Heir to the Dragon

by Robert N. Charrette

  The lack of motion from his companion's BattleMech aroused Fuhito from his musings. "Senshi Randall, is there a problem with your 'Mech?"

  "Iie." There was a soft hiss of static before the Mech Warrior spoke again. "I do not like this, Sho-sa Tetsuhara."

  "Surely you do not fear a trap from these rebels?"

  "Hardly that, Sho-sa. The best of these ronin are certainly not here on Alshain. We have nothing to fear from these troops.

  "I am uncomfortable attacking fellow Kuritans. It seems wrong to be fighting warriors who seek only to return Rasalhague to its rightful place within the Combine."

  "You should have brought this up at the command session if it bothers you so much. That was the time for questions." Annoyed at the man's untimely reservations, Fuhito snapped, "You're in the field now, facing troops the Kanrei has declared ronin and the enemy. Obey your orders or face the Assembly of the Grand Inquisitor."

  Fuhito heard the man's indrawn breath over the commlink. "I do not question the Kanrei," Randall blurted. "No need for the Inquisitor, Sho-sa."

  The Kintaro lurched into a run, moving in on the scattering ronin.

  53

  Tai-shu's Field HQ, Stalholm, Predlitz

  Free Rasalhague Republic

  24 May 3034

  Ninyu Kerai, lying in the ventilation shaft, watched the man he had come to kill. Marcus Kurita was relaxed, his uniform jacket open at the collar. Regrettably, the man's sons, junior partners in the Taishu's adventure, were not present. If they persisted in the rebellious scheme, they would also become targets on another day.

  Marcus had dismissed his officers half an hour ago, but continued to study deployment maps on his datascreen. There were symbols that Ninyu did not understand, including one that seemed to be a Kurita dragon with a cadency mark, around the Lucerne system. Ninyu was certain that it did not mark the location of Theodore or any of his children. Whatever it was, there were no military units there, and so no danger to Operation Guillotine. The plan to cut off the ronin from their bases in Combine territory was not threatened. From the unit dispositions displayed on the screen, the Tai-shu had not yet learned of the attacks on those bases; ComStar was cooperating. As Ninyu eased open the grill and slipped to the floor, Marcus continued to peruse the data, unaware of his visitor.

  "Your security is quite good, Tai-shu. I was unable to enter the compound without tripping an alarm."

  Marcus wheeled, reaching for the holstered pistol and belt that he had draped across one of the room's chairs at the end of the staff meeting. He froze when he saw the black-clad man already holding a gun on him. His blue Kurita eyes narrowed, calculating his chances. Obviously deciding that he could not reach his weapon, Marcus visibly relaxed his muscles, but Ninyu could see the inner tension. This man was not surrendering.

  "Obviously not good enough to prevent you from disturbing me."

  "Obviously."

  "If you have tripped an alarm, as you say, they will be here for you shortly. You will not escape alive," Marcus assured him.

  "You asked to be undisturbed. Your men will honor that wish until they have more conclusive proof of an intruder than a single sensor trace. Your, shall we say, impatience with subordinates who bother you with trivia is well known. As to my escape, we will see. Or rather I will see. You, Tai-shu, will be dead by then."

  "Perhaps there is a solution that will leave us both alive."

  "Unlikely." The man's audacity was impressive. Perhaps he was fooled by the Lyran Intelligence Corps Commando uniform. If so, that would not last long.

  "I have some messages for you," Ninyu went on. "Your blundering ally in the invasion of Rasalhague, Tai-shu Cherenkoff, has gone to his ancestors. His Atlas was beheaded in the first assault on the defense forces of Orestes.

  "His second in command, Tai-sho Kingsley, took over and ordered a retreat. It seems he does not have the same faith in your ultimate success that you do. Kingsley has asked forgiveness from the Kanrei for the rash actions of the Dieron military, citing his withdrawal as evidence that he supports the Kanrei. I expect that Theodore will be gracious and grant them clemency.

  "That's bad news for you, though. You can't expect a thrust from Dieron to support your own actions here."

  At the casual mention of the Kanrei and his plans, Marcus's eyes took on a new light. Ninyu caught the scent of fear. The man suddenly realized he was not dealing with a money-grubbing Steiner thug.

  "The Kanrei wishes he could be as gracious with you, but he cannot. You've become too great an embarrassment." Ninyu elevated his weapon slightly. "This is a Mauser and Gray rapid-fire flechette pistol, standard-issue to covert agents of the Lyran Intelligence Corps. It strips its ammunition from a block of ballistic plastic at a marvelous rate, producing a stream of high-velocity projectiles that obliterate any flesh they meet. A very nasty weapon, but virtually silent in its operation.

  "After you are dead, I will give you back your pistol. Blood will be scattered about the area where I drop this weapon. You will have wounded your assailant, causing him to drop his weapon—a warrior's death for a member of the Kurita clan. This is the Kanrei's wish.

  "Your wounded assassin will panic and flee, but will escape your vigilant security. Another success for the Lyrans as they meddle in the sovereignty of another state. A most deplorable action, don't you think, Marcus?"

  The irony was lost on the Tai-shu. Sweating profusely, he stumbled back into the table. His mouth worked, but no sound came out.

  Pitiful, Ninyu thought. "This is your last service to the Dragon."

  Eighteen pounds of pressure on the trigger released the swarm of plastic needles to rip across the torso of Marcus Kurita, spattering blood onto the datascreen and drowning his plans of conquest.

  Then Ninyu did just as he had promised. He was a kilometer away before the alarm roused the camp.

  54

  Dragon Roost, Tatsuyama Mountain, Dieron

  Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

  19 July 3034

  "Have I not served the Dragon well?"

  Dexter Kingsley's face was full of expectation. Theodore realized that the man had come to Dragon Roost anticipating reward for his perfidious action on Orestes. The thought roiled Theodore's stomach.

  "You served yourself first, Tai-sho. That is a totally unacceptable ordering of priorities."

  "But I acted in your interests, Kanrei," Kingsley protested. "I've held Dieron in your name."

  Theodore drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. "If what you've done was carried out in my name, you have mortally insulted me."

  Kingsley looked shocked.

  "A ruler whose workers are oppressed cannot bring forth the full fruits of his land," Theodore continued. "You have crippled the economies of several of this district's worlds, plundering their wealth without a thought for the future. You have not done this for me or for the Dragon. You acted only for yourself. And so you have betrayed the Combine."

  Michi Noketsuna stepped forward, intruding into the space separating Theodore and Kingsley from the crowd of officers in the great hall. "Seppuku is the only honorable solution," he said.

  Kingsley blanched. His eyes flicked to Michi, then back to Theodore. Neither man offered the Tai-sho any sympathy. Kingsley started to speak, but apparently thought better of it. He drew himself up to his full height and saluted, striking his chest with his clenched right fist in the Kurita fashion. He executed a swift bow and turned on his heels, leaving the chamber through the open doors. He looked neither left nor right, ignoring the calls of his fellow officers.

  Theodore put his hand on Michi's shoulder and led his friend from the chamber. They passed through a small side door into a private room. Amid the dusty shelves of bound books, Theodore relaxed his posture, relieved to be out of public view.

  "Michi-kun, do you think he will go through with it?”

  “He is afraid," Michi observed. "But, yes, I believe he will."

  "That's not good. I had
hoped he'd bolt, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that he was in the wrong. It's an open secret that he engineered the explosion that killed Cherenkoff, and everyone knows that the Warlord and I were at odds. By using my name as he ruled in Cherenkoff's place, he has implicated me in the murder he performed.

  "If Kingsley lets it be known that I demanded his seppuku, I lose. Some will believe that I ordered the killing of Cherenkoff and am now disposing of my tool. Others will see me as a two-faced ogre who preaches initiative, then punishes it. Either way, resentment will build. If only there were time to gather the evidence to have him tried. A formal execution would be the best solution." Theodore slapped his thigh to express his frustration. "Kingsley's self-interest cannot go unpunished."

  Violence is not the way of the Coordinator, Takashi's voice echoed in his mind. Our destiny demands that we act through others.

  Theodore had heard those words long ago when only a child. They had seemed odd then. They had seemed odder still when Theodore began to understand the tenets of bushido and the responsibility that was the warrior's lot. He had grown up believing his father's views to be flawed. Now, though he was not Coordinator, he was more than a simple warrior, and the words no longer seemed so strange. Now he acted through intermediaries, and let others do the dirty work. When, he wondered, did I change?

  Michi must have taken Theodore's sudden drift into thought as a suggestion that a response was expected. "I understand," he said. Michi bowed, his boot heels clicking sharply as he snapped them together. "An accident, then."

  As he turned to leave, Theodore reached out to catch the cloth of Michi's white dress tunic, halting him. "Wait. I don't want you associated in any way with Kingsley's death."

  Michi stared Theodore full in the face. "I may not be your pet ISF ninja, but I have had sufficient practice, Theodore. There will be nothing to link matters to you."

  "I didn't mean to disparage your skill, my friend. Besides, that's not what I mean. I'm thinking that you will have enough trouble in the near future. You don't need rumors that you killed your way to rulership of the district the way Kingsley did. You don't need it and the Combine doesn't need it."

  Michi drew away from Theodore, forcing him to relinquish his grip. "What are you talking about?"

  Theodore paused, taken aback by the suspicion in his friend's voice. This isn't the way I wanted to do it.

  He fished a small box from his pocket. He snapped the black lacquer case open as he extended it. Nestled against the white silk were a set of apple-green insignia: two stylized katakana numerals and a pair of segmented bars, their second division highlighted in gold. "I'm appointing you Tai-shu of Dieron."

  "I am not a good choice," Michi insisted. "There will be dissent."

  "But nothing you can't handle. I need you here."

  Michi walked to the window that overlooked the mountain chain that harbored Tatsuyama City. Without turning to face Theodore, he spoke. "By the friendship between us, and the trials we shared while searching for soldiers among the yakuza, do not ask this of me."

  "I must." Theodore was confused. Why did Michi treat this as such an imposition? He was offering the man a post of great power and honor. "This District is the cornerstone of the defense of the Combine. I can trust no one else to handle it the way I want it handled."

  "There are others who would be less ... politically unsound."

  "To certain persons, anyone who associates with me is politically unsound. You have the skills and the necessary force of will. I need you in the post. The Combine needs you."

  Michi sighed. "When we first met, you told me of the threat the Combine faced. I believed that you understood and could halt that threat. I agreed to put aside my personal quest and serve until the Combine was safe again. I will accept the post."

  Michi turned and took the insignia from Theodore. No words were said as he replaced the insignia on his collar. Theodore was disturbed by the hostility coming from Michi. He had thought his friend would be pleased by this proof of trust and good will.

  A sharp rapping on the door disturbed their privacy. Without waiting for a response, a Sho-sa entered the room. Bowing, she announced the arrival of the ComStar Precentor's party. Theodore dismissed her with a petulant wave, but before she retreated, he had second thoughts about keeping the Precentor waiting. He commanded the Sho-sa to escort the ComStar officials into the small office.

  "I will leave now, Kanrei."

  "No. I want you here for this," Theodore said. The new Tai-shu stopped in mid-stride. Michi's blind side was facing Theodore and his white-irised eye glinted hard and cold. "It is part of your new job."

  "As you command, Kanrei."

  55

  Dragon Roost, Tatsuyama Mountain, Dieron

  Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

  21 July 3034

  Primus Myndo Waterly swept into the room, her golden robe of office glittering in the chill late-morning sunlight slanting through the window. In her wake strode the long-legged Sharilar Mori, who wore the scarlet robe and gold trimmings of her position as Precentor Dieron and member of the First Circuit. As soon as the Primus and Precentor had entered, the Kurita sho-sa who had led them to the room stepped across the doorway, blocking the way of any further ComStar personnel. She bowed and closed the door, cutting off the protests of the rest of the ComStar delegation.

  Theodore smiled at his guests. "Greetings, Primus. Precentor. I trust your flight up the mountain was comfortable."

  "As much as could be expected, given the winds on the mountain," Myndo remarked. Her eyes held a question concerning the brooding presence of Michi Noketsuna, his plain gray buso-senshi's jump suit at odds with the rank insignia shining at his collar.

  "This is Tai-shu Noketsuna of Dieron. He will be part of our discussions, for I wish him to serve as my liaison with ComStar."

  Myndo's eyes widened briefly in surprise, then narrowed in sudden calculation. "The Roost seemed little changed from the days when I visited Warlord Cherenkoff here."

  Theodore chose to ignore her deliberate choice of the past tense in her comment. "As you know, we Kuritans are great traditionalists."

  He pointed out chairs for the ComStar visitors. When they were seated, he selected one for himself, its back to the window. Michi took up a position behind the chair, to his right, as he had in their days of searching through the Kurita underworld. Their faces were shadowed in the glare from the white-topped mountains outside the vitryl panel. "It's too cold a day for a clandestine meeting in a park," Theodore said, indicating the view with an upraised finger. "I'm glad you feel we can meet openly now."

  "Why should we not? You rule the Combine."

  "Not so," Theodore contradicted. "I'm merely a servant of the Coordinator, his Deputy for Military Affairs."

  Myndo smirked, mocking his protests, but she said nothing.

  "I understand that you have some complaints about our agreement."

  Myndo inclined her head slightly, acknowledging Theodore's directness. "You have withheld worlds from the Free Rasalhague Republic."

  "True. It was necessary in order to placate some of the more radical elements of the council."

  "Radical elements! It would seem that you were unsuccessful. Combine military units invaded the Republic, threatening all we have worked for. That is hardly restraint."

  "The invasion was a regrettable deed performed by renegades. The Draconis Combine had no part in it. In response, we aided the Republic by destroying the rebel bases."

  The cold anger that had risen in Myndo's dark eyes overflowed into her voice. "You have not lived up to your end of our bargain."

  "And you have?" Theodore countered calmly. "What about the crippled BattleMechs, AeroSpace Fighters, and tanks you send? My understanding was that the Combine would receive Star League-vintage equipment. You were quite explicit about that. I didn't expect refitted shells."

  Myndo was unmoved. "You have received as you deserve."

  "As have you," The
odore retorted. "The support of the Combine for the Free Rasalhague Republic has had much of the effect you wish. The Isle of Skye is a cauldron of unrest."

  "Not through any act of yours." Myndo held up a solidograph map. Even across the room, Theodore recognized the star systems highlighted on it. "You must free these worlds from your Alshain District. They are to be given to Rasalhague."

  Theodore admired her audacity in commanding someone she believed to be the ruler of hundreds of star systems, but he would certainly not bow before it. "That's impossible," he said flatly.

  The Primus tightened her lips into a hard white line. "Perhaps you will find that other things are impossible as well." She gave Theodore a moment to react. When he did not, she added, "Communications, perhaps. Or our troops may not arrive to man the equipment that you disparage."

  "Is that a threat, Precentor?" Theodore inquired mildly.

  "ComStar makes no threats." The fury in her voice belied her words.

  No threats? Theodore echoed silently. I'm not deaf, Primus. But your threat doesn't matter because we have a way around your communications monopoly, thanks to Kowalski's success with the black boxes and the library core. Not as swift, but it will work.

  I have the soldiers I need, and more reliable than the troops you offer. They may be from the dregs of our society, but at least they are ours. They truly believe in the destiny of the Dragon, and that belief makes them strong, stronger than your hirelings.

  The Skye revolt will disrupt Hanse Davion's timetable. Even if he succeeds in suppressing the rebellion quickly, he won't attack. He will see that we are too vigilant. Sentiment in Skye will still be running too high for him to position his troops there for an assault on us. Even Steiner troops will be uncomfortable there for some months, perhaps years. With this gift of time, I will not need your troops.