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  The Kanrei looked at Shin. "Sho-sa Yodama, please punch up Case Tako."

  Octopus? Shin typed the request into the computer and saw a map of the Combine materialize and hover over the center of the table. Golden sparks of light glowed on each world where the Combine maintained troops. Slender golden threads representing supply circuits connected worlds in a wispy web.

  Without his doing anything, the picture slowly changed. Ninety percent of the line units on the border with the Federated Commonwealth—both along the Draconis March and the Isle of Skye—drifted up toward the Clan lines, and the supply web shifted to support them. More important, supply lines to frontline worlds increased, giving those units enough material to launch strikes at the enemy. Shin realized that even if the Combine's attacks were little more than raids, by the time the Clans could react to them, attack units shifted from the Davion border would be arriving to reinforce the planets they would attack.

  "This is it, my Lords. We reallocate our forces to provide far more resistance than the Clans can imagine. The field modification kits are being shipped to the units I want to use for strikes, so the Clans will be facing 'Mechs that are close to their equal. We'll have the Ryuken strike at their rear and feint toward the Periphery, as though intending to backtrack the Clans and strike at their home."

  Asano smiled ever so slightly. "Audacious, to say the least. Will you concentrate on reinforcing and supplying units with strong aerospace wings, the only combat arena where we seem to fight on even ground with the Clans?"

  "Of course." Theodore straightened up. "We are also upgrading conventional air forces to aid in anti-'Mech activities. The cost will be high in terms of personnel, but it will give the Clan fighter pilots even more to think about, as well as keeping their 'Mech forces off guard."

  The leader of the Otomo shook his head. "This plan certainly seems to offer the solution to dealing with the Clans, but I fear we are burning the roof to warm us against the cold night. Stripping forces from the Davion border is madness. Davion will be on us like a shark to a bleeding fish."

  "Hanse Davion has given me his word that he will not strike."

  "And you believe him?" Hideyoshi could barely disguise his incredulity. "That is a grave error, and one your father has never made."

  Shin saw Theodore stiffen at the mention of Takashi Kurita. His father, still the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, claimed the loyalty of many old-line military men who believed Theodore's reforms had emasculated the Combine and stripped it of honor. As a yakuza, Shin would never have been allowed to serve his nation or have risen to his present position except for Theodore's reforms. The thought made him flush slightly, whether in anger or embarrassment, he was not sure.

  "Tai-sa Hideyoshi, I hasten to remind you that my father very nearly delivered us into Hanse Davion's hands twenty years ago. He also managed to alienate the most powerful mercenary units in the Successor States through his Death to Mercenaries order. Had it been my father leading the defense of the Combine against Hanse Davion only ten years ago, he would have lost the Dieron district and half of the Galedon district as well."

  Theodore's words came quietly, but the anger in them was enough to subdue his listeners immediately. "My father's hatred and distrust of Hanse Davion is born of prejudicial contempt. Takashi dismissed Davion as an inferior, which leads him to underestimate the Prince of the Federated Commonwealth. I do not make that mistake. I treat Hanse Davion as the deadly foe he is. That is why I understand that because it is not in his best interest to attack us, he will not."

  Stubborn as a pit bull, Hideyoshi refused to let go the matter of the Davion threat. "Perhaps you do not find it odd to be considering Hanse Davion's best interests, but I have never approved of this alliance you made."

  "Do you have more than your old traditions to back this distrust, or are you caught in a repetitive groove that will not let you free?"

  "Let us assume it is as you say. Let us assume that Hanse Davion will not hit us right now. But the moment he learns that Luthien is vulnerable, he will have to strike us. This is his one chance to end our threat to him. And if Luthien falls, he must hit us. Not only will that be in his best interest, but he can claim merely to be bolstering your faltering realm. Then you marry your daughter off to his son, and Hanse Davion becomes the First Lord of the new Star League."

  Watching Hideyoshi impassively through half-shut eyes, Theodore stroked the stubble on his chin. "I see that the court gossips have your ear, Tai-sa. Though we are here to discuss military matters, you seem determined to deflect the discussion into some dialogue on politics. I do not intend to honor that gambit because matters at hand are too grave for us to be sidetracked by fairy tales, rumors, gossip, or any other foolishness."

  The Kanrei clasped his hands behind his back. "I likewise reject your distrust of Hanse Davion. I have been with him. I have looked him in the eye. He is a man of great power in our time, and we know he will never give it up easily and will always seek to increase the power he wields. We saw greed in his strike at the Capellan Confederation twenty years ago, and the same in his attack on us ten years ago. Hanse Davion, however, saw something else. He saw himself striking a blow for freedom and humanity.

  "Misguided though he may be, that is his motivation. That is the force driving him. I would be the last to claim he is incapable of deceit or treachery, but I believe he descends to that level in the name of his goal, something that he sees as a great vision. Besides, we must trust Hanse Davion. We have no choice."

  Hideyoshi sighed heavily and Shin heard the resignation in it. "Then do not let Hanse Davion know that the Clans have attacked Luthien until you are able to inform him of our victory in throwing the invader back."

  Theodore shook his head slowly. "Too late. A message informing Davion of the impending strike on Luthien is already on its way to him."

  The Otomo leader raised his hands in despair. "We are lost."

  "No, Hideyoshi, we are not." Theodore smiled carefully.

  "You are right that Hanse Davion must come after us if we lose Luthien. But there lies the solution to the problem. No matter what the Clans throw at us, we will never let Luthien fall."

  32

  Avalon City, New Avalon

  Cruris March, Federated Commonwealth

  27 November 3051

  Hanse Davion watched as the muted light of the briefing room glinted off silvery scars on Justin Allard's black metal left hand. "I never expected to hear those words from you, Justin."

  The Intelligence Secretary shrugged helplessly. "It grieves me to disappoint you, Highness, but our mutual discomfort does nothing to answer your question. The construction of the fax message—everything from the syntax to the brush strokes used—indicate it originated in the Draconis Combine. My experts trace it from Luthien and even suggest it may have come from the brush of Theodore Kurita himself. I have no way of authenticating beyond that."

  The Prince looked to Alex Mallory. "Have you anything to add, Deputy Secretary?"

  The slender blond man shook his head. "I can only echo what Justin tells you, Highness. The fax appears to have originated from within the Combine."

  Hanse felt a flutter of fear. "Do you realize what you're saying? If the Combine has somehow gotten hold of one of our fax machines, they've been privy to our communications for the past twenty years!" He shook his head sadly. "No wonder we lost a war ten years ago. I'm more surprised Theodore Kurita has not shown up at our doorstep at the head of his army."

  "You overestimate the threat, my Prince." Justin's expression showed the reflective calm that Hanse had seen and learned to depend on over the years. "Every Black Box was accounted for at the end of the Liao war. We have proof that all were either destroyed or remained in our hands, though the possibility of deception cannot be dismissed. The evidence is less compelling in the 3039 war, and that may be when Theodore could have obtained one. It was just that danger that made us encode all military messages we have sent over the past two dec
ades, and we have also improved the speed of the machines. In fact, one of our machines on Murchison picked up this message, then transmitted it to New Avalon. The original message won't reach us until the beginning of next month."

  Melissa interlaced her fingers and placed her hands on the hardwood table. "So you believe that the threat to our security is minimal?"

  "I would characterize no threat to the Federated Commonwealth as minimal, Archon, but the threat is within normal limits and has been handled in an appropriate manner. We treat faxes as subject to discovery and always include some disinformation to make things difficult for the ISF or ComStar if they are intercepting our messages."

  Justin held up the sheet of paper from Theodore. "This merely confirms our suspicion that the Combine did capture one of our machines."

  "Well, then," Hanse said, wearying of all the explanation, "what about the content of the message?" Hanse studied his copy again. "Can we believe Theodore that the Clans are on the way to attack Luthien?"

  Alex punched a request for data into the keyboard at his place. "The reports we've gotten from our agents on the borders of the Draconis March and the Isle of Skye report massive recall of troops. The Combine has left a few worlds with 'Mech units in place, but it is usually one company from a crack regiment, with reinforcements cobbled together from yakuza elements and militia forces. They're stripping off all air and aerospace assets especially.

  "I read that as a definite move to reinforce the front with the Clans."

  "As Kurita moves the troops toward the fight, other troops move to Luthien." Melissa chewed on her lower lip. "A strike at Luthien could seriously damage the Combine's ability to fight. Their people are so tied to honor, they could start committing seppuku in droves out of shame for a fallen Luthien."

  Hanse nodded. "Worse yet, you'd have a replay of the Ronin Invasions. Units would head out to avenge Luthien, without direction or supply. The front would be chaos, then it would collapse. This is very bad." My buffer with the Clans is about to disintegrate.

  His head came up. "Assessment of the threat to Luthien, Justin?"

  "Serious." Justin's hands curled down into fists, then opened again in a slow, rhythmic display of frustration. "At best, we show them with four line regiments, one political regiment, and another three weak regiments of reserves. The troops are some of their best, but we have no way of judging what the Clans will throw at them. The Wolves used three full regiments to pacify Rasalhague, but that was only a fraction of their available force. With the Clans' new strategy of hitting heavily defended worlds while skipping others, they will, undoubtedly, send whatever they need to take the world. With two Clans operating in that area, I have no doubt they will have the resources they need to do the job."

  But Theodore is very crafty. "What if Theodore successfully outbids the Clans, as was done on Wolcott?"

  The Intelligence Secretary nodded. "A good point, but I doubt the Smoke Jaguars will let themselves be humiliated again. Given their defeat on Wolcott, I'd wager they chose Luthien precisely to redeem themselves."

  "Luthien." Hanse felt goosebumps rising on his arms. "For years, I dreamed of capturing Kurita's Black Pearl, but now the idea of its fall fills me with dread." Or is it only that you hate the idea of someone else taking it instead?

  "The implications of Luthien's fall are not good." Alex's quick fingerwork on the keyboard brought a holographic map burning to life over the Jable. "Luthien's loss means

  Pesht would be isolated. If it goes, so does the whole Pesht Military District."

  The top half of the Combine's red triangle went black. "If Theodore survived, he would have to pull all the way back to Benjamin to have a secure capital world. Benjamin, as a world, holds significance for the people of the Combine, so the loss of face would not be overwhelming. He could organize a defense from there, and with fewer planets to defend, he could hold out for a long while. However, he wouldn't have the industrial backing needed to defeat the Clans and reconquer the worlds he had lost. The Galedon District would go, leaving Theodore with the Benjamin and Dieron Districts, but no hope of ever again being a power."

  The loss of the Galedon District reduced the map of the once proud Draconis Combine to a small rectangle of space roughly half again the size of the Capellan Confederation. The Clans' conquest of the Galedon District would put them directly on the border of the Draconis March, posing a direct threat to the Federated Suns portion of the Federated Commonwealth.

  "Alex, I commend your projections, but do they take into account how long it would take for the troops that have been moved off the border to return to defensible lines?" Hanse studied the map closely. "Many of Theodore's troops could get caught without transport or supplies. That would accelerate the timetable of conquest, would it not?"

  "I agree, Highness, it would."

  "So, you're telling my husband and me that if Luthien falls, the Combine is destroyed?"

  Justin nodded. "That is the long and short of it." He broke eye contact with Hanse and looked down. "Forgive me, my Prince, but I must now make a suggestion that I feel is my duty as your Secretary of Intelligence. We have fifteen regiments in position to consolidate the conquest of the Dieron District. If Theodore's time prediction for the strike on Luthien is correct, we could be at Benjamin and Galedon when the Clans hit."

  Hanse felt an acid burn in his stomach. "Break my vow to Theodore? Hit the Combine?"

  His face set in a mask of stone, Justin nodded solemnly. "They could not stop us. The Combine would be ours."

  The Kurita curse lifted from my people forever! He pointed at the map. "Show me where we have units."

  Little golden lights flared to life like muzzle-flashes all across the Draconis March and Isle of Skye borders. The line continued up the Rasalhague border, with two units deep in Rasalhague territory, and then traced a line that defined the Jade Falcons' incursion into the Lyran Commonwealth. Opposing his forces in the Dieron District, Hanse saw only a pitiful scattering of red pinpricks.

  "The death of Luthien betokens the death of the Combine?"

  Justin nodded with the finality of the Grim Reaper himself. "Without a head, how can the Dragon's body survive?"

  The Fox shut his eyes as he came to a decision. "Orders will go out over my signature within the hour."

  Melissa clutched his left arm. "Hanse, what are you going to do?"

  "What I must do, beloved, just as with Thomas Marik. I have no choice." He stared at the gold sparks floating above the table. "I'm going to send them."

  33

  JumpShip Dire Wolf, Assault Orbit

  Gunzburg, Free Rasalhague Republic

  10 December 3051

  Phelan Wolf could hear the thundering of his heart as it pulsed blood through his body. In the holotank, Natasha stood speaking with Marcos, against whom she would be bidding for the right to take Gunzburg. The young MechWarrior saw Marcos' fury at having been tricked in the Memmingen bidding, and he feared the worst. He and Natasha shook hands perfunctorily, then returned to their places.

  "You didn't concede first bid to him, quinegV From the flicker of anger in her eyes, Phelan realized he had spoken out of turn, too quickly and sharply.

  "Is that a concern of yours for some reason, Star Commander?" Natasha skewered him with a harsh, sidelong glance as she turned the bidding console toward her. "Don't worry. We'll win the bidding. You'll get your revenge."

  Phelan knew he should back off, but anxiety overrode common sense. "Dammit, Natasha, you know I'm concerned about more than bearding Tor Miraborg in his den. I've seen the casualty estimates from Memmingen, and I'm not referring to our people. Marcos had a temper tantrum down there and decided to level two villages as an example. I know he's going to force the bidding close to the edge, and I just don't want to see us backed to the wall the way he was. I don't want to see Wolves killed, and I especially don't want to see civilians killed."

  Natasha kept her voice so low that none but Phelan could hear it. "I share your
concern, Phelan," she told him in clipped tones, "but this world is not yours for the bidding. Were your estimates of Tor Miraborg and his resources correct?"

  "They were accurate this morning and I've updated them four times since then with COMINT from radio intercepts."

  "You still maintain that two Clusters are not sufficient to take it, quinegV

  Phelan punched the pedestal upon which his computer terminal stood. "No. Miraborg has half the Third Drak0ns, most of their air wing, the Gunzburg Eagles, and one reserve regiment. He's put guns on anything that can fly and every citizen has a rifle. They handed out 'fire and forget' inferno rockets that will have every city on that mudball burning down around our troops. The only way to beat the Iron Jarl is to deliver enough equipment that even he has no choice but to surrender for the sake of his people. That's the only way."

  Natasha nodded grimly. "Then that's what we'll do." Phelan felt a weight begin to lift from his chest. "Then you've got first bid?"

  "No, he has first bid."

  "Why?"

  Natasha smiled cruelly. "Because, Phelan, I want to make him sweat."

  And you want to give me a heart attack. His chest felt as though invisible chains enclosed it in a steel cocoon. He glanced at his force estimates, then looked up to see Marcos' first bid appear on the screen. Dammit! He's a fool looking to regain the face he lost by having to ask Natasha for extra troops.

  The giant display showed the Dire Wolf icon on top. A large, eight-pointed red 'Mech star below it marked Marcos' desire for a full Cluster of BattleMechs. Phelan knew that would be enough to engage the Eagles and Drak0ns on the ground. Six green Elemental stars and three stars worth of aerospace support rounded put the first bid. As Phelan watched the unit breakdown represented by the symbols, he saw Marcos had requested just under two full-strength Clusters worth of troops.