Heir to the Dragon

by Robert N. Charrette

  "You handled that well."

  Startled from his musing, Theodore spun. He had risen halfway to his feet and started to pull his gun from its holster before he realized that he knew the voice. Too well. He returned the Nambu to its resting place and fastened the flap. He finished standing and bowed.

  Praise was something he was not used to hearing from his father.

  Takashi smiled tightly as he slid the painted panel closed behind himself, obviously relishing the surprise Theodore had not quite suppressed. "You still need better control if you are to be Coordinator."

  "I don't want to be Coordinator."

  Takashi barked a short laugh. "Do you think I did?"

  Of course you did, Theodore replied silently. It's your life. Aloud, he said, "You've embraced the office wholeheartedly."

  "Hai. I have." Takashi stepped down from the dais and walked to the outer wall. He opened the shoji panels, letting in sunlight as he spoke. "I was very unhappy when my father Hohiro recalled me to Luthien. All I looked for was a life serving the Dragon. I was a warrior, the strong arm of the Dragon who savaged our enemies. But my father knew that the Combine needed a strong heir. One who was more than a simple samurai.

  "It is curious, is it not, that our greatest enemy has a similar history? Hanse Davion also wished to be a simple soldier. It is said that the Fox was raised to expect other things from his life than the burden of rulership. But he had an elder brother to insulate him from the concerns of state while I had only my blind devotion to the Dragon. When Yorinaga Kurita killed Davion's older brother Ian on Mallory's World and Hanse became Prince, he did not have the benefit of training at the court before taking his office. But he has prospered nonetheless.

  "He did not wish the burden. Nor did I."

  Nor I, Theodore echoed in his thoughts.

  "Personal desire is a weakness," Takashi asserted. "I learned that as I learned what the Dragon required of me. Courage. Audacity. Tenacity. In time I learned the wisdom of a ruler. The foremost tenet of that cruel wisdom is that one must, and will, do whatever is necessary for the health of the realm. It was an education."

  I have been educated, too, Theodore thought. How strange that I should hear you speak my own thoughts. Frightening, too. I had never thought of you that way.

  "I won't take the office from you. Being Kanrei is enough for me."

  "The office," Takashi hissed. "You cannot still be so naive to believe that I would be satisfied with an empty title. You have done all you can to usurp my power, and you pretend that you spare me by leaving me a title. Power matters, boy! Not titles. Why you have balked at taking my life as well eludes me. Unless the reason lies in your weakness."

  Theodore wanted to ignore the barb, but found himself trying to defend his position, knowing all the while that his defense was just the sort of weakness his father meant. "Being Kanrei is sufficient for me."

  "A transparent subterfuge," Takashi accused.

  "Iie. It is a matter of honor."

  "What honor is there in a weakling?"

  "Honor lies not in strength but in integrity. The teachers you yourself set before me drilled that very deep. The ancient code of bushido is a warrior's ethic, but it draws deeply from the well of Confucian wisdom. The ancient sage laid down laws, laws I have sought to follow. One of those dicta, repeated in our own family's book of honor, states that a man may not live under the same heavens as the slayer of his father. To me that dictum means more than a simple justification for seeking revenge for a death.

  "I won't be ... I can't be ... a patricide."

  "You are weak."

  Theodore said nothing.

  "But perhaps not so weak as I have previously thought," Takashi conceded. "Though you have had some success in penning me until now, you still do not have the strength to be the Dragon."

  "You're blind to my strength, then. It's there. You've molded your successor better than you think."

  Takashi looked at him thoughtfully. "I will admit that you have had successes. Some have even impressed me. But those are soldier's victories. They give you no experience in the higher strategies of ruling a realm. The days for a ruler's wisdom are come again. Already the fighting fades, and we return to the old ways of raiding and harassment. The time of your eminence is past. I shall find the cracks in the walls you have built around me and escape your snares. I will again take up the power that is rightfully mine."

  The Coordinator's face lit with fervor as he spoke. Theodore considered what he saw. Once he would have feared the threat, the hint of madness it contained. Now he only feared the results. His father cared deeply for the realm, but Takashi had let his own concerns blind him to its needs. Takashi had forfeited his right to rule. This was no time for weakness.

  "You will do what is required of you as Coordinator," Theodore said. His voice was mild, but iron conviction underlay his words. "You will serve the realm as its figurehead while I attend to its health and well being. Mine is the vision that will see us through the future. Mine is the hand that will guide the realm. We mustn't fight and destroy the Combine between us. If you oppose me, I will have you sequestered."

  Takashi's eyes narrowed.

  "Then I shall not oppose you," he whispered rancorously. "In the open. We shall have our fights, boy. Do not doubt it. But you are right in one thing. We must attend to appearances. We must show the people, and our enemies—most especially our enemies—that we stand together, the head and the arm of the Dragon."

  Even as the Coordinator held out his hands in a gesture of reconciliation, Theodore recognized that Takashi was taking the first step in his avowed plan to regain power. Takashi offered the illusion of-accommodation, the appearance of conciliation. There would be no visible signs of dissent or weakness that their enemies might take as an invitation to try again. They would give the impression of strength and harmony to the outside, while remaining opposed.

  Theodore embraced his father.

  "The Draconis Combine is more important than either of us."

  "Hai, my son. We agree on that. You have taken your first step in understanding what is required of you. Your first step in understanding me."

  Not my first step, Theodore thought ruefully. I understand you better than you know, Takashi, my father. I have, to my sorrow, become too much like you. In deed. In outlook. I wish it were not so, but it is. All that I thought made me different from you, better than you, has blown away on the breath of the Dragon.

  Are you so sure? a soft voice whispered in Theodore's head.

  Tetsuhara-sensei! ?

  Your feelings are strong. That is good. Ninjo and giri must be balanced. They are a circle, the yin and the yang. If one is too strong, the balance is broken. You must strive to maintain the balance.

  I have striven, sensei. I've failed.

  A man cannot be said to have failed until after he is dead. As long as there is life, there is hope. Are you such a coward that you have abandoned hope?

  I'm no coward, sensei.

  Exactly. You are not your father. If you remember this, you will prosper. I will remember.

  When you go forth into the world, you must be your own man. You cannot live another man's dreams, nor be that which you are not. All that you do will be you, and you will be all that you do. You are your own karma.

  Theodore started. Those were the exact words Tetsuhara-sensei had used when they had parted on the occasion of Theodore's departure for Sun Zhang Academy. On reflection, he realized that all of the sensei's words were things that he had said to Theodore at different times and in different places. The conversation was a construct of Theodore's mind. But artificial or not, he recognized the timely wisdom of the sensei's counsel.

  The Dragon possesses five virtues, he reminded himself. Bravery, audacity, and tenacity are but three. Even my father grants me those. The fourth is integrity, the one I had come close to abandoning. I must not allow myself to be so weak.

  Perhaps, this is the beginning of the fifth virtue,
wisdom. If so, then I am the true heir to the Dragon.

  Glossary

  Throughout this book, Kurita officers and other officials are referred to by their ancient Japanese rank names or titles. The equivalents in English are:

  Tai-shuWarlord or General of the Army

  Tai-shoGeneral

  Sho-shoBrigadier

  Tai-saColonel

  Chu-saLieutenant Colonel

  Sho-saMajor

  Tai-iCaptain

  Chu-iLieutenant

  Buso-senshiMech Warrior or AeroSpace Pilot

  KanreiDeputy

  JokanNoble Lady

  ShudochoAbbot, Master of an order

  JukurenshaAdept

  ShoshinshaNovice

  SenseiMaster Teacher

  Some other Japanese phrases that appear in this book and their translations:

  BakaFool

  DekashitaNice going!

  DoKendo term: body armor covering abdominal area

  Do itashi moshiteYou're welcome

  Domo arigatoThank you very much

  GempukuRite of passage upon reaching manhood

  GiriDuty, obligation, justice

  HaiYes

  HakamaSkirt-like male garment worn by samurai over kimono on ceremonial occasions

  HaraBelly

  IieNo

  KabutoHelmet

  KamishimoSamurai ceremonial dress— kataginu and hakama color-coordinated

  KataginuThe triangle of cloth covering the shoulders and breast in ceremonial dress

  KatakanaJapanese lettering

  KatanaSword

  KendoFencing—literally, "The Way of the Sword"

  KiHeart, mind, spirit, feeling

  KobunSoldiers of the yakuza

  Konnichi waHello

  Kuromaku"Fixer," gang go-between

  MeiyoReputation, honor

  Meiyo to naru "Respected teacher" sensei

  MenKendo facemask

  NinjoHumanity, sympathy

  NinjutsuLiterally, "Art of Invisibility," the skill of the ninja

  O-medetoCongratulations!

  ObiSash that goes with kimono

  OhayoGood morning

  OtomoPalace guards

  OtosanFather

  OyabunYakuza ringleader

  Ryu no tomo"Dragon's Friends"

  Seimeiyoshi-Federation of gangs rengo

  SenshiWarrior

  SeppukuSamurai ritual suicide

  Shikata ga naiApproximately, "It can't be helped"

  ShimattaExclamation of dismay

  ShinaiBamboo sword in kendo

  ShitennoIn context, inner circle of advisors; literally, "Four devas"

  ShizenNature

  ShogiChess

  ShojiPaper door or panel

  ShurikenThrowing star or small dagger

  So ka1. Oh? How interesting!

  2. Is that right?

  SuguAt once, immediately

  TachiNature, disposition—second nature

  TatamiStraw floor-matting

  TekiEnemy, opponent, rival

  TenguLong-nosed goblin

  TonoLord

  Wakarimasu-ka?Do you understand?

  WakizashiShortsword

  YubitsumeYakuza finger-cutting atonement

  List of Abbreviations:

  AFFSArmed Forces of the Federated Suns

  DCMSDraconis Combine Mustered Soldiery

  DESTDraconis Elite Strike Team

  HPGHyperspulse Generator. An inter- stellar communications device used by ComStar

  IFFIdentification: Friend or Foe

  ISFInternal Security Force. The Kurita secret service

  LCAFLyran Commonwealth Armed Forces

  LRMLong-range missiles, indirect fire missiles with high explosive warheads

  NAISNew Avalon Institute of Science

  O5POrder of the Five Pillars

  PPCParticle projector cannon, a magnetic accelerator firing high-energy proton or ion bolts. It is the most effective weapon available to a BattleMech

  ROMComStar's secret service

  SRMShort-range missiles, direct trajec- tory missiles with high explosive or armor-piercing explosive warheads

  VTOLVertical Takeoff/Landing, including helicopters and directed thrust aircraft