Anticipating the eventual need to answer that question, An-Wing thought to lie, then thought better of It when her eyes met with those of Masaryk—whose Injury was being looked to by Physic in the back of the G-carrier—and steeled herself for the truth.
"It was my intention to make art independent arrangement with Brak on Oriflamme's behalf," she said, "for access to the depot."
"I take it," Coeur said, "that this was your own, independent Initiative."
"Yes, Captain. Bela and I—well, mostly I—contrived the plan to recoup our losses for backing Zero."
"I see," Coeur said. "But I assume Brak refused the offer."
"Yes, he did—but we did learn something useful from It. Brak thought we had the secret of the depot's location, so he could hardly have control of it himself."
Coeur nodded, accepting what could possibly be a useful bit of information. Certainly, the old starport was in great disrepair and could scarcely be the location of the fabled depot—unless It was deep underground in well concealed bunkers.
As for An-Wing, Coeur felt her urge to slug the junior technarch beginning to subside. Of all the virtues Coeur respected, honesty was foremost among them. While It would have been better to know the young woman's motives beforehand, she was glad at last to have some plausible accounting of the Oriflammen's business here, "At least we got you out before you were killed. But if you try a stunt like that again, you can bet you probably won't be rescued."
"Yes, Sir."
"All right, that's all. Why don't you go look after Carl now,"
"Yes, sir. I'll do that."
Having suffered far more grievous burns than An-Wing, Carl rested on a folded-down bunk inside the G-carrier, eased by Physic's medications. Physic busied herself putting a cast on Masaryk's reset arm, conscious that he; disdain tor any kind of killing—even of a resisting enemy—was not a popular sentiment at the moment. Nevertheless, when Tom and Coeur happened to be close at hand, she let them know her opinion of the recent bombing of the 1st Brigade barracks, which now lay as flaming rubble around the corner of the Defense Ministry, "Don't you think all those bombs were a little bit of overkill?"
"Overkill, hell," Tom said. "We gave them a chance to surrender."
"Well," Coeur said, "I Just hope Lemos' men knew the timetable. I'd hate to hear any of them were caught assaulting the building "Oh, no, they backed off in time," Tom said. "Which you'd think would've made the Soledad soldiers know It was time to get out themselves."
"They did seem pretty poorly led," Coeur observed. "From our vantage point, we never saw them form up anywhere In good order."
"Well, let that be a lesson to you. If you ever become a petty tyrant. Invest more money In officer training,"
Any more grim banter was cut off by Newton, who had hastened to get back into the cover of the G-carrier as soon as possible. He called for Coeur to come forward to the commo panel.
"What 'is It, Newton?"
"A new report from Drop Kick, Captain, He Indicates that the rebels are advancing unsupported on the remainder of Brak's army around his residence."
"What the hell? Fuck—give me that headset*
A moment later, Coeur got through to her ground force commander, "Drop Kick, this Is Red Sun. Confirm that the rebels are attacking across the liver."
"That's affirmative, skipper, and boy is It a mess. I've heard reports that the leading rebels were cut down by a couple of Abominations."
Coeur winced at that The Abomination, she knew, was an old TL9 Solomant design, not Intended for use as a main battle tank but rather as a siege machine. Nevertheless. It was quite intimidating as big as a house and armored all over with composite laminates thick enough to deflect any hand-held weapon. Its most fearsome ieaturewascertainiyaslx-barreled, turret-mounted 120 mm autocannon that weighed as much as a loaded air-raft all by Itself. Indeed, the 1200-tonne vehicle was so massive that a nuclear fission reactor was the only practical way to drive its pavement-crunching treads at any kind of reasonable speed.
"Sou,ids bad," Coeur said. "I thought we had an understanding with General Lemos that our operations would be restricted to the area south of the river,"
"What can! say?" Drop Kick answered. "Gaffer's troopers and Mercy and I pulled up short of the river, but when the government troops broke at the bridges, they Just went off after them,"
Sack in the G-carrier, Coeur grit her teeth and shook her head. Though she knew the shock of the Initial assault on the Soledad army would be considerable, Coeur assumed that an army with any kind of leadership would form a defensible perimeter on the north side of the River Loro and restrict the Coalition-re be I operation to a simple (albeit materially devastating) rescue mission. That kind of mission Coeur could certainly Justify to the RCES Admiralty, but direct assistance In the overthrowing a sovereign government was another matter.
Should the spacers hokf back now, they could certainly claim fulfillment of a narrow mission objective, but they would also risk alienation of the likely future rulers of Soledad as their men were chewed up assaulting its likely soon-to-be-deposed leader.
Wouldn't yen know it? Coeur thought. The one scenario they had to leave out of the manual, and me not even a lieutenant commander yet. Boy will Hitter be pissed.
'There is another consideration," Drop Kick observed. "I've heard that the rebels have overrun the artillery battery at the starport and begun setting up the guns to fire at Brak's troops."
"Great Do the rebels even know how to handle heavy artillery?"
'They might know how to fire it," Drop Kick said, "but I doubt they can coordinate It very well, and I don't need totellyouwhafll happen If uncoordinated artillery opens up."
"No, you don't. They'll probably hit everything except their target."
"Right And since there's a whole lot of apartments and houses north of the river, that'll give us a whole lotta dead civilians—not to mention pissed-off live ones."
"All right," Coeur said, "you don't need to spell It out. Drop Kick, you and Gaffer coordinate with the assaulting troops. I'll try to get a hold of Lemos and keep those howitzers quiet."
"Yes, sir," DropKlck said, not quiteconcealing his enthusiasm. "Drop Kick out."
t I *
Less than an hour later the battle was over, although It was a bloody affair.
As it happened, one of the two Abominations In Brak's service had a flamethrower in place of its giant autocannon and caused great havoc In the center of the rebel advance until It was finally silenced by Drop Kick's cannon. Its mate, meanwhile, attempted to maneuver toward a potentially lethal side shot on the Intrepid, but lacked the agility to outfight a grav tank. Drop Kick blew Its heavy turret clean off with a penetrating fusion round to the rear {a difficult shot to be sure, but Drop Kick dared not shoot directly at the Abomination's hull, which might very well shower the battlefield with radioactive fuel If It were to explode).
What was left of the Soledad Guards collapsed rapidly after that as the rebels concentrated on Brak's residence from two directions, and the remaining Soledad grav vehicles surrendered to Drop Kick. Putting perhaps more faith in his Abominations than he should, Brak and a handful of powered troopers did not abandon his residence until It was too late—when rebel mortars began blowing it apart. Though armed with fusion rifles and sheathed In heavy battle dress, Brak and his men were unceremoniously blasted Into oblivion by Gaffer, Red Eye, Fubar, Widget and Gremlin, firing their own fusion rilles and rifle grenades from concealed positions across the street Soledad, it appeared, was won.
Chapter 16
Since the main transmitter of Radio Soledad was located atop the Defense Ministry, it went off the air as soon as the roof of the building was hit. Of course, without power from the city grid, the local radio receivers possessed by factories, apartment block supervisors and tractor bosses would not function. But Coeur knew perfectly well that every hour without light or news was another hour in which the danger of civil unrest was magnified. Therefore, even befor
e the charred totso of Emperor Brak was positively Identified, Coeur instructed Vink and Bonzo to help the city engineers repair their power station transformers, while Newton prepared to resume radio broadcasts with a spare Coalition transmitter erected atop the Defense Ministry.
What came to be broadcast, though, was not the voice of Coeur or even Ceneral Lemos. Rather, it was Cardinal Vazquez, whom Tom had raced south to retrieve In the G-carrier. Evidently prepared for this contingency, Vazquez actually boarded the G-carrierwitha trunk full of religious music to p'ay when power was restored and a hastily penned speech to read over the air. Thus prepared, Vazquez was escorted into the aoandoned studio of Radio Soledad on the second floor of the Defense Ministry by Tom and Coeur, and led before a microphone to make her address.
Preceded by a popular hymn, Vazquez" address was as characteristically unpretentious as the cardinal herself.
"People of Soledad," she began, "I am the Cardinal Miranda Vazquez, speaking to you from the Defense Ministry of our capital and bringing a clarification to the events of this night The Defender be praised, your former niler Emperor Brak is dead, and control of this city has passed into the hands of a new consortium between the people, the soldiersof the revolution and the Church of Grace of Light.
"In the years and months previous, I knowyou have heard the characterof the revolutionaries, as well as the name and character of myself and my church, disparaged. But this Is not a time for retribution or recrimination. Those of you who are officers of the Soledad Army, or agents of the old order, are invited to lay down your arms and report to the provisional government, understanding that no reprisals will be made against you or your men if you report promptly under a flag of surrender.
"A general curfew will, meanwhile, be In effect for all civilians during this night, not as a limitation of liberty but to ensure your own protection. As soon as it is safe to emerge in the night hours, you will be advised, and the normal commerce and industryof our nation will resume.
"8e at peace with the knowledge that our fair and ancient city has not been stmck a mortal blow this night. Rather, it Is newly born alive and brilliant in its future through the promise of yourselves and your children. God bless you and keep you in His Mercy."
Down on the street, Physic happened to be healing casualties—rebel and loyalist alike-—at her hastily erected aid station when the radio message was heard over a small Coalition radio. Thus, she was the first of the Coalition spacers to hear an opinion soon to be proven as fact.
"Consortium, hell," a loyalist private mumbled, "She's the new ruler of this city."
And indeed she was. Surprising almost everyone except Cardinal Vazquez, the 816,000 inhabitants of municipal Soledad (a figure verified by captured lecords) pioved to have a great majority of secret CCL faithful among them, far greater than The number who actively or tacitly gave aide and comfort to the rebel cause. Furthermore, many of the CGI faithful were the very army commanders and tractor bosses whom Vazquez had addressed— men and women who had secretly kept their faith and now offered their loyalty to Vazquez directly when they came to surrender their arms. No foof. General Lemosquickly realized that the caidinal was the only reasonable choice to head the government—provided arrangements be made for democratic elections at some point in the future.
"Oh yes," Vazquez agreed, meeting with Lemos and Coeur In The Defense Ministry as dawn broke over the city. "Our Lord and Defender has not given us our liberty so that we may impose a new dictatorship. When St. Kilalt returns, we shall have a strong and vigorous city to give him and the Defender."
Not particularly pious—except when her jump drive was on the fritz—Coeur accepted this simply as a vivid religious metaphor and lei if pass in order to address other Issues.
"Your holiness and General Lemos, " Coeur said, "we're certainly anxious to give you any assistance we can. Is there any immediate need we can help you with?"
Va?quez and Lemos exchanged long thoughtful glances before answering.
"I should think the services of your Doctor Takagawa and her hospital will be appreciated," Lemos offered.
"Yes, surety," Vazquez seconded, "although we should steel ourselves against depending too heavily on outside resources. Otherwise, what sort of ally should we be to our friends from the Coalition?"
Surprised by the comment, Coeuraccepieditwithanod, Self-sufficiency was indeed an objective of bootsl/ap operations throughout the officially designated AO for that very purpose— to give the Coalition strong allies In its quest for the ultimate reconstruction and unification of all human worlds.
"Rather," Vazquez went on, "we should ask what help we can provide you. Is it not true that your original aim on Mexit was to find some sort of lost depot?"
"Yes," Coeur said, brought back to the base purpose of her mission. "Yes, and as a matter of fact, you could help us there. Somewhere in the Federal District there must be effects left by Zero's party—personal equipment, papers, maybe even his ship—so we'd like permission to look around for them."
"By all means," Vazquez said.
"Yes," Lemos agreed, "and my men will keep a lookout as well."
"Ol course, it would be nice if we could find The remains of Zero, too—Just to be cenain what became of him—but I doubt that's possible. More than likely, he was killed when Brak's men attacked Cray Jane, and who knows where his body might be."
"Doubtless," Vazquez said, "the Defender will reveal that knowledge to us in His course."
Yes, Coeur thought, doubtless.
"Oh," she said, "there is one other thing. We may need to lead an expedition outside of Soledad—assuming we ever do find where the depot was—and that's another possibility we have to discuss."
"Why?" Vazquez asked.
"I think I understand," Lemos said. "V-Max told us the depot might be very large, and full of ancient weapons that could conceivably destabilize a primitive planet "
"Well," Coeur said, "I wouldn't call Mexit primitive. However, you've certainly hit the nail on the head—if this depot exists and is found, its contents could easily destabilize the entire power structure of ihisplanet and other planets besides. Certain entities In space might come nere to take it Dy force If they found out about it."
At this, the faces of both Mexitans grew tense, though Coeur knew they couldn't even begin to grasp the great evil she was describing. While the Solee and Guild were at least human, there was also the possibility that a vampire fleet might come to control the depot, and that was a nightmare she didn't want to begin to think about.
"What are you proposing, then?" Vazquez asked.
"Just this. If we do find the depot—and it is inside the traditional territory of greater Soledad—I'd like you to entertain the thought of destroying it, if there's any possibility at all It couldn't be kept safe."
"Couldn't your people keep it safe?" Lemos asked.
"Unfortunately, no. If ifs anywhere near as large as I think, a Marine fire team isn't going to do the Job."
"What about she other possibility?" Vazquez asked. "The possibility that thedepot is faraway in another pan of the world?"
'That depends," Coeur said, "tf the people there are rational and level-headed like you, It might be possible to negotiate an arrangement. If not well, I'll Just blow it up myself."
Protected as they were by battle dress, Hornet's Marines remained active even after the full tight of morning Illuminated the smoldering center of the Federal District. Therefore, two of their number—Whiz Bang and Bonzo—were the (list to find Crazy lane.
Or at least what was left of her.
Stored in a starport warehouse near the charred heavy grav tanks, the 400-ton subsidized merchant wasstfll In one piece after being hauled there on a pair of super-heavy freight tractors. But her cylindrical hull was burned all over, and colossal chunks were blown cut of her bow and stern, suggesting the application of considerable explosive force, "What the hell could have happened to her?" Bonzo asked, shining his flashlight into the gaping
two-deck cavity where the ship's bridge and bow doors had once been.
"I think I've got an Idea," Whiz Bang said, drawing on his experience as a heavy energy gunner. "Look at the way this superdense alloy has bubbled and puffed up around the edge of thecavity. That's from the alloy bondssplit ting under a fusion gun hit."
"Co on. What fusion guns are that powerful?"
'The ones on those tanks next door, Bonzo."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about those."
"Yeah, well, whoever shot It was a little too good a shot—the computers and logs must be completely blown away."
"Care to guess what fted'H think about that?"
"No doubt about It- She'll be mad enough to chew lead and spit out bullets."
Coeur, In fact, wasn't quite that irritated, though she was certainly frustrated when she got the news, "Okay, I get it, Bonzo. The ship's totaled."
"Well, fore and aft anyway. The midships looks torched, but Intact."
That's something, I suppose. Stand by there, and I'll send Vink and Newton over in the C
"Affirmative,"
Moments later, Vink and Newton arrived—parking their craft directly inside Crazy/one's hangar to avoid exposure to the sun— though it would soon appear that their haste was unwarranted. Though the human and the Hiver were thoroughly familiar with the architecture of the standard subsidized merchant design, three hours of careful prodding and poking through the upper deck crew quarters and lower deck cargo section revealed little more than empty spaces. The only exception was a charred arc of bone and teeth that Newton pried out of the top deck forward and nonchalantly began to study in the midst of the humans.
"Newton," Whiz Bang said, "what the hell is that?"
"Just a piece of human skull bone," Newton said, pausing in the comparison of his fragment to dental records stored in his personal computer. "I found it in the wreckage of the bridge."
"Newton, that's disgusting."
All six of Newton's eyes fixed on the Marine and blinked twice.
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