Текст книги " Lethal Heritage "

The fiery-haired mercenary Natasha Kerensky walked into Colonel Jaime Wolf's office without knocking or hesitation. She held the yellow sheet of paper out for his inspection, but he looked straight through it and her. Seated behind a cluttered desk, he leaned back in his chair and pressed his hands together, fingertip to fingertip. Only the rise and fall of his chest told her he was alive.

She kept her voice soft and friendly—both of a volume and tone her troops would have sworn she could never manage—and placed the paper on his desk. "I thought you'd want to see this immediately, Jaime. It came in over Field Marshal Ardan Sortek's signature. The Tikonov Republic has, at Prince Hanse Davion's suggestion, given us free and clear title to Outreach."

The news brought animation back to Wolf's face. Though a small man, he gave off an aura of strength and his presence was commanding. Still, long years of almost constant warfare had taken their toll. His once-black hair was shot through with white, while the lines around his eyes and creasing his forehead showed how heavy had been the weight of his burdens. The slump in his shoulders told that he knew more difficulties were in the offing, but the glint in his gray eyes left no doubt that he would face what he must.

He gave the Black Widow a smile. "Yes, Natasha. Thank you. This is welcome news indeed."

Kerensky glanced out through the arched window near Wolf's desk. "I thought we'd have had more trouble getting this world for our home. I assumed Hanse Davion would be determined to keep it once he heard we wanted it."

Wolf shrugged. "Davion is well aware that Outreach was once the Warrior World. He knows that the Star League's Army used to hold their martial Olympics here and that not quite all of the useful equipment has been stripped from it in the three centuries since General Kerensky and his Star League troops left the Inner Sphere forever."

The dying sun burned highlights into Kerensky's hair as she turned to face him. "Do you think Davion knows exactly how much equipment is left? He'd surely have asked Quintus Allard to send some of his damnable operatives here to see what we would be getting."

The leader of Wolf's Dragoons smiled like a man with a secret. "Hanse has lived up to his nickname of 'the Fox' rather admirably on this one. Quintus Allard asked us to complete a technological survey because he claimed he couldn't spare an agent for Outreach at this time. Hanse must certainly expect that we've withheld some information, but I don't think it matters to him. He's happy to have us here because it prevents local rebellions or a strike from the Free Worlds League. The report we sent back to Allard should be enough to quiet any complaints that we were handed a treasure trove of lostech."

The use of the idiom for valuable technology lost after the fall of the Star League era brought a brief smile to Kerensky's full lips, but her tone was worried. "Is our own survey complete yet? Is there enough equipment here for our needs?"

Wolf shook his head and steepled his fingers again. "It looks as though things like computers and obvious manufacturing resources were carried off long ago, but I don't think anyone out there even guesses at the vast complex of stuff under the surface here. We've got the facilities we need to repair and manufacture BattleMechs. But whether it's enough to complete our mission is hard to say."

She fairly trembled with irritation. "You can't still be clinging to the idea that we have a mission, can you? We've done what they required of us. I say we should get ourselves healthy, get our machines at a hundred and ten percent, and then go kick some tail!"

The Widow's outburst made Wolf smile in spite of himself. "Natasha," he said quietly, "I'd like nothing better, but you know I can't agree to that. You also know that the others won't be able to stop them. We've been entrusted with a duty that we cannot abandon."

Natasha leaned forward over his desk. "It's impossible, Jaime. That'swhat I know. For the last twenty-five years, we've fought for every Great House in the Inner Sphere, and we've fought againstevery House, too. We know their strengths and weaknesses. We know it's hopeless ..."

Wolf stood abruptly and paced the length of the room. "It's not hopeless, Natasha. Some of them show promise. We have a place to start."

Her sharp laugh brought him up short. "Did you just miss the last two years, Jaime? Two years of a war that's left everything changed, including us! The Capellan Confederation has all but fallen to the Federated Suns. The Draconis Combine has been hit hard and lost dozens of worlds and crack units. The Lyran Commonwealth was almost split apart by the war, not to mention the death of Frederick Steiner and the loss of his Tenth Lyran Guards in the suicidal attack on Dromini VI. As for the Free Worlds League, ha! Their government is so bound by red tape that they couldn't even mount a defense against the Tikonov Free Republic's troops, and we both know that the province of Andurien is going to secede before year's end with no trouble at all. Hanse Davion may have planned this war well, and his Federated Suns come out the big winner, but he's razed his economy and his people are afraid of another ComStar Interdiction.

"In short, my friend, the Successor States have clubbed themselves senseless."

Wolf's eyes flashed at her badgering tone. "That's all well and good, Natasha, but haven't you left out some of the more important factors that concern us? The Successor States might be in sad shape, but not so all of the military. The Kell Hounds survived the war in good shape, as have the Eridani Light Horse and the Northwind Highlanders. I'll admit they're not enough to do everything, but it's a place to start."

Natasha seated herself on the edge of Wolf's desk, watching him pace. "You're not thinking of bringing them here to train, are you? You wouldn't compromise our security that way!" Suddenly she slapped the open palm of her right hand against her forehead. "You areplanning to do that, aren't you? That's why Morgan Kell and his wife Salome are already heading here from their JumpShip. Are you mad? How much does Kell know?"

Wolf drew himself up to his full height. "Morgan Kell knows what I have trusted him with—and trust him I do. He and Salome are coming here so we can run some tests and help them with an infertility problem."

The Black Widow's mouth gaped open. "You told them about ..."

The small man shook his head. "No, I've not told Morgan everything, though I imagine he has figured out what I didn't. The man is a friend and I've decided to help him. He is also a MechWarrior of great skill and courage. While I do not plan to bring his Kell Hounds here to train, I believe Morgan might be persuaded to prepare his forces to help us when the time comes. Furthermore, I think he would be willing to let us train certain of his people so that what we know can be passed on to others without jeopardizing our security."

A shudder passed through her body. "The next thing I expect to hear you say is that you're going to invite ComStar to set up a communications center here on Outreach."

That suggestion won a chuckle from Wolf. "Not a chance. ComStar may well control communications between stars in the Inner Sphere, but their benign pacifism died with Primus Julian Tiepolo. The new Primus, this Myndo Waterly, is aggressive and dangerous. She's already forced Davion to allow her to post BattleMechs in ComStar compounds as a condition for lifting the communications ban ComStar imposed over his Federated Suns. I'll not put us in that position."

Natasha smiled. "Ah, thank God you are sane after all." She sighed wearily. "Look at us. We've been fighting here for twenty-five years. We should be retiring, not worrying about preparing others for a war that may not come. That task should fall to the whelps up and coming."

Jaime laid a hand on Natasha's shoulder. "I agree with you, but we have a problem. The youngsters have been raised here in the Successor States of the Inner Sphere. We lost a good number of them fifteen years ago in the Free Worlds League, and then even more escaping from the Draconis Combine two years ago. The survivors weren't raised with the same traditions as we. They barely understand that we're different. And now we have outsiders among us. They, too, must be trained and inculcated with our ways. The only people who can do the training are those of us who have survived all these years."

The Black Widow shook her head ruefully. "You're right, of course. And they were right to put you and not me in charge of this fool's mission." She brought her head up and thrust her chin forward defiantly. "If they're going to come, I only hope they come soon, before I'm too old to pilot a 'Mech. They've got a lot to answer for, and I mean to make them pay."

Wolf stood back and folded his hands across his chest. "They're coming, all right, and it may be sooner than we think. As much as I understand your wish, I hope you don't get it." He looked her straight in the eye. "Because if we're still around and in fighting shape, you know the others won't have had time to prepare. And that means the Fourth Succession War that's just ended will seem like the overture to the end of Mankind."

BOOK I