"Though grief-stricken, you will accept the throne of the Federated Commonwealth and unite the realm in memory of your parents and your brother?"
"I do suppose, Mandrinn, I would have to do just that."
"An interesting plan, Highness, but that still does not solve the problem of the Jade Falcons. Even if Victor hurts them, they may still come to Tharkad."
She shook her head. "That is not going to be a concern, Mandrinn. On this you will have to trust me. Even if it were a problem, my brother will weaken the Falcons enough that the troops we gather here can finish the job. Of this I have no doubt."
Tormano had to agree with her. Victor isn't stupid. He won't follow in the footsteps of Colonel Rogers or his namesake uncle. Die he might, but many Jade Falcons will die with him. A wonderful plan—simple in execution and rewarding in result.
His head came up. But not a perfect plan. "Highness, what if your brother wins and survives? He will have defeated your enemies and will have saved your realm."
"And so I will thank him profusely and send him home. His regiment couldn't hope to oppose the forces that will be gathered here on Tharkad." Katrina gave him one of her most winning smiles, one that showed off the perfect whiteness of her teeth. "We will honor those of the Federated Commonwealth who gave their lives to defend us, elevating the dead to the status of heroes, all the while leaving unvoiced the question of why, when so many had to die, my brother managed to survive?"
"His effort on behalf of your nation will contribute to his vilification." Tormano fought to suppress a shudder. "I think, Highness, that I'm grateful not to be the object of your attention."
Katrina sat forward again and killed the display with the press of a button. "It is well you are not, Mandrinn Liao. I would not like destroying you." She laughed and waved him on toward the door. "It would be too easy and, therefore, no fun at all."
34
Leitnerton Coventry
Coventry Province, Lyran Alliance
12 May 3058
"Pretty depressing, isn't it?"
Doc Trevena spun around, lowering his binoculars. He smiled as he saw Shelly Brubaker step from the ladder leading up to the roof of the building the Titans had appropriated as their headquarters. "Depressing, yes, but more puzzling and frustrating than depressing, really." He handed her the binoculars and turned back and stared out to where the Jade Falcons had entrenched themselves in a big semicircle around the Alliance position. "Things just don't add up."
"Such as?"
"The Waco Rangers."
Shelly reached up and rubbed a hand across his right shoulder. "What happened to Rogers and his people wasn't your fault. Even if he had let you do your job, you would only have found the heavy force, which happened to be where we expected it to be. The Galaxy that swung out and around still would have hit the Rangers from the side. An enfilade assault like that is impossible to defend against. Had you stayed, you and your people would be dead or captured right now. The Crazy Eight survivors were lucky you waited for them and helped them get away."
"Thanks." Doc sighed. "Part of my problem is that deep inside I don't feel bad about pulling my people out. I feel more loyalty to them than I ever did or will to Colonel Rogers."
"Hey, you didn't owe him any loyalty. He didn't respect you or your people. You can bet that if things had gone the way we expected, the role of your Titans, as recorded in the Waco unit history, would have been reduced to that of 'indig guides.' And your people deserve your loyalty because they've done more to harass or hinder the Falcons than the rest of us."
Doc forced himself to scoff. "As I recall it, the Titans were running around warning of doom when you pulled your Delta Regiment out of the Northlands assault, wheeled to the northwest, and came up to hammer the Falcons. If you hadn't hit them and given the others time to come around and contain them, we'd have lost our base. The Falcons didn't expect that, and it sure as hell stopped them cold."
Shelly smiled as she handed him back the binoculars. "You're quite the flatterer, Hauptmann Trevena."
"It's not flattery to tell the truth, Colonel Brubaker." Doc flushed in surprise at his own glibness. "Forgive me. That didn't sound quite how I meant it."
Shelly shrugged, her blue eyes flashing playfully. "I liked how it sounded."
"Um, ah, urn ..." Doc felt his whole face burning red. "Why do I get the feeling I'm digging myself into a hole here?"
"I'll help you out." Shelly winked at him. "You're an intelligent man, Doc. You may have been green in terms of real combat experience—there's no substitute for it, of course—but you've not shied from battle. You've identified what your unit can do and you use its abilities and skills to accomplish what you can. You're realistic, yet willing to take carefully calculated risks. You're thoughtful, but not someone who worries a problem to death. I find these qualities attractive, and the package holding them isn't too bad either."
Doc squatted at the edge of the flat roof. "Tell that to my wife."
"Wife?"
"Ex-wife, I guess." Doc shrugged. "I imagine the divorce papers are sitting in the Port St. William office waiting for me to sign them."
The Dragoon officer looked down at him. "Your wife is divorcing you? Why?"
"You think I'm thoughtful. I guess my thoughts weren't full enough for her, so Sandra found herself another friend. Moving here to sunny Coventry would have strained their relationship, so Sandy decided to save me the trouble of shipping most of my belongings here by keeping them."
"What a fool."
"Yeah, so much for me being intelligent." Shelly cuffed him lightly on the back of his head. "Not you, her."
"That's the way to a man's heart—pointing out that his ex didn't know what she is missing."
"She clearly doesn't, Doc, and you're smart enough to know that." Shelly leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Doc smiled. "You mercs don't have any rules against fraternization with indig forces?"
She straightened up and shook her head. "You know us, a conquest after every conquest. Besides, you're an officer. With you I wouldn't be fraternizing, I'd be liaising."
"That sounds almost respectable."
"I can assure you it would be nothing of the kind."
"So much the better." Doc sat back on his heels. "It would be best if we had a conquest to celebrate."
Shelly knelt down beside him. "I agree, but I don't think it's possible. Our munitions are low and we can't mass enough strength to break through the Falcon cordon without threatening the collapse of our whole line."
Doc's eyes narrowed. "The breakout isn't impossible." He pointed toward where the Clan line butted up against the Cross-Divides. "The chain of caverns and tunnels that runs under the mountains goes pretty far past their line."
"And well the Falcons know it. That's why they blew up the openings."
"They only hit the ones they knew about. We can make it past their lines and get into their rear area." Doc rubbed a hand over his mouth and set the binoculars on the roof. "Once we're there, if I'm right in what I'm thinking, we could shake them up a bit." Shelly watched him closely. "So what are you thinking?"
"Okay, treat the attack on the Waco Rangers as an anomaly."
"Done."
"I've spent a lot of time studying Clan tactics, their philosophy, and all that, right? They're big on pride and honor in a fight—to the point where valiant fighting sometimes replaces prudent fighting. Now here, looking at the pattern of very simple attacks followed by a lack of exploitation of those victories, I think I'm seeing warriors who are out to prove something, but more to themselves than to us. Beating us a little bit now gives them a chance to beat us a little more later, heaping up the proofs of their bravery and skill."
Shelly's face went blank for a moment, then her dark brows arrowed toward each other. "Yes, and so the Rangers would be an example of them going a bit overboard?"
"Maybe, though I think it might have been some fairly confident warriors going out
to set a high-water mark for the others to hit." Doc twisted around and rested both of his hands on her shoulders. "More than that. I think the Falcons eliminated the Waco Rangers so the rest of our force would be the best possible opposition available. The destruction of the Waco Rangers has been a motivating force for us, yet we're also kind of relieved they're gone. Little victories against the Dragoons have got to count for a lot more than even a big victory over the Waco Rangers."
Shelly slowly smiled. "I can see it. The reason the Falcons haven't wiped us out yet is because they need us to be the toughest people around."
"Right." Doc pointed off toward the Falcon cordon. "Right now they have us where they want us. They call the shots, they fight as long as they want, then they pull back to brag and analyze what they did right and wrong."
"I take it you have a plan that could foul them up?"
"I think so. Whitting, the town where you pulled the last of the Militia from, is a perfectly defensible position from which the line here can be commanded. If we go through the mountains with two forces, one that hits the edge of the line while our main body pushes along the front, a small, light, fast force could roar into Whitting and pop a bunch of the Falcon command staff. It wouldn't destroy them, but it might slow them down."
The Dragoon nodded emphatically. "Simple, clean, limited but achievable objectives. Nice work for someone who's previously been only a desk jockey."
Doc smiled at her. "More flattery. Makes me think I could get to like liaising."
"I'm sure you could come up with a good plan for that, too."
The sound of someone clearing his throat killed Doc's riposte as he and Shelly turned quickly toward the ladder behind them.
Andy Bick, his face almost as red as his hair, coughed lightly. "Begging your pardon, sirs, er, ma'am, ah ..."
Doc gave Shelly a wink. "Go ahead, Andy."
"Sir, we've got someone below you'll want to see. Dragoon security picked him up. He's one of ours. He was AWOL."
Doc rolled his eyes. "You can't go absent without leave here in Leitnerton. There's no place to go."
"No, sir, but he went AWOL in Port St. William. They found him among the refugees."
"Who?"
Bick smiled broadly. "Leftenant Copley, sir. He's been asking for you."
* * *
The two Dragoon soldiers standing behind Copley snapped to attention as Doc and Shelly entered Doc's office. Copley, who sat slumped in a chair, flicked the barest sketch of a salute at Doc. "Glad to see you, Hauptmann. You can tell these guys to let me go now."
Doc frowned. "And why would I do that?"
"You forget our deal?"
"No. It's quite fresh in my mind, actually."
Copley glanced at Shelly. "I'm sure the Dragoons would love to know what you were up to."
Doc folded his arms across his chest. "Colonel Brubaker, I believe you will recall my telling you about a thieving quartermaster we had in the unit. I told you he was a pathological liar we'd not seen since we left Port St. William."
Shelly nodded. "I'd never believe anything he said, especially if it was self-serving."
Copley sat up a bit straighten "Oh, that's good, Doc. You're sharper than I figured."
"There are blunt instruments sharper than you thought I was, Copley." Something niggling began to worm its way up through Doc's consciousness. "Colonel, the leftenant here proposed to me a way to make money by stealing government property, then having it listed as destroyed in training exercises. It would be resold through the black market and be pure profit."
"He's lying, Colonel, it was his plan." Copley got a grip on himself and smiled smugly. "Not bad, but not perfect."
Shelly smiled at Doc. "It does seem a bit more brilliant than I would have imagined Mr. Copley capable of being."
"You'd be surprised," Copley laughed.
Doc's jaw dropped open as he replayed Copley's previous comment in his mind. Realization exploded in his brain. "My plan wasn't bad, but you perfected it, didn't you, you son of a bitch!"
Copley shrank back in the chair. "I don't know what you mean."
"Sure you do. I should have seen it before." Doc smacked the heel of his hand against his forehead. "The garrison units in Port St. William reported being short on munitions. You used our deployment to the smelter as a cover to duplicate supply orders. The Titans got what we needed, but the others got shorted because you moved a whole bunch of their stuff out, too. The only thing more believable than equipment and munitions being destroyed in training exercises is them getting destroyed during an attack by the Clans."
Copley's self-satisfied smirk burned through his innocent expression like acid through paper. "That would be a good idea. Maybe next time."
"What makes you think there's going to be a next time for you, Leftenant?" Doc stared down at the man and dropped his voice half an octave. "I think you know where there's a storehouse of weapons, munitions, and other supplies. You want a next time that doesn't involve reincarnation, tell me where it is."
Copley shook his head. "I invoke article three of the Lyran Alliance Code of Military Justice. Get me a lawyer."
"Fresh out of lawyers, Copley, not that one would be much help to you right now." Doc reached down and grabbed a handful of the man's tunic. "Try this scenario on for size. We last saw you in Port St. William. It is now a Falcon stronghold. We understand captive officers are being detained in its prison facilities. The fact that you are here and out of uniform suggests to me that you have willingly chosen to give aid and comfort to the enemy. You're a spy. I can have you shot."
"That'll get you a lot of supplies, if they exist."
Doc released him. "That's your worst alternative, Copley."
"You gonna give me a better one?"
"Sure. We'll buy the supplies from you. We'll give you five percent of the black market value."
"Try five hundred percent over market value." Copley smiled. "Or you can buy elsewhere."
"I'd think again if I were you, Mr. Copley."
"Huh?"
"By bargaining here you've confirmed you've got the supplies squirreled away." Doc cracked his knuckles. "A little narco-interrogation and you'll be giving us a full inventory of everything, and directions on how to get it."
Copley's Adam's apple bounced up and down once.
"It's a buyer's market." Doc shook his head. "Five percent is more than fair."
"How do you figure that's fair?"
"It's five percent of something, not a hundred percent of nothing."
Shelly smiled. "Let me try. I think I could get him to pay us to take the stuff off his hands."
Something in her voice made Copley pale. "Five percent, okay, I can give you the coordinates. It's about a day from here in the caves."
"Yes!" Doc gave Shelly a quick kiss. "Andy, take Copley down to the map room, get a fix on the site, then get the Titans ready. We've got a run to make."
"Wilco, Doc." Andy snagged Copley by the shoulder and dragged him off, the two Dragoons following closely on their heels.
Shelly patted Doc on the back. "Well done."
"I set him up, you came in for the kill."
"Nice teamwork." She smiled easily. "I'll go convince the others that your little raid plan has a lot of merit. I'll pull my Delta battalion off the line and prep them to hit the Falcon line from behind while you go to Whitting."
"Sounds like a plan." Doc laughed lightly. "I look forward to our continued liaising."
"As do I, Hauptmann Trevena," Shelly said as she headed off, "and celebrations of victories to come."
35
DropShip Barbarossa
Nadir Recharge Point, Arc-Royal
Arc-Royal Defense Cordon
19 May 3058
Victor Davion wasn't certain he'd heard correctly. "What do you mean you won't go?"
Phelan Kell, tall and darkly handsome, wearing gray Clan leathers that covered his muscular form like latex flesh, shook his head. "I cannot go with you to Coven
try, Victor."
"But didn't you just conclude a war with the Jade Falcons? Aren't they your enemy? Didn't they kill Ulric Kerensky and Natasha Kerensky?"
"Yes, Victor, yes, all of those things are true." Phelan’s fists knotted and slackened rhythmically. "Had I a choice, I would go. I'd take all of my warriors and go off with you to Coventry. Unfortunately, I can't because there's another threat we must be prepared to deal with."
"What other threat?" Victor pointed at the holographic display of the data his Intelligence Secretariat had obtained from sources inside the LAAF. "The Jade Falcons have, according to this, four Galaxies on Coventry. They're four jumps from Tharkad. My sister is prepared to defend herself, but what she doesn't see is that if the Falcons jump toward Tharkad from Coventry, they'll break the truce line. They'll violate the truce and the war will break out again. There's no other threat to the Inner Sphere that's even close to this one."
"In your mind."
Victor looked around the room to see if anyone else thought Phelan's reply was ridiculous. Kai and Hohiro remained expressionless. The Precentor Martial's head cocked slightly in concentration, and Colonel Daniel Allard, leader of the Kell Hounds, frowned a bit. Only Ragnar Magnusson, once heir to the throne of the Free Rasalhague Republic, appeared to agree with the sentiments of the Clan Wolf Khan. But he's been adopted into the Clan, so that's no big surprise.
"Phelan, forgive me, but the Falcons aren't just a threat in my mind, they're a threat in reality."
Phelan's green eyes closed for a second, then opened again as he nodded. "I agree, they are a threat. Still, you have a formidable force gathered to meet them. The First Genyosha, the First St. Ives Lancers, your Davion Heavy Guards, this Invader Galaxy of ComStar's, and both Kell Hound regiments. Those units, along with those your sister is sending, should be more than enough to defeat four Galaxies of Falcons."
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