Warrior: En Garde

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Ardan narrowed his eyes, but found only pained innocence on Redburn's face. Just saying what you have, Leftenant, has taken more courage than anything you've done on a battlefield. I respect you for it. Ardan dropped his hand from Melissa's shoulder. "Please, Leftenant, share your thoughts." Ardan smiled at Melissa. "I'll be right back."

  Melissa composed herself, then looked up at Andrew. "Yes, Leftenant Redburn?" Feeling on the defensive, her voice and manner grew icy, but her obvious vulnerability kept the tone from wounding him.

  Redburn hesitated, then bobbed his head and spoke. "I know what you're afraid of, because I've been there. I've looked into the faces of raw recruits in a training battalion. I know that some of them, no matter how well I work with them, will die in their (irst battle. I know they'll go to their graves wondering why I wasn't there to save them. I know that just by trying to give them the skills they need to pilot a 'Mech, I'm probably teaching them just enough to kill them." Redburn looked down at his balled fists. "It's a hell of a responsibility."

  Melissa nodded unconsciously. "How do you handle it? How can you accept it?"

  Redburn shrugged and looked into Melissa's gray eyes. "I do the best I can because I know others would do worse. I hope my men's faith in me will make them believe in what I tell them. I pray that the training will give them something—anything—that will save them in a tight spot."

  Redburn smiled wistfully. "The trick of it is, your Highness, that people just want someone to tell them everything is fine, or they want someone to blame when things go wrong. They want someone else to shoulder the responsibility so that they can get on with whatever else they need to do. I accept the responsibility for my men, just as you accept the responsibility for your people."

  "Yes, but how do I know I can stand up under the pressure?"

  Melissa's plea bored through Redburn like a PPC blast. He forced a smile to his lips, but his voice remained grim. "I don't know the answer to that question. I don't think anyone ever does until the time comes and they either stand or fall." Redburn's head came up and he winked at Melissa. "I do believe, however, that the only folks who even think about the question are the ones who have what it takes."

  26

  Tharkad

  District of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth

  10 April 3027

  Katrina Steiner, standing on the raised dais at the northern end of the Grand Ballroom, waited until the servants had circulated long enough to serve all the guests a glass of the rare wine. Then she lifted her glass toward the vaulted ceiling and smiled as the clear liquid reflected the image of her cousin Frederick—who stood pouting below the edge of the dais—and stood him on his head. "It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you here this evening."

  She looked over at Ardan Sortek and Leftenant Redburn, who stood flanking Melissa on one side of the dais. Ardan's eyes betrayed his discomfort at being singled out during the reception. "I would like to offer a toast to our esteemed visitors from the Federated Suns," Katrina continued. "Colonel Ardan Sortek and Leftenant Andrew Redburn, the Lyran Commonwealth salutes your courage."

  Most of the assembled members of the court lifted their glasses like so many marionettes controlled by the Archon's hand. Ardan noticed that Frederick Steiner and Duke Aldo Lestrade were a bit sluggish in their own response to the toast. Perhaps their pained expressions mean that the Archon has ended their scheming by slipping them hemlock instead of this excellent champagne, he thought wryly. If so, I'll find a way to ship a bottle of whatever they're drinking to Duke Michael Hasek-Davion.. .

  Ardan stepped away from the wall and lifted his glass. "If you will permit me, Archon, I was instructed to offer the following toast in the name of Prince Hanse Davion. T salute the beauty, valor, and intelligence of the Steiner women. Long may their steady hands steer the Lyran Commonwealth's ship of state.' "

  Ardan nodded to the Archon, who accepted the compliment graciously, then smiled at Frederick. The raw hatred in Frederick's eyes echoed a similar blaze in Duke Lestrade's, but both men bowed to social necessity and joined the toast.

  Melissa smiled and offered her hand to the slender, dark-haired man approaching her. The man kissed her hand gently. "A pleasure of the highest order, as always, your Highness."

  Melissa's face froze into a plastic mask of royal dignity. "How gracious, Baron Sefnes." She turned toward Leftenant Redburn. "The Baron is Duke Michael Hasek-Davion's representative here on Tharkad. Surely, as you both are from the Capellan March, you must know each other."

  Redburn shook his head, and the Baron answered for both of them. "The Capellan March is a large holding, Highness."

  Melissa reddened slightly. "Of course. How silly of me."

  The Baron nodded at Redburn. "That is not to say that I have not heard of Leftenant Redburn. The Duke himself had commented on how much he appreciates what the 1st Kittery Training Battalion has done."

  Redburn snorted. "He has an odd way of showing it."

  The Baron, shocked by Redburn's vehemence, frowned. "Whatever do you mean?"

  "I mean that the Duke sent Count Vitios and a pack of 'investigators' to Kittery to ruin the best MechWarrior in the March."

  The Baron sneered. "You cannot be referring to that Capellan, Xiang, are you?"

  Redburn nodded curtly. "That trial was a joke. Major Justin Al-lard is no more a traitor to the Federated Suns than am I or are you."

  Baron Sefnes hissed and drew back. "Be careful what you say, Leftenant. Your arrogance will lead to no good. Haven't you seen the fights on Solaris?"

  Redburn shook his head. "Colonel Sortek and I have been on an inspection tour."

  "Suffice it to say, Leftenant, that Justin Xiang is doing his best to kill every Federated Suns MechWarrior on the Game World." The Baron's words sent a chill down Redburn's spine.

  "Impossible!"

  The Baron's frown sharpened his features and made him look like a rodent. "As I said, Leftenant, be careful of what you say."

  He smiled hungrily. "You'd not want any of us loyalists to think you a sympathizer, would you?"

  Ardan Sortek looked over and saw Baron Sefnes approaching Melissa. That sycophant! I trust him about as far as I can throw my Victor. He glanced back toward Frederick Steiner and saw the anger still smoldering in his eyes. Chuckling inwardly, Ardan made his way toward the Duke of Duran.

  Extending his hand, Ardan said, "Your Grace, I don't believe we've met before. I am Ardan Sortek."

  The Duke grimaced and extended his own hand toward Ardan with the reluctance of a man asked to greet a leper. He shared the family trait of piercing gray eyes, but the scar running from the comer of his right eye up toward his hairline diluted the effect of his arctic stare. He inclined his graying head slightly, then offered Ardan a thin-lipped smile. "Your reputation precedes you, Colonel."

  Matching the Duke's powerful grip, Ardan shook the other man's hand. "As does yours, Duke Frederick."

  Steiner freed his right hand and probed the scar by his eye. "I see your career has left you without scars, at least not visible ones, Colonel. I fear that I have not been so fortunate."

  A frown flashed across Ardan's face. Petty, isn't it, to remind me of the "delusion" I suffered when recovering here on Tharkad. I'm sure you've kept the story of my psychological difficulties circulating, haven't you ? If you only knew the truth—that it was all a part of Maximilian Liao's plan to destroy the Federated Suns.

  Ardan smiled and riposted, "Of course, your Grace, my career has not been nearly as long as yours." Ardan watched with feigned innocence as his thinly veiled comment on the Duke's age hit home like an SRM. "Please call me Ardan."

  Frederick Steiner winced as Ardan waited for him to reciprocate the offer of familiarity. Duke Lestrade, reading Steiner's transparent anguish, forestalled any action by limping forward and thrusting his pudgy hand at Ardan. "I am Aldo Lestrade." He nodded toward Steiner. "Like my friend, the Duke, I, too, have suffered the physical toll of a valiant career serving in a front
-line unit."

  Ardan nodded. Aldo Lestrade clutched his champagne glass in a steel and plastic left hand. Ardan knew that the prosthesis extended to the Duke's shoulder, and he also knew that the Duke's limp came from a hip-joint replacement. That Kurita raid may have taken part of your body, but it did nothing to dull your mind, Ardan thought ruefully. By referring to Steiner as "the Duke," you prevent me from expecting any familiarity from him. Neatly done.

  Ardan smiled courteously. "I know your homeworld of Summer has been raided by Kurita, but I was unaware that you were a MechWarrior, Duke Lestrade."

  The short, stocky man smiled and spread his hands. "Life on Summer is itself service in a front-line unit. My father died in a Kurita raid. I nearly did as well. It seems that my family dared not allow me to undergo the training for fear I'd be shipped away from my world to die defending someone else's holding."

  "Yes," Ardan said, cocking his head slightly. "I do recall reading in Thelos Auburn's Origins of the Three Great Families that yours suffered miserably. Indeed, I would suggest that it was almost providential that you, the youngest of your fami-ly, outlived older siblings and managed to take power."

  Frederick Steiner quivered with rage. "What might you mean by that, Colonel Sortek?"

  Ardan smiled innocently at Katrina's cousin. Do you ask if I am accusing the Duke of murdering his father during a Kurita raid, just as he got rid of the others standing between him and the throne? "Why, I merely meant to compliment the Duke on his ability to survive. I have read texts of his speeches, and if the Commonwealth leaves Skye as wide open as he describes, I marvel at his ability to live in such a dangerous area."

  Lestrade reached out and laid his artificial hand on Steiner's arm. "Calm yourself, my Duke, I took no offense." turning back to Ardan, he added, "But I believe the Colonel thinks my thesis incorrect..."

  Ardan held up his glass, and a passing servant refilled it. He waited until Steiner and Lestrade had been similarly refreshed, then replied to the Duke's statement. "Perhaps, without the benefit of a military education, you underestimate the strength defending you. Not three weeks ago, I watched the Kell Hounds repulse a raid by elements of the 2nd Sword of Light. A better mercenary battalion you'd be hard pressed to find."

  Lestrade shook his head slowly. "True enough, but what is one battalion in a holding as vast as the Isle of Skye? Besides, that raid is the exception that proves the rule. You soldiers think of worlds as squares on a chessboard, and your 'Mech units as the pieces on that board. To you warriors, especially when not engaged in a line unit, the squares on the board are empty."

  Lestrade nodded toward Duke Steiner. "Those commanding line units, on the other hand, realize that each world has a life of its own. Though a raid may not result in the loss of a planet, it always generates hardship for the inhabitants. That perspective is easily lost when you only view the situation on a strategic level."

  Ardan laughed. He relished the anger in Steiner's eyes, and the shock filling Lestrade's face. "I am amazed at how like my Prince you sound, Duke Lestrade. This lack of feeling for a world's natives is exactly why he suggested—and the Archon accepted—^ my visit. I will see the places where men have fought, and I will meet the natives. Through further exchanges and stronger ties between our two nations, we will address the very issue you raise."

  Though reluctant to leave Steiner and Lestrade as they writhed over his favorable comparison of their views and those of Hanse Davion, Ardan excused himself. He returned to the dais and laid a hand on Redburn's shoulder. His arrival prompted Baron Sefnes to withdraw quickly, and Redburn was finally able to unknot his lists.

  Melissa smiled. "Ardan, you're a cross to a vampire."

  "Salt to a slug, more like," Redburn grumbled. "So help me, Colonel, if you'd not arrived, I'd have punched his eject button! Blake's Blood, he's as bad as Vitios!"

  Ardan shook his head and snorted. "No one is that bad, Andrew."

  Redburn nodded sheepishly. "I guess not."

  Melissa reached out and brought a fourth person into their circle. "This is Misha Auburn," she said. "Thelos Auburn's daughter and my best friend. Misha, this is Ardan Sortek and Leftenant Andrew Redburn." Melissa hooked her left arm through Ardan's right. "You men are far too handsome to be locked away here in political discussions. Let's go to the ballroom and dance."

  A quick glance from Ardan told Redburn that there was no appeal of the sentence, and so he offered Misha his right arm. He smiled as she deftly slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "I pray, Miss Auburn, that you are either an able instructor or that your feet will move swiftly from beneath mine."

  The dark-haired young woman laughed throatily, and a mischievous glint illuminated her brown yes. She brought her right hand to rest on Andrew's right forearm as they walked down the wide corridor behind Ardan and Melissa. "And I pray, Leftenant, that you have the MechWarrior's legendary agility so that you may avoid stepping on my feet. I fear this gown was not created with an eye toward swift movement."

  Andrew chuckled lightly. Misha's black-sequined gown covered her slender body from floor to throat and from neck to wrists like a snake-skin. Slits up the sides extended only as far as her knees, but he could not see that the dress hampered her movement any. "Forgive me, Miss Auburn, but you move as if born in that gown. And please, call me Andrew."

  She gave his arm a slight squeeze. "And I am Misha, Andrew." She turned and smiled at him. "Let me suggest that if we survive each other's skill at the dance, we should enjoy the winter sports here in Tharkad tomorrow. That is, if you have nothing else planned."

  Andrew nodded his head and guided Misha into the darkened ballroom. Splashed against the domed ceiling, stars twinkled in the exact pattern they would have taken had the roof been glass and the blizzard a memory. The orchestra filled the room with sensuous music, but the song had enough intensity for both the younger and the older listeners. Its tempo even infected Andrew, who seemed able to follow Misha's instructions with ease.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Andrew saw Ardan and Melissa dancing, too. He could not hear what they were saying, but the smiles on their faces and the laughter in their bodies revealed the lightness of the conversation. He nodded to Misha, then gestured with a tilt of the head at their two friends. "It's good to see the Colonel enjoying himself."

  Misha smiled. "Melissa nursed him back to health after his trauma on Stein's Folly. They became very close. She has been looking forward eagerly to this visit."

  As the music slowed and faded around them, Misha and Andrew retreated to the edge of the dance floor. "You dance very well, Andrew," she said.

  "Ah yes," he told her. "We may attribute that to the superior skill and grace of my teacher." Misha took the glass of champagne that Andrew offered her from the bar and touched it to his glass.

  "To great combinations," she said.

  27

  Tharkad

  District of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth

  11 April 3027

  "Good afternoon, Misha .. . Andrew." Ardan strode into the living room of Redburn's suite, stopping to warm his hands before the fire blazing like a nova in the fireplace. "I trust your skiing went well?"

  Redburn nodded and set his brandy snifter down on the low table before him. "Yes, sir."

  Ardan smiled at Misha. "I trust, Misha, that you worked the Leftenant hard and that he did nothing to dishonor the Federated Suns?"

  Gracefully uncoiling herself from the sofa, Misha shook her head. "He learns quickly, Colonel, and did very well." She reached down and squeezed Redburn's hand. "If you leave him here on Tharkad, I'm sure he'd pick up enough within two weeks to teach those Federated Suns Mountain Troops whatever they need to know."

  Ardan nodded slowly. "Indeed." He looked at Redburn. "I'm afraid that duty now calls, Leftenant." Misha made to get up, but Ardan waved her back. "No, Misha. Please stay. I'll only steal him for a little while. He'll return within the hour."

  Redburn seconded Ardan's invitation with a hopefu
l smile, and Misha nodded. He stood up slowly and stiffly, then looked at Ardan. "Should I change first?" Wearing a thick pullover, blue corduroy knickers, and thick wool stockings, he looked far too casual beside Ardan's neatly pressed blue uniform.

  "No, Andrew, that will not be necessary." Ardan turned and walked from the room. Redburn caught up with him in the corridor, but neither man spoke. Their silence continued unbroken until they'd entered a small, nearly featureless room and Simon Johnson closed the door behind them.

  Johnson stood while the two Federated Suns officers sat in the gray iron chairs. He narrowed his black eyes and addressed himself to Ardan. "How much does he know?"

  Redburn felt a sinister thrill as Ardan answered. "He has not been briefed."

  "Very well." Johnson dragged a chair around before him, but seated himself on it with his chest against its back. "I will keep this simple, Leftenant. I could have let you read a file, but you would probably find all the details boring. As you are aware, Leftenant, the more you know, the more you might reveal."

  The Chancellor of the Lyran Intelligence Corps exhaled, then watched Redburn for a moment before beginning to speak. "Five years ago, in 3022, Hanse Davion and Archon Katrina Steiner signed an agreement on Terra. Your visit is but one of the exchanges made possible by that treaty. For example, I believe that two Lyran Commonwealth students entered the Warriors Hall in your final year there."

  Redburn nodded. "I knew of them, but they served in other cadet companies."

  Johnson nodded curtly. "No matter, except that you are aware of the treaty and some of its effects. What you do not know is that the treaty has some secret provisions. What I will reveal to you now is known only to a handful of people, for reasons that will become painfully obvious." Johnson winced. "I believe that even that is too many, but there is nothing I can do about it."