5 January 3135
Leaving Niccolò next to the elevators, Landgrave Jasek Kelswa-Steiner joined Alexia Wolf and Tara Campbell. Both women were watching the Steel Wolf exodus from the comfort of the Cheops DropPort observation tower. He placed a hand on Tara’s shoulder, and the three stood together for a moment in front of the bronze-tinted windows as vehicles and ’Mechs, infantrymen and technicians, all gathered by columns and ranks on the tarmac. Steel Wolf forces straggled in from the Himmelstor as well as from three other DropShips. Some were towed behind heavy trucks. The half-gutted shells of several ruined tanks and a Mad Cat III rolled in on the flatbeds of J100 recovery vehicles. All in all, if they were returning to Seginus with half their initial strength, he’d be surprised.
“I’d hoped Anastasia would join us,” he said, staring through the tinted ferroglass. The warmth of Nusakan’s summer sun barely filtered through. “We owe her a great deal.”
Alexia had made the trip from Skye to Nusakan aboard the Steel Wolf JumpShip. “She preferred to remain in orbit.” A sly smile played on her lips. “Said that she did not want you charming her into another futile stand. At least, not until she’s had time to re-form and rest her people. She did extend an offer for you to visit Seginus, if you have any personal time to spare.” Alexia held up a hand as Jasek startled, pulling away from Tara. “I told her you would refuse. That you… rarely work that way.”
Tara glanced from one to the other, obviously not following the exchange, but choosing not to intrude. “Seginus will not be receiving much in the way of aid and resupply,” the countess said. Having had a few weeks in transit to acknowledge the loss of Skye, she had already begun planning a new defensive stand for Prefecture IX. “She would do better to stay close.”
Frowning, and without looking away from Alexia, Jasek nodded. “Think you can talk her out of it?” he asked Tara. Almost hoping.
“There is a remote area, with old militia facilities, on Nusakan’s southern continent. The Steel Wolves could occupy that.”
“I will pass that information to the commander,” Alexia offered.
He heard the finality in her tone and accepted that the Steel Wolves would not be staying. Neither would Alexia. “This war is not over,” he reminded her. “Will you ask the Steel Wolves to at least keep open a line of communication?”
“I will see to it,” she promised. Leaning in to him, Alexia Wolf put an easy hand around the back of Jasek’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. There was no desire in it, no strength. It was soft and sorry, and then it was over.
“Thank you for everything,” she told him.
She nearly left on that, but paused to size up Tara Campbell with a quick glance from head to foot. “You win,” she said, as if casting a vote of confidence. A half smile. “I did not think it was possible.”
Tara gazed after Alexia with a confused look. She turned to Jasek, and brushed her platinum blond hair back with a quick sweep of slender fingers. “That looked suspiciously like a good-bye.”
“It was.” Jasek steeled himself against showing how much the loss hurt him. As a commander losing one of his best officers, more than as a man losing his lover.
He nodded after her. “Alexia is leaving with Kerensky and the Steel Wolves,” he said. “We were always a temporary stop for her. Now that she’s proven herself as a warrior, it’s time for her to follow her original path. I hope she finds what she is looking for with them.”
First Tamara, who held such hopes for Jasek, even though he had been casually committed to another. Now Alexia. It wasn’t a surprise. But was she leaving so soon because of her desire to “return home” with the Steel Wolves, as close as she could get to being among the Clans, or because Jasek had allowed something far more serious to come between the two of them? Her parting comments seemed to indicate a measure of both.
“And the rest?” Tara asked, not letting it go. Like a terrier getting her teeth into a bone, she’d worry it until it cracked. “What did I win?”
“I think she meant …me,” he offered with a small smile.
“How’s that again?”
Clasping hands behind his back, hiding his nervousness, Jasek turned away from the window. Tara’s bright blue eyes studied him warily. She knew. And she was just as obviously scared for what it might mean. “On Chaffee and again on Hesperus II,” he explained slowly, “I kept hearing your voice in my head. It stuck with me, Tara. I couldn’t shake it, and didn’t want to. From the first day we met, I’ve felt an incredible attraction for you.”
He paused, stepping forward. “And I’ve flattered myself into thinking you felt something for me.”
For a moment, Jasek believed that she did. He saw the softening around her eyes, and the cautious smile most women displayed when they’d made a decision about their feelings. He would have sworn he saw her rise up on the balls of her feet, ready to lean in to him.
But then Tara pulled back. Her eyes shone with resolve as she stepped away. She shook her head.
“I’m married to The Republic, Jasek. It’s what I promised myself, and that’s the way it has to be.”
Duty before all. Jasek understood that, even if it tore at him. By the pained look on Tara’s face, her decision was costing her too.
“You’ll change your mind,” he said, turning back to the window. She had to change her mind. For everything else he’d given up in the last two years, and everything he’d lost, she was the one thing he no longer was certain he could stand to be without.
“Don’t count on it,” she shot back at him quickly.
But she stood beside him a moment longer anyway. It felt very comfortable until she cleared her throat nervously. “Take care of yourself, Jasek. All right? I would like to know that you’re… safe.” Then she too left.
It was a very awkward parting, and he nearly went after her right then. Maybe she wanted him to. Maybe not. He let her go. There was time enough for such pursuits, he told himself. This first day back on Nusakan, there were other priorities that needed handling. His father, for one. Spreading out the Stormhammers’ intelligence network again, for another. Whatever was happening back on Terra, they needed to know something as soon as possible.
And then there were the new allegations against Vic Parkins to investigate. Whether the hauptmann abandoned his superior officer on the battlefield or had been engaged and truly unable to respond. Nicco had repeatedly advised Jasek that Tamara’s romantic loyalty fostered a potential discipline problem, but still, she deserved better.
So much to do. Tara Campbell would have to wait. She wasn’t going anywhere.
He hoped.
Niccolò had waited by the elevators. The doors on Tara’s car were barely shut when Jasek walked up, his face solemn. “Bad day at the office?”
“We’re back on Nusakan, and most of us are alive, if a bit battered.” Jasek had little doubt his friend saw how much he was hurting. “It’s a good start.”
“We knew going in that Skye was lost,” Niccolò reminded him. “Had to be lost.”
Jasek said nothing. He summoned a new car.
“Fifth Rise?” the GioAvanti scion asked. It was where Duke Gregory waited. It would be a necessary stop.
“Yes,” Jasek agreed, hardening himself to the difficult decisions he now faced. The Isle of Skye was about to go through very hard times. The Stormhammers had to be ready to cushion the blows.
The elevator arrived, heavy doors rolling back quietly. Both men stepped inside the waiting car.
“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more uncertain of success, or more dangerous to manage than the establishment of a new order of government,” his best friend said. “And that is exactly what you are trying to accomplish, Landgrave.”
“But not alone,” Jasek whispered as he watched the doors roll shut. “Not alone.”