Hanse grinned wolfishly. "Then you offer her a pledge of nonaggression and let's get on with this."
"Touché,Prince Davion." The Captain-General brought his hands together in a prayerful position. "I think, though, given my nation's reputation for instability and your willingness to launch an assault on the very day of your wedding may leave any guarantees we offer still suspect. Even the wording of your statement suggests that your troops wouldend up in her holding whenever the truce ended."
Hanse pointed at Theodore Kurita. "The Kanrei and I have concluded a non-aggression pact. If the two of us can trust one another, why cannot Lady Romano trust you and me?" Because she's mad, that's why.The second the thought hit him, Hanse saw it reflected in Thomas Marik's eyes.
"That is a question only she can answer." Marik bowed his head briefly, then brought it back up. "I did not rise to answer for her, nor to adjudicate your dispute. I am more concerned with my doubts about committing troops to this effort. From my border to the front is a distance of somewhere between 260 and 320 light years. This means nine to eleven jumps in a JumpShip. Simply stated, I do not have the resources needed to deliver troops in the numbers needed to be of any help."
"Nonsense," Hanse snarled angrily. "The rest of us are willing to do whatever it takes."
"To commit the necessary numbers of ships would gut my economy. Unlike the rest of you, I am not a dictator who rules by divine fiat." The fire-scars on the right side of Marik's face made him look yet fiercer. "If I drive the economy into the ground to help stave off an enemy threat, the Parliament will vote me out. And I'm not sure they wouldn't be right to do so."
Magnusson smashed his fist against the top of his desk. "How can you consider politics when this threat affects us all? We are not whistling in the dark while strolling through a graveyard. The danger is real. If the Clans return by fall, their rate of progress would put them on Atreus in two years. They would reach Sian even quicker if they split the Federated Commonwealth. If you don't do something, you will end up in the same grave as half my people."
Thomas shook his head. "With all due respect, Prince Magnusson ..."
"No, Captain-General, there is no need to wrap your excuses in platitudes to hide your contempt for my nation. In your eyes, I am due no respect. You are only marginally more acceptable to me than Lady Romano because you are more silent, but neither of you understand the true horror of the Clan invasion."
The white-haired Prince pointed to where Morgan Kell sat behind Melissa Steiner. "Ask Colonel Kell how it feels to lose a son to the Clans." He turned and pointed behind him to a military officer in a wheelchair. "Ask Tor Miraborg how it feels to lose his daughter to the Clans. Ask me how it feels to watch someone like Tyra Miraborg take her fighter into the hull of a clan JumpShip in a suicidal attempt to save my life. Ask any of my people what it is like to be driven from their homes, from their worlds! And if that does not tell you anything, only think back to the wars of ten years ago to recall that hollow feeling in your soul when the enemy threatens everything you hold dear.
"If you do not act now, you will know that feeling yet again."
Melissa Steiner rose to her feet. "I know that feeling only too well, as do others in this room. Colonel Wolf and Colonel Kell have both pledged their mercenary units to the fight. Hanse and I have agreed that we shall devote our forces to opposing the Clans. Candace Liao has promised her crack units, and we know Prince Magnusson and the Kanrei will contribute everything they have to defeating the enemy. I do not enjoy war, but I acknowledge that there are times it must be fought."
She turned and held out a hand in Romano's direction. "Madam Chancellor, Ipromise no Federated Commonwealth troops will disturb your sovereignty. Ipromise your troops will not be used as cannon fodder against the Clans. I make the same promises to you, Thomas Marik. Join us."
As Melissa sat back down, she slipped her left hand into Hanse's right. He felt her trembling and gave her hand a squeeze. When she looked up at him, he nodded reassuringly. "Yes, Melissa. If this is what we must do, if these are the promises we must make, I abide by your words," he whispered gently.
Romano stood with a languid motion that suggested great weariness. She stifled a yawn with the back of her right hand, then discarded her act with a look of disgust. "Keep your promises, Archon Steiner. As Hanse Davion's brood mare, you are amusing, but I have no doubt he would disregard your assurances as quickly as any he himself made. I will not sacrifice my people on an altar of hollow promises built solely on your vanity."
The Chancellor from the Capellan Confederation turned her cold eyes on Prince Magnusson. "As for you, my dear Prince, your nation and your son are of the same age. Given what I hear of his prowess in a 'Mech, I would guess they have the same life expectancy. Your nation is nothing more than a Combine prefecture given the illusion of freedom. If by now you do not realize the joke that has been played on you, more's the pity."
She raised her hand in a salute to him. "How curious it is, Prince Magnusson, that your people's hatred for mercenaries now turns to adoration for them. The citizens of Rasalhague may choose to forget events of the past because of present problems, but I do not have that luxury. Each morning I see from my window the overgrown remains of a 'Mech company that Hanse Davion destroyed in my capital. I will not be duped by him, nor talked into being duped by the rest of you. I remain unconvinced that the Fox has changed, and I knowhis old ways breed true in his children."
The scar over Magnusson's right eye stood out in stark white contrast to his florid features. "I pray, Lady Romano, that you are staring at those mouldering 'Mechs when the Clans take your capital away from you. Then you can lament not believing the Fox when he was telling the truth. There is no way out unless you choose to trust us, Romano. Otherwise you will be caught in a trap of your own making. Remember that when the trap snaps shut."
Thomas Marik rose again to speak, but Hanse barely listened. Our only chance to defeat the Clans is to band together. "Hang together or hang separately, as they used to say."He glared at Romano. All of us with out heads in the noose, and she's playing with the gallows lever. I hope to God the Clans are as divided as we are. If not, the days of the Inner Sphere are numbered, and those numbers have damned few digits.
19
Warrior Testing Center
Strana Mechty, Beyond the Periphery
21 July 3051
Phelan Wolf twisted his gunbelt around and tied the holster down to his right leg. Turning to present himself to Natasha, he tried to force a smile of confidence. "Ready as I'll ever be."
She returned the smile, but shook her head. "God above, your language has deteriorated."
"It's the company I keep."
Natasha slung her arm around his neck and guided him toward the 'Mech bay. "Look, kid, you'll do fine. I've got your 'Mech configured in a way that will do maximum damage. It's unique, like my 'Mech. I tagged your Omni with the name Lone Wolf."
Despite the big grin on Natasha's face, the younger MechWarrior felt something was wrong. He nodded grimly. "I hope that name's not an omen. I know it's not traditional, but are we working together out there?"