THE VENGALIL ESTATE
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
18 APRIL 3150
0400 HOURS
Jasper sat in the cockpit of the Locust. It was smaller than every other ’Mech he’d piloted. It felt like he’d had to put the light ’Mech on rather that get into it. The smaller machine was harder to pilot and took more skill. Still, it was a ’Mech, and a joy to pilot.
That was something Jasper still appreciated after almost losing everything. He chuckled grimly at the thought. He had lost everything—his home, his sister, his Sponsors, his mentor… and yet, the act of piloting a ’Mech—even just on patrol—was still worth everything to him.
He shook his head, checking himself. He had not lost his sister. She simply was not here right now. Unreachable and may never be reachable again, but she was alive.
He suspected there was a lesson in there somewhere, one he would think about later. As it was now, he was on patrol with Giselle in the Commando while Ruby remained awake to monitor them and everyone else on the radios.
Despite it being the middle of the night, it seemed like half the estate was up and moving. Not that sleeping after the attack was going to be easy for most of the surviving cadets. Casualties had been light. A couple injured from grenades and combat. Only one death. Philip Mercer, the infantry cadet who’d rung the alarm.
Based on all accounts and the dead enemy, the enemy’s grenade attack had been designed to keep those in the manor house busy while the rest stole the ’Mechs from the ’Mech bay. They hadn’t counted on the cadets guarding the ’Mechs or the fierceness of their attention to duty. Then again, more than half of the enemy had seemed as sick as those in the infirmary.
No enemy survived to be questioned. Either they had escaped when the tide turned, or they had fought until they were killed. There was no in-between.
This last bit disturbed Jasper as much as having come face-to-face with an enemy to discover the man had been almost as young, and just as scared, as he was. Now that he could see the enemy—a young, sweaty, tear-stained man—he had a hard time thinking of them as faceless invaders.
He didn’t know how Nadine could do it. Or any of the infantry. From high up in a ’Mech, even a ’Mech as small as a Locust, the enemy were just featureless uniforms, an obstacle to overcome. They didn’t have faces. They weren’t people. They were “the enemy,” and that was it.
Jasper paused his thoughts as he rounded the corner of the manor house and saw the burn pit in the back. It was where the dead were dealt with—enemy and friend alike. No one knew if the pathogen the Draconis Combine had released in the atmosphere could be contracted from the dead. It didn’t seem to be, but they couldn’t take the chance right now. Every medical person knew decomposing bodies could be a hazard, and had to be dealt with before they could do more damage.
Giselle radioed in. “Commando at the west wall. All is clear.”
“Acknowledged. Locust at the east wall. All is clear,” he responded, knowing Ruby kept track of the patrols; their location and radio calls every fifteen minutes. She was also keeping track of the foot patrols and their radio call-ins. Jasper didn’t know who her counterpart was on the infantry side. Probably Nicole for the moment.
While all of the fires in the manor house had been put out, smoke still hung in the air. With the Kuritans’ failure to capture any of the ’Mechs, he didn’t think the enemy had ’Mechs out there. But, if they did, they knew to stay away. At least for the time being. They’d kicked over an angry wasp nest, and it would be some time—if ever—before the cadets would be that vulnerable or unaware again.
He still scanned across all his sensors, looking for any sign or trace of an enemy ’Mech. When none appeared, Jasper began his next circuit and considered the shortwave radio. There’d been little in the way of radio traffic lately. No word from New Exeter, the capital city. Ditto from the spaceport. A contact named Garnet had reported in earlier from Leigeden about Emporian military moving from the outskirts of Leigeden to the House Blanc estate. She said she’d keep in touch. Copper, a.k.a. Mark from the Three Lions Pub, had reported that most of the complex was still standing, but had no power or water. He’d asked if he and his could come to the Vengalil estate. After a quick confab with Delany, Serine, and Dr. Manning, the answer was “Yes, and bring all of the supplies you have.” It was the kind of news Jasper looked forward to sharing with Nadine.
Thinking about her made him realize he could spare time to call her, then make a late-night open radio call as well. He toggled the switch to talk to Ruby. “Base, this is the Locust. All appears quiet. Permission to do that errand we discussed.”
“One moment, Locust. Commando, status?”
Giselle, already in the know, responded. “All is well here. I can double my pace to make up for the Locust’s absence.”
“Roger that. Pick up the pace, Commando,” Ruby said. “Locust, you have thirty minutes. Make them good ones.”
“Yes, ma’am. Over and out.” Jasper left the communications system open and turned the ’Mech back toward the academy grounds. He’d move for about ten minutes in that direction before stopping and scanning for the Endeavor’s Run. They’d have about six minutes to talk over the encrypted signal. They’d give it no more than four over the open radio, and then he’d take the last ten minutes to get back to the Vengalil estate.
Yes, the enemy knew where they were, but there was no reason to let them know more than that. It was better to radio the DropShip while away from the estate. That was the main reason he was in the Locust now. It could outrun most ’Mechs, and it was barely damaged.
Ten minutes back toward the academy put him on a hill surrounded by trees. It was a good enough place. He scanned for the DropShip and waited for the handshake. “This is Cadet Roux, calling Endeavor’s Run.”
James Radcliff responded almost immediately. “Hey, Jasper. Emergency, or do I have time to get Nadine?”
“No emergency, but the clock is ticking.”
“Roger that. Hold the signal.”
Jasper was surprised the call had been answered so quickly, and pleased to hear James’s voice. It made sense that the cadets were manning the radio. At least where he was concerned.
Nadine’s voice came over the radio. It sounded much more awake than he’d expected. “Jasper, it’s Nadine. What’s the word?”
“I’ve got coordinates for you and the location of the Ritzas. It’s near Stag’s Head. I’ll transmit them to you. Just need to know when to get the…Barbican to the location.”
Nadine paused. “Stag’s Head. That’s not too bad. Good. How fast can your people move?”
“As fast as we need to. I’ve got Pohl gathering up a vehicle fleet as soon as he can. We’ll head there as soon as you want us to be there.”
Again, Nadine paused. When she returned to the radio, she spoke in a hushed tone Jasper knew well. She’d made a decision, and didn’t care if anyone liked it or not. “We can be on-planet at those coordinates within twenty-two hours. You need to have Barbican and crew at least a klick away until after we’ve landed. Then get everyone to the DropShip as quickly as possible. Understood?”
Jasper nodded. It was possible. At least for his side of things. “Twenty-two hours. And, over the open channel, at least twenty-four hours before landing.”
“Correct. And say the landing spot is north of Stag’s Head. I mean, they’ll be able to scan where we land, but maybe it’ll throw them off enough.”
“Roger that. Then later, I ping Diamond and give her the real information. Oh, yeah…if you have to actually order them to do something over the open channel, you need to say ‘swear by the stag’s heart.’ Per Grandmother’s orders. Smart lady.”
Nadine repeated, “‘Swear by the stag’s heart…’ Got it. If all goes well, we won’t need to use that but, yeah, smart lady indeed. Is there anything else I should know?”
Jasper considered mentioning the attack on the Vengalil estate then decided against it. There was literally nothing Nadine could do about it from space. To tell her now would only distract her, and make her worry needlessly. They both had jobs to do. “No. What about me? Anything I need to know about?”
She paused, then said, “Nope. Let’s do the call on the open channel.
He could tell from the quick and breezy “Nope” she actually meant “Yes, but I don’t want to tell you.” If he had been there, watching her, he probably would’ve argued with her to tell him what she knew. Then again, he was doing the exact same thing. Whatever was going on up in space wasn’t his concern until it was, and until then he’d trust her to finagle her way through whatever was wrong.
“All right. Let’s do it.”
After they got off the open call, Jasper gave all of his sensors another close look-see. Yes, they’d been open and scanning the entire five minutes and thirty-three seconds he’d spoken with Nadine. It never hurt to give them a second look before heading back to the estate.
With the coast clear, Jasper opened up the throttle on the Locust and pushed the Myomer Accelerator System Circuitry a bit to exercise them. It was good to make sure all of a ’Mech’s systems were still in working order after combat. He, of course, enjoyed every second of the scenery passing by, lit only by the night sky.
He allowed the sprint to go on for about twenty seconds, then dropped back into a more nominal speed. Still, the much slower speed and now-familiar route brough Jasper back to the estate in less than eight minutes. He called in as he arrived. “Base, this is the Locust, back in the area and on patrol.”
“Acknowledge that, Locust. Head toward the west side of the campus. Commando, slow your patrol pace.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the two MechWarriors answered, echoing each other.
Even though he’d only been gone for less than thirty minutes, the Vengalil estate was much quieter than it had been when he left. It looked like the immediate cleanup was done and only the ’Mech and infantry patrols were left moving. Most of the lights in the manor house had been doused as well.
He wondered if Delany had actually gone to sleep like she said she would after he’d insisted on it. She was the interim MechWarrior commander, and he was her second-in-command until he was dead. He needed to make sure she took care of herself. She could continue to make good leadership decisions only if she had the mental fortitude to do so.
In the morning, when they were both up, he would tell her about the Emporian military moving into the Blanc estate. She would want to contact them and get someone here. Most likely. Especially in light of their need to move out tomorrow toward Stag’s Head. There was no chance in the universe that Delany wasn’t going to go on that rescue mission. Jasper knew that for a fact. He’d do the same thing if he were in her boots.
They’d come down to a twenty-two-hour deadline. Jasper would call them as soon as he got off patrol and let Diamond know the plan. He hoped the Ritzas could get to the foothills in time. If they couldn’t, he didn’t know what they would do.
He wouldn’t allow that thought to cloud his mood. They had a plan. It wasn’t very detailed, but it was a plan nonetheless.