D. R. T.

by James D. Long

  Which virtually eliminated the margin of error. The BattleMech computers could handle the calculation of milliseconds, but even though the message was coded and less than a half-second in length, Ria may as well have been playing the Nova Cats a symphony.

  To keep the Clans from spotting them, Ria and Kitten had moved onto the plains and shut their BattleMechs down. Once their 'Mechs had cooled to the surrounding temperature, Ria would send the message. Then they would wait some more.

  If they were lucky, the Clans would try to backtrack the message and pick up any unusual readings in the area. Normally a moving BattleMech or a hot spot on the terrain counted as unusual. One hour after after the message was sent, the Clans would probably stop looking for the sender.

  It didn't really matter if they put the message down to a strange atmospheric bounce or a transmission from the resistance movement. All that mattered is that they didn't spend too long looking for the sender.

  At the time it had seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan, and Ria had fought hard for its approval. Now that she was sitting alone in the dark listening to the metallic ping of her BattleMech as it cooled, she wasn't so sure. In the end she consoled herself with the fact that the others would still have a chance to complete their mission even if she was discovered. This was the Thorns' best chance for success, and she was happy to do the job that had to be done.

  Ria hadn't wanted Kitten to accompany her, but Jeremiah had insisted. For all the good it did Riannon, Kitten might as well have been a world away instead of fifty meters. The two had to maintain utter silence, so she was just as alone.

  As the chronometer ticked the minutes down, Ria watched the count time, then hit the send stud on the communications panel. Even before her finger had released the button, the message was gone.

  She continued to wait as the time counted past ever more slowly, then began to nod off, some part of her brain reasoning that it was the middle of the night and she was sitting in a very quiet space. The sound of a buzzer jolted her awake and suddenly upright. Checking her chronometer as she keyed the communications channel, Ria discovered she'd been asleep for almost thirty minutes.

  "We've got a fighter overhead, Command Two," came Kitten's whispered voice. That could be trouble or it could be merely a standard flight, Ria thought as she checked her 'Mech. There was nothing to give her away. In fact, with the power cycled down, there was nothing to tell her there were even fighters in the area.

  "They're on the way back, Command Two. Suggest we prepare a proper greeting."

  Ria keyed the microphone. "How do you know that, Recon Four? I can't see anything."

  "I can hear them. I popped the hatch for some fresh air and I picked up their engines. They're circling right now. It's just a matter of time," said Kitten resolutely.

  Riannon cursed and slapped the toggles of the Phoenix Hawk, taking the fusion plant off of standby. From deep within the heart of the 'Mech a rumbling told her the 'Mech was coming to life as the fusion reactor fed power to the components. She toggled the scanner to extreme range and offered a quick prayer when nothing appeared on the screen. The long-range scanner wouldn't offer much warning, but she couldn't do much about that. Even set at extreme range, the scanner would give her less then five seconds' warning if the fighters arrived with any kind of speed.

  She looked across at the Panther, barely able to make out the first signs of life as the 'Mech began the cold-start sequence. Ria didn't like doing this, but she agreed with Kitten. If there were fighters in the area, the two 'Mechs would have to be able to defend themselves as quickly as possible.

  Riannon caught a flicker of movement from the Panther as the 'Mech began the final stages of start-up. She was still firmly locked in place, however, when the scanner flashed with two incoming targets. "Heading-three-four-four," Ria screamed into the microphone as the two fighters roared down from the sky.

  She was still unable to move when the first fighter started the strafing attack. Six red beams of light appeared out of the sky and stabbed at the ground, chewing up the dirt on a path to her Phoenix Hawk. She tried to move, but the 'Mech didn't budge as she slammed the throttle forward.

  Laser light washed over her like a wave, burning armor and rending the Phoenix Hawk across the back and shoulders and burning into the interior. Sparks exploded out of the instrument panel as the lasers cut into the Phoenix Hawk's head. Ria screamed as the sparks burned her arms and legs. Then came a secondary rumbling, followed by an explosion as the antimissile ammunition ignited in the storage bay, the chain reaction setting off the ammunition in the adjacent bay. Ria passed out as a second wave of feedback blasted through her neurohelmet.

  The explosions inside the Phoenix Hawk continued, driving shards of metal into the extra-light engine components in the side torso. The magnetic bottle around the fusion reactor began to fail as the engine absorbed more damage. The automatic safeguards kicked in, preventing a complete meltdown, but there was no salvation for the BattleMech. The ejection system blasted the cockpit skyward as the life support system failed. The BattleMech remained locked in place, refusing to fall even in death.

  Kitten barely had time to register Ria's warning when her scanner indicated the approaching fighters. Without conscious thought she turned north and raised the Panther's right arm. Kitten saw the first fighter begin the stafing attack on Ria, but she held her fire until the wingman began his attack on her. Guessing the angle, she fired her SRM launcher the moment the fighter's lasers stabbed the ground on their deadly path toward her 'Mech. Just as the lights washed over her, she fired the PPC.

  Armor boiled and melted away as the Panther was bathed in laser fire. Warning lights indicated armor breaches in the left arm and right torso, but Kitten double-checked the instruments in amazement that none of the shots and damaged her 'Mech's internal components. To her right she caught the flash of fire and turned just as the ejection system of the Phoenix Hawk flew skyward. In the distance she saw a second explosion as one of the fighters crashed to earth.

  Unknown to Kitten, her PPC has sheared nearly all the way through the right wing of the fighter. When the short-range missiles caught up with the fighter moments later, they collapsed the forward edge of the wing. The control surface was instantly destroyed, and the fighter flipped over onto its back. The pilot barely had time to register the surprise of being hit before the lighter aerospace fighter augured into the ground.

  Kitten took a halting step forward and scanned for the ejection beacon. After frantic seconds of nothing, the system finally registered to the west of her. She had begun to head in that direction when she remembered the other fighter. Moving in a slow circle, she scanned the sky. When the fighter appeared, this time from the south, Kitten was ready for him.

  The missiles leapt from their racks a moment before the enemy lasers sped toward the ground. Kitten aimed toward the origin of the lasers and thumbed the trigger, leaping her 'Mech to the side at the same time. The pilot tried to correct his aim, but was only partially successful. The lasers ripped across the legs of the Panther, but failed to reach the components inside. Kitten was jarred to the soles of her feet by the leap and subsequent landing, but she managed to survive the second attack.

  In return her cannon slammed into the bottom of the fighter's fuselage. The ship bucked severely, but the pilot managed to keep it under control as the missiles swarmed past him and into the sky. He, too, had survived the attack, and that was enough for him. The burning rage at the loss of his wingman was quickly quenched by the desire to live just a while longer. He pulled the nose of the fighter up and headed back to base, all the while fighting the increasing vibration in the frame. Kitten listened to him roar away, then went to find Ria's ejection system once she was sure he was out of attack range. Only when she was about to exit the cockpit did she discover that she'd left the cockpit's back hatch wide open.

  Less than a hundred kilometers away, Ajax and the rest of the recon lance sat in quiet ambush, the three 'Mechs s
cattered in a wide line between the Nova Cat base and the DropShip crash site. It had taken every bit of speed by the three fastest 'Mechs in the company to arrive in time to set the ambush.

  Ajax sat between Yuri and Leeza as the three waited for their target to appear on the scanner. It took only moments to happen. Moving directly toward the DropShip site was a single VTOL. If Rose was right, the passenger compartment would contain the DropShip crew of the Tracy K.

  Although the plan would have worked no matter which of the three ambushers actually pulled the trigger, Ajax was glad the task fell to him. In theory it was simple. He would fire toward the VTOL, but not directly at it. The idea was to damage the rotors without destroying them. Unfortunately, these vehicles were notoriously fragile. Ajax didn't doubt that he could bring down the aircraft with a single volley, but he was concerned that he might destroy it outright.

  That was why he targeted the VTOL with all his weapons but only fired the short-range missiles. Flying toward the target, the six stubby missiles intersected the VTOL and continued their flight, which was exactiy what Ajax had intended. Before launching, he had disabled the missile warheads. Although he considered it an almost criminal waste of firepower, the warheads were not required for the job. Backed by velocity alone, the missiles ripped past the VTOL without exploding. One missile did hit the undercarriage of the craft, but even it did not ignite.

  Ajax listened carefully to the audio from the Beagle Active Probe. If the assault were successful, the rotor of the VTOL would have been damaged and the pitch of the blades would have taken on a decidedly different sound. At first he thought he'd missed and so prepared to initiate the backup plan, his two medium lasers. But then, with a deepening roar, the VTOL began to slide to the earth.

  Ajax broke from cover and ran after the descending aircraft, calling for Yuri and Leeza to do the same. When the VTOL finally touched down, he and his two lance mates were waiting for it. He keyed the public address system as he watched the damaged rotors slowly spin to a stop.

  "Please exit the aircraft immediately," Ajax called in a resounding voice. "You are now the prisoners of the Black Thorn mercenary company. Exit the aircraft with your hands in plain view." Ajax hit the spotiight mounted on the left wing of the Raven and called for the other Thorns to do the same. The area around the VTOL was instandy lit like broad daylight.

  Ajax was preparing to repeat his message when the VTOL's side door opened. First one, then two Nova Cat crew members stepped into the open. They moved to the side, quickly followed by Danes and his two surviving crewmen. Despite the distance, Ajax could see the DropShip captain smiling from ear to ear. He waved at Ajax and even threw the giant BattleMech a kiss before glancing back into the VTOL. Apparently prodded by Danes, a sixth figure emerged. It was Star Captain Thrace.

  Ajax whistled softly to himself. Here was a prize he had not counted upon. Although his mission indicated he was to take no prisoners, he knew he must bring Thrace to Captain Rose. He toggled the address system.

  "Star Captain Thrace, do you recognize that you are a prisoner of war and stand defenseless before us?" The words sounded forced and somewhat phony to Ajax as he announced them over the address system, but everything he knew about the Clans indicated that they held their personal honor in high regard. The Elemental seemed to shake for a moment, and Ajax aligned the Raven's laser over her torso. At this range he had no doubt that he could kill Thrace and miss Danes, the nearest friendly in the group. But such action proved unnecessary. Thrace nodded and bowed her head.

  "Please move away from the aircraft." As the passengers and crew stepped away from the VTOL, the three 'Mechs inundated it with laser fire. In seconds the aircraft was a burning hulk.

  "Captain Danes, please see to the prisoners," Ajax called. "I'm coming down."

  30

  Courcheval

  Nova Cat Occupation Zone

  4 August 3057

  Captain Jeremiah Rose parted the plains grass with an outstretched hand and lifted the light-intensifying binoculars with the other. From across the distance, the crash site of the Tracy K leapt into view. Structurally, there was little difference between the view before him and the ones he had already seen in the holographs taken by Cantrell's scouts. He panned left to right and tried to spot any new features, but gave up after the third pass. He let the grass spring back into place and dropped the lenses. The only difference, as far as Rose could see, was the addition of a star of BattleMechs around the crash site.

  These were not the second-line BattleMechs he and the rest of the Black Thorns had been fighting. These were front-line OmniMechs painted boldly with the insignia of the Forty-sixth Nova Cat Cavaliers. Cantrell had insisted there was more to the camp than the addition of some first-rate BattleMechs, but Rose couldn't see it. He shook his head.

  "No difference," he whispered to Cantrell as he slipped into the shelter of a shallow depression. She grinned and began a crouched walk further away from the site. Rose followed her without a word, waiting until they were back at the Black Thorns' small base camp before speaking. It was still dark, but Rose was taking no chances of setting off alarms at the DropShip site.

  A small copse of trees sheltered the small camp from view. Although sparsely placed, the slender trees provided the only cover for miles around. By keeping the trees between the Tracy K and the Black Thorns, Rose was able to remain near the site without being detected. And even though he was more than five miles away, he did not think that would be a significant problem when the actual attack began.

  The Black Thorns had placed their 'Mechs in a tight circle facing outward, with Kitten's battered Panther in the middle of the protective ring. All the 'Mechs were fully powered and operational, but right now Rose and Esmeralda were on the ground with Cantrell, Leeza, Danes, and Star Captain Thrace. Ajax was responsible for providing protection from attack, so Rose wasn't worried about not getting ample warning. Once Ajax gave the word, Rose could be in the Masakari's cockpit before the enemy was in range.

  Rose glanced up at the Panther's cockpit: No matter how many times they reassured him that his sister would recover, he was still worried about her. The neurohelmet feedback from the ammunition explosion had overloaded her senses and she had blacked out. When Kitten found her after the fighter attack, Ria's life signs were still strong. Rather than fill Ria up with chemicals she might not need, Kitten had simply extracted her from the cockpit and carried her up to the Panther.

  Ria had drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the trip to the crash site, but Kitten couldn't spend time watching her without abandoning the controls of her 'Mech. Just retrieving Ria's body had placed both warriors in extreme danger when Kitten left her 'Mech. Rose tore his gaze away from the Panther and looked across the circle. Leeza was lounging next to the foot of Hawg's Battlemaster cradling a stub-barreled submachine gun in both arms. The barrel was pointed directly at Thrace, and Leeza's finger was tight on the trigger. Rose had given her permission to shoot if Thrace so much as looked like she might be considering causing trouble. By now the other members of the Black Thorns knew that Greta was still alive. Rose expected a heartfelt reunion once this was over, but at the moment they still had too much to do to give her a proper reception.

  Cantrell hopped onto the foot of the Masakari and began pulling stickers off the cuffs of her pants. Rose did the same while Danes and Esmeralda stood watching. "The difference is in what you don't see," said Cantrell without prompting. "The Cavaliers left with a full binary of BattleMechs. Ten of those 'Mechs are not in sight. The garrison left with a full star of Elementals in full kit. You didn't see any of them just standing around, did you?" Rose considered the question and shook his head.

  "They're on the ship," said Danes.

  Cantrell smiled wider and slipped down off the Masakari's foot. "Captain Danes, there are six plumes of steam coming from the Tracy K about two-thirds of the way up the body. Does that mean anything?"

  "They're bleeding the altitude adjusters
." Seeing Rose and Esmeralda exchange confused looks, Danes explained, "It's part of the pre-flight test. They'll go over every system on the ship before lift-off. It's the start-up sequence.

  "Assuming they start with the largest systems first, they're probably two hours into the test, maybe a hair more. That means they've got about another hour to go."

  "Which gives us time to work," put in Esmeralda with a wolfish grin and a look in her eyes that Rose didn't like. Ever since the death of Badicus, Esmeralda had been behaving with less and less regard for herself and those in her lance. She hadn't slipped to the point where Rose thought it necessary to speak with her—especially in the presence of people outside the unit—but he found the trend unsettling.

  "Know what to do?" asked Rose, and Cantrell nodded her head.

  "Just clear the way, 'Mechjock. I'll deliver the cargo," she said. Cantrell slapped him on the shoulder for emphasis, and Rose extended his hand, which she pumped once, smiling lopsidedly. Then she and Danes began to walk toward the Savannah Masters parked beyond the cluster of 'Mechs.

  Rose went over to Leeza as Esmeralda headed toward her Mad Cat.

  "Sorry you won't be coming with us on this one, Leeza," said Rose as he approached. The woman smiled at the words, but never took her eyes off Thrace.

  "Maybe next time. Right now it's just good to be back in the fold, you know what I mean?" Rose did indeed know what it meant and it showed. He turned to Thrace, careful not to come between Leeza and her captive.

  "Star Captain, I appreciate your assistance and cooperation in these matters." Thrace didn't even look at Rose as he spoke. Although they were roughly the same height, Thrace seemed to tower over Rose by virtue of her increased bulk. Her eyes remained firmly ahead. "Well," continued Rose, "I guess it doesn't really matter. Leeza has orders to let you go as soon as the shooting starts."