It was supposed to be the most significant archaeological find for the past one thousand years; instead it was in danger of being destroyed. He had felt that he didn't need the world, now the world was coming back to haunt him. This was supposed to unite mankind so that everyone could share this monumental event; instead it would serve as mankind's black dirge, to be sung as the boatman carried them all across the Styx.
Professor Adrian Smythe listened intently to the story being told by the leader of the surviving delegates with wanton apprehension. A part of him wanted to shut them all out; their problems should not be his problems. Couldn't they understand that he and his staff were working on one of the most monumental discoveries which could very well shed light on the origins of mankind and that they should not be disturbed?
Smythe was born in the year 3000. It was a significant time for man had at last conquered the stars. JumpShips had colonized hundreds of worlds and there was to be room and enough resources for all. But like all human follies, the specters of greed, jealousy and power reared their horrid selves and once again mankind was at war with itself. Many of his generation eagerly went to the schools of higher learning to either become businessmen or soldiers, many ended up either rich or dead as the countless wars for supremacy raged across the Inner-Sphere. But Smythe was a different sort of fellow, he was a romantic who dreamt of ancient civilizations, of high-browed kings who worshipped the gods of antiquity and reveled in their marvelous palaces. In time, he became the head of the archaeology department in Tharkad University, spending his days doing research and grading the term papers of people who didn't seem to matter to the real world. The military-industrial complex was a gargantuan, unstoppable beast and if you were not part of it, you would be either ignored or worse, become fodder for its countless graves across the galaxy.
And so Adrian Smythe was destined to be nothing more than a man who didn't belong in the 31st century, a man who would disappear in the pages of history for it was not the time of his kind to be writing it. But then the fates intervened. Just as the Lyran Alliance began to feel the throes of the FedCom Civil War, Smythe had bumped into a half-crazed prospector who kept raving about a lost city in a desert moon of a gas giant located in an uninhabited star system. Smythe was about to dismiss it as just another wild spacefarer's tale until the man described it so vividly that Smythe instinctively knew that the man was telling the truth. It was then that he realized that he had a destiny to fulfill; it became an obsessive quest, but it gave meaning to his existence.
After selling all of their possessions and convincing their few friends and relatives to finance them, Smythe, his wife and a few devoted archaeology students from the university chartered a JumpShip to travel off the beaten paths and deliver them to the desert moon. The crew thought they were mad, but Smythe cajoled, pleaded, negotiated and threatened until he got his way. A commercial DropShip allowed them to disembark on the desert moon's surface and left them with several years' supply of food and water, promising to return in six months time. As it happened, the DropShip did not return for at least two years but the Smythes didn't seem to care. Their fanatical persistence was rewarded when they located the ancient city that the prospector had told them about.
It was exactly as he had envisioned it. A precise replica of the ancient city of Babylon during its height stood at the base of the mountains. Smythe and his team spent several years just exploring the vast, deserted metropolis as their awe and wonderment grew. In time, they knew that they needed more funds and more people to help them in uncovering the secrets of the city's origins. They had merely put a pebble in the ocean, there were so many secrets to uncover, so many revelations to discern. To that extent, Smythe was able to contact his counterpart in the Draconis Combine, Dr. Mordecai Dayan of Luthien University. Despite their differences in the political spectrum, both men became fast friends because of their love of history. Dayan was instrumental in getting further financing so that they could mount a second expedition to the moon for the purposes of uncovering the vast mysteries of the ancient city once and for all.
Now that they finally had the men and the resources to truly begin to uncover the mysteries of the ancient metropolis at last, three truckloads of survivors from a delegation that was destined to attend the Tharkad Conference drove through the Shamash Gate and into the northern part of the city that afternoon, he realized that the furies might have just decreed their black curse upon them all.
"Well, that's pretty much it." Dominic Durant said as he finished recounting the delegation's ordeal across the desert as he faced the senior staff of the Smythe-Dayan Expedition. Sitting across from him was Professor Adrian Smythe, his wife Constance Smythe as well as Dr. Mordecai Dayan and several graduate students from various universities all across the Inner-Sphere. Natasha Kerensky and Carlos Sanz flanked Dominic. All were sitting on folding stools inside the inner Temple of Marduk. The lighted braziers served to illuminate the glazed blue bricks that were the walls of the temple as the desert once more settled into night. Across the massive archways were written strange glyphs while statues of winged lions with the heads of bearded men stared down at them from their gargoyle-like perches.
The archaeological team said nothing as they absorbed what was said. A few eyebrows were raised but nothing came out of their mouths as they listened with stone-cold silence. It seemed that their peaceful and orderly world had just crumbled in the unbridled face of reality.
"Could I ask something?" Dominic said.
"Of course, we are a democracy here." Dr. Mordecai Dayan said as a matter of fact.
"How many of you are here?" Dominic asked.
"We number about fifty-two." Constance Smythe explained. "That includes the senior archaeologists plus the students as well as the support staff."
"When will your expedition be picked up by your JumpShip?" Sanz asked.
"Oh, not for another eighteen months, I'm afraid." Dr. Dayan said. "We just had a supply run about six months ago."
"And you have no grounded DropShips either?" Natasha asked.
"None." Mordecai Dayan answered. "We have a permanent supply depot in the Royal palace that can last us for another year, at least."
Sanz bit his lip. So there was going to be no chance of rescue using that option.
"I would like to ask," Professor Adrian Smythe said, "why are the Blakists trying to destroy you?"
"We are not quite sure at this point." Dominic explained. "I believe they are either after someone within the group or something that we possess that is of great value to them."
"And you have no idea what it is?" Smythe asked incredulously.
"Like I said," Dominic sighed, "we have been on the run and I just haven't had time to think."
"We understand, Major Durant." Constance Smythe tried to smooth things over. "But I also hope that you understand our position here. We are not soldiers. If WOB attacks, it will be a massacre."
"I hear you." Dominic said. "All we are asking for now is that you give us some time to figure out what they want from us."
"Very well." Mordecai Dayan said. All of them knew there wasn't any choice at this point. "But I hope you will know soon and let us know as well."
"You have my word." Dominic concluded. With that, the meeting broke up. The archaeological team huddled in a small group with barely concealed arguments brewing between them. Dominic, Sanz and Natasha walked out into the main dusty street and started towards the Royal palace, where most of the delegates were sheltered.
"Now what?" Sanz asked as the three continued to walk.
"I don't know how much time we got, but we need to find out what the Blakists want from us." Dominic said then turned his attention to Natasha. "Captain, what is your assessment, can we defend this place?"
"There are about fifty of us, if we can somehow convince these archaeologists to fight for us, that gives us about a hundred." Natasha said as they walked on. "But even with those numbers, the position is untenable. Only a few of us has got combat training, the rest are either diplomats or civilians."
"Did we get anything useful from the trucks we commandeered?" Sanz asked.
"We did good on that raid but we lost some good men and a 'Mech as well. We got crates of small arms, ammunition, night-vision equipment as well as a few heavy weapons." Dominic explained, as they got closer to the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate. "And a set of curiosity pieces." He added.
Sanz was momentarily confused. "Curiosity pieces?"
"Yes." Dominic suppressed a smirk. "We found one crate that contained personal belongings labeled 'Precentor'. I surmised that all the stuff we found there belonged to their CO; mostly worthless, sentimental stuff with the exception of one datadisk."
"What did it contain?" Natasha asked.
"A snuff Tri-Vid." Dominic said. "Starring no less than Duchess Kali Liao and Precentor Brandon St. Jamais."
"Brandon St. Jamais?" Sanz said. "Is he related to-?"
"Correct." Dominic said. "He is the younger brother of the WOB Precentor Martial. I heard that he is a rising star among the Blakist Militia, he was an Adept during Operation Odysseus and did well there. Funny, I don't recall getting an intel report stating that he got promoted. I guess WOB must be rapidly expanding more than we expected."
"Sick man." Sanz said as the three stood before the Royal Palace.
"I'm keeping it with me." Dominic patted the inner-pocket of his Star League uniform. "May be useful to us in the future."
"I'll go see to the others." Sanz said as he began to walk up the stone steps towards the entrance of the palace.
Dominic turned and looked at Natasha as they both stood there, admiring the clear, evening sky. "I was hoping that this would be a good defensive position, but what you are saying is that it doesn't really matter."
"We don't have the manpower nor do we have the equipment, Major. Sorry." Natasha said. "The most we could do is delay them. But the outcome will not be in doubt."
"Suppose we man the walls like the defenders of antiquity did, can we hold them off?" Dominic asked.
"We would need tens of thousands to man these walls, even then, they could easily breach it using armor, 'Mechs and air power."
"So our best bet is to let them come in and ambush them?"
"Yes, it's our only bet. We need to set up some strongpoints and a layered-defense. But even then it's only a delay to the inevitable."
"Better than doing nothing." Dominic said. "At least it will get their minds off surrendering and may give us more time to get to the bottom of this. Can you use your 'Mech inside the city?"
"No, the streets are much too narrow and it isn't that large as far as cities go. I won't be able to maneuver." Natasha said as a matter of fact. "I'll use my 'Mech outside the city walls and try to draw as much of the enemy away as I can."
"What's to stop them from just holding you off and coming in with their 'Mechs?"
"I checked out the surrounding layout of this ancient site." Natasha explained. "It seems to have been built on top of a plateau, the mountains are off towards the north, just past the Citadel, near the Ishtar Gate. The east and west walls have got jagged rocks near them, that means if they use 'Mechs and tanks, they would have to come in from the south, right at the main entrance of the city. The 'Mechs would also find it very confining, only a few main thoroughfares that would clog them up."
"So if they come inside the city, it would be with tanks and infantry?" Dominic asked.
"And helicopters." Natasha added. "They know we still have one 'Mech and they will come after me using sheer numbers of their own 'Mechs."
"Okay, when they locate us, will they come at the height of the day or at night?"
"I would guess at night. They believe that they have superior night-vision capabilities, which they do, and they will attack either at dusk or just before dawn." Natasha said.
"Very well, Captain." Dominic sighed. Deep at the back of his mind, he knew it might come down to this. There was a very big possibility that they would all be dead very soon. The odds against them were just too great. Natasha had already concluded that and accepted it. The question was, would he be able to fight and die, or would he and the others break?
"With your permission, Major," Natasha said as she was trying to keep busy, "I would like to check out a few more potential areas in the city for our defense."
"Don't let me stop you, Captain." Dominic smiled as Natasha turned away and walked out into the starry night. A part of him wanted to just give up and surrender to the Blakists but he knew it wouldn't matter in the end anyway. For a brief instance, Dominic Durant had a premonition, a feeling swept over him as he sensed that he would never leave this desert moon.
The Royal Palace stood right beside the Ishtar Gate. Located at the northernmost part of the walled-city, these tall buildings were shadowed by the mountain ranges to the north. Although the palace had wide-open windows for ventilation, most of the light sources were positioned inwards so that the illumination would not be visible from the outside.
Mandrissa Monika Lee lay in a cot beside a tall stone column, resting her old, weary body. She propped herself up on an elbow as she saw people coming to and fro, administering first aid to the weak and sick. A small illuminator lamp hung near an unused brazier, casting long shadows in the inner-hallway. As she lay there, she instantly saw Jessica Bradshaw passing by and waved at her. The former stewardess of the Amerigo quickly noticed the official Capellan delegate and walked over to her, smiling as she knelt down beside the older woman.
"How are you feeling?" Jessica Bradshaw asked.
"Much better, thank you." Mandrissa Lee smiled back. "I would like to ask you something."
"As long as it's not a long question. I have many things to do."
"Something very short, then." Mandrissa Lee spoke softly so that Bradshaw had to get closer in order to hear her. "How long have you been an agent for the Maskirovka?"
Jessica Bradshaw stared back at her with a gaping mouth. She had a mixture of shock and surprise.
"Come on, Ms. Bradshaw." Mandrissa Lee said. "Your family hailed from Spica, yet you knew about ancient acupuncture? Only someone with a thorough knowledge of pressure points would know how to numb my hip joints like that. I have had many chiropractors who have been treating me and the one technique that you used reminds me of an acupuncturist for the Warrior House of Ijori."
"You accuse me of being a spy? After all that I have done for you?" Jessica Bradshaw was incredulous as she started to back away.
Just as the former stewardess turned to walk away, Count Seiji Oshiwara, who placed a restraining grip on her shoulders, instantly stopped her. Bradshaw thought about knocking the older man to the ground using her martial-arts techniques but instantly stopped when she noticed Tai-i Chifune Kishikawa close by, observing them with a vibrokatana at the ready.
Jessica turned back at the old woman lying on the cot. "We both serve the same state. How could you have betrayed me?"
"I did not betray you, my dear." Mandrissa Lee smiled. "I simply want to know what is going on before I die." With that, Jessica was led away towards the outer hall.
