"Never mind that," he said. "His Highness says he can pilot the thing. Just get him there in one piece!"

32

Katrina Steiner was no fool. As soon as her ambassador got word to her of his strange interview with Hanse Davion at the Summer Palace on Argyle, she put two and two together with computer-like speed. Then she called her daughter to her side.

"It looks as if you were right all along, Melissa. The Prince of the Federated Suns has just informed our ambassador that he is withdrawing from any treaties now in existence between our worlds, including the one signed on Sol several years ago. That man may have looked, talked, and walked like the real Hanse Davion, but he must have been the double Ardan saw all those months ago."

Melissa turned pale. "And Hanse? What of him?"

"All we know is that the Prince has left Argyle for New Avalon, which he has never done before at this time of year. That means that the real Prince is probably still on-planet."

"Mother, we mustsend help!" Melissa was regaining her color, and her chin was coming up into its fighting position.

"Not to Argyle. I have great faith in young Sortek. If he went to Argyle, he's smart enough to have the necessary back-up to do what he came for. By the time we got anyone into position there, it would be too late, given the many weeks of recharge it would require. But I do intend to send help...to New Avalon."

"New Avalon?" Melissa's tone was doubtful.

Her mother sat and drew her daughter beside her on the low couch. "If Ardan has found Hanse and freed him, they will follow the imposter back to the capital. I do not doubt that at all."

"But it's so chancy!" objected the girl.

"That is true," her mother agreed, "but Ardan and Hanse are two most ingenious and determined men. They have, as well, devoted friends in positions to help them. I am going to move on faith alone. If they have failed, we will be in no worse position. If they have not, our ambassador will be in position to force the issue and to give the real Hanse the backing he must have to regain his throne. Ambassador Efflinger is now on New Avalon. I can get word to him via ComStar in a few weeks. We must hope that it will be in time."

"But what will you instruct him to do?" Melissa was looking impatient and confused, both at once.

"To keep a sharp watch through all his information networks for any hint of a "Pretender' to the rulership of the Federated Suns. And if such a Pretender comes to light, to make certain he has the opportunity to confront the man now on the throne. To insist on exhaustive testing for both, using all the authority of House Steiner's position among the systems." Katrina wrinkled her forehead.

"We can only hope that it will be enough. In the meanwhile, I am fortifying those garrisons that might be vulnerable to attack from that direction. If all our efforts fail, we will soon be at war with our best ally."

Turning to her computer console at the small table beside her desk, Katrina tapped in the message for her assigned Adept to transmit.

Melissa stood at the window, watching the sun set over the ragged heights beyond the palace walls. Now the only snow was atop the tallest peaks in the distance. She wished for a moment that Ardan were still safely on Tharkad. He was her good friend, after all. Then she remembered Hanse...possibly a prisoner, or worse. Something between shyness and fierce protectiveness gripped her.

She turned to her mother, who had finished her message. "If things go totally wrong, I hope to meet that duplicate Hanse one day. Perhaps it can be managed. I do not intend for my betrothed to suffer the fate of that poor Esteren, his reputation destroyed by another man."

Katrina smiled. This young daughter of hers was growing up. All she said was, "We shall see ..." How often over the millennia had mothers taken refuge from their children's unanswerable questions with those three words?

* * * *

Maylor Efflinger tended to be lazy. So far from his home world and his demanding ruler, he was able to indulge his laziness without attracting too much notice. However, with a message as urgent as the one just come direcdy from House Steiner, he did, as the ancient saying went, get a move on.

Steiner had an enviable network of spies, both in friendly and unfriendly worlds. Those super-skilled agents were capable of finding out almost anything worth knowing about anyone at all. So when a ripple went through the rumor-mills beneath the surface of things on New Avalon, it came to Efflinger's attention with admirable speed.

"Four men and a woman have taken lodging at the House of Six Stars. They arrived in Avalon City on foot early last evening. They seem to have plenty of credits, though they look rather worn and seedy. One of them keeps the hood of his robe over his face most of the time. He is of the build of Davion, but no one has yet heard him speak."

Efflinger pricked up his ears at that report. He knew that there would be at least two men. If his informant were correct, there would be several more warriors, drawn from Soltek's friends in the Guard. And that big fellow with the hood...It sounded almost too much like Hanse Davion for comfort.

The ambassador had not really believed anything Katrina had said in that message. It seemed too far-fetched, though he knew she would never have involved her House unless firmly convinced she was correct. No matter what he thought, Efflinger knew which side his bread was buttered on. He went about finding the truth about those newcomers as quickly as he could manage.

He didn't use his spies. He knew that Davion's own spies were watching over him, just as he kept tabs on anyone of political interest to his superiors. His son, however, was another matter entirely.

Anyone trying to keep watch on a rake like Kolek Efflinger was in for a breathtaking time of it. Besides, it was unlikely that the Davion, Kurita, or Liao informants paid much attention to his frivolous son, who never did anything worthy of their interest anyway.

It was for that reason that occasionally Efflinger passed important messages to interested parties by way of his carousing son. Not a soul would suspect Kolek. Every sort of subtle investigation assured him of that. The House of Six Stars was a rather obscure inn, not exacdy lower-class but edging in that direction. It did, however, have excellent beer.

As evening slid toward darkness, Maylor called his son into his study. "Ah, Kole," he began amiably, "I wonder if you would be so kind as to help me with a small matter..."

Kolek, as lazy as his father and therefore little inclined to earning his own living, was usually glad to do as his father asked. After all, the man supported him. "Of course," he said, dropping into a cushioned chair in a pose that should have disjointed both his hips and his backbone. "Just tell me what."

"Do you know the House of Six Stars?" asked his father.

Kole straightened a bit, his eyes growing brighter.

"Indeed, yes," he said. "Excellent beer they have there. I go there fairly often."

"So do others...some of whom I must contact in the most unobtrusive way possible." Maylor knew that his son was a subtle man, for all his seeming frivolity. He would be a fine diplomat, if ever he overcame his laziness.

Kole was now sitting straight. He enjoyed these commissions for his father, as they came rarely enough to seem more like adventures than scheduled tasks.

"Four men and a woman. Staying at Six Stars together, very quietly. One is a big fellow who wears a hooded robe. You should be able to pick them out by that. Few desert-worlders come here at this season. The rain drives them mad."