Mercenary's Star

by William H. Keith

  "You told them about Ericksson?"

  She nodded. "I betrayed you."

  Could he blame her? Grayson remembered her last words to him as the Phobos had plunged from the sky toward the Verthandian jungle. "Maybe you had reason to," he said gently. Somehow, he was not angry, knowing what she must have been through since last they'd met.

  Her story, at least, explained the raid on Fox Island, the ambush in the jungle. It had been sheer good fortune that the Legion and the main body of the rebel army had been out of the camp at the time. Or perhaps the enemy had tracked them to their hideout, then waited for the main body to leave so that the base would be more defenseless.

  "They used me," she continued, as if she hadn't heard him. "They flattered me and made me one of them and...and used me! A tool, a...a thing! And when they got what they wanted.

  She began to cry. Grayson reached out tentatively, took her shoulder, drew her close. They sat together by the fire for a long time. Sue Ellen, Grayson learned, had been literally dragged from the bed of the man who'd been questioning her, and thrown into one of the prison cells beneath the tallest tower of the University of Regis. There seemed to be no reason for her captivity beyond the fact that the Dracos had never really trusted her. They had promised her security and revenge and even love to get the information they wanted. Even after that, they had continued to question her from time to time, she said, showing him the scars on her arms and hands.

  He held her for a long time after that, the two of them saying nothing.

  Lori emerged from the darkness. "Captain?"

  He looked up, nodded. Sue Ellen was asleep, her face tear stained-and smudged where she leaned against his shoulder. Lori's face worked with some unnamed emotion at the sight of those two together.

  "I've been talking to some of the other people we rescued," she said, her voice low. "There's another you should meet." With Lori's help, Grayson slipped out from the cradle he'd provided Sue Ellen. Leaving Lori with her, he went to meet the other freed captive.

  Lori watched him go with mingled thoughts. Her own jealousy just now surprised her. Why should I be surprised if he...he finds someone else? I haven't exactly been encouraging his attentions...

  Holding the worn, sleeping woman as Grayson had done, Lori suppressed a laugh. Does being jealous mean I love the guy?

  Whatever the answer, she did know that Sue Ellen Klein was going to need friends, And in her heart, Lori was happy for anyone who might have Grayson for a friend.

  * * * *

  Her name was Janice Taylor, and she was waiting for him by another fire not far off. He handed her a cup of coffee made with water boiled over an open fire and a packet of instant-mix crystals of uncertain vintage. "I'm not sure it'll taste like your Verthandian coffee..." he said.

  She accepted it with both hands and a smile. "At least it's hot," she said, sipping at the mug, "and I'm not going to question its pedigree. Just so long as it takes care of my caffeine addiction."

  Grayson sat down beside her. Jungle noises surrounded them, louder than the muted clank and drill-whine of the BattleMech repairs proceeding in the cave behind them.

  "So you were a teacher at the University," he prompted.

  "That's right. The history department."

  "Then maybe you can tell us what's happening in Regis."

  "I don't know what I could tell you, Captain. Like I said, I'm an historian, and I was never much interested in politics. I know there was some sort of a shake-up—maybe a plot against the Draco commander—inside the Council of Academicians. And there were riots that started out as a demonstration by the students and some faculty and staff. I guess things got out of hand, because the first thing I knew about it, there were BattleMechs rampaging through the streets of Regis, and soldiers arresting people in the University Quarters Wing."

  "Got out of hand? I'd say so if people were demonstrating against Nagumo. Did they think he would quietly pack up and leave?"

  "Verthandi has a long history of free expression," she said. "That's been stifled ever since the Kurita forces arrived, but that doesn't mean it's dead." She smiled. 'To keep Verthandians from speaking their minds, well...you might as well command Norn not to shine."

  "That I believe is beyond the capability of Kurita's legions," Grayson said, "but there's plenty else he could do to try to bring you into line."

  "And he tried it." The smile was gone. "My brother and mother and father...they must be working in one of the mines in the desert by now...if they're still alive at all. They were rounded up, too, and I heard a soldier saying what was going to happen to them."

  "Would you be able to locate these mines on a map?"

  She nodded, and there was a dawning light in her eyes. "You...you might be able to get them out? My family, I mean?"

  "No promises," Grayson said, trying to make the words gentle. "But I can't think of a better way to prove we're friendly to the people of Verthandi."

  "There's hardly a need for that. Since you've started raiding Nagumo's outposts and camps, the rebels have become some kind of popular heroes. And you mercenaries are something of a legend. In the last ten years, the rebel army has only managed to raid a few camps and knock out maybe five or six Kurita ‘Mechs. Since you offworlders arrived, it seems like Nagumo spends most of his time looking for a place to hide."

  "It would be nice if that were true. I don't think he'll make it that easy for us, though. Seriously...are the people in Regis ready to fight Nagumo? Or did what happened the other night knock the fight out of them?"

  "I wish I could say." She shook her head. "It started when some of the senior Academicians were arrested and shot. It surprised me, the way students and teachers and...and people not even connected with the University or the government came pouring out into the streets. A lot of them were killed, and most of the rest must have been rounded up and marched south. The ones that are left...well, they're scared. They might just join you, if they had half a chance. A lot of them seem to have hope now, knowing that Nagumo's thugs can be stopped. I know for sure that the ones in the mines would join you. They've already fought Nagumo...and we've been hearing stories about what goes on in those mines..." She shuddered, clutching her empty mug.

  "You'd like us to try to rescue those folks."

  "Can you blame me?"

  "Of course not. But do you realize the risk?"

  "I think so. We were in danger today, weren't we?"

  Grayson nodded slowly. "I tried to shave things to keep you folks out of the line of fire, and we had to move fast. But there was danger, yes. We knew they were taking you offworld. Once they got you away, there was no way we'd ever have gotten you back. It was do something and be damned if something went wrong...or do nothing and be damned for sure. I had to make the choice."

  She laid a hand on his arm. "You chose right, Captain. When the first blasts went off, and I looked up to see those metal mountains crashing down on top of me, I thought the world was ending, right there. I fell on my face, and I couldn't do much because my hands were tied...but I think I must have been trying to dig a hole with my head. I've never been so terrified in my life, but then one of your soldiers was helping me up and cutting the ropes. It took a couple of minutes for it to sink in that I was really free. Free!

  "The soldiers...the Kurita soldiers, I mean... they'd been talking about what was going to happen to us. Where they were taking us, you know? They were enjoying it...laughing at us...Captain, if you personally had shot me dead out there today, it would have been a favor. One way or the other, I'd have been free."

  "But can you choose that for your parents...your brother?"

  "I don't want them to die, Captain, but if half of what I’ve heard is true, they'll be dead soon anyway if no help comes."

  "I won't even be able to promise we'd hit the right mine. The ones at Skovde are the largest, but there are others, and we don't have the numbers to hit them all."

  "If you don't free my parents, you'll free someone el
se's parents... or husbands, or children. And I promise you that you'll be raising an army to help you free the rest of Verthandi."

  Grayson nodded as he stared into the embers of the fire. "That, Miss Taylor, is what I'm counting on."

  BOOK III

  30

  'To be blunt. General Nagumo," said Duke Hassid Ricol, "I am undecided as to whether or not to keep you in command. I ordered you to pacify this world, but the situation seems rather to have deteriorated in recent months, does it not?"

  Nagumo had long since decided that a straightforward approach was his best hope. "It has, your Grace."

  "You have an explanation? An excuse?"

  "No excuses, your Grace."

  "Ah, well. That is refreshing, at least. Failure seems inevitably to breed excuses, and I loathe them, An officer does what he is commanded, or he fails. Correct?" Ricol was tall and heavily built, his swarthy features partly masked by a square-cut black beard. As if that were not impressive enough, he wore an ornate, one-piece red suit trimmed in black, gold, and silver. He also wore the dramatic, stiff-collared cloak with braided silver aiguillettes in the fashion of the Inner Sphere.

  "C-correct, your Grace."

  "Your information on rebel whereabouts leaves much to be desired. Admiral Kodo stated in his report that a prisoner he captured gave the location of the rebel base. You raided and destroyed it, he says, but have not followed up the victory."

  "That is true, your Grace. It's...you must understand, your Grace. It's the jungle."

  The Red Duke's eyes narrowed. "What about it?"

  "The rebels control the jungle completely. We have lost several patrols to date and a number of BattleMechs. It is becoming difficult to get the Mech Warriors to take their machines into the jungle. And ineffective as well."

  "How so?"

  "We can only find the rebels when it suits them, your Grace. Their people can move in small groups throughout the Silvan lowlands, spotting our ‘Mechs, trailing them. Sometimes they move their own ‘Mechs to avoid a battle; other times, they might mass in one place to ambush us as we come through. And this mercenary regiment—the Gray Death, it's called. There don't seem to be many of them, but they’re devilishly effective in jungle warfare. They seem to have convinced my senior regimental officer that the jungle is no place to fight ‘Mechs."

  Ricol's eyes flashed in anger. "Then perhaps you should find a more aggressive regimental commander!"

  "Colonel Kevlavic is my best, your Grace. He commands the 3rd Strike Regiment...a good unit."

  "Wait...the Gray Death, you said?"

  Nagumo nodded. "We have good information on that, your Grace. From the prisoner Kodo mentioned. Actually, it was a young lady who served with him, and was...was induced to change sides."

  "I see. Their leader's name, then, is Carlyle."

  Nagumo's eyes widened. "Grayson Carlyle. Yes, your Grace. How did you know?"

  "We've met before, he and I." Ricol raised a hand, flicked his fingers carelessly. "It doesn't matter. What plans have you made for crushing him?"

  "Your Grace ...I've had all I could manage just holding what we already control." He indicated the Verthandi map on the wall, stabbing at places with his forefinger. "Look! A deep space relay, here. The Skovde mines, four hundred kilometers south. Patrols here and here. There have been raids by rebels trained in highly unorthodox warfare techniques as far west as Bluesward. And they're spreading, like a disease."

  "Grayson Carlyle is one man," the Duke said. "Those with him cannot number more than a few hundred at most But he's turned rabble into a fighting unit before. I suspect that if you crush him, you'll crush this whole rebellion. Pursue the rebels into their home ground, into the jungle. If your Colonel won't do it have him shot and get someone else who will obey orders!"

  Nagumo shook his head sadly as he looked at the blotch of deep green marking Verthandi's jungle basin. 'That Carlyle is a damned ghost....If the odds are not to his liking, he just seems to vanish into thin air."

  "Confound it, man! He must have bases! Supply sources!"

  "He steals a lot of his supplies from us, and the rest must come from sympathetic farmers and plantation owners. We destroyed the rebels' main repair and refitting center here, on Fox Island, but we didn't remain there afterward. Instead of waiting around for an attack from all sides in a hostile environment, I felt it wiser to lay mines and then withdraw to the safety of Regis. We have been unable to locate another base site."

  "Bah! Have you checked Fox Island again?"

  "Your Grace? No...but that base was destroyed and mined, as I said."

  "Grayson Carlyle is...resourceful. The one thing a BattleMech force must have, however, is a place to rebuild and rearm their ‘Mechs. If you’ve ruled out a possible hiding place for these mercenaries because you've already been there once, then I suggest to you that that is where you will find them!"

  "Possibly..." Nagumo's eyes widened. "Possibly! There were caves there. Colonel Kevlavic did report the existence of caves on Fox Island. Caves that functioned as the rebels' maintenance bays and machine shops. But we destroyed all their heavy equipment, except for what we carted away!"

  "General, I submit that they are getting it from someplace, or you would already have stopped the rebellion cold. Good gods, man! How do you think he is repairing and re-arming his BattleMechs? Perhaps he salvaged the Dropship that Kodo reported as destroyed."

  "I...that is...your Grace, the wrecked DropShip was washed away in a storm! I had assumed..."

  "I loathe assumptions. General, even more than I loathe excuses!"

  "Yes, your Grace!"

  "I will be here in Verthandi for several days at least. I must return to Luthien within two months, but time remains to see that matters here are...progressing satisfactorily. I will evaluate the effectiveness and the efficiency of all military factors here. Those that do not measure up will be...replaced. Am I understood?"

  "Perfectly, your Grace."

  "Good. Now, has anyone thought to wonder what Carlyle is doing here? When last I saw him, he was a goodly number of light years away, off toward the Periphery."

  "Yes, your Grace. My intelligence sources indicate that the rebels brought the mercenaries here to train their soldiers. This Carlyle seems to have some skill in unorthodox tactics. Taking ‘Mechs with satchel charges, man-portable rocket launchers, that sort of thing."

  "He is a...a gifted warrior."

  "He is also threatening the accepted order of battle. BattleMechs rule the battlefield and always have! It is unthinkable that foot soldiers could bring them down!

  "There were foot soldiers in war long before there were BattleMechs, Governor. You would do well to remember that," said the Duke. "We will simply have to find a way to crush Grayson, and through him, to strike down your rebels."

  "But how?"

  "No man is infallible. Each of us has his weakness, a blind spot You will find Carlyle's, and you will exploit it”

  “I, your Grace?"

  "You will remain in command, at least for now. Meet with your staff, and then present me with a plan for moving against Fox Island in a surprise attack by this time tomorrow."

  "Y-yes, your Grace."

  "Don't fail me again, Nagumo." Ricol held out his hand, palm up, and slowly closed his fingers into a fist "I mean to have Grayson Carlyle. More than I want this planet for the Draconis Combine, I want Carlyle. And you, General, are going to deliver him to me."

  31

  Grayson held his hand to the side of his neurohelmet, pressing the com speaker tight against his ear. Ramage's voice was faint, routed through five separate relay stations, but his words were clear.

  "It's at least a full company, Captain," he was saying. They deployed down the Rim Road in tight order, covered by infantry, and with low-level fighter cover."

  "Are the fighters giving you any trouble?"

  "Not so far. They've been low over the clearing where the plantation used to be, but they haven't been able to spot
us yet."

  "How long until the column reaches you?"

  "Half an hour. Maybe less."

  "Right. Play it according to plan. We'll let you know how it goes."

  "Yeah, do that. Ramage out"

  Grayson switched to the general combat frequency. Through the cockpit viewport of his Shadow Hawk, he could see other ‘Mechs of the hastily assembled strike force strung out along the ravine ahead of him. The Gray Death BattleMechs stood motionless close by the walls of the ravine. In the shadows beneath the trees, Verthandian rebels moved in small groups or lounged beside their camouflaged hover transports. Lori's Locust stood on the crest above the valley, its spindly form silhouetted against the orange sun of Norn. The sky was clear, which made for hazardous movement in the open. On the plus side, though, if the enemy was moving against Fox Island, Kurita air surveillance would be turned toward the jungle, not here, well into the Bluesward Plateau.

  The Li Plantation lay several kilometers behind them, for Grayson did not want the rebel ‘Mechs too close to Li Wu's buildings. Instead, he had located this sheltered gully where the strike force could assemble without risking detection by satellite or Aero-Space Fighter.

  He hoped this maneuver would not bring the Dracos down on the Li family. Both the elder Li Wu and his son Li Chin had already rendered invaluable service to the rebellion. It was Chin who had guided them through the jungle to Westlee after the capture of Fox Island, and Wu had brought word that the Dracos seemed to be mustering for a surprise attack. And that was exactly what Grayson had been waiting for. A surprise attack meant the Dracos would be using their three remaining AeroSpace Fighters for air cover, which gave Grayson a precious opportunity. As soon as word came that the Kurita forces were on the march, he'd mustered the rebel forces at the Li farm.

  He pressed the transmit panel. "All units. Saddle up. It's time to move!"

  The rebel column moved up an earth embankment to the crest of the ravine. From there, Regis lay like a distant gray forest.