"And you want what?" asked Kolek. He was standing now, like a racer ready to take off down the track.

"To find out if the big man is Hanse Davion," his father replied.

Kole looked startled. "But what about..."

"May be an imposter. Steiner insists he is. It would seem to make sense, in light of the change of policy toward our systems. If this is the real item, take him and his friends to that little place where you used to keep your mistress. You recall it?"

A reminiscent smile lit Kole's face. "Of course. And then?"

Maylor grinned, looking for a moment no older than his son. "Get roaring drunk, as usual, and have someone carry you home, singing at the top of your voice. Then tell me if they are really who I suspect and go to bed. You will have done a fine job, either way."

Kole did exactiy as he was instructed. In the early morning hours, the city Guard brought him home, together with a bystander, who turned out, to Maylor's amusement, to be one of the spies set to watch the Efflinger household.

Efflinger grumbled down the stair, opened the outer door, and helped to support his elevated son into the house. "My thanks," he said to the spy, handing him a credit he had brought for the purpose.

He turned to the Guard. "How much fine this time?" he asked wearily.

"The usual." The Guard was grinning broadly. Kolek was a young man who took his pleasures where he found them, but there wasn't a troublemaking bone in his body. Those entrusted with bringing him back home were always handsomely rewarded, and the doting father paid his fines without a word.

As soon as his attendants had gone, Kolek sat up in the chair where the Guard had deposited him. The dark eyes were filled with mirth.

"You do play a drunk quite well," Maylor observed.

Kole chuckled. "I should know how, by now. But you want my report. They are the ones you thought them to be. The big fellow is the real thing, too. Enough like the one in the palace to make you think you really aredrunk!"

Efflinger sighed. "And they are safe in that quiet apartment above the tavern in Wine Street?"

"Safe as houses. Those are sound people. They didn't make any pretense, once they learned who I was and why I was there. They played along with me, getting drunker by the minute, until we all decided to take a keg upstairs to their quarters and make a night of it. And they had a scrambler that could break up the transmission if any sort of listening device was in their rooms."

"Good!" grunted his father. "It is really the Prince? You are sure?"

"I should say, yes. After I identified myself, they told me their story. It was quite a plot, once you put the pieces together, too. A double to break up the partnership between Steiner and Davion. A fast change, before NAIS gets their new security system into place. And removal of the one person close enough to the Prince to recognize an imposture, given time. Neat and quiet. But not quite successful."

"The city Guard and a detachment of the Royal Brigade have been scouring the city tonight," Maylor said. "I suspect that word has come through to the conspirators that the Prince has escaped from wherever they had him. They must be frightened that he is here, under their noses. Which he is. But where did he come from?"

"They made the switch on Argyle. Quite a nice tale... you should hear them tell it sometime. Dungeons and midnight escapes, and all sorts of bits you'd never expect to hear outside the ancient novels or operettas," said Kole.

Maylor was relaxing in his own deep chair now. "I was afraid, for a while, that we were about to go to war with

Davion. The broken treaties, the dismissal of so many of the old councillors that Hanse Davion trusted, not to mention that important announcement they have been touting for the past week. All those things were making me nervous. A war is no place for a man who likes his comfort."

"So what do we do now?" asked his son. He didn't look like the same young man who had been brought in, disheveled and flushed, a short while before.

"We take the opportunity they are giving us. We produce the real Prince and his friends at the palace when they have all the communications people there, all set up for their grand announcement. Then we demand, with all the weight our House can muster, that both be tested."

Kolek Efflinger nodded, his eyes even brighter than before. "And then...we shall see."

33

Avalon City was abuzz. Under the rulership of the Davions the people had become used to a smooth and peaceful life on this principal world. But now something seemed amiss. Ardan could feel it, even through the walls of the chambers he was sharing with the rest of his friends.

The snatches of conversation floating up from the street, the roars from the tavern below, even the whispers of chambermaids in the corridor outside their door all spoke of unease among the commoners. Sep, being the least recognizable of them, would don Ardan's hooded robe from time to time and slip out to gather news. It was uniformly bad.

"Some sort of announcement is in the offing," she said, as she doffed the robe and accepted a cup of soup from Ardan. "And war with Steiner is being rumored everywhere. Nobody is happy, Your Highness. Not at all. Your name is mentioned in tones I have never heard before. This imposter is going to ruin the Federated Suns in short order if we can't find some way to stop him."

"There is no time to foment a rebellion," said Hanse. He was staring down from the narrow window whose dirty glass hid his face from the street "We have no one left in office to whom we can appeal. We can only trust Efflinger to pull this thing out of the fire for us. Who would have thought that Steiner would be the saving of our whole system?"

"You chose well when you signed the treaty with Steiner," said Ardan. "And even better when you contracted marriage with Melissa. You'll be pleasantly surprised when you see her again. She has grown into a woman of wit and strength. Much like her mother, though gentler-seeming."

Hanse smiled absently. Ardan knew that in his mind's eye Melissa was still the child he had known before.

"Just hope that the day will come when that marriage can come to pass," said the Prince. "We are in a predicament. We cannot come forward, because the Guard would hustle us off to prison before we could attract any attention to our cause. I do hope Efflinger has something up his sleeve beside his lazy arm."

That evening, they learned that lazy as the ambassador's arm might be, it was effective when used to capacity. At mid-afternoon, Sep called the others to the window, pointing out Kolek Efflinger as he came into the inn with a pretty young woman much younger than he. The fugitives listened closely as a confusion of steps and running chambermaids came down the hall into the flat adjoining the one they occupied.

"I will need a personal attendant," the young woman was saying. "And I must go shopping at once. Will you see to that, my sweet?"

Kole's voice replied in a mumble, but his words must have been agreement, for she began to giggle. Doors opened and closed. The landlord's voice, too, sounded in the passage, conveying his willingness to assist with anything the distinguished couple wanted. They had only to ask.

Then the hubbub died down again. Heels tapped next door. Kole spoke quietly. The girl replied just as quietly. Everything became very still.

Jarlik grinned at Hanse and Ardan. Ref chuckled, and Sep tapped her fingernails on the table. What on or offworld was the young idiot playing at now?