Right now, he could imagine MechWarrior Diana in her cockpit, but what did it mean that she was his daughter? She might be a product of the liaison between him and Peri, but that was as far as he could proceed with the idea. Even all the books of his secret library, with their frequent tales of families, could not prove the meaning of what he had just been told by Joanna. He had been Aidan of the Mattlov/Pryde sibko, then Cadet Aidan; he had posed as the freeborn MechWarrior and Star Commander Jorge; he had reassumed his identity as Aidan, then won the Bloodname Pryde; had been a Clan warrior for almost two decades, had become Star Colonel Aidan Pryde of the Falcon Guards. Those were enough identities for anyone's life. How could he be anythingto this MechWarrior Diana?
"Get to the DropShip, Star Captain Joanna!"
"And you?"
"You do not run a drill on my life, Joanna. Go!"
Joanna did not look back as she ran to the Raptor,nor did she think again of MechWarrior Diana for some time. She was astonished when she and her Mad Dogwere taken into the Raptorand away from the now-despised planet of Tukayyid. Later, when she was honored for her role in the retreat, she scoffed, especially as the honors did not carry with them a permanent promotion back to Star Captain. But she accepted the commendations and the medals that went with them.
* * *
Elemental Star Commander Selima stood outside the Raptor,guiding the survivors from the Elemental Stars into it. The last ones had entered, with Selima taking one last look around when he saw Diana's 'Mech take the hit and crash with an impact whose tremors reached all the way to the DropShip. Characteristically, Selima did not stop for even a moment to think. He instantly began to sprint toward the fallen 'Mech, the loping sides of his battlesuit bringing him to it quickly.
Climbing onto the machine, he saw the crack in the cockpit. It was a fairly narrow crack, but an Elemental battle suit could rip through it, given enough time. Stepping up to the breech, he grasped one edge with his hand and braced his foot on the other. The servos on his suit's exoskeleton began to whine and strain. The heads-up-display flashed with warnings of stress tolerances exceeded and overload conditions. Selima continued to pull. Then with a sharp crack the twisted armor gave way, and he was looking into the cockpit.
MechWarrior Diana was in her command couch, large pieces of twisted metal holding her down. One piece seemed wrapped around the ejection lever.
"MechWarrior Diana?" Selima said. There was no response. A passing light illuminated her face for a moment, and he saw her eyes were closed. Then the light went away, and he could not see her face any more.
Selima never stopped to speculate on possibilities. He just went to work, using his great strength to pull away pieces of metal that might be removed without further injuring the pilot.
As he reached for the neurohelmet, the BattleMech was rocked by another hit, apparently in the lower torso. Selima noticed an odd odor. Not being a MechWarrior, he could not know what it was, but he was able to sense danger in many ways, including through the sense of smell.
"Who is that in there?" boomed an amplified voice outside the Warhawk.Selima immediately recognized the voice of Star Colonel Aidan Pryde coming through his external speakers.
Quickly, Selima followed Aidan's instructions and identified himself.
"Star Commander Selima, report the situation inside the cockpit as simply as you can."
"The pilot is trapped in her seat. I have removed some of the constraints. I can remove the others, I believe."
"Is MechWarrior Diana still alive then?"
"Yes, sir."
"Continue, Star Commander—"
Aidan could not finish the sentence because suddenly he was fending off an attack from a trio of ComStar BattleMechs. Selima could hear him firing, and he caught his breath when he heard a missile explode against some part of the Timber Wolfssurface.
Delicately, he lifted the neurohelmet off Diana's head. Her black hair spilled out as her head dropped back. He lifted her head and examined the rest of the cockpit seat. Keeping hold of her head with his right hand, he worked at the twisted metal with his left. For a moment, it looked as though the metal was too interlocked to come loose, then suddenly the whole mass of it freed up enough for Selima to slide Diana's body slowly upward and out of the cockpit seat.
It felt as if she were all right, with no major bones broken. Holding her against his side with his right arm, her feet dangling down to his knees, he used his left hand to widen the canopy crack sufficiently to get both of them out.
As he was squeezing them through, Diana said suddenly, "Selima?"
"Be quiet," he told her.
"My . . . father ... I mean ..."
"Quiet. Do not try to speak now."
When they came out of the cockpit, Selima looked up and saw that Star Colonel Aidan Pryde was taking on several ComStar BattleMechs at once. Some of them had come around to block his path to the Raptor,while all were firing on him at will. He was rotating his 'Mech's torso back and forth, getting off shots every which way at the enemy.
"Take her to the Raptor,Star Commander Selima," Aidan's voice roared out of the external speakers.
Selima responded immediately, activating his jump pack and sailing for the DropShip with MechWarrior Diana cradled in his arms.
Selima was praised among Elementals for his rescue of the Clan warrior, but received no commendations or medals. Even those MechWarriors who knew of his name and his deed soon forgot all about him. Except for one MechWarrior. Diana never forgot him.
* * *
As soon as her 'Mech took the missile hit, Diana blanked out, coming to only long enough to hear the exchange between Joanna and Aidan. She tried to protest, but could not focus her speech coherently. What had possessed Joanna to tell Aidan Pryde who she was? The next moment she was dreaming that Aidan was in her village, living with Peri. Diana was a small child, so small she did not seem capable of speech. She wanted to talk to her father, but she could not speak. She could not even make a coherent noise. He spoke to her. She saw his mouth move, but she could not hear what he was saying. She was sitting on a rug. He reached toward her to pick her up, and suddenly she was looking at the visored face of Elemental Star Commander Selima. He was in her cockpit. What was an Elemental doing in her cockpit? They were not allowed there, were they? She could not move. In the darkness Selima's high cheekbones seemed more pronounced. He did not see her looking at him. Her eyes closed again.
In the new dream, Selima was talking with Aidan. Selima said that he wished to be Diana's father and asked Aidan to declare him her father. Aidan refused. Aidan said she was not his daughter, but he would not allow anyone else to have her for a daughter either. She screamed that she had to have a father somewhere, did she not? He said no. He said she was a trueborn, like him. Trueborns did not have parents. They were true-borns and they were warriors, he said. For some reason, his words made her feel good.
She woke up again and saw that Selima had carried her out of the cockpit. She heard her father's voice ordering Selima to take her to the DropShip. She tried to talk, to shout to her father that he need not accept her as his daughter. But her voice was gone and she was drifting back into sleep.