Romano saw Xiang's remark hit home with Shang, and she spoke quickly to mitigate the damage. "House Imarra's 'Mech battalions remain here because I have demanded it. In the past, the Death Commandos were the unit who kept the Chancellor inviolate. Now this duty has fallen to House Imarra."

Justin turned to Maximilian Liao. "There, Highness, is much of your problem. How am I to act in your interests when your own daughter conspires to disrupt the most logical of plans? You have lauded her assassination of Pavel Ridzik, but never did she pause to consider the consequences of her action."

Romano frowned angrily. "I eliminated an enemy of the state!"

Justin nodded patronizingly. "Yes, you did. Unfortunately, that enemy of the state had just succeeded in taking a number of Marik worlds. This focused the attention of the Free Worlds League on him and his Tikonov Free Republic. But without the threat of a competent military leader on that front, House Marik is now licking its wounds and looking for easier fights. In the latest wave of Davion attack, seven of our worlds simply surrendered to the Federated Suns rather than suffer invasion from the Free Worlds League."

Justin raised his face to the Chancellor. "Face it. Janos Marik will come after us like a shark after blood if he thinks we can be chewed up. Alexi Malenkov and Morgan Hasek-Davion may be the tools we need to slow the Davion advance—perhaps even stop it cold—which will give us the time to shift our forces around to face a Marik threat."

Anger and fear flared through Romano. Memories of her first lover and the report of his death at the hands of Marik troops on Altorra brought burning bile into her throat. No. We will never allow the Free Worlds League to take any of our worlds. I will not allow it.

With that one thought, she felt an electric jolt race through her body. I will not allow it! I cannot permit my father's blind hatred of Hanse Davion to open the way for House Marik.She appraised Justin with restless green eyes. Likewise, I cannot let my animosity toward Justin Xiang color my evaluation of the wisdom of his words.She smiled. At least, not until I can afford to be rid of him.

Romano, reaching out to take Tsen Shang's arm, forestalled her father's denial of Xiang's analysis. "How do you see Morgan and Alexi being used against Hanse Davion?" she asked Justin. Confusion arced through his eyes momentarily, which brought a smile to Romano's lips. She gave Tsen's arm a squeeze to reassure him.

Xiang bowed his head to her. "Hanse Davion's Achilles' heel is public opinion. The Prince has been forced to rationalize an excuse for launching his unprovoked assault upon us. Using rumor and innuendo, he has claimed that he struck to forestall an attack that he knew was coming from us. He has claimed to be liberating our people, and in that way, has gained a moral high ground for his war."

Justin pressed the Fingertips of his hands together as he continued to speak. "We have had reports of unrest because of Com-Star's Interdiction. Our agents have successfully spread rumors of disasters on the front that Davion has had a hard time countering. The destruction of the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers did much to raise the level of discontent. The people were willing to accept his explanation of a pre-emptive strike while they were winning, but a stalemate or loss means warriors are dying for naught.

"I propose we do two things. The first is to put Alexi Malenkov on trial for espionage. We can point out how he worked in conjunction with Michael Hasek-Davion in planning the whole of Hanse Davion's treacherous war. We will have Alexi confirm that Hanse Davion sent Michael here, sacrificing him on Sian to eliminate a potential rival for power back home. In addition, we will welcome Morgan Hasek-Davion and treat him royally. Once the people of the Capellan March see how well we treat their nominal leader, they will begin to question the worth of Hanse Davion's war. We can get the Capellan March to withdraw support. If we can turn Morgan, we might even be able to incite a civil war within the Federated Suns."

Romano nodded slowly. "I see the merit in this plan, as I am sure you do, Father," she said, smiling up at him. "I believe it is worthy of consideration. We have Malenkov. We might as well get some use from him before we have him shot."

Maximilian hesitated, then slowly and thoughtfully sank back into his throne. His eyes focused distantly and his lower lip trembled. In an instant, he went from being the leader of a star-spanning realm disciplining an insubordinate vassal, to a man questioning his own judgment. He glanced down at Romano, uncertainty in his eyes, then nodded.

The sight of her father's transformation created a spark of regret in Romano, but her ambition smothered it before it could even begin to approximate sympathy. Xiang's plan could well divide the Federated Suns against itself. It is curious that the same freedoms that make our enemy strong are the freedoms that make it open to such a covert assault.She smiled at Justin. Likewise, only such an open society could breed an agent with the skill to recognize and exploit such a weakness.

Romano licked her full lips. "Very well, let us prepare a welcome for Morgan Hasek-Davion and a trial for Alexi Malenkov. We will take the moral high ground away from Hanse Davion, then leave him to drown in his own plots and deceptions."

46

Inbound, Sian

Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation

22 October 3029

Andrew Redburn, lost in thought as he stared out the Drop-Ship's viewport, nearly jumped out of his skin when Morgan Hasek-Davion slapped him heavily on the back. "Dammit, Morgan! Don't do that to me!"

The larger Mech Warrior smiled warmly. "Sorry, Andy. I really didn't mean to startle you." He rested his huge right hand on Andrew's left shoulder. "You've been preoccupied ever since we jumped to Sian and started our trip insystem."

Andrew stared out at the second planet orbiting the star called Sian. Still two days out, despite arriving at a non-standard jump point and heading in at just over two gravities, the world was nothing more than a white ball in the distance. You're down there, Justin. I can feel it. Have you figured out what we’re doing or are we going to trick you this time?

Andrew forced a smile. "Don't mind me, Highness. I'm not worried about the plan. It's flawless. They appear to believe wholeheartedly that we're remnants of the Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers returning in triumph with Prince Hanse's heir in tow." His smile grew a bit more genuine. "I can't wait to see the expression on Maximilian Liao's face when our DropShip opens up, and we drop out a battalion ready for a fight. The First Kathil Uhlans should build quite a reputation in this action."

Morgan chucked softly. "Yes, I believe you are correct. Our JumpShip will be recharging the KF drive from its ion engine in preparation for our return trip. All we have to do is find Hanse's agent and get him out."

Turning his back to the viewport, Andrew frowned. "I don't like not knowing who the agent is."

Morgan shrugged. "That can't be helped. We just have to listen for the countersign. He's got half an hour to make contact with us. If we knew who he was, it would be information that we could reveal if captured. We're to find the agent, give him the packet of stuff our Intelligence Liaison Officer issued yesterday, and then cover his back as he gets out."

Andrew nodded slowly. "What if they've already captured him and he misses the pickup?"