Joanna had reined in her anger and accepted the Summoner without further complaint.
"Aidan Pryde piloted a Summoner throughout most of his career, did he not?" Diana now asked.
"Yes, and he died in a Timber Wolf that he thought was bad luck. This Summoner is bad luck and a half."
"Stop it, Joanna. You are spooking me. You will not die. You will go on forever. Mean people do."
"Yes, I am mean and I hear that it is the miserable fate of mean people to die in bed."
"If you do not die in battle, you will die of apoplexy during one of your rages. I would not worry about bed."
Joanna chose not to tell Diana of her latest nightmares, where she lay in state on a bier and all the people she had ever known gathered around her body, with the ones she hated the most crowding to the front, apparently led by Ravill Pryde.
"I have requested of Ravill Pryde that our Star lead the way into battle. I want to be right in front."
"That should increase your chances of dying in battle."
"Do not be sarcastic, Diana. It is the way of the Jade Falcon warrior to desire the forefront of combat. If you want to transfer out to a different Star, then—"
"Not at all. I am happy to be here, and excited by the chance of being in the first assault wave. I was just making a small joke, very small. To tell you the truth, Joanna, I am so glad to be out of Ravill Pryde's office and away from the coregn job that I would wish for this battle to go on forever."
"You will have to resume your coregn duties afterward?"
"That is what Ravill Pryde says. I would try any ploy to be removed from the position, but if Ravill Pryde did not consider betrayal as cause enough for dismissal, what else would work?"
"Well, at least you see him for what he really is. Horse keeps defending him."
"Horse likes his spirit. And he says Ravill Pryde is one of the best leaders he has ever served under. Excepting Aidan Pryde, of course."
"Of course. Who could be better than Aidan Pryde?"
"Now you sound sarcastic."
"Sorry, did not mean to. Any talk of Ravill Pryde unnerves me, I guess. Aidan was a brave warrior, and a fine leader, but he had his flaws."
"I am happy to hear that."
"Oh? I forget that you have those ugly freebirth feelings toward a parent. Makes me ill.”
“Glad to hear that too."
They paused, both lost in contemplation of the way the sands spiraled and, with their differing shades of red, created shifting, swirling patterns like the brilliant feathers of a proud bird.
"The bidding will take place tomorrow then?" Diana asked.
"Tomorrow. At dawn."
"How well do you remember this terrain?"
"Ravill Pryde also asked me that. I could not tell him much. It seems as if I was landed on the planet, immediately thrust into my cockpit, and pushed into battle. I was not on this side of the Great Gash for long, actually. A little combat on this plain and then we were suddenly in the Gash and just as suddenly buried under tons of rock and gravel. Most of my memory of Twycross is about suffocating and trying to dig myself out."
"And for that you had to bear the shame?"
"That is as it should be. We lost. We were stupid even. I hate the shame, but I accept it. I had little choice. I am Jade Falcon."
"That phrase covers everything, quiaff?”
“Aff."
"I hope to see the Gash. I wish we had more than just topological maps of it."
"You would like to see it? Maybe it would do me good to go back for a look too. Shall we?"
Diana was taken aback. "You mean, right now?”
“Yes. Now."
Joanna was already tightening her cloak around her, then pulling up the hood.
"Through enemy lines?"
"A fine challenge. Are you up to it?"
"Are you? It is a pretty long walk."
"For someone of my age. Diana, your sarcasm is—"
"Enough, enough. But what of standing orders? Would we not be violating—"
"Of course we would. What difference does that make?"
"Ravill Pryde will be furious."
"I sincerely hope so. But why worry about that? We are already punished for our acts. Me, by being sent away as soon as this battle is over. You, well, you are freeborn and—"
"Enough, enough. I see your point. Yes, I will go with you. But should we—"
Diana could not finish her sentence because Joanna had already stepped out from beneath the shelter of the awning and taken three steps into the sandstorm. The younger warrior adjusted her own cloak and hood and, feeling strangely thrilled by the act, quickened her steps to catch up with Joanna.
30
The Great Gash, Twycross
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
6 December 3057
If Joanna had not been trapped in the pitch dark of the mines of Dogg Station, she might have considered the Great Gash at midnight to be the darkest place she had ever been. Shaking the sand out of her cloak and brushing it from her hood, she remembered the sensation of being buried alive here in her Hellbringer. But that time she'd at least had the dim glow of her cockpit instruments. Even that dimness had been brighter than any light reaching the floor of the Gash from the few stars visible in the murky Twycross skies. But the good thing was that the surrounding mountain walls were a barrier to the Diabolis and its maelstrom of sand.
"Eerie place," Diana commented. A deep gouge in the Windbreak Mountains, the Great Gash was aptly named.
"Did you expect otherwise?"
"Well, the good thing is that we are here, the bad thing is that we will have to return through that mess. That was one excruciating trek, Joanna. If I had not been following you, I would have gotten lost within seconds. What did you use for navigation?"
"Luck. Instinct, maybe. Old warriors still have a few tricks. I had to get here, so I got here.”
“That gives me confidence.”
“We are here, quiaff?"
"Aff. And my skin feels permanently pitted from the sand. Amazing that so much sand can get in through the small openings in our clothes'. But one thing was very strange."
"What was that?"
"Where were the Wolves?"
"You saw the one tent, and we nearly tripped over a BattleMech foot."
"Yes. But we were never in any danger."
"We had our hoods up, our cloaks wrapped around us— hard to identify insignia or anything else. In a sandstorm, all warriors look alike under cloaks."
"If you say so. Now what?"
"You wanted to see the Gash. Well, this is it."
"It is so different than I expected. Not so high, not so wide as I had imagined it. Still it is high enough and wide enough to be very impressive."
"The spot where the battle took place should be close by. Are you game?"
"Game."
The place where the Inner Sphere warrior had set off an avalanche with explosive charges, burying most of the former Falcon Guards in this high mountain pass, was less than half a kilometer away. Joanna had not been sure she would be able to recognize the spot. All she had known was that she suddenly needed to revisit the site of her shame.
"I cannot see you anymore, Joanna."
"Take hold of my cloak."
"Why not use our beams?"
"Too dangerous. If there are any guards posted or Wolves camped in the Gash, we would become easy targets."
"Looks deserted. Maybe the Wolves find it as spooky as I do."
They headed further into the Gash. As the ground began to rise beneath them, Joanna was certain this must be the site of the Twycross disgrace. A few more steps, and then she stopped.
"Joanna?"
"Yes?"
"Just wanted to make sure where you were. I can see your outline now. A shadow on a shadow. Is this the place? Where it happened?"
"Yes. It makes me shudder."
"Joanna, such a human reaction. What is happening to you?"
"Who
knows how many warriors and their 'Mechs are still buried here, beneath our feet? I do not believe we excavated all the dead."
"They could be ghosts inhabiting the Gash. Maybe they are watching us."
"Sometimes you talk like a fool, Diana. You and Ravill Pryde deserve each other."
"That is unkind."
"I hope so."
Though Joanna could detect from which direction Diana's voice was coming, she could not see even her outline. She looked up. Between the cliffs that formed the walls of the Gash, the strip of barely perceptible stars was wider at this point. The walls sloped backward rather than going straight up and down as in the other sections of the Gash. They were not as high either, although high enough. She reckoned the difference was due to the Inner Sphere secretly mining the walls with explosives and the subsequent avalanches. Freebirths! And now we must fight another pack of them. Which is worse? Inner Sphere depravity or Clan Wolf treachery? The Inner Sphere, I suppose. The Wolves are a Clan, at least. And right now I would rather tear apart a Wolf warrior then one from the Inner Sphere. But either would do. Either would do.
She was about to look away when she saw something.
"Did you see that?"
"What, Joanna?"
"A gleam of light. Brief, but I definitely saw it. A reflection of something, maybe. But where could the light have come from?"
"It was probably nothing. An optical illusion."
"We should return. Get back before daylight. There is nothing to see here. Nothing to—"
She stopped talking.
"Are you all right, Joanna?"
"Quiet."
The indefinable sound increased, and then suddenly she and Diana were pelted with a rain of gravel and stones. Some of them stung their heads. The stonefall lasted two or three seconds, then stopped.
Joanna brushed the dirt from her hair, realizing that most of it went into the folds of her cloak. Diana came forward. "What was that? I mean, besides a lot of rocks and dirt falling on our heads."
"Somebody dislodged something up there."
Taking Diana's arms she led her to the other side of the Gash, where both stared upward. Another fall of stones came. Even in the dark, Joanna could see that what had caused the stonefall was some activity near the rim of the Gash's wall. A dim aura of light clung to the rim.
"What could it be, Joanna?"
"What does it look like?"
"Somebody is up there."
"My thought exactly. But who?"
"Maybe the ghosts have a club or—"
"No more joking, Diana. What do you really think?"
"The Wolves?"
"None other. They are up there doing something, and I doubt it is harmless. I think I will have a look. Are you up to it?"
"You mean, climb these walls?"
"What? Have you forgotten your training as a young hawk?"
"Well, no. But then we had some equipment, and it was not pitch dark. These walls are so steep."
"I think we can make it. It may be steep, but the ascent is better here than anywhere else in the Gash. The burial ground has elevated the level of the Gash's floor and the cliff walls are more gently sloped."
"That all seems logical, but I could be more convinced."
Joanna tied her cloak securely about her, then raced forward and leaped upward to grab a secure hold. Diana watched her for an instant, muttering a soft curse common among freeborn villagers. Then she tied her own cloak around her. Imitating Joanna, she leaped up to find a hold in the rock wall.
* * *
Nearing the top of the wall, the arms of both warriors ached. There had been surprisingly few slips or missteps during the ascent, but it had required greater effort than any survival-training climb either had ever made. Feeling around for handholds, scrabbling for footholds, looking for anything that could serve as a ledge—all of these delayed their progress. Still, Joanna knew they owed their success to their training as warriors. She, after all, had known the meticulous fierceness of the training from two perspectives, as a cadet and later warrior, and as a falconer.
Muffled sounds of machinery and a few faint voices drifted down toward them. Both machinery and voices became louder the higher they got, but never clear enough to define.
The rim was now just above them. Diana was alongside Joanna, less than a meter away. Joanna wondered if she felt the same deep exhaustion along with a contradictory urge to go on.
"What now?" Diana asked.
"Judging by the sounds, we are not far from the main activity."
"What do you think it is?"
"Some Wolf trickery, I suspect, but let us go see. Are you rested enough?"
"An odd question. I am about to collapse, with only the fear of a rather long drop keeping me going. Yes, I am rested enough. Let us go."
The rim had a slight outhang. Joanna pulled herself over it, then gave Diana a hand up. Diana whispered thanks, then the two surveyed the area. They were on a plateau all right, just as Joanna had suspected. Its terrain was relatively level, with trees interrupted only by some large rocks and clumps of trees.
Less than half a kilometer away they saw a hallucinatory scene—phantasmal shapes moving busily by the light of a few widely scattered fires. Hovering over it all like watchful giants were many BattleMechs. Also part of the scene was the constant going and coming of support vehicles making swift trips back and forth from the rim.
"We have to get closer," Joanna whispered.
"Aff."
"Separate a bit in case they have posted any guards."
"I doubt they have. They would never expect any of us to sneak through their lines, then struggle up the side of the Gash to have a look."
"Nevertheless, there is no sense in us being caught together. Go toward that big rock to the left. See it?"
"Hard to miss."
In a moment Joanna lost sight of Diana. She walked forward, taking slow, cautious steps. The ground beneath her feet was loose, but she doubted her crunching footsteps could be heard above the din of the Wolf operation.
As she got closer, she saw that many of the moving figures were techs. Some of them operated vehicles—forklifts and trucks with cranes. Others were driving carts. Some merely walked. All were carrying material toward the rim, where fighting positions were being constructed. Some positions were dug deep, with entrances that would allow 'Mechs a clear field of fire down into the Gash without exposing the 'Mech. Other positions were shallow. In them stood constructs of shattered armor plate and debris that were like grotesque parodies of 'Mechs.
Moving in closer Joanna saw that some of the objects were just scrap metal, others were complete 'Mech arms or heads. Techs ran power cables to these. With a flip of a switch a gigantic hand would close or an elbow would flex or the cockpit would light up. With a satisfied nod the tech would leave one shattered machine and go to another pile of electronics and armor plate and begin again.
The Wolves must have scavenged some Twycross salvage yard like the one on Sudeten where she had fought Cholas, Castilla, and the others.
Many Wolf warriors strode among all this activity, giving orders and sometimes carrying loads of explosives. They were like a colony of ants converging on the wrecks and adding packages of death to them. Other warriors were planting mines and explosives between the fighting positions.
She found Diana at the big rock, already waiting for her.
"I am waiting, Joanna. Explain all this for me."
"These stravags are hoping to spring an ambush. It is their way of trying to repeat the original Twycross humiliation. Natasha Kerensky hopes to suck us into the Gash, then unleash all this on us."
"I do not get it. An ambush? With scrap and bits and pieces of 'Mechs?"
"I suspect that those piles are just part of her plan. If I observed correctly, they are placing explosive devices in those piles and laying mines throughout the positions. First real 'Mechs fire from hidden positions along the Gash rim. Our forces reply by jumping up to the rim to
attack the sham 'Mechs that we can actually see. Once the Wolves see us charging these positions, the real 'Mechs pull back under cover. Our forces land among these piles of junk, and are trapped in the middle of a minefield, with exploding 'Mechs all around them. The real 'Mechs then counterattack and finish off the survivors."
Diana shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "They assume that we will assault the Gash. They assume that we will close with the forces on the rim. They assume that we will be stunned into inactivity by the minefields. They are gambling on many assumptions about how we will react."
"Yes but do you not see that that is exactly how Ravill Pryde will react? It is as if Natasha Kerensky were sibkin with our commander. She is taking a gamble, but one worth taking."
"This also explains how we slipped through the Wolf lines so easily. They have diverted so much personnel and materiel up here."
"It must have been part of her plan all along. She has put all of her effort into luring us into the Gash and spoiling our passage through it."
"Spoil is a mild word for it."
"I am a mild person."
"That has always been your problem."
"You are getting more sarcastic every day. Be careful. You might wind up as sour as me."
"My ambition exactly."
Diana would probably have been amazed if she had known how much her words disturbed Joanna, even though humorously intended. The older warrior had a momentary vision of Diana in the future, feeling the same resentments Joanna had felt. She did not want that, but—even worse— she could not figure out why she should be concerned about it. The fate of Diana, who would probably die in the midst of some daring exploit, was of little consequence to Joanna.
I am Jade Falcon Page 21