Listening to this and Radick's other urgings, Craig Ward began to worry. If Radick had asked him, he would have admitted that Clan Wolf had the edge in this battle, but he was amazed at the tenacity of the Jade Falcons. His analysis showed that casualties were about the same on both sides. There was no superior strategy, tactics, or even firepower from Clan Wolf. Only attrition would give Radick the victory. And that, to Craig Ward, who was among the most fierce of warriors, would be a tainted triumph.
* * *
Aidan had turned his 'Mech to check on the status of the other warriors and their machines. If not for that he would never have seen the activity behind them.
"Horse, something is going on back there. It looks like a fight."
"Probably just two swamp animals having fun," Horse replied.
"No, it does not look like that. I would swear that one of the fighters is human. I have to go back there, check it out. It could be Joanna, separated from her 'Mech and coming after us."
"If it is her, there is no need to go back."
"Horse, we are Clan. We cannot let one of us die."
"I hear the words, Commander. I'm just not sure about them."
Aidan ordered the others to stay where they were. He descended from his Summonerand came down onto relatively firm soil. It squished a bit with moisture when he walked on it, but he couldwalk on it. There was a clear path of firm ground, nearly up to where the fight was taking place.
As he neared, he saw that the battle involved a tree puma. Knowing that, he took his laser pistol out and made sure it was on full charge.
* * *
Whatever the god's participation, often things just worked out. Lovers came together, families were reunited, good governments ousted bad governments. People in jeopardy found themselves, astonishingly, rescued. And occasionally one or two of them were grateful.
* * *
Kael Pershaw was only half-lucky. His automatic ejection mechanism got him out of his BattleMech before it fell. It did not explode, nor did it go down in pieces, but it was now clearly inoperative. As his ejection seat reached ground, five of his Elementals immediately surrounded him, fending off personal attacks from Clan Wolf Elementals. In a battle for a bloodline, capturing or killing the holder of the gene heritage would end the conflict, and so it was essential that Pershaw be kept alive and out of enemy hands.
When he walked back through his lines, he saw fallen BattleMechs all around him. His had not been the only one. Stepping over the dead warriors, he recognized among them the freebirth MechWarrior named Nis.
* * *
Joanna did slide off the foot, but only after Nomad had laboriously succeeded in making it take a step onto normal terrain, or at least what passed for normal terrain in this repulsive swamp. She fell to the ground. As she got up and brushed herself off, she looked up at Nomad, who was rather frantically gesturing for her to climb back up to the cockpit.
He could wait. She had to retrieve the gloves. When she found them, after skirting the pool of muck, she also found another of the reptilian creatures inspecting them, its mouth tentatively nibbling at a finger. Cursing silently, she picked up the laser pistol, which was still lying nearby, and blew the reptile's head off.
* * *
Aidan's well-aimed shot could have gone awry as Lanja managed to push the animal sideways, but it did not. The fire from his laser pistol entered the tree puma's brain, first going through its ear, transforming it into tiny fur and hide missiles. The animal went slack, its weight falling on Lanja, pushing her back into the water. Her head vanished beneath the water's surface, then her body, then the puma on top of it.
Aidan rushed to her. Reaching into the water, he found the puma's neck and yanked hard. The animal was heavy, damn heavy. But the water gave Aidan enough leverage to lift the animal off Lanja. It was too heavy to lift out of the water, but with a gigantic heave, he managed to fling it aside. Lanja did not reappear above the surface of the water. Wading in further, he reached down and paddled his hand around for her. At first he thought he had lost her. In the darkness he could not go underwater to look for her. He would not see anything.
Suddenly something bobbed up a few meters away. It was Lanja, on her stomach, her head still in the water. He swam to her, brought her head up, then dragged her back to the water's edge. He lay her down on the firm soil and started breathing into her mouth.
With a violent thrust upward, she started breathing again. Mustering all of his strength, Aidan grasped the massive woman's shoulder and then pulled and pushed and shoved until he had Lanja on her belly. Then he pounded on her muscular back to get the water out of her lungs. With 2.3 meters of her to handle, none of this was an easy task.
Nor was it easy to carry her back to the 'Mech. She had tried to walk on her own, but collapsed after a single step, passing out for a moment. By the time they reached the 'Mech, however, she was fully conscious again, insisting that Aidan put her down. Horse stood by Aidan's 'Mech, waiting for them. Aidan started to explain what had happened, but Lanja interrupted.
"The battle is not going well," she said. "Your units are badly needed, which is the message Kael Pershaw ordered me to relay to you."
Then she explained in precise detail what had occurred before she had started on her mission. Horse noted that the battle must still be raging, judging by the distant sounds of warfare and the way the night sky seemed light gray instead of deep blue.
Turning back to Lanja, he gestured to several cuts on her face and neck. "Those cuts are bad," he said.
"That does not matter," Lanja told him. Nevertheless, Horse quickly got out the medkit and started working on her.
"I am using bloodpetals," Horse said. "They will suck out any infections, then accelerate the healing of the cuts."
Lanja did not seem to be listening to Horse's comments. She turned to speak to Aidan, urgency in her voice: "If you continue on your present course, you are likely to come out just behind the Clan Wolf forces. That is, if my calculations are correct. We know how easily data can become distorted by the conditions of this place."
"Knowing we will emerge behind Clan Wolf could be a strategic advantage," Aidan commented. "But we are only eight. That would not be enough for an ambush, quineg?
"Neg," Lanja replied.
"Then we need a diversion."
"A diversion?"
"Yes. Can you get us close enough to Glory Station to establish a commlink?"
"Of course. There is a rise in a clearing about ten kilometers from here. From there, I should be able to establish both voice and digital secure link with Cluster headquarters."
She waved Horse away, even though he was still working on her wounds. Her gesture indicated that was all the medication she would accept right now.
"All right, then," Aidan said. "We will go on foot. Horse, bring the Star as close to the Wolf lines as you can without leaving the swamp. Have one of the extra pilots from Joanna's Trinary pilot my 'Mech there. I will join you there."
He turned to Lanja. "Let us go. And, Lanja, you will have to intervene for me. Because of this"—he pointed to his dark band—"Kael Pershaw does not have to talk to me. Even without this, he might not want to take advice from a freeborn."
Lanja thought that was true enough, but chose not to say it. She had a sense that Jorge might be the solution to what might otherwise be certain defeat.
17
Joanna wondered if Nomad's meddling with the neurohelmet had severely damaged it. Even though he had reconnected it, the helmet now felt exactly as when she had first been fitted for one so many years ago. There was a kind of throbbing dizziness in her head, a sense that, even though the 'Mech was apparently functioning normally, it was actually walking around in a daze.