"We can talk about me later," he said. "If Hanse sent you, I guess that explains how you got a ship. But who else is with you?"

"Jarlik and Ref Handrikan. And our 'Mechs. Too bad about your Victor—they had to scrounge the parts. It couldn't be repaired. But we've a lot of armor...my WarHammer,Jarlik's Crusader,and Refs BattleMaster.What we can't knock down, can't be knocked down, I suspect."

Ardan felt his heart sink. Without a 'Mech, he would have to stand back and watch the others break into the installation. Yet there was no way Hanse could have sent him a machine. The neural helmet had to be constructed with painstaking care to the attributes of the wearer.

"Well, I may not have a 'Mech, but I've got a way to get us onworld without anyone detecting our approach," he said. "I don't want to go in officially right away because I just don't know who to trust anymore, even among our own people...There are still too many unanswered questions... And nothing's going to prevent me from getting into that hospital and searching for some proof of what I saw while I was there!"

"I'm with you, but how do we get past the system's traffic controllers? Their computers are going to be looking for our ID codes, you know, and they're probably watching the air like hawks since all mis trouble with Liao."

"That's just it," Ardan told her excitedly. "The traffic controllers read off what the transponder tells them and what shows on their displays, but I've got a code that will tell the computers: 'Ignore me. I'm not here.' We simply won't show up on the screens and they'll ignore our beacon.

"This code is pretty top-secret stuff. Few people know about it, much less suspect it exists. I learned this one straight from Hanse, and then only because of a high-secrecy mission he had me carry out once."

"But what about visual sighting?" Sep asked.

"We're still vulnerable to that, but it's a million-in-one chance that we'll be spotted. Especially if we take care with our approach."

"Well, the pilots that brought us here are the best," Sep said. "Davion's finest."

"Good thing, too," Ardan laughed. "Since we won't be in the traffic sequence, well definitely have to look out for other traffic."

Sep laughed, too. "This I gotta see," she said, and the two of them crossed through the exit hatch into her Drop-Ship, their spirits high.

* * * *

Sep was right. The Prince's pilots were expert. Using Ardan's high-secrecy code, they bypassed the traffic controllers, and were able to land unknown to anyone onworld. They dropped by night in the eastern hills along the Highland Peninsula.

The pilot had picked the nearest secure spot to the coordinates they'd given her, which put them about three kilometers away from their target.

Ardan and his three comrades climbed down from the DropShip to get their bearings and to decide their next move.

"The only thing between us and the facility are those rolling hills," said Ardan. "It won't be too bad going in that way."

"I guess the groundcar we brought for you will come in handy," Sep said, her face thoughtful. "We can recharge it with one of our reactors if necessary, but I don't think we'll need to."

It was getting close to dawn as Sep, Ardan, Jarlik, and Ref stood looking across the few kilometers they had to cross.

"No civilians detected with the body-heat scanners within ninety klicks," said Ref. "We should be able to use our own searchlights safely. Here's the chart. We can pick the best route now, then we'd better head out."

The four of them knelt beside the DropShip, peering at the unrolled plastic chart by the handlights they carried. "I never saw the thing from outside in my right mind," said Ardan, "but I studied every installation onworld before we attacked. This one is strong in every direction." He drew a line with his finger on the map. "This is as good a way as any."

He pointed to a dot on the chart. "The east portal was the one we intended to go through, if we got that far."

"Well, we won't have to fight any 'Mechs," commented Sep, rolling up the chart again and slipping it into its case.

"We hope," rumbled Jarlik.

Within half an hour, they had unloaded and serviced the 'Mechs, checked out the ground car, and were headed toward their destination across the starlit grass of the hills. Ardan led, his lights on the car being lower to the ground. He could pick out dustpits or other obstacles that weren't apparent from above.

The installation came into view much sooner than he had expected. The comm-tower was still in place, thrusting its thin spire into the dark heavens. It made a good object to home in on.

Approaching cautiously, lights off, he geared his ground car into silent mode. At ninety meters, Ardan came to a full stop and signalled the huge 'Mechs stalking behind him to pause. He had learned never to trust anything that looked safe or easy, and so climbed out of the ground car to creep forward on foot

The building was so heavily constructed that it looked more like a bit of a mountain than something shaped by human hands. The ferrocrete curved with the terrain, each successive story inset from the one lower. The few windows were multiple-stress duraglass. The door was a monolith of metal and heavy-duty plastics.

Ardan knew better than to approach further. When Davion's troops booby-trapped a building, it was well and truly done. He had known times when even small wild animals had triggered the things by going too near in their nighdy prowlings.

He checked out the circumference of the installation, moving at a distance all around it, looking through his night-sight glasses to make sure the portals were the standard variety. So far, everything looked good.

At last, he signalled for his reinforcements to proceed. They came thudding up in line, Jarlik taking the rear, as usual. Anyone trying to approach from behind them would find more than one nasty surprise waiting.

Sep's voice came over the comm. "All clear?"

"I wouldn't sign any guarantees. But everything is quiet I don't get a warm-body reading on any of the instruments. That isn't to say there isn't something automatic waiting for us inside there," he replied.

"Then get back...I mean way back," said Sep. "There isn't any way of knowing what we'll set off when we knock down the door."

Ardan knew that He ran to the ground car and dropped behind its bulk. He had seen men and women sliced into ribbons by some of the nasties left for them to find. Inside a 'Mech, you didn't have to worry, but a man's skin was very little protection.

Sep strode up to the portal to test the door with the great foot of her WarHammer.The metal gonged protestingly, and something within gave a nervous pop.

Ardan peered out from under the ground car. In the distance, he could see the WarHammerbring back its leg for a devastating kick. When it came, Ardan started involuntarily.

With simultaneous crash, thud, gong, thump, and shattering, the armored doorway caved inward, taking with it the ferrocrete surround into which it had been set. The 'Mech sprang backward.

Ref took his turn also, hammering away at the debris left in the doorway. Dust rose pale in the starlight. Ardan saw the gap in the facade grow wider. Ref’s shape disappeared into the blackness, and more dust came boiling out behind him.

Sep went inside. Jarlik came near to the opening and stood with his back to it, scanning the terrain on all sides.

Ardan, hearing no disturbance, made his way closer, waiting for the signal to proceed into the building.