Justin's eyes narrowed. "True enough, Gray, but jungle will make target acquisition difficult. The pilot that took my left arm was good. Even as good as you if you're still up to your game vids. But Wolfson's a kid with a hate on for me. He'll make a mistake."

Noton turned and looked hard at Justin. "Just remember this, my friend. Yen-lo-wangis really only packing one weapon. I don't count the lasers or that modification to the Centurion'sleft hand. If your autocannon goes out, you're in trouble. And Wolfson's not going to let you punch out."

Noton slid the Typhoon down the ramp beneath the Liao Arena and Park. He released the passenger door, which rose up to let Justin out. Justin turned before alighting, and rested his left hand on Noton's shoulder. "I appreciate the warning, Gray. And while you and Kym are up there in Tsen Shang's box enjoying the battle, don't go betting against me."

* * *

Justin settled the neurohelmet over his head. One by one, he plucked the 'Mech's quartet of connector wires from his dead left hand and snapped them into the helmet's sockets. As the neural receptors pressed against his skull, the sound of his breathing filled the helmet's confining closeness. He shut his eyes and forced himself to forget the fear he'd felt while watching the fights in Noton's alcove.

This isn't Kittery, Justin, and Billy Wolfson is not Gray Noton.The second that thought formed itself in his mind, he suddenly realized that he'd discovered the identity of the MechWarrior who had maimed him. No,he told himself. Don't think about it now. There'll be time later, much later. Dwell on it now, and Billy Wolfson will kill you, no matter how clumsy he is. Use your anger, but against Wolfson first.

"Pattern check. Justin Xiang." Anger seeped into his voice, though the computer neither noticed nor cared. His nostrils flared as he remembered Wolfson calling him a "slant" and a "bastard." You're going to die for those remarks, Billy Wolfson, and I'll spit on your grave.

Static burst in his ears like thunder from a distant storm. "Voice-print pattern match obtained. Proceed with initiation sequence."

Justin smiled. "My heart belongs to the woman with hair of gold." Kym's image flashed through his mind and banished the last, bitter traces of his fear. I've not lost everything."Authorization code: Ba sijiu ling."

"Confirmation of authorization. Yen-lo-wangawaits to eat the dead." The computer's voice, flat and emotionless, died as all the 'Mech's systems flickered to life.

Justin reached over, took firm hold of the middle and ring fingers on his metal hand, and wrenched them back flat against the back of his hand. That popped open the little cavity in his wrist and let the computer cable dangle free. Justin snapped it into the port on the left arm of his command chair, then folded the metal hand around the joystick.

He raised his 'Mech's left arm and smiled at the titanium-sheathed blades attached to the last three fingers on the 'Mech's hand. He'd had them added to Yen-lo-wangin honor of Tsen Shang. The jutting, triangular shards of metal looked fearsome and could slice into another 'Mech's armor, but Justin tended to agreed with Noton's assessment of the weapons. If I get in close enough to have to use these blades, it will be a very desperate fight, indeed.

The fingers on Justin's right hand flicked over the control panel. As he hit one button, the cultivated tones of the arena announcer's voice filled his helmet. Though the man had probably studied hard to disguise his accent, Justin recognized the rough edge of the announcer's speech as a sign that the man was from the Lyran Commonwealth. Probably a big-time TBC man brought in for the broadcast.

"Yes, indeed, folks, we've got a spectacular contest for you tonight. You're all aware of the sensational rise of Justin Xiang. Just two months ago, he arrived here on Solaris as an unknown. In his first battle, he pitted his Vindicatoragainst a Hermes,winning that fight easily. Soon enough, he switched to a Centurion,and used that much-maligned 'Mech to stalk Peter Armstrong in his Griffin , the. Ares. Yen-lo-wang,Xiang's specially modified Centurion,surprised Armstrong—and he died surprised.

"That night, so we hear, hot words flew between Xiang and Billy Wolfson. Wolfson vowed that he'd kill Xiang. Xiang, meanwhile, defeated certain fighters over the next two weeks, which brought him within challenge distance of Billy Wolfson."

Justin doublechecked his equipment as the broadcast's color man explained the pyramidal arrangement of fights and challenges among the Mech Warriors on Solaris. Justin had, by virtue of his six victories, moved up from the unranked fighters to the sixth of eight ranks. That placed him one rank below Wolfson. Even if Wolfson had not threatened to kill him, Justin's new rank would have made the Fed vulnerable to a challenge.

"So, you're saying that Xiang, if he wins this match, might be in striking range of Philip Capet?" asked the announcer.

"Yes, Karl, but that will not be easy. He surrenders much in the way of weaponry to the Rifleman.Though Wolfson has never fought in a Riflemanbefore, that 'Mech mounts enough weapons to be dangerous even in the hands of an amateur."

As the green light flashed on Justin's control panel, he looked up through the cockpit canopy to see the massive bronze doors opening before him. The arboretum's muted light writhed over the Chinese ideograms and symbols cast into the doors. It also revealed the damage done by stray missiles. Such wanton destruction of rare and ancient artifacts brought a new throb of anger to Justin's pulse. Once more, he caught and subdued the emotion.

As in the Factory, the Cathay arena had been built with holo-vision in mind. Scattered throughout the massive forest were holo-vision cameras that would record every instant of the coming battle. Hidden in the brush or disguised by vines and Spanish moss, the cameras relayed everything to a legion of editors, who fed their pictures to the master editor. He, in turn, sculpted an exciting program and sent it out for broadcast.

Justin stepped the Centurionforward and shivered involuntarily. So like the rainforests on Spica!He adjusted his scanner controls so that the magscanners would operate, but would only overlay images of anything 'Mech-sized. He did not want holo-vision cameras appearing all over his screens.

From what he'd seen of Wolfson's earlier fights, his foe would probably be coming at him from almost directly across the arena. Justin quickly studied the narrow path leading into the thick rainforest and believed that he recognized Wolfson's position from one battle vid. South here, and I'll hit that broken canyon area.

He turned the Centurionsouth and hurried through the low brush. He squeezed his 'Mech between some tight tree stands, then loped out onto the low ground. The groundskeepers had provided a sandy riverbed to break up die area between large islands of greenery. A perfect place to play hide and seek,Justin thought, with a knowing smile.

Suddenly, his sensors exploded and burned the Rifleman'syellow silhouette onto his forward screen. The 'Mech sprang from behind a hillock and leveled its arms at Justin. The large laser on the Rifleman'sright arm bathed the Centurion'sright arm with its scarlet fire. Armor boiled and melted on Yen-lo-wang'slimb, but held even as the Rifleman'sautocannon ripped chunks of armor away from the same arm.

Justin, ignoring the medium laser that flashed at him and missed, brought up his autocannon. He dropped his jaw and opened a radio line to Wolfson. "It's all over, Billy. At this range, you're history." Justin tightened his finger on the autocannon's trigger.