Текст книги "Main Event"

Angus and Ajax listened to the military bands, but they were silent. Despite several fly-overs by Ripper VTOLs, Rose was confident that most of the search vehicles had by-passed them, and it seemed reasonable to assume that they could continue in hiding until they heard how effective any efforts by Cooke had been. The next morning, however, their position was spotted.

Just before dawn, the unit was crossing one of the meandering rivers so common in the area. Coming out in the open increased their chances of discovery, but the unit couldn't afford to be penned in by the water. They were often forced out from the cover of the trees to make crossings. None of the rivers were particularly deep, and so one crossing point was as good as another. This day, Angus and Ajax were on one side of the river and the rest of the unit on the other. Sending three beeps across the comm line, Ajax signaled that the Beagle active probe found nothing in the area.

Badicus' Shadow Hawkwaded in first, followed closely by Esmeralda in her Warhammer.Just as Hawg's Zeusstepped off the bank, however, a hovercraft came shooting up the river. The high-pitched whine of the fans announced the craft only an instant before it broke around a bend. Running down the center of the river, it headed straight toward Badicus.

Standing hip-deep in the current, the Shadow Hawkturned to face the craft. One giant hand came up, and Rose was sure Badicus was about to fire. The hover pilot was not going to make the shot easy, however. As he jammed the controls hard to the left, the craft came sliding backward toward the Shadow Hawk.The pitch of the fans changed abruptly and the craft settled suddenly in the water, killing all momentum. As the back end of the craft bit into the water, the front end reared up, threatening to tip the craft on its back. Then, after a moment's pause, it crashed back into the river amid a giant spray of water. As the craft settled, the driver reengaged the fans and took the hovercraft once more down the river.

Rose doubted Badicus was a good enough shot to hit the craft on its inbound course. The sudden stop had caught Rose by surprise as it must have Badicus as well. When the hovercraft turned, Rose expected the warrior to shoot, but the Shadow Hawksimply stood watching it go. Although Rose and the rest of the unit could see the hovercraft, Badicus was the only one in the river and thus the only pilot with any chance of hitting the small vehicle. Instead of firing, Badicus had let the craft escape. Rose sat in shock.

The sight of Ajax trying to run the vehicle down snapped Rose out of his stupor. But even the Ravencouldn't catch the speedy hovercraft. No one had spoken during the entire incident and Rose realized they were still obeying radio silence. He keyed the commlink.

"All right, Thorns, what was that?"

"Ground Hawk, Mark Two."

"You sure about that, Badicus?" Rose was furious at the man for having let the hover get away, and he let his voice reveal it.

"Yes, sir. The Mark Two is an unarmed recon craft. It's constructed of polymers and heavily shielded, that's why Ajax couldn't detect it."

Rose ground his teeth. The pilot was undoubtedly relaying their current position to the entire militia. It was time to get out of the area. "Pursuit Lance, get us out of here. I don't care where, but we've got to put as much distance as possible between us and this spot in the next two hours.

"Battle Two, meet me on Comm Three." Rose switched to channel three and secured the line. He now had a private link to O'Shea. He wasn't really concerned about the other Thorns listening in, but he wanted to chew Badicus out in complete privacy. When Badicus reported in, his anger turned cold.

"You've got one chance to tell me why you put the entire unit in danger, O'Shea. One chance to justify the trust I put in you, so you'd better make it good."

Rose listened to several seconds of silence as the unit's 'Mechs continued to move, Angus and Ajax leading the group on a direct course through the trees. The unit was racking up the distance, but the trail would be easy to follow.

"The craft was unarmed, sir," Badicus began tentatively. "I couldn't fire on an unarmed vehicle."

Rose exploded over the commlink. "Damn it man, you've just put the entire planetary militia, not to mention five BattleMechs, hot on our butts and you don't want to fire on the unarmed hover that's telling everybody where we are?"

"That's right, sir. I won't fire at an unarmed craft and I'm not sure I would have been able to fire even if the craft had been a Mark One."

"And why the hell not?"

"Sir, I've spent the last few months of my life with the same men who are now trying to hunt us down. Esmeralda and Ajax are in the same situation. How can you live with a group of people one day and expect to treat them like the enemy the next?"

Rose strangled a furious reply. He knew the craft should have been stopped, yet he'd been considering the same ethical dilemma at the back of his mind. He was sworn to protect the people of Borghese and now might be called upon to shoot some of them. That it would be in self-defense wouldn't make much difference. With that his anger seemed to melt.

"You're probably right," he said. "As a unit and as individuals we're sworn to protect these people. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but our first duty must be to one another. You put the whole unit at risk when you let the hover get away. It wasn't fair that you were the one who had to make the decision, but that's what happened and now the rest of us are going to suffer. Think about that next time you decide not to pull the trigger. Dismissed."

Rose killed the connection and walked on in silence, trusting the pursuit lance to lead the way. He was still considering what to do an hour later when the unit suddenly changed course. Angus was cutting back on their original path, sacrificing some distance for a trail that would be harder to follow. Reaching a decision, Rose opened the commline.

"Thorns, this is Command One. An interesting problem now confronts us. In a few hours we're going to come into contact with the militia. People we've promised to protect are going to try to bring us back to Houston. Given that they burned our compound and stole the Bristol ,I think you can imagine the type of treatment we'll receive when we get back." Rose paused to let the words sink in.

"We can only run for so long. Sooner or later we're going to have to engage the militia and Salander Morgain's 'Mechs. That means fighting, and killing. We can't let that happen, so here is what we are going to do.

"Pursuit, keep us away from them for as long as possible. The longer we can stay away, the longer we have for Cooke to try to help us some way back in Houston. That means nearly constant movement, little sleep, and no room for error. We stick together and make them hunt us down. When they finally manage to corner us, we surrender and take our chances in Houston." Rose paused, then decided there was nothing more he could add. "Questions?"

The comm unit remained clear as the unit moved through the trees.

The next eight days were little more than a blur for Rose and his command. Led alternately by Angus and Ajax, they moved in and around every natural obstacle they could find. The recon work Rose and Hawg had done earlier provided the unit with information the militia either did not have or were unable to take advantage of.

The unit was almost cornered several times by the militia Rippers and Salander's 'Mechs. On three separate occasions, the Thorns were subjected to long-range missile fire from the infantry, but none of the shots came even close to hitting them. The lasers of the Rippers were more dangerous, but 'Mechs traveling among the thickly packed cedars gave the airborne pilots few good shots. The laser attacks finally ended on the sixth day when a near-miss set fire to a copse of trees, the flames spreading to engulf the whole area.

The hunters didn't like it, but they were forced to divert some of their force to keep the blaze from spreading further. The forest fire didn't create as much of a problem as Rose had hoped. True to Cooke's earlier claim, the militia was especially skilled at handling civilian emergencies. While detaching a smaller force to deal with the fire, the main body moved on, driving the Thorns before them. The Ripper VTOLs were still being used for spotting, but their sniping was over.

As the sun came up on day nine, Rose knew his unit was near the end of the line. Lack of sleep and the near-constant tension had sapped the mercenaries' strength and much of their will. Only McCloud seemed to have any energy. Unable to pilot a 'Mech, she'd taken to riding with a different pilot each day. Rose noticed that the various 'Mech pilots were always in a remarkably better mood at the end of a day with McCloud. After she insisted on riding with him, he understood why.

Traveling under radio silence, each pilot was left with his or her own thoughts for the entire day, all the fears, hopes, and futile wishes eating away at the pilot's confidence. Having McCloud for company took the warrior's mind off negative thoughts and gave him or her something positive to concentrate on. Rose had no idea how she'd treated the other pilots, but with him it was almost like old times. They laughed and remembered the months aboard ship when they'd spent entire days together. By the end of the day Rose felt better than he had since the loss of the Bristol ,and McCloud also seemed to be in good spirits. As she climbed out of the cockpit during one of their infrequent rest stops, she had actually forgiven Rose for the loss of the Bristol .

Eventually fatigue took its toll on the unit. Forty-eight hours after his last conversation with McCloud, Rose sat looking over the sleeping forms of his unit. At first the pilots had slept on the ground, but now they were forced to sleep in their 'Mechs in case the militia or Morgain's men arrived sooner than expected. Sitting in his Charger,Rose reflected on the noose that was tightening around the unit.

The militia commanders seemed to have figured out that the Black Thorns were unwilling to fight them, and had repositioned their men to the front and sides of the unit. While the militia kept the mercenaries in place, Morgain was closing the noose with his lance. To travel more than ten kilometers in any direction meant they would have to fight through one of the pursuing units.

Rose kept his eyes on the long-range scanner and watched the five heat sources his computer had long ago tagged as 'Mechs come cautiously closer. Opening the commlink he woke the rest of the unit as another channel on his comm blinked green. He was beyond hope that the call might be from Cooke, the only member outside the lance who had the frequency, but in spite of that, he opened the channel.

"Rose here."

"Good morning, Captain Rose." Rose didn't need an identification, instantly recognizing the voice as Salander Morgain's. He had no time to wonder how Morgain had obtained the frequency, but he knew things had just taken a turn for the worse.

"Mister Morgain, or is it Hauptmann now?"

Rose thought he heard light laughter on the line before Morgain answered. "Hauptmann it is, just like in my army days." Rose reached out to the comm unit and patched the feed from Morgain through the open channel. Now all the Black Thorns could hear his words, though only Rose could respond.

"Captain Rose, it is my duty to order you to surrender yourself and your unit immediately. As the rightful representative of the leadership of Borghese, I am authorized to accept your surrender and assure you that you will be treated fairly upon your return to Houston."

"What about the charges against us?"

Morgain seemed taken back by the question and did not respond immediately. "You will be tried in a court of law, as would any other citizen of the planet. Given the serious nature of the charges, I imagine you will appear before the Ruling Council.

"What about the charges against Captain McCloud?"

Morgain was ready for that question and answered immediately. "All charges against Captain McCloud have been dropped."

"What?"

"Upon the subsequent return of the Bristol —"

"The Bristol is back on Borghese?"