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'I protest. Lord,' Okabi said again. He was not wearing his Guidance Corps uniform, of course, but a simple white robe over tunic and trousers. He loosened his belt as he knelt, then brought the knife down to his stomach, and I knew at that moment that he was preparing to commit seppuku.To die to save his honor.
Okabi must have felt trapped, as I felt trapped, caught between his obligation to his lord and his own sense of what was right and wrong. Unable to resolve the conflict, he was about to choose the one alternative that would give him an honorable way out. I saw Hassan's eyes widen with surprise. As a native of another warrior people, he would know what it meant to face death, but I wondered if he understood the conflict his actions had set afire within Okabi...and in myself.
'You'll stain the floor. Okabi,' Hassan said slowly. His eyes found mine. ‘You... guard. Take his knife before he hurts someone.'
I stepped forward, my feet leaden. Okabi watched me come, the blade still catching the light, grasped between his hands wilh the point against his belly.
When does a master cease being a master? When he behaves like an animal, a creature no longer worthy of respect? Or when the servant is forced to choose between personal virtue and the empty ritual of service to another?
Three long strides took me to Hassan's side, the shotgun slung from my arm coming up against his head. The other guards in the room started, then leapt forward.
'Halt!' I cried. There was a moment of chaos, as voices babbled confusion and anger Okabi's eyes met mine, dark and unreadable. 'Silence! Silence everyone!' The voices died away, and the hall was silent except for a low and unsteady whimpering coming from the man beside me. I held Hassan's head with one arm, the muzzle of the shotgun pressed against his face with the other. 'One move without my saying so. and l shorten him by a head!'
'No...no!’ Hassan was sobbing, his eyes bulging with terror. 'Please...Yancey, isn't it? We can talk, Yancey! We can talk!'
I jabbed him to silence with the gun and fixed my eyes on Okabi. The Corpsman had not moved since I'd made my move. 'Okabi! Your death would be meaningless here!'
'If it is my death,’ he replied quietly, 'it is not meaningless.'
'But your life can have more meaning than your death.’ I nodded toward the girl, still standing a few paces away, then toward the mother and son. Take them...get them out of here.’ I saw indecision struggle with pain behind his eyes. 'Please, Okabi! Quickly!’
‘My responsibility is to my sworn lord, to Hassan...’
‘Your sworn lord is going to be dead in a few minutes! I am releasing you from your oath! Do you understand?’ Hassan certainly understood. He twisted in my grip, struggling wildly, and I nudged him with my gun.
Okabi struggled a moment more. Then calm returned behind those dark eyes. The wakizashiHashed again as he tucked it back into his belt. ‘You!’ I nudged Hassan again 'Give the orders to let them go, or you die a messy death.’
'Do...do as he says! Do as he says!'
‘You!' I nodded toward the guard who had brought the girt forward. 'Give Okabi your headset.’
The guard removed his headgear and handed the radio transcerver to Okabi. who clipped it to his ear and opened a private circuit. ‘What the hell are you doing, Yancey?’ I heard him mutter, checking that the line was open.
‘Learning to live with myself,' I said. 'This has been building for a long time, ever since this...this animal came to power.’
‘You can't get away with this,’ Hassan said, wiggling against my headlock.
'Maybe not. But I'll tell you this. I'll be listening as Okabi takes these people out of here If he's stopped, if he's fired at. I’ll know it. and you will die.'
'Don’t kill me!’
‘Give the order! Let them go!’
I knew then that the stories of Hassan being a member of a warrior sect were lies. No warriorwould have begged for his life... or given in to my demand. I backed up with my prisoner away from the divan until my back was against the wall, and held him there in a death's grip, my gun against his head, waiting for endless minutes until I heard Okabi's voice in my earpiece again.
'We're clear. Yance. The lady says she knows someone...someone who'll smuggle us out of the city. Seems there's a fair-sized underground here.'
‘Not surprising.’ I said. ‘Not with a monster like this in charge.'
'Her son has gone to get help.’ I heard Okabi chuckle.'He's coming back with a guy now. Yance! It's the guy we saw yesterday, the farmer...remember?*
‘I remember. Good luck. Okabi.’
Thank you. What about you?’
‘Taken care of.’
‘Then, good luck. Yancey.'
‘What is it you want. Yancey?’ my captive asked as Okabi broke the com link. I released him then, keeping my back to the wall and my shotgun pointed at his chest. He watched me warily as he rubbed his sore neck. 'What do you want?' he asked again. 'Every man has his price, and I can meet yours! All you have to do is name it...’
What was it I wanted? I remembered the face of my father, the day he returned to Marakani and told us that he was now one of the Dispossessed. A MechWarrior in the service of House Kurita. his Mech had been shot to pieces around him in the fighting at Mallory's World. The Regimental DropShip had returned him to us. that he might tell us he was no longer a warrior, buta simple man without caste or position or responsibility... a man with nothing left except his honor.
He brought us the money he'd earned fighting House Davion, then died the next morning as the sun rose above the mountains. A man without honor is not a man,he'd said. He died a man.
The others in the room watched silently. Most had their weapons pointed at me, but others wavered.
With Hassan as hostage, I could probably make it outside the headquarters, there to lose myself in the crowds. Okabi had found the underground that existed within the city. Perhaps I could find it as well.
But the choice was between life...and honor.
My finger tightened on the trigger, and the heavy caliber weapon bucked in my hand. The pellets smashed into Hassan's chest and face at a range-of three meters, spraying the shards of Holmes's good luck charm in bloody gore across the room.
'Honor.' I told the corpse.
I didn't even feel the blasts of his bodyguards' weapons an instant later.
NATASHA KERENSKY: A BIOMEDICAL REPORT
Tara Gallagher & James Lanigan
Misha Auburn
Archival Report or Natasha Kerensky DBA the Black Widow
Security Clearance: Eyes Only
Number 2 of 3 copies
Object:
Natasha Kerensky is one of the best known and most successful MechWarrior leaders currently active. Kerensky has worked for four of the five Successor States in the last 15 years. Some insight into her motivations, methods, and goals may prove useful in keeping her employed here, or in neutralizing her, should she leave.
Also, Kerenaky's origins are unknown. Especially in light of her name, it is important to know as much as possible about potential problems, conflicts, or hidden agendas.
Methods:
Personal Interview 4/7/3023
Medical Records, Chukchi III, 3020
Personal papers of Natasha Kerensky
‘Natasha Kerensky: The Woman, The Myth, The MechWarrior,’ Reader's Digest, May 3021
Photographs and holographs from Lyran Commonwealth and ComStar Archives
Various unsourced material
HOLOGRAPHIC/PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE
Remarkably few photographs and holographs of Kerensky exist in our archives. Intelligence suggests that the situation is the same in other Houses. This is in keeping with the minimal amount of data extant on Kerensky, but is even more suggestive of deception, or at least coverup.