He started to say more—how glory, acclaim and historical immortality would be the outcome of the Falcon’s Flight, not infamy at all. And how all should accrue to the ristar Malvina Hazen, the Falcon’s remaining Eye, whose very survival would be deemed miraculous in Clan Jade Falcon’s Remembrance....
But when she looked at him with pale fire in her eyes, the words died in his throat. He held himself lucky indeed they were all that died then.
“Do you not see how little that means to me?” she demanded. “I would see them destroyed.”
“Whom?” Bec Malthus asked.
“Skye. You. Us . Clan Jade Falcon. I would see us exterminated and our genetic material poured into the foulest cesspool in existence. I would see the Clans destroyed. I would see the crawling maggots of the Inner Sphere destroyed. I would destroy them all. All!”
She ran her hands up over her face, her fingers back through her hair. “And most of all I would destroy myself”
He stared in horror. “It is the sickness speaking, Galaxy Commander. You cannot mean—”
“I do! I mean it all and more! I would cleanse the universe of the blight of humanity with purifying fire—the fire of suns, if I could. There is only one in all the universe I would have spared. And he died. Trying to save me!
“Is that not a delicious irony?”
She put her face in her hands and wept as if to turn herself inside out.
He stood by, bearded broad face immobile. A normal Clansman would have been shocked, disdainful at such a display of weakness by a heroine so acclaimed.
Bec Malthus sought to hide, not contempt, but exultation. He did not misread her passion for weakness, as his fool Clansfolk would. In this small woman he sawpower —power beyond imagining, could he but channel it.
And he was just the man to do it.
When Malvina’s rage and grief subsided enough to let her hear, he said, “You shall have what you desire,” very softly.
She lowered her hands slowly and looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
“All,” he said. “I perceive in you the certainty of infinite clarity. In the purity of your hate, I find redemption. The worlds of Man lie at your feet. You shall trample them.”
She rose, her face too proud to show the pain her body betrayed by its stiffness and slowness. “Have you heard nothing of what I said? I reject Clan customs and titles. I reject all!”
“But you hold within you the key to infinite power, Malvina Hazen. Its light burns within you with a terrible beauty. It has transformed me.
“You have already bound your Gyrfalcons to your will—bound the whole Expeditionary Force, when you spoke heresy against even the Founder and none called for your downfall. You hold the ability in your hand to devastate, and destroy, and master all. Your anger and your hate give you that power. And
when you have conquered you may do as you will.”
“And you will serve me, to gain what I desire?”
“With all my heart. You are, I now see, the destiny of Jade Falcon—of all humanity. Humankind shall be united, once and forever, beneath the banner of theChingis Khan : Emperor of All.”
“I shall master them,” she said in a voice that rang from the bulkheads, “but only to destroy them.”
He folded hands over his breast and bowed his head. “It shall be as you command,” he said.
Inside, his heart sang triumph.
About the Author
First, last, and always, Victor Milan thanks his friends and fans who have loyally supported him for so long.
As a child, Victor fixated on the idea that it was possible to write thrilling action-adventure stories that people didn’t have to turn off their brains to enjoy. He’s spent the last three decades doing his best to prove it by writing novels and stories to excite—not insult—intelligent readers.
Born inTulsa,Oklahoma , Victor spent most of his first couple of years of life inPuerto Rico . As a child he moved toSanta Fe,New Mexico . Shortly thereafter his family relocated toAlbuquerque , where he’s lived, with a few interruptions, happily since.
In 2004, Victor will celebrate thirty years as a professional writer. Other gigs along the road have included cowboy, semipro actor, artist, bouncer, computer techie, andAlbuquerque ’s most popular all-night progressive rock deejay. He’s also trained as a machinist.
Mostly he writes: more than eighty novels published so far, from pseudonymous adventure series, such asThe Guardians , and installments in the currentDeathlands andOutlanders series (most recentlySun Lord [May 2004]) to the award-winning SF novel The Cybernetic Samurai and its sequel, The Cybernetic Shogun. Victor has also written historical novels, westerns,Star Trek and D&D novels, the cult-favorite Black Dragon trilogy of BattleTech novels, and the technothrillerRed Sands . He’s a charter member of the Wild Cards mafia.
Victor Milan has a public side as well. For more than twenty years, he has served as master of ceremonies forSt. Louis science-fiction convention Archon’s Masquerade, proud to play a part in making it the world-class show it is. His inventive interpretive readings of his tales have begun attracting audiences, as has his “You Can Be a Writer” lecture tour.
When he’s not entertaining his growing and much-appreciated cadre of fans, Victor enjoys playing taijiquan , birding, ferrets, guns, and riding his recumbent tadpole tricycle throughAlbuquerque ’s scenicNorthValley .And, of course, his lifelong passion,reading .
“TheGreat Broadway Corpse Drive ,” the first story of Victor Milan’s darkly humorous contemporary-fantasy cycleGhost Hunters, can be read in splendidly illustrated form on his Web site,
www.victormilan.com. Currently he’s hard at play writing his high fantasy novelThe Dinosaur Lords. He’s a nice guy. Let him entertain you.
Thanks for reading.
Victor Milan
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Flight of the Falcon (battletech - mechwarrior - dark age 10) Page 30
