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"Treat them well, Dimitri," Ridzik said. "Reunite them with their families, get them food, medical attention, whatever they need. We’ll want them to join us. Can't go wasting prime Techs now, can we?"
"No, sir."
"As for the rest, take them outside the base, question them, and..."
"Of course, Colonel. No survivors." The captain saluted again and turned back toward the base.
Colonel Ridzik returned to his temporary headquarters, composing the report to his lord, Maximilian Liao. He scarcely noticed the two bodies as he stepped across them and mounted the steps to the villa.
3
Ardan Sortek paced the terrace like a caged cat, his steps clicking sharply against the artificial stone. At the moment, he hated the terrace, the palace, and its surrounding gardens filled with alien plants brought from a dozen worlds. He hated the artificiality of the place, of his friend Hanse. And even of himself.
He paused beside the low wall bordering the terrace. His friend Hanse, Prince of Davion...he sighed unconsciously. The two had been companions ever since Ardan's boyhood, when he had tagged almost worshipfully at his older Mend's heels.
Later, when he was old enough to take the MechWarrior training that would eventually fit him for the Royal Brigade, Ardan believed that his life had reached a peak, that never again could he feel quite so happy. Especially joyful were those times when Hanse had overseen his training personally. After their grueling workouts in their 'Mechs, the two would relax together, drinking cold ale beside the lake bordering the drillfield.
They had both been so young and idealistic. Though Hanse was ten years older, he had not yet been burdened with the weight of rulership, and felt free to concoct wide-ranging plans for the improvement of the worlds administered by House Davion.
The two had taken thought for the good of everyone from MechWarrior to serving wench, with the agrarian population and the merchant class properly cared for in between. Ardan, because of his origins in a house of lower nobility, could make suggestions that would never have occurred to the younger son of the Davion dynasty.
He remembered all this as his steps echoed across the terrace. Would Hanse never come?
He felt sick, now. Betrayed. When Ian Davion had died in battle and Hanse become Prince of Davion, Ardan had believed that his friend would manage to put into effect some of the reforms that were so badly needed among the Federated Suns. But it hadn't worked out that way. At every turn, he had watched Hanse make decisions that showed him far more influenced by politics and power than by concern for those he ruled.
Footsteps behind him brought Ardan around. He stopped, stiffened...then moved deliberately toward the ruddy-haired man approaching.
"Ardan! My friend! I am so glad we have time to talk. I was distressed at your request for transfer. Is there no way to persuade you to remain here with the Brigade?"
Sortek took the offered hand. Grasping its hard, broad strength, he felt a surge of the old affection. Whatever Hanse might have become, he was still the big almost-brother Ardan had known for so long.
Then he remembered...and loosed his grip. Stepped back. Shook his head slightly.
"No. Things haven't gone...as I expected them to, Highness. I find myself dissatisfied with everything. The Court. Myself. Even...even those I work with."
Hanse gri
"Sep? Who said anything about…No, it's just that these days, just about everything and everyone seems to irritate me. Things I thought were true have turned out not to be. People I trusted seem different. Unlike themselves. I thought it would pass with the years, but it hasn't."
The older man's grin evaporated, and his brow furrowed.
"Listen, Dan," he began, "I know what we used to say when we were younger. Before my brother was killed and I was still ignorant of the realities of rulership and power. We said a lot of things, you and I. And you have to admit that I haveput many of our dreams into effect"
"Things that make the Federated Suns stronger, the troops better fed, the people less likely to be restless!" Ardan said, interrupting.
"Those are also what make everyone happier and more comfortable." Hanse sounded relaxed, but the furrow was still between his brows.
"But you are working with people we can't trust...doing things that I can't approve!" Ardan insisted.
"There is a grimy underside to politics," Hanse admitted. "That's how the thing works, though I didn't realize it until I had to deal with it firsthand. You've never stood in my shoes, Dan. You just can't know how hard it is to keep everything working together. It's like being a juggler trying to keep fifteen balls in the air...but using only one hand!"
Ardan shrugged and turned to look out over the garden. Hanse came up beside him and set a hand on his shoulder.
"See the gath-trees in the garden," he said softly. "They could never grow there without the special soil about their roots and the treated water in their irrigation systems. And the illgrass from Kentares must be fertilized with animal blood or it would die. Politics, too, is a strange weed. It has odd and sometimes ugly needs and habits. But it has not changed much over the thousands of years of human history." Hanse frowned as if trying to find just the right words.
"Even the best ruler, over the generations, has not been able to force virtue between its teeth. I ca
Ardan turned to stare into his friend's face. "I have seen things...that I ca
Hanse opened his mouth to speak, but Ardan spoke first "I am wasted here. New Avalon is secure, but our borders are again under attack. Redfield and Stein's Folly have fallen to Liao forces, and our enemies seem intent on penetrating more deeply into our sphere. Your brother-inlaw Michael seems unable to stop them without assistance. You have plans, I know, for a counterinvasion of Stein's Folly. That's where I can do the most good...transferred to active duty."
The Prince sighed. He, too, turned to gaze across the gardens.
"Do you remember how it was, Dan? In battle? The terror and the blood and the noise? The devastation of the countryside as the 'Mechs battled it out, crushing forests and cropland and houses beneath their armored heels? You hated it, I know. We are too much alike for me to doubt that, though I was busy with other things by the time you were trained sufficiently to go to war. Do you really want to return to all that?" Hanse turned and took the younger man's shoulders between his big hands.
"Think of what you will leave behind!" he said. Though Sep's name was not spoken, Ardan knew it was to her that Hanse was referring.
"What other use is there for a MechWarrior?" Ardan asked quietly. "I ca
Hanse drew a shocked breath. Never before had his friend spoken so bluntly to him. Even though there was closeness between them, Ardan was also a subject who had till now always observed the proprieties.