Assumption of risk Page 16

Katrina smiled at her. "So, you are the woman who has captured Kai's heart? A year ago, when Morgan Kell retired, he was breaking hearts on Arc-Royal. Many women set their caps for him, but I can see how you won out."

  "No, Highness, Kai and I are not ..." Nancy blushed. "I mean, we are friends, I think."

  Kai rescued her by looping her right hand though the crook of his left arm. "We are friends. My uncle introduced us this evening. Nancy works for him."

  Tormano confirmed that statement. "She is my aide, and quite adept at her job." He looked up and around the room. "You will excuse me, but I have guests to attend to. I shall return."

  "Thank you, Uncle." Kai watched his uncle walk away, then lowered his voice to a whisper. "This party is the social event of the year so far, especially with you and Lady Kurita here, Duchess." Kai maintained formality in his speech to minimize the social difference between Nancy and the rest of the group. As the heir to the St. Ives Compact, he was a peer of the other nobles and could treat them with the familiarity of equals. He knew Galen, Katrina, and Omi well enough to imagine they would take to Nancy with perfect ease, but it would take some time.

  "If this is so, my lord, I suppose we should circulate." Katrina nodded to someone beyond their tight circle. "Given the goings-on in the Isle of Skye, some judicious stroking might be very helpful." She looked up when Galen reacted to her remark and gave his arm a squeeze. "I shall be the velvet glove, Galen, and you the iron fist. I approve of the way you handled yourself there. Such arrogance. I would have poked one of them in the nose."

  "Then it shall be my honor to act as your surrogate."

  Kai grinned as Katrina kissed Galen on the cheek. "A prize worth fighting for," he said.

  The duchess winked at him. "Win and you shall have one, too, then. A loss will do Ryan some good." Katrina's voice grew icy as she spoke, then she shuddered. "Forgive me, but he possesses Steiner ambition, and I fear he will use it to sunder the Federated Commonwealth."

  "Well, then, let us move about and meet people." Kai glanced down at the chronometer on the inside of his left wrist. "If we meet back at this spot at midnight, I'll take you to a place not far from here, but one that is worlds distant."

  Omi smiled. "It sounds very special."

  "It is, Lady Kurita, it is." Kai nodded confidently at them all. "I am certain Valhalla is unlike any place you have ever visited before, or are likely to again."

  * * *

  Duke Ryan Steiner watched the knot of royals break up and move into the crowd. Channeling his irritation away, he cleared his mind to run through all the implications of what had transpired. As he did so Edenhoffer prattled on about something of dubious import, but Ryan smiled in his direction and nodded at the right moments to keep the man going.

  The challenge against Galen Cox would immediately attract attention, and the pro-Davion forces would probably promote it as a showdown between the forces of light and dark. Ryan knew his own backers would see it the same way, though they would reverse which side was white and which black. It could easily work to his advantage, if his side won. Victor could not afford a loss to his prestige, even in a morality play akin to what the fight would become, so it represented a very real chance to damage him in the eyes of Skye.

  On the other hand, with the current champion of Solaris and a battle-tested veteran of the Clan Wars facing two younger and less experienced fighters, the chances of victory were the same as the chances of Melissa Steiner rising from the dead and reclaiming the throne. Ryan, despite the assurances of his fighters, harbored no illusions about their chances for victory. Why Kai Allard-Liao had chosen the Kurita arena for the fight, Ryan could not fathom, but he assumed it was for political reasons that would further embarrass Ryan and promote Victor Davion.

  Ryan realized he would have to minimize the impact of the fight. Dismissing his two fighters would be a futile gesture and would cost his stable a great deal of revenue and fame. Unable to disassociate himself from the duel, he had to de-emphasize it, dilute it, so it could not hurt him. By the same token, if his fighters managed to achieve the impossible, Ryan could use it to good effect against Victor.

  I need to divert attention from this whole fight. He smiled, which Edenhoffer took as a sign that he should continue his discourse on neo-retro cubism in the choreography of Class 3 arena battles. Ryan decided to have Hansau send out an order through the Free Skye underground network to step up the level of the protests on Skye worlds. To date they had been relatively peaceful, and Davion had played into his hands by repressing them rather vigorously.

  With his next escalation, the Free Skye Militia would reappear and begin to commit terrorist acts against Davion targets in the Isle of Skye. Sun-Tzu's Zhamheng de guang had proven Victor unable or unwilling to handle small-scale terrorist actions. In 3034 the actions of the Free Skye Militia had almost provoked a full-scale occupation by Hanse Davion. How far will you go, Victor? Because Ryan controlled Richard Steiner, the Field Marshal of Skye, any order to Federated Commonwealth troops to attack their own people would trigger a full-scale revolt in which Richard would denounce Victor while declaring for Ryan.

  That will work, and work nicely. Ryan turned to his two fighters with an expression of extreme civility on his face. "You are fortunate, gentlemen, because I believe I have come up with a way to deal with the problem you have created."

  "You won't have a problem to deal with, my lord." Edenhoffer smiled broadly and confidently. "We will win. I guarantee it."

  "All I want you to guarantee is that you will not lose too badly!"

  Vandergriff looked surprised at Ryan's harsh tone. "My lord, we are the best Solaris has to offer."

  "You represent me now, so that is not good enough." Ryan's obsidian eyes flared. "Do me a favor—if you cannot win in the fight, have the good grace to die in it and thereby save me having to decide whether or not to have you killed for your failure."

  16

  Solaris City, Solaris VII

  Tamarind March, Federated Commonwealth

  31 March 3056

  The procession of three hovercars glided through the grimy, rain-slick streets of Silesia like a pack of wolves trotting through game-rich forests. Though no one on the streets could have recognized the vehicles, people did seem to recognize their intent and purposefulness. The black aircars took the corners crisply and lunged forward through the streets, focusing on attaining their goal, not meandering aimlessly through the twisted warrens.

  Kai Allard-Liao sat in the corner of the back seat more interested in the reactions of his fellow passengers than the world outside the windows. Nancy Bao Lee sat next to him, comfortably close, but uncomfortable because Omi was seated on her other side. Thomas DeLon sat across from Kai, with Katrina in the middle and Galen opposite Omi. The three visiting nobles studied the streets intently, gasping or frowning as the headlights froze in sharp chiaroscuro some improbably brutal or chilling street scene.

  Katrina shook her head as she caught a glimpse of two people fighting over a scrap of cloth. "How can people live like that?"

  "They live like that when they have no choice." Kai shifted around in his seat, wedging his spine into where the seat met the car's side wall. "In a free market system, there are always people who will not fit in and will be reduced to this level of poverty. If you don't want to see it, you create governmental structures and legislation that guarantee people housing, food, and employment, but that also gives you a police state."

  The duchess frowned as Kai spoke. "Someone has to do something. They're living like animals."

  "Some people do." Kai glanced over at DeLon. "I've been working here to fund a number of charitable enterprises and, by example, embarrass many of my fellow stable owners into doing the same. Ultimately, though, we can only provide opportunities for people. We cannot force them to take advantage of them."

  Katrina nodded. "Forcing them would be akin to slavery."

  "People can be educated and offered the chance to take responsibility
for themselves." Omi's quiet voice barely sounded above the background hum of the hovercar's fans. "When they cannot accept responsibility for themselves, compassion dictates that we must do whatever possible to comfort them."

  "Exactly." Kai's head came up as the hovercar slowed. The lead vehicle slued around in front of them to block Arnulf Street just to the west of a nondescript warehouselike building. The car's doors opened as it settled to the ground and four Federated Commonwealth security men got out. Behind the middle car the vehicle carrying the Combine security forces likewise twisted around to block Arnulf Street to the east before its complement of security men also poured out.

  The limo's doors opened arid two security agents helped everyone dismount. Keith and Kristina, who had ridden in the lead vehicle, and Larry, who had directed the Combine car, joined the knot of nobles as they headed toward the smoky-glass doors of the building in front of which they had parked. Kai reached the door first and pulled it open. "Welcome to Thor's Shieldhall, the most infamous MechWarrior hideout on Solaris."

  He could see from the pained expressions on the faces of both security crews that they were not thrilled at having their charges come to such a notorious place. But Kai would never have suggested it if he'd thought trouble might occur. Thor's Shieldhall had a worse reputation than it deserved, mainly because many society types chose it as a place to go slumming. A few negative incidents had become so magnified by multiple retellings that they had eventually come to the attention of the national security organizations of the various Great Houses of the Inner Sphere.

  They walked through a short corridor and went up a set of steps to the left. Kai nodded to the doorman and gave him a one-hundred C-bill note. "Good evening, Roger. Access to Valhalla is highly restricted tonight, I understand."

  The ComStar bill vanished beneath the long-fingered man's hands. "It is a shame that its capacity is limited, very limited."

  "Thank you, my friend." Kai turned right and moved beyond the neon-illuminated bar. A Federated Commonwealth security man preceded him through a darkened section of the bar, ignoring the cherry glow of opium pipes, and held aside a thick curtain leading to a pair of ramps. The ramps doubled back to emerge at a landing roughly above where Roger maintained his post.

  The ruby-red light of a laser identiscanner played over Kai as he stepped on the pressure plate beneath the carpet. Behind a bullet-proof pane of glass a security man nodded to him. "Welcome, Champion, to you and your guests."

  A dark glass wall slid open, and Kai stepped aside to let two Combine security men enter first. They nodded and he followed them and his guests into Valhalla, smiling at their appreciative gasps and delighted laughter.

  The Game World was possessed of two social realities. One pertained to the real world and was filled with the nobles and tycoons whose importance derived from who they were when not on Solaris. Money or inherited titles made them very powerful,' and much of that power translated over to Solaris society. All were owed respect and received their due everywhere they went.

  Everywhere except Valhalla.

  In Valhalla, the second reality held sway. In it the true nobles of Solaris were the men and women who fought in the arenas scattered over the face of the planet. Only the elite of the elite were given access to Valhalla—as good as Larry Acuff was, he would have been refused entry had he not been in Kai's company. The warriors in Valhalla were culled from the top fifteen percent of those on Solaris, with Roger making all the judgments on access through some arcane formula that only he understood. Any MechWarrior in the Hall of the Dead could have bested ninety percent of the MechWarriors in the armies of the Inner Sphere in single combat, which made them very much worthy of respect on Solaris or anywhere else.

  Valhalla itself had an anachronistic feel that gave it a majesty and legitimacy that few other places on this synthetic and decaying world could claim. Long and wide, the whole hall had been built from genuine and rare woods. The planks had a rough, unfinished feel to them and the pillars holding up the tall roof still showed notches from the axes used to fell them. The hides from animals of two dozen different worlds decorated the walls, and handwoven curtains hid the alcoves along each wall.

  A holographic bonfire in the center of the hall provided most of the illumination, with holographic torches set in wall sconces holding other shadows at bay. Huge, long tables and matching benches built by hand from thick planks ran down the center of the room, breaking only at the bonfire. At the farthest end a dais and another table capped the room. On the far side of the dais were a number of highbacked chairs, including a thronelike one in the place of honor in the middle.

  The shields tacked to the posts by each alcove were decorated with the crest of the fighter who owned it. The alcoves were assigned according to Roger's whims, with a fair number of those close to the door given to nobles who paid handsomely for the privilege of being allowed into Valhalla. Those closer to the dais were for warriors of great repute who had retired from the arena, or in certain cases, ones who Roger deemed most likely to survive to retirement.

  Kai greeted and waved to many of the warriors as he made his way toward the dais. As Champion he could have taken his place on the throne, but instead he stopped at an alcove decorated with two shields. The top one showed a tombstone bearing the image of a black mechanical hand holding a flaring supernova. The disk in the heart of the nova had been transformed into a yin and yang symbol, the whole thing being easily recognizable to those assembled in Valhalla as the Cenotaph Stable logo.

  The shield beneath it had a more comical symbol painted on its surface. A cartoonish ghost looked out with a shocked expression on its pale face. Glowing red cross hairs covered it, giving it good cause for its apparent alarm. Though slightly faded with age, the symbol conveyed a healthy contempt for the gladitorial system that spawned it.

  Kai's guests filled the benches on either side of the table in the alcove. He took the seat at the head of the narrow table and nodded to the security man who pulled the curtain shut. Reaching down below the edge of the table at his end, Kai hit a button that brought a full array of anti-eavesdropping devices into play. "This is Valhalla."

  Galen nodded appreciatively. "I saw the Cenotaph logo there, but what's with the ghost?"

  DeLon smiled even before Kai began his explanation. "In thirty sixteen Gray Noton became champion here on Solaris and retained that title until he retired in thirty twenty-two. He designed that symbol to match the nickname he had been given: Legend-killer. He also gave his Rifleman the name Legend-killer. This was Noton's alcove and became my father's after Gray's murder in thirty twenty-seven. My father used Legend-killer to unseat the champion at that time, Philip Capet."

  DeLon nodded in confirmation of Kai's story. "I saw one of Noton's last fights. He was very good and well deserving of the title and his nickname. No fighter before or since has held the Championship for that many years—though many think the current Champion may break that record."

  "Two years and part of a third isn't even close to equaling the seven Noton had at the top." Kai shook his head. "Wu Deng Tang could end my reign, or Galen could decide we should go one-on-one after we finish off Vandergriff and Edenhoffer."

  "I don't think so, Kai. I watched you polish off a Khan of Clan Wolf in that simulator battle on Arc-Royal last year."

  "And Phelan killed me at the same time."

  Galen shrugged. "Technicalities. The point is I'm happy to serve as your ally. I don't want to be your enemy."

  Larry Acuff laughed lightly. "Not the first time you've heard that, is it, Kai?"

  Kai would have preferred to let Larry's comment pass without need for an explanation, but being seated at the head of the table and nominal host of the party put him on the spot. "I suppose not."

  Nancy, who was seated at Kai's right, laid a hand on his forearm. "It sounds like there's a story there."

  "Quite a story," Larry added.

  "Don't be modest." Nancy squeezed his arm. "We'd love to hear
it."

  Kai frowned and Larry looked stricken for a moment, but a quick smile erased the pain from Larry's eyes. Kai understood fully what incident had prompted Larry's comment and he was proud of it, but it had long been something he hadn't wished to talk about. Larry knew about it because he'd been on Alyina when it happened, but Kai hadn't shared details of his time on Alyina even with his family, let alone a group of people that included virtual strangers.

  As he probed his feelings, they weren't as sharp and painful as he had expected. The whole of his experience on Alyina had been colored by his disastrous break-up with Deirdre Lear on the day before he left the planet. The only positive things in his time on the world had been centered around her, and their parting had mocked all of them. It had left him with a box full of memories tinged with terror, physical pain, and emotional torment which, for obvious reasons, he didn't enjoy rummaging through.

  Working with people like Larry, getting to know them and helping provide them with opportunities, had helped him to separate some memories from his trouble with Deirdre. He could relate what Larry had witnessed without difficulty, but he wasn't certain he was at ease doing so to these people. The moment the idea occurred to him that he didn't want to let them in, he linked it to an unwillingness to be hurt again as he had been by Deirdre. Kai knew he had probably hurt her just as deeply, which did not deaden his pain, but opened the possibility of setting it aside so he could begin to trust others again.

  It is ridiculous for me to assume that I cannot share this story with a man like Galen. I am willing to fight with him, yet not tell him of this incident, which is a minor anecdote at best. Kai smiled and sat back in his chair. "It is not modesty, Nancy, but something in my nature that keeps me a private person. However, you are all friends, so I will tell you about the matter to which Larry alludes. Of course, this preface makes it all sound far more important than it really was."

  "You should have seen it from my perspective." Larry's grin broadened appreciably. "To him it was nothing, but to me it was everything."