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posture or bearing, but that would have been all.
He recognized him well enough now. No matter how disfigured, here was Kael
Pershaw, a man Aidan could never forget. Years ago, when Aidan was still
posing as a freeborn, Kael Pershaw had been his commanding officer on
a backwater planet named Glory. Though that world did not live up to its name,
it was the place where Aidan had first found his own glory as a warrior. The
Glory Station battle over Kael Pershaw's genetic legacy had put Aidan
on a direct line to winning his Bloodname.
He and Kael Pershaw had hated each other almost on sight. And if the steady
glare in the man's visible eye was any indication, Aidan guessed that Kael
Pershaw's sentiments had not changed much.
Looking at him, remembering him, Aidan discovered that his own sentiments were
equally unchanged after all these years. From the moment he recognized his
former commander, Aidan despised him all over again.
May I offer you a drink?" Aidan said, once he and Kael Pershaw were settled in
his office.
"You can offer, but there is no point in my accepting. My stomach is, well,
reconstructed, and my sense of taste is useless now. I am completely sustained
by pill and injection. When I have thirst, I merely suck on a wet cloth, and
it does all I need. But go ahead and serve yourself.»
"No. I have only occasional use for spirits. Now, seeing you again, I prefer
to remain cold sober. I notice you are a
Star Colonel."
Pershaw's eyebrows rose. "A mere Star Colonel, do you mean? Yes, if I were
still in command of a fighting unit, I
would have a higher rank. But age, as well as" he made a head gesture that
seemed to take in the game leg, die stiff arm, and the damage to his
face ''injuries have made me unfit for command. Officers of advisory
capacity may not outrank commanding officers still in the field. Thus, I am
demoted to Star Colonel, the rank, I believe, X held when we last encountered
each other."
"That is correct. In a way, I have you to thank for my present success."
Grimacing, Pershaw shifted uneasily in his chair, his deformities obviously
making all movement painful. "You are being ironic, I trust. Do you credit
me for my disciplinary treatment of you?"
"I do remember the dark band," Aidan said. The dark band was an emblem of
shame mat Pershaw had forced him to wear for the killing of another Clan
officer.
"I wished at the time to crush you; instead, you became a hero. I
wonder, too, at your allusion to your present success. Success? Your
career is a history of unfavorable assignments, of minor battles, of garrison
duties. Even your experience here on Quarell has taint to it. Other
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units are presently engaging in more important battles on more
important planets." Pershaw cocked his head inquisitively. "You are silent.
Unwilling to make excuses, are you?"
"Clan warriors do not make excuses." Pershaw laughed abruptly, the sound
having lost no cruelty over the years.
"Oh, spend some time with the Jade Falcon command group and you will hear
excuses enough. When circumstances are extreme, Clan tradition sometimes
suffers. Our warriors, however, perform consistently with our virtues and
ideals.
They are honorable. And you are one of them, quiaffl"
"It is my hope," Aidan said. "But you have spoken truly. I have not had
key assignments in this invasion or in preceding duties. And I am aware
of the taint that has accompanied my career. I have tried to wipe it out by
well, it does not matter to you what I have tried. The taint remains."
Pershaw s eyes narrowed. "Perhaps if you had beaten Megasa differently in your
final Bloodright battle . . . Then again, perhaps not. With your
history, the taint would have remained, no matter what. We of the
Clan are an unforgiving lot, quiaffl"
Aidan shrugged. He was finding it difficult to look steadily at KaeT Pershaw.
The man's deformities, especially the half-face, were disconcerting. On the
visible facial skin was a trio of deep scars running from the edge of the
half-mask, over his nose and across his cheek, disappearing into his hairline.
Like all Clan warriors, Aidan dreaded becoming old. Yet his worst fears had
never envisioned this kind of old warrior, one so damaged by battle that he
had become at least half-monster.
Pershaw, perhaps sensing some of Aidan's reaction, carefully rearranged
himself on his chair, using his good hand to settle his bad leg into a more
upright position. He lifted the shoulder of his stiff arm so that the limb did
not seem to hang as a weight.
"I can do nothing to remove this taint, Aidan Pryde, and I am here to convey a
decision that will no doubt add to it.
As you know, the Falcon Guards Cluster was nearly demolished by the action in
the Great Gash on Twycross. This is the only major defeat Clan Jade Falcon has
suffered in this invasion, and it has tainted the Falcon Guards, just as you
are tainted. Dezgra is the word."
"Yes, but were the Guards not the victims of secretly planted demolition
charges and »
Pershaw nearly rose out of bis chair in anger. "You do not make excuses for
yourself, nor do you make excuses for the Falcon Guards! Adler Malthus was
too arrogant. He should have scouted the pass properly before
leading so many 'Mechs into a confined area. He should not have accepted
an honor duel with an Inner Sphere freebirth nor stopped his command
in the middle of the Great Gash."
"Kad Pershaw, who knows what command decision another commander myself
included might have made in the same circumstances, with the same intelligence
data."
Pershaw's visible eye blazed with fury. "Good! Good! Then perhaps, in
your own arrogance, you are the proper choice to command the new Falcon
Guards!" He was almost shouting.
This time Pershaw did attempt to rise out of the chair, but unable to achieve
the proper balance, he fell right back into it. Despite Aidan's intense
dislike of die man, he was saddened to see the former superb
warrior in such a diminished physical state. He was a rare specimen, so
debilitated as to be unsuitable even for one of the old-warrior units often
sacrificed as a delaying tactic in bat-tie. Again be saw his own future as an
old warrior, and he did not want to reach it. He would also hate to become
such a physical wreck.
Then the meaning of what Pershaw had just said hit Aidan like a projectile
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with a delayed charge.
"I am to command the new Falcon Guards, Kael Pershaw?"
Pershaw's new laughter was low-down, mean. "That is the gist of the
message for which I am messenger. All survivors of the former Falcon
Guards will be transferred out and a completely new contingent will be formed,
with you at its head. Do you see, Aidan Pryde, what I meant about taint? You
are the only available officer who would not be insulted by such a command.
And I can see in your eyes that you are not."
"The assignment means front-line duty, does it not?" "Even more than
you anticipate.'1 "That more than compensates for any taint." "And that
is why I chose you, Aidan Pryde. I knew you would feel no shame
at the assignment." "You chose me? You are now a Khan?" "And not just his
messenger? You are right, Aidan Pryde, quite right. I was the only one, in
fact, who could convey this message. Khan Chistu is busy at die moment, as you
might imagine. To forestall any further questions, let me say that I am among
the highest-placed advisors to our Khan. He selected me, even though I am a
crippled old man."
"That is logical, given Vandervahn Chistu's reputation as an intelligent and
crafty warrior. You were always known as a supreme military strategist, Kael
Pershaw." "I should say that you flatter me, but I cannot for it is true. If
the Khan had not rescued me from mere bureaucratic duty, I would be buried
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