"Refresh yourselves again, my friends...it is a rather long story. I will make it as brief as possible, however." He waited while his subjects accepted glasses, found chairs about the tapestried walls, and settled themselves. Then the Prince sat on the footstool before his own great chair and stretched out his long legs companionably.

"All this began, we have learned, some years ago when the Capellan Confederation began looking acquisitively at our frontier worlds on their border. Maximilian Liao, being no man's fool, cast about for a method of weakening the power of the Federated Suns.

"He was unable to do this militarily, for obvious reasons. Therefore, he put his head together with advisors from...other Houses...and they decided to remove me from the rulership of the Federated Suns by replacing me with a false Hanse Davion, who would gradually alter my policies to further their own cause."

He clasped his hands about his knee and looked grim. "It demonstrates the wide differences between our systems when I tell you that they took a man—just an ordinary fellow who happened to be of my build and coloring—and wiped his mind clean of his own life's memories. I may have indulged in political maneuvering at times, but I have never allowed any basic interference in the personal rights of my people, and I hope that I never will."

There came a shocked murmur from the small crowd. He nodded. "They obtained, through methods that I have now blocked permanently, holographs of me in every possible place and activity. And they put that unfortunate man through extensive plastic surgery, copying every feature as far as science is now capable of doing. When they were done, he was, to any observing eye, Hanse Davion. Then through their agents in the Palace they replaced all my medical records, retinal scans, DNA, blood type, etc. with that of the imposter's."

Hanse turned toward Ardan. "Before bringing their duplicate back to consciousness, they allowed Ardan Sortek, my childhood friend, to see him. He had been captured, treated,; and held solely for that purpose. He, being the one person I know who could identify me without fail, would be the one accused of treachery, while I would be called an imposter. That would remove both of us at once. A quarrel between us, which was fomented by vicious rumors aimed at Ardan's ears alone, seemed to be a viable motive for his falseness.

"They had, however, a few strategically located people who were genuine traitors. Cleery, my Maître of the Household on Argyle, was one of them. There were even some in my own pet project, the New Avalon Institute of Science, and it was they who substituted the physical specifications of the double for my own, long before the testing that proved that I was not myself, but an imposter."

"Ah!" Jarlik sighed. "I wondered mightily about that. We thought it was impossible to fool the testing procedure."

"Within the year, it would have been. Our security system has been improved and upgraded to the point where my brainwaves would have identified me immediately and without doubt. Which is the reason for their haste to put the conspiracy into effect as soon as the duplicate was completed and trained."

Hanse now relaxed and stood before the group. "Jarlik, Septarian, Sortek, and Reflett came to my rescue in the nick of time. Officer Denek made arrangements that allowed us to travel here as soon as possible and to take our places near the false Davion on that important day of his great announcement

"Maylor Efflinger, friend and ally, managed to get them into a position to follow through on Denek's arrangements. His son and daughter-in-law were of inestimable value in that affair, and my heartfelt thanks are due them. I might interject here the news that I am attaching Kolek Efflinger to my staff as personal liaison with the Steiner interests."

The newly weds beamed, as did Maylor Efflinger, unable to hide his pleasure. Ardan felt a smile tugging at the corners of his own mouth to see the casual and effete facade fail the ambassador for once.

"The knowledge that such impersonations have taken place in the past, even into remote times when only chance caused physical similarities, should have warned us that this sort of thing might be attempted again. But we felt that our own culture was too civilized for that. We have learned differently." Hanse looked to Doctor Shali, who sat alone near the front of the room.

"I have been assured that the equipment and the technology for such transformations will be closely monitored from this time on. Not only because of its threat to any ruler, but also because of its utter devastation of the man chosen for modification into another. The person who was the imposter is innocent of any wrongdoing."

Jarlik muttered a protest, but Hanse quelled him with a glance. "This is quite true. He was chosen without his own consent His mind was emptied of all he knew. He was reeducated with the most accelerated techniques to believe himself to be the true heir of Davion.

"I have granted a pension for his care. It may not be possible to wipe his mind again and return to him his past and his own personality. It may not even be advisable to try. But he has suffered enough. He will be cared for for the rest of his life...in comfort and quiet In a remote place, where his peculiar attributes will make no problems for anyone."

Ardan was relieved, listening to his friend. This was Hanse Davion as he had always known him to be. A ruler, yes...one who must do whatever necessary to protect the interests of his sphere, but not a man who would be needlessly cruel.

Hanse was saying, "Maximilian Liao has made us much trouble in recent days, but our forces have proven their loyalty and their worth in battle once again. Stein's Folly and now Redfield are both ours again!" A smattering of spontaneous applause went around the room at those words, and the Prince smiled over at Ardan.

"Yes, Liao has been most troublesome of late," said Hanse Davion, "but if I were him, I'd watch my back."

37

Ardan Sortek was putting his unit through its nefarious paces, watching from the sidelines where he sat in his new Victor.The term 'new' was, he admitted, a misnomer. The 'Mech had been refashioned from parts of several wrecked ones, and some of its lasers were from totally dissimilar 'Mechs.

He yelled into his com, "Sep, get that monster moving! I don't know why you like that ground-hugging monstrosity when you might have had a jumper!"

"Stick to your knitting, Mother," came her drawl in return. "I manage to get there. Just you watch."

The WarHammerstalked between the jaws of the Gauntlet, dwarfed by its towering walls. Bursts of crimson light seared the armor, chatters of fire rattled from the turret and the limbs of the 'Mech she rode.

Her weapons cocked their wicked muzzles and bursts of fire raked the walls. The target areas went dark in quick succession, as she put the first segment of the Gauntlet out of commission. So that was how she did it...marksmanship. Unhurried, cool marksmanship.

Ardan resolved to begin intensive practice at once. Mobility was well and good, but that sort of quick and accurate fire would give a unit with jumping capacity even more of an edge.

He heard a heavy approach behind him. Another ‘Mech. He swiveled to see who it might be...His own unit was out on the field at work.

"Good work," said the familiar voice of Hanse Davion approvingly.

"This is a surprise," said Ardan. "I thought you hadn't time for drill nowadays."

"I haven't. But this old baby was the saving of us all. I decided I'd better sharpen up my skills again. Never know when you're going to need them in this mad universe."