Warrior, coupe

by Michael A. Stackpole

  He rapped gently on the door, then slipped the magkey into the door's slot. As he waited for the lock to open, he suddenly recalled his first visit to a bordello when he was a raw recruit bound for the Academy. I was a gawky kid then, nervous and more afraid of the woman that I was of the ridicule I'd get from my comrades if I did not go through with it. He forced himself to smile confidently. That was long ago, the end of an era in my life.

  The lock clicked open and he slipped into the nearly dark room. Candles, three on each of the twinned bedside tables, illuminated the wide canopied bed in their wavering glow. She stood beyond it, silhouetted in the moonlight before the window. The white light shone through her diaphanous gown, tantalizing and teasing him with an erotic outline of her slender body. Her hair, red only on the edges where the moon touched it, formed a black veil against her back.

  Ridzik swallowed hard. He felt his desire for her stirring, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if so noble a woman might not make him a suitable consort for life. He closed the door, then removed his coat and tossed it onto a chair. "I have come, Elizabeth."

  She turned from the window, filling her right hand with the dark pistol that had been hidden on the sill. Before Ridzik could react, she raised it and fired one hissed shot. Ridzik felt something sharp sting him, then looked down at the silver syringe cartridge sticking in the upper left portion of his chest.

  Before he could frame a question in his mind and give it voice, his legs collapsed. He landed on the floor with a heavy thump, overturning the chair where he'd laid his coat. He tried to scramble to his feet, but his body refused to take orders. What is happening to me?

  The woman tangled her fingers in his hair and tipped back his head. She lay on the bed, hanging over the edge just enough to reach his head and let him see her ample cleavage. Her red hair flowed down toward the carpeted floor, veiling her face in shadow. "Well, if it isn't my old friend, Pavel Ridzik."

  With her left hand, she pulled off her wig. The candles provided just enough pale light for Ridzik to recognize her. His jaw trembled as he tried to speak, but her predatory grin stole any desire to make himself heard. "Yes, Pavel, I am the one they sent to kill you six months ago. You escaped the bomb I left for you, which reflected badly upon me. I had to leave the service and start freelancing." She pursed her lips and shook her head. "That's such a nasty life for a nice girl like me. Wouldn't you agree."

  She moved Ridzik's head up and down to make it nod in agreement. "Fortunately, my current employer is a woman with exquisite taste and the unusual ability of knowing what she wants and how to get it. In this case, she wants you dead.

  "The drug I hit you with," she continued with clinical detachment, "has knocked your voluntary muscles out of whack. It's nice because it goes away without a trace after a dozen hours or so—not that you'll care. Even so, it should deaden the pain a bit."

  She released his head, then slid from the bed and lifted him up. She pulled him onto the bed, rolled him onto his back, and crossed his forearms over his heart. She nodded and winked at him.

  "Let's see, what else did Lady Romano want me to tell you?" She looked toward the ceiling, then smiled. "She said you would want to know that Elizabeth did make the verigraph herself. No one can forge them, you know. At least not in the Capellan Confederation, though there are rumors of a process in the Federated Suns. But that's news that doesn't concern you. In any event, Romano said that Lady Elizabeth created the verigraph after Romano promised to ship her off to you if Elizabeth would renounce all ties and claims to the throne. Then, of course, Romano had her killed."

  Ridzik felt a thickness in his throat. No! This is impossible! This cannot be happening. I am Pavel Ridzik!

  The assassin smiled down at him as she filled a syringe with a clear liquid. "I do want you to know that, under normal circumstances, I would not use this on a person of your stature in the Successor States, but Lady Romano was rather specific. In fact, giving you as much of the dart juice as I did would have displeased her because it will numb you somewhat."

  She shook her head as she felt for his carotid artery. "They made this stuff in the Draconis Combine, to be used on traitors to the state. It supposedly attacks only neurons, nibbling them away like a slow acid bath."

  Ridzik dimly felt the sting as she plunged the needle into his neck. "They say it will kill you in just five hours, Colonel, but the agony will make if feel like five centuries." She smiled sweetly, men bent down and kissed him full on the mouth.

  She caressed the side of his face, igniting fire in all his nerves. "Sorry, Colonel, to leave you this way, but I have a reputation to maintain, and you've been living on borrowed time ever since you escaped my bomb." She straightened up, then winked at him. "They say that if you're lucky, you can swallow your tongue before die pain becomes too great."

  Her mocking laughter and the click of the door shutting behind her were the last sounds, save his own sobs, that Pavel Ridzik ever heard.

  28

  Moore

  Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

  1 August 3029

  Chu-i Jinjiro Thorsen pressed his thick glasses back onto his nose, but otherwise dared not stir in the corner of the briefing room. Why did Tai-sa Sanada bring me to this meeting? This is not the place for my sort. He knew his lighter skin and blue eyes marked him as a half-caste from the Rasalhague District, giving the great and powerful people in the room yet one more reason to look down upon him.

  Jinjiro looked over at those seated at the table. Generals and Warlords all. While at the Sun Zhang Academy, I and my fellows dreamed of taking their places one day. Never, ever, did I imagine actually meeting them. Especially not the Coordinator's son.

  Theodore Kurita stood tall and slender at the head of the table. The other officers were well-groomed and dressed in freshly laundered and pressed uniforms, but Theodore wore his black hair long and unkempt, as if the war had given him no time to mind his personal appearance. Neither did his black jumpsuit bear medals or insignia denoting unit or rank. It had only been zipped halfway up the front, giving those assembled a view of his cooling vest and the shoulder padding for his neurohelmet. A heavy pistol hung from his right hip.

  Jinjiro smiled to herself. How ironic that the Tai-sa only told me at the last minute of the request for my presence at the meeting. I had no time to change after morning exercises. Jinjiro resisted the temptation to lower the zipper on his jumpsuit to the same height as Theodore's.

  Theodore punched some orders into the keyboard at his position. A holographic map of the Lyran/Combine border burned to life above the center of the table. It slowly rotated so each person in the room could see it plainly, then locked in place facing Theodore.

  Jinjiro studied the map intently, though he knew each world, each battle, each defeat by heart. We have lost greatly in the Rasalhague District—even my homeworld of Gunzburg is now behind enemy lines. Steiner's initial thrust into the Dieron District destroyed Theodore's Eleventh Legion of Vega. Through the glowing map, Jinjiro's gaze focused on the nearly healed scar running from the center of Theodore's forehead to the outside edge of his left eyebrow. He barely escaped with his life, but managed to rally forces enough to blunt the Steiner advance. All that he has accomplished—and yet with so little support from Luthien—is incredible.

  Theodore leaned forward heavily on the table. "It is clear, gentlemen, that the Dieron Military District's defenses have succeeded in stopping the Steiner offensive and have even won back most of the worlds we have lost."

  Jinjiro felt pride flutter in his heart as Theodore praised efforts of which he'd been a part, but that hopefulness died instantly as Theodore's look and voice became filled with anger. "Warriors are not defenders. We are meant to attack the enemy on his territory, not wait to dispute his right to our worlds."

  Tai-Sho Palmer Conti cleared his voice. "I hear and understand what you say, but we have been given little in the way of offensive assignments, Highness."

 
Theodore's cold smile snapped up Conti's look of smug self-confidence. "And you've made damned little of those opportunities, haven't you? Yes, you hit the Davion world of Northwind at the beginning of the year and destroyed the Fifth Deneb Light Cavalry, but you no longer hold that world, do you?"

  The dark-haired Tai-sho stiffened. "There was no way we could anticipate the arrival of Davion reinforcements."

  Theodore looked at the other officers at the table. "I seem to recall your Fifth Sword of Light had no trouble dealing with the first wave of Davion reinforcements. You broke Team Banzai easily enough." His eyes narrowed. "But then you had help from the Genyosha, didn't you?"

  Conti's brown eyes flashed with anger. "Their aid was nothing. It was insignificant. And they left before the second wave of Davion forces arrived. That second wave brought four regiments of the Northwind Highlanders down upon us. We were lucky to withdraw in good order and save some of our strength."

  Theodore Kurita laughed heartily, and Jinjiro saw Conti recoil from the ridicule as if physically assaulted by the sounds. "Palmer, tell me no stories about the battle prowess of old Liao units. It does you no credit. Yes, you saved the Fifth Sword, sparing my father undue embarrassment, but you sacrificed a battalion of the Thirty-sixth Dieron Regulars to do it." Kurita glanced at the dark-skinned officer across from Conti. "I'm sure Tai-Sho Hadji Rajpuman welcomed the opportunity to cover your retreat. Had you been less concerned about preserving your honor, you would have seen the way to preserve his forces as well."

  Palmer Conti stiffened, a beet-red flush creeping up beyond the collar of his dress jacket. "There was no other way, Kurita-sama. I did what I had to do to salvage a flawed bit of strategy. We were attacking at the behest of Maximilian Liao," he said scornfully. "A questionable thing to do."

  Theodore shook his head, and Jinjiro saw anger and pity wash over the Prince's face. "There are times, Palmer, when I wonder how you have risen to the position you now hold. Then I remember most clearly. Had you chosen to pull back to the Granite Fang mountain range instead of retreating, you could have covered for the Regulars. No unit, not even a Liao unit, would have been foolish enough to pursue a Sword of Light regiment through that twisted maze of canyons."

  Theodore narrowed his eyes. "In fact, using that strategy, you could have launched out from the Condor Pass on the north side of Kuroiyama and hit the Highlanders hard."

  Jinjiro saw Conti's eyes glaze over as he considered Theodore's suggestion. The flash of pain over his face told Jinjiro that Conti had seen the wisdom of the strategy. Instantly, the Tai-sho regained his composure, and Jinjiro knew that Conti would deny that the plan could have worked. That marks Conti as more concerned for himself and his future than for the well-being of the Dragon. The brilliance of a Theodore Kurita is lost on such officers, to our detriment. Jinjiro felt bile rise in his throat and glanced at his own commander. It is a pity that there are so many Contis in the Dragon's service.

  Conti opened his mouth to say something, but Theodore cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand. He looked up at Jinjiro Thorsen. "Many of you are probably wondering why I have included a Chu-i at a meeting of such important military leaders."

  The Coordinator's son paused long enough for that question to impress itself on those who had not even deigned to notice the inferior officer seated against the wall. Jinjiro blushed as two Generals studied him critically, and his Tai-sa glowered at him. Jinjiro swallowed hard. What have I done? I must have been a murdering Lyran pirate in a past life .. .

  Theodore waved Jinjiro to his feet. "Look at him, gentlemen. He comes to this meeting dressed for combat. He has not forgotten what war is about. This man is prepared to fight, whenever, wherever we demand it." Kurita shrugged almost helplessly. "However, looks can be deceiving."

  Jinjiro's heart sank as Theodore's gaze settled on the weak-chinned profile of Tai-sa Sanada. I am here because Sanada reported my insubordination. They will make an example of me. I am doomed. Jinjiro fought to hide his fear as Theodore un-snapped his holster.

  "In combat on La Blon, Chu-i Jinjiro Thorsen ordered his medium lance to advance into a city apparently abandoned by the Lyran forces. This contradicted an order given by Tai-sa Sanada here. Sanada, who was bringing up his command lance, planned to take the city himself." Theodore smiled pleasantly. "He intended to claim it for his battalion."

  Theodore drew the pistol and charged it. "Jinjiro, it is reported, had a 'feeling' that something was wrong and entered the city. He claims he just wanted to scout it, and planned to be back out by the time Tai-sa Sanada arrived. Unfortunately for him, Lyran commandos ambushed his command with SRMs and inferno rockets. Though his lance's 'Mechs were covered with fire from the infernos, they managed to evacuate the city, and infantry was brought up to clear the resistance."

  Theodore brought the pistol up and Jinjiro found himself staring down its barrel. "For this act of insubordination, Tai-sa Sanada has ordered a court-martial and reduction in rank for this officer."

  Jinjiro breathed in deeply and found a well of calm deep inside himself. When I became a warrior, I accepted that death in service to the Coordinator would be my lot in life. If it is to come this way, it is not to be fought. Jinjiro glanced at Sanada, seated at the end of the table, and smiled. Insubordinate or not, I saved your life, you old fool. No one else will ever do that for you.

  Theodore turned and shot Tai-sa Sanada through the head. Jinjiro jumped with surprise, but unlike the others in the room, he did not stare at the fallen body. Instead, he watched the silvery cartridge from the pistol dance and spin across the black table-top. As his head came up, his eyes met Theodore Kurita's hooded gaze. He knows. He knows I was prepared to die to satisfy the vanity of an officer. What he almost took away, I now pledge to his service.

  Theodore let the echoes of the gunshot fade completely before he spoke. "Tai-sa Sanada was a fool. His objective—to win personal glory by taking that city—was at odds with the army's objective of total victory. Of what use are battle victories when we lose the war? None, of course, but it is only individuals like Chu-i Thorsen here who understand this."

  Kurita looked toward the holographic map. "My father has lost sight of this objective. He is obsessed with avenging the loss of honor he suffered in dealing with Wolf's Dragoons. His few competent staff officers are tripping over themselves to recoup our losses in the Rasalhague District. No one bothers with the Dieron Military District because there we have lost the least amount of territory to our enemies."

  Palmer Conti leaned forward and studied the map. "It is as you say. You call us here to a meeting that will get us killed if your father ever hears of it, so you must have something in mind. What do you propose to do?"

  Theodore smiled easily. Pressing a button, he illuminated a world behind the Lyran lines. "Dromini VI, gentlemen, is an agricultural world of little military import. The largely Buddhist population has given the occupying force little or no trouble, and so the LCAF has only a militia unit garrisoning the world.

  "Their sense of security is false. I already have a Nekekami strike team on the world, and they will slaughter the militia in three days. I also have the coordinates of a pirate jump point out beyond the sixth planet that will allow us transit to and from that world quickly. Because the Nekekami have already broken the militia's security, no one will know this peaceful world has become an armed camp."

  Hitting another button flashed a red circle to life around Dromini VI. The circle captured seven worlds in the Isle of Skye and five occupied worlds in its radius. "These worlds are one jump out from Dromini. Once our JumpShips recharge, we can strike into the heart of the Isle of Skye."

  Jinjiro studied the map closely. So simple a plan, yet so devastating. It will put us in position to strike beyond Lyran hard points, forcing them to withdraw troops so they can protect all their holdings, not just key worlds. In this way, they will equalize their forces and make it easier for us to concentrate our own forces to defeat them. It turns the war into a
guessing game we can win.

  Conti pointed at the Lyran world of Lyons. "I assume you want to hit these worlds to force the Isle of Skye to pull out of the Commonwealth and declare itself neutral. The Third Dieron Regulars tried that and died on Lyons."

  Theodore nodded slightly at the Fifth Sword's commander. "You are correct that I want to force the Isle of Skye out of the Commonwealth. Duke Lestrade graciously denuded his holding of troops, inviting us in so we could supply him the excuse he needed to withdraw, but that plan died with the Third Dieron Regulars. Still, the Isle of Skye is definitely understaffed and I mean to force the Isle of Skye out of the Commonwealth because I own it! Seven worlds, gentlemen, there for the taking. Then we leap deeper and deeper into the Commonwealth, cutting the invaders off from their own lines of supply."

  Jinjiro swallowed hard. He means to do more than force the Lyrans back across their side of the border. He wants to take worlds from them to increase the Dragon's realm. This will be such a severe blow to House Steiner that they will be forced out of the war, giving us the chance to fall upon House Davion with a vengeance.

  Tai-sho Rajpuman looked up at Theodore. "What of the mercenaries that destroyed the Third Dieron Regulars on Lyons?"

  The Coordinator's son smiled, then hit a button on the table. Off to his right, facing Palmer Conti, a wall panel slid silently into the ceiling. Theodore turned to the gray-haired officer standing in the doorway. "What of the Kell Hounds?"

  Yorinaga Kurita did not smile. "They are of no concern. By the time your attacks take place, the Kell Hounds will be nothing more than a memory."

  Theodore nodded solemnly. "The Genyosha will meet and battle the Kell Hounds on Nusakan in October. .."

  Conti snorted derisively, "That means we'll be fighting them in November."

  Yorinaga regarded Conti with a fierce stare that sent shivers up and down Jinjiro's spine. "That Tai-sho would be wise to remember that the Genyosha kept Team Banzai's Blue Blazer battalion from overrunning his command post on Northwind."