Текст книги "Riposte"
Автор книги: Michael A. Stackpole
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Two hot red laser bolts leaped from Craon's pistol after the other fleeing Liao operative. The first missed and exploded a wooden post into a storm of flaming splinters. The second stabbed through the running man's left shoulder, and the shock of the hit knocked the man down. He rolled to a stop behind a bench, then scrambled to his feet and ducked off into an alley, but minus the rifle he'd been carrying.
"Walter, Robert, with me. Payen, clean up!" Redburn sprinted into the street. Craon and de Mesnil followed like hounds on the heels of a fox. Behind them, Archie triggered another burst and kept the remaining Maskirovka agents down long enough for the trio of pursuers to dart into the alley.
Why did they wait till after dinner?Redburn watched the shadowman running ahead of him. You better not run very far or I'll throw up.Grimacing, Redburn put his head down and lengthened his stride.
When his quarry suddenly ducked into a building on the left, Redburn slowed up and raised his left hand to bring his two subordinates to a halt. "Easy now. If he's gone inside, he's probably got friends." Looks more like a warehouse than a residence. Could the rat have been so foolish as to duck into his own hole?
Wordlessly, Redburn signaled his men to spread out. He positioned de Mesnil on his right and indicated that he should watch the shadow-strewn warehouse's upper floor and roof. He moved Craon ahead and in next to the buildings on the left. Redburn advanced cautiously and kept his pistol cupped in two hands.
Suddenly, a silhouette appeared on the building's roof. A long, flickering spear of flame stabbed into the darkness, and the accompanying staccato explosions echoed through the alley. Redburn dove forward and rolled toward the building. Bullets slashed through where he had just been standing and peppered him with fragments of hot lead and sharp stone.
De Mesnil dropped to one knee and triggered a short burst. The shadowed assassin screamed and dropped his rifle. His lifeless body pitched forward and landed in the alley bare moments after his gun clattered to the street.
Craon moved forward and crouched by the body. "Laser burn on the shoulder. He's the one I shot."
De Mesnil helped Redburn to his feet. "Are you O.K.?"
Redburn nodded. "Yes. But what are the chances of him having found that assault rifle in just any building?"
Craon grinned. "Slim and none?"
Redburn nodded. "Let's be careful, gentlemen, because unless I miss my guess, we've just located a Maskirovka safe house. Heaven alone knows what little goodies are stored in here. Let's go find out."
10
Sian
Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation
20 December 3027
Justin Xiang looked up from a desk crenelated with stacks of leather-bound books and haphazardly stacked computer reports. He smiled wearily at his visitor, yawned, and moved his keyboard from his lap onto the desk. "Glad to see someone else is playing fast and loose with the photon budget this late at night."
Tsen Shang nodded and closed the door behind him. Lowering himself into a massive, brown leather chair, he shut his eyes for a second. In a low voice hoarse with fatigue, he asked, "If we have as much staff as we want for this crisis team, why are we doing all the work?"
Justin chuckled. "I can assure you that some of our staff, like Alexi, for instance, are asking themselves the same question."
Justin bowed his back until he felt his spine crack in a series of ascending pops. "Even though we skimmed the cream of the Maskirovka for our staff, everyone else is covering themselves. We're certainly getting data faster than ever before, but nowhere near as quickly as we need it. And so it falls to geniuses like you and me to make the leaps of logic needed to get any use out of what we do know."
Shang opened one brown eye and stared at Justin. "I like the part about us being geniuses, but this late at night, the rest went right by me." The diamond chips imbedded in his long fingernails caught and amplified the room's mute light as Shang covered a yawn with his right hand. "Are you still playing with the Davion budget figures?"
Justin nodded and glanced over at the computer screen. "Yeah. What do you need?"
Shang glanced at the memo-computer in his left hand. "Disbursements to the Lyran Commonwealth Monopole Company."
Justin punched the request into the computer, then watched information scroll past. Bars of green light drifted up over his face, then stabilized. "Fiscal 3027, which ended in July past. I've got 30,000,000 C-bills, give or take. Are you still working on the Silver Eaglething?"
"No. Shipping costs for the Hatchetmenbeing moved from the Commonwealth to the Federated Suns. Monopole's second and third quarter earnings are grossly out of line with what our people project for their business. They had a couple of ships refitted in the Federated Suns, at the shipyards on Kathil. I thought that perhaps they stuffed Hatchetmeninto their ships due for renovations, and then dumped them at Kathil."
Justin nodded. "Good thought."
Shang shrugged. "That's all it was. The payments tally with supposed payments when Hanse commandeered some Monopole vessels for Galahad '26." Shang leaned forward and cradled the memo-computer in both hands. "Any luck with your pet project?"
Justin sank back into his high-backed chair. Yes. I've had luck, but all of it's been wretched... He sighed heavily and shrugged as he held up his hands. "Yes and no. There's enough vagueness in the NAIS budgets over the last two years to cover the funds needed to maintain a secret BattleMech development facility. I know it's there. I heard enough rumors during my years in the Federated Suns military to believe that it truly exists."
Shang nodded solemnly. "You and I both accept its existence. Ever since 'Mechs first appeared on the battlefield six hundred years ago, they've dominated warfare and decided the fate of Humanity. Unfortunately, the first of the Succession Wars did so much damage to 'Mech factories and research facilities that no one has produced anything new in almost two centuries."
Justin winced. "That was until recently. Dr. Banzai's design for the Hatchetmanis new, as is our Ravenand Kurita's Grand Dragon"
Shang nodded. "That's the point I was headed toward. It's only natural for the Federated Suns to have an ongoing research effort to develop new 'Mechs and equipment. They're the most technologically advanced of the Successor States. The NAIS alone has produced wonders." Shang smiled and nodded toward Justin. "Your left forearm and hand, for example."
Justin shivered. It's just a Federated Suns replacement of what I lost in its service."Your point is well taken. The rumors I heard were of 'Mechs with greatly increased physical strength, which means work on myomer muscle fiber or structural redesigns."
Justin pushed his chair back from the table and walked around to the map on the wall. Shang turned in his chair to follow Justin's movement. The slender analyst tapped the map with the steel index-finger of his left hand. "Because of the political difficulties between Hanse and Michael, I'm sure that Hanse wouldn't have placed the 'Mech research center any further from Terra than Daniels."
Shang thought for a moment, then nodded. "Any deeper into the Capellan March and Duke Michael would certainly learn of it."
Justin smiled. "And we'd hear of it from him . . . unless he's holding out on us?"
Shang yawned. "He's not smart enough."
But is he that stupid?Justin moved his hand down the map. "Because of Kurita raids, I know it's no closer to Terra than, say, Chesterton. But it can't be too far from New Avalon, either. I've got a half-dozen candidates, but Goshen, Axton, and Bethel lead the list." Justin jerked a thumb back toward his desk. "Let's hope those reports will cough up evidence of a chunk of money heading to one of those worlds."
"That's one way." Shang stretched. "We could also raid those worlds."
Justin looked at his aide for a long moment. "Let's narrow the selection down this way, then use our resources more economically. Face it, raiding six worlds means we alert Davion to what we're searching for in his space. I'd rather hit one or two worlds with concentrated force and take what we want without tipping him off beforehand."
"Well, good luck. I'm off to bed."
"Sleep well," Justin said, though he was still studying the map.
Shang stood. "Who said anything about sleep? I don't think I've slept a full night since we took this assignment."
Justin shook his head. "And here I thought it was Romano Liao who was keeping you up nights."
Shang flushed. "Cute, Xiang. You're just jealous because she's got taste . . ."
Justin raised his hands in surrender. "Not me. I like sleeping the full five hours this job allows me." Justin's hands dropped as the door to his office swung open hard. Haggard and bleary-eyed, a half-dressed Alexi Malenkov burst into the room.
"What is it, Alexi?"
Alexi shot a glance at Shang. "Good. You're here too." He looked up at Justin and smoothed his hair down with his right hand. "Your father shut down our entire operation on Kittery!"
"What!" Both men's voices joined in a shocked shout. Justin returned to his desk and dropped into his chair. "What the hell happened?"
Malenkov drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Shang guided him to the leather chair he'd just vacated. Malenkov rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from his bloodshot gray eyes, and leaned heavily forward with elbows resting on his knees. "Reports are sketchy, but what I hear is that a Maskirovka termination team of a half-dozen individuals arrived on Kittery about a month ago. They tried to hit a group of Davion officers and NCOs who were out together at a restaurant in Shaoshan."
Justin stiffened. No. They can't have killed Andy Redburn . . ."Shaoshan's just outside the base where the First Kittery is stationed."
Malenkov nodded. "They tried to hit Captain Redburn and his staff before they transferred to the Davion Light Guards. I don't know if the MechWarriors were warned or not, but they managed to take the hit team apart. One of our men ran, and he ended up leading the Davion officers to one of our storehouses."
"Wait a minute . . ." Shang lay his left hand on Malenkov's shoulder. "Didn't we have native personnel there to protect the storehouse?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Malenkov growled. "The termination team came from Sian and commandeered the center. They ordered everyone out and consulted with no one about their plans. After the Davion officers had killed the last man, they had the center all to themselves. They captured lots of small arms as well as a large amount of data."
"What sort of an idiot would have ordered the assassination of a minor officer?" Justin muttered, shaking his head in dismay.
Malenkov looked up at Shang. "As near as I can make out, Lady Romano issued the orders."
Shang shivered. "But that's impossible. She said she wouldn't. . ."
Justin stood. "What are you talking about, Tsen?"
Shang hesitated, composing his face and his voice before he spoke. "Two months ago, she mentioned to me an idea for taking out Davion officers in a wave of terrorist attacks. We all know that she has a tendency to act before she thinks, so I told her that killing officers wouldn't affect the elite Davion units that much because of the depth of the Davion officer corps. In fact, I told her it would only increasethe CID's vigilance."
Shang hesitated. "Damn, though. To mollify her, I did toss off the speculation that assassinations of some officers—those assigned to green or training battalions—might affect morale in their units, but I didn't think she'd act on it."
Justin sank back into his chair and covered his face with his hands. His hands, flesh and steel, right and left, drifted apart and rubbed at his temples. Justin slowly opened his eyes and sucked in air through clenched teeth. "This is a disaster, but it's one we can control." He exhaled slowly and looked over at his aide. "Alexi, get some sleep. In the morning, I want two inventories of the material we lost in that warehouse. One will be complete all the way down to paper clips, tea cups, and dust in the corners. The other will be a less damaging list that we can present to the Chancellor without fear for our lives. Once we have preliminary drafts of those lists, we can see what sort of spin we want to put on this fiasco."
Grinning, he looked up at Shang. "Let's send urgent orders to the commanders at Taga and St. Loris countermanding and canceling all plans to invade Kittery."
Shang hesitated, then nodded as a sinister chuckle rolled from his throat. "Those orders will get to the CID swiftly enough and make them wonder what's going on."
"Right." Justin leaned back, stretching up his arms to relieve some of the kinks in his shoulders. "We'll give Davion a 'bigger picture' in which to place this incident." Justin narrowed his eyes. "See what you can do to get Lady Romano to calm down. And from now on, you'd do well to watch your speculations when you're around her."
Shang nodded and retreated toward the door as Justin stood to usher out Malenkov as well. "Rest easily, gentlemen. We'll cover this one and maybe even get some good out of it."
11
Sian
Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation
20 December 3027
Justin shut the door to his office and slumped with his back against the heavy oaken door. How could she be so stupid? There are times when she is too much like her father.
Justin levered himself away from the wall with a weary sigh, though he felt too restless to get any sleep now. He crossed to the French doors in the opposite wall and opened them onto the garden around which the palace was built. He closed the doors behind himself and padded along the crushed gravel walkway spiraling in through shrubs and fragrant night-blooming flowers to the center of the garden.
At the garden's hub was a weathered stone shrine whose sharply pitched roof stabbed into the heavens. Slivers and demi-lunes of three of Sian's four visible moons displayed themselves in shades of red and blue around the structure. The fourth moon, slowly rising full and bone-white, cast just enough light over the garden to glint from the gold Buddha sheltered in the shrine.
For Justin, even the enormity of Romano's idiocy somehow dwindled to insignificance in this place. Access to the garden and its peacefulness was probably the only privilege that made working on the crisis team worth it. He closed his eyes and slowly rolled his head around to loosen his neck. I'm still loaded with tension. Perhaps some tai chi...
Justin removed his black jacket and peeled off the sleeveless shirt underneath. The moonlight dulled the bronzed hue of his hairless torso and outlined the wiry muscles in dark shadow. The artificial limb replacing Justin's left forearm and hand reflected only the barest hints of the moon's glow from nearly invisible seams. The blackened-steel prosthesis at first mocked the garden's natural beauty, but once Justin had bent it to his will, it no longer seemed lifeless.
Slowly and deliberately, as with all the motions performed in t'ai chi chuan,Justin's metal fingers curled inward until the tips of the middle pair touched the top of his metal thumb. He took a deep breath, then straightened the fingers again as he moved his hand out to the side in a flawlessly smooth parry of an imaginary foe's attack.
As his body worked its way through the demanding series of familiar movements without conscious direction, Justin's mind floated free. Though he tried to concentrate on the flower perfumes rising from the garden on the gentle breeze or on the energy flowing more easily through his body, his thoughts rebelled, returning again and again to an urgent concern.
Why Andy Redburn? Romano could have sent her team against any number of similar commanders. The First Bell Training Battalion is closer to her own world of Highspire, and she feels no love lost for that unit after Galahad '27. Why cause an incident on a Davion world almost completely surrounded by her sister's St. Ives Commonality?
Justin shut his eyes and grinned. Don't let the paranoia infesting this place get to you, Justin. You were about to assume that Romano tried to kill Andy because she's upset at your primacy on the crisis team. It is true that she'd like to see Tsen Shang succeed, but that would be so that she might direct his efforts against House Marik. Her pathological hatred of the Free Worlds League is almost as great as her father's loathing of the Federated Suns.
Justin shook his head to flick off droplets of sweat off before they could sting his closed eyes. If she thought at all before she sent the termination team out, she probably directed them at Kittery because she wanted to spark reprisals against worlds in Candace's St. Ives holdings. If that was her intent, she's playing a dangerous game. I'll have Alexi place her under passive surveillance.
Justin smiled as he thanked God her attempt did not get Andy. Then he caught himself with a silent laugh. Careful, Justin That's treason . . .
The sound of approaching footsteps brought Justin's movements to a halt. Wiping his brow on the back of his right wrist, he opened his eyes. What he saw was a woman entering the area of the shrine. Remaining shrouded in the shadow cast by a willow, he said not a word.
Dressed in a green and gray silken robe, Candace Liao strode toward the shrine. The robe, cinched tightly around her slender waist by a green sash, reflected the moon's soft light. Reaching the shrine, she stood there with arms crossed over her chest as though attempting to control the fury that was making her tremble visibly.
Justin narrowed his eyes. I do not want to be here.Intending to circle around behind her to slip unnoticed from the shrine, he moved silently toward his left. Candace whirled with the reflexes of a cat and stabbed her right hand out in his direction. The moonlight glittered in her eyes, flashing at Justin with supernatural intensity.
"Why are you lurking here, Xiang? Are you spying on me?" The fury in her words was like the scream of a jungle cat.
He fought his initial reaction to snap back angrily, and bowed his head. "Forgive me, Duchess. I was alone here well before you arrived." Justin pointed at where his shirt and jacket lay. "My exercises had deposited me there, in the shadows, when you arrived."
Her right arm lowered and she reached across with that hand to massage her left shoulder. "Indeed, it seems to be as you say." She glanced at the rumpled pile of clothing. "Very well then. I bid you leave me now. I wish to meditate."
Without thinking, Justin snarled, "If you truly wish to meditate, then my exercises will not disturb you." Sweeping forward from the shadows in a series of circular moves, he increased the speed without sacrificing any of the precision or restrained power they demanded. Then he froze suddenly and looked at her coldly. "I am not finished here, at this time."
Candace's eyes blazed with outrage. "How dare you speak to me so, Citizen Xiang!"
Justin batted her protest aside with a parry of his right hand. "How dare you lash out at me with your anger in this place of peace!" He closed his eyes and forced the tension to flow out of his body with a sharply exhaled breath. "You expose your ire to me, and I want no part of it."
With his gaze lowered, Justin could not see Candace, but he could feel the waves of fury radiating from her like heat from an overworked 'Mech. Emotional meltdown,he commented inwardly. Meanwhile, he forced himself to ignore her and concentrated instead on opening and closing his artificial hand as he launched himself into a new series of t'ai chi chuanmovements.
Her anger broke like a fever so suddenly that Justin opened his eyes. "Citizen Xiang, I, there is . . . Please forgive me." She smiled penitently. "There is no excuse for my behavior, and though I am loathe to admit it, you were right to rebuke me here, in this place."
Justin let his arms drift down to his sides. "Apology accepted."
Candace stiffened, then caught herself and forced a smile. "Yes. I suppose that was an apology, wasn't it?"
Justin nodded slightly. "And beautifully rendered at that."
"I surprised myself," she said with a small laugh. "It's been a long time since I've apologized to anyone." She shook her head, but a gentle breeze kept her glossy black hair away from her face. "I should not have taken it out on you. I should have just gone off and strangled my sister."
Justin licked his lips, but restrained himself from replying.
"Do you know what she did?" Candace stared into Justin's eyes, then laughed. "I'm asking the head of the crisis team if he knows what Romano did on Kittery. But of course you know."
As Justin nodded, Candace continued to speak, her anxiety threading its way into the words. "Davion's likely to attack Taga or St. Loris or Spica in reprisal for Romano's stupidity."
"I don't believe so, Duchess. Duke Michael won't send his Fifth Fusiliers from Kittery, but he will demand that Prince Hanse send the Assault Guards to teach you a lesson. Because it's him, the demand will probably mean the Guards won't go anywhere. The First Kittery is waiting to ship out to New Aragon, so they won't be the ones to go, and neither the Kittery Borderers nor the Capellan Dragoons have the JumpShips needed to launch a raid." Justin smiled wryly. "Besides, the CID shut down our spy network on Kittery, so Davion's laughing up his sleeve at us. He'll do nothing that could turn out badly and sour this coup."
Candace pressed her lips together into a thin line as she considered his words. Then a sudden smile lit up her face. "So you came out here intending to find peace?"
"A sense of peace is what I usually get from a t'ai chiworkout." Justin smiled and wound his right arm through a parry and strike combination that was as beautiful as it was simple. "You should try it."
Candace shook her head as her right hand again rubbed her left shoulder. "I'm afraid I couldn't." She smiled weakly. "A 'Mech injury has left me less than graceful."
He turned to face her and extended his metal hand. "Forgive me, Duchess, but this lump of pig iron does nothing for my grace, either."
Candace's eyes glowed with renewed agitation as she slipped the robe from her left shoulder and withdrew her left arm from the sleeve. Holding the robe closed with her right hand, she turned so that her shoulder was no longer in shadow. Then, with a flick of her head, she tossed her hair back from the shoulder. "At least, Citizen, they were able to fix your arm."
Justin winced as the moonlight poured white fire over the patchwork of scars on her left shoulder. It almost looks as though she were mauled by a wild animal.Though the reconstructive surgery had no doubt been undertaken with the best intentions and meticulous care, the suture scars merely highlighted the futility of the doctors' efforts. "When did it happen?" he asked softly.
Candace's face hardened. "Eleven years ago." No. It couldn't have been ...Justin swallowed hard. "Not on Spica..."
Candace nodded slowly. "Yes, on Spica. A brash young Davion Leftenant who was quite fluent in Liao managed to convince members of my command that the effort to relieve our siege of General Sheridan Courtney's position in the city of Valencia was coming from the north. My superiors shifted their resources around and left the defense of the eastern approach to my company. Colonel Dobson's battalion hit us hard ..."
Justin looked down at his feet and folded his arms around himself. "You were fighting in that Vindicator. . ."
Candace nodded. "And you, Leftenant Justin Xiang Allard, fought in a Blackjack."Candace bowed her head until her hair hid her face. "I had nightmares about our running gun battle through the jungle. In the dreams, you continued to hound me and pick my 'Mech apart with your autocannons. Never the coup de grace. Just the endless chewing and grinding of my Vindicatorinto scrap. Everywhere I turned, everywhere I ran, you were there, and another piece of my 'Mech would vanish."
Justin studied Candace silently, then let a respectful grin onto his lips. "Believe it or not, I relived that battle on a fairly recurrent basis as well. I never knew you were the Vindicator'spilot, but now it fits. You never gave up. I thought I'd shot the hell out of your 'Mech. I knew you were running hot, but whenever I'd get too close, you'd fire your damned PPC at me. In my nightmare, I'd come across your Vindicatorall rusted and overgrown with vines and creepers. I'd raise the Blackjack'sarms to blast your machine into scrap, and it would trigger one last PPC blast. It'd hit the cockpit, and I'd wake up in a cold sweat."
Justin grimaced. "I saw you eject after the gyros went. I hoped you got away in one piece, but I saw the canopy afterward." Justin stepped closer to her and reached out his right hand toward her shoulder. "Ejecting is always nasty when the canopy doesn't blow away cleanly. That safety glass can turn into a mouthful of razor teeth."
Candace flinched as his hand touched her bared shoulder. Justin brushed his fingers lightly over her skin as though he could smooth away the twisted scars. He stroked her shoulder gently and breathed in deeply, enjoying the warmth and smoothness of her skin. Her perfume replaced that of the garden.
Justin's fingers touched the silk of her robe and the chill in it shocked him. His hand recoiled as from fire, and he took a step back. "Forgive me, Duchess, I did not mean to . . ."
Candace pressed her left hand to his lips and stilled his protests. "No offense taken, Citizen." She smiled and slipped her arm back into the robe's left sleeve. "Doctors rebuilt the deltoid and tricep with myomer fibers, but the initial job was done in the field, and so wasn't very good. Acupuncture keeps the pain under control, but I have a restricted range of motion." She held her left arm straight out from her side, but could barely elevate it above shoulder height.
Her words took a few moments to register as Justin's mind raced. He felt the same icy tingling in his guts as when he saw her for the first time. Despite those feelings of doom, he hungered for the woman who caused it. Dammit, Justin. Smarten up! You're tired. It's late. You're not thinking clearly. You're the one who caused her injury. That's more than enough reason for her to hate you.
Justin narrowed his eyes. "You never underwent physical therapy for that injury, did you?"
"Ha!" Candace scoffed. "I was surrounded by nurses who wanted to help me, but the sycophants could not bring themselves to make me work. At the first sign of fatigue or discomfort, they'd scatter for fear they'd anger me . . ."
Justin raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you didn't make it easy for them. But you should have had the discipline to do it yourself, for yourself."
The moonlight skittered blue through her hair as she shook her head. "Weights and moving my arm in circles bored me to death. Then I was summoned back to Sian and given my present duties as the Treasury's Regulator."
Justin chuckled lightly. "T'ai chicould restore that mobility, and it's not boring. It's both meditative, and when speeded up, a formidable martial arts discipline."
Candace brought her head up and stared into Justin's brown eyes. "You will teach me."
Justin hesitated. "Duchess, I am certain there are far better teachers here on Sian than I."
Her eyes flashed argent. "I do not wish servitors who will be afraid to tell me when I'm not working hard enough. You will teach me, Justin, and you will call me Candace. I get enough of titles from those who are not sincere. I'll not have it from a MechWarrior worthy of my respect."
"Very well, Candace," Justin said with a slight bow of the head. "When would you like to begin?"
Candace smiled. "Here. Now."
Justin returned her smile. "Fine. We begin with breathing." So I can control mine as well as show you how to control yours. Face it, Justin. You're lost. You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, but now you’ve gone looking for trouble and found it in spades . . .
