Nelson Geist smiled for the first time in Phelan's memory and it was not a pleasant thing to see. "Elissa. That's where we'll find her." Geist's smile broadened. "And that's where she'll die."
39
Arc-Royal
Federated Commonwealth
19 September 3055
Looking skyward, Nelson Geist could just barely make out the four DropShips the First 'Mech Regiment was using for transport to the waiting JumpShips. He dropped his half-empty dufflebag and gave Phelan a smart salute. "Kommandant Nelson Geist reporting as ordered, sir."
The tall, slender Khan nodded curtly. "You will be billeted aboard the Owl's Nest,sharing a cabin with Mr. Bates."
Nelson felt his heart sink into his stomach. "Bates? But I thought?"
"You thought what, Kommandant?"
"I thought you trusted me."
Phelan's eyes hooded over and Nelson felt a chill run down his spine. In an instant he knew that the Khan trusted no one outside his circle of advisors or the Kell Hounds. The Red Corsair had gotten to him that much. That kept Nelson an outsider, but he knew it also made them kindred spirits.
"You have provided me information that is very useful, Kommandant. I am bringing you with me because that was our agreement in trade for your information." The edge in Phelan's voice eased a bit. "And you do know the Red Corsair. But trust?Trust in this matter is a very volatile commodity."
Nelson's head came up. "When we get there, I will get a 'Mech?"
"No."
"No!" Nelson's jaw dropped. "But ..."
"You bargained to come along, nothing more. I hold you to your bargain. You can come or not, your choice."
The fantasy Nelson had nurtured since his escape, the vision of facing the Red Corsair in a gigantic Circle of Equals vanished. Who was I kidding?He tried to ball his hands into fists, but his half-hand mocked him. He is Clan, she is Clan. The conflict is beyond me.
Nelson looked up at the Wolf Khan. "She still has my men. I'm going."
* * *
Phelan drummed his fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair in his cabin aboard the Owl's Nest.Dan Allard, sitting next to him, smiled. "Phelan, you'll have worn your way through the arm by the time we get there. Patience is a virtue."
"True enough, Colonel, but I fear this is one race that will go to the swift." Phelan tugged at the restraining belt as he watched the timer on his commlink computer tick down. After the initial jump from Arc-Royal, both JumpShips immediately made another hop to Yeguas. There they wasted a week charging their Kearny-Fuchida jump drives' coils from their solar sails while recharging the lithium-fusion batteries aboard both ships at the recharge station at the star's apex jump point.
The older man shook his head. "I think we must be ahead of her already. We have no word of her raiding a recharge station in the Federated Commonwealth for a recharge, so she's probably still in our space. I don't think your Clans are going to be any more charitable to her than the Feds will be. We will reach her base and inhabit it a month before she comes home."
Phelan kept his face expressionless. Unless she reaches the Jade Falcons and they speed her on her way.He drummed his fingers some more. "I hope you're right, because I do not want to give her the chance to rebuild and re-arm, then come back. Elissa is a planet settled by a pacificistic sect known as the Inheritors. Its members have given up on technology. They live as simple farmers, scattered in little villages across the planet. Clan Wolf doesn't even have a garrison on the world. But it is possible that a Star League depot still exists there and the Red Corsair has tapped into that as a source of supply ..."
Dan smiled. "We fall back on your secondary plan. We use the Kell Hounds to blockade the world and you summon up your Galaxy to destroy her. Either way, she's done."
Three tones sounded throughout the Owl's Nest.Phelan forced himself to relax as the timer clicked down to zero, and the universe suddenly collapsed in on him. Blackness curled upward and around in a bowl starting at his feet, like the trough of two black waves headed at each other. They continued to pull back and grew higher and higher until they closed over the top of him.
The bubble in which he had been trapped began to thin at the walls as the first jump ended, but it imploded when the second kicked in. The black water roof fell in on him. He felt himself drowning and watched images of the Red Corsair, Ulric, Conal, Victor, Ranna, and Vlad swirling around him. Millions of conspiracy plots swam through the darkness, and the urgent need for speed thundered through his head.
The second jump ended and Phelan shook his head to clear it. The commlink on his desk showed a Jade Falcon logo, then dissolved into the face of a Clanner who looked bored with his duty. "Alyina Recharge Station."
Phelan sat up, releasing the restraining belt. He tugged at the base of his tunic. "I am Khan Phelan Ward of the Wolves. Recharge both of these ships immediately."
The commtech looked surprised, then his face darkened. "I do not have you scheduled here, Khan Phelan."
"We are on an urgent mission for the ilKhan. Do as I have commanded."
That brought the man's head up, and Phelan instantly knew he had overplayed his hand. "The ilKhan and I do not correspond, and the authorization you seek is not mine to grant. I will switch you."
The screen returned to the logo and Phelan slammed a fist into the arm of his chair. "Dammit."
Dan arched an eyebrow. "Is that bad?"
Phelan shrugged. "That man is a member of the technician caste. He should have obeyed me. His superior is no doubt a warrior."
The logo again vanished and was replaced with a man's face. From the thickness of his neck and the massive set of his shoulders, Phelan knew he was an Elemental. "I am Star Colonel Taman Malthus. I am in command of Alyina and its resources."
"I am Khan Phelan Ward and I need ..."
The man held up a huge hand. "The nature of your demand has been made known to me, Khan Ward. I am afraid the Jade Falcons have ships coming through that will require the charges you desire."
"We are on a mission for the ilKhan! "
The blue-eyed Elemental shrugged. "I have no orders to assist you and I am not one of your pups to comply just because a wolfling demands it."
Dan Allard leaned over to Phelan. "Perhaps if we could meet with the Star Colonel to explain ..."
Malthus frowned. "If you are thinking of invading Alyina, I will defend with all I have. My first action will be to cripple the recharge station, so you will not gain by it."
"Easy." Phelan held both his hands up. "What Colonel Allard meant was ..."
"Allard?" Malthus' blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. "He is an Allard?"
Phelan hit a button on the commlink that zoomed the lens back to bring Dan into the picture with him. He looked at the older man and jerked a thumb at the commlink.
Dan gave Malthus a disarming smile. "I am Colonel Daniel Allard of the Kell Hounds."
The Elemental stared out from the flat screen for a moment. "Do you know of Kai Allard-Liao?"
Dan's smile broadened. "I do. He is my nephew, my late brother's son."
Malthus nodded. "I know him. I hunted him. I fought beside him."