"Dinner's served, gentlemen," said Ardan, rising from the bunk. "Shall we go?" At the door, he stepped aside to let Fram and Denek pass first Now that the time had come, he found himself dreading his last encounter with Sep.
4
It had been a long day already. Sep had put her huge WarHammerthrough its paces for six hours without stopping, keeping Fram and Jarlik, in their lighter but more maneuverable Valkyrieson the hop. Though they had almost gotten through her guard a couple of times, she had managed to hold them to a three-way draw.
Given their abilities, Sep was rather proud of that. She would like to try the same sort of practice with Ardan, but in his present mood, she knew better than to ask. He was so touchy these days.
Unwinding at the computers afterward, testing her wits against Jarlik's, Sep had again managed to come out appreciably ahead. This was becoming a regular thing, and Jarlik grumbled that she must have reprogrammed the system to give herself the edge. He was joking, of course. She understood the big fellow too well to take offense, though others sometimes bristled under his heavy-handed humor.
Sitting in the common room, the two MechWarriors had talked of the growing rumor of a Davion counterattack against Maximilian Liao, who had seized both Redfield and Stein's Folly near the Federated Suns border. The loss of those worlds had set the mighty House Davion on its ear, and everyone in the armed forces was on edge. Something would have to give soon, Sep knew.
"Hanse must act," Jarlik had said. "He can't afford to hold back...There are too many powers watching his reaction. If he shows signs of weakness, well have others besides Maximilian Liao at our throats. Even Steiner isn't above a little polite planet-snatching, given the chance."
"Not to mention the nasties out in the Periphery, just waiting to dart in and grab whatever they can catch," Sep put in. "I wonder if that's the reason Hanse's Institute of Science is working so hard at a new security system?"
"New security? I'd have thought our old system would stand up to anything."
"Well, it might, but last week I was drafted into a team assigned to try breaching all the systems in the palace. A couple of times, we almostsucceeded. The NAIS observer kept nodding and making notes and muttering into a comp. Maybe she found out what she needed to know."
Now, after freshening up in her quarters, Sep was thinking about that conversation while making her way to the mess hall. Something was in the wind. Every MechWarrior on New Avalon was antsy, edgy. Even Ardan, who was usually so reserved, had snapped at his men more than once.
She entered the big hall and looked to the corner where she, Ardan, Jarlik, Denek, and Fram usually supped together. The others were already in place, full trays in front of them.
Jarlik raised a hand and beckoned to her, then pointed to a laden tray at an empty spot beside him. Bless the man! He'd picked up her supper as well as his, saving her a lot of standing in line. Sep grinned, knowing Jarlik would take his toll. She never ate a whole trayful, and he would get to clean up anything she left
She slid onto the bench beside Jarlik and smiled across the table at Ardan. When he didn't return the smile, she looked around at the group, realizing that they all were unusually grim.
"All right, what's up?" Sep asked, looking straight at Ardan.
He dropped his gaze, fiddled with his fork, then raised his eyes to hers.
"I've been transferred," he said, voice low and gruff. "I asked for it. Things have been...getting to me lately. It was time for a change."
Sep felt a hot lump rise in her throat, but she swallowed it back down with grim determination. She quickly took a taste of soup, which burnt her tongue badly enough to excuse the tears that rose to her eyes.
"Whoof!" she panted. "Hot!" She breathed deeply, cooling her mouth and throat. In those few moments, she had gotten her emotions under control again. "It's what you've wanted for a long time," she said. "I hate to see you go, but I know how it is. Some people can stand Court service, and others find it unbearable. After four years here, I admit it's been a nice rest But a day will come when I'll want to get back into the thick of things, too."
"Yes, but it's good to be part of the Brigade, which is the service everyone hopes for, if they're good enough," Denek interjected. "I'd hate to leave it...now. Though I suppose the time mightcome when I get bored with mock battles, too." He looked thoughtfully into the mixture of vegetables and meat on his plate.
"I'm not bored," said Ardan, his tone dry. "I'm—No, better not to talk about it. Let's just say that the time has come for me to move on to something else. I wasn't cut out for life at Court. Or in government. Or around politics. Leave it at that."
Sep took a bite of something tasteless, chewed it carefully, swallowed, took a sip of wine. She wished desperately that that there were something light and funny to say. The atmosphere at their table had become thick enough to cut with a vibroblade.
Besides, she knew what was eating Ardan, having seen his increasing dissatisfaction with policies Hanse was putting into effect among the worlds ruled by the Federated Suns. She had never really understood what it was that so distressed him, though. Treaties that kept a system out of war were good, no matter what it took to get them ratified.
Sep took another bite of food, but it could have been desert-rat or chewyweed, for all the flavor she found in it.To save her, she couldn't think of anything to say except things sure to irritate Ardan even further. The new security systems, for one thing. Ardan thought a ruler should be completely and openly available to his people. That might be a wonderful theory, but she wondered how many of those who'd tried it in millennia past had ended up dead in the midst of all that access. At least four that she could recall from school history tapes popped into her head.
No, it was best not to mention security. Nor the war. Nor Hanse's probable intentions with regard to House Steiner.
Fram saved the situation. "You know, the strangest thing happened today. My coolant vest just conked out. While I was cooking away in there, my throat mike began malfunctioning, and my earphones began picking up beeps from the biofeedback sytem."
Ardan chuckled. Jarlik grinned, and Denek choked on a bite of food. Sep smiled, too, thinking how often similar things had happened to her.
"Anyway, there I was listening to my blood pressure, stewing in my own sweat, and trying to talk to my left toe, and I happen to look up to see Tigerwoman, here, about to take off my legs. Don't tell me comfort isn't necessary to a MechWarrior! You get distracted, and you're dead. If that had been a real battle situation, I'd have been a goner, for certain."
Pushing back his now-empty tray, Ardan grinned. It made Sep glad to see that it was not the false and strained version he'd shown earlier.
"I'll remember that when I get out to the Folly," he said. "After all, those Capellan ‘Mech-jockeys will be playing for keeps. Somehow, here on New Avalon, it's hard to forget that the 'Mech you're sparring with is piloted by someone you'd protect with your own life in a real battle. It does make a big difference." He drained his glass and stood up.
"Anyone want to take a walk to settle dinner?" he asked with elaborate casualness.
Sep felt her heart thud solidly against her ribs. She stretched and stood.
"Might as well." She took her tray and followed Ardan to the racks where the soiled utensils were stacked for later cleaning.