I am Jade Falcon

by Robert Thurston

  Unless Karlac was not hardened and battle-tested.

  Unless Karlac was not a Jade Falcon warrior at all.

  If not Jade Falcon, what? Was Karlac the spy from Clan Wolf? Even then, her behavior was puzzling. The Wolves were no more known for caution than the Jade Falcons. Wolf warriors might be devious, but their bravery was unquestioned. The worst thing about that Clan, in Joanna's view, was their tolerance of freebirths. Not only was one of their current Khans a freeborn, but he had originally been a bondsman from the Inner Sphere. Though that indicated a severe weakness undermining the entire Clan, it did not suggest cowardice. Stupidity, perhaps, but not cowardice.

  If Karlac was not a spy, perhaps it was being consigned to the solahma scrap heap that had taken something out of her, dampened her spirit, deprived her of purpose and drained away the innate fierceness of a Jade Falcon warrior. Although Karlac's surliness mirrored Joanna's own, she lacked a certain ... a certain toughness.

  Is that what would happen to me? Joanna wondered. She thought of Karlac's cautionary reminders as they were investigating the warehouse. She thought of the listlessness of the other solahma warriors around the campfire at night, where not even the Remembrance was sung. Would I become so soft, so deadened, even after all my years as a warrior?

  Joanna shook off those gloomy thoughts, which frightened her much more than any pitch darkness could. All she really knew was that Karlac, Jade Falcon warrior or not, could not be trusted.

  Nobody could be trusted. Joanna was alone. The other warriors in the solahma garrison seemed to be misfits and failures, as beaten and defeated as whipped dogs. None of them could help her. The irksome Bailly was somehow involved in the secret operation involving the warehouse and the black DropShip. And Karlac was a confusion in a Jade Falcon uniform.

  Getting to the bottom of the enigmas of this mission meant, she was sure, getting to the bottom of these mine levels to find the storage tanks—which had to be somewhere in this warren of tunnels—and to discover their purpose.

  A rumbling noise, now familiar to Joanna as the sound of the elevator, started up, and the car began a new descent into the depths.

  Not wanting to leave her perch by the door, Joanna realized that she had no choice. She had to move into the darkness, but only after drawing her laser pistol once more.

  Four or five steps and she was thoroughly disoriented. First she walked sideways into a wall, the impact spinning her about until she was suddenly somewhere in the center of the tunnel. Joanna had no idea in what direction she faced. The elevator door could have been in front or in back of her. Then she became aware of the elevator's rumble to her right, and she turned her body toward the sound.

  She held the pistol in front of her, pointing it where she thought the elevator door was. The rumble got louder and she thought she felt vibrations in the floor as the sound reached its peak—and passed. The elevator was descending to a lower level.

  Joanna blinked her eyes several times even though the act seemed senseless. For a few moments she held perfectly still, trying to get her bearings from the distant rumble of the elevator. Then the sound abruptly stopped. The car had taken so long, it must have gone to the lowest level. The echo of its arrival seemed to travel up the shaft toward her.

  The elevator had passed this level. Why? If captured, it was not in Karlac's interest to reveal Joanna's whereabouts, so the mission of the elevator's passengers must be elsewhere. This level, apparently long abandoned, seemed to have no importance to whatever operation was going on, which would explain the elevator passing by. She could die in here and her body would not be discovered until sometime in the next millennium. But she would get out. One press of the button on the panel, and the elevator would return to take her away. If the button worked. If it was even for the elevator and not some vestigial device from this level's mining days. For an instant Joanna felt something akin to panic and understood what might have so spooked Karlac.

  No sound had come from the direction of the elevator shaft for some time. Whatever the car's last occupants were doing, they were doing it two levels below.

  She could stay here and wait for something to happen.

  Or she could summon the elevator and go find out for herself.

  Joanna did not waste time considering the options. She knew what she had to do.

  Walking carefully toward the point on the wall where she believed the panel to be, she felt along the wall until she found it. There were two buttons there. She pressed both.

  For a moment she heard nothing. Then, from deep below, came a familiar rumble. And it came quickly toward her.

  She had her pistol ready as the rumble stopped and the elevator doors opened with a rattling noise.

  If there had been somebody in the car, Joanna would not have easily seen him. The interior light struck her eyes like a knife. At first she felt blinded. Her vision came gradually back as she heard the elevator doors begin to shut again.

  Leaping with even more recklessness than Karlac had shown, she fell into the car and slid across the floor, knocking her head against the back wall. She did not lose consciousness, but many abstract shapes danced around her eyes as the elevator began to move downward.

  When her vision cleared she looked toward the panel at the side of the car. A light was on next to the number for the third and lowest level.

  But she had not pressed any of the buttons inside the car. Someone at the third level must have done it. Not blinking against the light, Joanna stood up and steadied her pistol with her none-too-steady hands. Her vision had mostly cleared, but there were still a few small dancing spots.

  As she planted her feet in combat-ready stance, the elevator came to an abrupt stop and the doors in front of her began to open.

  23

  Jade Falcon Warehouse 893

  Dogg Station, Dogg

  Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  3 November 3057

  There stood three techs, each one pointing a weapon at her. They obviously had the advantage. But they were only techs. So she opened fire.

  Joanna hit the tech on the right in the mid-chest, her laser pistol powerful enough to slam the man backward a few meters before he fell, unconscious. His weapon skidded along a wall, sending out sparks in several directions.

  She only saw the sparks peripherally because she was busy disposing of the tech in the middle, who got off a useless shot at the elevator floor after Joanna had temporarily deprived the tech of the use of her legs. Joanna dodged to her right to avoid the attempt on her from the third tech, whose laser beam seared by her shoulder without touching her. One more shot of Joanna's left this one sprawled on his face among some scree from the mine.

  She stared down at the trio of fallen techs. They were all dead.

  At the sound of footsteps behind her Joanna whirled, holding her pistol at the ready.

  "Just me, Joanna," Karlac said, stepping forward into the meager light. She smiled oddly as she walked toward one of the fallen techs, then bent down to relieve him of the laser pistol still in his hand. She held it up, saying, "Mine. They took it from me."

  This level was colder than the other one, its dampness seeming to seep in her bones. Joanna shivered.

  "You let them capture you? Techs?"

  "Let them? Is that not a bit cruel, Joanna? I am not as ... as adept in my reactions as you. I did not expect to see techs with weapons! I had barely pulled this from my holster before the elevator door opened at the top level, and these three came charging at me. They disarmed me immediately, but I was still panicked and my mind was not working as a warrior's should."

  Does it ever? Joanna wanted to say.

  "You are so skillful, Joanna. Almost enough not to be ..."

  "Not to be what?"

  "I was going to say solahma. Most of us are waiting for death, but when the time comes we hesitate, questioning the consequences of her actions. Not you."

  "I do not know about that. I need to be in the fight, that is all I know."<
br />
  "We should get moving. There may be others coming, these may revive—"

  "Not soon, I would wager. They are dead."

  "Perhaps we should get out of here before—"

  "We have time," Joanna said, wondering at Karlac's foolishness. Did a solahma warrior lose all sense, along with everything else? Techs were carrying weapons! Something was going on and Joanna had to find out what. "I want to know what is going on down here. Did you discover anything?"

  "Neg."

  "Then we should explore."

  Karlac did not look especially eager to do that. But it was obvious that she would not put up any more protests. Joanna would have her way.

  Joanna checked out the nearest fallen tech. On his belt was a slim flashlight. Pointing it down the tunnel, she found it had a surprisingly powerful beam. She retrieved two more from the slumped bodies of the other two.

  "One for you, one for me, and it is always useful to have a spare. Come, Karlac, help me get these freebirths out of sight."

  The lifeless techs were dead weight that left Karlac and Joanna sweaty and out of breath after dragging them out of sight of the elevator.

  Joanna wiped the sweat from her face with the back of one hand. "I would guess that—whatever is going on here— this is the main level for the activity. I will go first. Stay close, quiaff?"

  "Aff."

  The tunnel stretched far ahead of them, as far as the light beams would go.

  "We have a long walk, I think, Karlac.”

  “Lead the way, Joanna."

  There was a confidence and even camaraderie in Karlac's voice. Joanna did not mind the confidence, but the camaraderie was irritating.

  She set a rapid pace, keeping her flashlight constantly in motion, examining the walls and even the ceiling for information. But this was just a mine tunnel. There were grooves in the tunnel floor where tracks had once been, but the tracks had apparently been removed long ago. There seemed to be a lot of footprints in the dirt and some ruts where vehicles must have passed.

  Something was definitely going on at this level, but Joanna was suddenly not so sure she wanted to find out what. Now, wait a minute, she scolded herself. In all her life Joanna had never been cautious. This stravag Karlac must be rubbing off on her.

  At first Karlac seemed to gasp a bit, as if struggling to keep up. But now, for once, she kept silent about her discomfort.

  Then Joanna stopped and shut off the flashlight. The only light was from Karlac's, at the moment pointed directly at the tunnel door.

  "Turn that off."

  "But—"

  "Turn it off."

  Karlac obeyed and they were plunged into darkness, though not the same pitch black they had experienced at the other level. Ahead of them, the tunnel seemed to curve, and a dim illumination came from somewhere beyond that turn.

  "What do we do now?" Karlac asked, her voice somewhat unsteady.

  "If there is something waiting around that curve, I do not want to go prancing in with these flashlights announcing our arrival."

  "Good thinking, Joanna."

  "You stay here."

  "Right." Karlac seemed content with her orders.

  Joanna edged forward toward the dim light, feeling her way along the wall. A slight dampness clung to the wall and the liquid that came off on her fingers had an oily feel.

  She rounded the curve and saw that the light source came from far ahead. It was bright, illuminating the whole long passageway before her.

  She returned to Karlac and told her what she had seen.

  "We will go there, quiaff?" Karlac asked.

  "Aff."

  "Lead on, Joanna."

  Moving in single file, the two warriors went around the turn toward the light. Gravel crunched beneath their boots and Karlac breathed heavily from their pace, which Joanna deliberately increased. Whatever else she was, Joanna thought, Karlac was definitely out of shape.

  24

  Jade Falcon Warehouse 893

  Dogg Station, Dogg

  Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  3 November 3057

  Joanna and Karlac stayed close to the tunnel side as they came closer to the bright light. In the last few minutes Joanna had noticed a faint sound that was becoming a rhythmic rumble. At first she was not sure what the sound reminded her of, then she realized that it was almost identical to the steady turn in a canister nursery. Could it be that a genetic station was buried here deep beneath the surface of Dogg? No, that made no sense. Dogg was in the Inner Sphere, too far from the nesting worlds. The scientist caste would not even consider coming here. Scientists were meticulous about their own comfort. It had to be something else.

  Joanna gestured for Karlac to stop as they came to an entrance. Standing with her back flat to the wall she let her head slide sideways to get a look inside.

  What lay beyond the portal was an enormous cavern. It was more than a hundred meters high and its other end— what could be seen of it down long aisles—seemed a kilometer or two away. The aisles, seven of them, were lined with rows of metal structures whose purpose was not clear. The lighting, though it had seemed bright from the darkness of the tunnel, came from fixtures inserted at regular points along the aisles and some strips of light placed on the ends of the metal structures. Each of the structures reached nearly to the cavern ceiling. Strange four-wheeled vehicles with retractable cranes moved among the aisles.

  A whirring noise made Joanna look to her right. In the second aisle a female tech had just climbed into one of the cranes and driven it to a place just beyond her sightline. The tech was soon back again, the flatbed behind her fully loaded. What she was hauling looked exactly like the storage tanks delivered and unloaded off the black DropShip the night before. Then the tech drove into the aisle and out of sight.

  Joanna heard a scuffling noise to her left, then footsteps heading toward her. She retreated into the darkness, bumping into Karlac, who took a clumsy step backward. Two techs passed by without looking their way.

  Joanna motioned Karlac a few more steps backward. "We have got to get in there, see what is going on," she whispered.

  "But how?" Karlac sounded more dubious than ever. "In these warrior uniforms we would be noticed immediately, I think."

  "We will appropriate a pair of uniforms. That is, if you do not—"

  "Whatever you say, Joanna."

  The two warriors went back to the portal and waited. Within moments the pair of techs made a return trip. Reacting quickly, Joanna and Karlac jumped the techs. Covering their mouths, they dragged the two men back into the tunnel. With a quick jerk Joanna snapped the neck of hers, and then helped Karlac dispatch the one she had hold of. Working swiftly but efficiently, she and Karlac then stripped the techs of their coveralls and put them on. Karlac's fit snugly, but the tall Joanna was conscious that her trouser legs and sleeves were a bit short. She would have to chance the possibility that no one would notice or find it particularly odd for a tech to wear an ill-fitting uniform.

  "What now?" Karlac said, evening her sleeves.

  "Take this." Joanna handed her a noteputer that one of the techs had been holding.

  "What for?"

  "Carry it like it means something to you. Techs like to walk around making frequent notations on these things.”

  “How do you know so much about techs?"

  "I once had a tech named Nomad—dead now, I hope— who told me all about techs, little of which I wanted to know. A stupid, sarcastic freebirth, but he saved my life once. I guess I am grateful for that."

  "If you had died, then—"

  "Do not even say it, Karlac. Now, get rid of that warrior stiffness. Techs walk differently than we do. They stroll where we stride. They are in no hurry to get where they are going. Keep checking that noteputer and peer at everything as though it were important. If anybody speaks to you, use contractions. And speak with authority whether you know what you are saying or not, as though anyone with half a brain should understand you."
r />   "I do not know if I can do any of that."

  "Then keep your mouth shut, grunt a lot, and let me do the talking."

  Joanna nudged Karlac ahead as they passed through the portal. Inside, the cavern seemed even more massive. The air felt cooler and clearer. Joanna saw a large air filtration and circulation unit located at one corner, which explained the difference in the atmosphere.

  Joanna gestured Karlac toward a long table a few meters away. Joanna duplicated the tech manner well as they walked toward it, but Karlac's idea of carelessness made her gait too disjointed and loose. On the table's surface were several clipboards, each bulging with paper. Beside the table were two chairs. Joanna drew one up, while silently indicating that Karlac do the same. She whispered the word casual to Karlac as they sat down.

  "What is this all about?" Karlac asked.

  "Paper. Tech operations run on paper—computer printouts, graphs, invoices, blueprints, any paper on which data can be printed. If we find something now, it may help us know what to look for later."

  Karlac glanced around suspiciously. She seemed more nervous than ever. "Well, all right. No one seems to be paying us any mind."

  "Why should they? We are doing a job. Techs do jobs. Everything looks normal. Techs like to look busy, whether they are or not."

  "You are so confident, Joanna. What if they find us out?"

  Joanna was quickly losing her patience with Karlac's timidity, but this was not the time to make a scene. "So what? We are warriors, are we not? Any trueborn warrior can outdo any freeborn tech in arrogance, quiaff? So they discover us, we just waltz out of here. What can they do to us, Karlac? What can anyone do? We are not just warriors, we are solahma warriors. We are meant to die soon in battle anyway. That gives us a certain advantage, quiaff?"

  Karlac seemed unsure, but she said, "Aff."

  Joanna turned her attention to the papers on the desk, which at first seemed to contain merely a jumble of numbers and names. Reading the heads of columns, she was able to see that the numbers represented identification and location. But what were the names? She began to read through the list. Some of the names were bloodnames, many were not. Another code beside the names caught her attention. One said TWY10SEP3050-JFGUARDS-CHARLIEFIRE.