"Here...this is part of North continent on Stein's Folly. Steindown is here, on the Highland Peninsula...right?" The other men nodded. "Now, Steindown was the first settlement on Stein's Folly—probably because it was the only dryland the poor guy found first time he touched down." The others chuckled as Ardan kept sketching. "The peninsula is rugged and mountainous on its east coast and comes down to a narrow little isthmus just...here. This strip is—oh, maybe—fifty klicks at its widest. Folly's Neck, it's called. North of the peninsula is this big basin. The Ordolo River meanders south from the Yaeger Mountains, and this whole, vast bowl between these mountains here, and these over here, all the way north to the equator is one enormous, God-forsaken swamp—jungle, bogs, marsh, and a chain of minor seas they call "Lost Lakes"—probably because the mapmakers can never decide where to put 'em. During the wet season, most of the lakes run together, and it's hard to keep track of shorelines.

"Along here are other settlements. As the colony grew, way back when, you can see how settlements must have sprung up along the coast...here, at Lollan, Travis, Grebuchin, and over here at Harbor. There are other spaceports on the Folly, of course, but the one just south of Steindown is the main one. That's where the freighter DropShips call, mostly, and where most offworld trading takes place."

"You seem to know a hell of a lot about this swamp, Ardan," Hamman said.

"Like I said, I've been worrying, and that made me find out what I could." He shrugged. increases the efficiency of my worrying. O.K....like I said, Steindown is the trading center, offworld center, planet capital, call it what you want. The city has a population of, maybe, five hundred thousand."

"So? We'll be fighting Liao troops, not local troops."

"The point is, where do half a million people get their food from?"

"Eh?" Both men looked again at the sketch, as though searching for the answer.

"Steindown has a fair-sized fishing industry of its own, but the peninsula, except for Steindown and the plains to the east, is steep and rocky. Very poor for farming. Up here is the Ordolo Basin and the swamps. No...these communities out along the coastline, Lollan and Travis especially, are farming centers. See? The land is open here—rolling prairie and grassland, with rich, black soil washed down from the mountains. The Coast Road runs along here, from Harbor to Grebuchin, Grebuchin to Lollan, Lollan to Travis. Then it cuts through a pass in the mountains—right here, called Jordan's Pass—then south across Folly's Neck and down the peninsula's west coast, to Steindown. Nearly all of the capital's food comes to them by the road net, from the farms and plantations along the mainland coast off to the east"

Ran Felsner nodded slowly. "I think I follow you."

"I hope so, because things get fuzzy now. So...fleet orders call for the usual approach: secure the jump points, engage the enemy space defenses, gain space superiority. They'll send up their fighters, and we'll knock them down."

"That'll take some knocking," Hamman said, rubbing his chin. "From what ComInt says, our fighters took a pounding when the Liao strike force first moved in."

"Agreed. But if we don't win the space approaches, the whole campaign is lost anyway, right?" The other two gave assent with chorused grunts. "Next come the landings. Tactical doctrine would call for heavy air-space strikes against major ground installations, especially the spaceports, followed by 'Mech landings in force." He changed colors on the pad and circled the coast cities in red. "Here—here—here—'Mech landings right along the coast But the main landings"—his stylus swooped a triple circle around Steindown—"have to be made here. Smack dab in and around the city and the port"

"Well, yes," Felsner said slowly. "That'll be where Liao has most of his forces, at the capital. We'll have to engage them."

"Why?"

"Eh?"

"Why...when we control their food supply? Look... Travis and Lollan both have spaceports. We secure those for our supply pipelines. We grab these other cities and garrison them...and put our main force down here." The stylus circled the isthmus called Folly's Neck. "I'm willing to bet that this pass could be held by a company or two, and a battalion could hold the isthmus clear down the spine of the east coastal mountains here and hem Steindown in. We pour in lots of air cover to keep their air-space fighters grounded, and to make sure they don't use boats or hovercraft to supply themselves by sea." He dropped the stylus with a small clatter on the table. "No city holds enough food reserves to last more than three...maybe four days. After that, things get grim."

"It’ll be hard on the civilians," Hamman said. Ardan nodded. "War always is, Lees. So would having us drop right on top of them to fight it out with the Capellan 'Mechs in the streets. As it is"—he shrugged, sadly—"maybe they'll pitch in and help when the food runs out. Throw open the gates, so to speak. The Liao garrison will have to know that it won't be able to hold out long when half a million of their new subjects suddenly get hungry—and mean."

The three men studied the electronic pad's screen a moment. Felsner nodded. "Y’know, there's another thing about all this. I've been worried, too, ever since the first planning session for this show. That peninsula gives me the willies, y'know? Like it's got T-R-A-P written all over it."

"You mean the Liao forces could be planning to do the same thing to us that we've been talking about doing to them?" Ardan asked. "Let us take Steindown, while they hold the isthmus and mountains?" The same thought had been grumbling at Ardan since he'd started rethinking the Davion strategy.

"Uh huh. I couldn't put it into words until you sketched out your plan there...but Maximilian Liao hasto know Hanse Davion's going to try to take back the Folly! What's the point in his taking it away from us in the first place... unless he's got something special in mind for us when we return? Something that would tie down a huge chunk of the Federated Suns' ships and 'Mechs and men? Maybe something that would trap them on that peninsula where Liao's 'Mechs could slowly close in and crush them..."

Ardan studied his map a moment more. He picked up the stylus again, cleared the red circle from the Folly's Neck, and began marking the isthmus with neat, precise points of light. "We'll need to go over this again on a real map, but look here. If the Capellan forces arealready here, they'd hold this ridge from here...to here, right?"

The others nodded. "They'd have to," Felsner said. "High ground, good cover. And if we land anywhere on the plains around Steindown, they have us ringed in."

"So they would. Watch. First we put a diversionary force down here..." He tapped the rugged plain between Steindown and the mountains. "If it's not a trap, they move into position in the mountains and watch Steindown. If it is a trap..."

"And it is," Felsner interrupted. His face was showing excitement now. "It is, for all the stars in space!"

"If it is a trap, the enemy will be along these heights, and they'll be watching the show on the plains below them," Ardan went on, excited, too. "Now, look here." The stylus tapped the southeastern edge of the Ordolo Basin. "Our mainforce sets down here...and here. The bad guys hold Jordan's Pass, but we hold the road on both sides and we can come south along both flanks of this ridge, one on this side, one on that side. If we move fast, we control the pass, this section of the ridge, and the road. A push down the road, and we link up with our diversionary force. The Liao forces in the mountains will be stuck here, with the sea at their backs, and us closing in from the front and their flank! If it turns out that they have heavy forces in the mountains and in Steindown, we withdraw north through the pass and seal off the whole damned peninsula. Our air patrols crack down, and we wait 'em out. If we're lucky, they'll get desperate and storm our position along the pass."