STEWART ROAD
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
7 APRIL 3150
1200 HOURS
Garnet was waiting for Nadine by the side of the road. Her car was small and functional. “Was it hard to get away?” she asked as Nadine slid into the passenger seat.
“Not really. Even though the school’s on lockdown, it’s a skeleton crew of professors. I’ve got three classmates vouching for me. As far as anyone’s concerned, I’m still on campus. Just in the bathroom or running back to my dorm room to get something.” Her gym clothes were nondescript and common. Nothing on her could immediately identify her as a Ritza academy cadet.
Garnet nodded as she moved the car into gear. They drove down the road in silence. Once she relaxed into autopilot mode, she glanced at Nadine. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t. I don’t tend to break the academy’s rules in general. But you said it was important. I believe you. Especially in these times. One thing though…why couldn’t we do this on the radio? It’s not like the enemy knows about it. Not with the encryption we’re using or the fact that no one is looking for shortwave signals.”
“There’s someone you need to meet. Someone who isn’t part of the circle. Silver is bringing him. Better to meet in person. Safer for us. Safer for him.”
“Who?”
Garnet shook her head. “I don’t really know. Silver plays things close to the chest. You know that.”
Nadine watched her. The handmaid wasn’t much older than she was. Garnet looked as tired as Nadine felt. More than that, there was an underlying tension that showed in the line of her mouth and her tight grip on the steering wheel.
“How bad is it?” Nadine asked.
“Bad enough. Gonna get worse. Best if I tell the story only once.”
Nadine sat back and watched the road go by. It looked the same as it did two days ago, but now there was a sense of danger in openly driving in the middle of the day.
Their destination wasn’t far. The small group of shops had started out as just a gas station and had grown into a good rest stop for food, shopping, and generally wasting time in a place outside of the capital city.
Parking around the back, Garnet led the way into the rear entrance of the Three Lions Pub. It was a popular venue for upperclassmen. Now, in one of the employee-only rooms, it was also the beginning of the resistance.
Four people waited in the sudden silence that spoke volumes of the conversation Garnet and Nadine had interrupted. Two of the people Nadine knew—Silver, a city maintenance woman, and Sixpence, an Estbury Estate groundskeeper. The third was a young man she had the vaguest recollection of, but couldn’t remember where from. The fourth, an immaculate man with a sly air, leaned against the wall.
Garnet pointed at the young man. “Niall. He’s going the be Doubloon’s replacement.”
Nadine raised her eyebrows. “Replacement?”
“They murdered Richard. Shot him in cold blood. I watched it happen.” Niall’s voice was flat with anger and exhaustion. “I will do the job he used to do for you. Same terms.”
She realized this was personal for him. “All right. You know how to use the shortwave?”
Niall nodded. “He was training me. Told me to finish anything he couldn’t.”
“I want to know what happened, but first…” Nadine turned to the stranger in the room. “You are?”
“Elijah. I own the Whatever It Takes. I’m the one they didn’t believe. I saw the Combine JumpShip that was pretending to be something it wasn’t. I warned them. Did it out of the goodness of my heart and for the preservation of my skin. I tried.” He shrugged.
“Smuggler?” Nadine asked. It had to be the main reason Emporia’s leadership didn’t believe the man when he told them about the enemy coming.
He shrugged. “Opportunist.”
“Why are you here?”
Elijah pointed at Silver. “I owe her. I’m paying that debt as I can. Before I can’t. I don’t like unpaid debts, so I hope you have something for me to do that isn’t too dangerous.”
Nadine sat down and looked at the five faces watching her. She realized that they all expected her to have a plan. They were willing to trust her. It was startling and daunting. It also filled her with a small bit of pride. A nascent plan formed in the back of her mind, but she needed time. “Niall…tell me what happened with Richard.”
Niall gripped his hands tight then loosened them. “Old Baron Frosig was at the spaceport. We knew that. Baron Vogel followed. Then everything got shut down. Me and Richard went to see what was happening. We made it to the outskirts of the spaceport. We saw they’d captured all the MechWarriors. They weren’t shooting, but…” He swallowed hard. “The old baron was dead. Someone’d cut his head off. Left his body to rot on the tarmac. No one touched it. No one moved it.”
Nadine felt her cheeks go hot, and sweat trickled from her underarms. She wanted to run, to hide. They’d killed the old baron, and he was harmless. “Did they kill anyone else?”
Please let Lord Zachary be alive…
Niall shook his head. “Not until we were leaving. We needed to let the family know. Someone saw him, but not me. He told me to go, and then gave himself up. I don’t know what was said. I was too far away. They were talking. Richard wasn’t doing anything bad. Then one of them shot him in the head. I ran. I don’t even know what they did with his body. It could still be there for all I know.” The young man bowed his head, covering his face and tears with his hands.
Nadine didn’t move. “You did the right thing.” She turned to Elijah. “How’d you get off the spaceport?”
The smuggler shrugged. “They aren’t stopping commerce. I’ve left, gone back, and left again. I’m not sure why, but anyone who has a DropShip and does business is allowed in and out.”
“Have you seen anyone killed?”
Elijah shook his head. “I’ve seen people turned away, but no one killed.” He paused. “I have seen where they’re keeping the MechWarriors. They’ve got them in one of the smaller ’Mech bays. I’ve heard the soldiers talk about ‘processing’ them. Don’t know what that means. Didn’t ask. I’m keeping my head down.”
Sixpence spoke up. “That’s not all they’re processing. This morning, we were told they would be back to empty the Estbury food stores. Collecting tribute, they called it. They’re taking it all. Half to go to Yoshizawa. A percentage to feed the troops. What’s left will be returned.” He scoffed. “Returned. Like that’ll happen. They’re going to starve us. Or try to.”
“Same thing happened at my estate,” Garnet said. “We’re moving some of the stores with the longest shelf life to a couple of secret locations.”
Sixpence nodded. “Us too. But it’s hard with the armored infantry they’ve left.”
“Commandos?” Nadine asked. “Specialized infantry?”
“Don’t know,” Garnet said.
“Yes,” Sixpence confirmed. “I’d seen them before. They can do a hell of a lot of damage in a short amount of time. The only way we’d be able to take them out would be surprise. Even then, we’d lose too many of the guards.”
“They’re taking food and supplies. They’re processing MechWarriors. They’re letting commerce happen.” Nadine tilted her head, looking at nothing. “Who’s going to be driving the food trucks?”
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.
“We’ll know tomorrow.” Garnet stood and checked the door. “I’ll message you.”
“Silver, what’s going on in New Ex? I know it’s been less than two days, but what have they done?”
The maintenance woman pushed her mane of silver hair from her wrinkled face. “They’ve enacted the curfew. No one on the streets from 2100 to 0600. Not even city maintenance. We heard from our bosses, but not the Draconis Combine. I’ve seen strangers going into the main buildings, but nothing too blatant. That might change. Probably will change, now that the baron surrendered.” She paused. “No one’s talking about the count or his family. We think they’ve gone to their siege estates. Ever since Baron Vogel and his wife claimed rulership of the planet, everyone has gone along with it. I don’t know if it’ll last. There are always opportunists looking to get in good with the new masters.” She glanced at Elijah.
The man raised both hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m not saying anything to anyone.”
Silver shook her head at the appalled look on Nadine’s face. “Not everyone comes from a war-torn planet, Tiamat. They either don’t understand or don’t care. All they want to know is what’s in it for them.” She eyed Elijah, who looked away. “Once the real fighting starts, you can bet someone’s going to give up the Ritza family to the enemy.”
“Not me,” Elijah said, keeping his eyes on the wall.
“Then we need to do something before that happens.” Nadine didn’t understand what was going on between Silver and Elijah. She also didn’t care right now.
“I agree, and I’m going to help the best I can. I don’t want to live under the rule of the Dragon—benign or not. They’ve killed too many of my loved ones.”
Nadine reached out to the older woman, and they clasped hands for a moment. Nadine felt the strength in the woman’s hand despite her age. She still felt it as she let go. “Elijah, do you happen to have a map of the spaceport?” She rubbed her hands together. “Can you point out where the MechWarriors are?”
“Yeah, I can. Got a noteputer?”
Nadine dug hers out of her bag and handed it to Elijah. “Here’s what I see. First, we need to rescue the MechWarriors. If civilians are driving the food trucks, a small force can be smuggled in to do this. Second, with commerce continuing, I don’t think anyone in the Federated Suns knows what’s happening. Elijah, that’s where you come in.”
He handed her noteputer over. “Yeah?”
“You need to leave Emporia and get a message out to anyone in the Federated Suns. You need to get a video copy of Baron Vogel’s surrender speech out. The nobles will see what he really said.”
“I can do that. I want off this planet before the shit hits the fan.”
Nadine glanced at her noteputer. She saw the map and the building Elijah indicated. “Go as soon as you can.”
Elijah turned to Silver. “Will that call our debt settled?”
The older woman gave a slight smile. “Only if help actually comes.”
“You’re a hard woman to please.”
Silver shrugged. “It’s what you agreed to.” She turned to Nadine. “What do you want the rest of us to do?”
Nadine pressed her lips together, then decided. “Wait. Let’s see how a couple of things shake out first. Stay by the shortwave as much as possible. Keep track of what’s said. They have no idea we have it, or they would’ve shut that down. I’ve got to go convince a couple of MechWarriors and infantry that we can take on the might of the Dragon in a surgical strike to free our people and our equipment.”
Sixpence shifted. “You realize if you attack the spaceport, whatever truce the tai-sa has with Vogel is probably moot, and the slaughter will begin. I’ve seen them in action. Not here though. On Sakhara V. I remember what happened. I know what they’re capable of.”
“So do I. I’m from Hoff. If we do nothing, they’ll kill us by centimeters. First they take our warriors. Then they take our food. Then they’ll enslave us. I’m not willing to live like that. Are you?” Nadine was proud her voice didn’t shake as she spoke.
He shook his head. “I just wanted to know you’ve thought about the consequences. In truth, it’s you cadets who will probably get it the worst.”
“I know. I have thought about it. Emporia as we’ve known it is no more. Either we fight or we die.”
Garnet nodded. “We fight.”
One by one, they each nodded and said, “We fight.”
Except for Elijah. He said, “You fight. I go for help.”
The ride back was as silent as the ride from the academy. Nadine argued with herself. Was she doing the right thing? So far, the Draconis Combine had abstained from their usual slaughter. To do what she wanted—rescuing the nobles and the ’Mechs—would be a declaration of war. Any façade of peace would be gone.
She glanced at Garnet, wanting to ask if she was doing the right thing. Nadine knew she couldn’t undermine her own position like that. Her treasures trusted her to lead them. She couldn’t burden them with her doubts. Many of the lessons she’d learned in her leadership classes were coming home to roost in unexpected ways.
Nadine would talk things over with Lyric, then convince Jasper to do his part in this. That was all there was to it. While there were other, more skilled MechWarrior cadets, she knew Jasper could follow through. Would follow through, if he could be convinced to help out in this mad scheme of hers.
By the time Nadine made it back to her dorm room, there was a shortwave message waiting. She listened and sat hard on her bed.
Things had gone from bad to worse.