Shali led the way to the labs, then took a place where she could oversee each step in the testing. When everyone was settled, and the people direcdy involved were in position, she signalled the work to begin.

Retinal scan was a common method of identification. It was the quick way to gain access to depositories of valuables, as well as to military installations. Thumbprints were too easy to recreate by way of plastic surgery. These were only the first of many tests, however, including blood samples and DNA testing.

As samples of tissue were taken, the scans and measurements done, Ardan was becoming increasingly nervous. Some instinct was telling him to beware—things were not exacdy as they seemed. He found himself tense, his muscles aching with stress, as he held himself motionless on the bench next to Jarlik and Ref.

They were going to get away with the plot, that was the thing that kept hammering at his mind. Somehow, in some obscure way, they had managed to rig the testing. He felt it in his gut. The expressions of the Techs were deliberately blank, but he caught minute shifts of eyes, gestures immediately interrupted, that told him it was true.

Sep, down from the 'Mech in the garden, put her hand on his shoulder. He sighed. She felt it, too. It was the same instinct that told a MechWarrior when he was about to find himself in an untenable position.

What would they—could they—do if the most accurate tests known to mankind proved that the real Hanse was not himself?

When the announcement came, even Hanse, standing in his white smock below them, didn't seem surprised.

"This man is not Hanse Davion. The records on file find him incompatible in many areas with the tissue samples in storage. He is an imposter."

Doctor Shali stirred in her big chair. "You have done everything possible," she said, her tone strangely tentative. She turned in the chair to gaze at the assembled witnesses. "Yet I find myself dissatisfied. Something has been left undone...something crucial."

The aide-de-camp stood impatiendy. "The testing is finished. It has been proven that this man and his accomplices are not what they claim to be. I demand that they be released to me for immediate execution under the Law of Emergency Procedures."

Shali frowned. She stood, and though she was diminutive, she exuded authority.

"That I will not do until I am completely satisfied. There have been...anomalies...of late. The Prince has withdrawn support of many items on the NAIS agenda that he had formerly been most anxious to pursue. And his policies have changed radically with regard to our allies. Men who have served long and well have been dismissed...or even arrested."

Her voice rose. "I will not relinquish control of this matter until I am fully satisfied. Has anyone any suggestion as to another test? Another procedure outside the limitations of science?"

The faces of those in the chamber seemed blank. Those most concerned were screening their reactions. The others seemed genuinely nonplussed.

Ardan was thinking furiously. There had to be something that the conspirators could not have known. Something so private that not even he would have the key to it. Something that only Hanse would know, of all people in the system...

Ardan rose to his feet as if pulled by strings."Madame Doctor," he said.

Shali inclined her head. "You may speak, Ardan Sortek."

"There is one thing that only the true Prince will be able to do. Not another warrior in all the systems could accomplish it. I suggest that each of these men be taken to the storage and repair area beneath Barracks A and asked to activate Prince Davion's BattleMaster."

There was a communal gasp from those in the room. It was true—none but its warrior knew the exact sequence of actions and words that would release a 'Mech from stasis.

Ardan looked toward the two Hanses. Neither seemed surprised or shaken at the suggestion. Now, having looked away, he found himself unsure as to which was which. But the Techs had put dye markers on their hands. It would be determined, when necessary.

Shali was smiling. Not her official, inscrutable smile, but a beam that touched her eyes as well as her lips.

"Well done, Ardan Sortek. A most useful suggestion. Lek, you will help these men to robe themselves properly. We will go ahead to await them in the 'Mech quarters."

There was a rustle of motion as the seated witnesses rose to follow Doctor Shali from the chamber. Ardan glanced back at the men, who were being led away into the robing room.

Even as he looked, one of the big, red-haired shapes turned his head slightly. A trace of a grin wrinkled the visible cheek. Ardan relaxed.

He knew, once more, which was his old friend. He found his step much more lively as he joined Sep and the others in the corridor. In only a short while more, the truth would become apparent to everyone.

35

The underground workshops and storage areas provided for the Mechs and their technicians were tremendous. To move the huge mechanisms in and out, as well as to hoist them for repair, required cavernous space. The bright metal of the walls reflected the brilliance of the work lights. The maintenance of a 'Mech was somewhere between mechanics and surgery, and the Techs were men of great skill.

The clang of metal on metal echoed through the vaulted chambers. Some of the witnesses winced at the noise until a runner sent by Ardan ordered the work to cease until this crucial testing was done.

The wait was a short one, however. The laboratory Techs arrived soon after, with the identical Hanse Davions in tow.

The compartment that held the Prince's BattleMasterwas marked with both the Davion crest and the symbol of the Federated Suns. The monster machine stood there silently, its domelike upper body framed between tremendous arms. Lasers and machine guns bristled from its every port

The Tech assigned to its care opened the sliding portal and moved the thing out on its tracked carrier. "It is always ready for use, though the Prince seldom has the time to drill in it any longer," the man said.

Looming into the space high above their heads, the machine was awesome. Even in another 'Mech—a WarHammeror a Zeus—it was a forbidding sight. Unprotected, unarmored human flesh instinctively cringed away when faced with such a potentially destructive behemoth.

"I shall go first," said one of the doubles.

Ardan could not tell which one it was. He found himself concentrating fiercely on the hope that his suggestion would lead to justice being done. If not...the destruction of the entire Federated Suns might well be a result.

The man climbed rather awkwardly into the cockpit of the BattleMaster.Within moments, the machine's great arms shifted position, and its legs relaxed from their rigid stance.

Ardan looked at the Hanse still standing on the floor. He looked astounded and ill. That had to be the real Hanse, then. In some way, the conspirators had decoded the unlocking sequence for the 'Master.

Ardan felt sick, too. Beside him, Sep took his arm. Jarlik, on the other side, had read the situation at a glance. He was staring up at the triumphant face, crowned with red hair, that had emerged from the hatch.

"Arm it!" he shouted to the descending man. "A ‘Mech is not operational until the weapons are armed and ready. Arm it, or come down and let its true master do so."

The man, dwarfed against the huge mechanism, halted. He looked questioningly at Shali.

She turned her delicate face up to speak to him. "Do as he says," she insisted. "An unarmed ‘Mech is not operational. Arm the weapons and let us see them work."