Tsen stiffened. "He has no power over me."
Sarcasm set off on every syllable of Romano's riposte. "Doesn't he? You were upset that Justin had given orders to McCarron's Armored Cavalry, but your protest died. You should have seen yourself. You glowed as Justin asked you questions and you answered them correctly. You performed tricks like a trained ape."
"No!" Tsen shook his head violently. "You don't understand. Justin's plan is a good one. His reasons for needing the extra JumpShips are valid. His orders for McCarron's Armored Cavalry made sense. Justin thinks his plans through—there is very little for me to protest."
Romano gave a lilting laugh. "How foolish you are, my dearest, to believe I do not see what Justin is doing to you. You believe he keeps you around because he needs your help, and you believe you owe him because he prevented my father from having you shot after your plan led us into Hanse Davion's trap." She paused as Tsen's shame burned on his face.
Romano smiled like a mother showing sympathy for a child's scraped knee. "Lover, you must see this as well. You coordinate a massive operation—a task that is difficult in and of itself—and it meets with disaster. Justin Xiang sends a raid off to a nothing planet and claims a great victory. He also arranged the assassination attempt on Pavel Ridzik, but it failed and he now blames Davion spies for it. You live within your shame, but he refuses to let any errors spot his record."
Tsen stared at the carpeted floor. "What are you saying, my lady?"
"I am saying that Justin is using you to make himself look better. You must show initiative." As Tsen's head came up, she saw the gleam of an idea in his eyes. "What? What have you got, my love?"
Tsen Shang smiled easily. "I will find that spy and deliver his head to your father . . ." Tsen's voice trailed off, his smile dying as Romano frowned darkly.
"No, Tsen. You think in terms that are far too small!" She reached back onto her vanity, grabbed a cut-glass bottle of perfume and hurled it at him. It exploded against the wall behind him, splashing him with musk and glass slivers. "What difference will a measly spy make? What is one spy when Xiang claims the salvation of the Capellan Confederation? You need a bold stroke to eclipse his glory!"
Tsen hung his head. "There is nothing that I could plan."
"Ha!" Romano lanced Tsen with a stare like cold malachite. "You yourself told me that JumpShips are crucial for a war. That's exactly the reason Xiang's plan is wasteful. Why not cripple the Federated Suns' JumpShip fleet? Why not strike at the Kathil shipyards?"
Tsen looked at her with utter disbelief. "That's impossible!"
Show me spine. Prove your worth to me now, or you’ll end up sharing the hole where I've had my father's wife planted.She narrowed her eyes. "Impossible? What would Justin Xiang say to that plan? Would he say impossible? Would any man say impossible?" She stood and let her silken gown slip from her body ... "Perhaps I should just seduce Justin Xiang and forget about you . .."
Tsen shot to his feet, dark eyes blazing with fury. "No!" He half-turned, slashing the satiny upholstery of the chair into ribbons with the nails on his right hand. "I am not to be cast aside that easily, Romano."
She watched him, knowing better than to comment. I have seen him like this before. He fought within himself the same way on the night when he told me—in direct conflict with an order Justin had given him—that the whore my father called a wife was rutting with Pavel Ridzik. That weakened his loyalty to Xiang, and now it will be broken. My father gets Maskirovka reports from Xiang, and now I will get mine from Tsen Shang.
Tsen's head came up slowly. "It is possible for an attack to be arranged on the Kathil shipyards. I will need to plan it alone so the spy in the Maskirovka will not learn about it."
Romano nodded as he spoke. "Yes, and reveal the plan to my father at a point when no one could get word out in time to warn the Prince."
Tsen chewed his lower lip. "That will mean we must have a command circuit going to Kathil. If the troops move by conventional means, they'll arrive too slowly."
Romano stepped toward him. "No matter. We can divert some of the JumpShips from Xiang's circuit after he has used them. Instead of calling them back, we'll post them to new positions."
Tsen smiled. "And we will need crack troops."
Her breath coming quickly, Romano whispered, "We'll have the best. I'll order my father's Death Commandos to carry out your strike." She reached out and wrapped her arms around Tsen's waist.
Lost in thought, Tsen's eyes nearly closed. "It may just work."
She pulled him close and pressed her body against his. "It will work, lover. With this victory, you will ascend to your rightful place within the Maskirovka." Stroking his hair, she glanced over his shoulder and smiled confidently at her own reflection in the mirror.
7
Lyons
Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
5 April 3029
Captain Daniel Allard gratefully accepted the actuator wrench from the dwarf standing just inside the 'Mech bay. "Thanks, Clovis. The only time I need one of these things is when I can't find one." Dan used his forearm to wipe away the sweat pasting light brown curls to his forehead, then used the crescent-shaped tool to hook a myomer muscle into a BattleMech's finger joint. "Yeah, that fixes it. Better making repairs now than in combat."
Clovis's brown eyes twinkled as he lifted himself onto a crate and sat eye to eye with the Mech Warrior. From behind his back, he produced a cold bottle of beer and handed it to Allard. "This is just one of the ways I can think of to repay the Kell Hounds for helping us out." Clovis looked out across an open field of ochre grasses toward where the Kell Hound Mech Warriors were working. "Styx was the first time I'd seen 'Mechs in action. Somehow, here, the machines don't seem the same."
Dan nodded. MechWarriors are trained to think of their machines as destroyers. "Ten meters tall and full of nasty" is how I remember one instructor describing them. It takes someone with Morgan Kelt's vision to see this use for a 'Mech.
Out across the field, the humanoid war machines worked amid a boxy lattice of steel girders. In the distance, they almost looked like robot children laboring to build a secret clubhouse, yet Dan knew the structure rose two full stories above the plain. Lasers normally used to pierce and destroy other BattleMechs had been powered down so they could be used to weld the metal beams in place. After what we just did to theGenyosha base on Nashira, watching the 'Mechs build the town of New Freedom for the Styx refugees seems ironic.
Clovis raked a stubby-fingered hand back through his long black hair. "Getting all these buildings constructed would have taken us many months and would have cost lots of ComStar bills. This is amazing."
Dan nodded, then gulped down some more beer. "You and your mother drove a hard bargain, Clovis. We get access to the Bifrostso it can jump us around, and you get a city."
Clovis raised an eyebrow. "You know as well as I do that Morgan might have argued for more if Duke Aldo Lestrade hadn't tried to throw us off this planet. He gave us two months to try to improve the site, but I doubt he expected much. And here we are, almost finished, and it's two weeks ahead of his deadline."