Текст книги "Warrior: En Garde"

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

26 May 3027

Dan found himself nodding as Patrick Kell finished his radioed explanation of the situation. "Don't worry, Dan. Nor you, either, Salome. The hour the Draconians gave us has gotten the Archon-Designate up and away. We've just got to buy a little more time."

Salome's voice warbled a bit as Dan's computer reconstructed the scrambled transmission. "We still attack?"

"Affirmative." Patrick's voice dropped to a grim bass. "I'll give you a signal when to initiate the attack."

Dan frowned. I don't like the sound of that."What signal?"

"You'll know it. Kell out."

Patrick's voice faded, but Dan's unease did not. Is it just that Kurita 'Mech you can't identify, or is it something more?

Dan scowled as he spoke. "What do you think, Salome? I don't like this anonymous signal business." He glanced over and saw a yellow light blinking on his console.

Salome's sigh survived the computer scrambling. "Patrick's the boss. And that gives him the right to be secretive. Time's almost up."

"I know. I think the Kurita commander is trying to reach me. Pass the plan of attack on to the others while I stall him.”

“Roger."

Dan switched his radio over to the frequency that the Kuritans had used before. "Sho-saNiiro, you wished to reach me?"

The Draconian voice was almost apologetic. "Hai,Captain Allard. You realize the time is almost up."

Dan moved his Valkyrieto where he could see Tarukito's Panther.A slight bow of the 'Mech's head acknowledged Dan, who returned the gesture before answering. "I am afraid my people have not found the Archon-Designate in the hour you gave us. This was no surprise, for we believe she is safely on Tharkad. But if you wish to give us more time .. ."

Tarukito selected his words carefully before answering. "I would have thought, given the reputation of the Kell Hounds, that you would not let all these people die just to play word games. I..."

Tarukito's words died in a hiss of ion-static. One of the Pan-then,nearest the magnetically warded bay opening jerked and danced as though trapped in an invisible cyclone. Autocannon shells snapped the Panther'sback like a dry stick, then touched off the SRMs housed in its breast. The thunderous explosion blasted Pantherparts throughout the ship bay. Limbs whirled through the air to batter other Panthers,and an orange fireball curled up from the empty space that the destroyed 'Mech had occupied.

The brilliant flames curled in upon themselves, then suddenly evaporated, as though by some magic. Standing where the Pantherhad stood, a Victormaterialized from within the fire and smoke. It pointed its stubby right arm at another Pantheras its autocannon consumed a second Kurita 'Mech with a voracious storm of metal.

"You are right, Sho-sa Niiro,"Patrick Kell growled over the radio. "The Kell Hounds would never let these people die. The Archon-Designate is already offworld and headed for our Jump-Ship. We're here to cut off" your retreat."

Patrick, what the hell are you doing?Fighting the shock of Patrick's appearance, Dan snapped his radio over to the tactical frequency. "Move it, Kell Hounds! Hit them hard! Patrick's in the Victor."Dan dropped the crosshairs of his LRM battery onto a Panther,then stabbed the fire control with furious vengeance.

The missiles arced away and blasted into the target, tattooing the Panther'sright arm with fiery explosions. As the missiles peeled off sheets of molten ceramics, the arm was laid bare. The Valkyrie'smedium laser lanced out and stabbed through the same arm. The blood-red beam sawed the limb off at the elbow, sending the PPC crashing to the ferrocrete deck.

"Dan, I've got an equipment malfunction!" Austin Brand's voice filled Dan's neurohelmet. "Targeting computer is screwy!"

"Cat, cover Brand. Austin, what's wrong?" Fear rode through Brand's reply. "I get no read on the Victor."

Dan glanced at the Victor.He watched a half-dozen PPC bolts streak from Panthersall around the massive assault 'Mech, but none of them hit their target. They're too close. That's why they're missing.Even as the logical side of his brain offered that explanation, he rejected it immediately. I've got no thermal image of that monster,he realized suddenly. It's just like Morgan on Mallory's World.'

Dan swept his crosshairs past the Victoras he sighted another Panther.He ignored the queasy feeling rising in him—for the cross-hairs had not acknowledged the Victoras a target—and triggered another flight of missiles at a Panther.These caught the Kurita 'Mech in the knees and forced it to stumble forward.

Two more flights of missiles slammed into that Pantherfrom Fitzhugh's Catapult,cloaking the enemy 'Mech in red, orange, and yellow smoke and fire. As the fire collapsed into a dense black smoke, it drifted away like a ghost, leaving a broken, lifeless Pantherin its wake.

Other Panthersnow turned from the Victorto face the attacking Kell Hounds. Dan dodged a quartet of incoming SRMs, then spotted the Warhammerstalking back toward the Victor.It moved with a fluid grace that only one in a thousand MechWarriors could impart to such a massive machine. I know I've seen that 'Mech before. But where?

Cat Wilson's Pantherappeared at Dan's right. He triggered a shot that lanced out and smashed into a Kurita 'Mech's head. The azure energy lance blasted armor from the Pantherlike a storm tearing shingles from a house. The Panthershuddered, then stumbled. The MechWarrior in it, exhibiting incredible skill, twisted the 'Mech so that it would fall on its back, then punched out.

Dan turned and shouted a warming. "Lasker, Pantherat nine o'clock!"

As Lasker's Pantherspun back, it caught the PPC blast on its left arm instead of the weak back armor, but that did little good. The PPC bolt rippled up the arm and dropped melted armor in steaming clumps onto the ferrocrete deck. Lasker launched a flight of SRMs at the enemy Panther,but her haste had sent them wide of their target.

Beyond her, Diane McWilliams's Pantherreeled beneath the impact of enemy LRM barrages. Two sets of five missiles each plowed furrows through her 'Mech's breast armor. Eight more missiles scythed into the metal left leg and shattered the armor on its thigh.

Twisted around by the blasts, McWilliams faced the Crusaderthat had attacked her Panther.She sent a bolt of blue lightning slicing into its chest, but it barely dented the thick armor over the 'Mech's heart. In reply, the Crusadersent two more flights of LRMs.

"No, Diane, no! You're not in your Rifleman.Punch out." Helplessly, Dan watched the missile smash into McWilliam's Pantheras the hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach told him what his sensors calmly presented as damage factors. The LRMs had ripped off the 'Mech's left arm and sent it skittering across the ferrocrete deck. More missiles then exploited the gaps previously blasted into the Panther's,chest. They scattered the remaining armor, then crushed the Panther'sheart. The 'Mech exploded like a supernova.

"Fitzhugh, take that Crusader!Now!" Dan swung his missile crosshairs beyond the Crusaderand slid them over toward the Warhammer'sback. Let's open you up!

Suddenly Dan's mouth went dry. The way it moves ... It's stalking theVictor. It couldn't be . . .Dan raked his targeting joystick hard to the right, but the crosshairs refused to acknowledge the Warhammer'sexistence. Oh, my God! No! NO!He stabbed the radio switch. "Patrick, look out! TheWarhammer, it belongs to Yorinaga Kurita!"

The Victor'shead came up and turned to acknowledge the approaching Warhammer.Contemptuously, Patrick pressed the autocannon's muzzle to the chest of a nearby Panther.Spear points of flame vomited from the gun, cleaving the target from left shoulder to right hip.

The Warhammerraised its twin PPCs to send blue spears of incandescent fire stabbing at Kell's Victor.One beam scarified the armor over the Victor'sright breast, obliterating the unit crest painted there. The second beam drilled through the armor on the Victor'smiddle. Armor chips blasted free on vapor jets, and rained down on the broken Pantherslying at the Victor'sfeet.

Dan saw a thermal image flicker over the Victorfor a half-second. Even that brief glimpse told him the true damage the bolt had done. Flashing through a chink in the Victor'sarmor– probably a weak plate over the wound Ardan Sortek had suffered in it—the PPC had blasted shielding from the 'Mech's fusion engine.

The Victorwas slowly cooking its pilot. "No!" Dan set his Valkyrieoff at a dead run. Patrick, I won't let him do this to you!

Dan watched with horror as the Victorignored the Warhammer.

It blasted another Pantherinto spare parts with its autocannon, then used its SRMs to finish off a wounded Panther.Its medium lasers stabbed out at the Crusaderand carved armor from it even as the Draconian 'Mech reeled under an LRM volley from the Catapult.

Four SRMs blasted into the Valkyrieas Dan streaked across the ferrocrete bay. The missiles exploded against his right arm and twisted his 'Mech around with the sheer violence of their assault. Fragments of armor trailed behind him, but a quick glance at the control console told Dan that his medium laser was still working. He used the spin the missile hits had given his 'Mech, and kept on running.

The Warhammeragain fired at the Victor,sending both beams lashing across the Victor'schest. Chunks of armor rode jagged blue spikes of lightning out and away from the assault 'Mech. They crashed smoking to the ferrocrete deck as though the hu-manoid 'Mech were a medieval knight shedding his breastplate. As the motor fell away, it left the Victor's chest, already burned by the first bolt, open and vulnerable.

Dan saw the PPC bolt out of the comer of his eye, but it was too late to do anything. The turquoise shaft of man-made lightning vaporized the Valkyrie'sright arm. Unbalanced, the Valkyriebegan to fall, but Dan pushed off the ferrocrete floor with the Mech's left hand and righted himself. Nothing will stop me.

Dan flipped the cover off a switch on his command console. He snapped the silvery toggle to the left, then punched the round red button glowing to life beneath it.

"Ten seconds to abort sequence," the computer informed him.

"Negative!" Dan slid his left hand down and armed his command chair's eject option. "Ejection on verbal."

The thunder of blood pumping against his ears drowned out the computer's acknowledgement of his command. "No, Patrick! No!" he screamed in rage. "You have to fight it!"

As though to prove what might have been, the Victor's autocannon mauled a Pantherhuddled in the Warhammer'sshadow. The Warhammer,unimpressed with such bravado, again fired its PPCs at Kell's assault 'Mech. The forked bolts stabbed deep into the Victor, filling its belly with blue fire, and crushing its heart.

Released from slavery, the dwarf star that had powered the Victorgnawed at its master's vitals. The radiation detectors on Dan's command console shot into the red zone immediately, and a heat silhouette whitewashed the Victor.The SRMs stored in its left shoulder ignited in the heat and were soon joined by a rolling series of explosions from what little autocannon ammo still lurked in the Victor.

The Victor'sfaceplate exploded outward, but Dan cheered when he saw Patrick's command chair blast free of his doomed 'Mech. The chair righted itself on tiny jets, but did not rise quickly enough away from the Victor. Ahorrendous explosion shuddered the assault 'Mech and vomited a gout of fire and shrapnel through the Victor'sopen face. It caught the command chair and swatted it down.

No!Dan looked away from the dying Victor,and despite the tears of anger and pain blurring his vision, he centered the Warhammer'sbroad back in his viewplate. You son of a bitch! I'll give you payback!Dan hit his jump jets and rolled the Valkyrie'shead 180 degrees. "Eject!"

Explosive bolts blasted the Valkyrie'scanopy away. Unbearable heat filled the cockpit as rockets ignited behind the command chair. G forces smashed Dan back against his command chair as the rockets catapulted him out of the 'Mech. The computer reported "All systems go," but because of the Valkyrie'sangle of flight, the command chair's foot clipped the 'Mech's chin and sent Dan spinning out of control.

The one-armed light 'Mech crashed into the Warhammer'sbroad back amid a din of screaming metal and snapping ceramic armor plates. The Warhammerstumbled forward two steps and dropped to one knee as it tried to shake itself free of the Valkyrie.It twisted to the right, but the effort proved fruitless. The Valkyrie'sleft arm had hooked over the Warhammer'sleft shoulder and was now jammed between the 'Mech's head and the spotlight on its shoulder.

Suddenly, the destruct mechanism that Dan had armed exploded deep within the Valkyrie,touching off a chain reaction in the LRM magazine. Pressed chest to back against flu. War-hammer,the Valkyrie'smissiles blew through the light 'Mech's thinly armored chest and clawed explosively into the Warhammer'sspine. The Warhammerarched its back as though in agony, then burst at the waist.

The gyrojets on Dan's command chair flared to life and whirled the Warhammerout of his vision. They straightened his flight and propelled him toward a safe landing zone at the far end of the battlefield. As the chair jetted along, however, the magnetic fields holding the Bifrostaloft knocked the gyros out of phase.

Dan's chair crashed hard to the deck. It skipped and rolled along, still aided by the chair's jets, then smashed into a ferrocrete wall. Rebounding once, it then headed in toward the wall again. Half-torn out of the chair's protective grasp, Dan screamed as his shoulder slammed into the wall. He heard something grind and snap, then a wave of black pain washed over him and dragged Dan down into unconsciousness.

* * *

As a doctor from the Silver Eagletightened the sling strap running around Dan's chest, pain shot through his left arm. "Dammit, doctor," he said angrily, ignoring the pain. "Let me go see him!"

The doctor frowned. "There's nothing you can do."

Dan swallowed against the lump in his throat. "I don't care, you bastard. Let me go." Dan jerked away and stood. A wave of vertigo hammered him, but he fought against it. He stalked over to where they had cordoned off a small cubicle with rope and sheets hung between two Kell Hound Panthers.Dan pushed his way through the opening and bit back tears.

Patrick Kell smiled at him weakly, his face ashen. Salome and Cat stood on the other side of the cot. "Glad to see you up, Dan." Kell's words were punctuated by pain-induced gasps and grimaces. "Knew they'd not keep you down long."

Dan jerked his head back in the direction from which he'd come. "They're ready for you now, Patrick."

The leader of the Kell Hounds shook his head, but forced a smile to his cracked lips. "Triage," he said. "I'm too messed up inside to survive, Dan. I can feel it. Let them save others." Agony molded Kell's face into a mask of torment, but he choked back the moans of pain. Patrick looked toward Salome. "Continue your report."

"The Kurita forces retreated to their DropShip and returned to their JumpShips. They knew that they could not catch the Macor the Cucamulusbefore they jumped out, which our ships will do in twenty hours."

Dan turned as the curtains behind him shot open. Melissa Steiner dashed through and dropped to her knees beside the cot. She grabbed Patrick's left hand in hers and squeezed hard. "You can't die!"she whispered hoarsely. Following close behind her was Clovis, who stopped at the foot of the cot. Andrew Redburn, bandages wrapped around his chest and arms, closed the curtains and stood guard at the opening.

Patrick lifted his right hand away from the bloody chest wound, which had reopened during the battle, and brushed away Melissa's tears. "No crying now, cousin. Can't have the Archon-Designate crying for a mercenary, can we? Don't want Takashi thinking you've got a soft spot." Patrick gritted his teeth as pain seized him.

Melissa distractedly touched the bloody streak that Patrick's fingers had left on her cheek, then she narrowed her steel gray

eyes. She looked up at the three standing Kell Hounds and Clovis, then down at Patrick Kell. "I want you to be first to know, Patrick Kell. I'm going to marry him. I'm going to marry Hanse Davion."

Patrick smiled broadly, his pain momentarily forgotten, and squeezed Melissa's hands. "It'll be a grand wedding, Mel. Tell him he's a lucky man." He shook his head. "That'll be a big day. I wish I could be there."

Melissa clutched his hands tightly. "You will, Patrick. You willbe there."

Kell nodded slowly. "In spirit, Mel, in spirit..."

Pain contracted every muscle in Patrick Kell's body and bowed his back. He slammed back down onto the cot, then turned and stared through Dan. "Dan, tell him . . . tell Morgan I understand. Tell him I finally understand." Patrick Kell stared straight up at the 'Mechs standing above him. "Is it supposed to hurt this much?" he gasped painfully. He turned to Salome and with great effort made his voice clear and firm, lifting it somehow beyond the pain. "The command is yours, Major."

His body contracted once more, then Patrick Kell fell into the sleep from which there is no waking.

57

Northwind

Draconis March, Federated Suns

5 June 3027

Quintus Allard shook his head as Dan slipped his left arm from the sling. "I don't think that's a wise idea, Dan."

Dan gritted his teeth against the sharp pain in his shoulder, then stared straight at his father and grinned. "Father, I've only broken my collarbone. It's almost healed." He raised his right hand to the spider-like electrode taped just below his left shoulder at the clavicle. "This little NAIS gem hurts more than the break."

"Yes, but the electrical impulses speed the bone's knitting-together." Quintus took Dan's dress jacket from the valet and dismissed the man. He stepped behind Dan and held up the jacket so that his son could slip in his arms. "Colonel Kell's plan worked admirably."

Dan nodded and let his father carefully slide the left side of his jacket up over his left arm. "Yes. Patrick realized he could not be certain that the passengers would make it to the Cuat all, but he also knew that the Kuritans would never leave the base unless they believed their quarry had fled. Patrick only told those of us inside the rock that the passengers would be loaded up to the Macand headed out to the Cu.Because we were supposed to buy them time, the hour the Draconian commander gave us was a godsend."

Quintus eased the red jacket up onto Dan's shoulders, then came around to help him button up the front. "But Kell also refused to trust the lives of the passengers to a JumpShip that was making a second 'hot' jump in a row. He told Lang and Baker to hide the passengers somewhere back inside the base while the Macmade a phantom pickup run."

Dan nodded, then grimaced as his father fastened the dress jacket's tight collar. "Patrick jumped the Victorout of the Macand into the docking bay as the Kurita time limit ran out. He told the Draconians that the passengers were already up and away. He also told them we were there to cut off their retreat."

Quintus helped Dan snap the jacket's unique double-breast into place. The black layer of cloth had been cut in the shape of the wolf's-head design that was central to the Kell Hound crest. The pointed ears snapped up at the shoulders and the snout fastened down at the waist. The fiery scarlet eyes matched the rest of the jacket's color. The inverted black chevron imposed over a blood-red triangle on Dan's collar mimicked the Lyran insignia for a Hauptmann, though the Kell Hounds called the rank Captain.

Dan's voice dropped lower as he painfully worked a black armband up past his left elbow. "Patrick kept shooting and destroying Panthersas the Warhammerattacked him. He wanted to whittle down the Kurita numbers so that we could drive out the remainder of their force after he died. He drew the Warhammerto himself, and in doing so, saved the rest of us."

Quintus backed away to better study his son's uniform, then nodded with satisfaction. "You look good."

"Thanks. Not every day I get to meet the Prince."

"Indeed." A frown creased Quintus's brow. "Dan, are you certain that the Warhammer'spilot was Yorinaga Kurita?"

Dan smiled. "That, and questions about the unit's designation, have been really popular with your debriefers, father."

The Minister nodded solemnly. "We have no record of any Kurita unit known as the Genyosha.As for Yorinaga Kurita, the last we knew, he had retreated to a Zen monastery on Echo Five."

Dan shrugged, then winced. "I watched Yorinaga stalk Morgan eleven years ago. When you see a MechWarrior that good, you don't forget him. You'll remember his moves no matter how long it's been. I'm just sorry that Cat saw him punch out after my Volhit him."

Quintus shook his head. "You shouldn't be. All our reports suggest that when he ejected, the tactical commander, Sho-saNi-iro, panicked. He ordered the retreat that Patrick had bluffed him into believing had been cut off."

Dan flicked a white thread from his black trousers. "The Cujumped out here to Northwind when the Macreached it. The threat of our aerofighters kept the Kurita DropShips at bay, and so they returned to their JumpShips. We loaded all our spare equipment and the refugees onto the Silver Eagleand used the Bifrostto reach Northwind."

The valet knocked gently at the door, then opened it a crack. "Excuse me, Count Quintus ... Lord Daniel.. . but the Prince has requested your presence in his office before the ceremony."

Quintus led his son through the corridors of the government building Hanse Davion had converted into his headquarters on Northwind. "The Prince assembled his staff and brought us all here to Northwind when the first message from Vandermeer reached New Avalon. Your mother and your sister Riva will arrive on the next run up from New Avalon."

Dan shook his head. "They didn't have to ..."

Quintus winked at his son. "Truth be told, I think they're coming as much to meet the passenger you rescued as they are to be sure you survived this battle in one piece."

* * *

The two CID guards at the office door snapped to attention. Quintus nodded to them and preceded his son into the room Prince Davion had appropriated for his makeshift office on Northwind. The whitewashed walls contrasted sharply with the wooden pillars supporting the ceiling.

Hanse Davion stood up behind an unfinished wooden desk. "Welcome, Quintus and Daniel. May I offer you both a drink?" Before either man could reply, the Prince had crossed behind where Melissa sat swathed in a silver-gray robe of native snow-fox furs. He poured an amethyst liquid into two crystal goblets, then held both goblets out to Quintus, who passed one to his son.

Dan shot a quick glance over at Cat Wilson. Clad in his dress uniform, Cat looked uneasy for the first time since Dan had known him. He held his glass of wine carefully, as though the goblet might somehow shatter at any moment.

Beyond him, Salome caught Dan's eyes and they shared a smile at Cat's apparent discomfort. Salome's dress uniform differed only in the rank insignia at the collar and in the cut of her trousers. While Dan's were tucked into the tops of his cavalry-style boots, Salome's trousers hung loose and square to just below her knees. Like both Dan and Cat, she wore a black armband on her left sleeve.

Seated between the standing Kell Hounds and the Prince's desk, Andrew Redburn and Clovis Holstein turned to acknowledge Dan's arrival. To Dan's eyes, Andrew looked only slightly less comfortable than Cat. He also noticed that the right shoulder of his golden Sunburst Vest now featured a narrow white band across the base. Dan smiled. That man certainly deserved a promotion. Captain Redburn .. . That's got a nice ring.

As Clovis gently set his wine glass on the table between him and Redburn, Dan thought that the outfit they had given him looked very much like a Royal Brigade uniform. Cut perfectly to his diminutive form, the military uniform lent Clovis an air of nobility.

The Prince seated himself at the desk. "As you know, in a few minutes, I will honor the Kell Hounds and the other defenders who held off the Kurita forces on Styx. I will speak about how you protected a hijacked DropShip, and how you drove off superior forces. I will speak about those who gave their lives: Captain von Breunig, Diane McWilliams, Bethany Connor, and Mary Lasker. I will especially mention the supreme sacrifice made by Patrick Kell."

The Prince paused and looked toward Melissa. Taking up a position behind her, he rested his hands upon her shoulders. She reached her left hand up to touch him, but her right hand brushed away tears.

A lump rose to Dan's throat. Patrick would have been happy to see them together. I'm glad she told him.

The Prince looked up. "I have already spoken with the other members of the Kell Hounds and those Heimdall survivors who know that Melissa was on the Silver Eagle.Quintus Allard, meanwhile, has his CID people spreading the rumor that the Silver Eaglewas carrying an important Lyran official coming secretly to New Avalon for medical treatments at the NAIS."

The Prince hesitated, seeming unsure of himself for a moment. "I asked the five of you here because you were present when Melissa told Patrick Kell of our engagement." He smiled down at Melissa and squeezed her shoulders. "I am not sorry she did so, for perhaps the news helped to ease his passing."

Cat raised his glass. "To Patrick Kell, and the dreams he died to protect."

Everyone in the room nodded silently and drank.

Hanse was studying each of their faces. "You all realize, of course, that no word, no rumor, of this engagement must yet slip out. If it were to become common knowledge, chaos would reign. Neither of our realms is ready for such a revelation. Critics of the alliance within both the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth would attempt to stir up controversy."

Melissa leaned forward. "Knowledge of our betrothal could do even worse than that. It would make Kurita and Marik feel trapped. It would unite our enemies, and that would create serious problems for stability in the Successor States."

Salome nodded solemnly. "I speak for the Kell Hounds, Highnesses, when I say that our lips have been sealed by the blood of our dead comrades. If we were to betray this secret, we would be betraying the sacrifice that they made."

Clovis also nodded agreement. "I'll share this information with no one, inside Heimdall or out. Not even my mother shall learn of it from me." He glanced down at his boots and added in a tense whisper, "And never my father."

Prince Hanse nodded solemnly. "Captain Redburn has already given me his oath, and he has been duly rewarded for his efforts on Melissa's behalf." The Prince indicated Clovis with a quick nod and grin. "Clovis has also bargained for a reward. He and his people have been pardoned for the hijacking. We have offered them whatever medical treatment they require, and are providing for them here on Northwind until they can return to the Lyran Commonwealth."

The Prince looked up at the three mercenaries and shrugged helplessly. "Had I the chance right now, I would gladly give the Kell Hounds titles and land. I would make you heroes in the Federated Suns. When the day comes that all this can be revealed, I will induct you into the Order of Davion. I have already issued the Dragon Slayer's Ribbon for the Kell Hounds as a unit. I have also prepared a document to be opened after the wedding, that awards posthumously, each of your slain comrades the Medal Ex-calibur. I will have a monument built to them on New Avalon."

The Prince paused and swallowed hard. "But what can I do for you now? I know medals and titles mean nothing when you have lost comrades. How can I reward your bravery?"

Dan cleared his throat and inched forward. "I'll speak for myself. What I did was foolish and desperate, but it's now considered brave because of the result. I did what I felt I had to do, and I still didn't save Patrick. Now Patrick .. . well ... he knew exactly what he was doing. He continued to kill Panthersso that the rest of us could live. He goaded the Kuritans into attacking the Victor sothat we would survive. He knew, from the moment he hatched that plan, that he'd never walk away alive. But he hoped that Melissa and some of the rest of us would. That's bravery and courage."

Dan opened his hands and winced at the pain shooting through his shoulder. "The best reward for me would be something that would keep Patrick's memory alive. I don't mean a statue or a medal." Dan swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Maybe a scholarship ... one that would give potential MechWarriors with the same sort of 'heart' as Patrick the chance to get the training they could never have otherwise. That would be reward enough for me."

Dan felt Cat's hand on his shoulder. "I agree with Captain Allard, your Highness." Salome nodded her approval as well.

Prince Hanse smiled genuinely. "It shall be done."

Melissa leaned forward earnestly once more. "It shall be done here, and in the Lyran Commonwealth," she said. "Patrick Kell shall never be forgotten."