Cat coughed. "Eleven." Dan heard the gun bark once. A strangled, wet cry answered it, and the clatter of a weapon punctuated the sound. "You hit?"

"Bruised." Dan patted the vest. "Stopped the bullet, but I still feel like I've been kicked by a Rifleman."

Cat snorted, then pointed back toward Ward's Wolverine."See there, past the Pantherswe've rebuilt?"

"Yeah. Looks like they're grouping up." Dan frowned. "Suicide charge?"

Cat shrugged. "No figuring Kuritans. Damn! Here they come."

Dodging from shadow to shadow, the Kurita infantry came in with swords drawn. Dan stood up, thrust his shotgun into a ninja's chest, and jerked the trigger. The gun belched a cloud of hot metal and fire that tossed the black-garbed figure backward in a tangle of limbs.

The Kurita commando behind him closed too quickly for Dan to shift his aim. Whipping his shotgun around, the MechWarrior caught the ninja's sword slash on the gun's barrel. The sword bit deeply into the metal and Dan twisted the gun around. In one smooth motion, he tore the blade from the commando's grip and drove the gun's pistol grip into the ninja's circlevision visor. The device shattered, driving shards of metal and glass into the ninja's face. Screaming in his own tongue, the Kuritan clawed at his eyes and reeled away in agony.

Cat stood and fired his autorifle from the hip. He opened a ragged line of holes in one man's chest, knocking him back against Dan's Valkyrie.A second ninja wheeled back into the shadows as the bullets ripped him open from hip to shoulder, while a third pitched over backward as the shells blew through his throat and chest.

Off to the right, Dan saw motion at the doorway as someone shouted, "Kell Hounds, down!" He threw his useless shotgun at the nearest ninjas, then tackled Cat and brought them both down to the ferrocrete floor.

Another explosion ripped through the 'Mech bay as brevet Captain Nicholas Jones triggered the inferno launcher balanced on his shoulder. The twin missiles shot from the launcher on a tongue of scarlet flame, then burst into a searing golden firecloud. Flaming tendrils shot down, covered the open 'Mech bay floor with a carpet of fire, and filled the air with thick black smoke.

Though never intended to be anything but an anti-'Mech weapon, the inferno rockets devastated the remaining Kurita warriors. The explosion killed half the ninjas outright, and ignited most others. Screaming, the burning warriors ran blindly through the bay, careening off 'Mechs and walls until they collapsed and died.

Dan scrambled up and looked out over the burning crates that had sheltered him and Cat from the inferno's fury. The 'Mechs, illuminated by just enough flickering light to make their heads visible, seemed to look down and mock the fire. Those machines have nothing to fear from the flames, hut the men who pilot them do.Dan looked over at his Valkyrieand shuddered. Caught by an inferno, I'd punch out.

Both men retreated to the doorway. Beyond Jones, Salome Ward came running down the hallway. "It's bad, gentlemen. They had assassins targeted for us. We got them all, but one hit Patrick." She pressed her right hand just below her left breast. "Lung is collapsed."

"Assassins?" Dan turned to Cat. "What the hell is going on here?"

Cat narrowed his dark eyes to shards of obsidian. "Payback. The Dragon never forgets."

Dan's jaw dropped open. "That means . . ."

Salome nodded. "The Panthersare three klicks out and coming strong."

47

Styx

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

25 May 3027

Melissa adjusted the headset and brought the microphone into line with her mouth. She reached out over the computer-generated holograph of the mining facility and touched a glowing spot burning in the northern end of the third level above the command center. "Report, Able three."

"The seismic records remain constant. Looks like a drilling decoy. We'll report if anything changes. Able three out."

Melissa nodded, then glanced over at Clovis. "Able three is negative." When she turned to look up at Andrew, some strands of her golden hair drifted through the laser construct of the base. "What do you think?"

Andrew stared down at the holographic model. The command core rose from top to bottom of the planetoid like an axle. Each of the six levels had corridors radiating out like the spokes of a wheel from the command core. Each of the spokes dissolved into a tangle of smaller tunnels drawn in green to indicate that they were approximations of what existed.

Andrew pointed down at the green mazes. "These maps make no sense."

Clovis turned to him and growled. "They make sense if you're tunneling after a vein of ore."

"Well, they look like Medusa-hair to me." Andrew sighed heavily. "We know where they're likely to have the decoys, which means they'll probably try two or three sites, like the private docking bay down on Echo level." He frowned. " 'Mechs would assault the large docking bay and come right in here. I don't know where else to suggest."

Melissa slammed her fist into the table. "Dammit, Andrew! Don't give me that. You may not be a jump infantry commander, but you went to a damned military academy. I know what they teach our men in the Commonwealth. Now you use what you learned at the Warriors Hall!"

Andrew whirled, his face a study in anger and frustration. "That's the problem, your Highness. I'm a MechWarrior. I think like a MechWarrior. Give me a 'Mech even just a Locust,and I'll deal with those ISF troops myself. Arrggghhh ..." Andrew's hands bunched into fists and he looked around for something to punch.

Melissa shivered. "You're a warrior, with or without a machine, Andrew. Be true to yourself, and share your thoughts with me."

Andrew closed his eyes and forcefully uncurled his fists. "I apologize. You're right." He even made himself chuckle. "I guess the difference between MechWarriors and Jumpboys is just in the size of their toys."

He returned to the diagram and pointed out two other spots. "There—by the galley on Baker, and here on this level, just down the hall at the recreation center."

Melissa turned and watched as Clovis used his computers to search out information to confirm or deny Andrew's guesses. Looking back at Captain von Breunig and Erik Mahler standing by the door, she wondered, How can these people trust me so much? Those two appointed themselves my bodyguards as soon as I told them my real name.

When she'd confessed her real identity, Melissa had expected the hijackers to immediately radio the incoming ISF ship so that they could barter her life for theirs. She'd realized, as she listened to the discussion, that she would die, no matter what. Her sacrifice, she hoped, would save the others.

Danica Holstein had immediately begged Melissa's forgiveness for what they'd almost done. "We are Heimdall, your Highness. We could never harm you."

With that admission, and the plethora of data Clovis coaxed from his computer, Danica, Andrew, Captain von Breunig, and Melissa had managed to puzzle out the reasoning behind the kidnapping. "Having you vanish from a Davion world would sour the relations between our realms," Andrew concluded. "I can only assume that there are factions on both sides who would gain from such a turn of events."