He smiled, stood, and bowed. "My thanks to my gracious hostess. A warmer welcome and better care have never been extended to anyone. I am anxious to rejoin my Prince, but I am desolate to leave the company of those here present" He sat amid polite applause.
It was the diplomat's art to disguise what he thought and felt, yet Ardan was sure he caught surprise, even anger, flickering momentarily across the faces not only of the Liao and Kurita ambassadors, but over that of Michael Hasek-Davion's man as well. He was sure, too, that the trio exchanged a look among themselves that was neither casual nor diplomatic. Ardan might have expected some kind of reaction from Klefft and Hardt, but what had Michael's man Sefnes to do with any of this?
Melissa leaned to whisper in his ear, "My mother never does anything without a good reason...and perhaps more than one good reason. You saw?"
He smiled, as if replying to a casual comment "Indeed, I did. Unexpected. Watch, Melissa. There may be rot at the root of more than one tree."
Without changing her gay expression, his friend twitched her brow slightly. She had thought of that already, he saw. What a ruler she was going to make!
As the meal finally wound down to its end, the servants brought in decanters of fiery Atrean brandy, which they poured into snifters that resembled bubbles of light, each cut from a single crystal and ornamented until it refracted every beam blindingly. The arrival of the brandy seemed to relax the gathering even more.
Ardan turned down his glass, however. His body chemistry was still disturbed, and the doctors recommended that he abstain for some months more. Melissa accepted a finger of amber-brown brandy and sipped it slowly while talk of everything from trade relations with the Free States to the recent retaking of Stein's Folly swirled around them.
Finally, though, Katrina Steiner rose from her chair. "If you will join me in the ballroom, those who wish to dance may do so. Oldsters like me may prefer to play at games that we have set out for your amusement. And, of course, those with duties or early rising hours may feel free to retire."
This was one of her most civilized habits. Many rulers required everyone to remain in attendance until they themselves had decided to retire. Katrina's leave gave Ardan the opportunity to return to his room and his preparations to leave Tharkad on the morrow.
He had barely had time to change when there was a light tap on his door. Melissa waited outside, clad again in her warm day-gown.
"What a deadly business that was," she said, "but we learned something valuable, don't you think?"
Ardan had been thinking of little else. "Yes, it seems strange...If my glimpse of that double had been accidental, you would think that whoever is behind it would hope that it remained a secret, and that no one would believe me. But tonight it looked as though some powers are disappointed that I seem to have accepted the doctors' verdicts and have ostensibly given up insisting upon its reality.
"I had expected...them...to be glad of my going to Argyle, to be with Hanse. But they weren't. They seemed shocked, as though expecting me to take some other step. Liao's man Klefft looked appalled."
"I saw it," said Melissa. "Did you know that Doctor Karns used hypnotherapy while you were so very ill? He said that it was to help you to deal with your fixations. And nobody was allowed to monitor, because he claimed it would be dangerously distracting."
Ardan stared at her, his mind going in circles, speculating, discarding theories.
Melissa looked grave. "He might have implanted something. Be very careful, Ardan...This next move of yours may not have originated with you."
Though he rejected that thought at once, it had shaken him, troubled him. "Did your mother agree to lend me a ship?"
Melissa nodded. "Not without a lot of argument, I must say. The doctors have almost persuaded her to their way of thinking. But she respects my judgment, too, thank goodness. The Atlan is charged. She is small but dependable. After your final jump, her DropShip will get you into synchronous orbit with the Folly's larger moon and keep you there until your friend Sep arrives. If, that is, she doesn't get there first"
The girl shook out and refolded neady the clothing he had crammed into the case she'd provided for him. Her hands busy, she continued, "The ship will be ready for jump just after sunrise. We thought it best to get you away quickly, just in case..."
Ardan dropped onto the edge of the bed and stared out the window. With the snow almost gone now, the rocks of Tharkad showed through like bones through tattered flesh. He turned his mind from the darkness of that thought, and bowed to Melissa, saying, "I am forever obliged to you, Your Highness."
She laughed. "None of that! Just plain Melissa is good enough for fellow rogues. But I will be eternally obliged to you, Ardan Sortek, if you save my future husband from disaster."
23
It had been a grueling day. The transshipment of all the personnel, 'Mechs, and supplies for the Guard to Argyle was always an unwieldy process, and Sep had just begun to get her unit back into shape after the move. She was well aware of the reason for the summer sojourn, however. Argyle was important to the Federated Suns, and its inhabitants were a crucial factor in the Prince's constant need to walk a tightrope to maintain his balance of power. Nevertheless, it was hell on the Guard, not to mention the servants of the Palace.
Sep had just now put things enough in order to begin drilling the unit again. The summer Gauntlet was in operation, and she had spent the morning putting MechWarriors through its inhospitable bag of tricks. They needed to get back their edge after the enforced inactivity.
She was tired. Tired and a bit sick of pushing resisting men and machines. She needed leave, but Ardan's departure had delayed her scheduled R and R. Jarlik, too, as her new second-in-command, was ready for some free time. She wondered if he might not like to join her. It would do Denek good to be in command for a time, as a MechWarrior never knew when he would have to take over without notice. And Denek was her own successor, as she was Ardan's.
These were the thoughts occupying Sep as she returned to her quarters and stepped into the Cleaning Unit. With the sweat and grime removed from her skin, she felt infinitely better as she stepped out to don a light robe. Already Argyle was balmy.
There was a message capsule in the drop inside her door. The messenger must have come while she was freshening up. It looked...it was!...a ComStar transmission.
Sep felt her heart thud warily, dreading bad news. The worst possible news had been Ardan's disappearance during the battle on Stein's Folly, but it had been wiped away by that of his recapture. What now?
Picking up the capsule, she felt for the seam, and cracked it open. A hiss of air guaranteed that the sealed message had not been tampered with upon receipt by the local ComStar Adept
The code was familiar. Ardan needed her! The thought sang through her like a fresh breeze.
She had known, of course, of his illness. Even word of his obsessions had been transmitted to her and Ardan's other friends, for Hanse understood the value of personal devotion among MechWarriors.
She reread the message, thinking all the while of the things she had been told. When she finished going over it for the third time, she knew what her old friend intended. She would have done the same.
Ardan was too sound a person to insist upon something that might be unreal. He believed he might uncover some evidence on the Folly. She knew fairly certainly that no search had been made of the facility where he had been found, for Davion's troops had been busy subduing the invaders and putting things back into order.
The planet's civilian population was scanty, principally employed as service personnel about the cities and the ports. The few others were farmers, intent on growing enough to supply the needs of the cities. She could see no reason for any of those people to go poking about in sealed bases, either.
No, if what Ardan had seen was real, some clue might have been left behind. The Liao forces had, after all, retired in considerable disarray. She and Ardan would need 'Mechs for their investig
ation, though. Davion's booby traps would make short work of any unarmored intruder prying into the installations.
All she needed do to gain an audience with the Prince was to move her name up the list of personal guards. Tonight, he was scheduled to consult with representatives of the New Avalon Institute of Science, and that was always a long, drawn-out affair. It had been a week since her last such duty. As she was the one making up the duty-rosters, there was nothing remotely unusual about her drawing it again.
Sep took quite seriously Ardan's request that she keep this matter secret and private. That night, she waited patiently while the Honorable Doctors of Science talked endlessly on abstruse subjects that did not seem to bore the Prince as much as it did his guard.
She could see the alertness in his eyes. He understood what those persons were saying, no matter how technical and puzzling. From time to time, he made a suggestion or an objection, and always it was one the men and women from NAIS had to consider seriously. She found herself with increased respect for the strictly intellectual side of this complex man.
When the last of the Doctors had gone and Hanse was preparing to leave the chamber, Sep gestured for him to remain, without speaking.
Hanse could have given lessons to the most subtle spy in existence. He sighed, closed the window against the sudden breeze from the river beyond the garden, and turned down the glow of the lamp above his desk.
Sep swept the room yet again with the electronic device that spied out any bugging element. She activated the stronger one that could intercept any signal from a distant amplifier that might pick up what they said. Nothing registered.
"Your Highness," she said finally, "I have had a message, via ComStar, from Ardan Sortek. To save time, I would like for you to read it" She handed it across the desk.
"Thank you. Major Septarian." He took the capsule, opened it, and rapidly scanned the contents, nodding several times.
When he finished, Davion looked at Sep and said, "The Archon sent me word, some time ago, about this claim that Ardan saw my double on the Folly. The doctors insist that it is delusional. I know Ardan. If he wants to check it out—which I guess to be the motive for this message— then he must have the chance. If not for my sake, for his own."
He turned to the computer console beside him, and quickly punched up the records of Septarian and Jarlik.
Sep almost grinned. The Prince's mind was running along the same channels as her own.
"I see that you and Captain Jarlik have not had your regular leaves. We can't have our officers overworked in peacetime. How would you like some time, Major? You might even like to choose several of your fellow officers to accompany you. I know how close you become, in a unit. And you have no family nearby, I see."
"I'd like that very much, Highness," she said. "I have been wanting to see Stein's Folly, ever since our reconquest of that world. There should be some valuable learning there for a commander, both defensively and offensively. I'd like to take Jarlik and Ref Handrikan with me, if you approve. With our 'Mechs. We might get tired of relaxing, and want to get in some training, too, while we are there."
"It happens that I have a small JumpShip waiting to convey a...message...to Stein's Folly. It will also be convenient for your purposes. I shall put it at your disposal." His eyes twinkled at her in a conspiratorial fashion.
"Find out for me," he said, his voice so low as to be nearly inaudible. "And take care of Ardan."
"Thank you, Highness," she said, saluting. "And good night. My relief is in the hall. I can hear him already."
She moved rapidly after that Jarlik was already asleep when she pounded on the door of his quarters.
"Whoozat?" came his bearlike growl. "Betterbe'n' emergency!"
"Jarlik! Septarian, here! Let me in at once!"
The door clicked, and a suspiciously yellowed eye looked out.
It widened, as did the gap in the door. "Sep! Come in. I thought it was that triple-damned Fram playing a trick on me again. What's up?"
"We're going to take a trip," she said. To Stein's Folly. But no more now. Just get yourself and your 'Mech ready to be loaded on a DropShip waiting to rendezvous with a ship at our jump point. Get Ref. He's going, too. I don't want to say anything else until we reach our first recharge."
Jarlik was now fully awake. He was fumbling for his case, pulling gear from drawers and cupboards, and cramming it in without folding or even looking at what he grabbed. The excitement he seemed to feel thrummed through the room like a high-powered generator.
Sep grinned. Her own packing would probably go something like this.
"I've got to alert Denek, too. He'll be in charge of the unit until we get back. We have, by the way, two standard months, excluding recharge time, and two more months discretionary time. We're both well behind in leave-time, so there will be no question about it. Be ready, though. We're leaving as soon as I can get things in hand."
She hurried away to Denek's quarters, which he shared with his bosom enemy, Fram. A tap at that door was never enough to wake the pair. She used her override key and walked in.
Sep pulled the covers off Denek and turned up the cooling unit He shivered. His eyes opened.
"Hey!" he protested. "What goes?"
"You're in charge," she said briefly, "until Jarlik and I get back off leave. We've been working our tails off while you dopes goof off. Now we've got the chance to take some time off and a way to do some traveling, and we're grabbing it. Oh-six-hundred hours tomorrow, my friend. Don't be late, and don't forget the drill, or your tail will be in the fire when I get back." She stepped to the door and turned to grin at the sleepy officer.
"Don't think I won't know if you pull anything stupid. No pranks, now. No practical jokes. No great ideas. Just do your job, Denek, the way I know you can. Now, goodbye."
Doing her own manic version of packing a bit later, Sep shivered with excitement. What was it that Ardan thought he would find, there on that embattled world where he had so nearly died?
She puzzled over that thought while overseeing the storage of their 'Mechs on the DropShip that would take them to the JumpShip waiting in deep space. Her Tech had been joined by those of Jarlik and Ref, and all three were yawning. Their standbys were being left behind, however. This was no trip into war. A holiday jaunt, even with some training purposes, did not require taking along an entire battle-ready group.
The ship embarked a few minutes after sunrise. Only a sleepy guard-’Mech and a handful of troopers saw it go, and none of them thought twice about it. DropShips were in and out of the Prince's private port at all times of the day and night, as he sent and received messengers from all over the system, and beyond.
Sep found her billet and closed her eyes for a nap. When she woke at the jump point, she would tell her companions what was afoot. For now, she intended to catch some sleep. There would be plenty of time for everything in the long transit to Stein's Folly.
24
The weeks of jump didn't bother Ardan as much as usual. Nor did the long wait for recharge at each intermediary jump point afflict his nerves. He was too busy thinking about what he might possibly find upon return to Stein's Folly. Their final jump point was one of the irregular ones for that system, and from there, he could go by DropShip to the rendezvous point on the far side of the Folly's larger moon. He knew Sep would come, and though the JumpShip captain argued that the Steiners would never forgive him for leaving their guest alone in such a perilous situation, Ardan insisted.
The DropShip's scanners gave him a fair view of the desolate contours of the rocky planetoid as it orbited. The sky was black, for the vessel was in the shadow. Ardan's drop into the system had been invisible from the scanners on the Folly, hidden by the moon. Now he could see brilliant sparks against the midnight sky, other worlds and suns he probably would never visit
The tiny lump of rock turned toward the sun, which sent long shadows along its gritty stone surface. Ardan began to relax, even to doze a little. He was in pla
ce, and knew without a doubt that Sep was on her way. Things would begin to happen soon.
He woke with a start as a clang told him his capsule was being reattached to another ship. When he looked out, the moon had turned again and this side was dark. His scanners revealed another sleek DropShip in position. The hatch opened as he turned toward it.
"Sep, you made it!" he almost shouted, rising to meet her.
"We came as soon as we could, Dan. The Prince sent us." Sep caught him by his shoulders, and studied his face with concern. "But how are you? Are you all right now?"
"We can talk about me later," he said. "If Hanse sent you, I guess that explains how you got a ship. But who else is with you?"
"Jarlik and Ref Handrikan. And our 'Mechs. Too bad about your Victor—they had to scrounge the parts. It couldn't be repaired. But we've a lot of armor...my WarHammer, Jarlik's Crusader, and Refs BattleMaster. What we can't knock down, can't be knocked down, I suspect."
Ardan felt his heart sink. Without a 'Mech, he would have to stand back and watch the others break into the installation. Yet there was no way Hanse could have sent him a machine. The neural helmet had to be constructed with painstaking care to the attributes of the wearer.
"Well, I may not have a 'Mech, but I've got a way to get us onworld without anyone detecting our approach," he said. "I don't want to go in officially right away because I just don't know who to trust anymore, even among our own people...There are still too many unanswered questions... And nothing's going to prevent me from getting into that hospital and searching for some proof of what I saw while I was there!"
"I'm with you, but how do we get past the system's traffic controllers? Their computers are going to be looking for our ID codes, you know, and they're probably watching the air like hawks since all mis trouble with Liao."
The sword and the dagger Page 17
