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Now, after freshening up in her quarters, Sep was thinking about that conversation while making her way to the mess hall. Something was in the wind. Every MechWarrior on New Avalon was antsy, edgy. Even Ardan, who was usually so reserved, had snapped at his men more than once.
She entered the big hall and looked to the corner where she, Ardan, Jarlik, Denek, and Fram usually supped together. The others were already in place, full trays in front of them.
Jarlik raised a hand and beckoned to her, then pointed to a laden tray at an empty spot beside him. Bless the man! He'd picked up her supper as well as his, saving her a lot of standing in line. Sep gri
She slid onto the bench beside Jarlik and smiled across the table at Ardan. When he didn't return the smile, she looked around at the group, realizing that they all were unusually grim.
"All right, what's up?" Sep asked, looking straight at Ardan.
He dropped his gaze, fiddled with his fork, then raised his eyes to hers.
"I've been transferred," he said, voice low and gruff. "I asked for it. Things have been...getting to me lately. It was time for a change."
Sep felt a hot lump rise in her throat, but she swallowed it back down with grim determination. She quickly took a taste of soup, which burnt her tongue badly enough to excuse the tears that rose to her eyes.
"Whoof!" she panted. "Hot!" She breathed deeply, cooling her mouth and throat. In those few moments, she had gotten her emotions under control again. "It's what you've wanted for a long time," she said. "I hate to see you go, but I know how it is. Some people can stand Court service, and others find it unbearable. After four years here, I admit it's been a nice rest But a day will come when I'll want to get back into the thick of things, too."
"Yes, but it's good to be part of the Brigade, which is the service everyone hopes for, if they're good enough," Denek interjected. "I'd hate to leave it...now. Though I suppose the time mightcome when I get bored with mock battles, too." He looked thoughtfully into the mixture of vegetables and meat on his plate.
"I'm not bored," said Ardan, his tone dry. "I'm—No, better not to talk about it. Let's just say that the time has come for me to move on to something else. I wasn't cut out for life at Court. Or in government. Or around politics. Leave it at that."
Sep took a bite of something tasteless, chewed it carefully, swallowed, took a sip of wine. She wished desperately that that there were something light and fu
Besides, she knew what was eating Ardan, having seen his increasing dissatisfaction with policies Hanse was putting into effect among the worlds ruled by the Federated Suns. She had never really understood what it was that so distressed him, though. Treaties that kept a system out of war were good, no matter what it took to get them ratified.
Sep took another bite of food, but it could have been desert-rat or chewyweed, for all the flavor she found in it.To save her, she couldn't think of anything to say except things sure to irritate Ardan even further. The new security systems, for one thing. Ardan thought a ruler should be completely and openly available to his people. That might be a wonderful theory, but she wondered how many of those who'd tried it in mille
No, it was best not to mention security. Nor the war. Nor Hanse's probable intentions with regard to House Steiner.
Fram saved the situation. "You know, the strangest thing happened today. My coolant vest just conked out. While I was cooking away in there, my throat mike began malfunctioning, and my earphones began picking up beeps from the biofeedback sytem."
Ardan chuckled. Jarlik gri
"Anyway, there I was listening to my blood pressure, stewing in my own sweat, and trying to talk to my left toe, and I happen to look up to see Tigerwoman, here, about to take off my legs. Don't tell me comfort isn't necessary to a MechWarrior! You get distracted, and you're dead. If that had been a real battle situation, I'd have been a goner, for certain."
Pushing back his now-empty tray, Ardan gri
"I'll remember that when I get out to the Folly," he said. "After all, those Capellan ‘Mech-jockeys will be playing for keeps. Somehow, here on New Avalon, it's hard to forget that the 'Mech you're sparring with is piloted by someone you'd protect with your own life in a real battle. It does make a big difference." He drained his glass and stood up.
"Anyone want to take a walk to settle di
Sep felt her heart thud solidly against her ribs. She stretched and stood.
"Might as well." She took her tray and followed Ardan to the racks where the soiled utensils were stacked for later cleaning.
Turning to look at their other three chums, she asked, "Anybody else?" Her expression, however, promised instant a
Three heads shook solemnly. "Too full of food," said Fram. Denek sighed and rubbed his belly. Jarlik dabbed his lips with a napkin and shrugged.
"Fine," said Ardan. "Come on, Sep. We'll walk out to the lake and back. Just the right distance to get the kinks out."
Walking out of the mess hall beside him, she wondered if he would say anything...then she knew he wouldn't. No more than could she. They were friends, first of all. Soldiers second. Anything else was best left unsaid.
They headed for the lake, which was inside the military compound that included the palace grounds as well as the building where the Council sat when in session. In the context of their times and their history, it was best to keep everything as protected as possible.
They moved in silence until out of earshot of the other men and women strolling in the twilight. Then Sep turned to look at Ardan.
"I think you're wronging your friend Hanse," she said. "He does what he must. You know what a good man he is...one of the best rulers in any of the systems. We just don't have all the information to understand everything he does, Dan."
"He has compromised his ethics," he said bitterly.
Though Sep wanted to reach out and shake him, she continued reasonably. "Look, it's a different thing for a ruler. He has to work with matters we never even think about." She tried to think of a way to bring the issue into focus for him.
"You are a sword, Ardan. Straightforward. Sometimes lethal, sometimes painful, but always honestly what you are, impossible to conceal, sharp and ready for action, no matter what comes. Do you understand that?"
"Of course." He sounded puzzled.
"Hanse is a dagger. A dagger in a sheath beneath the sleeve of an elaborate garment made to impress as well as to conceal. All smoothness and beauty on the outside, lulling to anyone who might try to challenge his position and power. And you know that some havetried."
Ardan nodded grudgingly.
"He has to have defenses that don't show. He must possess power that others can't see, hidden in the sleeve of his charismatic character. There is nothing evil about a dagger, Ardan."