D. R. T.

by James D. Long

  "You understand why I am here, quiaff?" Denard said at last.

  "I understand," said Danes.

  "The correct response is aff or neg, as appropriate. Do you understand?" Danes glared at Denard, but eventually nodded his head. "Good. Proper grammar is one of the cornerstones of good communication." Denard's eyes narrowed to slits, giving him a menacing appearance despite his body's relaxed posture. "I would hate to have a misunderstanding destroy a carefully constructed situation."

  Suddenly the glare was gone and Denard almost smiled, a gesture Danes did not return. "You were not able to destroy your ship. Neither were you able to wipe clean the computer's memory. These are simple facts." Denard stopped and steepled his fingers in front of his face, index fingers lightly touching his lips. "Had you been able, you would have done both of those things, quiaff?"

  "Aff," Danes responded in a whisper.

  Denard nodded approval. "Good. I would expect no less from a committed warrior, especially a captain. However, you were unable to do so, and now I am presented with a rare opportunity." He smiled like the cat of his Clan's name.

  "You know I have the precise coordinates of your waiting JumpShip, quiaff?"

  "Aff," Danes responded. "At least, I know you will soon have those coordinates. It would be difficult to make use of that information, however."

  Denard glanced over at the impassive Thrace and raised an eyebrow. I told you so, he seemed to say, but Thrace and Danes both ignored the look.

  "Neg, Captain. I can make very good use of that information. That is where you come in." Danes shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Denard's feral smile spread.

  "Many of your critical files are coded, quiaff?"

  "Aff," Danes responded with a smile.

  "And if my technicians are correct, those files are rigged to wipe themselves clean if not provided the proper passcode upon access, quiaff?"

  "Aff."

  Denard pursed his lips and nodded. He had suspected no less from a military vessel. The DropShip's computer contained too much information to be left to possible capture. His technicians had already removed enough explosives to destroy the hardware six times over. Now all that remained were the locks on the software.

  "I will have your DropShip, and I will use it to seize the waiting JumpShip. There is nothing you can do about that. All that remains is the exact path to success." Denard leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees.

  "You can either give me the information I need to access your coded files, or I will rip it from your mind. And do not deceive yourself. Our scientist caste has developed drugs that can dredge up information from your brain that you didn't even know existed." Denard leaned back in the chair. "Of course, the mind is all but destroyed by the process. You would live out your remaining days as a gibbering idiot."

  "But you could not be sure of your information," countered Danes.

  "The drug has a seventy-six percent success rate historically. Three out of four is good enough for me," Denard replied.

  "I could agree, then give you the wrong code," taunted Danes. "The information would be lost—and nothing you could do about it."

  Denard nodded and leaned forward. "Nothing except exact my revenge. First upon the MechWarrior, then your crew members, then the civilians of Courcheval. Rest assured, you would continue to be treated as a respected guest, but they would suffer tremendously because of you."

  Danes wanted to deny the truth of Denard's words, but the man's cold look left no room for doubt. Danes knew that the Clansman was completely capable of committing the atrocities he alluded to without the least remorse. He might even enjoy it, Danes realized with a shiver.

  "And if I agree to provide the access codes, what happens then?"

  Denard looked at Thrace. No matter what Danes said now, both Elementals knew the DropShip captain would cooperate fully. Neither one had doubted that Denard would eventually be able to sway the DropShip captain, but the man had caved in much quicker than anticipated. Thrace was halfway convinced that she was along merely to rough up the crew members for Danes' benefit. Although she would have done so without a second thought, the warrior in her blanched at the prospect of assaulting anyone who could not fight back.

  "We take you and the surviving crew members along with us," said Denard. "That way we have you as well as the codes. You might even be able to help us out once we're underway.

  "Once we get to our destination, we drop you and your crew in the middle of nowhere and let you go." Denard spread his hands. "You go your way and I'll go mine."

  "So in return for the freedom of me and my crew, I hand you my DropShip and the Combine JumpShip?"

  Denard pondered the question. "Aff. That is essentially our arrangement," he allowed.

  Danes shifted in the chair and considered his rather limited options. He had already resigned himself to life as a bondsman. When the Elementals had first captured him, he'd had no doubts about his fate. The thought of a life of slavery had been frightening, but he would gladly accept that over the label of traitor.

  The Elemental's determination to capture the JumpShip cast a whole new light on the situation, however. The Clansman seemed fully willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve it. Danes knew he was just a tool to be used and tossed aside. If he accepted the offer, there was a chance he could make something happen, but he honestly had no idea what that could be. If he refused, other people were going to suffer.

  "Can I think it over?" he asked finally.

  Denard nodded solemnly. "Of course, Captain. I will return here tomorrow and we can discuss the situation. I'm sure the technicians working on your ship can find plenty to do until then." Denard stood and Danes tried to follow, but the Elemental stopped him with a firm hand.

  "No need to exert yourself, Captain. I can see myself out." Denard turned without a second look at the DropShip captain, flashing a sly smile at Thrace as he walked past. Thrace remained impassive as Denard walked out. With a nod to Captain Danes, she turned and followed her commander out of the room. Denard's plan seemed to be going perfectly, she thought to herself. If his evening meeting with Star Colonel Bondan of the Cavaliers went as well, how could his plan fail?

  27

  Courcheval

  Nova Cat Occupation Zone

  30 July 3057

  The meeting with the leaders of the resistance movement was every bit as discouraging as Rose feared it would be. As he suspected, they were more concerned with keeping their location hidden and their forces safe than they were in stopping the Nova Cats from using the captured DropShip. Only Sho-sa Cantrell was willing to argue for Rose's cause, and she was overruled by the political leaders who made up the council. They all agreed that the capture of the Tracy K represented a serious threat to the Combine, but because it did not directly affect Courcheval, they were unwilling to stick their necks out too far. It was the typical kind of shortsighted thinking that Rose had encountered among politicians all his life.

  He managed to keep his temper with help from his sister, who offered a few carefully chosen words on the side. In the end all Rose was able to win was the guerrillas' agreement to repair the Black Thorn 'Mechs to the extent possible and then let the Thorns go on their way. Even that was a major concession from the resistance leadership, Riannon pointed out, considering that the Black Thorns now knew the location of their headquarters. If one of the Black Thorn pilots were ever captured by the Nova Cats, the entire resistance would be in jeopardy. Rose was not inclined to agree with his sister's optimistic attitude, but he did allow that the repair of the Battle Mechs was a significant concession. Although few of the surviving 'Mechs had suffered internals, nearly every Black Thorn 'Mech had some armor damage.

  Back in their temporary quarters, Rose led the company in a short service to honor the memory of O'Shea and Podell. Although he had known O'Shea well, Rose stumbled when it came to talking about Greta Podell, whose acquaintance had been so brief. Kitten jumped in, however, and told the other Tho
rns what she knew about her. Rose was initially surprised at the depth of emotion Kitten expressed, but by the end of her short eulogy, Rose realized that the two had shared a deep kinship.

  The next two days passed quietly for the Thorns. Rose reflected on the company's options while Esmeralda and Hawg led work teams in repairing the BattleMechs. Sho-sa Cantrell spent a lot of time with the Black Thorns providing them with additional information on the situation on Courcheval and on the Nova Cats in general.

  The Black Thorns learned the local names for the unknown BattleMechs they had fought earlier. Many of the second-line Clan 'Mechs were simply refitted versions of standard Inner Sphere models and, therefore, bore the same name. The Rifleman look-alike was called the Galahad. The giant 'Mech Rose and Bell had fought was a Behemoth. To Rose's dismay he discovered that the garrison cluster had no less than three of the giants, maybe more. Even though the 'Mechs were considered only second-class, Rose had learned a healthy respect for the monsters.

  By the end of the second day Rose had come to the inescapable conclusion that the Black Thorns would have to either capture or destroy the Tracy K. All that remained was to discover a method for accomplishing this feat. Myoto had assumed that fact from the start, but it was only after lengthy consideration that Rose and rest of the Black Thorns became convinced. Resistance scouts had managed to sneak close to the campsite that had sprung up around the downed DropShip, and they returned with additional information for Rose to consider. Cantrell offered some insight as well. On the evening of the Black Thorns' second day in the caverns, she arrived with unexpected news.

  "Take a look at these," she said, dropping a stack of holopics on the table in front of Rose and Riannon.

  "That's Danes!" exclaimed Ria, glancing quickly at the top picture. Rose confirmed it. The image clearly showed Danes being led into a DropShip. It didn't take much imagination to figure out where he had been taken.

  "Is he still there?" asked Rose as he picked up the stack.

  Cantrell shook her head. "No," she said. "He stayed around for about an hour and then was escorted off the ship." Rose nodded absently as he scanned the holos. He'd seen enough of the type over his career to recognize several things about the photos.

  They had obviously been taken with a high-powered zoom lens. That made sense, given the security around the DropShip site and the surrounding terrain. The photos had been taken with a military-grade lens designed for just such a purpose. The quality was very good, but the depth of field was typically bad. The pictures showed Danes in a series of poses, the result of a high-speed film advance.

  "Your scouts do good work," said Rose as he passed the photos to Riannon. Cantrell beamed.

  "Trained them myself." She smiled wider. "Of course, they've got a thing or two to learn, but they manage."

  "How did Danes get to the crash site?" Rose asked.

  "VTOL. The Cats have set up a small landing pad to the north of the crash site. You probably know that the Clans don't use vehicles in combat roles, but they do have several different support vehicles at their base."

  "He doesn't appear to be in such good shape," observed Ria.

  "Neither is his ship, but both are getting fixed, thanks to Clan Nova Cat," replied Cantrell. She paused and waited for Rose to finish staring at the pictures. "Is there a chance he'd work for the Cats?"

  Rose nodded. "I doubt he'd do so for personal gain, but if they had something over him, he'd probably do whatever they asked—especially if they were holding his crew." Rose and Cantrell shared a knowing look. As commanders, both of them placed the safety of their men before their own personal interests. It was one of the attributes of a good commander. It was also a problem, especially now.

  "That doesn't sound good," Cantrell finally offered. Rose agreed. Myoto's notion that the Clans might use the Tracy K against the Draconis Combine was scary enough, but to have Danes actually working for the Nova Cats would really complicate matters.

  "Any idea where he's being held?" asked Ria as she continued to scan the pictures.

  "I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine he's at the garrison base. There are quite a few buildings there, however, so I don't think that info will do you much good."

  "Who's that?" asked Ria pointing to a woman who was in every picture of Danes. Cantrell frowned at the top picture, then thumbed through the stack looking for one that gave her a better view. She finally found what she was looking for.

  "Star Captain Thrace. She's the garrison commander's right-hand man. Pardon the gender reference."

  "Big woman," commented Rose.

  "Epic is more like it," corrected his sister. "She's huge and I'm not talking just height. I mean, she makes Hawg look like a pipsqueak."

  "Somebody mention me?" asked Hawg as he entered the room. Ria blushed.

  "Just by reference," said Rose. Hawg walked up to the table and looked at the pictures over Ria's shoulders. Ria pointed to Thrace, and Hawg whisded.

  "Now that is a whole lot of woman," his said with a slowly spreading smile.

  "She probably outweighs you by forty pounds and she looks every bit as strong," commented Rose. Hawg just laughed.

  "More to appreciate, Captain." Hawg turned to Cantrell. "What's she like?"

  "Well, I don't have to tell you she's an Elemental. She sees to most of the detail work involving the garrison cluster here on Courcheval. Her boss, Star Colonel Denard Devereaux, is the planet big shot. He's an Elemental, too. They're both war heroes of some repute, but I'm not sure exactly why. By all reports, she's capable, smart, and somebody you'd rather not cross."

  "Believe me," said Hawg. "I only want to get on her good side." Riannon blushed anew, and Hawg laughed.

  "Her presence in all these pictures does mean something," said Cantrell. "She's Denard's top aide. If he assigned her to babysit Danes, you can bet it's because he thinks Danes is important, at least in the short run."

  "That gives us more to consider, all right," agreed Rose. "Have your scouts got any idea how close they are to finishing with the DropShip?"

  "Well, that's the weird part," said Cantrell. "In most cases I'd expect the Cats to strip the ship of all the important computer information, then set the whole ship on fire, figuratively speaking."

  "They are pretty contemptuous of Inner Sphere technology," agreed Riannon.

  "Believe me," continued Cantrell, "if what I've seen is true, the words Inner Sphere and technology are mutually exclusive as far as the Nova Cats are concerned. Still, they seem to be spending the time and resources to actually repair the ship."

  Ria looked gravely at her brother. "Which pretty well confirms Chu-i Myoto's fears."

  "The exterior work is almost done," said Cantrell. "I don't have an exact time, but the last reports tag completion for later today. Who knows what's going on inside that ship?"

  "All right," Rose said. "I'm willing to assume the Nova Cats are planning to use the Tracy K to return to Wolcott and cause some major damage. That means we've got to stop them before they lift off from Courcheval. Once they're in the air, the Kuritas won't know they're around until the Nova Cats open fire."

  "Plus they're taking our ride home," added Hawg. Rose exchanged looks with his sister. Hawg's point was equally important. "Time is not critical until they actually start loading the ship. Once they begin the loading process, we've got a couple of hours until they're out of reach.

  "Hawg, round up the team and have them in this room in sixty minutes." Rose collected the pictures and handed them back to Cantrell. "Sho-sa, I need to talk to your superiors as soon as possible. Right now, as a matter of fact. I know they don't think stopping that DropShip is any of their concern, but the fact of the matter is, it is. You've got to make them understand and accept that fact."

  Cantrell left the room with Rose close on her heels. Hawg smiled at Ria and slapped her on the shoulder before he turned away and headed back to where most of the Black Thorns were currently working in the main cavern.

  Knowing
what Rose would need when he returned, Ria began to construct a diagram of the crash site based on the photos and verbal reports collected from Cantrell's scouts. On the surface, the job didn't seem very demanding, but the lack of information and the compressed time schedule made the process nerve-wracking.

  She started with the physical layout. A Union Class DropShip was designed to land on four stout legs. The spheroid craft usually took a severe beating in a forced landing because it couldn't be sure to land vertically. From what Riannon could tell, it looked like the Tracy K had come in for the final landing with a high degree of drift. That meant she was moving horizontally rather than coming down for a perfect vertical landing. The DropShip must have hit, bounced, hit, and bounced again before coming to a stop.

  When the ship first hit, the legs would have absorbed the impact not countered by the thrust of the engines, but the northernmost leg had failed completely. That was probably the one damaged and supposedly repaired on Wolcott. The second bounce tore the foot off the moorings of the easternmost leg. The giant landing pad had not been sheared away, however, which was probably what had saved the ship from tumbling over when it hit the ground for the third time.

  The Tracy K had finally come to rest after digging a thirty-meter furrow from the southwest to the northeast. The final set-down finished the job on the eastern leg, ripping the foot completely away, but not before the leg absorbed enough of the landing to keep the ship upright. The northern leg collapsed, but a broken spar became wedged in the primary joint, effectively locking it in place. The ship would have suffered severe metal fatigue over the entire surface and superstructure, but—depending on the internal damage—it should be able to fly again.

  The Clans had built a small encampment around the ship, erecting several temporary buildings to the northeast, closest to the major damage. Reports indicated that the buildings contained power tools and the machinery needed to repair the landing legs of the DropShip as well as maintain the portable equipment. To the west, the workers had erected a small tent city. The structures were basic, but they provided the workers protection from the elements and had been put up in less than one morning. A small mess tent had been placed to the south and a large supply tent was located on the north. Next to the supply tent was a temporary building probably used by the technicians as an administrative center. The Nova Cats must have had this entire encampment packed away for just such an emergency, thought Riannon. The small encampment had gone up too fast—even for people with the Clan's military efficiency—for it to have been simply pieced together.