“No, but I do think the guarantees that have been banked with ComStar have put Lord Germayne here in something of a liquidity crisis.” She gave me a nod. “I promise you a quarter of what I’ve already got against anything he offers you.”
“Done.”
Bernard stopped rubbing his shins and rubbed his hands together instead. “Tell me, how do we get him?”
“Okay, look, Alba already knows the plans Emblyn’s people are working. You can leave the details of all that to her. You don’t need to know, and you don’t want to know. Also, I’m not going to ask you what resources you have or anything like that. I’m just going to suggest things and if you have the stuff you need to make it work, just make it work. If I don’t know logistics and timetables, you can’t blame me if something screws up. Alba, I have scouted some dead-drops and we’ll set up a servicing plan for them. If I hear anything that will interfere with plans I’ve suggested to you, I’ll let you know.”
“Good, I was going to suggest that.”
Lord Germayne frowned. “Yap, yap, yap, just like some little Kurita mutt. How do I get Emblyn?”
“Here’s the whole package. It comes in two parts. First, Emblyn’s people have not claimed credit for either the sewers or the fire. They’ve hesitated because governmental critics are playing up the conspiracy angle and that makes the government look bad. Once some group pops up to claim credit for things, the government’s assertions are proved true and the citizens will realize their government is under attack. So, step one, you have people create some sort of anarchist group that issues some manifestos and claims credit for the attacks. You promise more attacks to come in the future.”
Bernard’s impatience deepened the frown. “I’ve still not heard what I want to hear.”
Alba made a gentle gesture to calm me, and I nodded. “Second step: you have to hit him hard, in a place that will embarrass him. You can’t kill innocents, since that pattern has already been established. You want to nail a big target that will cost him a lot of time, money, heartache and prestige.”
The man’s eyes lit up. “I know the place. Perfect.”
“Great, whatever. I’ll assume you have the resources to do the job. It’s going to be important for you to make sure your little liberation front or whatever you call it takes credit for your action, and comes up with a consistent reason why they hit Emblyn. It will take the shine off him from recent activities and will drive him nuts, since he knows your people didn’t do the first attacks, but he can’t stand up and say anything about it because his only proof is that he was behind the original attacks.”
The idea of Emblyn being hoist on his own petard clearly thrilled Bernard. “Yes, this will work. Dolehide…”
“I’ll make it work.”
“Give me the details. I want to be driving one of the ’Mechs.”
I shook my head adamantly. “No you don’t.”
“Oh, I do.”
I sighed. “If you do that, you completely destroy every possible advantage you could gain here. You have to be held above and apart. Think, you hit a target hard, what will Emblyn do?”
“Hit back.”
“Right, just as hard, or harder. And who is going to be the person stepping in to resolve the matter by force of arms? You will, with your handpicked cadre of warriors whom you have brought here at your own expense to guarantee the peace and tranquility of your nation. If you go on this raid and something happens to reveal your presence, you lose everything. You need to be somewhere else, rather conspicuous.”
“I need an alibi.” He got a feral grin on his face. “Obvious and visible.”
“Exactly.” I stood. “I’m leaving you two to this. There’s a back way out, right, the same way they came in so Neime-yer’s people across the street don’t have a holo of him?”
Alba nodded, then got up and came around the desk. She stepped over Teyte. “I’ll be right back, my lord.”
“Fine, I’ll be here thinking.”
We left him to that arduous task. She guided me down two flights and out through a hole that had been knocked through the basement wall into the storage for a restaurant next door. “Up the stairs, out through the kitchen, and you’re clear.”
“Good, thanks.” I shook her hand. “I hope you can make this work with little interference from him.”
“I will.” Her hand tightened on mine instead of releasing it. “When Teyte wakes up he’s going to want you very dead. He’ll hold off because Bernard will see you as useful. Teyte will work against that and when he succeeds—however he succeeds—you will be killed.”
“Not the first time I’ve heard that.”
Alba gave me a curious smile. “But they run the planet, and they will rat you out to Emblyn. His reach is longer than theirs, and he’ll be even more vindictive.”
“It’s a chance I’ll take. It’s not easy playing both ends against the middle, but it can be profitable.” I nodded a salute. “And, as you know, anyone who fights for anything other than money is a fool.”
30
Oderint, dum metuant.
Let them hate, so long as they fear.
Emblyn Palace Resort, Garnet Coast
Basalt
Prefecture IV, Republic of the Sphere
15 February 3133
It should come as no surprise that Bernard chose the Palace resort as the target for his strike. I’m fairly certain Alba pointed out that it was also patently obvious, but there were few other places that would create such a splash with so clear a chance of minimizing casualties. Because the resort was not yet open, very few people would be on site at night. With a bit of warning, the building would be empty before a ’Mech assault could bring it down.
What impressed me was how quickly and easily the Germaynes created the Basalt Socialist Union and started it claiming responsibility for some attacks. They claimed the sewers and the fire, and tossed in a couple of other things that the government had taken heat for in the past. I found that very clever in that it cleared the government’s plate and gave the BSU a longer history, which made it that much more menacing.
Gypsy was immediately thrown into an uproar, since part of our plan had been to claim credit and shape public opinion. I carefully pointed out that we’d still be able to do that, and rather easily. “Look, we both know the Germaynes have issued these statements to bolster their claims and to take the heat off the government. We know we can destroy their claims because we can provide the Constabulary with technical details about the explosives used and a dozen other things that only we would know. We can take back credit and expose this as a government effort, if we so choose. Moreover, the government is clearly trying to lay claim to these events so they can use the BSU as a cover to take a poke at Emblyn and get away with it.”
Gypsy and I then went through a version of my talk with Bernard and Alba. I let him figure out Bernard’s most logical target and we agreed that it had to be the Palace Resort. Because there was a constant stream of transports and the occasional DropShip making short hops into and out of the resort’s landing area—bringing in construction material and other bulk items—delivering a light company to the site was relatively easy. We figured that a pair of BattleMechs and ten vehicles commanded by Catford would do the job. Emblyn Holdings Limited had a license for a lance of ’Mechs for weapons evaluation purposes, since one of his small companies did produce munitions. They’d been painted up in gray, with an Emblyn Eagle in black splayed over the chest or flanks. A platoon of infantry came in disguised as workers.