She shook her head as she felt for his carotid artery. "They made this stuff in the Draconis Combine, to be used on traitors to the state. It supposedly attacks only neurons, nibbling them away like a slow acid bath."

Ridzik dimly felt the sting as she plunged the needle into his neck. "They say it will kill you in just five hours, Colonel, but the agony will make if feel like five centuries." She smiled sweetly, men bent down and kissed him full on the mouth.

She caressed the side of his face, igniting fire in all his nerves. "Sorry, Colonel, to leave you this way, but I have a reputation to maintain, and you've been living on borrowed time ever since you escaped my bomb." She straightened up, then winked at him. "They say that if you're lucky, you can swallow your tongue before die pain becomes too great."

Her mocking laughter and the click of the door shutting behind her were the last sounds, save his own sobs, that Pavel Ridzik ever heard.

28

Moore

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

1 August 3029

Chu-iJinjiro Thorsen pressed his thick glasses back onto his nose, but otherwise dared not stir in the corner of the briefing room. Why didTai-sa Sanada bring me to this meeting? This is not the place for my sort.He knew his lighter skin and blue eyes marked him as a half-caste from the Rasalhague District, giving the great and powerful people in the room yet one more reason to look down upon him.

Jinjiro looked over at those seated at the table. Generals and Warlords all. While at the Sun Zhang Academy, I and my fellows dreamed of taking their places one day. Never, ever, did I imagine actually meeting them. Especially not the Coordinator's son.

Theodore Kurita stood tall and slender at the head of the table. The other officers were well-groomed and dressed in freshly laundered and pressed uniforms, but Theodore wore his black hair long and unkempt, as if the war had given him no time to mind his personal appearance. Neither did his black jumpsuit bear medals or insignia denoting unit or rank. It had only been zipped halfway up the front, giving those assembled a view of his cooling vest and the shoulder padding for his neurohelmet. A heavy pistol hung from his right hip.

Jinjiro smiled to herself. How ironic that theTai-sa only told me at the last minute of the request for my presence at the meeting. I had no time to change after morning exercises.Jinjiro resisted the temptation to lower the zipper on his jumpsuit to the same height as Theodore's.

Theodore punched some orders into the keyboard at his position. A holographic map of the Lyran/Combine border burned to life above the center of the table. It slowly rotated so each person in the room could see it plainly, then locked in place facing Theodore.

Jinjiro studied the map intently, though he knew each world, each battle, each defeat by heart. We have lost greatly in the Rasalhague District—even my homeworld of Gunzburg is now behind enemy lines. Steiner's initial thrust into the Dieron District destroyed Theodore's Eleventh Legion of Vega.Through the glowing map, Jinjiro's gaze focused on the nearly healed scar running from the center of Theodore's forehead to the outside edge of his left eyebrow. He barely escaped with his life, but managed to rally forces enough to blunt the Steiner advance. All that he has accomplished—and yet with so little support from Luthien—is incredible.

Theodore leaned forward heavily on the table. "It is clear, gentlemen, that the Dieron Military District's defenses have succeeded in stopping the Steiner offensive and have even won back most of the worlds we have lost."

Jinjiro felt pride flutter in his heart as Theodore praised efforts of which he'd been a part, but that hopefulness died instantly as Theodore's look and voice became filled with anger. "Warriors are not defenders. We are meant to attack the enemy on his territory, not wait to dispute his right to our worlds."

Tai-ShoPalmer Conti cleared his voice. "I hear and understand what you say, but we have been given little in the way of offensive assignments, Highness."

Theodore's cold smile snapped up Conti's look of smug self-confidence. "And you've made damned little of those opportunities, haven't you? Yes, you hit the Davion world of Northwind at the beginning of the year and destroyed the Fifth Deneb Light Cavalry, but you no longer hold that world, do you?"

The dark-haired Tai-shostiffened. "There was no way we could anticipate the arrival of Davion reinforcements."

Theodore looked at the other officers at the table. "I seem to recall your Fifth Sword of Light had no trouble dealing with the first wave of Davion reinforcements. You broke Team Banzai easily enough." His eyes narrowed. "But then you had help from the Genyosha,didn't you?"

Conti's brown eyes flashed with anger. "Their aid was nothing. It was insignificant. And they left before the second wave of Davion forces arrived. That second wave brought four regiments of the Northwind Highlanders down upon us. We were lucky to withdraw in good order and save some of our strength."

Theodore Kurita laughed heartily, and Jinjiro saw Conti recoil from the ridicule as if physically assaulted by the sounds. "Palmer, tell me no stories about the battle prowess of old Liao units. It does you no credit. Yes, you saved the Fifth Sword, sparing my father undue embarrassment, but you sacrificed a battalion of the Thirty-sixth Dieron Regulars to do it." Kurita glanced at the dark-skinned officer across from Conti. "I'm sure Tai-ShoHadji Rajpuman welcomed the opportunity to cover your retreat. Had you been less concerned about preserving your honor, you would have seen the way to preserve his forces as well."

Palmer Conti stiffened, a beet-red flush creeping up beyond the collar of his dress jacket. "There was no other way, Kurita- sama.I did what I had to do to salvage a flawed bit of strategy. We were attacking at the behest of Maximilian Liao," he said scornfully. "A questionable thing to do."

Theodore shook his head, and Jinjiro saw anger and pity wash over the Prince's face. "There are times, Palmer, when I wonder how you have risen to the position you now hold. Then I remember most clearly. Had you chosen to pull back to the Granite Fang mountain range instead of retreating, you could have covered for the Regulars. No unit, not even a Liao unit, would have been foolish enough to pursue a Sword of Light regiment through that twisted maze of canyons."

Theodore narrowed his eyes. "In fact, using that strategy, you could have launched out from the Condor Pass on the north side of Kuroiyama and hit the Highlanders hard."

Jinjiro saw Conti's eyes glaze over as he considered Theodore's suggestion. The flash of pain over his face told Jinjiro that Conti had seen the wisdom of the strategy. Instantly, the Tai-shoregained his composure, and Jinjiro knew that Conti would deny that the plan could have worked. That marks Conti as more concerned for himself and his future than for the well-being of the Dragon. The brilliance of a Theodore Kurita is lost on such officers, to our detriment.Jinjiro felt bile rise in his throat and glanced at his own commander. It is a pity that there are so many Contis in the Dragon's service.

Conti opened his mouth to say something, but Theodore cut him off with a sharp wave of his hand. He looked up at Jinjiro Thorsen. "Many of you are probably wondering why I have included a Chu-iat a meeting of such important military leaders."