Once inside, Kym removed her hat and shook out her hair, which cascaded over her shoulders as she moved toward a rear booth. When a smiling server handed her a menu, Kym leaned back to study it in leisurely fashion.

A deep male voice whispered from the speaker hidden in the cushions just behind her head. "Report."

Kym yawned. "Contact with Shang. Noton is interested in Xiang, and Xiang is susceptible to Nasodithol. He did not notice it in a drink, and was highly suggestible under its influence."

Kym stopped speaking as the server returned to her table. "Coffee, please. Nothing else."

When the server was again out of earshot, the voice hissed in Kym's ear like a snake. "Satisfactory. Continue to encourage Xiang's entry into Noton's service. He will be most useful there. Be aware that Fuh Teng is Maskirovka. Take care." The flat, emotionless voice paused. "The Minister would hate for you to find it expedient to kill his son."

* * *

Gray Noton sank back into the shadows across Bunyan Street when he saw Kym reenter her Hurricane. Pressing his hand over his right ear, he listened carefully to the agent reporting to him over a radio. Noton smiled and watched the aircar rise and disappear down the street.

Come all the way down here for a cup of coffee, Kym? I don't think so. Especially not after you cajoled half a kilo of that special Atocongo blend from Enrico Lestrade a week ago! There's nothing at that restaurant that you'd want, at least not to eat or drink.Remembering Lestrade's assurances that Contessa Sorenson was nothing more than a bored rich girl, Noton laughed. You fooled him, Kym, but that's no great feat. You didn't fool me. And that will cost you more than you want to know.

25

Tharkad

District of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth

10 April 3027

The DropShip's retrorockets blasted snow from the landing pad. The howling wind whirled in at the spherical UnionClass craft, but the billowing clouds of snow broke the wind's fury. The Cougarlanded heavily on its four steel feet. The second the Captain cut the ship's engines, the raging blizzard smothered the DropShip in a blanket of snow.

Moving at a snail's pace, a square patch of snow detached itself from the landing pad and rose skyward. As wind blasted the snow from its roof, the gantry grew upward. It stopped opposite the Cougar'ssmallest hatchway and secured a canopy to the craft's hull.

Ardan Sortek stood back as an Ensign cracked the Cougar'shatch. She smiled and waved Sortek forward into the room at the top of the gantry. Ardan moved quickly and shivered as the frigid winter wind of Tharkad nipped at him despite the canopy. Leftenant Redburn followed closely behind.

Why is Tharkad always so cold when I visit?Ardan crossed to the elevator in the rear of the gantry. He pushed the black button on the wall, then turned to Redburn, who was tugging nervously at his dark green dress jacket. Ardan laughed, thinking that Andrew looked as nervous as a MechWarrior dropping naked into a combat zone. "Easy, Leftenant. You look fine."

Redburn's face flushed scarlet and his eyes nearly bugged out.

"Easy? This is the Archon we're going to meet." He followed Ardan into the elevator as its doors yawned open for them.

Ardan nodded and pressed a button to shut the door. "And the Archon-Designate, and the whole of the Lyran Commonwealth court."

Redburn wilted before his eyes. "Oh thanks, Colonel, that makes me feel much better." The elevator, independent of any command, sank faster than Redburn's self-confidence.

Ardan laughed again, then straightened himself up and arranged his own dress tunic as the elevator slowed. He wore a blue uniform with gold trim because, unlike Redburn, he was not attached to a combat unit in the Capellan March. Despite the color differences, their uniforms looked similar and distinctive. The sunburst design, which started at the left shoulder and shot four rays extending out and down to the middle of the jacket, created a brilliant, asymmetrical double-breast. Tight-fitting trousers tucked snugly into cavalry boots. Completing the uniform were rowel-less spurs, remnants of ages-old cavalry traditions and the mark of a MechWarrior in the Federated Suns.

Ardan reached out and adjusted the Silver Sunburst on Redburn's chest. With a certain satisfaction, he noted that the medal matched the uniform's silver trim. Redburn looked down nervously, but smiled as Ardan winked. They both turned to face the heavy elevator doors as they opened.

Ardan Sortek grinned at the sight that greeted them. Standing in the small receiving room, Katrina Steiner and her daughter, Melissa Arthur Steiner, returned his smile warmly. Stepping from the elevator, he took the Archon's extended hand. "I am honored, Archon."

"And I am very glad to see you, Ardan Sortek." Katrina turned to her right. "You remember my daughter?"

Ardan laughed heartily and swept Melissa into a bear hug. "The best nurse an ailing MechWarrior ever had." He hugged her tightly, then held her out at arm's length. "Let me look at you."

Melissa Arthur Steiner shared her mother's height and steely gray eyes, but her blond hair was a shade darker, a legacy from her dead father. More lithesome than her mother, she nevertheless showed strength in her regal bearing and in the sharp fire of her eyes. In keeping with Lyran custom, Melissa's light-blue eye shadow extended in a feathery pattern from the corners of her eyes and curled down onto her high cheekbones.

"You have become lovelier than ever in the two years since we last met, Melissa!" Ardan hugged her again, stepped back, but still held her right hand in his left. Ah, she will make Hanse Davion very happy.

Melissa smiled brilliantly. "I miss the time we spent together while you recuperated here, Ardan, but I'm glad you have not again needed my ministrations." She gave his hand a squeeze, then reluctantly released it.

"You're not alone in either thought," Ardan admitted quietly. He turned toward Redburn, inviting him forward with a wave of the hand. "I should like to present my traveling companion and friend, Leftenant Andrew Redburn. Archon Katrina Steiner, Duchess of Tharkad, and her daughter, Melissa Arthur Steiner, Archon-Designate and Landgrave von Bremen."

Redburn snapped to attention and saluted. Katrina Steiner returned the salute and glanced reprovingly as Melissa raised a hand to her mouth to smother a giggle. The Archon stepped forward and offered Redburn her hand. "I am pleased to meet you, Leftenant. News of your brave deeds has preceded your arrival in Tharkad."

Redburn nodded. "The honor is mine, Archon."

Melissa took Redburn's hand in both of hers. "Forgive me, Leftenant. I'm afraid I cannot understand how a man so courageous on the battlefield can be so baffled in a social situation."

Ardan started to answer, but Redburn decided to speak for himself. "I think, Archon-Designate, the difference is that, on a battlefield, if I don't know what else to do, I can always shoot." Redburn smiled sheepishly. "That could get very messy in social situations." The four of them laughed at Andrew's witticism, which help to relieve his anxiety.

"I'm afraid, Leftenant, that you and the Colonel will be thrown to the social wolves tonight at the reception," the Archon said, leading the quartet out through a small door and into a large, underground maintenance facility beneath the spaceport. She pulled back the wrist of her quilted parka to glance at her chronome-ter. "Because the weather delayed your landing, things have already begun."