Sun-Tzu nodded sagely. "I know. I also know that, as a man with blood ties to the Highlanders, you will be treated as one of their own, a kindred MechWarrior. You are also a direct link to one of their greatest heroes. The current CO of the unit, Colonel MacLeod, took command of your grandfather's former unit after the Highlanders defected to Northwind. He and the others will accept you on face value, like the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. And when the time is right, the wolf will spring forth to slaughter the flock."
"Still, sire, there must be others more qualified. I live to serve you, but I only wish to see the success of such a mission."
"Yes, perhaps there are others, but none that I'll have. There are one hundred eighty-six relatives of the Highlanders still in the Capellan Confederation. Of these, only fifteen have family members still active in the military. I have personally reviewed their files. I want you, Jaffray. You are daring—I saw that today. You don't hesitate to take extraordinary risks and turn certain defeat into victory. You are also a man who understands tactics and strategy."
Again Loren might have protested, but Sun-Tzu held up one glittering hand for silence.
"Most MechWarriors would never have taken on three-to-one odds and survived as you did earlier today. And I read in your service record that during one raid, you killed two of your fellow Commandos who were injured rather than let them be captured. You are undoubtedly the man for this mission, Major Jaffray."
Sun-Tzu leaned forward in his chair, his thin features highlighted in the bunker's yellow lights. "Perhaps it will interest you to know that Colonel Hertzog spent at least thirty minutes trying to dissuade me from offering you a mission. He claimed not to like your 'style' of combat, saying that you rely too much on guile. He did everything he could to convince me that you were not the man that I wanted."
"And that is good?" Loren said.
"Yes. I have found that most military men are unwilling to part with good officers and troops. Based on the squirming done by your commanding officer, you must be one of the best warriors I have. And for this mission, I need the best."
Loren felt his heart begin to race with excitement, but he remained formal and deferential. "I appreciate your confidence, Excellency."
"Success is everything. And you will use any means necessary to win it. Understood?"
"Understood, sire. What assets will I have at my disposal?"
"I am sending a gift to the Highlander command staff—it is being loaded into a DropShip as we speak. A JumpShip will also be at your disposal. Sometime after your arrival on Northwind I will send two battalions of Commandos to a pirate jump point in the system. Once the people of Northwind accept my generous offer, Victor Davion will no doubt toss anything he can at the world to regain control of it. That is all I can tell you, Major, except that you will be my sole agent on Northwind. You won't have to contend with interference from anyone wishing to 'assist' you." From this, Loren understood that Sun-Tzu was holding the state security forces of the Maskirovka in check for this undertaking. It added even more gravity to the mission.
"The Death Commandos will begin a combat drop on your orders only, and you alone will have the authority to abort such an action, if necessary." The Chancellor reached into the cuff of his silk sleeve and pulled out a small object. He carefully slid the dark blue diskette across the table toward Loren. "That disk contains the latest intelligence data on the Northwind Highlanders and the planet itself. Profiles of unit commanders, TO&E, and so on. All the codes you need are there as well. Commit them to memory."
Sun-Tzu Liao rose slowly from his chair and looked down at the young officer. "You have not yet said whether you accept this assignment, Major Jaffray."
Loren rose from his chair, once again feeling a slight chill and not knowing from whence it came. "Command and I obey, Chancellor. It is a chance to right a great wrong."
Sun-Tzu's eyes locked with Loren's. More than stern, his gaze was almost fierce. Loren thought about the stories he'd heard of Sun-Tzu's mother and for a moment he saw Romano Liao's wild eyes peering through her son's. Then the look was gone, the Chancellor's expression as calm and inscrutable as before. "Beware of sentimentality, Major. This mission is much more than it seems and you will be very much alone. Righting wrongs is noble—but it can also be deadly. Such ideals will not preserve you once you enter the camp of our enemies."
"I understand, my lord." Again Loren felt his heart race with excitement.
"Understand this too, then. Your mission is critical to the Capellan Confederation. You will use any means necessary to neutralize Northwind and the Highlanders—be it assassination, deceit, or guile. Nor will you hesitate to sacrifice either your life or even your honor to achieve our goals. Nothing must divert you from the purpose of the mission. There is no room for failure."
Loren did not know how long he stood there after the door had closed behind his lord.
There is no room for failure, the Chancellor had said, and those parting words echoed in his mind long after Sun-Tzu had gone his way, leaving the young officer to contemplate the strange and twisting path of fate.
4
Kohler Spaceport Tara, Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
11 September 3057
The limousine pulled up to the edge of the tarmac of the Kohler Spaceport, and the young infantry trooper stepped up smartly to the rear door. He held it open, snapping a salute to the gray-haired man in Highlander dress tartans who stepped out onto the hot tarmac.
Colonel William MacLeod returned the salute as his executive officer followed him out of the limo. Adjusting his battle sash where it draped over his kilt, he lifted his eyes to the early evening sky over Northwind, scanning for some sight of the arriving DropShip.
Major Chastity Mulvaney emerged from the vehicle in similar dress uniform. A worried frown creased her brow and her movements were abrupt, almost stiff.
She too lifted her eyes to the sky overhead, searching for the ship they'd come to meet. "I still have my doubts about this entire arrangement, Colonel."
MacLeod smiled as he turned to look at her. "I did not become the Commanding Officer of the Northwind Highlanders by taking foolish risks, Major. It's true I was caught off guard by the communique' that Sun-Tzu Liao was sending a messenger and gift to Northwind. And I was even more surprised to find out that it was the grandson of old Ironclad Jaffray. But to refuse such a gift and visitor might do more harm than accepting them."
"Don't you think it's a slap in the face to Victor Davion? He's the one we work for, after all."
MacLeod chuckled. "Let's just say it's a way of keeping open our options. We Highlanders have been mercenaries for centuries. We sell our services, the services of war. I prefer not to insult a potential employer, even when the prospects of employment are remote. Upsetting our beloved Planetary Consul and his aide is merely a side benefit."
"This Loren Jaffray may be related to the Highlanders by blood, but he isn't one of us, Colonel. He's a Death Commando. You know what that means, sir."
MacLeod smiled, letting Mulvaney have her tirade.
"He's a fanatic, a trained terrorist, and he takes orders directly from the Chancellor, who's the only one he's accountable to. You know what kind of jobs the Commandos are assigned—sabotage, assassinations, kidnappings, terrorism—you name it."
MacLeod shook his head in mock amazement. "I never thought I'd see the day when my executive officer was afraid of one man. Besides, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
"I'm not afraid of him, sir."
Colonel MacLeod had heard it all before, had been hearing it for days, in fact. He and Mulvaney had discussed at length whether to permit Jaffray's visit. Though he'd come to trust her instincts, in this case MacLeod thought they simply didn't have enough information about either Jaffray or his business on Northwind to deny permission.
"It's too late, Major," he said. "Jaffray's on his way to Northwind, and you know it. We'll trea
t him with the same respect due any courier of blood relation of the Highlanders."
MacLeod paused and lifted his eyes again to the sky. "And if this laddie thinks he's coming here to do some dirty work for Sun-Tzu, he'll find himself such an 'honored guest' that he's never out of our sight. We'll be keeping a sharp eye on him and if he means to harm the Highlanders we'll find out about it. Keep him close, Major, so our security people can watch his every move."
Their conversation was interrupted as another gleaming limousine pulled up. The small fender flags of the Federated Commonwealth fluttered slightly in the evening breeze as the driver got out and went around to open the rear door for his two passengers. Appearing first was Drake Burns, Federated Commonwealth Planetary Consul of Northwind, complete with flowing cape. He was followed by a shorter man, Drew Catelli, the sight of whom made MacLeod's expression darken slightly.
The taller man strutted arrogandy over to MacLeod, then bowed with more formality than necessary. Behind him the small honor guard band of the Northwind Highlanders had begun to assemble. The Consul threw them a glance, then returned his attention to MacLeod. "This is a most peculiar meeting, Colonel. I assume you have not changed your mind about approving this Liao officer's request to visit Northwind."
MacLeod shook his head. 'The message I received indicated that this Loren Jaffray wishes to visit Northwind for personal reasons, Consul Burns. Members of his family were heroes of the Highlander clans and I would not tarnish our traditions by turning him aside merely because of the flag he wears on his lapel. Besides that, he is carrying a message and gift from Sun-Tzu Liao to the Highlanders. It is fully in my rights as the sovereign of this world to grant him access."
"Quite. But you are treating him like a visiting dignitary instead of a trained terrorist," said the shorter man, pointing to the honor guard band.
"That band is not here for Major Jaffray, Colonel Catelli. It is here for me. It is a Highlander tradition to greet visiting kin or dignitaries with bagpipes. We would salute you the same way, as I believe we did when you arrived on Northwind. But unless you have some specific charges or evidence against Jaffray, I'm going to respect his right as a bloodkin of the Highlanders to visit his homeworld." MacLeod was weary of having to defend his decision. Besides the many discussions with Chastity Mulvaney, he'd had to endure several long debates with Burns and Catelli.
Drake Burns cut in impatiently. "You seem irritated this evening, Colonel. I hope we have done nothing to bring on this mood."
MacLeod's face reddened slightly, and he crossed his arms in open defiance. "I had, in all honesty, hoped to settle the Glengarry matter before we met again."
Burns was unshaken by MacLeod's refusal to coat his words in a veneer of diplomacy. "Ah yes, your formal protest over the payment terms for the Glengarry operation. Is that the matter to which you refer, Colonel?"
"You know damn well it is. You hired us to help put down the uprising in Skye and we did our duty. Then when we go to refit, you try to sell us repair parts at three times the going rate. I had to import the supply parts from the Free Worlds League and you refused to pay the bill, despite the clause in our contract guaranteeing reimbursement. As I said in our last meeting, you will not bind the Highlanders to your Federated Commonwealth company store."
"You exaggerate, Colonel. This is nothing more than a minor contract dispute," Burns said, casually checking the cuffs of his shirt to imply how unimportant was the matter.
"The Highlanders will not be absorbed into the FedCom military machine, Consul Burns. That I can assure you." MacLeod was about to say more when they heard the distant rumble of an approaching DropShip. There would be another time to address the issue ... another place ...
* * *
The DropShip Bee de Corbin shuddered slightly on final approach to the spaceport on the outskirts of Tara, the capital of Northwind. Loren checked his safety belt to make sure it was secure as he crammed his muscular frame into the flight seat. A Leopard Class DropShip was spartan at best, and often took a buffeting from turbulent planetary air disturbances because of its smaller size. But Loren Jaffray had been experiencing the bumps and grinds of DropShip landings since the age of fifteen, and had long ago become accustomed to every sound and sensation of one.
Northwind! After a lifetime of hearing about it from his father and grandfather, he felt a wave of excitement rise in him as he watched the surface of the planet looming nearer through the viewport. He knew all about its history, how Northwind had been settled by colonists from Terra's own Scotland, Ireland, and Wales during the early years of space exploration. Those settlers had taken immediately to Northwind because it reminded them so much of their former homelands.
Centuries later the residents of Northwind, in conjunction with their Capellan sires, had raised the regiments of the Northwind Highlanders at the height of the Star League. In that era the Northwind Highlanders were known as one of the finest military units ever formed. But the Star League collapsed and Northwind was seized by House Davion's Federated Suns. The Highlander regiments retreated into the Capellan Confederation, where they found refuge for more than three centuries, awaiting the day they might return to Northwind. As time passed, the Scots, Irish, and Welsh accents faded with the influx of recruits from across the Inner Sphere. But never lost was the Highlanders' longing for their homeworld. Northwind became like a grail, the dream of it binding them so tightly that even three centuries of war could not break the bond.
The dream came true in 3028, when the Highlanders signed the Northwind Agreement with Hanse Davion and abandoned the Capellan Confederation. The return was known as the Homecoming, but for Loren's grandfather the victory had been a double-edged sword. As a dissenter to the decision, Corwin Jaffray had renounced his commission with the Highlanders. Though Loren was not yet born when the Highlanders returned to Northwind, he wore the memory of it like a scar. It was almost as though he had inherited his grandfather's sorrow at losing both his unit and his chance to return to Northwind.
And now Loren was about to take his own place in the story, picking up where his grandfather had left off. It was not just because he was a Death Commando that Sun-Tzu had selected him for this mission, but because the Chancellor hoped Loren's kinship with the unit would win him the trust of the Highlander command staff. And once Loren opened that chink in their armor, his mission was clear.
Destroy the Northwind Highlanders.
He'd left Krin immediately, spending the last ten days of transit reviewing the most current data on Northwind and its infamous garrison. Perhaps the most important point was the strain that had begun to fray the relations between the Highlanders and the Federated Commonwealth. Perhaps that was why the Highlander commander had approved his visit. Loren had read the text of Sun-Tzu's message to him and could still remember the words: "... Major Jaffray carries with him a message from myself as the ruler of the Capellan Confederation and a gift to the Highlanders from the Capellan people. Please consider him a private courier, with my personal assurances that he comes in the spirit of peace ..."
Perhaps they were curious and interested about what the Chancellor had to say, or perhaps they wished to use him as a pawn against the Federated Commonwealth. Regardless, the Highlanders' response had been diplomatically cordial. Not so the Federated Commonwealth's. The moment the Liao JumpShip entered FedCom Space, they'd had to submit to an inspection that seemed to go far beyond the call of duty.
Loren, meanwhile, had been busy delving deep into the history of William MacLeod, learning that the paths of the MacLeods and the Jaffrays had crossed before. When Loren's grandfather had decided not to join the Homecoming, it was a young Major MacLeod who was promoted to Major Corwin Jaffray's former command. The Chancellor must have known that too, and Loren marveled at how well he had planned this mission.
The ship rumbled as the maneuvering thrusters corrected the ship's flight, adjusting for final approach to the spaceport. The Bee de Corbin angled upward to slow its speed and
dissipate the heat that had built up on its reentry plates. It jerked slightly as the landing struts lowered, prompting the passenger messaging system to inform Loren to brace for landing.
He looked out over the city that seemed to be rushing toward him and was impressed by its size and myriad twinkling lights. The changing of the city's name had been one of the dozens of topics he'd reviewed during his journey. Tara was the name given it by the Highlanders upon their return, replacing the Davion one of Cromarty City. Though the Davion locals still protested, the name Tara was actually the more venerable, dating back hundreds of years to a time even before the Davions took Northwind from the Capellans. Such was the ongoing debate over Northwind's sovereignty and ownership.
The ship rocked again in a sudden down draft of air and Loren felt the safety belts dig slightly into his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the final-approach warning light come on and felt the Bee de Corbin slow slightly. It took an additional ten long and tedious minutes for the ship to finally touch down on the tarmac, bouncing slightly and eventually taxiing to the runway. As it finally came to a total stop, Loren popped the safety belt free and moved to the personnel access hatch. He carefully tucked the book he'd been reading into his briefcase. It had been years since he'd read Machiavelli's The Prince, but the sudden thrust into the world of political intrigue had brought it back to mind as the one text that might prepare him for this new kind of warfare.
Loren smiled as he opened the briefcase and took out his small pulse laser pistol, which he strapped around his waist. He snapped the case shut and set the security seal.
Catching sight of his reflection in the hatch window, Loren hurriedly ran his fingers through his hair and also straightened his dark green tie. He wasn't particularly comfortable in his dress uniform, but had decided the warrior garb would make a stronger impression than if he came as a civilian. At first he'd considered removing the Commando death's head insignia from his lapel to avoid infuriating the Davion officials who were bound to meet him, but in the end he left it on. Loren smiled to himself. Let them see what kind of MechWarrior I am. Let them worry about me.
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