Instead of continuing her descent, Joanna climbed higher until she was a shelf or two from the top. This vantage point afforded a view of the whole place. Joanna wanted to see whether any of the techs they'd killed had been discovered and the alarm spread.
But everything looked quiet and normal in the vast cavern of corpses, where the only sound she could hear was the rhythmic humming, which had become a gruesome sound to Joanna's ears. As before, various techs were carrying out their apparently routine duties among all these embalmed warriors. Scanning the huge area, Joanna noticed another section beyond the aisles filled with shelves and storage tanks. Seeing several closed doors, she guessed that these must be offices. A flash of movement caught her eye and she recognized Bailly moving down a far aisle, apparently headed in the direction of the offices.
Joanna climbed down the rungs, slower than she would have liked because her feet had to feel their way down. She was determined to find out what Bailly was doing in this place.
"Karlac," she hissed when she hit the floor. The other MechWarrior jumped, the clipboard almost flying from her hands. Joanna gestured for her to follow, though she was finding Karlac all but useless.
She went up to the end of the aisle and looked both ways to see if any techs were about. Seeing no one, she again indicated silently for Karlac to stay with her. Joanna did not want to lose Bailly, but they could not attract attention by moving with undue haste or excitement. They passed row after row of shelves, and the eerie sensation of being among all these dead warriors suddenly sent a shiver through Joanna. Cremation was the proper fate of a warrior's remains, not preservation like a pickle in bottle. It was more than undignified, it was offensive. Joanna was also finding the whole experience downright ominous. Again she wondered if perhaps Karlac's fears and fantasies were contagious.
She drew her pistol and nodded to Karlac to do the same. But it was not to defend herself against the spirits of Jade Falcon warriors that might be wandering this grisly place. It was to catch a spy, a Wolf clan intruder who was as unwelcome here as any stray dog. There, walking just ahead of them, was the filth who went by the name of Bailly.
Moving in the direction of the three offices, he had his back to them. Joanna motioned to Karlac as she ducked into the nearest aisle.
"It's Bailly," she said softly. "But he is dressed like a tech."
"I know. I know. I told you I saw him here the other night after you left. He came in and out of the building, and he was dressed like a tech then too. He is involved in all this and we have to find out how. Can I count on you?"
Karlac stared at Joanna, her look one of complete bafflement. Then her face changed, as though she were remembering something. "Aff," Karlac said and gave Joanna the warrior's salute.
There was no time to say more, no time to circle all the way around to the other end of the aisles to catch Bailly by surprise from the front. They would have to be quick and forceful and direct, which was just the way Joanna liked it. Bailly was almost to the offices now. Joanna hesitated only long enough to see what he would do next. He seemed to try the handle of the closest door and, apparently finding it unlocked, went in.
Here was their chance. Moving silently but swiftly, Joanna and Karlac made it to the door without incident. Joanna took the handle delicately, then twisted it ever so slowly to keep from making any noise. She opened the door a crack and then a little more and then a little more until it was wide enough for them to pass through without a sound.
Bailly sat in profile behind a large L-shaped desk, peering intently at a monitor screen whose glow was eerie in the dimness. Giving Karlac a shove toward the desk, Joanna swooped around behind Bailly. Startled, he looked up toward Karlac, eyes wide but without uttering a sound. Falcon swift, Joanna came from behind at the same instant and wrapped his neck in a stranglehold.
"Karlac! If he breaks the hold shoot him!" Joanna barked. She tightened her hold on Bailly's neck, then gave a sharp upward yank that took all the wind out of him.
"I am going to release my hold, but do not try anything," Joanna said. "I will break your neck if you even think of making any trouble."
Joanna let up slowly. Bailly's whole body slumped when she let go. He instantly grabbed his throat with one hand. He was breathing, but only with difficulty. Joanna drew her pistol and backed up a step, then grasped the back of the swivel chair and swung him around.
"Greetings, Bailly," she said.
He grunted, at first unable to speak. Then the words came out, haltingly and hoarse. "What are you doing here?" His voice was weak, almost defeated. But Joanna was taking no chances. This stravag was too tricky.
'That is exactly what I would like to know from you— what are you up to? What is this place?"
"You have seen the tanks by now, Joanna."
"Aff, and I know that they contain the bodies of warriors killed in combat. But for what purpose?"
Bailly shrugged.
"I do not have time for games, Bailly. I need to know what is going on here."
Bailly smiled. "Of course you need to know. You are a filthy spy, Star Commander Joanna. I suspected it from the beginning. You are too skillful a warrior to be solahma. Your reputation has traveled farther than you might imagine. No, the Clan would have a better fate arranged for you ..."
Aff, a much better fate. Canister nanny.
"If I am a spy, what are you, Bailly?" Joanna demanded.
Bailly straightened up, almost to attention and said, "MechWarrior Alvar of Bravo Eye One, Second Falcon Jaegers Cluster, detached. Assigned to Dogg Station by the Jade Falcon Watch."
Joanna's eyes narrowed. Kael Pershaw is famous for being devious, but would he assign two of us to this place? Not likely. Bailly obviously does not suspect that I am here at Pershaw's orders. Best to keep him talking.
"Well, then, MechWarrior Alvar, with all our methods of storing genetic legacies while warriors are still alive, with our usual custom of collecting ashes for nutrients, why is it necessary to gather these bodies from the battlefield, preserve them in cryogenic containers, and transport them on black DropShips to this place?"
Bailly/Alvar shrugged again.
"I told you I do not have time for games, scum. I saw you here last night when the ship came and went. You will tell me what you know. Keep an eye on him, Karlac."
Joanna walked to the door, opened it carefully and looked out. All was quiet but for the internal humming of the tanks.
She turned toward Alvar. "Put your hands behind your head and get up." She prodded him at the waist with her pistol, nudging him around to the front of the desk. He would not try anything now.
"First I will tell you what I know," she said, coming up to close range and tapping the weapon against his chest. "And then you will tell me the rest."
27
Jade Falcon Warehouse 893
Dogg Station, Dogg
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
3 November 3057
"We have been studying this place and examining the manifests that the techs have collected for each shipment, both those in and out," Joanna said.
"And?" Bailly asked.
Joanna never lost her stride. 'They identify, by name and identification codes, Jade Falcon warriors fallen in combat during the invasion of the Inner Sphere. At first I thought that was who was preserved in the storage tanks, but some of those bodies are of warriors killed six or seven years ago, in battles like Twycross. And many were marked as already shipped out of the facility.
"Another puzzling thing was that their genetic usefulness would seem to have passed. The only use I could think of for preserving all these warriors was as a backup source for genetic materials in case something happened to the original legacies—perhaps an accident in a genetics storage center or if the scientists needed some DNA samples for other purposes. Yet, would obtaining such sources be worth the use of ships and manpower, plus the expense, necessary to provide DropShip transport and maintain such storage centers as this one?
"Then, after looking into one of the tanks up there, I recalled something I am not supposed to know, and it suggested something else, and I realized what this place is all about. How am I doing so far, Alvar?"
Alvar glanced at Karlac, then back at Joanna. "You watched the delivery last night, you found your way down here, you have investigated. Now we all know that this is a secret storage center. But tell me, Star Commander Joanna, why have you been doing all this snooping around?"
"The fact that you must ask reveals something about you."
"Your riddles are as ugly as your face. If you are not a Jade Falcon warrior, I must say that your act is a good one. You have the sound of a Jade Falcon, the swagger, the surliness ..."
"I am Jade Falcon. I think you know that, Alvar—or whoever you are."
"It is true, Joanna," Karlac put in. "You are talking in puzzles and riddles. You are hiding something."
"What I am hiding is not at issue at the moment. It is what MechWarrior Bailly-Alvar-whoever is hiding—that is what we need to know. It is he who is giving the performance, the act, as he called it."
Bailly/Alvar looked momentarily flustered, then his face became meaner and more surly than ever. "What rot you speak! I could say the same of you. You could be the one who—"
"Enough of this stravag talk," Joanna barked. "Shoot him if he makes a wrong move, Karlac.”
“Gladly."
"Now then, Alvar, if that is what you wish to be called, would you like to tell us your real name?"
"It is MechWarrior Alvar, as I said."
"No. I am sure there is no longer a MechWarrior Alvar—if there ever was one. Maybe he was killed in action in some battle. He could even be in one of these tanks. And who would ever have known if I had not been sent to root out filthy spies exactly like you?"
"Who sent you?"
"Kael Pershaw, one and the same. Saying you were assigned here by the Jade Falcon Watch was your major mistake, though not your only one. I am from the Watch, the only agent from the Watch."
"Pershaw told me that—"
"Do not even try. You are not a Jade Falcon agent. Whatever your name is. Clan Wolf sent you here to sabotage this facility."
"Sabotage ..." Karlac said, a light coming into her eyes. "But I still do not understand the purpose of the facility."
Joanna was remembering Diana's discoveries in Ravill Pryde's personal file. "Our scientist caste is engaged in unauthorized genetic experiments. On Ironhold there is at least one genetics experimentation laboratory where they are mixing genetic strains for the purpose of creating even better warriors. They have been blending Falcon bloodlines with those of other Clans in order to breed certain skills and traits not usually prized in Jade Falcon warriors. I am told that, in the past at least, they arranged to obtain new legacies for their own private gene pool."
Karlac let out a gasp, but kept a grip on her pistol.
"The project began long before the Clan invasion, but I am certain it is continuing. That would explain why many of the new Jade Falcons seem so different from the true Falcon warrior. I believe they come from strains that the scientists have genetically altered and then placed in sibkos that also include a pure strain of Jade Falcon genes. Apparently even the scientist caste is not so deranged as to tamper with an entire sibko.
"It would not be hard for them to obtain genetic materials from Jade Falcon warriors. There are probably storage facilities for experimental sources of genetic materials in the homeworlds—and now this new one for collecting the bodies of Jade Falcon warriors."
"But why body storage instead of simply storing samples of genetic material?" Karlac asked.
"My guess is that gene samples are unstable and could be damaged in shipment unless special equipment is used. Remember how specialized is the machinery used during a giftake ceremony? If you could not, or did not, wish to use that machinery then it is easier to have the bodies always preserved and ready."
"I still do not understand why the Wolves would be involved."
"It is tricky. Apparently, many of our scientists admire Wolf warriors for various traits—a certain resourcefulness and knack for complicated strategy—traits not particularly valued by our warrior caste. The experimentation so far has centered on mixing Wolf genes with Jade Falcon genes. The results are striking. Repulsive, but striking."
"That is disgusting ..." Karlac fell silent, her expression one of deep shock.
Joanna agreed wholeheartedly. The idea revolted her too, but she was glad to see that Karlac had not lost every trace of the pride bred into a Falcon warrior. "My guess about what happened next is that the Wolves, through infiltration or the interception of documents, discovered the secret project, were perhaps themselves shocked by it, then saw a way to use it. So typically devious. So typically Wolf Clan. Even as I think of it, it makes me sick, just like this bit of scum here."
Joanna leaned down to him. "What do you say? Am I right? You, a piece of Clan Wolf scum, and others like you, have infiltrated the secret genetic project for the purpose of sabotaging it?"
"You are scum yourself, Joanna."
Joanna suppressed the urge to counter Alvar's words with another blow. Instead, she went to the door, now slightly ajar, and checked the cavern outside.
"Everything all right out there?" Karlac asked.
"Fine, if you do not mind that a lot of techs are scurrying up and down the middle aisle as if looking for something valuable they have lost. Maybe they are just searching for a particular storage tank."
She turned back toward Alvar and resumed her speculations: "Having learned what our Jade Falcon scientists were doing, the Wolves decided to destroy the project through sabotage. They have been collecting their own dead and have found a way to get them placed in storage tanks like these, which originally held Jade Falcon warriors. The scientists, believing they are working with Jade Falcon genetic materials, would be unknowingly substituting Wolf genes into their precious mixes."
"Let me kill this filthy dog now," Karlac growled, barely able to contain her rage.
"Not yet, Karlac, but I applaud your newfound wrath. We need to explore this treachery more." Joanna returned her attention to Alvar. "As we were going through the aisles I did look into several of the storage tanks at the bodies preserved in them. Even before I climbed up to Jula Huddock's tank,
I was already dubious about what I had seen. Few of the bodies looked like warriors, especially not Jade Falcon warriors."
She leaned down toward Bailly/Alvar, whose face who puffed with rage.
"Why so angry, scum?"
He started to speak, then closed his mouth firmly, apparently using every ounce of will to hold his tongue.
"What is going on?" Karlac asked.
"This stravag is unhappy because I have insulted the Wolves by implying that Wolf warriors are inferior to Jade Falcon warriors, even though he knows the truth about these bodies."
Joanna paused, looking from Alvar to Karlac and back again. "But these are not Clan Wolf warriors either, are they, Wolf scum? No, I believe that the Wolves came up with the most malicious, revolting, perfect way to sabotage this project. The corruption caused by warrior genes would be mild. It would still result in effective, if lesser quality, warriors."
Alvar/Bailly started to drop his hands, but Karlac nudged him roughly with her pistol. "As you were, dog," she said.
Joanna thought of Ravill Pryde and the deviations from Jade Falcon characteristics he had shown, and knew she was right. She had also thought of a way to get the truth out of this Wolf trash.
"No, they have not scoured their battlefields for warriors," she said slowly, almost dramatically. "These tanks contain the bodies of freeborns—"
At that Alvar gave a kind of wounded howl and backhanded Karlac in the face, knocking her to the ground and the gun from her hand. With lightning speed, he scooped up the pistol.
"We are all three Clan warriors," he said quietly, obviously trying to master his rage. "The product of the mos
t advanced breeding programs to produce the most superior specimens. Hear me out, Joanna."
Joanna had her pistol trained on him, but she signaled Karlac with a slight shake of the head that she was not ready to kill him.
"You have made some good guesses about what is going on here at Dogg Station, but I believe it is not the whole story. The truth may be even worse than you imagine."
"Oh, stuff it under a falcon wing," Karlac said. Again Joanna signaled her to wait and listen.
"The Jade Falcons and the Wolves have hated each other for a long time, and you believe that is enough to make Clan Wolf stoop to polluting the genetic legacy of another Clan. But no Wolf warrior would even dream of doing that. It is not the way of the Clans. It is not our way."
"You are right about me, Joanna. I am a Wolf, sent here by my Clan to find out why some of our merchant ships and tech assets have been making unauthorized runs to this uninhabited, apparently insignificant world in Jade Falcon territory. Can you honestly believe that the leaders of the Wolves would ever approve the sacrifice of our own precious legacies merely out of spite?"
He gestured out toward the storage tanks. "Some of these might be the giftakes of our own warriors killed on Tukayyid."
"Enough," Joanna said sharply. "How much longer must I listen to this speech about the honor of Wolf dogs?"
"Long enough for you to understand. I am telling you what the Wolves have already learned about all this. I was sent here on the same mission as you, Joanna—to find out what is going on at Dogg Station.
"Wolf intelligence first began to suspect something several years ago when we noticed peculiarities in our master log of ship movements, almost as though merchant and tech ships were being diverted from scheduled runs. We began to carefully track these movements until we were able to identify a pattern, and finally managed to piece together a route—a route that led in and out of Dogg Station from the battlefields of both our Clans—and to and from the home-worlds."
"You expect us to believe this birdlime?" Karlac scoffed. "It is just another one of your tricks to save your hide."
I am Jade Falcon Page 19