Cooke rubbed his face with two large hands and exhaled sharply. "All right, I'll take it from the top.

"As you can probably tell, Borghese isn't a big place in terms of land and population. It's a Terran-sized planet, but there's just too much water for the place to be of much use to anyone. We've had our share of Steiner, then F-C, garrisons, but most units seemed to look at Borghese as soft duty. It's understandable. We don't offer much in the way of a military target, and we don't produce enough to tempt the Combine to raid us for economic reasons either.

"All in all, that's made life very peaceful for those lucky enough to be born here. We grew up and lived our lives without the worry about war. Some of the younger lads joined the military, but they were always shipped away for duty. We have a militia, but it's barely worthy of the name, no offense intended. It's just that they specialize in assisting with civil emergencies, not military attacks. Things were going well until the Clans came along."

Cooke looked out the window, talking to his reflection as the car continued to drive through the manmade canyon of Houston's downtown area. Rose was content to hear the whole story, no matter how long Cooke took to tell it.

"For a while the Federats used Borghese as a marshaling point to collect troops to be sent further up to stop the Clan invasion. Things were pretty exciting for about a year, then the front got too close and they shifted the staging area further to the rear." Rose watched as Cooke smiled, lost in memories of recent years. It was not hard to guess that his power had either been established or cemented during that time.

"We were preparing for an invasion when the Com Guards stopped the Clans on Tukayyid. Until that point it looked like Borghese was going to be a prime candidate for a major battle, but now that the Clan advance has halted, that probably won't be happening."

Relief was written all over the man's face.

"At first everyone was overjoyed, which lasted until we realized that the Federats wouldn't be sticking around to defend us. From what I can tell, there are just too many military targets along the Clan border for them to worry about a minor world like Borghese.

"You've probably seen better maps than what I've got access to, but the basic picture amounts to this: if the Clans get past the Federat front lines, there's nothing to stop them from having their way with Borghese."

Again Cooke was correct. Rasalgethi was well-defended by the Sixth Lyran Guards and the Blue Star Irregulars. They'd likely chew on the Clans for a good while, even if they couldn't hold the planet. Tomans was safe, too. They had two regiments of the Kell Hounds and Barber's Marauders. With the Hounds' experience and the Marauders' hundred-ton 'Mechs, the Clans weren't likely to strike. Crimond and Pandora were the only other planets within a jump of Borghese on the front lines with the Clans.

Pandora was practically a fortress. The planet was normally protected by the local military college's training battalion, but the Fourth Davion Guards and the Tenth Federated Commonwealth Regimental Combat Teams had recently taken up station there. An invasion was more likely to be launched from Pandora than launched to it.

That only left Crimond. Of the four planets on the Clan border, it had the weakest defense. Currently defended by only two regiments, the heavily industrialized world had been a tempting target for an attack by the Steel Vipers last February. Only timely reinforcements from Wolfs Dragoons had ended the attack. If Crimond were ever attacked in strength and fell, Borghese would be in serious danger.

Because of the Inner Sphere's current state of technology, JumpShips always traveled from one populated area to another. If a jump drive failed while the ship was in an uninhabited star system, the crew was as good as dead. No Inner Sphere spacer was willing to take that risk. Making a strong defense at the border made perfect sense if a force was battling one of the other Houses of the Inner Sphere, but Rose suddenly realized that the Clans probably didn't care how they jumped as long as the final destination was correct. Borghese was only two jumps away from Steel Viper- and Jade Falcon-occupied worlds. If the Clan invaders were willing to recharge their JumpShips at uninhabited systems, they could be on Borghese less than thirty days after leaving their home base. Rose swallowed against a suddenly dry throat.

"My concern is that the Clans, probably the Jade Falcons, if what little I know about them is correct, will jump past the Federat front lines and hit Borghese and other planets like it." As Cooke talked, Rose's respect for him continued to grow. He shared Rose's unspoken concern, even if the Federated Commonwealth did not. "Using Borghese as a base, they could begin to expand laterally. Technically, they'd be honoring the Treaty of Tukayyid, but they'd make fair game of other planets lying to the right and left along the treaty line.

"That's why I sent Wilkins to hire a mercenary force, even a small one. If the Clans ever learn how weak are our defenses, Borghese would surely move up on their list of possible targets."

Rose knew that if he were the Clan ilKhan, he'd be thinking exactly the same thing. "Which is where I come in."

"Precisely. If the Clans send a unit to investigate Borghese, you'd have to stop them."

Rose sat up and opened his mouth to speak, but Cooke held up his hand. "Before you say anything, let me tell you one more thing. I know the Clans have never 'investigated' anything before. They always arrive in force and pound any target into submission. If that happens, I don't expect you and your men to throw your lives away."

That was certainly comforting. Rose didn't plan to do any such thing, but it was good to know that the man paying the bills felt the same way.

"This is a new situation for the Clans, however. I believe they may have to adapt Iheir tactics to reflect the new conditions, and that situation includes potential raiding."

Rose considered the possibility of new Clan tactics. They had proved their ability to adapt on Tukayyid, but for the first time they'd been stopped cold. Rose didn't count the two losses the Clans had suffered at the hands of the Kuritans and the Federated Commonwealth on Wolcott and Twycross in 3050. Although the Dracos had fought off the invaders, they'd used trickery to do so. Rose was all in favor of the tactic when necessary, but he still believed that the Com Guards had proven themselves the only military force able to stand up to the Clans in an all-out military confrontation.

The Treaty of Tukayyid might forbid the Clans to continue their advance past the line of that world but it didn't stop them from raiding and even making small-scale invasions of Kurita and FedCom planets above the truce line. And the attacks had been occurring with greater and greater frequency. What Cooke proposed didn't sound so unreasonable, and Rose nodded his agreement. A few things still bothered him, however.

"Even if it is just a raid, we couldn't hope to put up much of a fight without the help of the militia."

"I understand that," Cooke said. "We need training, and we need it in a hurry.

"When the Federats were here we didn't have to worry about defense, because they were going to take care of it for us. Before that, there really wasn't any reason for concern. Now we have a reason and nobody to protect us but ourselves." Rose remembered how difficult it was to grow up. Now the entire population of this planet was going to have to do the same thing.

"So the first order of business is training," he said. "I've got the crew to take care of that. We'll need the cooperation of the militia leaders and support from their administrative division."