LE5739 - Falcon Rising, page 16
"I do believe you can. Why did you think she could surmount the odds you spoke of?"
Joanna looked off in the distance. "I do not know what I thought. My job was to train her. I always train from the same point of view. I start with the assumption that the trainee is scum and I have to make her worthy. Well, of course Diana is not a trainee in the usual sense, she is a proven warrior, but I have to take the view that more has to be found inside the warrior, that there is a well from which apparent impossibilities have to be drawn."
"I have never been a falconer, as you have, but I wonder, wouldn't it be better to assume that the warrior you're training is going to go all the way and—"
"No, it is not. If I assumed that, I might miss something." She stood up and began to mix herself another fusionnaire at the low table where the three bottles that contributed the fusionnaire ingredients stood. She had had to brush off piles of clothes and paper onto the floor to make room for the bottles. The room itself now looked like any room Joanna had ever inhabited. Messy and cluttered—at least that was the way other people saw it. She herself knew that the piles of things were not as careless as they looked. She always knew where everything was.
"You know," Horse said, "it's odd, but your sour views probably are what have made you such a success."
Joanna turned, her eyes squinting as she took a sip of the fusionnaire. She must have made it particularly strong, because Horse noticed her shoulders shudder a bit from the impact of the drink. "What, Horse, do you precisely mean by your babble? I tell you, you are reading those books much too much. Or did something happen to you on Huntress? You seem somehow different."
"Something did happen to me there. I discovered that there was the possibility I could be beaten. Subdued."
She took another sip. "More of your babble. Tell me, what did you mean about my, what did you say, sour views?"
"I meant that, by taking the wrong side of the issue, you somehow wind up with the right side."
Joanna guffawed. A little of her drink spilled, and Horse could see that her eyes were slightly glazed.
"By assuming Diana had practically no chance, Joanna, you have gotten her to the last round of the bloodname trials. I like her choice of the caverns as venue."
This time Joanna took a big swig of the drink. "Do you? I despise it. I wish I had never let her visit them. This idea originated there, I can almost recall seeing it in her eyes without knowing what I was seeing."
"Now, who's babbling?"
"Maybe so. It is easy to do when I have to listen to your drivel, with all its contractions and words from books."
"What is wrong with the caverns, from your point of view? Do you agree with the others who say they should not be allowed as venue?"
Joanna snorted. "No, what do I care what they say? I meant the caverns themselves. Too confined, too many narrow passages, only a few areas where a BattleMech can maneuver well. Combat should be out in the open, not in small, confined areas."
Horse almost brought up the two times Joanna had been forced to fight in the Great Gap on Twycross. Even though she had gained a significant victory the second time, both experiences should have provided sufficient reason for her to distrust confined spaces.
"Well," he said, "I think the choice of the caverns is fine, especially each time I recall Ravill Pryde's furious reaction to it."
* * *
Ravill Pryde had indeed been furious. Even as House Leader serving as Oathmaster for the coin ceremony, where the warrior whose coin came out first from the gravity funnel called the Well of Decision got to choose the style of combat, while the one whose name was on the back of the second coin to emerge chose venue. Diana's coin had come out second, and there had been a trace of a smile on her face when she followed her opponent's choice of BattleMech combat with the choice of Falcon Caverns as venue.
Now, as he sat alone in his quarters, Ravill could not stop thinking of that moment. At the ceremony the room had suddenly been possessed by the angry reactions of those in the room. Diana had seemed pleased by their opposition. The audience had clearly agreed when Ravill pointed out that the caverns were an honored Ironhold tourist attraction. Sending BattleMechs into it, machines that could damage and even destroy age-old features, would be a desecration.
Diana had stood firm.
" 'Mechs will fit into the caverns, quiaff?" she asked calmly, ignoring the anger around her.
"Aff."
"And, in choice of venue, I may choose any site on Iron-hold, even its moon, so long as the fight does not take place near settlements of people, quiaff?"'
Her moon reference was, of course, to Rhea, the moon where her father had fought his final bloodname battle.
"Well, aff."
"Then, it appears I have fulfilled all the conditions. I choose Falcon Caverns as venue."
Ravill Pryde had been silent for a moment. He was unusually conscious of his shortness when facing the tall Diana. Even though freeborn, she had always exhibited the roughness and toughness of a trueborn Jade Falcon warrior. He had never seen her so confident. He did not like to think that this freeborn was one step away from a bloodname.
After holding a stare at Diana for a long while, Ravill Pryde said, "Very well. Falcon Caverns attracts mainly freeborns, so I suppose damage to it is no cause for regret."
The freeborn comment was calculated on Ravill Pryde's part. If the insult had found a target in Diana, she did not, however, show it.
Grelev had reported to him that disapproval of the choice of the Falcon Caverns site had swept Ironhold City.
"There will be few who will be sorry to see this Diana's defeat there," Grelev had said in his usual careful, well-thought-out way. As ever, the man made Ravill's skin crawl.
"I thought the fact she is freeborn is enough reason for the resentment of Diana," Ravill said.
"That, too," Grelev replied.
Grelev had then dutifully left the room, leaving Ravill alone with his thoughts.
I never thought it would get this far, her quest. My mistake. I should have realized her tenacity could work in her favor here, too. If she does pull off the miracle and actually win against this highly skilled warrior, I do not know if I can bear her victory. What should I do, though? What can I do?
At that moment a plan began to form in Ravill Pryde's mind.
* * *
Joanna's speech had become thick, but she remained coherent.
"Did you see Diana tonight, when I warned her against this Leif? She knows him, Horse. She seems to think he is, I do not know, a decent fellow or something like that. I hate that."
Horse nodded. "I agree. The less you know of your opponent, the better."
"She could see him as a friend and, at a key point, hold back. Try to defeat him without hurting him or be afraid to finish him off when the opportunity occurs."
"Look at it this way," Horse said. "If she is worthy of the bloodname, she will have to act as a warrior, in all the meanings and implication of that word."
"Stop with your precious learning from a book."
"This is from no book. It is from my own experiences. I believe a warrior does not, as you say, hold back. If Aidan Pryde had suddenly become my enemy, I would have killed him, simple as that. True warriors do not let subtleties of friendship and comradeship interfere with their duty."
"High-sounding words, Horse. If Diana could pull a stranger who had just tried to humiliate her out of his cockpit, then she is capable of easing up on this Leif because of her stupid emotions."
"I disagree, Joanna. I think her stupid emotions, as you call them, are her best weapon. Think of her father. She is Aidan Pryde in her ways, in her skills, in her willingness to take risks."
"I should detest you for saying that. It is a typically freeborn thought. Yet, I think I agree with you. There is not only the physical resemblance, there is the personality. With her, I have to remember Aidan Pryde much more than I want to. I cannot think any more. You are as difficult to talk to, Horse, as dealing with a trio of 'Mechs in combat—or Aidan Pryde. I have to sleep now."
Pushing aside a pile of fatigues, Joanna dropped onto the bed and was immediately asleep.
Delicately, trying not to disturb her, Horse transferred the bed debris onto a table and managed to get a blanket over Joanna with only a weak grunt from her.
I must get some sleep, too. Tomorrow is the day, the day when Diana proves her point or shows she is essentially a freeborn not fit to bear a bloodname. I wonder what Aidan Pryde would think? He would not support her as a father, since he only knew of her existence in the last minutes before he died, but I think he would support her as a warrior. After all, he posed as a freeborn for much of his military career, all part of the great legend. He understood freeborns better than any other trueborn. Yet at heart he remained trueborn. Well, it's a problem I can't resolve now, will probably never resolve. Best I get back to my former ways. Back then, I just settled into my natural freeborn resentment oftrueborns and did not have to deal with the gray areas between the two. Stravag, I must get to sleep.
In his quarters, Horse duplicated Joanna's fall into bed, though it was a neater bed, with sheets and blankets tucked in military fashion.
22
Ironhold City, Ironhold
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Space
13 March 3060
In the hospital room to which she had been relocated after being taken off the shell, Peri had not even requested a chance to watch the bloodname contest. Some medtech would probably have told her she was still weak and should not subject herself to the excitement of viewing such an event. Medtechs reasoned that way.
She had vowed to escape from the hospital room in order to find a holovid room and watch Diana compete. In the interim, she had managed, during her exercise periods, to steal items of clothing from various sources. She could not believe that stealing could be so easy. Now, she could sneak out of the hospital. Since the clothes were mismatched, she would not be very fashionable, but she knew there were a lot of freeborns who traipsed about in strange get-ups. She was confident she could blend in.
After she had secreted a pair of pills beneath her tongue during a medtech scheduled visit, she spit them out, then quickly donned the bizarre clothing. She found it strange that no one seemed to notice the woman in odd clothing walking unsteadily through the halls, past the administrative area and out the doors of the medical center.
* * *
Samantha Clees had arranged for holovid cameras to be placed all through the potential combat areas of the Falcon Caverns. Dark interiors were usually difficult for holovid transmission, and—should the combatants enter certain areas—the figures would vanish in the holovid field. However, the cameras were linked to a computer that constantly digitized the image, analyzing it carefully to locate and provide images that would not be visible to the individual cameras. The computer's memory base could often fill in the rest of the figure appropriately, in ways that sort of filled in the blanks. The result would not always be an accurate representation of the reality, but usually it came close enough for viewers to follow the action.
As she paced around the holovid table that had been set up in her Jade Falcon Tower quarters, Samantha watched the two miniature BattleMechs appear on the perimeter of the holographic field. She felt excitement building up in her. Any contest between 'Mechs thrilled her. A powerful machine and a pilot at one with it seemed to Samantha the essence of being a Clan warrior.
Diana showed mastery of her Nova, even though her former 'Mech of choice had been a Warhawk. She had probably made the change with the bloodname contest in mind. The lighter, more flexible Nova heightened her skills at maneuverability and quick reactions.
Mech Warrior Leif used a Black Lanner, a 'Mech Samantha particularly admired. It had good range and excellent firepower. Even in battles the Falcons had lost, Leif had acquitted himself well in this 'Mech, with a particular talent for using its weapons wisely, with a cold calculation and mercilessness that was characteristic of the finest Jade Falcon warriors.
Samantha had to walk around the holovid field to view the two BattleMechs about to enter their respective entrances. Each stood outside, out of sight of the other, awaiting the relayed signal from Oathmaster Ravill Pryde to enter Falcon Caverns through the only two entrances large enough to welcome a BattleMech into the interior. The whole cave system had been checked and mapped overnight for the two warriors. Accessible tunnels and caverns had been discovered and placed into their 'Mechs' computer maps. Some accessible locations had been declared off-limits at the order of the saKhan. Samantha had not wanted destruction wrought on the particularly popular and, she assumed without being able to analyze for herself, beautiful attractions. Tracking information would warn each pilot away from the off-limit locations and tunnels that contained too many hazards.
Samantha heard a noise behind her. She turned around and saw Grelev, standing in the shadows.
"Yes, Grelev."
"Ravill Pryde told me to stay out of his sight today. I had no place to go but my quarters. I thought I would find a place to watch the battle from instead. I still have my key-card for this complex, so I came here. I hope you do not mind. I will stay in the shadows here, remain silent."
Samantha laughed. Even Grelev must have noticed the unusual phenomenon, for he stepped forward, as if to see if there was anything he could do to cure this sudden malady. Samantha held up her hand. "No, I am all right. I was just startled, that is all. Sometimes your talent for understatement catches me off-guard. You seem to have an unusual sense of humor, Grelev. Warrior humor does not often have the edge you put on your observations. Of course you may stay. I could use someone to talk to, Grelev. Come forward. Take a seat."
Grelev seemed pleased.
As he sat down, he pointed toward the holovid images. "Look. The signal. It is starting."
While Grelev watched the holovid version of Diana's Nova enter Falcon Caverns, Samantha saw MechWarrior Leif's Black Lanner manage to get through an opening whose real counterpart was massive, but was just wide enough for the 'Mech to clear both sides without angling its body. The field on the holovid table darkened as the interior cameras were engaged, and one saw the battle through a cutaway view of tunnels, a cutaway that changed whatever position the viewer took.
"I wish I could be there, riding on the shoulder of one of the 'Mechs," Grelev said suddenly. "This could be quite spectacular. I mean, not only with the battle itself, but there will be rocks flying, maybe a stalactite or two shot off and flying to the cave floor. This holovid will never capture the real thing."
"Some of the formations have been there for centuries. You wish to see them destroyed in a moment, Grelev?"
He shrugged. "What difference does that make? I cannot comprehend centuries. This is now. I mean, rock that has been on the wall for several centuries falls on the ground and stays there for several years and people of other times, after we are long dead, happen to kick some of the rocks around. We do not even know who they will be, so what about rocks? What difference will there be about some rock debris in centuries from now?"
"I do not know, Grelev. I do not truly know."
* * *
The light of the cavern interior seemed dimmer when viewed on a screen inside a 'Mech, Diana noted as she allowed the Nova to lumber slowly down the tunnel. If she had transferred the view to a rear camera, she would have seen the tunnel opening recede quickly with the long 'Mech strides. She sensed some movement above the 'Mech. Tentative, skittery movement. Bats probably, she thought. She knew there were clumps of them covering the cave ceiling near the opening. She had been told that at nightfall they flew out of the large cave mouth in a thick black cloud. Many of them toured the night sky, searching for insect prey, and often were sighted at a great distance from the cave. Somehow they made it back to Falcon Caverns each morning, though. Her informant, a freeborn who worked as a tour guide in the caverns, had told her that few dead bats had been found away from the caverns and, mysteriously, few bat corpses were found inside the tunnels.
She started studying the patterns discovered by her active probe system, which she had asked her techs to install for this contest, replacing the Nova's anti-missile system that she felt would not be needed for this battle. She noticed the delicate handiwork of nature upon the cavern walls. In addition to the stalactite formations, varied in thickness and shape, there were many latticelike accumulations called boxwork. In some spots they looked like delicate lace. Warriors knew little about such things as lace, but Diana had been brought up as a freeborn and had actually fingered the delicate craftwork in some of the lower-caste freeborn households. Back in those childhood days, the skin of her fingertips had been sensitive and not the callused rough surface it was now. She could probably not even feel the cloth now, but her memories of touching the lace were still vivid.
Well, enough of foolish recollections. Time to find a way to the Black Lanner through the intricate network of the Falcon Cavern tunnels.
The active probe showed Leif to be quite far from her now. She wondered if he had detected her yet. Probes were variable underground. Mineral and ore deposits could distort signals, not to mention what might happen to them through mud and sludge.
He briefly flashed out of sight, no doubt due to some geological phenomenon. No matter. Plenty of time to work with. Leif had agreed that entering by different routes, aside from eliminating the problem of one 'Mech having to follow the other, also allowed for them to learn to maneuver in unaccustomed territory. Right now Diana felt a little resistance from her Nova at having to descend into the caverns along a rocky and sometimes steep path. She remembered the difficulty in merely walking through similar tunnels weeks ago and, for a moment, doubted whether her choice of this venue had been as clever as she thought—especially as she noted the Black Lanner come back on the probe screen, appearing to making its way through the tunnels with expertise.
