As the crowd dispersed, a courier fought through the tide of bodies and presented a slip of yellow paper to Yorinaga. The Genyoshacommander read it carefully. Then he dismissed the courier with a solemn bow and reread the message. He passed it to Narimasa as Tarukito approached them.

Narimasa frowned as he read the message. Reluctantly, he handed the paper to Tarukito. "I am sorry, Tarukito-san. Your planning has been flawless."

Tarukito took the slip of paper in trembling fingers. He read it once, and then again. Bile washed up into his throat to choke him, but he forced it down and then willed himself to ignore the fire that had begun to burn in his belly. Damn them. They spoil my assault!

He whirled and stared at the red outline burning on Toriideck. He glanced back down at the message. Is it treason to hope that this message is false? Can they truly be that close to taking the command center?He faced his superiors again. "Do you think it is possible?"

Narimasa and Yorinaga exchanged a look that made both of them seem ancient. Narimasa nodded. "I believe the ISF agents are earnest in their reports."

Tarukito held out the message in one hand. "But do you think they will take the command center within the hour?"

Narimasa shrugged. "Let us go to our 'Mechs. Until we jump in, we'll not learn the answer to that question."

50

Styx

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

26 May 3027

Captain von Breunig spun carelessly away from the doorway. The bullet holes in his chest traced an uneven red line from breastbone to his left shoulder. His autorifle flew from nerveless fingers and clattered against the far wall as the Captain smashed hard onto the ferrocrete floor.

Melissa jerked away from his twitching body, but the cable connecting her radio headset with the holograph console snagged. Her head snapped back, and then she, too, stumbled to the floor. The headset ripped free as Melissa fell on her right hip, crying out in pain as the holstered pistol dug sharply into her flesh.

Erik Mahler half-rose from behind the makeshift barricade securing the command post's doorway. He triggered a long blast from his autorifle, then glanced back at Melissa. "Are you hit?"

"No!"

Erik looked back as Melissa screamed and stabbed a finger at the doorway. An ISF ninja had leaped atop the barricade and now raised his katanato strike. Mahler fired at point-blank range even as the sword's blade chopped into his left shoulder. The retired Hauptmann reeled away to the right as his burst opened the ninja from navel to throat, blasting the lifeless body back over the barricade.

Another ninja, dressed in shadow and smelling of death, sprang over the barricade. He slammed the hilt of his sword into Mahler's

temple. The short, sharp blow dropped Mahler to the deck and left his moaning body in a slowly growing pool of blood. The ninja grunted with satisfaction, then turned his attention to Melissa.

He tilted his circlevision visor up and smiled with a mouth full of uneven teeth. "Ah, we find you here instead of on the Silver Eagle.That makes it so much more pleasing." He advanced and straddled her. Reaching for her long, golden hair, he smiled again. "I am so glad to meet you, Melissa Steiner. I bring you the greetings of our Coordinator."

Melissa twisted and rolled to her back. Her right hand surrounded the butt of the pistol she had not wanted to wear. She tipped the holster up and tightened her trigger-finger.

Fire and metal ate through the holster with volcanic fury. The first bullet slammed into the ninja's stomach and lifted him from his crouch. The next two shots lanced through his chest. He whirled away, seeming to brandish his katanaeven as his body met its death. The ninja sat abruptly against the glass wall overlooking the Silver Eagle.His katanaclattered to the ferrocrete beside him.

Trembling and tearful, Melissa stared at the man she had killed. The sharp scent of gunsmoke nearly masked the sticky-sweet odor of blood. Her left hand idly tried to brush blood from her sweat-soaked trousers. My God, I've killed a man.

Clovis's stinging slap across her face brought her back. "He's dead," the dwarf said grimly. "We aren't. Move it."

Shivering, Melissa looked up at him. He pointed a stubby finger at an open panel beneath the computer consoles where he worked. "Computer needs venting, Melissa, and we can escape through the tunnels. Let's go."

Melissa numbly crawled into the darkness. Clovis shoved two autorifles in after her, then—having shed his stilts—dropped to his knees and followed her into the passage. He swung around and pulled the panel shut behind them.

Melissa gave Clovis no conscious sign that she had heard his directions, but she crawled on in accordance with them. All this death and destruction because of me. Andrew and Captain von Breunig, dead because of me. Hilda Mahler is a widow because of me. The people in the fire teams—whose names I never learned—dead because of me. I haven't earned this sort of loyalty. Why?

Clovis grabbed Melissa's ankle and brought her to a stop. She turned back and looked at him. It took a moment, but she finally interpreted his wild gesturing. Together, they slid the panel above them aside.

Clovis jerked the pistol from her holster. Holding it unsteadily in his two tiny hands, the dwarf slowly stood and surveyed the room. Confident of no immediate danger, he tugged Melissa to her feet. "Clear, Archon. Don't forget the rifles."

Melissa whirled. "No. I've seen enough killing. I won't carry them."

Fury twisted the little of Clovis's face revealed in the half-light. "What in hell do you think is going on here? This isn't a holovid. This is a war!"

"Dammit, I know that." Melissa bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling, but the tremors merely transferred themselves to her whole body. Tears streaked through the dust that the short crawl had caked onto her face. "I know it's real, and I know Andrew will never be back." She turned from the dwarf. "I don't want more killing."

With more strength than Melissa could have imagined possible, Clovis gripped the shoulder of her shirt and turned her around. "I don't care what you want, and I'm fairly certain a bunch of mad Kuritans share my feelings. I'd grab the guns, but I can't even hold this damned pistol." He shook his head and looked with disgust at his stubby-fingered hands. "Great! The dream of a lifetime—-a dwarf at court. And I get stuck with a pampered princess who figures us peasants owe her their lives."

Melissa grabbed the front of Clovis's shirt in a deathgrip. "Don't ever say that! I don't deserve any of this!" She released him and covered her tear-streaked face with both hands. "Why must people die for me?"

She felt Clovis's hand on her shoulder again, but it did not pull her around. His voice became softer. "I forget. You're just a kid. Listen, the reason we're fighting, the reason von Breunig and Redburn and the others died for you is not because of what you are. Nobody, outside of fairy tales, puts his life on the line for blond locks and long legs. That's not why we're fighting."

Melissa's hands fell from her face. She turned back and looked into Clovis's brown eyes. "Why, then? Why are you fighting?"

The dwarf shrugged. "We're fighting for the future. Everyone has to hope, somehow, that his life will change things for the better. Granted that the Kuritans view that a lot differently than we do, but those ninjas and the 'Mechs coming in want to change things, too.