As I explained how the cavalry would arrive, I unbuckled the straps on an equipment container. I pulled out a packet of clothing and tossed it to her. ‘Put these on.’ I said, then hesitated. ‘That is, put them on if you want to help me.’

She ripped open the clear plastic in silence. Pulling the black garment to her chest, she stared at me incredulously. ‘ISF ninja uniforms? Are you mad?’

I shook my head. ‘Not only are they effective for climbing around in the darkness, but none of the Techs or MechWarriors of the 27th are going to watch us too closely. In fact, they'll do their best to avoid seeing what we're doing.’

‘And what will we be doing?’

I pulled a pouch from the container and unzipped it. I held it open so she could see the small cubes of plastique and the detonators attached to them. ‘We plant these where they will cause the most trouble. The detonators will set off the explosions when I punch a button on the remote control.’

I pulled the remote control device from the bag and showed it to her. No longer or thicker than my thumb, and about twice as wide, it had a switch on the side. When I flipped it on. the flat square button on the control's surface glowed a dull red. ‘One touch and all the explosives will go off.’

She nodded. I turned away and quickly changed into the other ISF uniform in the container. I smiled because in discussing the plan, Duke Michael's people had insisted that the file they'd assembled on the Little Dragon indicated that she would betray me to the ISF. For that reason, they only wanted to put enough equipment in the storage area for me. but I insisted they provide two of everything. Though they had protested. I insisted that my native charm would win her over to our side. I didn't actually believe it, but pressed my demand just to irritate Duke Michael's men. Takara's decision to help made me very glad I'd stuck to my guns.

I handed her the sidearms also packed in the container and she laughed gently. She slid the Mauser & Gray M-27 needle pistol from the holster and charged it ‘I think I have discovered your secret, Patrick.’ She hesitated before she said my name, and I felt my heart pounding faster. I was glad the dim light and hood hid my face.

‘I hereby swear you to secrecy,’ I said, reaching into the bag of explosives and giving her a double handful. ‘Eight for you. Eight for me. The detonators are simple. The signal from the remote arms them, then sets them off. This plastique is great. You can mold it to direct the blast.’

She nodded. ‘I know.’

The vision of her apartment flashed in my mind. ‘Yeah, right.’ I started filling the little pockets in my uniform with explosives, then slipped the detonator into my waistband. I handed her the ISF agent's ubiquitous katana,then I slung one across my back. Lastly. I handed her one of the ISF's circlevision facemasks.

I flicked mine on after I'd settled it over my face, adjusted the straps to center the faceplate, then tightened them down. The image I saw was split top and bottom, with front and rear views, respectively. Reaching the control dials on the upper edge of the mask, I adjusted the view.

As a MechWarrior, I'm used to a full 360 degrees of vision because the 'Mech provides a complete battlefield view for the pilot. The image is truncated into an arc of 160 degrees, with ‘forward’ always centered as you move. Everything is easy to see. and after a very short time, the system becomes quite simple to use.

In contrast, I found the split-image system of the circlevision equipment annoying.

I adjusted the mask so that it squashed the rear view to a three-centimeter tall band running across the top of the image area. That gave me a normal view of everything going on in front of me, yet provided enough of a picture that I could guard my back.

I smiled, though the mask's mirrored surface prevented Takara from seeing my expression. ‘O.K. We plant the explosives, then get in touch with the ComStar rep in Hakkinshi. We tell him to release the message the Kell Hounds left with him and, poof, we start things rolling.’

Unused air ducting allowed us to climb up to the 'Mech bay's ceiling. The open girder lattice supporting the arched roof gave us a clear, if precarious, pathway. We moved through the high darkness as Techs and astechs labored below to maintain the 27th Dieron Regulars's stable of 'Mechs. I counted twelve of the massive war machines, which was right for company strength, but two of them were being worked on and one of those had its fusion reactor hanging from a power winch.

Takara and I split up to sow our little bombs. Whenever she'd selected a likely target, she'd wait for me to signal approval, then set the explosives. The only time I waved her off a site was when she wanted to blow up a winch track right above the crates full of books. I hoped the books would be out of the way when we set off the explosives, but I didn't want to take any chances.

We joined up again and descended to the hangar floor itself. Sliding into the multitude of shadows cast by the Mechs, we passed virtually unseen around and through the riot of activity in the 'Mech bay. I know a couple of astechs caught a glimpse of me because I saw them shiver, but they raised no alarm. They had no more love for the ISF than I did.

We planted more explosives on the ground floor during our trek. Huddled together in an area full of storage crates, I signaled to Takara that I had no more explosives, then I pointed at her and shrugged my shoulders. She palled the pocket at her left hip, then held up one finger. I gave her a thumbs-up.

Suddenly, a warning siren sounded and people started to run wildly through the hangar. I flicked on the circlevision mask's magnification function and killed my impulse to laugh. The door to our cell stood open and Sergeant Kimura was bowing profusely to a bald man who had to be Tai-saHarrison Ukita.

‘Let's move, Takara. With all this confusion, maybe we can slip out unnoticed.’

I stiffened as I felt the muzzle of her M-27 press against my back. She slipped my pistol into her left hand, then holstered her own gun. She pulled off her mask and spoke loudly enough for Ukita to hear her. ‘Here he is, Tai-sa.’

It was as though someone had reached a cold hand into my chest and given my heart a squeeze. I sank forward slowly, hugging my arms around my aching stomach. A hoarse whisper was all I could muster as the ISF Colonel approached us. ‘Why. Takara?’

She laughed haughtily. ‘No one plays the Little Dragon for a fool. Kell. You should have listened to Davion Intelligence because they know me far better than you ever will. Helping you helps only Hanako Aido, but helping Ukita can save all Akumashima.’

Tai-saHarrison Ukita leaned forward on the oaken desk I'd left behind in my office when we evacuated the planet. He smiled broadly at me, then turned to include the Little Dragon in his welcome. Because she had surrendered her weapons voluntarily, as opposed to having them stripped from her as I had, the ISF had not bound her hands or hobbled her legs. ‘Well, this is an honor. I have a noted mercenary leader and a member of the renketsuin my office.’ He winked at me. ‘Apologies, Chu-sa.and I compliment you on your choice of furnishings.’ He patted the polished surface of my desk lovingly.

I shrugged as best I could with my arms bound tightly forearm-to-forearm. ‘If you wish, I can go to Arc-Royal and get you a complete office set. A man of your importance shouldn't have to settle for a mercenary's cast-offs.’ I squirmed slightly in my chair because, in their search for weapons, they'd missed the remote control tor the explosives. Try as I might, however, there was no way I could activate the device, much less punch the button.

Ukita arched an eyebrow, then looked toward the Little Dragon. ‘And is she a mercenary's cast-off?’