Natural Selection

Nelson's mind reeled with the repetition of the question. The Thirty-first Wolf Solahma left Arc-Royal before I told the Khan where the Red Corsair maintained her hideout. Conal could only have gotten that information from her, which means he is in league with her. But his Khan opposes her. How can this be?"

Nelson heard the fury in the Khan's voice. "Star Colonel Conal Ward, I am your Khan. I order you to abandon Elissa and to turn the Red Corsair over to me."

"No."

"You realize you are committing an act of treason, Star Colonel."

Conal shook his head. "With all due respect, my Khan, it is you who are leading a force from the I

Phelan leaned in toward the screen. "Is this really how you want to play this out, Conal? If so, I will see to it that all your offspring are slain and your DNA is expunged from all breeding programs."

Conal lost a bit of his color, but his face hardened into a mask of hatred. "Ifyou defeat me, Khan Phelan, you mightbe able to carry out your threat. I will be defending Elissa with the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma. I would ask you to refrain from using your aerospace fighters."

The Khan shook his head. "No, Conal, you made your bed, now you can die in it. We will attack with everything we have. You have grossly overstepped yourself, Conal, and you will pay."

The other Clan warrior managed a sarcastic smile. "Wi

40

Elissa

Wolf Clan Occupation Zone

25 October 3055

Phelan shrugged on his cooling vest and snapped it up. He pointed to the holographic map of the valley for which they were headed. "Conal will be waiting for us here, at the north end of the valley. The settlement here, near the south, looks empty. We do have indications of an extensive underground network—both from our sensors and from what Geist told us about the virtual world in which the Red Corsair had him ru

Chris nodded. "He said it matched."

Evantha pointed at the map. "What are the chances Conal will have rigged this settlement the way you booby-trapped Denton?"

"Good question." Phelan belted his pistol on and bent over to tie the holster down to his right leg. "I would say they are slim. He wants us to land close to him, which precludes our ru

The young Khan looked over at Carew and Caitlin. "If there isany force coming out of the city at us, that is when you hit them. Conal did not want you in the fight. I want you flying CAP in case we need you. I want you up to preoccupy him."

Chris frowned. "Why not just strafe the hell out of his troops?"

Phelan ground his teeth. He's right, it would be easier."Because those troops are still members of the Wolf Clan. I do not want to have to kill them if it can be avoided."

Dan Allard passed a hand through the mountains at the rear of the Wolf Solahma lines. "These mountains are a warren of mines. If Conal takes his people in there, it will be nasty infighting to root them out."

"Then we will let them starve in there. My main concern is to get the Red Corsair." Phelan pulled his pistol from the holster and jacked a round into the breech. Easing the hammer down, he returned the weapon to its holster. "We are going to defeat Conal, get the Red Corsair, and get out."

The Owl's Nestjerked a bit as it entered the atmosphere. Phelan looked at the men and women filling the small briefing room. Young and old, they all knew what they were getting into and he sensed no fear, Only impatience. "We are about an hour away from touching down. Any last-minute questions?"

Chris raised his hand. "Are you going to commute Kommandant Geist's sentence?"

"Chris, he switched sides. He shot at ourpeople." Phelan shook his head. "I ca

"Seems to me, cousin, that he is not the first man ever to shoot at forces from his own nation."

The bitter acrimony in Chris's voice squeezed Phelan's heart. He acknowledged the observation with a nod. "True, cousin, I switched sides and shot at people from the I

Chris started to answer, then caught himself. "Touché, Phelan. I think you're wrong, but it is your decision."

Phelan gave his cousin a quick smile. "And I think you're right. I also know I'd rather regret not having armed a loyal man than regret putting a traitorous man into the cockpit of a 'Mech."

"Point."

"Battle stations, everyone." Phelan hit a button and the planetary tableau vanished. "We have found our quarry, now we need to kill it."

* * *

Nelson Geist held his hand against his forehead to shade his eyes. "Where? I don't see her."

Standing beside Geist on the nose of the stationary hovercar they had borrowed from the Owl's Nest,Bates pointed through a gap between Alpha and Beta Battalions of the Kell Hound regiments. "There she is. It's a red BattleMaster."

Nelson squinted his eyes and tried to make out something through the waves of heat blurring the dust cloud raised by the advancing Kell Hounds. "I can't see anything." He dug an elbow into Bates's ribs. "Let me use your binoculars."

Bates ducked his head to get the strap off his neck and handed the heavy field glasses over. Nelson wiped the sweat from the edge of the viewing lenses, then raised them to his eyes. Holding them as steady as he could with his half-hand, he focused them with his right index finger.

The Kell Hounds, with their BattleMechs painted black on the legs and red on the body and arms, had their backs to him. In their center he saw a knot of black 'Mechs that were the Khan and his Star. Half-hidden by the dust cloud that the titanic war machines had raised were the Elementals of Evantha's command reinforcing the far left portion of the mercenary formation, its western flank.

Beyond them, through the gap Bates had pointed out earlier, Nelson focused on the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma. Their 'Mechs had been painted a drab olive green that Nelson thought was suitably martial, but decidedly unremarkable. He knew that the Thirty-first Solahma, though a Clan unit, was despised by the Khan and his people. If the Thirty-first Solahma were judged by the amount of work put into the decorations on the 'Mechs present, they would have come out at the bottom of the heap.

Nelson guessed that they sank even lower in the Khan's estimation because they had with them four other BattleMechs. Three of the machines he did not recognize, though their scarlet and gold markings were appropriate for the bandits. The last machine he did know, and know very well. So, she is there. I wonder if she is wondering whereI am?

"See her now?"

Nelson nodded, losing sight of her for a moment, then finding her again when her 'Mech began to move forward. As the BattleMasterclosed with the Kell Hounds, he thought he noticed hesitation. The 'Mech did not move with the fluid grace the Red Corsair had always shown. What's going on? Shehas to be there. Thathas to be her.