Mercurio was from one of Styrling's nouveau riche families and had little in the way of breeding, still using slang imported from the Gutter of Tarsonis. Despite that, Arctunis couldn't fault his conclusion.

"Yes," agreed Arcturus, looking forward to the graduation ball that evening. "Sweet is exactly what she is."

"You taking her to the ball tonight?"

"I am indeed, Toby."

Arcturus tuned out Mercurio's nonsensical banter and concentrated on the names being called out. He smiled as he heard names beginning with К being called out.

Not long now...

The K's didn't last too long, and Arcturus felt his heart rate flutter as his own name was called. He rose from his seat, glancing over his shoulder to where his family watched, and strode out into the aisle between the two rows of seats. The clapping of the students was somewhat muted, but Arcturus knew they would soon be changing their tune.

He walked with his head held high, reaching the front of the stage and making his way to the steps at the side. The school photographer took a vidsnap and Arcturus lifted his gaze toward where he knew his mother and father would be recording the event on holocam.

Arcturus smiled for the photographer, then ascended the steps and walked casually across the stage to where Principal Steegman walled with a gold-rimmed diploma. Arcturus fixed his most ingratiating smile across his face and extended his hand to receive the scroll.

It was traditional for the principal to congratulate a graduating student and wish him well in his future endeavors, but Arcturus had no illusions that Steegman would make any such gesture. He was not to be disappointed.

"You'll come to a rotten end, Mengsk," said Steegman, handing him the diploma. "I can always tell the bad ones. And you're the worst of the lot."

Arcturus took the proffered scroll in his left hand and offered his right to Steegman. which, his being unwilling to appear ungracious before the parents and alumni, the principal shook.

"Thank you," said Arcturus. "I hope you enjoy your new residence."

Steegman's face registered confusion, but he quickly recovered and waved Arcturus off the stage. Arcturus swiftly made his way around the back of the seated students, holding his diploma up with a smile for his mother and father to see.

Juliana was on her feet, clapping and staring at him with rapt adoration, and Arcturus smiled. He walked back to his seat and quickly fished his remote terminal console from within his coat pocket.

Little more than a simple communications device with an optical reader, the console nevertheless had the capability to tap into computer networks remotely. So long as you had the connection key and authorization codes, you could get into pretty much any network without too much trouble.

Arcturus quickly tapped in the codes for Steegman's console, long since having memorized the details from the many times he had been summoned to the principal's office and seen them entered in the mirror behind the idiot's desk.

Numbers and letters flashed across the screen for several seconds until a small square appeared on the screen with a line of text beneath it.

DNA verification required.

Arcturus pressed a fingertip onto the optical reader and a green light flashed on the screen.

Identity Confirmed: Isaac Steegman.

He laid the console down on his knee and peeled off the thin, transparent coating he'd coated his right hand with before walking out onto the graduation field. The one-way bio-mimetic gel had been simplicity itself to create in the academy's chem-labs and would disintegrate in the sunlight within a few moments now that he'd removed it.

Arcturus picked up the console once more and opened Steegman's private directories. Using a linguistic algorithm based on a few well-chosen keywords, he quickly discovered the files he'd known he'd find.

"My God, he didn't even try and hide them," Arcturus laughed.

"What's that?" asked Toby Mercurio, sitting back down next to him with his diploma.

"You'll see," Arcturus said with a smile. "Just wait."

Quickly and methodically, he highlighted every file his algorithm had turned up, then set his console to scan the surrounding area for fones and other personal consoles. Hundreds of personal designations scrolled past on the screen, his father's and the SPF chiefs amongst them, and Arcturus set the console lo send the selected files to every one of them.

Arcturus's finger hovered over the Send icon and he hesitated for the briefest second, savoring the moment.

"To the victor go the spoils," he whispered, and pressed Send.

Angus rested his arms on the balcony of the Skyspire as he stared out over the nighttime cityscape of Styrling. During the day, the view was impressive, but at night it was something truly spectacular. An ocean of light spread across the hinterlands that sprawled from the mountains, a web of interconnected light that reflected on the underside of the clouds with a warm, golden glow.

Despite the turmoil engulfing Korhal, the bombings, the unrest, and the Confederate crackdowns, being up here at night always brought Angus peace. Looking over the city from the balcony gave him a sense of perspective he often lacked when dealing with the minutiae of the life he had chosen.

Sometimes it was good to step back from what you were doing and look at the larger picture. Yes, things were hard just now, but with every blow struck against the tyranny of the Confederacy, their hold on Korhal slipped a little further.

Angus scratched a long-ago-healed scar on his forearm, earned on a hunting trip with his father in the forests of Keresh Province to the east, which had taught him that there was no more dangerous a beast than a cornered one. Achton Feld had called Korhal the jewel in the Confederates' crown, which was an apt description, and the Council and the Old Families weren't going to give it up without a fight.

Well, they were going to find out just how much the people of Korhal wanted them gone.

Angus could feel his anger growing as he turned the many injustices inflicted upon the people of the Koprulu sector over in his mind.

On Tyrador X, Confederate meddling and illegal financial dealings had caused the planetary economy to collapse, resulting in mass unemployment on a global scale. Only extensive loans (complete with ruinous rates of interest) and economic restructuring that placed the entire system in the hands of the Old Families had prevented entire comments of people from starving to death.

Another favorite tactic was to set up loss-leading businesses on the fringe worlds— where the Old Families' monopolies were not ironclad—to run local competitors out of business. Once any competition was eliminated, those same businesses would begin charging extortionate prices for basic necessities.

While the use of corrupt business stratagems was the Confederacy's preferred modus operandi, the Old Families were not above using force to take what they wanted.

A prospecting team from the Kel-Morian Combine exploiting the Paladino Belt, an asteroid field containing huge mineral reserves within the larger rocks, had been eliminated when CMC forces launched an assault to capture its leader, a man apparently wanted for murder on Tarsonis. The deaths were described as a tragedy, but within days, a Confederate mining team was working the field, complete with marine garrison and battlecruiser support.

Hundreds of similar stories were the common currency of the Confederacy, tales of greed, bribery, corruption, and nepotism told over a drink with a resigned shrug and a shake of the head. The injustice of it all screamed out for someone to fix the problem, but the scale of the Confederacy was such that no one could do anything. It was the way of things, said people.