"Looks good," said Sep, and she heard Jarlik's grunt of agreement, as they halted at the edge of the courtyard that led up to the Palace. Standing in the shadows, they waited, hoping most of the guard 'Mechs had gone to investigate the explosion, according to plan.

Though they had no way of knowing, the fact that everything was so quiet close to the Palace seemed a good sign. "Looks like we're home free," Sep said, "but let's wait another minute. I don't see anything, do you?"

"Coast is clear," Jarlik replied.

"All right, let's move while we've got the chancel" she said, and the two began striding forward on the giant legs of their 'Mechs. At that moment, something caught Sep's eye to their right...something coming around the western flank of the Palace. It was a Waspon patrol. She was about to warn Jarlik, when she heard the Wasppilot sounding an alarm over the general frequency.

"Halt and identify yourselves!" the Waspchallenged, as Sep and Jarlik continued moving forward. The guard then lifted its right arm in an accusatory gesture that spat fire from its medium laser.

"Hostiles on Palace grounds. Engaging!" they heard him report frantically over the crackle of the general frequency. The two heavy 'Mechs dodged, and the shot missed.

"Concentrate fire!" Sep yelled into the com. "Right leg! Give him everything you've got." The combined fire from their lasers, autocannon, and SRMs was deafening, almost blinding. Then they saw the Waspfall to the ground, its right leg totally disintegrated. The huge machine was now effectively out of commision.

"One down," said Sep, "but he's put out the warning now, and it won't be long before the rest of them show up. We better get done with this now!"

They sped down the deserted walks toward the palace. With the main Guard gone, very few troops lived in the barracks. It was more economical to have the entire staff living in the big house, which had to be heated and cooled, whether tenanted or not.

No one challenged them until they came abreast of the kitchen wing.

"What is going on here?" came the cry.

Sep groaned. Fani Lettik had a habit of showing up when she was least wanted. Confronted with the two giant forms of a WarHammerand a Crusader,however, Fani froze in her tracks, an expression of terror on her face. As Sep and Ref continued to lumber forward, Fani let out a scream, then turned and ran. It was the first time Sep had ever seen Fani intimidated, and it had taken two heavy 'Mechs to do it.

Rounding the corner, the two 'Mechs stalked on into the cul-de-sac, which was just where Jarlik had said it would be. Sep kept watch as Jarlik set one of his armored feet against the ventilation grid. It, too, was solid stone. With a mighty swing, he kicked forcefully and struck the rock with a resounding crash. There was the rattle of stone chips falling away into the darkness below.

Again Jarlik kicked. More stone fell, and a gap opened in the grill. Sep chanced a flash of light from her torch. The wall was beginning to give, sure enough.

She aimed her laser and gave the spot a long blast. Hissing and spitting, the beam melted the rock into taffylike puddles that dripped down the sides of the hole. Another blast, and the hole caved in bodily, leaving a huge pit in the paving that floored the niche.

"I'll go," she said to Jarlik. "You just keep anyone from coming in after me."

Sep dismounted, leaving her WarHammerready for instant use when she returned. The stone was still hot, and she had to wait for a moment before she could spring down into the blackness below. But lights were coming on inside the house now. Voices cried out. They would have company long before she was ready for it.

She dropped through the hole and rolled with practiced ease, coming upright in darkness. Hitting the switch of her belt light, she looked about. It was a nasty sort of place, damp and chilly, and seemed to be a warren of tunnels and cells. She ran along toward the interior of the block. "Ardan!" she shouted.

There was a moment of silence. Then, muffled with stone and distance, came a welcome reply.

"Sep? By God! Sep!"

She homed on the sound and ran, watching closely as she set her feet If she tripped and knocked herself out, it wouldn't help any of them. Rats scuttered away in front of her, and she could hear their cluttering behind her. Her skin crawled.

"Ardan!" she called again, pausing at a three-way corner.

"Here!" His voice was nearer now. Down the right angle. As she rounded the bend, she could see a guttering torch in a socket on the wall. Before a door halfway down the rank stood a water can and a mess tray.

She pounded up to the door. There was a metal rod slipped through loops, holding it closed. In addition, the inset lock looked formidable.

"Stand back!" she yelled.

There came a grunt from inside that she took for assent. She aimed her sidearm laser and melted the lock out of its metal housing. As she kicked the rod back with a booted foot, the door swung open.

Two bearded faces blinked at her in the brilliant light of her torch. She saw at once that their eyes weren't accustomed to light, and so she quickly killed the beam. The torchlight seemed terribly dim by contrast.

Hanse and Ardan looked terrible. She stepped back and looked down at the rations outside the door. Moldy food, slimy-looking water. Untouched.

"They were starving you?" she asked, her tone furious.

"Trying to soften us up. Do you have any clean water? That dirty stuff is all they gave us, and precious little of that," Ardan croaked.

Sep reached for her hip canteen. No pilot ever mounted his 'Mech without a supply of rations, no matter how tame the occasion. She had on her uniform, because of the special nature of the mission, and so its hip flask was ready to hand.

"Here. But drink slowly. First rule in the Survival Manual."

While they talked, a clatter sounded in the distance. Footsteps on stone...They'd better get out fast.

"This way," she said. "We made a new door into your dungeons, Your Highness. I hope you don't mind."

Hanse grinned, his lips cracking. "Lead on," he told her.

They came to the hole well ahead of their pursuers. Jarlik had his hatch open, listening for them. Reaching his armored limb down into the hole, he lifted up first Hanse, then the other two.

Sep mounted her 'Mech. Ardan climbed into the tight cockpit behind her. Hanse had already done the same in Jarlik's.

"Better run. There's armor coming," Jarlik said over the com.

The metal feet of their 'Mechs pounded across the paved terraces, the grassy spaces, the flower beds and borders. When they came to the wall, Sep blasted a portion of it down, and then she and Jarlik hammered through the debris without slowing their strides.

Through her scanners, Sep could see that the Summer Palace was abuzz with activity. Lights were on all over the residence, and red bursts of laser fire spat against the night She suspected that the guard 'Mechs were mistakenly attacking each other. That was fine. Nobody had followed their rescue team, and their tracks wouldn't be immediately obvious until it got light.

She tore along beside Jarlik, heading for the port, where they were to rendezvous with Ref. If they were lucky, nobody would suspect it to be their destination until it was too late. Then she had a terrible thought.

"We haven't got our pilot!" she yelled into the com.

There was no answer for a moment, then she heard Jarlik's familiar gruff tone over the com.