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.”“Yes, Lord Sandoval.” Michael was properly respectful, even though he paused before answering.Well, what should Erik expect from a man who had stepped forward as his uncle’s soldier, bought and paid for? Michael Eus had brought the Duke’s orders to Erik personally, a coded verifax commanding that all Swordsworn forces move against the Steel Wolves at once or otherwise confound Star Colonel Torrent’s plans so that Kal Radick’s faction could not send more support to Ronel.“Keep them tied down on Achernar.”That had been Aaron Sandoval’s order.Standing in full regalia, no doubt about to attend a highly visible—as highly visible as one could get without HPG service—function as Lord Governor, the Swordsworn’s leader nodded imperiously.No questions clouded those bright, cerulean eyes.This man was the master of all he surveyed.“Do not allow Torrent to withdraw for Ronel, Erik.Do not allow him to seize control of the local HPG station.Kal Radick does have a working, JumpShip-based hyperpulse generator.If we allow him to establish the spine of a communications network, our Swordsworn will be hard pressed to resist him.Listen to Michael Eus.He has been my eyes and ears—and occasionally my hands—on Achernar since before your arrival there.He will have suggestions.”And Erik had been cautious of Eus being suborned by Legate Brion Stempres.“Have you been in touch with our friends inside River’s End?” Erik asked over his private channel to Eus.Reports from the Sonora Plateau had trailed off, confirming that Kyle Powers had indeed been killed in combat.Martyring himself, by all indications.“Our reception is readied?”Michael’s voice bled confidence through the transmission.“News agencies friendly to your uncle’s—to your agenda are on hand to put a positive spin on our arrival.Industrial areas owned by Taibek Mining, Steyger Railways, and the Fronc Granaries are cleared.Together they form a defendable staging area and can house all equipment inside warehouses.Logistical support in food and ground services has been put into place.”Which, when all added together, would give Erik a fair base of operations on the outskirts of River’s End, in between the city proper and the militia’s outlying command post.It might even buy him a measure of goodwill among the populace.Good PR never hurt.But he would still have preferred another week.Throttling his Hatchetman into a forward walk again, pacing the column at fifty meters, Erik shoved the thought aside and tried not to let his uncle’s interference worry him.Even such surprises as Michael Eus’s perfidy were to be expected in the long-reaching game the Sandovals played, though it was hard not to feel slighted, in at least some sense.Duke Aaron Sandoval was not here, not in person, and Erik was.That counted for something more than a title.Erik should not—and would not—be made to feel the part of a spectator.No.He remained on the board and in play.A knight.At worst, a pawn.That idea appealed to him at some remote level, and Erik felt an upward tug at the corner of his mouth.A pawn in Caesar’s game.And pawns that survived to the final rank became powerful pieces indeed.River’s EndAchernarJessica Searcy bit down on her lower lip.Not hard enough to draw blood.Just enough for the pain to reign in her emotions.Heavy, golden curtains drawn across her living room windows filtered Achernar’s already gray day down to gloomy twilight.She sat on the couch, feet pulled up beneath her, trivid remote balanced on one leg.Her left thumb rested down against the memory timer.A mug of forgotten coffee cooled on the end table as she pressed in, backing up the once-live holo footage, eased back for a moment, then brushed the feathertouch sensor once more so that the entire scene played out again, and again, as she watched with dry, aching eyes.Watched Raul Ortega kiss another woman.Jessica had it memorized.She wasn’t even certain anymore what she looked for in the trivid’s memory buffer.She caught Raul’s slight recoil over something said or gestured.Then the red-haired woman grabbed the front of his MechWarrior togs and pulled him in to plant a hard kiss on his mouth.That was hard enough on her.But it was Raul’s hand coming up, cupping the back of her head with desperate need, that stabbed a shard of ice into her heart every time.He broke it off, finally, but with no obvious look of regret or shame.Words passed between the two, trampled by a news anchor’s voice that Jessica had long since muted.She didn’t need anyone else’s imagination filling in the blanks.She didn’t need to see again Raul’s half-amused smile, the determination behind his dark, dark eyes.Didn’t need it.Not at all.Biting down harder, Jessica backed the footage up again.17New DealAchernar Militia CommandAchernar6 March 3133Night’s chill grasp clutched at the morning, unwilling to let go even as the northeastern skies brightened to a pale rose.Raul Ortega glanced around at the few dozen ranks of soldiers and civilian contractors—reserves mixed in among standing guard, logistics among infantry and tank crewmen.Only the MechWarriors and Brion Stempres stood separate, ten paces out from the nearest row, filed by rank from Legate Stempres and Colonel Blaire through to supernumerary Tassa Kay.Raul’s place was in the middle, between Captains Diago and Charal DePriest.They stood in silent reverence as lottery-chosen technicians extinguished the fusion-flame funeral pyre and removed the ashes of Knight-Errant Kyle Powers.Raul turned back to the service and shook his head, slowly, carefully, keeping his opinions to himself.There were hardly enough warm bodies to fill one side of the parade grounds.Yet he knew that except for a skeleton watch crew in the command post, all on-base personnel had turned out for Sir Powers’ funeral.Blaire had even gone so far as to secure Star Colonel Torrent’s assurance that the Steel Wolves would also observe thirty minutes of respectful silence in honor of the fallen Sphere Knight.There would be no military maneuvers.No alerts.And there still were not enough bodies to turn out a decent honor guard.Twelve hundred and thirty-odd beating hearts.Gooseflesh prickled up Raul’s arms.This was the Republic’s strength on Achernar, and lucky to have it, he knew.There were worlds of The Republic that no longer knew the necessity of fielding a BattleMech, even for show
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