the seared and excavated cavern of rib cage, provided air for the Elemental to speak.
“Have a ... care, my friend,” he croaked. “It is not the fighting that kills you, but the downtime... ”
Pink froth bubbled from his lips. He died.
Aleks rose. A single tear cut a track through dust and cinders on a cheek that was frozen like a slab of fired clay.
“Let them learn what befalls those who treacherously murder a warrior of Clan Jade Falcon,” he said in a voice like a raven’s croak. “Destroy the district. Leave no building intact, nor anything living within.”
PART TWO Desant
“. . . (1)n. Descent;esp ., an airmobile landing operation, generally to attack strategic targets deep in an enemy’s rear areas.Russ. From Soviet Military Art, TerraArchaic ”
—New Avalon Institute of Science Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Edition CCCV, New Avalon, Federated Suns, 3032
8
Central Government Complex Geneva, Terra Prefecture X
The Republic of the Sphere
3 April 3134
The hush between the briefing room’s powder blue walls was almost palpable as Tara Campbell, Countess Northwind and Prefect of Prefecture III, and her aide-de-camp, Captain Tara Bishop, were solemnly ushered within by an aide. Exarch Damien Redburn did not rise from his central position on the far side of the long, truncated-oval table.
The ruler of The Republic of the Sphere and successor to Devlin Stone nodded his narrow, brown-haired head. “Countess Campbell,” he said, “it is good of you to come on such short notice.”
“The Secretary’s message indicated it was a matter of grave concern to The Republic,” Tara Campbell said. The Countess’ gaze did not quiver by a micron from his, but she could feel the pressure of her aide’s eyes like heat upon her cheek. The lack of any discernible quantum of irony in Redburn’s voice only emphasized the seriousness of the matter that had caused the two to be summoned here. Because, in truth, the Countess Northwind and the Exarch, duly elected ruler of The Republic to which she had sworn her life to serve, cordially detested one another.
The two women settled themselves into seats across the table from the Exarch. Various other high officials were present. They acknowledged the women from Northwind with muted mutters of greeting.
Exarch Redburn placed his hands interlaced on the table before him. “At 0533 this morning, local time,
we received a communication from our HPG net. It came within the scope of our restored coverage at
Imbros III in Prefecture I. Prior to that, the information was carried via a virtual command
circuit—passed on from JumpShips entering systems to the next ship jumping out in the direction of the
Core.”
He looked to the end of the table at an aide with the flashes of Republic Military Intelligence on her tunic. “Major Kiyosaki, if you will provide particulars.”
“Yes, Exarch.” The woman rose. Her hair hung across her forehead in a coppery bang. Her eyes were almond shaped and dark.
“Some weeks ago a Clan Sea Fox merchant JumpShip was preparing to depart from the zenith point of Kandersteg, in the Lyran Commonwealth, not far from the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone. Just before it jumped for New Exford, it detected a transmission from the observation station located at the system’s apex proximity point. It was a panicky broadcast, intended for planetary authorities. It included video images.”
The room darkened. The space behind Major Kiyosaki evidently contained a large tri-vid set, because that end of the room abruptly filled with stars. The viewpoint dove dizzily toward a central cluster of light-points seeming brighter than the rest. Unlike the stars, these grew in apparent size, became disks.
“JumpShip light sails,” Captain Bishop murmured. Then, in surprise: “A good half dozen of them!”
As she said this Tara Campbell’s eyes began to resolve the image painted on the sunward surface. She knew it before she could make out any detail, just by general outline. “Jade Falcon?” she asked in wonder.
As if there was any other possibility, she chided herself at once. Her stomach, which had begun to feel as if it was sinking through some extraspatial dimension at the mention of the wordsJade Falcon Occupation Zone went into full reentry free fall.
“A Jade Falcon fleet,” the Major intoned, “apparently out of the Falcon Zone. Yet that was not the most unsettling thing.”
The circular sails continued to grow. Then the stars swam as the display centered upon one particular sail. It expanded until the JumpShip itself, tiny by comparison, appeared like a seed pod, attached to the sail by invisible cords.
“But that can’t be—” Tara Campbell said.
Kiyosaki nodded. “A WarShip”
Tara shook her head, not in refutation of the intel major’s words, but in denial of what her eyes were telling her. “Not just a WarShip, but a battleship,” she said. “I’ve seen them in books. An actual battleship .”
“Nightlordclass, we believe,” the Exarch said, so as not to be excluded.
“Yes, sir,” Major Kiyosaki said. “From its outline our archivists have tentatively identified it as the Jade
Falcon Naval ReserveEmerald Talon . It took part in the invasion of 3049. After the Smoke Jaguars’ genocidal bombardment from orbit of the city of Edo on Turtle Bay produced a surge of revulsion among the Clanners themselves, Clan Wolf took the lead in ostentatiously bidding away all naval assets in all future actions. The other Clans had to follow suit or lose face. All WarShips were recalled to the home worlds. TheTalon went with them.”
“And now she’s back,” Tara Campbell said. The fingers of her right hand played a quick arpeggio on the table. She frowned. “The Falcons are invading the Commonwealth, then?”
The virtual model of the battleship behind Kiyosaki was replaced by a stylized star map of the outward reaches of Steinerspace, where they fetched up against the Falcon zone. “As you can see, Countess Northwind, the fleet would have had to have made one jump into the Lyran Commonwealth already, via Graceland, to reach Kandersteg. A JumpShip arriving at the nadir jump point from Graceland shortly before the Jade Falcon emergence brought no mention of any Clan attack. Apparently the Falcons escaped detection in the Graceland system altogether.”
Tara’s diplomatic-corps upbringing allowed her to mask her surprise. Kandersteg certainly seemed to be receiving a substantial amount of JumpShip traffic despite the HPG collapse. Her own home on Northwind seldom saw JumpShips these days.
“Countess,” Captain Bishop said in a low voice.
“Speak up, Captain,” Tara Campbell said.
“In the past, whenever the Clans have come to call, they’ve killed people and broken things at every step along the way. Does that accord with what your archivists have to say, Major, ma’am?”
“It does.”
“So it certainly appears that whatever they’re up to, the Falcons aren’t invading Steinerspace. Or at least they’re sure not going about it in their classic manner.”
Tara Campbell’s eyes narrowed as she studied the star map. “But they brought a battleship—not to mention that many JumpShips—forsomething . How did this tidbit happen to fall into our command circuit?”
“Apparently the Sea Foxes hastily recalculated their jump and went to Grunwald instead,” the Exarch said,
