Melissa shook her head. "Almost. Doctor Karns says tomorrow he may get up and sit in the garden room. I already have a pile of books there, waiting for him. But it's about Ardan that I came, Mother. I think there may be something to his tale about the double of Hanse that he saw in the Liao base."

Katrina twirled a lock of hair about a finger. It was a sure sign that she was uncomfortable about something.

"I truly doubt that, my dear. The doctors say that the alien infections Ardan suffered also affected his mental functions. That, combined with the stresses our young man suffered, was enough to unbalance him, just a bit. Only temporarily, though. They assure me of that nothing that can't be healed by a long rest on Argyle, while the Prince is there in his summer palace."

"But mother," Melissa insisted. "I've just gone through everything I can find in the comprehensive computer files on impersonations and substitutions. You would be astonished to know how many there have been...and, of course, those are only the ones that were discovered. In fairly recent times, Mother, there have been leaders and rulers replaced by doubles who made profound changes in events." Melissa put her chin on Katrina's knee. "Do think about it a bit. Doesn't it seem odd that Ardan recovered his wits at just the right time to find himself alone?

"And isn't it strange that the voices at one end of the hall determined that he would go the other way? Right to the only door that led someplace? Right to the lab where that body was waiting in its cryogenic cubicle? I think it is straining coincidence a bit" said Melissa.

Katrina put her hand on her daughter's hair. "I can see that you have been troubled by the situation. I understand that you say there have been cases in recent history?"

"Within a couple of centuries, which isn't a lot, as history goes. And at times when the decisions those people made were unusually important. It seems to me that carrying out our treaty with Hanse might well be a similar situation. Think about it, Mother!"

"What you say is reasonable," her mother admitted, "but I must consider the expert opinions of those who care for the mentally or physically ill. It is not only the word of those doctors directly involved in the care of our guest that sway my thinking. I also have called in specialists from the foremost institutions on Tharkad." She tipped Melissa's head with her hand and looked into those intelligent gray eyes.

"They are unanimous in their verdicts. He is convalescent. He has suffered serious traumas, both physical and mental. He is overcoming those, slowly. And that story about the double is, without any doubt, simply a delusion."

Melissa sighed.

"You still do not agree?" asked Katrina.

"Something feels all wrong. Ardan isn't one to keep insisting if there's any possibility at all that he might be in error. But Mother, at least please inform Hanse that his friend has this belief. If nothing is in the wind, then no harm will be done. But if there issome sort of plot, then perhaps it may help him to guard against it"

"Good thinking," said Katrina. "When the next message packet goes out, I shall see to it. Now you go and cheer up that young man. He was staring at the wall and mumbling curses the last time I looked in on him. The nurse had tried to give him a full bath in bed."

Melissa laughed. "I can imagine how that would suit him if he is able to do anything for himself at all. Thank you for hearing me out, Mother. I'll let you get back to work now." She stared about at the confusion of papers, printouts, and micros.

"One day I’ll have to deal with all of this. How will I do it? You should have made a MechWarrior out of me! I don't know if I will ever become an administrator."

"You'll handle it, as I do—as well as you can. Now, off with you, and give Ardan my affectionate regards."

Melissa moved through the chilly stone hallways on fur-clad feet, keeping her hands curled in the deep pockets of a fur-trimmed woolen over-robe. The palace was constructed solidly, insulated as well as possible, but Tharkad's bitter winter winds managed to creep in by crannies known only to itself.

Fires burned on hearths in the luxurious rooms she passed. The heating system, powered by a reactor deep in the bedrock below the house, murmured, sending out warm currents that seemed to lose themselves against the chilly stone.

"I wish I lived in a wooden cottage with ceilings less than six meters high," Melissa muttered, turning down the corridor toward Ardan's room, which Doctor Karns had just entered. She reached the door and paused outside, waiting for him to finish examining his patient.

Though Melissa was no eavesdropper, she couldn't help hearing the murmur of voices. She was astonished to hear the doctor encouraging Ardan to hold onto his belief in what he had seen.

"Nothing that is completely a delusion could grip you so strongly," Karns was saying. "So, don't let anyone make you feel that you are mad for insisting on it. You are as sane as I. I'm sure of it."

She stepped away, back up the hall, thinking hard. This was the exact opposite of what she had heard him tell her mother, only the day before. Something was very wrong, someplace. Was it possible that a conspiracy might reach even into Tharkad? Worse, into her own house?

As the door opened, Melissa moved back toward Ardan's room.

"Oh, Doctor...how is our patient this morning?"

Karns smiled, his dark face creasing charmingly. "Much better, indeed. He will be able to get up for awhile, if you promise to put him back to bed at once if he becomes tired. We must take care...he is still in a delicate state."

Melissa smiled sweetly in return, but all the while she was thinking: / will watch you, my friend. You are not exactly what you seem.

21

Ardan looked up to see Melissa entering his room. For the first time that day, he smiled. "You look like a Winter Queen," he said. "I wish I were up to going out for some cross-country skiing. Remember how the members of the Court took to that, when I was here before?" He sighed.

"It's blowing like anything outside," she replied. "Here, let me open the curtain. See? Nobody but an idiot would go out if he didn't have to. But the doctor says you can get up for a bit. I have books and games in a nice warm spot in the garden room. Will you join me?"

He sat up straight and looked about for the heavy robe Katrina had provided for him. Melissa was already handing him a pair of furred slippers.

In a few moments, they were making their way up the corridor toward the moist warmth of the conservatory, where plants from every sort of world lived together, loops of orchidaceous blossoms hanging from entirely unsuitable trees from the swamps of Stein's Folly. Ardan shuddered as he recognized a slender, straight-trunked variety whose umbrella of rubbery leaves flared almost to the top of the distant skylight. The orchids had found purchase among the clusters of pinkish blossoms that furred the smooth skin of the plant.

There were two cushioned chairs set near the vent of the heating system. Also waiting for them were a pile of valuable printed books, which lay in waterproof coverings.

Exhausted by even this brief walk, Ardan sank into a chair and covered his knees with the light embroidered coverlet waiting for him. He gazed up into the heights of the conservatory. All manner and color of hanging vines and air plants crisscrossed the domed skylight from the room's support columns.