"Hanse Davion has given me his word that he will not strike."

"And you believe him?" Hideyoshi could barely disguise his incredulity. "That is a grave error, and one your father has never made."

Shin saw Theodore stiffen at the mention of Takashi Kurita. His father, still the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, claimed the loyalty of many old-line military men who believed Theodore's reforms had emasculated the Combine and stripped it of honor. As a yakuza, Shin would never have been allowed to serve his nation or have risen to his present position except for Theodore's reforms. The thought made him flush slightly, whether in anger or embarrassment, he was not sure.

"Tai-saHideyoshi, I hasten to remind you that my father very nearly delivered us into Hanse Davion's hands twenty years ago. He also managed to alienate the most powerful mercenary units in the Successor States through his Death to Mercenaries order. Had it been my father leading the defense of the Combine against Hanse Davion only ten years ago, he would have lost the Dieron district and half of the Galedon district as well."

Theodore's words came quietly, but the anger in them was enough to subdue his listeners immediately. "My father's hatred and distrust of Hanse Davion is born of prejudicial contempt. Takashi dismissed Davion as an inferior, which leads him to underestimate the Prince of the Federated Commonwealth. I do not make that mistake. I treat Hanse Davion as the deadly foe he is. That is why I understand that because it is not in his best interest to attack us, he will not."

Stubborn as a pit bull, Hideyoshi refused to let go the matter of the Davion threat. "Perhaps you do not find it odd to be considering Hanse Davion's best interests, but I have never approved of this alliance you made."

"Do you have more than your old traditions to back this distrust, or are you caught in a repetitive groove that will not let you free?"

"Let us assume it is as you say. Let us assume that Hanse Davion will not hit us right now. But the moment he learns that Luthien is vulnerable, he will have to strike us. This is his one chance to end our threat to him. And if Luthien falls, he must hit us. Not only will that be in his best interest, but he can claim merely to be bolstering your faltering realm. Then you marry your daughter off to his son, and Hanse Davion becomes the First Lord of the new Star League."

Watching Hideyoshi impassively through half-shut eyes, Theodore stroked the stubble on his chin. "I see that the court gossips have your ear, Tai-sa.Though we are here to discuss military matters, you seem determined to deflect the discussion into some dialogue on politics. I do not intend to honor that gambit because matters at hand are too grave for us to be sidetracked by fairy tales, rumors, gossip, or any other foolishness."

The Kanrei clasped his hands behind his back. "I likewise reject your distrust of Hanse Davion. I have been with him. I have looked him in the eye. He is a man of great power in our time, and we know he will never give it up easily and will always seek to increase the power he wields. We saw greed in his strike at the Capellan Confederation twenty years ago, and the same in his attack on us ten years ago. Hanse Davion, however, saw something else. He saw himself striking a blow for freedom and humanity.

"Misguided though he may be, that is his motivation. That is the force driving him. I would be the last to claim he is incapable of deceit or treachery, but I believe he descends to that level in the name of his goal, something that he sees as a great vision. Besides, we must trust Hanse Davion. We have no choice."

Hideyoshi sighed heavily and Shin heard the resignation in it. "Then do not let Hanse Davion know that the Clans have attacked Luthien until you are able to inform him of our victory in throwing the invader back."

Theodore shook his head slowly. "Too late. A message informing Davion of the impending strike on Luthien is already on its way to him."

The Otomo leader raised his hands in despair. "We are lost."

"No, Hideyoshi, we are not." Theodore smiled carefully.

"You are right that Hanse Davion must come after us if we lose Luthien. But there lies the solution to the problem. No matter what the Clans throw at us, we will never let Luthien fall."

32

Avalon City , New Avalon

Cruris March, Federated Commonwealth

27 November 3051

Hanse Davion watched as the muted light of the briefing room glinted off silvery scars on Justin Allard's black metal left hand. "I never expected to hear those words from you, Justin."

The Intelligence Secretary shrugged helplessly. "It grieves me to disappoint you, Highness, but our mutual discomfort does nothing to answer your question. The construction of the fax message—everything from the syntax to the brush strokes used—indicate it originated in the Draconis Combine. My experts trace it from Luthien and even suggest it may have come from the brush of Theodore Kurita himself. I have no way of authenticating beyond that."

The Prince looked to Alex Mallory. "Have you anything to add, Deputy Secretary?"

The slender blond man shook his head. "I can only echo what Justin tells you, Highness. The fax appears to have originated from within the Combine."

Hanse felt a flutter of fear. "Do you realize what you're saying? If the Combine has somehow gotten hold of one of our fax machines, they've been privy to our communications for the past twenty years!" He shook his head sadly. "No wonder we lost a war ten years ago. I'm more surprised Theodore Kurita has not shown up at our doorstep at the head of his army."

"You overestimate the threat, my Prince." Justin's expression showed the reflective calm that Hanse had seen and learned to depend on over the years. "Every Black Box was accounted for at the end of the Liao war. We have proof that all were either destroyed or remained in our hands, though the possibility of deception cannot be dismissed. The evidence is less compelling in the 3039 war, and that may be when Theodore could have obtained one. It was just that danger that made us encode all military messages we have sent over the past two decades, and we have also improved the speed of the machines. In fact, one of our machines on Murchison picked up this message, then transmitted it to New Avalon. The original message won't reach us until the beginning of next month."

Melissa interlaced her fingers and placed her hands on the hardwood table. "So you believe that the threat to our security is minimal?"

"I would characterize no threat to the Federated Commonwealth as minimal, Archon, but the threat is within normal limits and has been handled in an appropriate manner. We treat faxes as subject to discovery and always include some disinformation to make things difficult for the ISF or ComStar if they are intercepting our messages."

Justin held up the sheet of paper from Theodore. "This merely confirms our suspicion that the Combine did capture one of our machines."

"Well, then," Hanse said, wearying of all the explanation, "what about the content of the message?" Hanse studied his copy again. "Can we believe Theodore that the Clans are on the way to attack Luthien?"

Alex punched a request for data into the keyboard at his place. "The reports we've gotten from our agents on the borders of the Draconis March and the Isle of Skye report massive recall of troops. The Combine has left a few worlds with 'Mech units in place, but it is usually one company from a crack regiment, with reinforcements cobbled together from yakuza elements and militia forces. They're stripping off all air and aerospace assets especially.