Lori's Locustwas still six hundred meters away and the Kurita ‘Mechs slightly further. Grayson felt as though he were trapped in the horror of a slow-motion dream. Step after lumbering step brought his Shadow Hawkno closer to the tableau of Lori's BattleMech, crippled and alone as she exchanged fire with the four Kurita ‘Mechs.

The 55-ton Griffinwas in a half-crouch, its right arm heavy PPC leveled at the light scout ‘Mech. Blue lightning blasted through the space between them, and Grayson saw fragmented control packs and the power leads to the Locust'smedium laser scatter in flaming wreckage across the knoll.

Five hundred meters.

He triggered a salvo of LRMs and watched the missiles arc into the enemy Griffin .The Griffintook no notice of this new attack, but continued firing bolt after searing bolt into Lori's ‘Mech. The Locustwas burning now, black, oily smoke coiling into a sky already darkened by the funeral pyres of the wrecked hover transports.

"Eject, Lori! Eject!" With her reception antennae shattered, he knew she wouldn't hear him, but Grayson found himself willing her to blast the escape hatch clear and to eject from the burning hulk. Perhaps it was already too late. Perhaps the ejection mechanism had fouled. Perhaps the Locust'spower was dead. Perhaps Lori was already dead...

Four hundred meters.

There was a flash, and metal panels hurtled away from the burning ‘Mech. Before the fragments hit the ground, another flash sent Lori's control chair rocketing into the sky on flaming thrusters.

Missiles arrowed through the trees, exploding in front of the charging rebel ‘Mechs. Grayson's ‘Mech stumbled as craters opened in the ground ahead. He checked the Shadow Hawk'scharge and turned to face a Kurita Maraudersmashing through the trees two hundred meters to his right An enemy Warhammerand a pair of Archer'snow stepped into the clearing between him and the battle around Lori's ‘Mech.

His last salvo of LRMs snapped into their tubes in the Hawk'sright torso. Ignoring heat overload warnings and the rattling impact of shrapnel against his ‘Mech, he brought the HUD crosshairs of his sights onto the enemy Marauderand triggered the missile controls. He had no doubt at all that he had the enemy Regimental commander in his sights. Missiles slammed into the Marauder.One struck the egg-shaped hull squarely where the cockpit screen mated to armor. The enemy ‘Mech froze in position. A hit! A hard one!

With rage, grief, and frustration boiling in him, Grayson started forward. A metal-armored hand on his Hawk'sarm stopped him. "This way. Captain," Clay said, without emotion. "We've got to retreat! There's nothing we can do for her now."

Through a haze of tears and anguish, Grayson could see brown and orange-clad foot soldiers closing on the spot where Lori's ejection seat had landed, not far from the shattered, blazing wreckage of her Locust.

The Riflemanstaggered under the impact of a pair of LRMs from one of the Archers.More enemy ‘Mechs were arriving, rushing past the immobile form of the Marauder.He'd crippled the leader, but the fact brought no relief or thrill of victory. Lori!

"Pull back." Grayson scarcely recognized his own voice. "Scatter to the west, and rendezvous."

But Clay and McCall stayed with him as they broke free of the ambush and made their way west and north. Behind them, the smoke from Lori's shattered machine continued to stain the sky.

34

 

A Regis Blues deserter told Grayson that the Dracos had taken Lori alive, but under close guard, to the University's Central Tower the next day. The Kurita high command was jubilant, having immediately realized that they'd managed to take one of the offworlder mercs who had transformed the rebel army into a combat-experienced, efficient fighting machine.

The deserter could say nothing more about her, save that Nagumo's Special Branch was to question her closely. The man had drawn guard duty once in the bowels of the University Tower where the Special Branch worked. His descriptions of the sights, sounds, and dark rumors about Room 6 left Grayson feeling ill and shaken.

Lori...

Grayson met Tollen Brasednewic by the mouth of the Fox Island cave late that evening. He had been dreading this talk, but knew it must be done. Brasednewic had surprised Grayson by remaining with the rebel army after the incident on the day of the airfield raid. Many rebel troopers felt that their first loyalty was to Brasednewic himself, and so Grayson was grateful that the man had chosen to remain in the fight Tollen spoke little, and his eyes bore a haunted look, but he'd fought with valor and determination in half a dozen raids and battles since his abdication from the rebel army's command.

He'd not been along on the Blackjack raid, but he'd learned of Lori's capture when Grayson's party had returned to camp. To his credit, he'd been among the first to tell Grayson how sorry he was.

That didn't make Grayson's problem any easier.

"We're running a raid against the University, Tollen," Grayson said, without preamble. "A sneak commando strike might get our people out."

Brasednewic's eyebrows crawled up his forehead. "This is a rather sudden turn-about, isn't it. Captain? Last I heard, we were to stay clear of that place. Allof us."

Grayson nodded. "You also heard me say that you'd risked the whole strike force by changing plans at the last minute, in the middle of the action."

"It's different when youtell us to change plans, is that it? One thing for the high and mighty MechWarrior, something else entirely for the peasants in the ranks! Is thatit?"

"Dammit, no!" Grayson closed his eyes. How was he going to carry this off? He'd known Brasednewic's ego was bruised, that he would have trouble convincing the man to help, but had not been able to come up with an approach that might soften his resistance. "This operation will be planned from the start, not made up as we go along! But we have to get Lori out of there. If Carlotta's alive, we'll get her, too, and any of the rest of our people, we can find."

"Look, I can sympathize with you having lost your woman, Carlyle, but if you're asking me to bring my people in on this, forget it."

"She's not 'my woman', as you put it. But she is.one of us.”

“So was Carlotta."

"We don't even know that she's alive, Colonel!"

"We don't know a damned thing more about Lori Kalmar...except that she's in there and due for questioning!"

"Exactly! And you know as well as I do that when they start questioning her, they'll find a way to break her. Anyone can be broken:..and that's a specialty of Kurita. They'll break her...and find out about the Phobosand where it's hidden."

"So?"

How could the man be so blind? "So...the ship will be destroyed, and with her all of the machine shops and casting equipment and electronics repair facilities that've kept us going these past few months! Maybe you foot soldiers don't realize what's needed to maintain a BattleMech unit, but when Nagumo took the heavy equipment from Fox Island, he left us the Phobosand the people and equipment aboard her! If they locate and destroy our DropShip, the Gray Death and the Free Verthandi Rangers are finished, too!"

Brasednewic looked at Grayson with dull eyes, his face stiff and unexpressive. "I...can't, Carlyle. It's...a point of honor."

"Honor? What does honor have to do with it? The honorable thing would be to drop that wounded pride of yours and help us!"