SotU3 Chpt 41

=Chapter 41=
==State of the Union - Book 3==
----
Castle Resarius, Tharkad
Donegal Province, Federated Commonwealth
April 5th, 3068
----
It was a rare warm evening at Castle Resarius. Peter Steiner-Davion found that the windows had been opened, letting an anemic breeze cool the dining room as he escorted his guest to the table.
“It’s a long way from Old Connaught." she murmured as he held her chair for her. His mother would have spun in her grave, if he’d not shown any lady that courtesy. Particularly this one.
“And a rather different ambience. Unfortunately, I can get away with less here than I could on Arc-Royal.”
Terias Sortek gave him a sympathetic look. “You have bags under your eyes. I didn’t see that even when the Wolves were halfway to Arc-Royal.”
Peter snorted, taking his own seat across from her. “Now that’s unfair. You can comment on my condition, but it’s a major breach of etiquette for me to comment on yours.”
“I may be missing an arm; but, once the surgeons are ready, I’ll be symmetrical again." Terias answered. “While you’ll still be busy working yourself into an early grave.”
“I’m not that bad.”, Peter responded to her
“You’re turning into more of a workaholic than your brother.”, Terias noted
He forced a smile. “At last, I’m better than him at something!”
“You’re not quite there yet." she told him in a deflationary tone.
The soup course was served, and the wine - a very recommended vintage for reasons that Peter couldn’t have remembered for the life of him - poured. He raised his glass as the serving staff withdrew discreetly. “To your full recovery.”
“And to yours.” She clinked her glass against his and they both drank. “So who was harassing you today?”
It was pretty good wine, Peter thought as he considered what to tell Terias. She wasn’t really cleared, but he’d decided that he could trust her with bigger secrets than this if it came down to it. So what was the harm? “Adam Steiner is disinclined to take no for an answer when it comes to liberating his homeworld.” If it wasn’t that, it was James Sandoval about the Combine or George Hasek eager to take back more of the Sarna March from Sun-Tzu Liao.
Objectively it was possible to do what Adam wanted. Not today, but the Jade Falcons were a shadow of their former selves. Adam wasn’t being unrealistic when he asked for a commitment to an operation six or twelve months from now when the troops had recovered and the shipping wasn’t needed elsewhere. It could be done, particularly if the Blakists agreed to commit their warships again. ComStar wouldn’t, not for a purely offensive war, but they had already helped considerably. It would be rude to act as if they owed him more.
All that Peter would have to do was break his word to James Sandoval and George Hasek about sending regiments back to reinforce their respective Marches; and discard a peace treaty for his own convenience. Then he could have a dozen or so worlds returned to the Federated Commonwealth - alongside gaining the hostility of the Hells Horse and distrust of everyone else.
“Ah…” Terias shook her head. “I remember that Kathrina controlling New Avalon was hard for those of us who call it home. And Victor must have felt the same way about Tharkad.”
He shrugged helplessly. “Can I afford wars along other borders? Do the costs there outweigh benefits for those living on the worlds still occupied?”
His companion looked thoughtful. “It would still be demanding in shipping, but the Jade Falcons must have people scattered across the Occupation Zone who would prefer to remain under their rule. Collaborators and those who prospered under them. Could you offer an exchange - let those who wish to leave for the Jade Falcon’s do so; in exchange for them releasing those who wish to come back to the Federated Commonwealth?”
Peter put his spoon down for a moment and frowned as he estimated reactions to the proposal. “I’m not sure how many there would be." he admitted. “Perhaps not as many in the latter category as I might wish to think - it’s been almost two decades after all. But it can’t hurt to try. And if nothing else it’s something else I can tell Adam besides ‘wait for the Falcons to give us an excuse’.”
“I’d like to think that they’re not so foolish as to think that attacking us again would have a better result than it did this time…” Terias paused and laughed lightly, “But human hubris being what it is…”
“I’d be satisfied if it can at least be forestalled until I’m no longer the First Star Lord. For a title that’s supposedly honorary, it seems to come with no small amount of correspondence.” He shook his head. “I’m really at a loss as to why Robert Steiner II and John Davion wanted the post so much.”
“It was a little different back then. Wasn’t it Jennifer Steiner who claimed the title for House Steiner?”
“Only because Minoru had declared himself First Lord." Peter explained. “Or at least that’s what her diaries claim. It’s possible there was a degree of revisionism but as far as we can tell, it was handwritten at the time and her thoughts were rather cynical about the entire matter.”
They finished the soup talking about comfortably distant history, but once the main course was in front of them - a rich stew that contrasted with the thin soup served earlier and considerate of the fact that Terias would be feeding herself with one hand - she hesitated, fork still skewering a cube of potato and a chunk of beef. “I may be asking too much here…”
“Go on?” he invited her.
“I don’t question why the Fifth Royal Guards went to New Exford." she qualified, brow furrowed in thought. Picking the right words, rather than over what she hoped to learn - or so it seemed to Peter. “But other than retaking that world, why did you choose to focus on the Wolves rather than the Jade Falcons for the final attacks? It’s plain that even with the allied forces, it wasn’t possible to finish both off. But I’m not clear what the reasoning was behind one rather than the other.”
There were several ways to answer that, but one of them led to matters he had intended to disclose to her. “Officially, I was concerned that focusing on the Jade Falcons would leave them fighting a fanatical last stand, lacking the resources to flee and therefore going out in a blaze of glory, causing us severe losses. The Wolves, in contrast, had the possibility of surrendering and rejoining their brethren among [[Phelan’s… pardon, among Marco Hall’s Wolves.”
Terias met his gaze. “And unofficially?”
Ah, she’d not backed down. Good. “Unofficially, I was faced with a prediction that left unmolested both Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf would pose a terrible threat to the Federated Commonwealth in the future. Threats that I’ve tried very carefully to disarm. In that prediction, the Jade Falcons were a savage menace… but Clan Wolf posed a threat that might be existential.”
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t follow.”
“His name would be Alaric Wolf. He was crafted by Clan scientists using DNA taken from Kathrine and from my brother Victor.”
Terias dropped her fork. “WHAT?”
“You heard me, Terias.”
“What sort of prediction is that?!” she exclaimed. “You’re saying Vladimir Ward had created some kind of… of incest baby? Why?!”
“That’s a longer story.” He laid down his silverware and steepled his hands before him. “What do you know about Catherine’s mental condition when she returned with me from Zaniah?”
Terias gave him a perplexed look. “She was… scatter-brained. Very bright when she could focus, but she got lost in mid-sentence as often as she managed that. And impulsive. Honestly, I was worried that you wanted to put her into a cockpit, but it seemed to help by giving her something to focus on.”
Peter shook his head. “I meant before that - but since you met her on Addicks and don’t know more, that speaks well of our security around the matter.”
“Is something wrong with her?” She looked concerned. “I mean, more than what happened to her in the Summer system.”
“Wrong would be a strong word.” He looked for terms to explain this. He’d been planning this for a while but now that he was faced with it the words seemed not to fit. “When we were reunited on Zaniah, she was incoherent.”
“I’m going to be honest, Peter. That sounds worse.”
He rubbed his jaw. “Your honesty is appreciated. Catherine was talking about Arthur’s death. New Avalon being fought over at least three times. Nuclear weapons being used…”
“It sounds," Terias said after a moment, “as if Arthur’s death came as a terrible shock to her.”
“Arthur wasn’t dead yet." Peter explained. “Or at least, the news hadn’t reached us by then. There was no way she could have known about it. Or about the cache on New Dallas… or of Bishop Sortek’s campaign on New Avalon. She knew Victor would be wearing an AFFS uniform when he declared he was returning to remove Kathrine from power. Knew it before she could possibly have seen that transmission.”
The woman across the table stared at him. “Are you telling me your sister is some kind of… prophet?”
“I’m aware of how crazy it sounds.”, he commented
“Oh, at last, some good news. I thought you were telling me that you were making policy decisions based on astrology.”, Terias commented sarcastically
Peter laughed. “No, although this wouldn’t be a lot better if the media got hold of it. Particularly here. Robert Kelswa-Steiner’s namesake - the first Robert Steiner, not the one we spoke of earlier, overthrew an Archon who surrounded herself with diviners, charlatans and astrologers. I can imagine what he’d be saying if he knew anything about this.”
“So why did you pay attention to it at all? I wouldn’t have thought you’d put faith in it.”, she told him
“As I said, she was right about enough to be convincing. And the possibilities she described were too awful. So I grabbed a possibility that seemed to hold a chance of changing things.” He looked away, remembering one thing he’d not changed. Or not changed enough.
After a moment, Terias picked up her fork from where it had fallen and set it down neatly on her plate. “So how does this work?” she asked. “Does Catherine take some medication? Does she speak in voices…?” Her voice tried and failed to sound flippant.
He shook his head. “It isn’t an ongoing thing. She remembers what she saw, although not always with context. The worst of her visions didn’t come to pass, which we’re both very happy about. It seems that predestination is no match for active intervention.”
The one-armed woman leant back in her chair. “I see. Father told me that you had had some warning that our cousin was planning to move against Kathrine....I assumed some informant or backchannel communication, but it was Catherine who predicted it?”
“Yes. She predicted a failure - the bulk of the First Davion Guards would have died fighting, a few others fading into the population to carry out a guerilla campaign for another four or five years, until Victor finally reached New Avalon.”, he told her
“Four years… well, I suppose he would have reached Tharkad first, given where he started from.”, she commented
“No." Peter corrected her. “Victor’s campaign in the Lyran Alliance would have stalled badly. Ultimately Morgan Kell would have been the one to lead us to victory on Tharkad, at about the same time Victor stormed New Avalon. Although in that future, he had the courtesy to drag me out of St. Marinus to be a figurehead.”
“I see how that would bother you.”
“Honestly, the war lasting five years was more of a concern. I didn’t really expect that Victor would still be planning to chuck it all in once we did get to Tharkad. I thought with Omi alive and the war over sooner that he’d be more willing to resume leadership, but… he wasn’t and there I was.”
Terias snorted. “I can see that. Actually, I was there so I did.” She picked up her fork and started on the stew again. “So where did the incest baby come in?”
“One of the things Catherine foresaw was that Kathrine would have taken refuge with the Clan Wolf-in-Name-Only after she lost the Civil War. At some point she raised and tutored a child created from her DNA and that of Victor. I don’t know exactly how she got that but it wasn’t soon, but he would apparently have grown up to carve a sizable empire out of Lyran space, very nearly taking Tharkad and claiming the Archonship.” Peter shrugged. “It couldn’t have happened exactly like that - I’ve changed too much and the Wolves weren’t in a great state by the time I decided to focus on finishing them off. But even so, I didn’t want to leave a Wolf with a claim on the throne.”
“I’d imagine not. Do I want to know what else she foresaw?”, Terias asked
“How many nightmares do you want to have?”, he asked her
Their eyes met.
Terias was the first to look away. “I do have to ask." she managed after a moment, “I know it’s not fair, but my father…”
“Ah.” For a moment, Peter was back on New Avalon, outside the gates of Castle Davion. “That…” He went for his water glass.
She gave him time to gather himself.
“In Catherine’s visions." he said at last. “Ardan would have died doing much what he did. Saving my brother, rather than Catherine and I, but last year not in ‘63. A little further from Castle Davion but in much the same circumstances; Among the last to die before the castle fell.”
Terias had tears forming at the corner of her eyes. “So neither prophecy nor active intervention could change him.” She picked up her wineglass. “My father.”
“Your father." Peter agreed and they clinked the crystal against each others’ before drinking to the memory of Ardan Sortek.
“Before we parted on Addicks." Terias told him when they had emptied their glasses. “The last time I spoke to him…”
Peter was vividly reminded that between Ardan arriving on New Avalon and his death, he’d apparently neither slept nor eaten. There had been little time and the aged Marshal had apparently wanted to make the most of it. So he’d apparently not felt he had time for the son and daughter who were with the Fifth Royal Guards. Presumably, he’d expected to have time later.
“...he told me that he didn’t think Victor would take the throne again." she continued. “He was fighting for Victor’s cause; but when it came to who would rule afterwards, he wasn’t as sure. But he did tell me to keep an eye on you. He thought you had something of your father in you.”
“I’d hope I have something of him, genetics being what they are.”, he commented
Terias gave him a serious look. “He thought you might be the leader that we would need. I’d say that the last few years might bear that out.”
“I get by with a little help from my friends." Peter told her, hoping that his tone conveyed his sincerity. “I hope you’ll be willing to continue keeping me in line once your arm is back.”
“Well since you let Conner leave, that leaves me the only Sortek available.”
He paused and then reached into his pocket. “That isn’t quite what I had in mind, Terias. I’m probably making a mess of this.” He stood so he could get the little box out. “But I was hoping for a slightly different partnership.”
Peter Steiner-Davion put the small jewelry box on the table and opened it, letting her see the diamond ring inside. With that he then dropped to one knee and said the four words that were harder than any since the oaths of his coronation.
“Will you marry me?”
----
Previous Story Arc - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter
Category:State of the Union Chapters