"Thank God for small wonders." Nearing the end of the journey, Kai felt reluctant to leave Erik Mahler on his own. "Look, Erik, after you drop us, just get the hell out of the city. I've got a bad feeling about things."

"Don't worry, Mr. Abunai. I picked you and your wife up here on the road and brought you into town. I don't speak Japanese and your German stinks." He scratched at his left shoulder. "Don't like you Dracos anyway, y'know. Maybe I'll report you myself."

Kai nodded solemnly. "Domo arigato."Reaching under the bench, he slid his pistol into the pack at his feet. "All set."

"Here you are."

Kai opened the truck door as the vehicle slowed to a halt. He helped Deirdre out, then closed the door with a thump. "What can I say?"

Erik shook his head and smiled. "Once a MechWarrior, always a MechWarrior. God be with you."

* * *

Kai slung the pack on his back, then he and Deirdre headed down the road, finding the ComStar facility easily enough. ComStar was currently ensconced in a long, narrow building in the middle of a street bounded by debris-strewn alleyways on both sides. A wrought iron fence topped with razorwire warded the front yard, but the gate stood open. Only a camera mounted on the wall of the building watched it.

To Kai the building looked bigger and more ostentatious than other ComStar satellite facilities he'd seen in the past. "Why would ComStar take this building? A storefront is more their style in a tiny city like this."

Deirdre shrugged. "I don't know." She stared up at the edifice and shivered. "I'm not sure I like it."

"Me neither," said Kai, "but we've got no choice but to go in."

Deirdre trailed Kai as he crossed the street and mounted the steps to the building. Before he could push the buzzer, the door opened and a yellow-robed Acolyte greeted them with a smile. "Welcome to the House of Blake. How may we be of service?"

The Acolyte then waved them into a round foyer whose floor was a checkerboard pattern of black and white marble. A corridor led deeper into the building, cutting beneath the sweeping, curved stairway along the far wall. To the right and left, large double doors opened onto beautifully appointed rooms furnished with antiques. Overhead, hanging down from the second-story ceiling, a crystal chandelier provided light for the foyer.

"I am Kevin Abunai and this is Denise Stratford. We would like to speak with the Precentor for this station. We wish to send a message out through a receiver account."

The Acolyte bowed, his smile frozen in place. "Please, wait here."

He withdrew down the corridor, shutting a door behind him. The second the latch clicked shut, Deirdre turned on him. "Denise Stratford?" she hissed in an angry whisper. "How did you dream that up? Some spy trick?"

"Denise is close to your own name, promoting recognition. That's why I'm Kevin." Kai smiled sheepishly. "Stratford came from Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of ..."

"Will Shakespeare, the author of King Lear." Her blue eyes sparkled, the anger slowly draining out of them. "Pretty quick, Kevin. Almost easy to remember."

"That's the idea." Kai looked around the foyer again. "ComStar's put a fair amount of money into refurbishing this place—if the condition of the neighborhood is any indication of how it must have looked before. Why waste the money if this is just temporary?"

"I don't know." Deirdre knelt and flaked a droplet of dried paint from the black marble wall edging. "This gold paint is recent and I don't remember a ComStar station in Dove Costoso beforethe invasion."

"Nor do I." Kai frowned. "I get the feeling this place is more of an embassy or government hall than any message-drop for ComStar."

The Acolyte's return cut off further speculation. "Demi-Precentor Khalsa will see you now." He pointed to a chair beside the front door. "You can leave your pack there. I will see to it that it is not disturbed."

Kai wanted to keep the pack with him, as it contained both the gun and the knife Victor had given him, but he could not risk attracting undue attention. "Thank you, Acolyte." He set it down and followed the man down the hall and into a large, walnut-paneled office.

Rising up from behind his desk, a scarlet-swathed, rotund man extended his hand toward his visitors. "Welcome, welcome. The Peace of Blake be with you." He shook Deirdre's hand, whispering, "Be seated, my dear." Then he enfolded Kai's hand in both of his and gave the Mech Warrior a smile that Kai found uncomfortably familiar.

Kai sat down next to Deirdre and felt pleased when she slipped her left hand into his right. Khalsa lowered his bulk into a huge chair, then leaned back until the light from above glowed off his shaved pate. "How can I help you, Mr. Abunai and Ms. Stratford?"

"As I told the Acolyte, we need to send a message."

"Well, that's what we're here for." Khalsa swung the monitor for his data station around so Kai could see nothing of the screen. He drew a keyboard toward him. "To whom is this message addressed?"

"Consolidated Manufacturing NA." Kai smiled as he gave the demi-Precentor a military-intelligence dummy corporation name. "It needs to go to the central office."

Khalsa arched a black eyebrow. "That's on New Avalon. This will be a costly message to send."

"I have a number." Kai closed his eyes. "1024-G15a-4432-44323-19826." He opened his eyes again as Khalsa punched the numbers into the computer. "I think that should be enough to get the message off."

Khalsa nodded. "That is a Davion military code."

Kai felt a microtremor pass through Deirdre's hand. "Is it?"

"I am afraid it is. And, of course, Consolidated is a FedCom Milint cut-out." Khalsa frowned as the light reflected in his eyes told Kai screens of data were scrolling by. Like a teacher disappointed with a student's improbable excuse, the demi-Precentor shook his head. "Really now, you shouldn't have tried to fool us. We know who you are."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "What difference does it make? I have given you an account number. You should accept my message and send it."

The ComStar official shook his head. His jowls jiggled, making him look more like a basset hound than a man. "I'm afraid you don't understand. The Clans own this world now, and ComStar is administering it for them." The door behind Khalsa opened and two men with automatic rifles entered the room. "We will have to detain you until an escort arrives to take you to our holding facility."

Deirdre glanced at Kai. "I thought the account code wasn't supposed to betray us."

Khalsa smiled coyly. "It didn't, Doctor Lear. You did. You were betrayed by your beauty: I recall seeing you at a concert here in Dove Costoso a week before Christmas. I had hoped for a chance to meet you and have kept an eye out for your name on the lists of detainees we have gathered. I could never let someone like you be billeted with mere warriors. That would never do.".

Kai looked over at her. "Glad to see the Alyina branch of your fan club in such good hands."

Deirdre's eyes asked forgiveness, and Kai gave her hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

The demi-Precentor stood and bid the two ROM agents forward with a flick of his fat hand. "Please forgive the shoddy nature of our accommodations, but I cannot afford to take any chances with Dr. Lear just yet." Khalsa tapped the screen of his monitor. "Your file was one of those we recovered from some damaged Davion computer equipment. Says here, Doctor, that you scored two points shy of perfect on your survival and evasion course. I'm afraid it's the dungeon for you until more suitable arrangements can be made."