"Obviously not good enough to prevent you from disturbing me."

"Obviously."

"If you have tripped an alarm, as you say, they will be here for you shortly. You will not escape alive," Marcus assured him.

"You asked to be undisturbed. Your men will honor that wish until they have more conclusive proof of an intruder than a single sensor trace. Your, shall we say, impatience with subordinates who bother you with trivia is well known. As to my escape, we will see. Or rather I will see. You, Tai-shu,will be dead by then."

"Perhaps there is a solution that will leave us both alive."

"Unlikely." The man's audacity was impressive. Perhaps he was fooled by the Lyran Intelligence Corps Commando uniform. If so, that would not last long.

"I have some messages for you," Ninyu went on. "Your blundering ally in the invasion of Rasalhague, Tai-shuCherenkoff, has gone to his ancestors. His Atlaswas beheaded in the first assault on the defense forces of Orestes.

"His second in command, Tai-shoKingsley, took over and ordered a retreat. It seems he does not have the same faith in your ultimate success that you do. Kingsley has asked forgiveness from the Kanrei for the rash actions of the Dieron military, citing his withdrawal as evidence that he supports the Kanrei. I expect that Theodore will be gracious and grant them clemency.

"That's bad news for you, though. You can't expect a thrust from Dieron to support your own actions here."

At the casual mention of the Kanrei and his plans, Marcus's eyes took on a new light. Ninyu caught the scent of fear. The man suddenly realized he was not dealing with a money-grubbing Steiner thug.

"The Kanrei wishes he could be as gracious with you, but he cannot. You've become too great an embarrassment." Ninyu elevated his weapon slightly. "This is a Mauser and Gray rapid-fire flechette pistol, standard-issue to covert agents of the Lyran Intelligence Corps. It strips its ammunition from a block of ballistic plastic at a marvelous rate, producing a stream of high-velocity projectiles that obliterate any flesh they meet. A very nasty weapon, but virtually silent in its operation.

"After you are dead, I will give you back your pistol. Blood will be scattered about the area where I drop this weapon. You will have wounded your assailant, causing him to drop his weapon—a warrior's death for a member of the Kurita clan. This is the Kanrei's wish.

"Your wounded assassin will panic and flee, but will escape your vigilant security. Another success for the Lyrans as they meddle in the sovereignty of another state. A most deplorable action, don't you think, Marcus?"

The irony was lost on the Tai-shu.Sweating profusely, he stumbled back into the table. His mouth worked, but no sound came out.

Pitiful,Ninyu thought. "This is your last service to the Dragon."

Eighteen pounds of pressure on the trigger released the swarm of plastic needles to rip across the torso of Marcus Kurita, spattering blood onto the datascreen and drowning his plans of conquest.

Then Ninyu did just as he had promised. He was a kilometer away before the alarm roused the camp.

54

Dragon Roost, Tatsuyama Mountain, Dieron

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

19 July 3034

 

"Have I not served the Dragon well?"

Dexter Kingsley's face was full of expectation. Theodore realized that the man had come to Dragon Roost anticipating reward for his perfidious action on Orestes. The thought roiled Theodore's stomach.

"You served yourself first, Tai-sho.That is a totally unacceptable ordering of priorities."

"But I acted in your interests, Kanrei," Kingsley protested. "I've held Dieron in your name."

Theodore drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. "If what you've done was carried out in my name, you have mortally insulted me."

Kingsley looked shocked.

"A ruler whose workers are oppressed cannot bring forth the full fruits of his land," Theodore continued. "You have crippled the economies of several of this district's worlds, plundering their wealth without a thought for the future. You have not done this for me or for the Dragon. You acted only for yourself. And so you have betrayed the Combine."

Michi Noketsuna stepped forward, intruding into the space separating Theodore and Kingsley from the crowd of officers in the great hall. "Seppuku is the only honorable solution," he said.

Kingsley blanched. His eyes flicked to Michi, then back to Theodore. Neither man offered the Tai-shoany sympathy. Kingsley started to speak, but apparently thought better of it. He drew himself up to his full height and saluted, striking his chest with his clenched right fist in the Kurita fashion. He executed a swift bow and turned on his heels, leaving the chamber through the open doors. He looked neither left nor right, ignoring the calls of his fellow officers.

Theodore put his hand on Michi's shoulder and led his friend from the chamber. They passed through a small side door into a private room. Amid the dusty shelves of bound books, Theodore relaxed his posture, relieved to be out of public view.

"Michi-kun,do you think he will go through with it?”

“He is afraid," Michi observed. "But, yes, I believe he will."

"That's not good. I had hoped he'd bolt, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that he was in the wrong. It's an open secret that he engineered the explosion that killed Cherenkoff, and everyone knows that the Warlord and I were at odds. By using my name as he ruled in Cherenkoff's place, he has implicated me in the murder he performed.

"If Kingsley lets it be known that I demanded his seppuku,I lose. Some will believe that I ordered the killing of Cherenkoff and am now disposing of my tool. Others will see me as a two-faced ogre who preaches initiative, then punishes it. Either way, resentment will build. If only there were time to gather the evidence to have him tried. A formal execution would be the best solution." Theodore slapped his thigh to express his frustration. "Kingsley's self-interest cannot go unpunished."

Violence is not the way of the Coordinator,Takashi's voice echoed in his mind. Our destiny demands that we act through others.

Theodore had heard those words long ago when only a child. They had seemed odd then. They had seemed odder still when Theodore began to understand the tenets of bushidoand the responsibility that was the warrior's lot. He had grown up believing his father's views to be flawed. Now, though he was not Coordinator, he was more than a simple warrior, and the words no longer seemed so strange. Now heacted through intermediaries, and let others do the dirty work. When,he wondered, did I change?

Michi must have taken Theodore's sudden drift into thought as a suggestion that a response was expected. "I understand," he said. Michi bowed, his boot heels clicking sharply as he snapped them together. "An accident, then."

As he turned to leave, Theodore reached out to catch the cloth of Michi's white dress tunic, halting him. "Wait. I don't want you associated in any way with Kingsley's death."

Michi stared Theodore full in the face. "I may not be your pet ISF ninja, but I have had sufficient practice, Theodore. There will be nothing to link matters to you."

"I didn't mean to disparage your skill, my friend. Besides, that's not what I mean. I'm thinking that you will have enough trouble in the near future. You don't need rumors that you killed your way to rulership of the district the way Kingsley did. You don't need it and the Combine doesn't need it."