Anger knotted Hanse's eyebrows together. "So, if it's not Kerensky descendants, then who?"

Justin interlaced his fingers behind his neck and shot a glance at Melissa. "Perhaps it has some connection to the time, some forty years ago, when Katrina Steiner disguised herself as the pirate the Red Corsair, while she, Morgan Kell, and Arthur Luvon escaped into the Periphery to elude Alessandro Steiner's assassins. That was when they found a Star League-research center on an uncharted planet that had recently been ravaged by pirates. Many of the items they brought back after the year in hiding remained mysterious for decades. You know, of course, that this is the origin of the Black Boxes that helped us circumvent the ComStar Communications Interdiction during the Fourth Succession War. Until the pirates overran them, that small research station had been able to continue experimenting and learning while the rest of the Inner Sphere went into a technological decline because of centuries of war."

Melissa chewed her lower lip for a moment. "So you're suggesting that if there was one research station that escaped discovery all those years, there could be others?"

The Secretary of Intelligence nodded emphatically. "There could be thousands more, Highness, but it only needed one—one that engaged in weapons research. The 'Mechs these invaders have are definitely built along the lines of our BattleMechs. They just happen to be more powerful and run a lot cooler. Getting more power out of a fusion engine and creating better heat sinks are two of the prime focii for research at the New Avalon Institute of Science. It could be that the invaders just had a three-century head start on us."

Hanse's right hand convulsed down into a fist. "And they started from a level of technology we have yet to reach. What do you think happened then, Justin? Could a base able to produce such powerful 'Mechs fall to Periphery bandits who now turn their resources against us?"

"Probably not." Justin shrugged helplessly. "All we can say for certain is that whoever they are, their technology supersedes anything from the days of the Star League. Other than that, all we can do with our current information is continue to guess."

How can we grapple with an enemy who outguns us and outmaneuvers us when we can't figure out who they are and what they want? It's like wrestling with smoke."Your ideas have merit, and I know you'll keep working on the problem. Identifying the invaders is of paramount importance."

"Of course, my Prince."

Davion's blue eyes flicked up and met Justin's dark gaze. "Have we had anyword from General Hawksworth?"

"No, Highness. It is believed he destroyed his Black Box just after sending Victor away. We are not certain if any of the supply depots have a working model. If they do, a message could be on its way to us now." The spymaster knotted his fists in frustration. "Even if he had sent us a message, it would take over a week to reach Tharkad. And if he sent it here to New Avalon, it would take almost a month."

The Archon leaned forward. "He hasn't been able to send a message out through ComStar?"

Justin shook his head. "Either the invaders have quarantined all ComStar outposts, or else ComStar is working with the invaders so they won't interfere with their business of running messages between the stars. We know ComStar is filtering some messages because the news that Victor escaped Trell I came more quickly through a message by Hauptmann Cox to his family than did Victor's priority message to the Court."

The Prince frowned deeply. "If ComStar is filtering messages, we'll never be able to learn the true extent of the invasion. We cannot be certain if or where our enemies have been hit."

Justin smiled briefly and glanced at Alex. "I think, my Prince, that we have beaten ComStar at their own game." He nodded to his aide. "You came up with this brainchild, Alex. You explain it."

Alex nodded and summoned a stream of data to replace the map. "ComStar, for reasons known only to its leaders, has chosen not to broadcast news of the invasion. I suspect they want to avoid panicking the public until the various governments have had a chance to react to the threat. Regardless, they have continued to supply commodity and production reports from all the worlds that have been hit. For all intents and purposes, things look normal out there."

The clack of keys summoned another line of data and a variable matrix below it. "To keep anyone from twigging onto their deception, ComStar has composed the figures from data collected over the last seventy years. The figures look correct because they once were correct. I compared the numbers with our database for the same reports. It took some work, but I think I figured out the pattern. Someone at ComStar is sloppy and hasn't varied their algorithm. By using it on the data they're supplying for other likely target worlds, I think we can pick out where the invaders have hit Rasalhague and the Draconis Combine."

The map returned as Alex worked his magic on the computer. Instead of just presenting the Lyran Commonwealth's rim worlds, he expanded the map to show likely invasion sites in Rasalhague and the Combine. "As you can see, things are going best for the invaders in the section of Rasalhague nearest the Commonwealth border. I believe this is the area being rolled over by the Wolves. ComStar's data on the five worlds from Csesztreg through New Bergen to Leoben has just started to look like it's been doctored, so I would guess they've only recently been hit. Closer to the Combine, and in the Combine itself, things are moving more slowly."

"Are the invaders meeting any resistance in the Rasalhague Republic?" Melissa asked. "They lost thirteen planets in the first wave, which is a much higher percentage for them than a dozen worlds is to the Lyran Commonwealth."

Justin pointed to one world on the Rasalhague rim. "The strike here at Thule could have crippled Rasalhague's ability to fight, because their Minister of Defense was on a tour of the rim at the time. We thought he'd been killed, but he appeared in a recent news holovid from Rasalhague itself. Our sources have given us independent confirmation of his survival, though rumors had it that the invaders almost got him."

The Archon arched a brow. "That's interesting. The Jade Eagles strike at Trell I where our son is stationed. Invaders strike at Thule while the Minister of Defense is there, but just miss him. I notice they also hit Turtle Bay. As I recall, Hohiro Kurita is stationed there, is he not?"

The spymaster nodded gravely. "Unless Hohiro was moved offworld just before the assault, he was on Turtle Bay when it came. We have no reports that he escaped, and so it is conceivable that he was killed in the fighting. Even without first-hand information, there are indications that matters did not go well for the Combine in that region."

Justin looked over at Alex. "Bring up the Combine's recent troop movements." As the map image drew back, then focused in on a section of the Combine/Commonwealth border, icons representing military units formed neat little columns below. "As you can see, Theodore Kurita is exercising his authority as Gunji no Kanrei. He is shifting troops away from the Dieron Military District and sending them back on their own supply ships. He will be able to deliver twenty crack regiments to oppose the invaders by the end of the summer. He is also shifting troops up from the Rasalhague border, but there are not really enough of them to do more than slow the invaders' advance."