"I still do not see anything suspicious about a doctor who is obviously interested in unusual viral diseases pursuing them to their sources and studying them in places where they are most commmon." Katrina was beginning to look impatient.
Melissa unfolded a printout. "Here are the people with whom he was friends in all those places. His regular companions and his occasional haunts. Read them and then tell me there is nothing suspicious about our dedicated physician!"
Katrina scanned the sheet. At first, her eyebrows were quirked skeptically. They straightened. Then they rose in an arch. She looked up, her eyes wide and angry.
"Why hasn't Security picked up all this?" she asked Melissa.
"I wondered about that, too. I checked through the system, running down everything I could think of. But without an override code, I could never have traced Karns' activities at all. There's a lock on all his files. Nobody of less authority than you or me could possibly access this material. Security, for all its power, hasn't that ultimate override. And nobody, I suspect, ever thought that we would look into such a minor medical person's record."
"Nor would we, if he had not been sent to the Folly to attend the wounded in their transit to Tharkad," mused her mother. "I wonder...if that was the normal rotation of staff, or if it was efficiendy managed. The other doctors seemed almost in awe of Karns. There has been interference on his behalf, perhaps?"
They stared at each other.
"It was Karns who encouraged Ardan to insist on the reality of that double. That seems strange, if there is some sort of conspiracy in the offing," Melissa said. "And yet, when I checked out the historical records, I saw that the close friends of other men who had been impersonated were simply removed, sometimes rather obviously." She stared at her mother.
"I think they intend to get rid of Hanse and Ardan both at the same time. Probably they intend to play them off against each other. Those two didn't part on the best of terms, and everyone knows it"
"It would be possible to do strange things, if you had an imposter and a dear friend of the original who showed visible signs of insanity," mused Katrina.
Melissa was a bit pale, her eyes big with worry. "Do you think there may truly be a plot against Hanse?" she asked. "Do you believe they might hurt him?"
"How can I answer that, Melissa? Without knowing who might be involved or what might be in the wind? But I am going to send a message to Davion now. It will take weeks, but I must warn Hanse, if I can," Katrina said.
When she signalled for the ComStar Adept, Melissa rose, knowing that Katrina would want privacy to compose the coded message for Davion.
Leaving her mother's chamber, she returned to the library, where she had been working. Melissa rechecked every file she had accessed, making certain that no trace of her investigation remained. Then she set her own lock on the entire dossier concerning Erl Karns. Anyone else trying to check up on Agent Karns would find a rude surprise in store for him. She felt that might be a good thing, all in all.
* * * *
Sep and Jarlik had exhausted the possibilities of Stein's Folly, along with themselves and Ref. They had gone through the motions of a combined educational and relaxation leave, but both were impatient to return to Argyle, where they felt they would be needed.
Ref, when consulted, had the same notion. But when they tried to get clearance for their DropShip, the way was blocked. Not a single military JumpShip was scheduled for transport to Argyle.
"It's not natural. That's where Hanse is. I know he's keeping track of what's taking place here and on adjacent worlds. But as far as I can tell, not even the Command Circuit is operating in this sector. What's happening?" Sep complained to Jarlik, after a particularly infuriating interview with the coordinator of travel out of the port city.
"I've been checking into freighters, too," Jarlik said. "There's not...a...single...one scheduled for a planetary month. A frigging month! Can you believe that?"
"No, I can't And you don't, either. We are, for some obscure reason, getting a royal run-around. Somebody doesn't want us back on Argyle any time soon. And I don't know what to do about it"
"I do," said Ref. "I've been looking into the situation. It's time for a bit of bribery and corruption. Some of the hair of the dog, so to speak.
"I've made a new friend, down at barracks. He's been telling me some interesting rumors. For instance, I've learned that our friend, Sallek Atrion, the garrison commander, has passed the word, very quietly, that we're to be held here for at least a month."
"And does rumor hint at the source of that word? There's no reason for the commandant to care where we are or what we do. It has to be coming from somewhere higher than him," said Sep.
"Oh, it hints at all sorts of things, from Steiner double-cross to Liao bribes. One even suggests that Michael is in on it, which is ridiculous on the face of it. But it's obvious that nobody really knows. I have found out one tangible bit of information, however." Ref looked smug.
"Atrion has suddenly come into quite a large inheritance from a distant relative. He's brought his family to Stein's Folly and installed his wife and children in an expensive home in the hills, as well as his current mistress in a plush apartment in the port city. He's also acquired a wardrobe that would be the envy of a Successor Lord."
Jarlik grunted. Sep looked quizzical. Ref nodded.
"Too pat, don't you think? Someone has bribed this gentleman to keep us here. So it's time for us to bribe someone to take us offplanet."
"I agree, if it's possible. But why should our presence or absence from Argyle make any difference to anyone?" Sep asked.
"I can think of but one reason. We will stand with Ardan Sortek, if any sort of disagreement arises, which assures Hanse Davion the support of at least one group of MechWarriors. And Hanse Davion will be, to us, whoever Ardan says he is."
Jarlik rose to stand, arms akimbo, staring at Ref. "Ardan is there right now. Whatever's happening will be long past by the time we can get back to our posts. But we've got to go, nevertheless. And how I wish we had a Command Circuit at our disposal!"
Sep rose to stand beside him, her slender strength a contrast to his bulk. "Well hijack transport. Here. At Dragon's Field. At Hamlin. At Ral. At every jump point between Stein's Folly and Argyle."
"Impossible!" said Ref.
"Such a thing has never been attempted!" growled Jarlik. "That's why it will work," Sep said, her eyes glinting dangerously. "What hasn't happened is never guarded against. A bribe at this end, to gain access to a JumpShip and its pilot Then well either bribe or raid for every jump in between.
"We'll have the 'Mechs armed and ready to move before we leave the Folly. If we're fast enough and keep our wits, well get to Argyle in time to do some good...maybe."
"And go to prison for the rest of our natural lives," groaned Ref.
"Maybe that, too. It's worth the risk if we can help Ardan and the Prince, though. Don't you agree?" She looked about at the two.
They nodded, very solemnly. It was, indeed, worth the gamble.
28
Ardan, standing behind and to one side of his Prince, looked from one to the other of the men in the doorway. His mind reeled. For a moment, he felt a return of that terrible disorientation that had plagued him before his recovery.
The man in the corridor stepped inside the room, followed by Cleery, the Maître of the Household, and Ekkles, Hanse Davion's aide-de-camp.
"There! That's the imposter. And even Sortek! We have caught both the prime conspirators at once," the newcomer said.
Hanse backed up several steps to stand beside Ardan. "It looks as if you were correct, all the way," he said quietly. Then, more loudly, "I'd like an explanation of this charade. Cleery, who admitted this man into my house?"
The Maître looked perturbed. "No one admitted this man to the Summer Palace. He emerged from the Prince's chambers and rang for assistance, after receiving an unexpected messenger just arrived by shuttle." The man's discomfort was obvious.
Ardan felt for him. Dressed exacdy alike, with the same bodies, faces, gestures, and voices, the pair could not have been distinguished by Hanse's own mother, if she had still been alive. Yet Ardan knew with his heart as well as his mind that the man at his side was his old friend. He needed no more proof than that.
"I have known the Prince since I was a boy," he said, with all the confidence he could muster. "This man is my old friend. I will vouch for that"
"You!" Ekkles snorted. "You, too, are a part of the plot!" he said. "It is well known with what bitterness you left New Avalon and our Prince. Now you appear from nowhere beside a man pretending to be Hanse Davion...The connection is obvious. Not only are you mentally unstable, but you are a traitor as well!" He turned to the guard beside the door. "Arrest these two!" he ordered.
Hanse, however, was not outwardly disturbed. "Let us consider this matter a bit further," he said calmly. "For example, there are affairs, secrets of state, of great importance for the future of the Federated Suns. I have in mind one, in particular. Can you tell me what it is?" he asked the man who was his double.
The other Hanse wrinkled his nose in a manner all too familiar to everyone in the room. "You presume to question me in my own house? But I will answer, if only to reassure my people. You can only mean the secret treaty between the Houses Davion and Steiner, which includes promises of mutual aid, as well as my betrothal to Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner. And how you came to know of it, I cannot imagine!"
Ardan cleared his throat. "What happened on the day Hanse and I almost drowned?" he asked. "Over twenty years ago, it was, on New Avalon. Can you tell me that?"
The false Hanse stared at him sorrowfully. "Ah, yes, that was a time when we were, indeed, almost brothers," he said. "Well do I remember that day...and the two fishermen who pulled us from the river, wet as frogs, and took us to your mother. She dried us out, scolded us well, and didn't inform my father." He laughed.
"However, those fishermen were not the chance-comers they seemed to be. It was from them that my father heard of the incident. It turned out that those two had been set there to guard my life, as I was the second in line for the throne. Does that satisfy you, who have returned to my house as a traitor and possibly a spy?"
Ardan refused to concede defeat. "What did you give me for my twelfth birthday?" he asked.
The other turned on his heel and walked to the window. He was jiggling the fob attached to his belt with Hanse's own nervous habit. Ardan felt sick.
"The warrant admitting you to the Battle School. And my promise to oversee as much of your training as I could possibly manage."
Ardan turned to look into the eyes of the real Hanse, who still stood beside him. There was deep shock and growing concern in those familiar gray eyes. Hanse was just now realizing what kind of trap had been sprung for him.
The young warrior had one last weapon. It was a slim hope, but he had to try it.
"And to whom did you say, 'The Starbird weeps inside'?" he asked the newcomer.
The man did not turn, did not answer, but his hand twitched jerkily at the fob. Hanse, however, gasped with astonishment. "Melissa! I said that to Melissa! How did you know?"
But the aide and the Maître were not convinced. "Arrest these men," Ekkles said once more to the guard beside the door.
The new Prince of Davion turned sharply. "You cannot drag them through the palace as they are. We can't have the servants babbling about seeing their ruler arrested and thrown into the detention cells beneath the house. And we certainly can't let it be known that Sortek is involved. That could be awkward, as he is a favorite of House Steiner.
"No, they must be concealed, disguised...You think of something!" he said to the aide. "I have other important matters that await me."
Ardan had donned full-dress uniform for his reunion with Hanse. That included a light laser pistol, a sidearm that was now in his hand as the guard approached.
"I don't really want to kill anyone, but I cannot allow you to arrest the Prince of Davion," he said. "Step aside. We are going out through that doorway."
The guard, the aide, and Cleery had no choice but to step aside, to stand with the man who was now, at least temporarily, the ruler of the Federated Suns. Ardan was sorely tempted to kill the imposter where he stood, but Hanse read the thought in him and shook his head.
Then they were outside the door. It could not be locked. The computer in the study gave those inside instant access to the entire complex, anyway. Forgetting dignity, the pair ran pell-mell down the corridor.
"Here!" panted Ardan, pulling Hanse aside into a niche containing a small fountain and green plants.
"You're going to try hiding me under a philodendron?" asked Hanse. He came into the shallow curve of the wall unwillingly and stood listening intently for sounds of pursuit.
Ardan didn't reply. He pushed aside the woven-reed tapestry covering the section of the wall from which the marble arm and hand poured water from a silver pitcher. A push sent the entire segment pivoting on some hidden central point, so that the pouring pitcher and the basin to catch the water moved aside as they slipped through a narrow crevice.
"Help me push it back," whispered Ardan. "The curtain will return, just as it was."
Hanse was muttering quiet curses under his breath, but he put his shoulder to the smooth side of the stone and lent his strength. The pivot moved back silently.
Now they stood in a narrow space barely wide enough for Hanse's powerful shoulders, which was lit dimly from above.
Ardan gestured upward to indicate the slit that evidendy went from this floor of the palace all the way to one of the skylights in the roof. "This is a ventilation duct. Lets the moisture from all that marble in the walls dry out...feel the breeze? It has slits into the outer air on several levels, and the marble behind the fountain is pierced to allow the freshness into the corridor."
Hanse looked stunned. He had lived in the Summer Palace almost every year since ascending to the throne. Before that, he had come here with his father on many occasions. Never had he suspected that behind the fountain alcoves in each floor of the house was what amounted to a secret passage.
"I never knew!" he said. His tone was rather wistful.
"You didn't have to design a defense for the house. We did. The architect's records are in the computer, ready to be called up at any time. But the only ones likely to do that are those charged with your personal safety."
"Where does this come out?" Hanse asked quietly.
Ardan turned to follow the cranny out of the dimly lit portion into blackness. "In the wall above the kitchen wing. We'll have to wait for darkness before we try scaling the wall to the roof."
Hanse's eyes lit up. On the roof was, of course, his personal air car. With it, they could be away before the imposter and his crew could finish searching this tremendous and complex structure.
They crept like mice through winding, impossibly narrow spaces. Ardan's impressive uniform acquired a coating of dust and cobweb that added nothing to its appearance. Hanse, attired in plain clothing for work in his study, fared a bit better. Brown woven stuff showed the deposits of debris far less than did the buff and gold, slashed with scarlet, that Ardan wore.
From time to time, Ardan paused. Lateral spaces crossed their path, even narrower than the one they followed. More than once, one of those ran away at an oblique angle, and Ardan had to recall to mind the plans he had committed to memory years before.
"What are those?" asked Hanse at last, indicating one of the dark tunnels.
"They go between the walls. Keeps the walls from sweating and rotting the paneling and tapestries on the inside. Stone is terrifically sweaty stuff, particularly in such a humid climate," Ardan whispered.
Hanse seemed unsettled by this warren of passages between the walls of his summer home. "Why, anyone who knows the plan could slip into the place at will," he murmured.
Ardan glanced back over his shoulder. Hanse's bulk was a deeper black agains
t the darkness.
"They could...but I know where the traps are that keep them from succeeding. We've passed three, so far. Another is just ahead. Want me to point it out?"
"It wouldn't do any good. How could I see it?"
Ardan chuckled quietly. A few more paces and he paused to take Hanse's hand. "Feel, as I hold back the trigger," he said.
Their hands moved together to feel along the wall to their right A slender rod extended out into the narrow passage. Even a man with some sort of handlight would not be likely to see it, for it was at shoulder height
"It's painted black," murmured Ardan. "If you went staggering along here without knowing it was there and then brushed against it, a metal panel would slide into place before and behind you. You'd be caught here, while an alarm went off in the guardpost. You'd be neatly trapped. Here, let me move it aside."
He caught the rod in his hand and gave it a twist, at the same time lifting it straight up. After Hanse squeezed past him, Ardan let the rod down gently and twisted it back into its original position.
"Why didn't I have to squeeze past you before?" asked the Prince.
"Oh, the others are all different. You have to know where each one is and also WHAT it is. Else you're in bad trouble. The next one is a dilly...and I'm not quite certain where it is, either."
"Oh, wonderful," grunted the ruler of the Federated Suns.
29
No one had ever accused Hanse Davion of being tight-fisted. Sep blessed that fact as she counted out the store of C-Bills he had provided for their rendezvous with Ardan. She had spent relatively few, leaving plenty for bribes and other emergencies.
Jarlik was the one who found them transportation with a pilot named Dahl, skipper of an Invader Class JumpShip. The two shared a few mugs of ale in the local bar, where Jarlik learned that Dahl had a grudge against Sallek Atrion, the garrison commander. The man would be happy to secretly pilot them and their DropShip to Dragon's Field if it might eventually mean trouble for Atrion.
The sword and the dagger Page 20