"Conal is already hedging his bets."

"How so?"

Ulric straightened up again. "He is suggesting that the bandits are not Clan renegades, as we all have assumed up until now. He says they are actually a group of mercenaries financed secretly by Ryan Steiner. He says the raids are staged to make the people of the border regions believe they are not safe and that the Davions have no intention of defending them. He suggests that our helping hunt the bandits jeopardizes the peace andmight even show that I have been tricked into helping stabilize the Inner Sphere so they can oppose us when the truce runs its course."

"And I am the person who is tricking you, quiaff?With me as Conal's liaison officer, if he gets the bandits, he succeeded despite all I did to stop him, and if he fails, I prevented him from succeeding?" Phelan pressed his hands together. "It is Conal's loss that the Clans have no politician caste."

"It is indeed." Ulric walked over to the desk next to the wall and held up a holodisk in its protective sleeve. "I have here orders for you to head out immediately. You will link up with the Kell Hounds in Federated Commonwealth space."

Phelan stood up. "Why not just meet them at my mother's funeral?"

"There will not be a funeral just yet, or so I am given to understand." Ulric tapped the holodisk against the fingers of his left hand. "Your father decided to have your mother's body shipped to Arc-Royal and kept until the Kell Hounds can all be present. As nearly as ComStar knows, the Hounds are heading out from Arc-Royal now."

"Business before mourning." The young Khan took the disk. "The Owl's Nestis the DropShip I want to use—I cannot see depriving the unit of the larger ones."

"I concur."

"And the Nestwill carry a Trinary each of Elementals, aerospace fighters, and BattleMechs. It should not travel empty."

"True." Ulric half-closed his eyes. "However, any troops you bring with you will feel disgraced because they are off to hunt bandits."

Phelan countered easily. "Hardly. I am a Khan. I am due an honor guard, quiaff?"

"Aff, but even I do not travel with three Trinaries." Ulric lifted his head. "You may travel with a Point each of Elementals and fighters, and with a full Star of 'Mechs."

"If the Khan of the Wolf Clanis allowed to travel with so few warriors by his side, the Jade Falcons will never let us cross their space. At least two Stars of each. That would total six Stars, the number I am entitled to wear as a Khan."

"But you are the juniorKhan, do not forget. Perhaps if you had your Star of 'Mechs and a Star of Elementals to accompany your Point of fighters, the Jade Falcons would find you acceptable."

"They would find me dead if I only had two fighters to act as outriders. At least accord me a full Star of each branch."

"So be it."

Ulric would have ended the bargaining there, but Phelan held up his hand. "As this isan honor guard anda liaison unit, I should have with me personnel who know how to act properly and who have some experience with people of the Inner Sphere. Star Captains Evantha Fetladral and Ranna should come with me. Evantha can command the Elemental Star. I would also like Star Captain Carew to command the fighter Star."

"Carew is unblooded. The command of that wing should go to someone who is a Bloodnamed."

"Or someone who is guaranteed of being offered a place in the next Trial of Bloodright for the Nygren line."

Phelan watched the ilKhan carefully as he pushed his request. "The ilKhan should be able to exert some influence in that area."

Ulric nodded slowly. "He should. Have you other requests?"

"I do." Phelan clasped his hands behind his back. "I also want Ragnar with me. We have already adopted him into the warrior caste because of his actions on Arc-Royal. I want to assign him to a 'Mech in my honor guard despite his not having tested out yet. I also want Lajos in my Star."

"That is four. Do you want Vlad to make your fifth?"

Nicely done, Ulric.Phelan suppressed his reaction to the ilKhan's suggestion that his archrival be made to serve beneath him. "I think not, ilKhan. Delta Galaxy lost a great deal when Conal Ward was sent to the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma. Star Captain Vlad has enough to do just bringing his Trinary up to the levels of performance it knew on Tukayyid. I thought the ilKhan could suggest someone who would be suitable."

"You will take Alita of the Fourth Wolf Guards. She is of the Winson bloodline and would do well to learn about the Inner Sphere."

That suggestion struck Phelan as interesting. Of Alita he knew little beyond the fact that she had been wounded at Tukayyid. That Ulric chose her meant he expected her to be influential in the future. It also meant he expected her to win her Bloodname fairly soon. Phelan seemed to recall that she had not competed for the Winson Blood-name after Tukayyid because her wounds had not yet healed.

"Thank you, ilKhan. An excellent suggestion."

"Good. I grant what you request, but only because I have something to ask in return." Ulric's face hardened. "Phrased that way it sounds like a request, but it is, ultimately, why I am sending you and not Natasha."

"And that reason is?"

"These bandits threaten the ComStar truce. They make the people of the Inner Sphere feel vulnerable and they give the Jade Falcons an opportunity to point out the Inner Sphere's weakness. The fact that these bandits are doing so much damage has breathed new life into the Crusaders' attempt to repudiate the truce and continue the advance toward Terra."

"But hitting and running is much easier than a war of conquest."

"Agreed, which is what I have used to hold them back." The ilKhan rested his hands on Phelan's shoulders. "Preserving this truce is your paramount mission. Do whatever it takes. If it means chasing the bandits back to the Clan homeworld of Strana Mechty, so be it."

Phelan nodded. "And if it means stopping Conal from committing another atrocity?"

"Whatever it takes."

23

Recharge Station, Thuban

Federated Commonwealth

26 June 3055

When Carl Ashe left the DropShip Columbus at the Thuban recharging station it was to await a shuttle that would take him down to Thuban. Ashe went directly to the First Orbital Mercantile Bank, where he was allowed into the vault of safety deposit drawers after being identified by a retinal scanner.

From his drawer he withdrew new identification documents and a magnetic keycard. Then he stuffed his old identification papers into it, and closed it up. He gave the drawer back to the clerk and left the bank.

Though space is at a premium on any space station, a premium price can save someone a piece of it. A corporate bank account paid the rent on a small suite of rooms in the Corona Hotel. It was purportedly for the use of executives passing through the system, but it had only been used once in the last year. That happened to have been when Carlos Negron first visited the station and Carl Ashe last left it.

Reversing the process he had used eight months earlier, the assassin went to his room without speaking to the clerk at registration. Using the keycard, he opened the door and stepped inside, then closed the door behind him. Everything looked as it had when last he'd departed, save for a light coat of dust over the room, but the assassin checked things carefully and did not touch anything until certain the room had not been disturbed in his absence.