Michi led the way back through the sea of tables. Behind them, voices resumed as the rattle of dice and the shuffle of cards broke the silence. Gambling was in full swing as they hit the door. The music picked up the beat again, its bass rumble expelling Theodore and Michi into the harsh neon glare of the street.
"I thought you'd given up those blades along with the Bounty Hunter armor."
Michi shrugged, a half-smile of embarrassment on his face. "Some things are harder to give up than others."
43
Unity Palace, Imperial City, Luthien
Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine
10 June 3031
Takashi Kurita strode into the Black Room, and the door hissed shut behind him. The closing door signaled the start of the meeting, and no one else would be admitted until the Coordinator left. Vasily Cherenkoff, the only Warlord yet present for the council meeting, looked questioningly across the table to Subhash Indrahar. The ISF Director smiled politely. He was as puzzled by Takashi's early arrival as the fat warlord, but he would not show it. Subhash and Cherenkoff started to stand in order to make their formal bows, but Takashi waved them down. He stepped behind his chair and rested his hands on its back. "Where are Wolf's Dragoons now?" Subhash removed the archaic gold-rimmed spectacles he affected and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt tired. Was it possible the Coordinator would resume his futile fixation on those mercenaries? Takashi had already squandered precious Combine resources on his obsession with destroying the Dragoons. Why? Because Jaime Wolf had shamed him on Terra? Because the Dragoons had shamed the DCMS on Misery, then again at Harrow's Sun and on Wapakoneta, and yet again on Crossing? Takashi had taken the words and actions of Wolf's Dragoons too personally, placing his own needs and goals before those of the state. Subhash had not been able to deflect him.
Then came the disappointing verdict from the ComStar Mercenary Review Board. Declaring a no-fault, the mediators denied Takashi's demands for restitution and condemnation of the Dragoons for their actions prior to and immediately following the end of their contract with the Draconis Combine. Had the Coordinator found this decision too damaging to his honor and so returned to plotting against the Dragoons? "Regrettably, Tono,we have not been able to determine their whereabouts."
"Incompetence! I will not have it!" Takashi shouted, launching into a tirade. The taunts and imprecations were nothing new to Subhash, having become all too familiar in the last two years. Subhash drew on his hara,replenishing his serenity and strength. He settled back to let the Coordinator's irrational anger wash over him. Takashi stalked the room from one wall to the other, bellowing his outrage. Finally exhausting his vitriol, he slumped into his seat at the head of the holotable. "Perhaps you are incapable of doing your job. Will you fail me like the others?" Takashi asked, breathing heavily after his tirade.
"You worry unnecessarily, Tono"Subhash replied softly. Your words do not touch me, Takashi, but your lack of control is very disturbing. I have not failed in my duty to the Combine, however much you think that I have failed you. Have I not hidden your instability from our enemies?"I seek to serve the Dragon to the best of my ability, Tono.”
“Then get me that information!"
"I will try, Tono,"Subhash said. He keyed the table to display a stellar map of the Draconis Combine. "Consider, please, the situation in Pesht. Warlord Marcus is gaining strength. He is strengthening his ties in what Archon Steiner has left us of the Rasalhague District, playing on the fears of our loyal subjects. And he has contacted Warlord Chi again."
"That is no threat. Chi is too canny to fall in with Marcus." Takashi laughed. Suddenly he stopped and commanded, "Put a watch on Chi. He has ordered Galedon too well."
"Quite right, Coordinator," said Cherenkoff, his jowly face bobbing in approval. "The old goat must be watched."
Subhash noted the order on his datapad. Warlord Chi was unlikely to be part of any plot to topple the throne because he was too loyal to the Combine to endanger it. Marcus was a far more dangerous threat. "Pesht, Tono?"
"Marcus is a fool and a weakling. He had years here on Luthien to overthrow me and he couldn't do it. The closest he came was that sabotage of my BattleMasterin '25. But I was too clever for him. Too strong! I hold the reins of the Combine. It is mine!"
"Quite right, Coordinator. And so it must be," Cherenkoff boomed. In a softer voice, he added, "Until the day your heir takes over."
Takashi stood and slammed his palms against the table. Reports scattered. The Coordinator glared at his Warlord. Cherenkoff gulped air, clearly afraid of his lord's reaction.
Subhash wondered what the fat fool had in mind. Certainly, Cherenkoff hated Theodore for his successful defense of the Dieron District's border with the Lyran Commonwealth while the Warlord had remained on Dieron, failing miserably to mount any effective attacks against the weakened Davion border. To make matters worse, Theodore had acted behind Cherenkoff's back to win the glory that had eclipsed the Warlord's efforts.
"Coordinator, I meant no disrespect. I have always been your loyal supporter." Cherenkoff's voice dripped sincerity, but he would not meet Takashi's eyes. "Prince Theodore is wily. Perhaps he is using his office as Kanrei to operate behind your back as he did mine in the war. His people are always snooping around, poking, prying. And the company he keeps! That woman of his was bad enough. Now I hear he has given shelter to two of the infamous Wolf's Dragoons."
Takashi's lips drew back from his teeth, but he said nothing. Though the Warlord seemed oblivious to Takashi's reaction, Subhash knew that Cherenkoff had gone too far. "The persons you refer to are not Dragoons, Warlord. They are rebels who left Wolf's Dragoons after Misery."
Cherenkoff waved his hand in dismissal of Subhash's words. "They are not the real issue. Prince Theodore and his ambitions are what must concern us. Though he gained little for the Combine against the womanish Lyrans, he was awarded the Order of the Dragon. Then, when the ceasefire came, he was made Deputy for Military Affairs." Cherenkoff raised his eyes to the Coordinator's. "You create your own rival, Tono.Do you not see that he plays for your throne? Daily, his popularity grows ..."
"Enough, Warlord," Takashi ordered, straightening and turning his back to the table. "I am quite aware of the doings of my son. The ISF is well-informed."
Subhash bowed his head in acknowledgement of the hand Takashi thrust in his direction. If only you knew how well, my friend, you would not care for that knowledge.
"Do not seek to question my will, Warlord. All that I have done was with a strong purpose in mind. Our realm needed a hero in the early days of the war. Thus did I award my son the Katana Cluster, though I knew he could not have destroyed as many 'Mechs as reported. This gesture also underscored the Lyrans' failure to capture him. I shamed our enemy.
"You cry about his actions in Dieron, yet I did not replace you, did I? Many thought he should have had your position as Warlord. Instead, I awarded him the Order of the Dragon. A pretty ribbon to soothe his common soldier's ego.
"I know better than to give his ambitions a power base. What do you think he can do with the Office of Military Affairs? He has no political instincts. He will play with his toy soldiers, and be content. Because I see that he does have some littleaptitude on the battlefield and in the matters of military organization, I satisfy him, cut off his ambitions, and serve the Combine at the same time. He is a hero to the people and the soldiers. They will rally for him. And they will become a new army." Takashi spun to face Cherenkoff again. "But the army he builds will still be mine!"