Date: October 15, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: Lt. Walter de Mesnil reports to his portly, elderly CO, Hake Angleton, commander of the Angleton's Angels mercenary company, to raise concerns about their mission - to escort Litzau Enterprises heir Ivan Litzau in his coming of age ceremony that will make him eligible to become head of the corporation and, by extension, head of the planetary government. Hake acknowledges that the gun-camera footage of Ivan's practice runs were underwhelming.
Moving out to a balcony overlooking the Nyqvist River valley, the Litzau corporate compound, and the city of Rivergaard (what can been seen on the surface - most of the capital city is located in underground man-made caverns), Hake tells Walter he took the job because the world is beautiful, and the pay is sufficient to get all the unit's 'Mechs back in fully working order. He adds that he plans to retire on Maldives, and pass the unit on to Walter in healthy condition.
The key requirement is to make Chairman Presumptive Ivan Litzau into a passable MechWarrior in three weeks. Walter opines that it can't be done. He's interrupted by Acting Director Alexandra Litzau (Ivan's mother), who insists it must be done. She agrees that Ivan is not suited to be a MechWarrior, but explains that he does have the vision to reverse the cultural decline that is causing the colony on Maldives to fail. She notes that the population of Maldives has dropped by 700 million over the last two centuries, with an elaborate system of primogeniture keeping all the world's wealth concentrated in the hands of the First Families and their hereditary corporations through arranged marriages and joint ventures and mergers. She notes that her late husband wanted to change things, but died of lymphoma shortly after Ivan's birth. Ivan wants to carry on his father's work, but can only do so if he shows himself to be a master of the family's ancestral Trebuchet, Destrier, by completing a symbolic tour of corporate holdings in it. Walter's task is to serve as Companion - preparing him and then guiding him on the run through the course.
Walter asks why the corporate security force, the Litzau Lancers, can't supply a Companion. Alexandra explains that the Lancers' members are drawn from the First Families, calling their loyalty into question. She trusts her paid mercenaries more. She implores Walter to help Ivan succeed, for the good of all Maldives.
Walter agrees to do his best, and wants to get started immediately. Alexandra halts him, however, and instructs him to first go to have his dress uniform fitted for that evening's reception, which kicks off a series of social events attached to the Investiture ceremonies.
That evening, at Rivergaard House, Walter looks at himself in the mirror in his new uniform, and considers the life outlined by the medals on his chest. Chris Eck, the unit's Jenner pilot, stops by on the way to dinner with his wife, Laurie, and daughter, Kaylee. Walter asks Chris to see what Laurie can find out about Ivan Litzau through local gossip.
Walter feels trepidation as he heads to the reception, preferring social situations where a guest who says something offensive can be knocked out in a tavern brawl and stuffed in an outbound DropShip. The ballroom in the palace's left wing has seven-meter ceilings and a fantastic art collection, many pieces dating back over 1,500 years, from ancient Terra. Holoprojectors project a view of the night sky onto the ceiling, turning the orbiting rocks and space junk into a glittering crown.
Circling to sample the hors d'oeurves, Walter is approached by Director Richard Oglethorpe, Captain of the Rivergaard Rangers (the capital city's home guard), who disdainfully identifies Walter as the Companion, and then turns to implore his companion, Ivan Litzau, to select a Companion who has a better understanding of corporate political nuance. Walter acknowledges his lack of knowledge of the local situation, but pledges that he will be able to ably serve Ivan as Companion. Ivan expresses confidence in Walter and dismisses Richard.
In private, Ivan apologizes for Richard's behavior, explaining it as displaced anger towards Alexandra. He admires Walter's directness, a sharp contrast to the formal politeness of Maldives high society, and explains that Richard was the original choice to be Companion, but was dismissed by Alexandra, who feared that Richard might try to assassinate her son during the Vetting.
Walter is shocked that a potential assassin would be invited to the fete, but Ivan replies that the guest list would be extremely short if everyone who had designs on greater power on Maldives were excluded. Ivan points out, in particular, Capellan Consul Wen Xu-Tian, who hopes to bring Maldives into the Capellan sphere of influence as a means of ascending to the court on Sian.
Ivan excuses himself, and Walter is approached by a blonde woman who hands him a glass of dry red Zweigelt wine, introduces herself as an ecological researcher named Phee, and asks him to rescue her. Watching Ivan converse with the Capellan Consul, she remarks on his intellect, and his pursuit of knowledge. She asks Walter about his motivations for becoming a mercenary. Walter responds that he fell into the mercenary lifestyle because he had nothing better to do at the time.
The two are interrupted by a representative of the Federated Suns, Ambassador Quintus Allard, who thanks Phee for recommending Dr. Bitters to get his sons, Justin and Daniel, checked out. Quintus tells Walter that his boys are at the age where they dream of becoming MechWarriors. Departing, he surprises Walter by addressing 'Phee' as "Research Director Litzau." [She never officially states her real name, but the text refers to her as 'Sophia' rather than 'Phee' thereafter.] Walter admits to being an offworld bumpkin who didn't know to whom he was talking, but worries whether there might be political ramifications in the local culture if he dances with Ivan's younger sister. She responds that Maldives isn't the Draconis Combine, and that a dance will be fine.
They join the other couples on the ballroom floor and dance. While dancing, Walter points out Richard Oglethorpe and asks Sophia about his threat potential. She notes that 75% of the senior staff at Litzau Enterprises would need to be killed off before Richard would be in line to assume control, so he's not a true threat. She identifies Richard's dancing companion as her older sister, Abigail - who would have been the heir if Maldives' rules of primogeniture hadn't been patriarchal - and who begrudges Walter as part of the system that is preventing her from claiming her birthright.
They separate after the dance, and Walter decides to plead "jump lag" and retire early. Sophia is confronted by Abigail, who chides her for making a spectacle of herself with the mercenary. The sisters recount the besmirching of Richard's honor in their mother's choice to replace his as companion with a mercenary. Abigail says she hates seeing the Dhivi corporate elite being subordinate to an off-worlder. Sophia argues that, to change Maldives' hidebound ways, they must be united in support of Ivan. Abigail hopes that Sophia's trust in Walter is well placed, as a failure on his part could doom their ambitions.
Notes: Heir Apparent starts off with three chapters of scene setting, establishing the power players in this tale of corporate palace intrigue.
Stackpole attempts to break out of the stereotypes of the Periphery with his portrayal of Maldives. The first thought I usually have when thinking of the Periphery is of hardscrabble communities clinging to a rural, unsophisticated existence - the kind seen on Randall's Regret. This is a different kind of Periphery world - one that was highly developed during the Star League era, but was unravaged by war or invasion - just subject to a steady, slow decline over centuries. They aren't even terribly isolated, with diplomatic representatives from the Capellan Confederation and Federated Suns present, and discussions of exporting wine as far away as New Avalon. (Interesting that neither the Taurian Concordat nor the Magistracy of Canopus sent anyone to the Vetting.) Presumably, the Litzau corporation had the assets necessary to send a hiring agent all the way to Galatea, and Sophia is well enough versed in Inner Sphere culture to make a joke about the Draconis Combine's restrictive social caste system.
Walter de Mesnil has been a long-time background character in Stackpole's Kell Hound stories. He first appears in 3026 in "Warrior: En Garde" as a graying one-eyed MechWarrior sergeant with a gravelly voice, serving under Major Justin Allard in the 1st Kittery Training Battalion, leading his lance of cadets into battle against Capellan Cicadas. In 3027, Andrew Redburn later toasts Walter as the best Sergeant the battalion ever had when he resigns to return to the Kell Hounds, once Morgan returns and issues the recall order to the Kell Hound diaspora. He gets even more of a role in 3010, in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," appearing as a hovercab driver on Galatea who saves Patrick from being abducted by Free Worlds League agents. (Patrick "looks him in the eyes" in that scene, so his missing eye probably won't be a souvenir of his adventures on Maldives). While serving as the Kell brothers' primary aide, he notes that his Blackjack has been with the de Mesnil family for two centuries.
Stackpole reuses one of his favorite bits, having characters meet without realizing the position of the person they're talking to - allowing honest statements. In this case, it's Walter and "Phee"/Sophia. In "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets" it was Laeticia "Lattie"/"Tisha" Hamilton and Patrick Kell.
It's not clear why the population has dropped 70% over 200 years. Alexandra seemingly attributes it to lack of opportunity and heavy offworld emigration - as the sons and daughters of the elites are married off to offworlders by families hoping to gain influence with offworld ties. I can see that thinning the ranks of the corporate elite First Families, but that wouldn't apply to the average citizens. Certainly, with transport assets in desperately short supply, it would be unlikely for there to be mass emigration on that scale. Perhaps an abnormally low birthrate? Just seems off, to me.
We get some key cameos - future MIIO Director Quintus Allard, with a reference to his sons - both of whom will be Walter's commanding officer in the future - Daniel as a Kell Hound, and Justin as CO of the Kittery Training Battalion. They're noted as being "half-brothers" - Justin's mother is Lady Xiang of Warlock, while Daniel's is Tamara Kearny of Kestrel. Daniel, born in 2997, would be three at this point. Justin is older, but his birth year is "classified." Since Quintus was forced to divorce Lady Xiang when Justin was five, he may have been born as early as 2990. Tamara doesn't make an appearance in this scene - staying with the boys instead of attending the reception.