Opalescent Reflections

House of Cards

Chapter 10

Huntsvil, Camlann

Benjamin District, Draconis Combine

22 July 3051

The omnimechs of Delta Galaxy showed the evidence of heavy fighting as Ulric and their counterparts from Alpha Galaxy passed through trees of the swampy river valley and the ranks of the stalled Wolf advance.

In credit to Conal Ward, his exhausted Clusters had broken more than their own number, Ulric thought. Data intercepts suggested that the Twelfth and 103rd Level IV units of the ComGuards' First Division had been expected to hold the Red Wolves back for a full day, but they'd been shattered in less than three hours.

Ulric saw eyes going to his Gargoyle as he moved forwards. Technicians had replaced the original skull-like face with a head unit copying the characteristics of Phelan's old Wolfhound's head, captured almost two years before. Not only was the full-head ejection system likely to preserve valuable warriors in the future (and the Khan liked to consider himself valuable), the additional storage and other creature comforts made it a more practical cockpit for long campaigns like this one.

Also it was the shape of a wolf's head. Really, it was a shame that most Omnimech's heads were too closely built into their torsos to make refits like this practical, but the redesign was being factored into new production of the Gargoyle back on Strana Mechty.

"I asked for a resupply of ammunition, not relief," Conal protested, moving his Dire Wolf closer to Ulric's Gargoyle. "In six more hours, we will be at the edge of Huntsvil."

The Khan looked at the scarred armor of the assault 'mech. If Conal's mech was any example, it would take more than more missiles and autocannon rounds to bring Delta up to a state that was fit for storming the fixed defenses the ComGuards had no doubt been setting up around the ruins of Huntsvil. They'd been bad enough around Colliervil without another two weeks to prepare.

"Where do you expect to get more munitions from?" he asked instead. "I told you when we landed that what you had would have to last."

"I know Alpha and Gamma are not short," Conal shot back.

"That is because my officers have enforced limited expenditures," Ulric answered. "We started with the exact same issue that you did - and we have distributed everything that we have until the next shipment. If your magazines are dry then I suggest you have your 'mechs re-equipped with lasers and PPCs."

Ulric had seen the figures on Delta's ammunition expenditure. He suspected that if he let them, Conal's warriors would burn through everything remaining in the entire invasion force's supplies in a single day… and for all the other Wolf's hubris, that might not be enough to get through to Huntsvil.

Conal's Dire Wolf didn't point its guns at Ulric, but it sidestepped alongside his, keeping him generally in the field of fire. "We can give you Huntsvil, Ulric. I will fight a trial of possession for the ammunition."

Ulric shook his head. Conal never learned. "Then I will bid Natasha Kerensky to defend the claim of less profligate units. And she still has ammunition to fight that trial, while you do not."

That shut the most strident Crusader among Clan Wolf down. There had been widespread expectation that the returning Wolf Dragoons would fail to pass the Trials of Position required to regain warrior status, but Ulric had not believed it for a moment.

There had been one fatality, but the graying warriors had not only passed, they had proved crushingly effective, providing the Clan with four Star Commanders, two Star Captains and a Star Colonel to slot into the touman, with only a single Dragoon failing to score more than one kill. Natasha's four kill rampage, including polishing off Star Colonel Evon of the Nega Garrison Cluster, had been noteworthy.

Fortunately for Conal they were talking privately, so he could back down with some grace. "Having the ammunition expended against me would be less than ideal. I withdraw my bid."

"I understand the temptation, Conal. But your Red Wolves have won their share of glory," Ulric offered in a pacifying tone. "If you re-equip your 'mechs quickly then you may be in time to join the final assault." A light went on, marking a priority message. "Now excuse me, Khan Radick wishes my attention."

But when he accepted the call from Beta Galaxy, his saKhan was not the one who spoke.

"Ulric, we have a problem." His sibkin Erik came right to the point. "Enemy reinforcements are swarming out of the hills to the north and west. I estimate three enemy brigades."

The Khan pulled up the strategic map and frowned. Those hills were heavily wooded, native flora having retaken the area in the centuries since the human population fled eastern Avalon. That had made them a potential risk for infiltration, which was why Beta Galaxy was screening them with the 341st and 352nd Assault Clusters - Garth had agreed to preserve the two units as a hammer to crack Huntsvil's defenses once the other frontline units opened the road. But the two Clusters would be outnumbered beyond reasonable margins - even allowing for the Inner Sphere's disadvantages - and if they got pushed back then the techs and the supply vehicles operating behind the advance would be exposed. Perhaps even the dropships at the landing zone. "How long can Radick hold them?"

"The Silver Keshik is gone," Erik growled. "I saw a Kungsarme Atlas crush Radick's cockpit with its battlefist. They picked the perfect moment. I have my Cluster clinging to some high ground with good fields of fire, but we're running through our ammunition fast. Ramon is pulling his Cluster around for a counter-attack, but unless he can link up with me the freebirths will be able to pick us off one at a time."

"I understand." Ulric looked at the unit deployments. Delta was in shreds, whatever Conal claimed. Gamma was too far south. And Alpha was committed to the advance. "I can send one Cluster north to join forces with you."

"Have them move fast," his sibkin warned.

"I have just the fire-eater in mind," he assured the Star Colonel. "Rest assured, the pack stands together."

"Aff, always together," Erik agreed and cut the channel.

Ulric took a deep breath and then contacted the commander of the one Cluster of Epsilon Galaxy that had been included in the bid to fight on Camlann. "Natasha, I have a mission for you."

"It's about damn time," she answered from the cockpit of her own 'mech. Ulric had managed to obtain one of the rare and prized Orion battlemechs in the Wolf touman for Natasha when he disbanded Nega garrison cluster and let her build her own Cluster around what remained of the unit and her Dragoons. So far the Thirteenth Wolf Spiders had not been blooded in battle, but this was the perfect opportunity.

"We have three brigades of the Kungsarme hitting Beta Galaxy from the north," he expanded. "Khan Radick has been killed and the two assault clusters are separated and unable to link up for a counterattack. I need you to get up there, take charge and hold the line while we finish it."

"I don't do 'holding the line', Ulric." Natasha laughed at the orders. "I'll deal with them, but I'll handle them my own way."

"I have every faith in you," Ulric assured her. "Erik Kerensky and Ramon Sender are both alive, but I believe you have seniority so take charge of the northern flank." Natasha had been commanding a cluster before either of the other Star Colonels was even born.

"Trust me," the redhead told him with a grin. "I'd do that anyway."

Ulric wasn't sure why that made him feel nervous for his sibkin, but there was no time for that now. He was already past the forward positions of Delta Galaxy and the first indications of ComGuards forces were appearing ahead of him. With a nod he cut off communications with Natasha.

He would need a new saKhan, he thought. Conal would no doubt want to appoint another Crusader, perhaps even try to claim the position for himself - although most likely not the latter. The two of them rubbed each other the wrong way and Conal wouldn't want to put himself through that. He'd rather wait until he had a shot at rising directly to the senior Khan's position.

Ulric's lips twitched. Natasha's four kills had already given her great status - no other warrior had managed that in a formal Trial of Position before. If she also saved Beta Galaxy then a case could be made for transferring her Thirteenth Wolf Guards cluster into the Galaxy and making her both the new saKhan and Galaxy Commander. She would hate that almost as much as the Crusader officers of Beta would.

A squadron of ComStar helicopters popped up from behind a hill, opening up on Ulric's command group with light autocannon. While the damage was negligible, Ulric was sure that they were also reporting the advance of fresh Wolf warriors on Huntsvil.

Ulric snapshot at one with the autocannon in his arms. The cluster munitions were devastatingly effective against such light-weight targets and the 'Warrior' fell out of the sky with two of its counter-rotating rotor blades blown off.

Conscious of the need to conserve his ammunition, Ulric waited to see if the rest of his star had brought down their targets before firing just one autocannon at the survivor of the little squadron. It wasn't quite enough to bring the helicopter down but it turned to flee and then a short flight of LRMs from Mot's Timber Wolf blew it out of the sky - the mechwarrior had replaced the usual large launchers with smaller ones and fitted jump-jets with the tonnage freed up.

As Ulric and his command grouped moved forward, he stayed close to the Fourth Wolf Guards. He didn't want to be caught isolated in the same way as poor Garth.

Ahead of them, ComGuard units that had been probing towards Delta fell back. They must be regrouping on their own defense line, he thought. If they had pressed harder the ComGuards could have taken advantage of the Red Wolves' reduced state and inflicted serious casualties, but they had been too cautious and missed the possibility.

This is why they need us, Ulric thought. In the end, ComStar lacks the commitment that they need to be the Inner Sphere's protectors. They can slow the Crusaders, even win a small reprieve. When the truce breaks down, it will fall to the Wardens to guard the Inner Sphere.

Zenith Point, Hachiman

Galedon Military District, Draconis Combine

28 July 3051

The jumpship chain that had carried Victor's little force to Luthien had been improvised and the jumpships had then departed to support the collapsing defenses facing the Clans, so the only exit had been the original escape route, deeper into the Draconis Combine by way of uninhabited star systems.

They had made five jumps, taking them to Hachiman - a world that was little more than a name on a map to anyone in the Tenth Lyran Guards. Looking it up, the world was apparently known mostly as a minor industrial world - a source of electronics, but too distant from the borders to have been easily raided.

At least there was enough traffic that the thousands of civilians that had been straining the life support ever since they left Luthien could be taken off. The recharge station at Hachiman's zenith point was no longer able to fulfill its original purpose of transferring power to jumpships, but it was at least still useful for transhipment. Columns of men and women, many dressed in ways normally unthinkable for their high status, filed one at a time through airlocks, towing a single bag each behind them in the zero gravity.

Soon Omi would join that line. She had even less than most of her people - just her brother's swords and a small satchel of necessities. Victor didn't know when he'd see her again - or if he ever would. He'd accompanied her down to the airlock and now they hung against the wall, in companionable silence.

For the third time, Victor parted his lips to try to enquire about the future. It was more intimidating, in some ways, than the combat drop on Luthien. Before he could speak - or back down again - Kai descended into the ante-chamber by the airlock, followed by Chu-sa Kinnison. "Lady Kurita," Kai said with a bow. "The station have sent a message, advising that your uncle has arrived."

"My uncle?" Omi exclaimed.

Victor frowned. So far as he could recall, both of Omi's parents were only children. But she seemed pleased, if surprised.

The line through the airlock stalled, several people backing away to allow someone to enter the dropship. The man was middle aged, and grossly fat - buddha-like, Victor thought - with a completely bald head above his fine robes. Ponderously as he seemed to drift aboard, the new arrival's eyes were quick to scan the room and then spot the little group waiting. "My dear!"

"Uncle Chandy!" Omi's ladylike reserve dissolved into girlish delight and she kicked off from the wall to catch the man in a sudden embrace.

"Oh child!" the man exclaimed and returned the hug, looking solemn. "It has been too many years. And now to meet like this."

Victor glanced at Kai and mouthed 'uncle'?

Kai looked bemused, but Chu-sa Kinnison spotted the exchange and without changing his expression in the slightest, muttered: "Lord Chandrasekhar Kurita is a childhood friend of his distant cousin, the Coordinator's father."

"And you must be the fine samurai who rescued my dear niece," Chandrasekhar continued, looking at Victor and Kai. "I am deeply indebted to you." He tried to bow in mid-air and found himself drifting off the deck. "We all are… oh my… oh dear…" He didn't seem alarmed at the fact he was beginning to spin over, more bemused at how to deal with the situation.

"Uncle," Omi said with a resigned sigh and tried to help, but it took Victor and Kai stepping in to get the rotund man upright again. "Whatever brought you out here, uncle. And so fast?"

"I took a shuttle," Chandrasekhar admitted. "Terrible experience. Truly dreadful, but these are hard times and it is nothing to what you and your brother are going through."

Omi looked away and Victor reached out to take her hand, remembering himself at the last minute. He saw that the older Kurita had noticed the gesture and bit back resentment. Why should he feel ashamed at wanting to support a friend?

"I could have come to Hachiman," Omi told them. "I know some of the technical staff will be going to work there. And who knows when I can go to New Samarkand with shipping in such a mess."

"Well, not soon you see." Chandrasekhar advised. "Much has changed since Prince Victor and his company departed to rescue you, and I understand that the Luthien HPG was prevented from spreading news."

"What do you mean?"

The fat man clasped his hands together. "The Clans have been stopped, for now."

"What?!" "Really?!" Victor realized he and Kai had spoken over each other.

Chandrasekhar gave them a jolly smile. "Yes, really. I am as surprised as you, but it appears that ComStar had finally had enough and decided to, well, to flex their muscles for once. A fearful sight, I am sure. And very unexpected."

"What exactly happened, uncle?" Omi seemed confused. "I know ComStar's forces are substantial, but scattered across the Inner Sphere. How could they stop the Clans?"

"A gamble, my dear. I am sure that the Clans would call it a trial or some such, but they staked terms on the outcome of a battle which sounds like betting to me. Of course, I am not a military man, but that is how I see it. The Clans were offered Terra if they won, but if defeated they had to agree not to advance past a certain line for fifteen years. There has been great celebration of the ComGuards' victory."

"The ComGuards defeated the Clans?" Victor asked. "I know they have reserves of SLDF hardware, but barely any of their troops have serious experience."

"Ah, well. The ComGuards and the Kungsarme, to be precise," Chandrasekhar conceded. "But the facts are the facts. The Clans have formally acknowledged their defeat and concluded their invasion. It does not release any of our worlds, but it is a badly needed respite."

"Where is this line?" Kai asked.

"A direct line spinwards and anti-spinwards from Camlann. Safely corewards of my home here on Hachiman, and also of your homeworld, Prince Victor."

"More than half the Combine is above that line," Omi noticed bleakly.

"That is true. But many, many worlds are below the line and they are, for the most part, now safe. At least for now." Chandrasekhar shook his head. "No amount of money can buy us time," he added. "And for all the efforts of the DCMS, their valor did not buy us that time. Primus Rong and Precentor Martial Focht have achieved this and we must be grateful."

"Must we?" the young woman asked. "If ComStar had acted sooner..."

Victor frowned and then reached over to put his hand on her shoulder. "Let's be fair. If it was still Myndo Waterly leading ComStar, do you think they would have been helping us at all?"

"Now that would be hard to believe," Kai added. "Who knows what the previous Primus would have decided the Word of Blake demanded that she do?"

"I believe," Chandrasekhar observed mildly, "That it is unlikely she would have assisted the Federated Commonwealth, at the least. In any case, gratitude is what your brother asks of you, Omiko. He cannot leave New Samarkand at this time so he is appointing you to convey the Combine's congratulations to the Primus on Terra." He turned to Victor and Kai. "While I naturally cannot speak for your own families' intentions, my understanding is that you will be returned to the Federated Commonwealth via Terra as well, so you may be asked to fill the same role."

Victor nodded. Returning by way of Terra was a nicely neutral way to return home. Not the shortest, but he could imagine the furore that would result if a DCA jumpship arrived in the Draconis March to drop him off directly. It would be best if his next public appearance was somewhere neutral.

Chandrasekhar folded his hands across. "I am bold to ask this when I owe you much, Prince Victor. But I shall be impertinent and ask that you continue to extend your protection to my dear niece. Chu-sa Kinnison and much of his force is needed on New Samarkand - Minoru has been without his Otomo for quite long enough, so only a small detachment can be sent to Terra."

Kai tilted his head. "I don't quite follow. I know sending a battalion of the Otomo's infantry is a big deal - not that the raid seems all that big compared to whatever happened on Camlann -"

The Chu-sa raised one hand and gave Chandrasekhar a sour look. "The Otomo maintain only a single infantry battalion, Captain Allard. Without us, the Dragon's security is in the hands of less carefully selected warriors. With Lady Kurita now out of the hands of the 'Same', we must return with all haste."

Omi bowed formally. "I know that with you and your soldiers around him, my brother cannot be safer, Chu-sa."

"I look forward to seeing you back safely on New Samarkand soon, Lady Omi," he replied stiffly.

The elder of the two Kuritas turned to Kai. "I would further disagree that your raid on Luthien was less important, Duke Liao. While I will grant it was far smaller an occasion than ComStar's gargantuan confrontation to Camlann, it is also unique in that it is the first time that the DCMS and the AFFC have fought together against the Clans. Both of the nations involved are new to the idea of being allied with each other, it may be the first occasion of such cooperation since the fall of the Star League. Frictions between us are not a possibility, they are an inevitability. There will be a temptation, now that the threat of the Clans is less immediate, to fall into old habits. My Lord Kurita believes we must not make that mistake, and close ties between our leaders will be absolutely critical to that."

"Besides that," Omi added. "I was running out of options to hide. The O-Same rarely repeated a mistake and he had already captured hundreds of those I was trying to bring with me."

"We are judged by our enemies," her uncle said comfortingly. "You may need to take a somewhat circuitous journey… back to New Samarkand." There was barely a pause to suggest he had almost said 'home'. "I believe that Lord Kurita hopes that you will be acceptable as an envoy to the Federated Commonwealth, Omi. For too long, the only image our neighbors have had of us are of swords and battlemechs. We need to present a more human face now."

"I… see."

Victor looked at the roly-poly Kurita. "You'd probably do a good job of that, sir." As much as more time with Omi sounded good… well, perhaps it was too good. And he knew she missed her brother.

Chandrasekhar laughed. "No one would take me seriously." He leant forwards and confided. "I am a businessman."

"Well, we are half-Lyran," Victor pointed out.

"Yes, but I mean here," the buddha-like man told him cheerfully. "No, all I can do for Lord Kurita is tend my garden, polish the pillar of jade a little and run the occasional errand like this. Although I'd really rather not." His robes (and presumably the flesh beneath) jiggled as he shuddered, perhaps reminded of his shuttle ride to the station.

Nadir Point, Vega

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

29 July 3051

"Primus." There was a knock on the door of the small cabin Wei was occupying, waking her.

She wasn't traveling in great state - the most convenient dropship to get back to Terra quickly was a liner carrying wounded ComGuards to hospitals on the homeworld suited to their long term care. She had the huge privilege of not sharing a cabin, but it made the relatively modest apartment hidden under Hilton Head look like the planetary governor of New Canton's palace by contrast.

"I'm awake," she mumbled and sat up,

The door opened, admitting Adept Serebryakov from the dropship's comm crew, and also the bright light of the corridor. "Aah!" the young adept yelped, slamming the door. "Y-you're…"

Wei looked down at herself. She didn't appear to have been stabbed or anything. "What?"

Serebryakov opened the door quickly, darted in and slammed it behind her. "Primus, you're topless," she hissed.

She couldn't help but laugh. "You didn't ask if I was decent, Adept." Pulling a blanket around herself, to protect the younger woman's sensibilities, Wei sat crosslegged on the bunk. "So what can I do for you?" Alas, the blushing suggested that this wasn't a seduction attempt.

"I-it's a message from Precentor New Avalon." Serebryakov produced a datapad. "It's marked as urgent."

"I wonder what he's found at NAIS this time," Wei muttered and accepted the pad, swiping her finger across the identification pad. It lit up immediately, highlighting a handful of files attached to the core message. Looking at the summary, Wei realized that this wasn't what she'd expected. The message tags were for a political crisis, not a technological development.

Opening the main document, Wei read it.

Then, because it was very short, she read it again.

"Primus, why are you pinching yourself?" asked Serebryakov.

"I was hoping this was a nightmare," Wei admitted. From the painful feeling on her arm where she'd pinched herself, it wasn't.

'Duchess Candace Liao and Intelligence Secretary Justin Xiang Allard assassinated in their New Avalon Residence,' Joseph Buckley had written. 'No official announcement has been made as yet, but a reliable source in the court reports that the assassin was shot during the attack. There is an unconfirmed but highly plausible report that claims the assassin has been identified as a Maskirova agent.'

"Dammit," Wei murmured.

It wasn't as if no one else had a motive to attack a head of state - much less the chief spy of the entire Federated Commonwealth. But Romano Liao would head any list of suspects. She was Candace's sister, and the sisters had never forgiven each other for myriad offenses against each other… starting with the temerity of being born. When Candace defected to ally with the Federated Commonwealth at the end of the Fourth Succession War, leaving Romano as the only viable heir to the Capellan Confederation, the younger sister had condemned Candace to death in absentia.

"Ma'am?"

Wei let the blanket slip, ignoring the blushing of the adept and went to the small desk, pulling a light robe from where she'd hung it over the back of the chair. She dropped the datapad on top of the work she'd been looking at - decisions about how to deal with hundreds of captured Clan warriors. Unfortunately, exchanging them didn't seem to be a possibility, which meant that some of the Clans had even larger numbers of ComGuards in captivity - particularly Clan Wolf.

And now there was this, she thought as she pulled the robe on and tied the silk sash that secured it. "What would ever make this a good idea!"

"Primus, is something wrong."

Wei looked back at the adept. "I'm sorry. You haven't brought me good news, Adept. But that's hardly your fault."

"Is there anything I can do to help," the younger woman offered innocently.

"I appreciate the offer, but unless you can think of a way to keep the FedCom from invading the Capellans, probably not."

Serebryakov's eyes were wide. "Is Prince Victor getting married?" she asked.

Wei stared at her and then laughed. There was a certain logic to it - Hanse Davion's marriage had begun an invasion, and that had been indirectly caused by a Maskirova operation against the Davion court. "No, I don't think so. But either Romano Liao has grossly overestimated how far the AFFC is distracted fighting the Clans, or someone wants the Inner Sphere to believe she has."

Assuming for the moment that it was the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation who was behind this, had she anticipated that the ComGuards would fail to halt the Clans on Camlann. If so, the fall of Terra would have exposed the relatively narrow strip of worlds linking the two halves of the Federated Commonwealth to attack, demanding that significant forces be used to defend them. Or to move decisively to try to take Terra, which would probably be quite a temptation. In that case, it was at least somewhat possible that avenging the duchess and the secretary might not be the highest priority…

If, of course, you ignored little things like the fact that Justin Xiang Allard was one of Hanse Davion's relatively few close friends. That the son of the two who had been killed was a close friend and subordinate to Victor Steiner-Davion, the heir to the entire Federated Commonwealth.

Or that while the interior, periphery borders and even the Draconis Combine borders had been stripped of troops to fight the Clans, the border with the Capellans had not been.

No one had really expected Romano Liao to contribute to the fight against the Clans. Wei had invited her to the conference on Terra for the sole reason of trying to impress on her that she would be best served by letting her enemies defeat the Clans before they came near the Confederation.

But apparently doing nothing was harder than it sounded.

Wei wondered if she'd misread Thomas Marik so wildly as well. If he was part of this, if he was planning on also throwing his forces against the Federated Commonwealth then it might make some sort of military sense - something to ask Focht about.

But Wei doubted it. Marik's son was receiving medical care by an international team, he was exporting huge quantities of military hardware and could expect the payments for them to be cut off immediately if he launched an unprovoked war against the Federated Commonwealth.

Even Thomas Calderon, a man who was obsessed with the idea that his nation was next on Hanse Davion's target list, had recognised that with the Clans as a threat he had breathing room. (Granted, he'd used that to try to increase his readiness for a resumed Davion threat, but he hadn't tried to provoke one).

"What happened?" the adept asked.

"It appears that the Maskirova have assassinated Candace Liao and her husband," Wei observed. "Somehow I doubt that Hanse Davion will let that pass - and now he has fifteen years before the Clans resume their invasion."

"But surely it would be insane for them to do that?" Serebryakov pointed out.

"It was insane for the House Lords to bring down the Star League three hundred years ago," Wei told her. "Conventional definitions of sanity don't appear to apply to the Great Houses. I will need to speak to Rachel Orchard, but if there is another war then there's probably nothing I can do."

"Well… if there's nothing you can do, then…"

"I'm afraid," Wei told her, "That there is nothing more stressful than things being beyond one's control. It's one reason war is hell, because only the mad think that they can control a war once it begins."

Smoke Jaguar Landing Zone, Camlann

Benjamin District, Draconis Combine

29 July 3051

The darkness did not end at once.

Tyra gradually became aware that she was alive, that the way the pains came and went were the result of anesthetic being used and wearing off. The first conscious thought that she remembered after the ejection was seeing her legs under the bedding and relief that both were still there. Unlike her father's.

Some time after that, she woke to a dim medical bay, lit only from the nurse's station at the far end, barely visible out of the corner of her eyes. Her parachute must have deployed correctly she realized. Whatever had struck her, it hadn't killed her either directly or by damaging the parachute's cords.

Tyra tried to find some sort of call button but her arms seemed too heavy to lift. She tried to speak, but her throat was dry. And when she tried to lift or turn her head, it was fixed in place.

The effort exhausted her and she closed her eyes again.

When she opened them, the ward was lit and the voices she heard had the familiar tonalities of swedenese. They had won then, she thought. The Smoke Jaguars must have been defeated at last. She was in a Kungsarme field hospital.

Tyra wanted to laugh or cheer, but tears ran down her face. Someone tried talking to her but it seemed as if they were far far away. Something cold touched her right wrist and thoughts were brushed away as if by swabs of cotton wool.

Later again, she opened her eyes again and found herself strapped down, although at least her neck was no longer braced. She heard the distant thumm of a dropship's engine and realized that she was aboard one. Where were they going? Back home to Gunzburg?

It took a moment for critical thinking to reboot and she concluded that it was unlikely. The Clans had been stopped, but there was nothing in the bargain that ComStar had struck that forced them to leave the worlds they were occupying. The young pilot felt a surge of anger at the fact that so many homes had been lost before the robes had been willing to take a stand. If they had fought sooner…

But at least they had stood now. Perhaps the dropship was simply consolidating the wounded to one place for easier treatment. From a field hospital to a permanent installation? The Combine would have little if any capability outside the military hospitals, but the latter existed and ComStar's enclave on Camlann was both sizeable and a long way from the battlefields.

Something itched on her left wrist. Tyra lifted her right hand, scraping it across her to explore the source. There was something tied around her wrist. Some sort of cord.

It meant something, but she wasn't sure what. It was important and she clawed at her inconsiderate memory. But exhaustion took her before she could find out what it was.

A nightmare.

Saber Cat unleashing hell on Gunzburg. Tyra hanging from a parachute, helpless as the fires consumed Stortalar City. Her father crawling, wheelchair tipped over behind him, asking where she had gone. Why hadn't she been there.

Tyra jerked awake, gasping for breath, sweat against the hospital gown. Against the triple-braided cord around her arm.

Her breath rasped in and out, waiting for this new nightmare to end. Waiting to wake from this new torment.

"Ah, you are awake." A doctor, voice clipped and precise in his english. His ethnicity was mixed, he could have been from anywhere.

Tyra raised her hand, ignoring the man. She studied the cord around her wrist. The mark of a bondsman. The mark that she had been captured… no. That she had enslaved.

"Take it off," she demanded.

The man gave her a look that was not without sympathy. Then he shook his head. "No, Tyra. I cannot do that."

"Take… it…" She managed to sit up, managed to get her fingers beneath the cord and try to wrench it off. There she failed, only managing to tear the skin of her fingers.

"Stop!" the doctor demanded. He grasped her hands and though he showed no sign of being particularly athletic, Tyra could not stop him from pulling her hands apart. "Do not do this, Tyra."

"I won't do this," she snapped. "I won't help them. I won't!"

The man wrestled her right wrist into a plastic loop and then released her left hand to pull the loop close and pin Tyra's right arm to the bed. She tried to get hold of the loop and release it with her left hand, but he caught her wrist again and soon that was secured as well.

"Tyra," he said again. "Please. Rest and recover."

"Rest and recover? She asked. "Do you have any idea…?"

"Some," he said and tugged on his coat, showing the edges of a Smoke Jaguar badge on the sleeve. "It is not the end of your life."

"I was over Rasalhague," Tyra snarled. "I saw what your Clan did. You think I will help the Jaguars?"

The doctor looked at her. "I see. I…" Then he shook his head. "Let me tell you something that you may not have heard."

"What are you talking about?"

He leant over and to her surprise, there was a sincere look to his smile. "Lincoln Osis is dead."

"...really?"

The doctor pulled back and nodded. Then he winked. "Not officially," he added. "Sometimes the warriors do not think that we talk to each other."

"How?" Tyra asked him.

"Ah, well get some rest and take your medicine," the man told her. "If you want to know, then I will tell you tomorrow. So no doing anything foolish for now. Remember, there is always hope."

"Hope." Tyra slumped against her pillows. "You think I will be a bondsman."

"You are a bondswoman," the doctor told her. "The question is what you do with it. You could have died or been crippled. Instead, you have a new chance. Do you want to throw it away?"

"I…"

He leant over again. "Think about it. You have some time. Do not do something you could regret."

"If I am dead, I cannot regret anything."

"No, but nor can you do anything else."