RITZA ACADEMY
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
7 APRIL 3150
1825 HOURS
“This is from Silver. I wish I’d gotten to it sooner.” Nadine clicked on the recorder and sat back.
“Tiamat, after the meeting, I got people into the spaceport to observe the troops. They still need trash taken out, dishes cleaned, and floors swept. One by one, they’re taking the MechWarriors to be tested in the simulators. They’ve got the machines hooked up in one of the ’Mech bays. They’ve only tested a few as far as my people can tell…but if the MechWarrior doesn’t meet their standards—whatever those are—they’re taken out and shot in front of the rest. They’re killing our leadership by centimeters, and making the rest watch. If you’ve got a bright idea—and I hope to God you do—you can’t sit on it. You don’t have time. None of us do. As soon as you’ve got something, let me know. Me and mine are ready to fight.”
Nadine clicked the recorder off. “We’ve got to do something. We don’t have any more time. They’re murdering us one by one.”
“What are we gonna do?” Jasper clenched his hands into fists. “We’ve been told to leave it to the adults. Are you going to disobey direct orders? Oh, wait. Look who I’m talking to.”
“Disobeying orders is what kept us alive on Hoff. Maybe you don’t remember, but I do. We didn’t go to the civilian pens like the Combine soldiers ordered. So we didn’t die when they executed them all.” She worked to keep her voice steady, but it was hard. “Also, I’m following the real orders given by Lord Zachary and Lady Shannon. They…” She pressed her lips together, forcing the fear back into its cage. “They’re willing to sacrifice themselves to save the Ritza family. They’re the ones who told us to fight.”
Jasper blew out an aggravated sigh. “Yes. They gave orders, but those were to the adults. They weren’t to us.” He nudged Vale. “What do you think?”
The sergeant major was slow to answer. Both Jasper and Nadine waited, watching as Vale marshaled his thoughts and fought with his conflicted emotions. He rubbed his hands together then interlaced his fingers. “Does it matter what I think? I’m an enlisted man. While you two are cadets, she will outrank me within six months.” He nodded to Nadine, then gestured his chin to Jasper. “You will outrank me within eighteen.”
Jasper and Nadine exchanged a startled glance.
“Of course it matters,” Jasper said.
“Yes. Of course,” Nadine agreed.
Vale’s question was short and blunt. “Why?”
Nadine shrugged. “Sir Robert always said—says—an officer listens to their enlisted personnel. They know what’s going on, and if you don’t, they’ll give you just enough rope to hang yourself with. Besides, we trust you.”
Jasper picked up the thread. “I’ve watched Sir Felix with you and Sergeant Crusett. He always listens. Most of the time, if you’re in a disagreement, he’ll change his mind. Once you explain your thoughts to him.” He gestured around them. “Also, scaffold rules.”
Vale nodded. “What about Sergeant Crusett? Does it matter what he thinks?”
Jasper furrowed his brow and looked to Nadine.
She picked up the cue, answering with slow and careful words. “Yes. It does matter. Every enlisted person matters. Right down to Sergeant Placket, even though she and I don’t get along. But context matters. Facts matter. Relationships matter. In truth, I’d take your word over Crusett’s and Placket’s any day of the week. And it has nothing to do with rank.”
Vale raised a hand. “So, my thoughts matter, right?”
Jasper and Nadine glanced at each other before nodding.
“Here’s the bald, honest truth. Sometimes, many times, adults don’t know what to do any more than cadets do. We’re all faking it.” Vale dropped his hand and locked eyes with Jasper. “Just before Nadine got here, you were railing about not being able to do anything, and that you, the cadets, all had the right to defend yourselves. But when Nadine says the same thing, you fight against her. Why?”
Jasper flushed, his freckles standing out against his cheekbones. He didn’t look at Nadine. “Someone has to be the voice of reason. She’s always going off on wild schemes. There’s a difference between having the enemy attack and us defend ourselves…and us attacking them.”
Vale raised a finger to silence Nadine as she opened her mouth to protest. She crossed her arms and remained quiet. He didn’t say anything, letting the silence grow uncomfortable.
Jasper glanced up from under his mop of red hair, then back down at the grate. “But I think she’s right. I think we need to do something. But I don’t know what that is. I want to charge in there and save everyone, but I don’t see how. Also, I don’t know if we can trust that merchant to get the word out. We’re on our own. There’s no cavalry coming.”
“Thank you for admitting that.” Vale tapped his fingers together. “All right. Here’s what I think. One, Nadine is right. We need to do something. The Combine is killing us by bits. Two, I don’t think anyone can trust the merchant to get the word out. Even if he does, there’s the question of whether anyone will even believe him. Three, I think the cadets are the best ones to do anything. Four, have you ever heard of a Black Box?”
Nadine nodded. “In history class. It’s an old K-series transmitter. Kinda like a shortwave radio, but for hyperspace. Right?”
Vale waggled his hand at her answer. “Sorta. It’s a faster-than-light communication device. Text based. But it’s got its issues. They call them fax machines. Old tech that can send a certain number of pages of text and work on anywhere from two to nine channels. The fastest one runs about 180 light-years a day with a range of about 200,000 light-years.”
“So?” Jasper asked.
“So, I know where one is. It’s in New Exeter. If I can get there, get it running, and get a message out, it might work.”
“But…?” Nadine asked.
“But it needs a receiver to hear the message, and these things aren’t in wide use. It’d be a Hail Mary plan in case your untrustworthy merchant doesn’t get the message out.”
She tilted her head. “How do you know about this? I can’t imagine you remember it from your school days.”
Vale snorted. “I wasn’t always the NCO in charge of the academy ’Mech bay. In another life, I worked in the New Exeter Communications building. It’s not like you choose one career path and that’s it, you’re set for the rest of your life.”
“I heard the average person changes careers five times in their lifetime. What career are you on?”
Vale quirked a smile at her. “Does it matter?”
“No,” Jasper interrupted and shook his head. “What about the communications blackout?”
“I don’t think they can block a Black Box. They operate on K-F field principles.” Vale paused. “Probably. If they can block it, that’s new technology.”
Nadine pushed her hair from her face. “But you think it could work?”
“Slowly, but yes.”
“How slowly?”
Vale picked a thread from his pants. “How far away is the nearest planet?”
“Allerton and Sauk City are both one jump away…” She shrugged. “No idea in light years. I’d have to look it up.”
Vale gazed up at the rafters. “The best signal could travel 180 light-years in a day or about seven and a half light-years an hour. The safest, longest, reliable, single jump a JumpShip can make is about thirty light-years. So four or five hours for the signal to reach either Allerton and Sauk City. If it’s picked up at all.
“Far enough away.” Nadine glanced upward, then focused on her brother. “Then comes the decision making, the arguing, the time needed to get a JumpShip here, then DropShips to the planet…”
Jasper rubbed his head. “But it could work.”
“Yes,” Vale said. “It could work.”
“Then that’s what we should do. You get into the city, get a message out with the Black Box. Federated Suns soldiers will come.” Jasper avoided his sister’s gaze.
Nadine’s answer was to rewind, then press play on her recorder. They listened to Silver’s message again. When the message was done, she clicked the recorder off. “The Black Box is a good idea, but it’s not enough. They’re killing our nobles now. They’re processing our MechWarriors now.”
Jasper still wouldn’t look her in the eye. “Fine. What do you propose?”
Vale looked between them, but didn’t say anything.
“I propose we rescue them.” She pulled out her noteputer with the map of the spaceport on it. “Elijah said the MechWarriors were being held here, in this bay.” She touched the screen, and it zoomed in on the area. “If I remember right, it’s got some of the ’Mechs in it. This building over here also has some. This building over here has the rest. If we can get in and free the MechWarriors, they can get to the ’Mechs.”
Jasper rubbed his collarbone. “How would we get to them?”
“There’s a couple of roads in the back here. An underclassman local told me about them. We can take one of those roads up to the gate, then cut our way through.”
“We who? The infantry?”
Nadine nodded. “Yeah. We’re best suited to break in and rescue the hostages. How long does it take to start up a ’Mech? Not to fight. Just to move.”
“About ninety seconds. You need a full seven or eight minutes to get everything online, but just to start it up and run…I’d say two minutes max.” Still frowning, he looked at the map. “Where are you going to get that two minutes from…and the time it’ll take to break out the nobles and cadre?”
She pointed at him. “You. Your lance. You need to be our distraction and protection. If you can get there and surprise them.”
Jasper looked at the Ostsol then looked at Vale, who gave him a cautious shrug. As Jasper studied the ’Mech—his ’Mech—thinking about what it could do, a plan came to mind. “It might work. But I’d need a lance with me. Cadets willing to break the rules, but who are also really good at what they do. And can be quiet about it.”
“You’ll also need a bit of help from your ground crew and techs,” Vale said. “That’s where I come in. I can talk to a couple of the enlisted, and get them on board. There’s a couple I know who will help and keep their mouths shut. I’ll introduce you before I go.”
“Go?” Nadine asked.
“What do you think I’ll be doing while you’re causing a ruckus at the spaceport?”
She gazed at the older man for a long moment, then understood. “The Black Box?”
Jasper picked up the noteputer and gave the spaceport map a closer look. “We’ll have to go at night to make more effective use of the Ostsol’s ECM. Go in as dark as possible. Shock and awe. They’ll see the jamming, maybe. But they won’t know what it is or where it’s coming from. Either way, one hell of a surprise.” He glanced at the ammunition racks. “We’re not going to have as much going in as we need. A lot of this is practice rounds. Limited quantities of live ammo.”
“You’ll have to make every shot count or rely on lasers.” Vale glanced at the Ostsol. “When do you want to do this?”
Nadine’s answer was immediate. “Tomorrow night. We need to recruit our teams. We need to go as soon as we can before any more of our people die.”
Jasper shook his head. “No. It’s gotta be tonight. The less time we have talking to people, the less chance the remaining cadre will find out. Also, the less chance that they’ll move our people. We have to go while the intel is good. The side with the best intel wins.” And the less chance I’ll chicken out, much less anyone else, he admitted to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Vale smile.
Nadine was slow to answer, then she nodded. “Okay. I can think of seven infantry cadets I trust who would be willing to do this with me tonight.”
Vale tilted his head. “Seven?”
“Four drivers. Four manning weapons and breaking people out.”
“Skeleton crew. People are going to die on this rescue mission.” Vale’s voice was quiet. “Some of your friends. Some of the people you’re trying to save. You need to be prepared for that.”
Nadine nodded. “I’ve seen it before. People died while we were escaping Hoff. We’ll try to limit casualties.”
Jasper swallowed hard. He’d seen it before, too. He didn’t know what to say. Instead, he continued to study the spaceport map, trying not to think about leading his friends into a battle they may not return from. “Okay. Tonight. Meet here at 2330 with a go time of 2345.”