Dan nodded. "You're right—Morgan would do just about anything to irk Lestrade." Aldo Lestrade's meddling in Lyran Commonwealth politics had caused plenty of trouble. His attempted assassinations of Archon Katrina Steiner had failed, but his last attempt to ruin the alliance between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns nearly killed Melissa Steiner. It also cost Morgan his brother Patrick.
Dan took another long drink. The cool liquid vanquished his thirst and reminded him of things more sociable than Lyran politics. Lowering the bottle, he fixed Clovis with a mischievous stare. "Clovis, have you asked Karla Bremen to the dance next weekend?"
The little man stiffened, then shook his head. "No."
Dan frowned. "Blake's Blood! You've done nothing but moon over her ever since you heard she'd broken up with that guy . . . what was his name?"
Clovis picked up the actuator wrench and turned it over in his small hands. "Thor. His name was Thor."
The image of a huge man flashed through Dan's mind as Clovis spoke. "Yeah, that was it. Well, why don't you ask her?"
The dwarf looked down. "She'd not go with me. She doesn't even know I exist."
Dan drank more beer, then set the half-empty bottle down on the crate beside Clovis. "That's not true, and you know it. I saw you talking with her the other day. She was smiling and laughing."
Clovis's face darkened. He carelessly drummed the steel wrench against the wooden crate, splintering off little pieces of it. "Yeah, we spoke. She wants me to show the children in her classes how to work computers. Show-and-tell-computer time. Nothing big or special."
Dan scowled. Something's going on here. I've never seen Clovis so morose."I don't know, Clovis. If I were you, I'd capitalize on that opportunity..."
The dwarf's long black hair fell forward as he nodded his head. "I have. I agreed to teach the kids ..."
Dan shook his head. "You don't understand. I mean you should ask her to the dance." He cocked his head at his friend. "If you don't, I just might. Maybe I'll even act like a jerk and let you rescue her..."
Clovis's brown eyes blazed with anger. "You don't get it, do you? I could no more rescue her from you than I could fly without wings. She'd prefer you, even being a jerk—which I don't think you could manage—to a half-man."
"Clovis, I'm sorry," Dan said. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just hate to see you feeling low. The worst she could do is say no."
Muscles bunched at the corners of Clovis's jaw. "I know you meant well, Dan, but I just don't want to talk about it. It's not so bad for you because you know someone special like your Jeana will say 'yes' someday." He glanced down at the hole he'd chopped into the crate. "I don't know that."
At Clovis's mention of her name, Dan's hand strayed to the meter-long strip of green silk tucked into his belt. "Jeana is special to me, Clovis, but she might not be to someone else. More women have been special to me than I ever was to them, and you'll be special to someone, too. But you'll never find out who she is until you open up and take a chance."
Clovis shot Dan a sidelong glance. "Bet you wouldn't set me up with your sister Riva, would you?"
Dan grinned broadly. "Got a couple of ComStar bills? I'll send a message out to her now to come get you." Both men chuckled over the idea of Riva Allard traveling for months to reach Lyons for a date, but their laughter died as two of the Kell Hound infantrymen approached them with a visitor in tow.
"Captain Allard?"
"Yes, Sullivan, what is it?" Dan looked at the yellow-robed visitor and narrowed his eyes. What is a ComStar Acolyte doing here?
Sullivan's expression did not hide his irritation. "Sir, I explained to the Acolyte that he could just leave his holodisk with us and we'd see it would get to Colonel Kell, but he insisted . .."
Dan nodded understanding. "You and Murphy can return to your posts. I'll take care of our guest." He turned to the Acolyte. "What can I do for you?"
The pinch-faced man narrowed his eyes. "I must see Colonel Kell. I have a message for him."
"Indeed." Dan glanced at Clovis and admired his manly effort to keep from laughing out loud. "Corporal Sullivan said you had a holodisk."
The Acolyte scowled. "Whatever it is, it is for Colonel Kell, and for him alone. Those are my orders. Such were the wishes of the person sending ..."
"And paying for ..." quipped Clovis.
"... the message." The Acolyte glowered at Clovis, who merely ignored him.
Dan frowned. "If you insist, I can call the Colonel in."
The Acolyte nodded curtly, so Dan picked up Clovis's radio from a crate and keyed in to Morgan Kell's 'Mech. "Dan here. Sorry to interrupt, Colonel, but we've a messenger from ComStar. He's got a holodisk for you and refuses to release it to anyone else."
Static hissed through the radio's speakers for half a second before Morgan Kell's deep voice replaced it. "What's your read, Dan?"
Dan raked the Acolyte over with an openly appraising glance. "He seems to fit, but I'm uneasy about this message. I'd bet on it being bad news instead of good."
"I'll head in. Can you round up the staff?"
Dan frowned. "Conn and Second 'Mech Battalion are still over at the quarry. It would take them two hours to get here. Salome and Cat are there in the work group with you. Scott Bradley's here in the bay."
"Good. Get them. Have Clovis join us as well."
"Roger, Colonel. Out." Dan grinned at the Acolyte and pointed toward the construction site. "If you want to walk out and meet him ..."
The Acolyte took two steps toward the bay opening, then stopped short. He shook his head, nervously stuttering through his words. "N-no, n-not necessary."
Dan laughed. Coming at a dead run across the field, the thunderous steps of Morgan's Archersent heavy tremors through the ground. The titanic 'Mech swung its ponderous fists as a man might, but the I-beam clutched forgotten in the left hand was eloquent witness to the machine's incredible strength. The hunched shoulders and forward trusting head gave the Archera bestial look even more threatening than its sheer size.
Dan slapped the stricken Acolyte on the shoulder. "Hope this is worth it, buckaroo, because the Colonel . .. well, he doesn't like disappointments."
Dan watched Morgan Kell slip the holodisk into the player. On a scale of 1 to 16, Morgan's anger ranks about a 32,he thought. Dan could tell Kell didn't appreciate the Acolyte's antics, especially when he learned the message was from Aldo Lestrade.
Seated against the back wall, Dan had a full view of the rectangular briefing room. A long table filled it, and twelve chairs surrounded the table. The four other people at the meeting had seated themselves near the middle of the oaken table, and all faced the far end of the room where Morgan fiddled with the holodisk viewer.
Morgan straightened up to his full height and forced his anger out with a deep breath. His cooling vest and shorts revealed a muscular body that was relatively unscarred for a MechWarrior his age. Kell's long black hair and thick beard were shot with gray, but only enough to give him an air of nobility. His dark brown eyes sparkled with a vitality that seemed to promise this man could live forever.
Morgan smiled at the officers present. "Forgive the theatrics of calling you from the field for this. The ComStar Acolyte's actions suggested it might be important. Even though the message is from Aldo Lestrade, it might have some value. In any event, I would apprise all of you of its contents in the end, so we might as well share the shock together."
Morgan hit a button on the disc player's remote control. The black screen lightened to reveal the simple rectangular crest of the world of Summer, then dissolved to a picture of a rotund little man seated behind a massive desk. His salt-and-pepper hair lay flat on his head like a bad toupee and did not move as he patted it into place with his plastic left hand. Lestrade stared intently into the camera.