Blood of the Isle

Jasek nodded his own salute. “Stand easy,” he ordered Parkins, who tucked himself into a stiff parade rest.

The entire room held its breath. Jasek let them stew a moment.

By toting up unit insignia, the Landgrave saw that Colonel Petrucci’s Lyran Rangers counted for more than half of the assembled audience. That was expected, since the Rangers were as large as the Stormhammers’ other two combat groups combined. Most of the militia and standing-army soldiers who had followed Jasek into exile filled out Ranger billets, in fact. Hastati Sentinels and Principes Guards. Triarii Protectors. He had kept them together as much as possible. They were a tight-knit group.

They would also be the hardest affected by today’s judgment, and he meant to save as many of them as he could.

Alexia Wolf’s Tharkan Strikers were the next most prevalent unit. Green troops, mostly, drawn from volunteers and militia castoffs, or recruited directly by Alexia from a few scattered academies, making up in enthusiasm what they lacked in experience.

Very few of Joss Vandel’s elite Archon’s Shield battalion had bothered to attend. Those who did, Jasek recognized as men and women who had also come with him from Skye or from other “heritage worlds” of the old Isle. The Lyran Commonwealth recruits and the Lohengrin agents “loaned” Jasek by his distant cousin, the Commonwealth’s Archon, had better things to do than sit through more Republic squabbling.

As did Jasek himself.

“The charge of treason is a delicate and dangerous matter,” the Landgrave began in his best stage voice. “It should never be brought lightly, or with personal animosity, and the investigation never colored by politics, by personal ambition, or by emotion. This tribunal has acted in the best interests of all true citizens of Skye, the Stormhammers, and Hauptma

He spoke slowly and with deliberate enunciation. Jasek’s father had taught him the value of ceremonial speaking, among other things.

Weighted words carry farther than the ears. They settle into the minds and the hearts of all who hear them.

Which was why Jasek had named “all true citizens of Skye” first and foremost, referring to the grand Isle of Skye rather than Skye as a lone world lost among a census. It was one of his rallying cries, after all, to point out how Devlin Stone had in effect disenfranchised so many citizens of the Isle during The Republic’s creation, and it would be good to see something useful come from this delay. Sitting court was not how he had hoped to spend his final days on Nusakan. The necessity of listening to depositions and reviewing evidence had interrupted preparations to fully mobilize, costing the Stormhammers precious time. He’d had to be certain, though, that one act of treachery was not an indication of a deeper conspiracy within his most steadfast troops. And he had owed Tamara a chance to prove her case.

Now he owed Hauptma

Jasek stood, leaning forward on the rail that separated the tribunal from the accused man. Parkins pulled himself up to strict attention.

“It is the finding of this tribunal that no evidence of conspiracy exists to place Hauptma

Vic Parkins had already been informed of the judgment in private. Even so, his shoulders slumped with relief to hear it a

Several officers surged to their feet, applauding the tribunal’s findings. Along the wall, many Lyran Rangers cheered. Not exactly for Parkins, they cheered with him. Their relief was obvious. No soldier wanted to suspect treachery within his or her own ranks.

Jasek waved down the excitement. He saw Kommandant Duke rise to her feet as well, holding a stiff military bearing. She also had comrades along the wall, brooding, fearing another shot in the back. The Landgrave had to repair the potential damage if he hoped to salvage both officers.

“At worst,” he continued, “Hauptma

More applause, though less strident than before. Parkins stepped forward and traded hand clasps with Colonel Petrucci and Colonel Vandel. He caught Jasek’s hand as the Stormhammers’ leader came down from the high chair.

“Thank you, Landgrave.”

The armor commander had a crushing grip, which at another time might have been a test of strength. Now there was no mistaking the flush of goodwill that colored his cheeks.

“No thanks necessary, Hauptma

“Shaking up your lines right before battle is never a good idea, sir.” Parkins turned to face Tamara as she joined them. “I believe I can still work within Kommandant Duke’s company, if she’ll have me. No hard feelings. In her place, I might have done the same.”

“And in your place, I’d hope to be as gracious,” Tamara said, shaking his hand once, formally. Apology accepted, and given. But it strained the borders of camaraderie.

More work to be done here, Jasek noted, but left it alone for now. “Hauptma

Parkins nodded, traded salutes, and moved for the rear of the auditorium. Several officers and enlisted waited there, and accepted him warmly into their company. They moved out in a large group.

Alexia Wolf replaced Parkins, nodding shortly to Tamara as an apology for the intrusion. “They are ready for us,” she said. If she said it slightly possessively, Jasek couldn’t really blame her.

Or Tamara, for the way the junior officer bristled at the implied dismissal.

Gathered by Niccolò, Petrucci and Vandel were already stealing out a side door of the small auditorium, the only door guarded by a sentry with a sidearm. “I’ll be along in a moment, Alex.” The familiar address didn’t help the escalating level of tension.

With a warm smile the leutnant-colonel preceded them out the side door. It led to a short, wide hallway that ran through a network of executive offices. The faint aroma of gourmet coffee seemed to ooze from the paneled walls and thick carpet. Empty secretarial desks competed in size for prestige. The doors behind them ran contests for the longest, most boldfaced title.

Senior Executive Vice President for Managing Operations was Jasek’s favorite.

“I would rather this had been handled quietly, Tamara,” he said once the two of them had a moment alone in the hall. It was as close as he wanted to come to a formal rebuke. No press had been allowed into the closed deliberations or for the judgment today, but the story would leak soon enough. Niccolò had promised that it would not break before the Stormhammers left Nusakan. That was something.

Still, “A public arrest does not help us show cohesiveness.”

“Landgrave… Jasek…” She put some strength in her spine, coming to near attention. “I would never do anything to jeopardize the Stormhammers.”

“No,” he agreed, “you wouldn’t.”

Tamara’s loyalty could never be questioned—she wore it on her sleeve right where he could see it, which was why she had earned the Towne operation. But someone within her own unit had tried to assassinate her. Had that attempt been personal or political? There was no way to answer that question now.