"All right, all right. Allow Nis to join Alpha Star. They have a 'Mech and a pilot out of action right now.
Except for filling the slot, she will probably not make much of a difference." He could see that Lanja, whose views on the efficiency of allClan warriors were already known to him, felt that his hatred of freeborns was interfering with his judgment. But loyal as she was, she would never question Pershaw's statements during a combat situation. He was often amazed at how deep her loyalty went.
"Lanja, I need your help."
"What can I do?"
"I have an idea, but it will require one of your Elementals risking his or her life."
"That is the easiest of tasks. Tell me."
"Soon it will be night. I believe Clan Wolf will attack then. We will have to engage them. As long as Radick keeps some units in reserve, the odds are only slightly in their favor. I believe we can hold them, at least for a time. But we need to put more 'Mechs into the field. We need to find out what happened to the Trinary from the DropShip."
"Do you believe, then, that Jorge's Star has failed?"
"I am not sure, but I need to know. If there are any surviving warriors and 'Mechs, I want them here. I would accept even the freebirth Star right now. Lanja, select one of your warriors and order him or her to find a way through the battlefield and into the swamp. We must locate any survivors from the crash or the rescue team, brief them on the situation, and urge them to travel here at their highest speed."
"In the swamp—"
"I know, I know. An Elemental would have to go without his suit of battle armor to avoid detection when crossing Clan Wolf lines. Fate has placed many demands on me and one Elemental is all I can spare. If I truly control my fate, the Elemental will find the Star. If he finds that the search for survivors still continues, he will pass on my order to abandon the search and join us here. So, detach a warrior from one of your Points."
"Unnecessary. I will go."
"But that would not be—"
"Proper? Perhaps not. But I am the fastest runner and the highest scorer in survival techniques, quiaff?"
"Well, aff, but—"
"No need to discuss this further. Your order was to detach a warrior for this mission. I have done so."
Pershaw recognized the determination in Lanja's eyes. He respected her, as he respected all his good officers. It had always been his policy not to countermand the orders of one of his trusted subordinates, and he trusted none more than Lanja. If she chose to go, she must.
"If you cannot home in on any of the 'Mechs or even their remnants, do not waste time in a long search. Return at once, quiaff?"
"Aff. I will depart as soon as night falls."
"Good. Dismissed."
As always, she wheeled about immediately and strode away. Pershaw felt a rare moment of apprehension. Lanja was the most efficient aide he had ever had. He did not want anything to happen to her. But, of course, they were both Clan, able to easily accept death. There were stories of Clan warriors who had known each other for years, served together, saved each other's lives countless times. Yet, when one died, the other walked away without so much as a backward glance. Would he look back at Lanja if she became a corpse? Once, perhaps, as a tribute to her loyalty, but no more than that.
* * *
"I cannot contact Joanna on any channel," Horse reported. Aidan had returned to the remaining seven warriors and their 'Mechs.
"Neither can I. And there is no indication of her on anybody's radar, quineg?"
"Neg. Wherever she is, the swamp is hiding her even from electronic detection. You know how it is, Jorge. Out here you cannot trust your equipment. If it says you are under attack, it may be only a tree puma nibbling on your neck. If it shows that a BattleMech is flying, then—"
"Horse, spare me the fanciful lecture. The fundamental point is that we cannot locate our commanding officer, quiaff?"
"Aff. Which places you in command. Backin command, Star Commander Jorge."
"Agreed."
"I cannot say I regret the change. And I must observe that nothing would be gained in a fruitless search for Star Captain Joanna."
"If she is still the same warrior, she will find her own way out. We have a more urgent mission. We must rejoin the garrison."
"It has been a long time since there has been any sign of the battle in the skies above. Could it be over?"
"I hope not. Let us find out, quiaff?"
* * *
Except for one Clan Wolf Elemental sentry, whom Lanja quickly disarmed and smothered, the trip across the battlefield was simple. She sensed that the Wolves were now intent on new battle plans, for the Command Star headquarters was obviously busy. A continual stream of warriors went in and out of the geodesic dome set up just behind the wreckage and carnage that warriors from both sides were now cleaning up as part of the one-hour truce Pershaw had negotiated with Radick.
At Blood Swamp she slipped down the slope and into the murky blackness. Once there, she fitted a pair of MAD goggles over her head and looked around. The magnetic anomaly detector was short-range, but in Blood Swamp tended to be more accurate than any installed in a BattleMech. The device also made it easier to travel on foot through the swamp.
Moving quickly and adeptly, Lanja went about a kilometer before discovering the two downed Clan 'Mechs. Their pilots had abandoned the machines, which lay now in swamp water, a pair of drowned giants. Beyond them, however, were faint but clear heat tracings left behind by another BattleMech. The heat signature led in a clear line deeper into the swamp.
For the next half-hour Lanja followed the signature, which got stronger as she swiftly proceeded. Suddenly Lanja was in a small clearing that her scanner showed crisscrossed with a complicated network of heat lines. As she passed through the clearing, she spotted the clear lines of a unit of 'Mechs—seven or eight, it appeared—heading out of the clearing, in the general direction of Glory Plain. If they continued on their current path, they would emerge right into the claws of Clan Wolf. She had to head them off.
Running, she kept her attention on the heat signatures, which got stronger as they became more recent. Her height allowed her to grab fairly high branches, using them to propel herself forward. She made a few magnificent leaps across deep-water areas.
Suddenly she heard the unmistakable sounds of 'Mechs using their hands to clear a path through trees up ahead. She knew she would be seeing the unit soon. Taking off the scanner, Lanja slipped it into its belt holder without breaking stride.
Passing under a high tree, she heard a rustle in the branches overhead. Before she could even look up, she felt the air change as something descended swiftly toward her. She reached for her laser pistol, the only weapon she had, but not fast enough. In that instant, the tree puma landed heavily on her, forcing Lanja down into stagnant, murky water.
15
It was a pity that the pilots in their 'Mechs and the Elemental with her MAD goggles depended so much on external devices. More reliance on their own eyes, on what the real world offered to their view, and they might have found Joanna easily. The warm red glow of emergency lighting from her cockpit was visible for nearly a hundred meters in the dark swamp. An unwavering illumination ten meters above ground level. If any of the searchers had been able to get close enough, they would have seen the Star Captain staring out the viewport, trying to discern something in a place as black as the heart of a Periphery bandit.