Текст книги "Shrapnel: Fragments from the Inner Sphere"

Автор книги: Elizabeth Danforth

Соавторы: William H. Keith,Ken St. Andre,Jordan K. Weisman,Michael A. Stackpole
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

I looked up into her brown eyes. ‘Thank you for saving my life.’

She shook her head. ‘Save your thanks. We're armed with Sternsnachts and they're mobilizing their 'Mechs.’

It was then that I finally recognized the sound pulsing through my head. ‘That's a warning siren for a Mech raid!’ I grabbed her arm and dragged her to the blown-out off ice windows. I squinted and pointed at the large red semicircle formed by the dying sun. ‘There, coming in from the west to screw up this base's infrared scanners.’

She shielded her eyes with her left hand. ‘Something is moving. What is it?’

I swept her up into a hug. ‘That's my 'Mech battalion!’

The Migawari company of the 27th Dieron Regulars fought gamely to defend their post while everyone else evacuated it. Despite the best efforts of the 27th, the numerical advantage enjoyed by the Kell Hound battalion quickly turned the battle against the defenders. Had the DropShip Fukushubeen crewed. its guns might have made a difference, butthe empty ship played no part in the battle. Instead, as the Draconian MechWarriors fled, surrendered, or died, the Fukushubecame just another piece of war loot.

Most of the DropShip's crew agreed to join the Kell Hounds and even permitted me to re-christen the UnionClass DropShip the Nuada Argetlanafter the legendary Irish hero. We filled this new DropShip with all the things we'd left behind in our earlier hasty departure, except for my desk and my bed, then added the best of the 27th's captured BattleMechs. As Janos had promised, our other DropShip reached Murchison within two days of jumping into the system, and a day after that, we were ready to leave.

I'd gotten Takara treated by the Nuada'sdoctor and even managed to convince her to stay on the ship. She was reluctant, but the doctor wanted to make sure her cuts did not get infected and I gently reminded her that the Yakuzawere still angry with her. She acquiesced, but the memory of her destroyed home made her aloof and unhappy.

Even though she was living on my ship, in a cabin just down the passageway from my own, I did not see Takara again until it came time to leave. Moving everything out of our old base and keeping track of the reports that had piled up in the month and a half my battalion had spent living in the Suigin mines left me with little time. I also had the distinct impression that Takara was avoiding me.

On the last day on Murchison. an hour before our scheduled departure, I found her pacing around in what had been my office. All the furnishings had been removed, but the burn mark on the wall and the bloodstains on the carpet were reminder enough of what had happened there.

I cleared my throat, startling her from deep thought. She looked up at me, then smiled. ‘You've shaved off your mustache.’

I nodded. I wanted to ask if she liked it, or if she preferred it gone, but I knew how juvenile the questions would sound compared to what I really wanted to say to her. I chewed on my lower lip for a second, then spoke. ‘I want you to come with me. There's nothing here for you.’

She shook her head. ‘Akumashima needs the Little Dragon.’

‘What does Takara need?’

Takara breathed deeply, choosing her words carefully before answering me. ‘It doesn't matter, Colonel. Takara lived in the fantasy world of her sanctuary. She couldn't exist outside it. She died when it died.’

I held out my hand to her. ‘I'll be your sanctuary. I'll do my best to give you everything you want and need.’

She looked at me and I sensed that part of her wanted to take my hand, but another part resisted. She folded her hands across her chest. ‘It could never be. A relationship like that has to be built upon trust, but you never trusted me. I brought you into my secret place, but you didn't trust me.’

The pain in her voice nearly strangled my spirit, but I fought back. ‘That's not true.’

Her head came up and defiant tire flashed in her brown eyes. ‘You didn't tell me the Kell Hounds were still on Murchison, hidden in the Suigin mines. When ComStar sent their message out, your people were only three hours away.’

I shook my head. ‘You didn't need to know that. I didn't give you that information because I had to protect my battalion. Not against you. but against what the ISF might have made you tell them.’

Her dark eyes slitted. ‘That may be so. but I heard the anger and hatred in your voice before and after I slept with Ukita. You loathed me then, and that will plant the seed ot mistrust in your mind. Any relationship of ours would be doomed.’

Again I shook my head. ‘Yes. you heard anger and hatred in my voice, but it was really myself that I hated because, deep down, I knew you were doing something against your will for me. I was angry with myself because I couldn't do anything about it and for having brought you into this thing in the first place.’

She opened her mouth to reply, but I cut her off. ‘You say we can't have a relationship because I never trusted you. But I did. I trusted you more than I've ever trusted anyone, or ever hope to in the future.’

She frowned. ‘I don't understand.’

‘It's simple. Takara. Very simple. When you pulled your gun and captured me for the ISF, I doubled over. I held my hand to my stomach and activated the remote control for the explosives. One touch and I would have killed you.’

She looked at me distantly. ‘You would have died in the same blast. You wouldn't do that to yourself.’

I sighed. ‘You were turning me over to the ISF. Die quickly by an explosion, or slowly by torture. What's the difference, in the end?’ I hesitated. ‘Maybe, with your sanctuary gone, you wanted me to kill you. I don't know.’

Takara stiffened, letting the Little Dragon fortify her. ‘If that's what you believe. Colonel Kell, any future we'd have would be hell.’

I shrugged. ‘Maybe it would and maybe it wouldn't, but the fact is I trust you enough to be willing to chance it. I can't and won't promise smooth sailing all the time because I'm Human. I think you trusted me enough, at one point, to jeopardize yourself for me. and I think now you are second-guessing that judgement. You have to trust someone, and I think you should start with yourself.’

I pointed out toward the Nuada.‘I'm walking out of here right now, and I want you to come with me. If not now, then join me later...whenever. I know you'll make the choice that's right for you, Takara.’

Turning from her and walking down the the stairs was more difficult than anything I've ever done. I felt as though my guts had been clawed out. That aching hollowness seemed to suck all my vitality into it, with the life I'd known before I met Takara shrunken to only two colorless dimensions. A mocking voice that sounded frighteningly like the Little Dragon's echoed from my soul. ‘The regiment may be where you live, Patrick Kell. but never again will it be home.’

I strained my ears to catch any hint that she was following me, but I refused to look back. I knew that, much as I wanted to, I could not drag her with me. That would destroy us both. The decision was one she would have to make by herself.

CONTRIBUTECH

DESIGNERS:

 

Jordan K. Weisman

Design and Concept:

BattleTech

CityTech

AeroTech

Mechwarrior

BattleForce

Development:

Succession Wars

Concept:

The Technial Readouts

The House Book Series

CamoSpecs

Inner Sphere Oversight Board (The Esthetic Police. Founder)

All BattleTech Product

L. Ross Babcock III

Design:

CityTech

AeroTech

MechWarrior

BattleForce

Succession Wars

Mercenary's Handbook

Development:

BattleTech

Inner Sphere Oversight Board (The Esthetic Police. Founder}

All BattleTech Product

Sam Lewis

Design and Development:

BattleTech Manual

Technical Readout 3026

Inner Sphere Oversight Board (The Esthetic Police. Recuit)

All BattleTech Product

Adventure Architects

(Richard K. Meyer. Walter H.Hunt, and Evan Jamieson)

Design for MechWarrior

Samuel B. Baker II

Additional Development for BattleTech Manual

Forest G. Brown

Development of BattleTech

BattleMech Designs

Design for CityTech

BattleTech Stats (from Technical Readout 3025)

Cory Glaberson

Design:

BattleForce

Clare W. Hess

Design:

DropShips and JumpShips

Stuart Johnson:

Concept and intial design for LAMs

James R. Kellar

Additional Development lor BattleTech Manual

L.R. ‘Butch’ Leeper

Design Assistance and Chief Developer for BattleTech

BattleTech Stats (from Technical Readout 3025)

Kevin Stein

Design:

MechWarrior

BattleForce

Technical Readout 3026

BattleTech Stats (from Technical Readout 3025)

Wm. John Wheeler

Development of BattleTech

David C. Wylie

Development:

BattleTech Inner Sphere Map

Kurita House Book

Inner Sphere Oversight Board (The Esthetic Police. Recuit)

 

AUTHORS:

Adventure Architects

(Richard K. Meyer and Walter H. Hunt)

MechWarrior

House Marik

(Richard Meyer. Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt, and Evan Jamison)

Contributor to Fox's Teeth

(Richard Meyer)

Contributor to Black Widow

L.Ross Babcock III

Rules:

CityTech

AeroTech

BattleForce

Succession Wars

Contributor to MechWarrior

Samuel Brown Baker II & Dorothy E. Baker

Contributor to Fox's Teeth

Shaun Duncan

Contributor to Technical Readout 3025

Tara Gallagher

Fiction for CityTech

Fiction for BattleForce

Contributor to House Kurita

Gideon

The Spider and the Wolf

Cory Glaberson

BattleForce

The Galtor Campaign

C.R. Green

Contributor to:

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

Hero Games

Technical Background for BattleTech

Clare W. Hess

DropShips and JumpShips

Todd Huettel

Contributor to House Kurita

Donna Ippolito

Contributor to House Kurita

J. Andrew Keith

Mercenary's Handbook

Contributor to:

Black Widow

House Davion

William H. Keith, Jr.

Novels:

Decision at Thunder Rift

Mercenary's Star

The Price of Glory

Game Product:

Gray Death Legion

Contributor to:

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

MechWarrior

Dale L. Kemper

Contributor to:

Mercenary's Handbook

Sorenson's Sabres

Technical Readout 3025

Patrick L. Larkin

Original Historical concepls as found in:

BattleTech

MechWarrior

Contributor to:

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

Sam Lewis

Contributor to:

Technical Readout 3026

BattleTech Manual

Ardath Mayhar

Novel:

The Sword and the Dagger

Scott Oehler

The Spider and the Wolf

Blaine L. Pardoe

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

Contributor to:

Sorenson's Sabres

Technical Readout 3025

Boy F. Peterson, Jr.

House Steiner

House Davion

Contributor to:

Mercenary's Handbook

House Kurita

Technical Readout 3025

Anthony Pryor

Contributor to:

Mercenary's Handbook

Sorenson's Sabres

Technical Readout 3025

Michael Stackpole

Novels:

Warrior: En Garde

Warrior: Riposte

Warrior: Coupe

Kevin Stein:

Contributor to Technical Readout 3026

Rick David Stuart

House Liao

John Theisen:

Contributor to: House Kurita Sorenson's Sabres

Robt. Wells

Contributor to House Kurita

Wm. John Wheeler

Rules of BattleTech

Contributor to CityTech

 

ARTISTS:

Charles Bernard

Playing Pieces and Map:

Succession Wars

Jane Bigos

Black and White Illustration:

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

Layout and Pasteup:

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

CityTech

Tim Bradstreet

Black and White Illustration:

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

House Kurita

House Liao

House Davion

BattleTech Manual

David R. Deitrick

Cover Art:

The Galtor Campaign

The Spider and the Wolf

The Sword and the Dagger

The Price of Glory

Back Cover Art:

MechWarrior

Black and While Illustration:

Technical Readout 3025

AeroTech

The Sword and the Dagger

Decision at Thunder Rift

Equipment of the Successor States from MechWarrior

Uniform Design & Illustration:

Mercenary's Handbook

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

Les Dorsheid

Cover Art:

BattleTech Manual

Tara Gallagher

Layout:

Fox's Teeth

MechWarrior

CityTech

Aerotech

BattleForce

Succession Wars

The Galtor Campaign

Technical Readout 3025

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

Mercenary's Handbook

Gray Death Legion

DropShips and JumpShips

House Kurita

House Steiner

Technical Readout 3026

House Davion

Bryan Gibson

Black and White Illustration:

House Marik

Gideon

Black and While Illustration:

The Spider and the Wolf

Allen Gutierrez

Cover Art:

BattleTech

Back Cover:

MechWarrior

Rick Harris

Black and White Illustration:

House Davion

Jim Holloway

Cover Art:

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

MechWarrior

CityTech

AeroTech

Succession Wars

Cianston Snord's Irregulars

Gray Death Legion

Decision at Thunder Rift Back

Cover Art:

Mercenary's Handbook

Color Illustration:

Mercenary's Handbook

House Steiner

House Kurita

Black and While Illustration:

BattleTech

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

David J. Hutchins

Black and While Illustration:

BattleTech

Dana Knutson, Art Director

Cover Art:

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Marik House Liao

Technical Readout 3025

House Davion

Color Illustration:

House Liao

House Marik

Blackand While Illustration:

BattleTech

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

MechWarrior

BattleForce

Succession Wars

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

Mercenary's Handbook

Gray Death Legion

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Marik

House Davion

BattleTech Manual

Sorenson's Sabres

Playing Pieces and Map:

CityTech

AeroTech

Succession Wars Ship

Design and Illustration:

DropShips and JumpShips

Maps:

The Sword and the Dagger

Jeff Laubenstein

Cover Art:

Mercenary's Handbook

Color Illustration:

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

Black and White Illustration:

MechWarrior

BattleForce

Succession Wars

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

Mercenary's Handbook

Gray Death Legion

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

BattleTech Manual

Duane Loose:

Cover Art:

Technical Readout 3026

Vehicle Design & Illustration:

Technical Readout 3025

Technical Readout 3026

Jonathan Marcus

Layout:

House Marik

House Liao

BattleTech Manual

Sorenson's Sabres

Todd F. Marsh

Color Illustration:

Mercenary's Handbook

House Kurita

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

Black and White Illustration:

BattleTech

Black Widow

Fox's Teeth

MechWarrior

City Tech

AeroTech

BattleForce

Succession Wars

The Galtor Campaign

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

Mercenary's Handbook

Gray Death Legion

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

BattleTech Manual

Sorensun's Sabres

Jim Nelson

Color Illustration

House Davion

Black and White Illustration

The Galtor Campaign

House Mank

House Liao

House Davion

Sorenson's Sabres

Chris Palm

Black and White Illustration:

The Galtor Campaign

Karen Stance

Layout:

BattleTech

MechWarrior

John Tylk

Layout and Pasteup

Technical Readout 3025

Steve Venters

Cover Art:

BattleForce

DropShips and JumpShips

Sorenson's Sabres

BattleTech Reinforcements

Color Illustration:

MechWarrior

BattleTech Reinforcements

Black and White Illustration:

BattleForce

The BattleTech Blueprints Equipment Design & Illustration:

Technical Readout 3026

Dawne Weisman:

Black and While Illustration

House Steiner

BattleTech Manual

Jordan K. Weisman

Graphic Design:

BattleTech

MechWarrior

CityTech

AeroTech

Battletech

Manual Technical Readout 3025

Mercenary's Handbook

David Zenz

Black and White Illustration

House Marik

 

EDITORIAL:

L. Ross Babcock III

Editor-in-Chief, all publications

Chris Christensen

Editor:

Sorenson's Sabres

Tara Gallagher

Editor:

Succession Wars

House Kurita

House Steiner

BattleTech Manual

C.R. Green

Editorial Assistant:

The Galtor Campaign

DropShips and JumpShips

House Marik

House Liao

House Davion

Todd Huettel

Editor:

MechWarrior

CityTech

AeroTech

BattleForce

Succession Wars

The Galtor Campaign

Cranston Snord's Irregulars

Mercenary's Handbook

DropShips and JumpShips

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Marik

House Liao

BattleTech Manual

Sorenson's Sabres

Technical Readout 3025

Technical Readout 3026

Donna Ippolito

Senior Editor, all publications

Rom. Wells

Editor:

Succession Wars

House Kurita

House Steiner

House Liao

BattleTech Manual

 

Si Fecisti Nega

Shrapnel, those unexpected bits of hot metal that strike by chance. Soldiers in combat philosophize that when their time is up, that's it—there's no avoiding a bullet that ‘has your name on it.’

But when Shrapnel arrives, it is addressed, ‘Occupant:To whom it may concern.

This collection of short stories are fragments, unexpected bits of life and death in the Inner Sphere. The sudden salty taste of blood. The acrid smell of scorched metal. A hot cup of coffee after a long night's battle.

Shrapnel is images and experiences frozen in the mind of the observer.

ISBN-1-55560-082-4