Victor smiled. "And the champion fighter on that world is the one who took you out of the fight. You can't denigrate the quality of the Solaris warriors like that."
"Immaterial, Victor, and beside my point." Vlad opened his arms to the other Khans. "These are a people who use as spectacle contests where people die, not to prove who is worthy of passing their genetic potential on, but for money. They sell soap and crackers, sugar-water and cosmetics. They mock what we do, they mock that which defines us, and they will turn us into clowns.
''You all know the history of the Inner Sphere, especially since the Exodus of the great Kerensky. The Wolf Dragoons were sent to them to determine what sort of people they were, and how were they employed? As mercenaries. They fought and shed their blood as proxies for their employers' people, and this will be our fate. Our technology will be sold to the highest bidder, our culture will become rootstock for trends. Clans will be franchised, merchandise will be sold, and our traditions will be tarnished."
The passion in Vlad's voice astonished Victor. He'd always seen the Clans as implacable warriors, and yet here was a man, one of their premier warriors, who had a very real fear about how his way of life would vanish. While Victor had learned to be afraid of the Clans, he also respected them and truly did not wish to see their way of life disappear. Worse yet, he could see everything Vlad predicted coming true.
The Prince leaned forward, supporting himself on his arms. "Khans of the Clans, the Wolf's fears are based on a false assumption—the assumption that I am here to dictate terms of peace. One advantage to your methods of waging war is simply that I need not dictate terms. We bargained and fought for a cessation of hostilities. We are at peace. My invitation to you is simply that of one neighbor to another. How you choose to react to that invitation is your own decision.
"I should note, however, that further adventurism on your part will be met with swift and devastating retribution. Enough blood has been spilled here and on Huntress to sate any warrior's fantasy. As a reminder of that, the Star League has declared the area on Huntress surrounding Lootera and Mount Szabo to be an open and neutral zone, held in trust, for the survivors who wish to live in peace on that world. Some of the city will be rehabilitated, but not all. We want the scars to remain in place so no one can mistake the consequences of moving against the Star League again. We will retain possession of the genetic repository in that area, keeping it functional and not destroying it. We will also, of course, send an ambassador there to take up residence and facilitate any communication you wish to have with the Star League."
Khan Jorgensson nodded. "Speaking for at least half my brethren, we appreciate the Star League's consideration. We all have had our eyes opened. Because of your victories, the matter of the invasion is closed. All who are here are bound by the Trial of Refusal."
Vlad laughed coldly. "Not so quickly, Khan Ghost Bear. You will recall that the Wolves abstained from the vote, and we were not defeated by the Inner Sphere. This matter is not binding on us "
Prince Victor's eyes narrowed. "If you wish, Khan Wolf, I will reassemble my forces in the Free Rasalhague Republic and we can drive you from the Inner Sphere."
"I am quite certain, Victor, that such an exercise would entertain you no end, but I am a warrior and am not concerned with your amusement. Fear not, I am still bound by the Tukayyid truce. I would not dream of crossing the border before the seven remaining years are up. You may decide you want to gather your warriors and attack me now, but I doubt the Star League will back that play."
Something in Vlad's voice sent a shiver down Victor's spine. Because his forces had traveled to the Clan homeworlds on a covert mission to rescue another force on a covert mission, they had not had any communications with the Inner Sphere for many months. In fact, if their disinformation efforts were holding true, the First Lord of the Star League actually did not know exactly where they were or exactly what they were doing.
The Clans, on fee other hand, could have been getting news from the Inner Sphere and relaying it to Strana Mechty. Victor had long known of Clan ships entering a system, soaking up as much media as their databanks could hold, and fleeing to analyze the data. Could it be he knows something about the Inner Sphere that I don't? Victor saw the hint of a smug smile on Vlad's face. Not a question of if but what.
"You could be correct, Khan Wolf. Seven years may be seen as an eternity by many, but it is an eyeblink to me. If you decide to come after us in seven years, or sooner, I will be ready for you."
"If I choose to come for you, Victor Davion, you will never guess when or why, and you will forever regret seeing me again." Vlad turned and looked at the rest of the Khans. "You have chosen to be bound by this Trial. So be it. My Wolves and I will leave you to your fate. We shall remain true to the Kerensky vision and one day, when I have reclaimed Terra, you will come to me and beg forgiveness for your timidity."
He reached up and plucked his helmet from his desk, then turned and stalked out of the room. The Wolves' female saKhan trailed in his wake, with the other Khans watching. Only the Ghost Bear Khan had bared his face, and on it Victor saw a variety of waning emotions. Horror and amusement seemed to balance out somehow, and Victor found that more scary than either extreme.
Jorgensson kept his voice low. "The Wolves, or a portion of them anyway, are known for their volatility."
Victor nodded. "Is this a trait shared by the other Clans, or shall I load my people on their ships and prepare for a long journey home?"
Jorgensson smiled. "There is no need for threats, subtle or otherwise, Prince Davion. You challenged us and defeated us. That is enough. Peace you want, peace you have."
"No, my Khans," Victor said and smiled, "peace we have. That difference, though minor, is one I am certain you will come to treasure as time goes by."
16
Star League Expeditionary Force Command Center
Lootera Enclave, Huntress
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Space
18 July 3060
With Tiaret Nevversan following a shadowlength behind him, Victor strode through the streets of Lootera with Sir Paul Masters of the Knights of the Inner Sphere. Autumn had begun on Huntress, with the leaves on the few deciduous trees remaining starting to turn gold and red. Aside from the leaves that had already fallen, the city's streets were clean and surprisingly empty under the gray sky.
Victor looked over at the taller man. "You've done good work here, Sir Paul."
"I enjoyed the chance to help rebuild some of what we destroyed." The blond, blue-eyed man frowned slightly. "I understand why you're leaving some of the ruins as memorials, but so much has been laid waste. There is much more we could do here."
The Prince looked through the hole in the cityscape where the Smoke Jaguar command center had once stood. In front of it lay some buildings that had been half-crushed when the headquarters building sagged and spilled into the parade ground. "I agree, there likely is more you could do here. The fact is, though, I don't want it done. Human beings, as you are well aware, are capable of blocking their worst fears and memories. Even looking upon something like this will become mundane. I want things left as they were so that the people here, and the people who come here to our enclave, will always have reminders. Even if it is the inconvenience of having to drive out of their way to avoid a blocked street, or having to sit in a restaurant and look at ruins, I don't want them to be able to forget."
"After all we have done to them here, you think they will forget?" Masters' voice dripped with scornful disbelief. "Their way of life has been completely and radically altered. Before our coming here, the lower castes lived to serve and provide for the warriors. While they may have had many modern conveniences, they were in thrall to the warriors. Now they have their freedom from that prison. If we give them the chance they will rebuild their society to reflect this freedom."
"Perhaps." A flash of anger flickered over Victor's face. "Then again, they could find themselves free to repeat the mistake the
ir forebears made."
Masters shook his head. "You don't know these people, Prince Victor."
Victor's head came up. "Perhaps not, but I do know people."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Let's assume your assessment is correct." Victor looked further down the street where some children played on the front steps of a brick rowhouse. "If those kids grow up and learn the lesson we've taught their parents, they will eschew war and we won't ever face them as a problem."
Masters nodded and stepped off the curb to cross the street.
"We are putting programs into place to educate all the youngsters here about the Inner Sphere, so they feel reconnected with the history their ancestors abandoned. They will end up thinking of themselves as being part of us. We're teaching them that the original Kerensky mission, the re-establishment of the Star League, has been accomplished and they're responsible for it."
"That's good, and I'm sure it's a plan that will bear fruit in the long run." Victor shrugged. "However, let's look at their parents, at the adults here. They've known one way of life only and we've radically changed that. Now, instead of doing work that, ultimately, maintains a military society, they're going to have to shift into a more open economy. Some won't adapt, some can't adapt. They will be the core of a reactionary element that will pine for the old days and old ways. I know this, I've seen it. That's the sentiment that allowed my sister Katherine to split the Lyran Alliance off from the Federated Commonwealth.
"If I'm right, and we've sanitized and removed the brutal traces of the war, they might trick themselves into thinking it was an aberration." Victor pointed off toward the north. "We have that whole repository of their warriors' genetic material there just waiting to be exploited."
"We can't destroy it."
"I know, and I agree, we can't destroy it without infuriating the rest of the Clans and giving them a new excuse to go to war with us. We'll leave it there and, for some of these people, it will be a holy grail through which their hurts can be soothed."
Paul Masters nodded at a woman in a window watching the two of theni walk along the street. "I don't think your assessment of these people is correct, Prince Victor. While you have been helping our forces here rebuild and getting our casualties stabilized for transport home, I have been working closely with the ordinary people of Huntress. The scientist and merchant castes are very sophisticated and have adapted particularly well to the absence of the warriors."
"It's never the sophisticated folks who swell the ranks of a revolution, Sir Paul. An intellectual may lead them, but it's the desire of the common man for change that fuels things."
"If I might make an observation, Highness, it sounds as if you view your citizens as rivals for your power."
Victor laughed. "Hardly. They are my strength, but you know as well as I do that the grand political play that determines the course of the Inner Sphere really affects them very little. When a planet changes hands, very often the only difference the citizens notice is a shift in tax forms or a new face on currency. I love my people, which is why I'm willing to be here to make sure they will be safe from the Clan threat;"
Masters' eyes half-closed. "But that's not the only reason you're here."
"No?" Victor stooped and picked up a ball some kids had been playing with. He arced it back to them with an easy throw. "Now it's my turn: what do you mean by that?"
"You're a warrior. You live to make war."
"Ouch." The Prince frowned. "I would have hoped the experience on Coventry would have convinced you otherwise."
"Your condoning of the tactics used by Task Force Serpent influenced my thinking."
"Ah, I see." Victor's blue-flecked gray eyes narrowed. "Sir Paul, the Knights of the Inner Sphere were formed around you. You and your warriors view warfare through a lens called chivalry. You try to do the most honorable things you can, grant quarter when asked, aid keep warfare as far as possible from having an effect on non-warriors."
"Agreed."
"You want to keep warfare clean, but the truth of the matter is that warfare is anything but clean. It's nice to assume a foe who's been battered will see he's going to lose and surrender so you won't have to take his life." Victor, shook his head. "It's a nice fantasy, but few, if any, humans in the chaos of warfare take the time to think about what is logical and proper. If any of them did, they wouldn't be involved in war in the first place."
Masters face closed. "Are you suggesting we are fools?"
"Not at all. What I am suggesting is that your position means that you look down on others who do not cling to so stringent a set of guidelines as you have imposed on yourselves." Victor opened his arms. "I'm as proud as can be that we've stopped the invasion. I'm not entirely proud of the things we had to do to stop it."
Paul Masters snorted a laugh. "This from the man who dismounted from his 'Mech and beheaded the ilKhan with a sword."
That stopped Victor cold. "You weren't there, you don't know what transpired."
"Come now, Prince Victor, your champions are legion. I've seen gun-camera holovid of the incident. Osis is there on his knees. You turn away from him. He rises and you wheel and strike his head off. Your swordsmanship was flawless." Masters stopped and turned to face Victor. "Do you deny that's what happened?"
"You've seen the holovid, how can I?" Victor shuddered. One of the Jackals had caught his confrontation with Osis on holovid, but no sound came with it, and the range was too far even for a person accomplished in lip-reading to make out what was said. It was very easy for someone to view that evidence and characterize things exactly the way Masters had.
Victor lowered his voice and let it turn cold. "If you are disposed to think the worst of me, for whatever reason, then what I will tell you won't make a difference. Lincoln Osis realized there, on his knees, what a mistake the invasion was. He begged me to kill him because he didn't want to live life if he could no longer be a warrior. I refused. I said killing him would be murder. I turned away. He rose to attack me, again assuming the role of warrior so he would the a warrior. I don't regret defending myself, but I'm sorry he had to die."
Masters listened without reaction. "I imagine that story will play well in your memoirs of the Clan Invasion. It has a very storybook ring to it. If they make a holovid I am certain it will be a most illuminating scene."
Victor forced his hands to remain unclenched. "If I choose to write memoirs; you're likely correct. You seem to be saying that you think I did all this for self-aggrandizement."
"No, I think your motives were pure in the beginning, or as pure as you can attain." The taller man shrugged. "Still, you are a political animal, Prince Victor. You must see the advantage of returning home as the conqueror of the Clans."
Victor started walking again. "Of course I do. That doesn't mean I want to exploit it."
"Really? You're not going to use your new power and prestige to reunite your realm?"
The Prince sighed. "How? I can't do it without a war and, truth be told, I'm rather sick of war at the moment. What I really want right now is to home, see my friends, and do nothing."
Masters shook his head. "That won't happen."
"No?"
"No. You have the matter of Morgan Hasek-Davion's death to deal with, remember?"
"His murder, you mean."
"Indeed, his murder." Masters shot Victor a sidelong glance. "On whom will you pin the blame?"
They turned a corner and descended some steps into a green valley two blocks long and one wide. Row upon row of simple white markers stood like soldiers on parade. The stark white against the background of green made Victor patise. The graveyard looked very peaceful, and its being sunk below street level somehow made it far more conducive to contemplation.
"Blame will fall upon the guilty." Victor shook his head. "I really haven't thought about it."
"But yours will be a long trip home."
"Indeed." Victor looked over at him. "Do I take it by the way you said that, that y
ou have given my offer more thought?"
"Your offer?" Irritation washed over Masters' face. "How can I refuse the honor of being appointed Star League Enclave Governor and the first ambassador to the Clans?"
"I chose you, Sir Paul, because I think your warrior philosophy gives you insights into the Clans that will allow you to be very effective, especially now, during this difficult initial period."
"And it's not to prevent me from coming back to the Inner Sphere to tell my impressions of this whole business?"
Victor gave Masters a sharp look. "You're more than welcome to send any messages you want back with us."
"But no direct contact with the Inner Sphere until you relay a message here announcing your return?"
Victor sighed. "I believe, Sir Paul, it was you who suggested there might be pockets of Smoke Jaguar resistance on worlds between here and the Inner Sphere. It is because of that suggestion that our return will be conducted slowly and under radio silence. We'll check out the most likely planets and deal with any problems we encounter. And to clear up the sort of problem we had coming out, we're bringing extra DropShips and JumpShips so we can relay any survivors back here for repatriation on Huntress.
"I really am not a bloody-handed murderer, Sir Paul. You may not like things I'm doing or that I've done, but I've only done what seemed necessary."
"Forgive me, Prince Victor, but I think you worship death."
"Excuse me?"
"If you don't, why are you bringing a dead man back to the Inner Sphere with you?" Masters waved a hand toward the cemetery. "Morgan Hasek-Davion should rest here with his people."
Victor frowned. "As little as you liked Morgan, I would hardly think you would want him here in this place."
Masters made to reply, but Victor cut him off.
"Besides, Sir Paul, I'm taking him home so his family has a chance to grieve for him. You have interred your dead here, and many other groups have done the same."
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