Focht's grim nod echoed her concern. "It gets worse. The ranges at which these new 'Mechs were able to hit their targets is 300 to 400 percent better than what our current targeting and delivery system allows. It also appears that their heat compensators are much better or else their pilots can tolerate higher levels of heat because the rate of fire shown would have virtually fried any 'Mech known in the Successor States."

Myndo chewed her lower lip to stop it from trembling. "Explanation?"

The Precentor Martial shrugged. "Their 'Mechs show evidence of technology beyond what we know. My advisors and I wrestled with the question of where these 'Mechs might originate and who piloted them right up until the time I left to join you here."

The Primus's dark eyes half-closed. "Are they Kerensky's army come back to haunt us?"

The Precentor Martial took a deep breath before answering. "That was one of the more popular theories we came up with, but some of the surface evidence seems against it. These 'Mech designs are alien to those the Star League army had when it abandoned the Inner Sphere three hundred years ago. When Kerensky's people left, they took with them support personnel, but no research scientists and no manufacturing facilities."

"As nearly as we know, Precentor Martial. With the slaughter of the intelligentsia that preceded the First Succession War, we cannot be certain who died that way and who had vanished beforehand."

Focht bowed his head to his Mistress. "Your point is valid, Primus. There are other reasons, however, and they also cast doubt on the Kerensky solution. For example, the paint scheme on the mystery machines is unlike that of any known Star League unit. More important, the most thorough scouting missions carried out on Kerensky's trail lost track of him over 130 light years beyond the Periphery borders. General Kerensky and his people are long gone from here."

Myndo's head came up. "Surely you cannot dismiss the return of Kerensky's people that easily."

Focht shook his head. "If I gave you the impression that we had easily ruled out the return of the Star League Defense Forces, I apologize. No, we considered it long and hard before setting it aside. Still, Primus, you should understand that 'the Return' is a bogeyman used to explain every unusual group that shows up in the Successor States. Wolf's Dragoons, for example, are the latest in a long line of groups tagged as having come from Kerensky—the Black Widow's surname adding much fuel to that fire. Even so, even if it were true, the Dragoons—and all the other groups before them—have only had 'Mechs with designs and features that date from the time of the Star League. Again, we have no evidence that Kerensky's people had the information or means to produce these new 'Mechs."

"I see." Myndo clasped her hands together, holding them at her waist in a pose of forced calm. "What, then, is the explanation you favor?"

The Precentor Martial hesitated for a moment. "Most of the explanations were mundane and ranged from a Periphery pirate band running across a hidden, Star League-vintage research station to a variation on any of a hundred 'lost colony' tales. Still, none of them possessed technology beyond that of the Star-League era. We need more evidence before verifying any conclusion, but I believe we must not rule out the possibility that these are non-humans."

That's impossible!Myndo's mind reeled at the thought of another sentient race because it pounded away at the foundation of her reality. She had been taught that mankind was the pinnacle of evolution, and was meant to rule the stars. ComStar, of course, would lead mankind to the fulfillment of its destiny. Her thoughts insisted that there could be no other sentients in the universe—but if there were, they would have to be destroyed.

Myndo glared at Focht "Why would another species use 'Mechs so similar to ours?"

The Precentor Martial's quick smile unsettled her. "It is as simple as it is horrifying, Primus. This is a race that has mastered the ultimate evolutionary tool: conscious genetic manipulation. They adapt quickly and efficiently. They mold themselves to their environment and then, like any sentient species, they manipulate the environment to broaden the niche they have chosen."

Before she could voice an objection, Focht continued his explanation. "Recall, if you will, the protonaria from the Davion world of Gambier. Those multicelled creatures ingest and co-opt genetic material from their meals. In this way, when food is scarce, they eat plants and develop chloroplasts so they can produce their own food. When Gambier's orbit places that dust cloud between it and the sun, the protonaria live off the scavenger bacteria that live off the dying plants.

"If you remember, protonaria were in great demand as a novelty item forty years ago. People would raise them in an aquarium and feed them virus-laden solutions. The different viruses would contain the genes for coloration, including lucifrase, so a tank of protonaria would be a multicolored, swirling mass that could even glow in the dark."

Myndo's anxiety locked a frown onto her features. "Those are simple creatures, Precentor. Protonaria could hardly pilot 'Mechs."

Focht's quick nod marked his agreement with her. "Imagine a higher creature, Primus, one capable of more complex genetic assimilation. It would only need to obtain human genetic material to be able to assume our form. If it could consciously manipulate its development, it could even begin to maximize its new potential."

Myndo shuddered. "How would it get. . . . Blake's Blood—Kerensky!"

The Precentor Martial nodded sadly, mourning the demise of a superior military mind. "As wild as it seems, we cannot discount the possibility that somewhere out there Kerensky and his people settled on a world that harbored these things and that it spelled the end for them. As we've not heard from Kerensky or his people, this could easily explain what happened to them."

His expression grew pained and his good eye focused distantly. "The assault could have come in any of a million different ways. To my mind, the most gruesome comes as a perversion of everything we hold dear. Imagine one of these creatures digging down into a grave and consuming just a piece of a dead body. Within a week or a month or a year— however long it took—the creature would become the person whose DNA it ingested."

Myndo's hands fell to her sides and clenched into fists. "The creatures would have been welcomed by the kin that had been left behind. Even if they remembered nothing of their former lives, their appearance would have been marked as a miracle."

"Worse yet," the Precentor Martial told her. "They appear as children and are adopted into families. Just like humans, they are educated and acculturated. Because of their ability to adapt, they have an enhanced survival rate. Because they can adapt to the heat of 'Mechs, and can manipulate their genetic code to make them better pilots, they quickly move into the armed forces, and at some point, they go to war with humanity."

He pointed to the Mad Cat 'Mech image. "They make technological breakthroughs that increase engine power while decreasing its size. They modify weapons systems to make their machines superior, and they destroy Kerensky's people in a world-by-world campaign that borders on genocide."

"Why would they come here?" Myndo demanded. "Why would they backtrack Kerensky here?"

Focht shrugged. "Many reasons are possible, but two suggest themselves right off. In doing what they have done, they have become human. They are coming here because we have the planets best suited to human life and we have everything that makes up human culture."