Bred for war

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Victor almost shouted back at Galen, but stopped himself again. He's only been my security advisor for four months. This is not his failure. It's mine and the system's. "Let's concentrate on what we do know." Victor turned and looked at Curaitis. "Thomas says he has a blood sample from our Joshua that proves they are not father and son. Possible?"

  Curaitis nodded. "It is possible he could have obtained blood from Joshua. It would have had to be someone in the hospital, and most likely someone working on that ward."

  "You checked everyone, correct?"

  "We did a basic security check on everyone, yes." Curaitis frowned. "It's possible that the person who obtained the sample did not realize how it would be used. They might have sold it as a souvenir."

  "Blood?"

  "A bandage, a syringe. Something that was used on Joshua would go for good money in the collector market."

  Victor didn't try to hide his surprise. "People collect things like that?"

  Galen nodded slowly. "The oxygen mask used when paramedics tried to revive your father recently sold for ten thousand Kroner."

  "Thomas also says we could perform the same blood tests and get the same result with stored blood. Is that true?"

  "It is."

  "Do it."

  Galen frowned. "Highness?"

  Victor stared back at him. "Do it. I want to know what Thomas knew when he made his decision."

  "Highness, you'll forgive me if I point out that this is a small detail compared to an attack on your nation." Galen's eyes narrowed. "DNA identification is not really a key issue here."

  Victor looked from Galen to Curaitis and back again. 'This is not the same as when I thought I could unlock the identity of my mother's assassin all by myself. I'm going to have to make a broadcast similar to Marik's to explain to my people why we're at war. I need to understand how this sort of thing is done so I can explain it, if necessary. I will have to reveal that Joshua is dead and that we did put a substitute in his place. I have to tell them why I did it. I've got to be sincere and convincing and so forthcoming that I won't fragment my people. Thomas has painted me as a monster and I have to show a nation why I'm not—because their sons and daughters are going to be dying to defend me and my honor."

  Curaitis folded his arms.

  Victor looked at him. "Do you have a comment?"

  "I think you're looking at disclosing something that need not be disclosed. If you admit what we have done, you will validate Thomas' justification for the invasion. Deny everything. Brazen it out. That is exactly what your father would have done."

  Victor hesitated for a second. He's right, my father would have called Thomas a liar, and he would have gotten away with it, too. In admitting we used a double for Joshua, am I showing weakness? Or am I countering a strong move on Thomas' part with a stronger one of my own, by coming clean? As a warrior, I would counterattack, but as a politician I still don't know the rules and angles that well.

  Looking up, he found both Galen and Curaitis waiting for his answer. "Were I my father, I would do what you suggest, Curaitis, but I am not Hanse Davion. Some of my people already think I've lied to them about my mother's death, and I have lied to them about Ryan Steiner's death. I think I gain more by telling the truth now."

  Galen nodded. "It seems a workable strategy to me."

  Curaitis looked unconvinced, but made no further comment.

  Victor pointed to him. "I want to know who was the person that supplied the blood sample to Thomas' agent. I want that agent and I want his organization. Period. And I want all of Sun-Tzu's people swept up. He's got rebellions brewing on over a dozen worlds out there, and I don't want any bombings or unrest to break out here."

  "We've already begun the latter operation and the former is being organized now."

  "Good. I want Joshua's double put into hiding now, and I want extra security on the Jenkins woman. She's a hero— someone who was willing to lay down her life for Joshua Marik. If we play up her role in stopping Sun-Tzu's terrorists, we'll focus some outrage away from me and back onto the enemy."

  Galen pointed back to the map. "Highness, though I've been the loudest voice saying that you need to think more politically, I really think right now it's Victor the warrior who's needed."

  "I know." Victor sat back down in his chair and scooted it up to the table. The worlds that had been taken from the League at the end of the Fourth Succession War were doomed. Thomas was hitting them hard with troops, and the Federated Commonwealth had insufficient garrisons there to repel the invasions. Most of Victor's best troops were on the lines in Clan areas or over in the Achernar Command area near Tikonov for war games.

  Games designed to convince Sun-Tzu to reduce his activity in the Sarna March. "It's rather ironic that the reason we didn't garrison the worlds Thomas is hitting hardest is because we had Joshua and knew Marik would never strike at us while we did. Now he will take them and win a big victory over us—albeit a temporary one."

  "I think the irony will be lost on the troops on the ground, Highness."

  "No doubt about that." The Prince rubbed a hand over his jaw. "Sarna March troops are going to have to hold their own worlds and remain at their stations in case Thomas has another wave on the way. We'll have to bring reinforcements in from the border with the Draconis Combine. I'll need time/arrival reports for all the units we have in the area."

  "I'll have those for you as soon as possible."

  "Thanks." Victor's blue eyes narrowed as he looked at the map. "The big question is this: how much of what he's going after does Thomas want to keep? Under the guise of supporting independence movements, he has employed mercenaries to extend his reach beyond worlds he once owned. That means we'll have to fight on our own worlds before we ever fight on his. Is it a buffer zone he wants, or does he actually hope to hold the captured worlds?"

  "Of the worlds in the Sarna March that he has attacked, only Nanking has 'Mech production facilities." Galen glanced down at his display. "Neither Styk nor Sarna have been attacked, and Tikonov is garrisoned so solidly right now that his whole invasion force could be swallowed up there."

  "Nanking is going to be one of our primary objectives when we bring our reinforcements in. I'm not going to lose it." The Prince frowned. "Zurich and Hsien have big JumpShip recharging stations, don't they?"

  "Yes, Highness."

  "And recharging there will give his JumpShips significantly greater range. He might indeed have another wave coming." Victor nodded appreciatively. "Well planned and well executed, and most of it learned from my father's invasion of the Capellan Confederation thirty years ago. Impressive actions for someone who isn't really a warrior."

  Galen frowned as he studied the map. 'Thomas appears to have made damnably few mistakes."

  "You see mistakes? Name one."

  "Why hit Woodstock?"

  "Troops have to eat, Galen, either his or ours. And if not for that reason, well, one more world falling to him means one more we have to take. No, Woodstock is not a mistake." Victor raised an eyebrow. "However, there is one big mistake he did make, and that will win us the war."

  "And that is?"

  "Thomas is fighting against us as if we're only the Federated Suns." Victor pointed to the long border between the Lyran districts and the Free Worlds League. "He decided to fight on our territory, but when I have his troops tied up in the Sarna March, I'll show him that two can play at that game. He'll learn plenty about waging war from a Davion, but it's a lesson he'll never have a chance to use."

  22

  A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

  -Thomas Jefferson, Works, Vol. VI

  Tharkad City, Tharkad

  District of Donegal, Lyran Alliance

  18 September 3057

  Katrina Steiner narrowed her eyes as the bright lights in the media center went on. She made her way to the podium and paused behind it as the hubbub in the room died slowly. A coup
le of scandal-vid reporters shouted questions at her, but their brethren in the legitimate press quieted them with stern glances.

  "I have a brief statement to make, and I will not be taking questions afterward. By tomorrow morning you will have full information disks filling in the details of what I will allude to in my statement. At some future point I will address you again, as needed, depending on events."

  She glanced down at the small monitor built into the podium. The blue screen showed the text of her statement in white letters. It would scroll along as she spoke, but Katrina would not need it. She had practiced her statement enough to deliver it from memory, and she intended to do just that.

  She inched her right hand up and touched a button that shifted the monitor picture from her speech to an image of her standing there at the podium. Had she not wanted to maintain the weary, subdued look on her face, she would have smiled. The silk of her gown was Steiner blue, but the cut of the dress in no way suggested militarism. Her golden hair had been brushed out and draped around her shoulders as if she'd had insufficient time to prepare for an appearance in public. Her makeup was equally understated.

  Good, the image is right for the message. "My fellow citizens, I speak to you now about a situation that is most grave because it involves the security of our realm. As you know, the Free Worlds League has, in conjunction with the Capellan Confederation, launched an offensive against the Sarna March of the Federated Commonwealth. This assault appears intended to retake worlds lost by the League nearly thirty years ago and to liberate worlds taken from the Capellan Confederation in the same conflict.

  "Many of you will remember that conflict. Our people made gallant sacrifices in that war against Maximilian Liao. Much blood was shed and many lost their lives."

  She paused for a moment as if unable to go on, then swallowed and continued. "Thomas Marik says he launched this attack because my brother, Victor Davion, killed his son Joshua and installed a double in his place. Thomas says my brother's intent was to put his own puppet Joshua on the Marik throne, and thereby gain control of the Free Worlds League.

  "As you all know, I have tirelessly championed my brother against accusations that he murdered my mother and my father. Nor have I ever believed, as some suggest, that he had Galen Cox slain. Neither do I believe he had Duke Ryan Steiner executed. I have refused to believe such charges because the Victor Davion I know could never have done these things."

  Spreading her hands to the edges of the podium to brace herself, Katrina let sorrow wash over her face. Taking a deep breath, she looked out at the dumbstruck reporters and thought, for the briefest of moments, how they reminded her of rabbits transfixed by the headlights of an oncoming hovercar.

  "The evidence Thomas Marik has supplied to back his claim has me wondering if I ever knew Victor at all. If he could do this, if he would willfully kill a child and substitute another child for him, Victor could do anything. My brother has not answered these charges, in public or in private to me, so I do not know his side of the question. I suppose it is possible that he does have an explanation, and that it might mitigate in some small way the gravity of these charges. I do not know, and I wait to hear from my brother.

  "For the good of you, my people, however, I cannot afford to wait passively for Victor to account for his actions. He has broken faith with you, and I will not have you suffer while I cling to the faint hope that my brother can justify himself. To guarantee that the Lyran people do not suffer, I have given the following orders:

  "First, I have decided to declare our Lyran districts in a state of crisis. This gives me greater powers under the regency, which include the right to sever the connection between Lyran agencies and their Federated Commonwealth counterparts. We will function in the interim as an independent political unit, which I have designated the Lyran Alliance. Lyran, because we have a long history that traces back to the Steiners' origins on Terra itself. Alliance, because that is what I feel we are. The term Commonwealth has a taint to it now. I want all my people—from Northwind to Poulsbo, Loric to Barcelona—united and allied together, for we must work hard to safeguard ourselves in these dangerous times.

  "Second, any Lyran military unit serving in the Sarna March or elsewhere in the Federated Commonwealth is invited and urged to return here to the Alliance. As long as Lyran forces offer no resistance to Free World League troops, they will be considered noncombatants and allowed to withdraw.

  "Finally, any and all Lyran expatriates who wish to return to their homes are encouraged to do so. This is not a time for our families to be split apart. We need to stand together, for only unity and spirit will enable we Lyrans to endure the hardships we will face as a nation."

  Letting her head droop a bit, Katrina stole another glance at her image and was pleased. She looked harried and exhausted, but still vital and strong. It was a fine line to run, but she ran it as if it were a kilometer wide. Now the sprint to the finish.

  "My brother, the warrior, has taken his half of the Federated Commonwealth into war. I will not bleed my people to defend his actions. It is my sacred duty to ward you welfare—the same duty my mother honored before she was so cruelly cut down. I hereby lay claim to her mantle, though aware of the dangers inherent in doing so. Anything less would be to deny my heritage as a Steiner and my responsibility as your Archon."

  Daosha, Zurich

  Zurich People's Republic, Capellan Confederation

  Noble Thayer knew that his uneasiness came from being unable to exercise control over his life. Things were moving too quickly on Zurich—not too quickly for him to understand, but too quickly for him to find comfortable. Within two hours of Thomas Marik's announcement, Xu Ning and his Zhanzheng de guang had declared open war on the government. The government had responded by declaring martial law, as was to be expected.

  What no one on Zurich, save the revolutionaries, had expected was the extent to which the local militia and constabulary had been won over to the Zhanzheng de guang position. Five out of six militia and police units had turned on the government, and, within twelve hours, the revolution was over. Xu Ning ruled Zurich as the Chairman of the People's Liberation Party.

  That the revolution took place so smoothly and without opposition frightened Noble, but did not surprise him. Only a generation ago Zurich had been part of the Capellan Confederation, and been a pet project of then Chancellor Maximilian Liao. When the world was lost to Davion in the Fourth Succession War, the population barely noticed the change in ownership. The fighting had not been fierce, resulting in almost no collateral damage, and because Hanse Davion used Tormano Liao as a conduit for funneling aid to the world, the people simply shifted their allegiance from one Liao to another.

  And now, with the revolution, the world had become the Zurich People's Republic and the population shifted loyalty again to a third Liao. Xu Ning had already begun erecting huge portraits of himself and Sun-Tzu in public places. The militia had become the People's Army and the constabulary had traded their white uniforms for olive drab, calling themselves the People's Committee for State Security. A whole host of social and cultural programs had been announced, for the express purpose of getting the people back in touch with Capellan history and traditions.

  As he reached the doorway to his apartment house, Noble shifted his sack of groceries from his right arm to his left so he could punch in the lobby security code. With food prices already beginning to shoot through the roof, he'd loaded up on rice, sugar, flour, and salt as well as simple medical supplies. Anything more potent he could get from Cathy.

  He took the first six stairs almost oblivious to his surroundings. Then, with the seventh step he noticed light pouring into the stairwell, and knew it could only be coming from one source: his apartment. Chances were that it was only Ken Fox getting around to fixing the sanitation float. And, though he'd not yet given Cathy a key to his place, Fox would have let her in if she'd asked.

  At the top of the stairs he did stop and looked with surprise at the
two Security Committee officers sitting in his living room. "Excuse me, this is my apartment," he said, coming through the open door. "Is there something I can do for you?" He closed the door behind him. "Is there a problem?"

  The lieutenant, a small, dark-haired woman with a hatchet face, wore her hair pulled back so tightly into a bun that Noble half expected her flesh to split down her nose. She stood up, tugging her belted tunic into starched order. "You are Noble Thayer, yes?"

  He nodded and set his net bag on the floor. Keeping his hands in plain view, he looked from the woman to the silent giant standing to his right. "I'm Noble Thayer. Is something wrong?"

  "Should there be something wrong?"

  "No, ma'am, not at all." Noble tried to smile, hoping she would soften as a result. "I don't want any trouble."

  "Have you done anything for which you should be in trouble?"

  His smile had been utterly lost on her, so he abandoned it. "No, ma'am. How may I be of service to you?"

  The woman withdrew a noteputer from the side pocket of her trousers. "This apartment belonged to Doctor Deirdre Lear. Did you know her?"

  "No, ma'am."

  "But you sublet the apartment from her."

  Noble read in her brown eyes that she did not believe him. "I didn't know her. I arrived on Zurich after she left. My landlord, Mr. Fox, let me sublet through her lease so he wouldn't have to redecorate or something. He said it would also avoid paperwork."

  Neither the lieutenant nor her companion seemed inclined toward mercy. "You had possession of her things, yes?"

  "No, the apartment was empty when I moved in." Noble pointed to the futon and the other furnishings. "I'm not much of a decorator, but I've been working at it. I have receipts."

  "I'm certain you do, Citizen Thayer. You had access to Dr. Lear's possessions before they were shipped off Zurich, yes?"

  "No, well, yes, but it was only because I helped move them to the spaceport."