"Science is not a god. Technology requires neither belief nor ritual, Primus. They discovered how to make them work." Focht drew his needle pistol and pointed it at her. "I am afraid your resignation is, in fact, in order. It is true that someone needs to pick up and mend the pieces of the Inner Sphere, but you are not the one to do it."

She looked from the gun to his face and back again, then turned and faced away from him. "You underestimate me and how much I doknow about you, Anastasius." Her left hand playing along the railing, she slowly began to walk past Sharilar and away from him. "You are a warrior. You have a code of ethics that binds you and blinds you. It would never permit you to shoot me in the back, which means I can walk away from here and find other warriors with a code of ethics that demands they obey their superiors.Your little revolt will end now because the dream must live!"

Focht shook his head. "Lunatic dreams become nightmare reality for the sane." His finger stroked the trigger twice and the Primus sprawled forward.

He swung the gun into line with Sharilar Mori. "And what am I to do with you?"

The oriental woman opened her hands. "I have done nothing that could be considered a capital crime."

"Really? And I had always remembered treason carried with it the supreme penalty." He raised his left eyebrow. "After all, isn't spying for the Draconis Combine treason against ComStar?"

"What? How could you know?"

"I am the Precentor Martial. Security is very much a part of my job and discovering the leaks in ComStar's First Circuit is an important facet of maintaining my security. I had to be suspicious of a Combine agent being inside the First Circuit because of the way my presentation to the Primus by Theodore Kurita so many years ago pleased her. I was the answer to her prayers and Theodore certainly got everything he desired in return for my service to ComStar. The leaking of information to the Combine concerning the Clans and their activity, then of Operation Scorpion, said the spy was highly placed. Melissa confirmed a Combine connection with the warning about the Clans' return and Scorpion. The latter pointed to you, for the Primus would have sent the order out through you so she could repudiate the plan if it failed. You also had to be the one insulating her from full knowledge of its dismal failure."

Sharilar smiled respectfully. "Your analysis is flawless. I knew there was a risk, but I had to take it even if it put my cover in jeopardy."

"As spies have ever done."

"Indeed." She looked down at Myndo's body. "So, will you shoot me because I have betrayed a dead organization?"

Focht shook his head. "I, too, have a dream for ComStar. The war with the Clans has convinced me that we must not waste the resources we have, and the internecine battling between the Successor States has given me some ideas for a new direction for ComStar. I have a problem, however."

"You are not a politician, nor do you have any desire to become one."

"I do not have enough timeleft to become one. You, on the other hand, have negotiated the labyrinth of ComStar with enough skill to become a member of the First Circuit in a fairly short time." The Precentor Martial raked the fingers of his left hand back through his hair. "Have you the skill necessary to make a dream come true?"

"Would you trust me if I said yes?"

Focht chewed his lower lip for a second, then nodded. "The fact that you came into ComStar because you or your masters saw the order as an evil that had to be stopped tells me you are not married to the pseudo-sacred mythological foundation for all of this. That you risked your life to actually subvert the perversity the Primus wished to work on the Successor States indicates you can take action when warranted. If you tell me you want to use all we have to repair the evil we have wrought, I will trust you."

"Where do we start?"

Focht put the pistol back in the pouch and slipped his arm around Sharilar's shoulders. "The first thing we do, my child, is drive a stake through herheart, then bury her in the same grave where we inter the Word of Blake."

46

Valigia

Alyina, Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

10 June 3052

Kai Allard looked up and waved as Erik Mahler honked the horn on the aircar. He handed the metal brush and actuator fitting to the Tech beside him, then wiped his hands on a rag. "I'll be with you in a minute," he shouted through the 'Mech bay's open door as he crossed to the wash basin. He scrubbed off most of the grime, rolled his sleeves down, then donned his jacket.

Heading out, he paused and looked back. Five months of sitting beneath Mar Negro had taken its toll on Yen-lo-wang,but it had been cleaning up nicely since they'd salvaged it. Malthus had suggested that its refurbishment become something of a project for the Techs and Mech Warriors who had been released from Firebase Tango Zephyr. Those who were able quickly agreed to work on it and the prospect of taking part in the rebuilding had prompted a number of warriors to press their doctors for early release dates from the hospital.

The BattleMech stood tall and proud despite the places where it had lost paint to the scraping off of barnacles. Wires and actuators dangled from the right-arm stump, but the Gauss rifle waiting to replace the one lost when Michaels' hovertruck exploded sat below on a pallet. The viewport canopy likewise lay at the Centurion'sfeet, and men wandered in and out of the cockpit through it.

"For obvious reasons, I think that is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. It brings back many memories of my service. I can well understand your love for that machine." Mahler stood beside the driver's door. "I have no doubt that Clan children will be frightened into correct behavior with tales of Yen-lo-wang."

Kai gave Mahler a smile, then climbed into the passenger seat. As Mahler climbed back in behind the wheel and started the fans going, he handed Kai a slip of paper. "The people manning the ComStar facility got a reply to the message you sent out. A ship coming from Yeguas will arrive at Morges to pick you up in two weeks. The Clans will ship you out in twenty-four hours so you can make the rendezvous."

"What about the people too sick to make jumps?"

Mahler gave him an easy smile. "We will send them out later. Malthus has chosen to expand your arrangement concerning the Firebase Tango Zephyr prisoners to include all Federated Commonwealth military in thanks for your help in pacifying the ComStar units here. They will make regular relays to Morges for as long as it takes to repatriate all of them."

"Twenty-four hours, eh?" Kai glanced down at his hands as Malthus guided the aircar into traffic. "That's not much time."

Mahler kept his eyes on the road. "You have yet to decide what to do about her?"

"No." The MechWarrior sighed heavily. "I love her, but I fear our natures are so contrary that we will rip each other apart."

The older man laughed lightly. "Isn't that the reason they say opposites attract? Is one not drawn to that which is different? Hilda and I fought like cats and dogs when we first met."

Kai shook his head glumly. "There is one thing I have learned in my time on Alyina. It is something I suspected before, and it is something my parents and Victor and others had told me: I am a good warrior."