Текст книги "Wolf Pack"

6

To Dechan Fraser, the gardens were all the more marvelous for the fact that their wildness was so artfully derived. Each bush was chosen, planted, and trimmed for effect. Here was a tangle of shrubs and wildflowers that might been a jungle on any other planet if one did not recognize the lonely blooms of Kiamban fire lilies; there was a slice of Alshain where a clump of slender rock suggested the spires and minarets of that planet's capital. During his years in the Draconis Combine, Dechan had learned to appreciate this artistic tradition wherein a place, or rather the mood of a place, was suggested by shape, silhouette, and shadow. He had even begun to understand how it was that some of the greatest architects of these oases of peace could be warriors.

The Combine was dominated by House Kurita, and the Kuritans maintained a warrior tradition in the style of the ancient samurai. Like those ancient samurai, the best and brightest of the Combine were both redoubtable warriors and subtle artists. This garden, designed by Takashi Kurita, was a part of that tradition. Takashi was the Coordinator of the Combine, its absolute ruler and embodiment of the mythical Dragon. Although he left the military aspects of governing to his son Theodore, the Gunji-no-Kanrei, Takashi had been a formidable MechWarrior in his youth. He was still a MechWarrior, having only recently led his elite guards into the crucial battle against the Clan invaders in their siege of Luthien. But Takashi was also an artist. The garden was a subtle expression of humanity's imposed control over nature's chaos, as well as an insistent but equally subtle statement of the Coordinator's dominion over all the many worlds of the Combine.

The path led Dechan down into a dell and across an arched wooden bridge. The burble of the stream below him was a hushed, comforting sound as he walked up the slope and around the mossy hump of a knoll studded with boulders of pink quartz. Twisting around the mound, the path continued. Dechan moved slowly, reluctant to leave the calm of the little valley. Then, turning the corner, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.

Though startling, the massive bulk of the Battle-Mech did not at first seem out of place. Its hulking, mostly humanoid shape was framed within an arch of branches whose leafy shadow dappled the machine's gleaming blue surface. Gold trim highlighted segments of the 'Mech's armor and outlined selected fittings. A golden stripe wrapped around from the heavy launcher housings that gave the machine its characteristic, hunch-shouldered profile, then dipped into a vee down the sloping front of the center torso. It was an Archer,a seventy-ton BattleMech designed primarily for fire support, but a formidable fighter in other roles as well.

Dechan didn't need to see the red disk with the black wolf's-head on the left thigh to recognize the 'Mech. Though the markings didn't quite match his memory, the differences were unimportant. He had no doubt whose Archerthis was supposed to be: Jaime Wolf's.

So, he thought, there must be truth to the rumors that Takashi was once again becoming obsessed with the Dragoons.

Takashi's messenger had told Dechan to take this path, which meant the Coordinator had intended for him to see the Archer.If Takashi had summoned Dechan because of his former connection with the Dragoons, why not also invite Jenette? Dechan had assumed that the Combine's Internal Security Forces were well-satisfied that he and Jenette had long ago severed all ties with the Dragoons. But if Takashi was hunting the Dragoons once more, perhaps even the ISF's assurances would not be protection enough.

Would Theodore help? Dechan and Jenette were supposed to be members of his shitenno,his inner circle of advisors. But could Theodore protect them from his father if the Coordinator decided they were Dragoon spies and insisted on their deaths?

The threat was ironic.

* * *

Years ago—more years than Dechan cared to remember—he and Jenette had gone with Michi Noketsuna on the trail of the Kuritan warlord Grieg Samsonov. Samsonov had been a principal engineer of the events leading to the near annihilation of Wolf's Dragoons in 3028. Michi, seeking revenge for the death of his mentor, Minobu Tetsuhara, had led Dechan and Jenette against the warlord and then on a trail that was to lead eventually to Takashi Kurita. Jaime Wolf had approved and detached the two MechWarriors from regular duty. The trail was long and twisty but had come to a sudden, abortive end after a chance encounter with Theodore Kurita. The then-young Kanrei had convinced Michi that his samurai honor required him to forego his vendetta and to work instead with Theodore to save the Combine from the impending threat of invasion by its neighbors. Publicly, Dechan and Jenette had gone along out of fellowship and became advisors to Theodore's newly reorganized army. At the time, Stanford Blake had called it a coup for the Dragoons, a golden opportunity to spy on their old enemy, Takashi Kurita. Dechan and Jenette had dutifully filed their secret reports on the changing military capabilities of the Combine, each time risking their lives for the sake of Wolf's Dragoons. They had been good spies, constantly awaiting the move Jaime Wolf would make to end the feud with Takashi so they could finally return home. But the call never came. Then the Clans had appeared. Ignored, possibly forgotten, Dechan and Jenette received no word via Wolfnet for more than four years. And when Wolf had found it necessary to contact Theodore, he had used others, contrary to Dechan's understanding of his and Jenette's place in Dragoon-Kurita relations. And for all his protestations that Dechan and Jenette were trusted advisors, Theodore had not taken them to the meeting on Outreach in which Jaime Wolf had briefed the Kanrei and the other leaders of the Inner Sphere on the Clan threat. Hellfire, Dechan didn't even learn of the meeting until a week after Theodore left. Jenette's comment was that it was all politics, part of the game. He had retorted that her faith in the Dragoons was too blind, that Jaime Wolf must have asked Theodore to leave them behind. They didn't share a bed for a week after that.

But that had been almost a year ago and with still no contact with the Dragoons, even Jenette's iron faith was wavering.

Following the path, Dechan passed between the widespread feet of the Archer,his eye caught by some small tablets that lay clumped on either side of the stepping stones. The tablets had writing on them. Crouching to look closer, he saw that each slab bore a name. Most of the names he didn't recognize, but some he did. They were all Kurita warriors who had fought against the Dragoons. The presence of one name especially surprised him, more for its prominent place than for its presence. Minobu Tetsuhara.

Tetsuhara had been the Kuritan officer assigned to act as liaison with the Dragoons during their contract with the Draconis Combine. He had admired the Dragoons and learned much from them, enough that when he received orders to destroy the mercenaries with regiments he had raised on their model, Tetsuhara had nearly succeeded. Though caught in a conflict of giri,his duty to the Combine, and ninjo,his human feelings for his Dragoon friends, he had followed his orders like a good samurai. And, like a good samurai, he had committed seppukuto atone for his failure. Tetsuhara and Jaime Wolf had become close friends. That friendship was as much a part of the Dragoon/Kurita feud as the treacherous behavior of Warlord Samsonov, who had been Tetsuhara's superior. The hunt for Samsonov had connected Dechan to Michi Noketsuna, Tetsuhara's protege, and that friendship had brought him into House Kurita service.

How much did Takashi know?

It would be ironic if he and Jenette were to be denounced as spies now. Could Takashi believe that the deaths of two forgotten Dragoons would affect Jaime Wolf? Did he think he could use them as pawns in prosecuting his feud? What a laugh! The Dragoons didn't need Dechan and Jenette. They had given up their feud, had begun to treat it with the contempt they showed Waco's Rangers. A feud no longer exists when only one side takes it seriously. Dechan and Jenette had been abandoned, discarded as unimportant to Jaime Wolf's plans, just like his blood feud with House Kurita.

Now Dechan was on his way to a private meeting with the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, the lord of House Kurita, and he had been deliberately reminded of the supposed blood feud.

Did the Kuritan code also call for seppukuby forgotten and impotent spies?

Dechan straightened and tugged his uniform back to order—his Kuritan uniform, which he had worn longer than he had the garb of a Dragoon. So where did his loyalties lie now? He looked down the path, glimpsing a small portion of Unity Palace, the imperial palace, through the trees. That was where his future would be decided. There was no point in turning back.

Dechan drew nearer to the palace.

The guards kneeling on the veranda were in their ceremonial armor, wide-mouthed stunners cradled in their arms. Staring impassively ahead, they did not move at his approach. They might have been statues, save that he could see them breathing. As his foot touched the boards of the veranda, a shojipanel slid open behind the guards. A beautiful woman in traditional kimono and full make-up bowed to him. He returned the bow, and she led him into the hall.

The doorway to which she guided him opened into a room redolent with the scent of jasmine. Across the wide chamber, a man in a dragon-figured kimono sat on a low chair. His white-haired head was bowed over a sheet of rice paper, his face concealed. He held a brush in his right hand. Like the guards outside, he did not move as Dechan approached.

Two meters away, Dechan stopped, unsure. He had heard rumors that Takashi had more than once ordered the death of someone who failed to observe proper protocol. What was the proper protocol? Waiting was usually safe.

He waited.

The man suddenly moved, dipping his brush into the lacquered ink tray and brushing ink in strong, sharp strokes onto the paper. He gave a tight, affirmative nod and grunted to himself. Laying the brush down, he turned to face Dechan.

Takashi Kurita's face was as familiar to Dechan as it was to any citizen of the Combine. He knew the scars, the firm line of the jaw, and the penetrating gaze of the ice blue eyes. Unfamiliar were the age lines, but

Dechan could sense the vigor of Takashi's spirit. The man was still dangerous. The Coordinator inclined his head to his visitor, and Dechan bowed deeply in reply, then knelt.

"Ah, Tai-saFraser." The Coordinator's slight smile was lopsided, as if one side of his face refused to cooperate. "You honor an old man by your visit."

Dechan swallowed, made nervous by Takashi's self-effacing opening. "The Dragon is ever strong," he responded.

Takashi chuckled. "There is little need to be formal, Fraser -san. We are just two old warriors here. Feel free to speak as one old friend to another."

Dechan was immediately on guard. Though he was one of Theodore's shitenno,relations with the Kanrei had always been formal. For all his years in the Combine, he had never been on intimate terms with any member of the Kurita clan, least of all the Coordinator. But it would be an insult to contradict Takashi. "I am honored by your grace, Takashi -sama. "

The Coordinator's smile remained. Dechan had chosen the right course. They talked of the weather and Dechan praised the garden, traditional Kurita small talk. Dechan had almost relaxed when Takashi quietly asked, "How is your old friend Michi Noketsuna?"

Dechan stiffened, knowing that the Coordinator could not miss his reaction but unable to control it. Michi had sworn to kill Takashi for his part in forcing Tetsuhara to commit seppuku."I have not spoken with him in years, Coordinator -sama."

"Yet you are friends. Was he not responsible for your coming into the Dragon's service?"

"I made my own decision, Coordinator -sama." Did Dechan dare believe that the Coordinator didn't know about Michi's vow? Takashi's next words dashed that hope.

"Had you not agreed to aid him in his vendetta, you would not have made that decision."

Dechan searched the Coordinator's inscrutable expression. Was this an attempt to incriminate him? Should he lie? He decided against that. If the Coordinator knew of his history, he would know the lie. "That is correct."

"And do you still aid him in that vendetta?"

"I serve the Dragon."

Takashi's eyes narrowed. His voice was harsh as he said, "You serve my son."

"Your son serves you and the Combine both, Coordinator -sama."

"Which says nothing of you," Takashi said quickly. More calmly, he continued, "You have learned our Kuritan indirection reasonably well, Fraser -san. Do not think to delude me. Do you stand with Noketsuna?"

"He has forsaken my friendship."

"Have you forsaken his?" Takashi leaned forward as if avid for Dechan's answer.

Dechan felt a drop of sweat trickle clammily down his side. Frankness had to be the safest course here. But how could he give honest answers to the Coordinator when he was not sure he hadany answers? "If you mean, would I aid him in killing you, I think not."

"You are not sure? Where is your loyalty, Fraser -san?Where is your honor if you do not fulfill your oath to aid him?"

"I was young when I swore to help Michi achieve his goal. I am older now. Times have changed, needs have been superseded. A true samurai understands when he must subordinate his honor to a greater honor, and the threat of the Clans overpowers any one person's needs. Michi himself was willing to set aside his vengeance, back in the thirties, when your son Theodore persuaded him that the Combine needed the service of all her samurai. Then the threat was only the Federated Commonwealth, a mere inconvenience compared to the danger posed by the Clans. How could he think of disrupting the Combine now?"

Takashi leaned back in his chair. "Then he has abandoned his vendetta?"

"I believe so. He has not been seen in the Combine for almost two years. But, as I said, I have not communicated with him for much longer than that."

"Communicated? You draw a distinction." Takashi grunted. "When was the last time you spoke with him?"

"We've met only once since the end of the war with Davion. I knew he didn't want to be warlord anymore and asked him to join the Ryuken. He said that he was not worthy, that he had failed as a samurai and would retire from the world." Dechan paused, remembering the pain of that meeting. "He also told me to stay out of his life."

"Yet you persist in your friendship. That shows loyalty, and misplaced loyalty is dangerous. Where is he now?"

Wishing he had another answer, Dechan replied, "I don't know."

"What would you do if I told you where to find him?"

"I don't know that, either."

"You are honest. Not subtle enough to be a Kuritan, Fraser -san." Takashi gestured to the writing desk. "For your years of service to the Dragon, I grant you the reward of life."

Dechan looked at the desk, wondering what was written on the scroll. He made no move to take it. Whatever the trial had been, Dechan had passed. But with Takashi's next words, Dechan realized that a new trial had begun.

"Before you came to the service of the Dragon, you were a member of Wolf's Dragoons."

Honesty had saved him before. "I have never hidden that fact."

"A warrior must not hide his affiliations. No one in the Inner Sphere can deny that the Dragoons are redoubtable warriors and, as such, worthy of respect. You fought by their side in the past, but you did not fight by their side when the Clans came to Luthien. Why was this?"

Dechan had wondered about the answer to that question himself. "I was fighting with the Ryuken."

"You have shown me you are a man who values loyalty. Your record with the Ryuken shows you are a warrior of considerable merit. The Ryuken was only raiding; the true battle was on Luthien."

Dechan was angry. Takashi's badgering reminded him of the shame he'd felt then. The Dragoons had returned to the Combine, but without a word to him. If they had called for him, he would have left the Ryuken, who didn't really need him. But, once again, no word had come from the Dragoons. He knew Takashi would hear the anger underlying his words as he said, "I was not called."

"So far."

Takashi seemed satisfied. Dechan cursed him for finding satisfaction in another man's shame.

"Yet you still harbor loyalties to the Dragoons."

Takashi's statement was a truth Dechan avoided admitting to himself, the reactor that fueled his pain. Admitting any loyalty to the Dragoons in the presence of the Coordinator could be lethal. "I have done nothing to undermine the strength of the Dragon," he said, the lie amid the truths.

"That is not at issue," Takashi said, dismissing the comment. The Coordinator fell silent, leaving Dechan to wonder what the issue was. Takashi sat and Dechan knelt. The room was silent for many minutes. Finally Takashi spoke, his voice dreamy.

"How would you characterize Jaime Wolf, Tai-saFraser?"

"He is a fine commander."

"Fine? That is all you can say about a man who obviously inspires such loyalty in you that you hate him for it?"

"I don't hate him."

"Don't you? He abandoned you and your wife. For years you worked as his agent, watching me and mine. Yes, I know. The ISF is diligent and not half so foolish as some people believe. How often have you wondered why Wolf did not use you to convey his subversive invitation to my son? How often have you pondered the stain on your honor that his distrust brings you?"

Stunned by the Coordinator's revelation of knowledge, Dechan stammered, "I don't—"

"Your quarrels with your wife say otherwise," Takashi snapped. "Do not call me a liar!"

"Gomen kudasai,Coordinator -sama. Shitsurei shi-"

"Your apology is that of a Kuritan, but you are not Kuritan. You are only forgiven because you are a barbarian and it is expected that you will speak like a barbarian. Still, you are a warrior and a warrior does not lie."

Takashi turned away, pondering something. At length the tension bled from his shoulders. "A warrior's honor is his life. If he has no honor, he has no need for life. What is your place in the feud between Wolf's Dragoons and my House?"

"I have no place in it. I thought the feud had ended when the Dragoons helped defend Luthien."

"A safe answer, but no less untrue." Takashi laughed harshly. "If I ordered the Ryuken units you have so carefully trained to attack Outreach, would you lead them?"

Dechan swallowed to loosen the knot of fear in his stomach. That the revivified Ryuken might be used against the Dragoons had always been his greatest nightmare. "I would ask you to reconsider."

Takashi stared in Dechan's eyes. "And if I did not?"

Dechan was distressed to realize that the years had sapped his fear of one day being ordered to lead a military action against the Dragoons. He was suddenly unsure of what he believed in. "I don't know."

"You obviously face a conflict. Another brave man who served me once faced a similar conflict. The Dragoons were involved in that as well. That honorable man followed his orders, then committed seppuku.Are you as honorable as he, Dechan Fraser?"

Did Takashi refer to Minobu Tetsuhara? "I am not samurai."

"I could make you samurai."

"I am . . . was a Dragoon. We have our own code of honor."

"Is your honor worth your life?"

"I . . . Sometimes."

Takashi smiled his half-smile. "Does Jaime Wolf believe this as well?"

Dechan was confused. "I don't know."

Standing, Takashi took a deep breath. "Wolf is the leader of his Dragoons, secure in his place as any dai-myolording it over his samurai. He understands the demands placed on a lord. This is so, neh?"

"I believe so."

Takashi nodded sharply. "I believe so, too. You may not understand the problems of a ruler, but Wolf does. The Dragoons are his fiefdom, and there he is ruler. I do not envy him.

"Once I was the undisputed ruler of the Draconis Combine. The state and the army were mine to command. Now my son has taken some of that power from me. He rules not only the army, but no little portion of the state. He is a man in the prime of his life, while I sink toward old age. With each year I see more of my contemporaries pass from the stage of the drama that is the Inner Sphere. Even Hanse Davion is gone now. With the Fox dead, what other Inner Sphere lord is a worthy opponent? My day is passing."

Takashi seemed older suddenly, which disturbed Dechan somehow. "You are still Coordinator," he said.

Fire flashed in Takashi's eyes. "Do not coddle me! I am not a dodderer to be pandered to. I am not so weak-willed that I intend to lay down and die. I am samurai!"

Dechan thought it advisable to say nothing. He bowed low, hoping that he was not being foolish in taking his eyes off the Coordinator.

"A samurai cannot die if his honor is stained," Takashi stated with what sounded like religious fervor.

"The Coordinator's honor is clean. You are the hero of Luthien. The charge of your Izanagi Warriors finished the Clan attack."

"Did it?" Takashi snorted. "What part, then, was played by Wolf's Dragoons and the Kell Hounds?"

"They were merely part of the forces fighting to save Luthien."

"They are mercenaries. Mercenary scum! For them to have participated in the defense of the capital of the Draconis Combine diminished the honor of House Kurita." Takashi stalked to one side of the room and threw open the screen, staring outside. "There is only one thing that can wash away such a stain. Do you know what it is?"

"Blood." The answer to everything.

"Your understanding ennobles you. I am pleased to see that there is some little honor in the Dragoons."

Dechan was angered by the slight, another sign that his Dragoon loyalties still tugged his emotional strings. Defiantly, he said, "Enough for you."

The Coordinator smiled. "So I had hoped."

For the first time, Dechan looked outside. He saw what Takashi stared at so raptly, the blue and gold Archer.Dechan didn't understand what the Coordinator was seeing as he stared at the 'Mech, but he knew now that the rumors of Takashi's obsession were more than that. Not sure which of his loyalties prompted him, Dechan felt the need to know the Coordinator's mind.

"Forgive my impertinence, Coordinator -sama, but may I ask a question?"

A slight wave of Takashi's hand was his answer.

"Why is that BattleMech in your garden?"

The Coordinator was silent for so long that Dechan thought that he had misinterpreted the hand signal, that it had not been permission to speak. Dechan rose, assuming he had been dismissed. Just as he was about to pass through the door, he heard Takashi speak, so softly that Dechan wondered if he had been meant to hear.

"The Fox is gone now," the Coordinator said. "All I have left is the Wolf."