Hanse sat on the edge of their bed. "I often wish I had violated that promise so that perhaps Ian might have lived."

"You sent him support. It just arrived too late."

"That really does not matter, my love. What is important is that Ian, as the First Prince of the Federated Suns, had the right to place himself in jeopardy. It was his choice and he exercised it on his terms. He chose that mission because he felt it was a challenge only he could meet."

Melissa half-smiled. "You do realize that most of you Davions believe your name really means 'messiah.' "

The Prince nodded solemnly. "You are correct in more ways than you imagine. A ruler has not only the right to place himself in danger, he also has a dutyto do so. He must show, through his example, that the causes that are important to the nation transcend the importance of his own life or death."

He slapped his hand on the bed. "I was here the night the Death Commandos landed on New Avalon. When I realized what was happening, I felt neither panic nor fear, but an outrage that they dared violate the sanctity of myworld. I was furious that they had so little respect for me and my people that they daredattack us. I went to my 'Mech to defend Avalon City, but more so to show the enemy that nothing would make us cower in their presence.

"The fighting that night was horrible, but it was also necessary to preserve the Federated Suns and its future. It allowed me to prove to myself and others that I was worthy of the vast trust and power placed in my hands by the Federated Suns. Now it is Victor's turn."

Melissa shook her head. "No. Victor knows his responsibilities and duties as the heir to the throne of the Federated Commonwealth. There are times when those responsibilities—maintaining the stability of the government—must overrule his own sense of adventure."

"If you think this is about adventurism, Melissa, you grossly underestimate your son." Hanse's eyes tightened. "Victor had adventurism burned out of him on Trellwan. He learned to be a leader on Twycross, and he learned how to lose on Alyina. He knows his responsibilities far better than either you or I did at his age, and this is his way of proving he can accept them. If he cannot defeat the Clans with his strategy and planning and training of the Revenants, he will never believe himself worthy of being our heir."

"It is folly to put so much weight on one fool's errand."

"You are wrong, my wife." The Prince felt little electric tendrils of pain caress the left side of his body. "If Victor fails in this mission, he will never assume the throne. He will know he is incapable of facing the challenges the next Archon-Prince must face."

"He will die," she whispered in horror. "He will die, just like Ian."

Hanse shook his head. "No. Victor's too smart. He knows that if he cannot do the job, he still has value. This is his Steiner heritage and he will not let his Davion passions overrule your Teutonic logic."

Melissa looked at Hanse imploringly. "You are not going to cancel Victor's mission. You never intended to, did you?"

The Prince returned her gaze. "Victor is my heir, not my puppet."

She let her head hang in a nod of resignation. "God be with you, Victor."

"Amen."

A bright flash filled the window with light, then seconds later a sharp report echoed through the night. Melissa spun and looked out through the gossamer draping. "What was that?"

The Fox smiled as his pain eased. "It sounded to me like a truck hauling toxic petrochemicals swerving to miss a small car and crashing into the wall surrounding the main ComStar facility."

She leaned forward slightly. "I see flames from near the center of the city." The wail of sirens accompanied her slow turn to face her husband. "Have you had hearing aids implanted?"

The First Prince rose from the bed and put his arms around his wife from behind. "We had a message from Theodore Kurita that ComStar might be trying to impose a general Interdiction over the whole of the Inner Sphere. Alex thought, and I agreed, that a little accident forcing the evacuation of the ComStar compound might be in order. Of course, all the clerks and Acolytes will have to. be quarantined to make sure they suffer no lasting ill effects from the accident. And we'll have to decontaminate the whole area. It could be years before the ComStar facilities are safe."

"Aren't you afraid of another Interdiction?"

Hanse shook his head. "We should actually take 80 percent of the facilities we go for. We can use them and the fax machines to circumvent any Interdiction. The Primus mightinspire rebellion on some worlds where we fail to take the hyperpulse generators, but providing food inspires more loyalty than news from abroad. Any world that wishes to join ComStar can rely on ComStar to feed it."

"So much for rebellion." Melissa smiled and laced her fingers through his hands where his arms encircled her waist. "So, 'toxic chemicals' were the best you could do?"

"The Primus provided the inspiration, really." Hanse's grin broadened appreciably. "What better than a tanker truck hauling insecticide to get rid of a load of pests? Operation Scorpion, indeed!"

31

Tukayyid

ComStar Intervention District, Free Rasalhague Republic

1 May 3052 (Day 1 of Operation Scorpion)

For the first time in all his years of service to ComStar, Anastasius Focht understood how the Primus could imagine herself the Mother Goddess of a humanity waiting to be born. In his headquarters hidden deep beneath the Tamo Mountains, an Interactive Construct Reality map of Tukayyid's northern continent spread out around him. A titan in his ICR helmet and body suit, he straddled the computer-created image of the mountains.

Above his head, hovering like a halo just out of sight, a circle constructed of the myriad views from his spotting stations and troops whirled in a riot of colors. Simply by reaching his right hand up and pulling down, he brought the band of information reports to eye-level. It slowed, then stopped as he selected one particular view. It expanded to enfold him, transporting him to the Przeno Plain. The other views spun up and out of sight as the radio chatter from the communications link slowly came up.

"Confirm, command. We have Jade Falcons dropping in on us."

Off in the distance, he saw four DropShips executing precision retro-burns as they disgorged their cargo. Each spherical ship hung motionless above the plain, charring the wheat fields black, as 'Mech after 'Mech of a Jade Falcon Cluster jumped clear of its armored belly. Careful to avoid the DropShip's ion jets, but heedless of the grass fire, the Jade Falcon 'Mechs moved forward to take up defensive positions.

Focht opened a communication link. "Precentor Gesicki, you may pull your scouts back now."

Anna Gesicki's tone revealed both fear and irritation. "My people are not afraid, Precentor Martial. The White Lions will hold."

Focht smiled in spite of himself. "I do not doubt your troops' ability to fight, Precentor. You are looking at a Cluster of Jade Falcons. As you will recall, they seem susceptible to the hit-and-run tactics the Federated Commonwealth has used against them. You will recall that Prince Victor's error an Alyina was in getting bogged down before he needed to. You have a full complement of air, artillery, and armor assets. Use them as we have planned."