Between Flood and Flame (A Cat Among Dragons Book 6)
Page 19
Lord Ro-diit winced slightly, remembering his long-ago military service. “Do you have an ETA, Lord Defender?”
“Based on current reports, the Keldaks will attack tomorrow, late afternoon Palace time.”
“Lord Defender, will you be taking the field?” Lord Bao asked, thinking of his son in the Defenders.
She shook her head. “No, Lord Bao. Because of needing to coordinate with Lord Ganday’s forces, I will remain here. However, to be blunt, if fewmets hit the impeller, I am prepared to take personal command on the ground. Any further questions?” She looked at each of the Great Lords and the King Emperor in turn, but there were none. Lord Kirlin was already in armor, preparing to go south with his reserve division. “Then the meeting is adjourned.”
Later that evening, the King-Emperor went in search of his advisor. He looked in a few places and eventually found “him” in “his” temporary quarters. The lights were off and the double doors leading into the private Imperial gardens stood open wide. He poked his head out and saw a dark shadow in the night. Lo-dan came up beside Reh-dakh and tipped his head to look into the noble’s scarred, blind face. He wondered what the Lord Defender was seeing and thinking. Was he remembering past battles? Planning for the next days’ events? Dreaming of the honors and glory that would be his when the Imperial and Defenders succeeded?
Instead, a calm voice said, “Despite what you may read in the sagas and tales, Imperial Majesty, there is nothing glorious in war. It is ugly, vicious, brutal, and a tragedy in many senses of the word. It is nothing to be looked forward to, and everything to fear and avoid if at all possible. And it is sometimes, as now, necessary.” He didn’t look at the King-Emperor, and might have been speaking to himself except for the address.
Lo-dan looked into the dark garden, then back at his Lord Defender. “If it is so bad, Lord Defender, why do you do it?” That was not at all what the Azdhagi histories said about war, and Lord Reh-dakh’s words puzzled the reptile.
Rada turned so she could see him and knelt so that she would be at his eye-level. “In my centuries, I’ve come to understand that there are worse things than fighting back. Far worse. And that someone has to protect those who cannot defend themselves. If I can do it and spare someone else that task, than I must. I felt differently when I was younger.” She smiled a little ruefully, feeling the ache in her bad leg. “Then it was money, glory, comradeship, and loot that drove me.” And pissing off the Traders, but you don’t need to know that. “I still relish the comradeship, but the rest?” She shook her head and swirled her left hand and tail in a strong negation. “I am a professional soldier, Imperial Majesty. My job is to defend, however that may be. In this case, it is with your troops and arms. In happier times, it is with words or information. If you wish, come into the Defense Coordination Center tomorrow and listen and watch. Then come to the medical center afterwards.”
Reh-dakh shifted ‘his’ weight, and Lo-dan realized that the mammal’s joints were hurting him. “Please rise, Lord Defender.” Reh-dakh did, resuming his earlier stance but facing his liege. Lo-dan glanced into the garden, then turned back to his servant, not certain how to ask his question. “Lord Reh-dakh, Commander Ni Drako, it is said that you can put pictures into peoples’ minds. Is that true?”
“Yes, your Majesty, I can, but it is difficult for me to give them to Azdhagi,” ‘he’ affirmed cautiously.
Lo-dan gathered his nerve. “Lord Defender, show me battle. I need to see one before I take the throne, and I know you and the other regents won’t allow me on the lines.”
The mammal looked surprised and hesitated for a moment. “Very well, Imperial Majesty. But I’m afraid I’ll need to sit down to do it safely.”
“Come with me, then,” he ordered, leading the way into the dark garden. They stopped at a pair of carved wooden benches, his guards staying discretely out of the way. “Sit there, Lord Reh-dakh,” he gestured and took the other bench.
The Lord Defender gathered himself and reached towards him. “Imperial Majesty, I’d like to be in physical contact. It will make it easier for both of us, if you will permit the familiarity.”
“Do it.” He closed his eyes and felt a cool touch on the back of his forefoot.
Then the pictures began. <
He had no idea how long it took, but Reh-dakh broke off the contact, saying, “I won’t force you to see what had happened to the civilians, Imperial Majesty. But the few survivors begged us for the mercy shot, not for medical treatment,” the Lord Defender explained, sitting back on the bench, face grim and sad.
The prince swallowed a few times, then shook himself and stood. Reh-dakh started to rise as well. “Stay seated,” Lo-dan ordered, pacing back and forth. Finally he stopped and came up to her, staring into the mammal’s face. “What were you thinking earlier, Lord Reh-dakh?”
Rada bowed her head before meeting his gaze again. “I was praying for forgiveness for what I’m going to do tomorrow, Imperial Majesty, and begging for strength and wisdom. And asking for protection for your troops and people.”
The prince stared into her eye, then did something strange. After looking around to make certain that no one was watching, Lo-dan drew very close to her, touched her shoulder and whispered, “Reh-dakh Ni Drako, thank you. For everything you’ve done, and will do.” Before the astonished woman could respond, he withdrew and ordered, “Return with me to the Imperial chambers, Lord Defender. And I will join you in the D.C.C. on the morrow.”
He started walking back inside and she took her traditional place two paces behind his shoulder. “As you command, Imperial Majesty.”
The next morning, Rada took her position in the Defense Coordination Center in the heart of the Palace. Computers, electronic and holographic displays, and communications equipment filled the room, staffed by quiet but intense Azdhag soldiers. Defender Trong had gone south with the first troops and Lord Ganday held his forces just beyond the orbit of Drakon IV’s innermost moon, waiting to seal the trap once it sprang. The “King-Emperor” waited in his quarters, while Prince-Imperial Lo-dan stood at the Lord Defender’s side, watching and listening. She and the others ignored his presence, concentrating on the battle taking shape just outside the planet’s atmosphere.
Earlier that morning the Lord Defender had reminded Lo-dan that if for any reason the Keldaks diverted towards the capital, he was going to be taken to a place of safety. He didn’t like it but she had been implacable. “We” and she gestured towards herself and the Palace Guard, “are replaceable, Imperial Majesty. You are not.” Now Lo-dan stood studying the battle arrays and tried to keep as calm as possible. The Lord Commander seemed content to wait, watching the situation develop and change as reports and observations came in.
As the two war-lords had hoped, the Keldaks seemed confident enough to take the offered bait. “Wait for it, wait for it,” Rada murmured under her breath, watching the plots of the enemy ships descending, and camera images of the stocky marsupials disembarking from their landing craft. The plan was for the Defenders to fall back until the Keldaks committed everything, then all hell would break loose. Rada stood, arms crossed, tail swinging, listening and hoping.
One of the communication techs turned around, “Lord Defender, the last Keldak ship has entered the atmosphere.”
Reh-dakh got a thoughtful look on her face. “Five hours early. Interesting.” She picked up a specially modified headset and settled it onto her furry ears, then took her seat on
a small platform. “And now they die,” she said quietly.
“Ground Two,” that would be Defender Trong, “Ground One, whenever you are ready. The field is yours,” she said.
“The field is mine,” repeated the voice from thousands of kliqs away. After a slight pause, the status screens and projectors showed the defenders turning and attacking the Keldaks. The ‘unprotected’ military assets were actually very well defended indeed, as the attacking mammals found to their sorrow. Lo-dan followed enough of the communications and strategic displays over the next few hours to realize that the Azdhagi and Keldaks were fairly well matched in strength at an individual and ship-to-ship level. However, the Azdhagi held the advantages of known terrain, prepared battlefield, and discipline. The Keldaks struggled to regroup and found themselves against the wall of Ganday’s fighters when they tried a battlefield extraction.
“Now it gets dangerous,” the Lord Defender commented quietly. “They are cornered.” Then she leaned forward, staring intently at something. “Comm Two, show me the images from the defense visual satellites in lunar orbits.”
“Wilco, Ground One,” the tech said, talons tapping on his control panel.
Three of the five images appeared. “Space One, Ground One. What do you have on Silto,” the moon currently opposite the Palace.
“Ground One, Space One has nothing on Silto, over,” Ganady’s rough voice replied over the frequency.
Rada hissed something crude in Trader, then turned to one of the runners standing by. “Tell Bakto to standby for my departure.” She snapped more commands and the images on the main plotter changed, shifting from their earlier focus on the southern battlefield to the entire planet and its moons. As they watched, a new set of markers appeared on the screens, coming in from behind Silto. Rada snarled. Gandy, where are your interceptors?
Lo-dan sensed the tension rising as they waited for an identification on the new arrivals. The Defender on watch reported, “Ground One, initial scans show the intruders to be Tiigab surface attack vessels. Two squadrons, possibly three.”
Reh-dakh swung her microphone away from her mouth and ran a hand over her face. “All right your Highness, what’s the problem here?” he asked Lo-dan.
He tried to remember everything that he’d learned. “Lord Ganday’s ships can’t enter the atmosphere because of their design. Our main ground and air attack forces are south, supporting Defender Trong. So, the Tiigab are going to try to relieve the Keldaks, or maybe attack a secondary target?”
“Exactly. And if they got through, we don’t know what else will get through Ganday’s cordon and head this way. So you are leaving. Now!” Lo-dan hesitated, then trotted out with an escort of Palace Guards. She watched them go, and made her decisions. “Ground Two, situation report.”
“Situation is stable, Ground One. Enemy is surrendering and no further support from outside is anticipated,” he reported, and she visualized the muscular grey Azdhag in his field headquarters.
“Very good. Be advised palace situation is yellow,” she replied.
“Understood.”
“Ground One clear,” she released the frequency. On the screen, the Tiigab ships seemed to be heading for one of the larger population areas, but not the palace-capital. Yet. Only two of the Defenders’ reserve squadrons could reach the attackers fast enough to prevent major civilian casualties. That left the palace-capital more or less undefended for a brief period of time, not counting the complex’s ground-air batteries. Rada considered the situation, watching the plots and absently claw combing the fur on the end of her tail.
“Sky Four, Ground One,” she called the commander of the reserve squadrons.
“Ground One, go ahead,” the radio crackled slightly.
“Sky Four, launch and engage.”
The dispatch tech added, “Targets on a two eight zero degree bearing, data uploading now.” The tech passed the sign that the information had been sent, and she nodded.
“Wilko, Sky Four.”
“Ground One clear.” Two new sets of markers appeared on the screens as the Azdhagi atmospheric fighters swirled up to engage the Tiigab attackers. Like the Azdhagi, Tiigab were reptilian, Rada remembered, and had a long-standing hatred of the Azdhagi. Someone offer to help you even the score? The situation on the southern continent had resolved in the Defenders’ favor, and seemed to be shifting into a clean up. Lord Ganday reported catching more ships trying to come in from near Silto’s orbit, and his forces seemed to be holding them. The Tiigab and Azdhagi atmospheric fighters engaged. Now all she could do was watch and wait as things unfolded.
The fighter squadrons’ battle turned into a chaotic dogfight, and Rada wished she could be in the middle of it, if only to let off some steam. Instead she remained calm and tranquil, observing and serving as a model of self-control. That is, until four ships broke out of the furball and took up a heading for the palace. She snarled and took off her headset.
“Major Bakii, you are in charge. Route comm to the Night’s Claw,” she ordered, heading for the door.
“Wilko, Ground One,” he said.
Rada cursed herself as she ran for her personal fighter. This was not what she should have to do. She also should not be putting herself in harm’s way like this, but Trong and Ganday could handle things from this point if something happened to her. She strapped in, ran the abbreviated checklist, and lifted off in five minutes, clawing for altitude and warming up her guns.
The afternoon sun stood high enough that no one would have sun advantage, and her helmet-projected display showed that the odds remained “only” four to one. However, that one had no compunction about evening things up with a little help from the ground. Come to papa she thought, dragging her ship in a climbing spiral until she was just above the reach of the Palace’s anti-aircraft batteries.
One of the Tiigab fell for the trick, and the ground weapons finished him off. The others broke and climbed, and Rada picked a pair to engage. Night’s Claw seemed more maneuverable but the Tiigab had better armor and weapons. And she had no wingman yet to watch her back. Now it gets fun. She bared her teeth, maneuvering the Claw into shooting position and arming a Jadepine missile. Target acquired, target lock and she fired, still dividing her attention between the ships in front of her and anything on her six o’clock.
The Tiigab burst into flame as the missile exploded in his unarmored exhaust ports. “Scratch two, two to SHIT!” Rada slammed the stick to the side, wrenching the fighter into an ugly rolling turn as shots streaked past her canopy and the sound of a missile lock whined in her helmet. Greying from the Gs, the mammal forced the nimble fighter up onto its tail, then swung around in a modified hammerhead turn, aiming straight down onto the third Tiigab in a suicidal dive, missile closing the distance behind her. At the last minute she wrenched and willed the ‘Claw off its collision course, leaving the Tiigab to find the missile behind her.
The fourth attacker aimed for the Palace, ignoring the Lord Defender. Suicide run? Looks like it. He had come within the outer range of the defense batteries, but low, and Reh-dakh tried a deflection shot from above, with little success. However, there was another trick up her sleeve, one she’d discussed on a few occasions with Palace Control. She slowed and descended, coming in low and fast over the forest north of the palace. At the last minute she rotated the engines’ thrust, stopping hard in mid-air like the ancient Terran Harrier on which her ship was based. From behind the curtain wall of the Palace she popped up and fired her second Jadepine. The suicide pilot died as he had intended, but two kliqs from the Palace, rather than in it.
Rada looked at her chronometer. The entire fight had lasted only eight minutes, from initial contact to final explosion. She climbed higher and higher, looking at the tactical data scrolling across Night’s Claw’s displays. The reserve squadrons seemed to have things in hand, and Rada set up a landing pattern, after allowing herself a victory roll. I am so rusty it’s scary she decided, making a note to get out and train with the squa
drons more often. Missile up the tailpipe and I’d be hearing about it for the rest of eternity! Ugh. She landed as close to the Palace as was legal and hurried back to the D.C.C.
Aside from the little Tiigab surprise, for which Lord Ganday apologized profusely and offered his resignation, (which the King-Emperor declined to accept. “Consider it a learning experience, Minister of War,” he’d advised) the rest of the battle went as the Azdhagi had hoped, to Rada’s vast surprise. The Azdhagi beat the Keldaks badly enough, both in system and in DeShan’s System, that the Keldaks turned their attention elsewhere. After another sixt, Rada returned to her preferred quarters and resumed her junior status on the Regency Council.
As per the Lord Defender’s offer, the Prince Imperial visited the injured in the medical facilities, both at the palace and elsewhere on Drakon IV, and met with the families of the dead. He also made a trip out to DeShan’s system with Minister of War Ganday. Reh-dakh used the opportunity to check up on Singing Pines and Burnt Mountain. It was hunting season and she took the liberty of a solo hunt, imagining Lord Blee on the end of her spear as she impaled a roklat. Its hide made wonderful boots and gloves, which she needed. The Wanderer also needed the release of a long hard hunt and got that too. By the time the Lo-dan returned to Drakon IV, Rada was a much happier person.
Lo-dan managed to corner his Lord Defender a sixt before the coronation. “Lord Defender, it is my wish that you join my Lady-queen mother and me for the evening meal,” his invitation announced.
Rada stifled a sigh and then a yelp as the Mistress of Robes jabbed her with a pin. “Remind me why I need a new robe for the coronation, Lady Hshii?” she said, after replying to his Majesty’s request.
The jade green female Azdhag growled at one of her assistants, then cocked her head and regarded the Lord Defender carefully, reaching over to twitch a bit of fabric straight. “Because, despite two hundred year-turns of work, you still refuse to wear anything suitable for your position! Now stop wiggling,” Lady Hshii ordered. Rada complied: no one, not even the Great Lords, disobeyed Hshii lest they face a ‘wardrobe malfunction,’ embarrassingly short hem, or some other form of sartorial revenge.