Warrior: Riposte (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Two): BattleTech Legends, #58 Read online

  The ambassador bowed his head. “I regret to report, my Prince, that I was not able to carry away a formal reply to your message.”

  Hanse Davion hit the pause button on the remote control and froze his ambassador’s image on the screen. He turned and smiled easily at the other two men in the room. His light blue eyes flashed with pure pleasure. “The ambassador did well.”

  “Indeed.” Quintus Allard, the acting Minister of Intelligence, Information, and Operations nodded his white-maned head toward the leader of the Federated Suns. “Not only does he accurately portray Chancellor Liao in a rage, but his report of the people assembled ‘by chance’ in the throne room indicates that something was up.”

  The third man in the room wore the blue-and-gold uniform of a colonel in Davion’s House Guards. “You don’t suppose Hanse’s note to Michael was being discussed in that room, do you?”

  Hanse Davion stared at his best friend. “Once again, Ardan Sortek, your ability to locate a needle within a haystack amazes me.”

  Ardan shrugged. “As much as I hate politics, Hanse, you know I despise traitors more.” Ardan turned his attention from the red-haired Prince to Quintus Allard. “Michael got his note on the tenth. Could the news have been transmitted that quickly to Sian?”

  Quintus nodded. “For a huge fee, ComStar can transmit anything across space very quickly. I would guess that the information in that note to Michael would have been considered important enough to be sent by the quickest possible means. Even though we all agree that Michael must be working with Liao, proof of their collusion is not conclusive, and some facts might even contraindicate the idea of their partnership.”

  Hanse stood and walked from the overstuffed chair back to his ancient wooden desk. “Break it down simply, Quintus. What do we have that suggests Michael was the one who transmitted the information?”

  The minister smiled. “Within two hours of receiving your message, Michael demanded an audience with the Capellan ambassador, Serge Korigyn. The meeting was short, and by some reports, very heated. Aides believed, at one point, that the two would come to blows.”

  Hanse nodded. “Nothing in the meeting has been taken as an information transfer?”

  Quintus shook his head. “We only have a written transcript of the meeting. As you know, we have still been unable to get recording devices in: Michael is paranoid about them and has the place swept constantly. My cypher section has pored over the words and they cannot discover the trace of any code in them. We’ve even tried correlating the speech patterns with other speeches or conversations we have on file for either man. The meeting dialog came across as natural and unrehearsed.”

  Ardan frowned. “I had really hoped that this trap of yours would work, Hanse. We knew the information would be irresistible to Michael—and vital to Liao.”

  Quintus held up a hand to calm Ardan. “Michael’s not out of the woods yet, Colonel. He summoned Korigyn from a hunting lodge, and the ambassador appeared in full regalia—everything from rubber waders and a warm jacket to a bird dog. At one point, when the duke and the ambassador stood nose to nose arguing, the dog began to howl.”

  Hanse lifted an eyebrow. “The dog was trying to protect its master?”

  Quintus laughed. “Reports from the field agents we slip into the Capellan embassy from time to time report that this dog has no territorial instincts at all. In fact, the agents say that for a scratch behind the ears and some treats, the dog will stand guard while they’re placing bugs around the compound. No, it was not protecting its master. I think something hurt it.”

  Ardan stood and crossed to the small bar in the corner to Hanse’s right. “What do you mean, hurt it?” He opened a refrigerator and withdrew a bottle of soda water. “Nobody in the room hit the animal, did they?”

  Quintus shook his head, both to answer the question and to refuse the refreshment Ardan offered him. “You may recall that some of our people hypothesize that Michael was using a sonic transfer device to shoot encoded data over to a Capellan agent? Because we can’t record in the office, I never had any proof. I’m willing to bet, though, that a sound at a frequency too high for a human to hear would probably sound like a piercing shriek to the dog. It’s flimsy, but we’ll work on it.”

  Ardan smiled. “What will you do, bug the dog?”

  Quintus nodded. “Orders to that effect went out last night.”

  Hanse frowned. “Something you said earlier bothers me. That there was evidence to contradict collusion between Michael and Max Liao. Explain, because if this is true, we’re working a strategy on a very shaky foundation.”

  The minister nodded slowly. “Don’t take what I said as a denial of Michael’s treason. Never doubt it. Michael is selling us out. Liao’s troop movements are perfectly consistent with the figures and strengths we send Michael. There is even some movement on the Draconis border that suggests Liao is leaking information to Takashi Kurita. Fortunately, the information we’ve been passing Michael could be considered, at best, flawed. In fact, because of Liao’s reliance on Michael, some indications show Capellan field operations to be withering in our area.”

  Hanse pursed his lips. “So, what is it that makes you think Michael and Max are not working fist in glove?”

  Quintus laughed. “Well, just as we are sending Michael false information, it appears he is doing the same to Max Liao. Michael faithfully and accurately passes along information on Federated Suns troops and operations, but he has been altering the reports of his own troop strengths. We know this by the way Liao has been posting troops facing Michael’s forces. The Liao garrisons are ten to twenty percent understrength for the troops they are facing.”

  “Why, that little weasel!” Ardan shook his head. “Can’t trust him at all. Is he loyal to anything?”

  Hanse nodded slowly. “Michael is loyal to House Hasek. His father, Duke George Hasek, worked hard to improve the family fortunes, and Michael grew up believing in the ‘Hasek Destiny.’ He married my half-sister Marie to ensure a place in the line of succession, and until I marry and my wife bears me a child, Michael’s son Morgan is, technically, my heir.”

  Hanse leaned back and steepled his fingers. We could have worked together, Michael. You would have been where Quintus Allard is now if you’d not chosen to work for yourself instead of the Federated Suns. You have never understood that your father made the family famous through his service to the Federation. “It is a pity that Michael has strayed so far from the fold.”

  Ardan shook his head. “Whatever happens, he’ll have brought it on himself. He wants to play both ends against the middle, and it just won’t work.”

  Hanse nodded his agreement. He glanced down at his desk and picked up a piece of paper. “By the way, Quintus, I want you to congratulate Sarah Hebert for her work on those documentary features that have been showing on the networks. According to our polls, acceptance of the alliance and the people’s positive impressions of Melissa are up sharply.”

  The minister smiled and nodded. “I will tell her. She’s asked if she can do a docudrama about the Kell Hound rescue of the Silver Eagle. She only knows the public story about the Kell Hounds going in to pull a Lyran official out of Kurita hands. I thought that perhaps she could work on the project, and if it is written correctly, we could give her the real facts toward the end of the project. She could shoot some new scenes with an actress who looks like Melissa and the program could be broadcast soon after your wedding.”

  Hanse frowned. “I like your idea, Quintus, and I think it would be a fine idea for her to produce a program about the rescue. The difficulty I have with shifting the focus late in the project is that it won’t focus the story on the Kell Hounds. I’d rather have a vid on that incident be full of action and with emphasis on duty, loyalty, and patriotism than let it turn into some sort of romance capitalizing on my new wife’s image.” The Fox smiled. “Let her do the first one with the focus on Patrick Kell and his sacrifice. Later, we’ll give her the facts and let her do ‘t
he Real Story.’”

  “As you wish, my Prince.”

  I am indeed fortunate to have you with me, Quintus. And you, too, Ardan. “One more thing, gentlemen. Tomorrow we release the news of my betrothal to the people, but a few of the details are still incomplete.” Hanse turned toward Ardan Sortek. “If you have nothing else to do on the twentieth of August next year, Ardan, would you consider being my best man?”

  Ardan’s bottle stopped halfway to his mouth. “I, ah, Hanse, you honor me.”

  The Prince chuckled at his friend’s surprise. “Dan, we’ve known each other for a long time, and a closer friend in these worlds I do not have. You alone stood with me when Maximilian Liao managed to substitute a double for me. If not for you, I wouldn’t even be here, and the whole of the Federated Suns would be in ruins. How could I choose another man to stand with me?”

  Ardan sighed heavily. “All that praise just for being your friend. Just to be asked means a great deal, Hanse. I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

  “It’s simple, Ardan. Just say yes.”

  Hanse’s broad grin began to shrink as Ardan hesitated. “I wish it were that simple, Hanse. Were you just my friend asking me to stand with you, I would accept without question.” Ardan met Hanse’s ice-blue eyes. “Please understand, Hanse. I dearly love Melissa, and I know there will be nothing but happiness for the two of you. I do, honestly, wish you all the best…”

  The Prince lowered his eyes. “But you will not stand beside me…”

  Glumly, Ardan shook his head. “I cannot, Hanse, because you’re more than my friend.” Ardan pounded his fist on the bar. “The one time you act without considering the political angles—as I wish you could act all the time—is the one time you should consider the politics. And just my luck, too.” Ardan leaned heavily forward on the bar. “For the sake of all you hold dear, I have to refuse in favor of another.”

  Hanse brought his head back up slowly. What have you in mind, my apolitical friend? “Give, Ardan. What sort of plot is that festering in your brain?”

  Ardan straightened up. “No plot, Hanse. Just clearer thinking than you’ve allowed yourself on this subject. I would suggest that as your best man, you employ Morgan Hasek-Davion.”

  Hanse blinked twice. “Morgan?” The Prince frowned and thought. Choosing Morgan would send a signal to the people of the Capellan March that I have not forgotten them, but what would it say to Michael? The Prince turned toward Quintus Allard. “Opinion?”

  Quintus chewed on his lower lip for a moment. “Yes,” he said thoughtfully. “That choice would be appropriate in a number of ways. Morgan is well known and popular both in the Capellan March and throughout the rest of the Suns. In essence, because he is your heir, single, and a MechWarrior with a good reputation, he plays well as a subject for the media. Morgan is most often linked with holovid stars in the trash magazines, but his performance with the Heavy Guards has won him praise in military circles.”

  Ardan shot Quintus a wink. “Not only that, but remember when he hosted the Prince’s Humanitarian Awards and Charity Ball last June while you were off on Northwind? I saw a vid of that whole thing later and he came off as witty, charming, and likeable.”

  Hanse shook his head and held up his hands. “I understand how well people like him. I like him. I brought him to New Avalon as a hostage against his father, and everyone knew it. But Morgan seemed to forget why he’d been called from New Syrtis. In just a few months, he ‘owned’ my people and this world.” Why can’t you two see what is my real concern about him? “Dammit, gentlemen, he’s a Hasek!”

  “Hanse, he’s a Davion!” Shaking his head, Ardan stepped from behind the bar and positioned himself in front of the Prince. “I’ve talked to him here, in court, at parties, in the barracks, and during operations for Galahad. He’s a Davion, through and through. His father may despise you, but Morgan sees himself as a Davion. His first duty is to your House, and you’ll never know how thrilled he was to be called to New Avalon.” Ardan stared at his friend. “If he’s disloyal, I can’t see it.”

  Hanse frowned impatiently. “Reading disloyalty is not your job, Ardan. Quintus, what say you?”

  Quintus smoothed the white hair at the nape of his neck. “Everything I have on Morgan echoes what Ardan says.”

  “Yes, but how certain are you of the information?”

  Quintus looked puzzled. “Sire?”

  Hanse held up his hands. “Take it for granted, gentlemen, that I believe what you have to say about Morgan. That said, let us look at this from a worst-case scenario. Maximilian Liao and Takashi Kurita ascended to their throne by engineering coups that eliminated their own fathers. With the marriage threatening to move Morgan out of the succession, he would be motivated to strike, were he so inclined. And there will be ample opportunities for him to do so, especially if he is my best man. I can’t cast him in that role and then have you, Quintus, making security arrangements without letting him know about them. That would put the lie to any good will we might get out of this choice.”

  Ardan snorted derisively. “Now you’re getting too political, Hanse. What do you want to do, slip a spy in on Morgan?”

  Light glinted in the Prince’s eyes. “Better that than be slain at the altar.” He looked over at Quintus. “The agent we used to keep tabs on your son Justin on Solaris VII… the woman whose jaw he broke. What was her name?”

  “Lady Kym Sorenson.”

  Hanse looked away, his eyes focusing distantly. “She has recovered from her injuries and is prepared to work again?”

  The Prince’s spymaster nodded. “She’s even here on New Avalon, sire. Enrolled as a student at the New Avalon Institute of Science to monitor suspected ComStar ROM agent activity.”

  “Shift her primary focus away from that. Keep her at NAIS. That’s good cover, but I have a more important mission for her.” The Prince glanced at an appointment calendar on his desk. “I’ll have a party to celebrate my betrothal a week from Friday. Morgan will be there, of course. By then, I expect him to be escorting Lady Kym. I want her to determine the depth of his loyalty.”

  “As you will, my Prince.”

  Hanse sat back and smiled to himself. Yes. Morgan is an excellent choice. If his loyalty does prove true, his appointment will reap other fruit as well. It will tell Michael Hasek-Davion that no matter how strong he believes himself and House Hasek, I have his son. And in Morgan, I have House Hasek itself.

  Chapter 5

  ZANIAH III

  ISLE OF SKYE

  LYRAN COMMONWEALTH

  22 OCTOBER 3027

  Captain Daniel Allard stared out the aircar’s window as the reddish-yellow wasteland flashed below and beside at dizzying speeds. The aircar’s shadow raced ahead of the craft, flittering like a black specter over the uneven desert landscape. The driver, a brother from the monastery, clearly enjoyed racing the vehicle over the kilometers of trackless canyons and long-dead lava flows that separated St. Marinus House from the rest of Zaniah III.

  How will I ever tell Morgan that his brother is dead? Dan swallowed hard against the lump rising in his throat. Patrick used to tell me that the way to tell next of kin should be whatever way I’d want to hear about the death of my own kin. Watching the wild landscape rush past, Dan thought about the sad irony that now he’d be using the dead Patrick’s advice to announce the man’s own passing.

  Brother Keith banked the aircar around a massive red sandstone column and down into a valley. “Not too much longer, Captain Allard.”

  Dan managed a weak smile. “Thanks.” He wiped his brow against his forearm. “Hot here, isn’t it?”

  The cleric nodded. “And this is the cooler season. Morgan says that were the desert a BattleMech cockpit, the computers would constantly be threatening to shut down and most pilots would have fainted from the heat.”

  Dan nodded, then shot a cautious glance at Brother Keith. “How is he?”

  “Morgan Kell?”

  “Yes.”

&nb
sp; Brother Keith inhaled slowly, then frowned. “I’ve only been here for the last five years, so I’ve only known him that long. He’s been here… what… eleven years?”

  Dan nodded. “Since 3016.”

  “Right.” Brother Keith shrugged. “A lot of what I know is from what others have told me—which isn’t that much, because people here aren’t much given to gossip. I’ve been told, though, that living here has done wonders for him. He’s come to grips with most of the demons haunting his soul, though he maintains that some things still prevent him from formally entering the order.” Brother Keith smiled. “Pity. He’s a good man.”

  Yeah. I can recall a time when I would have made the same comment about Morgan. Dan swallowed and remembered the day that had been the proudest of his life till then. Despite the layers of conflicting emotions around it, the memory raised a smile. When Morgan showed me the letter from Hanse Davion assigning me to the Kell Hounds for my six years with the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns, hell, that was better than graduating from the New Avalon Military Academy at eighteen. Not only had Dan managed to enter and exit that academy younger than anyone else in its history, but one of the hottest mercenary units in the Successor States had asked for him. He had felt higher than the universe that night, but the fall was as swift and surprising as the rise.

  Brother Keith glanced over at the slender, blue-eyed man who was his passenger. “You were there, weren’t you? You were on Mallory’s World when it happened to him…”

  Dan stiffened. “You mean his last battle? The one with Yorinaga Kurita?” He nodded slowly. “If that’s the fight you’re talking about, yes, I was there. If you mean the 3013 campaign when Yorinaga killed Prince Ian Davion, no, I wasn’t there. I’d not joined the Kell Hounds at that point.”

  Brother Keith slid the aircar down a small slope and into a broad arroyo. Sand and dust billowed up around the vehicle, but the cleric managed to keep ahead of the cloud. “Yes, I meant the 3016 battle. What really happened to Morgan?”