"And you were aware at the time that this Aidan— Jorge, as you knew him—had already failed in an earlier Trial?"
"He told me, yes."
"Then you also must realize that your own qualifying as a warrior was the result of fraud."
"No, I don't realizethat at all. I would've qualified, with or without help. I'm as good as any trueborn warrior any day."
Had weapons been allowed into the chamber, Horse would have been the victim of multiple shots fired from the council seats.
"It seems," said Lenore Shi-Lu, with an eye toward the angry crowd, "that Star Commander Aidan's arrogance and defiance have influenced your own, MechWarrior. Let me remind you that this is an official proceeding, and any violation of Clan custom will be recorded on your codex."
"I know that."
"And you do not care?"
"No, I don't."
Lenore Shi-Lu nodded and glanced toward the Loremaster, whose gesture indicated that she be done with this witness.
"One last question, MechWarrior Tyle."
"Horse. I don't know how to answer to the name Tyle."
"You will answer to whatever name with which I and the council choose to address you, freeborn. My question, MechWarrior Tyle, is this: Should a warrior whose status came as the result of fraud be allowed to compete for an honorable Bloodname?"
"It don't matter none to me." Horse's use of improper grammar in conjunction with the contraction caused some nearly violent reactions among the Clansmen. "Aidan fought better and was a fairer officer than all the trueborns I have ever encountered."
The Loremaster made a gesture toward Lenore Shi-Lu to end her interrogation of the witness. She seemed pleased to tell him that she had no further questions.
Beck Qwabe then conducted a brief interrogation of Horse intended to establish that Aidan had the respect of his warriors and had fought courageously, especially in the battle over the Pershaw gene heritage. In his mind, Aidan decided that Horse's positive testimony would have no effect on the judgment of the Council. Indeed, to the ears of these Bloodnamed warriors, Horse's words were no more than the unnecessarily provocative utterances of a freebirth.
* * *
"Star Colonel Kael Pershaw, you have described well the valor of Star Commander Aidan during the engagement with Clan Wolf," said Lenore Shi-Lu. She had drawn from Pershaw vivid details of the battle. "You have credited him not only with the act that finally won it, but with the strategy that eventually achieved victory."
"That is correct."
"But only days before you had placed the emblem of deep shame, the dark band, on this same man after, as you testified, he had refused to invoke surkai.Did you not feel shame at giving this recalcitrant warrior such prominence in the combat?"
Kael Pershaw had not expected to have his own name tainted with the brush of Aidan's crimes. A loyal Clansman, he had come here to give evidence againstthe man. Ordinarily he did not take advantage of his right as a Bloodnamed warrior to sit in council.
"Circumstances dictate improvisation. Any commander in the field knows that." He stared at Lenore Shi-Lu, as if to infer that her experience did not provide her with a true comprehension of the actions of warriors on active duty. She had come out of cadet training as a warrior with an extraordinary cadet record, but Khan Elias Crichell had ordered her immediately to his command staff, where she was one of his top advisers. She had seen very little battle.
"Star Commander Aidan's plan had merit," he said, invoking his command voice. "There were the unknown combatants obscured from normal detection in the swamp, and Clan Wolf's forces were stretched out across the battlefield. Clan Wolf was thus attacked from front and rear—and, for that matter, from underneath, by an Elemental assault. Where the plan of battle originates is of less importance than the judgment of the commander. I, as commander, approved the plan. It could not have gone forward without me. That is the kind of improvisation under battle stress of which I speak, Inquisitor."
Lenore Shi-Lu had performed enough council interrogations to know when she had been successfully countered, and she bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment of his skill.
During his question period, Beck Qwabe returned to the matter of the conflict with Clan Wolf. "Then do you say that Star Commander Aidan's battle prowess and his strategy do not necessarily qualify him to compete for a Bloodname?"
"No, they do not. They are no more, and no less, than I would expect from any warrior under my command."
"Yet you have verified his claim to compete for the Bloodname."
"He is allowed, by virtue of the matrilineal name. The deplorable facts of his life have no effect on that. I was forced to approve the claim."
The Loremaster interrupted. "Beck Qwabe, we do not need any further verification of the warrior's claim to the Bloodname. It is not his achievements as a warrior or the matrilineal genetic ancestry that are at issue in this council. We are concerned with the circumstances by which Star Commander Aidan earned the privilege of warrior status. The council must judge his right to that status before he can be allowed to battle for a Bloodname."
"I stand properly corrected, Loremaster," Beck Qwabe demurred. "I merely wish to establish that Star Commander Aidan's codex is untainted, even if his character may be."
"A worthy purpose, Beck Qwabe. Please go on."
In his final statements, Kael Pershaw indicated that Star Commander Aidan, in spite of his achievements, was difficult to control and discipline.
"Kael Pershaw," Lenore Shi-Lu said, in her second round of interrogation, "do you believe that Star Commander Aidan's first failed Trial is the one that should apply, that the second Trial should be canceled out and he reassume his caste role as tech? You hesitate. Why?"
"With all due respect, Lenore Shi-Lu, I must say that I roundly despise Star Commander Aidan. However, your questions trouble me. If he has effectively carried out his duties as a warrior, which I believe he has, then should his codex be summarily erased?"
"I believe it is my role to ask the questions here, Star Colonel."
"And my role is to be honest, quiaff?And, in all honesty, I believe that Star Commander Aidan performed his duties with ability and, as noted, valor. He has been a warrior. Fraudulently earned or not, his status may indeed be verified by his actions. I came here to condemn him, yet I must say that the only blemishes to his record under my command are related to personality traits and not actions. I begin to wonder if perhaps his second Trial was, after all, the correct one."
Again sensing her disadvantage, Lenore Shi-Lu quickly dismissed Kael Pershaw, who resumed his seat on the council. Aidan studied the man, at least as well as he could from a distance. He found no clue in the officer's expression as to why he had actually given Aidan's cause some support. There never would be, Aidan suspected.
A few character witnesses came forward to verify Ter Roshak's military records, then the trial went into the next phase: the interrogation of the accused parties. Joanna took a deep breath as she heard her name being called.
25
Lenore Shi-Lu led Joanna through her questions meticulously. Almost all her questions, and those of the Advocate, came from the council members, via computer monitors. The questions reflected the warriors' concerns in this very delicate matter, while it was the Inquisitor's task to frame the questions in the way that would have the most impact. Lenore Shi-Lu rose brilliantly to the occasion. It was only minutes before the woman's politely phrased queries began to exasperate Joanna, but she realized that anyone's questions, conducted over a long period of time, would probably do so. Her testimony was rendered even more difficult because she could sense, even without looking, the intense gazes of both Aidan and Ter Roshak upon her.