Seven hundred pairs of boots stamp courtyard dirt as the entire brigade comes to attention. Their chief warrant officer salutes a captain, who turns on his heels and marches to where Colonel Nswor stands.
The WO salutes the colonel, who about turns and presents himself to General Luc, who accepts his salute with hurried elegance.
If they weren’t my enemies I’d be impressed.
Not a word passes between the Wolf and his guests. His bow, which is slight, is met with the briefest of nods.
‘If you will, Lady Aptitude,’ says the little ADC, offering his arm to help her up the steps, but she ignores him entirely, still fighting back tears. Everyone waits for Aptitude to move, even Debro, who steps forward.
I’m already there.
Apt takes my hand.
Helping Debro up next, I step back for Colonel Nswor, and then let Major Whipple follow, but the Major is watching the sky. Dark grey eyes and a hard face and something close to regret. He’s impressed by Aptitude, which doesn’t surprise me because I’ve never met anyone yet who wasn’t. And he’s impressed by Debro, because she’s Senator Debro Tezuka Wildeside, and Debro impresses everyone.
He’s even impressed by us, the Aux.
But he wants this over.
And when General Luc follows his major’s gaze, the answer hits me. They’re expecting an attack. That’s what those mortars and rockets and belt-feds are about. Dragging his attention from the sky, General Luc nods to Sergeant Toro. ‘Housekeeping first,’ he says. ‘We can deal with the Thomassi afterwards.’
Chapter 53
Colonel Vijay enters the courtyard alone.
If he’s seen Aptitude he doesn’t let on. He must have seen her, you can hardly miss a sobbing girl in a white dress. Debro sits beside her, one hand lightly on her daughter’s wrist to steady her.
‘Any last words?’ General Luc demands.
Colonel Vijay shakes his head.
‘None at all? No pleas for mercy, requests to be remembered, fond words for your ex-beloved?’ The Wolf looks at Aptitude, who sits as if cut from stone. Except no statue ever cried, whatever wise women and fools say.
Colonel Vijay opens his mouth to answer.
Then shuts it again.
His eyes, which watch General Luc, flick to the sky. And we hear what he hears, a low buzz in the distance, like mechanical wasps.
‘Too late to save you,’ the Wolf says. ‘Not that they’d bother.’ He shrugs. ‘You should thank me for saving you from a Thomassi show trial.’
On cue, Sergeant Toro steps from under an arch carrying a sword as long as he is tall over his shoulder. It is double-handed, with a heavy hilt, and weighs enough to make him stoop on one side.
Aptitude whimpers.
But Debro is looking at the sky, which is now dotted with a hundred tiny black specks getting closer, with more specks behind.
‘Last chance,’ says the Wolf.
‘For what?’ Colonel Vijay demands.
These are the first words he’s spoken since he walked from under that arch. And they’re calm, almost reasonable. He knows Aptitude is here, all right.
‘To plead,’ Luc says. ‘Surely you want your life?’
‘Not at any price.’
At a touch from Debro’s hand, Aptitude stifles her sobs, and her swallowed gasps sound worse still, like a child drowning in misery. Only Aptitude is not a child, she’s a major piece in a game so messy the only person to understand it is dead.
Take ground, keep ground.
Keep taking ground until you can take no more.
Die rather than let the ground you’ve taken be taken back.
There is nothing in those rules you’ll find hard to understand. At twelve I understood them perfectly. Every one of the Aux understands them perfectly now. I’m just having trouble making them fit what’s happening around me.
‘Steiner 3 Combat copters,’ Major Whipple mutters.
Not sure if he’s talking to me, his colonel or himself.
Mixed in with the copters are gliders. And worse than that, the gliders are spilling white globs like drops of milk. Each dot a parachute.
Up on the battlements, a rocket launcher opens fire and shuts down just as fast. The Wolf refuses to let what is happening beyond his walls interfere with what is happening inside.
‘If you will go first, sir . . .’
Nodding to the sergeant, Colonel Vijay climbs the steps. He stands aside to let General Luc climb after him. Sergeant Toro follows, and Colonel Vijay steadies him when he stumbles under the weight of that sword. Next to me, Major Whipple grunts approvingly.
In my pocket I have the planet buster.
Its lid is raised and its priming ring already turned. All I have to do is push the button and this is over. Everyone dies. But that is not a long game, so there has to be a better answer.
A warm wind blows into Colonel Vijay’s face and tugs at the edge of his white shirt. The shirt is clean, the colonel’s hair still wet and he’s been allowed to shave. Only the hollowness around his eyes suggests last night’s sleep was fake.
‘Ready when you are,’ he says.
The Wolf scowls. As we watch, he tests the sword’s balance.
And then, standing firm, his shoulders twisted and his boots glued to the boards, General Luc draws back the blade to take Colonel Vijay’s head from his shoulders.
‘Ready for death?’
Colonel Vijay smiles. ‘I’m a Jaxx,’ he says. ‘An officer in the Death’s Head. What do you think?’
General Luc sighs.
‘I think you’re a fucking little idiot. And every bit as insane as your father. What do I think . . .?’ He grounds the sword. ‘I think this world’s gone to hell in a handcart and you two deserve each other.’
We have the long game.
Things change swiftly after that.
‘I release you from your parole,’ the Wolf tells Colonel Vijay. ‘You can take your chances here or try to break through those.’ He nods towards the falling chutes, then turns to where Aptitude sits, and says, ‘I renounce my claim on his life. You too may stay here, or go . . .’
‘She’s staying. They’re both staying.’
All three turn to look at me.
Of course they are. There’s a war going on out there and I’m not about to lose my major players at this point. General Luc’s halfway down the steps when I block his way.
‘Sven,’ Colonel Vijay says. ‘No.’
‘I want my gun back.’
The Wolf shows yellow teeth. It’s a grin, of sorts.
He tells me it’s an illegal piece of shit, ideally suited for scum like me. Then he orders Sergeant Toro to make sure the Aux are freed and our weapons returned to us.
‘Anything else?’ he asks me.
‘Yes, sir,’ I say. ‘We need to talk.’
His nod takes in the men scattering to their positions. ‘It can wait.’
Chapter 54
As Aptitude scrabbles past, I grab her. She fights until she realizes who it is and stops, puzzled.
‘Listen,’ I say, pulling her close. ‘I told Vijay you refused General Luc’s offer. It’s what he expected,’ I add, hearing her gasp. ‘He was proud of you.’
‘So he didn’t refuse to let me . . .’
Shit, I hadn’t thought that through at all.
When her gaze flicks over my shoulder, I know who stands there.
Orders might stream from General Luc: belt-feds to be manned, pulse rifles to be broken out and mortars positioned, more anti-aircraft missiles brought from the armoury, but he still watches as Aptitude flings her arms around Colonel Vijay, and buries her face in his shoulder.
Say you rejected Luc’s offer.
I have to mouth it twice before he understands.
The colonel’s nod is slight, and then he’s stroking Aptitude’s hair and whispering things men should only say to women in the darkness of a locked room at night. Except it doesn’t matter and, strangely, I need the Wolf Brigade to see this.
Vijay Jaxx and Aptitude Wildeside.
It’s going to be a long hard fight and a good myth is worth a dozen battalions. A good prophecy is worth ten times that. Get us to believe luck’s your whore and the next battle is half won. Alternatively, this is where we die.