Ling's nod was almost respectful. "You are quick, Xiang. Yes, she wanted to make sure you would not return from this mission. I think, however, she will be more interested in hearing about this disk than a description of your death. She wanted me to shoot you first in the groin, you know. Your death will earn me her thanks, but this disk ..."

As Ling shifted his pistol from his right hand to his left preparatory to grabbing the disk, Justin reacted. Moving to his own left, he cut the distance between them in half by the time Ling's finger tightened on the trigger. Fire exploded from Justin's flank as needles raked like barbed claws through his vest and flesh. The pain shocked him and cost him a second as Ling thrust the gun at Justin's stomach and pulled the trigger again. Two gunshots sounded as one. Ling's faceplate fragmented into a thousand mirrored splinters as a cloud of darts slammed into the left side of his face. Already dead, he spun away from the impact, crashing against a slate-topped lab table. He slid to the ground in front of where Justin Xiang knelt with both arms clutched around his midsection.

Justin looked up as Alexi dropped to his knees beside him. Concern and fear shot through the Tikonov native's voice. "Take it easy, Justin. We'll get you out. You'll survive."

Justin nodded heavily, then coughed. "Yeah, I will. My flank feels like it's on fire, and my stomach hurts like hell." Hearing Alexi gasp, Justin forced himself to laugh. "It's not as bad as you think, Alexi."

Malenkov patted Justin's shoulder reassuringly. "You're in shock. He shot you twice at pointblank range, Justin."

Justin could hear what Alexi was thinking. Needle pistol shot in the stomach at that range, my insides should be pate.Justin eased his left hand out as he straightened up. "I'm fine, Alexi. If I'd not been so close, I'd have been in trouble."

Justin opened his left hand, revealing a myriad of crisscrossed silver scars on the metal palm and fingers. "Instinctively, I grabbed for his gun to redirect it. My hand blocked the blast at the muzzle before the darts could spread. The impact drove my fist back into my stomach, knocking my wind out, but I'll be all right."

Alexi looked down at Justin's right side. "What about the first shot?"

Justin shrugged and slowly stood. He steadied himself against the wall. "Flesh wound. Needles cut some coolant lines, and that stuff stings like hell in the lacerations, but no real damage. Just some more scars."

Justin caught Alexi looking at the holodisk from Candace, but the slender man only shrugged. "You're my boss, Justin. You know what you're doing. I know you're not the spy I'm looking for, so I trust your judgment."

Justin cocked his head to the side. "Then why did you come back here?"

Justin heard Alexi's smile in his voice. "Didn't trust Ling." Punctuating his remark, Alexi stepped on Ling's jammer and destroyed it.

Radio chatter suddenly filled Justin's ears. "Xiang, come in! Kwok and I have four 'Mechs coming in. Two read as Valkyries,one Jennerand a Centurion.We're moved to engage."

"Roger, Ivanov. Hold them. I'm coming up." Justin pointed toward the lab's door. "Alexi, get everyone out and back to the ship. We'll hold the 'Mechs off, then join up. Got it?"

"Check." Alexi hesitated. "And Justin?"

"Yes?"

The tall man pointed at Ling's body. "I'm glad we got that Davion assassin before he got you." Justin nodded. "Amen to that. See you on the ship."

12

Bethel

Capellan March, Federated Suns

14 April 3029

Captain Andrew Redburn stared at the auxiliary monitor in his Centurion."Say that again, Captain? What the hell are you telling me?"

The Captain of the OverlordClass DropShip gritted his teeth against the anger in Redburn's voice. "I said we've been had, Redburn. They had a goddamned Leopardhiding in the Overlord'sshadow. It's broken off and is heading back toward your base."

Andrew slammed his fist against the arm of his command couch. Andrew, you’re a flame-brained idiot! Sure, you learned how to anticipate the landing zone for incoming enemies, and you got your people here, but who taught you that little gem? Justin Xiang Allard!Andrew stiffened and clenched his fists so tight they went white. Dammit! Justin must have planned this little raid, and he knew I'd take the bait like a raw recruit. Maybe he's even on theLeopard.

Redburn looked at his primary monitor and saw that all of Delta Company, save himself and three others, had already gotten off the Defiant."Listen up, Delta Company. We've got a Leopardheading back toward our base to rip things up while we're here. Bisot, de Ridefort, St. Armand, and I haven't unloaded yet, so we'll head back. Drew, since we're pulling two of your Valkyries,fold your lance in with Archie's fireteam."

"Roger, Cap."

Redburn shifted radio frequencies to the command frequency he shared with his second in command, Leftenant Robert Craon. "Robert, this is your play. You've got twenty-three 'Mechs in perfect working order. Their Overlordcan carry thirty-six 'Mechs, though it's probably light. Hit and run until you can size them up, then hurt them. If they decide to break off, let them run. But guard any salvage."

Craon's voice came back strong and nearly devoid of nervousness. "Copy, Captain. Be careful."

Andrew nodded slowly. "Words to live by." Punching a button, Andrew brought the Defiant'sCaptain back on screen. "Captain, how about boosting us back to the western perimeter of our base, low arc, high speed."

The older man smiled. "Course plotted and locked in. We'll be there in just under fifteen minutes."

Andrew shuddered as he felt the vibrations of engine ignition thrum through the ship. Sweat trickled down his spine. They've got to be going for the lab, but how could they know about it? The garrison officer I took over from said the true identity of the lab had been passed only from commanding officer to commanding officer, Couldn't have the garrison too big because Bethel is a nothing world. All they do is raise some grain on the plains and there's that infant wine industry here in the mountains.

Andrew keyed the radio connection to the three other pilots in his hastily formed lance. "Listen up, campers. This could be nasty. A Leopardpeeled out of the Overlord'ssensor shadow and has headed off toward our base." Andrew drew in a breath. Better made this sound good."TerraDyne put out some press releases a couple of months ago talking about a breakthrough in miniaturization. Had an alert about it because they thought some local Maskirovka might take an interest. It looks like someone on Sian bought the story bigtime."

Odo St. Armand's voice crackled into Andrew's neurohelmet. "What are we looking at, Cap?"

Andrew punched some commands into his computer and patched his primary monitor into the ship's computer. The computer filled his display with a representation of the Leopard's,deceleration, handling, and energy output levels. "According to the computer, it looks like it was running with 'Mech weight, something slightly heavier than we are. Given Liao preferences, maybe a Centurion,a Vindicator,and a couple of that new thing they have . .. the Raven!"

Andrew typed in another request for information, and the computer gave him a tactical readout on the Raven.Birdlike, the 'Mech sported two medium lasers on its right wing, a six-shot SRM pod on the right side of its body, and an Electronic Counter-Measures package on its nose. Below that, the computer confirmed that his estimate of enemy strength would fit within the parameters suggested by the Leopard'sflight data.