THE VOGEL ESTATE
NEW EXETER, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
5 APRIL 3150
With the ringing of a bell, dinner came to an end. As a group, the diners left the tables and entered the grand room, where they would stay for the rest of the evening to enjoy music, conversation, and dancing.
Jasper and Nadine walked to one of the more discreet niches in the room, about halfway between the entrance and a balcony. The musicians played something light and airy from their spot across the way from the fireplace against the half-wall, which split the room into two zones: dancing on this side and mingling on the other.
For many cadets, this part of the evening was torture. Nothing more than small talk and awkward dancing with each other and the adults. For others who excelled at the political game and fitting in, they actually enjoyed the lesson. Jasper fell into the former category, while Nadine was in the latter.
Ensconced in place, watching the usual wrangling of cadets and nobles breaking into smaller groups, Jasper kept his voice low but not in a whisper, like Nadine had taught him. Whispers, paradoxically, carried while lowered voices didn’t. “Why’d you keep me from listening in?”
Nadine, her voice matching his, watched the room and kept her face in a polite and neutral pose. “We’d gotten all the information we needed. Also, you were staring. It was obvious to everybody. Vogel gave me a nod. You know the one. When your lord gives you the nod, you obey. I got your attention in the only way I knew how…by challenging the might of the ’Mech on the battlefield.”
He looked up at her. “One, a ’Mech would stomp your armored cars into paste. Two, how did we get all the information we needed?”
She looked at him as if she wondered if he could be that stupid. “Right. Sometimes I forget I’m better at this than you. Baron Frosig, recently widowed, was reacting in grief. That means either he was just drunk and howling his pain to the world, or he was just drunk enough to forget that not everyone at the dinner knew something was wrong. It was probably a little of Column A and a lot of Column B, which means I was right. There is something going on with the JumpShips. More than we know.”
Jasper shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Of course it does. When Lady Shannon got up and escorted the baron out, she was signaling to everyone in the know to keep a lid on it. Otherwise, she would’ve had a servant escort him someplace where he wouldn’t continue to embarrass himself.”
“How do you know these things? Is there a playbook, or is it a girl thing?”
“Maybe you’re just too focused on ’Mech stuff.” She looked down her nose at him. “It’s all in the history and manners of our training. I know you’re a year behind me, but you should be catching on faster than this.”
“Give me a ’Mech and I can tell you everything about it. Put me in a room like this—” he waved at the milling, mingling cadets and nobles, “—and I haven’t a clue. You’ve always been better at this.”
“You need to learn some of this sooner or later. You’re going to have to play the game even as a MechWarrior. Every single one of these nobles was a soldier. They all served, too.”
Jasper looked around the posh room filled with bejeweled women and suited men mixing with uniformed men and women. Most of the cadets had broken out into their own groups. That wouldn’t last long. The adults seemed to take great pleasure in forcing the cadets to dance and to chit-chat with them. It was a genteel kind of torture that they all seemed to enjoy.
“All right. I’ll do my best. What do we do now?”
Nadine looked around the room until she caught Lyric’s eye. “Now we get more information on what’s making everyone all touchy. But first…”
Lyric came over to where Jasper and Nadine stood. Then one by one, the rest of the House Vogel cadets wandered over until all six of them stood in a tight knot.
“We’ve got to make this quick,” Lyric muttered, her intense blue-eyed gaze darting around the group. “The nobles are all kinds of cranky and looking for someone to take it out on.”
Nadine looked around the circle. “Okay. Is everyone up to speed?”
Jasper wanted to shout, “No, I’m not up to speed!” He didn’t understand what was going on, but kept his mouth shut.
Fortunately, Fynn gestured and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Nadine said. “Here’s the skinny. Two days ago, some of my friends here in New Exeter noticed the nobles getting all twitchy. Apparently, someone noticed that one of the arriving JumpShips didn’t match its transponder code. Or maybe they didn’t recognize the ship attached to the code. Problem is, the person who reported it is suspect. I don’t know why. So as far as I can tell, we’ve got a JumpShip above us that someone says isn’t what it says it is, but that someone’s a known liar. That’s it.”
“What do you want us to do?” Fynn looked uncertain. “I mean, they’re investigating it, right?”
Nadine nodded. “Supposedly, but everyone’s acting like this is something worse than a mislabeled IFF transponder.”
“What, invasion?” Jasper shook his head. “Maybe we ought to let the people in charge do their jobs rather than jump to conclusions.” His stomach roiled at the thought of another invasion.
Nadine frowned. “We need to know what’s going on.”
“Why? What can we do?” Jasper gestured to Lyric and Fynn. “We’re cadets, remember? We’re supposed to be learning to be soldiers.”
“We need to prepare,” Nadine insisted.
Lyric cut in. “If you want out, Jasper, no problem. Leave. Let us do what we think needs doing. Okay?”
Jasper shut his mouth, shook his head, and gestured for Nadine to continue.
“Right, if we’re all in, everyone needs to mingle with people they don’t usually mingle with. Listen to what they have to say. Ask quiet questions about what Baron Frosig said. See who reacts and who doesn’t. We need to know who knows what. Make sense?” Nadine looked at each of them in turn.
Gemma readjusted her glasses. “Once we find out something, then what?” The others in the circle nodded, agreeing with the question.
“Save it until we get back to the dorms. If you see people splitting off to go talk alone, eavesdrop if you can.” Nadine smiled. “You all know how to do this. Pretend we’re all in a locker room and someone is whispering juicy gossip. We all want to know what’s what.” Her smile disappeared. “Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it is. Better to know than not.”
“Honestly, I don’t like the idea of an unknown JumpShip parked above us,” Lyric said. “Even if its DropShips take days to reach us.”
Fynn rubbed his temples then turned blue eyes on Nadine. “What do we know for sure?”
She shook her head. “Not much. Baron Frosig’s outburst proves that something’s going on. ‘What else is being delivered?’ is what he said. Maybe it’s not an invasion. Maybe we’re about to go on the offensive, and New Avalon has sent troops. Maybe Emporia is going to be a staging point. All we know is that there’s a lot of uncertainty among the people who are supposed to be leading us. If that doesn’t call for action, I don’t know what will.”
The group fell silent. Jasper considered his sister. She was the one who made sure they had survived the evacuation when their parents didn’t. Even if this was nothing, her spying “hobby” was how she coped with what had happened. He owed it to her to help soothe her fears.
He nodded. “All right. You want us all to talk to people we don’t usually talk to and see what we can learn. Easy enough, and it doesn’t hurt anything.” He rubbed his hands together. “Maybe Sir Robert will even compliment me on my grace.”
Nadine smiled at him. “Maybe. Baroness Estbury should be your target.”
Jasper wrinkled his nose. “Yeah. But fifteen is too young to be married off.”
Lyric chuckled. “I’ll head over to Menard.”
“Blanc for me,” Fynn said.
Darrell glanced at Gemma. “Frosig for me, but I might need help.”
Gemma smiled. “All right.”
“I’m gonna go for the big guns—” Nadine began.
Baron Vogel’s voice cut through their knot of conversation. “What’s this? The Sponsored of House Vogel ignoring the other attendees of a party hosted by House Vogel?”
All six cadets turned toward their host, who stood with his arms crossed and his brown eyes searing into each of them. “Is this how well our training has penetrated? I am disappointed.”
Lyric and Nadine glanced at each other before Lyric took a half step forward. “As a matter of fact, my lord, Nadine was reminding us of our proper education and manners. After Jasper…did what he did…she thought it best for us to remember what we are here for and to ensure all of us are going to properly mingle.”
Baron Vogel considered the group as they all nodded in agreement. “Is that so? What did she tell you to do?”
Darrell spoke up. “We are to split up and speak to each of the visiting houses. To entertain with witty conversation.”
The baron’s eyebrows raised. “Split up, you say? Who has been assigned to which house?”
“We volunteered,” Jasper said. “I will begin with Lady Charlotte…” He noticed a whole lot of people were pretending to not stare at their group. Most of them were not within earshot, but he knew some of them could read lips. This sort of thing was their bread and butter.
“I see.” This time, Baron Vogel had a twinkle in his eye. “Then I apologize for my assumption.” He nodded to them.
“It is I who should apologize,” Nadine said as she took the lead once more. “I was the one who rounded them all up, then took too long in my instruction. Please forgive me.”
“Only if you allow me the honor of opening the dance floor for the evening.” The baron glanced at Lyric. “With your permission, of course, Cadet Hayton. The first dance is usually granted to those who arrive together.”
Lyric tilted her head. “Of course, sir. In this case, I am happy to make an exception. It’s always an honor to be the first on the dance floor.”
Again, Baron Vogel gave the group of cadets a nod, then escorted Nadine toward the empty floor.
“Bloody hell,” Fynn muttered. “That was close. Good thinking, Hayton.”
Lyric nodded, still watching Nadine and the baron. “He didn’t fall for it. Not one bit. That’s why he’s dragging Nadine out there, to have a private conversation without making it seem like he’s doing so. I wonder if she’s in trouble.”
Jasper scanned the ballroom. “Where is Lady Shannon?”
The rest of the cadets glanced around the grand ballroom, but the hostess was not in sight.
“Well,” Lyric said, “it seems that the dance is more than an interrogation. It’s also a distraction. Okay, everyone, we’ve got our marching orders. Let’s get to it.”