"I'm not—"

"I'm as good as you ever were."

"Alpin . . ."

"I don't need this." Shrugging his father's hand from his shoulder, Alpin stormed to the lift. He stabbed the call button, then slammed the panel with his fist when the door did not open at once.

Mac stared forlornly after his son. Katherine came and stood by his side. She raised a hand and began massaging his neck muscles. The tableau held for almost a minute until Shauna came dancing up, insisting that her parents come see something she had found. Still staring at his son, Mac resisted her for a moment before giving in. Then parents and daughter moved to the far side of the bridge. I watched the angry son.

The lift door opened and Alpin charged through, directly into a mountain of an Elemental. Elson.

Although tall himself, Alpin had to crane his neck to look up into the face of the man he had crashed into. "Get out of my way!"

Elson laughed. "You are not cleared for this mission and that should be 'get out of my way, sir,' Lieutenant."

"You're a groundpounder."

"And you are a high and mighty MechWarrior who cannot see rank insignia. I could teach you, but you would not like the lessons. However, I can see that you have already had some trouble today and I will be lenient. You are fortunate that I am in a good mood."

"I don't care what kind of mood you're in. You're in my way."

"Which is where I will remain until you explain yourself. I will not have this kind of behavior on my ship."

"It's not your ship; it's his," Alpin snarled. He tossed his head back to indicate his father.

Elson looked over Alpin's head in the direction indicated. The tip of his tongue appeared between his lips and moved slowly back and forth.

"And he is your problem?"

"He's my father." Alpin muttered something under his breath. "Yeah, you could say that he's my problem."

Elson nodded slightly. "I see."

"I doubt it."

Elson folded his huge paw of a hand around Alpin's shoulder. "I can understand your anger. He is not much of a warrior."

"He's a good officer," Alpin snapped defensively.

"Oh, a very good Dragoon."

Peeling Elson's hand off, Alpin sneered. "You're a Dragoon."

Letting his hand fall to his side, Elson said simply, "I was a Nova Cat."

Recognition dawned on Alpin's face as he took a step back. His tense stance shifted and his entire manner changed.

"You're Elson!"

The Elemental smiled.

"I've heard a lot about you. You were born in the Clans, weren't you? I mean, quiaff?"

"Aff."

Alpin shot a glance at Mac and smiled as he saw his father engaged in conversation with one of the ship's officers. "He'snot going to need you for a while. Maybe I could buy you a brew and you could tell me what it's like. Being a Clan warrior, I mean."

"My Elementals are secured and I have a little time." Elson wrapped a huge arm around Alpin and drew him into the lift. "There is much I could tell you about the honor road, and I can see that you are someone who will understand."

The lift door closed, cutting them off from my sight and hearing, but they didn't leave my mind for some time.

15

MacKenzie's group had been gone for a month when the ambassador from the Draconis Combine arrived at Gobi Station above Outreach. At first we all thought it was just another job offer from Theodore Kurita, albeit one carried by a fancy messenger. When Ambassador Kenoichi Inochi, the head of the Kurita mission, refused to speak to anyone other than Colonel Wolf, suspicions were immediately aroused. For by then we had learned the origin of the rogue Elemental.

Careful analysis had shown that the assassin's battle armor was indeed of Nova Cat origin, though the assassin had not been as big or bulky as a typical Clan Elemental. That might suggest that the man was not a Clanner, but it wasnt proof; not all Elementals are of the Clan-bred phenotype. On the other hand, any Clanner not of the Elemental phenotype who had won the right to wear battle armor would have to be a highly competent soldier. Wolf's would-be assassin had barely been able to control his suit. The real evidence, however, came from the modifications made to allow the smaller man to use the suit: they were all of Inner Sphere manufacture.

We knew that the Combine had captured a number of battle suits from the Nova Cats when Hohiro Kurita had tricked them on Wolcott, and many more after the battle of Luthien. Most of the modification components in the assassin's suit were of Combine manufacture, making House Kurita's realm an obvious choice as a starting place for the search. Our lack of agents in the Combine made progress slow, but the assassin was at last tentatively identified as one Ken O'Shaunessee. Lifted Kuritan ISF files identified O'Shaunessee as an agent of the Dofheicthe clan, an hereditary organization modeled on the ninja of ancient Terra. Wolfnet had failed to uncover any record that the man had received battle armor training, but they were able to place him on New Samarkand, the planet where the Kuritans had set up the training facility for their newly formed Elemental-style infantry units.

When intel's final report was circulated, only the stubborn clung to theories of a Clan origin for the assassin. Though Wolfnet could not determine who had actually ordered the attack, it seemed likely that Takashi Kurita had decided it was time for Jaime Wolf to die, honorably or not.

Now a Kuritan was knocking on our door, and the Wolf was intrigued.

A reception was laid on for the ambassador. It was no more than we would have done for the representative of any of the Great Houses, but far more than had been done for any Kuritan since before Misery. The hall was decorated in the Kuritan style and certain pottery was displayed prominently near the guest of honor's seat. I thought it too subtle a touch: this ambassador was unlikely to recognize the work of such a minor artist as Minobu Tetsuhara, however much fame he had achieved as the Kuritan commander on Misery.

Ambassador Inochi arrived dressed in formal Kuritan style. He wore a tailed waistcoat of blue silk so dark that it looked black over gray pin-striped trousers. A cummerbund of iridescent daigumosilk circled his waist, and spats of the same material covered the tops of his shiny black shoes. He was a slender man and walked with a limp—acquired in combat, to judge by the medals and ribbons on his chest. Several of the decorations indicated action on the Davion-Kurita border during the Fourth Succession War. Likely that his unit had fought us, then.

If Ambassador Inochi recognized the pottery, he gave no sign.

As he and his party made the requisite small talk for hours, I wondered how they could do it, but was even more amazed that Jaime Wolf was easily a match for them in this game. I'm told that earlier in his career, he had been more direct. With age comes restraint, I expect, but there are those who think that politeness and circumlocution are signs of weakness.

It wasn't until ten in the evening that Inochi announced that he had brought a message from Takashi Kurita, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine. Some of the Dragoons around me expressed surprise; they must have assumed that Inochi was Theodore's man. The Wolf never batted an eye.

"You do not seem surprised, Colonel Wolf," Inochi said. "Perhaps you learned of my mission during the long weeks that I spent traveling here to Outreach."

The Wolf smiled blandly. "Perhaps your message will be more surprising than your sponsor."