Cooke sighed. "The Bristol lifted without clearance from the spaceport under the command of Captain McCloud. Since she was not cleared for debarkation and had not paid for either her cargo or her port charges, she has been declared a pirate."

"Was she reported to the Federated Commonwealth?"

"I don't know. I assume so, but that is really a matter for the port master. Something like that would probably never come to the attention of the Council."

"Then we've got something to work with." Cooke looked at Rose as though he were crazy.

"McCloud was at our base when the Bristol blasted off. She's spent most of the last forty-eight hours unconscious in the back of Hawg's Zeus.She was wounded in the attack on the compound. We couldn't very well leave her, and Hawg's cockpit had the most space.

"The theft of the Bristol must have something to do with Crenshaw and the Preservationists. Assuming that's true, they can't very well report the DropShip as a pirate, or else every F-C ship in the area would be gunning for it. That ship is on a mission and it has to be able to travel. Any idea where it went?"

Cooke shook his head. "It made a non-standard arc in the general direction of the Borghese nadir jump point, then suddenly took off at a ninety-degree angle to its previous course and disappeared."

"Pirate jump point."

Cooke nodded. "The JumpShip was probably already waiting." Pirate points, as they were called, were sometimes used as alternate entry points into a system but only by the most skilled or the most desperate JumpShip captains. They significantly decreased a DropShip's travel time to and from a JumpShip, but use of these points was dangerous in the extreme. Not only were they difficult to calculate, but the slightest miscalculation in the jump through hyperspace could literally tear the JumpShip and DropShip apart during the instantaneous transfer across light years of space.

"But if you can force their hand, we might be able to slow down their plan, whatever it is. Force them to report the theft and see what happens. My guess is that they won't let that happen."

Cooke rubbed the stubble of his chin, reminding Rose that he too needed a shave. He shook off the urge to scratch his own neck as Cooke considered the plan.

"I think I can apply some pressure," Cooke said thoughtfully. "I've still got some pull as chairman and I might as well use it before it totally slips away. Crenshaw has been gobbling up everything he can get his hands on." Rose's communicator beeped four times, cutting Cooke off.

Rose stood abruptly. "Company's on the way. I've got about twenty minutes to get away from here so I'll say good night."

Cooke stood and extended a hand. "This could be our last meeting, Rose. I'll keep doing what I can, but my support base is eroding fast. They can't replace me as the Chairman, but they can supplant me as a political force. That means Crenshaw will be calling the shots.

"Good luck with Morgain and his gang. He's got a reputation to protect, so I don't imagine he'll pull any punches." Rose nodded and took the man's offered hand.

"Count on me to be careful."

"Where will you go?"

Rose smiled and shrugged. "I don't know yet. I've managed to download the recon maps Hawg and I made over the last few months, so we'll try to figure out something from there." Rose didn't sound optimistic, but both men knew the Black Thorns' best chances lay in reaching the sparsely populated wilderness of the continent's northwest.

"Good luck, Captain. I know it doesn't help now, but I'm sorry I got you into this mess."

Rose nodded and headed for the door. He had similar sentiments toward the other members of his command. As he reached the door, he decided that only one of them should have to shoulder that responsibility.

"Don't worry about us, Mister Chairman. We'll pull out of this. Your contract was honorably offered and honorably accepted. You're not to blame for what's happened." He didn't have to mention who was; they both knew well enough who was responsible for their current grief.

Without waiting for a reply, Rose left the room. His only hope was that Cooke would somehow manage to provide them some measure of help while Rose led the Thorns into hiding. Without that, he wasn't sure what chances they had for survival.

27

The Cedars, Borghese

14 July 3055

 

Rose led the rest of the Thorns into what passed for wilderness on Borghese, the flatlands gradually giving way to the winding rivers and the cedar forests that gave the area its name. Rose mentally thanked the original settlers for having transplanted the Terran trees that had thrived on the rich Borghese soil, growing virtually unchecked for centuries.

The first two weeks were relatively uneventful. They moved only at night and camped during the day under the cover of the cedars. Food was plentiful because they'd managed to salvage several weeks' rations from the emergency stores of the base repair bay. Rose had no idea why the items had been stored there, but he was glad for the mistake.

McCloud traveled in the 'Mechs of different warriors, but never with Rose. She had not taken the news of the Bristol 'shijacking very well, drawing the same conclusion as Rose; there'd been a traitor among her crew. By week's end she and Rose were on speaking terms again, but not quite friendly. Rose thought it natural that she should blame him for the loss of her ship. He'd promised, after all, to protect it.

Rianna monitored the civilian airwaves as the mercenaries camped by day and when they moved through The Cedars at night. She confirmed that the Thorns were being hunted by the militia and Morgain's lance, but that their pursuers were still more than a hundred kilometers away from the mercenaries' current position. The political infighting in the Council was headline news, with matters going from bad to worse for Cooke. The Bristol and her crew were quickly forgotten as the hunt for the Black Thorns went on, leaving Rose to guess what Cooke was up to.

Angus and Ajax listened to the military bands, but they were silent. Despite several fly-overs by Ripper VTOLs, Rose was confident that most of the search vehicles had by-passed them, and it seemed reasonable to assume that they could continue in hiding until they heard how effective any efforts by Cooke had been. The next morning, however, their position was spotted.

Just before dawn, the unit was crossing one of the meandering rivers so common in the area. Coming out in the open increased their chances of discovery, but the unit couldn't afford to be penned in by the water. They were often forced out from the cover of the trees to make crossings. None of the rivers were particularly deep, and so one crossing point was as good as another. This day, Angus and Ajax were on one side of the river and the rest of the unit on the other. Sending three beeps across the comm line, Ajax signaled that the Beagle active probe found nothing in the area.

Badicus' Shadow Hawkwaded in first, followed closely by Esmeralda in her Warhammer.Just as Hawg's Zeusstepped off the bank, however, a hovercraft came shooting up the river. The high-pitched whine of the fans announced the craft only an instant before it broke around a bend. Running down the center of the river, it headed straight toward Badicus.

Standing hip-deep in the current, the Shadow Hawkturned to face the craft. One giant hand came up, and Rose was sure Badicus was about to fire. The hover pilot was not going to make the shot easy, however. As he jammed the controls hard to the left, the craft came sliding backward toward the Shadow Hawk.The pitch of the fans changed abruptly and the craft settled suddenly in the water, killing all momentum. As the back end of the craft bit into the water, the front end reared up, threatening to tip the craft on its back. Then, after a moment's pause, it crashed back into the river amid a giant spray of water. As the craft settled, the driver reengaged the fans and took the hovercraft once more down the river.