* * *
Aidan witnessed the young warrior's acts from his uncomfortable sitting position, the barrel of the guard's weapon still pressed against his neck. But when she turned the AgroMech to fire on the rebels, with the children and their parents now scattering through the square, the astonished guard released the gun's pressure ever so slightly. Aidan reacted immediately. He knocked the weapon completely away with the back of his hand, then grabbed the guard by the waist, ramming his shoulder into his stomach. The man went limp immediately, and Aidan hurled him to the ground. He stepped on the wrist of the hand holding the weapon, then wrenched the light laser pistol out of the man's grasp. The weapon had probably come from the Vreeport arsenal. It felt cold and probably had never been fired. He fired it now, killing his former guard with a single shot through the temple.
Aidan had no time for further weaponry analysis. Looking around, he saw that everyone was so panicked by the AgroMech that his escape had gone unnoticed. Moving through the crowd, he headed toward the big machine.
The young warrior was on a suicide mission, he thought. There were too many rebels, too great an arsenal of weapons aligned against her, for her to succeed for long. Only concern for their own personal safety kept the rebels from simply blowing up the AgroMech with a well-placed shot or grenade. He had to get her out of that cockpit. The two of them had a better chance of shooting their way out of the settlement on foot. That strategy was perhaps as suicidal as hers, but no better alternative occurred to him.
Nearing the AgroMech, Aidan saw someone climbing its left rear leg. The red skin of the man's neck told Aidan it was Jared Mahoney. He stopped, set his feet, and fired, but the shot went wide. The sights in the pistol must be off. Well, there was no time to work out its adjustments now. Aidan picked up his pace and reached the AgroMech, where Jared Mahoney had climbed higher up the machine's left rear leg. It would not take much for him to reach the cockpit.
Aidan had no choice but to imitate Jared Mahoney's action by climbing the damaged left front leg. Halfway up, he clutched a section so red-hot that it burned the palm of his hand. He hardly felt it as he continued to scramble upward.
Pulling himself onto the top level of the AgroMech,
Aidan saw that Jared Mahoney had yet to notice him. He was too intent on firing his submachine gun toward the cockpit. Flecks of canopy were breaking off. Aidan could still see the warrior in the cockpit, however. One of her laser weapons had fused from excessive heat buildup and the other was now firing sporadically, about to go.
Diving, he grabbed Jared Mahoney by the ankles and flipped him down. There was no time to grapple, so he merely seized the man's gun arm and wrenched it backward. The gun went flying off the agribot. Giving the arm another twist, Aidan felt a bone breaking as Jared Mahoney screamed in pain. Aidan pulled at the arm, and the rebel leader's screaming became choked and pitiful.
Aidan released the arm and pulled Mahoney to his feet. Holding the laser pistol to the man's head, Aidan let the pose say everything for him. Mahoney's legs buckled. Aidan grabbed him with his free hand and held him up.
Looking around the town square, he saw rebels dropping their weapons and edging away from the AgroMech. Some stood mute and helpless, still holding onto their rifles and pistols, but obviously unwilling to use them.
The young warrior emerged from the cockpit. She held an automatic rifle. Turning toward the forest, she waved and the four BattleMechs reappeared and began to advance toward Vreeport.
"I think the rebellion is over," the young warrior said. She was looking at Aidan with an expression he could not interpret.
"What is your name, Mech Warrior?" he said.
He might have been mistaken, but was that a flicker of disappointment in her eyes? "I am MechWarrior Diana, Star Colonel."
"Your name will go on report, MechWarrior Diana. Your actions were brave but foolish. Too much could have gone wrong. You overreached yourself. You interfered in a hostage situation. Though the outcome has been successful, I would not have approved the action. No, do not speak. I have had enough protest for awhile."
The danger now over, Aidan released Jared Mahoney. The man dropped to his knees. Shaking his head, apparently to clear it, he spoke in a low growl, "I will not be a bondsman."
"No," Aidan said, "you will be no one's bondsman."
Lowering the laser pistol to the man's head, he shot Jared Mahoney, changing his redskinned face into a mass of blood and bone. Aidan killed Jared Mahoney in exactly the same way that the rebel leader had killed Melanie Truit.
16
"No, Diana, it would not be a good move to challenge your commanding officer to an honor duel in the Circle of Equals. This is not even a matter for a Trial of Refusal. Anyway, Aidan Pryde is a skilled fighter, and your youth would be no advantage. He would probably kill you. He would kill you."
Diana leaned sullenly against the outer wall of a supply hut, staring with unseeing eyes at the activity around her. The people of Vreeport had been transported to the occupation forces' stronghold. Many of them were being herded into various temporary buildings, to be classified and reassigned. Aidan Pryde had ruled that the Vreeport rebels would be separated from the rest of the citizens and sent to other settlements.
After evacuating Freeport, the conquerors' last sight of the city was the massive explosion that destroyed it, sending up a huge mushroom cloud. Though Aidan thought it wasteful to leave behind Vreeport's arsenal of weapons and ammo, he knew that reprisal against the uprising was imperative, and he wanted the act to stand as an unforgettable symbol of Clan dominance. The leveling of Vreeport, like the devastation of cities and countries throughout history, would be a dramatic lesson for everyone on Quarell.
Joanna's dry comment on the matter was that so few people lived on this underpopulated planet that Aidan's grand symbol might not have all the impact he hoped.
Diana pulled away from her position by the wall. "I cannot put into words how I felt when he chastised me after I had saved him and the hostages and—"
Joanna took Diana by the shoulders and shook her lightly. "Do not let your anger run away with you, MechWarrior. We have all experienced the disapproval of a commanding officer. We all know what it is to make a supreme effort, only to be criticized for it later by the one person whose approval might mean something. I grew up in a sibko, Diana, so anything to do with family feeling simply escapes my understanding. Perhaps being disciplined by a disapproving commander who is also one's father is—"
"I am not looking for approval from anyone. I wish to avenge an insult, an undeserved one."
"Was it really undeserved? There were standing orders and we ignored them. That is why you have no valid grounds for an honor duel, Diana. And that should be the end of it, quiaff?"
Diana nodded her agreement, but the look on her face was as sullen and unconvinced as before.
As the two of them crossed the parade ground, Joanna detected some excited movement among the techs, a scurrying back and forth, a hum of agitated talk. She stopped one and asked her what was going on.
"There's a DropShip arriving in this sector. They say it is traveling under order from Khan Chistu himself."
What in the name of Kerensky, Joanna wondered, would Khan Chistu want with a mop-up unit on one of the already-conquered planets? Nothing good that she could think of.
* * *
Aidan received the news of the DropShip's arrival from Horse.
"I tried to contact them," Horse said, "but they refuse all messages. All I got was a voice-only from the DropShip commander saying that a representative of Khan Chistu would pay you a visit later today."
Aidan looked across the parade ground where some of the Vreeport citizens were being processed. Crossing his line of vision were Joanna and the feisty MechWarrior, Diana.
For a moment he forgot about the Khan's representative and wondered if he had been too hard on Diana. She had been brave and saved not only his life, but who knew how many others? He had noted tho
se facts for her codex even while recording the violation of standing orders.
Who should understand better than Aidan Pryde, something of a hothead during his own military career? His codex recorded the many times when he had followed his own instincts and urges in combat situations, those many times when his valiant efforts had been rewarded only by reprimands. Now that he was the commander, he saw the need for careful evaluation of all warriors, but was often uncomfortable with the duty.
Anyway, this Diana would survive, he was sure. And from what he had seen of her so far, he was sure she would do more than survive. She would excel.
He turned away from the window, these thoughts still on his mind. "What do you think, Horse? Should I have gone in and razed Vreeport the moment the people rebelled?"
"That is what I would have done. But that is all past. Why do you still think of it now?"
"I am wondering about Khan Chistu's representative. Why send someone here? Does it have to do with some policy of mine for which I am to be reprimanded? It is a long trip to take for a simple bureaucratic censure, after all."
"Now that I have had a chance to study you trueborns up close for so long, nothing surprises me in what any of you do."
Aidan merely nodded and went back to his duties, oblivious to Horse's sarcasm regarding trueborns after all these years.
It was several hours later when Horse returned. "The shuttle from the DropShip has landed. I would have come for you sooner, but they gave us no advance warning. The Khan's representative is on his way here in a VTOL."
Aidan left his office and walked to the parade ground to await the tilt-rotor craft. It appeared in the west, above some trees, and gently settled onto the landing platform. An aide assisted the Khan's representative from the VTOL, for the latter seemed barely in one piece. He limped and one of his arms was held stiffly at his side, as though useless. A half-mask covered one side of his face. Many Clan warriors used such half-masks to cover disfiguring injuries.
Aidan did not recognize the Khan's representative until he was only a few steps away. He might have noticed something familiar in the man's posture or bearing, but that would have been all.
He recognized him well enough now. No matter how disfigured, here was Kael Pershaw, a man Aidan could never forget. Years ago, when Aidan was still posing as a freeborn, Kael Pershaw had been his commanding officer on a backwater planet named Glory. Though that world did not live up to its name, it was the place where Aidan had first found his own glory as a warrior. The Glory Station battle over Kael Pershaw's genetic legacy had put Aidan on a direct line to winning his Bloodname.
He and Kael Pershaw had hated each other almost on sight. And if the steady glare in the man's visible eye was any indication, Aidan guessed that Kael Pershaw's sentiments had not changed much.
Looking at him, remembering him, Aidan discovered that his own sentiments were equally unchanged after all these years. From the moment he recognized his former commander, Aidan despised him all over again.
17
"May I offer you a drink?" Aidan said, once he and Kael Pershaw were settled in his office.
"You can offer, but there is no point in my accepting. My stomach is, well, reconstructed, and my sense of taste is useless now. I am completely sustained by pill and injection. When I have thirst, I merely suck on a wet cloth, and it does all I need. But go ahead and serve yourself."
"No. I have only occasional use for spirits. Now, seeing you again, I prefer to remain cold sober. I notice you are a Star Colonel."
Pershaw's eyebrows rose. "A mere Star Colonel, do you mean? Yes, if I were still in command of a fighting unit, I would have a higher rank. But age, as well as"—he made a head gesture that seemed to take in the game leg, the stiff arm, and the damage to his face—"injuries have made me unfit for command. Officers of advisory capacity may not outrank commanding officers still in the field. Thus, I am demoted to Star Colonel, the rank, I believe, I held when we last encountered each other."
"That is correct. In a way, I have you to thank for my present success."
Grimacing, Pershaw shifted uneasily in his chair, his deformities obviously making all movement painful. "You are being ironic, I trust. Do you credit me for my disciplinary treatment of you?"
"I do remember the dark band," Aidan said. The dark band was an emblem of shame that Pershaw had forced him to wear for the killing of another Clan officer.
"I wished at the time to crush you; instead, you became a hero. I wonder, too, at your allusion to your present success. Success? Your career is a history of unfavorable assignments, of minor battles, of garrison duties. Even your experience here on Quarell has taint to it. Other units are presently engaging in more important battles on more important planets." Pershaw cocked his head inquisitively. "You are silent. Unwilling to make excuses, are you?"
"Clan warriors do not make excuses." Pershaw laughed abruptly, the sound having lost no cruelty over the years. "Oh, spend some time with the Jade Falcon command group and you will hear excuses enough. When circumstances are extreme, Clan tradition sometimes suffers. Our warriors, however, perform consistently with our virtues and ideals. They are honorable. And you are one of them, quiaff?"
"It is my hope," Aidan said. "But you have spoken truly. I have not had key assignments in this invasion or in preceding duties. And I am aware of the taint that has accompanied my career. I have tried to wipe it out by-well, it does not matter to you what I have tried. The taint remains."
Pershaw's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps if you had beaten Megasa differently in your final Bloodright battle . . . Then again, perhaps not. With your history, the taint would have remained, no matter what. We of the Clan are an unforgiving lot, quiaff?"
Aidan shrugged. He was finding it difficult to look steadily at Kael Pershaw. The man's deformities, especially the half-face, were disconcerting. On the visible facial skin was a trio of deep scars running from the edge of the half-mask, over his nose and across his cheek, disappearing into his hairline.
Like all Clan warriors, Aidan dreaded becoming old. Yet his worst fears had never envisioned this kind of old warrior, one so damaged by battle that he had become at least half-monster.
Pershaw, perhaps sensing some of Aidan's reaction, carefully rearranged himself on his chair, using his good hand to settle his bad leg into a more upright position. He lifted the shoulder of his stiff arm so that the limb did not seem to hang as a weight.
"I can do nothing to remove this taint, Aidan Pryde, and I am here to convey a decision that will no doubt add to it. As you know, the Falcon Guards Cluster was nearly demolished by the action in the Great Gash on Twycross. This is the only major defeat Clan Jade Falcon has suffered in this invasion, and it has tainted the Falcon Guards, just as you are tainted. Dezgra is the word."
"Yes, but were the Guards not the victims of secretly planted demolition charges and—"
Pershaw nearly rose out of his chair in anger. "You do not make excuses for yourself, nor do you make excuses for the Falcon Guards! Adler Malthus was too arrogant. He should have scouted the pass properly before leading so many 'Mechs into a confined area. He should not have accepted an honor duel with an Inner Sphere freebirth nor stopped his command in the middle of the Great Gash."
"Kael Pershaw, who knows what command decision another commander—myself included—might have made in the same circumstances, with the same intelligence data."
Pershaw's visible eye blazed with fury. "Good! Good! Then perhaps, in your own arrogance, you are the proper choice to command the new Falcon Guards!" He was almost shouting.
This time Pershaw did attempt to rise out of the chair, but unable to achieve the proper balance, he fell right back into it. Despite Aidan's intense dislike of the man, he was saddened to see the former superb warrior in such a diminished physical state. He was a rare specimen, so debilitated as to be unsuitable even for one of the old-warrior units often sacrificed as a delaying tactic in battle. Again he saw his own future as an old warrio
r, and he did not want to reach it. He would also hate to become such a physical wreck.
Then the meaning of what Pershaw had just said hit Aidan like a projectile with a delayed charge.
"I am to command the new Falcon Guards, Kael Pershaw?"
Pershaw's new laughter was low-down, mean. "That is the gist of the message for which I am messenger. All survivors of the former Falcon Guards will be transferred out and a completely new contingent will be formed, with you at its head. Do you see, Aidan Pryde, what I meant about taint? You are the only available officer who would not be insulted by such a command. And I can see in your eyes that you are not."
"The assignment means front-line duty, does it not?"
"Even more than you anticipate."
"That more than compensates for any taint."
"And that is why I chose you, Aidan Pryde. I knew you would feel no shame at the assignment."
"You chose me? You are now a Khan?"
"And not just his messenger? You are right, Aidan Pryde, quite right. I was the only one, in fact, who could convey this message. Khan Chistu is busy at the moment, as you might imagine. To forestall any further questions, let me say that I am among the highest-placed advisors to our Khan. He selected me, even though I am a crippled old man."
"That is logical, given Vandervahn Chistu's reputation as an intelligent and crafty warrior. You were always known as a supreme military strategist, Kael Pershaw."
"I should say that you flatter me, but I cannot for it is true. If the Khan had not rescued me from mere bureaucratic duty, I would be buried alive somewhere. At any rate, I cannot talk further about my role in the present invasion. Let us just say that I chose you, Aidan Pryde, because your tenacity and uncommon skill at sometimes audacious maneuvers have the best chance of reviving the Falcon Guards. If you do not, nothing is lost. No shame you might bring to the role of unit commander could bring the Falcon Guards down any further."
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