Bred for war

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Phelan shook his head. Even though he knew the both the charge and the trial were a sham, in the six weeks of preparing his argument he'd begun to hope it might be possible to sway his peers by dint of a logical and rational presentation. Looking at the expressions ranging from bored to eager on the faces of the gathered Khans, he sensed that almost all had either prejudged Ulric, or would vote for whichever outcome seemed most favorable to their own Clans. I could be the personification of eloquence today and it would make no difference.

  Ulric looked out over the assembled Khans. "Brothers and sisters, near and far, this rede binds us now and forever and beyond that until the end of all that is. We are gathered to judge the truth of a serious charge made against me. It is said that I plot genocide against the Clans and have done so by entering into a truce that will leave us unable to defend ourselves against the Inner Sphere."

  Vandervahn Chistu, the younger of the Jade Falcon Khans, rose at his place. "I stand today before my brother and sister Khans in this Grand Council and accuse Ulric Kerensky of genocide."

  "Then it begins." Ulric typed something into the computer console on his bench, then looked up. "The Martial Code, in the interest of brevity, allows for each side to field only one speaker. Who comes forward before this conclave as prosecutor?"

  The other Jade Falcon Khan rose. "That honor is claimed by Elias Crichell, ilKhan."

  Crichell's willingness to go after Ulric surprised Phelan. He had expected Lincoln Osis, the Smoke Jaguar Khan, to demand the right of prosecution. The Smoke Jaguars were just as vociferously Crusader as the Jade Falcons, and their Khan, Leo Showers, was originally the ilKhan leading the invasion of the Inner Sphere. The death of Leo Showers called for the selection of a new ilKhan and Ulric's successes during the invasion made him the logical choice as new Khan among Khans, the leader of all the Clans. For one of theirs to present the case against Ulric would have given the Smoke Jaguars a chance to regain some of their lost prestige, but the fact that matters did not so proceed meant that either a deal had been made or a shift in power had occurred somewhere.

  As Phelan mulled over the situation, he began to see the larger picture. The Falcons had conquered more worlds than the Smoke Jaguars in the invasion, giving them a bit of an edge, a claim to moral superiority. The Jaguars had lost the battle for Luthien, the Draconis Combine's capital world, and their defeat had come at the hands of two mercenary units—a shameful fact that cost them even more respect. It was also significant that Lincoln Osis had been the one to raise the charge of treason against Ulric four years before, a bid he lost in the Grand Council vote after Phelan's defense of Ulric.

  The younger Khan found it mildly disconcerting that he had not expected the challenge to come from the Jade Falcons, but he really should not have been surprised. As Ulric had noted, none of the Crusaders expected intra-Clan war to result from the verdict, so the ease with which the Wolves could strike at the Jade Falcons along their mutual border did not concern them. Phelan guessed that the Jade Falcons already had forces poised to strike at Terra the instant the truce was repudiated. To be prosecutor of a trial that deposed Ulric would give Elias Crichell an inside track to become the new ilKhan.

  Elias Crichell rested one hand on top of the green enameled Jade Falcon helmet that sat on his bench. With the other he flipped his feathered cape back from his shoulders before beginning to speak. At sixty, he was quite old by Clan standards, yet he was so astute a political manipulator that he had maintained a steel grip on the reins of power within Clan Jade Falcon.

  "ilKhan Ulric Kerensky, my brother and sister Khans both present and distant, the charge against Ulric is as grave as any ever raised against either an ilKhan or a Clan. And it is more than that because Ulric has not plotted to destroy the genetic heritage of one Clan, but of all our Clans. In his eccentric view of the universe, we Clans have apparently come to embody all that is evil. He has changed black for white, pushing us beyond the looking glass, so that everything we think we know is reversed, and every action he takes in accordance with our traditions is really meant to destroy those traditions."

  Crichell's blue eyes sparked as he looked around the chamber, then fixed his gaze on one of the cameras sending his soliloquy out to the remote Khans. "The truth of this charge cannot be doubted because the proof of it lies in our very existence. When the Truce of Tukayyid ends after fifteen years, everything we have learned in fighting the Inner Sphere will be forgotten. Not only will our troops lack that experience, but the Inner Sphere armies will have modified their tactics so that we have no way to counter them. There you have it—we will be without experienced commanders and they will lead inexperienced troops. The enormity of Ulric's crime is self-evident.

  "You must ask yourselves, as I have, why would Ulric wish to destroy his own people? What in him has so changed? Why does he betray us? Were there signs we should have seen long ago?"

  Crichell smoothed the bristle-brush gray hair at the back of his head, then continued. "The Wolves have ever been willing to revise the traditions begun by our founder, Nicholas Kerensky. They have claimed the right to do so because Nicholas was one of them, and we have long let them hide behind this claim. We might have been blind once, but none of us now doubts that what they call flexibility is really only another name for revisionism and revolution.

  "With this predilection for change, Ulric fell under the spell of three individuals. Two have been elevated to stations well beyond their worth. Natasha Kerensky, if she is the same woman who left the Clans half a century ago, has been seduced by the Inner Sphere and wields undue influence over the Khan. With Phelan Ward, Ulric sold his soul in return for intelligence that allowed him to progress quickly in the invasion. Through Phelan, the Inner Sphere had one of its own anointed among us—one they knew they could control—and the truce was their reward."

  The elder Jade Falcon Khan paused to let all see his withering look of disgust. "Ulric's third collaborator was the individual from whom he sought counsel during the invasion, and with whom he negotiated this truce. Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht was rewarded with a victory that has made him, in the eyes of the Inner Sphere, a warrior equal in stature to the legendary Aleksandr Kerensky. Were that obscenity not enough, Ulric kowtows to Focht, seeking his permission to move people into and out of the Inner Sphere.

  For a Clansman to be reduced to such groveling is sheer blasphemy.

  "These four, Ulric, Focht, Phelan, and Natasha, have entered into a secret alliance, the purpose of which is nothing short of forming a new Star League. Phelan is cousin to Victor Steiner-Davion, who will take the throne of First Lord if this plan succeeds. He will wed Omi Kurita, and their realms will unite. His warlord will be Kai Allard-Liao, the Butcher of Twycross, and their first move will be to engulf the Capellan Confederation and press Kai Allard-Liao's claim to rule that realm. Kai will marry Katrina Steiner-Davion. The Free Worlds League will fall after that, with Thomas Marik's daughter being forced to marry Peter Davion, brother to Victor."

  Phelan shook his head, despairing at the utter lack of reason in Crichell's words. It was probably true that Victor Davion and Omi Kurita were in love, but they were not lovers nor did either one harbor the illusion that they might one day marry. Kai, according to a rumor traced back to Taman Malthus—a Jade Falcon—had found himself a wife, and it wasn't Katrina Steiner. The rest of Crichell's statement was pure fantasy, yet it seemed vaguely plausible and might even prove terrifying to the other Khans.

  "What is the role Ulric sees for himself and the other Clans in this new order, this new Star League?" Crichell held up a single stubby finger. "He seeks to make himself the new Aleksandr Kerensky. He will subordinate us to this Victor Davion. We will be used to subdue the Capellan Confederation. We will be used to bring the Free Worlds League to heel. We will be used to hunt bandits and support corrupt rulers and to reinforce the evils of the Inner Sphere that drove our ancestors from it so long ago.

  "None of us would ever willingly submit
to becoming puppets of Victor Davion, but Ulric's truce will give us no choice. As we look forward ten years into the future, with the clock of the truce ticking away, he would begin to point out that we cannot win against the Inner Sphere. He would undermine us and promise us glory, but in a role more closely aligned with the aims of the Inner Sphere. He would argue for fusion with the Inner Sphere, and where could that lead but to our absorption!"

  Phelan hissed as Crichell hit on the word "absorption." Of the original twenty Clans, one had been destroyed and two had been absorbed. Clan Widowmaker had been absorbed by the Wolves, and the red hourglass Natasha used as her personal crest spoke to Widowmaker blood running in her veins. Clan Mongoose had been absorbed by the Smoke Jaguars, but of them nothing remained, not a hint, not a symbol. The complete death of a Clan through absorption was the greatest fear of all Clan leaders, and Crichell had just used it to drive a stake through Ulric's heart.

  Crichell nodded slowly. "We know what Ulric intends by reading his actions and understanding their true meaning. The only way to prevent our own destruction is to remove him from his office, to repudiate the truce, and to resume the sacred war he has prevented us from completing."

  Ulric looked to Phelan. "Your response?"

  Phelan nodded and stood at his place. Not in a million years could I have anticipated defending Ulric against such an attack. He set down the note cards he'd printed out, then shook his head. We always knew I couldn't win, but Crichell may have done himself some harm. What I must do here is narrow the margin of his victory, and the paranoid fantasy he has presented might just allow me to do that.

  "I know not how to counter Kahn Elias' case, for his argument lacks cogency. I am compelled to review it, for that is what one does with fictions. The scenario he has constructed is not without some interesting points, but it lacks any grounding in reality. He assaults you with concepts with which he intends to inspire you with fear. Clearly, in doing this, he underestimates the minds and gifts of more youthful generations.

  "I urge upon you caution as you evaluate his remarks. Khan Elias has played a very subtle trick upon you. He exhorts you to realize that you are in a mirror-world, a place where anything Ulric has done, he has, in fact, not done. Following this thinking then, we know that the Khan who has taken the most worlds has taken the least."

  Phelan paused, letting the contradiction sink in. "In asking you to change how you view everything, Elias drives you away from what makes you the Khans that you are. He is destroying your command and control over your own minds. He is asking you to let him usurp your judgment. He wants you to trust him, this man, this Khan whose troops were slaughtered on Twycross by a single warrior from the Inner Sphere."

  Phelan sharply rapped the desk with his knuckles. "Do not abandon reason. Use it. Look at his scenario. He offers no evidence to place Anastasius Focht, Khan Natasha, and me in a conspiracy with ilKhan Ulric. He has invented that by himself.

  "He distorts evidence. He neglected to tell you that Victor Davion and I, despite being related, have despised each other for years. During the time Khan Crichell says I was conspiring with Victor to create a new Star League, Victor's father, Hanse Davion, ruled the Federated Commonwealth. Victor was so far out of power at that time that he had been sent on a suicide mission deep into the Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone. Since I was here, among the Wolves, the conspirators obviously never had a chance to conspire.

  "Except in Khan Crichell's fertile, febrile imagination."

  Phelan opened his arms wide. "It is no secret that the Jade Falcons hate the Wolves. It is no secret that they are Crusaders and they hate the fact that a Warden has beaten all of the Crusader Clans in their efforts to conquer the Inner Sphere. Especially galling to the Jade Falcons is the fact that the Wolves accomplished their triumph with troops trained in the same way we train troops now. The Jade Falcons, quite rightly, do not trust the effectiveness of their own training methods. In fact, I would not doubt Khan Crichell fears the Inner Sphere is training cadres consisting of single warriors to slay whole Jade Falcon units in seconds. Were I a Jade Falcon, and had I such fears, I would seek refuge in a looking-glass world where defeat is victory and success is to be condemned as failure."

  Phelan pointed to the ilKhan. "You all know Ulric has led us to victory against the Inner Sphere. You all know it was the hunger for personal glory that doomed the Clans on Tukayyid, not some phantom treachery by Ulric. That is reality and we all know it.

  "With your votes, you can deny the truth and join Khan Crichell in a mirror-maze of paranoia and fantasy. Do that, destroy Ulric and you will destroy the Clans. Vote with Ulric and the reality of our future glory will be yours to share."

  Phelan sat down and Natasha leaned over to him. "Good work, Phelan. You've given the video-Khans something to think about."

  "No chance we can win?"

  "You were good, Phelan, but no one could have been that good." Natasha smiled. "I think you did reduce the odds against us rather substantially, though, and that may make all the difference in the long run."

  Ulric called for a vote. Four of the invading Clans—Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguars, Nova Cats, and Steel Vipers—voted solidly for a finding of guilty. The Ghost Bears and Wolves voted for innocence. The rest of the Clans split along Warden and Crusader lines, with some Khans canceling out their partners' vote. The net result was nineteen guilty votes and fifteen for innocence.

  Ulric stood as the last vote was cast. 'The motion carries. I am no longer ilKhan, but I inform you immediately that I demand a Trial of Refusal concerning this vote. The ratio of guilty to innocent votes is one point two-six to one. You have one month to decide who will face me and my forces to ratify this vote."

  Khan Elias Crichell stood and let a big smile spread over his face. "Ulric, withdraw your challenge of the verdict. Let us resume the invasion we began eight years ago. Let us select a new ilKhan—I am certain he will allow your Wolves to join in the renewed invasion. Surely you can see there is no reason to fight among ourselves when there is so much more to fight for."

  Ulric looked surprised. "Are you afraid to meet the Wolves, Elias?"

  "No, of course not." Crichell smiled benignly. "I just want you to be reasonable."

  "I am being quite reasonable." Ulric smiled too, but more like a wolf. "It is reasonable to expect you will bid among the other Clans to win the right to defend your victory, quiaff?"

  "Aff, if there is no other way. I did not support this charge out of a vendetta against you or your Wolves."

  "I had never assumed, Elias, that personal hatred was your motive." Ulric shook his head. "I, on the other hand, do harbor hatred against the Crusaders and even your Jade Falcons. I have brought matters to this point precisely so I could fight you and your Jade Falcons. You may have known you would win this vote here in the Grand Council, but I decided what you would win."

  The ex-ilKhan let his laughter fill the room. "What you won was the Wolves and all the real combat your troops can handle."

  Marik Palace, Atreus

  Marik Commonwealth, Free Worlds League

  Sun-Tzu Liao fought to keep his expression neutral. It had been five weeks since he'd given the order for his operatives on New Avalon to strike. It had never mattered to him that their chances of success were minimal. If they succeeded in getting a blood sample and doing a Patmat scan on it, Sun-Tzu would alter the results and present them to Thomas to show that a switch had been made. If they failed and died in the attempt, he would tell Thomas what he suspected and convince his future father-in-law to support him in his efforts against Victor.

  It had been a no-lose proposition, but the waiting had eaten at him like a disease. When no word came at first, he'd feared his agents had been uncovered and his plot exposed. Then he'd suspected that the agents had decided the task was impossible and simply abandoned it. He found that humiliating and cursed his mother for not having maintained better intelligence assets in the Federated Commonwealth.

  Then the summ
ons had come from Thomas. The instant the Word of Blake Precentor showed Sun-Tzu into Thomas' office, the younger man saw from Thomas' expression that his operation had succeeded. He marveled that Victor Davion maintained so tight a control over his media that no word of the raid had leaked out, but Thomas obviously knew something. And from his worried look, it was not good.

  "I thank you for coming so quickly, Sun-Tzu."

  Sun-Tzu bowed to Thomas. "It is always a pleasure to be called to your presence, Captain-General."

  "I could hope it were thus, Chancellor Liao, but I fear it will not be so." Thomas slumped back in his chair and sighed heavily. "I foresee difficulties ahead and I require of you a number of favors. I do not know if I have the right to ask them, but ask them I must."

  Use of his title had surprised Sun-Tzu, but he recovered himself as Thomas went on. He definitely found the Captain-General distracted, which caught his attention like a field mouse running through the grass attracts a hawk's sharp eye. "I would be honored to be of any service to you, Captain-General."

  Thomas nodded, but as though he only half-heard the reply. "You maintain and support a variety of subversive groups and revolutionary forces in the Sarna March, do you not?"

  "I do. My Zhanzheng de guang are active on a number of Davion worlds. I also have ties to certain tongs and Liao loyalist groups."

  "Good," Thomas said. "A situation has arisen that will require me to enter negotiations with Victor Davion. I would Like to use your agents in his Sarna March to pressure him in a way that will incline him to speak in good faith with me. To do this, I wish to create the impression that we have had a difference of opinion on certain matters. You will leave immediately and return to your capital on Sian."

  Sun-Tzu arched an eyebrow. "I know you do not intend this, Captain-General, but some might interpret what you have suggested so far—a feigned split and my forces stirring up trouble in the Sarna March—as an attempt to force me away so you can conspire with Victor Davion to split my realm. I do not think this of you, but there are those who might."