With the Command Lance safely inside, the great bay doors began to rumble shut. Michi strolled across the floor to the Dragon.Five meters above his head, Minobu was starting down the chain ladder hanging from the bottom of the 'Mech's snout. Bulky in his coldsuit, Minobu descended from his 'Mech in movements made doubly awkward by the icy climbing surfaces.

When he reached the last rung of the ladder, he dropped the final meter to the floor and landed smoothly, with flexed knees. No one would have guessed that only one of those legs was real. Before greeting Michi, the Tai-saspoke with the Techs who had come up to service the BattleMechs. Satisfied that his chief Tech understood the problems that had cropped up during the recent outing, Minobu turned to his aide.

“What urgent news brings you out into the cold, Michigan?”

“I wished to speak to you.”

Minobu nodded his understanding that this was to be a private talk and waved at the approaching Tong and Willoughby. “Go on in to the ready room and get something hot,” he called. “We will join you in a few minutes. I will want your preliminary evaluations of the exercise then.”

The ‘Mech Warriors sketched salutes and veered off. Michi watched them until they disappeared through the door, then turned back to find Minobu gazing at him expectantly from behind the tinted perspex of his goggles. The noise of the Techs' work would prevent their conversation from being overheard.

“Is it wise for you to leave now?” Michi asked, his tone leaving no doubt about what he thought was the wise course.

“Now. Later. There is little difference.”

“Now is not a good time. There's been another fight in Bharryspost. Three Ryuken and two of Major Jarrett's Battalion. Nothing serious this time, at least not physically. But this will not be the last incident.”

“If there is to be an explosion, there will be one. Shigata ga nai.”

Michi ground his teeth together. Minobu had used the phrase to dismiss Michi's concerns with frustrating regularity. Ever since the accident, the Tai-saseemed resigned to whatever happened around him. Michi would not let it drop this time. “If you go now, you will be responsible for the trouble.”

“Nonsense. You are here to keep things steady. You have grown into your own responsibilities over these last months and can easily keep Major Jarrett clear of the pitfalls of rash action. Besides, Colonel Arbuthnot will be traveling to An Ting as well. His officers will do nothing drastic while he is gone.”

“Then you still intend to go to An Ting?”

“Of course. I must see my family,” Minobu said matter-of-factly.

Michi was not fooled. Minobu had not had much to do with his family since his recovery. “That is not your real motive. You could delegate someone to that task.”

“And what is my real motive? Have you determined that, as well as what I should and should not do?” Minobu spoke without heat.

“You are going to talk to Colonel Wolf,” Michi answered accusingly. “He is due back on An Ting soon, isn't he? That is why Colonel Arbuthnot is going there.”

“Whether it is my true motive or not, my inquisitive friend, I will not say. I do intend to speak to Jaime Wolf. At least to learn how went his trip to Luthien.”

“Do you think Lord Kurita will have straightened things out? Surely he has seen past the lies of Samsonov and Akuma.”

“Perhaps.” Minobu looked out the window at the sky. Heavy, snow-bearing clouds were moving in from the northeast. “There is a storm coming,” he said. “We have no way to avoid it, and so we must prepare for it as best we can.”

36

An Ting Orbital Station

Galedon Military District, Draconis Combine

2 January 3028

 

“DropShip Wolf Pack Onehas docked at Bay Twenty-Seven,” the voice repeated for those who might not have understood the first announcement in Japanese. The words of the announcer were clipped as though it annoyed the speaker to repeat the obvious.

“See. I told you that was about the Colonel's ship.” Susan Lean looked like her name, and seemed far too youthful to be wearing a Captain's star. She was pleased at the small intelligence victory over her three fellow Captains. Lean was especially pleased that she had caught something that Anton Shadd had missed. She considered the hot shots in the Seventh Kommando entirely too cocky.

“But when we boarded, they said it would be Bay Twenty-Two,” Dechan Fraser complained.

“Whether they lied or just made a mistake don't matter, kid,” drawled Shadd, a compact, muscular commando. His large hands, marked with an astonishing number of scars, fidgeted with an unlit cigarette. He wore a dress uniform that looked too new for someone who had served so long in the Dragoons, and his twitches and shrugs showed that he was uncomfortable in the uniform's restrictive tailoring. The announcement of Wolf's imminent arrival had awakened Shadd from the mood of sullen preoccupation that had dominated him ever since shuttling over from the Hephaestus.“What matters is that we meet the Colonel when he comes aboard.”

With that, the commando tossed his cigarette away and headed for the corridor. The fourth member of their group was a step ahead. William Cameron's long legs put him in the lead and kept him there as the Dragoons trotted along the curve of the wheel. Passengers awaiting transport and gray-and-tan uniformed station crew all dodged out of the way of the purposeful quartet. They passed occasional station monitors, whose pendant chestplates distinguished them from regular crew, but none questioned their haste.

Cameron turned the corner into the waiting area for Bay 27 and pulled up to a sudden halt. Dechan and Lean piled into him, almost knocking him down. Stepping to one side of the tangled Dragoons, Shadd reached for his sidearm. He stopped when he saw why Cameron had stalled.

Lounging at his ease in the reception area was Chu-saJerry Akuma. Dressed in his Ryuken duty uniform, the man was immaculate, as always. The chain that proclaimed his position as PSL officer glinted coldly on his chest. Akuma removed his polished boots from where he'd propped them on a table, and rose to his feet, adopting a nonchalant pose. He seemed not at all surprised by the Dragoons' sudden appearance.

Shadd assessed Akuma's half-smile and the look in his eyes as amusement over something that had turned out exactly as expected. It was a petty victory that would cost the Dragoons nothing, and so the commando relaxed. Akuma wasn't the kind of threat he could deal with using a laser pistol. Not yet, at least. Shadd let his contempt of Akuma's petty maneuvering show in his face.

This fellow is a small surprise,Akuma thought. He does not wear the designation of a ‘MechWarrior. Yet he carries himself as one, not like some half-trained support trooper or out-of-tone staffer. His reactions are quick, attuned to the world in a way that a ‘MechWarrior is not.- He is almost as sharp as Quinn, standing quietly in the corner. This Dragoon has none of the cocky air of invulnerability that is such a pitiably common flaw in 'Mech pilots. He is a man who relies on himself and what he can hold in his hands. An interesting find among the Dragoons. Is he an anomaly,Akuma wondered, or do the Dragoons have assets not listed on their personnel rosters?

When Akuma saw Shadd relax, lowering his guard before noticing Quinn, he decided that perhaps the man was not so dangerous after all. Even an entire battalion of Dragoons like this Captain could do little to halt the inevitable. Those who slackened their attention in the presence of potential danger were no threat.

“Come in, officers,” Akuma invited. “I expect you are here to meet Colonel Wolf. The boarding locks are completing their cycle now, so you won't have long to wait.”