Tsen looked away. "I've even tried to get Romano to speak to him on behalf of my plan, but ever since the First Kearny Highlanders took off from Highspire, she's been in a nasty frame of mind."

"She should have known the First Kearny would head out as soon as they got the news about the Second Kearny getting hit on Jonathan. All the Northwind Highlander regiments feel a kinship with each other. I suspect it's only Pavel Ridzik's presence on Elgin that keeps McCormack's Fusiliers from running off to avenge Marion's Highlanders."

Shang nodded. "Well, they were wiped out without a trace. The Third Davion Guards RCT is nasty."

Justin backed away from the table and slumped down at the hase of the cool, sound-baffling black tiles. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "I guess we'll have to beard the Diablo in his den. You said Michael's latest information packet contained data that confirmed your earlier guesses?"

"I'm a bit uneasy about trusting the data. Michael did tell us what the troop assignments were for Galahad '28, but he didn't know the assignments were changed via sealed orders sent out from New Avalon. How much can we trust him or his information?"

Justin chewed his lower lip before replying, and when he did, liis voice sounded more tired than ever. "Well, we've had a couple of hints that he's undervaluing his own troop strengths, but those fictions are easy enough to correct. I don't trust him as far us I could throw the Chancellor's throne. Yet, Michael's not attacked us, despite having the resources to do so. He's keeping up his end of the bargain."

Shang, leaning heavily on the wartable, nodded with resignation. "True enough. Davion's maintained a two-month per wave schedule. The troop movements show something of a regular schedule for resupply, but most of the supplies go out in preparation for the next wave. This fourth wave, we both agree, should head out in early February."

"And that means Davion's larders will have to be full by the middle of January," Justin reflected. "And his storehouses are well behind his lines. That means that, in his arrogance, Hanse Davion believes them to be beyond our reach."

The conversation between the two Maskirovka analysts died as the room's only door whisked silently into the ceiling. A shaft of yellow light poured around the slump-shouldered silhouette of Maximilian Liao. A spear of lights fragmented into rainbow shards, reflected from a holodisc. Liao looked up as Justin rose from the floor, then nodded. "Good. You're both here. Citizen Shang," he said, extending the disk toward Shang. "View this!"

Justin stiffened as he heard the fury in the Chancellor's voice. "What is it, Excellency?"

Liao waited for the chamber door to slide down into place before growling a reply. "That idiot! He issued me an ultimatum. Do this or else! How dare he?"

Shang fed the holodisc into the wartable's port, then moved back as the political map dissolved into the head and shoulders of Colonel Pavel Ridzik. The room's hidden speakers flooded the room with the gentle yet firm tones of Ridzik's voice. Justin nodded. This man has the voice and manner appropriate to a leader of men.

"Chancellor Liao, I beseech you to listen to my plea. Tikonov has fallen, and with it go the hopes of the Tikonov Commonality. My people have not yet lost heart, and they believe in the ultimate victory of the Capellan Confederation. Now and forever, they wish to remain in union with Sian."

Ridzik's head came up and his eyes flashed with fire. He stroked his red beard, then narrowed his eyes. "The majority of this message is data outlining a campaign I ask permission to undertake. My sources point to a weakness in the Davion defenses of Tikonov, Menkar, and Jonathan. Davion forces have not solidified their hold on those worlds, but already these troops are treating their conquests as docile members of the Federated Suns."

Ridzik bowed his head almost deeply enough to be respectful. "I require that my own unit, Stapleton's Iron Hand—all three battalions—be transported up within striking range of Tikonov. I have included a list of stars that will take advantage of the Jump-Ships allocated to the Chancellor's command circuit for access to Terra. In addition, I will require the units that retreated to our worlds of Hamal, Woodstock, and Bharat. With these forces, I will retake Tikonov and begin the counteroffensive we so desperately need."

Ridzik's image smiled. "I know this plan will succeed. I urge you to accept it and order it. If you do not, I cannot say how long I can maintain my hold on Tikonov. As always, Chancellor, I am at your service."

His head exploded into a stream of alpha numeric data that the computer immediately translated into a new political map with symbols for military units moving about. Shang and Justin both studied it intently, the latter drifting in closer like a sailor entranced by a siren's song.

Justin nodded slowly as the plan unfolded before his eyes. It could work. It's daring enough, but it strips troops from the rest of the Tikonov Commonality. A dangerous gamble, but as they say in chess, it takes strong moves to counter a strong player.

Maximilian Liao stared at the plan, then spat in disgust. "His plan ... it is flawed, isn't it?"

Justin shot a quick glance at Shang, then nodded. "It works, but it's based on some suppositions we have no way to evaluate."

Liao raised his head. "For example?"

Shang smiled. "The Colonel cites his own intelligence sources as telling him the Eighth Crucis Lancers RCT is the only force garrisoning Tikonov." Shang pointed at a bound transcript of Michael Hasek-Davion's latest troop information. "Duke Michael's information differs with that. It is true that the Eighth Crucis Lancers RCT is the only complete force on the planet, but Duke Michael points out that the other seven Lancer RCTs left considerable amounts of infantry, armor, and aerofighters behind to help hold the world."

Justin nodded, then pointed his metal hand at the world of Teng. The planet glowed a haunting green down in the St. Ives Commonality peninsula. "The Colonel wants his own personal command transferred up to help take Tikonov. Aside from that being a logistical nightmare, under the best of circumstances, it is impossible right now. Virtually all the JumpShips have been stripped from the St. Ives Commonality to facilitate troop movements elsewhere. In fact, most of the remaining ships are set up in the command circuit you established for Duke Michael to visit Sian."

Maximilian Liao slowly folded his arms across his chest. "I sense Ridzik's personal thirst for power as a driving force behind this plan of his," he said, his expression darkening as he stared at the map.

Shang glanced over at Justin and the former Federated Suns MechWarrior nodded. Shang cleared his voice. "Celestial Wisdom, analysis of Duke Michael's data has pointed out a weakness in the Davion assaults that we might be able to exploit."

Liao did not move, and barely breathed for a moment, then looked at Shang with hungry tiger eyes. "What? What did you say?"

Shang punched two buttons on the wartable. Ridzik's map vanished, to be replaced by an almost identical one. "Duke Michael's troop strength and location report reveals the central weakness in the Davion plan."

Liao raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Citizen Shang?"

Shang smiled weakly. "We know the purpose of modern warfare is to destroy the enemy's capability to wage war. This can be done in two ways. The first is to destroy the enemy troops."