Tsen Shang leaned his head slightly to the right. "Can I? You murdered Gray Noton—quite nicely I might add—so why should I trust you?"

Justin shrugged.

Shang tipped the pistol up. "Noton had a document that was meant for me. We had agreed on a price. I will pay you the same amount to turn it over to me."

"No sale."

The pistol again aligned itself with Justin's head. "I will not negotiate with you, Xiang. All I need do is shoot you and ransack this place to find it."

Justin shook his head. "You won't find it. I destroyed it, and you should be thankful I did."

Shang did not move the gun. "Explain," he said.

Justin smiled and nodded graciously. "Simply put, Noton was working with the CID to set up the Maskirovka. The document he had would have tempted you to commit men, 'Mechs, and money to an operation that would have cost you all of it."

Shang lowered the gun but did not holster it. "Go on." He reached back and turned the lamp away so that it no longer blinded Justin.

"That document was the passenger list for a ship known as the Silver Eagle.I recognized the pseudonyms of two passengers as the names given to my father and his wife when they travel. The Maskirovka, within a day or two, would have cracked those identities. You can see what sort of valuable cargo that is."

When Shang nodded, Justin continued. "The Silver Eagle,according to Noton, was to be hijacked and taken to a world— whose name you would have purchased from him—where the passengers would be held for ransom. Surely, the Capellan Confederation would not pass up the chance to snatch the head of Davion security, especially upon his return from a covert mission in the Lyran Commonwealth."

"No, that would be too great a prize to let slip through our grasp." Shang lowered himself to the foot of Justin's bed. "How did you discover the deception?"

Justin smiled. "Superstition. My father and his wife never traveled on the same JumpShip in order to protect their children from being orphaned in case a K-F drive malfunctioned." Justin leaned forward. "What made me even more suspicious was that while I was in the hospital, I saw a man who looked exactly like Hanse Davion and one who looked exactly like my father. The doubles had apparently been prepared to deceive someone. I know that Davion wants revenge against Liao, but I don't know what for."

Justin watched Shang's eyes grow distant. Two parts hospital rumor, one part pure nonsense, and a dash of family anecdote. That ought to allay Shang's suspicions long enough to keep Andrew safe for the moment. Now for the clincher."Reach into my jacket pocket."

Shang slashed the pocket open with the sharpened nails of his left hand and pulled out some folded sheets. As he unfolded the document, he saw that they were Federated Suns identification papers containing Noton's image and description. He studied it and grunted. "They've provided him with a new identity."

Justin nodded. "I tried to reason with him, to get him to refrain from selling you the list. He seemed to think you'd only lose a regiment trying to capture the ship. I said you'd be angry and he said he'd apologize from his villa on Verde. Then he offered to sell the scraps of his operation here on Solaris."

Justin lifted his left fist in the air and let it drop to the bed with a thump. "I declined his offer."

Shang slipped the identification document into his own pocket. "Interesting." He bowed his head, then backed toward the door of Justin's spartan quarters. "We will speak again, Justin Xiang. For now, let me express the gratitude of the Maskirovka for all you have done."

Justin nodded easily. "Goring Hanse Davion's ox is a distinct pleasure." Justin narrowed his eyes and tapped his chin with his right index finger. "I wonder how the Prince will take the death of Philip Capet?"

41

Fomalhaut

Draconis March, Federated Suns

11 May 3027

William Pfister, Captain of the JumpShip Meridian ,shivered with as much anger as his portly body could contain. "My God, Danica," he said. "If this is true, why, it would be a disaster!"

Danica Holstein nodded sympathetically and leaned back in the deeply padded leather chair opposite Pfister's desk. "That's the reason I brought this to you, Bill. My head K-F drive technician, Stephen Leigh, says that he shipped one of his early training cruises with Kevin Mori. He told me that the Mori on your Meridian is not the same individual, even though he claims the same credentials . . ."

Pfister shrugged. "I can't thank you enough, Danica, for letting me know." Pfister glanced over to a corner of the room where Danica's son sat hunched over a computer console. "Do you think he can prove it?"

Before his mother could answer, Clovis raised a hand. The stubby, childlike appearance of the limb did not match the normally sized head or the deep voice booming from his throat. "Console him, mother. My being a dwarf means nothing to Monopole's computer. The codes that the good Captain has supplied me have been most useful... Aha!"

"What? What?" Pfister shot from his chair and darted toward the corner.

Clovis swiveled his chair around and smiled as he pointed to the computer display with his left hand. "Here it is, Captain. Monopole's files include an LIC advisory that Mori is suspected of being an ISF agent. They point out that old and current identification pictures do not computer-scan as having the same Bertillon measurements for the bone structure in the skull or long bones. You have a spy in your crew."

Pfister bent over to read the report. His sharp, shocked breaths were audible across the room, and his thick lips quivered as they formed each word he read. Finally, he straightened up and shook his head. "Blake's Blood!"

Clovis spun back to the keyboard and typed in another request for information. "That's not all, Captain Pfister. Did you know that the seals on your third helium tank are suffering from molecular deterioration? I don't suppose Mori informed you about that, did he?"

Pfister's jaw dropped open as the data scrolled up the screen. "My seals are degenerating? My God!"

Danica stood and brushed her long auburn hair back over both shoulders. "That could be devastating," she said. "If you lose the liquid helium, you can't jump."

Pfister wilted. "What can I do? I can't trust my chief Tech and I've got this hauling job for Monopole on the twenty-first. Gotta jump the Silver Eagleto Errai. If I lose those seals, Monopole might jerk their contract, and then I'll be sunk!"

Danica smiled and rested her right hand gently on Pfister's left shoulder. "Take it easy, Bill. I'll radio the Bifrostand have Leigh shuttle over to your ship. If those seals can be salvaged, Leigh's the one who can put them right."

Pfister rose out of his self-pity long enough to look warily at Danica. "You'd do that for me? Why?"

Danica gave him her warmest smile. "Bill, you're too suspicious. Just call it insurance. I know that someday you'll return the favor if I ever need it."

Pfister flushed, then nodded. "Thank you, Danica. And you, too, Clovis."

The dwarf dropped from the chair. "Don't thank us yet, Cap-lain. Wait until Leigh saves those seals."

Pfister looked hopefully at Danica. "You'll send him to the Meridian immediately?"