I am Jade Falcon

by Robert Thurston

  "Sir?"

  "I think we will place an agent of our own into one of these old-timer units, Huddock. After all, when in Rome ..."

  "Rome, sir?"

  "You surprise me, Huddock. You know about England ten centuries ago and know nothing about Rome?"

  "If it is in a file anywhere, I can learn, sir."

  "Do not bother, Huddock. I have other, more important things for you to do. And thank you. Your insights have been useful. I will assume charge of the project from here."

  After Huddock left, Pershaw sat back and considered his dilemma. The Jade Falcon branch of the Clan Watch did not have an active spy organization. Almost all of his activities were devoted to the accumulation and interpretation of information. This was because the Clans, and the Falcons especially, viewed covert missions as conduct unbecoming a warrior. Gathering information was another matter altogether—information was ammunition. He would have his staff begin to examine the documents on new arrivals to Jade Falcon units. There might be discrepancies. Whatever happened, the rooting out of such infiltrators would follow accepted procedures.

  But the old-warrior units, that was another matter. Honor was not in question there. He should find operatives of his own. It would be radical for the Watch to send out covert agents, but it might work.

  And almost immediately Kael Pershaw thought of one old warrior who would be perfect for such a mission. Nobody, Wolf Clan or otherwise, would ever suspect such a bad-tempered, bitter, and generally disagreeable warrior of being a spy.

  9

  Falcon Guard Compound

  Pattersen, Sudeten

  Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  7 July 3057

  In Clan mythology there were few gods, just a general belief that some higher intelligence might be governing the chaos. As more and more planets were added to the known worlds, the possibility of a higher power began to seem ever more unlikely. Or perhaps likely—since the vastness of the universe could explain why the gods had to keep very busy and could not attend to everything.

  Warriors, in particular, did not hold much store in the idea of a god or gods who cared very much for people. Something approaching religion was practiced in villages, particularly by the craftsman classes. Professional castes, like scientists, also tended to give lip service to philosophies resembling some old Terran religions, but it did not go much deeper than that.

  Warriors had no use for gods. If anything, they were their own gods. All Clan warriors were willing to die for their Clan but, like Joanna, they did not wish their deaths to be meaningless. Bravery was meaning, sacrifice was meaning, waste was not. Any Clan warrior whose death was wasted took disgrace with him into eternity. Of course, it was an eternity that few believed in. There were no devils or demons in Clan mythology. Any living being could be a devil or demon, and most Jade Falcon warriors would have been proud to be viewed as such.

  After a few days of serving under Star Colonel Ravill Pryde, the newly demoted Star Commander Joanna was willing to consider him the worst kind of devil. When she expressed that idea to Horse, he replied laconically, "There was just such a devil in old Terran literature. He lived in the pit of hell, chewing on traitors."

  "How do you know so much about Terran literature?"

  Horse, realizing he had slipped up, merely said, "You pick up a lot of garbage when you are a freeborn."

  "I do not doubt it."

  Horse had long ago discovered that he could weasel out of any conversational difficulty simply by blaming it on his freeborn heritage.

  On his first day of command, Ravill Pryde had called a meeting of all officers, during which he announced that the unit was becoming inefficient. "Warriors who are not constantly facing combat grow stale and dull," he said, acknowledging that it was harder to maintain battle readiness in a period of truce. "Like the falcon, we must constantly sharpen our claws."

  "Sitting idle, we lose our edge," he went on. "We become argumentative." Saying this, he made a point of staring at Joanna, who of course glared right back at him, resisting the obvious comeback—who said argumentativeness was bad in a warrior? "These raids that the other Clans, and even other Jade Falcon units, are engaging in are mere exercises in wastefulness. There is little point in depleting our own forces in minor skirmishes when we must be prepared to resume the invasion of the Inner Sphere should the truce be nullified—and believe me, my warriors, that it will. The Inner Sphere is governed by guileful leaders. The truce is just a smokescreen for them."

  The new warriors relished Ravill Pryde's interpretations of politics and history. It fit their own conceptions well. In their minds Jade Falcons were honorable and all other peoples were not—including all other Clans and, especially, the people of the Inner Sphere. Nobody could be trusted in the bizarre labyrinth of Inner Sphere politics, with its shifting allegiances and changing borders. If someone wished to imply that the Inner Sphere contained nothing but bandits, traitors, and worst of all, freebirths, it would be believed wholeheartedly. As for the other Clans, the simple truth was that none were as noble or as fierce as Clan Jade Falcon.

  Joanna had to shut her eyes to keep from seeing the smug faces of the young warriors when they cheered on Ravill Pryde. She wondered if they went on and on like this about the Clans in Inner Sphere encampments. Perhaps they cursed the evil Clans, perhaps they condemned the Clans for barbarism in combat and politics, perhaps they found the Clan style of living unsuited to whatever tastes they considered sophisticated.

  It turned out that Ravill Pryde's program for sharpening the claws of the Falcon Guards was just as malevolent as his personality. He made everyone, officers as well as Mech Warriors, Mech Warriors as well as techs, arise before dawn to practice group calisthenics. He claimed the calisthenics made a warrior more alert in the cockpit and a tech more effective in field repair. It was difficult to argue with him since he performed the exercises at the highest levels, outlasting everyone else.

  Though Joanna had been notorious for such tactics as a falconer, a week of the calisthenics left her feeling neither healthier nor more alert than before. If anything, she felt worse. There were aches and pains in places she would not have considered possible.

  Enduring muscle pains, she pushed up yet again from the ground. She believed that exercise had its place. She had always exercised, but with her own regimens and in her own time. In her view, group exercise might be fine for instilling obedience in warrior cadets, but it was virtually worthless for training alertness in a cockpit. A warrior's normal routines kept him fit—and alert. A warrior's exercise should be up to the warrior only. That was Joanna's physical fitness credo, anyway. So, her face to the ground and her arms straining to perform still another pushup, her exercise was carried on more by the force of her cursing than by actual strength.

  "You may stop now, Commander Joanna," Ravill Pryde announced. Even though he had performed the entire exercise routine with the warriors, he seemed annoyingly refreshed. "There is no need to go beyond the set limits." He smiled amicably, and it seemed as if his eyes actually twinkled. Joanna could not abide the idea of a Jade Falcon warrior whose eyes actually twinkled. "Especially for you,

  Commander. You will not require all that much physical fitness when you assume charge of your nursery."

  Many of the other warriors, who were now standing around her, laughed quietly. Ravill Pryde seemed pleased by their approval of his little joke.

  "At ease, warriors." There was a general shuffle as the exercisers relaxed. "You have done well. In only one week, you have improved considerably."

  Joanna, who had not quite caught her breath, struggled not to show it. Her eyes caught the gaze of Castilla, whose contempt for Joanna always seemed present in her eyes.

  Ravill Pryde spread his arms. "I have to tell you, my fellow warriors, I am feeling very happy today. This world seems perfect." In the distance behind him, the usual storm clouds were forming. The air was bitter cold. The landscape was barren. Some perfect world, Joanna thou
ght. "I think we, Jade Falcons and thus the best the Clans have to offer, can do anything."

  Many warriors cheered, veterans as well as new warriors. Every morning Ravill Pryde made an inspiring speech, and every morning they cheered.

  "Warriors," he went on with more pleasure than seemed necessary to Joanna, "I think that soon we will take the opportunity to show our individual prowess. I plan a series of games in which we will exercise the skills, power, and spirit we have gained here. It will be—well, the one word that fits is glorious. It will be glorious."

  Spare me, Joanna thought, not knowing that was just what Ravill Pryde intended to do.

  Ravill Pryde demanded that each officer prepare reports and other documents before the midday meal. Joanna, marked for departure, could have avoided this duty, but her deep feelings of vengeance made her work harder at the task. Diana, adept with figures and words, received Joanna's grudging acceptance of her help.

  "I understand that, in the Inner Sphere, they thank assistants for their help," Diana said one morning as she assembled printouts of the morning report, which was Ravill Pryde's newest administrative wrinkle.

  "In the Inner Sphere they coddle their domestic animals, too. A Jade Falcon warrior demands no gratitude for doing his or her duty."

  Diana, though amused, responded in mock anger. "Duty? I volunteered for these tasks so that you—" She realized suddenly that she had overstepped.

  "So that I what?"

  "Never mind."

  "You are getting bad habits, Diana. Respond!"

  "Well, I meant to say, so that you might not waste your time on such work."

  Joanna smiled ruefully. "You meant so that I might not tire myself. Another lie. If you are going to be so deceptive, why do you not defect to Clan Wolf or—better yet—to this new breed of warriors? Some of the others already have, after all."

  "You misunderstand, Joanna." Diana was generally allowed to address Joanna without mention of rank, unless other officers were around. "They are not joining up with the newcomers. They are just responding to their enthusiasm."

  "Are you already on their side? Like Horse, that freebirth bastard."

  Diana bristled at the double epithet but, ever the diplomat in her dealings with Joanna, said calmly, "I am not on their side. You know that. I believe Ravill Pryde and his prydelings to be the most arrogant, most officious—"

  "Officious? A definite Inner Sphere word. And you call them prydelings?"

  "Well, I—"

  "No, I like it. I like it."

  "And Horse is no traitor. He is merely doing his duty.”

  “The bastard."

  "No, Joanna, no. Be fair. Horse has proven himself as a warrior. Among freeborns and most trues, he is already something of a legend. As a key member of the Command Cluster, he has been awarded an honor that is proper for his achievements, despite his birth. I wish he were still in our Star, too, but—"

  "But nothing. You are infected with Inner Sphere logic, Diana. All that book-reading, I suppose."

  "You know about the books?"

  "Yes, I know about Aidan Pryde's little library. Big library, really. And I am aware of how you and Horse carry on with all that reading. And see what good it has done you. You, with your distorted ideas; Horse as Ravill Pryde's pet warrior. Book-reading! I am glad I have never read any book other than the proper manuals required by the Clan.”

  “Joanna—"

  "Dismissed, MechWarrior Diana. I have had enough of you for one day."

  Diana wheeled about and headed for the door of Joanna's quarters, which was in its usual state of disarray. If anything, the room had gotten ever messier since Ravill Pryde's arrival.

  "Diana?"

  "Yes," Diana replied stiffly.

  "You will come again to help with the reports tomorrow morning?”

  “I will come."

  "All right, then. Thank you for your help," Joanna growled.

  Diana seemed pleased as she left. Joanna threw up her arms in disgust. This damn Inner Sphere virus is everywhere. Perhaps it would be better if, as the Wardens encourage, we pulled back entirely from the Inner Sphere. The Wardens, a political faction of the Clans, had opposed the other faction, more thrillingly called the Crusaders, on the subject of the Inner Sphere invasion from the beginning. Joanna shuddered at thinking like a Warden even for a moment. Nothing disgusted her more than the unwarriorlike politics of the Wardens.

  10

  Falcon Guard Compound

  Pattersen, Sudeten

  Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  7 July 3057

  The normally calm MechWarrior Diana had become more and more agitated since Ravill Pryde's assumption of command. The newcomers, this new breed of warriors, were too annoying, even for her. Their insults about her free birth had become too frequent, and were cruder than any she had heard before. They seemed to seek out any opportunity to voice clever slurs. She particularly disliked the way the new levels of vituperation accompanied Ravill Pryde's ebullient slogans about happiness and satisfaction. If one listened to the new commander, everything was fine and dandy within the Falcon Guard ranks. Every day on this ugly planet, with its dangerous, foul weather, was a perfect day. Every goal achieved was a victory equal to success in combat. He smiled too much; his voice was ever-cheerful. When he strutted among his warriors, he was like a haughty barnyard animal lording it joyfully over the other farm creatures.

  Though it was not like her, Diana hated him. She could usually brush off the natal insults, having adjusted early in life to her Clan status. It was the way of the Clans and she accepted it. Knowing that she was the daughter of Aidan Pryde had also helped her ignore the slurs of the truebirths. Indeed, her whole life was devoted to being the kind of fine warrior of whom her father would have been proud. But this new breed did get to her. Each time they smugly offered an insult about her birth, she wanted to rip off the mouth that uttered the words.

  Walking away from Joanna's quarters, her thoughts concentrated on a wish that Ravill Pryde's cheerful, "perfect day" attitudes could be punched out of him so the unit could go back to its normal surly and combative ways, she did not notice the approach of Cholas.

  "MechWarrior Diana."

  He smiled, but the friendliness was not sincere. Standing a few steps behind him stood Castilla, unsmiling, her mouth twisted into a crooked line that seemed impossible to maintain.

  "Yes, MechWarrior Cholas?”

  “We have not coupled since my first days here." For Diana the memory of that event now seemed grotesque. She had, of course, not known Cholas then. "That is true, Cholas.”

  “Let us couple tonight. I wish it.”

  “No."

  "No? What kind of Jade Falcon warrior are you, to refuse so quickly and with such force?"

  "And you two, what kind are you?" Diana asked belligerently. Castilla walked nearer, her fists clenched. "You two cling together like you have been more than sibkin, like you have a special attachment, as if you were lovers."

  The word lover was a tricky one in Clan lexicology. In some cases it could be construed as simply descriptive. In the villages of the labor caste, love was a common disease, and villagers often thought they were in it. Perhaps the idea brightened their drab days.

  For warriors the word was usually insulting. Any romantic use of the word love was alien, nonexistent. Calling two warriors, especially sibkin, lovers was a deep insult, suggesting that their affection, which was rare among warriors anyway, was somehow unnatural, that their coupling was something more than mere sexual exercise, that the warriors were essentially behaving like freeborns. Jade Falcon warriors could not love each other. It was, in fact, a deeply disgusting thought.

  "Take that back, Diana," Cholas bellowed. "It was unfair."

  Diana started to walk away. "Then couple with yourself, Cholas."

  He ran after her, grabbed her shoulder, and turned her toward him roughly. "Do not speak such filth to me. I do not have to—"

  "Just couple
with yourself. It will be more satisfying than being with me."

  "I do not ... do not do such things. They are forbidden."

  "But not unknown. Here." She took the studded gloves from her belt and offered them to him. "Use these. To enhance your pleasure."

  "YOU FREEBIRTH BASTARD!"

  Backhanded, he slapped her across the face. The blow was quick. Caught by surprise, Diana reeled backward, Cholas pursuing, keeping up a steady flow of insults and getting in one more backhanded slap. When finally able to respond, Diana positioned her leg between his and kicked upward. Her legs were strong and the pain Cholas felt had to be excruciating. He doubled over, gasping.

  Castilla ran up and, using Cholas' back, leapfrogged over him. The moment her feet touched ground, she thrust herself forward and head-butted Diana in the chest, knocking her off her feet. Leaping on top of her, Castilla began pummeling Diana's face. She was strong and used her leverage to advantage. Diana got woozy and would have passed out, but Cholas seized Castilla's shoulders, and threw her off her victim. "I will finish this," he said and kicked at Diana's side. This time, though, Diana had a moment to prepare, and she rolled away. The toe of his boot merely grazed her.

  When she sprang to her feet, crouched and ready, she found herself under attack from both Cholas and Castilla. She was confident she could handle them both, but she quickly discovered that they worked precisely as a team. One hit her on one side and, a half-second later, the other landed a blow elsewhere. Diana suddenly realized the value of a strategic retreat. Rolling with the punches as best she could, she slipped backward.

  She was about to give it up, fall, and feign unconsciousness when she heard the voice of Ravill Pryde ordering the combatants to stop. He pushed both Castilla and Cholas aside with surprising force for such a thin and small man.

  "Ah," he said, "MechWarrior Diana. This is unconscionable, a freebirth provoking trueborns to wasteful fighting. Come to my quarters.”

  “They attacked me."

  "That changes nothing. Perhaps I will reprimand them for being overzealous. MechWarriors Cholas and Castilla, you are dismissed. MechWarrior Diana, follow me."