Shang looked up. "Justin, you'll be pleased to know we finally got word concerning the force you'll face on Bethel. It's the Davion Light Guards First Regiment, Delta Company."

A predatory grin spread over Justin's face. "Still commanded by Andrew Redburn and built from those whelps in the training battalion I left behind?"

Shang nodded.

"Excellent!" Justin rubbed his right palm over the cold metallic knuckles of his left hand. "More than one debt can be repaid on this mission."

The Chancellor, his fatigue banished, smiled like a vulture. "The pride of the Confederation goes with you, Citizen Xiang. You will not know defeat."

5

Sian

Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation

20 March 3029

Deep within a quiet woodland hollow, Justin Xiang mirrored Candace Liao's series of t'ai chi chuanexercises. The slight breeze whispering through the venerable pines was just enough to mask the noises of civilization from the palace complex two kilometers to the south. Only a few of the dying sun's rays stabbed through the labyrinth of tree trunks, and those that did splashed coppery highlights on the sweaty flesh.

Perspiration burned into Justin's eyes, and weariness filled his muscles with fire, but he refused to call a halt to the exercises. It's been only a year and a half since Candace started practicingt'ai chi, but it has calmed her and given her so much grace.

He glanced at her left shoulder. Several strings of white scars puckered the ruined flesh over her deltoid muscle, which Justin knew was more myomer than natural. Thirteen years ago, she'd injured that arm ejecting from a badly damagedVindicator. She's worked hard to repair it, and now it's almost returned to a normal range of motion.

Candace drew her limbs together, letting her hands hang at her side, and bowed to Justin. "I can continue no more."

Justin returned her bow somewhat less gracefully. "Forgive me. I was daydreaming, and it spoiled my concentration."

Candace knelt on the carpet of rust-colored pine needles and pulled two white towels from a tan canvas bag. She offered one to Justin. "What were you thinking?"

Justin shrugged as he wiped the sweat from his face. "I was reminded of old folktales in which a wound would not heal unless the person who inflicted it wished it so." He glanced at her shoulder.

She nodded thoughtfully. "And have you wished my shoulder to be whole?"

"Yes, and my wish is coming true." Justin hung the towel around his neck and held on to each end with a hand.

Candace looked up at him. "What about your arm? Has the person who inflicted that wound wished it to be healed?"

Justin shook his head slightly. He held out the blackened steel arm for inspection. From his elbow down, its form closely matched the flesh-and-blood limb it was meant to replace, but the cold lifelessness mocked its mission. Concentrating, Justin opened the hand and rotated it around in a wrist-roll.

"I'm afraid the man who did this can no longer wish anything whole." Justin's metal hand snapped shut into a fist. "My metal friend exacted its own revenge when I learned who had maimed me."

Candace shuddered slightly. "Perhaps I asked the question incorrectly. I meant to ask about the scar you carry around on the inside. There are times I think your hatred of Hanse Davion will consume you, and I do not want that to happen."

What are you saying?Justin frowned. "Do you not want me to raid Bethel?"

Candace reached up and drew Justin down beside her. She took both his hands in hers. "We can both see the effects of unbridled hatred in my sister, Romano. It has infected her and made her malignant. I understand and share your anger at the Prince for the injustices he allowed against you. I understand your desire to embarrass and humble him."

Justin stiffened. "Do you really understand it all, Candace? Do you know everything? Did you know that while I was on Solaris, he had my father arrange for one of his spies to become my lover? Did you know she sent reports on everything I did? Did you know Prince Hanse Davion offered a man a title, a regiment, and a world to kill me in the games on Solaris?"

Justin stood abruptly and stalked a few steps away from her. "What do I feel for the Prince? I hurt from betrayal. I did everything I could for him, just as I do everything I can now for the Capellan Confederation. He forced me away from my family. He stole my name, my dignity, my livelihood, and my self-respect." Justin spun back. "I had always thought, foolishly perhaps, that I made a difference, that I counted for something."

Justin shook his head. "In a split second, the Prince showed me I was nothing. I was insignificant. In a fit of pique, he destroyed me." Justin looked at his left hand and chuckled. "At that time, I had no control over this limb. And that's what prevented me from slitting my other wrist—I couldn't hold a razor blade steady enough to do the job."

He stared hard at Candace. "Do you think the Prince could ever wish that wound healed?"

Candace stood, her eyes flashing silver. "If he did, would you let it heal? If he held a hand out in friendship, would you take it?"

His face shrouded in shadow, Justin stared at her. His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "No games, Candace. Say what you mean."

Candace folded her arms across her chest. "For all your brave talk about how this Bethel raid will seize technology that will make our forces the masters of the battlefield, you know that's unlikely. You want to embarrass Hanse Davion by hitting a base he believes is hidden away. I understand that, and I applaud it. A strike into his territory will bring the war home to his people. That's good! They need to understand this is more than staged battles on Solaris. And perhaps this new myomer fiber will make our dwindling supply of 'Mechs better able to hold what we have left."

Justin exhaled slowly. "Be wary, Duchess, for you skate along the edge of treason."

Her laughter was harsh. "Do I? Is it treason to see the future and adapt to it? You know as well as I that we will never gain back even a tenth of what we have lost. Tikonov is gone forever, and with it, goes some of our most important 'Mech production facilities. The future's not written in crabbed handwriting on the wall. The Prince has made his message clear in two-meter-high, glowing holographic letters: The Capellan Confederation must die!"

Justin hung his head heavily. "What you say is true. Though my anger at Hanse Davion fills my eyes with a bloody red haze, it does not make me blind. You have drawn a plan of action from your analysis?"

Candace nodded. "In the storage area beneath your 'Mech's command couch, you will find a holodisk on which I have recorded a message for the Prince. I inquire as to what terms he would like for our surrender."

"Surrender." Justin spoke the word as though it were something sour in his mouth. "There are those who would consider this an act of high treason and would see you punished for it."

Candace lifted her head. "If they want to say it is treason to desire safety for my people, I am guilty. If they want to say it is treason to preserve something of the Capellan Confederation, I am guilty. The question is, are you one of those who would see me punished for this action?"

Justin swallowed hard. "I am not as inhuman as this prosthesis might suggest, and well you know that. On an intellectual level, I know you are correct. On an emotional level, my love for you and my loathing of Hanse Davion do battle. If it is your desire, I will take Hanse Davion's hand whenever he extends it to me. Until that time, however, he is my sworn enemy."