Grave Covenant

by Michael A. Stackpole

  "And now, a Davion, here on Luthien, here in this refuge that kept my daughter safe while the Clans ravaged this world, here in this garden, here on this spot, a Davion slew three assassins sent by my own people to murder my daughter. A Davion put his life at risk, he bled to save her, and all but died in doing so. To the assassin who drove a katana through his chest, Victor said, 'Davions take a lot of killing.' A true warrior who did not shirk from duty that imperiled his life, Victor Davion did more to keep my daughter safe than any of the rest of us."

  Theodore's open hands became fists. "So there is no evidence of Davion perfidy. Since the coming of the Clans they have ever been the shield for the Kurita family. They saved Hohiro, they saved Luthien, and now they have saved my daughter. In doing all of these things, they have preserved the Combine and have worked with us to oppose the enemy we share.

  "These people would also say that I have somehow shamed my daughter and my family and the Draconis Combine by allowing her to associate with Victor Davion. You have heard from her lips what is the nature of their love. If her declaration is not proof enough of its strength and purity, then look behind me. Look at the wounds on Victor Davion's chest and the blood on his kimono. Among his people it is said there is no greater love than the willingness of one man to lay down his life for another. With us, the proof of love is acquitting one's duty no matter the cost to the individual. In what he has done, Victor has shown on both scales that he loves my daughter. He has shown Omiko honor, and she has done the same for him; yet their sense of duty, their respect for Purity and Harmony, has led them to deny themselves the unity their hearts and minds cry out for."

  Theodore reached down and stroked Omi's left cheek. "The pain in their hearts comes from us. They do their duty and keep themselves apart, yet we show them no compassion. Would it be easier if they did not love each other? Certainly, for us, for the rest of us, it would be easier because it would not force us to think beyond the nature of the world in which we grew up. What they share would have been unthinkable just a dozen years ago, but now it is the harbinger of the future and a reflection of the past when we were all united, as we are now, in the Star League.

  "I said before that the past cannot be recaptured; but it can be recreated. The traditions that make us strong will continue to provide us strength. They will give others strength, as they gave Victor the strength to overcome the assassins. These traditions give us a foundation on which can be built our future."

  The Coordinator clasped his hands at the small of his back. "Those who struck at my daughter were striking at that foundation. Those who thought to preserve our traditions were destroying them. If they truly have any respect for our ways, our history, our honor, they should shoulder their own burden, not leave it as a load to be borne by a woman, no matter how strong she may be.

  "Let there be no question: the only disharmony associated with Victor and Omi is the disharmony resulting from their being kept apart. The only lack of purity is the deception we foster upon our selves to deny the depth and beauty of their ties. In ways more numerous than the drops of blood he shed here, Victor has proven himself worthy of my daughter. In everything she has ever done, Omiko has proved herself worthy of such a match as Victor. Those who would deny the veracity of my statement are refugees from a time that is no more. Their choice is to adapt and work toward a new future or else consign themselves to history and the dead era that spawned them."

  Theodore bent and helped Omi to her feet. He brushed away tears from her face and began to guide her back toward the palace as the holocamera lights died. They walked past Victor and did not look in his direction. He understood their introspection and did not wish to intrude. He homed his blade and watched them walk away.

  It wasn't until Kai touched him gently on the shoulder and handed him his sling that Victor realized he was no longer alone. "Thank you, Kai. And thank you for the translation."

  "It could have been better. Theodore alternated between very polite terms on down to some vulgar ones. Shifting between them was tough."

  "Still, you did a good job." Victor glanced down at the white stones, searching in vain for any sign of blood from the fight. "I think, though, there were nuances I missed."

  "Doped to the gills, I don't doubt it. I'm not certain I caught everything either, but there were some fairly strong undercurrents in Theodore's talk." Kai scratched at the palm of his left hand. "He essentially called for a new nationalism within the Combine. He held you and Omi up as icons of that nationalism—one that is proud and proper, while accepting of change and help and allies. He didn't ask his people to abandon their sense of superiority, but he suggested that using it as a justification for rampant xenophobia and paranoia was wrong."

  "He made us into 'icons'?"

  "In essence he used you and your feelings for each other as an example of what the best things about this new future will be. Your happiness will be the happiness of a nation, and your commitment to bringing about this future will be the commitment of the people to bringing it about as well." Kai hesitated. "He's leveraging your future with Omi to unite his nation for the future."

  Victor blinked, both at the implications and the risks inherent in what Theodore had done. "Will it work, do you think?"

  "Time alone will tell."

  Victor nodded. "And Theodore allowed only twenty-four hours for some indications."

  Within twelve hours, the heads of three conservative politicians appeared on the steps of Theodore Kurita's Palace of Unity. No one knew how they got there, but everyone knew why they got there, and that was more than enough.

  30

  Palace of Unity

  Imperial City, Luthien

  Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine

  13 May 3059

  Victor Ian Steiner-Davion looked at the holographic display slowly rotating above the center of the briefing table. "That would appear to be it, then. We're good to go." He looked around at his advisors. "Any last-minute things to cover?"

  Down at the far end of the table, Colonel Daniel Allard of the Kell Hounds raised his hand. "I just want to double-check the priorities for units being held in reserve for the second wave or as reinforcements if a first-wave attack runs into stiffer opposition than expected. With Operation Bird-dog you've got fairly small units hitting worlds to harass the Smoke Jaguars prior to our getting there. Most are on first-wave worlds, but you've got Raymond's Company from Cogdell going in on Yamarovka, and we won't get there for, at best, six weeks after their insertion. What happens if we get a report that they're getting slaughtered? Are we going to save them or not?"

  Victor narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to let them die if there's any chance we can support them or rescue them, but I'm not going to feed troops into a meat-grinder just so they can get banged up either. The Hounds and other reserve units in the first wave are being held back in case the Nova Cats have a change of heart and we have to guard against their activities. We should know fairly quickly whether or not they're going to move against us. If they don't, then we'll have resources to devote to Yamarovka or similar targets.

  "Let there be no question about it, people, we will lose warriors. My goal is to minimize those losses, and our bird-dogging the Jags will mean they pin some troops in place. Those troops won't be shooting at us on other worlds, which means we accomplish our objectives and move on. We need to hit hard, hit fast, and keep moving, just as the Clans did when they attacked us. We want them reacting to us, not making us react to them. We've already lost that kind of war and we don't need a repeat now."

  The Precentor Martial got up from the seat Victor had been occupying during the earlier part of the briefing and replaced him at the head of the table. The older man smiled at Victor, giving the Prince a sense of accomplishment he really hadn't felt since the death of his father. I was born to this job, and now I have dedicated myself to it.

  "Thank you, Victor, for the assignment and doctrine review. I cannot emphasize enough that the key to
our success is a unity of purpose and drive. All of our operations are multi-national, yet all of our troops will be going in under the Star League banner." The Precentor Martial smiled. "Marshal Hasek-Davion's force has already started out on its long journey to Huntress, so in many ways we're bird-dogging for them. Coordinator Kurita, you have something you would like to say?"

  Theodore Kurita rose from his place near the center of the table. "The Draconis Combine is a nation that has labored hard to pay homage to a code of conduct and honor we call bushido, or the Way of the Warrior. To many of you who have fought against us, bushido is the thing that made our warriors into implacable foes. No quarter would be asked or given, but acts of heroism, valor, self-sacrifice, and courage would be revered perhaps out of all proportion with what you would consider normal."

  The Coordinator glanced at Dan Allard. "Colonel Allard and the Kell Hounds have a long history of conflict with the Combine, yet they were also part of a force that helped us hold off the Clan invasion of Luthien. This repayment of enmity with kindness is alien enough to us that even now my people are having trouble understanding it, but the coming together of this great taskforce to drive the Clans from Combine worlds is something for which they are very thankful. In short, they may not comprehend why you are here, but they respect, appreciate, and will support your efforts.

  "For myself, I understand the sacrifice all of you are making. I know this sacrifice is being made for mankind as a whole, but the Combine will be the immediate beneficiary. Though it is insufficient, I offer you and your people my thanks and pledge that, from this point forward, the effort made on the Combine's behalf will never be forgotten."

  Led by the Precentor Martial, the dozen other leaders present stood and applauded the Coordinator's message. Victor joined them and applauded heartily, both for what had been said and because he had already seen how the Combine had begun to change. My father never would have believed it possible.

  In the four and a half months since his wounding, Victor had become immersed in Combine culture. His immersion began because, at first, he had no alternative. His convalescence had been a matter of honor for the Combine. He had been given a suite of rooms in the Palace of Serene Sanctuary with round-the-clock care and rehabilitation. His Japanese improved greatly because most of the servants attending him spoke neither German or English. He was given clothing appropriate to a Combine warrior and his meals were Combine cuisine, with foods chosen to restore harmony to his system and to help repair the damage done by the assassins.

  Even his physical therapy had followed accepted Combine practices. Hohiro's own swordmaster had tutored Victor. DEST commando instructors paced him through conditioning exercises, and even Omi's younger brother, Minoru, had guided him through exercises that combined t'ai chi chuan moves with chants and complex finger formations meant to strengthen his spirit. Victor would have rejected Minoru's contribution to his recovery if not for the intensity in the young man's eyes and Minoru's mentioning that he knew Victor had spoken with Takashi Kurita even though Victor had told no one of his experience.

  After a month of intensive therapy Victor had resumed normal duties. These consisted largely of traveling from Luthien to the various staging worlds for the offensive. Combine units formed the spearhead of each assault, with FedCom, ComStar, or other Inner Sphere units added to strengthen the forces and lend credence to the operation being a Star League operation. Units like Phelan's Wolves and the various mercenaries involved in the assault had all been relegated to reserve roles for the initial wave. Their chance to shine would come in the second wave.

  Victor found that the various unit leaders—who rightly enough pointed out that they had come to fight and wanted to get to it—understood the necessity for the Combine to lead the way when this need was explained in terms of the Combine's complex social structure.

  Victor's growing understanding of the Combine made interfacing with Combine commanders much easier. Where previously he would have issued orders and expected them to be obeyed no matter what the local commander desired, now he anticipated concerns and was able to calm them before they became problems. He was able to point out to leaders that assigning objectives to the non-Combine units in each strike force was important, for the other leaders had their own concerns about honor. More than one Combine commander saw the wisdom of assigning objectives early on, as opposed to getting his force into a situation where it had to be rescued later. "It is easier to share the glory of war than to live with the shame of defeat," Victor had learned to say, to great effect.

  Victor's transformation could not have come about without Omi's help. She had overseen every detail of his recovery, quietly insisting on how things would be. If not for her, Minoru wouldn't have had anything to do with Victor, and FedCom medical personnel would have taken over his care instead of just consulting on it. Victor likely would have even had bilingual servants or, rather, servants who were willing to speak to him in a language other than Japanese.

  He realized that his becoming inculcated into Combine culture was as much a matter of her survival as it was his. Theodore had told his people that Victor was worthy of his daughter, but the proof of that would be in how Victor came across to the people of the Combine. If he failed to pass muster with them, they would reject him and Omi would truly be seen as soiled and shamed. To prevent that from happening, and to increase the chances for the operation's success, Victor had immersed himself in the ways of the Combine.

  While he was still physically weak, Omi saw to it that his physical needs were met. She helped change his bandages and made certain he took his medicines at prescribed times. She also made sure he never missed a therapy session, selected the clothes he would wear, and oversaw preparations for his travels. It often seemed to Victor that she found the solution to a problem before he even realized a problem existed.

  After he had recovered, after bones had knitted and flesh had healed, the barriers his convalescence had placed between them fell away. He could still vividly recall the first night she came to him, slipping into his bed in the dark. It felt as if her body were on fire, and as she pressed against him, her warmth flowed into him. He recalled stroking her body, the flesh so flawlessly smooth that he felt self-conscious about the puckered scars on his chest and back. With a kiss and a caress she showed him they meant nothing, that what mattered to her was the man inside the skin, not the skin itself.

  Urgency had marked their lovemaking that night, as if each of them feared the return of the assassins who had almost destroyed their happiness. Little mistakes—the click of teeth, a misplaced elbow, or an obtrusive knee—prompted giggles and whispered apologies. The small mishaps kept the experience from being perfect, but they somehow made it more intimate. Perfection would have been for the mating of a Prince of the Federated Commonwealth and the Keeper of House Kurita's Honor. Clumsy, playful, and passionate was how love was meant to be shared between two people, and there, in the dark, that is what they aspired to be. Titles couldn't enhance the experience, so they were forgotten like bed clothes in the heat of the moment.

  After that first time they spent the night together whenever they were in the same solar system. While they thoroughly enjoyed each other's company, their yearning to be together grew out of more than a desire to explore the physical dimensions of love. Simple touches, midnight kisses, whispered dreams, and even tussles for possession of the covers provided each of them glimpses of the true people they were. The time they spent together outside the bedchamber further expanded on this.

  More than once Victor found himself saying something or doing something he had seen shared between his parents in a semi-private moment. It surprised him how much of his mother and father lived on in him, and yet he also saw how much he had become his own person. He identified behaviors he wanted to modify and took steps to change himself for the better—for Omi and for the mission.

  Victor's blinked as someone slapped him on the back and out of his reverie. "I'm sorry, Kai, did y
ou say something?"

  His friend smiled. "I should have known better. I recognize that glazed look in your eyes."

  The Prince blushed, thankful the briefing room had emptied of everyone save himself and Kai. "Am I that bad?"

  "Not the worst I've ever seen."

  Victor narrowed his eyes. "Don't I recall you mooncalfing over some woman at the New Avalon Military Academy during the one year I transferred there?"

  "Right. Wendy Sylvester." Kai nodded slowly. "She's in the Davion Heavy Guards now."

  Victor thought for a second, then nodded once. "Kommandant Wendy Karner. She got married a few years back."

  Kai smiled. "Yeah, to a poet, of all things."

  "You think that's funny?"

  "Nope, I think it reflects a shift in her thinking. It breaks with a family tradition, just as your choice of lovers does." Kai shrugged, but kept the smile on his face. "I'm as happy for her as I am for you."

  "Good." Victor frowned and looked down at his boots. "Then perhaps you could do me a favor."

  "Name it."

  Victor chewed on his lower lip as he brought his head back up. "You and Morgan and pretty much everyone else in this taskforce have taken leave of a loved one. I've never done that. I've never had anyone I really loved before and I don't know what to say."

  "I understand. The cliches about 'tomorrow I may die' are accurate, but lack sincerity. Anything else seems to downplay the danger and that's disingenuous and trivializes the fear the person left behind is going to feel."

  "You've given this some thought."

  "Deirdre is pretty much a realist, so facing the truth is the way to go with her." Kai rested his hands on Victor's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "What's important is that you share with her what's in your heart. Remember that you might never get a chance to tell her how you feel, and that what you say may be the last thing she gets to remember about you. More important, what you say is going to have to be what sustains her through those nights when she wonders if you're dead or dying on some airless planetoid."