"Jocko still had a face." Kai's eyes narrowed as he braced for her reaction. "It's time for Dave Jewell to die, and Jocko's the right size."
Deirdre blinked several times as what he was telling her sank in. She opened her mouth to say something, but Kai cut her off before she could utter a sound.
"Yes, Doctor, not only do I kill, but I'm willing to mutilate an enemy corpse." His hands knotted into fists. "Perhaps, if pressed, I'll even turn cannibal. There, does that fit your image of me?"
Her lower lip trembled, but she got it under control quickly enough. "What I wanted to say, Kai, was that I've been doing a lot of thinking. I still abhor pulling that trigger, and I'll have nightmares over that decision for the rest of my life, but I do not regret saving your life. In the instant I pulled the trigger, I understood my action would cost the fat one his life, but that did not matter to me than. That it does now is part of who I am, and I must deal with that."
She reached out with the hand that had slapped him and stroked the side of his face. "You are right, we all are animals. I would have liked to believe I was further removed from the savage passions I ascribe to you warriors. I want to be different because I mustbe different. I don't expect you to understand that."
"Deirdre, I ..." Kai reached up to take her hand, but she stiffened at his touch. He saw emotions warring in her eyes and let his words trail off. "We better get going."
Deirdre turned away and squatted down to gather up their packs. "Where to?"
"Nowhere special, really." Kai accepted his pack from her and swung it onto his shoulder. "We're just going to drop these two off at a ComStar base, collect the bounty for them, and get away as quickly as we can."
17
Teeganito Astako Breaks, Alurial Continent
Hyperion, Wolf Clan Occupation Zone
8 March 3052
Sitting high in the cockpit of his modified NovaOmni-Mech, Phelan felt, for a moment, like king of all he surveyed. The twisted arroyos and canyons of hard-baked red earth stretched out around him as far as his 'Mech's enhanced senses let him see. Heat shimmered up off the land, softening the sharp edges on the earth's crust and blurring away the little dust devils dancing in the distance.
Phelan allowed himself an incautious smile. Suitable kingdom for me. It's as desolate as my chances of winning this Bloodname battle.
For the second time, Phelan had participated in the decision ritual of a Bloodname contest. Natasha had overseen the ritual because both Phelan and Glynis served in the Thirteenth Wolf Guards. When asked to express his worthiness, Phelan had repeated the same litany of successes as before, then added, "On Hyperion I led the defense of the Simmons Dam and hunted renegades in the badlands. Prior to the battle today, I defeated an Elemental, Dean, for the right to participate here."
Glynis, a small woman with the oversized head of all Clan aerospace pilots, stated her accomplishments more coldly. "I slew my first Smoke Jaguar before even testing out of my sibko. In the invasion, I have downed ten other fighters, and have killed five 'Mechs on the ground. On Hyperion I added two more fighters to my count, then scoured the plains of retreating armor. Prior to battle today, I slew a Mech Warrior, Manas, for the right to participate here."
Phelan had heard, in exquisite detail from Vlad, how Glynis had ripped Manas to pieces. Manas had made the mistake, Phelan decided, of configuring an OmniMech for a straight-up battle with an Omnifighter, then he offered to meet Glynis on an open plain that gave him a clear shot at her. Of course, it also gave her easy access to him, which is why he died.
Once again Phelan's medallion won the race and made him the hunted one. Glynis immediately chose to fight augmented, which, Phelan knew very well, made them far more than equal on the battlefield. Her aerospace Omnifighter packed much more in the way of weaponry and speed than any 'Mech he could find in a similar weight class.
Being the hunted, the choice of venue again fell to Phelan. Having just hunted down Rasalhague stragglers in the Breaks, he knew how treacherous and tricky the labyrinth of canyons could be. He recalled in particular that Carew and the other pilots assigned to give him air cover had experienced trouble spotting and shooting their enemies in the tight, twisting gauntlets.
If it worked for them against our fighters, it ought to work for me.He had planned to begin down in the maze, but Natasha had advised him that hiding and waiting to ambush his foe was not appropriate for a Bloodname battle. He recalled that the Black Widow had been unimpressed when Phelan scoffed at the idea of a 'Mech being able to ambush an aerospace fighter.
"An ambush is just taking a flyer by surprise," she commented. "That should not be difficult for someone of your inventiveness."
Not on paper, no ...For the fourth time since being set down on the planet, Phelan checked his weaponry. The Nova's boxy torso rose up above the cockpit and housed his NARC beacon equipment and deployment pods. That space could have been better filled with another weapon, but if he attained a hit with a NARC pod, it would mark Glynis' fighter with a targeting beacon. That would make his long-range missiles far more effective, and that was devoutly to be desired.
The 'Mech's shoulders supported two thick arms. In the left Phelan had placed an LB 10-X autocannon and its ammo. He'd specified a load of ammunition that he hoped would surprise Glynis. The right arm mounted a long-range missile launcher and sufficient missile racks to fight a long battle.
One of the Techs working to modify his Novahad commented that Phelan was going out with enough munitions for a siege, not a skirmish. Phelan had laughed off the remark, but deep down, he knew the Tech was right in wondering about Phelan's choices. Phelan realized Glynis' Omnifighter, a Visigoth,was capable of blowing chunks out of his 'Mech with each pass, while he was set up to slowly grind her fighter to debris. Phelan's only chance at winning was to survive long enough to use as much of his ammo as possible.
A red warning light flashed urgently on his command console. Phelan brought up a radar map of the area, and the computer highlighted a fast-moving object on a course that would carry it right over him. By manipulating the joysticks on each arm of his command couch, Phelan brought the twin crosshairs to the center of his holographic display. The computer condensed a 360-degree view of the area into 160 degrees, but Phelan only watched the center, his eyes flicking between it and the radar display on his auxiliary monitor.
Coming in at over 450 knots, the aerospace fighter made itself a target for less than three-tenths of a second. Phelan's crosshairs flashed on the screen and his fingers tightened down on all three fire-control triggers. The Novarocked back with the recoil as the left arm autocannon spit chunks of metal at the closing jet. The right arm sent a flight of missiles arrow-straight at the fighter. From above and behind the cockpit, the NARC system also sent out a small missile, trailing in the wake of the more deadly LRMs.
Searing blue light washed away Phelan's cockpit view as the Visigoth'sparticle projection cannon hit in its first pass. The jagged bolt of artificial lightning ripped an uneven line up the Nova's right side. Steaming hunks of ferro-fibrous armor spilled to the ground as the 'Mech lurched badly to the left.