Текст книги "Heir To The Dragon "

"A lot of trouble for a ground-bound general looking to hitch a ride to HQ."

"If it were only a colonel, we wouldn't be making the effort, right?"

"Astute, Hans. We must always pay attention to the politics of rank." Garrett slipped free of the bunk straps and glided across the compartment, elegant and nimble in the microgravity despite his age and artificial leg. "I'm going to shower and grab a bite before docking. We should probably have the whole crew on hand. Generals like a proper reception."

"Aye, Captain."

* * *

Two hours later, Garrett and Alders stood in the cargo well, near the docking collar hatch. The other six members of the crew fidgeted nearby. Alders only had to shout once to get them to stop their grumbling about unnecessary shows for unnecessary generals. Garrett knew that their lack of respect for the army was traditional rather than personal, but still hoped that they wouldn't embarrass him too much in front of the visiting officer.

The Kit Carsonshuddered from the impact of the DropShip in the collar. Garrett made a mental note to chew out Gerhardt for his substandard performance. The soles of Alder's grip shoes made sucking sounds as he stepped forward to the hatch controls. There was a slight hiss as the panels of the hatch began to dilate, and the rank odor typical of an old UnionClass DropShip wafted over the waiting JumpShip crew, a gift of the slightly higher air pressure on the incoming ship.

The growing circle of the open hatchway was only half-size when a black-clad figure shot through it in a dive impossible in gravity. The red-haired man struck Alders amidships, ripping his suction soles free from the decking and sending both men tumbling toward the far bulkhead.

A second figure thrust into the Carson .This one expertly banked off the upper bulkhead of the short passageway connecting the hatch to the cargo well. With the ease of a person used to zero-gravity acrobatics, the black-garbed figure landed in a crouch in front of Garrett. The Captain recognized that this one was a woman, and a beautiful one, before his eyes riveted on the shining sword she extended to touch his throat.

"The point is sharp enough to penetrate before the reaction takes you away from me, Captain," she said softly. "Surrender and spare your life."

Garrett heard a rustling behind him as the crew began to react. Before he could think about turning, the woman raised her left hand. Her laser pistol hissed a single pulse and he heard the gurgle of a dying man. Her eyes never left his own.

"Stand fast," he stammered. The woman smiled.

"The Dragon rewards wisdom," she said, lowering her sword. "Walk carefully to the bulkhead with your men."

Garrett complied. Biting his lip, he saw Bernhardt floating lifeless near the center of the cargo well, a slugthrower drifting gently from her outstretched hand. The red-headed intruder stood over Alder's limp body, holding it to the deck with a foot on the man's head. The intruder menaced the survivors with a vicious KA-23 subgun. The Kuritan was braced to absorb any recoil should he fire his weapon.

The man flashed Garrett a smile, then turned to the woman. "Arigato,Tomoe -san. I didn't see the one with the pistol."

"Do itashi mashite,"she shrugged. The woman faced the open hatch and called out in Japanese words that Garrett recognized as an all-clear signal.

A tall figure, immaculately clad in a Combine Mech-Warrior jumpsuit, stepped through the docking collar hatch. The apple-green triple bars of a Tai-saflashed on his collar. The officer made a slight bow.

"Good day, Captain. Let me be the first to welcome your ship into the Combine navy. Kindly prepare for jump. I'm in a bit of a hurry."

29

Nevcason, South Nantuo, Vega

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

16 October 3028

Theodore checked his ringwatch and put down his copy of Sun Tzu's Ping Fa.The dog-eared, leather-bound volume looked strangely out of place among the datadisks and slick sheets covering the work desk. He picked up two of the disks and slipped them into a pocket of his jumpsuit. Undecided, he hesitated a moment, then slid his two swords into his sash. Some formality might be in order, for his subordinate regimental commanders both held higher military ranks than he did. Only his position as Heir-Designate allowed him to command them. He left the small study and walked down the hall to the conference room.

Tai-shoMichael Heise of the Second Legion was already there, field-stripping his personal sidearm while he waited. His black duty uniform was rumpled and spotted by oil dribbling from the rag he used to clean his weapon. Heise looked up as Theodore entered the room.

"Konnichi wa,Kurita -sama," he said from his seat. "Recovered from our inadvertent reception?"

"Quite, thank you. I had expected Lyrans to be hunting me, not Kuritans."

Heise snorted. "Gotta expect that when you come calling in a DropShip with the Steiner fist on it. Lucky the AeroJocks pulled back and let you land when you didn't return their fire. I would have had a hell of time explaining to the Coordinator how I ignored his son's broadcasts and had his DropShip blasted out of the sky."

"You acted with understandable caution and suspicion, Tai-sho.None can fault you for that."

"I don't think the Coordinator would've seen it that way."

"Then perhaps youare the lucky one," Theodore suggested. "Where is Sho-shoNordica?"

"Chris was a little late leaving the Fourteenth, something about turning back a probe from Third Guard. She should be here in a few minutes."

"So ka.What's the latest from the field?"

"Pretty quiet at the moment," Heise announced as he activated the holotank that dominated the small room. The milky tank came to life, darkening to the black of space, a globe of Vega floating in the center of its volume. The world-girdling ocean appeared a uniform green, while the three continents were painted in gold. The sphere rotated until the south pole was uppermost and sank through the base. The vast expanse of the enormous South Nantuo continent spread out to fill the bottom of the tank. As it did so, mountains rose from the undifferentiated surface and rivers appeared, cutting valleys and spreading flood plains as if all geological time had been compressed to a few seconds. The isthmus to North Nantuo and the southern tip of Forsiar showed at one edge of the tank, but South Nantuo and its bordering seas filled most of the space.

Heise touched a control, and military data began to appear on the map surface. Light blue shading, representing territory under the sway of the Steiner invaders, covered most of the neighboring continents. South Nantuo was marked as well, a blue swath filling much of the space between the Great Desert of Tears and the Trebason mountains. Darker blue icons marked the dispositions of the two dozen Steiner military units in the field. The most dangerous unit, the Third Lyran Guard BattleMech Regiment, was highlighted in its position just to the west of the Roccer-Halo line. The red icons of the Kurita forces stood before the Guard in an arc, sealing off the eastern end of the bulge that held the planetary capital of Nevcason. Most of the forty regiments of conventional forces were scattered across the continent, holding other vital positions, waiting for the Lyran advance to reach their defensive zones. Only the Legion, one armored regiment, and a half-dozen infantry regiments defended the lowlands around Nevcason. The Second Legion of Vega held the northern flank. To the south, the Fourteenth Legion was spread out among the mining camps of the De Zerber region.

"As you know, we've heard nothing from North Nantuo or Forsiar since the end of September. Our scouts have just identified elements of the Thirty-third Lyran Armored Guard moving through Al Aldurban, southwest of De Zerber. Since the Thirty-third was involved in the initial drops of the Forsiar coast and was later observed during the fall of Qaterrani on North Nantuo, we must presume that all organized military resistance on those continents is ended. We can expect more Lyrans soon."

"This was not unanticipated," Theodore said.

"Anticipation never stopped a tank."

Theodore started to retort that anticipation had, indeed, stopped many a tank. A good commander could halt an enemy by anticipating his actions and rendering them useless before the enemy could carry them out. But it seemed futile to make the point. Heise had seemed overjoyed to see Theodore emerge from the Arctic Fox,but the officer's subsequent manner led Theodore to believe that the man's happiness was due more to being relieved of responsibility for the planet's fate than to any expectation of success under Theodore's guidance. Theodore was disappointed in Heise, who had seemed much livelier and optimistic during earlier visits to Vega. He hoped that Sho-shoNordica was not infected by Heise's pessimism.

The loud bang of a wooden door against the wall announced Nordica's arrival. Theodore turned to watch the tall blond woman, skin glistening with sweat, enter the room. She wore a cooling jacket and her normally curly locks were plastered down with sweat, sure signs that she had just exited her 'Mech.

Christine Nordica strode up to Theodore, hand outstretched. "Welcome back to Vega, Tai-sa."she said, pumping his arm as she spoke. "I want to say that I think it was real audacious the way you conned the Elsies into giving you a JumpShip. I always said that you'd more than live up to your advance billing."

"What you said was that nobody could be that bad," Heise scoffed.

"Close your mouth, Mike, or your smart remarks are gonna get you a fist in it."

"At ease, senshi"Theodore said, laying a hand on Heise's shoulder to restrain him before he could stand. "This is no time for bickering among ourselves."

"Well, anyway," Nordica insisted. "I thought you did real good."

"I was fortunate. The Lyrans were so secure in their arrogance that we were able to gull them into believing we were one of their own DropShips. Convincing the captain to take us to the Konstance system was easy compared to getting him to recharge the JumpShip's Kearney-Fuchida drives from the fusion plant in order to complete the transit to Vega. Between the stress that put on the hyperdrive and the pirate point transit point I demanded, he was sure we would be lost to hyperspace. The ship was damaged, but we made a timely arrival here at Vega." Theodore shrugged. "That is history now, and we must deal with the future. I've already been over the situation with Tai-shoHeise."

"Well, he ain't got no manners, but he's got it together. Between him and the stuff I heard you got from the Elsies, you should have a pretty good idea of the situation."

"It's true we were fortunate enough to capture one of their 'Pony Express' JumpShips and recover a substantial amount of military data from its computers. But unit dispositions are not enough. I want to know what you think of the opposition."

Nordica laughed despairingly. "You've read the reports and seen what they've done here on Vega. You've seen our supply situation as well. We're on the slide down, unless you've come up with something brilliant."

"I do have a few ideas, but first I want your evaluation of Leutnant-General Finnan. He is the overall commander as well as leader of the Third Guard, and I've been informed that you know him."

Nordica stiffened, hooding her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do," Theodore said softly.."As I said before, we must deal with the future. Your past is unimportant." Seeing that Nordica was still reluctant to speak, Theodore added, "You are of the Dragon now, Sho-sho,and the Dragon protects its own. Your knowledge of his character could help me know what to expect from him as commander of the enemy." Nordica raised a hand to her mouth, biting gently into the web between her thumb and fingers. With a sigh, she raised her eyes and stared into Theodore's. After several heartbeats, she dropped her gaze again.

"All right," she said. "He's a real hard-liner, fanatically loyal to House Steiner and blind to anything said against them. He takes the Third Guards' nickname very seriously. They're called 'The Ever-sworded Third,' and he wears an antique broadsword all the time, even in his 'Mech. He's a little weird that way."

Her voice dropped on the last words. Theodore followed her eyeline to the swords in his sash.

"No offense taken, Sho-sho,"he said. "Please continue."

"He must have come here straight from Tharkad. He's gonna be real uncomfortable with the weather here, but he's a vet and won't let that affect his judgment. He calls his troops 'Teutonic heroes,' and they're as fanatical as he is. They're Steiner mainline all the way."

"So ka.You would assess him as a traditional Steiner leader?"

"Well ..." she began. "Yeah, sure."

"Very good," Theodore said, satisfied. He slipped a disk into the holotable and tapped at the control keyboard. Red Kurita icons shifted to new positions, and faint orange arrows appeared, spearing outward toward the Steiner dispositions.

"These are the sites where we attack tomorrow."

The Legion officers studied the map, Heise licked dry lips and Nordica chewing on a finger. She asked for a replay of the planned attack and asked terse questions while Heise computed figures on his handset. After a few minutes, Heise furrowed his brow and raised his head from his computations.

"The attacks you propose will burn all the expendables we have left," he objected.

"That's true," Theodore conceded easily. "But soon or late, those supplies will be gone, whether we attack or not. Toujours I'audace, mon General!We should be able to acquire some more from the Lyrans as we push, them back."

"It's a big gamble," Nordica said, running the tip of her tongue back and forth across her upper lip. Her face showed her worry.

"You're the one who called me audacious."

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, audacity is a virtue of the Dragon. Do you have the courage to go along?"

Nordica bridled. Theodore guessed that she assumed he was slighting her courage because she was a woman. He knew better; Tomoe had taught him much about a woman's capacity for courage.

"I'll match you stride for stride, buster," Nordica ground out.

"Dekashita!"Theodore said with a grin. "We'll give the Lyrans a run."

30

Steiner Supply Depot, Cochus, Vega

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

17 October 3028

Fuhito cursed the weather, shivering as a cold trickle of rain found its way past his collar to run down his back. Thunder answered his words, reminding him that the weather was his friend. He calmed his mind, seeking to ignore the cold and wet. He had just put the discomfort from his mind when a Striker light tank rolled by and deluged him as its wheels hit a deep puddle.

Fuhito stepped back directly into a Steiner soldier marching alongside the column. The Lyran, the leutnant in charge of the guard detachment, shoved Fuhito away with a rough oath and said something in German. Fuhito only caught the name Kurita and the ill-tempered tone, but he recognized it as an insult.

A poke in the back from one of his companions reminded him to act cowed. He snatched a glance backward and caught a slight head shake from Ninyu Kerai. Though Fuhito generally found Kerai disturbing in some obscure way, he knew the man was right now. Needing cheap labor, the Lyrans had called on the populace with threats and empty promises to get it. Fuhito and the other disguised Kurita soldiers were supposed to be part of this group of people rounded up from the countryside by the Steiner invaders. To continue to hide safely among the laborers, they had to avoid suspicion. If one of the Lyrans got nosy and searched them, all would be lost. The patriots who had thrown in with the Kuritans for this mission would be shot as spies. The soldiers, even though they wore their DCMS tans under their rain ponchos, would likely receive the same reward.

"Move it, you malingerers! I don't plan to spend my night with you wetbacks," the Lyran leutnant snarled, his temper as foul as the weather. The officer shoved his laser carbine into the back of one of the locals, urging the frightened woman forward. "Come on, come on! The sooner you get to the compound, the sooner you get out of the rain."

The ragged line of miserable men and women trudged on.

Finally, they reached the gate to the Lyran supply compound at Cochus. It was a good site, ideally positioned to support the advance of the Third Lyran Guards against the capital. Supplies could be landed safely on Forsiar and ferried across to the city piers. From the coastal city, the Lyrans would send the supplies out by truck along the main highway, by monotrack to railheads at strategic locations, or by military carrier to almost anywhere else.

Huddling in rain, the Kurita soldiers and the conscript labor among whom they hid waited for their masters. The footsoldiers gathered under the leaky canopy that served as a gatehouse to conduct their business in relative comfort. Fuhito heard the compound guards complaining about the tardiness of their relief. He listened in surprise as the guard against whom he had stumbled suggested that the complainers take matters into their own hands and go kick their replacements' butts out of the barracks.

Fuhito found the concept of abandoning one's duty post because of personal discomfort to be treasonous, unthinkable. But these Lyrans were soft, always thinking of their own comfort. And they were cocky, too assured of being safe so far behind the lines. Only a pair of Strikers, buttoned up against the weather, stood sentry. Apparently, their crews were unwilling to get wet simply to watch over a bunch of submissive laborers. Soft.

The guards returned to lead the conscripts to the shacks where they would spend the night. As the group left the gate, Fuhito looked back to see the men on duty at the gate take the leutnant's suggestion. En masse, the guards left their post and headed for the main barracks. Fuhito wondered if the Steiner MechWarriors were equally lax.

When they reached the shacks, the Lyrans separated their charges into groups and assigned them to huts. When only one group remained, the officer dismissed his men, urging them to warm up on some schnapps for him. The last group was almost completely composed of Combine soldiers, and Fuhito felt a sense of impending danger as the leutnant stood by the door, flashing a light into each person's face as he or she passed into the dimly lit interior of the hut.

"Oh, ho," the soldier exclaimed as he pulled one of the hunched figures from the line. He tugged the poncho's rainhood down, exposing the woman's head. Fuhito held his breath when he saw that it was Tomoe Sakade.

"Very nice. Maybe I was a bit hasty in deciding who I would spend the night with. There are quite a few privileges for those who are friendly," the leutnant told her, slipping a hand under her poncho.

In the faint gleam from the open door, Fuhito saw the Lyran's eyes go wide. He surmised that what the leutnant found in his groping for soft flesh was the hard metal of Tomoe's subgun instead. The man took a step back, but not fast enough to escape Tomoe's flashing hand. Her stiffened fingers drove into the man's throat. He collapsed with a broken trachea, choking on his own blood.

All the Kuritans froze, waiting to see if they were discovered. There was no sign that anyone had heard. The rest of their guards continued noisily toward the barracks. On the far side of the camp, a lone guard 'Mech prowled, its searchlight gleaming as it swept the perimeter.

"No more time to lose," Tomoe announced. "Kerai! Tetsuhara! Get your team together. You two, drag this garbage into the hut. Let's move!"

The Kuritans tossed off their ponchos. Fuhito counted heads, and found that some of his team had already been herded into the shacks. Quickly, he gathered them, twenty soldiers and twice that number of brave locals eager to do their bit for the Dragon. At the head of his thirty raiders, he headed for the Lyran barracks. Tomoe and Ninyu had already vanished into the night, gone to their own tasks.

Fuhito dispersed his men to cover all sides of the building, careful to assure that they were not visible should some Lyran glance out a window. He found himself a good vantage point overlooking the main avenue of the camp and waited.

Ten minutes later, twin explosions announced the success of Tomoe's team as the Strikers succumbed to limpet mines.

First of the Steiner troops out of the barracks were the negligent gate guards. Fuhito straightened from his crouch and fired his KA-23, cutting them down before they had gone twenty meters. Around him, spurts of flame appeared as his squad opened up. Bullets pocked the surface of the building, seeking and finding flesh whenever Lyrans attempted to leave the barracks.

Short-spaced crashes filled the air, the massive footsteps of the approaching Steiner guard 'Mech. The beat of those footsteps slowed as the machine neared the barracks court. Then it appeared from around the corner, striding slowly forward as the flames from the burning Strikers underlit the twelve-meter 'Mech, giving it the aspect of a hellish demon. Fuhito recognized the machine as a thirty-five ton Fire-starter,a dangerous anti-personnel BattleMech. The light 'Mech stalked across the court, searching. Its head-mounted searchlight probed the shadows. One of the recruits panicked, dropping his weapon and running away from the Fire-starter.The 'Mech's torso swiveled to face the man, and heavy slugs from the torso-mounted Deprus machine guns shredded him.

Fuhito stood motionless as the Firestarterpassed his position. Knowing too well that his motion might be visible on the pilot's 360-scanner, he threw a flare ahead of the machine and to its left.

The 'Mech blasted the spot where the flare burned as soon as the magnesium ignited. After a moment, the Firestarter'sguns fell silent and it stepped into the alley behind the barracks, seeking prey.

Watching its passage, Fuhito noticed a dark lump on a radio tower near which the machine had stopped. The shape moved, resolving itself into that of a clinging man, arm poised for a throw. A sputtering object arced across the space to impact at the side of the Firestarter'shead.

The bomb burst in a shower of flames, its jellied petrochem plastering the 'Mech's head. The heat and gummy liquid blinded the Firestarter'ssensors and apparently disoriented the pilot. Stumbling into a wall, the 'Mech knocked itself off-balance and fell.

As the Firestarterstruck the pavement, one of the canisters clustered around its right shoulder ruptured. The liquid inside erupted in a fiery paroxysm that engulfed the entire upper body of the 'Mech.

Fuhito was appalled. Those canisters usually carried extra coolant, necessary to protect the machine's actuators as the fusion heat of the reactor was channeled from the engine to the arm-mounted flamers. Instead, this 'Mech had carried incendiary chemicals that it could project as a clinging mass of fire to cripple and burn any enemy, including another BattleMech. A fiery death was the deep-seated fear of every Mech Warrior, a terror born in the sweatbox cockpits where they piloted their nuclear-hearted monsters. This man had wished that death for his opponents; now he roasted in his own cockpit, a victim of his own desire.

The loss of their giant guardian took the heart out of the remaining Lyran troops, who were waving a white rag from a door.

Fuhito left acceptance of their surrender to his sergeant. He stood watching the conflagration of the Firestarter,thinking dark thoughts, when Ninyu materialized out of the darkness behind him.

"Well timed, Tetsuhara– kun. You suckered him into position like it was some parade-ground exercise. It's almost as much your kill as mine."

Fuhito turned to him, feeling heat that did not come from the burning 'Mech. "No MechWarrior should die that way."

Ninyu shrugged. "He was a Lyran."

"He was a human being. Have you no heart?"

"My heart belongs to the Dragon. It holds no sympathy for those who stand against the Dragon." Ninyu's stare was as hard as his words. "Let's go. The hovercraft have arrived. All hands are needed at the warehouses."

Fuhito followed the black-clad man, mind numb.

The following hours of labor only numbed him more. As a MechWarrior, he was able to handle one of the industrial exoskeletons, and that put him in constant demand all along the waterfront. He was too busy to think.

Periodically throughout the day, Fuhito observed as Tomoe fielded supply requests from Steiner units, assuring anxious officers that their requisitions were being processed and that supplies were on their way. In point of fact, the Kuritans were taking those supplies for themselves.

The volume of Lyran demands indicated that Theodore's attacks were well underway. Combine forces were striking all along the front, hitting them hard and diverting attention from Cochus. As the day wore on, the Kuritan supply-raiders worked harder. They pushed themselves beyond fatigue, unsure of how much time they had. Every case of supplies would be vital to the continued resistance on Vega.

The cargo ships that had followed the hovercraft finished loading at dusk, the hovercraft themselves held in reserve for the expected arrival of Steiner troops. Fuhito had a few moments' rest as the last ship wallowed from the pier and before the first hovercraft could be brought in to be crammed with all it could carry.

It was late night, with only a dozen hovercraft left to load, when the scouts reported a detachment of Lyran tanks and infantry carriers headed for Cochus. Some Steiner officer had finally decided to look into why his supplies had never shown up.

Tomoe supervised the last, rushed loading, ordering Fuhito aboard with his exoskeleton before she took her own onto a hovercraft. Turbines whined to full power, lifting the craft for their run out of the bay and down the coast to Nevcason. The Combine raiders had nearly stripped the supply camp.

The flotilla was nearing the headland of the bay when a lance of Scorpionsarrived on the beach. As the light tanks halted and fired a few rounds at the rapidly vanishing hovercraft, Fuhito found the strength to raise the exoskeleton claw and wave goodbye.