"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.