RITZA ACADEMY
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
7 APRIL 3150
1805 HOURS
Jasper sat on the highest catwalk next to his favorite Mech, the Ostsol. In his head, it was “his” ’Mech. When he had a choice, he always picked it for live tests. Simulations, too. Simulations were good, but they weren’t as good as the real thing.
The Ostsol was one of the fastest heavy ’Mechs out there. Its MASC system gave the Ostsol its speed and reaction time, but the cost was weaponry. This left the ’Mech with an all-energy weapon loadout that could be tough on the heat sinks if not used with respect.
But the thing most on Jasper’s mind right now was the Ostsol’s Guardian ECM suite. It was perfect for interfering with enemy systems. With a 180-meter diameter range, it could hide multiple lances in close quarters. It didn’t kill all systems though: it was a directed countermeasure. It could kill enemy sensors and radar while still allowing friendly sensors, radar, and comms to work. Yes, the enemy would know they were being jammed, but not from where. If they moved quickly enough, they could attack the enemy unaware.
Could it be possible to use the ECM to get a lance of ’Mechs into the spaceport? Was that a delusion of grandeur? Wishful thinking? He shook his head. It was stupid. What could one lance do against the might of the Seventh Ghost Regiment? Or two lances even? That was all the ’Mechs the academy had on hand.
Jasper heard Vale coming, despite the older man’s stealthy steps. With some dismay and resignation, he shifted back into survival mode. On Hoff, when it seemed like everything was trying to kill them, he always knew who or what was nearby. Sergeant Crusett was talking with Giselle far below. Vale was approaching him on the catwalk. Sir Felix was still in his office. Three other academy maintenance techs were puttering around the Commando, doing their final inspections after the cadets had done their bit.
Vale sat next to him. “Congrats on the match this morning. I heard you and your lance wiped the floor with the other lance.”
Jasper nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think their hearts were in it. But it’s not like it meant anything anyway.” He looked at the sergeant major out of the corner of his eye. “Does it? It’s just simulations. The worst that happens for losing is running laps or cleaning up the gym. No one actually dies. No ’Mechs are actually lost. It doesn’t matter.”
“It always matters.” Vale looked down. “Everything you do in the course of your studies and practical tests matters. Even the failures. Especially them. Failing teaches you what not to do.”
“I didn’t fail. Hell, Goodryke even complimented me. It was weird.”
“Huh. Maybe he’s finally learning something from his leadership classes.”
“I doubt it. I think it’s more the fact that nothing is normal. Nothing is right. Everything’s askew.” Jasper shut up. He didn’t know what he was thinking. Scratch that. He did. He thought the remaining cadre wasn’t up to the task of running the academy. They were all scared, and it showed.
“Askew?” Vale asked.
Jasper shrugged. “Did you know they’re talking about moving the ’Mechs? Hiding them?”
The older man rubbed his ear. “No, I didn’t. Where’d you hear that?”
“The staff room. I heard Lady Ruth, Sir Felix, and Sir Michael talking about it.”
“Who was on what side?”
“Sir Felix didn’t want to move them. I think. Sir Michael did. Lady Ruth talked on both sides of the argument.”
Vale remained silent, watching the maintenance crew on the Commando leave together.
“They don’t think there are any real MechWarriors left at the academy.” Jasper curled his lip in disgust, still seeing Sir Michael shut the door in his face.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean just that. Sir Michael thinks the Combine’s going to come here and take the ’Mechs. Sir Felix wants us to defend them, the cadets, and the academy. Sir Michael wanted to know how we’d defend ourselves with no one to pilot the ’Mechs.” Jasper shrugged. “I told them we could pilot them. The cadets. This is what we’re being trained to do.”
Vale snorted. “I’m sure that went over like a house on fire.”
Jasper gazed at Vale. “Really? You don’t think we have the right to defend ourselves? You don’t think we’re good enough?” He clambered to his feet. “Thanks a lot.”
“Settle yourself, Jasper. I didn’t say that. I just know Michael thinks in black and white. If you’re a cadet, you’re a kid. If you’ve graduated, you’re an adult. Even if the difference between the two is a single day and a graduation ceremony.”
“He told me to let the adults handle things. But I don’t think they know what to do.” Jasper settled back onto the catwalk with his feet dangling over the edge. “You think we could defend ourselves?”
“I’d expect it.” Vale scoffed. “The biggest problem would be the cadets fighting over who got what ’Mech.” He gestured to the Ostsol. “A lot of cadets like this one.”
Jasper shook his head. “It’d be first come, first serve. In an attack, you don’t have time to fight over who gets what. We’re all registered in each ’Mech’s security system so we can train with them. You make do with what you get. If you don’t get a ’Mech, you figure out another way to fight.”
He remembered most of the fighting on Hoff felt a lot more like running away, but there was sabotage, theft, and when you had to, murder—not that he’d ever had to kill. Nadine on the other hand… He didn’t like to think about that time. These days, he only thought about Hoff when memories bubbled up in nightmares. At least, until the Dragon returned.
“Maybe so. I’d like to think that you cadets would listen to your ground crew and technicians.”
Jasper watched Sergeant Crusett and Giselle part ways after a brief hug. “I think we would. It’s ingrained into us. In a panic, we tend to follow instinct, training, and chain of command.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sir Michael told you to leave it to the adults. Is that what you’re going to do?”
Jasper didn’t know how to answer. Part of him insisted he should. The adults would handle it, even if they handled it badly. Part of him insisted that the adults had no idea what the hell they were doing. They wanted to hide, and not even try to free the nobles.
He was distracted from his dilemma by Nadine arriving in the ’Mech bay. She wore a gym uniform and carried a backpack. She looked around the bay. She was looking for someone. He didn’t think it was any of the sergeants.
“I can tell by your silence that your answer is no.”
Jasper shook his head. “It’s not that.” He pointed at Nadine. “I think she’s looking for me.”
As he said that, Nadine looked up and spotted them. She slung the backpack over her shoulders, sprinted to the ladder and started climbing.
Vale chuckled. “Looks like you may be right.”
They both watched her come, grim determination on her face. “She’s found something out,” Jasper said. “Something neither of us is going to like.”
Vale quirked a half smile. “You assume I’m part of the conversation. She may want to see just you.”
“If it’s about what’s happening, don’t you want to know?” Jasper looked between his sister and his adult friend.
“If she’ll talk with me here.”
“Scaffold rules?” Jasper asked.
Scaffold rules was something they’d come up with a long time ago. After Vale proved himself trustworthy, they’d come up with the concept that anything said on the scaffold catwalks stayed there. It went both ways. Sometimes Vale would tell Jasper what the cadre was planning. Sometimes Jasper would tell Vale something embarrassing—like the nightmares of Hoff. If Vale needed to let the cadre know something, it would be through an anonymous source. If something needed to be spread through the cadet corps, Jasper never gave up his source.
Nadine had come into the scaffold-rules agreement when she needed to talk about some stuff she’d had to deal with on the infantry side of the academy, but didn’t know which adults to trust. Once Vale had listened to the problem and helped, it formed a bond of trust that neither side broke. Occasionally, Nadine and Jasper used the term for secrets between them.
“If she’ll talk with me here, scaffold rules.” Vale agreed.
Nadine hurried across the catwalk toward them, her cheeks only a little flushed. She paused when they were within talking distance, her eyes darting between her brother and the adult.
Jasper could see the debate on her face: Should she include Vale or not? He knew she wanted to, but he wasn’t going to make the decision for her. While Lord Zachary was the distant father figure whose decision had saved their lives, Vale had become the mentor you could talk to. Like a much older sibling. At least for him. Nadine was another story.
“Scaffold rules?” Vale offered.
Nadine nodded. “I don’t know if you’re going to want to leave it that way after this, though.”
“Desperate times, desperate measures.” Vale lifted his legs and spun until his back was to the railing. He crossed his legs and settled in. “Right now I’m here to listen.”
Jasper shifted to sit cross-legged in the middle of the catwalk. “Scaffold rules.” As he spoke, he looked her in the eye. Part of him wanted to assure her. Part of him wanted her to assure him, but from the troubled look on her face, that wasn’t going to happen.
Nadine hesitated a moment longer, looking at Vale. Then she nodded. “Scaffold rules.” She joined them on the catwalk, sitting as they did, and hugged her backpack to her chest.
“What happened?” Vale asked.
“What did you discover?” Jasper asked.
“Garnet got ahold of me on the shortwave. She wanted to talk face to face. Said she had someone she wanted me to meet…” Nadine told them about her afternoon and the meeting with her treasures, the death of old Baron Frosig, the death of Doubloon and his replacement, the curfew in New Exeter, Elijah and his ability to leave the spaceport, the Draconis Combine troops seizing food stores from all of the outlying estates, and the captured MechWarriors being “processed,” whatever that meant.
Neither Jasper nor Vale interrupted her as she spoke. Jasper had given her “the Look” at the first mention of her breaking the academy’s lockdown. Vale shifted and nodded with recognition when he heard Elijah’s name. Both of them looked troubled. Jasper thought he was going to throw up. The entire time she spoke, she clutched her backpack like it was the last lifejacket on a sinking ship.
“Elijah’s going to leave today. He may already have left. He said they weren’t stopping commercial DropShips. I have no idea why not. It doesn’t make sense to me.” She shrugged. “For now, none of our neighbors know we’re under siege. Elijah’s going to get the word out to the first Federated Suns JumpShips he comes across.” Nadine frowned. “But he’s an opportunist. He admitted that much. I don’t know if we can trust him to do what he says he’s going to do.”
Vale sighed, long and heavy. “I don’t know if we can trust him either. The reason no one trusts him…” He shook his head. “Elijah Hughes once claimed knowledge of the location of a kidnapped child. There was a ransom involved. The parents paid him the money, and he left the planet. Then the kidnappers contacted the family for the ransom. They didn’t know anything about Elijah. The family paid again and got their kid back, but it broke them. So, yes, he’s an opportunist and completely untrustworthy.”
Nadine muttered, “Well, he owed Silver. I wonder…” She paused. “Perhaps that explains her hold over him. I thought she’d always been a maintenance worker in the capital. More likely she worked for that family.”
Jasper shook his head. “We can’t trust that someone like him is going to do what he says.”
“Even so, with that kind of reputation, it may take weeks to get anyone to even listen to him.” Vale shrugged. “I wouldn’t trust him.”
Nadine hugged her backpack tighter. “We don’t have weeks. We may not even have days.”
Jasper eyed the backpack. “What aren’t you telling us? You’re upset—really upset—but nothing you’ve said should rattle you like this.” Even though he asked the question, he didn’t really want an answer. Nadine had always been the impulsive, but brave, one. Something that had her this upset was not something he really wanted to hear about. Of course, that meant he needed to know.
She opened her backpack and pulled out her recorder. “After I got back from my meeting, I went to class, then chores. You know the drill. The few professors left are determined to pretend it’s business as usual. But it’s not. We’re at war. As polite and quiet as it’s been, the Combine is still taking over. Maybe it’s with a slow step instead of a fast stomp, but they’re killing us all the same.”
“I don’t understand.” Jasper glanced at Vale.
Vale nodded to the recorder. “What’s on it?”
“A message from Silver.” Nadine pressed the play button. “It’s bad.”