Another shadow, this one long and lean, stretched into the room. "What is the meaning of this, Xiang?"

Justin half-turned toward the doorway, thrusting a finger back at Romano. "The meaning of this, Highness, is to teach your daughter a lesson in restraint. This halfwit arranged for an assassin to make an attempt on Quintus Allard, here, tonight, not but an hour ago!"

The revelation shook Maximilian Liao. Justin smiled and turned back to Romano, who mewled in terror at the angry shiver that rippled through her father's silhouette. "Yes, Romano, this little game of doing the things you believe your father would wish ordered has done more harm than good. You alone saw the wisdom of killing Davion's Intelligence Minister. Did you strike at him because he capitalized on your mistake of ordering the attack on Kittery last year, or did you have some other brilliant plan in mind?"

Romano swung her legs together and sat up. "Killing Quintus Allard would deal a crippling blow to the Federated Suns."

Justin nodded emphatically. "Yes, perhaps it would, but not here. Not now. Don't you see what you risked?"

Romano's chin came up defiantly. "I risked one individual, a pawn, nothing more. He was insignificant compared to the gain."

Justin glanced back at where the Chancellor leaned heavily on the door jamb. "But the loss, my Lady, the loss could yet mean the end of House Liao."

Romano frowned. "How? What loss?"

Are you truly that stupid, or are you utterly mad?Justin laughed cruelly. "ComStar guaranteed the safety of everyone here, Romano. They vowed no harm would come to any guest. Our security is in their hands."

Romano bristled. "They would never dare harm us!"

"Maybe not," Justin growled. "But they would issue an Edict against anyone violating their precious peace. Yes, my Lady, you have risked placing House Liao placed under a total Interdiction!"

Justin watched as Romano's irrepressible belief in her own superiority struggled to deny the horror of a ComStar Interdiction. No messages in or out through ComStar channels. Aside from a relay system that could take months to travel from one end of the Confederation to the other, we would have no way to send messages between worlds. Without ComStar and their HyperPulse Generators to send messages, we could not order our troops. The only word we might get of Davion or Marik advances upon our borders would come from the mouths of fleeing refugees.

Justin nodded as though he were reading her mind. "Yes, Lady Romano. Hanse Davion could gobble up our worlds and we'd have no way to allocate reinforcements. Our agents, who use ComStar to send us confidential dispatches, could no longer communicate with us. If ComStar places us under Interdiction, the only thing we could do would be to make wagers on which House would capture Sian first."

Justin advanced and roughly took Romano's chin in his right hand. He forced her to lift her head and stare into his eyes. "And one more thing, my Lady, something I never want you to forget. The man you tried to have killed tonight is my father. He may be a thorn in our side, but it is not yet time for him to die."

Romano tried to twist her head from Justin's grasp, but he held on firmly. "I want to humiliate him as deeply as he humiliated me. I want him to know his efforts have been thwarted by the son he betrayed. When I think he's been frustrated, when I think he's been humiliated, when I think his spirit has been broken—that will be the time for him to die—not a second sooner."

Justin thrust Romano back down on the bed. "And when that time comes, I will kill him. He is my father. That is myright!" He stood over her menacingly. "Don't get in my way, Romano."

Justin turned on his heel, stepping past Maximilian Liao, and strode back into the suite's parlor. Tsen Shang stared at him, stunned, then started toward the bedroom's doorway.

"No, Tsen. Not yet," Justin said. "Come with me now. Let her live with her blunder while we try to make it right."

Shang hesitated, but Justin snapped a harsh command, forcing compliance. "Now, Shang! Now!" With leaden feet, the Maskirovka analyst followed Justin from the large quadruplex building reserved for the Liao guests.

Halfway to the beach, Justin turned to the tall, slender Shang and stabbed a finger at the man's chest. "You get this one chance, Tsen, to tell me that you knew nothing, had not even a hint of this ridiculous assassination attempt. . ."

Tsen drew back like a cobra preparing to strike. "And if I do not choose to answer your accusation . . ."

Justin was furious. "This is no time for games of face and honor, Shang. What she did could damn us all. If ComStar denies us service, we'll be more helpless than a blind, deaf man in a room full of cutthroats." Justin rubbed his eyes. "Do I have to draw the big picture for you? Our job is to preserve the Capellan Confederation. Even as we speak, the forces of House Davion are gathering for another series of Galahad military exercises. If ComStar cuts us off, I can guarantee you that Davion will strike—and strike hard."

With much of his anger spent, Justin sighed. "I need to hear from your lips what my heart and head tell me is true. I need to hear you deny any knowledge of this plot."

Tsen Shang nodded slowly. "Had I known of it, Justin, I would have told you."

A weak smile tugged at the corners of Justin's mouth. It died, however, as the silhouette of a man ran down the path toward Tsen's back. Justin moved to the side and dropped into a low crouch. Tsen spun, brandishing the long nails on his left hand like razor-edged daggers.

Alexi Malenkov raised his hands as he slowed to join the other two members of the crisis team. "Thank God I found you two together, and away from the building . . ."

Justin frowned. "Where the hell have you been? And you smell like a distillery. How could you be drinking while you're supposed to be watching Ridzik?" Justin raised his face to the sky. "What have I done to deserve this plague of idiots?"

Alexi's face closed immediately. "I don't know what you're talking about, Citizen Xiang, but I'm not drunk. As it was, I had to share a bottle with a couple of men from the Davion contingent here. It was the only way to keep an eye on Ridzik without drawing suspicion to myself. Onerous duty, to be sure, but at least they had the sense to steal a bottle of good Scotch from the Archon's reception." Alexi allowed himself a guarded grin. "And an effort well worth the information gained by it."

Justin folded his arms across his chest. "We've neither the time nor the patience for guessing games. What's Ridzik doing? Selling out the Tikonov Commonality?"

Alexi flicked a cautionary glance toward Tsen's shadowed face, but Justin waved away his concern. "Speak freely, Alexi. What is said here will go no further, and I doubt it will either improve or worsen the present situation."

Alexi took a deep breath. "Colonel Pavel Ridzik had a tryst this evening with Elizabeth Jordan Liao."

Justin felt his stomach somersault. Has the whole court gone mad?He glanced over at Tsen Shang, ruefully noting that his expression had taken on a look of determination. No, Tsen. Don't go rogue on me now.Justin grabbed Tsen's arm. "Hold it, Tsen. We don't need to stir up more trouble."

Justin turned to Alexi. "Why do you think he's after the Chancellor's wife?"

Alexi shrugged uneasily. "Ridzik is a womanizer, so it could simply be a case of lust. Though I'll wager it's more than that. I think Ridzik wants to use Lady Liz to influence the Chancellor. Ridzik bristles publicly at the preferential treatment given to the Warrior House regiments. If the Chancellor drops his support of those units, the bulk of new supplies will go to Ridzik's troops."