Conal tore his arm from the Elemental's grasp. "What! You can't do that!"
"Please, Conal, your language. Consider where you are."
Phelan turned to Natasha. The famed Black Widow paled and stared at the screen. "Tell me he didn't say that, Ril."
Cyrilla started to laugh. "You heard it, Tasha. You are it."
"I'd sooner be Romano Liao's sister."
Conal posted his fists on his hips. "You know the tradition. The Loremaster is always selected to replace a Khan who has been elevated or otherwise rendered unable to serve."
Ulric steepled his fingers. "Not always, Conal. It has never happened when the Loremaster has declined the job."
"But I have not declined."
Ulric grinned cruelly. "Oh no? Did you not, during the Wolf Clan elections, say that you were unworthy to replace me? In fact, I seem to recall that you suggested Natasha Kerensky as a possible candidate for Khan. How can you complain when I merely acknowledge the wisdom of your recommendations?"
"Zap!" Phelan laughed. "Cut by your own knife, Conal!" He smiled at Natasha. "So much for that protest."
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Never make it stick, Ulric." Her grin grew. "I've not tested out as a Mech Warrior yet, so they'll never let you elevate me to that position."
Kincaid looked positively forlorn as the Elemental drove Conal from the room. His face tightened. "ilKhan, you cannot choose Natasha Kerensky. She has not yet tested out as a MechWarrior. Because she does not have active-duty status, she cannot become a Khan."
"I believe you are wrong, Khan Kincaid." Ulric nodded at the Elemental near the side door. "If you will bring in the witness."
The Elemental opened the door and conducted Natasha's archivist to the stone platform Phelan had earlier occupied. The small man looked a bit nervous, but a devilish light played through his eyes. He smoothed his dark beard nervously with one hand, then he smiled and nodded to the ilKhan.
"For those who do not know, this is Gustavus Michaels. He accompanied Natasha Kerensky from the Inner Sphere and provided us with a detailed history of the Wolf Dragoons detachment since they left the Clans. He is quite conversant with Natasha's career and will assure you that she is very much a MechWarrior."
Kincaid folded his arms across his chest. "He has no standing here. His word about her exploits in the Inner Sphere means nothing."
With a wave of his hand, Ulric gave Michaels leave to speak. "If you will permit me, Khan Kincaid," the small man began, "the ilKhan did not ask me here to report any of the original data I have gathered. Instead, he asked me to research the background of all those who have been appointed Khans by the election of an ilKhan or a tragedy that forced replacement. What I found were four instances of a Bloodnamed individual chosen to serve as Khan despite his active duty status being under revocation or scrutiny. In two of those cases, the newly appointed Khan was in a coma."
Michaels smiled broadly. "And I can assure you that Natasha Kerensky is definitely not in a coma."
That remark brought a grin to Natasha's face and softened her sour expression. "He had this all planned out. When I get my hands on him, I'll kill him."
"Which one, Tasha, Ulric or Gus?"
"Yes."
The camera focused back on Ulric. "That should answer any questions you have, Khan Kincaid. Though I appreciate your concern that matters be conducted properly, let me remind you that I am the ilKhan. I need not justify my decisions to you. You may unseat me, if you wish, if you are able.You chose the landing zone, now you fight from it.
"Natasha Kerensky is the new Khan of the Wolves. What say you?"
"Seyla." Though a few voices were subdued, a confidence rang through the affirmation of Ulric's choice.
Ulric stood and leaned forward on his fists. "We have already wasted too much time, my Khans. We have elected a new ilKhan and have many important matters at hand. First and foremost is the invasion. The sooner we settle our differences, the sooner we can complete our conquest of the Inner Sphere."
18
Wolf's Dragoons General Headquarters, Outreach
Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth
3 July 3051
Hanse Davion shot from his chair, outrage etched clearly on his face. "I don't give a damn what Kai Allard or my son did to Sun-Tzu yesterday, much less a month ago. Your irrelevancies and tantrums are a constant obstruction to what we have to do here. You son's inability to work with others is not a central issue in this debate."
"I believe you mistaken, Hanse Davion." Romano glared at him like a tiger. "As I have suggested before, and will maintain forever, the microcosm of the training unit involving my son is a reflection of the universe at large. Let us not even mention the gross breaches of protocol and the ridicule to which he has been subjected. Let us only consider the physical abuse he has suffered at the hands of a pretender to my throne, and the death threats from your son."
As Hanse sat down, Justin Allard stood up slowly. "With all due respect, Madam Chancellor ..."
"Sit down, Allard. Though I don't see Davion's lips moving, I hear his words coming from your mouth. You have no standing here, no legitimacy."
Hanse saw Candace Liao lay her left hand on her husband's right forearm, then rise to stand beside him. "You will not dismiss me so easily, sister dear. What Prince Davion has been trying to explain, in words you can understand, is that the problem is not with our sons, it is with yourson. Just as the problems between our troops and your troops are problems with you. We face ravening hordes from beyond known space. It is a threat to us all. We need to band together to face this danger."
Romano threw back her head and laughed hysterically. "Ha! Band together! You would know all about that, wouldn't you, dear Candace? Twenty years ago, you joined forces with our enemies. Is that how you want us to face this threat now? You would have me do as you have done? Am I to give my troops over to Hanse Davion so he can destroy them as he will your forces? How stupid do you think I am?"
Candace's gray eyes blazed. "I have long since ceased any attempt to plumb the depths of your stupidity, Romano."
"Ladies, if you please!" Thomas Marik stood at his bench to Hanse's left. "Let us not have personal enmities divide us when we face more fundamental problems in our effort to oppose these Clans."
To Hanse, Thomas Marik looked haggard. Hanse knew that young Joshua Marik was not responding to medical treatment here on Outreach and that the Dragoon physicians were doubtful of the boy's survival. Still, they say the boy's a fighter. Perhaps he will outlive us all.
Thomas looked around the room with the calm authority he'd developed as a ComStar Adept. "Lady Romano's objection to sending her troops so far from home is well-founded. Her nation, among all of ours, has suffered the most from predation by its neighbors." He inclined his head toward Prince Magnusson of Free Rasalhague. "Your holding excepted in the current crisis."
Resuming his thread, Thomas went on. "Because of history and her desire not to repeat it, she is wise to be cautious."
"Bah." Hanse waved that objection away. "I give her my word that none of my troops will set foot in her realm until twenty years after the Clans have been defeated."
Thomas smiled less than sympathetically. "I am sure you offer that assurance in the spirit of cooperation, but I think Lady Romano is not so easily calmed. Recall that the most recent battles she has fought were against my Free Worlds League."