you bastard, and all your training can’t keep the mirth from your eyes.

  Liao leaned forward and rested a hand on Justin’s shoulder. “I meant for you to read it aloud, Citizen.”

  Justin nodded. “Forgive me, Universal Wisdom, but I am not sure…”

  The hand tightened on his shoulder, and Liao’s voice grew colder. “But I am, Citizen. Read it… ALOUD.”

  Justin swallowed hard. “My dear Chancellor, I know this is unorthodox, and official documents and invitations will follow soon, but I wanted you to hear it from me first. On August 20 of next year, I shall wed Melissa Steiner, and the day would not be complete without your presence.”

  Chapter 4

  NEW AVALON

  CRUCIS MARCH

  FEDERATED SUNS

  21 OCTOBER 3027

  The image of Lord Victor Robertson smiled out from the holovid screen. “And so, my Prince, Justin Xiang read your note aloud, as he had been so commanded. You would have loved the look of dread that turned his face pale. Trapped between you and Maximilian Liao, he suddenly came to the realization that you could reach him even in the heart of the Capellan capital.”

  The ambassador let his unbridled pleasure at the tale he was about to relate show on his face. “When Liao heard the words Xiang was reading, he snatched the paper from him and read it over to himself. Then he ripped the note into a cloud of scraps and stared down at me.” Robertson hunched his shoulders and thrust an imperious finger at the audience. In a fair imitation of Liao’s hoarse and angry hiss, the ambassador continued. “‘Leave here immediately, you jackanapes. Tell your master that this is an outrage!’”